Lock No.1 by Georges Simenon

Georges Simenon's 18th Maigret case takes us to Charenton-le-Pont, a barge wharf in a Parisian suburb. Another unusual mystery in tone and plot, as Maigret befriends the victim and the killer, and simply listens as they reveal the solution to a web of deceit.

In early morning, barge pilots are still drinking at one of the two bars facing each other beside Lock No.1 which feeds into the Seine, bringing a whiff of the high seas into the heart of Paris. Drunken old Gassin stumbles on the plank to his barge, falling into the water. Flailing wildly, people haul him onto the wharf, and are stunned when he says something was grabbing him! In the black water, the ghostly face of Emile Ducrau floats to the surface. Knifed in the back, he must have been underwater a few minutes. Resuscitated, he not only survives, but swears he will be back at work in the morning.

Ducrau owns most of Charenton - the tugs and barges, houses and bars, the quarry and stone mill, dance hall and boat yard, and his tall family home. Wealth has only brought burden to him, and he feels stuck with an impassive wife, a pale sickly son, a vulgar daughter and her ineffectual husband, even his mistress who he installed in the family home.

Maigret finds Ducrau belligerent, cursing everyone to amuse himself, yet warms to his straightforward personality. All he needs to do is walk with Ducrau, who is happy to do all the talking, and the two men to get to know each other's measure. Ducrau longs for the early days when things were simple and Gassin was his good friend. Gassin lives on his barge with his grown simple-minded daughter, now with a baby of her own, and spends all his time drinking, moving from one bar to the other. Everyone is shocked when two people are found hung to death, one admitting to knifing Ducrau in the back.

When the Ducrau takes his family to their weekend home, Maigret and his partner Lucas are present, and Gassin is outside the gate, having just bought a revolver. It is time for the past to be revealed.

This meditative novel is almost a character study of Ducrau as the mystery is so subdued. There is a lot of walking in the enveloping calm of the waterfront. Both the victim and the killer slowly reveal their motivations to Maigret who only has to listen to close the case.

Written in 1933, the works of Georges Simenon are always captivating and recommended!

Today's word learned from this mystery: Susurration (a susurration of rain).

1933 / Tradeback / 176 pages