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The Mystery of the Yellow Room Chapter 27 - In Which Joseph Rouletabille Appears in All His... (Part A) · The Gaston Leroux Library

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty seven, Part A of the Mystery of the
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  Speaker 1: Yellow Room. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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  Speaker 1: in the public domain. For more free audiobooks or to volunteer,
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  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by J. C. Guan.
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  Speaker 1: The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux, Chapter
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  Speaker 1: twenty seven, Part A, in which Joseph Rouletabiet appears in
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  Speaker 1: all his glory. The excitement was extreme. Cries from fainting
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  Speaker 1: women were to be heard amid the extraordinary bustle and stir.
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  Speaker 1: The majesty of the law was utterly forgotten. The President
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  Speaker 1: tried in vain to make himself heard. Rouletabet made his
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  Speaker 1: way forward with difficulty, but by dint of much elbowing,
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  Speaker 1: reached his manager and greeted him cordially. The letter was
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  Speaker 1: passed to him, and pocketing it, he turned to the
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  Speaker 1: witness box. He was dressed aga exactly as on the
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  Speaker 1: day he left me, even to the ulster over his arm.
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  Speaker 1: Turning to the President, he said, I beg your pardon,
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur Prisident, but I have only just arrived from America.
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  Speaker 1: The steamer was late. My name is Joseph roule dab By.
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  Speaker 1: The silence which followed his stepping into the witness box
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  Speaker 1: was broken by laughter. When his words were heard, everybody
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  Speaker 1: seemed relieved and glad to find him there, as if
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  Speaker 1: in the expectation of hearing the truth at last. But
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  Speaker 1: the President was extremely incensed. So you are, Josephe Aldaby,
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  Speaker 1: he replied, Well, young man, I'll teach you what comes
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  Speaker 1: of making a farce of justice by virtue of my
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  Speaker 1: discretionary power. I hold you at the Court's disposition. I
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  Speaker 1: ask nothing better, Monsieur prisident. I have come here for
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  Speaker 1: that purpose. I humbly beg the Court's pardon for the
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  Speaker 1: disturbance of which I have been the innocent cause. I
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  Speaker 1: beg you to believe that nobody has a greater respect
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  Speaker 1: for the Court than I have. I came in as
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  Speaker 1: I could, he smiled. Take him away, ordered the President. METROI.
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  Speaker 1: Robert intervened. He began by apologizing for the young man,
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  Speaker 1: who he said was moved only by the best intentions.
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  Speaker 1: He made the President understand that the evidence of a
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  Speaker 1: witness who had slept at the Glandier during the whole
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  Speaker 1: of that eventful week could not be omitted and that
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  Speaker 1: the present witness, moreover, had come to name the real murderer.
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  Speaker 1: Are you going to tell us who the murderer was?
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  Speaker 1: Asked the President, somewhat convinced, though still skeptical. I have
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  Speaker 1: come for that purpose, Monsieur President, replied Rouletabille. An attempt
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  Speaker 1: at applause was silenced by the usher. Joseph Rouletabille said,
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  Speaker 1: Matron Ri Robert has not been regularly subpoenaed as a witness.
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  Speaker 1: But I hope, Mesur President, you will examine him in
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  Speaker 1: virtue of your discretionary powers. Very well, said the President.
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  Speaker 1: We will question him, but we must proceed in order.
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  Speaker 1: The Advocate General rose. It will perhaps be better he said,
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  Speaker 1: if the young man were to tell us now whom
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  Speaker 1: he suspects. The President nodded ironically. If the Advocate General
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  Speaker 1: attaches important to the deposition of Monsie Joseph Rouletabyt, I
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  Speaker 1: see no reason why this witness should not give us
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  Speaker 1: the name of the murderer. A pin drop could have
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  Speaker 1: been heard. Rouletabillt stood silent, looking sympathetically at Darzac, who,
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  Speaker 1: for the first time since the opening of the trial,
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  Speaker 1: showed himself agitated. Well, cried the President, we wait for
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  Speaker 1: the name of the murderer. Rouletabille, feeling in his waistcoat pocket,
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  Speaker 1: drew his watch and, looking at it, said, mister President,
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  Speaker 1: I cannot name the murderer before half past six o'clock.
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  Speaker 1: Loud murmurs of disappointment filled the room. Some of the
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  Speaker 1: lawyers were heard to say, he is making fun of us.
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  Speaker 1: The President, in a stern voice, said this joke has
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  Speaker 1: gone far enough. You may retire, Monsieur into the witness's room.
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  Speaker 1: I hold you at our disposition, Rouletabille protested. I assure you,
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur President. He cried in his sharp, clear voice, that
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  Speaker 1: when I do name the murderer, you will understand why
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  Speaker 1: I could not speak before half past six. I assert
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  Speaker 1: this on my honor. I can, however, give you now
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  Speaker 1: some explanation of the murder of the keeper. Monsieur Frederic Larsan,
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  Speaker 1: who has seen me at work at the Grandier, can
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  Speaker 1: tell you with what care I studied this case. I
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  Speaker 1: found myself compelled to differ with him in arresting Monsieur
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  Speaker 1: Robert Darzac, who is innocent. Monsieur Larsan knows of my
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  Speaker 1: good faith and knows that some importance may be attached
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  Speaker 1: to my discoveries, which have often corroborated his own. Frederic
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  Speaker 1: Larsan said, Monsieur President, it will be interesting to hear
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur josef Rouletabyll, especially as he differs from me. A
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  Speaker 1: murmur of approbation greeted the detective's speech. He was a
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  Speaker 1: good sportsman and accepted the challenge. The struggle between the
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  Speaker 1: two promised to be exciting. As the President remained silent,
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  Speaker 1: Frederic Larsan continued, we agree that the murderer of the
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  Speaker 1: keeper was the assailant of Mademoiselle Stangerson, but as we
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  Speaker 1: are not agreed as to how the murderer escaped, I
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  Speaker 1: am curious to hear Monsieur Roletebet's explanation. I have no
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  Speaker 1: doubt you are, replied my friend. General laughter followed this remark.
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  Speaker 1: The President angrily declared that if it was repeated, he
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  Speaker 1: would have the court cleared. Now, young man, said the President,
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  Speaker 1: you have heard Monsieur fre Deriic Larsan, how did the
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  Speaker 1: murderer get away from the court? Rouletabill looked at Madame Mathieu,
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  Speaker 1: who smiled back at him. Sadly, since Madame mathieud, he said,
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  Speaker 1: has freely admitted her intimacy with the keeper. Why it's
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  Speaker 1: the boy, exclaimed Etty Mathieu. Remove that man, ordered the president.
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  Speaker 1: Mathieu was removed from the court. Rouletabill went on, Since
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  Speaker 1: she has made this confession, I am free to tell
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  Speaker 1: you that she often met the keeper at night on
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  Speaker 1: the first floor of the Donjon, in the room which
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  Speaker 1: was once an oratory. These meetings became more frequent when
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  Speaker 1: her husband was laid up by his rheumatism. She gave
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  Speaker 1: him morphine to ease his pain and to give herself
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  Speaker 1: more time for the meetings. Madame Mathieu came to the
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  Speaker 1: chateau that night enveloped in a large black shawl, which
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  Speaker 1: served also as a disguise. This was the phantom that
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  Speaker 1: disturbed Daddy Jacques. She knew how to imitate the mewing
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  Speaker 1: of mother Angenoux's cat, and she would make the cries
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  Speaker 1: to advise the keeper of her presence. The recent repairs
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  Speaker 1: of the Donjon did not interfere with their meetings in
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  Speaker 1: the keeper's old room in the Donjon, since the new
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  Speaker 1: room assigned to him at the end of the right
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  Speaker 1: wing was separated from the steward's room by a partition
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  Speaker 1: only previous to the tragedy in the courtyard. Madame Mathieu
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  Speaker 1: and the keeper left the d'anjeon together. I learned these
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  Speaker 1: facts from my examination of the footmarks in the court.
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  Speaker 1: The next morning. Bernier, the concierge, whom I had stationed
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  Speaker 1: behind the donjon, as he will explain himself, could not
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  Speaker 1: see what passed in the court. He did not reach
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  Speaker 1: the court until he heard the revolver shots, and then
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  Speaker 1: he fired. When the woman parted from the man, she
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  Speaker 1: went towards the open gate of the court, while he
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  Speaker 1: returned to his room. He had almost reached the door
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  Speaker 1: when the revolvers rang out. He had just reached the
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  Speaker 1: corner when the shadow bound by. Meanwhile, Madame Mathieu, surprised
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  Speaker 1: by the revolver shots and by the entrance of people
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  Speaker 1: into the court, crouched in the darkness. The court is
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  Speaker 1: a large one, and being near the gate, she might
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  Speaker 1: easily have passed out unseen, but she remained and saw
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  Speaker 1: the body being carried away. In great agony of mind,
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  Speaker 1: she neared the vestibule and saw the dead body of
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  Speaker 1: her lover on the stairs, lit up by the Dejacu's lantern.
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  Speaker 1: She then fled, and Daddi Jacques joined her. That same night,
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  Speaker 1: before the murder, Daddy Jacques had been awakened by the
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  Speaker 1: cat's cry, and looking through his window, had seen the
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  Speaker 1: black phantom hastily dressing himself. He went out and recognized her.
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  Speaker 1: He is an old friend of Madame Mathieu, and when
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  Speaker 1: she saw him, she had to tell him of her
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  Speaker 1: relations with the keeper and begged his assistance. That Jacque
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  Speaker 1: took pity on her and accompanied her through the oak
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  Speaker 1: grove out of the park, past the border of the lake,
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  Speaker 1: to the road to Epinay. From there it was but
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  Speaker 1: a very short distance to her home that Jacques returned
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  Speaker 1: to the chateau, and, seeing how important it was for
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  Speaker 1: Madame Mathieu's presence at the chateau to remain unknown, he
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  Speaker 1: did all he could to hide it. I appealed to
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur Larsan, who saw me next morning examined the two
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  Speaker 1: sets of footprints here Rouletabay, turning towards Madame Mathieu with
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  Speaker 1: a bow, said, the footprints of Madame bare a strange
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  Speaker 1: resemblance to the neat footprints of the murderer. Madame Marteau
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  Speaker 1: trembled and looked at him with white eyes, as if
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  Speaker 1: in wonder at what he would say next. Madame has
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  Speaker 1: a shapely foot, long and rather large for a woman.
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  Speaker 1: The imprint, with its pointed toe, is very like that
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  Speaker 1: of the murderers. A movement in the court was repressed
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  Speaker 1: by Rouletabille. He held their attention at once. I hasten
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  Speaker 1: to add. He went on that I attached no importance
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  Speaker 1: to this outward. Signs like these are often liable to
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  Speaker 1: lead us into error if we do not reason rightly.
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur le ber Darzac's footprints are also like the murderers,
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  Speaker 1: and yet he is not the murderer. The President, turning
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  Speaker 1: to Madame Mathieu, asked, is that in accordance with what
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  Speaker 1: you know occurred? Yes, Monsieur President, she replied, it is
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  Speaker 1: as if Monsieur Rouletabille had been behind us. Did you
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  Speaker 1: see the murderer running towards the end of the right wing, yes,
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  Speaker 1: as clearly as I saw them afterwards, carrying the keeper's body.
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  Speaker 1: What became of the murderer? You were in the courtyard
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  Speaker 1: and could easily have seen. I saw nothing of him.
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  Speaker 1: Mister prisident it became quite dark. Just then then, rouletabillt
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  Speaker 1: said the President must explain how the murderer made his escape.
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  Speaker 1: Rouletabille continued, it was impossible for the murderer to escape
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  Speaker 1: by the way he had entered the court without our
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  Speaker 1: seeing him, Or if we couldn't see him, we must
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  Speaker 1: certainly have felt him. Since the court is a very
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  Speaker 1: narrow one, enclosed in high iron railings. Then if the
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  Speaker 1: man was hemmed in that narrow square, how is it
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  Speaker 1: you did not find him. I have been asking you
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  Speaker 1: that for the last half hour, mister President, replied Rouletabille,
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  Speaker 1: I cannot answer that question before half past six. By
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  Speaker 1: this time, the people in the court room were beginning
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  Speaker 1: to believe in this new witness. They were amused by
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  Speaker 1: his melodramatic action in thus fixing the hour, but they
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  Speaker 1: seemed to have confidence in the outcome. As for the President,
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  Speaker 1: it looked as if he also made up his mind
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  Speaker 1: to take the young man in the same way. He
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  Speaker 1: had certainly been impressed by Rouletabille's explanation of Madame Matou's part. Well,
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur Roletabat, he said, as you say, but don't let
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  Speaker 1: us see any more of you. Before half past six,
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  Speaker 1: Rouletabill bowed to the president and made his way to
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  Speaker 1: the door of the witness's room. I quietly made my
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  Speaker 1: way through the crowd and left the court almost at
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  Speaker 1: the same time as Rouletabille. He greeted me heartily and
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  Speaker 1: looked happy. I'll not ask you, my dear fellow, I said, smiling,
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  Speaker 1: what you've been doing in America, because I've no doubt
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  Speaker 1: you'll say you can't tell me until after half past six. No,
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  Speaker 1: my dear Sainclair, I'll tell you right now why I
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  Speaker 1: went to America. I went in search of the name
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  Speaker 1: of the other half of the murderer, the name of
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  Speaker 1: the other half. Exactly when we last left the Glandier,
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  Speaker 1: I knew there were two halves to the murderer, and
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  Speaker 1: the name of only one of them. I went to
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  Speaker 1: America for the name of the other half. I was
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  Speaker 1: too puzzled to answer. Just then we entered the witness's
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  Speaker 1: room and rouletabet was immediately surrounded. He showed himself very
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  Speaker 1: friendly to all except Arthur Rance, to whom he exhibited
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  Speaker 1: a marked coldness of manner. Frederic Larsan came in also.
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  Speaker 1: Rouletabie went up and shook him heartily by the hand.
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  Speaker 1: His manner towards the detective showed that he had got
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  Speaker 1: the better of the policeman lasand smiled and asked him
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  Speaker 1: what he had been doing in America. Rouletabet began by
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  Speaker 1: telling him some anecdotes of his voyage. They then turned
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  Speaker 1: aside together, apparently with the object of speaking confidentially. I
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  Speaker 1: therefore discreetly left them, and, being curious to hear the evidence,
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  Speaker 1: returned to my seat in the court room, where the
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  Speaker 1: public plainly showed its lack of interest in what was
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  Speaker 1: going on in their impatience for Rouletabille's return. At the
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  Speaker 1: appointed time, on the stroke of half past six, Joseph
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  Speaker 1: Rouletabill was again brought in. It is impossible for me
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  Speaker 1: to picture the tense excitement which appeared on every face
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  Speaker 1: as he made his way to the bar. Darzac rose
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  Speaker 1: to his feet, frightfully pale. The President, addressing Rouletabille, said gravely,
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  Speaker 1: I will not ask you to take the oath because
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  Speaker 1: you have not been regularly summoned, but I trust there
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  Speaker 1: is no need to urge upon you the gravity of
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  Speaker 1: this statement you are about to make. Rouletabill looked at
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  Speaker 1: the President quite calmly and steadily in the face, and replied, yes, monsieur,
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  Speaker 1: at your last appearance here, said the President. We have
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  Speaker 1: arrived at the point where you were to tell us
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  Speaker 1: how the murderer escaped, and also his name. Now, Monsieur Rouletabille,
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  Speaker 1: we await your explanation very well, monsieur, began my friend,
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  Speaker 1: amidst a profound silence. I had explained how it was
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  Speaker 1: impossible for the murderer to get away without being seen,
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  Speaker 1: and yet he was there with us in the courtyard,
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  Speaker 1: and you did not see him at least, that is
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  Speaker 1: what the prosecution declares. No, we all of us saw him,
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  Speaker 1: monsieurle Presidon, cried Rouletabille. Then why was he not arrested,
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  Speaker 1: Because no one besides myself knew that he was the murderer.
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  Speaker 1: It would have spoiled my plans to have had him arrested,
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  Speaker 1: And I had then no other than my own reasoning.
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  Speaker 1: I was convinced we had the murderer before us, and
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  Speaker 1: that we were actually looking at him. I have now
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  Speaker 1: brought what I considered the indisputable proof. Speak out, monsieur,
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  Speaker 1: tell us the murderer's name. You will find it on
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  Speaker 1: the list of names present in the court on the
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  Speaker 1: night of the tragedy, replied Rouletabille. The people present in
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  Speaker 1: the court room began showing impatience. Some of them even
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  Speaker 1: called for the name and were silenced by the usher.
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  Speaker 1: The list includes the de Jacques, Bernier, the concierge and mister Arthur. Rance,
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  Speaker 1: said the President, do you accuse any of these? No, monsieur,
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  Speaker 1: then I do not understand what you are driving at.
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  Speaker 1: There was no other person at the end of the court, Yes, monsieur.
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  Speaker 1: There was not at the end, but above the court
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  Speaker 1: who was leaning out of the window. You mean, Frederic lak,
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  Speaker 1: exclaimed the president. Yes, Frederic Larsan, replied rouletabillt in a
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  Speaker 1: ringing tone. Frederic Larsan is the murderer. The court room
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  Speaker 1: became immediately filled with loud and indignant protests. So astonished
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  Speaker 1: was he that the President did not attempt to quiet it.
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  Speaker 1: The quick silence which followed was broken by the distinctly
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  Speaker 1: whispered words from the lips of Roberd Zac. It's impossible
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  Speaker 1: he's mad. You dare to accuse Frederic Laixan monsieur asked
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  Speaker 1: the president. If you are not mad. What are your proofs? Proofs, monsieur,
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: do you want proofs? Well, here is one, cried rouletabillt shreullly.
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  Speaker 1: Let Fredric Larsan be called. Usher, Call Frederic Larsan. The
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  Speaker 1: usher hurried to the side door, opened it and disappeared.
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  Speaker 1: The door remained open while all eyes turned expectantly towards it.
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  Speaker 1: The clerk reappeared, and, stepping forward, said monsieur, President, Frederic
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  Speaker 1: Larsan is not here. He left at about four o'clock
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  Speaker 1: and has not been seen since. That is my proof,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: cried Rouletabille, triumphantly. Explain yourself, demanded the President. My proof
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: is Lachson's flight, said the young reporter. He will not
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  Speaker 1: come back. You will see no more of Frederic Larson
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  Speaker 1: unless you are playing with the court. Monsieur, Why did
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: you not accuse him when he was present? He would
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: then have answered you. He could give no other answer
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  Speaker 1: than the one he has now given by his flight.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: We cannot believe that Laxant has fled. There was no
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: reason for his doing so. Did he know you'd make discharge?
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: He did? I told him I would. Do you mean
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: to say that knowing Lasan was the murderer. You gave
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: him the opportunity to escape. Yes, Monsieur president, I did,
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  Speaker 1: replied Rouletabill, proudly. I am not a policeman. I am
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  Speaker 1: a journalist, and my business is not to arrest people.
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  Speaker 1: My business is in the service of truth and is
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  Speaker 1: not that of an executioner. If you are just, Monsieur,
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  Speaker 1: you will see that I am right. You can now
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  Speaker 1: understand why I refrained until this hour to divulge the name.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I gave Arsant time to catch the four seventeen train
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  Speaker 1: for Paris, where he would know where to hide himself
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  Speaker 1: and leave no traces you will not find, Frederic Larson,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: declared Rouletabille, fixing his eyes on Monsieur Robert Darzac. He
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: is too cunning. He is a man who has always
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  Speaker 1: escaped you, and whom you have long searched for in vain.
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  Speaker 1: If he did not succeed in outwitting me, he can
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  Speaker 1: yet easily outwit any police. This man, who four years
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  Speaker 1: ago introduced himself to the surte and became celebrated as
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: Frederic Larsan is notorious under another name, a name well
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  Speaker 1: known to crime. Frederic Larson, mister President is bal mayor
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  Speaker 1: ball Mayor, cried the President. Ball Mayor, exclaimed Robert Darzac,
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  Speaker 1: springing to his feet, Ball Mayor, it was true, then, ah,
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur Darzac, you don't think I am mad? Now, cried
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  Speaker 1: Rule Dabaiy ball Mayor, Ball Mayor. No other word could
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  Speaker 1: be heard in the court room. The President adjourned the hearing.
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  Speaker 1: Those of my readers who may not have heard of
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  Speaker 1: ball Mayor will wonder at the excitement the name caused.
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  Speaker 1: And yet the doings of this remarkable criminal form the
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  Speaker 1: subject matter of the most dramatic narratives of the newspapers
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  Speaker 1: and criminal records of the past twenty years. It had
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: been reported that he was dead and thus had eluded
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  Speaker 1: the police, as he had eluded them throughout the whole
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: of his career. Ball Meyer was the best specimen of
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: the high class gentleman swindler. He was adapt at sleight
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  Speaker 1: of hand tricks, and no boulder or more ruthless crook
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  Speaker 1: ever lived. He was received in the best society and
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  Speaker 1: was a member of some of the most exclusive clubs.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: On many of his depredatory expeditions. He had not hesitated
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: to use the knife and the mutton burn no difficulty
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: stopped him, and no operation was too dangerous. He had
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: been caught, but escaped on the very morning of his
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: trial by throwing pepper into the eyes of the guards
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: who were conducting him to court. It was known later that,
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: in spite of the keen hunts after him by the
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: most expert of detectives, he had sat that same evening
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: at a first performance in the Theatronseis without the slightest disguise.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: He left Franz later to work America. The police there
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: succeeded in capturing him once, but the extraordinary man escaped
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: the next day. It would need a volume to recount
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: the adventures of this master criminal. And yet this was
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: the man Rotabat had allowed to get away. Knowing all
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: about him and who he was, he afforded the criminal
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: an opportunity for another laugh at the society he had defied.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: I could not help admiring the bold stroke of the
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: young journalist, because I felt certain his motive had been
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: to protect both Mademoiselle Dangerson and read Darzac of an enemy.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: At the same time, the crowd had barely recovered from
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: the effect of the astonishing revelation when the hearing was
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: resumed the question in everybody's mind was admitting that Larsan
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: was the murderer, how did he get out of the
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: yellow room. Rouletabille was immediately called to the bar and
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: his explanation continued. You have told us, said the President,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: that it was impossible to escape from the end of
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: the court, since Lachan was leaning out of his window
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: he had left the court. How did he do that?
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: He escaped by a most unusual way. He climbed the wall,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: sprang on to the terrace, and while we were engaged
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: with the keeper's body, reached the gallery by the window.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: He then had little else to do than to open
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: the window, get in and call out to us, as
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: if he had just come from his own room to
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: a man of bell Mayre's traint. All that was a
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: mere child's play. And here, monsieur, is the proof of
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: what I say. Rouletabill drew from his pocket a small
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: packet from which he produced a strong iron peg. This, monsieur,
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: is a spike which perfectly fits a hole still to
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: be seen on the cornice supporting the terrace. Laon, who
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: thought and prepared for everything in case of any emergency,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: had fixed this spike into the cornice. All he had
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: to do to make his escape good was to plant
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: one foot on a stone, which is placed at the
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: corner of the chateau, another on this support, one hand
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: on the cornice of the keeper's door, and the other
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: on the terrace, and Lasan was clear of the ground.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: The rest was easy. His acting after dinner as if
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: he had been drugged, was make believe he was not drugged,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: but he did drug me. Of course, he had to
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: make it appear as if he also had been drugged,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: so that no suspicion should fall on him for my condition.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: Had I not been just overpowered, Laxan would never have
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: entered Mademoiselle Stangerson's chamber that night, and the attack on
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: her would not have taken place. A groan came from Darzac,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: who appeared to be unable to control his suffering. You
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: can understand, added Rouletabille, that Larson could feel himself hampered
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: from the fact that MY room was so close to his,
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: and from his suspicion that I would be on the
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: watch that night. Naturally, he could not for a moment
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: believe that I suspected him, but I might see him
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: leaving his room when he was about to go to
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Mademoiselle Stangerson. I waited till I was asleep, and my
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: friend Saint Clair was busy trying to rouse me. Ten
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: minutes after that, Mademoiselle was calling out murder. How did
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: you come to suspect Larson, asked the President. My pure
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: reason pointed to him. That was why I watched him,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: But I did not foresee the drugging. He is very cunning. Yes,
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: my pure reason pointed to him, but I required tangible
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: proof so that my eyes could see him as my
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: pure reason saw him. What do you mean by your
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: pure reason, that power of one's mind which admits of
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: no disturbing elements to a conclusion. The day following the
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: incident of the inexplicable Gallery, I felt myself losing control
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: of it. I had allowed myself to be diverted by
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: fallacious evidence. But I recovered and again took hold of
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: the right end. I satisfied myself that the murderer could
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: not have left the gallery, either naturally or supernaturally. I
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: narrowed the field of consideration to that small circle, so
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: to speak. The murderer could not be outside that circle. Now,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: who was in it? There was first the murderer. Then
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: there were Daddy Jacques, Monsieurs Stangerson, Frederic Larson, and myself,
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: five persons in all counting in the murder, and yet
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: in the gallery there were but four. Now, since it
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: had been demonstrated to me that the fifth could not
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: have escaped, it was evident that one of the four
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: present in the gallery must be a double. He must
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: be himself and the murderer. Also, why had I not
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: seen this before, simply because the phenomenon of the double
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: personality had not occurred before in this inquiry. Now, who
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: of the four persons in the gallery was both that
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: person and the assassin? I went over in my mind
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: what I had seen. I had seen at one and
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: at the same time Missus Stangerson and the murderer, that
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: De Jacques and the murderer, myself and the murderer, so
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: that the murderer then could not be either Missus Stangerson,
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: that de Jacques or myself. Had I seen Frederic Larson
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: and at the same time, No two seconds had passed
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: during which I lost sight of the murderer, for as
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: I have noted in my papers, he arrived two seconds
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: before Missus Stangerson, Daddy Jacques, and myself at the meeting
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: point of the two galleries. That would have given Lason
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: time to go through the off turning gallery, snatch off
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: his false beard, return and hurry with us, as if
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: like us in pursuit of the murderer. I was sure
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: now I had got hold of the right end in
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: my reasoning with Frederic Larsan was now always associated in
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: my mind the personality of the unknown, of whom I
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: was in pursuit the murderer. In other words, end of
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty seven, Part A