OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University
OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University
3°° MAINLY MAIGRBT " We'll try and save him! " he answered the inspector. " The intestine is perforated in seven places. What one might call a dirty wound! We've cleared it all up...." And he pointed to tubs full of blood, cotton-wool, and disinfectants. " I can tell you it was a hell of a job... ." They were in excellent spirits, doctor, assistants, and nurses. When it had been brought in, the case had been as bad as it possibly could be, filthy, the stomach gaping open and burnt, with fragments of clothing encrusted in the flesh. Now it was a clean body that was wheeled out on the stretcher. And the stomach was carefully sewn up. The rest would come later. Perhaps Le Clinche would recover consciousness, perhaps not. At the hospital they did not even try to find out who he was. " There's really a chance that he'll pull through? " " Why not? I saw worse cases in the war. .. ." Maigret had immediately telephoned to the Hdtel de la Plage to reassure Marie Leonnec. Now he went off by himself. The hospital door closed behind him on its well-oiled hinges. It was night, the street with its little bourgeois houses was deserted. He had not taken ten steps when a figure emerged from the shadow of a wall and Adele's face was revealed in the light of a street-lamp. " Is he dead? " she snapped at him. She must have been waiting for hours. Her face was drawn and the love-locks on her temples had lost their curl. " Not yet! " Maigret answered in the same tone. " Is he going to die? " " Perhaps.... Perhaps not. ..'." " You believe I meant to do it? " " I don't believe anything." "... because it's not true... ." The inspector walked on. She followed him and had to walk very quickly to keep up with him. " You'll admit that at bottom it was his fault." Maigret pretended not to hear, but she persisted stubbornly. " You know perfectly well what I mean. On board, he all but asked me to marry him. But once he was on shore ..." She wouldn't be put off. She seemed to be impelled by an irrepressible need to talk.
THE SAILORS* RENDEZVOUS 30I " If you think I'm a bad woman you don't know me. Only there are times . •. Listen to me, Inspector. ... You must tell me the truth anyway. I know it was a bullet and that it got him pointblank in the stomach.. •. They've performed a laparotomy, haven't they? " One could see that she had frequented hospitals, heard doctors talking, and had been accustomed to people who had had more than one gunshot. " Was the operation successful? It seems that it depends on what you had for your last meal. ..." This was no violent show of emotion, just a harsh obstinacy that nothing could rebuff. " Won't you answer me? And yet you knew why I carried on like that just now. Gaston's a rotter, I never loved him. ... But this one . . ." " There's a possibility that he'll live! " Maigret declared, looking the woman in the eyes. " But, unless the mystery of the Ocian is cleared up, it won't make much difference to him... ." He waited for a word, a shudder. She lowered her head. " Of course you think I know .. . seeing that the two men were my lovers. And yet I swear. . . . No! You didn't know Captain Fallut. So you can't understand. He certainly was in love with me. He used to come and see me at Le Havre. And perhaps, at his age, a passion like that may have made him go a bit queer. But that made no difference to the fact that he was methodical in everything, very self-controlled, and quite mad the way he loved order. I still wonder how he could have made up his mind to hide me on board. ... But what I do know is that we were hardly out to sea before he regretted it and began to detest me. His character changed quite suddenly. •.." " But the operator hadn't seen you yet! " " No! That wasn't until the fourth night, as I already told you... ." " Are you sure Fallut turned queer before then? " " Not so much perhaps! But, later, there were days when it was quite like a nightmare, when I wondered whether he really hadn't gone mad. .. ." " And you haven't the slightest idea what might have caused this behaviour? " " No! I've thought about it. Sometimes I thought there was a secret between him and the operator. ... I even thought they might
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THE SAILORS* RENDEZV<strong>OU</strong>S 30I<br />
" If you think I'm a bad woman you don't know me. Only there<br />
are times . •. Listen to me, Inspector. ... You must tell me the<br />
truth anyway. I know it was a bullet and that it got him pointblank<br />
in the stomach.. •. They've performed a laparotomy, haven't<br />
they? "<br />
One could see that she had frequented hospitals, heard doctors<br />
talking, and had been accustomed to people who had had more than<br />
one gunshot.<br />
" Was the operation successful? It seems that it depends on what<br />
you had for your last meal. ..."<br />
This was no violent show of emotion, just a harsh obstinacy that<br />
nothing could rebuff.<br />
" Won't you answer me? And yet you knew why I carried on like<br />
that just now. Gaston's a rotter, I never loved him. ... But this<br />
one . . ."<br />
" There's a possibility that he'll live! " Maigret declared, looking<br />
the woman in the eyes. " But, unless the mystery of the Ocian is<br />
cleared up, it won't make much difference to him... ."<br />
He waited for a word, a shudder. She lowered her head.<br />
" Of course you think I know .. . seeing that the two men were<br />
my lovers. And yet I swear. . . . No! You didn't know Captain<br />
Fallut. So you can't understand. He certainly was in love with me.<br />
He used to come and see me at Le Havre. And perhaps, at his age,<br />
a passion like that may have made him go a bit queer. But that<br />
made no difference to the fact that he was methodical in everything,<br />
very self-controlled, and quite mad the way he loved order. I still<br />
wonder how he could have made up his mind to hide me on board.<br />
... But what I do know is that we were hardly out to sea before he<br />
regretted it and began to detest me. His character changed quite<br />
suddenly. •.."<br />
" But the operator hadn't seen you yet! "<br />
" No! That wasn't until the fourth night, as I already told<br />
you... ."<br />
" Are you sure Fallut turned queer before then? "<br />
" Not so much perhaps! But, later, there were days when it was<br />
quite like a nightmare, when I wondered whether he really hadn't<br />
gone mad. .. ."<br />
" And you haven't the slightest idea what might have caused this<br />
behaviour? "<br />
" No! I've thought about it. Sometimes I thought there was a<br />
secret between him and the operator. ... I even thought they might
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