The Methods of Maigret ( PDFDrive )

After this there had been a long silence and now the two men were strolling
along the jetty. Near the white yacht there was a small white boat, the name of
which could be seen on the stern: “Fleur d’Amour.”
It was De Greef’s boat, and the couple were on board. There was a light under
the roof in a cabin just wide enough for two, where it was impossible to stand
up. A noise of spoons and crockery was coming from within. A meal was in
progress.
When the detectives had passed the yacht Mr. Pyke spoke again slowly, with
his habitual precision.
“He’s the sort of son good families hate to have. It is true you can’t have
many specimens in France.”
Maigret was quite taken aback, for it was the first time since he had known
him that his colleague had expressed general ideas. Mr. Pyke seemed a little
embarrassed himself, as though overcome with shame.
“What makes you think we have hardly any in France?”
“I mean not of that type exactly.”
He picked his words with great care, standing still at the end of the jetty
facing the mountains which could be seen on the mainland.
“I rather think that in your country, a boy from a good family can commit
some bêtises, as you say, so as to have a good time, have his fling with women,
cars, or play in the casino. Do your bad boys play chess? I doubt it. Do they read
Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Kirkegaard? It’s unlikely, isn’t it? They
only want to live their life, without waiting for their inheritance.”
They leaned against the wall which ran along one side of the jetty, and the
calm surface of the water was occasionally troubled by a fish jumping.
“De Greef does not belong to that category of bad characters. I don’t think he
even wants to have money. He’s almost an anarchist, pure and undiluted. He has
revolted against everything he has known, against everything he’s been taught,
against his magistrate of a father and his bourgeois mother, against his home
town, against the customs of his own country.”
He broke off, half blushing.
“I beg your pardon…”
“Pray go on.”
“We only exchanged a few words, the two of us, but I think I have understood
him, because there are a lot of young people like that in my country, in all
countries, probably, where morals are very strict. That’s why I said just now that