All language subtitles for Maigret S03E03 The Countess_Track03-eng

{clock bell chiming)

{gentle clattering)

(suspenseful organ music)

- I'l see you tomorrow, Countess

Goodnight.

Count Maurice, what on
earth are you doing here?

- My mother, is she ill?

- No, she's well

Tomorrow, she's coming to early communion

- She felt the need to clear her soul?

- No, Maurice, you mustn't go in

- Who's going to stop me?

- What is it?

Money?

- Is it any of your business?

- Yes, Maurice, it is

You know it is.

Surely, with the worry
you've caused her already,

you carry enough on your conscience

Do you want her death as well?

- I'l go the way I came

(suspenseful orchestral music)

(lighter crackling)

(downbeat folk music)

{speaking in foreign language)

{church organ music)

- Jules, Jules?

I think she's ill.

(dissonant organ music)

- Tell Father Demain to phone the doctor.

- Is something wrong?

- Help me to get her to the sacristan

{engine rumbling)

- He's coming now

- How did it happen”

- It was during the service.

- Anybody see it happen?

- My wife, sir.

- I was watching her.

She was following the service
and she closed her eyes

I thought she was just praying,

but then she started to fall sideways

and I knew she was Ill.

- Well, she's dead now

- A heart attack?

- Well, one can say that even
the Countess De Saint-Fiacre

had a ticker and it had to stop one day

Well, I warned her.

Last year, that I told her
stop thinking you're 40 at 67

Take it easy and you'll
live til you're 90

- She didn't take your advice?

- Why should she?

What's the good of life without living it?

Has anybody telephoned the chateau”

- Yes, I did

Gautier's on his way down

Jean-Pierre, guard the way for him.

Tell him where we are.

- Yes, father.

- You can sign the certificate, I reckon?

- Why not?

Who are you, Monsieur?

- This gentleman is from Paris,

Monsieur Maigret

- You mean Inspector Maigret, don't you”

Have we got a blanket
or a sheet to cover her?

- Oh yes, of course.

- You here for any special reason?

- No, no, I'm here for personal reasons

- Oh.

Well, if you've got any secrets,

don't tell them in front of Baptiste here

Ol stop, press Baptiste, they call him

Deaf as a post, aren't you?

Unless he chooses.

- There's a grave stone
out there, Everest Maigret

- Yes, my father

He was agent to the old count

- My husband was brought up here

- I used to sing in the
choir until my voice broke

- I'd never seen Saint-Fiacre.

We were on a sort of sentimental journey.

- He's here, a Monsieur
Gautier in the station waggon

- [Male Speaker] Thank you.

- Jean-Pierre, have you had any breakfast?

- No, father

- Well, set out the chant
books for second mass

and then you can slip off home.

- Yes, father.

- Off you go now

- Let's get her up to the chateau

That's the first thing to do

- Good morning, Father.

This is a terrible thing

- An overdose of life, what's
so terrible about that?

Come on, Baptiste, give
me a hand with this.

- This is Monsieur Gautier,
agent for the estate.

Inspector Maigret from Paris

- Police?

There's no reason to suppose that...

There couldn't be.

- No, of course there couldn't be

He's only here on holiday, eh, Inspector?

Now then, come along, Gautier.

Get ahold of the other end of this.

- I was eight when I first saw her

I thought she was wonderful.

I'd have died for her.

In fact, I was in love with her

- It was a special grace

- To die when she did,
you mean, after communion?

{contemplative orchestral music)

{doors slamming)

- Well, I could do with a drink.

- You ever think of anything else”

- Yes.

Sometimes, I think I
don't like you very much

Go on, get on with it

(people chattering)

Are you going up to the chateau?

- Yes.

- Would you like me to lead you there?

- No, I know the way

We'll follow her.

- All right, see you later.

{rooster crowing)

- What is it?

- I was just thinking

I feel sad about her.

- We were talking about her
the other day, remember?

- The young countess, we used to call her

I remember seeing her
driving through the park

in a white summer dress.

The sun always seemed
to shine in those days

- It shone for all of
us when we were young

- Yeah.

- Come on.

{engine rumbling)

- There it is.

- It's lovely

- And part of a way of
life that's almost passed

- Is that a bad thing?

- No, no, I was just getting sentimental

{faint speaking)

Good morning, Albert

- They're all upstairs, Monsieur

Poor dear lady

Poor dear lady

- He doesn't remember me.

And I used to be jealous

because he polished her ladyship's boots.

- Monsieur, Madame.

- Marie?

You don't remember me?

- I'm afraid I don't, Monsieur.

But then I hardly remember
myself this moming

Forgive me, Monsieur.

You are?

- Jules Maigret.

- Jules, after all these years.

- My wife,

- Madame
- Madame.

- How good to see you

And you so famous now too

Oh, Monsieur, what's a dreadful time

for you to have come back

- Yes, Marie

- Forgive me.

And perhaps you will excuse me

I have everything to do.

We can't get no help these days

Two in the house and there used to be 14.

- Well, could I help you?

- Oh, Madame, if you would

It's been a nightmare

-Dr. B, Dr. B, I must
know what's happened!

I'm entitled to know.

Why didn't anybody wake me?

- Oh, go back to bed

You want a drink?

- Who are you?

Are you the undertaker?

- No, Monsieur Leconte

- (laughing) Monsieur Leconte”

What do you think he is?

Jean Metayer, our ladyship's
secretary and what else

- I know the old count is dead.

There was a son?

- Count Maurice.

- Yes.

Will you ask him

that Inspector Maigret
would like to talk to him?

- Inspector Maigret?

- Oh, Count Maurice
never comes near to here,

the Monte Carlo, or Cannes

- Oh, can we have a word?

- Yes, this way

Oh, what would you like?

(indistinct) some bottles up

- Why didn't Metaver, the secretary,

come down with the station waggon?

- What, him get up for early mass?

Oh, bless my boots, no

Cognac?

- No thanks, I haven't had breakfast

- Well, I find cognac
a very good breakfast

Nowy, tell me, my friend,

why I shouldn't sign
that death certificate?

- No reason at all.

I'm sure you're right.

She died of a heart attack.

- Oh, I'm relieved.

Yes, and it wasn't her first.

She had one a little time ago, slight one.

That was when I warned her.

- What caused it?

- Money

The count never came here
unless he wanted money

Then they'd quarrel, then she was lll

- You ever give her drugs?

- Oh, she wouldn't take 'em

- Sleeping pills?

- She didn't need 'em.

Didn't you hear the gossip?

- Gossip, what about”?

- Ch no, of course you wouldn't

It's about Jean Metayer.

- Oh, the young man who oversleeps

- Yes, until the summer,

Emile Gautier used to do her accounts.

And then along comes Jean Metayer

Out goes Emile

Emile was the agent's son

Yes, Emile went out

because the Countess is the sort of woman

who can't live in a house
without a man about the place

And the count wouldn't live here.

- Why?

- Why?

Well, for the same
reason he never married.

You can't have two
women in the same house.

Have you ever owned a house
large encugh for two women?

- Tell me, was the countess
a regular church goer?

- If you mean, was it predictable

that the countess would
attend first mass today

you'd better ask Father Demain

- Well as a reasonable
man, would you expect it?

- Well, as a reasonable man,

I haven't been to church
since I studied anatomy

(phone ringing)

The Chateau De Saint-Fiacre.

Yes, it is

I'm having my breakfast.

Yeah.

Oh, is he?

Well, you better go and see him.

All right then, telephone
him if you'd rather

That was Gautier.

He had to go into town to
arrange for the funeral

It seems that Count Maurice
is not in Monte Carlo.

He is here at the Hotel De France.

He arrived last night.

- Is he?

Does he know about his mother?

- No, but he will soon

Gautier's telephoning him

And it seems the count is not alone.

- Maurice?

Maurice, Maurice?

- Hi, darling.

What time is it?

- It's nearly 11:00

No, no, Maurice

There's a message

- What is it?

- It's your mother.

- Well?

- She's dead.

- Dead?

But how?

- I don't know.

- At last, I can take you to my home

- You sure you won't change your mind?

- No thanks.

- Oh for heaven's sake, Gautier, sit down

Oh, here they are.

- I better ring for Albert

- All right?

- I'm terribly sorry about
your mother, Maurice

- Thank you, darling

You know, it's a funny thing

While she was alive,

nothing would have made
me change my way of life

Now that she's dead...

Well, here's old Gautier.

- Who's he?

- He's our agent

Well, Gautier

- Hello, Monsieur Maurice

Good to see you again.

It's a long time since you were here

- Yes, you still look much the same.

Well, how are things?

Still going from bad to worse, eh?

- Hows could things be worse
with your mother dead?

- You don't get my point, do you, Gautier?

- So that's the young count?

- Yes.

He's quite a boy is Maurice

- Well, come on

Let's goin

Sonia, come on

Hello, Albert

Nice to see you again.

- Thank you, Monsieur.

- You're looking fine, you old rascal

Hello, Marie

- Monsieur Maurice.

- Mademoiselle Vassiliev.

- Would you like to go up?

- Not for a moment.

Where's Doctor B?

- He's at the library.

- Oh, come on, Gautier.

- Let me have your coat, Mademoiselle.

- Thank you

- Oh, Doctor BI
- Ah, Maurice

- Oh, you made me jump

- I'm sorry

- I'm Sonia Vassiliev.

- Maigret.

- Well, I've heard a lot about you.

You caught me out.

- What did I catch you at?

- Counting the silver.

Actually, it wasn't like that

I haven't been here before.

Maurice was very fond of her, you know?

- [Jules] But she didn't want ta meet you?

- [Sonia] I didn't want to meet her

- Oh, I see

- I don't think you do

I didn't want to meet her

unless I was going to marry Maurice

- He wants to marry you

- Yes and no.

Same with me.

- Is the question of money?

- No, temperaments

But temperaments can be expensive

- Inspector, the count would
like to speak to you now

- Ah, Inspector.

My apologies.

I took you for a person
from the local gendarmerie

Dr. Boucher had just explained to me

- Monsieur Leconte.

- I'm glad you're here

And for reasons that Gautier
will explain to you later,

I'd be glad if you'll remain.

- Emile, come into here
in a moment, will you?

- Yes, sir

- Monsieur Maurice,

I believe you know my
son works at the bank.

He'll be able to tell you

the exact present state of the account

- Oh, it's quite simple, Monsieur

We're carrying a large
unsecured overdraft.

- Unsecured?

What about all the other
properties, the farms?

- All the farms were sold or mortgaged

and the Paris property was sold last year,

as you know.

- But I took only a few thousand

What about the rest?

- Well, it was reinvested,
against our advice

- It's lost?

- I'm afraid so.

- What about my mother's
personal belongings?

They must be worth something

- Well, the will must first be proved

- I see.

I shall go and pay my
respects to my dear mother

It appears that I can't even afford

a dark suit for her funeral.

- Monsieur Leconte?
- Yes?

- May I ask you a question?

- Yes, certainly, Inspector

- What brought you back to
Saint-Fiacre last night?

- Is this curiosity”?

- Yeah.

- It was money.

I wanted to borrow 40,000 francs

because unless I pay a
check for that amount

into my bank by the time
it opens tomorrow moming,

I shall probably go to prison

- Maurice?

- Where's the count going
to find that kind of money?

- I don't know.

- Bless my boots, I must be going

I've got some work to do

Inspector

- Doctor.

- Come in here a minute.

- Will you need me, papa?

- No, no, Emile, no, thank you.

- I feel as if I've done something wrong.

- [Male Speaker] How do you mean?

- Well, whenever I was
sent for to this room,

it meant I was in trouble.

It was darker then.

And it used to smell
of my father's tobacco

Oh, isn't that the old count's 12 bore?

- Yes, yes, it's mine now

I bought them all at various times

- Do you do a lot of shooting?

- Ne, no, very little

Quite simply, it was to help her

- It's a beautiful gun

Well, Monsieur Gautier,

what was it that the count
said you wanted to tell me?

- It's about the will.

Do sit down, won't you, Inspector

I imagine the chateau gees to the count

In itself, it's a liability

What I very much fear

is there'll be a large
bequest to the secretary

- Why to him?

- The countess seemed quite
unable to refuse him anything

Before he came here,

Metayer used to edit & small art magazine

He said there was some
printing process he'd invented

which only needed a little more capital.

The countess indulged him.

He set up a company.

There was an office in Paris.

And he used to play about at
the printing works in the town

- How much was lost?

- I'm not sure that it was lost.

- You think it went
into somebody's pocket”?

- I warmed Metayer I shall
have to speak to the countess

- Recently?

- A few weeks ago

- And did you?

- I kept putting it off

I would give 10 years of
my life to avoid a scandal

You'll understand that, Inspector

But I couldn't be at peace

if I thought that Metayer
had got away with

- What?

- I don't know.

I was going to say is
something diabolically clever

(suspenseful orchestral music)

- Show me a where she was kneeling

when you first noticed her

- She was like this with her hands folded.

- There was some women there,

the priest and the altar boy

No one in the back of the church.

- Ah, hello, Monsieur Gautier.

- Hello.

- What can I do for you?

- I thought we'd been to have
a word about the funeral.

- Oh yes, of course.

- Is Monsieur Maigret here”

- Not to my knowledge, no

- I thought that was his car outside

- Oh, well perhaps they're in the church

- She had her hands on a book
when she started to fall

- The book of devotion?

- Yes, a programme

- Howr can I help you”?

- Yes, there was a book
here, a prayer book

- Is it missing?

- Well perhaps it was
collected after the service.

- I don't think so.

- Why not, Mr. Gautier?

- I really don't know

- Well, no one else sits here

- Then it should have been
left here and has disappeared

between the time we took her away and now.

- Yes, I suppose so, that--

- Father Demain®?

Young Pierre has something fo say to you

- This is what we were looking for.

- I found it, but I didn't take it

- He was carrying it home

- How do you mean you found
it, but you didn't take it?

- It was wrapped in my
surplice, I'll show you

My surplice was here and
it was wrapped up in it

I thought I was meant to take it.

- Aren't you taught to
hang up your surplice”?

- Yes.

- And you've got a
prayer book of your own

- Not one like that.

- Jean-Pierre, if when you think about it,

you remember that you
didn't actually find it

wrapped your surplice,

come and tell me, will you?

It might be worth 10
francs towards a new one.

- I'll think about it, but
I don't think I'll remember.

Can I go now, Father?

- Yes, yes, off you go

- I'l talk to that young man tomorrow

- Father, may I just see that?

- Oh.

- Dramatic suicide in high places

Monte Carlo, May 30th.

Declaring that he was outraged

by a scandal affecting
a member of the family,

the well-known sportsman
Maurice De Saint-Fiacre

shot himself last night

- What?

- The most painful aspect of this tragedy

is that the scandal concerns his mother,

the dowager countess

- If it were true, it would
be shocking to publish it

But untrue?

- Yes.

Either way, with her heart
in this state it was in,

the shock would be bound to kill her.

(suspenseful orchestral music)

Excuse me?

- What is it? I'm busy

- Can we talk?

It's important

- It's important we get this issue to bed.

What is it you want?

- Do you recognise this, the printing?

- What about it?

- Is it your typeface?

- Yes, we use it for small jobs and set

- The paper?

- Yes.

That's the kind of
rubbish we get nowadays

Next week, it's going up by 3%

- So this could have come from here?

- What, that?

We take a pride in a job here.

- Have you seen Jean Metayer lately”?

- Who?

- The young man from the chateau

- Oh, him

- Well?

- No, I haven't seen
him for a month or two.

Comes and goes as he pleases.

Anything else”

- Not at the moment, thank you

- Good.

Then I can get on with me work

(indistinct)

- Thank you

Just in time, I've just finished

Oh, Monsieur Metayer
- Madame.

May I have a word with you?

- Yes, if you wish

- Do you smoke?

- No, thank you

- I need your advice on a personal matter

The question is what shall
I wear for the funeral?

This sort of black suit?

- Black is usual.

- The count means to wear a grey suit.

- Well, perhaps he hadn't
packed for a sudden death

- Pretends he hasn't got the money

It's to attract sympathy.

If I wear grey, people
will say, doesn't he care?

- Well, you must wear the black.

-Iflgo

- Why shouldn't you go?

- Well, you know,

the Inspector hasn't asked to see me yet

and I spent all day yesterday
at the chateau waiting

Do you think that's a bad sign?

- Well, if you want to
find out, here he is now

- Ch no, well you must excuse me, Madame

- He's seen you.

- This is terrible.

He'll think I've been pumping you

- Well, so you have,

but he won't kill you for that.

- Sir Metaver, just the
man I wanted to see

- Mr. Metayer's been complaining

that you haven't interviewed him vet,

so I'll leave the two of you together.

- You wanted to see me?

- No.

Well, that is

- Sit down.

Right, I'm interviewing you

Speak

- Well, I wasn't making any complaint

- You better tell me.

- Well, everybody thinks I
was having a scandalous affair

with the countess.

It's true, I liked her very much

I don't get on very well with young women

We shared secrets together
and laughed a lot

Monsieur, the women of our
country never really grow old,

not in their hearts.

- Did she share the secret
of your printing activities?

- Baptiste told me.

Monsieur, do you believe me

when I tell you that I
had nothing to with it?

- What about the investments,
did she know about those?

- Of course.

Don't you understand”?

Something had to be done

The state was being eaten up
to pay for the count's follies

{church organ music)

- Father Demain, can I have
a word with you please?

Here you are.

I owe you 40,000 francs

- It isn't necessary and it
shouldn't be made out to me.

- Not to you”?

- Well, the name here
should be Baptiste Vessan

- Vessan?

The organist, why him?

- [Male Speaker] He knew your father.

He didn't want to see you arrested.

- Why would he get 40,000 francs?

- He's a thrifty man and a good man

- And you bought spiritual
pressure to bear,

I have no doubt.

- For your mother's sake,
I wanted you to have time

- What for?

Are you still hoping
I'll lead the geod life?

- I shall pray for you

- I resent your interference with my soul

My life is my own affair

I'll change it when it pleases me,

which is likely to be never

- Will everything have to come out?

- Yes, I'm afraid so

Father, I don't like it
any more than you do

She was my countess too, you know

- Marie Louise Nicola Rebais

by courtesy 10th Countess to Saint-Fiacre

As a good Republican, I say Madame Rebais

May your bones rest in peace.

- The last of the '48.

Was a good year for us

- [Doctor] You're not drinking, Father?

- Dr. B, don't you
think you've had enough?

- Oh, you can give me a lift home, Father

Here's someone who needs forgiveness

or a strong drink

Come, come, come

You can cry after a wedding,

but after a funeral,

it's considered impolite

not to celebrate the
beautiful fact of being alive.

- Excuse me, Monsieur Gautier

There's a young man who
wishes to speak to you

- Well, I can't see him now

- He's in the hall.

- Oh, very well.

Where's the count?

- In the office with your son

- What's that?

- A receipt for the will.

- Where do I sign?

Well, we might as well get on with it.

- What about that?

Wait here til you're sent for.

- Yes, sir

- We all here, gentlemen?

Not for me, thank you, Albert

Perhaps Monsieur Emile
will have something.

What about you, Metayer?

Father Demain, you've got what you want?

- Yes, thank you.

- Gautier, how about a drink for you?

Dr. B, help yourself

as I'm sure you've done many times before

We won't be needing you now, Albert

Well, gentlemen, we're all gathered here,

the beneficiaries of my mother's will,

all except that is Inspector Maigret.

And we know why he's here,

because one of us murdered my mother

- Maurice?

- Well, deprived her of the will to live.

Isn't that the same thing, Inspector?

- That's for the public
prosecutor to decide

- But surely motive is all important

- Always

Might be hatred or revenge,

but sometimes motive can be very curious.

It might be a twisted
sense of duty, even pity

- We're very lucky to
have you here, Inspector.

We might've had some fool
from the local gendarmerie

Dr. B, are you quite sure

that it was heart failure due to shock?

- Yes, quite sure

- If you drink a little less,

you might be able to afford a new car.

- I'd rather drink.

- My mother's left you
a choice of her cars.

- Oh, has she?

Oh, that's very kind of her.

- There is however one under repair

if you would pay the bill

Theodore Gautier, my father's guns,

which he seems to have acquired already.

And the silver punch bowl.

Father Demain, (indistinct) Saint-Fiacre,

the income and trust from the Moulon farm

which she sold two years ago

And any 50 books from the library.

You'd better grab them quickly
in case the bank claim them.

Isn't that right, Emile?

- There'll have to be evaluation.

- For you, there's a gold watch,

but I don't think you'd kill her for that

Than there's a codicil.

To my dear friend, Jean Metayer.

- It's not true.

- What isn't true?

- Well, that I knew what, that she meant

- [Maurice] That you were
to get 100.000 francs?

- I told her not fo,
that I didn't need it.

I told her she's live another 20 years.

- Hadn't you had enough already?

Were you so greedy, so impatient--

- That's a lie!

- That you had to kill her
with 10 pretty lines of poison?

- Be careful, Count Maurice

It was you she was afraid of

Always wanting money, forcing her to sell!

- Count Maurice, you won't
get to the truth this way

It's true that Monsieur Metayer
had a very strong motive

- Didn't he have the run
of the printer's works?

- No, it had opened onto a public yard

It was often left unattended.

- Does he deny he's an expert printer?

- Exactly, an expert,

but this spread cutting was
very badly done by an amateur

- Inspector.

- Yes?

- Before you go any further,

the boys Jean-Pierre is here to see you

It concerns the prayer book

- Where is he?

- Qutside in the hall.

- Fetch him in.

- [Male Speaker] Jean-Pierre?

- Well, Jean-Pierre, what
have you got to tell me?

- You promised me 10
francs If I remembered.

- Ah, you remembered

that you didn't actually
find the prayer book

- Yes, sir

- Do you deserve 10 francs
for confessing to a lie?

- I didn't steal it.

Somebody asked me for it

- Who asked you?

- Must I say?

- I don't think you
know what the truth is,

Jean-Pierre.

- Well, do I get the 10 francs?

- When you finished remembering.

Who asked you?

- He did.

- Count Maurice?

- No, no, him.

I don't know his name.

- I've never spoken to him in my life

- Why didn't you say this before”

- He said no one was to know.

He promised me 50 francs.

- It seems you'd say anything
for money, Jean-Pierre

- I seen him at the chateau.

Well, I thought it would be all right

- When did I speak to you?

- Just before second mass in the road.

- It's ale.

- sit?

- I didn't leave the chateau all day

- No doubt you can prove that.

- Here's your 10 francs

- Boy!
- Lethim go

- Gautier, call the boy back.

- No, Gautier, he'll only tell mare lies

- It didn't sound like lies to me.

- No, of course not,

but he didn't take in
Father Demain this moming

The boy said that he'd
found the prayer book,

but we thought that he'd stolen it.

And that's exactly what he did do

- Because he was bribed.

- No, he stole the prayer book

simply because he's always lying there.

But that prayer book

was meant to fall into
the hands of the police

The press cutting had a dual function

It was intended to kill the countess

and to incriminate Metayer.

Then, nothing happens

Maigret is here, but he
doesn't arrest anyone

So the boy is bribed to
point a finger at Metayer

- How much did you pay him, Count Maurice?

You read out what we get.

What about you?

Don't you inherit the estate?

- The estate is worthless.

- Yes, but you didn't know that

You came here to borrow 40,000
francs from your mother.

You were furious when I
wouldn't let you near her

when you telephone on Saturday

- Mr. Maurice stayed at the
hotel on Saturday night

He didn't come to the chateau.

How could he have put the
cutting into the prayer book?

- Father?
- Huh?

I'm not for one moment
accusing Count Maurice,

but he did come to the
chateau on Saturday night

- You didn't tell me this.

- I was in the office,

I was working late on some papers

for the chamber of commerce.

And I heard a noise out here.

I came out, that window was open

And when I looked into the hall,

Count Maurice was going up the stairs

Then Father Demain came out
of the countess's bedroom.

- You've done very well, Emile

It's perfectly true I was here.

I wanted to see my mother alone,

without the presence of that damn drove

Father Demain had to be
preparing her for confession

He said that he had
been examining her soul

and he implied that I would
do well to examine mine.

- That wasn't the whole truth.

- But Demain is in dilemma.

He sees me on the one hand
as a waster and a murderer,

and on the other,

as a soul that might be
saved by a confession

if I was given time.

I had meant to help myself
to my mother's jewels

- Maurice.

- I had no idea that they
belonged to Emile's bank

I admit it wouldn't have
made any difference

- That wasn't the confession I meant.

- I'm afraid it will have to do.

I'd probably kill my mother

Not intentionally, by
living the life I saw fit

And whose pardon must I ask for that?

My mother's?

No, it's too late

But I shall never forgive myself

until I found the
villain who murdered her.

Personally, I think John-Pierre
was telling the truth

All right, Inspector,
bring in the policemen.

Turn the place upside down

You'll have my permission

Doctor, is there anything
left in that bottle?

- Father, you're still standing
there with a glass of wine,

or does it all belong to the bank?

What about you, Metayer?

Why aren't you drinking?

You can't take this with you

- Hey, Inspector, can
I have a word with you?

- Mr. Gautier.

- In private.

- Well, Mr. Gautier, what
do you want to tell me?

- Inspector, I hope you won't be offended

if I offer you my help

- You've helped me already

- I mean, in a different way.

I believe you'll rather
not make an arrest

- Is there some other solution?

- If the person concerned
knew there was no hope

there might be a fatal accident

- That might be a solution.

- It's the only possible solution surely

if we're to save the family name

from being dragged through the courts

You want that as little as any of us

Think what a sensation
that papers would make

out of the relationship between
the countess and Metayer,

however innocent it might've been

Think what they'd make of the
sort of life the countess led.

Such a thing is unthinkable

-Goon.

- Well, there can be no doubt in your mind

as to who did this thing surely

- What's this help you
were going to offer me?

- The asking of the one fatal question.

- What questions, I ask?

- There's one thing I think you've missed

The report said the
count took his own life

at the villa of Sonia Vassiliev.

- Well?

- The count only met the
young lady a few months ago

She's unknown in this neighbourhood.

Only Metayer had access
to private letters

Only he could possibly
know about this girl

I found this yesterday

It's from the count to his mother,

asking her to receive Sonia Vassiliev

- And do you think that if I
were to face him with this,

he'd have no alternative but
to have a fatal accident?

- What else can he do?

Think of his position

- Your reasoning is
very good up to a point,

but I have some further information.

I paid a visit this morning
te the land registry

It seems that the eight farms

which were sold by private treaty

for a quarter of their real value

was sold to a company
called Land Developers

- My son advised

They always had ready cash

- Did your son know that 48 of the shares

were owned by Baptiste Vessan,

a deaf organist,

who was able to produce 40,000
new francs to give the count?

Did your son know that the other 52 shares

were owned by you?

- He didn't.

- Is this your first step

to get your hands on the chateau itself?

- Where did I make my mistake?

- You made two.

You didn't rehearse Jean-Pierre enough

He looked at you before
he pointed at Metayer.

- And the other?

- You quoted the press cutting as saying

that the count took his own life

at the villa of Sonia Vassiliev.

She is mentioned in the cutting,

but not in the part that I read out

No one could have known

unless they'd seen that cutting

before it was put in the prayer book

Do you still think

that Metayer should have a fatal accident”

(suspenseful orchestral music)

- All these bottles are empty

Oh, Doctor, would you
mind agitating the bell?

- Emile.
- Inspector.

Is anything wrong?

- I think you should have
a word with your father

{gunfire blasting)

(suspenseful orchestral music)

- Ah, Madame Maigret.

- Father.

- Father, we just came to say goodbye

- Oh, you're going?

- But I just wanted to say don't
be too hard on Jean-Pierre.

- We shall see.

- If you were Jean-Pierre,

wouldn't you do what you were told

by the agent of the chateau,

the most important man of the district?

- Perhaps.

{church organ music)