The Flemish House Read Online Free PDF Page B

closed the door behind him. The first-floor shutters were down.
    Maigret found Inspector Machère near
     the Flemish house, in conversation with two sailors, whom he left as he spotted
     Maigret.
    â€˜What are they saying?’
    â€˜I was talking to them about the
Étoile Polaire
… They think they remember that on the third of January
     the owner left the Café des Mariniers at about eight o’clock, and that he was
     drunk, as he was every evening … At this time of day he’s still asleep …
     I’ve just been on his boat, and he didn’t even hear me …’
    Behind the windows of the grocery shop
     the white head of Madame Peeters could be seen, observing the policemen.
    The conversation was disjointed. The two
     men looked around without examining anything in particular.
    On one side, the river with the
     overturned barriers, dragging flotsam along at a speed of nine kilometres an
     hour.
    On the other, the house.
    â€˜There are two entrances!’
     said Machère. ‘The one wecan see, and another one, behind
     the building … In the courtyard there’s a well …’
    He hastened to add:
    â€˜I’ve searched it … I think
     I’ve searched everything … And yet, I don’t know why, I have a sense
     that the corpse wasn’t thrown into the Meuse … What was that woman’s
     handkerchief doing on the roof?’
    â€˜You know they’ve found the
     motorcyclist?’
    â€˜I heard. But that doesn’t
     prove that Joseph Peeters wasn’t here that evening.’
    Of course! There was no proof either for
     or against! There wasn’t even any serious evidence!
    Germaine Piedboeuf had come into the
     shop at about eight o’clock. The Flemings claimed she had gone out again a few
     minutes later, but no one else had seen her.
    That was all!
    The Piedboeufs had levelled accusations
     and were demanding 300,000 francs in damages.
    Two boatmen’s wives came into the
     grocery, and the bell rang.
    â€˜Do you still believe, sir
     …’
    â€˜I don’t believe anything at
     all, old man! See you later …’
    He went into the shop in turn. The two
     customers shifted up to make room for him. Madame Peeters called out:
    â€˜Anna!’
    And she came hurrying, opening the glass
     kitchen door.
    â€˜Come in, inspector … Anna will be
     here very shortly … She’s tidying the bedrooms …’
    She turned her attention back to her
     customers, and Maigret, crossing the kitchen, turned into the corridor and slowly
     climbed the stairs. Anna mustn’t have heard. There were noises coming from a
     room whose door was open, and Maigret suddenly saw the girl, with a handkerchief
     knotted around her head, busy brushing a pair of men’s trousers.
    She saw the visitor in the mirror,
     turned swiftly and dropped the brush.
    â€˜How long have you been
     there?’
    She seemed much the same, although
     casually dressed for the morning. She still had the air of a well-brought-up,
     slightly distant girl.
    â€˜Excuse me … I was told you were
     upstairs … Is this your brother’s room?’
    â€˜Yes … He left first thing this
     morning … The exam is very hard … He wants to pass it with the best possible
     distinction, like the other ones …’
    On a sideboard there was a big portrait
     of Marguerite Van de Weert, in a light-coloured dress, wearing an Italian straw
     hat.
    And the girl had written, in long,
     pointed handwriting, the beginning of ‘Solveig’s Song’:
    Winter may pass
    Beloved spring
    May pass …
    Maigret was holding the portrait. Anna
     looked at him insistently, even with a hint of suspicion, as if she feared a
     smile.
    â€˜Those are lines from Ibsen,’
     she said.
    â€˜I know …’
    And Maigret recited the end of the
     poem:
    I wait for you here,
    O my handsome betrothed,
    Until my very last day