Read Online The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin by Georges Simenon - Free Book Online

grasped the situation at a glance. They were waiting for her, it
     seemed, because nothing was happening. The chief inspector with the ginger moustache
     was pacing round the large room.
    Jean Chabot, leaning on a table, was
     trying to eat a sandwich they had brought him. His father was standing in a corner,
     his head bowed.
    â€˜What about the other boy?’
     asked the chief, as he saw Adèle accompanied only by Girard.
    â€˜Lost him! He must have slipped
     out by a back door. According to mademoiselle here, he pinched the contents of her
     purse.’
    Chabot dared not look at anyone. He put
     down the sandwich, which he had hardly touched.
    â€˜A proper pair of rascals,
     inspector! Catch me being nice to the likes of them again!’
    â€˜Calm down, can’t you! Just
     answer my questions please.’
    â€˜But he’s walked off with my
     savings!’
    â€˜I asked you to be quiet,
     mademoiselle.’
    Girard whispered to his boss, and passed
     him the gold cigarette-case.
    â€˜And for a start, tell me how this
     object came to be in
your bedroom. I
     presume you recognize it. You were with the man Graphopoulos on his last evening
     alive. He brought this cigarette-case out several times, as various witnesses have
     told us. Did he give it to you?’
    She looked at Chabot, then at the chief
     inspector. ‘No!’
    â€˜So how did it get into your
     room?’
    â€˜Delfosse—’
    Chabot looked up sharply and made as if
     to rush forward.
    â€˜That’s not true.
     She—’
    â€˜You, sit down! So mademoiselle,
     you claim that René Delfosse was in possession of this object. You realize the
     gravity of that accusation.’
    She laughed:
    â€˜You bet I do! He ran off with the
     money in my handbag, that—’
    â€˜Have you known him
     long?’
    â€˜About three months. Since he
     started coming every night to the Gai-Moulin, with that other so-and-so! Pair of
     crybabies they are, anyway! I should have been more suspicious. But you know how it
     is. They’re so young! It was relaxing to chat with them. I treated them as
     pals, see? And when they bought me a drink, I took care not to order anything too
     expensive.’
    Her expression was stony.
    â€˜Were you the mistress of these
     two youths?’
    She gave a short laugh.
    â€˜Hardly! Yeah, that’s
     probably what they wanted. Too shy to ask, though. They used to come up to my place,
     one at a time, on silly excuses, just to watch me getting dressed.’
    â€˜On the
     night of the murder, you were drinking champagne with Graphopoulos. Did you have an
     arrangement to follow him out at the end of the evening?’
    â€˜What do you take me for?
     I’m a dancer.’
    â€˜Well, more precisely,
     you’re a hostess. And we all know what that means. So did you leave with
     him?’
    â€˜No, I did not!’
    â€˜Did he proposition
     you?’
    â€˜Oh! Yes and no. He was on at me
     to go and see him at his hotel, can’t remember which one. I didn’t pay
     attention.’
    â€˜But you didn’t leave the
     Gai-Moulin on your own.’
    â€˜No, that’s right. Just when
     I was on my way out, this other customer – I don’t know him, he must be French
     – anyway he asked me the way to Place Saint-Lambert. I said I was going that way,
     and he walked along with me for a bit, then he suddenly said, “Oh, I left my
     tobacco in the bar,” and he turned back.’
    â€˜Was this man heavily
     built?’
    â€˜Yeah, that’s
     right.’
    â€˜So you went straight
     home?’
    â€˜Like I do every night.’
    â€˜And you learned about the crime
     next day from the papers?’
    â€˜That young man there was at my
     place. It was him that told me.’
    Twice or three times already, Chabot had
     tried to interrupt, but the chief inspector had quelled him with a glance. As for
     the boy’s father, he