In pursuit of the person who has wounded Inspector Janvier and of a small time holdup affair, Maigret takes lodgings with Mile. Clement, and her nine rooms and the boarders therein become the focus of his surveillance. The back street disgorges other households to disturb and an invalid acres the street takes on a new importance, when Maigret, digging deeper, uncovers an old crime that links up to the present. Steady going.