Maigret in Montmartre

Ah.

Princess Xenia Zakharova,

all the way from St Petersburg.

You are so good

and you've brought your exquisite daughters.

My dears, you shall break so many hearts.

Now, this is Sir Greville Haig,

the new ambassador.

Sir Greville, I must reproach you.

You are too naughty.

Why have you brought from London this fog?

It's quite a party, Countess.

I'm afraid the fog is in your brain.

You want some more, but you can't have any more, darling, can you?

Because you've had it all.

You're a woman after my own heart.

Bloody shreds. Bloody shreds, indeed.

Now, one of us has to hawk our backside round the Bois de Boulogne,

and I don't think yours'll fetch very much, do you?

I need some cash.

Money, darling, where is it?

Cashykins.

Right. Well...

Right. I shall have to take this.

Just for a tick,

just until tomorrow, all right?

Good girl.

The Countess is not receiving!

I said the Countess is not receiving.

Hello?

Club le Picratt, ladies and gentlemen.

Your mother wouldn't like it, but your mother's in bed.

20% discount with this card.

Girls, girls, you like girls, ladies?

Some do. Step right in, gents!

Beautiful.

Oh, so beautiful.

I have to go.

But you can't. You've got another set.

Arlette, Arlette, Arlette, you're my star.

People will complain.

I might have to... What?

You might have to what?

Arlette!

Ladies and gentlemen, stop right there.

You need music, you need Champagne, you need...

to put some lead in your little propelling pencil.

You need the erotic inferno that is...

Arlette.

She'd give a dead man a stand.

Oh! Are you OK, Miss?

I have to explain, there must be someone here I can speak to.

You can speak to me, Inspector Janvier.

You're not giving me answers.

There must be someone else. I will try to do all I can.

I've been sitting here for hours. Calm down and I will assist you!

Who's this? Is he senior to you? In every respect, Miss.

Chief Inspector Maigret, this is Arlette.

We're trying to establish how we can help her.

Another bucket of Cognac, maybe? What did he say?

Could we please start at the beginning? Please.

Evening, Pierre. I sing at a club in Pigalle.

Le Picratt. Do you know it?

It has these kind of...

booths.

I was doing my act and...

there was these two men. I could hear them, whispering.

While you were singing? When I'd finished.

What were they saying?

They're going to kill someone. Did they say who?

The Countess. The Countess who?

Well, I don't know.

Did they say how they intended to do this or when?

You're laughing at me.

No, I'm not laughing at you.

I'm merely trying to establish the facts.

This 'Countess', is that a stage name or... I don't bloody know, do I?

A Countess, like a... lord, you know?

An aristocrat.

Do you think I'd be talking to people like you

if this wasn't urgent?

I need to lie down.

She needs to lie down. Ah.

Let her sleep.

Oscar!

Was he one of the men? Oscar?

Talking in the club?

Where are you going? Home.

I'll get you an escort. Don't patronise me.

Arlette, please, take my card,

in case you want to talk to me again. Tomorrow, possibly.

How long were you planning to sit there with your coat on?

It's two in the morning. I know.

Happy Birthday.

Oh, that's sweet.

Where did you find it? There's nothing inside, I'm afraid.

It was my mother's. I made it for her, when I was at school.

You made it? As in you made it?

Inspector, we're impressed.

It's for putting things in, fairly obviously.

Special things.

Well, that's something we don't do often enough.

Surprise each other.

Hello. Maigrets'.

Oh, hello, Janvier. Yes, of course, I'll just get him for you.

It's Janvier.

Janvier, good morning.

I'll be right there.

Who's up there? Dr Paul. Lognon's lying in wait,

giving a lot of nonsense about jurisdiction.

He found the card you gave her. Oh, of course he did.

Who's this? This is the concierge, Maigret.

Deaf as a post. I've practically lost my voice shouting.

I saw the girl do her turn the other night, down at Le Picratt.

Tremendous voice, Maigret. Great legs.

I'm taking the case.

Apparently, you are acquainted with the corpse.

When did this happen?

About... 2.30.

She was strangled. Tried to fight the man off, broke her arm

in the process, then her neck.

Man? Or a woman with very big hands.

Look at the bruises.

This feels like her private space.

If the killer is a man, he was in here without her consent.

I don't think she brought men here.

And this is a fake - this identity card.

But it's a good one. She spent some money on it.

Oh, my God.

Lapointe, I've got a job for you.

I want everything on people in Paris, male or female,

calling themselves 'Countess'.

Lapointe? Hm? I want it immediately.

Yes, Chief.

He's young.

Yep, that's blood. It's fresh, and it's not hers.

The skin's unbroken. There's some more on the floor, there.

There's nothing under the fingernails.

Or on any object she might have used as a weapon.

The killer must have been already bleeding when he got here.

Or there was a third person in the room.

Excuse me. Police Judiciaire. Inspector Janvier.

This is Chief Inspector Maigret. We'd like to talk to the owner.

Fred?

If that's his name, that's who we'd like to see.

Could you go get him, please?

I usually let him have a lie-in. Is it urgent?

Yes, it is. Madame... Alfonsi.

Fred is your husband?

Now you're getting the idea.

Fred! People!

So what's up, anyway? Can I help? Madame Alfonsi...

Oh, Rosa. Rosa.

Could we sit down?

Please.

We've come to speak to you about Arlette.

Police.

Very careful, my darling, what you say and don't say.

We don't want you going back where you came from.

Right, then, folks, who do we have here?

Chief inspector Maigret. And Inspector Janvier. That's Maigret.

I have a licence. Everything's in order. I pay on the nail.

Arlette's dead.

Come again? The girl you employ under the stage name Arlette

was strangled in her bed in the early hours of this morning.

What was her real name?

Erm, Arlette Giraud.

I mean, that's what it said on her papers.

I understand that last night two men sat together in one of these stalls.

Which one?

Two men, like a couple? Not necessarily.

Two men together, no.

Arlette sat in one, mind, with a young man.

It was before her show. Her boyfriend? He wanted to be,

by the look of it. Did you catch his name?

Do the girls have a dressing room? Maybe I can take a little look at?

Did any of the customers sleep with Arlette?

We don't do that. We're a nightclub,

not a knocking shop.

Did you? Did I what?

Yes or no?

I have a go with all the girls when they start, it's like...

part of the training.

None of this on the premises, mind.

There's plenty of by-the-hour places round here.

She doesn't mind. Ask her.

Ideally, not right now, she's a bit upset.

Who else works here?

Er, some musicians,

barman, a couple of waiters, a cook, a plongeur.

That's it. Oh, and er, the Grasshopper.

He's a crookback, everybody calls him Grasshopper.

He hangs around out the front touting for business.

Nobody who works here or comes here is known as the Countess?

Or Oscar?