" Is anyone inside?" " Don't know, sir." "Come on." "Kitchen." "Come out!" "Come out!" "Hello, wait!" "Hello!" "Hey!" "Good afternoon." " What can I get you?" " A token for the phone." "And to drink?" "Er, whatever you want, um, Suze-Citron." "Judicial Police." "What department please?" "Putting you through." " Maigret." " Look, you don't know my name but you've met my wife, Nina." "She says she's met you." " Who is this?" " You don't know my name." "My name won't mean anything to you, but they're going to kill me." "I've tried to come and see you but they would have shot me." " Who are you talking about?" " I don't know how many there are." "There are at least two of them and since the 2:20, they've been trying to get me on my own so they can kill me." " You've got to help me!" " Where are you?" "I tried to get a policeman at the Place du Chételet to arrest them, but he couldn't see anyone," "I looked around, they'd disappeared." "I'm Nina's husband." "She says you've met her." " Nina who?" " I'm at the Caves du Beaujolais." "Oh, no!" "Hello?" "Yes sir?" " Get me the Caves du Beaujolais." " Sir." " Janvier?" " Chief?" "Get down to the Caves du Beaujolais, see if you can find the man who just rang here." "Shall I bring him in?" "No, just talk to him." "Find out who he is." "I'm afraid that number's engaged, Inspector, I can't get through." "Phone, Chief." "Says you know him." "Nina's husband." "Give it here." "Where are you now?" "They've swapped over now." "It's the big one." "I'm going to try and lead him to the Canon de la Bastille." " Can you meet me there?" "Do you know it?" " Yes." "Who are these men?" "Doubt that's him, either." "Hoax?" " Did you get a description?" " Fawn raincoat." "Mid-thirties, small." "He said he was the sort of man you see a lot of." "Could you get word out to the City Police that if a man wearing a fawn raincoat has had an accident or been in a fight or anything like that, then they're to call me?" "Oh, we've had a call from the Jours Heuraux in the Rue du Faubourg." "They said a frightened and anxious man approached the bar with a message to ring you." "It reads..." ""I'll try and get to you, they're blocking all the routes."" "Come on." "And an envelope, please." "In Picardie, a third farmhouse has been attacked near the town of Goderville." "As with the burglaries on the 12th of August and the 21st of September, the perpetrators have ransacked the property and murdered the owners." "On this occasion, a farmhand was also killed." "Police are following up reports of an unusual traveller to Goderville on the train from Paris to Le Havre on the night of the 8th of October." "If anyone has any information of use, they are asked to contact Inspector Colombani of the Goderville Gendarmerie." "OPERATOR"." "Police Judicial." "What department, please?" "Hi." " Joe, it's Albert." " Albert?" "What can I do for you?" " Can you come and meet me?" " Sure." "When?" " I've got an idea." " Oh, yeah?" "Nina." "He said I'd met her." "Professionally?" "There was a madam called Nina, worked in the 18th." "But that was years ago." "She was 60 then." "Police in the Picardie farm murders think that someone got off the Paris train at Goderville at 3:30 in the morning." "Having travelled from Paris?" " That's what it says here." " Well, who'd take a route like that?" "That train stops at every station along the line." "Someone who really wanted to get to Goderville." " Who's on tonight?" " I am." "Not a hoax." "Chief, this gentleman saw the body get thrown from the car." " Was he alive?" " No." "He's been stabbed in the heart, sir." "What kind of car?" "It was a cream and blue Citroén with a Paris registration." "The last two numbers were a seven and a five." "Thank you." "If I can ask you to confirm your name and address, please." "Of course." "Could you get some details from this gentleman here?" " Sir." " Thank you for your help." "Who's done this?" "It feels like an underworld job, Chief." "A settling of scores." "Who is he?" "There's nothing in his pockets, Chief." "No wallet or anything." "And looking at how they've wrecked his face," "I'm not sure even his own mother would recognise him." "That's how they do it." "Watch the Chief." "He's going to get in the van with this one." "No, he won't." "He will." "This one's got under his skin." "I'll stay with him." "Thank you." "Do you have to smoke while we're doing this?" "Hmm." "Antiseptic in the air." "Where did you qualify?" "Is his suit handmade?" "It's off the peg." "Average stuff." " Oh, he's poor, all right." " Or at least his childhood was." " How can you tell?" "By looking at his teeth." "Where did you qualify?" "What else, Paul?" "His hands don't suggest any particular occupation." "They're well kept." "He's got tender feet, though, with dropped arches, which indicates a life standing up." "Any scars on the body?" "Any old wounds?" "I don't think he's underworld, Maigret." "Time of death?" " Between 8:00 and 10:00 last night." " Oh." "Goodnight, gentlemen." " What did they damage his face with?" " Something heavy." "Not fists." " After he died?" " Yeah, that's right." "It was the knife that killed him but..." "It's like he's been held down and operated on." "The bruises on the arms." "This knife wound to the heart." "It's vicious, Maigret." "I'd like to get a mortician to reconstruct his face, see if we can get a recognisable photograph." "All right." "I'm going to open him up, see what he last ate." "Those of a weak disposition should look away." "We need to find the cream and blue Citroen." "Janvier, take a man and do nothing else." "Mmm." "Chief." "And I want witnesses from the bars from which the dead man called." "Think people are going to recognise him from this?" "They might." "Those bars were the Caves Du Beaujolais, the Canon de la Bastille and the Jours Heuraux." "And we believe he tried to call the switchboard from the post office in the Rue de Faubourg." "People are creatures of habit, so the same time of day is when we'll get witnesses." "His last suspected location was the post office, three hours before he died." "I want to know where he went after that, why the phone calls stopped and where he ate." "Well, he was killed shortly after his last meal, which was creamed cod, an apple and white wine to drink." "So we should check the menus of all the cafés and bistros, all of them." "Thank you." "Fingerprints?" "He's not known to us." "Your registration number is 1808 AD38?" "Have we had any cream and blue Citroén's reported missing in the last few days?" "He asked for an envelope and a stamp and I saw him post it before he left." "Has the box been emptied since?" "It's emptied every three hours." "He posted it after he made a phone call." "What have you got?" "I have a cream and blue Citroen stolen eight days ago, but its registration doesn't tally." "So, it's not our car." "What do you do when you get home, Janvier?" " I give my wife a kiss." " Hmm." "When I get home, I get changed out of my suit jacket." "You think he went home after calling you?" "That would explain why the jacket and the trousers don't match." "Moers, do you have a knife?" "Yes, of course." "There you are." "Put the tip through here." "The two holes don't align." " He wasn't killed wearing his raincoat?" " No." "He was killed indoors, without the coat, and they faked it to look outdoors." "All right!" "Your dead man is speaking to me at last, Maigret." "In the arch of his shoe, there's an odd sort of mud." "It's earth saturated with alcohol, probably wine." "The type of soil you find in a cellar where a cask has been broached." "Police in Picardie are still working around the clock..." "I've said everything I saw, gentlemen, there's nothing else I can add." "...on the slow train to Le Havre on the night of the 8th of October, the night of the third vicious attack on a wealthy farmhouse in the region." "The attack follows similar burglaries and killings on the nights of the 21st of September and the 12th of August." "What drink did the dead man order?" "A Suze-Citron." "May I have a Suze-Citron?" "And a token for the phone." " Where did he stand?" " Just there." " Do you want a Suze-Citron?" " No,been" "He said, "Since the 2:20, they've been trying to get me alone and kill me."" "What's the 2:20?" "A train?" "Or a horse race, I don't know." "Ooh." "Get his photo around the train stations and race tracks." "And check on the times of trains and races." "And they're off!" "An even start bar Heroique Henri, who misses by half a length and is slowly into stride at the tail of the field." " Well?" " Yeah, yeah." "It's difficult to tell, but if it's who I think it is, you see him a lot." " Do you know his name?" " No." "But he's here every meeting." "Thank you." "Sir." "What's he doing?" "Walking through the same air as his dead man." "This letter he posted, was that to you?" "No." "Nothing's arrived." "And why hasn't his wife reported him missing, is she involved?" "I don't think so." "He didn't speak of her with any fear." "Drop it." "I don't think this is underworld, sir." "That's exactly what it is and we'll never find a thing." "Let them kill each other." "And I don't have resources for this." "We have just had a request from Picardie for assistance with the farmhouse murders." "You're to make your entire department available to Inspector Colombani and offer him your full personal assistance, is that clear?" "I would like to keep this investigation going as well, sir." "Colombani has got a link to Paris now with this train journey and he'll need all our manpower and experience..." " And he'll get it but..." " Good." "File that." " Judge Comeliau, good to meet you." " Inspector Colombani." " Good journey?" " Yes it was very quick, thank you." "Right, now, let's get this down, please." "If we can be careful." "Ah!" "Good morning." "Moers, Colombani." "Morning." "What have you got for me?" "This chaise longue is from the living room of the farmhouse in Goderville which was attacked two nights ago." "Is it possible you can tell me something about the last people who sat on it?" "We can always give it a try." "I believe a number of people sat and watched a woman being tortured and killed." "Can I interrupt?" " Excuse me." " Hmm." "Put it on the top." "Excuse me, sir." "It's a pleasure to meet you, Chief Inspector." "Colombani, my whole department is at your disposal." "Thank you." "Except for Inspectors LaPointe and Janvier, who are helping me with another investigation for a few days." "Ah!" "Well, I was hoping that..." "that you would be assisting me, Maigret." "As soon as I can, I will." "I'm sure you understand." "Yes." "I also want all the jewellers and the silver merchants in Paris checked out for items stolen from the Picardie farmhouses." "Here is a list of all the things taken." "I want you to check in the fences, see if anything connects to the murder victims and we need detectives on every train travelling to Le Havre." "Your job is to find the man who got off the train at Goderville at 3:30 in the morning." "All right, so, I've got four witnesses at the track who saw the dead man laying bets on the 2:20 the day before yesterday." "Very good." "I have a sighting of a cream and blue Citroén broken down here at the Quai Henry IV at 8:10." "Now, it was pointing in the direction of the Pont d'Austerlitz." "The telegraph boy who saw it was a bit of an enthusiast." "He reckons it was a Citroén Light 15 Traction Avant, Parisian registration." "Chief says it's the best lead we've got so far." "Also, the Chief wants to know who he was trying to call from the post office as there was no record of him calling at that time." "What are you doing?" "And where is Maigret?" " He's gone home with a heavy cold, sir." " Hmm." "Right, I'll be at my desk for the rest of the day." "Hello, Maigrets." " Judge Comeliau for Maigret." " Yes, of course." "Comeliau." "Be nice." "Hello?" "Your men tell me you're suffering from a heavy cold." "Well, it's not "heavy", exactly." "But I think I should stay at home today." "I need you here." "Colombani needs to trace the man who bought the train ticket to Goderville and to find out whether similar tickets were bought before the other farms were attacked." "He has all my men at his disposal." "I asked you not to work on that unidentified body, Maigret." "I'm not working on it." "But I am thinking about it, as I cope with my cold." "Be here tomorrow." "And what are you thinking about your dead man?" "I'm thinking about why he drank a low-alcohol drink like Suze-Citron." "And Why did he?" "People who drink it tend not to go into a bar to drink but go in a professional capacity, like a salesman, who spends his day being stood rounds." "So you think he was a commercial traveller of some kind?" "No, because of his shirt." " What was wrong with his shirt?" " It was white." "It wasn't striped or coloured." "And the cuffs were not as worn as the rest of the shirt." "What does that tell us?" "Perhaps he was someone who spent his days with his shirt sleeves rolled up." "Like a barman or a cafe owner." "Maybe he had one of those little bistros run by a married couple, where they only serve one dish of the day." "Yes." " Are you warm enough?" "Another blanket?" " No, thank you." "I'll put some more coal on the stove." "And I think I know when he changed his plan." "What plan?" "They pursued him from the racecourse and that's when he tried to phone me." "But after three attempts, he rang somebody else from the post office." "And then he went home, ate his supper and waited for the second plan to unfold." "What was it?" "I don't know." " If he went home and had supper..." " Yes?" "...then maybe he was expecting someone who was going to help him." "But that person didn't make it until after his killers turned up." "Because their car broke down." "That's why the friend didn't make it." "If his friend was in the car, where would he dump his body?" "I thought you were too ill to work?" " Get me Janvier." " Yes, Chief." "Janvier." "It's the Chief." " Chief." "Find out how long the cream and blue Citroen spent broken down at the Quai Henri IV." "And release details of the car to the press." "We want anyone who saw it to come forward." "Right away, Chief." "I think by now all of France know the dates of the murders at the Picardie farmhouses." "August the 12th, September the 21st and three nights ago, on October the 8th." "And I am appealing for people who travelled on trains between Picardie and Paris on those dates." "If you saw anything suspicions around that time, please contact myself, Chief Inspector Colombani," "Judge Comeliau through the Police Judiciaire." " Claire Fontaine?" " You're not Chief Inspector Maigret." "No, he's not available right now but..." "I was hoping to speak to Maigret." "If you sit down and speak to me," "I will relay everything you say to the Chief Inspector." "If it's of importance." "But it is important." "That's why I need to speak to him." "I saw the cream and blue car." "The car that's in the paper?" "The car that's in the paper." "This one." "And where did you see the car?" "In my house." "Well, I was in my house." "The car wasn't." "That was outside." "I saw it pull up outside Au Petit Albert." "And what is Au Petit Albert?" "A little bistro, run by a husband and wife, near where I live." "The wife stinks of garlic." "When did you see it?" "Well, that's it." "Wednesday night, the night in the paper." "And there was definitely a 7 and a 5 in the registration because I have grandchildren of seven and five and Marianne's favourite colour is..." " Did you see anyone get out of the car?" " Yes, I saw a gentleman." "Well, he wasn't really a gentleman." "He was rather big." " What time did you see the man arrive?" " Nine o'clock." " And where do you live?" " Near the Quai de Charenton." "So the license is held in the name of Albert Rochain." "It's a quiet, respectable place that serves barges on the river." "And Nina?" "Not on the license." "The Fontaine woman says the wife is dark-skinned and a bit of a slattern." "Haven't heard that word in a while." "When was the last time you heard the word "slattern"?" "I've never heard it." "How did you get out of working with Colombani?" "We caught your cold." "Well, I hope you feel better soon." " Have you been inside?" " No." "LaPointe?" " Blood?" " Mmm-hmm." "Nina?" "Creamed cod." "Well, they weren't after money." "Here's the jacket that matches his trousers." "Hmm." "Do you recognise her?" " No." " Do you think she's dead as well?" "I don't know." "But circulate her name and photograph." "Is there a child?" "These things have never been used." "As if they're waiting for a child." " Can Moers get over here?" " He's coming in his lunch break, Chief." "Colombani has brought in a sofa from the Goderville farmhouse." "I've found the hairs from three different dogs, from cats, feathers from chickens and fabric from 25 different garments." "It's been impossible to get anything useful from it." "Someone has been looking for something here, Maigret." "I got that impression, too." "There are fresh prints all over the bedroom, as if the drawers have been rifled." "What were they looking for?" "Well, it can't be anything bulky." "They even looked in a little box used for earrings." "Are you sure you're not going to catch another cold?" "No, I've lit the stove." "And I've got some medicine." " Are the sheets clean?" " There are some sheets in the cupboard but I'm going to sleep on the settee." "Would you like to come round here in the morning?" "Why?" "I think we should run this place for a few days." " Us?" " Yes." "I think it would confuse the killers to see it open again." "It might draw them to us." "Here we are." "Now, have you been a good girl?" "Let's see if Daddy can understand what's happening tonight." "Who's running the bistro?" "You told me he was dead." "Pietr?" "Bistro?" "Who is in there?" "Have you got the dope?" "You told me the little man was dead!" " Of course he's dead." " So who is running the place?" "Well, you tell the animal to go back and kill the wife and kill whoever's running it." "Ow!" "What if he told them what he saw?" "Now, shh." "Shh." "No, no." "Dope." "You give them the dope." "Go back tomorrow." "Pietr?" "Find the ticket." "And kill anyone who's there." "Monsieur?" " Did you enjoy the show?" " I enjoyed you." "Where shall we go tonight?" " I have a table booked at the George V." " Hmm." "Jean, can't we go somewhere more intimate?" "I know this really lovely little bistro off the St Sulpice." " We have to go to the George V." " Why?" "Because you would look out of place in a little bistro in the St Sulpice... wearing this." "Oh, my God." "Jean, it's beautiful." "You're so generous." "Let's put it on." "Adele!" "What?" "Look what Jean got me today!" "Oh, are they real?" "Of course they are." "Hmm." "The George V, please." "Two more coffees, please." "Albert Rochain was a waiter at the Cadran for 10 years." "He left 18 months ago to get married." "Did he meet Nina at the Cadran?" "No." "They thought she was some sort of distant cousin." "They never met her." "Find out where Albert's family is from." " She may well be there." " Chief." "And I'd like to place an advert in the personal columns." "All right." ""Friend of Albert with the cream and blue Citroen." ""For your safety's sake, urgently contact Maigret at home." ""132 Boulevard Richard Lenoir." "Discretion assured."" "Could you take this, please?" "Where's little Albert?" "Where's he gone?" " Oh, he's in the country for a while." " I hope he takes Nina with him." "Maybe we'll stink less of garlic after eating this." "Don't you like Nina?" "She's all right." "She's got a great arse, hasn't she?" "Is she expecting a baby?" "She's not." "She's desperate, though." "Ah." "What can I get you?" "Another?" "Follow him." "Get the car." "Easy!" " Are we going to pick him up?" " Let's let him panic, see where he leads us." "What can I get you?" "Been" "Hey!" "Turn around!" "Someone's been shot!" "Oi, leave him alone!" "Move away!" "Move away!" "Move away!" "Are you the police?" "Get back!" "Get back!" " What are you doing here?" " Did you kill him?" " Police!" "You won't be home tonight?" "No, but I've sent a car to take you home." "It was nice being here with you." "Playing a different life." "I liked it." "We wouldn't be happy doing anything different." "You wouldn't be." "I have a feeling that this..." "This was a happy home." "Isn't ours'?" " Yes, it is." "Yes, it is." " How did you know the wife?" " I don't know." "You didn't recognise her from the photographs?" " No." " Briefing in 1O minutes," "Mr Maigret will be attending." "I think you'll find her alive somewhere." " Have you locked the doors?" " I'll be all right." "Keep the doors locked until the car gets there." "I'll be fine, Maigret." "...waiting." "Move along." " I'll see you in the morning." " See you in the morning." "JANWER"." "Briefing now, Chief." " Hello, George." " Back home, is it, madame?" "Yes, please." "Oh, it's bitter, isn't it?" "Thank you." "The name on the identity card was Victor Poliensky." "A Czech national." "He was an illegal and the ID card forged." "He hasn't lived at his given address or worked at Citroén, his given place of employment, for the last six months." "Can you quieten down, please?" "We know that he was an addict and suspect the person he telephoned was an accomplice that he tried to get back to." "Has his photo gone to vice?" "None of the girls recognised him, sir." "And the knife you found on this Poliensky was the one that killed your café owner?" "Moers has confirmed it." "Albert Rochain was not underworld, sir." "Yes, yes." "Now, we will be supported by men from the 2nd Arrondissement, who will search the area." "They've already locked down a section of two blocks here and are picking up anyone that leaves." "Now, we're going to find a lot of rubbish and we may not find his killer, but we need to find where Poliensky was heading and discover who shot him." "Up the stairs, second floor." " Do you know him?" " Him?" "No, no." "Have you any Czechs living here?" "Uh, we've got Poles, Italians and Armenians but no Czechs." "I've done nothing wrong..." "Check all their papers." "I haven't got them." "How can I give you what I don't have?" "Papers." "Right." "Oi!" "You!" "Go!" "Chief!" "This way." "Get off!" "I just tried to make her get up and she bit me." "Look at that!" "Is she Czech?" "I don't know, Chief." "She won't speak." "She just keeps moaning." "That's because she's in labour." "Get an ambulance." " And get the proprietor in here." " Sir." "What's your name?" "Do you understand me?" "Sir?" "What's her name?" " Maria." " Maria what?" "I don't think she has another name." " Where are the others?" " What others?" "There are no others." "So what is this?" "And this?" "And this?" "They've gone." " When?" " Today, I don't know." "When today?" "After this man was shot in the street?" "I asked him that already." "He says he doesn't know him." "Did that man live in this room?" "Yes, with another." "So there were two others?" "I swear I don't know anything!" "You are very close to being closed down." "Please don't obstruct us." "They both slept with her." "She was sort of their Queen Bee." "Can you all step back, please?" "Keep it down, I can't hear myself think!" "Chief, shall I go with Janvier?" "No, go back to the Quai." "Start processing everyone we've picked up." "Don't let it wait till the morning." "Find out what they know about that woman and the Czechs." "Chief." ""Pietr Holosko"." "He was the most, um, possessive of her." "Was Pietr the gunman this afternoon?" "He took the call but it was the other man who went out." "The other man?" "A gent." "Fur coat." "Violent." "How old?" "About 30, 35?" "Did he sleep with her as well?" "Oh, yes." "And sometimes, after he was here," "they'd go away for a night and they'd come back flush with cash." "Did they have a car?" "They..." "They have a van parked up somewhere, I don't know where." "What dates did they go away?" "Don't know." "Um..." "October 8th," "September... 21st, um..." "Go on." "August 12th." "Do you realise the significance of those dates?" "Those are the dates of the Picardie murders." "Listen..." "You've got to help me now because if Pietr or the fur coat comes back, they're going to kill me." "I've seen blood on their clothes." "They come back from those trips with blood on their clothes!" "The farms were so well chosen," "I thought the gang would be based in Picardie." "I thought they'd know the place like the back of their hand." "Maybe they do." "There are lots of temporary workers on the farms in the summer, many immigrants." "Why did they kill your café owner, Maigret?" "Was he in with them?" " I don't think so." " So what did he know?" "Just what we all knew from reading the papers." "That on the night of the 8th of October, a man travelled from Paris to Goderville on the slow train to Le Havre." "A journey nobody makes." "You think the café owner was on that train?" "He had no reason to be." "But why weren't all four of them on the train?" "Because they had a van." "I don't think the man in the fur coat would want to travel with this lot, do you?" "I think he would want as little to do with them as possible." " Goodnight, Daniel." " Goodnight!" "Goodnight, monsieur." " Maxime's." " We can't go to Maxime's." "Why not?" "Because of what I'm wearing under this coat." "Oh, what are you wearing under this coat?" "Nothing." "Except the necklace." " Hey!" " The police have got Maria." " Jean?" " Stay there." " Jean!" " Stay there!" "They picked her up this evening." "What are you coming to me for?" " I come to you." " We need to help her." "No." "We need to kill her." "If you hurt her, I will kill you!" " Think about it." " Francine." "Think about it, boy." "She knows too much." "She's just a woman." "There are others." "What, you want a woman?" "Yeah, is that it?" "You want that?" "And not the old one." " You can have that." " Really?" "And others, I guarantee it." "Maria is no longer useful to either of us." " No?" " No." "Shut her up for me, Pietr." "Get back." "He's coming." "He's coming." " Sorry about that." " Who was that?" "I just needed to talk to him." "How do you know him?" "He's just someone that's done some work for me." "Hello, Nicole." "Thank you for coming all the way from Goderville." "This is Chief Inspector Maigret." "Hello, Nicole." "It's fine, sweetheart." "Please." "This way." "Nicole, it's very brave of you to come and see us today." "Inspector Colombani tells me that you saw the faces of some of the bad people who came to your farmhouse the other day." "I have a photograph here of a woman and I'd like you to tell me if she was one of those bad people." "Do you understand?" "Do you want to hold my hand while we turn the picture over?" "Keep pushing." "Push." "And again." "Keep pushing." "Push." "Push!" "Good girl." "Okay." " Doctor!" " Here, let me." "Ask her her name." "Ask her where she was on the nights of August the 12th," "September the 21st and October the 8th." "Translate that, please." "I'd rather not, actually." "It wasn't very pleasant." "Ask her if, on the evening of October the 8th, she was in a farmhouse near Goderville in Picardie." "Chief Inspector, whatever crime this woman is suspected of, she is a Czechoslovakian citizen and has not only legal rights but an expectation of human dignity." "I ask you to suspend questioning until a time when..." "Do you want to continue with your speech about human dignity?" "Just translate for the Chief Inspector, will you?" "On the night of August the 12th, an old farmer and his wife were stabbed to death." "On September the 21st, at another wealthy, isolated farm in Picardie, there were similar murders." "And five days ago, at a farm in Goderville, an entire family was hacked to death." "But at Goderville, a witness survived." "A 10-year-old girl hid in a wardrobe." "At one point, she crept out of her hiding place and saw a pregnant, dark-haired woman burning her mother's breasts with a candle flame." "And after her mother had revealed the location of the family safe she slit her throat." "This morning, the young girl identified you as the woman who tortured and murdered her mother." ""Do you think I care?"" "Where is Pietr now?" "Tell her that her life may depend on how she answers the next question." "Where is the man who would visit you and tell you which farms to attack?" "Please answer the question." "What is his name?" "She has an hour to think about answers to those questions and to think about how in this country, we still send murderers to the guillotine." "She needs to start cooperating." "She has a child now." "Chief Inspector!" "I would like to point out that that woman is not Czech, she is Slovak." "And those people from the rural east, they are uneducated." "Some are no better than peasants from the Middle Ages." "No better than animals." "I feel I need to point that out to you." "If she's fit to move, Maigret," "I want her transferred this evening to La Santé." "Excuse me." " Whose are those flowers?" " Nobody's now." "The lady in this room went home a few minutes ago." "Would you mind taking them to room 270?" "Of course." "Thank you." "Why?" "Because the room is cold." "And because there's a woman with a child in there." "Where is she going?" "Le Santé has a prison infirmary." "She'll be well looked after." " May I travel with her?" " Be my guest." " No!" " Get back!" "No!" "No!" "Pietr!" "No!" "Who is he?" "He saw your notice in the newspaper." ""Friend of Albert," ""with the cream and blue Citroen." ""For your safety's sake, urgently contact Maigret at home." ""Discretion assured."" " Is that right?" " Yes." "I've come because your reputation is good." "This is not a trap." "You can speak in confidence here." " Please, sit down." " No." "I knew Albert." "I ate at his place." "I knew him." " And on the day he died?" " He rang up." "Said he'd been racing, said he'd realised who the Picardie gang were." "Said if we helped him, we might get some money out of them." " Who's "we"?" " I'm not telling you that." "But my mate does cars." "Paint jobs." "Ringers." "Anyway, the car we used to get to Albert's place broke down, didn't it?" "Pile of crap." "And when we got there, he was dead." "Thing is..." "The thing is I'm on parole." "I've been inside eight out of the last 1O years, Maigret." "I ain't going back." "And you'd been seen in a place where a man was murdered." "That neighbour woman saw me, yeah." "I ain't going back inside." "I can't." "I understand." "And police don't take much interest if a gangster's found dead in the street." "You don't sniff around that for long." "So we dumped him like it was an underworld hit, his face smashed in, like they do so no one can trace the body." "Then we got rid of the car." "Mmm." " Where's Nina?" " She's safe." "With someone I know out at Arpajon." "She's a good woman." "Thank you." "One more thing." "This envelope came for me the day after." "I think it's from him." "At first I thought it was a betting ticket but it's for a train." "How could Albert come by the train ticket to Goderville?" "Francine?" "Where are you going?" " We're on in five." " No." "Jean wants to leave." "We're leaving Paris." " What do you mean?" " He's taking me away." "He says to the Riviera." "I don't have to do this any more." " Oh, Francine." " What?" "Do the show, darling." "Don't burn your boats here." " You'll be back." " Jean won't want me coming back here." "He loves me." "Men like Jean come and go, babe." "No, you're wrong about him." "You're wrong." " Come out." " No." "I'm not coming out." "How often did the man in the fur coat take them all to the racetrack?" "After each burglary." "That's all." "They'd take the jewellery they'd stolen." "Silver cutlery and stuff." "Is that where his fence is?" "I honestly don't know, sir." "But I know you can get rid of things." " Get your coat." " Why?" "I'm not leaving!" "Because there's a race meeting today and he knows we're closing in." "I think he'll try to shift what he's got left." "What's that got to do with me?" "You're going to identify him for us." " No." " Come on." "Get up." "Get up!" "The runners and riders are on the track and parading for race three and they are led out by number one, Diapason, ridden by Jacques Champenet." "Next is the grey Jolie Brise, ridden by Maurice Jacques..." "We're looking for a man in his thirties, possibly in a fur coat." " Will he be armed?" " He may be." "So if we get a positive identification, let's isolate him before we move in." "I don't want him shooting in this crowd." "COMMENTATOR"." "In front with Belle Epoque, mounting a strong challenge on the outside." "Bon Bon is only a length further back with the rest of the pack, right on his heels, bar Homme d'Honfleur, who's legless..." "Oh!" "That's him behind us, on the stairs." "How much do you think I've won?" "You go and get the winnings." "I'll see you in a bit." "Where are you going?" "To get some more champagne." "Excuse me?" " Excuse me, miss." " Yes?" "I'm Inspector LaPointe of the Police Judiciaire." "I wonder if you'd mind accompanying me outside?" " Why?" " I'd rather explain outside." "My boyfriend is coming back with champagne." "Well, he'll be joining us." "Come with me, please." "I want 10,000 for all of this." "Get off!" "Let me go!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Thank you very much for coming." "Your boyfriend's name is Jean Tonnelier." "He has a wife and three children and lives in a two-room tenement in Saint-Denis." "You may have just seen them." "Six months ago, he was a foreman on the shop floor at Citroén." "No, that's not right." "Jean and I dine at Maxime's." "And we've had rooms at the George V." "The jewellery and coat I am wearing today are worth more than you can make in a year." " This man, Tonnelier..." " Dacoufl!" "...would get to know some of the Czechs who would turn up for casual work at Citroén." "He would manipulate them, sleep with their woman." "And he heard them talk of the wealthy farms that they'd worked on in the summer in Picardie." "He is a film producer." "He is a ringleader of murderers and thieves." "He kept them high on dope in conditions you wouldn't keep an animal." "No." "He got them to murder and rob the farms they knew in Picardie in order to fund his life" "at Maxime's and the George V..." " No." "...and you." " No." "And he had a cafe owner called Albert Rochain murdered because he thought Albert was about to expose him for what he really was." "How can a man sleep as calmly as Jean if he has done the things you say he has?" "He is like many men, some who commit crimes and some who don't." "He lived a life where other people were not people." "They were just things." "And this is the file that contains details of what your boyfriend and his accomplices did" "in order to steal the things that you're wearing." "You'll be seeing more of me over the next few weeks, Maigret." "Indeed." "The Station Masters from Goderville and Moucher are on their way to identify Tonnelier." "Then we'll be transferring him." "Did she know anything?" " No." " Right." "Were you there when they killed the man who recognised you at the racetrack?" "It puzzled me how he'd got hold of your train ticket." "But I think it was because he was a compulsive gambler who'd check the floor for winning slips" "that had been discarded by accident." "The papers that morning were full of stories of a suspect who had taken an unusual train journey to Goderville." "And when your victim checked what you had dropped, he recognised the train ticket and realised who you were." "Is that right?" "He was a nothing." "A little man." "Placing little bets for little winnings." "I saw him pick up the ticket and look at me." "And so I set the animal on him." "I want you to know that his name was Albert Rochain and that he had a wife and that they were trying to start a family." "And for all his little bets and little winnings, his life was more successful than yours" "because he didn't end up like an animal in a cage, despised by everyone," "with nothing to look forward to except his execution." "I'm sorry." "I just had to finish up." "My wife, Louise." " Hello." " Please." "When is your husband's funeral?" "Tomorrow." "We'd very much like to come and pay our respects." "He'd like that." "Thank you." "I'm sorry about what happened to Albert." "He was a good man." "And happy, you know?" "He was always singing, Chief Inspector." "He always wanted everyone to be happy." "That's why he was good at running this place and working in bars." "And he was good to me." "I'm sure he was." "I knew I was lucky when I found him." " Will you keep the bistro on?" " Absolutely." "For him." "We talked of filling the house with children." "I know." "But we weren't so lucky there." "Supposing you were able to adopt a child?" "Well, do you think that I might?" "That they'd allow me?" "Would that be possible?" "I know of one who is facing a life in an orphanage." " A baby?" " Yes." "One that very soon will lose its mother." "Maybe some good can come of this, Nina." "It's not its fault" "who its parents are, is it?" " No, it isn't." "Do you think it would be possible?" "Let's see." "I can ask." "My husband would like it if I was here with a child." "Mmm." "Goodbye." "Goodbye, Nina." "Goodbye and good luck." "When Albert rang me, he said that you and I had met." " Yes." " When?" "Ten years ago." "I was working at a hotel in Dieppe." "You were on holiday there." "All the guests were watching you, secretly talking about you." "I took up some service for you both one afternoon." "Ah..." "Albert was very taken that I'd met you." "Would you ask about the baby for me?" " Yes, of course." " Thank you."