OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

A CRIME IN HOLLAND 137
Her father passed in front of the window carrying the calf just
as if it had been a baby. Then he stood it down on the grass of the
meadow right in the sun.
The creature swayed on its slender legs, almost fell on its knees,
suddenly pranced four or five yards, then stood stock-still.
" Did Conrad ever kiss you? "
Another giggle, but this time she reddened slightly,
" Yes."
" And Cor? "
This time, she was inclined to be evasive. She looked away,
hesitated, but finally said:
" Yes. He did too . . . But why do you ask? "
She had a strange look in her face. Did she expect Maigret to
follow suit and kiss her too?
Her father called her from outside. She opened the window, and
they talked for a while in Dutch. When she drew her head in it
was to say:
" Excuse me ... I must go into the town to fetch the Mayor. It's
about the calf's pedigree. He has to be a witness, and it's very
important. . . Are you going back to Delfzijl? "
They went out together. She took her nickel-plated bicycle by
the handle-bars, and wheeled it along. She walked with a slight
swing of the hips which were already broad as a woman's.
" What a lovely day to be out of doors, isn't it? Poor Conrad
who will never . . . The baths open tomorrow. He used to bathe
every day. He could stay as long as an hour in the water...."
Maigret walked by her side, staring at the ground.
2. The Cap in the Bath
MAIGRET was always more interested in people than in places, but
this time he noticed certain precise details about the place which
came in very useful afterwards. If it wasn't luck that made him do
so, it can only have been his flair.
From the Liewens's farm to the Popingas' was just about twelve
hundred yards. Both houses were by the canal, and the shortest way
from one to the other was by the towing-path. This canal was little