hands with annoyance.
âGo on!â
âHe must have thrown himself into
the Meuse ⦠His cap was fished out near the barge just behind his ⦠The barge
stopped it ⦠You understand?â
âAnd then?â
âHis jacket was on the shore ⦠And
there was this piece of paper pinned to it â¦â
He took it carefully out of his wallet.
It was a shapeless piece of paper, drenched by the rain. It was still just about
possible to read:
Iâm a wretch. Iâd
prefer the river â¦
Maigret had read under his voice. Joseph
Peeters asked in a troubled voice:
âI donât understand ⦠What
does he mean?â
Machère stayed standing, unsettled,
uneasy. Marguerite looked at each of them in turn with big, inexpressive eyes.
âI think youâre the one who
â¦â Machère began.
And Maigret got up cordially, with a
hearty smile on his lips. He reserved his special attention for Anna.
âYou see! I was talking to you
about a hammer a moment ago â¦â
âDonât!â begged
Marguerite.
âWhat are you doing tomorrow
afternoon?â
âThe same as every Sunday ⦠We
spend it with the family ⦠Only Maria will be missing â¦â
âWill you let me come and pay my
compliments?Perhaps there might be some of that excellent rice
tart â¦?â
And Maigret made for the corridor, where
he put on his overcoat, made twice as heavy by the rain.
âPlease excuse me â¦â
stammered Machère. âIt was the inspector who wanted â¦â
âCome!â
In the shop, Madame Peeters had hoisted
herself on to a ladder to take down a packet of starch from the top shelf. A
bargemanâs wife was waiting with a gloomy expression, with a string shopping
bag on her arm.
8. The Visit to the Ursulines
There was a little group of people near
the place where the sailorâs cap had been fished out, but Maigret, dragging
Machère with him, walked towards the bridge.
âYou hadnât told me about
this hammer ⦠If you had, Iâd have known â¦â
âWhat have you been doing all
day?â
And Machère looked like a schoolboy who
had been caught out.
âI went to Namur ⦠I wanted to
check that Maria Peetersâ sprain â¦â
âWell?â
âThey wouldnât let me in ⦠I
ended up in a convent full of nuns looking at me like a beetle that had fallen into
their soup â¦â
âDid you insist?â
âI even used threats.â
Maigret suppressed a smile of amusement.
Near the bridge, he went into a garage that hired cars and asked for a car and
driver to take him to Namur.
Fifty kilometres there and fifty
kilometres back, along the Meuse.
âWill you come with me?â
âDo you want me to â¦? Because I
tell you, they wonâtlet you in ⦠Not to mention that now
theyâve found the hammer â¦â
âFine! Do something else. You take
a car as well. Go to all the little stations in a twenty-kilometre radius. Check
that the bargeman hasnât taken the train â¦â
And Maigretâs car set off. Snug in
the cushions, the inspector smoked his pipe beatifically; all that he saw of the
landscape was the starburst of lights on each side of the car.
He knew that Maria Peeters was a form
mistress in a school run by the Ursulines. He also knew that the Ursulines are, in
the religious hierarchy, the equivalent of the Jesuits, which is to say that in a
sense they form its teaching aristocracy. The cream of the province must have sent
their children to the school in Namur.
Given that, it was amusing to imagine
Inspector Machère in discussion with the nuns, insisting on getting inside and even
using threats!
âI forgot to ask him what he
called them â¦â Maigret reflected. âHe must have
âGo on!â
âHe must have thrown himself into
the Meuse ⦠His cap was fished out near the barge just behind his ⦠The barge
stopped it ⦠You understand?â
âAnd then?â
âHis jacket was on the shore ⦠And
there was this piece of paper pinned to it â¦â
He took it carefully out of his wallet.
It was a shapeless piece of paper, drenched by the rain. It was still just about
possible to read:
Iâm a wretch. Iâd
prefer the river â¦
Maigret had read under his voice. Joseph
Peeters asked in a troubled voice:
âI donât understand ⦠What
does he mean?â
Machère stayed standing, unsettled,
uneasy. Marguerite looked at each of them in turn with big, inexpressive eyes.
âI think youâre the one who
â¦â Machère began.
And Maigret got up cordially, with a
hearty smile on his lips. He reserved his special attention for Anna.
âYou see! I was talking to you
about a hammer a moment ago â¦â
âDonât!â begged
Marguerite.
âWhat are you doing tomorrow
afternoon?â
âThe same as every Sunday ⦠We
spend it with the family ⦠Only Maria will be missing â¦â
âWill you let me come and pay my
compliments?Perhaps there might be some of that excellent rice
tart â¦?â
And Maigret made for the corridor, where
he put on his overcoat, made twice as heavy by the rain.
âPlease excuse me â¦â
stammered Machère. âIt was the inspector who wanted â¦â
âCome!â
In the shop, Madame Peeters had hoisted
herself on to a ladder to take down a packet of starch from the top shelf. A
bargemanâs wife was waiting with a gloomy expression, with a string shopping
bag on her arm.
8. The Visit to the Ursulines
There was a little group of people near
the place where the sailorâs cap had been fished out, but Maigret, dragging
Machère with him, walked towards the bridge.
âYou hadnât told me about
this hammer ⦠If you had, Iâd have known â¦â
âWhat have you been doing all
day?â
And Machère looked like a schoolboy who
had been caught out.
âI went to Namur ⦠I wanted to
check that Maria Peetersâ sprain â¦â
âWell?â
âThey wouldnât let me in ⦠I
ended up in a convent full of nuns looking at me like a beetle that had fallen into
their soup â¦â
âDid you insist?â
âI even used threats.â
Maigret suppressed a smile of amusement.
Near the bridge, he went into a garage that hired cars and asked for a car and
driver to take him to Namur.
Fifty kilometres there and fifty
kilometres back, along the Meuse.
âWill you come with me?â
âDo you want me to â¦? Because I
tell you, they wonâtlet you in ⦠Not to mention that now
theyâve found the hammer â¦â
âFine! Do something else. You take
a car as well. Go to all the little stations in a twenty-kilometre radius. Check
that the bargeman hasnât taken the train â¦â
And Maigretâs car set off. Snug in
the cushions, the inspector smoked his pipe beatifically; all that he saw of the
landscape was the starburst of lights on each side of the car.
He knew that Maria Peeters was a form
mistress in a school run by the Ursulines. He also knew that the Ursulines are, in
the religious hierarchy, the equivalent of the Jesuits, which is to say that in a
sense they form its teaching aristocracy. The cream of the province must have sent
their children to the school in Namur.
Given that, it was amusing to imagine
Inspector Machère in discussion with the nuns, insisting on getting inside and even
using threats!
âI forgot to ask him what he
called them â¦â Maigret reflected. âHe must have
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