Maigret's Madwoman

by Georges Simenon

  ‘Yes, I understand perfectly well. Now let’s talk about the revolver.’

  ‘What, again?’

  ‘It’s got to be somewhere, and I’m determined to find it. For a while, it was in the drawer of your aunt’s bedside table. You claim that you didn’t know that, and that your aunt was afraid of firearms.’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘And yet she kept this weapon within reach, which by the way might suggest that she wasn’t as indifferent to danger as you seem to think.’

  ‘What are you getting at?’

  Maigret began packing his pipe slowly.

  ‘This morning, at your place, we found traces of this firearm, which must have been hidden for some time on top of your wardrobe.’

  ‘That’s what you say.’

  ‘The forensic checks will establish it. Well, either you put it there, or your lover did.’

  ‘I don’t like that word.’

  ‘It bothers you?’

  ‘It’s inaccurate There was no love between us.’

  ‘Well, let’s suppose that he did go to Quai de la Mégisserie.’

  ‘To kill my aunt?’

  ‘To find whatever it is that you don’t like my calling her loot. The old lady gets back, finds herself face to face with an intruder. He uses a cushion from the couch to stifle her.’

  ‘Well, why would he take the revolver? And hide it on my wardrobe? And then take it to Toulon with him?’

  ‘You think he did?’

  ‘If it really exists, it must, like you say, be somewhere. Now, I did not go to my aunt’s house that afternoon she was killed. And I’m sure Marcel didn’t either. He may not be as white as the driven snow, but he’s not a killer. Have you got any more questions for me?’

  ‘Have you sorted out the inheritance yet?’

  ‘No. I’m due to go and see a lawyer this afternoon, who’s the husband of one of my clients. I wouldn’t have known how to find one otherwise.’

  She stood up, looking relieved.

  ‘When do I have to sign?’

  ‘Your statement, you mean? How long, Lapointe?’

  ‘It’ll be typed up in half an hour.’

  ‘Hear that? Go and sit in the waiting room.’

  ‘Can’t I come back to do that?’

  ‘No, I want to get this over with. You’ll have to be a bit late for the appointment with your lawyer, and by tonight you’ll be richer by tens of thousands of francs. By the way, where are you going to live, in the apartment on Quai de la Mégisserie?’

  ‘No, mine’s all right for me.’

  She moved towards the door, straight as a ramrod, and went out without another word.

  He took the overnight train, and by good fortune found himself alone in his sleeper compartment. By the time they reached Montélimar, as the sun rose, he was awake, as always when he travelled to the south of France.

  Montélimar was for him the border, where Provence began, and from then on he lost nothing of the landscape. He loved it all, the vegetation, the houses, pale pink or lavender blue, roofed with tiles that had been baked by the sun time and again, the villages with their plane trees, where already people were sitting in bars.

  At Marseille, as the train manoeuvred into Gare Saint-Charles, he heard the sing-song accent of southerners, and everything seemed full of a special flavour to him.

  It was a long time since he had brought his wife to the Côte d’Azur and he promised himself he would do that next time he had some leave. But alas, that would be in high summer, when everywhere would be crowded!

  A few more kilometres and the sea appeared, as deep blue as on the postcards, with fishermen in their motionless boats.

  Chief Inspector Marella was on the platform and waved energetically at him.

  ‘Why don’t you come down more often? How long is it since you’ve been to Toulon?’

  ‘About ten years, like I said on the phone. I hope it doesn’t bother you, that I’m here to make some inquiries on your patch?’

  Maigret was outside his own jurisdiction. Here, Marella was the boss. His southern colleague was dark-haired, of course, not tall, but full of life. Since they had last met, he had acquired a small pot-belly, which made him look more bourgeois than in the past.

  Back then, you might have been more likely to take him for a gangster than a policeman. Gangsters put on weight too, but by the time they reach that stage, they have generally retired from business.

  ‘Would you like a coffee?’

  ‘Good idea. I had some in the train but it was awful.’

  ‘Let’s go across the square, then.’

  The square was already dazzling in the warm sunlight. They went into a café and sat at the counter.

  ‘So what have you got to tell me?’

  ‘Nothing. It’s a strange case, and I seem to be wading through mud. Where’s Marcel right now?’

  ‘In bed. He was celebrating half the night with friends at the Victor Restaurant. across the way from the Port-Marchand. Petty crooks, the lot of them. Around midnight, some girls joined them.’

  ‘Did you know him when he lived here?’

  ‘He never stayed very long in Toulon. Two years was the most he spent here. I should say that the local gangs don’t take him too seriously. They think he’s an amateur.’

  ‘So who is this Bob who acts as a letterbox?’

  ‘The barman at the Amiral. He keeps his nose pretty clean, I think. At any rate, neither I nor my men have ever been able to pin anything on him.’

  ‘And the Giovanni brothers?’

  ‘Just one of them is still here, the older one, Pepito. The other, so I’ve been told, lives in the Paris region now. Pepito bought a luxury villa from an elderly American woman who wanted to go home to die. It’s the grandest villa in Sanary, with a private harbour where he moors his yacht.

  ‘He sees very few people, and almost never his old associates. He wants us to forget all about him. Still, I keep an eye on him. As he well knows, and if we meet in the street, he always greets me warmly.’

  ‘I wonder what Marcel went to see him about.’

  ‘Me too, I’d really like to know. Especially since Marcel has never worked with him in the past.’

  ‘Remind me which hotel he’s staying in.’

  ‘Hôtel des Cinq Continents, Avenue de la République, very near the Préfecture Maritime.’

  It was only eight in the morning.

  ‘Do you want to come with me to pay him a visit? That’ll give you some idea of what this case is about. He’ll be furious at being woken up so early.’

  Maigret had not booked an overnight stay, since he planned to return to Paris that same evening. Marella obtained the number of Marcel’s room, and they went up together and knocked loudly at the door. It was some time before a sleepy voice asked:

  ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘Police!’

  Marella had replied, and Marcel, barefoot and in rumpled pyjamas, dragged himself over to the door and opened it.

  ‘Well, well, look who’s here,’ he muttered, eyeing Maigret. ‘But since Inspector Marella is with you …’

  He went over to open the curtains, lit a cigarette and moved a pair of trousers from one of the armchairs.

  ‘So what have I done now?’ he asked.

  ‘Nothing new, probably.’

  ‘By the way,’ Marella intervened, speaking to Marcel, ‘yesterday afternoon, you went to visit the gorgeous Maria. So you didn’t know that she’s been hanging out with La Grêle for the last few weeks?’

  ‘Yeah, and he’s in jail.’

  ‘I arrested him last week, yes, and this time it’s serious, drug trafficking. But he has friends outside. And you’re not from these parts.’

  ‘Thanks for the tip. I’ve known Maria for years. What about you, Monsieur Maigret? Why have you come all this way, when we met only the day before yesterday?’

  ‘Possibly to escort you back to Paris.’

  ‘What? Are you joking?’<
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  ‘There’s the matter of the key, first of all.’

  ‘What key?’

  ‘The key to the old lady’s apartment. Who was it that took the impression of the lock? That’s not something Angèle would have been up to doing.’

  Marcel did not move a muscle.

  ‘Very well. You’ll have to make a statement with a stenographer and sign it.’

  ‘For Christ’s sake, I’ve got nothing to do with this whole damn business! OK, I was living with the gendarme. Waiting for something better to turn up, I’ve made no secret of that, and I’m darned glad to be rid of her.’

  ‘At least two witnesses have recognized you.’

  ‘How could they recognize me?’

  ‘From a photo of you we have on file, or rather the Vice Squad does.’

  ‘And who might these two witnesses be?’

  ‘The bird-seller downstairs, and the tenant from the same landing as the old lady. She says you bumped into her rushing upstairs without looking, and you apologized.’

  ‘Well, they must have been seeing things, the pair of them.’

  ‘You were wearing the checked suit you had on yesterday.’

  ‘You can find suits like that in any big store. There must be I don’t know how many in Paris alone.’

  ‘So you didn’t have a key? Did you pick the lock?’

  ‘Is this going to take long?’

  ‘I don’t know. Why?’

  ‘Because if it is, I’ll get them to bring up some coffee and croissants.’

  He called room service and placed his order.

  ‘And don’t expect me to offer you anything. I haven’t picked any lock, and I wouldn’t even know how to do it.’

  ‘When did she tell you about the revolver?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘You know perfectly well who. Angèle. You wouldn’t have guessed on your own that there’d be a revolver in the old woman’s place.’

  ‘I had no idea she even existed.’

  ‘Wrong. Angèle herself admitted it, in her signed statement, and she told us she pointed out her aunt’s windows to you, and said she was due to inherit from her one day.’

  ‘And you believed her? You don’t know that that woman’s a born liar.’

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘I’m telling you the truth. I can’t afford to take a false step, because the police are always sniffing round me. And what proves it is this photo you found at the Vice Squad, that I don’t even remember.’

  The waiter brought in coffee and croissants and a fragrant smell filled the room. Sitting at a small table, still barefoot and in pyjamas, Marcel started eating his breakfast.

  Marella glanced at Maigret, as if asking permission to say something.

  ‘What were you talking to Bob about?’

  ‘When I got here last night, we chatted about this and that, catching up on our news. We’re old mates and we haven’t seen each other for ages.’

  ‘And what else?’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

  ‘Which of the two of you brought up Giovanni’s name?’

  ‘Could have been me. Used to know him back in the old days, when I was a kid and he lived in Montmartre.’

  ‘So in that case, why wasn’t it you that phoned him?’

  ‘Why would I phone him?’

  ‘To make an appointment with him. Bob did it for you. What story did you give him?’

  ‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Don’t play the idiot. You know perfectly well you don’t just roll up at Giovanni’s door, especially if you’re just a small-time crook, short of money. And yet yesterday, you went to see him and stayed most of an hour.’

  ‘We were just chatting.’

  ‘And what were you chatting about?’

  The small-time crook was getting nervous. He didn’t like the direction the questions were taking.

  ‘Look, it was like this, I was asking if he had any jobs for me. He’s got a lot of businesses, all on the level, I should say. He might have been needing someone he could trust.’

  ‘And he hired you?’

  ‘He said he’d think about it, and let me know in a day or two.’

  Marella looked at Maigret again, to indicate that he had finished.

  ‘You heard what my colleague Chief Inspector Marella said just now. He will give instructions to his colleagues. You’ll go down to the station and repeat all you’ve just told us. You’ll wait for your statement to be typed up and then sign it. Try not to leave anything out, especially concerning Bob and Giovanni.’

  ‘Do I have to mention his name?’

  ‘Why, were you lying?’

  ‘No, no. But he won’t like it if I’ve mentioned his name to the police.’

  ‘You’ve no choice about that. And don’t you leave Toulon until we give you permission.’

  ‘Oh, all very well for you! If I can’t find any work, will you pay my hotel bills?’

  ‘We might offer you board and lodging in a different kind of hotel,’ Marella intervened. ‘You’d be very comfortable there, plenty of shade from the sun.’

  The two policemen returned to the street.

  ‘I hope I wasn’t interfering too much with things that aren’t my business,’ said Marella, a little anxiously.

  ‘Not at all. On the contrary, you did me a good turn. You can do the same with Bob.’

  They hadn’t far to go, just across the Avenue de la République. The Amiral was at the corner of the sea front and a narrow street inaccessible to cars. Outside on the pavement were four café tables, covered in checked cloths. By contrast with the sunshine outside, made more dazzling by the light reflecting off the sea, the interior seemed dark and it was agreeably cool.

  A barman with a boxer’s broken nose and cauliflower ears was rinsing glasses. At this time of day, there was not a single customer, and a waiter was laying the tables.

  ‘Good morning, inspector. What can I get you?’

  He was addressing Marella, since he didn’t know Maigret.

  ‘Do you have some Provençal wine?’ Maigret asked him.

  ‘Rosé? By the carafe.’

  ‘Two rosés. Or a carafe. As you like.’

  They were both quite relaxed and Bob was the only one not feeling at ease.

  ‘Now then, Bob, you had a visitor, evening before last.’

  ‘Oh, here, you know, we’re never short of visitors.’

  ‘I don’t mean a customer. I mean someone who came down from Paris especially to see you.’

  ‘To see me?’

  ‘Well, to ask you for a favour.’

  ‘I don’t see what kind of favour I could do him.’

  ‘Have you known him long?’

  ‘Seven or eight years.’

  ‘And his nose is clean?’

  ‘He’s never been in prison. His record’s clean as a whistle.’

  ‘And yours?’

  ‘Not entirely, as you well know.’

  ‘And what did he want?’

  ‘He was just passing through and he called in for a chat.’

  ‘He asked you to make a phone call.’

  ‘Ah!’

  ‘Don’t play the innocent, Bob. One of my men was in here, and watched you go to the cabin while your pal waited. And it was a long call. He looked nervous. When you came back and whispered something to him, he seemed relieved.’

  ‘That’ll have been about an old flame of his, Maria. He went to see her.’

  ‘And she lives in Sanary, does she?’

  ‘No, of course not.’

  ‘It’s not in your interest to clam up on us, Bob. You phoned Pepito Giovanni, a man you used to work for, before he hung up his fancy loafers. And you got an interview with him for your pal Marcel. Which was quite something, because Giovanni doesn’t agree to meet just anyone, especially on his home ground. So what did you tell him?’

  ‘Giovanni? Just that I had someone here who was looking for work.’

/>   ‘No!’

  ‘Why do you say no?’

  ‘Because you know quite well that’s not true. And Giovanni will be the first to laugh when I tell him.’

  ‘I said my friend had a deal to offer him. Absolutely above board.’

  ‘And you saw the sample?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘But you know what it was about?’

  ‘Marcel didn’t say. He just told me it was a very, very big deal. International. Could interest people in America.’

  ‘That’s better, perhaps I’m beginning to believe you now. And Giovanni was interested, was he?’

  ‘He said to send my friend up to see him yesterday at three.’

  ‘And that’s all?’

  ‘He said to tell him not to forget to bring the goods, and to be sure to come on his own.’

  The rosé wine was cool and fruity. Maigret listened to the conversation, a vague smile on his lips. He’d always liked Marella, who, if he had stayed in Paris, might be sitting at his own desk in Quai des Orfèvres. But the southerner was really in his element in Toulon. He’d been born in Nice. He knew all the criminals and prostitutes between Menton and Marseille.

  ‘Anything else you want to ask him, Maigret?’

  Bob frowned.

  ‘You mean this is Detective Chief Inspector Maigret?’

  ‘Precisely. And he’s the one you’ll have to deal with if you’re not lucky.’

  ‘My apologies for not recognizing you.’

  And as Maigret was getting out his wallet:

  ‘No, no, this is on the house.’

  ‘Out of the question!’

  He put a ten-franc note on the table.

  ‘And I expect the minute we’re out of here you’ll be on the phone to Giovanni?’

  ‘Not if you ask me not to. I wouldn’t want to get into any trouble with him. And not with Chief Inspector Marella either.’

  They were soon back outside in the sunshine, among sailors with blue collars and red pompoms.

  ‘You’d like us to visit Giovanni now? Sure you wouldn’t prefer to go on your own?’

  ‘No, on the contrary.’

  ‘In that case, let’s go by way of the station and get my car.’

  They crossed the Seyne, where a ship was being broken up, and found themselves looking across at the Sanary peninsula, where a large villa was visible at the far end.