In Liège, the city of Georges Simenon's youth, a foreigner is found dead, and two young boys are accused of his murder, in this installment in the Inspector Maigret series.

Somewhere in Liège, Jean Chabot and René Delfrosse hide out in the cellar of a seedy bar. Their plan to rob the establishment goes awry when, by the light of a match, they see the dead body of a man whom they had seen only hours before. They flee in horror.

When the two boys are accused of the murder, their friendship is put to the test, and seemingly irrelevant social differences threaten their friendship and their freedom.

A mysterious Frenchman arrives in town. What is he up to? And where is Maigret?