Maigret at the coroner's

Chief Superintendent Margret finds himself, to his own surprise, attending an inquest in Tucson. Arizona, deposited there by an American colleague front the FBI. It in his first taste of the American judicial system, and he finds it strange indeed.

Bessie Mitchell had been found dead on the railroad tracks between Tucson and Nogales. That night she had been in a car with a group of lusty young men. four of whom had been manifestly clouds. Why had they abandoned Bessie in the desert? Obviously the men were covering up for each other. Margret was boiling to get the truth out of them, French style. But this was the United States.

While the coroner does his questioning. Margret runs an internal commentary on two different cultures and systems, adding humor and an intriguing perspective to a complex murder mystery.