The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1909-05-13
other. he tried the key in the lock.

The door opened. He saw nothing but
papers. They must be very valuable to
have been put away in a safe the key
to which he knew to be Of Sc crcii i'm
portance. Perhaps a thought Of black.
mail occurred to him rs a useful posi-
bility in helping him in his designs on
Mile. Stangerson. He quickly made
a parcel Of the papers and took 1t to
the l%avatory in the vestibule. Between
the time Of his first examination OF
the pavilion and the night Of the muir
der Of the keeper L.arsan had had time
to find out what those papers con
tanned. He could do nothing with
them, and they were rather compro-
missing. That night he took them back
to the chateau. Perhaps he hoped
that by returning the papers he might
obtain some gratitude from Mile. Stan
gerson. But whatever may have been
his reasons. he took the papers, back
and so rid himself Of an incumbrance.'
Rouletabille coughed. 1t was evi-
dent to me that he was embarrassed
He had arrived at a point where he
had TO keep back his knowledge of
Larsan's true motive. The explana-
ton he had given had evidently been
unsatisfactory. Rouletabille was quick
enough to note the bad impression he
had made, for, turning to the preSi
dent, he said, and now we come to
the explanation Of the mystery Of the
yellow room"
A movement of chairs in the court,
with a rustling of dresses and an en-
ergetic whispering Of Hush showed
the curiosity that had been aroused.
ut seems to me- said the president.
that the mystery of the yellow room.
NJ. Rouletabilie. Is wholly explained by
your hypothesis. Frederic LarSan Is
the explanation. We have merely to
substitute him for NJ. Robert Darzac.
Evidently the door Of the yellow room
was open at the time NJ. Stangerson
was alone and that he allowed the
man who vas coming out Of his daugh-
ter's chamber to pass without arrest
ing him-perhaps at her entreaty TO
avoid all scandal"
NJ, VI. iltSIdSlt' piOtSStNu NV
Young man. You forget that. stunned
by the attack made on her. Mile. Stan
gerson was not in a condition 10 have
made such IN appeal Nor could she
have locked and bolted herself in hor
room You must also remember that
NJ. S%tanccrS0n has sworn that the door
was not OPEN
THAT. however. Is the only way II
which 1t can be explained Tho vel
low room was rs closely shut aS ~
iron safe. To use your own express
sion. It was impossible for the mur-
derer to make his escape either natu-
rally or supernaturally. When the room
was broken into he was not there. He
must. therefore. have escaped"
"That does not follow"
What do you mean"
There was no need for him to es-
cape-if he was not there
mot there"
"Evidently not. He could not have
been there if he were not found there"
But what about the evidences Of his
presence" asked the president.
"That. Nj. President. Is where we
have taken hold Of the wrong end
From the time Mile. StandersOn shut
herself in her room to the time her
door was burst open it was impossible
for the murderer to escape. He was
not found because he was not there
during that time"
But the ~evidences?"
They have led us astray. In rea-
sOning on this mystery we must not
take them to mean what they apuar-
emily mean. Why do we conclude the
murderer was there? Because he left
his tracks in The room. Good, But
may he not have been there before
the room was locked: Nay; he must
have been there before. Let us look
into the matter of these traces and
see if they do not point to my con
clusion,
after the publication Of the article
in the Matin ana my conversation with
the examining magistrate on the jour
ney from Paris to Epinay-Sur-Orgc |
was certain that the yellow bad
been hcrmcticalIy sealed, so to speak.
and that consequently the murderer
had escaped before Mile. ~Staug"rSon
had gone into her chamber mt mid
night.
AT the time | was much puzzled
Mile. S~tangerSon could not have been
her own murderer. since the evidences
pointed to some other person. The as
~sassin, then. had come before. If that
were so, how was 1t hat madcmoi-
selle had been attacked after. or. rath-
er. that she appeared to have been at
tackled after? 1t vas necessary for
me to reconstruct the occurrence and
make Of it two phases. each separated
from the other in time by the space
OF several hours-One phase in which
Mile Stangerson had really been at
tackled. the other phase in which those
who heard her cries thought she was
being attacked. | had not then exam
ined the yellow room. What were the
marks OF Mile. Stangerson? There
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