Maigret's Holiday Read Online Free PDF Page A

… I’m surprised you haven’t heard
…’
    â€˜I know so few people here
…’
    â€˜It was … let me think …
two days ago … Yes, the 3rd of August … The report must still be in my
secretary’s office, but I wouldn’t know where to lay my hands on it …
Doctor Bellamy had driven to La Roche-sur-Yon, with his sister-in-law …’
    â€˜How old was she?’
    â€˜Nineteen … A strange girl,
interesting-looking rather than pretty … Now don’t start getting ideas,
whatever you do … Lili Godreau was sweet, but her sister − whom Bellamy
married − is one of the most beautiful women you’ll ever come across …
Unfortunately, you won’t get much opportunity to see her, since she rarely leaves
the house …’
    â€˜How old is she?’ repeated
Maigret.
    â€˜Around twenty-five …
Bellamy’s love for his wife is almost legendary around here … It’s a
real passion and everyone will tell you that he is fiercely jealous … Some people
say that he locks her inside the house when he goesout, like for
example when he comes every afternoon to play cards … I think they’re
exaggerating … On the other hand, Bellamy’s mother never seems to be away
from the house at the same time as her son and I wouldn’t be surprised if she
stays at home to keep an eye on her daughter-in-law. You saw the doctor telephone
… He can’t be away from home for two hours without calling her, without
making contact with her, perhaps to check that she’s there …’
    â€˜What sort of family is she
from?’
    â€˜Well, her mother’s life
isn’t exactly reassuring for a husband … Does this really interest you?
I’ll try and tell you what I know … Bellamy’s wife is called Odette
and her maiden name is Godreau … Her mother was from a fairly good family, the
daughter of a naval officer, I think … She was, and still is, a very beautiful
woman.
    â€˜For twenty years, at Les Sables
d’Olonne, her name was a byword for sin … I don’t know whether
you’ve lived in a provincial town and whether you know what I’m talking
about … She wasn’t married … She was a kept woman … She was the
mistress of two or three rich gentlemen in succession, including Monsieur Lourceau, whom
you saw at the café … Curtains twitched when she walked past, lustful
schoolboys and married men would turn around to gaze at her. When she entered a shop,
conversations would stop and the ladies would put on a tight-lipped air …
    â€˜She had two daughters, said to be
from different fathers, Odette and Lili …
    â€˜Odette grew into a young woman even
more stunningthan her mother had been, and Doctor Bellamy met her
before she had even reached twenty …
    â€˜He married her.
    â€˜You saw him. I told you he was a
character. He married the young lady, but he didn’t want the mother-in-law around.
He gave her an allowance so that she’d leave town … Apparently she lives in
Paris now with a retired industrialist …
    â€˜Since there was a younger sister, who
was thirteen at the time they got married, the doctor took responsibility for her
… He brought her up … Today, or rather yesterday, she was nineteen
…
    â€˜The two of them went to La
Roche-sur-Yon in Bellamy’s car …’
    â€˜With Odette?’
    â€˜No, alone … Lili was a pianist
and went to all the concerts … There was one on at La Roche-sur-Yon at four
o’clock … Her brother-in-law drove her there … On the way
back—’
    â€˜At what time?’
    â€˜Just after seven … It was still
broad daylight … The road was far from empty … I’m telling you all
this because it’s important … The door, which probably hadn’t been
closed properly, swung open and Lili