Maigret by Georges Simenon Read Free Book Online Page A

the same. I have to see the
     chief in five minutes.’
    Maigret pretended not to know what that
     meant and began unbuttoning his overcoat, slowly and deliberately. He was very much
     at home in this office, which had been his for ten years.
    ‘Are you worried about your
     nephew?’ blurted out Amadieu, who was unable to keep quiet any longer.
     ‘I want you to know that I’m even more concerned than you are. I’m
     the one who’s carrying the can. It’s gone all the way to the top, you
     know. The minister himself sent a note to the chief. I’m not even involved any
     more. It’s the examining magistrate who’s in charge. Gastambide was
     there in your day, wasn’t he?’
    The telephone rang. Amadieu held the
     receiver to his ear and muttered:
    ‘… Yes, chief … Very good, chief …
     In a few minutes … I’m not alone … Yes … That’s correct …’
    Maigret knew what this conversation was
     about. At the other end of the corridor, Philippe had just been called into the
     chief’s office.
    ‘Did you want to ask me
     something?’ said Amadieu, getting to his feet. ‘You heard. The chief
     wants me.’
    ‘Just a couple of questions. First
     of all, was Cageot aware that Pepito was about to be arrested?’
    ‘I don’t know. Besides, I
     don’t see how that’s relevant.’
    ‘I’m sorry. I know Cageot. I
     know he’s an informer. I also know that sometimes there’s careless talk
     in front of informers. Did he come here two or three days before the
     murder?’
    ‘I think so. Yes, I
     recall—’
    ‘Another
     question: Do you know the address of Joseph Audiat, that waiter who was walking down
     Rue Fontaine and just happened to bump into Philippe?’
    ‘He sleeps at a hotel in Rue
     Lepic, if I’m not mistaken.’
    ‘Have you checked out
     Cageot’s alibi?’
    Amadieu feigned a smile.
    ‘Now look, Maigret, I know how to
     do my job!’
    But there was more to come. On the desk,
     Maigret had spotted a yellow cardboard folder with the vice squad’s
     letterhead.
    ‘Is that the report on Fernande
     Bosquet’s arrest already?’
    Amadieu looked away. He had seemed about
     to give Maigret a clear explanation, but now his hand was on the door knob and he
     merely mumbled:
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘I mean that Cageot had a girl
     arrested by the Vice. Where is she now?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘May I have a quick look at the
     file?’
    It was hard to say no. Maigret leaned
     over, read a few lines and concluded:
    ‘She’s probably having her
     fingerprints done as we speak.’
    The telephone rang again. Amadieu raised
     his hand.
    ‘I’m sorry, but—’
    ‘I know. Mustn’t keep the
     chief waiting.’
    Maigret buttoned up his overcoat and
     left the office at the same time as Amadieu. Instead of heading back down the
     stairs, he walked with him to the waiting room with red velvet armchairs.
    ‘Would you ask the chief if he can
     see me?’
    Amadieu pushed open a
     padded door. The office boy also vanished inside the head of the Police
     Judiciaire’s office where Philippe was being grilled. Maigret stood waiting,
     hat in hand.
    ‘The chief is very busy and
     requests that you come back this afternoon.’
    Maigret turned and walked back through
     the knots of inspectors. His expression was a little grim, but he wanted to keep up
     appearances. He gave a joyless smile.
    He did not go back out into the street,
     but sneaked off down the narrow corridors and up the winding staircases that led to
     the top floor of the Palais de Justice. He found his way to the criminal records
     department and pushed open the door. The women’s session was over. In the grey
     room around fifty men who had been arrested the previous night were getting
     undressed, leaving their clothes in little piles on the benches lining the
     walls.
    Once naked, one by one they went into
     the next room where staff in black overalls took their fingerprints, sat them down
     on the anthropometric chair and