Read Online My Friend Maigret by Georges Simenon - Free Book Online Page B

really was in love with him, you know. I talked about him a lot to you, in the old days, when you took me up after his arrest. He wasn’t a bad man, you know. Underneath he was really rather innocent, I’d even say shy. And just because he was shy he wanted to be like the others. Only he exaggerated. Up there I understood everything.”
    â€œAnd you stopped loving him?”
    â€œI didn’t love him anymore in the same way. I saw other people. I could make comparisons. The doctor helped me to understand.”
    â€œWere you in love with the doctor?”
    She laughed, a little nervously.
    â€œI think in a sanatorium people are always more or less in love with their doctors.”
    â€œDid Marcel write to you?”
    â€œNow and then.”
    â€œWas he hoping to take up the old life with you again?”
    â€œAt first, yes, I think so. Then he changed, too. We didn’t change in the same way, the two of us. He grew old very quickly, almost overnight. I don’t know if you saw him again. Before, he was smart, particular about his appearance. He was proud. It all started when he came to the Riviera, quite by chance.”
    â€œWas it he who made you go into service with Justine and Émile?”
    â€œNo. I knew Justine by name. I applied to her. She took me on trial, as an assistant manageress, as I wasn’t fit for anything else. I was operated on four times up there, and my body is covered with scars.”
    â€œI asked you why you had come today.”
    He came relentlessly back to this question.
    â€œWhen I found out that you were on the case, I thought you would remember me and try to get hold of me. That would probably have taken some time.”
    â€œIf I understand you correctly, since you came out of the sanatorium you had no further relations with Marcel, but you sent him money orders?”
    â€œOccasionally. I wanted him to enjoy himself a little. He wouldn’t show it but he went through some bad patches.”
    â€œDid he tell you so?”
    â€œHe told me he was a failure, that he always had been a failure, and that he hadn’t even been able to become a real crook.”
    â€œWas it in Nice that he told you this?”
    â€œHe never came to see me at the Sirènes. He knew it was forbidden.”
    â€œHere?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œDo you often come to Porquerolles?”
    â€œNearly every month. Justine’s too old, now, to inspect her establishments herself. Monsieur Émile has never liked traveling.”
    â€œDo you sleep here, at the Arche?”
    â€œAlways.”
    â€œWhy doesn’t Justine give you a room? The villa is large enough.”
    â€œShe never has women sleeping under her roof.”
    He sensed that he was reaching the sensitive spot, but Ginette wasn’t giving in completely yet.
    â€œIs she afraid for her son?” he asked jokingly, as he lit a fresh pipe.
    â€œStrange though it may seem, it’s the truth. She has always made him live tied to her apron strings and that is why he has got a girl’s character rather than a man’s. At his age she still treats him like a child. He can’t do anything without her permission.”
    â€œDoes he like women?”
    â€œHe’s more afraid of them. I mean in general. He’s not keen, you know. He’s never had good health. He spends his time looking after himself, taking pills, reading medical books.”
    â€œWhat else is there, Ginette?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œWhy have you come here today?”
    â€œBut I’ve told you.”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œI thought you would be wondering about Monsieur Émile and his mother.”
    â€œExplain.”
    â€œYou aren’t like the other detectives, but even so! When something fishy happens, it’s always people of a certain type that are suspected.”
    â€œAnd you intended to tell me that Monsieur Émile had nothing to do with