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The Mystery of the Yellow Room Chapter 26 - In Which Joseph Rouletabille Is Awaited... · The Gaston Leroux Library

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty six of the Mystery of the Yellow Room.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: 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 le Roux,
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  Speaker 1: chapter twenty six, in which Joseph Rouletabille is awaited with
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  Speaker 1: impatience on the fifteenth of January, that is to say,
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  Speaker 1: two months and a half after the tragic events. I
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  Speaker 1: have narrated the epoch printed as the first column of
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  Speaker 1: the front page the following sensational article. The cenny Wise
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  Speaker 1: jury is summoned to day to give its verdict on
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  Speaker 1: one of the most mysterious affairs in the annals of crime.
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  Speaker 1: There never has been a case with so many obscure,
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  Speaker 1: incomprehensible and inexplicable points, and yet the prosecution has not
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  Speaker 1: hesitated to put into the prisoner's dock. A man who
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  Speaker 1: is respected, esteemed and loved by all who knew him,
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  Speaker 1: a young savant, the hope of French science, whose whole
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  Speaker 1: life has been devoted to knowledge and truth. When Paris
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  Speaker 1: heard of Monsieur Robert Darzac's arrest. A unanimous cry of
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  Speaker 1: protest arose from all sides. The whole Sorbonne, disgraced by
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  Speaker 1: this act of the examining magistrate, asserted its belief in
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  Speaker 1: the innocence of Mademoiselle Stangerson's fiancee. Monsieur Stangerson was loud
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  Speaker 1: in his denunciation of this miscarriage of justice. There is
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  Speaker 1: no doubt in the mind of anybody that could the
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  Speaker 1: victim speak, she would claim from the jurors of Senne
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  Speaker 1: was the man she wishes to make her husband, and
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  Speaker 1: whom the prosecution would send to the scaffold. It is
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  Speaker 1: to be hoped that Mademoiselle Stangerson will shortly recover her reason,
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  Speaker 1: which has been temporarily unhinged by the horrible mischief at
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  Speaker 1: the Grandier. The question before the jury is the one
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  Speaker 1: we propose to deal with this very day. We have
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  Speaker 1: decided not to permit twelve worthy men to commit a
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  Speaker 1: disgraceful miscarriage of justice. We confess that the remarkable coincidences,
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  Speaker 1: the many convicting evidences, and the inexplicable silence on the
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  Speaker 1: part of the accused, as well as a total absence
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  Speaker 1: of any evidence for an alibi were enough to warrant
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  Speaker 1: the bench of judges in assuming that in this man
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  Speaker 1: alone was centered the truths of the affair. The evidences
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  Speaker 1: are in appearance so overwhelming against Monsieur Bert Darzac that
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  Speaker 1: a detective so well informed, so intelligent, and generally so
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  Speaker 1: successful as Monsieur Frederic Larsan may be excused for having
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  Speaker 1: been misled by them. Up to now everything has gone
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  Speaker 1: against Monsieur Robert Darzac in the magisterial inquiry. To day, however,
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  Speaker 1: we are going to defend him before the jury, and
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  Speaker 1: we are going to bring to the witness stand a
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  Speaker 1: light that will illuminate the whole mystery of the Glandier.
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  Speaker 1: For we possess the truth. If we have not spoken sooner,
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  Speaker 1: it is because the interests of certain parties in the
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  Speaker 1: case demand that we should take that course. Our readers
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  Speaker 1: may remember the unsigned report we published relating to the
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  Speaker 1: left foot of the reobercamp at the time of the
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  Speaker 1: famous robbery of the Grete Universales and the famous case
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  Speaker 1: of the gold ingots of the Mint. In both those
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  Speaker 1: cases we were able to discover the truth before even
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  Speaker 1: the excellent ingenuity of Frederic Larsan had been able to
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  Speaker 1: unravel it. These reports were written by our youngest reporter,
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  Speaker 1: Joseph Rotabille, a youth of eighteen, whose fain to morrow
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  Speaker 1: will be world wide. When attention was res drawn to
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  Speaker 1: the Glandier Casse, our youthful reporter was on the spot
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  Speaker 1: and installed in the chateau. When every other representative of
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  Speaker 1: the press had been denied admission. He worked side by
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  Speaker 1: side with Frederic Larsan. He was amazed and terrified at
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  Speaker 1: the grave mistake the celebrated detective was about to make,
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  Speaker 1: and tried to divert him from the fourth scent he
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  Speaker 1: was following, But the great fred refused to receive instructions
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  Speaker 1: from this young journalist. We know now where it brought
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur Bert Darzac, but now France must know. The whole
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  Speaker 1: world must know that. On the very evening on which
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur Darzac was arrested, young Rouletabe entered our editorial office
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  Speaker 1: and informed us that he was about to go away
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  Speaker 1: on a journey. How long I shall be away, he said,
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  Speaker 1: I cannot say, perhaps a month, perhaps two for three,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps I may never return. Here is a letter if
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  Speaker 1: I am not back on the day on which mister
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  Speaker 1: Darzac is to appear before the esceased court. Have this
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  Speaker 1: letter opened and read to the court, after all the
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  Speaker 1: witnesses have been heard, arrange it with mister Darzac's council.
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  Speaker 1: Mister Darzac is innocent. In this letter is written the
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  Speaker 1: name of the murderer, and that is all I have
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  Speaker 1: to say. I am leaving to get my proofs for
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  Speaker 1: the irrefutable evidence of the murderer's guilt. Our reporter departed
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  Speaker 1: for a long time. We were without news from him.
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  Speaker 1: But a week ago a stranger called upon our manager
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  Speaker 1: and said, act in accordance with the instructions of roosephreu Daby,
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  Speaker 1: if it becomes necessary to do so. The letter left
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  Speaker 1: by him holds the truth. The gentleman who brought us
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  Speaker 1: this message would not give us his name. To day,
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  Speaker 1: the fifteenth January, is the day of the trial. Joseph
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  Speaker 1: Roule Deby has not returned. It may be we shall
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  Speaker 1: never see him again. The press also counts its heroes,
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  Speaker 1: its martyrs to duty. It may be he is no
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  Speaker 1: longer living. We shall know how to avenge him. Our
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  Speaker 1: manager will this afternoon be at the court of Assis
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  Speaker 1: at Versailles. With the letter, the letter containing the name
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  Speaker 1: of the murderer. Those Parisians who flocked to the Acease
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  Speaker 1: Court at Versailles to be present at the trial of
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  Speaker 1: what was known as the Mystery of the Yellow Room
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  Speaker 1: will certainly remember the terrible crush at the sin Lazar station.
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  Speaker 1: The ordinary trains were so full that special trains had
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  Speaker 1: to be made up. The article in the epook had
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  Speaker 1: so excited the populace that discussion was rife everywhere, even
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  Speaker 1: to the verge of blows. Partisans of rouletabill fought with
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  Speaker 1: the supporters of Frederic Larsan. Curiously enough, the excitement was
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  Speaker 1: due less to the fact that an innocent man was
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  Speaker 1: in danger of a wrongful conviction than to the interest
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  Speaker 1: taken in their own ideas as to the mystery of
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  Speaker 1: the Yellow Room. Each had his explanation to each each
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  Speaker 1: held fast. Those who explained the crime on Frederic Larsan's
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  Speaker 1: theory would not admit that there could be any doubt
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  Speaker 1: as to the prespicacity of the popular detective. Others who
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  Speaker 1: had arrived at a different solution naturally insisted that this
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  Speaker 1: was Rouletabet's explanation, though they did not as yet know
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  Speaker 1: what that was. With the days epoke in their hands,
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  Speaker 1: the Lasans and the Rouletabilles fought and shoved each other
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  Speaker 1: on the steps of the Paladiesis, right into the court itself.
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  Speaker 1: Those who could not get in remained in the neighborhood
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  Speaker 1: until evening, and were with great difficulty kept back by
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  Speaker 1: the soldier and the police. They became hungry for news,
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  Speaker 1: welcoming the most absurd rumors. At one time, the rumors
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  Speaker 1: spread that Missus Stangerson himself had been arrested in the
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  Speaker 1: court and had confessed to being the murderer. This goes
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  Speaker 1: to show with a pitch of madness, nervous excitement may
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  Speaker 1: carry people. Rouletabille was still expected. Some pretended to know him,
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  Speaker 1: and when a young man with a pass crossed the
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  Speaker 1: open space which separated the crowd from the court house,
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  Speaker 1: a scuffle took place. Cries were raised of Rouletabille, there's Rouletabille.
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  Speaker 1: The arrival of the manager of the paper was the
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  Speaker 1: signals for a great demonstration. Some applauded, others hissed. The
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  Speaker 1: trial itself was presided over by Monsieur de Racus, a
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  Speaker 1: judge filled with the prejudice of his class but a
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  Speaker 1: man honest at heart. The witnesses had been I was there,
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  Speaker 1: of course, as were all who had in any way
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  Speaker 1: been in touch with the mysteries of the grandier. Missus Stangerson,
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  Speaker 1: looking many years older and almost unrecognizable, Larsan Arthur Rance,
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  Speaker 1: with his face ready as ever, Daddy Jacques Daddimatieux, who
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  Speaker 1: was brought into court handcuffed between two gendarmes, Madame Mathieu
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  Speaker 1: in tears, the two berneers, the two nurses, the steward,
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  Speaker 1: all the domestics of the chateau, the employer of the
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  Speaker 1: Paris post office, the railway employer from the epinay, some
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  Speaker 1: friends of Monsieur and Mademoiselle Stangerson, and all Monsieur Dearzac's witnesses.
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  Speaker 1: I was lucky enough to be called early in the trial,
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  Speaker 1: so that I was then able to watch and be
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  Speaker 1: present at almost the whole of the proceedings. The court
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  Speaker 1: was so crowded that many lawyers were compelled to find
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  Speaker 1: seats on the steps. Behind the bench of justices were
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  Speaker 1: representatives from other benches. Monsieur Berdarzac stood in the prisoner's
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  Speaker 1: dock between policemen, tall, handsome and calm. A murmur of
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  Speaker 1: admiration rather than of compassion, greeted his appearance. He leaned
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  Speaker 1: forward towards his council Metrenri Robert, who assisted by his
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  Speaker 1: chief secretary Metre Andreees, was busy turning over the folios
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  Speaker 1: of his brief Many expected that Monsieurs Stangerson, after giving
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  Speaker 1: his evidence, would have gone over to the prisoner and
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  Speaker 1: shaking hands with him, but he left the court without
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  Speaker 1: another word. It was remarked that the jurors appeared to
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  Speaker 1: be deeply interested in a rapid conversation which the manager
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  Speaker 1: of the Epoch was having with Metronre Roder. The manager
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  Speaker 1: later sat down in the front row of the public seats.
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  Speaker 1: Some were that he was not asked to remain with
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  Speaker 1: the other witnesses in the room reserved for them. The
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  Speaker 1: reading of the indictment was got through, as it always is,
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  Speaker 1: without any incident. I shall not here report the long
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  Speaker 1: examination to which Monsieur Robert Darzac was subjected. He answered
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  Speaker 1: all the questions quickly and easily. His silence as to
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  Speaker 1: the important matters of which we know, was dead against him.
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  Speaker 1: It would seem as if this reticence would be fatal
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  Speaker 1: to him he resented the president's reprimanse. He was told
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  Speaker 1: that his silence might mean death. Very well, he said,
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  Speaker 1: I will submit to it, but I am innocent with
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  Speaker 1: that splendid ability which has made his fame. Metre Robert
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  Speaker 1: took advantage of the incident and tried to show that
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  Speaker 1: it brought out, in noble relief his client's character, for
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  Speaker 1: only heroic natures could remain silent for moral reasons in
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  Speaker 1: face of such a danger. The eminent advocate, however, only
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  Speaker 1: succeeded in assuring those who were already assured of Darzac's innocence.
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  Speaker 1: At the adjourntment Rouletabai had not arrived. Yet every time
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  Speaker 1: the door opened, all eyes were turned towards it and
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  Speaker 1: back to the manager of the epoch, who sat impassive
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  Speaker 1: in his place when he once was feeling in his pocket.
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  Speaker 1: A loud murmur of expectation followed the latter. It is not, however,
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  Speaker 1: my intention to report in detail the course of the trial.
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  Speaker 1: My readers are sufficiently acquainted with the mysteries surrounding the
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  Speaker 1: Glandier case to enable me to go on to the
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  Speaker 1: really dramatic denouement of this ever memorable day, when the
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  Speaker 1: trial was resumed. Metro aure Robert questioned the Deimatieu as
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  Speaker 1: to his complicity in the death of the keeper. His
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  Speaker 1: wife was also brought in and was confronted by her husband.
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  Speaker 1: She burst into tears and confessed that she had been
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  Speaker 1: the keeper's mistress and that her husband had suspected it.
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  Speaker 1: She again, however, affirmed that he had had nothing to
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  Speaker 1: do with the murder of her lover Matrion. Robert thereupon
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  Speaker 1: asked the court to hear Fredrich Clarson on this point.
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  Speaker 1: In a short conversation which I have had with Fredrich
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  Speaker 1: Clarson during the adjointment, declared the advocate, he has made
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  Speaker 1: me understand that the death of the keeper may have
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  Speaker 1: been brought about otherwise than by the hand of Mathieu.
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  Speaker 1: It will be interesting to hear Fredric Claarson's theory. Fredric
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  Speaker 1: Clarson was brought in. His explanation was quite clear. I
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  Speaker 1: see no necessity he said for bringing Mateu in this.
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  Speaker 1: I have told Monsieur de Marques that the man's threats
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  Speaker 1: had by it the examining magistrate against him. To me
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  Speaker 1: the attempt to murder Mademoiselle and the death of the
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  Speaker 1: keeper of the work of one and the same person.
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  Speaker 1: Mademoiselle Stangerson's murderer, flying through the court was fired on.
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  Speaker 1: It was thought he was struck, perhaps killed. As a
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  Speaker 1: matter of fact, he only stumbled at the moment of
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  Speaker 1: his disappearance behind the corner of the right wing of
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  Speaker 1: the chateau. There he encountered the keeper, who no doubt
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  Speaker 1: tried to seize him. The murderer had in his hand
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  Speaker 1: the knife with which he had stabbed the Mademoiselle Stangerson,
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  Speaker 1: and with this he killed the keeper. This very simple
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  Speaker 1: explanation appeared at once plausible and satisfying. A murmur of
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  Speaker 1: approbation was heard, and the murderer what became of him?
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  Speaker 1: Asked the President. He was evidently hidden in an obscure
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  Speaker 1: corner at the end of the court. After the people
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  Speaker 1: had left the court, carrying with them the body of
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  Speaker 1: the keeper, the murderer quietly made his escape. The words
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  Speaker 1: had scarcely left Larson's mouth when from the back of
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  Speaker 1: the court came a joyful voice. I agree with Frederic
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  Speaker 1: Larsan as to the death of the keeper, but I
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  Speaker 1: do not agree with him as to the way the
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  Speaker 1: murderer escaped. Everybody turned round, astonished, the clerks of the
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  Speaker 1: court sprang towards the speaker, calling out silence, and the
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  Speaker 1: president angrily ordered the intruder to be immediately expelled. The
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  Speaker 1: same clear voice, however, was again heard. It is I
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur President Joseph Ultabille, end of Chapter twenty six. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by J. C. I. Guan, Montreal, November two thousand eight.