Free The Grand Banks Café by Georges Simenon

we’d only got two hundred francs between us. What are
     you going to do with me? … You can’t send me to jail!’
    â€˜Do you think the wireless
     operator is the killer?’
    â€˜How should I know?’
    â€˜Do you own a pair of tan-coloured
     shoes?’ Maigret suddenly asked Gaston Buzier.
    â€˜I … Yes. Why?’
    â€˜Oh, nothing. Just asking. Are you
     absolutely sure you wouldn’t be able to recognize the man who killed the
     captain?’
    â€˜All I saw was a man’s
     outline in the dark.’
    â€˜Well now, Pierre Le Clinche, who
     was also there, hidden by the trucks, reckons the murderer was wearing tan
     shoes.’
    Gaston was on his feet like a shot. His
     eyes were hard, and his lips curled in a snarl.
    â€˜He said that? You’re sure
     he said that?’
    His anger almost choked him, reduced him
     to a stammer. He was no longer the same man. He banged the desk with his fist.
    â€˜I’m not having this! Take me to him! … Where
     is he? By God! We’ll soon see who’s lying! Tan-coloured shoes! And that
     makes me the killer, right? … He’s the one who took my girl! He’s the
     one who let her off the boat! And he has the nerve to say …’
    â€˜Calm down.’
    He could scarcely breathe. He
     gasped:
    â€˜Did you hear that, Adèle? …
     That’s just like all your lover-boys!’
    Tears of rage filled both eyes. His
     teeth chattered.
    â€˜This is too much! … It
     wasn’t me who … ha ha ha … this takes the biscuit! It’s better than the
     films! … And the minute it comes out that I’ve got two convictions, he’s
     the one who is believed! So I killed Captain Fallut! … Because I was jealous of him,
     is that it? … What else? … Oh yes, didn’t I kill the wireless operator
     too?’
    He ran one hand feverishly though his
     hair, which left it in a mess. It also made him look thinner. His eyes had darker
     rings under them, his complexion was duller.
    â€˜If you’re going to arrest
     me, what are you waiting for?’
    â€˜Shut up!’ snapped
     Adèle.
    But she too had started to panic, though
     this did not stop her giving Gaston sceptical looks.
    Did she have her suspicions? Or was this
     some sort of play-acting game?
    â€˜If you’re going to arrest
     me, do it now … But I demand to confront the man … Then we’ll see!’
    Maigret had pressed an electric bell.
     The station duty officer showed his face warily round the door.
    â€˜I want you to keep the gentleman
     and the lady here
until tomorrow, until we
     get a ruling from the examining magistrate.’
    â€˜You rat!’ Adèle yelled at
     him and she spat on the floor. ‘You want to lock me up for telling the truth!
     … Right then, listen to me: every word of what I just told you was made up! …
     I’m not going to sign any statement! … That’ll put the tin lid on your
     little scheme! … So this is the way …’
    And turning to Gaston:
    â€˜Never mind! … They can’t
     touch us! You’ll see, when it comes to it it’s us who’ll have the
     last laugh … Only thing is, a woman who’s been on the Vice Squad’s
     books, well, all she’s good for is for banging up in the cells … Oh by the
     way, just asking, was it me who killed the captain? …’
    Maigret left the room without listening
     to the rest. Outside, he filled his lungs with sea air and knocked the ash out of
     his pipe. He hadn’t gone ten metres when he heard Adèle from inside the police
     station regaling officers with the choicest items of her vocabulary.
    It was now two in the morning. The night
     was unnaturally calm. It was high tide, and the masts of the fishing boats swayed to
     and fro above the roofs of the houses.
    And over everything the regular murmur,
     wave after wave, of sea on