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guinguette à deux sous  19 may 2013  La guinguette à deux sous
looks to my untrained American eye like a rather elegant title,
but it translates to something like "The Two-Bit Roadhouse."
Maigret visits said roadhouse on a whim. A condemned assassin
has told him that an even eviller villain hangs out at this
venue, and Maigret can't resist following up the tip. Many of
the early Maigrets involve the commissioner following an impulse
rather than resorting to any known police procedure. Tant mieux
that the guinguette serves cheap double Pernods and is full of
regulars who like to drink their weekends away.  Murder, as I've
noted, follows Maigret around in an anticipation of the best
Jessica-Fletcher tradition. He's not at the guinguette very long
before one of the regulars is found shot dead – by a revolver in
the hands of another who keeps saying he didn't do it. Tell it
to the juge, you want to say, but before Maigret can arrest him,
the apparent