Read Online A Man's Head by Georges Simenon - Free Book Online Page B

spreading thick fog. Before leaving, the man being led away lit another cigarette and gave a friendly wave to the bartender.
    And as he passed Maigret, his eyes settled on him for just a few seconds.
    â€˜Hey! Get a move on! … And we don’t want any trouble, all right?’
    Then all three were gone. The manager went up to the counter.
    â€˜That wasn’t the Czech we had to throw out last week, was it?’
    â€˜That’s him,’ said the bartender. ‘He’s here every day from eight in the morning until eight at night. And you’re lucky if he orders a couple of coffees all day.’
    Maigret had walked to the door. He was thus able to see Joseph Heurtin get up from his bench and stand stock still with his eyes on the two officers who were leading away the man who liked caviar.
    But it was already too dark for Maigret to make out his features.
    The three men had not gone a hundred metres before the tramp went off in the other direction, followed at a distance by Sergeant Lucas.
    â€˜Police Judiciaire!’ the inspector said going back into the bar. ‘Who is he?’
    â€˜I think he’s called Radek … He has his letters sent here … You’ve seen all the letters we put up in the window. A Czech.’
    â€˜What does he do?’
    â€˜Nothing. He spends every day here in the bar … He thinks … He writes …’
    â€˜Do you know where he lives?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Does he have any friends?’
    â€˜I don’t think I ever remember seeing him speak to anybody.’
    Maigret paid his bill, walked out, jumped into a taxi and barked:
    â€˜Take me to the local police station.’
    When he got there, Radek was sitting on a bench, waiting until the station’s senior inspector was ready to see him.
    There were four or five foreigners who had come to register their addresses.
    Maigret walked straight into the inspector’s office, where a young woman was reporting a theft of jewels in a mixture of three or four central European languages.
    â€˜Are you here on a case?’ said the inspector, rather taken aback.
    â€˜Please finish dealing with this lady.’
    â€˜I can’t make out a word she’s saying … She’s been explaining the same thing over and over for the last half-hour.’
    Maigret did not even smile, but the lady became angry, repeated her story point by point and held up her ringless fingers.
    Finally, when she had gone, he said:
    â€˜You’re about to see a man named Radek, or something along those lines. I’ll be here. Fix it so that he has to spend a night in the cells, after which you let him go.’
    â€˜What’s he done?’
    â€˜He ordered caviar and wouldn’t pay.’
    â€˜At the Dôme?’
    â€˜No, the Coupole.’
    A bell rang.
    â€˜Let’s have Radek in.’
    Radek, hands in pockets, strode into the office without a care in the world, settled down opposite the two men and waited, looking them straight in the eye, while a delighted smile played around his lips.
    â€˜You are charged with buying goods without money.’
    The man nodded and began lighting a cigarette, which the inspector angrily snatched from his fingers.
    â€˜What have you got to say for yourself?’
    â€˜Not a thing.’
    â€˜You have a room somewhere? Enough money to live on?’
    From his pocket, the man produced a filthy passport, which he placed on the desk.
    â€˜You realize you face two weeks in jail?’
    â€˜The sentence will be suspended,’ said Radek, without turning a hair. ‘I think you’ll find that I have never been convicted of any offence.’
    â€˜It says here that you are a medical student. Is that correct?’
    â€˜Professor Grollet, who you must know by name, will tell you that I was his best pupil.’
    And, turning to Maigret, with a hint of mockery in his voice:
    â€˜I