Maigret's Secret by Georges Simenon

Author:Georges Simenon
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780241303887
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2018-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

In the minds of the readers it was as if Josset had killed Annette’s father himself.

There was talk about his years as a widower, his dignified, solitary life, his love for his only daughter, the shock he had received when he went to her apartment in Rue Caulaincourt and learned of the relationship between Annette and her employer.

Josset was already a condemned man. Even Coméliau, who should have seen things from a purely professional point of view, was quite wound up as he spoke to Maigret on the telephone.

‘Have you read this?’

It was Thursday morning. Maigret had just arrived at work, having read the newspapers standing up on the bus.

‘I hope Josset has found a lawyer, because I am going to summon him to my chambers and bring this to a swift conclusion … The public won’t accept this being dragged out any longer …’

That meant that Maigret could say nothing more. The examining magistrate was taking the matter in hand, and the inspector, in theory, could only act under his instructions from now on.

Perhaps he wouldn’t see Josset again, except in court. And he would know only what the magistrate deemed fit to tell him about any further interrogations.

That couldn’t have been the day he went to Niort and Fontenay, because Coméliau wouldn’t have failed to hear about it and given him a stern reprimand.

According to regulations, he wasn’t allowed the shortest excursion outside of Paris.

Even his first telephone call to Doctor Liorant, who lived in Rue Rabelais in Fontenay-le-Comte and whom he had met previously in the town, hadn’t strictly been by the book.

‘Maigret here … Do you remember me, doctor?’

The reply was cool, cautious, and this immediately set Maigret on alert.

‘Could I pick your brains, in a personal capacity?’

‘I’m listening.’

‘I was wondering whether Martin Duché was, by chance, one of your patients.’

Silence.

‘I don’t imagine that is in breach of patient confidentiality.’

‘He did have reason to come to see me.’

‘Was he seriously ill?’

‘I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.’

‘Just a moment, doctor … Forgive me for insisting, but a man’s life is at stake. I have been told that Duché would come to a sudden halt, in the street or somewhere else, like someone suffering from angina.’

‘Was it a doctor who told you that? If that’s so, he was wrong to do so.’

‘It wasn’t a doctor.’

‘In that case, it is merely unfounded speculation.’

‘Can’t you tell me whether his life was in danger?’

‘I have absolutely nothing to add. If you will excuse me, inspector, I have a dozen patients waiting.’

Maigret would see him again, no more successfully, on his trip to Niort and Fontenay, while between trains, out of sight of Coméliau and even of Quai des Orfèvres.

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