My Friend Maigret by Georges Simenon Page A

private letters?”
    â€œI can’t see what you are driving at.”
    â€œAt nothing at all, Monsieur Moricourt.”
    â€œDe Moricourt.”
    â€œIf you insist. I was only trying to get some idea of your work.”
    â€œMrs. Wilcox is no longer young.”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œI don’t get you.”
    â€œNever mind. Tell me, Monsieur de Moricourt—that’s right, isn’t it?—where you made Mrs. Wilcox’s acquaintance?”
    â€œIs this an interrogation?”
    â€œIt’s whatever you like to call it.”
    â€œAm I obliged to answer?”
    â€œYou can wait until I summon you formally.”
    â€œAm I regarded as a suspect?”
    â€œEveryone is suspect, and no one is.”
    The young man considered for a few moments, threw his cigarette through the open doorway.
    â€œI met her at the casino at Cannes.”
    â€œA long time ago?”
    â€œA little over a year.”
    â€œAre you a gambler?”
    â€œI used to be. That’s how I lost my money.”
    â€œDid you have a lot?”
    â€œThe question strikes me as indiscreet.”
    â€œDid you have a job before?”
    â€œI was attached to the office of a minister.”
    â€œWho was doubtless a friend of your family’s?”
    â€œHow did you know?”
    â€œDo you know young de Greef?”
    â€œHe’s been on board several times, and we bought a canvas from him.”
    â€œYou mean that Mrs. Wilcox bought a canvas from him?”
    â€œThat’s right. I beg your pardon.”
    â€œHad Marcellin been on board the North Star as well?”
    â€œOccasionally.”
    â€œAs a guest?”
    â€œIt’s difficult to explain, inspector. Mrs. Wilcox is a very generous person.”
    â€œI imagine so.”
    â€œEverything interests her, especially in the Mediterranean, which she loves, and it abounds in colorful characters. Marcellin was undeniably one himself.”
    â€œHe was given drinks?”
    â€œEveryone is given drinks.”
    â€œYou were at the Arche on the night of the crime?”
    â€œWe were with the major.”
    â€œAnother colorful character, no doubt?”
    â€œMrs. Wilcox used to know him in England. It was a social connection.”
    â€œWere you drinking champagne?”
    â€œThe major drinks nothing but champagne.”
    â€œWere the three of you very merry?”
    â€œWe behaved perfectly well.”
    â€œDid Marcellin join in with your party?”
    â€œEveryone more or less joined in. You haven’t met Major Bellam yet?”
    â€œDoubtless it won’t be long before I have that pleasure.”
    â€œHe’s generosity itself. When he comes to the Arche…”
    â€œAnd he often goes there?”
    â€œThat is correct. As I was saying, he seldom fails to offer drinks all round. Everyone comes to have a drink with him. He’s been living on the island such a long time that he knows the children by their Christian names.”
    â€œSo Marcellin came over to your table. He drank a glass of champagne.”
    â€œNo. He had a horror of champagne. He used to say it was only fit for girls. We had a bottle of white wine fetched up for him.”
    â€œDid he sit down?”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œThere were other people seated at your table? Charlot for example?”
    â€œOh yes.”
    â€œYou know his profession, if one can use the term?”
    â€œHe doesn’t try to hide the fact that he is a crook. He’s a character too.”
    â€œAnd, in that capacity, he was sometimes invited on board?”
    â€œI don’t think, inspector, that there’s anyone on the island who hasn’t been.”
    â€œEven Monsieur Émile?”
    â€œNot him.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI don’t know. I don’t think we’ve ever even spoken to him. He’s something of a hermit.”
    â€œAnd he doesn’t drink.”
    â€œThat’s