OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

*74 MAINLY MAIGRET
While all he was allowed was an English dinghy, well varnished,
with fittings of polished brass, in which he might on summer
evenings go paddling on the flat waters of the Amsterdiep, threading
his way between the tree-trunks which had come from the far North
or from equatorial forests.
The Baes was now looking at Maigret, and the latter could not
help thinking that the man would have liked to come up to him
and speak to him. But it was out of the question. They had not half
a dozen words in common.
Oosting knew how hopeless it would be, and remained sitting
where he was, his eyes half closed on account of the brightness of
the sun. The only sign of his frustration was that he smoked a trifle
more quickly.
Cornelius Barens would, at that hour of the morning, be sitting
in a class-room trying to grasp some lesson on spherical trigonometry.
He probably looked like a washed-out rag.
The inspector was about to sit down on a bronze bollard,
when he noticed Pijpekamp coming towards him, holding out his
hand.
" Did you find anything in the boat this morning? "
" Nothing. ... But we had to carry out the search as a matter of
form."
" Do you suspect the Baes? "
" There's the cap "
"And the cigar!"
" No. The Baes only smokes a pipe. If he does smoke a cigar
once in a way, it's never a Manila."
Pijpekamp drew Maigret further on, so as to be out of range of
Oosting's eye.
" The compass on board once belonged to a Swedish ship and,
the life-buoys to an English collier. ... It's like that with practically
everything on board."
" Stolen? "
" Not exactly. At any rate, not stolen by him. When a ship
arrives there's generally somebody, an engineer, a third officer, a
deck-hand, or even sometimes the captain, who's got something to
sell.... Do you see? ... The things are logged as washed overboard
or broken.... In one way or another almost anything can
be written off, even navigation lights! Of course, with a boat it's
easy...."
" So there's nothing unusual about it? "