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Guy de Maupassant: La Petite Roque (Samedi noir / France Culture). Portrait of Guy de Maupassant, Le Petit Parisien, 1892, Private collection • Credits: Leemage - Getty. “Samedi noir” program. Broadcast on France Culture on March 16, 2019. On his way to his morning rounds, the postman of a country village like any other discovers under a tree the naked body of a raped and strangled little girl who happens to be that of Louise, little Roque. He runs to warn Renardet, mayor of the town and owner of the place, who arrives at the scene of the crime to see the facts with the doctor, the police, the judge, the little girl's mother and soon the whole village. "What scoundrel could have done such a thing in this country?" - Who knows? Everyone is capable of it. Everyone in particular and no one in general." In Maupassant, madness strikes where it wants, when it wants. The search lasted all summer, but the criminal was not discovered and the prosecution gave up on pursuing the culprit. Then autumn came, and Renardet, every evening, at nightfall, came back to walk under the trees. One day, he decides to have her shot down… Proposed by Marie-Louise Bischofberger Director: Michel Sidoroff Literary advisor: Caroline Ouazana With: Arnaud Bédouet Recording, editing and mixing: Marie Lepeintre, Emanuel Armaing Assistant director: Sophie Pierre “La Petite Roque” was first published in Gil Blas from December 18 to 23, 1885, then included in the collection “La Petite Roque”, published on May 10, 1886. Source: France Culture #GuyDeMaupassant #LeSémaphore #LaPetiteRoque #Short story #GilBlas #Writer #Literature #French #Crime #Reading #ArnaudBédouet #Director #MichelSidoroff #Show #SamediNoir #FranceCulture