The notary of Châteauneuf
The notary of Châteauneuf (original title Le Notaire du Châteauneuf ) is a story by Georges Simenon , in which Commissioner Maigret investigates in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire . The work belonging to the series of Maigret novels and stories was written either on June 7, 1938 in La Rochelle or in the winter of 1939-40 in Nieul-sur-Mer . The story was published in book form on May 4 and 20, 1938, in book form in the volume of stories Les Nouvelles Enquêtes de Maigret by Gallimard after preprinting in Police-Film magazine . In 1976 the story was first published by Kiepenheuer and Witsch in a translation by Hansjürgen Wille and Barbara Klau, and in a new translation by Josef Winiger in 1990 by Diogenes in Madame Maigret's Lovers .
action
In his retirement home in Meung-sur-Loire , Maigret is interrupted from gardening; his visitor is a notary from Châteauneuf-sur-Loire . Monsieur Motte is a collector of ivory carvings and owns some valuable pieces. Now he has found that some figures have disappeared from his collection without any break-in. Motte asks Maigret to take care of the case. The ex-commissioner visits Motte in his house, where he lives with his three daughters, Clotilde (23 years old), Armande (19 years old) and Emilienne (six years old). Armande is in a relationship with a young painter, Gérard Donavant, whom she plans to marry soon. Motte has nothing against this connection, but Donavant's father is an internationally known master thief who has since retired, known as the Commodore . Monsieur Motte describes his battle plan: Maigret could neither imagine himself as a commissioner nor as a detective, then the family would see through him, but as an old comrade in the war who is now a timber wholesaler. When meeting suspect number 1, Maigret recognizes his old opponent; Maigret had arrested her father three times, who liked to exclude Dutch merchants on trains, but it had never been enough to prosecute him. The young painter knows why the man - who wasn't a timber wholesaler - is here. Maigret has now also recognized that the young painter - who was suspected of theft by the notary - recognized him.
expenditure
After being preprinted in Police-Film magazine (première série, n ° 8 du 17 juin 1938), the story was published in Les nouvelles enquêtes de Maigret (Paris, Gallimard, NRF., 1944). It was included in the Simenon works Œuvres complètes (Lausanne, Editions Rencontre, 1967–1973) in Volume IX, in Tout Simenon (Paris, Presses de la Cité, 1988–1993) in Volume 25 and in Tout Simenon (Paris, Omnibus, 2002–2004) included in volume 25. It is available in German translation in the anthology, All Maigret Stories ( ISBN 978-3-257-06682-1 ) published by Diogenes in 2009 .
adaptation
- Le Notaire de Châteauneuf , French TV film (director: Gérard Gozlan ) with Jean Richard as Maigret, broadcast in 1988