Chabot is a gynecologist, a pillar of society who is curiously isolated within his family. After an affair with a simple country girl, he feels obsessed with the desire to rid himself of crushing responsibilities, without ceasing to be what he craves; the center of attention. The Paris luxury clinic, a parasitical family, are shown with the author's usual skill. Of this book's psychological twist, Simenon says "could be, consciously or not, the basis of a great number of homicides or crimes of passion." ( )