The Methods of Maigret ( PDFDrive )

“Come in, De Greef. If you had a tie, I should tell you to take it off, and the
same with regard to your shoelaces.”
“Am I under arrest?”
Maigret contented himself with a nod.
“Sit down. Not too near your friend Philippe. Give me your cigarettes and
throw away the one you’ve got stuck in your mouth.”
“Have you a warrant?”
“I’m going to send for one by telegraph, in your two names, so there’ll be no
more doubt on the subject.”
He sat down in the place the mayor must have occupied for marriages.
“One of you two killed Marcellin. To tell the truth it doesn’t much matter
which, for each is as guilty as the other.”
Jojo came in with a tray covered with bottles and glasses, then stood
nonplused in front of the two young men.
“Don’t be afraid, Jojo. They’re just two dirty little killers. Don’t start talking
about it outside immediately or we’ll have the whole population at the window,
and the Sunday trippers into the bargain.”
Maigret was taking his time, looking at the two young men in turn. The
Dutchman was much the calmer and there was no trace of bravado about him.
“Perhaps I’d do better to leave you to settle it between the two of you? For
when all’s said and done, it concerns one of you. There is in fact one person who
will probably have his head lopped off or else will spend the rest of his days in a
penal settlement, while the other will get away with a few years in prison. Which
is it to be?”
Already the Dutchman was shifting in his chair and one might have thought
he was going to put up his hand, as if at school.
“Unfortunately the law cannot take into account true responsibility. For my
part I would happily put the two of you in the same bag, with this difference,
however, that I would have the faintest touch of sympathy for De Greef.”
Philippe was still shifting, ill at ease, visibly discontented.
“Admit, De Greef, that you didn’t do it just for the money! You don’t want to
answer, either? As you wish. I bet that you’ve been amusing yourself painting
forgeries for quite some time, just to prove you’re no spare-time painter, no mere
dauber. Have you sold a lot?
“It doesn’t matter very much! What a revenge on the people who don’t
understand you if you had one of your works, signed with an illustrious name,