‘Did you read about that in the papers too?’
After all, the lawyer at René Lecœur’s trial had talked about police brutality, and his words had been splashed all over the press. As it happened, there had been a letter from Lecœur in that morning’s mail. In despair after receiving a death sentence, he had begged Maigret to go and visit him in prison.
Maigret almost showed the boy the letter. He would do so later, if it proved to be necessary.
‘Why did you decide to leave your hiding place in Rue Gay-Lussac?’
‘Because I couldn’t go on spending all day skulking under a bed. It was awful. I was aching all over. I constantly felt as if I needed to sneeze. It’s a small apartment, and the doors were left wide open. I could hear my friend’s aunt coming and going. If I had moved she would have heard me too.’
‘Is that all?’
‘I was hungry.’
‘What did you do?’
‘I wandered the streets. At night, I grabbed an hour or two’s sleep on top of a sack of vegetables at Les Halles. Twice I came as far as Pont Saint-Michel. I saw Monique leaving here. I went to Rue d’Angoulême and from a distance I could see a man who seemed to be standing guard. I assumed he was from the police.’
‘What reason would you have to kill Monsieur Louis?’
‘You don’t know that I borrowed money from him?’
‘Borrowed?’
‘I asked him for some money, if you prefer.’
‘Asked?’
‘What are you implying?’
‘That there are different ways of asking, and some of them don’t really allow much leeway to refuse. To put it in plain French, we’re talking about blackmail.’
Jorisse said nothing but looked at the floor.
‘Answer.’
‘I would never have told Madame Thouret.’
‘Nevertheless, you threatened him that you would?’
‘I didn’t need to.’
‘Because he believed you would tell her?’
‘I don’t know. You’re confusing me with your questions.’
In a tired voice, he added:
‘I’m dying for some sleep.’
‘Drink your coffee.’
He obeyed meekly, never taking his eyes off Maigret.
‘Did you go to see him often?’
‘Just twice.’
‘Did Monique know?’
‘What has she told you?’
‘It’s not about what she said, it’s about finding out the truth.’
‘She knew.’
‘What did you tell him?’
‘Who?’
‘Louis Thouret, for pity’s sake.’
‘That we needed money.’
‘Who’s “we”?’
‘Monique and I.’
‘Why?’
‘To go to South America.’
‘You told him of your plan?’
‘Yes.’
‘How did he react?’
‘In the end he agreed that there was no other way.’
Something wasn’t quite right. Maigret could see that the boy thought he knew more than he actually did. He had to play this carefully.
‘Did you say you wanted to marry her?’
‘Yes. He knew it was out of the question. Firstly, I’m still a minor, so I need my parents’ consent. Secondly, even if I got it, Madame Thouret would never accept a son-in-law without a proper profession. Monsieur Thouret was the first to advise me not to go and see his wife.’
‘Did you tell him that you and Monique had made love in hotel rooms on numerous occasions?’
‘I didn’t go into detail.’
He was blushing again.
‘I simply told him she was pregnant.’
Maigret didn’t bat an eyelid, didn’t display any surprise. But the news had caught him completely off guard. Perhaps he wasn’t paying close attention, because it was the one thing that simply hadn’t crossed his mind.
‘How many months?’
‘Just over two months.’
‘Have you seen a doctor?’
‘I didn’t go with her.’
‘But she went?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you wait for her outside?’
‘No.’
He sat back in his chair and mechanically filled a new pipe.
‘What were you planning to do in South America?’
‘Anything. I’m not scared of anything. I would have worked as a cowboy.’
He said these words with the utmost seriousness and seemed very full of himself. Maigret brought to mind the tall, hulking cowboys he had actually met on ranches in Texas and Arizona.
‘Cowboy,’ he repeated.
‘Or I’d have worked as a gold miner.’
‘Naturally.’
‘I’d have got by.’
‘And you would have married Monique?’
‘Yes. It’s probably easier over there than here.’
‘Do you love Monique?’
‘She’s my wife, isn’t she? Just because we haven’t been to the registry office . . .’
‘How did Monsieur Louis react when you told him all this?’
‘He couldn’t believe that his daughter could do such a thing. He cried.’
‘In front of you?’
‘Yes. I swore to him that my intentions were . . .’
‘ . . . honourable. Of course. Then what?’
‘He promised to help us. He couldn’t lay his hands on all the money, but he managed to give me some.’
‘Where is this money?’
‘Monique has it. She hides it in her desk.’
‘And the rest of the money you need?’
‘He promised he’d have it for me by Tuesday. He was expecting a large payment.’
‘From whom?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Did he tell you what he did?’
‘He couldn’t, obviously.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because he wasn’t working. I didn’t manage to find out how he got hold of the money. There were two of them.’
‘Did you see the other one?’
‘Once, on the boulevard.’
‘Tall, thin guy with the face of a clown?’
‘Yes.’
‘He was here in this office a short time before you arrived. He’s the one who was drinking that glass of brandy.’
‘So, you know the truth?’
‘I want to know what you know.’
‘Nothing. I assumed they were blackmailing someone.’
‘So you told yourself that there was no reason why you shouldn’t have a slice of the pie?’
‘We needed money – for the baby.’
Maigret picked up the telephone.
‘Lucas? Could you come in for a moment?’
When Lucas arrived, he said:
‘May I introduce Albert Jorisse? He and Monique Thouret are expecting a baby.’
He said this in a very solemn tone and Lucas, not knowing what to think, simply nodded a greeting.
‘The young woman must be at her office now, since she didn’t go in this morning. Go and find her. Take her to a doctor of her choice. If she doesn’t express a preference, take her to the doctor at the Préfecture. I would like to know how many months pregnant she is.’
‘What if she won’t let him examine her?’
‘Tell her that, in that case, I will be obliged to arrest her as well as her boyfriend, who is now in my office. Take the car. Call me and let me know what is the answer.’
When they were alone again, Jorisse asked:
‘Why are you doing this?’
‘Because it is my duty to double-check everything.’
‘You don’t believe me?’
‘You I believe.’
‘So it’s her you don’t believe?’
In timely fashion the telephone rang, giving Maigret an excuse not to answer. The call was unrelated to the case. Someone was asking for information about a m
adman who had come to see him a few days earlier and who had been arrested in the street for causing a public disturbance. Rather than giving a short answer, which he could easily have done, Maigret spun the conversation out for as long as possible.
When he hung up again, he pretended he couldn’t remember where they had left off and asked:
‘What will you do now?’
‘Do you believe I didn’t kill him?’
‘I’ve never thought that you did. You see, it isn’t as easy as people think to stab someone in the back. It is even harder to kill someone without them crying out.’
‘You think I’d be incapable of that?’
‘Definitely.’
He seemed almost peeved at this. He did, of course, see himself as a cowboy or gold miner in South America.
‘Will you go and see Madame Thouret?’
‘I suppose I’ll have to.’
Maigret almost burst out laughing at the thought of the young man in the house in Juvisy, buttocks clenched, making small talk with Monique’s mother.
‘Do you think she will accept you as a son-in-law now?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘You haven’t been entirely straight with me, have you? Admit it.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You didn’t just ask Monsieur Louis for money to pay for the journey to South America. As Monique didn’t work in the office in the afternoon but was out collecting money in town, you wanted to be with her.
‘It was always possible to find an hour or two in her schedule, and you went off to some rented room together.’
‘It did happen like that sometimes, yes.’
‘So you were able only to work mornings in the bookshop. And hotel rooms cost money.’
‘We did spend a little bit of the money . . .’
‘Do you know where Monsieur Louis put his money?’
He was carefully observing the young man, who said without hesitation:
‘On top of his wardrobe.’
‘Is that where he got the cash that he gave to you?’
‘Yes. But I knew already, from Monique.’
‘I assume you didn’t go to Rue d’Angoulême on Monday?’
‘It’s easy enough to check. The landlady will tell you. I was meant to go there at five o’clock on Tuesday.’
‘When were you going to set sail?’
‘Our boat was in three weeks. That gave us enough time to sort out our visas. I have already applied for my passport.’
‘I thought that parental authorization was required in the case of minors.’
‘I forged my father’s signature.’
There was a silence. For the first time Jorisse asked:
‘May I smoke?’
Maigret nodded. Curiously, now he had drunk his coffee, he really fancied a glass of brandy but he didn’t dare retrieve the bottle, which he had put back in the cupboard.
‘You called me a hooligan.’
‘And what do you think about that?’
‘I could hardly behave any other way.’
‘Would you like it if your son acted the way you did?’
‘I will bring up my son differently. He won’t have to—’
They were interrupted by the telephone again.
‘Is that you, chief?’
Maigret frowned when he heard Neveu’s voice, since he hadn’t sent him on any particular errand.
‘I’ve got the money.’
‘What are you saying?’
He looked at Jorisse, then interrupted his inspector:
‘Just a moment, I’m going to another phone.’
He went into the next-door office and picked an officer at random to go and keep an eye on the young man.
‘OK. I’m listening. Where are you?’
‘Quai de Valmy. In a bar.’
‘What are you doing there?’
‘Are you annoyed?’
‘Talk.’
‘I thought I was doing the right thing. Jef has been living with Françoise for ten years now. From what I’ve heard, he’s more attached to her than he makes out. I just had an urge to have a look around at their place.’
‘Why?’
‘It struck me as odd that he should have left her without any money. I was lucky enough to find her at home. They have only two rooms, then a sort of cupboard that serves as their kitchen. In the bedroom there is an iron bed with brass knobs on it. The walls are whitewashed, like in a country house, but it is very clean.’
Maigret waited patiently for the end of the story, in a bad mood. He didn’t like it when his men overstepped the mark, particularly when the officer in question, like Neveu, was not part of his department.
‘Did you tell her that Jef has been arrested?’
‘Did I do wrong?’
‘Just continue.’
‘First of all, from her reaction, I was sure that she had no idea what he did. Her first thought was that he had been caught lifting a wallet in the Métro or on a bus. I guess that’s what he does.’
It was one of Schrameck’s talents even when he was still working the fairs; one of his convictions was for pickpocketing.
‘Despite her protests, I started searching the apartment. In the end I had the idea of unscrewing the brass bedknobs. The iron bars on the bed were hollow. In two of them I found rolls of banknotes. There was quite a tidy sum there! Françoise couldn’t believe her eyes!
‘“To think he had all this money and he sent me out to do cleaning! Well, he can’t take it with him to heaven. Just wait till he gets home . . .”
‘She carried on ranting, calling him every name under the sun. She only calmed down when I told her that he must have put this money aside in case anything ever happened to him.
‘“I wonder how he managed to resist betting it on the horses!” she grumbled.
‘So, do you see now, chief? Last Saturday they must have shared out a large haul. I’ve got more than 200,000 francs here. Jef couldn’t have bet that much money, especially at Fernand’s. He must only have lost a part of it. So if they split the money fifty-fifty, Monsieur Louis would have had a big wad too.’
‘Thank you.’
‘What shall I do with the money?’
‘Did you bring it with you?’
‘Yes, just in case. I couldn’t leave it there.’
‘Go and see your chief inspector and ask him to do this all over again, this time by the book.’
‘You mean I have to—’
‘Dammit! I’m not going to let the lawyers make out that we planted the money.’
‘Have I screwed up?’
‘Somewhat.’
‘I’m sorry. I just wanted to—’
Maigret hung up. Torrence was in the office.
‘Are you busy?’
‘Nothing that can’t wait.’
‘Go and find Detective Chief Inspector Antoine. Ask him to get his men to draw up a list of robberies from shops on the Grands Boulevards over the last two and a half years, particularly robberies that took place at midday, when the shops were closed for lunch.’
These thefts didn’t come under his jurisdiction but were handled by Antoine’s department, whose offices were at the other end of the corridor.
He went back to Albert Jorisse, who had just lit another cigarette, and sent out the officer he had put in charge of keeping an eye on him.
‘I wasn’t going to run away.’
‘It could happen. Or maybe you would have been tempted to take a peek at the files in my desk. Go on, admit it. Would you have done that?’
‘Maybe.’
‘That makes all the difference.’
‘What does?’
‘No matter. I know what I mean.’
‘What are you going to do with me?’
‘Nothing for the moment. We’re just going to wait.’
Maigret looked at his watch and reckoned that Lucas and Monique must be at the doctor’s by now, leafing through magazines in the waiting room.
/> ‘You despise me, don’t you?’
He shrugged his shoulders.
‘I never had a chance.’
‘Chance to do what?’
‘Get away.’
‘Get away from what?’
His tone was almost aggressive.
‘I can see that you don’t understand. If you had spent your childhood having to listen to nothing but talk about money, with a mother who would get into a state whenever it got towards the end of the month—’
‘I didn’t have a mother.’
The young man stopped talking. The next ten minutes passed in total silence. For a good while Maigret stood at the window, his back to the room, watching the rain trace lines on the windowpane. Then he started pacing up and down and finally opened the cupboard door with a rather determined gesture. He had previously washed the water glass in the wash-basin; he gave it another rinse and poured out a shot of brandy.
‘I don’t suppose you want one?’
‘No, thank you.’
Albert Jorisse was struggling to stay awake. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes must have been smarting. Every now and again, he rocked on his chair.
‘Maybe you’ll be a man one day after all.’
He heard footsteps in the corridor, a man and a woman, and he knew it was Lucas bringing in Monique. He had to make a decision, one he had been pondering for the last quarter of an hour. He could show the young woman in here or he could receive her in the next-door office.
With a shrug of the shoulders he went to open the door. They both had raindrops on their shoulders. Monique didn’t seem so self-assured, and when she spotted Albert she froze, gripping her bag with both hands and shooting Maigret an angry look.
‘Did you take her to the doctor’s?’
‘At first, she didn’t want to go. I—’
‘The result?’
Jorisse had stood up and looked at her as if he were about to throw himself at her feet to ask her forgiveness.
‘Negative.’
‘She’s not pregnant?’
‘She never has been.’
Jorisse couldn’t believe his ears. He didn’t know which way to turn. He seemed to be about to take it out on Maigret, whom he apparently regarded as the cruellest man on earth.
Maigret closed the door and ushered Monique to a chair.
‘Do you have anything to say?’
‘I believed—’
‘No.’
‘What do you know about it? You’re not a woman.’
She turned to the young man:
‘I swear to you, Albert, that I really did believe that we were going to have a baby.’
Maigret and the Man on the Bench Page 13
