M is due to retire in two days, but picks up the phone to hear of a crime near the Gare du Nord, at the hotel Étoile du Nord. He decides to go over, and finds a commericial traveler, Georges Bompard, stabbed to death in his room. A stocking is crumpled by his bed. M investigates the guests, and finds a young girl, Céline Germain, with no stockings. She tells a series of lies, and he uses a wrench to undo her sink and finds the other stocking. He takes her to the Quai des Orfèvres, leaving her in his office while he checks something. When he returns his office is in a shambles. She is totally uncooperative, claiming to be 19, but probably 17. She says she's a prostitute and had picked up Bompard. M calls Orléans, where she'd given her address, but there's no one of that name there. M brings her up to Criminal Records, where she submits to being stripped and photographed, but she distorts her face in all the photos. The lab man says her clothing is from a good shop in Bordeaux, and the doctor that until a month ago she'd been a virgin. The interrogation continues.
Finally M gets an idea, when Lucas shows up from the hotel, that there must be someone connected to her there. He discovers that the night clerk, Joseph Dufieu, is from Moissac, and so is the chambermaid, Lucienne Jouffroy. The story comes out. She fallen in love with Bompard, who had been soliciting in her area for a music publishers. She'd come to Paris to search for him. By chance, they'd arranged to meet at the Étoile du Nord, where Joseph, from her town, had recognized her. But he'd also recognized Bompard, who'd been the lover of Lucienne's daughter, who'd died of an abortion. He told Lucienne, and she'd come and stabbed him, giving herself up later. Céline Germain was actually Geneviève Blanchon, the daughter of the well-known Judge Blanchon. M lets her "escape".
Description:
M is due to retire in two days, but picks up the phone to hear of a crime near the Gare du Nord, at the hotel Étoile du Nord. He decides to go over, and finds a commericial traveler, Georges Bompard, stabbed to death in his room. A stocking is crumpled by his bed. M investigates the guests, and finds a young girl, Céline Germain, with no stockings. She tells a series of lies, and he uses a wrench to undo her sink and finds the other stocking. He takes her to the Quai des Orfèvres, leaving her in his office while he checks something. When he returns his office is in a shambles. She is totally uncooperative, claiming to be 19, but probably 17. She says she's a prostitute and had picked up Bompard. M calls Orléans, where she'd given her address, but there's no one of that name there. M brings her up to Criminal Records, where she submits to being stripped and photographed, but she distorts her face in all the photos. The lab man says her clothing is from a good shop in Bordeaux, and the doctor that until a month ago she'd been a virgin. The interrogation continues. Finally M gets an idea, when Lucas shows up from the hotel, that there must be someone connected to her there. He discovers that the night clerk, Joseph Dufieu, is from Moissac, and so is the chambermaid, Lucienne Jouffroy. The story comes out. She fallen in love with Bompard, who had been soliciting in her area for a music publishers. She'd come to Paris to search for him. By chance, they'd arranged to meet at the Étoile du Nord, where Joseph, from her town, had recognized her. But he'd also recognized Bompard, who'd been the lover of Lucienne's daughter, who'd died of an abortion. He told Lucienne, and she'd come and stabbed him, giving herself up later. Céline Germain was actually Geneviève Blanchon, the daughter of the well-known Judge Blanchon. M lets her "escape".