Wallowa County chieftain. [volume] (Enterprise, Or.) 1909-1911, 1909-04-29


THAT the mystery Of the yellow rom.
NJ. Roule1abille. is wholly explained by
your hypothesis Frederic Larsan Is
The exclamation. We have merely %
substitute him for NJ Robert DarZa".
Evidently the door Of the yellow room
was onen at the time NJ SIangerson
was alone and that he allowed the
man who was coming out Of his dau-h-
ter's chamber to pass without arrest
Ing him-perhaps nj her enrreaty to
avoid all scandal"
NO. NJ. President" protested the
young man. You forget that. stunned
bv the attack made on her Mile Stan
gerson was not in a condition TO have
made such an appeal Nor could she
have locked and bOlIed herself in her
room. You must also remember that
NJ. StangersOn has sworn that the door
was not open"
THAT. however. Is the only way In
which it can be explained. The yel-
low room was as closely shut as an
iron safe To use your own express
sion. II was impossible for the muir
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 meanT
There was no need for him to es-
cape-if he was not there"
mot there"
Evidently not He could not have
been there II 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.
Prom the time Nile. Standerson shut
herself In her room to the time her
door was burst open il was impossible
for the murderer to escape. He was
not found because he was not there
during that time
But the evidences1"
They have led us astray In rea-
soning on this mystery we must not
take them to mean what they appar-
emily mean. Why do we conclude the
murderer was there Because he left
his tracks In the room! Good. Bur
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 II they do not point to my con
eiusion-
After the publication Of the article
in the Matin and my converse zion with
the examining magistrate on tine jour
ney from Paris to Epinay O-ge |
was certain that the yellow room had
been Theoretically sealed. so TO speak,
and that consequently the murderer
had escaped before Mile Slangerson
had gone into her chamber at mid
night.
AT the time | wss much puzzled
Mile. Stangersou could not have been
her own murderer, since the evidences
pointed to some other person. The as
sassin. then. had come before. II that
were so, how was it that mademoi.
selie had been attacked after. or. rath-
er. that she appeared 10 have been at
tackled after? Ii was necessary for
me to reconstruct the occurrence and
make Of IL two phases, each separated
from the other In time by the space
OF several hours-One phase in which
Nile. StangePson bad really been at
tackled. the other phase In which those
who heard her cries thought she was
being attacked. had not then exam
tned the yellow room. What were the
marks on Mile. Stangersou: There
were marks Of strangulatiOn and the
wound from hard blow on the TEN
pie. The marks Of strangulation did
not interest me much They might
have been made before. and Mile
Stangerson could have concealed them
by a coilaret or any similar article
OF apparel. had to suppose this the
moment l was compelled TO recon
struct the occurrence by two phases.
Nile. StangersOn had no doubt. her
own reasons for so doing. since she
had told her father nothing Of il and
had made II understood TO the examiu-
Ing magistrate that the attack had
PAo-c IA Aue uiEuI curing the
second phase She was forced 10 say
that: otherwise her father would have
questioned her as TO her reason for
having said nothing about It.
But I could not explain the blow on
the temple. understood II even less
when ! learned that the mutton bone
had been found In her room. She could
not hide the fact that she had been
struck on the head. and yet that
wound appeared evidently to have
been inflicted during the FIRST phase.
since 1t required the presence Of the
murderer I thought Mile. stangerson
had hidden the wound by arranging
her hair in bands on her forehead
AS TO the mark Of the hand on tho
wall. that had evidently been made
during the first phase-when the muir
derer was really there All the traces
OF his presence had naturally been left
during the first phase-the mutton
bone. the black footprints. the BASQUE
cap. the handkerchief. the blood on the
wall. on the door and on the floor. II
those traces were still all there they