Read Online The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon - Free Book Online Page A

tower open on all four sides, giving a view of the whole area.
    â€˜This was the watchtower. Before beacon lights were invented, they used to burn a fire here on the terrace … Anyhow, this morning very early, we came up here, me and my partner. We moved on tiptoe. And downstairs, right where the
halfwit used to sleep, we saw a man snoring
away – a giant! You could hear him breathing fifteen metres away. We managed to slip the handcuffs on him before he woke up.’
    They went back to the square room below, which was freezing cold from the wind.
    â€˜Did he struggle?’
    â€˜Not at all! My partner asked for his papers, and he didn’t answer … You never got a good look at him, did you? … He was stronger than the two of us together, so I never took my finger off the trigger of my revolver.
What hands! Yours are big, but try to picture hands twice that big, with tattoos on them—’
    â€˜Did you see what they were?’
    â€˜All I could make out was an anchor, on the left hand, with the letters
SS
on both. There were some other complicated designs … maybe a snake … We didn’t touch the mess lying around him. Look!’
    There were bottles of good wine and expensive liquor, empty tins and about twenty unopened ones. In the centre of the room were the ashes of a fire and, nearby, a stripped lamb bone, chunks of bread, a few fish spines, a big scallop shell and some
lobster claws.
    â€˜Some feast, eh?’ exclaimed the young policeman, who had probably never eaten such food. ‘This explains the complaints that have come in lately – a six-pound loaf stolen from the baker’s, a basket of whiting that disappeared
from a fishing boat and the Prunier warehouse manager’s claim that someone was swiping his lobsters during the night. We didn’t pay much attention, because it was never very much.’
    Maigret was trying to work out how many days it would take a man with a big appetite to consume the amount of
food indicated by the debris. ‘A week …’ he murmured. ‘Yes – counting the
lamb …’
    Abruptly he asked, ‘What about the dog?’
    â€˜Yes. He wasn’t here. There are plenty of pawprints on the ground, but we didn’t see the animal … You know, the mayor must be in a state over the doctor. I’d be surprised if he didn’t wire Paris.’
    â€˜The man was armed?’
    â€˜No. I was the one who searched him, while my partner, Piedbœuf, held on to the handcuffs and kept his gun on him. In one trouser pocket were roasted chestnuts, four or five of them. They must have come from the cart in front of the cinema on
Friday and Saturday nights. Then there were a few coins, not even ten francs … A knife – but not a dangerous one; the kind sailors use to cut bread.’
    â€˜He didn’t say anything?’
    â€˜Not a word. We thought that he was simple-minded, like the old tenant … He stared at us like a bear would. He had a week’s growth of beard and two broken teeth, right in the middle.’
    â€˜What was he wearing?’
    â€˜I didn’t notice … An old suit? I don’t even know now if he was wearing a shirt or a sweater. He came along quietly … We were proud of our catch. He could have got away ten times before we made it back to
town … So our guard was down when he gave that big yank that broke the chain between the cuffs. I thought my right wrist was broken. It still hurts … About Dr Michoux …’
    â€˜What about him?’
    â€˜You know his mother’s supposed to get back today or tomorrow … She’s the widow of a deputy. They say she has a lot of influence. And she’s a friend of the mayor’s wife.’
    Maigret was gazing at the grey ocean through the slits. Small boats were tacking between Cabélou Point