The Carter of ’La Providence’ Read Free Page B

saying:
    â€˜Mary?’
    Willy went on rocking to and fro, a cigarette glued to his lips, while the colonel was worrying about the boat’s batteries!
    In the neutral setting of his office, the inspector would have doubtless conducted a properly structured interview. But here, he began by taking off his overcoat without being invited to and picked up the photo, which was disturbing in the way
all photographs of corpses are disturbing.
    â€˜Do you live here, in France?’
    â€˜In France, England … Sometimes Italy … Always on my boat, the
Southern Cross
.’
    â€˜And you’ve just come from …?’
    â€˜Paris!’ replied Willy who had got the nod from the colonel to do the talking. ‘We stayed there two weeks after spending a month in London.’
    â€˜Did you live on board?’
    â€˜No. The boat was moored at Auteuil. We stayed at the Hotel Raspail, in Montparnasse.’
    â€˜You mean the colonel, his wife, the lady I saw just now, plus yourself?’
    â€˜Yes. The lady is the widow of a member of the Chilean parliament, Madame Negretti.’
    Sir Walter gave an impatient snort and lapsed into English again:
    â€˜Get on with it or else he’ll still be here tomorrow morning.’
    Maigret did not flinch. But from then on, he put his questions with more than a touch of bloody-mindedness.
    â€˜So Madame Negretti is no relation?’ he asked Willy.
    â€˜Absolutely not.’
    â€˜So she is not connected in any way with you and the colonel … Would you tell me about accommodation arrangements on board?’
    Sir Walter swallowed a mouthful of whisky, coughed and lit a cigarette.
    â€˜Forward are the crew’s quarters. That’s where Vladimir sleeps. He’s a former cadet in the Russian navy … He served in Wrangel’s White Russian fleet.’
    â€˜Any other crew? No servants?’
    â€˜Vladimir does everything.’
    â€˜Go on.’
    â€˜Between the crew’s quarters and this cabin are, on the right, the galley, and on the left the bathroom.’
    â€˜And aft?’
    â€˜The engine.’
    â€˜So there were four of you in this cabin?’
    â€˜There are four bunks … First, the two that you see. They convert to day couches … Then …’
    Willy crossed to a wall panel, pulled out a kind of deep drawer which was in fact a bed.
    â€˜There’s one of these on each side … Do you see?’
    Actually, Maigret was indeed beginning to see a little more clearly. He was beginning to feel that it wouldn’t be long before he got to the bottom of these unusual living arrangements.
    The colonel’s eyes were a dull grey and watered like a drunk’s. He seemed to have lost interest in the conversation.
    â€˜What happened at Meaux? But first, when exactly did you get there?’
    â€˜Wednesday evening … Meaux is a one-day stage from
Paris. We’d brought along a couple of girls, just friends, with us from Montparnasse.’
    â€˜And?’
    â€˜The weather was marvellous. We played some records and danced outside, on deck. Around four in the morning I took the girls to their hotel, and they must have caught the train back the next morning.’
    â€˜Where was the
Southern Cross
moored?’
    â€˜Near the lock.’
    â€˜Anything happen on Thursday?’
    â€˜We got up very late, we were woken several times in the night by a crane loading stone into a barge nearby. The colonel and I went for a drink before lunch in town. Then, in the afternoon, let me see … the colonel had a
nap … and I played chess with Gloria … Gloria is Madame Negretti.’
    â€˜On deck?’
    â€˜Yes. I think Mary went for a walk.’
    â€˜And she never came back?’
    â€˜Yes she did: she had dinner on board. The colonel suggested we all spend the evening at the palais de danse. Mary