Waiting for a crime to happen
Maigret receives a visitor in his office, a Mr. Xavier Marton who sells electric trains for a living. Marton tells Maigret that he thinks his wife may be trying to poison him. He suspects her of going mad, and he knows that she keeps poison in the house. Maigret listens but doesn’t know quite what to make of his visitor. The next day, Marton’s wife shows up, saying that she knows her husband has visited Maigret, and she would like to explain her side of the story. She says it is her husband who has psychological problems, for which he is being treated by a psychiatrist. The poison is for rats, and it is only her husband’s paranoia that makes him think she is trying to kill him. She in turn is worried about her own safety because her husband carries a revolver, and in his unstable state of mind he may use it on her.
Since no crime has been committed and there’s no solid evidence of any imminent threat of violence, Maigret, in his professional capacity as a police inspector, really has no business getting involved in this family’s personal problems. In fact, a judge advises him against taking any action. Maigret decides to follow his conscience, however, and investigate the husband and wife because he thinks it is the right thing to do. That’s where his “scruples” come in, as mentioned in the title. He feels that if there is a chance that someone may commit murder, he should do his best to prevent it.
The idea of the police investigating potential crimes of passion, including putting the “suspects” under surveillance, brings up some troublesome issues of privacy. More importantly, in this case, it makes for an unsatisfying mystery novel. In the Maigret novels, Simenon has always seemed more interested in the psychology of his characters than in crime, detection, and punishment. That strategy usually works for Simenon, as long as Maigret does his job as detective. Here Maigret himself catches the psychology bug, picks up a textbook on the subject, and sets about trying to diagnose the neuroses and psychoses of this couple. He makes a better detective than a psychologist, however. I’m not even sure that Simenon, much less Maigret, understands some of the psychological terminology that’s being bandied about in the course of this story.
This novel is eight chapters long, a typical length for the Maigret books. Only the last two chapters could be considered to comprise a crime story or mystery. The final chapter reveals some cleverly surprising aspects to the crime committed, but that’s the only portion of this novel that really impresses the reader. Maigret spends most of the novel acting as an unauthorized marriage counselor or family therapist. Sure, in Simenon’s hands it’s still interesting. He still keeps you wanting to continue on to the next chapter to find out what’s going to happen, but never at any time do you feel like you’re reading one of Maigret’s better novels. This episode of Maigret’s career is mediocre at best.
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