This thriller comes from a Georges Simenon non-Maigret roman durs, or "hard novels." It's a penetrating psychological study of Hector Loursat, a man who was a brilliant attorney in his younger days, awakened from his eighteen-year hermit-like existence by a murder committed in his own house. And why had Loursat been living like a hermit all those years? For one very simple reason: without any explanation, Hector's wife suddenly vanished, leaving him for another man, abandoned him and their two-year old daughter Nicole, left them both and the city of Moulins for good. Located on the banks of the Allier River in central France, Moulins has the atmosphere of a typical rainy French city with its cold air and wet streets, drab storefronts and even drabber courthouse.