Wallowa County chieftain. [volume] (Enterprise, Or.) 1909-1911, 1909-01-21
The Mystery Of
The Yellow Room
By GASTON LEROUx I. COPYRIGHT sY 1898 SsrsrAso,
COPYRIGHT. 1908,
n

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"
at Is by that window that he escap-
ed from the pavilion" 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 it 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 l conceive that
he found 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"
Yes" said NJ. de Marquet, "but what
you have not guessed is that this single
window in the vestibule, though it has
no iron bars, has solid iron blinds.
Now, these iron blinds have remained
fastened by their iron latch, and yet
N hovn that hn a
his escape from the pavilion by that
window! Traces of blood on the inside
wall and on the blinds as we'll as on
the floor. and footmarks, of which l
have taken the measurements, attest
the fact that the murderer made his
escape that way. But, then, how did
he do it, seeing that the blinds remain
ed fastened On the inside? He passed
through them like a shadow. But
what is more bewildering than all, is
that 1t is impossible to form any idea
as to how the murderer got out of the
yellow room or how he got across the
laboratory to reach the vestibulew
'Could that window have been
closed and refastened after the fight
Of the assassin" asked Rouletabille
'That is what occurred to me for
moment, but 1t would imply an accom-
plice or accomplices, and don't see"-
After short silence he added:
"Ah, II Mile. Stangerson were only
well enough today to allow Of her
being questioned"
Rouletabille, following up his
thought, asked:
"And the attic2 There must be some
opening to that?"
"Yes; there is window or, rather,
skylight in 1t. which, as 1t looks out
toward the country, NJ. Stangerson
has had barred, like the rest of the
windows. These bars, as in the other
windows, have remained intact, and
the blinds, which naturally open in
ward, have not been unfastened. For
the rest, we have not discovered any
thing to lead US to suspect that the
murderer had passed through the at
TIC"
1T seems clear to you, then, mon
sieur, that the murderer escaped-no-
body knows how-by the window in
the vestibuler
Everything goes to prove It,"
81 think so, too," confessed Rouleta.
billie gTavely.
After brief silence he continued:
''If you have not found any traces
Of the murderer in the attic, such as
the dirty footmarks similar to those
on the floor Of the yellow room, you
must come to the conclusion that II
was not he who stole Daddy Jacques
revolver"
"There are no footmarks n the attic
other than those of Daddy Jacques
himself" said the magistrate with a
significant turn of his head. Then,
after an apparent decision, he added,
Daddy Jacques was with NJ. Stanger-
son In the laboratory, and 1t was lucky
for him he was"
'Then what part did his revolver
play in the tragedy 1t seems very
clear that this weapon did less harm
to Mile. Stangerson than 1t did to the
murderer"
The magistrate made no reply to
this question, which doubtless embar-
rassed him. IN. Stangerson," he said,
tells us that the two bullets have
been found in the yellow room, one
embedded In the wall stained with the
impression of a red hand-a mans
large hand-and the other I'm the cell
Ing"
"Oh, oh, in the ceilingw muttered
Rouletabille. an the ceiling! That's
very curious! In the ceilingw
He puffed awhile In silence at his
pipe, enyeloping himself In the smoke.
When we reached Epinay-sur-Orge l
had to tap him on the shoulder to
arouse him from his dream and come
out on to the platform of the station.
There the magistrate and his regis
trar bowed to US and, by rapidly get
ting into a cab that was awaiting
them, made US understand that they
had seen enough of us.
"How long will 1t take to walk to
the Chateau du GlandierY Rouleta-
billie asked one Of the railway porters.
"An hour and a half or an hour
and three-quarters- easy walking" the