[light orchestral music]
[frenetic music]
[footsteps]
[indistinct cluttering]
[suspenseful music]
[air pumping]
[medical instruments rustling]
FOR IVAN
[machine whirring]
[bell dings]
[Irène] Just a moment, I'll be right there.
[dress rustling]
[Irène] That's better.
You'll need a couple accessories.
You can get dressed.
[Dr. Paul] This sensation of fatigue you are feeling, is it frequent?
Lately, yes.
Fatigue or weariness?
Yeah...
Shortness of breath?
Well, after a physical effort
like running after a bus,
or climbing a set of stairs,
Are your nights peaceful?
[laughs] What do you think?
How is your appetite?
I eat.
But the desire for food is lacking.
Yes, that's it.
But only in regards to food?
Not only.
You should get some rest.
Or plan an earlier retirement. Eh?
Your blood pressure is a bit high, but at your age...
Your bronchial tubes seem clogged, I'm going to prescribe some lung x-rays,
and in the meantime, I'll ask something very big of you,
you'll need to quit smoking.
[crowd chatters]
[champagne cork pops]
Cheers!
Hm!
Come, I'll introduce you.
-Would you like a glass of Champagne? -Thank you, I already have one.
Robert!
-Pleased to meet you. -This is Jeannine.
I told you about her, you didn't believe it.
Pleased to meet you, Robert.
[suspenseful music]
-This is Jeanine. -Congratulations.
How are you doing, my darling?
Marvelously, mother.
I'll see you in a bit.
[crowd noise seems to fade into the background]
[crowd is seemingly silent as footsteps ring]
[internal ringing]
[crowd chatter swells back like a crashing ocean]
Where did you get this dress? I didn't invite you as far as I know.
If you came to cause a scene, you're in the wrong place.
You want to ruin my party, is that it?
-No! -So why are you here? Why are you here?
-Jeanine, is it over? -Yes, she's leaving.
Right away, let's go.
Go, I'll take care of it. What do you want? Huh?
You want money, is that it?
We haven't given you enough?
Take it! Go, get out of here!
[woman cries]
[knocks at the door]
Come in.
[door opens]
[Janvier] He won't talk.
Lapointe is going to try to make him sing.
With that kind of guy, it can take all night.
I'll get some beers and sandwiches sent up.
As you wish Janvier, but I'm going home.
-But Chief, what if he confesses? -Then you take him down to holding.
[door slams shut]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[electrical humming]
[alarm beeping]
911, what's your emergency?
Hello?
[phone rings]
[Jules Maigret] Hello?
[light stand groans while ocean waves gently crash]
[camera shutter flickers]
Close her eyes.
[distant train runs]
We didn't find anything to identify her.
She was stabbed multiple times,
The weapon hasn't been found yet, but we're conducting a search of the area.
-Who called the police? -We don't know,
whoever it was broke the ice without saying a word.
Start by investigating the neighborhood.
-Has the DA's office been informed? -We're on it.
[engine revs]
Did you have dinner at least?
[Jules Maigret] I don't know anymore,
go back to sleep.
Good night.
[car passes outside]
[door opens]
[Jules Maigret] I'll eat out.
-Are you okay? -Yes.
-Don't catch a cold. -No, it's all good.
[birds chirp while children play]
Chief Maigret?
I am the witness.
Your detective told me to come see you.
I live in the building number 5, across from the square,
Just after midnight, I had just gone to bed,
I heard a car stop.
A big engine, judging by the sound.
Then two car doors, opening and closing,
and the trunk as well.
The car left, I think...
five or ten minutes later.
That's it.
Poor girl.
So young.
[Dr. Paul] The victim, an unidentified white female,
was 20 years of age at the most.
Healthy but undernourished.
We note five stab wounds in the thorax and the abdomen
Judging by the depth of the wounds, it is a slicing or carving knife.
The attacker is probably left handed,
given the angle of the incisions.
The blows were given chaotically and at point blank.
And were apparently the cause of death.
Apparently?
We also noticed that her neck is broken and that her lungs collapsed.
I've ordered further testing.
There are no traces or fingerprints on the body.
What time did she die?
Not easy to establish,
her stomach is nearly empty,
probably between 10 o'clock and midnight.
Before midnight in any case.
A passerby, maybe the killer himself,
called the police at 12:33 am.
Nothing suggests that the attack took place there.
The livor mortis is not consistent with the position of the body.
Which means that it was moved or transported after her death.
Exactly.
That's right, you had started medical school, why did you stop?
To make a living.
As a cop.
That or something else, it's fate.
I discovered a piece of white thread stuck on a nail of her left hand.
Maybe a sheet or a tablecloth used to wrap the body.
And that's not all...
She had a good deal of liquor in her system,
she was actually in an advanced state of intoxication.
Given the neighborhood, I thought she might have been a barmaid,
but those girls do not drink,
they serve drinks.
Do you mean those who sleep with the customers?
Sleep... more or less.
Well, in any case, she was no longer a virgin.
But I can assure you that she did not have any sexual relations before she died,
consensual or not.
I'd like to see her.
If you want to, but she is not closed up.
[suspenseful music]
You're not smoking the pipe anymore,
How are you feeling?
Naked.
-Are you feeling better, young man? -I'm sorry, the smell... I...
You'll get used to it.
I spoke to Janvier,
none of the police stations' missing person reports are a match,
in the newspapers either.
Lucas is handling the neighborhood's clubs and bars.
Focus on the taxi drivers
especially those who drive at night.
-Where are we going? -To the Quai.
-And the murder weapon? -We didn't find anything.
Easy, you're going to bust the wood.
I thought of something.
Do you remember the "Queen of Heart" who used to strike around Monceau?
-And? -We never caught him.
Monceau, it's not far from Batignolles.
-How did he kill his victims? -He strangled them with an iron wire.
And this one?
This one, no.
He could have wanted to change his method.
[sound of an approaching train drowns out conversation]
Her clothes didn't give us anything, no trace, fingerprints or usable dirt,
Her handbag did not contain much,
a handkerchief, a cheap lipstick,
her lingerie is also ordinary and low cost
the earrings' pearls are fake,
her shoes are of greater value but old.
All of this does not fit with the evening gown.
-Why? -Because it is of another scale.
Haute Couture, from a prestigious house. It's probably worth a small fortune.
[attendant] It is indeed one of our creations. "An evening's dream".
A pre-war style. The 1937 winter collection.
[Jules Maigret] 1937.
How sad to have done this to it.
If only it were just the dress...
-Could you tell me who ordered it? -It was a big success.
It is impossible to find each one of our clients.
Or maybe from the measurements of this one.
Our head seamstress could have remembered her.
-Could I speak to her. -Unfortunately not. She passed away.
Not even a month after retiring, can you imagine?
[indistinct TV conversation]
[Jules Maigret] Open it, but you might be disappointed.
Why would a 20 year old girl wear a dress that could have belonged to her mother?
-What girl? -Well, that, I don't know.
I know nothing about her, nothing.
Not even her name.
I made a fricandeau of veal with sorrel, sounds good to you?
Just a nibble, I'm not very hungry.
Do you remember when we first met? That dance?
Formal wear mandatory.
I was so ill at ease.
But when I saw you in the corner with your awful suit and your crooked tie,
I thought "at least there's one man who seems as awkward as I am."
And you remember my pretty blue dress? It was a rental.
There are shops specialized for this, just like for tuxedos.
But what could she have rented a dress for?
Well, that, Detective...
[bell dings and door opens]
[Irène] How awful.
Your detective did not tell my anything.
We never give this kind of news over the phone.
-What was her name? -I was about to ask you the same.
I forgot to ask her.
She was in a hurry.
She needed an evening gown as if her life depended on it.
I'm sorry.
In this neighborhood, the last minute clients are...
cabaret dancers or girls turning tricks.
-Could she have been one? -Her? No, definitely not.
She was so fragile.
Like a bird fallen from the nest.
Where was she going with this dress?
I understood that she hoped to find someone.
Someone?
Someone who could help her.
Financially at least.
She didn't even have enough to pay for the rental.
She left me her belongings,
that she was to pick up when she returned the dress.
I waited for her the next day, but...
You're probably one of the last people to see her alive.
I would have liked to have seen her alive again.
How was she?
Pretty, very pretty.
Pale skin, brunette, with bangs.
No, I meant, what impression did she give off?
She seemed lost, not from around here.
The girl from nowhere.
And she was doing this adorable gesture, twirling her hair,
like a child afraid to get scolded.
Hmm.
[Irène] These type of girls show up here from their small towns,
they dream of an artistic career or a good marriage,
but end up working as housekeepers,
if not in another type of house, or on the streets.
[suspenseful music]
Trocadero 0840
Hello ma'am,
Miss, I'm sorry.
Could you please be so kind as to give me your name?
Yes, I know I am the one calling.
I'll tell you but I first need to just...
Hello?
[chatter and clanking ambience of a cafe]
[bells rhythmically ring as if from a clock tower]
[door opens then shuts]
[train bell rings]
[train brakes screech]
[screeching suddenly goes silent]
[hurried footsteps continue all around]
Mm!
Really good.
And I was starving.
You're not eating?
Never when I drink.
Can I offer you some Pouilly, Betty?
Yes, I'd like to taste it.
There.
Betty is not a common name.
My real name is Marie. I wanted a change.
-Where are you from? -Romans-sur-Isère.
-I've been. -Seriously?
Shoe country.
Yes, both my parents work at the factory.
I had a spot waiting for me, but you know, making shoes your whole life...
No thank you. My only dream was to come to Paris.
My father used to say "we'll see when you're an adult," so...
I left. The morning of my 21st birthday, I got on the first train.
Without letting your parents know.
Not them or anyone else.
If I was your father I'd wonder where you are.
What you do all day, how you make a living, who you hang out with,
-Why don't you call them? -You ask a lot of questions.
So I've been told.
What did you hope for by coming to Paris?
To be free. Do what I wanted, meet interesting people,
read books, go to museums...
Shoplift.
Are you really interested in my life story?
It helps me understand a little.
Understand what?
A girl like you.
[Betty] Mm.
There are a lot of girls like me in Paris.
Lost souls all shaken up, I can spot them from a mile away. I feel bad for them.
I'd like some dessert.
The tarte tatin is really good.
Wanna share it?
No, I don't like sweets.
The young lady will have the tarte tatin.
And you, still nothing?
No, thank you, Arlette.
Could you possibly be getting sick, Chief?
of police?
Maigret, criminal squad, 36 quai des Orfèvres
[hurried footsteps]
[door opens then slams shut]
[dramatic music]
[various electronic buzzes and indistinct radio chatter]
911, what's your emergency?
[Jules Maigret] Someone wanted to make this anonymous young girl disappear,
but she must have left a trace, there, somewhere,
even if something small...
like these blinking lights.
Crimes at all hours of day and night.
You have to protect yourself, young man, not be insensitive,
but keep a safe distance to try to understand.
Over time, there's no helping it, you grow a shell, and then one day,
you're working a case like any other, and who knows why,
a detail hits you.
A wallpaper pattern,
a stuffed animal, a sentence, a look,
and all your certainties fall away at once.
You become a young child again, afraid of the dark.
[car horn blows and traffic bustles outside]
[knocks at door then door opens]
Here are the depositions to be signed for the judge, it's becoming urgent.
He needs them for the hearings, I'll leave them with you.
We finally located the pharmacy.
The vial from Jane Doe's purse,
Lapointe is going over there, he'll fill you in.
No, I am going there myself.
Like I thought, I didn't take her name. But she didn't have a prescription.
This is derived from Laudanum, a pretty potent drug.
And I wasn't authorized to dispense it to her.
You did it anyway.
I had seen her a couple times in the neighborhood,
She always looked... I don't know...
-Lost? -Lost, yes.
She came in one evening in quite a state, she was really suffering.
-From what? -Insomnia, nervousness, anxiety.
She came back to get it refilled and I never saw her again.
She must be doing better.
Surely.
Can this drug be mixed with alcohol?
Oh no, it should be avoided. It increases the side effects,
drowsiness, loss of balance...
And did you warn her not to drink?
Such a young girl, I didn't think...
-She didn't do anything wrong, did she? -No, not her.
You said she lived in the neighborhood?
Mm... Thank you.
You're welcome.
[Concierge] There is no lack of young ladies here, I have 5 staircases,
three apartments on each floor, not to mention the garret rooms.
She doesn't sleep well and probably gets up late. She is undernourished,
she must not go out shopping much.
It's a girl who looks sad.
The type that no one notices.
She probably lives alone.
She twirls her hair with her finger like this.
It could be the girl who lives in 6D, I don't even know her name.
Oh, you don't either.
Well no... She never receives any mail.
And she wasn't the one who rented the room originally.
Who knows, she could be up there right now.
Just in case, do you have a copy of the key?
Yes.
[Concierge] But I hadn't plan on climbing the six flights of stairs.
Luckily, I don't need you.
[baby crying]
[breathing heavily]
[television plays indistinctly]
[suspenseful music]
KAPLAN INDUSTRIES
[birds cooing]
[water running]
[woman] Is the girl who lived here gone?
Yes.
Are you the owner?
I could hear her cry sometimes through the wall.
Even when she didn't cry she looked sad.
-Thank you. -At your service. Felicie Bonnec,
I am the Gaulliers' housekeeper, on the second floor.
You didn't tell me what you wanted from her.
No, I didn't.
She is dead. Murdered.
Impossible. Up there?
No, not up there.
Was she associated with anyone in the building, a neighbor?
Her, not a chance.
Always alone. Alone and closed off.
Who rented the room originally?
Another girl, Jeanine.
That one went out a lot and reeked of perfume.
Perfumes that were bought for her, if you know what I mean.
I had to let her back in in the middle of the night.
She moved out and left the other one here, but she wasn't paying the rent anymore.
The dead one, I mean. We were going to evict her.
Well, it's done now.
This first tenant, this Jeanine, have you seen her since?
She comes by for her mail from time to time.
[Ober the phone] Chief, Janvier here,
I found the subscriber of the phone line you gave me, Trocadero 0840,
Her name is Jeanine Armenieu,
she seems to be working on a movie at the Billancourt studios.
[Jeanine] Don't waste your time, it's a set.
Everything is fake, here.
Do we have an appointment?
Jeanine Arménieu?
Here, I am Nadine d'Arcy.
Forgive me for being late, I was at a fitting for a new film.
Are you the star?
No, I'm just the "help", as they say.
The secretary typing the boss' letter, or sometimes sleeps with the boss...
The maid who opens the door.
The fake door.
Do you go to the movies, detective?
Sometimes, to take my mind off things.
So you don't go see crime movies?
The pursuits, the fights,
The suspect beaten up to make him talk, no.
I don't find it very believable.
How do you make your suspects talk?
Nothing, I listen to them.
[door opens]
Come, we'll be more at ease next door.
[workers continue building the set]
All this is fake too. It's called a "discovery".
A discovery...
So tell me,
You live at Square de l'Alboni, number 3?
Yes, why?
And where did you live previously?
71 rue Crubellier in the 17th district.
-Alone? -Yes.
Well, no. With a friend.
Une artiste aussi?
Not at all. I met her on the train when I first moved to Paris.
She didn't know where to live, so I helped her out.
-Her name? -Her name was Louise.
Louise Louvière.
Louise Louvière...
Why did you say "her name was?"
Becau...
Because I don't see her anymore, I don't even know what's become of her.
We found her dead Saturday night,
-at Square des Batignolles. -Oh my God.
[heavy sighs]
Excuse me...
What did she die of?
It wasn't a natural death, in any case.
Do you know how old she was?
[coughs] Not precisely, but I'd say not quite twenty years old.
Did she have any ID documents?
I have no idea, she told me she was an orphan.
She never knew her father, but I think she would have liked to find him.
So... Louvière?
Her mother's name, who died when Louise was little.
She was raised in a convent, then placed as a housekeeper.
The family mistreated her, so she finally ran away.
That's how we met on the train.
Why did she come to Paris?
I ask myself the same thing.
Most of the time, she stayed alone in her room,
as if she was afraid to go out.
Poor Louise.
I ended up finding her a small job, here, at the studios,
as a stand-in.
To set the lights and such before a scene. Someone stands in place of the star,
Someone who looks like the star but isn't her.
And she also did some background work in Miss, Shall We Dance?
It was no masterpiece, believe me.
And you, why did you come to Paris?
-Me? -Yes.
To succeed.
Did she have any other friends, beside you?
Not that I know of.
-A boyfriend? -Definitely not.
Does the name Kaplan mean anything to you?
No, nothing.
But you know, we weren't really friends, we were too different.
She was so blue all the time, she was starting to bring me down.
-So I moved out and left her the room. -How long ago?
About three months ago. Then she called me two or three times.
The last time she was whining about how I had abandoned her,
I was her only friend, she was unhappy. I hung up on her.
You do that often apparently.
Hm?
Trocadero 0840.
I'm sorry, I didn't know who you were.
Mm hmm.
[suspenseful music]
[Lapointe] So Louvière, Louise...
Nothing on her.
I do have one under that name convicted of infanticide, but it was in 1892.
Et Arménieu, Jeanine?
Nothing on her either, except some recent piccadillo under her screen name.
Some nighttime disturbance outside the Calvados
a night club on the Champs Elysées.
Okay.
[dial tone]
KAPLAN INDUSTRIES
[sound of approaching train and train whistle]
[bell rings and door opens]
My papers are in order, Detective.
That's not why I'm here, I told you. Tell me about this young woman.
What young woman?
Louise. Louise Louvière.
She is missing, isn't she?
-Indeed. Did you know her? -Of course.
When I told your colleagues at the station that she was missing, they told me
that is was odd to be looking for someone when you are being looked for yourself.
Hmm...
So I put an ad in the paper.
"Looking for a young woman, brown sport coat,
blue sweater, beige skirt, black shoes."
What was the name of this young girl you are looking for?
Louise Louvière?
Louise...
Loulou...
[mumbles a Jewish song]
I called her Ida.
Like the little Ida in the story my Grandmother would tell me
when I was a child, at Vilnius.
Do you know Vilnius, Detective?
No, I don't.
I'm not surprised, the city has changed names so often.
Vilnius, Vilnao, Vilna.
Everyone I knew there are gone. There is no one left.
Only spirits among of the ruins.
So names, you know...
They don't really matter.
Was Louise Louvière a member of your family?
My family?
They are also all gone.
No one left.
I am the sole survivor, the only one.
Do you want to see my papers, Detective?
No.
Did she come see you?
Who?
Louise.
When?
I don't know. Recently.
No. No, no.
I've been waiting for her for a long time. Such a long time.
She disappeared one night during the curfew.
And she never came back.
[rain and thunder]
I don't think we are talking about the same person.
No.
I'm sorry to have bothered you.
When we lose a child, we lose everything.
There is nothing left, you know.
Nothing but the night.
I know Mr. Kaplan.
I know.
[rain continues]
It's me, don't wait for me for dinner or to go to bed.
It depends. I don't know yet.
[playful French dance music]
[dance music continues inside the building]
[footsteps continue to approach rapidly]
[footsteps continue at a run]
[typewriter clacking]
[Lapointe] Chief...
Are you okay? Can you hear me?
Chief?
We have new information, about the young Louise.
[taxi driver] I noticed her rue Blanche.
She was walking fast, but not straight.
Despite being dressed like a princess,
she was a sorry sight.
She finally agreed to get in.
She was pretty far from her destination.
I've given you a ride before, Detective. Do you remember?
No.
You had just arrested that socialite who murdered her husband at La Muette.
I was surprised that you rode taxis, and you told me that you weren't licensed.
Keep talking about her.
Well, she didn't talk much actually.
She was nervous.
Worried even.
As if she was scared.
I didn't run the meter, not that she had any money anyway.
I waited for her to get inside, and I left.
[suspenseful music]
[clatter of servers preparing dishes]
A young brunette in an ivory evening gown,
who arrived late, around 10:30 pm.
I'm sorry, I was busy working, I didn't pay attention.
After the reception, were you missing a white tablecloth?
I couldn't tell you.
Some silverware, yes, the clients can't help themselves.
Thank you.
I didn't leave my cloakroom.
I don't remember seeing her come in,
But with the comings and goings of the clients to the restrooms.
-Detective? -Yes.
The reception's invitation.
Thank you.
[Jules Maigret mumbles reading the invitation]
MRS. ARNAUD CLERMON-VALOIS, MR. AND MRS. PIERRE ARMÉNIEU,
ARE DELIGHTED TO INVITE YOU TO THE ENGAGEMENT RECEPTION OF THEIR CHILDREN
LAURENT AND JEANINE
[loud electronic buzzing]
I need to change my shoes, the last time was impossible, you saw.
[Jules Maigret] Good evening.
This is Laurent's car. My Fiancé. He's the reason I work here.
He's a businessman.
Me too.
A different kind of business.
We did not have an appointment, unless I'm mistaken.
Do you know where Louise went the night she died?
How would I know?
She came to your engagement reception.
You forgot to mention it last time we spoke.
If she was at the reception, why would I have kept it from you?
Exactly.
Why, indeed.
I repeat that I hadn't seen her in months. That's all I know, leave me be now.
I'm sorry, but if what you're telling me is so...
I did not invite Louise. I didn't even send her an announcement.
Wasn't it published in the papers?
Yes, she could have seen it, but still...
We have a witness. A taxi driver who dropped her off.
A taxi? She really went all out the poor girl.
Shoot, I got a run in my stockings.
I think she must have decided not to come in,
from shyness or fear to impose.
Then she left, alone in the night and...
and ran into the wrong people.
Thank you for your help.
-Let's go. -Oh, yes,
I forgot, I'm going to ask you to come to the forensics department.
-What is it? -What we used to call the morgue.
You are the only one who can identify her, and we won't be able
-to bury her otherwise. -Bury her?
Well, she's entitled to a grave.
Of course, but why me?
She had neither family nor friends, as you know, she only had you.
[car drives away]
[keys jingle]
[door opens loudly].
Stop, stop, come!
Come on, come!
Calm down, calm down.
I've got her, call the cops.
What were you doing there? Don't you have anywhere to stay?
The other day you run away because I'm a cop,
and now we drop my name to get out of a jam. Once more.
Are you going to put that in your report? "Nasty, perverse, devilish."
Exactly, then we'll take you to holding.
The measuring rod, fingerprints, full face, and profile photos,
full body search,
before throwing you into a damp and dirty cell,
with rats for company.
What reason do I have to hush this trespassing charge against you?
I don't know.
I can also be nice.
Would you like me to be nice?
[phone rings]
Chief, the judge wants to see you.
[Jules Maigret] Later.
[phone continues ringing]
Who's is it?
She's gone.
And what if she comes back?
She's not coming back.
If someone asks after her, let me know. I'll leave the key here.
-You're leaving already? -Yes.
Why are you doing this for me?
I'm not doing it for you.
[door closes]
Here's an advance on the rent.
That works.
I'll need you to be discreet, you understand?
Understood. I'll keep a close eye on her for you.
Is that what I asked you to do?
[suspenseful music]
[birds cawing]
[door opens]
-[woman] Sir? -Detective Maigret.
Mr. Laurent is expecting me.
Laurent Clermont-Valois.
-Odile, have you seen my briefcase? -No, Mr. Laurent.
Mother, I cannot find my briefcase.
Where it always is, my darling.
[Laurent Clermont-Valois] She always puts it where I can't find it.
It's as if she didn't want me\ to go to work.
She used to hide my school book bag.
And called the principal to tell him that I was ill.
Louise Louvière was a friend of your fiancée.
[Laurent Clermont-Valois] We don't frequent the same people.
We're not from the same world, if you need things spelled out for you.
But you're engaged.
[Laurent Clermont-Valois] You may deduce from that
that Jeanine has other qualities.
I imagine. How did you two meet?
-[bell rings] -Is that any of your business?
In a nightclub, are we done?
This friend of your fiancée, Louise Louvière,
Would you have recognized her among the guests at your engagement party?
How could I recognize her since I've never seen her?
[clock ticks]
Good point.
But your fiancée could have introduced you two.
[Laurent Clermont-Valois] No. No.
And I would appreciate your telling me what this is about
without beating around the bush any longer.
Your fiancée didn't tell you anything?
What about?
[clock continues ticking]
[Laurent Clermont-Valois] I'll be right back.
[footsteps]
[clock continues ticking]
I have a board meeting, I'll have my driver take you back.
I'll stay here a few more minutes.
[car starts]
In a hurry, like his father.
[Jules Maigret] And so ma'am, you live with your son.
Oh no, my son lives with me.
In this house where he grew up, and that he'll soon leave to get married.
Ahh...
His fiancée certainly is beautiful.
If you say so.
But dreadfully common.
We didn't use to mistake dancers for wives.
My husband had a string of affairs with cabaret girls, barmaids...
I put up with it for 25 years.
You slept in separate rooms.
[clock continues ticking]
Ma'am, I'm not your enemy.
My duty is to look for what we call "the truth".
I am hoping to find it while causing the least amount of harm as possible.
There was no love lost between my husband and I.
[Jules Maigret chuckles]
You never thought of asking for a divorce?
[phone rings]
I intended to remain Mrs. Arnaud Clermont-Valois.
And I still am, after burying him.
[phone continues to ring]
At the funeral I said a few words about the wonderful husband he had been
and an admirable father.
[knock at the door then it opens]
I'm sorry ma'am, Mr. Delaunay on the phone.
Hello?
Yes.
[clock continues ticking]
No, I don't know.
We'll talk about it later.
You're very sweet, me too. See you tonight.
[hangs up the phone]
Where were we?
The dancers.
Does your son take after his father in his private life as well?
Laurent, no. He isn't a womanizer, it's something different with him.
More complicated, let's say.
Yet, I can't see him killing anyone.
You know, the perpetrator of a crime never sees himself killing someone.
But he suddenly feels the need to assert himself, to exist.
And to exist, he ends the existence of another
I see that you were informed of this young woman's demise,
unlike your son. Or is he pretending?
[clock continues ticking]
The night of the reception, the driver wasn't working.
He was given the day off, in honor of the engagement.
-Who was driving the car then? -The fiancé himself.
I took advantage of the time to question the maid.
The clothes that the fiancé was wearing that night were sent to the cleaners.
So we can't expect anything from that end. And you?
Nothing, or almost.
Clermont-Valois, Laurent Arnaud Charles,
arrested by the vice squad,
Indecent conduct with a brothel employee, he was still a minor
And later, deviant behavior forced onto two of his secretaries.
-Violence? -Fetishism, without any precisions.
Case dismissed. The mother paid the victims off.
Chief, the old monkey is asking after you.
Again?
Where are you with the engagement's guests?
We're contacting them one by one, but no one remembers the young lady.
Okay. Merci.
[The Judge] The Shogun.
It has a very delicate palate.
I just acquired it at the Quai de la Megisserie.
A rare specimen for aquariums.
It is only found in an archipelago of the Sea of Japan
And now it's splashing around on the Seine river bank.
Yes, just like us.
It'll get used to it, if the others allow it to live.
Do you have any animals, Maigret?
Only on my plate.
If I am to preside on this case, I am lacking conclusive elements.
Me too, Judge.
The few witnesses who knew the victim, do not remember her.
Or prefer to have forgotten her. Give me a bit of time.
You could have told me that the Clermont-Valois son
might be implicated in the case.
I wasn't aware of it.
He is a sensitive person.
-No, -What no?
To say that this boy is sensitive actually makes him look the opposite
Between us, do you really think that
Clermont-Valois could have killed this girl?
I don't believe anything, Judge, I never do.
I even try to not think.
So how?
I do not trust the evidence.
No no. No pipe or cigar in my office.
My fish cannot stand it, and you know it.
I know.
But this is not a pipe.
It's Belgian humor, I was trying to lighten the mood.
Hmm?
[photographer] You are the first to see them.
I just finished printing them.
Who are you looking for?
Her.
Do you have a magnifying glass?
Thank you.
-Are the prints in order? -From the evening's proceedings, yes.
Uh huh.
[ethereal ambience of the party]
[children playing outside]
[school bells ring]
[slow repetitive knocking and scraping]
Ah, you're here.
You're not superstitious.
No, why?
You look like her.
-Like who? -The one who lived here before you.
She was murdered.
Your detective friend didn't tell you?
[resumes mopping]
[bells continue ringing]
[Mrs. Maigret] I'm trying to clean up the small bedroom,
we've stuffed so much in it, it's suffocating.
Can I throw away your pile of old newspapers?
What if we went out together tonight?
I don't really feel like it, is that okay?
Of course.
What do feel like?
Nothing.
Not even smoking, alas...
What is going on with you lately?
What could be wrong with me?
I don't know, you're not yourself.
Then who am I?
Someone else.
[dramatic music]
It's her.
[echo of door closing blends into train rolling]
Can we drop you off somewhere?
Anywhere.
I wasn't expecting you.
I was in the neighborhood.
You're always making this face.
It's my face.
What's this dress?
It was my size. Don't make a big deal out of it.
Take it off. Quickly.
What else am I taking off?
Do you always keep your armor on?
You housed the dead girl here too.
You loved her, and then she dumped you, is that it?
[Lapointe] Wouldn't you prefer a beer with your ham sandwich?
Yes. But when I start an investigation on white wine,
I stick to white wine.
There are white wine cases, just like like there are calvados or beer cases.
I started this one with white wine.
[knocking at the door before it opens]
-Are you hungry, Albert? -No.
I've eaten enough sandwiches waiting all day long.
Go ahead, we're all ears.
He spends his days at the office.
He steps out to lunch with his clients.
She is working on a movie at the Billancourt Studios.
They meet up in the evening, rather late, restaurant, nightclub...
Nightcap at hers, at Square de l'Alboni, just the two of them or with friends.
And then Mr. goes home to mommy's to sleep.
Did you have a look at the fiancée's place?
She let me in a few minutes, yes.
Did you pull the vacuum cleaner salesman bit?
No, a home insurance salesman.
Home insurance, of course.
Her fiancé rents her a big apartment.
Oddly, half empty.
I noticed that the shutters are always closed,
even during the day.
Our blind spot here, is their connection to Louise.
[concierge] You don't want it forwarded?
When I have my new address, with my future husband.
-Oh, Congratulations. -Thank you.
[baby crying]
[Jeanine] Miss, can you buy you a coffee?
If you'd like.
-I had a friend like you. -Like me?
Your type.
And what is my type?
Good or bad?
-Would you like a cigarette? -No, thank you.
Are you looking for work?
[Betty] So, Detective, are we no longer friends?
[footsteps]
No.
[birds chirp]
I'm glad you're not upset.
I don't know anyone else in Paris. You believe me, don't you?
You're a big girl, you can do what you want.
My first investigation took place here.
A drowned Jane Doe.
The newspapers called her "The Unknown Woman of the Seine."
That's pretty.
Oh no, it wasn't pretty, believe me. After weeks under water...
She was all I could think about.
Even at night, in my dreams, or rather, my nightmares.
Like Ulysses.
In the Odyssey,
he's bewitched by the mermaids' songs
who are trying to lure him to the bottom of the sea.
I count on paying you back for the rent as soon as I find a good job.
A girl wants me to meet someone.
Her fiancé might have a job for me.
And it's weird, this woman knew the girl who lived in my room.
-Her name is... -Jeanine?
-No, Nadine. -It's her. It's the same person.
-Did you tell her about me? -Why would I have done that?
-Did she talk about me? -No.
Where are you meeting him?
At hers, she is supposed to come pick me up in her car but...
I don't know if I'll go.
And why not?
It's late at night, it doesn't feel right.
-You're going to go. It's important. -For who?
-For me. -Then go yourself.
No. Find an excuse for the car, I'll drive you there myself.
And why should I do what you say? because you're a cop?
That's right. A dirty cop.
Come on, don't make that face.
It's my face.
What do I get in return?
Nothing.
Are you doing this for the dead girl?
[Betty] What's the point if she's dead?
Listen,
if something makes you uncomfortable or worries you, don't hesitate to flee.
What kind of thing?
You're throwing me to the wolves.
I'm not quite sure. I hope not.
[dramatic music swells]
[gate opens and cat screeches]
[car engine starts]
They made me drink and forced me to do things...
With her, on the sofa.
He didn't touch me, but...
He was touching himself while watching us.
She was doing to me what he was asking with her mouth, her tongue, her fingers.
That was the job.
They paid me five thousand bucks that I forgot when I left.
What an idiot!
Why didn't you run away before?
Why?
I don't know.
Maybe I liked it.
-Is she okay? -She's sleeping.
-I gave her a nightgown. -I couldn't leave her alone tonight.
No, you did what you had to, but I found this rolled up in her dress sleeve.
No, you can give it back to her, she didn't steal it.
-It's true, you know. -Yes, I know.
No, tomorrow morning, tomorrow morning.
Let her sleep.
-[Mrs. Maigret] Milk, sugar? -[Betty] No, thank you.
A nice piece of toast with plum jam?
My sister brings them to me from back home.
No, nothing, thank you. It wouldn't go down.
I'm sorry for the mess in the little bedroom.
I didn't notice.
It serves all kinds of purposes except sleeping.
By the way, if you'd like to stay here for a few days...
That's very kind, thank you, but I already have a place to stay.
-We don't host often. -You don't have children?
Yes, we do.
A daughter.
[children play in a schoolyard outside while a bell rings]
[Betty and Mrs. Maigret laugh as their conversation continues]]
[Dr. Paul] I have received the results
of the extra tests in the Louise Louvière case,
They are very surprising.
After her neck broke, she immediately succumbed to a respiratory distress,
which explains why her lungs appeared asphyxiated.
We can clearly see here,
the fracture of the odontoid and bruising of the phrenic nerve,
most likely due to a fall that occurred earlier in the evening,
and probably in a different location.
Given her blood-alcohol level combined with the opiate you mentioned,
an accidental loss of balance cannot be ruled out.
You seem worried, my good man.
I also received the lungs x-rays.
Your x-rays.
Even though you smoked like a chimney, not a trace of anything suspect.
The lungs of an eight-year-old boy.
Don't make that face, I could have told you that you didn't have much time left.
Okay, come on.
To celebrate it, I invite you to share my duck at the 100 Quai de la Tournelle.
We could get a nice Pommard to go with it.
-It's very nice of you, but I... -Come on.
The duck died smothered, and did not bleed,
It's the subtlety of the dish.
and then, it allows the chef to extract the juice from the carcass
and wring out every last drop of blood, which goes in the sauce.
[wind blows]
Albert Janvier told me you were here.
-Sir, can we proceed? -Yes.
It's been a while since I've been here. Can you walk me back?
Of course.
She would have been twenty also.
Twenty years old.
We are going to get married, Detective.
We decided to move the date up.
Why not? If you love each other.
I wanted to see you again to clarify a few things
regarding Louise Louvière's presence on the evening of your engagement.
We have already answered your questions, and more than once.
She might have been there, but neither of you saw her.
She must have left alone in the night, and ran into the wrong people.
Yes, a stranger who offered her a drink.
She wouldn't have done that.
Not a girl like her.
It's almost as though you knew her.
This version of the fact is contradicted by the latest autopsy results.
Louise Louvière did not die
from her wounds received to the thorax and the abdomen.
Do we have to endure these kinds of details?
I agreed to your presence at this meeting, but I would ask you to not intervene.
She didn't die at the Batignolles, either, but rather during the evening,
and somewhere else.
She died of a broken neck, what we call whiplash,
resulting from a fall, perhaps accidental.
Therefore, the victim's body was moved, transported,
and only then, stabbed multiple times.
Which is to say that an accident was covered up as a murder.
In theory, it is the other way around.
Detective, I don't see what you are getting at.
Neither do I, to be honest.
I am in the dark, feeling my way.
Sir,
it seems that you left the reception for a while,
a little before midnight.
Indeed, I was indisposed.
What do you mean?
I had the shits! Leave me be.
I left as well.
I went to find my son to make sure that he didn't have a dizzy spell.
A mother is often worried.
The both of you had an intimate relationship with Louise Louvière.
A threesome, as it were.
I don't understand.
Let's imagine an apartment, Square de L'Alboni,
a big apartment,
where certain parties would take place, with young, naïve, impressionable girls
trapped by a tout.
Parties punishable neither by law nor the moral code.
Not mine, anyway.
Except that not all the young preys are consenting.
And that the little Louise, in particular, was a minor.
And that changes everything.
Those hypothetical parties, Detective,
admit that it is a bit meager to just imagine them.
Louise Louvière is no longer here to testify, but others could.
Those who came before, and those who came after.
Very recently, I believe, a certain Betty.
I'm going to sound a bit stupid but...
why get married if you cannot touch a woman's body?
That's enough. We'll stop here.
Mr. Delaunay, the family's lawyer.
We have met before, the Lachaume case.
-Good memory -Bad memories.
Detective, I would need you to give a more formal setting to your interrogations,
if they are to continue.
I will see to it, sir.
Ma'am.
Sir.
You're left handed?
Yes, why do you ask?
With people like this, the wall of silence can stand upright for a lifetime.
They planned everything, down to the smallest detail.
So what? Case closed?
You draw too fast, and too strong, I can hear it, it goes...
[inhales quickly]
instead of...
[clicks his tongue]
Do you understand?
Slower.
Give it to me.
It's not complicated, do you hear that?
Delicious.
[car doors close and engine revs]
Here you are.
[Jules Maigret] This one.
[children laugh playfully]
Walk a little slower.
More timidly. Timidly.
There, not so straight.
As if you could fall.
There.
Come back toward me.
Don't look straight ahead, lower your gaze.
There, like that, that's good.
That's good.
I have something to ask you.
Fire away.
The silk stockings... Would I be able to keep them?
We'll see.
Good evening.
[people chattering]
♪ "It's so good, lalalalala... ♪
♪ lalalalala... But that say so much. ♪
♪ When they see our happy faces, ♪
♪ passersby, in the street, are envious, ♪
♪ It's so good... To look into his eyes, ♪
♪ a marvelous promise, ♪
♪ that gives me shivers. ♪
♪ It's so good, ♪
♪ this little sensation ♪
♪ worth more than a million, ♪
♪ it's so good, it's so good. ♪
♪ You guess, what happiness..." ♪
[party guests go quiet]
[dramatic music]
Let me go.
[Jules Maigret] Is this where little Louise fell?
Your bride isn't hurt, is she, my darling?
You should talk to me, ma'am, don't you think?
[sound of wind blowing]
[Mrs. Clermont-Valois] For a moment, I also believed your little trick.
The ghost's return. Cinderella in her ball gown.
She came looking for comfort, to feel loved perhaps.
Jeanine and Laurent understood that she wanted to sell her silence.
My son took her to the staircase,
to make her leave.
She fell backwards, her neck broken, dead.
I found Laurent listless by the body, incapable of reacting.
He wanted to call the police.
You didn't?
He didn't understand what the consequences would be.
He was going to be asked some embarrassing questions.
In regards to the Square de l'Alboni parties?
Among others.
I told my son what to do,
put the body in the car and abandon her
in a discreet place, right away.
Which we did.
That's not all.
No, that's not all.
My son was already back in the car.
He didn't know that I had grabbed a knife from here,
-and so I struck her. -five times in a row.
Perhaps.
A dead girl, what for?
To make it look like...
We don't always know what we're thinking.
A purely routine question,
-Where is the knife? -I threw it in the Seine.
What seems strange
is to come back to the same place for the wedding.
I mean after what happened here.
Nothing happened here, it was an accident.
And my son did nothing but obey me.
It was him, in the end, who insisted on calling the police.
The murderer who calls the police is quite common.
Is it murder to stab someone who is already dead?
Ask your lawyer.
I already have.
I figured.
If someone must be judged, Mr. Maigret, it's me.
I don't judge anyone, ma'am.
I will see you again in my office to record your deposition.
For now, you may go home.
And the newlyweds will have to postpone their honeymoon, of course.
If that poor girl hadn't died,
I'm sure that this absurd wedding would have never taken place.
[dramatic music]
[bus doors open]
What time do you arrive?
It'll be nighttime.
Your parents will be surprised.
I'm not sure if they'll recognize me with...
-It looks good on you. -I might keep it that way.
As a souvenir.
You were perfect.
It's because of you that I...
Thank you.
Thanks for what?
Nothing.
Everything.
Does this mean you like me?
Of course.
So it's all good.
Be happy.
-You too, be happy. -Thank you.
[Latin dance music]
Miss, shall we dance?
[music echoes as if in a dream]
[birds chirp and children play]
[school bells ring]
[suspenseful music]