Maigret's Dead Man (12 page)

‘I don't know much, I
swear.'

‘Earlier on, an inspector came and showed
you a photo. Is that right?'

‘It is.'

‘You said you didn't know the
man.'

‘Not quite. I said he wasn't staying
in the hotel.'

‘How do you mean?'

‘He's not in the register, nor the
woman either. Somebody else is signed in for both rooms.'

‘Since when?'

‘About five months.'

‘What's his name?'

‘Serge Madok.'

‘Is he the leader?'

‘Leader of what?'

‘Let me give you a piece of advice.
Don't be stupid! Otherwise we'll carry on this little chat elsewhere, and tomorrow
morning this place will be closed down. Have you got that?'

‘I've always been above board
…'

‘Except tonight. Tell
me about Serge Madok. Is he Czech?'

‘That's what it says on his papers.
They all talk the same lingo. It's not Polish. I'm used to Poles.'

‘Age?'

‘About thirty. At the start, he told me he
worked in a factory.'

‘Did he really have a job?'

‘No.'

‘How do you know?'

‘Because he was here all day.'

‘How about the others?'

‘The others likewise. There was only ever
one who went out. Most often it was the woman who used to go down to the market in Rue
Saint-Antoine.'

‘What did they do all day?'

‘Nothing. They slept, ate, drank, played
cards … They were no trouble. Now and then, they'd start singing, but never at
night, so there was nothing I could say.'

‘How many of them were there?'

‘Four men and Maria.'

‘And did the four men … with
Maria?'

‘I don't know.'

‘You're lying! Tell me!'

‘There was something going on all right,
but what, I couldn't exactly say. Sometimes they quarrelled, and I got the feeling it was
about her. Several times I walked into the back room, and it wasn't always the same man
who was missing.'

‘What about the one in the photo, Victor
Poliensky?'

‘I think so. It could
have been him. In any case, he was in love.'

‘Which of them was the most
important?'

‘I think it was the one they called Carl. I
did hear them say his other name, but it's such a mouthful that I could never pronounce
it, and it didn't stick in my mind.'

‘Wait a moment.'

From his pocket Maigret took his memo-pad like
the one laundresses use and licked the end of his pencil the way schoolchildren do.

‘First, the woman, whom you call Maria.
Then Carl. Plus Serge Madok, in whose name both rooms were let. And Victor Poliensky, the one
who was shot. Is that the lot?'

‘There's the kid.'

‘What kid?'

‘I assume he's Maria's brother.
Anyway, he looks like her. I always heard him called Pietr. He must be sixteen or
seventeen.'

‘And he didn't work
either?'

The hotel-keeper shook his head. As Maigret had
opened the window to ventilate the rooms – though the air from the street made the place
smell as foul as the air inside the hotel – he was cold, without a jacket, and was
beginning to shiver.

‘None of them's got a job.'

‘Yet they spent a lot of money?'

Maigret nodded towards the pile of empty wine
bottles in a corner, among which were a number of champagne bottles.

‘By local standards,
they spent a lot, but it wasn't regular. There were times when they had to tighten their
belts. It was pretty obvious. When the kid made several trips out with empty bottles to get the
money back on them, it meant funds were running low.'

‘Didn't anybody ever come to see
them?'

‘Might have done.'

‘You still want to go on with this
conversation down at Quai des Orfèvres?'

‘No. I'll tell you everything I know.
Someone did come to see them. Two or three times.'

‘Who?'

‘A gent. Very well dressed.'

‘Did he go up to their room? What did he
say when he called in at your office?'

‘He never asked me anything. He must have
known which floor they were on. He went straight up.'

‘Is that all?'

The noise outside had gradually abated. Lighted
windows grew dark. There was still the sound of footsteps as a few inspectors made their rounds,
ringing the last doorbells.

The senior police officer climbed the stairs.

‘What are you orders now, sir? It's
all over. Both vans are full.'

‘They can go. Will you ask two of my
inspectors to come up here?'

The hotel-keeper moaned:

‘I'm freezing.'

‘And I'm too hot.'

That was because he had no
wish to put his overcoat down anywhere in that filthy hole.

‘This man who came to see them, did you
ever run across him anywhere else? Did you ever see his picture in the papers? Was it this
man?'

He showed him the photo of Li'l Albert
which he still had in his pocket.

‘That doesn't look like him. This
other one was a good-looking man, very well dressed, with a small brown moustache.'

‘How old?'

‘Maybe thirty-five? I noticed he wore a
great big gold ring.'

‘French? Czech?'

‘Definitely not French. He talked to them
in their lingo.'

‘Did you listen outside the
door?'

‘I do sometimes. I like to know what goes
on in my place, see.'

‘Especially since it didn't take long
for the penny to drop.'

‘Drop about what?'

‘You think I'm a fool, don't
you? What do men who hide up in holes like this place and never go looking for work do? What do
they live on? Answer me!'

‘It's nothing to do with
me.'

‘How often did they all go out
together?'

The hotel-keeper turned red, hesitated, but then
the way Maigret was staring at him convinced him that a measure of truthfulness would be in
order.

‘Four, maybe five
times.'

‘How long were they gone for? A whole
night?'

‘What makes you think it was at night? It
was usually at night, yes. But once they stayed away two days and two nights. I had even started
thinking they weren't coming back.'

‘You thought they'd been arrested,
didn't you?'

‘Maybe.'

‘What did they give you when they got
back?'

‘They paid their rent.'

‘The rent for one person? Because actually
there was only one person's name in your register.'

‘They gave me a bit extra.'

‘How much? Have a care, friend. Don't
forget I can put you behind bars for aiding and abetting.'

‘Once they gave me five hundred francs.
Another time two thousand.'

‘And then they lived it up.'

‘Yes. They went straight out and bought a
lot of stuff to eat and drink.'

‘Which of them stayed on guard?'

This time, the hotel-keeper looked even more
uneasy and he automatically glanced round at the door.

‘There are two exits to this place, is that
right?'

‘Well, if you go through the back yards by
jumping over a couple of walls, you come out in Rue Vieille-du-Temple.'

‘Who was on guard?'

‘In the street?'

‘Yes, in the street. And I assume there was
always one
looking out of the window? When Madok asked for a room, he asked
for one that overlooked the street, didn't he?'

‘Yes. It's also a true that one of
them was always hanging around on the pavement outside. They took turns.'

‘Another question: which of them threatened
to sort you out if you talked?'

‘Carl.'

‘When was this?'

‘The first time they came back after being
out all night.'

‘How did you know that the threat was
serious, that they were capable of killing?'

‘I walked into the room. I often do my
rounds but say I'm just checking to see if the electricity is working or that
they've changed the sheets.'

‘Do they change them often?'

‘Every month. Once I caught the woman
washing a shirt in the wash-basin and saw there was blood on it.'

‘Whose shirt was it?'

‘One of the men's, I don't know
which …'

Two inspectors were outside on the landing,
waiting until Maigret got round to giving them instructions.

‘I want one of you to phone Moers.
He's probably asleep by now unless he's finishing off some piece of work. If
he's not at the office, call him at home. I want him to come here with his
gear.'

Ignoring the hotel-keeper, he wandered through
both rooms, opening a cupboard here, a drawer there and kicking a pile of dirty washing left on
the floor. The paper on the walls had faded and was peeling off in places. The
beds were dirty and uninviting, and the blankets the same unpleasant grey as the ones in
soldiers' barracks. Everything was in a mess. When they fled, the occupants had clearly
gathered up what was most valuable but had not dared take anything bulky with them for fear of
drawing attention to themselves.

‘Did they leave immediately after the shot
was fired?' asked Maigret.

‘Straight away.'

‘Through the front door?'

‘No, through the yards …'

‘Which one was outside at that
moment?'

‘Victor, of course. And Serge
Madok.'

‘Which one came down to answer the
phone?'

‘How do you know anyone phoned?'

‘Answer me!'

‘There was a call for them at about half
past four, you're right. I didn't recognize the voice, but whoever it was spoke
their lingo. All he said was Carl's name. I told him he was wanted. He came down. I can
see him now in my office. He was livid and waved his hands about furiously. He yelled down the
phone. When he went back upstairs, he started swearing like a trooper again. Then, after no time
at all, Madok came down.'

‘So it was Madok who killed his
friend?'

‘It's very likely.'

‘Did they try to take the woman with
them?'

‘I asked them about that when they were
passing through the hall. I thought that it would all mean big trouble for me. I would have
preferred it if they'd all just
cleared out. I didn't know she
was going to have her kid so soon. I went up and told her to get out like the rest of them. She
was in bed. She just stared at me cool as anything. You know, she understands more French than
she lets on. She didn't bother to say anything but suddenly she doubled up with pain, and
I got the message.'

‘Listen,' said Maigret to the officer
who was still there, ‘I want you to stay and wait for Moers. Don't let anybody into
these two rooms, especially not this clown. Are you armed?'

The officer patted the revolver, which made a
bulge in the pocket of his jacket.

‘Get Moers to look for fingerprints first.
Then tell him to take away anything that might give us a lead. It's obvious they
didn't leave anything in the way of written paper or documents behind them. I've
checked.'

Old socks, underpants, a harmonica, a box
containing needle and thread, various garments, several packs of playing cards, small figures
carved with a knife from soft wood …

Telling the hotel-keeper to go first, he followed
him down the stairs. What was called the ‘office' was a tiny room, badly lit, with
no ventilation, which contained a camp bed and a table on which there was a primus stove and the
remains of a meal.

‘I don't suppose you kept a note of
the dates when the villains went out on the prowl?'

The man replied with an instant
‘no'.

‘I thought not. Still, no matter. You have
until tomorrow morning to remember. Got that? Tomorrow morning
I'll
be here or have you brought to me in my office. I'll expect dates, listen carefully,
precise dates
. If I don't get them I will regretfully be forced to arrest
you.'

There was still something else that the
hotel-keeper wanted to say but he hesitated …

‘If by any chance, somebody came here
… will you … will you authorize me to use my revolver?'

‘So you're thinking you know far too
much, right? And that it might occur to them to do to you what they did to Victor?'

‘I'm scared.'

‘There'll be a policeman permanently
on duty in the street outside.'

‘What if they come the other way, through
the yards at the back?'

‘I hadn't forgotten. I'll post
another man to stand guard in Rue Vieille-du-Temple.'

The streets were empty, and the silence was a
surprise after all the turmoil of the last few hours. There was no sign now of the raid. No
windows were lit. Their occupants were all asleep except those who had been carted off to the
Préfecture and Maria, who must now be having her baby in hospital while Lucas paced up and
down outside her door.

He posted the two men as promised and gave them
detailed instructions. He then had to stand for a considerable time while he waited for a taxi
in Rue de Rivoli. The night was clear and cool.

As he got into the cab, he hesitated. He
hadn't slept the previous night. But he had rested up for three whole
days and three whole nights while he nursed his attack of bronchitis. Did Moers have time
to sleep?

‘Where can we find some place that's
still open?' he asked.

He felt suddenly hungry. Hungry and thirsty. The
thought of very cold beer, with a silvery, frothing head on it, made his mouth water.