Maigret has a hard task to complete. He must visit in prison a man he arrested with news that his reprieve has been refused and he will be executed at dawn. But the condemned man tells Maigret a surprising story - of seeing a body dumped in the Canal Saint-Martin six years before and of blackmailing the murderer. This leads Maigret to the 'guinguette a deux sous', a bar by the River Seine, where he is drawn into the company of its regular customers. Is the murderer from Lenoir's story among them? When another murder is committed, Maigret must untangle a disturbing web of secrets.
When a condemned man reveals the whereabouts of an unpunished murderer, Chief Inspector Maigret puts his holiday on hold. His investigation takes him to a bar on the Seine and the old crime is upstaged by a killing and Maigret finds a new drinking companion.
