Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-12-23
The Mystery of The Yellow Room 
By GASTON LEROUX ese

'-Tnrre IS one thing. monsieur. which I may inquire of you without commit ting an indiscrction. You have, of course. seen the account given in the Matin? It is absurd, Is 1t not?
 Not in the slightest. monsieur"
 What, The yellow room has but one barred window. the bars of which have not been moved. and only one door, which had to be broken open. and the assassin was not foundr'
 That's SO. monsieur: that's so. That's how the matter stands"
 ROuletabille said no more. but piung- cd into thought A quarter of an hour thus passed.
 Coming back to himself again, he said. addressing the magistrate:
 How did Mile. Stangerson wear her hair on that evening""
 "I don't know" replied M. de Mar quet
 'Thats n very important point" said Rouletabllle. Her hair was done up in bands. wasG't it? l feel sure that oA tAdl tFCiilIEs ihN tNSAiiitts O% thS crime. she had her hair arranged in bands"
 ~Then you are mistaken. M. Roulc- tabille." replied the magistrate. Mile. Stangcrson that evening had her hair drawn up in knot on the top of her hea1, her usas! way of arranging 1t. her forehead completely uncovered. can assure you, for we have carefully examined she wound. There was no blood on the hair, and the arrangement of 1t has not been disturbed since the crime was comniCted."
 You are sure? You are sure that on the night of the crime she had not her hair in bandsy'
 Quite sure" the magistrate contin- ued, smiling. because l remember the doctor saying to me while he was ex- amining the wound: 1t is a great pity Mile Stangerson was in the habit of drawing her hair back from her fore head. If she had worn it i'll bands the blow she received on the temple would have been weakened It seems strange to me that you should attach so much importance to this point"
 "Oh, if she had not her hair in bands give 1t up." said Rouletabille, with a despairing gesture.
 And was the wound on her temple bad onc?" he asked presently.
 ''Terrib!e"
 "With what weapon was it nader
 ''That is a secret of the investiga tion."
 Have you found the weapon-what- ever it wasp
 The magistrate did not answer.
 And the wound in the throatr'
 Here the examining magistrate read fly confirmed the decision of the doc tor that, if the murderer had pressed her throat a few seconds longer, Mile. Stangerson would have died of stran- gulation,
 ''The affair as reported in the Matin," said Rouletabille eagerly, "seems to me more and more inexplicable. Can you tell me, monsieur, how many openings
  doors and windows"
 There are five" replied Monsieur de Marquet, after having coughed once or twice, but no longer resisting the the incredible mystery of the affair he was Investigating. 'There are five, of which the door of the vestibule is the only entrance to the pavilion-a door always automatically closed, which cannot be opened, either from the out CT or inside. except with the two spe. cial keys which are never out of the possession of either Daddy Jacques or NJ. Stangerson. Mile. Stangerson had no need for me, since Daddy Jacques lodged in the pavilion and be- cause, during the daytime, she never left her father. When they, all four. rushed into the yellow room, after breaking open the door of the labora- tory, the door in the vestibule re- mained closed as usual and of the two keys for opening 1t Daddy Jacques had one in his pocket and NJ. Stangerson the other. As to the windows of the pavilion, there are four. the one win dow of the yellow room and those of the laboratory looking out on to the country, the window in the vestibule looking into the park"
 ''It is by that window that he escap- ed from the pavilionr' cried Rouleta- bile.
 How do you know that"
 How? Oh, the thing is simple enough! As soon as he found he could not escape by the door of the pavilion his only way out was by the window in the vestibule. unless he could pass through grated window. The win dow of the yellow room is secured by iron bars, because 1t looks out upon the open country; the two windows of the laboratory have to be protected in like manner for the same reason. AS the murderer got away conceive that he found a window that was not bar red-that of the vestibule, which opens on to the park-that is to say, into the Interior of the estate. There's not much magic in all that"