The Methods of Maigret ( PDFDrive )

“I live there for part of the year. I send everything there that I happen to buy
during the course of my wanderings.”
She thought she had found firm ground.
“You really don’t want anything to drink?”
She was thirsty herself and eyed the bottle she hadn’t had time to finish, not
daring to drink alone.
“Won’t you really try some of this beer, which I had sent straight from
England?”
He said yes, to please her. She went over to a cupboard which had been turned
into an icebox to look for some bottles. Most of the walls of the cabin were
actually cupboards, just as the benches concealed chests.
“You’ve bought a lot of things on your travels, I gather?”
She laughed.
“Who told you that? I buy for the pleasure of buying, it is true. In Istanbul, for
example, I always allow myself to be tempted by the salesmen at the bazaar. I
come back on board with absolute horrors. At the time they seem beautiful.
Then, when I get back to the villa and find those things…”
“Did you meet De Greef in Paris?”
“No. Here only, not so long ago.”
“And your secretary?”
“He’s been with me for two years now. He’s a very cultured boy. We got to
know each other at Cannes.”
“Was he working?”
“He was reporting for a Paris newspaper.”
Moricourt must have had his ear glued to the partition.
“You speak French perfectly, Mrs. Wilcox.”
“I did part of my studies in Paris. My governess was French.”
“Did Marcellin often come on board?”
“Certainly. I think almost everyone on the island has been on board.”
“Do you remember the night he died?”
“I think so.”
He looked at her hands, which were not trembling.
“He talked a lot about me that evening.”
“That’s what I was told. I didn’t know who you were. I asked Philippe.”