OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

162 MAINLY MAIGRET
He swept the boy off towards the town. When he started talking
he did not economize his words, as he had the feeling that the boy
understood barely the half of what he was saying,
" Was it on your own account that you were frightened? "
A mere boy! A thin face, with pale complexion and features that
were still unformed. Narrow shoulders in the tightly fitting uniform.
And his cadet's cap dwarfed him, making him look like a child
dressed up in sailor clothes.
His face and every gesture showed mistrust and resentment. If
Maigret had raised his voice, he would no doubt have raised an arm
to ward it off.
The crepe armlet struck another and still more pathetic note.
Wasn't it only a month ago that the kid had learned of his mother's
death in India? . .. One evening perhaps when he had been in
rollicking mood? Perhaps the night of the training-ship's annual
ball?
In two years' time he would go out to rejoin his remaining
parent, having attained the rank of third officer. And his father
would take him to see a tomb already weathered . • . and perhaps
introduce him to a new mother installed as lady of the house. .. .
Then his career would begin in a liner or a big cargo-boat.
Watch-keeping. Rotterdam to Java. Java to Rotterdam. Ports of
call. Two days in one place; in another only five or six hours. . . .
" Where were you at the moment Conrad Popinga was killed? "
The sob burst now. A terrible rending sob. With his whitegloved
hands the boy caught hold of the two lapels of Maigret's
coat. Hands which trembled convulsively.
" Not true! . . . Pas vrai! ..." he repeated at least ten times.
" Nein! . . . You don't understand. . . . Pas . . . Non! . . . Pas
vrai! . . ."
Again they passed into the beam of the lighthouse, which blinded
them—threw them sharply into relief, down to the smallest detail
—then swept on, leaving them once more indistinguishable from
the night.
" Where were you? "
" Not there."
Not there. " There " meant the Popingas' house, and the little
bit of canal which he used to jump across with the help of the
tree-trunks.
This last was a detail that was certainly not unimportant. It might
even be very serious. Popinga had been shot at five minutes to