The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1910-07-01

orEsl NelfElEEA NeLL ~ IL $780, =
bots were on his feet He bad rather
q wasplsh looking face. the expression
OF which hghtened. however. As soon
Is be saw n DaHac-
Friends said our gutde- Nobody
n the pavilion. Daddy Jacquesr
Il ought not 70 allow anybody to en-
ter, N. Robert. but Of course the order
does not apply to you These gentle
men OF justice have seen everything
there Is to be seen and made enough
drawings and drawn Up enough re-
ports
Excuse me, n. Jacques. one aues-
ZION before anything else" said Rouie-
tabille.
what Is IT. yonns mani II I can
answer IT.
! SDid your mistress wear her hair In
bands that evening? You know what
I mean-oyer her foreheadr
"No. young man. Ny mistress never
wore her hair In the way you suggest
neither on that day nor on any other.
She had her hair drawn up, as usual.
/ 30 that her beautiful forehead could be
seen, pure as that of an unborn child!@
Rouletabille grunted and set to work
examining the door, finding that 1t fas-
tened itself automatically. He salts
fed himself that 1t could never remain
open and needed a key to open 1t.
Then we entered the vestibule, a small.
well lit room paved with square red
tiles
"Ah. this is the window by which
the murderer escapedP said Routs-
tabille.
$50 they keep on saying, monsieur;
30 they keep on saying. But If he had
gone off that way we should have been
sure to have seen him. We are not
blind. neither NJ. Stangerson nor nor
the concierges who are in prison. Why
have they not put me in prison, too. on
account Of my revolver"
Rouletabille had already opened the
window and was examining the shut
tiers. - 49,
"were these closed at the time Of the
erime"
sand fastened with the iron catch
inside" said Daddy jacques. "and l
am quite sure that the murderer did
not get out that way"
"Are there any blood stainsr
eYes-on the stones outside-but
blood Of whatf"
"Ah," said Rouletabille, there are
footmarks visible on the path! The
ground was very moist. will look
into that presently"
"Nonsensew said Daddy Jacques.
1.-THE murderer did not go that way"
(Which way did he go, thenT
"How do / known
SRouletabille looked at everything,
smelled everything. He went down on
his knees and rapidly examined every
one of the paving tiles. Daddy Jacques
went on:
sAh, you can't ind anything, mon
sieur. Nothing has been found. And
now 1t is all dirty. Too many persons
have tramped over 1t. They wouldn't
let me wash 1t, but on the day Of the
crime had washed the floor thor
oughly. and If the murderer had cross
ed it with his hobnailed boots l should
not have failed to see where he had
been He has left marks enough In
mademoiselle's chamber"
Rouletabille rose.
"When was the last time you washed
! these tiles?'' he asked, and he fixed on
Daddy Jacques most searching look.
"Why-as / told you-on the day OF
the crime, toward half past 5-while
mademoiselle and her father were tax
ing a little walk before dinner here IN
this room. They dined in the labora-
tory. The next day the examining
ma gistrate came and saw all the marks
there were on the floor as plainly as II
thew had been made with ink on white
paper. Well, neither In the laboratory
nor IN the vestibule, which were both
as clean as a new pin, were there any
traces Of mans footmarks. Since
they have been found near this WIN
dow outside, he must have made his
way through the ceiling Of the yellow
room into the attic. then cut his way
through the roof and dropped to the
i ground OUTSIDE Tue NcotADuiS "A~~O =.
But thefe's no hole, neither In the cell
| ing Of the yellow room nor IN the roof
OF my attic; that's absolutely certain
So. you see, we know nothing-notn-
ing. And nothing win ever be known!
e a mystery Of the devils own max
ing
Rouietabine went down upon ms
knees again almost in front OF q Sinai
layatory at the back Of the vestiDule.
/ In that position he remained for about
q minute.
''wenr / asked him when he got
up.
"oh. nothing very important. A drop
of blood" he replied, turning toward
Daddy Jacques as he spoke. WINE
you were washing the laboratory ana
this vestibule was the vestibule win
dow open?" he asked.
"No, monsieur, II was closed But
after I had done washing the hoor
1T some charcoal for monsieur In the
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