The Blue Room By George Simenon

Oldtuberadio

Georges Simenon is best known for the Inspector Maigret stories, but he published scores of other books. The Blue Room (La Chambre Bleue), from 1963, is believed to be one of his best.  The Blue Room is a tale of poisoned love in a village deep in rural France, where the sinister flourishes and suspicion and claustrophobia prevail.  Tony Falcone is an ordinary guy, a self-made man, the son of Italian immigrants. He sells and repairs agricultural machinery. He's a womaniser, but always returns at the end of the day to his wife and daughter in the village of Saint-Justin. Andrée Despierre is the daughter of a highly respected family. She used to live in the local chateau but now she's married to Nicolas, an affluent but sickly grocer. Tony and Andrée's passionate affair begins when he mends a puncture for her by the roadside.  Dramatised by Ronald Frame and Produced by Patrick Rayner  With: ----- Tony Falcone ...... Nick Underwood Andrée Despierre ...... Lucy Paterson Judge Diem ...... Richard Greenwood Police Inspector ...... Nick Farr.  First broadcast: Mon 12th Nov 2007, 14:15 on BBC Radio 4 FM   Do you enjoy the variety on Oldtuberadio? Like, Share and Subscribe to be notified of our new shows #radio #crime #thriller #drama To Support this channel please visit https://www.buymeacoffee.com/oldtuberadio https://ko-fi.com/oldtuberadio98 https://www.patreon.com/oldtuberadio https://locals.com/Oldtuberadio

Transcript

00:00Have I hurt you?

00:20No.

00:22Are you angry with me, darling?

00:24No.

00:26Will your wife ask you?

00:28Don't think so.

00:30Doesn't she ever?

00:34You have a beautiful back.

00:39Do you love me, Tony?

00:41I think so.

00:43Could you spend the rest of your life with me?

00:45My name is D.M.

00:59I was the examining magistrate in the Falcone case, before it went to the court of Assize for trial before a judge, back in the mid-60s.

01:10The case has haunted me ever since.

01:14Did André often bite you?

01:31Occasionally.

01:32How many times?

01:33In all, I only met her eight times, at the Hotel du Voyageur.

01:39Your brother's hotel?

01:40Yes.

01:41Eight times over a period of, uh, twelve months?

01:44Eleven months.

01:46Yes, eleven months.

01:48In the blue room.

01:49What was so special about the blue room?

01:53The walls.

01:55Blue like those little bags of powder my mother used to put in to whiten the linen.

01:59And blue like the sky.

02:07You're a handsome man, Tony.

02:10Are you still bleeding?

02:12It's almost stopped.

02:14If she asks you about it, what will you say?

02:19I'll say I bumped into something.

02:21I know.

02:23The windscreen.

02:24Had to jam the brakes on suddenly.

02:26Did it never occur to you that she might have a motive in biting you?

02:33What motive?

02:35I was too busy just...

02:37Living.

02:43Could you really spend the rest of your life with me?

02:46Of course.

02:48Can you be so sure?

02:50Aren't you a little afraid?

02:52What is there to be afraid of?

02:56Can't you just see us together?

03:01Day after day.

03:05We'd get used to it.

03:06In time.

03:07Used to what?

03:09To one another.

03:11When I think of all the years I've wasted because of you.

03:15Because of me?

03:16How old were we at school?

03:18Six.

03:18And we've had to wait till now.

03:22Seriously, Tony, if I were free, would you get your freedom too?

03:28What was that you said?

03:29If I was able to get my free...

03:32What is it?

03:35Your husband.

03:36Nicola?

03:37Yes.

03:37Where is he?

03:39What's he doing?

03:40He's crossing the square.

03:41Is he coming here?

03:42Definitely.

03:43How does he look?

03:45Where are you going?

03:46I mustn't stay here, as long as he doesn't find us together.

03:51I had the police transcripts and the psychiatrist's report in front of me.

03:55Two big dossiers.

03:57But I wanted to hear from Tony Falcone himself.

04:01So we went back to the beginning.

04:02When you saw her husband coming out of the station, you were worried?

04:08Yes.

04:10No.

04:12A little bit.

04:13Which?

04:14Well, he was such a creature of habit.

04:16And not very well.

04:17He fussed about his health.

04:18He was epileptic?

04:20Yes.

04:20And André was married to your friend?

04:22Nicolai wasn't my friend.

04:24Or anyone's friend, really.

04:25You went to school with him?

04:26Her maiden name was Formier, and she lived in the chateau with her mother.

04:29A very run-down chateau.

04:31Her father was a doctor, and the Germans got him.

04:37He died in a concentration camp, and became a hero.

04:41And André's mother?

04:43Had lots of heirs and graces.

04:45Not much money, still.

04:47André's was a different world from mine.

04:49And the Despierres, Nicolai's family?

04:52They had a grocer's shop.

04:54His mother was a widow, too.

04:56She was a good businesswoman.

04:58She had a clever peasant brain.

04:59She thought that Nicolai marrying André would put her a cut above the other shopkeepers

05:04in Saint-Justine.

05:06She'd be on a par with Madame Formier, even.

05:10You are an agricultural engineer, Monsieur Farconi.

05:14Yes.

05:15Self-made businessman.

05:17You returned to the village four years ago to make a home for your wife and child.

05:20Yes.

05:21André and Nicolai were married.

05:23How did you feel about that?

05:26Nothing, really.

05:26You and she hadn't been intimate before?

05:29No.

05:29Not even a flirtation?

05:30Not even a kiss?

05:31It never occurred to me.

05:32Why not?

05:33Because she was too tall.

05:37What?

05:38Like a statue.

05:39She wasn't meant for me.

05:41You renewed your acquaintance then?

05:43By accident.

05:44I drove past her on the road.

05:46She'd had a puncture.

05:47I helped her.

05:49And?

05:49You'll be late getting home for dinner.

05:53Well, you know how it is with my work.

05:55I'm often held up.

05:57Doesn't your wife mind?

05:58She knows it's not my fault.

06:00Where did you meet her?

06:02Paris?

06:03Poitiers.

06:05So you go for blondes?

06:07I don't know.

06:09Never given it a thought.

06:10I wondered if you were scared of brunettes.

06:13Why should you think that?

06:14Because in the old days you kissed pretty nearly every girl in the village.

06:19Except me.

06:22It was an oversight, I dare see.

06:25Would you like to kiss me sometime?

06:28What?

06:30Well, would you?

06:32It went beyond a few kisses.

06:35It went beyond.

06:38Beyond kisses.

06:40Will you?

06:41Will you, Tony?

06:42Come on, just do as I say.

06:44Come on.

06:45Where?

06:46In the bushes.

06:47We'll be seen.

06:48We won't.

06:49Just do what I say.

06:51I want you, Tony.

06:53I want you so much.

06:55I never dreamed she could be like that.

06:56What do you mean?

06:58Well, I thought she was reserved.

06:59Frigid.

07:00Like her mother.

07:00You took her at the roadside.

07:02She took me.

07:03Was she embarrassed afterwards?

07:05Anything but.

07:10Thank you, Tony.

07:12And I've been waiting for that since I was 14.

07:16Oh, how I used to hate those girlfriends of yours.

07:19I'd lie awake at night planning ways to make them suffer.

07:24Don't you think we'd better be going?

07:25Wait, Tony.

07:27No, don't get up.

07:28Here in the grass is all very well.

07:33There must be somewhere else we could meet.

07:36I'm over in Trion every week.

07:38Every Thursday.

07:41Maybe your brother's hotel.

07:43So, it was all settled that evening?

07:49I suppose so.

07:50You suppose so?

07:52Things just carried us along.

07:55I can't think how else to put it.

07:57How did you communicate?

07:59She would leave a towel out on the little balcony over the shop.

08:03It meant she could get away.

08:04Then I'd tell my brother.

08:05The blue room?

08:06The blue room, yes.

08:08Did you believe Nicolau was capable of violence?

08:11No.

08:11But?

08:13He was a sick man.

08:14An introvert.

08:15Broody.

08:16That day in Trion, did you think he might be armed?

08:19No.

08:19You were anxious about your wife and daughter.

08:22It was...

08:23like an omen.

08:26An omen of what?

08:30Were you afraid of Nicolau?

08:32He always gave me the creeps.

08:34Even in your school days?

08:35He was different from everyone else.

08:38His fits.

08:41That evening when you went back home, did you feel that she was lost to you now?

08:45Who?

08:46André?

08:47You had been involved for eleven months in what it's surely no exaggeration to call a wild

08:51passion.

08:51Wouldn't you call it that?

08:52I desired him.

08:55Your wife, Giselle, would you describe her as reserved?

08:59Yes.

09:00Secretive?

09:01I wouldn't say that.

09:03She didn't like drawing attention to herself.

09:06She didn't want to be in the way.

09:08To be a nuisance.

09:09She asked nothing of anyone.

09:11Was she always like that?

09:12Even as a girl?

09:13I think so.

09:15Hmm?

09:15Well, after a film or a dance.

09:19If she was thirsty, she wouldn't mention it, just so I didn't have the expense of buying

09:22her a drink.

09:23Did she have many friends?

09:25Only one.

09:26A neighbour.

09:26An older woman.

09:27They used to go for long walks together.

09:30What was it about her that attracted you?

09:32I don't know.

09:34I've never really thought about it.

09:36You felt safe with her, is that it?

09:38I thought she would make...

09:39A good wife.

09:42Yes.

09:42Did you love her?

09:45Were you intimate before marriage?

09:47No.

09:48Did she attract you physically?

09:50I married her, so she must have done.

09:53Could you really spend the rest of your life with me?

09:57Of course.

09:58Can you be so sure?

10:00Aren't you a little afraid?

10:02What is there to be afraid of?

10:04Can't you just see us together day after day?

10:07We'd get used to it, in time.

10:10Seriously, Tony.

10:12If I were free, would you get your freedom too?

10:19Are you asking me to believe that you never contemplated divorcing your wife?

10:22It's the truth.

10:23Not even towards the end?

10:24Never, at any time.

10:25Yet you told your mistress...

10:26Don't you see?

10:27I didn't say anything.

10:28Not really.

10:29She did the talking.

10:31She was lying naked on the bed.

10:32I was standing naked in front of the mirror.

10:34We'd just...

10:35But you know that as well as I do.

10:38At such times, words don't mean a thing.

10:40I scarcely even heard, you know?

10:41I just nodded.

10:42I didn't mean to commit myself.

10:44I was thinking of other things.

10:45What, for instance?

10:46I don't know!

10:49Then you decided you'd go on holiday.

10:51You, Giselle, and your little girl, Marianne.

10:54Two weeks.

10:55Just the three of us.

10:56We take it easy on the beach.

10:58How did you feel about that?

11:00Feel?

11:02I felt it was going to be all right.

11:04I'd had a great weight lifted from me.

11:07I saw how close I'd come to disaster.

11:10Disaster, you say?

11:13You loved your wife?

11:15Yes.

11:15But there was some kind of barrier.

11:18It was a marriage.

11:20Why did you have no more children after Marianne?

11:22I don't know.

11:22Did you not want them?

11:23Yes.

11:24You had plenty of opportunities, the two of you.

11:26At the beginning, anyway.

11:27Then Giselle got pregnant.

11:29Was that when you began going with other women?

11:31I should have done that anyway.

11:33You mean you couldn't do without it?

11:34I don't know.

11:36You often say, I don't know.

11:38I can't answer your question.

11:40About wanting women?

11:41Aren't all men the same?

11:43Tell me, Tony.

11:45If I were free, would you get your freedom too?

11:48I was wondering, Monsieur Falcone, when you first suggested this holiday to your wife...

11:54It was just after she'd mentioned that Marianne was pale.

11:56Yeah, I'm aware of that.

11:58Let's say you saw your chance and leapt at it.

12:01Excellent opportunity to quiet my suspicions, to reassure her.

12:04You playing the devoted husband and father, the family man.

12:08What do you say to that?

12:09You've got it all wrong.

12:11You had already made up your mind not to see your mistress again.

12:13I hadn't made up my mind about anything.

12:15In the months that followed, did you see her at all?

12:17No.

12:17And what about her?

12:19Did she not put out the signal?

12:20The towel over the balcony?

12:21I don't know.

12:22You don't know?

12:24From then on, I never went near her house on a Thursday morning.

12:27And all this for no better reason than that one afternoon you saw her husband walk across

12:30from the station to the hotel to order himself a glass of lemonade on the terrace.

12:35Yet here, according to your own story, here was the woman with whom you had known

12:38ecstasies of physical love, the like of which you had never dreamed of.

12:42In your own words, if I'm not mistaken, it was a revelation.

12:48If you say so.

12:49If that's what it says there.

12:52What was the holiday really like?

12:53I got snappy with Marianne.

12:57With Giselle, I think I was sometimes unreasonable.

13:00Yes, I thought about the blue room.

13:03Sometimes it had me clenching my teeth with longing.

13:05Are you happy now?

13:06My happiness doesn't come in.

13:07I'm trying to be honest with you, to tell you everything.

13:10Everything?

13:10Yes.

13:14Would you describe yourself as ambitious, Monsieur Falcone?

13:18Well, when I married Giselle, I began thinking about a business of my own.

13:24The firm in Poitiers I worked for, they imported tractors and so on from America.

13:28Those came in sections and we assembled them.

13:30It was a good living.

13:31Your brother followed much the same course, didn't he?

13:33He was dabbling in one thing and another and eventually deciding to set up on his own with the hotel.

13:38Yes.

13:39I wonder whether the fact that you and your brother were the children of Italian parents,

13:43foreigners in a French village, your father was a bricklayer, I believe.

13:47Yes.

13:49Tell me, Monsieur Falcone, why did you choose to come back to Saint-Justine after how long away?

13:55Ten years?

13:57Perhaps it was because of my father.

13:59He's been a widower for so long.

14:01You saw very little of him.

14:02About once a week.

14:04At your home?

14:07I think he found Giselle.

14:10She overawed him a bit, so I visited him instead.

14:15Then there was my brother in Trion.

14:17You're settling here.

14:19It had nothing to do with André.

14:21You're quite sure of that?

14:22Not again!

14:23You were aware of her marriage to your school friend, Nicolas?

14:25Not friend!

14:26No, it was a complete surprise.

14:29But the mothers had nothing in common.

14:32Except wanting the marriage, as you said earlier.

14:35Nicolas' mother acting from social ambition, or from spite, perhaps, and André's mother.

14:40Had she any inkling, I wonder?

14:43Inkling of what?

14:44That a daughter might soon be a rich widow.

14:46Anyway, it would appear that Nicolas suffered a good deal from bullying at school.

14:54He had seizures.

14:56Those epileptic fits?

14:57Yes.

14:58Until he worked out when they were likely to come, and he kept away for a few days.

15:02So they were common knowledge?

15:04No one ever spoke of it in his mother's presence, and the subject was forbidden in the shop.

15:08Why?

15:09Well, just didn't talk about it.

15:11Because there was some shame attached to it?

15:13That made things awkward for him, anyhow.

15:17He didn't go to senior school, and he got out of military service.

15:21Never went to a dance hall, didn't ride a bike, couldn't drive the car, couldn't drink wine, stuck to his invalid food.

15:28Did you never envy him?

15:29Why should I do that?

15:31Envy him as well.

15:35When you learned of the marriage, did it not seem as if he had bought André, or rather that his mother had bought her for him?

15:42I didn't believe she could love him.

15:45I felt a bit sorry for her being brought up in a chateau, even a run-down one like that.

15:49You had to keep up appearances.

15:51Presumably, knowing those two mothers, some hard bargaining must have gone on.

15:54Presumably.

15:55And did Madame de Pierre and her daughter-in-law get on?

15:57I imagine your sources will have told you.

15:59I would like to hear from you, Monsieur Falcone.

16:02Everyone knew.

16:04You tell me.

16:07Madame de Pierre was in a bungalow, overlooking the garden.

16:11She cooked for them all.

16:13She stayed on in the shop.

16:15Alongside André?

16:16Yes.

16:19But they ended up not speaking, and Madame de Pierre went home for meals.

16:24Nicolas went to see her alone.

16:25How do you know this?

16:27André told you?

16:28Told me how?

16:29In the Blue Room.

16:30I never asked her.

16:31No?

16:31No.

16:32Not once.

16:32You were kept busy in the Blue Room.

16:34We were apart from all that.

16:36For a while.

16:38We could forget.

16:38One of the Paris newspapers had a headline.

16:40The Frenzied Lovers.

16:42You had decided not to see her again.

16:46It would be wrong to say I'd decided anything.

16:48Were you perhaps influenced by the fact that she had communicated with you by other means?

16:52I had no communication from her.

16:54On September 5th, you received the first letter.

16:59What do you mean?

17:01I don't know of any letter.

17:02It was addressed to you in block capitals and postmarked Trion.

17:05I don't remember.

17:06Mr. Bouvier, the postmaster, made some remark to you about this particular letter.

17:12I said that looks like an anonymous letter, Tony.

17:14That's how anonymous letters are always addressed.

17:16Doesn't that ring any bells with you?

17:20Everything is fine.

17:22Don't worry.

17:23The following week, there was a second letter.

17:25To all outer appearances, it was identical to the first.

17:28The postmaster made a joke of it.

17:30Well, well, he said.

17:31Maybe I was on the wrong track.

17:32This begins to look more like an affair of the heart.

17:35I haven't forgotten.

17:37I love you.

17:40Thinking back to that month of October, Monsieur Falcone,

17:43do you honestly claim that you were not expecting some new development?

17:47It was a very wet month.

17:49That has a bearing, does it?

17:51Well, it was uncomfortable.

17:53Everything.

17:53The atmosphere.

17:54Nothing specific.

17:56Have you no recollection of the third letter either?

17:59Monsieur Bouvier's memory is better than yours, it seems.

18:01According to him, you received it like the others on a Friday.

18:04That has a bearing, does it?

18:06You told me that your assignations took place on a Thursday.

18:11Another letter.

18:12Soon.

18:14I love you.

18:15You burned these notes and the later ones, I presume?

18:19If my experience is anything to go by,

18:21you will soon realise that you cannot persist in denying knowledge of these letters,

18:25except on this one point I have been impressed by your candour in answering questions.

18:29As things stand, you are denying yourself a valuable opportunity.

18:33What opportunity is that?

18:34To clarify your thoughts and feelings during those last few days of October.

18:38I couldn't anyway.

18:39Couldn't what?

18:40Tell you what my thoughts and feelings were.

18:42I was trying not to think.

18:43I had no appetite.

18:46Giselle was always asking me, aren't you hungry?

18:48Can you account for your listlessness?

18:49No.

18:51I've just carried on with my business.

18:54Leaving home and coming back again.

18:56To Giselle and Marianne.

18:58All Saints' Day.

19:03According to the Inspector of County Constabulary,

19:06you set out for the church hand-in-hand with your daughter at about ten o'clock.

19:10That's right.

19:10So you went past the grocer's?

19:12Yes.

19:12Looking to the upstairs window?

19:14No.

19:15Because you had lost interest in André de Pierre?

19:18Because you considered your relations with her at an end?

19:20I think so.

19:21Or was it that you had no need to look up because you knew what to expect?

19:24I didn't know.

19:25There was quite a crowd gathered outside the shop.

19:27There were always a lot of people about in the square before high mass.

19:31When did you learn that Nicolau was dead?

19:35Just before the sermon.

19:37What were your reactions?

19:38It was a great shock to me.

19:41Did you notice that after this announcement from the pulpit,

19:43several people turned around to stare at you?

19:45No.

19:45A special constable has given a statement saying that's exactly what they did.

19:50It's possible.

19:52I can't see how anyone in Saint-Jean could have known.

19:55Known what?

19:56About my relations with André.

20:01At home, you told your wife the news, I presume?

20:05Marianne did.

20:06How did your wife take it?

20:09She asked me, is it true?

20:11She told me he had served her himself only yesterday morning.

20:16I will outline the course of events in the grocery.

20:22Nicolau de Pierre had suddenly got nervy and taciturn how he did before an attack.

20:27Dr. Riquet was in the habit of prescribing sensitive tablets for the condition.

20:31Old Madame de Pierre called to see her son at eight o'clock and saw the signs.

20:37She told André she was feeling unwell herself with flu.

20:39Now, Dr. Riquet, who seldom leaves the village, he chanced to be away with his wife that night,

20:44visiting his sister, as I believe he had informed Nicolau.

20:49At three o'clock in the morning, your friend André telephoned the doctor's house as though

20:54she were unaware of his absence.

20:57There was no one to answer, but their maid.

21:00André de Pierre chose not to call a doctor from the town.

21:03Instead, she went across the garden in her dressing gown to wake up her mother-in-law,

21:06and by the time the two women got back to him, Nicolau was dead.

21:12Too late for a doctor now.

21:15It was eleven o'clock the next morning before Dr. Riquet saw Nicolau.

21:20After a cursory examination, he signed the death certificate.

21:22As he told us, nine out of ten doctors would have done the same in his place.

21:26Next morning, though, the village was buzzing with rumours.

21:29Were you not aware of this?

21:33No. No, I wasn't.

21:34In all sincerity, Falcone, do you really imagine that your wife could have been ignorant of what

21:38everyone else knew about you and André de Pierre?

21:41Surely, she too must have been expecting something to happen.

21:44We had never discussed any of my... adventures.

21:50You claim that you didn't see your mistress once during the whole of that winter, Monsieur Falcone?

21:54I may have caught sight of her in the distance, but I can swear I never saw her to speak to.

21:59You didn't meet at your brother's place?

22:00Of course not.

22:01Did you discuss the matter with your brother?

22:02Yes. He advised me to drop it. Those were his very words.

22:07I told him it was over and done with long ago. He said, over and done with for you, maybe, not for her.

22:12In the blue room, you had discussed your future together.

22:15It was just talk! It didn't mean a thing!

22:18Not to André, either? Are you quite sure?

22:20Can you be so sure? Aren't you a little afraid?

22:24I must remind you that two months before her husband's death, she was already planning for the time when she would be rid of him.

22:32But that's only helped you in...

22:33Not in so many words, perhaps.

22:36Still, that was surely the implication when she asked you what your attitude would be if she were a free woman.

22:42The Depierre estate was now jointly owned by the two women. André could put it up for auction and claim her half, if she had decided to, if you had wanted her to. But Madame Depierre always said no stranger was going to get their hands on her property.

22:56No wonder you were stared at. People wanted to know. Whose side is he on?

23:03So you said.

23:03André with her condescending manner, Tony Falcone with his Italian blood, and coming back here, why did he do that?

23:10Where does all this get us?

23:11Nowhere in particular, except that a lot of people believed that André would sell out, even if it meant a lawsuit.

23:16And she was only waiting to lay her hands on the cash to leave Saint-Justine with you at her side.

23:21The one person everyone was sorry for was your wife.

23:26So you tell me.

23:29At the end of December, there was another letter.

23:32Happy. Our. Year.

23:35You have no recollection.

23:38And a final letter on January the 20th.

23:41Over to you.

23:43Did you intend to marry André Depierre?

23:46No.

23:46If you had both been free, unmarried?

23:48It would never have entered my head.

23:49The postmaster, oh, Monsieur Bouvier again, provided the examining magistrate with a statement.

23:54He saw you opening the envelope and reading the letter.

23:57I'd never seen him look like that.

23:59He was like a man who had received the death sentence.

24:01He stared at me, or rather, through me.

24:06It must have been an alarming communication.

24:08Over to you.

24:09She had been waiting all this time for her, Tony.

24:12And she had shut out everything that might distract her from her obsession.

24:16Tell me, Tony, if I were free...

24:19She had been free for two months now.

24:21Free and rich.

24:22Would you get your freedom, too?

24:25Then the train whistle blew.

24:27Yes.

24:28Maybe she convinced herself I said yes.

24:31I turned my head.

24:32She might have thought I was nodding.

24:33Over to you.

24:35Would you have divorced your wife?

24:37Certainly not.

24:38She wouldn't have allowed you?

24:39I had no intention of divorcing her.

24:44We were going to grow old together.

24:46Over to you.

24:47Over to you.

24:49Did you think André had killed her husband?

24:52Why should I?

24:53That's what most of the village thought.

24:55And Giselle, too.

24:56No one could say what really happened.

25:00Okay, so she hadn't gone for help when Nicola was dying.

25:02Look, I had no hand in him.

25:07You were no longer lovers.

25:08No!

25:10But there was no escape from her.

25:12You could have left, Saint-Justine.

25:13No, I couldn't.

25:14I was still paying for the house, the shed, the equipment.

25:17I was able to give my family a decent life.

25:20What did you tell your wife?

25:21Giselle.

25:23I told her how lucky I was.

25:25That I hadn't treated her as she deserved.

25:27I told her how happy I was.

25:32You must forgive me for repeating the question, Monsieur Falcone.

25:36For the last time, did you receive those letters?

25:42André de Pierre has admitted to writing them.

25:45She has disclosed their contents and her reasons for writing them.

25:47I have a transcript taken before witnesses about that last letter.

25:52Over to you.

25:53Mr. Falcone, you've persistently refused to admit the existence of this correspondence.

26:00Is it to spare your mistress, or because you consider the letters damaging to yourself?

26:08I see you have other questions for me.

26:12We have reached February 17th, Wednesday.

26:20Yes.

26:21It's a significant date?

26:23Oh, yes.

26:25It was...

26:26fated.

26:28The end.

26:30The end?

26:32Of...

26:33Of everything.

26:37Perhaps that was why, finally, he admitted knowing about the letters.

26:42We were in the land of his nightmares now.

26:45The man was at the mercy of the law.

26:48Denying the letters for weeks had been a disaster for him.

26:51Will it help if I put specific questions to you?

27:00Did your wife ask what your movements would be?

27:02I did tell her, the night before, that I had a very full day ahead, that I wasn't going to be home for lunch, and that I might be late for dinner.

27:13Did you tell her where you were likely to be at any time?

27:16I just mentioned the fair at Ombass.

27:19I was to meet a customer there, and I had a repair job waiting for me at Bonin-sur-Sievre.

27:25You've said at seven o'clock you went to wake your daughter. Did you often do that?

27:32Most days.

27:33You wore your best suit, a blue suit which was usually kept for Sundays.

27:37Because I now had an appointment in Poitiers. I wanted to look my best to impress Garcia.

27:42I'll come to Garcia. You asked your wife, didn't you, if she wanted anything from the village?

27:46No. I told the inspector I didn't. I was leaving the house when Giselle called me back. She said,

27:55Do you mind getting me two pounds of sugar and a couple of packets of soap powder from the grocers?

27:59Then I shan't need to get dressed. Her exact words.

28:03Did you often go shopping for her?

28:05She had a lot of ironing to do. She wanted to get started.

28:08So, after you dropped your daughter at the school gates...

28:10I had to go to the post office.

28:12And then?

28:12I went into the grocers.

28:15How long was it since the last time?

28:17Two months or so.

28:18You didn't go there at all after you received the last letter. The one which said...

28:22Yes, I know.

28:23Over to you.

28:24No. I hadn't been back.

28:27What were your feelings, Monsieur Falcone? Distress? Apprehension?

28:33Not exactly. I would have preferred not to meet André. Especially with other customers looking home.

28:40Were you afraid of giving yourself away?

28:43I was embarrassed.

28:46Was old Madame de Pierre there?

28:48I didn't see her.

28:49Were you kept waiting?

28:51No. André asked me straight away,

28:54What can I do for you, Tony?

28:57So she served you before the other people?

28:59Yes.

28:59Didn't anyone object?

29:00It was the usual thing. Men are served first in most shops.

29:03And what?

29:03I said, two pounds of sugar and two packets of soap powder.

29:08And?

29:10She got the things from the shelves. Then she said...

29:13She said...

29:14One moment, Tony. That plum jam your wife ordered a couple of weeks back. It's just come in.

29:21Go on.

29:24She went off to the storeroom and came back with a pot of jam.

29:27Was she away long?

29:28Not very. No longer than I would have expected.

29:31Did she appear agitated?

29:32I wasn't really looking at her.

29:33You heard her voice, though. So how did she...

29:35I think she was pleased to see me.

29:36Did she say nothing more to you?

29:39As I went out, she called after me.

29:42Have a good day, Tony.

29:43Did you notice anything unusual in her manner?

29:46I wasn't paying much attention at the time. It was just an ordinary day, like any other.

29:51And afterwards, looking back on it.

29:52I thought she did perhaps sound especially affectionate.

30:00Was André often affectionate towards you?

30:02Yes.

30:05It's hard to explain. It was a special sort of affection.

30:10It reminded me of the way I sometimes felt about Marianne.

30:13Maternal?

30:14Not quite. Protective would be closer to it.

30:17We have three coincidences here.

30:22Your wife sends you to the grocer's instead of going herself.

30:25Yes.

30:26A certain make of jam, which no one eats but herself, is out of stock for several days.

30:30A fresh stock conveniently arrives on the day you go into the shop, and a jar of it is handed over to you.

30:36Yes.

30:36On that day of all days, you don't go straight home. You call first at the railway station.

30:41I had ordered a piston by express delivery.

30:43You parked your truck behind the station against the back wall, where you couldn't be seen by anyone.

30:47It's the best place for picking up.

30:49The stationmaster stated it was some considerable time before he heard you start your engine again.

30:52I wanted to make sure they'd sent exactly what I'd ordered.

30:55Another coincidence.

30:57When you arrived home, you left your purchases on the kitchen table.

31:00Your wife was in the garden, I believe, hanging out the washing.

31:03Yes, she was.

31:04Did you go out to her?

31:05Did you kiss her goodbye before you left?

31:07Well, we didn't go in for that sort of thing. It wasn't as if I was going on a journey. I called out from the porch. Expect me when you see me.

31:17You didn't tell her you'd got the jam?

31:19Why should I? It was there on the table for her to see.

31:22Did you spend any time in the kitchen?

31:24Just before I left, I noticed the percolator simmering on the hot plate. I had a cup of coffee.

31:29That, if I'm not mistaken, is coincidence number five, at least.

31:34If you say so.

31:36You called in to see your brother?

31:38I wanted to talk to him. I often talked over matters of business with him.

31:41And other matters?

31:43He was the only one who knew of my worries about Andre.

31:48So you did have worries?

31:50Those letters bothered me.

31:52Only bothered you?

31:53Frightened me.

31:54And you had come to some decision, which was why you wanted to speak to your brother?

31:58Yes.

31:58While his wife was out shopping and the maid was upstairs doing the rooms?

32:04Yes.

32:05And this conversation...

32:05About me going to Garcia. I had a business proposition.

32:09By way of talking about Andre de Pierre.

32:12I told him if I stayed on, I was never going to have any peace.

32:14Did he not try to dissuade you?

32:16On the contrary, he seemed relieved.

32:19He disapproved of my affair with Andre from the start.

32:23Let's continue with your movements that day.

32:25I went to the winter fair at Ombass.

32:29I handed out some prospectuses.

32:30Then I went and saw to the repair job at Bollard.

32:33Then I went on to Poitiers to my meeting with Garcia.

32:35You told your wife you were going to Poitiers?

32:37No.

32:39Why not?

32:41Because nothing was settled with Garcia.

32:43There was no point in worrying her unnecessarily.

32:45And at Poitiers, your appointment was at 4.30?

32:49Garcia.

32:51He used to be my foreman when I worked at the factory there.

32:54We exchanged family news, and then I put my proposition to him.

32:57Did you say anything about the reason why you wanted to leave Sanjerstown?

33:00Only that it had to do with a woman.

33:04I knew that he'd saved quite a bit, and he'd often talked of setting up on his own.

33:09I had a well-established business to offer, along with a house, the storage shed and all the equipment, plus the goodwill I'd built up.

33:16Was he interested?

33:17He wouldn't commit himself.

33:19He asked for a week to think it over.

33:21He needed to discuss it with his wife.

33:23In the event of Garcia's accepting your offer, what were your plans?

33:26I would have asked the company to appoint me as their representative in the north or east.

33:31Alsace, for instance, as far away from Sanjerstown as possible.

33:34They would have agreed.

33:36I know they think highly of my work.

33:38One day I hoped I might be able to start up again on my own.

33:43We've almost come to the end, Falcone.

33:47You went straight back to Sanjerstown?

33:49Yes.

33:50You didn't stop anywhere on your way?

33:53I felt suddenly that I must get home to my wife and child.

33:56I drove very fast.

33:59It was dark.

34:01You must have seen the lights of Sanjerstown some way off.

34:05Did you notice anything unusual?

34:08I saw lights on in every room of the house.

34:12We never had all the lights on at once.

34:14I was worried.

34:15I knew there must be something wrong.

34:16What did you think could be wrong?

34:19I thought something must have happened to my daughter.

34:21Not to your wife.

34:22With a child, there are so many things that can go wrong.

34:27You drew up about twenty yards from the house.

34:30Half the village was outside our gate.

34:32You had to push your way through the crowd.

34:34They made way to let me through, but they didn't look as though they were sorry for me.

34:37They looked angry.

34:39I couldn't understand it.

34:41Fat old Didier, the blacksmith, in his leather apron.

34:44He was blocking my path.

34:46Stood there with his hands on his hips.

34:48Spat on my shoes.

34:50The police were there.

34:52I asked them.

34:54Where's my wife?

34:56Where's my daughter?

34:59The inspector was very unsympathetic.

35:02Neighbours are taking care of your daughter.

35:04Where's my wife?

35:05Where have you come from?

35:06Quartier.

35:07What have you been doing since you left this morning?

35:08We've been trying all over the place to get hold of you.

35:10Since when?

35:11Since half past four this afternoon.

35:12What happened at half past four?

35:14We had a phone call from Dr. Riquet.

35:17Inspector, has my wife had an accident?

35:18Just what are you playing at?

35:19I'm not playing at anything.

35:20They took her to hospital, senor.

35:23I was at her bedside.

35:24She was still alive three quarters of an hour ago.

35:27What?

35:28She's dead?

35:29No.

35:30It's a fact.

35:31What are these men doing in my house?

35:33It's a search, but we've found what we're looking for.

35:35I want to see my wife.

35:36You'll do as you're told.

35:37As from now, Antonio Falcone, you're under arrest.

35:40What am I charged with?

35:41I'll ask the questions, if you don't mind.

35:43Questions.

35:44Questions.

35:46That's when they started.

35:48All the questions.

35:50You admit that it was you who brought home this pot of jam?

35:53Pot of jam?

35:54Yes.

35:55Did you hand it over personally to your wife?

35:57I left it on the kitchen table.

35:59Without saying anything about it?

36:01I didn't see any need to.

36:02My wife was busy with the washing in the garden.

36:04When was the last time you went to your shed?

36:06This morning, just before eight, to get my truck out.

36:09Didn't you take anything else from your shed?

36:11Were you alone?

36:12My little girl was waiting for me.

36:13Take a look at this tin, Falcone.

36:14Do you recognise it?

36:16It must be mine, yes.

36:17What does this tin contain?

36:19Poison.

36:21Do you know what poison, signor?

36:24Arsenic or strickenene.

36:25I'm not sure which.

36:26When we first moved in, the field where the shed is now was a dump.

36:30The butcher used to put his waste there.

36:32And even after I could leave the field, there were still rats.

36:35And Madame de Pierre...

36:36One moment, which Madame de Pierre?

36:37The old lady or the daughter-in-law?

36:39The old lady.

36:40She sold me a tin.

36:41It's the stuff all the farmers use around here.

36:43I can't remember now.

36:44It's strickenene.

36:45How much did you put in the jam?

36:46That's absurd.

36:48When did your wife usually eat jam?

36:50About ten in the morning.

36:51You knew all about it, then.

36:53You knew all about what?

36:54About her habit of eating jam in the middle of the morning.

36:56Yes, I've just said.

36:57Plum jam.

36:58Her favourite?

36:59Yes.

37:00Do you know how much strickenene is a fatal dose?

37:02Four grains.

37:04Doubtless you're aware the poison begins to take effect within ten or fifteen minutes.

37:08That's when the first convulsions occur.

37:10Where were you at ten o'clock, Falcone?

37:12Just leaving my brother's place.

37:13He can corroborate...

37:14While your wife was lying on the kitchen floor, which is where she stayed, alone in

37:19the house, unable to call for help, until your daughter got home from school some time

37:24after four.

37:26So she had to endure six hours of agony before anything could be done for her.

37:31Very efficiently planned, wasn't it?

37:33Your daughter found her.

37:35She rushed out of the house, hysterical.

37:37Where were you at a quarter past four, signor?

37:39I was putting off time.

37:41Where were you?

37:41In the cinema in Poitiers.

37:43I want to see her.

37:44I want to see my child.

37:45Not for the present.

37:46Why not?

37:46She's my daughter.

37:47If we tried to get you to her, you'd be lynched by that mob out there.

37:50After they'd finished laying out your wife's body, you were taken in to see her.

38:01You didn't go up to her.

38:02You stopped a few steps away.

38:05You didn't speak.

38:07You didn't say a single word.

38:10Was this not the conduct of a guilty man, Monsieur Falcone?

38:13Well, it was because of me that she was dead.

38:21The grand jury decided that Tony and André were to stand trial for the murder of Nicolas

38:26and Giselle.

38:28Tony scarcely seemed to take it in at all.

38:32Nicolas's body had been exhumed.

38:34The Poitiers specialist reported finding a massive deposit of strychnine in his stomach.

38:38Another specialist in Paris disagreed that this was conclusive evidence of poisoning.

38:44The press got to work on the sedative drug that Nicolas would take whenever he felt an

38:48attack coming on.

38:50The druggist in Trion dispensed the drug in capsules.

38:53He admitted they could be tampered with by anyone.

38:55I felt Tony no longer cared whether he was found guilty or not.

39:03At the trial, he was forced to share a bench with André.

39:07I saw her lean across, past the guard.

39:10Hello, Tony.

39:11I doubt if he even heard her.

39:14It was as if nothing had any connection with him anymore.

39:17The witnesses, even his father and his brother, it could all have been happening to someone

39:21else entirely.

39:22Then old Madame de Pierre was called to the witness stand.

39:27She had never approved of the marriage, she said.

39:29She didn't deny that she had tipped off her son about the blue-room assignations.

39:33Oh, and the other matter.

39:36That anonymous letter which had dropped onto the public prosecutor's desk concerning Giselle

39:39Falcone's death.

39:41Well, she said, anyone could have written that.

39:45Now Tony was showing signs of interest at last.

39:48About the business of the parcel of jam.

39:49Madame de Pierre claimed the parcel had arrived the night before the tragic events of the

39:5517th, and that she had put it in the stockroom unopened.

39:59She told the court that the following morning she had left her daughter-in-law at the counter

40:03and gone home just at the moment when Tony was approaching the shop.

40:06She was lying.

40:09That look she gave Tony, it was open defiance.

40:13She couldn't help herself.

40:15If she'd admitted she had seen the parcel unwrapped that morning, as it must have been, or better

40:20still the night before, it would have proved that André had had all the time she needed

40:24to poison the jam.

40:26If, on the other hand, the parcel had been, as the old woman claimed, intact when she left,

40:31André could not have done it in the time, barely two minutes, that she kept him waiting

40:36in the shop.

40:38It was not enough for old Madame de Pierre that André should pay for Nicolas's death.

40:43Tony must pay for it too.

40:46There was a shocked reaction in court.

40:49Only André could top that.

40:51I didn't poison my husband, that I might have done if it lingered on too long.

40:59I loved Tony, and I love him still.

41:03I wrote to Tony.

41:06I said, over to you.

41:09I only had to wait.

41:11I knew I could trust him.

41:13We loved each other.

41:21The jury gave their verdict.

41:33André was found guilty of the premeditated murder of her husband, but not guilty of the

41:38murder of Giselle.

41:39Tony was acquitted on the charge of murdering Nicolas, but found guilty of the murder of

41:44Giselle.

41:45The president pronounced sentence.

41:47The death sentence for both the accused commuted to a life sentence of hard labor on the jury's

41:54recommendation of mercy.

41:56There was tumult in the courtroom.

41:59I watched as André stood up and slowly turned towards Tony.

42:04This time, he couldn't turn his head away.

42:08He fixed his eyes on her face, mesmerized.

42:11Not even in the blue room, in their most intimate embraces, never had he seen her so beautiful,

42:18so radiant.

42:20That voluptuous mouth, her smile of love triumphant.

42:26Never before had she so completely taken possession of him as she did now, with a single look.

42:33You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

42:43You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:03You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:04You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:05You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:06You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:07You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:08You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:09You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:10You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:11You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:12You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:13You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:14You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:15You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

43:16You see, Tony, we'll never be parted now.

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