Cecile visits Maigret at the Quai des Orfevres claiming that furniture in her aunt's apartment has been moved about the sitting room, and she makes the claim during visit after visit for several months. Maigret shrugs it off. He's busy with other cases, and her story is such an odd one. And then there are two murders: the aunt and Cecile. As with many of Simenon's Maigret mysteries the solution is found not just in tracing and connecting recent events but also in digging into the past, often the distant past of those involved. As with all Maigret stories getting to and finding out "Who did it?" matters, yes, but only a bit. The best parts are the lingering moments in between.
After an intriguing set-up the novel concludes with a rushed ending. I felt there should have been another page or two, a bit more detail without me having to fill in some confusing blanks. The scriptwriters must have thought something similar because though they do stick closely to the novel's narrative flow they add a bit here and there, particularly near the end, so that the film's conclusion, to me at least, is more satisfying than in the book. But neither provides strong enough motives-it's all conjecture on Maigret's part and is really forced-and the steps leading to the murder of Cecile is a bit of a stretch.
The acting is fine, and the pacing is fine. I especially enjoyed Claude Pieplu in the role of Charles Dandurand, a rather dramatic disbarred lawyer who lives in the same apartment building as the victims. He gets a lot of screen time, but he's worth the time given. Still, while this is a good entry in the Maigret series it's not a great entry, but in this instance I blame the source material as much as I do the filmmakers.