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The Mystery of the Yellow Room Chapter 11 - In Which Frederic Larsan Explains How the Murderer... · The Gaston Leroux Library

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  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven of the Mystery of the Yellow Room. This
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  Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Recording by J. C. Guan. The Mystery
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  Speaker 1: of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux, chapter eleven, in
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  Speaker 1: which Frederic Larson explained how the murderer was able to
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  Speaker 1: get out of the Yellow Room. Among the mass of papers,
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  Speaker 1: legal documents, memoirs and extracts from newspapers which I have
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  Speaker 1: collected relating to the Mystery of the Yellow Room, there
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  Speaker 1: is one very interesting piece. It is a detail of
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  Speaker 1: the famous examination which took place that afternoon in the
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  Speaker 1: laboratory of Professor Stangerson before the Chief of the surte
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  Speaker 1: This narrative is from the pen of Mossuemeleine, the Registrar, who,
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  Speaker 1: like the examining magistrate, had spent some of his leisure
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  Speaker 1: time in the pursuit of literature. The piece was to
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  Speaker 1: have made part of a book, which however has never
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  Speaker 1: been published, and which was to have been entitled My Examinations.
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  Speaker 1: It was given to me by the Registrar himself some
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  Speaker 1: time after the astonishing denouement to this case, and is
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  Speaker 1: unique in judicial chronicles. Here it is it is not
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  Speaker 1: a mere dry transcription of questions and answers, because the
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  Speaker 1: register often intersperses his story with his own personal comments.
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  Speaker 1: The registrious narrative, the examining magistrate, and I, the writer relates,
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  Speaker 1: found ourselves in the yellow room, in the company of
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  Speaker 1: the builder, who had constructed the pavilion after Professor Stangerson's designs.
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  Speaker 1: He had a workman with him. Monsieur de marquer had
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  Speaker 1: had the walls laid entirely bare, that is to say,
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  Speaker 1: he had had them stripped off the paper which had
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  Speaker 1: decorated them. Blows with a pick here and there satisfied
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  Speaker 1: us of the absence of any sort of opening. The
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  Speaker 1: floor and the ceiling were thoroughly sounded. We found nothing.
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  Speaker 1: There was nothing to be found. Monsieur de Marquees appeared
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  Speaker 1: to be delighted and never ceased repeating, what a case,
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  Speaker 1: what a case. We shall never know. You'll see how
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  Speaker 1: the murderer was able to get out of this room.
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  Speaker 1: Then suddenly, with a radiant face, he called to the
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  Speaker 1: officer in charge of the gendarmes, go to the chateau.
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  Speaker 1: He said, and request mister Stangerson and Monsieur Robert Darzac
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  Speaker 1: to come to me in the laboratory. Also Daddy Jacques,
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  Speaker 1: and let your men bring here the two concierges. Five
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  Speaker 1: minutes later, all were assembled in the laboratory. The Chief Dete,
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  Speaker 1: who had arrived at the Glandier, joined us. That moment,
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  Speaker 1: I was seated at Monsieur Stangerson's desk, ready for work,
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  Speaker 1: when Monsieur de Marquis made us the following little speech,
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  Speaker 1: as original as it was unexpected. With your permission, gentlemen,
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  Speaker 1: as the examinations lead to nothing, we will for once
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  Speaker 1: abandon the old system of interrogation. I will not have
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  Speaker 1: you brought before me one by one, but we will
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  Speaker 1: all remain here as we are. Monsieurs Stangerson, Monsieur Bert Darzac,
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  Speaker 1: Daddy Jacques, and the two concierges, the chief of de Sourte,
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  Speaker 1: the registrar, and myself. We shall all be on the
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  Speaker 1: same footing. The concierge may for the moment forget that
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  Speaker 1: they have been arrested. We are going to confer together.
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  Speaker 1: We are on the spot where the crime was committed.
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  Speaker 1: We have nothing else to discuss but the crime so
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  Speaker 1: let us discuss it freely, in eligently or otherwise. So
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  Speaker 1: long as we speak just what is in our minds,
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  Speaker 1: there need be no formality or message, since this won't
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  Speaker 1: help us in any way. Then, passing before me, he said,
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  Speaker 1: in a low voice, what you think of that? Eh?
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  Speaker 1: What a scene could you have thought of that? I'll
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  Speaker 1: make a little peace out of it for the vaudeville,
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  Speaker 1: and he rubbed his hands with glee. I turned my
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  Speaker 1: eyes on Missus Stangerson. The hope he had received from
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  Speaker 1: the doctor's latest report, which stated that Modemoiselle Stangerson might
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  Speaker 1: recover from her wounds, had not been able to efface
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  Speaker 1: from his noble features the mocks of the great sorrow
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  Speaker 1: that was upon him. He had believed his daughter to
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  Speaker 1: be dead, and he was still broken by that belief.
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  Speaker 1: His clear, soft blue eyes expressed infinite sorrow. I had
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  Speaker 1: had occasion many times to see Missus Stangerson at public ceremonies,
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  Speaker 1: and from the first had been struck by his countenance,
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  Speaker 1: which seemed as pure as that of a child, the
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  Speaker 1: dreamy gaze, with the sublime and mystical expression of the
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  Speaker 1: inventor and thinker. On those occasions, his daughter was always
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  Speaker 1: to be seen either following him or by his side,
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  Speaker 1: for they never quitted each other, it was said, and
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  Speaker 1: had shared the same labors for many years. The young lady,
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  Speaker 1: who was then five and thirty, though she looked no
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  Speaker 1: more than thirty, had devoted herself entirely to science. She
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  Speaker 1: stole one admiration from her imperial beauty, which had remained
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  Speaker 1: intact without a wrinkle, with standing time and love. Who
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  Speaker 1: would have dreamed that I should one day be seated
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  Speaker 1: by her pillow with my papers, and that I should
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  Speaker 1: see her on the point of death, painfully recounting to
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  Speaker 1: us the most monstrous and most miss mysterious crime I
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  Speaker 1: have heard of in my career. Who would have thought
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  Speaker 1: that I should be that afternoon listening to the despairing father,
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  Speaker 1: vainly trying to explain how his daughter, Siriciliant, had been
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  Speaker 1: able to escape from him. Why bury ourselves with our
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  Speaker 1: work in obscure retreats, in the depths of words, if
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  Speaker 1: it may not protect us against those dangerous threats to
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  Speaker 1: life which meet us in the busy cities. Now, missus Stangerson,
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  Speaker 1: said Monsieur de Marque, with somewhat of an important air.
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  Speaker 1: Place yourself exactly where you were when Mademoiselle Stangerson left
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  Speaker 1: you to go to her chamber. Missus Stangerson rose, and,
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  Speaker 1: standing at a certain distance from the door of the
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  Speaker 1: Yellow room, said, in an even voice and without the
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  Speaker 1: least trace of emphasis, a voice which I can only
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  Speaker 1: describe as a dead voice. I was here about eleven
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  Speaker 1: o'clock after I had made a brief chemical experiment at
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  Speaker 1: the furnaces of the laboratory. Needing all the space behind me,
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  Speaker 1: I had my desk moved here by Daddy Jacques, who
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  Speaker 1: spent the evening in cleaning some of my apparatus. My
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  Speaker 1: daughter had been working at the same desk with me.
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  Speaker 1: When it was her time to leave, she rose, kissed me,
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  Speaker 1: and bade Dadijacques good night. She had to pass behind
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  Speaker 1: my desk and the door to enter her chamber, and
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  Speaker 1: she could do this only with some difficulty. That is
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  Speaker 1: to say, I was very near the place where the
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  Speaker 1: crime occurred. Later, and the desk, I asked the beying in,
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  Speaker 1: thus mixing myself in the conversation the express orders of
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  Speaker 1: my chief. As soon as you heard the cry of
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  Speaker 1: murder followed by the revolver shots, what became of the desk,
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  Speaker 1: Daddi Jacques answered, we pushed it back against the wall
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  Speaker 1: here close to where it is at the press that moment,
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  Speaker 1: so as to be able to get at the door
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  Speaker 1: at once. I followed up my reasoning, to which, however,
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  Speaker 1: I attached but little importance, regarding it as only a
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  Speaker 1: weak hypothesis. With another question, might not say, man in
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  Speaker 1: the room, the desk, being so near to the door,
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  Speaker 1: by stooping and slipping under the desk, have left it unobserved.
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  Speaker 1: You are forgetting interrupted missus Stangerson, wearily that my daughter
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  Speaker 1: had locked and bolted her door, that the door had
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  Speaker 1: remained fastened, that we vainly tried to force it open
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  Speaker 1: when we heard the noise, and that we were at
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  Speaker 1: the door while the struggle between the murderer and my
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  Speaker 1: poor child was going on. Immediately after we heard her
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  Speaker 1: stifled cries as she was being held by the fingers
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  Speaker 1: that have left their red mark upon her throat. Rapid
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  Speaker 1: as the attack was, we were no less rapid in
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  Speaker 1: our endavors to get into the room where the tragedy
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  Speaker 1: was taking place. I rose from my seat and once
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  Speaker 1: more examined the door with the greatest care. Then I
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  Speaker 1: returned to my place with a despairing gesture. If the
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  Speaker 1: lower panel of the door, I said, could be removed
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  Speaker 1: without the whole door being necessarily opened, the problem would
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  Speaker 1: be solved. But unfortunately that last hypothesis is untenable after
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  Speaker 1: an examination of the door. It's of oak, solid and massive.
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  Speaker 1: You can see that quite plainly, in spite of the
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  Speaker 1: injury done in the attempt to burst it open. Ah,
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  Speaker 1: cried Daddy Jacques. It is an old and solid door
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  Speaker 1: that was brought from the chateau. They don't make such doors. Now.
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  Speaker 1: We had to use this bar of iron to get
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  Speaker 1: it open, all four of us. For the concierge, brave woman,
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  Speaker 1: she is helped us. It pains me to find them
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  Speaker 1: both in prison now. Daddy Jacques had no sooner uttered
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  Speaker 1: these words of pity and protestation than tears and lamentations
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  Speaker 1: broke out from the concierge. I never saw two accused
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  Speaker 1: people crying more bitterly. I was extremely disgusted. Even if
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  Speaker 1: they were innocent, I could not understand how they could
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  Speaker 1: behave like that in the face of misfortune. A dignified
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  Speaker 1: bearing at such times is better than tears. And groans,
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  Speaker 1: which most often are feigned. Now then enough of that sniveling,
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  Speaker 1: cried Monsieur de Marques, and in your interest, tell us
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  Speaker 1: what you were doing under the windows of the pavilion
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  Speaker 1: at the time your mistress was being attacked, For you
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  Speaker 1: were close to the pavilion when Daddy Jacques met you.
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  Speaker 1: We were coming to help, They whined. If we could
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  Speaker 1: only lay hands on the murderer, he'd never taste bread again.
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  Speaker 1: The women gurgled between her sobs as before, we were
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  Speaker 1: unable to get two connecting thoughts out of them. They
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  Speaker 1: persisted in their denials and swore by Heaven and all
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  Speaker 1: the Saints that they were in bed when they heard
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  Speaker 1: the sound of the revolver shot. It was not one,
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  Speaker 1: but two shots that were fired. You see, you are lying.
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  Speaker 1: If you had heard one, you would have heard the other. Monsieu, monsieur.
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  Speaker 1: It was the second shot we heard. We were asleep
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  Speaker 1: when the first shot was fired. Two shots were fired,
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  Speaker 1: said Daddijacques. I am certain that all the cartridges were
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  Speaker 1: in my revolver. We found afterward the two had been exploded,
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  Speaker 1: and we had two shots behind the door. Was not
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  Speaker 1: that so, missus Stangerson? Yes, replied the professor. There were
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  Speaker 1: two shots, one doll and the other sharp and ringing.
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  Speaker 1: Why do you persist in lying, cried Monsieur de Marquess,
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  Speaker 1: turning to the do you think the police are the
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  Speaker 1: fools you are? Everything points to the fact that you
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  Speaker 1: were out of doors and near the pavilion at the
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  Speaker 1: time of the tragedy. What were you doing there, so
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  Speaker 1: far as I am concerned, he said, turning to Missus Stangerson,
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  Speaker 1: I can only explain the escape of the murderer on
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  Speaker 1: the assumption of help from these two accomplices. As soon
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  Speaker 1: as the door was forced open, and while you, Missus Stangerson,
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  Speaker 1: were occupied, which your unfortunate child, the concierge and his
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  Speaker 1: wife facilitated the flight of the murderer, who, screening himself
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  Speaker 1: behind them, reached the window in the vestibule and sprang
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  Speaker 1: out of it into the park. The concierge closed the
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  Speaker 1: window after him and fastened the blinds, which certainly could
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  Speaker 1: not have closed and fastened of themselves. That is the
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  Speaker 1: conclusion I have arrived at. If any one here has
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  Speaker 1: any other idea, let him state it. Missus Stangerson intervened.
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  Speaker 1: What you say was impossible I do not believe either
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  Speaker 1: in the guilt or in the connivance of my concierge,
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  Speaker 1: though I cannot understand what they were doing in the
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  Speaker 1: park at that late hour of the night. I say
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  Speaker 1: it was impossible because Madame Bernier held the lamp and
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  Speaker 1: did not move from the threshold of the room. Because I,
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  Speaker 1: as soon as the door was forced open, threw myself
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  Speaker 1: on my knees beside my daughter, and no one could
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  Speaker 1: have left or entered the room by the door without
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  Speaker 1: passing over her body and forcing his way by me.
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  Speaker 1: That de Jacques and the concierge had but to cast
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  Speaker 1: a glance round the chamber and under the bed, as
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  Speaker 1: I had done on entering, to say that there was
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  Speaker 1: nobody in it but my daughter lying on the floor.
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  Speaker 1: What do you think, Monsieur Darzac, asked the magistrate. Monsieur
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  Speaker 1: Darzac replied that he had no appear to express. Monsieur Dux,
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  Speaker 1: the chief of the Sourte, who so far had been
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  Speaker 1: listening and examining the room at length, deigned to open
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  Speaker 1: his lips. While search is being made for the criminal,
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  Speaker 1: we had better try to find out the motive of
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  Speaker 1: the crime that will advance us a little, he said,
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  Speaker 1: turning towards Monsieur Stangerson. He continued, in the even intelligent
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  Speaker 1: tone indicative of his strong character. I understand that Mademoiselle
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  Speaker 1: was shortly to have been married. The professor looked sadly
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  Speaker 1: at Monsieur Bert Darzac, to my friend here, whom I
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  Speaker 1: should have been happy to call my son. To Monsieur
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  Speaker 1: Robert Darzac, Mademoiselle Stangerson is much better and is rapidly
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  Speaker 1: recovering from her wounds. The marriage is simply delayed, is
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  Speaker 1: it not, Monsieur insisted the chief of de Sourte, I hope,
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  Speaker 1: so what is there any doubt about that? Missus Stangerson
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  Speaker 1: did not answer. Monsieur Robert Arzac seemed agitated. I saw
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  Speaker 1: that his hand trembled as it fingered his watch chain.
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur Dux coughed, as did Monsieur de Marquess. Both were
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  Speaker 1: evidently embarrassed. You understand, Missus Stangerson. He said that in
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  Speaker 1: an affair so perplexing as this, we cannot neglect anything.
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  Speaker 1: We must know all, even the smallest and seemingly most
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  Speaker 1: futile thing concerning the victim. Information apparently the most insignificant
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  Speaker 1: Why do you doubt that this marriage will take place?
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  Speaker 1: You express their hope, but the hope implies a doubt.
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  Speaker 1: Why do you doubt? Missus Stangerson made a visible effort
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  Speaker 1: to recover himself. Yes, monsieur, he said, at length, you
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  Speaker 1: are right. It will be best that you should know
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  Speaker 1: something which, if I concealed it might appear to be
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  Speaker 1: of importance. Mister Darzac agrees with me in this monster. Darzac,
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  Speaker 1: whose pallor at that moment seemed to me to be
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  Speaker 1: altogether abnormal, made a sign of assent. I gathered he
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  Speaker 1: was unable to speak. I want you to know, then
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  Speaker 1: continued Missus Stangerson, that my daughter has sworn never to
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  Speaker 1: leave me, and that here is firmly to her oath,
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  Speaker 1: in spite of all my prayers and all that I
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: have argued to induce her to marry. We have known
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur le Baldarzac many years. He lost my child, and
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  Speaker 1: I believed that she loved him, because she only recently
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  Speaker 1: consented to this marriage, which I desire with all my heart.
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  Speaker 1: I am an old man, monsieur, and it was a
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  Speaker 1: happy hour to me when I knew that after I
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  Speaker 1: had gone, she would have at her side, one who
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  Speaker 1: loved her and who would help her in continuing our
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  Speaker 1: common labors. I love and esteem monster Darzac, both for
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  Speaker 1: his greatness of heart and for his devotion to science.
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  Speaker 1: But two days before the tragedy, for I know not
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  Speaker 1: what reason, my daughter declared to me that she would
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  Speaker 1: never marry mister Dalzac. A dead silence followed Missus Stangerson's words.
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  Speaker 1: It was a moment fraught with suspense. Did Maemoiselle give
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  Speaker 1: you any explanation? Did she tell you what her motive was,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: asked mister Dax. She told me she was too old
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  Speaker 1: to marry, that she had waited too long. She said
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  Speaker 1: she had given much thought to the matter, and while
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: she had a great esteem, even affection, for mister Dalzac,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: she felt it would be better if things remained as
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  Speaker 1: they were. She would be happy, she said, to see
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  Speaker 1: the relations between ourselves and Monsieur Darzac become closer, but
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  Speaker 1: only on the understanding that there would be no more
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  Speaker 1: talk of marriage. That is very strange, muttered Monster Dax.
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  Speaker 1: Strange repeated, Monsieur de Marquies, you'll certainly not find the
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  Speaker 1: motive there, mister Dax, Missus Stangerson said, with a cold smile.
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  Speaker 1: In any case, the motive was not theft, said the
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: chief impatiently. Oh, we are quite convinced of that, cried
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: the examining magistrate. At that moment, the door of the
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: laboratory opened, and the officer in charge of the gendarme
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: entered and handed the card to the examining magistrate. Monsieur
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: de Marquies read it and uttered a half angry exclamation.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: This is really too much, he cried. What is it,
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: asked chief. It is a card of a young reporter
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  Speaker 1: engaged on the epoch a, Monsieur Joseph Rouletabille. It has
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  Speaker 1: these words written on it. One of the motives of
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: the crime was robbery. The chief smiled, Ah, young Rouletabille.
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  Speaker 1: I've heard of him. He is considered red clever. Let
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: him come in. Monsieur Joseph Rouletabylle was allowed to enter.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I had made his acquaintance in the train that morning,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: on the way to Epinaisaurroge. He had introduced himself, almost
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: against my wish, into our compartment. I had better say
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: at once that his manners and the arrogance who with
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: which he assumed to know what was inconprehensible even to us,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: impressed him unfavorably. On my mind, I do not like journalists.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: They are a class of writers to be avoided as
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: the pests. They think that everything is permissible, and they
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: respect nothing. Grant them the least favor. Allow them even
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: to approach you, and you never can tell what annoyance
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  Speaker 1: they might give you. This one appears to be scarcely
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  Speaker 1: twenty years old, and the effrontery with which he dared
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  Speaker 1: to question us and discuss the matter with us made
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  Speaker 1: him particularly obnoxious to me. Besides, he had a way
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  Speaker 1: of expressing himself that left us guessing as to whether
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: he was mocking us or not. I know quite well
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  Speaker 1: that the Epoch is an influential paper with which it
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: is well to be on good terms, But the paper
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: ought not to allow itself to be represented by sneaking reporters.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Monsieur Jose Vroudeby entered the laboratory, vowed to us, and
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: waited for Monsieur de Marquis to ask him to explain
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  Speaker 1: his presence. You pretend, Monsieur, that you know the motive
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  Speaker 1: of the crime, and that that motive, in the face
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  Speaker 1: of all the evidence that has been forthcoming was robbery? No, Monsieur,
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  Speaker 1: I do not pretend that. I do not say that
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  Speaker 1: robbery was the motive for the crime, and I don't
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  Speaker 1: believe it was. Then what is the meaning of this card?
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  Speaker 1: It means that robbery was one of the motives for
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  Speaker 1: the crime. What leads you to think that, if you
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: will be good enough to accompany me, I will show you.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: The young man asked us to follow him into the vestibule,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: and we did. He led us towards the lavatory and
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: begged Monsieur de Marquis to kneel beside him. This laboratory
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  Speaker 1: is lit by the glass door, and when the door
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: was open, the light which penetrated was sufficient to lit
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: it perfectly. Monsieur de Marquis and Monsieur Joseph Ulteville knelt
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: down on the threshold, and the young man pointed to
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: a spot on the pavement. The stones of the laboratory
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: have not been washed by Daddijacques for some time. He said,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: that can be seen by the lay of dust that
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: covers them. Now notice here the marks of two large footprints,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: and the black ash they left where they have been.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: That ash is nothing else than the charcoal dust that
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: covers the path along which you must pass through the
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: forest in order to get directly from Epinay to the Glandier.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: You know there is a little village of charcoal burners
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: at that place who make large quantities of charcoal. What
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: the murderer did was to come here at midday, when
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: there was nobody at the pavilion, an attempt his robbery.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: But what robbery? Where do you see any signs of robbery?
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: What proofs to you that robbery has been committed? We
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: all cried at once, What put me on the trace
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: of it? Continued the journalist. Was this interrupted? Monsieur de Marques,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: still on his knees, evidently, said Rouletabille, and Monsieur de
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Marquie explained that there were on the dust of the
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: payment marks of two footsteps, as well as the impression
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: freshly made of a heavy rectangular parcel, the marks of
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: the court with which it had been fastened being easily distinguished.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: You have been here, then, Monsieur Roletabille. I thought I
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: had given orders to Daddy Jacques, who was left in
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: charge of the pavilion, not to allow anybody to enter.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Don't scorch Daddy Jacques. I came here with Monsieur Robert Darzac. Ah, indeed,
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: exclaimed Monsieur de Marquies, disagreeably, casting his side glance at
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Monsieur Darzac, who remained perfectly silent. When I saw the
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: mark of the parcel by the side of the footprints,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: I had no doubt as to the robbery, replied Monsieur Deabille.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: The thief had not brought a parcel with him. He
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: had made one here, a parcel with the stolen objects,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: no doubt, and he put it in this corner, intending
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: to take it away when the moment came for him
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: to make his escape. He had also placed his heavy
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: boots beside the parcel. For see, there are no marks
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: of steps leading to the marks left by the boot
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: which replaced side by side. That accounts for the fact
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: that the murderer left no trace of his steps when
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: he fled from the Yellow room, nor any in the
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: laboratory nor in the vestibule. After entering the Yellow Room
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: in his boots, he took them off, finding them troublesome,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: or because he wished to make as little noise as possible.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: The marks made by him in going through the vestibule
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: and the laboratory were subsequently washed out by the Dejacques. Having,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: for some reason or other taking off his boot, the
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: murderer carried them in his hand and placed them by
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: the side of the parcel he had made. By that
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: time the robbery had been accomplished. The man then returned
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: to the yellow room and slipped under the bed, where
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: the mark of his body is perfectly visible on the
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: floor and even on the mat, which has been slightly
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: moved from its place, and increased fragments of straw, also
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: recently torn bare, witness to the murderous movements under the bed. Yes, yes,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: we know all about that, said Monsieur de Marquier. The
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: robber had another motive for returning to hide under the bed,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: continued the astonishing boy journalist. You might think that he
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: was trying to hide himself quickly, on seeing through the
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: vestibule window Monsieur and Madmoisselle Stangerson about to enter the pavilion.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: It would have been much easier for him to have
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: climbed up to the attic and hidden there, waiting for
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to get away. If his purpose had been
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: only flight. No, no, he had to be in the
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: yellow room here. The chief intervened. That's not at all bad,
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: young man, I compliment you. If we do not know
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: yet how the murderer succeeded in getting away, we can
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: at any rate see how he came in and committed
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: the robbery. But what did he steal? Something very valuable,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: replied the young reporter. At that moment, we heard a
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: cry from the laboratory. We rushed in and found Missus Stangerson,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: his eyes haggard, his limbs trembling, pointing to a sort
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: of bookase which he had opened, and which we saw
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: was empty. At the same instinct, he sank into the
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: large arm chair that was placed before the desk and groaned,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: the tears rolling down his cheeks. I have been robbed again.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: For God's sake, do not say a word of this
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: to my daughter. She would be more pain than I am.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: He heaved a deep sigh, and added in a tone
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: I shall never forget. After all, what does it matter.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: So long as she lives, She will live, said Monsieur Darzac,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: in a voice strangely touching. And we will find the
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: stolen articles, said musham Dax. But what was in the cabinet.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Twenty years of my life, replied the illustrious professor, sadly,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: or rather of our lives, the lives of myself and
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: my daughter. Yes, our most precious documents, the records of
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: our secret experiment and our labors of twenty years, were
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: in that cabinet. It is an irreparable loss to us,
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: and I venture to say to science, all the processes
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: by which I had been able to arrive at the
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: precious proof of the destructibility of matter were there all.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: The man who came wished to take all from me,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: my daughter and my work, my heart and my soul.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: And the great scientist wept like a child. We stood
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: around him in silence, Deeply affected by his great distress.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: Mister Darzac pressed closely to his side and tried in
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: vain to restrain his tears, a sight which for the
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: moment almost made me like him, in spite of an
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: instinctive repulsion which a strange demeanor in his inexplicable anxiety
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: had inspired me. Monsieur le tabille alone, as if his
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: precious time and mission on Earth did not permit him
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: to dwell in the contemplation on human suffering, had very
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: calmly stepped up to the empty cabinet, and, pointing at it,
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: broke the almost solemn silence. He entered into explanations for
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: which there was no need as to why he had
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: been led to believe that a robbery had been committed,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: which included the simultaneous discovery he had made in the
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: laboratory and the empty precious cabinet in the laboratory. The
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: first thing that had struck him, he said, was the
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: unusual form of that piece of furniture. It was very
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: strongly built a fireproof iron, clearly showing that it was
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: intended for the keeping of most valuable objects. Then he
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: noticed that the key had been left in the lock.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: One does not ordinary have a safe and leave it open,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: he had said to himself. This little key, with its
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: brass head and complicated words, had strongly attracted him. Its
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: presence had suggested robbery. Monsieur de Marquees appeared to be
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: greatly perplexed, as if he did not know whether he
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: ought to be glad of the new direction given to
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: the inquiry by the young reporter, or sorry that it
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: had not been done by himself in our profession and
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: for the general welfare we have to put up with
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: such mortifications and very selfish feelings. That was why Monsieur
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: de Marquees controlled himself and joined his compliments to those
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: of Monsieur Dax. As for Monsieur Rouletabille, he simply shrugged
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: his shoulders and said, there is nothing at all in
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: that I should have liked to box his ears, especially
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: when he added, you will do well Monsieur to ask
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: Missus Stangerson who usually kept the key? My daughter, replied
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: Missus Stangerson, she was never without it. Ah, then that
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: changes the aspect of things, which no longer corresponds with
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: Monsieur role Tabyt's ideas, cried Monsieur de Marques. If that
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: key never left Mademoiselle Stangerson, the murderer must have waited
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: for her in her room for the purpose of stealing it,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: and the robbery could not have been committed until after
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: the attack had been made on her. But after the
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: attack four persons were in the laboratory. I can't make
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: it out. The robbery, said the reporter, could only have
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: been committed before the attack upon Mademoiselle Stangerson in her room.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: When the murderer entered the pavilion. He already possessed the
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: brass headed key. That is impossible, said missus Stangerson in
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: a low voice. It is quite possible, monsieur, as this proves,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: as the young rascal drew a copy of the epoch
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: from his pocket, dated the twenty first of October. I
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: recall the fact that the crime was committed on the
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: nights between the twenty fourth and the twenty fifth, and
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: showing us an advertisement he read yesterday, a black satin
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: reticule was lost in the garmagaisando la louver. It contained,
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: amongst other things, a small key with a brass head.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: A handsome reward will be given to the person who
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: has found it. This person must write post Restant Bureau
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: forty to this address M A T H s N.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: Do not these letters suggest Mademoiselle Stangerson, continued the reporter,
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: the key with a brass head? Is not this the key?
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: I always read advertisements in my business, as in yours, Monsieur,
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: one should always read the personals. They are often the
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: keys to intrigues that are not always brass headed, but
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: which are none the less interesting. This advertisement interested me
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: specially the women of the key surrounded it with a
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: kind of mystery. Evidently she valued the key, since she
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: promised a big reward for its restoration. And I thought
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: on these six letters m A t H s N.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: The first four at once pointed to a Christian name,
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: evidently as at math is Matilde, but I could make
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: nothing of the two last letters, so I drew the
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: journal aside and occupied myself with other matters. Four days later,
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: when the evening paper appeared with enormous headlines announcing the
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: murderer of Mademoiselle Stangerson, the letters in the advertisement mechanically
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: recurred to me. I had forgotten the two last let
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: letters s N. When I saw them again, I could
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: not help exclaiming Stangerson. I jumped into a cab and
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: rushed into the behore N forty, asking have you a
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: letter addressed whom M A t H s N. The
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: clerk replied that he had not. I insisted, begged and
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: entreated him to search. He wanted to know if I
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: were playing a joke on him, and then told me
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: that he had had a letter with the initials m
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: A t H s N, but he had given it
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: up three days ago to a lady who came for it,
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: you come to day to claim the letter, and the
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: day before yesterday another gentleman claimed it. I've had enough
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: of this, he concluded angrily. I tried to question him
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: as to the two persons who had already claimed the letter,
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: but whether he wished to entrench himself behind professional secrecy,
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: he may have thought that he had already said too much,
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: or whether he was disgusted at the joke that had
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: been played on him. He would not answer any of
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: my questions. Rouletabille paused, We all remained silent. Each drew
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: his own conclusions from the strange story of the post
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: Restant letter. It seemed, indeed, that we now had a
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: thread by means of which we should be able to
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: follow up this extraordinary mystery. Then it is almost certain,
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: said missus Stangerson, that my daughter did lose the key,
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: and that she did not tell me of it, wishing
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: to spare any anxiety, and that she begged whoever had
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: found it to write to the post Restant. She evidently
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: feared that by giving our address inquiries had had resulted
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: that would have apprised me of the loss of the key.
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: It was quite logical, quite natural for her to have
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: taken that course, for I have been robbed once before.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: Where was that? And when asked the chief of de Soortee,
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: oh many years ago in America, in Philadelphia, there were
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: stolen from my laboratory the drawings of two inventions that
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: might have made the fortune of a man. Not only
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: have I never learned who the thief was, but I
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: have never heard even a word of the object of
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: the robbery. Doubtless because in order to defeat the plans
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: of the person who had robbed me, I myself brought
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: these two inventions before the public, and so rendered the
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: robbery of no avail. From that time on, I have
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: been very careful to shut myself in when I am
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: at work. The bars to these windows, the lonely situation
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: of this pavilion, this cabinet which I had specially constructed,
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: the special lock, this unique key, all are precautions against
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: fears inspired by a sad experience. Most interesting, remarked Monsieur Dax.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: Monsieur Urtebill asked about the reticule. Neither Missus Stangerson nor
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: that de Jacques had seen it for several days. But
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: a few hours later we learned from Mademoiselle Stangerson herself
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: that the reticule had either been stolen from her or
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: she had lost it. She further corroborated all that had passed,
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: just as her father had stated, She had gone to
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: the post restant, and on the twenty third of October
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: had received a letter which she affirmed contained nothing but
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: a vulgar pleasantry, which she had immediately burned. To return
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: to our examination, or rather to our conversation, I must
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: state that the chief of the surte, having inquired of
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: Missus Stangerson under what conditions his daughter had gone to
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: Paris on the twentieth of October, we learned that Monsieur
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: lebay R Darzac had accompanied her, and Darzac had not
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: been again seen at the chateau from that time to
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: the day after the crime had been committed. The fact
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: that Monsieur Darzac was with her in the Grandmagazand de
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: la Louver when the reticule disappeared could not pass unnoticed,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: and it must be said, strongly awakened our interest. This
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: conversation between magistrates, accused, victim, witnesses and journalists was coming
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: to a close when quite a theatrical sensation, an incident
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: of a kind displeasing to Monsieur de Marques was produced.
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: The officer of the gendarmes came to announce that Frederic
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: Larsan requested to be admitted, a request that was at
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: once complied with. He held in his hand a heavy
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: pair of muddy boots, which he threw on the pavement
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: of the laboratory. Here, he said, are the boots warned
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: by the murderer? Do you recognize them? That? Jah? The
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: Dejacques bent over them and stupefied, recognized a pair of
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: old boots which he had some time back thrown in
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: a corner of his attic. He was so taken aback
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: that he could not hide his agitation. Then, pointing to
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: the handkerchief in the old man's hand, Frederic Larsan said,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: that's a handkerchief astonishing like the one found in the
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: Yellow room. I know, said dadd Dejacques, trembling. They are
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: almost alike, And then continued Frederic Larson, the old basque cap,
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: also found in the Yellow room, might at one time
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: have been worn by Daddi Jacques himself. All this, gentlemen,
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: proves I think that the murderer wished to disguise his
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: real personality. He did it in a very clumsy way,
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: or at least so it appears to us. Don't be
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: alarmed that a Dejacques, we are quite sure that you
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: were not the murderer. You never left the side of
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: Missus Stangerson. But if Missus Stangerson had not been working
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: that night and had gone back to the chateau after
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: parting with his daughter, and that the Jacques had gone
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: to sleep in his attic, no one would have doubted
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: that he was the murderer. He owes his safety therefore
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: to the tragedy having been enacted so soon, the murderer,
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: no doubt, from the silence in the laboratory, imagined that
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: it was empty, and that the moment for action had come.
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: The man who had been able to introduce himself here
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: so mysteriously, and to leave so many evidences against that
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: de Jacques was, there can be no doubt familiar with
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: the house. At what hour exactly he entered, Whether in
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: the afternoon or in the evening, I cannot say one
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: familiar with the proceedings and persons of this pavilion could
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: choose his own time for entering the Yellow room. He
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: could not have entered it if anybody had been in
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: the laboratory, said Monsieur de Marquees. How do we know that,
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: replied Lasant. There was the dinner in the laboratory, the
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: coming and going of the servants in attendance. There was
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: a chemical experiment being carried on between ten and eleven o'clock,
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: with Missus Stangerson, his daughter and Daddy Jacques engaged at
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: the furnace in a corner of the high chimney. Who
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: can say that the murderer, an intimate, a friend, did
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: not take advantage of that moment to slip into the
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: yellow room after having taken off his boots in the laboratory.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: It is very improbable, said Missus Stangerson, doubtless, but it
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: is not impossible. I assert nothing as to the escape
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: from the pavilion. That's another thing, the most natural thing
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: in the world. For a moment, Frederic Larson paused, a
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: moment that appeared to us a very long time. The
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: eagerness with which we awaited what he was going to
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: tell us may be imagined. I have not been in
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: the yellow room, he continued, But I take it for
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: granted that you have satisfied yourself that he could have
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: left the room only by way of the door. It
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: is by the door, then, that the murderer made his
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: way out at what time, at the moment when it
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: was most easy for him to do so, at the
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: moment when it became most explainable, so completely explainable, that
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: there can be no other explanation. Let us go over
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: the moment which followed after the crime had been committed.
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: There was the first moment when Missus Stangerson and Daddy
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: Jacques were close to the door, ready to bar the way.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: There was a second moment during which Daddy Jacques was
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: absent and Missus Stangerson was left alone before the door.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: There was a third moment when Missus Stangerson was joined
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: by the concierge. There was a fourth moment during which
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: Missus Stangerson, the concierge, and his wife, and that Dejacques
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: were before the door. There was a fifth moment during
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: which the door was burst open and the yellow room entered.
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: The moment at which the flight is explainable is the
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: very moment when there was the least number of persons
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: before the door. There was one moment when there was
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: but one person Missus Stangerson. Unless a complicity of silence
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: on the part of the Dejacque is admitted, in which
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: I do not believe the door was opened in the
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: presence of Missus Stangerson alone, and the man escaped. Here
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: we must admit that Missus Stangerson had powerful reasons for
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: not resting or not causing the arrest of the murderer,
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: since he allowed him to reach the window in the
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: vestibule and closed it after him that done, Mademoiselle Stangerson,
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: though horribly wounded, had still strang enough and no doubt
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: in obedience to the entreaties of her father, to refasten
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: the door of her chamber with both the bolt and
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: the lock, before sinking on the floor. We do not
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: know who committed the crime. We do not know of
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: what wretch. Monsieur and Mademoiselle Stangerson are the victims, but
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: there is no doubt that they both know. The secret
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: must be a terrible one, for the father had not
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: hesitated to leave his daughter to die behind the door,
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: which he had shut upon herself. Terrible for him to
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: have allowed the assassin to escape. For there is no
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: other way in the world to explain the Mergerer's flight
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: from the Yellow Room. The silence which followed this dramatic
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: and lucid explanation was appalling. We all of us felt
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: grieved for the ill illustrious professor, driven into a corner
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: by the pitiless logic of Frederic Larsan, forced to confess
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: the whole truth of his martyrdom, or to keep silent
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: and thus make a yet more terrible admission. The man, himself,
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: a veritable statue of sorrow, raised his hand with a
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: gesture so solemn that we bowed our heads to it,
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: as before something sacred. He then pronounced these words in
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: a voice so loud that it seemed to exhaust him.
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: I swear by the head of my suffering child, that
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: I never for an instant left the door of her
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: chamber after hearing her cries for help, That that door
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: was not opened while I was alone in the laboratory,
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: And that, finally, when we entered the Yellow Room, my
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: three domestics and I, the murderer was no longer there.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: I swear I do not know the murderer. Must I
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: say it? In spite of the solemnity of Missus Stangerson's words,
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: We did not believe in his denial. Frederic Larson had
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: shown as this truth, and it was not so easily
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: given up. Monsieur de Marquis announced that the conversation was
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: at an end, and as we were about to leave
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: the laboratory, Joseph Audabay approached Missus Stangerson took him by
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: the hand with the greatest respect, and I heard him say,
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: I believe you, Monsieur. I hear close the citation which
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: I have thought in my duty to make from Monsieur
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: Milende's narrative. I need not tell the reader that all
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: that passed in the laboratory was immediately and faithfully reported
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: to me by rouletabat end of chapter eleven.