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Authors: Georges Simenon
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truth, I donât think he spoke to anyone. Heâd stay
put for hours with his eyes just staring in front of him. Meantime Iâd made up
my mind to leave him. I was fed up with it all, wasnât I? Iâd have
sooner starved to death: Iâd never give up my freedom ⦠I heard somebody
walking
along the quayside. Then he came
in the cabin and said just a few words:
ââWait here until I come to
fetch you.ââ
âSpoken like a captain.
Didnât he ever speak more ⦠fondly?â
âAt the finish, no!â
âGo on.â
âI donât know anything else.
Or rather, the rest I learned from Gaston. He was there, down at the
harbour.â
âTalk!â Maigret ordered the
man.
âLike she said, I was down by the
harbour. I saw the crew go into the bar. I waited for Adèle. It was dark. Then after
a while, the captain came on shore by himself. There were trucks parked nearby. He
started walking, and as he did a man jumped him. I donât know exactly what
happened but there was a noise like a body falling into the water.â
âWould you recognize the
man?â
âNo. It was dark, and the trucks
stopped me seeing much.â
âWhich way did he go when he
left?â
âI think he walked along the
quay.â
âAnd you didnât see the
wireless operator?â
âI donât know ⦠Iâve
no idea what he looks like.â
âAnd you,â said Maigret,
turning to the woman, âhow did you get off the boat?â
âSomebody unlocked the door of the
cabin where I was shut in. It was Le Clinche. He said:
ââGo
quickly!ââ
âWas that all?â
âI tried to ask him what was
happening. I heard people
running along
the quayside and a boat with a lantern being rowed across the harbour.
ââGet going!â he
repeated.
âHe pushed me on to the gangway.
Everybody was looking the other way. No one paid any attention to me. I had the
feeling that something horrible was going on but I preferred to make myself scarce.
Gaston was waiting for me a little further along.â
âAnd what did the two of you do
after that?â
âGaston was as white as a sheet.
We went into bars and drank rum. We spent the night at the Railway Inn. The next day
all the papers were full of the death of Fallut. So first we took ourselves off to
Le Havre, just in case. We didnât want to get mixed up in that
business.â
âBut that didnât stop her
wanting to come back and nose around here,â snapped Gaston. âI
donât know whether it was on account of the wireless operator or â¦â
âJust shut up! Thatâs
enough! Of course I was curious about what had happened. So we came back here to
Fécamp three times. So that we wouldnât attract attention, we stayed at
Yport.â
âAnd you never saw the chief
mechanic again?â
âHow do you know about that? One
day, in Yport ⦠I was scared by the way he looked at me ⦠He followed me quite a
long way.â
âWhy were you arguing earlier this
afternoon with Gaston?â
She gave a shrug.
âBecause! Look, havenât you
got it yet? He thinks Iâm in love with Le Clinche, that the wireless operator
killed
because of me and I donât
know what else. He keeps going on and on until Iâm sick to death of it. I had
my fill of scenes on that damned boat â¦â
âBut when I showed you that photo
of you, on the hotel terrace â¦â
âOh very clever! Of course I knew
straight off that you were police. I told myself Le Clinche must have talked. I got
scared and told Gaston to get us out of there. Only on the way, we thought there was
no point because in the end theyâd collar us round the next corner. Not to
mention the fact that
put for hours with his eyes just staring in front of him. Meantime Iâd made up
my mind to leave him. I was fed up with it all, wasnât I? Iâd have
sooner starved to death: Iâd never give up my freedom ⦠I heard somebody
walking
along the quayside. Then he came
in the cabin and said just a few words:
ââWait here until I come to
fetch you.ââ
âSpoken like a captain.
Didnât he ever speak more ⦠fondly?â
âAt the finish, no!â
âGo on.â
âI donât know anything else.
Or rather, the rest I learned from Gaston. He was there, down at the
harbour.â
âTalk!â Maigret ordered the
man.
âLike she said, I was down by the
harbour. I saw the crew go into the bar. I waited for Adèle. It was dark. Then after
a while, the captain came on shore by himself. There were trucks parked nearby. He
started walking, and as he did a man jumped him. I donât know exactly what
happened but there was a noise like a body falling into the water.â
âWould you recognize the
man?â
âNo. It was dark, and the trucks
stopped me seeing much.â
âWhich way did he go when he
left?â
âI think he walked along the
quay.â
âAnd you didnât see the
wireless operator?â
âI donât know ⦠Iâve
no idea what he looks like.â
âAnd you,â said Maigret,
turning to the woman, âhow did you get off the boat?â
âSomebody unlocked the door of the
cabin where I was shut in. It was Le Clinche. He said:
ââGo
quickly!ââ
âWas that all?â
âI tried to ask him what was
happening. I heard people
running along
the quayside and a boat with a lantern being rowed across the harbour.
ââGet going!â he
repeated.
âHe pushed me on to the gangway.
Everybody was looking the other way. No one paid any attention to me. I had the
feeling that something horrible was going on but I preferred to make myself scarce.
Gaston was waiting for me a little further along.â
âAnd what did the two of you do
after that?â
âGaston was as white as a sheet.
We went into bars and drank rum. We spent the night at the Railway Inn. The next day
all the papers were full of the death of Fallut. So first we took ourselves off to
Le Havre, just in case. We didnât want to get mixed up in that
business.â
âBut that didnât stop her
wanting to come back and nose around here,â snapped Gaston. âI
donât know whether it was on account of the wireless operator or â¦â
âJust shut up! Thatâs
enough! Of course I was curious about what had happened. So we came back here to
Fécamp three times. So that we wouldnât attract attention, we stayed at
Yport.â
âAnd you never saw the chief
mechanic again?â
âHow do you know about that? One
day, in Yport ⦠I was scared by the way he looked at me ⦠He followed me quite a
long way.â
âWhy were you arguing earlier this
afternoon with Gaston?â
She gave a shrug.
âBecause! Look, havenât you
got it yet? He thinks Iâm in love with Le Clinche, that the wireless operator
killed
because of me and I donât
know what else. He keeps going on and on until Iâm sick to death of it. I had
my fill of scenes on that damned boat â¦â
âBut when I showed you that photo
of you, on the hotel terrace â¦â
âOh very clever! Of course I knew
straight off that you were police. I told myself Le Clinche must have talked. I got
scared and told Gaston to get us out of there. Only on the way, we thought there was
no point because in the end theyâd collar us round the next corner. Not to
mention the fact that
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