One day, a young girl named Arlette, a stripper at Picratt Club in Montmartre reports to the local police station that she has heard two men at her club talking about murdering a countess. Her deposition is taken at Quai des Orfevres but, as there was no crime commited, nobody takes her serious until she is found strangles in her room, a few hours later. The next day, Countess von Franheim, a drug addict is found dead.
The stripper's identity could not be found as her papers were false, but a check on the countess reveals that she once lived in Nice and that she had a butler called Oscar Bonvoisin, and Maigret remembers that Arlette has told something about a certain Oscar. In the meantime, Maigret arrests Philippe Motremart, another drug addict friend of the countess, as he feels he is the one who can make the connection with Oscar, because the latter was unknown in Montmartre. The Inspector has to release Philippe but, his famous sixth sense tells him that Oscar will try to kill Philippe in order to keep him quiet. The question is now how to trick the criminal into showing himself without having to lose other lives. | ||
Plot & Themes Tone of story - Dry-cynical How difficult to spot villain? - Challenging Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80% Murder of certain profession? Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Unusual characteristics: Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - money/treasure The antagonists are: - Drug kingpins How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting Europe Yes European country: - France Misc setting - fancy mansion Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Unusual forms of death - hanging Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |