The Methods of Maigret ( PDFDrive )

There was a large bouquet of mimosa on her desk and a bag of sweets, which
she offered to the Chief Inspector.
“Things happen so seldom here! About Monsieur Philippe, I forgot to tell you
that he writes a lot. I don’t read his letters, naturally. He throws them into the
box and I recognize his writing and his ink, as he always uses green ink, I don’t
know why.”
“Who does he write to?”
“I forget the names, but it’s nearly always to Paris. Now and then he writes to
his mother. The letters to Paris are much the thickest.”
“Does he get much post in return?”
“Quite a lot. And reviews, and newspapers. Every day there’s printed matter
for him.”
“And Mrs. Wilcox?”
“She writes a lot as well, to England, Capri, and Egypt. I particularly
remember Egypt because I took the liberty of asking her for the stamps for my
nephew.”
“Does she telephone?”
“She has been along to telephone two or three times from the box, and each
time it was London she was calling. Unfortunately I don’t understand English.”
She added: “I’m going to shut down. I should have shut at five. But if you
want to wait for your call…”
“What call?”
“Didn’t Monsieur Lucas say he would call back about Ostend?” She was all
curiosity. She asked, for example:
“Aren’t you going to telephone your wife?”
He had told her he would be on the square, not far from the Arche, in case a
call came and he went down quietly, smoking his pipe, in the direction of the
bowls match. He no longer needed to watch his behavior, as Mr. Pyke was not
there to observe him. He wanted really to play bowls and several times he found
himself asking about the rules of the game.
He was extremely surprised to discover that the dentist, whom everyone
familiarly addressed as Leon, was a first-class player. At twenty yards, after
three bounding strides he would strike his opponent’s ball and send it rolling
away into the distance, and each time he at once affected a little modest air as
though he considered the achievement to be quite natural.
The Chief Inspector went to have a glass of wine and found Charlot busy