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tomorrow! She was laid up for
     three days in Fécamp having her bowsprit repaired.’
    ‘Say, tell me: does she ever carry
     salted cod’s roe as cargo?’
    ‘Cod’s roe? No. The
     Norwegian roe comes in on Scandinavian schooners or small steamers. They don’t
     unload at Caen, though, they make directly for the sardine ports, like Concarneau,
     Les Sables-d’Olonne, Saint-Jean-de-Luz …’
    ‘What about seal oil?’
    This time the captain stared at him in
     surprise.
    ‘Why would they carry
     that?’
    ‘I don’t really
     know …’
    ‘The answer’s no, in any
     case. These coasters almost always carry the same cargo: vegetables, and onions in
     particular, for England, coal for the Breton ports, stone, cement,
     slates … By the way, I asked some lock workers about the
Saint-Michel
’s last call here. On the 16th of September, she came
     in from Caen at the tail end of the tide, when everyone was about to go off duty.
     Joris pointed out that the water in the channel was too low for safe access to the
     sea, especially when it was so foggy. The skipper insisted on going through the lock
     anyway, though, so that he could leave the next morning at first light. She spent
     the night here, in the outer harbour, moored to some pilings. At low tide, they were
     high and dry, couldn’t leave until nine the next morning.’
    ‘And Julie’s brother was
     aboard?’
    ‘He must
     have been! There were only three of them: the skipper, who also owns the boat, and
     two crew. Big Louis—’
    ‘He’s the
     ex-convict?’
    ‘Yes. He’s called Big Louis
     because he’s big, bigger than you are and could strangle a man with one
     hand …’
    ‘A bad sort?’
    ‘If you ask the mayor or anyone
     well-to-do in these parts, they’ll say yes. Me, I never knew him before he
     went off to prison. He doesn’t turn up here very often. All I know is, he has
     never caused any trouble in Ouistreham. He does drink, of course.
     Although … It’s difficult to tell, he always seems half-soused. He
     hangs around the harbour. He’s gimpy in one leg and his head and shoulders are
     hunched to one side, which makes him look a bit shifty. Still, the skipper of the
Saint-Michel
is happy enough with him.’
    ‘He was here yesterday, while his
     sister was in Paris.’
    Not daring to deny it, Captain Delcourt
     looked away. And Maigret understood then and there that there was a fraternal bond
     among these men of the sea, that they would never tell him all they knew.
    ‘He’s not the only
     one …’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Nothing, really. I heard about a
     stranger seen prowling around … But nothing definite.’
    ‘Who saw him?’
    ‘I don’t know. People talk,
     that’s all … Could you manage a quick drink?’
    For the second time, Maigret settled
     into the bar, where he was welcomed with handshakes.
    ‘Well! Those
     gentlemen from the public prosecutor’s office certainly got their job done in
     a hurry.’
    ‘What’s your
     pleasure?’
    ‘I’ll have a
     beer.’
    The sun had been out all day long. But
     now streamers of mist were threading their way from tree to tree, and vapour began
     rising from the canal.
    ‘Another pea-souper,’ sighed
     the captain.
    And at the same instant, they heard the
     fog horn.
    ‘It’s the light buoy, out at
     the entrance to the harbour channel.’
    ‘Did Captain Joris go often to
     Norway?’ asked Maigret abruptly.
    ‘When he sailed for the Compagnie
     Anglo-Normande, yes! Especially right after the war, when there was a shortage of
     wood. It’s a lousy cargo, wood is – gets in the way of handling the
     ship.’
    ‘Did you work for the same
     company?’
    ‘Not for long. I was mostly with
     Worms, in Bordeaux. I ran the “ferry”, we called it, just the one run:
     Bordeaux to Nantes, Nantes to Bordeaux. For eighteen years!’
    ‘What’s Julie’s
     background?’
    ‘A fishing family, Port-en-Bessin.
     If you can call them