OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

2IO MAINLY MAIGRET
look. Behind him came Madame Popinga, then Any, who walked
in briskly, stopped for a second, and then went straight towards the
row of chairs.
Maigret turned to Pijpekamp:
" You can bring down Beetje. Put one of your men to look after
Liewens and Oosting. They weren't here on the night of the crime,
and we shan't be wanting them till later. They'd better sit right at
the back."
Beetje entered the room shyly, looking thoroughly uncomfortable,
but the sight of Any and Madame Popinga was enough to pull
her together. Her whole body stiffened and she gave a little toss of
her head.
A pause. No one spoke. In fact, it hardly seemed as though
anyone was breathing. Not that the atmosphere was in any way
tense or dramatic. It wasn't. To say it was sordid would be nearer
the mark.
A pathetic handful of people in that big room, silent under the
bleak light that hardly reached into the corners.
It required quite an effort to realize that only a few days before,
all the notables of Delfzijl had been there. They had paid for the
right to sit in those chairs that were now stacked at the end of the
room. In their best clothes they had sailed in, posing to the gallery,
smiling, bowing, shaking hands, taking their seats, and then clapping
heartily as Jean Duclos appeared upon the platform.
Tonight it was as if the same scene was being viewed through
the wrong end of the telescope.
Everybody waited. No one had the least idea what was going
to happen. Yet for the most part it was not anxiety and pain that
were written on their faces. Gloomy looks, bereft of any sparkle
of intelligence. Features drawn, not by emotion, but by lassitude.
And the light made everyone's complexion grey. Even Beetje looked
dull and plain.
There was nothing impressive about'these proceedings, not even
anything comic. A wretched, half-hearted rehearsal by a rotten
company!
Outside, people were gathered in silent groups. By the end of
the afternoon the news had gone pretty well round the town that
something was going to happen at the HStel Van Hasselt. Certainly
none of them imagined that the spectacle inside was so unromantic.
At last Maigret moved, turning to Madame Popinga.
" Will you sit in the same seat as you had the other night? "