...she is walking down the side of the road past all the commotion seemingly unnoticed and then the credits start coming up and the shot freezes...I suppose that is Chabrol's way of saying that it doesn't really matter whether she was immediately arrested, or tried to run, or got away, or what...
shareMy wife would say "Typical French movie!" and she wouldn't be that far off. At least Chabrol and a number of his contemporaries would rather end the story right there than go through the "drudgery" of tying up the loose ends and making the whole thing a proper detective movie - which is quite correct, because it never was that in the first place.
There are endless examples of this, not just in French cinema. The one I spontaneously remember now is "Thelma and Louise."
Another great example is the play "The Robbers" by Friedrich von Schiller, published in 1781. The play ends with the protagonist, the Great Robber Karl von Moor, having realized the inescapable facts, proclaiming: "I remember, on my way hither, talking to a poor creature, a day-laborer, with eleven living children. A reward has been offered of a thousand louis-d'ors to any one who shall deliver up the great robber alive. That man shall be served." and exiting.
(I am using the English translation from the Project Gutenberg here. I expect an excerpt of this size to be covered by Fair Use.)
So, as you see, the concept isn't quite new. In fact, in Schiller's play, prior to the line I quoted Moor gives a rundown of what he expects the judicial system to have in store for him.
(For the text I am quoting and the copyright notice go to http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6782/6782-h/6782-h.htm#link2H_4_0023)