Maigret's Failure

About “Maigret's Failure”

Ferdinand Fumal was a butcher who built a fortune through several meat chains. His rise was due to his ruthless ambition, intrigues, and sadism, which he used to compensate for his cowardice since school. His connections extended to high places. Now he is dead, and Inspector Maigret must solve the murder of a man who had enemies everywhere. Georges Simenon focuses not on the corrupt higher circles that helped Fumal rise, but on the small people involved. They are all entangled in dependencies and try to protect their own interests against their powerful boss's brutality. Some failed, but one ended it. This person escapes from Maigret at the last moment. Maigret comes close to being involved and finds himself sympathizing with the killer. The motives of the crime lie in greed, which exists in both the powerful and the powerless, and in human weakness.