| While in Caen reorganizing the Flying Squad Maigret is visited by Cécile Ledru, 28, who said her "aunt", Joséphine Crozier of Bayeux, had died at her nephew's house, Philippe Deligeard of Caen, supposedly of a heart attack. The old woman, Joséphine Crozier, had actually taken Cécile as her companion after having her educated. The young woman said her aunt had said if she ever died in her nephew's house there should be an investigation. Philippe Deligeard maintains there's been no crime at all, but Maigret starts to notice discrepancies. The young doctor called in had never seen Joséphine Crozier before, and insisted the time of death was around 4:20, at which time she would still have been at her dentist's. Furthermore, she was in the Regency room, in yellow, rather than Joséphine's blue Louis XIV room, and she was in bed, with no sign of her clothes. Maigret figures out that Philippe Deligeard's old nurse Caroline had died, been quickly brought to the house to be examined by the doctors after Philippe and his wife had killed his aunt for her money in the next room. A post-mortem medical investigation revealed this to be the case. | ||
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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? - nearly 100% Special suspect? - relative Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 40 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % 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: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - money/treasure How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Average intelligence 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 - significantly more descript than dialog |
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