Inspector Maigret arrives in the prim, toylike town of Delfzijl to investigate the murder of Conrad Popinga, a teacher. Almost immediately the French sleuth is presented the floor plans of the victim's house and shown two clues: a sailor's cap in the bathtub and a Manila cigar butt on the dining-room carpet. The suspects: a strapping, giggling farmer's daughter with an interest in men; an angry, flat-chested woman lawyer; a larcenous ship owner; a young and unaccountably frightened cadet; and a pompous criminologist who was found holding a revolver at the scene of the crime. Maigret, meanwhile, is preoccupied with the path nearby, which at night is lit every fifteen seconds by a lighthouse beam. A spot where lovers might be discovered ... Simenon tells the absorbing story of people of human appetites and vitality who are put in the straitjacket of small town respectability - until they can no longer stand it. Vintage Simenon.