Maigret by Georges Simenon

knocked on the window.
     You must have had a pre-arranged signal.’
    ‘I’m not talking.’
    At six, the sky grew light. Trams
     rumbled past on the riverbank and a tugboat siren let out a heartrending wail as if,
     during the night, it had lost its barges.
    Maigret’s face was nearly as red
     as Audiat’s, his eyes nearly as bright. The rum bottle was empty.
    ‘I’m going to tell you, as a
     friend, what’s going to happen now that they know that you came here and we
     talked. They’ll repeat the operation as soon as they can, and this time they
     won’t miss you. If you talk, what do you risk? We’ll keep you in prison
     for a few days, for your own safety. When we’ve got the whole bunch of them
     banged up, we’ll let you go and that will be it.’
    Audiat listened attentively. He was
     clearly not entirely opposed to the idea, for he murmured, as if to himself:
    ‘In the state I’m in,
     I’m entitled to go to the infirmary.’
    ‘Of course. And you know the
     infirmary at Fresnes. It’s even better than a hospital.’
    ‘Can you check whether my knee is
     swollen?’
    Maigret obeyed, removing the dressing.
     The knee had swollen, and Audiat, who was terrified of disease, prodded it
     anxiously.
    ‘Do you think they’ll have
     to amputate my leg?’
    ‘I promise you
     that it will heal within a fortnight. You just have a little water on the
     knee.’
    ‘Oh!’
    He gazed at the ceiling and lay still
     for a few minutes. An alarm clock rang in another room. From the corridors came the
     muffled tread of the valet arriving on duty, then, from the landing, the relentless
     swish of a brush polishing shoes.
    ‘Have you decided?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Would you rather end up in court
     with Cageot?’
    ‘I’d like a drink of
     water.’
    He was doing it deliberately. He was not
     smiling, but Maigret could sense his delight at being waited on.
    ‘This water’s
     warm!’
    Maigret did not protest. His braces
     dangling, he ambled over and did everything the injured man asked of him. The
     horizon turned pink. A ray of sunshine licked the window.
    ‘Who’s in charge of the
     investigation?’
    ‘Inspector Amadieu and the
     examining magistrate Gastambide.’
    ‘Are they decent men?’
    ‘There’s no one
     better.’
    ‘Admit that I was nearly a goner!
     How did I get run over?’
    ‘By the car’s left
     wing.’
    ‘Was Eugène at the
     wheel?’
    ‘It was him. The fellow from
     Marseille was with him. Who is he?’
    ‘A young guy who arrived three
     months ago. He was in Barcelona, but apparently there’s nothing going on
     there.’
    ‘Now look here,
     Audiat. There’s no point playing cat and mouse any longer. I’m going to
     call a taxi. The two of us are going to go to Quai des Orfèvres. Amadieu will arrive
     at eight o’clock, and you’re going to tell him your story.’
    Maigret yawned, so exhausted that he
     could barely speak.
    ‘You’re not saying
     anything?’
    ‘All right, let’s go and see
     what happens.’
    Maigret gave his face a quick wash,
     adjusted his clothes and had two breakfasts brought up.
    ‘You see, in a situation like
     yours, there is only one place where you are safe. And that’s in
     prison.’
    ‘Amadieu, isn’t he the tall
     one, always pale-faced, with a droopy moustache?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘I don’t like the look of
     him!’
    The rising sun made Maigret think of his
     little house in the Loire and the fishing rods waiting for him in the bottom of the
     boat. Perhaps it was because he was so tired, but, for a split second, he was
     tempted to drop the whole thing. He looked at Audiat with round eyes, as if he had
     forgotten what he was doing there, and ran his hand through his hair.
    ‘How can I get dressed, my
     trousers are all torn?’
    They called the valet, who found Audiat
     an old pair of trousers. Audiat limped, groaned and leaned on Maigret with all his
     weight. The taxi drove over the Pont-Neuf and it was a relief to