He got to the first-floor landing just in time to bump into a woman who was running away. He smelt gunpowder. He grabbed the woman by her clothes with his left hand. With his right hand he hit her wrist hard, and a revolver fell to the floor. The gun went off, and the bullet shattered the glass pane in the lift. The woman struggled. She was exceptionally strong. Maigret had no means to restrain her other than twisting her wrist, and she fell to her knees, hissing: ‘Let go! …’ The hotel began to stir. An unaccustomed sound of excitement arose along all the corridors and filtered out all the
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