The Methods of Maigret ( PDFDrive )

“The Chief is asking for you, Inspector.”
“Will you excuse me, Mr. Pyke?”
That was something to the good. The other wouldn’t follow him into the
Chief’s office.
“Come in, Maigret. I’ve just had a call from Draguignan.”
“I know what that’s about.”
“Lechat has, in fact, been in touch with you. Have you much work at the
moment?”
“Not too much. Apart from my guest…”
“Does he get in your way?”
“He’s the soul of discretion.”
“Do you remember the man called Pacaud?”
“I remembered him when I looked up his file.”
“Don’t you find the story rather odd?”
“I only know what Lechat told me on the telephone and he was so eager to
explain that I didn’t understand very much.”
“The Commissioner talked to me at great length. He insists on your going for
a trip down there. According to him, it’s because of you that Pacaud was killed.”
“Because of me?”
“He can’t see any other explanation for the murder. For several years Pacaud,
better known under the name of Marcellin, had lived at Porquerolles in his boat.
He had become a popular figure. As far as I could gather he was more like a
tramp than a fisherman. In the winter he lived without doing anything. In the
summer he took tourists out fishing round the islands. No one had anything to
gain by his death. He wasn’t known to have had enemies. Nothing was stolen
from him, for the very good reason that there was nothing to steal.”
“How was he killed?”
“That’s just what’s puzzling the Commissioner.”
The Chief consulted several notes which he had made during his telephone
conversation.
“As I don’t know the place, it’s difficult for me to get an accurate picture. The
evening before last…”
“I thought I was told it was yesterday…”
“No, the day before. A number of people were gathered at the Arche de Noé.
That must be an inn or a café. At this time of year, it seems, only the habitués are