Maigret 54 Series by Georges Simenon
Maigret 54 #1
Maigret Has Doubts
Georges Simenon
Dining at the Pardons', M tells the story of a case from a few years back, in which Adrien Josset was found guilty and executed for the murder of his wife, Christine Josset. She had been much wealthier than he, and had set him up in business. M had had but one chance to interview him before the Examining Magistrate, Judge Coméliau, having decided he was guilty, took over the case. Josset claimed he found his wife in her room, stabbed many times, and panicked, feeling he would be accused, and left the house, taking with him a dagger he thought would implicate him, which he claimed he threw off a bridge. He wandered around, drank heavily, and finally changed his mind and reported the crime to the local police station. It became known that he had a mistress, his young secretary, Annette Duché, and that the night before there had been a confrontation with her father, Martin Duché. When the father returned to his town, he was confronted by a newspaper reporter, and committed suicide, further moving public opinion against Josset. It became even stronger when it came out that his Annette had had an abortion. A few years later M heard that a drifter, Popaul, who had supposedly been an occasional lover of Christine's had claimed to have killed her, but it was never confirmed.
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