Read Online The Grand Banks Café by Georges Simenon - Free Book Online

what you
     were doing on board the trawler.’
    â€˜Dead simple! I was following my
     boyfriend.’
    â€˜Captain Fallut?’
    â€˜Yes, the captain. I’d been with him, so to
     say, since last November. We met in Le Havre, in a bar. He fell for me. He used to
     come back to see me two or three times a week. Though from the start I thought he
     was a bit odd, because he never asked me to do anything. It’s true! He was
     ever so prissy, everything had to be just so! He set me up in a room in a nice
     little hotel, and I started thinking that if I played my cards right he’d end
     up marrying me. Sailors don’t get rich, but it’s steady money, and
     there’s a pension.’
    â€˜Did you ever come to Fécamp with
     him?’
    â€˜No. He wouldn’t have that.
     It was him who came to me. He was jealous. He was a decent enough sort who
     can’t have been around much because he was fifty and was as shy with women as
     a schoolboy. That plus the fact that he’d got me under his skin …’
    â€˜Just a moment. Were you already
     the mistress of Gaston Buzier?’
    â€˜Sure! But I’d introduced
     Gaston to Fallut. Said he was my brother.’
    â€˜I see. So in short you were both
     being subsidized by the captain.’
    â€˜I was working!’ protested
     Buzier.
    â€˜I can see you now, hard at it
     every Saturday afternoon. And which of you came up with the scheme for sending you
     to sea on the boat?’
    â€˜Fallut. He couldn’t bear
     the thought of leaving me by myself while he was away playing sailors. But he was
     also scared witless, because the rules about that sort of thing are strict, and he
     was a stickler for rules. He held out until the very last minute. Then he came and
     fetched me. The
night before he was to set
     sail, he took me to his cabin. I quite fancied the idea because it made a change.
     But if I’d known what it was going to be like, I’d have been off like a
     shot!’
    â€˜Buzier didn’t try to stop
     you?’
    â€˜He couldn’t make up his
     mind. Do you understand? We couldn’t go against what the old fool wanted.
     He’d promised me he’d retire as soon as he got back after that trip and
     marry me. But the whole set-up was nothing to write home about! It was no fun being
     cooped up all day in a cabin that stank of fish! And on top of that, every time
     anybody came in, I had to hide under the bed! We’d been at sea no time when
     Fallut start regretting he’d taken me along. I never saw a man have the
     jitters like him! A dozen times a day he’d check to see if he’d locked
     the door. If I spoke, he shut me up in case anyone overheard. He was grumpy, on pins
     … Sometimes he’d stare at me for minutes on end as if he was tempted to get
     rid of me by throwing me overboard.’
    Her voice was shrill, and she was waving
     her arms about.
    â€˜Not to mention the fact that he
     got more and more jealous! He asked me about my past … he tried to find out … then
     he’d go three days without talking to me, spying on me like I was his enemy.
     Then all of a sudden, he’d be madly in love with me again. There were times
     when I was really scared of him!’
    â€˜Which members of the crew saw you
     when you were on board?’
    â€˜It was the fourth night. I felt
     like a breath of air out on
deck.
     I’d had enough of being locked up. Fallut went outside and checked to make
     sure there was no one about. It was as much as he could do to let me walk five steps
     up and down. He must have gone up on the bridge for a moment, and it was then that
     the wireless operator showed up and spoke to me … He was shy but got worked up. Next
     day he managed to get into my cabin.’
    â€˜Did Fallut see him?’
    â€˜I don’t think so … He
     didn’t mention anything.’
    â€˜Did you sleep with Le