The Methods of Maigret ( PDFDrive )

“What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking that I was wrong, as you know perfectly well.”
“Are you dressed?”
“Just going to put on my dress.”
He went and opened the door to make sure there was nobody in the corridor.
When he came back to the middle of the room Ginette was busy rearranging her
hair in front of the glass.
“You didn’t discuss the Larousse?”
“Who with?”
“I don’t know. Monsieur Émile for example. Or Charlot.”
“I wasn’t so stupid as to mention it.”
“Because you were hoping to step into Marcel’s shoes? Do you know,
Ginette, you are a terribly calculating woman.”
“That’s what people always say about women when they try to provide for the
future. And they fall on them when misery drives them into a job they haven’t
chosen.”
There was a sudden bitterness in her voice.
“I thought you were going to marry Monsieur Émile?”
“On condition Justine makes up her mind to die and doesn’t make last-minute
stipulations preventing her son from marrying. Perhaps you think that makes me
feel gay!”
“In short, if Marcel’s lead had been a good one and you had succeeded, you
wouldn’t marry?”
“Certainly not that sniveling creature.”
“Would you leave the house at Nice?”
“Without a moment’s hesitation, I assure you.”
“What would you do?”
“I’d go and live in the country, anywhere. I’d keep chickens and rabbits.”
“What did Marcellin say to you on the telephone?”
“You’ll say I’m lying again.”
He stared at her for a long while and then said quietly:
“Not any more.”
“Good! It’s not a moment too soon. He said he had accidentally discovered an
extraordinary thing. Those are the words he used. He added that it could mean