Maigret Read Online Free PDF Page B

go there
     tonight?’
    ‘Right away if you
     like.’
    She shrugged off her
     bathrobe and, dress in hand, looked at Maigret for a moment.
    ‘Do you really want me to put my
     clothes back on?’
    ‘Yes,’ he sighed, putting a
     hundred francs on the mantelpiece.
    They walked up Rue Blanche together. On
     the corner of Rue de Douai, they shook hands and parted company, and Maigret headed
     down Rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. When he arrived at his hotel, he was surprised to
     catch himself whistling.
    By ten in the morning, he was ensconced
     at the Chope du Pont-Neuf, where he had chosen a table that was intermittently in
     the sun, as the passers-by kept casting shadows. Spring was already in the air.
     Street life was more cheerful, the sounds sharper.
    At Quai des Orfèvres, it was time for
     the morning briefing. At the end of the long corridor of offices, the head of the
     Police Judiciaire was meeting his colleagues, who had all brought their case files.
     Detective Chief Inspector Amadieu was in his element. Maigret could imagine the
     scenario.
    ‘Well, Amadieu, what’s new
     in the Palestrino case?’
    Amadieu leaning forwards, twiddling his
     moustache, saying with an amiable smile:
    ‘Here are the reports,
     chief.’
    ‘Is it true that Maigret is in
     Paris?’
    ‘So rumour has it.’
    ‘So why the hell hasn’t he
     come to see me?’
    Maigret smiled. He was certain that this
     was how theconversation would go. He could picture Amadieu’s
     long face growing even longer. He could hear him insinuating:
    ‘Perhaps he has his
     reasons.’
    ‘Do you really think young
     Philippe fired that shot?’
    ‘I’m not making any
     accusations, chief. All I know is that his fingerprints are on the gun. We found a
     second bullet in the wall.’
    ‘Why would he have done
     that?’
    ‘Panic … We’re given young
     inspectors who haven’t been trained to—’
    Just then, Philippe walked into the
     Chope du Pont-Neuf and made a beeline for his uncle, who asked:
    ‘What are you drinking?’
    ‘A
café crème
. I’ve
     managed to get everything you asked for, but it wasn’t easy. Amadieu has got
     his eye on me! The others are wary of me.’
    He wiped the lenses of his glasses and
     fished some papers out of his pocket.
    ‘First of all, Cageot. I looked
     him up in the files and copied his details. He was born in Pontoise and he’s
     fifty-nine years old. He started out as a solicitor’s clerk in Lyon and he was
     sentenced to a year for forgery and falsification of records. Three years later, he
     was given six months for attempted insurance fraud. That was in Marseille.
    ‘There’s no trace of him for
     several years, but then he turned up again in Monte-Carlo, where he worked as a
     croupier. From that point he was a police informant, which didn’t prevent him
     from being mixed up in a gambling case that was never solved.
    ‘Finally, five years ago, in
     Paris, he was manager of alow-down dive called the Cercle de
     l’Est. The place was soon closed down, but Cageot wasn’t bothered.
     That’s the lot! Since then, he’s lived in an apartment in Rue des
     Batignolles where there’s just a cleaning woman. He’s still a regular
     visitor to the Ministry of the Interior in Rue des Saussaies and at Quai des
     Orfèvres. He owns at least three nightclubs which are managed by front
     men.’
    ‘Pepito?’ asked Maigret, who
     had taken notes.
    ‘Age twenty-nine. Born in Naples.
     Deported from France twice for drug trafficking. No other offences.’
    ‘Barnabé?’
    ‘Born in Marseille. Age
     thirty-two. Three convictions, including one for armed robbery.’
    ‘Has the stuff been found at the
     Floria?’
    ‘Nothing. No drugs, no documents.
     Pepito’s killer took the lot.’
    ‘What’s the name of the
     fellow who bumped into you and then called the police?’
    ‘Joseph Audiat. A former waiter
     who’s mixed up in horse-racing. I think his job is to collect the bets. He is
     of no fixed