Maigret's Dead Man (2016) - full transcript

(METALLIC CLICK)

Is anyone inside?
No, sir.

(CLICK)

Come on.

(DOG BARKS)

(CLUCKING)

Kitchen.

(FLOORBOARDS CREEK)

(DOOR SHUTS)
(COCKS GUN)

Come out.

Come out!



(SUSPENSE MUSIC)

(COAT HANGERS RATTLE)
(GASPS)

(THEME SONG PLAYS)

(DISTANT CAR HORNS)

(GENERAL CHATTER AND LAUGHTER)

Thank you.
(COINS JANGLE)

(PANTS)

(THWACK)

(GRUNTS)

(CAR HORN BLARES)

(GASPS)

(PANTS)

(SEAGULLS CALL)

(PANTS)



Come on, quick. Come on!

(BELL TINKLES)

(CLATTERS)

Good afternoon.

What can I get you?
A token for the phone.

And to drink?
Er, whatever you want.

Um, a Suze-citron.

(COIN CLATTERS)

(RINGS)

Police Judiciaire.
Which department, please?

Putting you through.

(PHONE RINGS)

Maigret.

Look, you don't know my name
but you've met my wife, Nina.

She says she's met you. Who is this?
My name won't mean anything to you,
but they're gonna kill me.

I've tried to come and see you
but they would've shot me. Who?

I don't know how many,
at least two.

And since the 2:20 they've been
trying to get me on my own so they
can kill me. Help me.

Where are you?
I tried to get a policeman at the
Place du Chatelet to arrest them,

but he couldn't see anyone.
They'd disappeared.

"I'm Nina's husband.
She says you've met her."

Nina who? I'm at the Cave du
Beaujolais. (BELL TINKLES)
Oh, no. (REPLACES RECEIVER)

Hello?

Hello?

(CLICKS)

(CONNECTS) "Yes, sir?" Get me
the Cave du Beaujolais. "Sir."

(CLICK)

Janvier? Chief.
Get down to the Cave du Beaujolais,
find the man who just rang here.

Should I bring him in? No, just talk
to him. Find out who he is.

"I'm afraid that number is engaged,
Inspector. I can't get through."

(REPLACES RECEIVER)

Right. Phone, Chief. Says you know
him. Nina's husband.

He's here.

Where are you now? "At St Antoine
now, it's the big one.

I'm gonna try and lead him to
the Canon de la Bastille.

Can you meet me there?
Do you know it?" Yes.

Who are these men?

(LINE GOES DEAD)

(DOOR BELL TINKLES)

I doubt that's him either.

Hoax?

There you are.
Ah. Do you want a drink? Mwah. Mwah.

Did you get a description?
"Fawn raincoat, mid-thirties,

small. He said he was the sort of
man you see a lot of."

Can you get word out to the city
police that if a man wearing a fawn
raincoat has had an accident,

or been in a fight or anything like
that, they're to call me."

I've had a call from the Jours
Heureux in the Rue du Faubourg.
They said a frightened, anxious man

approached the bar with a message
to ring you. It reads,

"I'll try and get to you,
they're blocking all the routes."

(PANTS)

Come on.

And an envelope, please.

(OVER RADIO) "..another farmhouse has
been attacked near the town of
Goderville.

As with the burglaries on the 12th
of August and the 21st of September,

the perpetrators ransacked
the property at night..."

"..if anyone has any information..."

(DIALS)

"Police Judiciaire.
What department, please?"

(DIALS)

"Hello."
Joe, it's Albert.

"Albert, what can I do for you?" Can
you come and meet me? "Sure. When?"

I've got an idea.
"Oh, yeah?"

Nina.

He said I'd met her.

Professionally?

There was a madam called Nina,
worked in the 18th.

But that was years ago.

She was 60 then.

The police in the Picardie farm
murders think someone got off

the Paris train at Goderville at
3:30 in the morning.
Having travelled from Paris?

That's what it says here.
Who'd take a route like that?

That train stops at every station
along the line.

Someone who really wanted to
get to Goderville.

Who's on tonight?
I am.

(PARPS HORN)

(TYRES SCREECH)

(THUD)

(TYRES SCREECH)

(FLASHBULB POPS)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
As far as you can tell, he was dead.

I can try.

That's fine with me.

Not a hoax.
Chief,

this gentleman saw the body
get thrown from the car.

Was he alive?
No.

He's been stabbed in the heart, sir.

What kind of car?

It was a cream and blue Citroen
with a Paris registration.

The last two numbers were
a seven and a five.

Thank you.

Can I ask you to confirm your name
and address, please? Of course.

Can you get some details from
this gentleman here? Sir.

Thank you for your help.

Who's done this?

It feels like an underworld job,
Chief.

A settling of scores.

Who is he? He had nothing in his
pockets, Chief, no wallet or
anything.

Looking at how they've wrecked
his face,

I'm not sure even his own mother
would recognise him. That's how
they do it.

(FLASHBULB POPS)

Watch the chief. He's gonna
get in the van with this one.

No, he won't.

He will.
This one's got under his skin.

I'll stay with him.

Thank you.

(SIGHS)

Do you have to smoke
while we're doing this? Hmm.

Antiseptic in the air.
(CHUCKLES)

When did you qualify?

Is his suit handmade?

It's off-the-peg, average stuff.

He's poor all right,
or at least his childhood was.

How can you tell?
By looking at his teeth.

Where did you qualify?
What else, Paul?

His hands don't suggest
any particular occupation.

They're well-kept. He's got tender
feet though, with dropped arches,

which indicates a life standing up.

Any scars on the body?
Any old wounds?

I don't think he's underworld,
Maigret.

Time of death?

Between eight and ten last night.
Well, good night, gentlemen.

What did they damage his face with?

Something heavy. Not fists.

After he died?
Yeah, that's right.

It was the knife that killed him
but...

..it's like he's been held down
and operated on.

The bruises on the arms,

this knife wound to the heart.
It's vicious, Maigret.

I'd like to get a mortician
to reconstruct his face,

see if we can get
a recognisable photograph.

All right. I'm gonna open him up.

Let's see what he last ate.

Those of a weak disposition
should look away.

(SQUELCHES)

(CRUNCHING)

We need to find the cream
and blue Citroen. (PHONE RINGS)

Janvier, take a man
and do nothing else. Hmm, Chief.

And I want witnesses from the bars
from which the dead man called.

Are people gonna recognise him
from this? They might.

Those bars were
the Cave du Beaujolais,

the Canon de la Bastille,
and the Jours Heureux.

And we believe he tried to call
the switchboard from the post office
in the Rue de Faubourg.

People are creatures of habit, so the
same time of day is when we'll get
witnesses.

His last suspected location
was the post office,

three hours before he died.

I want to know where he went after
that. Why the phone calls stopped?

And where he ate.

Well, he was killed shortly after
his last meal, which was...

cream cod, an apple,
and white wine to drink.

So we should check the menus of all
the cafes and bistros, all of them.

Thank you.

Fingerprints?
He's not known to us.

Your registration number is
one-eight-zero-eight-A-D-three-eight?

Have we had any cream and blue
Citroens

reported missing in the last few
days? And can you tell...

He asked for an envelope and a stamp.
He posted it before he left.

Has the box been emptied since?
Every three hours. He posted it
after he make a phone call.

(MACHINE WHIRS AND RATTLES)

(GLASS TINKLES)

What have you got?

I have a cream and blue Citroen
stolen eight days ago, but its
registration doesn't tally, so...

It's not our car.

What do you do when you get home,
Janvier?

I give my wife a kiss. Hmm.

When I get home
I get changed out of my suit jacket.

You think he went home
after calling you?

That would explain why the jacket
and the trousers don't match.

Moers, do you have a knife?

Yes, of course.

(CLICK)

There we are.

Put the tip through here.

(CREAKS)

The two holes don't align. He wasn't
killed wearing his raincoat.

No, he was killed indoors
without the coat,

and they faked it to look outdoors.

All right, your dead man is
speaking to me at last, Maigret.

(METALLIC CLATTER)
In the arch of his shoe

there's an odd sort of mud.

It's earth saturated with alcohol,
probably wine.

The type of soil
you find in a cellar

where a cask has been broached.

(BELL TINKLES)

(OVER RADIO) "Police in Picardie are
still working around-the-clock..."
I've said everything I saw.

There's nothing else I can add.
..on the slow train to Le Havre

on the night of the 8th of October.
Tonight a third vicious attack...

The attack follows similar burglaries
and killings

on the nights of the 21st of
September and the 12th of August...

..the murders in each case
have been calculated.

Calls have been made to
the Police Judiciaire in Paris..."

Hungry?

What drink did the dead man order?
A Suze-citron.

May I have a Suze-citron?

And a token for the phone.

(COINS JANGLE)

Where did he stand?
Just there.

"..are struggling..."

Do you want a Suze-citron?

No. Beer.

He said, "Since the 2:20 they've been
trying to get me alone and kill me."

What's the 2:20? A train?
Or a horse race. I don't know.

(CLATTERS)

Oof.

Get his photo around
the train stations and race tracks,

and check on the times of trains
and races.

(JANGLES)

(SNORTS)

(BELL RINGS, COMMENTARY OVER TANNOY)
"And they're off."

(CROWD CHEERS)

(COMMENTARY ON RADIO) "..slipping
into stride at the tail of
the field..." Well?

Yeah, it's difficult to tell,

but if this is who I think it is,
you see him a lot.

Do you know his name?
No - but he's here every meeting.

Thank you.

Sir.

(COMMENTARY CONTINUES)

What's he doing?

Walking through the same areas
as Dead Man.

"..racing on the outside..."

Here you are.

This letter he posted,
was that to you?

No, nothing's arrived.

Then why hasn't his wife reported
him missing? Is she involved?
I don't think so.

He didn't speak of her with any fear.

Drop it.

I don't think this is underworld,
sir. That's exactly what it is,

and we'll never find a thing.
Let them kill each other.
I don't have resources for this.

We've just had a request from
Picardie for assistance with
the farmhouse murders.

Make your entire department
available to Inspector Colombani
and offer him your full,

personal assistance. Is that clear?
I'd like to keep this investigation
going as well.

He has got a link to Paris with this
train journey, and he'll need all
our manpower and experience -

And he'll get it, but -
Good. File that.

(ENGINES RATTLE)

Judge Comeliau, good to meet you.
Inspector Colombani.

A good journey?
Yes, it was very quick.

Right, now let's get this down,
please?

If we can be careful.

(DOOR BANGS)

Ah, good morning. Moers.
Colombani.

Morning. What have you got for me?
This chaise longue is from
the living room

of the farmhouse in Goderville
which was attacked two nights ago.

Is it possible you can tell me
something about the last people who
sat on it? We can give it a try.

I believe a number of people sat
and watched a woman being tortured
and killed.

Can I interrupt?
Excuse me. Hmm.

Put it on the top.

Excuse me, sir.

It's a pleasure to meet you,
Chief Inspector. Colombani.

My whole department is at
your disposal. Thank you.

Except for Inspectors LaPointe
and Janvier

who are helping me with another
investigation for a few days.

Ah. Well, I was hoping that you
would be assisting me mainly.

As soon as I can, I will.

I'm sure you understand.
He wants them over there.

Yes.

I also want all the jewellers and
the silver merchants in Paris

checked out for items stolen from
the Picardie farmhouses.

Here's a list of
all the things taken.

Check the fences, see if anything
connects to the murder victims,

and we need detectives on every
train travelling to Le Havre.

Your job is to find the man who got
off the train at Goderville

at 3:30 in the morning.

All right, so I've got
four witnesses at the track.

He saw the dead man laying bets on
the 2:20 the day before yesterday.

Very good. I have a sighting of a
cream and blue Citroen

broken down here at
the Quai Henri IV at 8:10.

Now it was pointing in the direction
of the Pont d'Austerlitz.

The telegraph boy who saw it
was a bit of an enthusiast.

He reckons it was a Citroen Light
15 Traction Avant,

Parisian registration.

The chief says it's the best lead
we've got so far.

Also, the chief wants to know who he
was trying to call from the post...

..office... (CLEARS THROAT)

..as there was, er,
no record of him

calling at that time.
What are you doing?

And where is Maigret? He's gone home
with a heavy cold, sir. Hmm.

Right, I'll be at my desk
for the rest of the day.

(RINGS) Hello, Maigrets.
"Judge Comeliau for Maigret.

Yes, of course.

Comeliau. Be nice.
(SIGHS)

Hello.

Your men tell me
you're suffering from a heavy cold.

It's not heavy exactly, but I think
I should stay at home today.

I need you here. Colombani needs to
trace the man who bought
the train ticket to Goderville

and to find out whether similar
tickets were bought before
the other farms were attacked.

He has all my men are at his
disposal. I asked you not to work on
that unidentified body. I'm not,

but I'm thinking about it...as
I cope with my cold.

Be here tomorrow.

(DING)
(LINE GOES DEAD)

And what are you thinking about
your dead man?

I'm thinking about why he drank a
low-alcohol drink like Suze-citron.

And why did he? People who drink it
tend not to go into a bar to drink,

but go in a professional capacity,
like a salesman,

who spends his day
being stood rounds.

So you think he was a commercial
traveller of some kind?

No, because of his shirt.

What was wrong with his shirt?
It was white.

It wasn't striped or coloured.

And the cuffs were not as worn
as the rest of the shirt.

What does that tell us?

Perhaps he was someone who spends
his days with his shirt sleeves
rolled up.

Like a barman or a cafe owner.

Maybe he had one of those little
bistros run by a married couple

that only serve one dish of the day?
Yes. Are you warm enough?

Another blanket? No, thank you. I'll
put some more coal on the stove.

And I think I know
when he changed his plan.

What plan? They pursued him
from the race course,

and that's when he tried to phone me.

But after three attempts
he rang somebody else

from the post office.

And then he went home,
ate his supper,

and waited for the second plan
to unfold.

What was it?

I don't know.

If he went home and had supper...

Yes? Then maybe he was expecting
someone who was gonna help him,

but that person didn't make it
until after his killers turned up.

Because their car broke down.

That's why the friend didn't make it.

If his friend was in the car,
why would he dump his body?

I thought you were too ill to work?

Get me Janvier.
"Yes, Chief."

Janvier?

It's the chief.

Chief? "Find out how long the cream
and blue Citroen's

been broken down at
the Quai Henri IV.

And release details of the car
to the Press.

We want anyone who saw it
to come forward. Right away, Chief.

(REPLACES RECEIVER)

(FLASHLIGHT POPS)
I think by now all of France know
the dates of the murders

at the Picardie farmhouses.

August the 12th, September the 21st,
and three nights ago on October 8th.

I am appealing for people who
travelled on trains between

Picardie and Paris on those dates.
If you saw anything suspicious

around that time...
(PAPER RUSTLES)

..please contract myself,
Chief Inspector Colombani,

Judge Comeliau,
or the Police Judiciaire.

Claire Fontaine?
You're not Chief Inspector Maigret.

No. He's not available right now -
I was hoping to speak to Maigret.

If you sit and speak to me,
I will relay everything you say to
the Chief Inspector.

If it's of importance.
But it is important,

that's why I need to speak to him.

I saw the cream and blue car.
The car that's in the paper?

The car that's in the paper.
This one.

And where did you see the car?

In my house.

Well, I was in my house,
the car wasn't, that was outside.

I saw it pull up outside
Au Petit Albert.

And what is Au Petit Albert?
A little bistro,

run by a husband and wife
near where I live.

The wife stinks of garlic.

When did you see it?
Well, that's it.

Wednesday night,
the night in the paper.

And there was definitely a seven and
a five in the registration

because I have grandchildren of seven
and five.

Marianne's favourite colour - Did you
see anyone get out of the car?

Yes, I saw a gentleman.
Well, he wasn't really a gentleman,

he was rather big. What time did you
see the man arrive? Nine o'clock.

And where do you live?
Near the Quai de Charenton.

(FOGHORN SOUNDS)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(SEAGULLS CALL)

So the licence is held in the name
of Albert Rochain.

It's a quiet, respectable place.
It serves barges on the river.

And Nina?
Not on the licence.

The Fontaine woman says the wife
is dark skinned and a bit of
a slattern.

I haven't heard that word in a
while. When was the last time you
heard the word "slattern"?

I've never heard it. How did you get
out of working with Colombani?

We caught your cold.

Well, I hope you feel better soon.

Have you been inside?
No.

(TURNS HANDLE)

LaPointe?

Blood?
Mmm.

Nina?

Cream cod.

Well, they weren't after money.

(CREAKS OPEN)

(COAT HANGERS RATTLE)

Here's the jacket
that matches his trousers. Hmm.

Do you recognise her?

No.
Do you think she's dead as well?

I don't know.

But circulate her name
and photograph.

(OPENS DRAWER)

Is there a child?
These things have never been used.

As if they're waiting for a child.

Can Moers get over here? He's coming
in his lunch break, Chief.

(ENGINE APPROACHES)

Colombani has brought in a sofa
from the Goderville farmhouse.

I've found the hairs from
three different dogs, from cats,

feathers from chickens, and fabric
from 25 different garments.

It's been impossible to get anything
useful from it.

Someone's been looking for
something here, Maigret.

I got that impression too. There are
fresh prints all over the bedroom

as if the drawers have been rifled.

What were they looking for?

It can't be anything bulky.

They even looked in the little box
you use for earrings.

"Are you sure you're not gonna catch
another cold?" No.

I've lit the stove
and I've got some medicine.

Are the sheets clean? There are some
sheets in the cupboard,

but I'm going to sleep on the settee.

Would you like to come round here
in the morning? Why?

I think we should run this place
for a few days.

Us? Yes. I think it would confuse
the killers to see it open again.

"Might draw them to us."

(GENERAL CHATTER)

(COIN JANGLES)

(COIN JANGLES)

(SQUEAKS)
Here we are.

Oh!

Now have you been a good girl?

(MAN AND WOMAN ARGUE)

Mwah, mwah.
(DOOR SLAMS)

(BREATHS HEAVILY)

(Shh, shh, shhh.)

(Let's see if Daddy can understand
what's happening tonight.)

Who's running the bistro?
You told me he was dead.

(SPEAK CZECH)

Bistro?
Cabana.

Cabana. Who's in there?

Have you got the dope?

Come on! You told me
the little man was dead!

Of course he's dead.
So who is running the place?!

(BOTTLE CLUNKS)

(THWACK)
(GRUNTS AND GROANS)

You tell the animal to
go back and kill the wife

and kill whoever's running it!

(THWACK)

Ow!
What if he told them what he saw?!

(SPEAKS CZECH)
Now, shh, shh!

No, no.

(SIGHS)
Dope.

You give them the dope.

(LAUGHS)

Go back tomorrow,

Pietr?

(SPEAKS CZECH)

Find the ticket -
and kill anyone who's there.

Mmm...

(DOOR CLOSES)

(BRAKES SQUEAL)

Monsieur.

(CABARET MUSIC PLAYS)

(GENERAL CHATTER)

Thank you, thank you.

(WHISTLES OF APPRECIATION)

(GIGGLES) Did you enjoy the show?
I enjoyed you.

Where shall we go tonight?

I have a table booked at
the George V. Hmm.

Jean, can't we go somewhere
more intimate?

I know this really lovely little
bistro off the Saint-Sulpice.

We have to go to the George tonight.

Why?
Because you'll look out of place

in a little bistro
on the Saint-Sulpice...

wearing this.
Oh, my God.

Jean, it's beautiful.
You're so generous.

Let's put it on.

Adele?
What?

Look what Jean got me today.
Oh, are they real?

Of course they are.
Ooh.

Hmm...

The George V, please?

(GENERAL CHATTER)

(HORN PARPS)

(FOGHORN SOUNDS)

(CULTERY CLATTERS)

Two more coffees, please?

Albert Rochain was a waiter at
the Cadran for years.

He left 18 months ago
to get married.
Did he meet Nina at the Cadran?

No. They thought she was some sort
of distant cousin, they never
met her.

Find out where Albert's family
is from.

She may well be there.
Chief.

And I'd like to place an advert in
the personal columns.

All right.

"Friend of Albert
with the cream and blue Citroen,

for your safety's sake,
urgently contact Maigret at home,

132 Boulevard Richard-Lenoir.

Discretion assured."

Could you take this, please?

Where's Little Albert?
Where's he gone? (CUTLERY CLATTERS)

Oh, he's in the country for a while.
I hope he takes Nina with him.

Maybe we'll stink less of garlic
after we've eaten this.
(MEN CHUCKLE)

Don't you like Nina?
She's all right.

She's got a great arse, hasn't she?
(MEN CHUCKLE)

Was she expecting a baby?

She's not. She's desperate though.

Ah.

(ENGINE RATTLES)

(CLICK)

(BREATHES HEAVILY)

(ENGINE RATTLES)

(DOOR SHUTS)

(TAPS COIN)

What can I get you?

Another?

(DOOR SHUTS)
Follow him.

Get the car.

(FOGHORN SOUNDS)

You'll have to take it back.

(BREATHES HEAVILY)

(GRUNTS)

Easy.

(ENGINE RATTLES)

Oi!
Oi!

Are we going to pick him up?
Just let him panic

and see where he leads us.

(STARTS ENGINE)

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Ooh.

Police! Police!
Oi!

What can I get you?

A beer.

(CLATTERS)

Mate!
(GLASS SMASHES)

Hey!

(GASPS)

Turn around.
(ENGINE REVS)

(CLATTERS)
(GRUNTS)

(PANTS)

(GUNSHOTS)
(GRUNTS)

(DOG BARKS)

(GRUNTS)

(LABOURED BREATHS)

Someone's been shot.

Oi, leave him alone!
Move away. Move away!

Move away! What have you done
to him? Stay back, please!

(ALL SHOUT)
What are you doing here?

(ALL TALK AT ONCE)

(LOUD GUNSHOT)
Police!

"You won't be home tonight?" No, but
I've sent a car to take you home.

"It was nice being here with you,

playing at a different life.
I liked it.

We wouldn't be happy doing anything
different. You wouldn't be.

I have a feeling that
this was a happy home.

Isn't ours?

Yes, it is.

"Yes, it is."

How did you know the wife?
I don't know.

"You didn't recognise her
from the photographs?" No.

Maigret will be attending.

You'll find her alive somewhere.
Have you locked the doors? I'll be
all right.

Keep the doors locked until the car
gets there. I'll be fine.

Move along.

I'll see you in the morning.
"See you in the morning."

They're ready for you now, Chief.

(WISTFUL MUSIC)

(CLOSES DRAWER)

(CLICK)

(CLICK)

(CLICK)

(CAR APPROACHES)

(KEYS JANGLE)

Hello, George.
Home, is it, madam?

Yes, please.
Oh, it's bitter, isn't it?

The name on the ID card was
Victor Poliensky, a Czech national.

He was an illegal, the card forged.
(BACKGROUND CHATTER)

He hasn't lived at his given address
or worked at Citroen,

his given place of employment,
for the last six months.

Can you quieten down, please? Will
do. We know that he was an addict,

and suspect the person he telephoned

was an accomplice that he tried to
get back to.

Has this photo gone to Vice? None of
the girls recognised him, sir.

The knife you found on this
Poliensky,

is it the one that killed
your cafe owner?

Moers has confirmed it. Albert
Rochain was not underworld, sir.

Yes, yes.

Now we will be supported by men from
the 2nd arrondissement

who will search the area.
Everybody lock down a section

of two blocks here and are picking
up anyone that leaves.

We're gonna find a lot of rubbish
and may not find his killer,

but we need to find out where
Poliensky was heading and discover
who shot him.

(TELEPHONIST)
Yes, I'll pass it on. Goodbye.

Follow me.
Up the stairs, second floor.

(LOUD WHISTLE)

(GENERAL HUBBUB)

(BREATHES HEAVILY)

(DISTANT VOICES) Come on, open up
or I'll break the door down.

Police! Open the door!

Do you know him?
Him? No, no.

Have you any Czechs living here?
We've got Poles, Italians,

and Armenians, but no Czechs.

(SPEAK CZECH)

Argh! Agh!

I've done nothing wrong. Come on.
(MEN SPEAK IN NATIVE TONGUE)

All right.
Check all the papers.

How can I give you
what I don't have?

Laurent, take her next door.

Come on, mate.
Papers?

Right. Come on.

Oi! You!

(CLATTERS)

(GRUNTS)

Stop!

Come on, you!

Chief!

This way.

Aagh! Aargh!

Agh! Get off! (GRUNTS)

I just tried to make her get up
and she bit me. Look at that.

Is she Czech? I don't know, she won't
speak. She keeps moaning. Aaargh!

That's because she's in labour.
Get an ambulance.

Get the proprietor in here.
Sir.

What's your name?
Do you understand me? Aaarrgh!

Sir?

What's her name? Maria.
Maria what?

I don't think she has another name.

Where are the others?
What others?

There are no others.
So what is this?

And this?

And this?!

They've gone.
When?

Today. I don't know.
When today?

After this man was
shot in the street?

I asked him that already.
He says he doesn't know him.
Did that man live in this room?

Yes. (SIGHS)
With another.

So there were two others?
I swear, I don't know anything.

You are very close to being closed
down. Please don't obstruct us.

They both...slept with her.

She was sort of their queen bee.

Aaagh! Aaagh!

Will you all step back, please?
(GROANS)

Just leave it.
I can't hear myself think.

Chief, shall I go with Janvier?

No. Go back to the quai, start
processing everyone we've picked up.
Don't let it wait until the morning.

Find out what they know about
that woman and the Czechs.

Chief.

Pietr Holosko.

He was the most, um,
(CHUCKLES) possessive of her.

Was Pietr the gunman this afternoon?

He took the call but it was
the other man who went out.

The other man?

A gent.

A fur coat.

(INHALES DEEPLY)

Violent.

How old?

About 30, 35.

Did he sleep with her as well?

Oh, yes.

And sometimes... (SNIFFS)

..after he was here,

they'd go away for a night,

and they'd come back
flush with cash.

Did they have a car?

Well, they had a van parked up
somewhere, I don't know where.

What dates did they go away?

I don't know.

Um...

(SNIFFS)

October 8th,

September... 21st,

um...

(SOBS)

Go on.

(SNIFFS) August 12th.

(SOBS)

Do you realise the significance
of those dates?

Those are the dates
of the Picardie murders.

Please... (SNIFFS)

You've got to help me now because if
Pietr or the fur coat comes back,

they are going to kill me.

I've seen blood on their clothes.

They come back from those trips
with blood on their clothes.

(SOBS)

The farms were so well chosen

I thought the gang would be based
in Picardie.

I thought they'd know the place
like the back of their hand.
Maybe they do.

There are lots of temporary workers
on the farms in the summer,
many immigrants.

Why did they kill your cafe owner,
Maigret?

Was he in with them?

I don't think so.
So what did he know?

Just what we all knew
from reading the papers.

That on the night of
the 8th of October,

a man travelled from Paris
to Goderville

on the slow train to Le Havre,

a journey nobody makes.

You think the cafe owner was on that
train? He had no reason to be.

But why weren't all four of them
on the train?

Because they had a van. I don't think
the man in the fur coat

would want to travel with this lot,
do you?

I think he'd want as little to do
with them as possible.

Good night.
Night, monsieur.

Maxim's.
We can't go to Maxim's.

Why not? Because of what I'm wearing
under this coat.

Oh, what are you wearing
under this coat?

Nothing -

except the necklace.

Oh.

(GIGGLES)

Hey!
The police have got Maria.

Jean. Stay there. Jean?
Stay there!

They picked her up this evening.
What are you coming to me for?

I come to you. We need to help her.
No, we need to kill her.

If you hurt her, I will kill you.

Think about it.

Think about it, boy,
she knows too much.

She's just a woman.
There are others.

Oh, no. He's under a lot of pressure
at work.

What, and you want a woman? Yeah?
Is that it? You want that?

But not the old one?

You can have that.
Really?

And others, I guarantee it.
Maria is no longer useful

to either of us.

No?
No.

Shut her up for me, Pietr.

(CLICK)

He's coming, he's coming.

Sorry about that.
Who was that?

I just needed to talk to him.

How do you know him?

He's just someone that's done
some work for me.

Hello, Nicole. That you for coming
all the way from Goderville.

This is Chief Inspector Maigret.

Hello, Nicole.
It's fine, sweetheart.

Please, this way.

Nicole, it's very brave of you
to come and see us today.

Inspector Colombani tells me
that you saw the faces

of some of the bad people

who came to your farmhouse
the other day.

I have a photograph here of a woman,

and I'd like you to tell me if
she was one of those bad people.

Do you understand?

Do you want to hold my hand
while we turn the picture over?

(LOUD GROAN)

Keep pushing.
Aaaargh! Push.

And again. (PANTS)
Keep pushing.

Push.
(PROLONGED GRUNT)

Push!

Here.
(BABY CRIES)

It's a girl.

OK.

(GROANS)

Doctor!
Hey, let me.

Ask her her name.

(SPEAKS CZECH)

Ask her where she was on the nights
of August the 12th, September the
21st,

and October the 8th.

(SPEAK CZECH)

Translate that, please?
I'd rather not, actually.

It wasn't very pleasant.

Ask her if on the evening of October
the 8th, she was in a farmhouse near
Goderville in Picardie.

Chief Inspector, whatever crime this
woman is suspected of,

she is a Czechoslovakian citizen and
has not only legal rights

but an expectation of human dignity.

I ask you to suspend questioning
until a time when...

Do you want to continue with
your speech about human dignity?

Just translate for
the Chief Inspector, will you?

On the night of August the 12th,
an old farmer and his wife

were stabbed to death.

(TRANSLATES TO CZECH)

On September the 21st, an another
wealthy, isolated farm in Picardie...
(TRANSLATES)

..there were similar murders.

And five days ago,
at a farm in Goderville,

an entire family was hacked to death.

(TRANSLATES)

But at Goderville
a witness survived.

(TRANSLATES)

A ten-year-old girl
hid in a wardrobe.

(TRANSLATES)

At one point she crept out of
her hiding place.

(TRANSLATES)

And saw a pregnant, dark-haired woman

burning her mother's breasts with
a candle flame.

(TRANSLATES)

And after her mother had revealed
the location of the family safe...

(TRANSLATES)

..she slit her throat.

(TRANSLATES)
(GASPS)

This morning the young girl
identified you

as the woman who tortured
and murdered her mother.

(TRANSLATES)

(GRUNTS)

(SPEAKS CZECH)

Do you think I care?

Where is Pietr now?
(SPEAKS CZECH)

Tell her that her life may depend on
how she answers the next question.

(TRANSLATES)

(LAUGHS)

Where is the man who would visit you
and tell you which farms to attack?

(TRANSLATES)

Please answer the question.

What is his name?

(TRANSLATES)

She has an hour to think about
answers to those questions,

and to think about how,
in this country,

we still send murderers
to the guillotine.

(TRANSLATES)

She needs to start cooperating.

She has a child now.

(TRANSLATES)

(SIGHS)

Chief Inspector,
I would like to point out

that that woman is not Czech,
she is Slovak.

Those people from the rural east,
they are uneducated.

Some are no better than peasants
from the Middle Ages.

No better than animals.

I feel I need to point that out
to you.

If she's fit to move, Maigret, I
want her transferred this evening
to La Sante.

Excuse me?

Whose are those flowers?

Nobody's now. The lady in this room
went home a few minutes ago.

Would you mind taking them
to Room 270?

Of course.

Thank you.

Why?

Because the room is cold,

and because there's
a woman with a child in there.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(SPEAKS CZECH)
Where is she going?

(BABY CRIES)
La Sante's a prison infirmary.
She'll be well looked after.

(SPEAKS CZECH)

May I travel with her?

Be my guest.

No! Get back!

No! No! Pietr!
(BABY CRIES)

Agh! Agh!

Aargh!
(BABY CONTINUES CRYING)

Nooo!

Who is he?

He saw your notice in the newspaper.

Oh.

(CLOCK TICKS)

"Friend of Albert
with the cream and blue Citroen,

for your safety's sake,
urgently contract Maigret at home,

discretion assured."

Is that right?
Yes.

I've come because your reputation
is good. This is not a trap.

You can speak in confidence here.

Please, sit down.
No.

I knew Albert. I ate at his place.

I knew him.

And on the day he died?
He rang up.

Said he'd been racing.

Said he'd realised who
the Picardie gang were.

Said if we helped him,
he might get some money out of them.

Who's "we"?
I'm not telling you that.

But my mate does cars.

Paint jobs, ringers.

Anyway, the car we used to get to
Albert's place

broke down, didn't it? Pile of crap.

And when we got there he was dead.

The thing is,

the thing is I'm on parole.

I've been inside eight out of
the last ten years, Maigret.

I ain't going back.

And you'd been seen in a place where
a man was murdered.
That neighbour woman saw me, yeah.

I ain't going back inside. I can't.

I understand.

And police don't take must interest
if a gangster's found dead in
the street.

You don't sniff around that
for long.

So we dumped him
like he was an underworld hit.

His face smashed in, like they do,
so no-one could trace the body.

Then we got rid of the car.

Where's Nina?
She's safe.

With someone I know out at Arpajon.

She's a good woman.
Hmm.

Hmm.

Thank you.

One more thing.

This envelope came for me the day
after. I think it's from him.

At first I thought it was a betting
ticket, but it's for a train.

How could Albert combine
a train ticket to Goderville?

(GENERAL CHATTER)

Francine?

Where are you going?
We're on in five. No.

Jean wants to meet.
We're leaving Paris.

What do you mean?
He's taking me away.

He says to the Riviera.

I don't have to do this any more.
No, Francine. What?

Do the show, darling.
Don't burn your boats here.

You'll be back. Jean won't want me
coming back here. (SIGHS)

He loves me.
Men like Jean come and go, babe.

No, you're wrong about him.
You're wrong.

(METALLIC RATTLE AND KEYS JANGLE)
(GASPS)

Come out.
No. I'm not coming out.

How often did the man in the fur coat
take them all to the race track?

Oh... After each burglary,
that's all.

They'd take the jewellery
they'd stolen.

Sell it and stuff.

That's where his fence is?

(METALLIC RATTLE)
I honestly don't know,

but I know you can get rid of
things. Get your coat. Why? I'm not
leaving!

Because there's a race meeting
and he knows we're closing in.

I think he'll try to shift
what he's got left.
What's that gotta do with me?

You're going to identify him for us.

No.
Come on, get up, get up.

(COMMENTARY OVER TANNOY) "The riders
are on the track and parading for
race three,

and they are led out by number one...

The next is the grey, Jolly Breeze,
ridden by..."

We're looking for
a man in his thirties,

possibly in a fur coat.
Will he be armed? He may be.

If we get a positive identification,
let's isolate him before we move in.

I don't want him
shooting in this crowd.

"..mounting a strong challenge on
the outside..." Let's hope so.

(CROWD CHEERS)

(HOOVES THUNDER)

Go, ten!

"..it's a fifth win by..."
(WILD CHEERING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Look, that's him, on the stairs.

(GIGGLES)

How much do you think I've won?

You go and get the winnings,
I'll see you in a bit.

Where are you going?

To get some more champagne.

(CHUCKLES)

Excuse me? Excuse me, miss?
Yes?

I'm Inspector LaPointe with
the Police Judiciaire.

I wonder if you'd mind accompanying
me outside? Why?

I'd rather explain outside.

My boyfriend is coming back with
champagne. He'll be joining us.

Come with me, please.

(GENTLE SNORTS)

(LOCK CLICKS)

I want 10,000...for all of this.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

(DOG BARKS)

(LOUD CLUNK)

Get off! Let me go!

No!
(METALLIC CLATTER)

No!

No!
(METALLIC CLATTER)

Agh!

No! No!

No! No! No!
(METALLIC RATTLE)

No.
(KEYS JANGLE) No!

(DISTANT CHATTER)

(HEELS CLACK)

Thank you very much for coming.

Your boyfriend's name is
Jean Tonnelier.

He has a wife and three children,

and lives in a two-room tenement
in St Denis.

You may have just seen them.

Six months ago he was a foreman
on the shop floor at Citroen. No,

that's not right.

(LAUGHS) Jean and I dine at Maxim's.

And we've had rooms at the George V.
The jewellery and coat

I am wearing today are worth more
than you can make in a year.

This man Tonnelier...
Dacourt.

..would get to know some of
the Czechs

who would turn up for casual work at
Citroen. He would manipulate them,

sleep with their woman,

and he heard them
talk of the wealthy farms

that they'd worked on in the summer
in Picardie.

He is a film producer. He is a
ringleader of murderers and thieves.

He kept them high on dope

in conditions you wouldn't keep
an animal. No.

He got them to murder and rob
the farms they knew in Picardie

in order to fund his life at Maxim's
and the George V. No.

And you.
No.

And he had a cafe owner called Albert
Rochain murdered because he thought

Albert was about to expose him
for what he really was.

How can a man sleep as calmly as
Jean if he has done the things you
say he has?

He is like many men,

some who commit crimes
and some who don't,

he lived a life where other people
were not people.

They were just "things".

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

And this is the file

that contains details of what your
boyfriend and his accomplices did

in order to steal the things that
you're wearing.

You'll be seeing more of me over
the next few weeks, Maigret. Indeed.

The station master from Goderville
is on his way to identify Tonnelier,

then we'll be transferring him.

Did she know anything?

No.

Right.

(JANGLES)

Were you there
when they killed the man

who recognised you at the race track?

It puzzled me how he'd got hold of
your train ticket.

But I think it was because he was
a compulsive gambler

who checked the floor
for winning slips

that had been discarded by accident.

The papers that morning were full of
stories of a suspect who had taken

an unusual train journey
to Goderville.

And when your victim
checked what you had dropped,

he recognised the train ticket

and realised who you were.

Is that right?

He was a nothing.

A little man placing little bets
for little winnings.

I saw him pick up the ticket
and look at me,

and so I set the animal on him.

I want you to know

that his name was Albert Rochain
and that he had a wife

and that they were
trying to start a family,

and for all his little bets
and little winnings,

his life was
more successful than yours

because he didn't end up like
an animal in a cage,

despised by everyone,

with nothing to look forward to

except his execution.

(WHEELS RATTLE)

(GENERAL CHATTER)

(CROCKERY CLATTERS)

I'm sorry,
we just have to finish up.

My wife, Louise.

Hello.
Please?

When is your husband's funeral?

Tomorrow.

We'd very much like
to come and pay our respects.

He'd like that. Thank you.

I'm sorry about what happened to
Albert. He was a good man.

And happy, you know?

He was always singing,
Chief Inspector.

He always wanted everyone
to be happy.

That's why he was good at running
this place and...working in bars.

(VOICE BREAKS)
And he was good to me.

I'm sure he was.

I knew I was lucky when I found him.

Will you keep the bistro on?
Absolutely.

For him.

We talked of filling the house
with children. I know.

But we weren't so lucky there.

Supposing you were able
to adopt a child?

Do you think that I might?

That they'd allow me?

Would that be possible?

I know of one who is
facing a life in an orphanage.

A baby?
Yes.

One that very soon
will lose its mother.

(SHARP INTAKE OF BREATH)

Maybe some good can
come of this, Nina.

It's not its fault

who its parents are. Is it?

No, it isn't.

Do you think it would be possible?

Let's see. I can ask.

My husband would like it

if I was here with a child.

Mmm.

Goodbye.

Goodbye, Nina.

Goodbye and good luck.

When Albert rang me
he said that you and I had met.

Yes.

When?

Ten years ago.
I was working at a hotel in Dieppe.

You were on holiday there.

All the guests were watching you,
secretly talking about you.

I took up some service for you both
one afternoon.

Ah. Albert was very taken
that I'd met you.

Will you ask about the baby for me?

Yes, of course.
Thank you.

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