The 13 Culprits by Georges Simenon

Author:Georges Simenon [Simenon, Georges]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Georges Simenon
ISBN: 9781885941794
Publisher: Crippen & Landru Pub
Published: 1974-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

The Seventh Culprit:

WALDEMAR STRVZESKI

« ^ »

SIT DOWN!” said Monsieur Froget.

The first reaction of the accused was to laugh so much he bent over backwards, then, with a certain formality, he affected an artificial smile which suddenly made all his features seem pointy. He said: “ Thank you! And I would like to tell you, monsieur le juge, what a relief it is for me to finally deal with a real man of the world.”

Seating himself and making small hand gestures as he talked while Monsieur Froget watched him in as discouraging a manner as possible, he continued: “ If I were still wearing my officer’s uniform as a staff officer in the Polish army, the brutal behavior of your subordinates would be cause for diplomatic action. Having become a simple citizen and, moreover, a foreigner in this country, I am reduced to a position where I must suffer all this in silence.”

He listened to himself speak with great satisfaction. He was a thin little man, dry, stiff as a stick. To his stupefaction, the jailor had watched him remove a corset, as he was undressing, worn by certain officers in the past. Waldemar had a chiseled face. He was very nearsighted and wore a golden pince-nez that he had to wipe off at every moment. To do this, he carried a piece of camel hair in the pocket of his waistcoat. He wore the correct clothes, with a knife-edge crease.

“ Listen Strvzeski…”

“ Excuse-me… Strvzes … Do you understand? Look at my mouth… Strvzes… like this… Then ki… There are very few Frenchmen who can pronounce my name correctly and it’s quite unpleasant…”

Monsieur Froget did not flinch in the least. On the contrary!

His coldness increased tenfold. “ On Tuesday January 18th, you left your apartment on the rue Turenne, at eight o’clock in the morning.”

“ About that time, yes, monsieur le juge. I would like to point out to you, however…”

“ You bought a newspaper a hundred meters from there, at a draper’s. She claims that your hand was trembling when you handed the five sous to her.”

“ I’m convinced that you are not considering the difference between a draper and a staff officer…”

“ …Yet, you were able to read only one headline, written in bold lettering: ‘ Zirski and Protov were executed this morning…’ ”

“ Every country has their rotten citizens, monsieur le juge

…And…”

“ You left the store in a rather agitated state. You walked all the way to the Place de la Republique and you entered a gunsmith’s store. You asked for a revolver…”

“ An unloaded one, right?”

“ Unloaded, indeed. The gunsmith was even surprised that you did not wish to supply yourself with bullets.”

“ You see…”

“ I see nothing. Before leaving, you went over to open the door.

You became more and more nervous. You felt you needed to tell the merchant, who didn’t ask any questions at all, that you were a staff officer…”

“ Monsieur le juge, I…”

“ You walked along the Grands Boulevards until you reached the Porte Saint-Denis.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.