Lock no. 1
(Book)

Translation of L' écluse no. 1, originally published in 1933.--verso of title page.

Cars drove past along with the trucks and trams, but by now Maigret had realised that they were not important. Whatever roared by like this along the road was not part of the landscape. What really counted was the lock, the hooting of the tugs, the stone crusher, the barges and the cranes, the two pilots' bars and especially the tall house where he could make out Ducrau's red chair framed by a window.

"A man hauled out of the Charenton canal one night; a girl wandering, confused, in a white nightdress ... these events draw Maigret into the world of the charismatic self-made businessman Ducrau, and the misdeeds of his past."--,Back cover.