OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University
OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University
326 MAINLY MAIGRET guessed that something was up. Hundreds of times I heard them talking of the evil eye. •. . " And I had only one desire...." " Naturally! " growled Maigret. There was a silence, and Le Clinche fixed reproachful eyes on the inspector. " There was filthy weather for the next ten days. I was sick. But I kept thinking of her. She had scent on. She ... I can't tell you!... It made me ill! Yes! It was the kind of desire that made you ill, made you cry with rage!... Especially when I saw the captain going into the cabin! Because now I imagined things.... You know-—she had called me her big boy... in a special kind of a voice, rather husky! And I used to repeat those words over again to torture myself. ... I stopped writing to Marie. ... I indulged in impossible dreams of going off with this woman as soon as we got back to Fecamp...." " And the captain? " " He became still more icy, more cutting. Perhaps, after all, it was insanity in his case ... I don't know. He ordered them to fish in a certain place, and all the old sailors swore that no fish had ever been seen in those latitudes. ... He wouldn't allow them to say a word! He was afraid of me. I don't know whether he knew I was armed. He was armed too. When we met, his hand would go to his pocket. I tried hundreds of times to see Ad&le again. But he was always there! With shadows round his eyes and his lips drawn back! And the smell of cod... . The men were salting the cod in the hold. ... There was one accident after another. " The chief engineer kept hanging round too. And we were no longer talking to one another. We were like three madmen. There were nights when I thought I would have killed someone to get back to her. Can you understand that? Nights when I tore my handkerchief with my teeth while I repeated to myself, in her voice: " ' My big boy! . . . Big stupid/ . . .' " And it was so long! Days followed nights, and then more days! With nothing but the grey water round us, cold fogs, and the scales and entrails of cod everywhere.. .. " The nauseating taste of brine in one's throat.... " And nothing but that one time! I believe if I could have only been with her one other time I should have been cured! But it was impossible. He was there! He was always there, and the shadows round his eyes grew blacker....
THE SAILORS' RENDEZVOUS 327 " And that perpetual rolling, that life without a horizon. Then we saw cliffs again. . .. " Can you imagine that going on for three months? ... Well! Instead of being cured I was even more ill. It is only now that I realize it was an illness. . . . " I detested the captain, who was always in my way. I had a horror of this old man shutting himself up with a woman like Adele. . .. " I was afraid of getting back to port. I was afraid of losing her for ever. ... " In the end I thought of him as a sort of demon! Yes, a kind of malevolent spirit who kept the woman for himself. . . . " The boat was badly handled as we came into port. Then the men leapt ashore with relief and made a rush for the pubs. I knew, of course, that the captain was only waiting for nightfall to let Ad&le out. " I went to my room at Leon's. There were some old letters and photos of my fiancee there, and, I don't know why, overcome with fury I burned them all. . .. " I came out. I wanted her! ... I tell you, I wanted her! Hadn't she said that when we got back Fallut was going to marry her? " I bumped into a man...." He fell back heavily on his pillow, and his whole face crumpled up in an expression of utter agony. " Since you know ..." he croaked. " Yes. It was Jean-Marie's father. The trawler was in dock. Only the captain and Ad&le were left on board. He was going to take her off. Then ..." "Stop!..." " Then you told this man, who had come to look at the boat in which his son had died, that the kid had been murdered. Isn't that so? And you followed him! When the captain came along you hid behind a truck! ..." "Stop!" " The crime was committed before your eyes. . •." , "Please!" " No! You were a party to the crime. You went on board! And you took the woman off...." " By then I didn't want her any more!" Outside there was a loud siren blast Le Clinche's lips trembled and he stammered:
- Page 292 and 293: 276 MAINLY MAIGRET while I was away
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THE SAILORS' RENDEZV<strong>OU</strong>S 327<br />
" And that perpetual rolling, that life without a horizon. Then<br />
we saw cliffs again. . ..<br />
" Can you imagine that going on for three months? ... Well!<br />
Instead of being cured I was even more ill. It is only now that I<br />
realize it was an illness. . . .<br />
" I detested the captain, who was always in my way. I had a<br />
horror of this old man shutting himself up with a woman like<br />
Adele. . ..<br />
" I was afraid of getting back to port. I was afraid of losing her<br />
for ever. ...<br />
" In the end I thought of him as a sort of demon! Yes, a kind of<br />
malevolent spirit who kept the woman for himself. . . .<br />
" The boat was badly handled as we came into port. Then the<br />
men leapt ashore with relief and made a rush for the pubs. I knew,<br />
of course, that the captain was only waiting for nightfall to let Ad&le<br />
out.<br />
" I went to my room at Leon's. There were some old letters and<br />
photos of my fiancee there, and, I don't know why, overcome with<br />
fury I burned them all. . ..<br />
" I came out. I wanted her! ... I tell you, I wanted her! Hadn't<br />
she said that when we got back Fallut was going to marry her?<br />
" I bumped into a man...."<br />
He fell back heavily on his pillow, and his whole face crumpled<br />
up in an expression of utter agony.<br />
" Since you know ..." he croaked.<br />
" Yes. It was Jean-Marie's father. The trawler was in dock. Only<br />
the captain and Ad&le were left on board. He was going to take her<br />
off. Then ..."<br />
"Stop!..."<br />
" Then you told this man, who had come to look at the boat<br />
in which his son had died, that the kid had been murdered. Isn't that<br />
so? And you followed him! When the captain came along you hid<br />
behind a truck! ..."<br />
"Stop!"<br />
" The crime was committed before your eyes. . •."<br />
, "Please!"<br />
" No! You were a party to the crime. You went on board! And<br />
you took the woman off...."<br />
" By then I didn't want her any more!"<br />
Outside there was a loud siren blast Le Clinche's lips trembled<br />
and he stammered:
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