Lock No. 1 Read Online Free PDF Page A

voice.
    â€˜And there’s something else
     I will add. You have my permission to make life unpleasant for all these people
     connected to me. I know the police. I know they’ll go sniffing around, even in
     their dustbins. We might as well make a start now. Jeanne! … Jeanne! …’
    His wife appeared
     looking surprised and very apprehensive.
    â€˜Come in, for God’s sake!
     It’s no good meeting company behaving like a servant. Get yourself a glass. Go
     on! And clink with the inspector. Now, can you guess what he wants to
     know?’
    Pale and impassive, she was badly
     dressed, her hair was badly combed, and she had aged as badly as the furniture in
     the living room. The sun hurt her eyes, and after twenty-five years of marriage she
     still jumped each time her husband raised his voice.
    â€˜He wants to know what we talked
     about all through dinner when Berthe came with her husband.’
    She tried to smile. The hand holding her
     glass of champagne shook. Maigret noticed her fingers, which were wrinkled from
     working in the kitchen.
    â€˜Answer. Have a drink
     first.’
    â€˜We talked about all
     sorts.’
    â€˜That’s not true.’
    â€˜I’m sorry, inspector, but I
     don’t understand what my husband means.’
    â€˜Of course you do! Listen,
     I’ll help you …’
    She was standing up, next to the red
     armchair in which Ducrau was so firmly ensconced that he and it looked as if they
     were one and the same.
    â€˜Berthe started it. Try and
     remember. She said …’
    â€˜Ã‰mile!’
    â€˜Don’t Émile me! She said
     she was afraid to have a baby, and that if they did Decharme couldn’t stay in
     the army because he doesn’t earn enough to pay for a wet-nurse and
all the rest of the things they’d
     need. I advised him to get a job selling peanuts. Is that true or not?’
    She smiled weakly and tried to make
     excuses for him.
    â€˜You should get some rest
     …’
    â€˜And what did that great booby
     suggest? Answer! What did he suggest? That part of my estate should be divided up
     now, since it’s going to have to be done sooner or later! And with his share,
     he would move to Provence, where it seems the climate would best suit his progeny.
     Meanwhile, we could go and visit them in the holidays.’
    He was not worked up. This was no
     passing rage. The very opposite! He doled out his words slowly, harshly, one after
     the other.
    â€˜And what did he add when I was
     putting my hat on? I want you to say it.’
    â€˜I can’t
     remember.’
    She was near to tears. She put her glass
     down so that she would not upset it.
    â€˜Say it!’
    â€˜He said you were spending a lot
     of money on other things.’
    â€˜He didn’t say “other
     things”.’
    â€˜On …’
    â€˜Well?’
    â€˜On women …’
    â€˜Go on.’
    â€˜On her upstairs.’
    â€˜Did you hear that, inspector?
     Isn’t there anything else you want to ask her? I ask because she’s going
     to start crying, and that’s no fun for anybody. You can go!’
    He sighed again, a
     long sigh which could only have sprung from that barrel chest.
    â€˜That was just a sample. If you
     find it entertaining, you can carry on by yourself, without me. I’ll be back
     on my feet tomorrow, whatever the doctor says. You’ll find me where I am every
     morning from six onwards, on site. Another glass? You’ve forgotten to take
     some cigars. Gassin has just brought five hundred through for me, smuggled them in
     on his boat. As you see, I have no secrets from you.’
    He got heavily to his feet, pushing
     himself up on the arms of his chair.
    â€˜Thank you for all your
     assistance,’ said Maigret who had tried to find the most prosaic form of
     words.
    There was amusement in Ducrau’s
     eyes. In the inspector’s too. They stood