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together.’
    â€˜Except this last time! He got the
     idea that he wanted
to eat alone, in his
     cabin … But I’d rather not talk any more about that damned trip!’
    â€˜Where were you when the crime was
     committed?’
    â€˜In the café, with the others …
     They must have told you.’
    â€˜Do you think the wireless
     operator had any reason for attacking the captain?’
    Suddenly, Laberge lost his temper.
    â€˜Where are all these questions
     leading? What do you want me to say? Look, it wasn’t my job to keep everybody
     in order, was it? I’m fed up to the back teeth, fed up with this business and
     all the rest of it! So fed up that I’m wondering if I’m going to sign up
     for the next tour!’
    â€˜Obviously the last one
     wasn’t exactly a roaring success.’
    Another sharp glance at Maigret.
    â€˜What are you getting
     at?’
    â€˜Just that everything went wrong!
     A ship’s boy was killed. There were more accidents than usual. The fishing
     wasn’t good, and when the cod arrived back in Fécamp it was off …’
    â€˜Was that my fault?’
    â€˜I’m not saying that. I
     merely ask if in the events at which you were present there was anything that might
     explain the captain’s death. He was an easy-going sort, led a quiet life
     …’
    The mechanic smiled mockingly but said
     nothing.
    â€˜Do you know anything about him
     that says otherwise?’
    â€˜Look, I told you I don’t
     know anything, that I’ve had enough of the whole business! Is everybody trying
     to drive me crazy? … What more do you want now?’
    He had it in most for his wife. She had
     just come back
into the room and was
     hurrying to the stove, where a saucepan was giving off a smell of burning.
    She was about thirty-five. She
     wasn’t pretty and she wasn’t ugly.
    â€˜I’ll only be a
     minute,’ she said meekly. ‘It’s the dog’s dinner
     …’
    â€˜Get on with it, woman! …
     Haven’t you finished yet?’
    And turning to Maigret:
    â€˜Shall I give you a piece of good
     advice? Let it alone! Fallut is well off where he is! The less said about him, the
     better it’ll be! Now listen: I don’t know anything. You can ask me
     questions all day, and I wouldn’t have anything else to say … Did you get the
     train here? If you don’t catch the one that leaves in ten minutes,
     you’ll not get another until eight this evening.’
    He had opened the door. Sunshine flooded
     into the room.
    When he got to the doorway, the
     inspector asked quietly: ‘Who is your wife jealous of?’
    The man gritted his teeth and did not
     speak.
    â€˜Do you know who this
     is?’
    Maigret held out the photo with the head
     obscured by the red scribble. But he kept his thumb over the face. All that was
     visible was the cleavage in the silk dress.
    Laberge glanced up at him quickly and
     tried to grab the picture.
    â€˜Do you recognize her?’
    â€˜Why should I recognize
     her?’
    His hand was still open when Maigret put
     the photograph back in his pocket.
    â€˜Will you be coming to Fécamp tomorrow?’
    â€˜I don’t know … Will you be
     needing me?’
    â€˜No. I was just asking. Thanks for
     the information you gave me.’
    â€˜But I didn’t tell you
     anything!’
    Maigret had not gone ten paces from the
     door when it was kicked shut and voices were raised inside the house, where the
     argument would now start up again, even more acrimoniously.
    The chief mechanic was right: there
     were no trains to Fécamp until eight in the evening, and Maigret, having time on his
     hands, was inevitably drawn to the beach, where he sat down on the terrace of a
     hotel.
    There was the usual holiday atmosphere:
     red sun umbrellas, white dresses, white trousers and a group of sightseers clustered
     around a fishing