OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

258 MAINLY MAIGRET
as he approached the green-painted gate, the sound of a dispute
came to him from inside the house. Two voices, a man's and a
woman's. But he couldn't make out the words, and he knocked.
There was a silence. Steps approached. The door opened and a
tall thin man appeared, suspicious and surly.
" What is it? "
A woman in an overall quickly began to tidy her hair.
" I'm from the Police Judiciaire, and I should like to ask you
some questions."
" Come in."
A little boy was crying, and his father pushed him savagely into
the next room, where the end of a bed was visible.
" You can leave us! " said Laberge to his wife. Her eyes were red
too. The quarrel must have broken out during the meal, for the
plates were only half-empty.
" What do you want to know? "
" How long is it since you stopped going to Fecamp? "
" This morning.... I went there on my bike—it's not very
amusing to hear the wife nagging at you the whole day. You spend
months at sea until you could burst. And then when you get
home . .."
His anger had not subsided. To tell the truth, his breath reeked of
alcohol.
" They're all the same. Jealousy and suspicion. They think your
one idea is to go with tarts. Listen! There she is taking it out of
the kid to soothe her nerves. ..."
The child was certainly crying in the next room, and they heard
the woman's voice raised:
" Will you be quiet? Stop it, will you! "
The words must have been accompanied by slaps or blows, for
the sobs broke out louder than ever.
"Oh! It's a fine life...."
" Did Captain Fallut ever involve you in any kind of trouble? "
The man looked queerly at Maigret and moved uneasily.
" What makes you think that? "
" Have you been sailing long with him? "
" Five years."
" And on board you took your meals together."
" Except this time! He took it into his head to eat alone in his
cabin. But I'd much prefer not to talk about that foul trip! "
" Where were you when the crime was committed? "