Her body was found near Montmartre: she was around 20 years old, with a pretty, cheap-looking face; a blue worn-out dress; vulgar, scuffed shoes. There were signs of beatings, a hole in the skull—every sign of intoxication. Maigret is almost certain: she was a grizette, from the ranks of cheap prostitutes, who had annoyed a client somehow—cases like this, the police will solve quickly. But the forensic expert delivers the conclusion like thunder in clear skies: the victim was a virgin. There are no documents on her, and no one identified her by photo.
A visitor? She was attacked for robbery?.. If Maigret knew how far from the truth all his versions are, he would understand what incredible abilities this case for Louise Laubuan would demand of him—and how long he would remember her blue dress and the fatal handbag that disappeared from the crime scene…