The Judge's House Quotes

“You expect all kinds of things, but what real life throws up is always more bizarre.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“He didn’t reply. He would have given a lot to share that improvised meal, those potatoes cooked under ash, those sausages browned by time, that wine that appeared so refreshing!”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“They were both heavy, with the heaviness of people who are constantly struggling with the patient forces of nature.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“It was impressive to observe Maigret. In fact, a curious phenomenon was taking place. As he came and went in this house that wasn’t his, as he evoked lives he hadn’t lived, he was no longer entirely the heavy, placid, rough-hewn Maigret. Without his realizing it, there was a little of Forlacroix in the way he moved, the way he spoke. The two men could not have been more dissimilar and yet, at certain moments, it was so striking that the lawyer was quite bothered by it.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“Maigret never took notes. If he had a propelling pencil in his hand and a paper in front of him, it was only to make doodles that had no connection with the case.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“Perhaps, when it came down to it, that gaze attracted her? Wasn’t this big, placid man, smoking his pipe and staring into space, more of a friend than an enemy?”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“Everyone was watching Maigret. Children followed him, one of them imitating his heavy gait.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“The judge sighed and said something unexpected: ‘This is all very regrettable, inspector!’ Overhead, the piano was still being played, and Chopin’s chords harmonized perfectly with the atmosphere of this grand house where life should have been so sweet. ‘See you later!’ Maigret said abruptly, like a man resisting temptation.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“It was a great gift of his, being able to sleep anywhere, at any time, and forget his worries from one second to the next.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“It was an extraordinary moment, and Maigret would never forget the taste of it. First the late-night weariness, and that smell of wet wool. That unknown corridor that seemed to go on for ever. Again they heard the foghorn.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“Maigret was wearing his stubbornest, grouchiest expression, but the truth was that he was basking almost voluptuously in this investigation that had fallen into his lap, right here in Luçon, where he had been exiled. He was like a seal that had been juggling in circuses and now found itself back in the icy seas of the North! How long had it been since he had last entered a house, as he had done earlier, and sniffed about, come and gone, heavily, patiently, until the souls of both people and things no longer held any secrets for him?”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“The most remarkable thing was that Maigret already believed him! It was as if he were under a spell in this silent house where nothing could be heard but the crackling of the logs and where, during the silences, you were aware of the distant murmur of the sea.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“It was only now, at this precise moment, that Maigret became fully aware of the situation. He literally saw himself, sitting comfortably in his armchair, his legs stretched towards the fire, warming his glass of armagnac in the hollow of his hand. He realized that it wasn’t he who was talking, asking questions, but this short, thin, calm man, the same man who, only a few minutes earlier, had been dragging a dead body to the sea.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“People were asleep in the surrounding houses. Old Bariteau, somewhere in the rustling darkness, was looking for holes in the seabed to place his eel nets. ‘Maybe it’s for the best.’ It was the judge speaking again. ‘Would you like to come inside?’ He took a few steps, as if forgetting his package. There was such an oppressive calm around them that they had the impression they were living in slow motion. ‘Perhaps it would be more convenient to take the body back indoors?’ the judge suggested, reluctantly.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“That’s old Bariteau on his way to laying his eel nets. He won’t be back for another two hours.’ How could old Bariteau see his way in all this blackness? God knows. You sensed the presence of the sea, very close, just at the end of the narrows. You could breathe it in. It was swelling, irresistibly invading the straits.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“His nose puckered at the smell of Inspector Méjat’s brilliantine, a sickly odour that even ten pipes could not have overcome.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House

“He hadn’t complained to anybody. Even Madame Maigret didn’t know why he had fallen into disgrace and been transferred to Luçon. This was the hidden face of the profession, of no concern to those outside.”
― Georges Simenon, The Judge's House