Having seen the 1960s BBC version of this story of Maigret recently. I thought the remake was not as seedy as the BBC version. Even though they depict a key character as a drug addict here but a drunk in the earlier one.
Prosper Donge finds a body of a dead woman in the kitchen locker in the basement of the hotel he works in. The management of the Majestic Hotel wants to have the investigation kept low key.
The dead woman was the wife an American businessman Oswald Clark, who claims to have been in Rome at the time his wife was murdered. He also seems to be having an affair with their son's nanny.
It turns out that Donge once knew the dead woman in Cannes and her son is actually Donge's
There is plenty of evidence that Donge will go the guillotine but Maigret is not convinced. He even goes to Cannes to talk to Donge's associate, a showgirl who also knew the dead woman.
I did like Gambon's dogged perseverance in this story, how he outsmarted the magistrate who thought it was an open and shut case.
The key was not writing letters at the workplace. Maigret's past experience in the military could be Donge's salvation.