Maigret and the Ghost
“It was just after one o’clock in the morning when the light went out in Maigret’s office.”
As Maigret is leaving his office one night he receives word that his friend and colleague Inspector Lognon, he begins appearing in the books about 35 books previous to this one has been shot twice and is clinging to life. As Maigret asks questions and begins to investigate, he learns that Lognon was shot outside the apartment that is mostly associated with prostitution, and this new wrinkle in the biography of Lognon bothers Maigret who is not sure how to add this to his understanding of his friend, alongside his worry and potential grief. As Lognon fights for his life in the hospital, Maigret begins the investigation in the apartment building revealing an invalid who watches the comings and goings of the building, an art dealer, and an apparently now-missing woman. This leads him to wonder not only what Lognon was doing there, but how does this tie into the other confusing elements he’s stumbled upon.
Like a lot of mystery and detective series, it’s dangerous and sometimes even fatal to know a famous detective. It can get you killed, and especially in series where the mysteries take a backseat to the private life of the detectives, authors love to toss a secondary character on the altar for a case. Here it’s a little different as Lognon is his own detective and it’s the connection to his own work, and not his connection to Maigret that gets him shot.
Monsieur Charles
“In a still timid ray of March sunshine, Maigret was playing”
Maigret is playing with the different pipes he keeps around the office that he chooses to smoke from given his mood. He’s being furtive here, as he has something on his mind. He’s been offered an administrative position, which is clearly meant to transition him out of the force as he’s now 40 years in. He knows he’s being put up on the shelf, and he’s deciding now whether he wants to take the new position (he doesn’t want to, but he might still), ask to stay on as a detective, or just retire outright. This book is the final book in the series, so the decision matters.
He’s approached by a woman who appears to be somewhat drunk who tells him her husband has been missing for a month now, and she’s worried because although his job sometimes takes him out of town, this is the longest he’s been gone. She further explains that she thinks this is possibly in connection to an affair as they have a loveless marriage and have for some time. As Maigret investigates, there’s a lot of time spent with this woman’s increasingly apparent alcoholism and how it’s such a strong part of her life (leading to moments of near death in the story) and how this clearly is part of the narrative of her missing husband and loveless marriage. He also learns that her husband is known to places around town (nightclubs, strip clubs, and such places) as Monsieur Charles, although he seems to stay away from any places of outright prostitution. As Maigret investigates, you can guess the story gets more complicated, especially as the missing person case becomes a homicide.
