Mob mentality

There is a terrible storm kicking up in a little seaside town. The majority of it’s inhabitants are safely tucked in their homes, but three men are still at the local hotel, having their customary game of cards and a nightcap. Then one of the gentlemen decides to make his way home. The wind is blowing fiercely, adding difficulty to his already inebriated step and he loses ten matches trying to get his cigar lit. Ducking into the doorway of an abandoned house, he tries to get his cigar lit in the shelter of the entryway and is shot at point blank range. This sets off a series of attacks on “respectable” townsmen and a hysteria begins to sweep through the sleepy little town Who will be next? The local and Parisian papers pick up on this drama and feed into that fear, floating the theory that there is a madman loose. What is even more mysterious, a big yellow dog shows up near the scenes of the crimes. Nobody has ever seen this dog before, but what can it mean? And what does the quiet but watchful waitress at the hotel have to do with this?

Maigret and a young colleague named Leroy are doing some work nearby and are soon on the case. We all know that pretty much all Maigret needs is his pipe, a nice beer, a meal and complete autonomy in his investigation. The meddling mayor, newspapermen and other townspeople seriously damage his calm but don’t fret, he untangles all the seemingly disparate threads and gets to the heart of the matter in no time.