INSPECTOR PECKIT

Another of Mr. Freeman's pigeons flying high and low, a bereted and eager Peckit ("at your beck and call") flits from the rooftops of Paris, through the Luxembourg Gardens, to an awning at a sidewalk cafe — all in search of a little girl's lost knit bag. Though temporarily misled by a boy's ball of kite string, a startled diner's plate of spaghetti, and the pouffy tip of a poodle's fancy tail, the resolutely debonair inspector finally tracks down the goods — in the Eiffel Tower where his mate is using the bag for a nest. Though it's not a case to inspire Maigret, this feathered Clouzot with his blase facade and bungling good intentions is nicely at home in the soft blue sketches of familiar Paris scenes.