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The Mystery of the Yellow Room Chapter 9 - Reporter and Detective · The Gaston Leroux Library

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  Speaker 1: Chapter nine 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 free audio books or to volunteer,
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  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Gloria Zublicky. The
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  Speaker 1: Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gueston LaRue, Chapter nine.
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  Speaker 1: Reporter and detective. The three of us went back towards
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  Speaker 1: the pavilion, at some distance from the building. The reporter
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  Speaker 1: made us stop, and, pointing to a small clump of
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  Speaker 1: trees to the right of us, said that's where the
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  Speaker 1: murderer came from to get into the pavilion. As there
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  Speaker 1: were other patches of trees of the same sort between
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  Speaker 1: the great oaks. I asked why the murderer had chosen
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  Speaker 1: that one rather than any of the others. Rouletabille answered
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  Speaker 1: me by pointing to the which ran quite close to
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  Speaker 1: the thicket to the door of the pavilion. That path is,
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  Speaker 1: as you see, topped with gravel. He said, the man
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  Speaker 1: must have passed along it going to the pavilion, since
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  Speaker 1: no traces of his steps have been found on the
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  Speaker 1: soft ground. The man didn't have wings. He walked, but
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  Speaker 1: he walked on the gravel, which left no impression of
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  Speaker 1: his tread. The gravel has in fact been trodden by
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  Speaker 1: many other feet. Since the path is the most direct
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  Speaker 1: way between the pavilion and the chateau. As to the
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  Speaker 1: thicket made of the sort of shrubs that don't flourish
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  Speaker 1: in the rough season, laurels and fuches, it offered the
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  Speaker 1: murderer a sufficient hiding place until it was time for
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  Speaker 1: him to make his way to the pavilion. It was
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  Speaker 1: while hiding in that clump of trees that he saw
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur and Mademoiselle Stangerson, and then Daddy Jacques leave the pavilion.
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  Speaker 1: Gravel has been spread nearly, very nearly up to the
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  Speaker 1: window of the pavilion. The footprints of a man, parallel
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  Speaker 1: with the wall marks which we will exams, and presently
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  Speaker 1: in which I have already seen, prove that he only
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  Speaker 1: needed to make one stride to find himself in front
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  Speaker 1: of the vestibule window left open by Daddy Jacques. The
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  Speaker 1: man drew himself up by his hands and entered the vestibule.
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  Speaker 1: After all, it is very possible, I said, after all, what,
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  Speaker 1: after all, what cried Rouletabille. I begged of him not
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  Speaker 1: to be angry, but he was too much irritated to
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  Speaker 1: listen to me, and declared ironically that he admired the
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  Speaker 1: prudent doubt with which certain people approached the most simple problems,
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  Speaker 1: risking nothing by saying that is so or that is
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  Speaker 1: not so. Their intelligence would have produced about the same
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  Speaker 1: result if nature had forgotten to furnish their brain pan
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  Speaker 1: with a little gray matter. As I appeared vexed, my
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  Speaker 1: young friend took me by the arm and admitted that
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  Speaker 1: he had not meant that for me. He thought more
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  Speaker 1: of me than that if I did not reason as
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  Speaker 1: I do in regard to this gravel, he went on,
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  Speaker 1: I should have to assume a balloon, My dear fellow,
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  Speaker 1: The science of the aero station of dirigible balloons is
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  Speaker 1: not yet developed enough for me to consider it and
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  Speaker 1: suppose that a murderer would drop from the clouds. So
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  Speaker 1: don't say a thing is possible when it could not
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  Speaker 1: be otherwise. We know now how the man entered by
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  Speaker 1: the window, and we also know the moment at which
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  Speaker 1: he entered During the five o'clock walk of the professor
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  Speaker 1: and his daughter. The fact of the presence of the
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  Speaker 1: chambermaid who had come to clean up the yellow room
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  Speaker 1: in the laboratory when Monsieur Stangerson and his daughter returned
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  Speaker 1: from their walk at half past one. Permits us to
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  Speaker 1: affirm that at half past one the murderer was not
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  Speaker 1: in the chamber under the bed, unless he was in
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  Speaker 1: collusion with the chambermaid. What do you say, Monsieur Darzac.
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur Darzac shook his head and said he was sure
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  Speaker 1: of the chambermaid's fidelity, and that she was a thoroughly
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  Speaker 1: honest and devoted servant. Besides, he added, at five o'clock,
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur standers and went into the room to fetch his
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  Speaker 1: daughter's hat. There is that, also said Rouletabille, that the
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  Speaker 1: man entered by the window at the time. You say,
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  Speaker 1: I admit, I said, But why did he shut the window?
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  Speaker 1: It was an act which would necessarily draw the attention
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  Speaker 1: of those who had left it open. It may be
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  Speaker 1: the window was not shut at once, replied the young reporter.
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  Speaker 1: But if he did shut the window, it was because
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  Speaker 1: of the bend in the gravel path a dozen yards
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  Speaker 1: from the pavilion, and on account of the three oaks
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  Speaker 1: that are growing at that spot. What do you mean
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  Speaker 1: by that, asked Monsieur Darzac, who had followed us and
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  Speaker 1: listened with almost breathless attention to all that Rouletabille had said.
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  Speaker 1: I'll explain all to you, lady, monsieur, when I think
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  Speaker 1: the moment to be ripe for doing so. But I
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  Speaker 1: don't think I have anything of more importance to say
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  Speaker 1: on this affair. If my hypothesis is justified, And what
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  Speaker 1: is your hypothesis? You will never know if it does
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  Speaker 1: not turn out to be the truth. It of much
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  Speaker 1: too grave a nature to speak of it, so long
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  Speaker 1: as it continues to be only a hypothesis. Have you
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  Speaker 1: at least some idea as to who the murderer is? No, Monsieur,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know who the murderer is, but don't be afraid,
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur Robert Darzac, I shall know. I could not but
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  Speaker 1: observe that Monsieur Darzac was deeply moved, and I suspected
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  Speaker 1: that Rouletabille's confident assertion was not pleasing to him. Why,
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  Speaker 1: I asked myself, if he was really afraid that the
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  Speaker 1: murderer should be discovered, was he helping the reporter to
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  Speaker 1: find him? My young friend seemed to have received the
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  Speaker 1: same impression, for he said bluntly, Monsieur Darzac, don't you
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  Speaker 1: want me to find out who the murderer was? Oh?
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  Speaker 1: I should like to kill him with my own hand,
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  Speaker 1: cried Mademoiselle Stangerson's fiancee, with a vehemence that amazed me.
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  Speaker 1: I believe you, said Rouletabille, gravely, but you have not
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  Speaker 1: answered my question. We were passing by the thicket of
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  Speaker 1: which the young reporter had spoken to us a minute
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  Speaker 1: before I entered it and pointed out evident traces of
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  Speaker 1: a man who had been hidden there. Rouletabille once more
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  Speaker 1: was right, Yes, yes, he said. We have to do
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  Speaker 1: with a thing of flesh and blood who uses the
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  Speaker 1: same means that we do. It'll all come out on
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  Speaker 1: those lines. Having said this, he asked me for the
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  Speaker 1: paper pattern of the footprint, which he had given me
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  Speaker 1: to take care of, and applied it to a very
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  Speaker 1: clear footmark behind the thicket. Aha, he said, rising. I
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  Speaker 1: thought he was now going to trace back the track
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  Speaker 1: of the murderer's footmarks to the vestibule window, but he
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  Speaker 1: led us instead far to the left, saying that it
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  Speaker 1: was useless ferreting in the mud, and that he was
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  Speaker 1: sure now of the road taken by the murderer. He
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  Speaker 1: went along the wall to the hedge and dry ditch
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  Speaker 1: over which he jumped, see just in front of the
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  Speaker 1: little path leading to the lake. That was his nearest
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  Speaker 1: way to get out. How do you know he went
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  Speaker 1: to the lake because Frederic Larsan has not quitted the
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  Speaker 1: borders of it since this morning. There must be some
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  Speaker 1: important marks there. A few minutes later we reached the lake.
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  Speaker 1: It was a little sheet of marshy water, surrounded by reeds,
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  Speaker 1: on which floated some dead water lily leaves. The Great
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  Speaker 1: fred may have seen us approaching, but we probably interested
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  Speaker 1: him very little, for he took hardly any notice of us,
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  Speaker 1: and continued to be stirring with his cane something which
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  Speaker 1: we could not see. Look, said Rouletabille. Here again are
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  Speaker 1: the footmarks of the escaping man. They skirt the lake
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  Speaker 1: here and finally disappeared just before this path, which leads
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  Speaker 1: to the high road to Epinay. The man continued his
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  Speaker 1: flight to Paris. What makes you think that, i asked,
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  Speaker 1: Since these footmarks are not continued on the path, What
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  Speaker 1: makes me think that? Why these footprints which I expected
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  Speaker 1: to find? He cried, pointing to the sharply outlined imprint
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  Speaker 1: of a neat boot. See and he called to Frederic Lawson,
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur Fred, these neat footprint and seemed to have been
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  Speaker 1: made since the discovery of the crime. Yes, young man,
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  Speaker 1: Yes they have been carefully made, replied fred without raising
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  Speaker 1: his head. You see there are steps that come and
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  Speaker 1: steps that go back. And the man had a bicycle,
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  Speaker 1: cried the reporter. Here, after looking at the marks of
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  Speaker 1: the bicycle which followed going and coming the neat footprints,
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  Speaker 1: I thought I might intervene. The bicycle explains the disappearance
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  Speaker 1: of the murderer's big footprints, I said. The murderer, with
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  Speaker 1: his rough boots, mounted a bicycle. His accomplice, the wearer
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  Speaker 1: of the neat boots, had come to wait for him
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  Speaker 1: on the edge of the lake. With the bicycle. It
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  Speaker 1: might be supposed that the murderer was working for the other. No, no,
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  Speaker 1: replied Rouletabille, with a strange smile. I have expected to
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  Speaker 1: find these footmarks from the very beginning. These are not
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  Speaker 1: the footmarks of the murderer. Then there were two, No,
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  Speaker 1: there was but one, and he had no accomplice. Very good,
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  Speaker 1: very good, cried Frederic Larsan look, continued the young reporter,
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  Speaker 1: showing us the ground where it had been disturbed by
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  Speaker 1: the big and heavy heels. The man seated himself there
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  Speaker 1: and took off his hobnailed boots, which he had worn
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  Speaker 1: only for the purpose of misleading detection, and then, no
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  Speaker 1: doubt taking them away with him. He stood up in
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  Speaker 1: his own boots and quietly and slowly regained the high road,
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  Speaker 1: holding his bicycle in his hand, for he could not
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  Speaker 1: venture to ride it on this rough path. That accounts
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  Speaker 1: for the lightness of the impression made by the wheels
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  Speaker 1: along it, in spite of the softness of the ground.
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  Speaker 1: If there had been a man on the bicycle, the
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  Speaker 1: wheels would have sunk deeply into the soil. No, No,
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  Speaker 1: there was but one man there, the murderer on foot. Bravo, bravo,
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  Speaker 1: cried fred again, and coming suddenly towards us, and planting
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  Speaker 1: himself in front of Monsieur Robert Darzac, he said to him,
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  Speaker 1: if we had a bicycle here, we might demonstrate the
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  Speaker 1: correctness of the young man's reason. Monsieur Robert Darzac, do
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  Speaker 1: you know whether there is one at the chateau, No,
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  Speaker 1: replied Monsieur Darzac, there is not. I took mine four
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  Speaker 1: days ago to Paris, the last time I came to
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  Speaker 1: the chateau before the crime. That's a pity, replied Fred,
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  Speaker 1: very coldly, and then turning to Rouletabille, he said, if
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  Speaker 1: we go on at this rate, we'll both come to
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  Speaker 1: the same conclusion. Have you any idea as to how
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  Speaker 1: the murderer got away from the Yellow room? Yes, said
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  Speaker 1: my young friend. I have an idea. So have I
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  Speaker 1: said Fred, and it must be the same as yours.
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  Speaker 1: There are no two ways of reasoning in this affair.
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  Speaker 1: I am waiting for the arrival of my chief before
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  Speaker 1: offering any explanation to the examining magistrate. Ah is the
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  Speaker 1: chief of the Seurte coming, Yes, this afternoon. He is
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  Speaker 1: going to a summon before the magistrate in the laboratory,
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  Speaker 1: all those who have played any part in this tragedy.
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  Speaker 1: It will be very interesting. It is a pity you
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  Speaker 1: won't be able to be present. I shall be present,
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  Speaker 1: said Rouletabille confidently. Really, you are an extraordinary fellow for
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  Speaker 1: your age, replied the detective, in a tone not wholly
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  Speaker 1: free from irony. You'd make a wonderful detective, if you
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  Speaker 1: had a little more method, if you didn't follow your instincts,
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  Speaker 1: and that bump on your forehead, as I have already
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  Speaker 1: several times observed, Monsieur Rouletabille, you reason too much. You
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  Speaker 1: do not allow yourself to be guided by what you
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  Speaker 1: have seen. What do you say to the handkerchief full
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  Speaker 1: of blood and the red mark of the hand on
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  Speaker 1: the wall. You have seen the stain on the wall,
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  Speaker 1: but I have only seen the handkerchief, bah, cried Rouletabille.
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  Speaker 1: The murderer was wounded in the hand by Mademoiselle Stangerson's revolver.
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  Speaker 1: Ah A simply instinctive observation. Take care. You are becoming
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  Speaker 1: too strictly logical, Monsieur Rouletabille. Logic will upset you if
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  Speaker 1: you use it indiscriminately. You are right when you say
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  Speaker 1: that Mademoiselle Stangerson fired her revolver, but you are wrong
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  Speaker 1: when you say that she wounded the murderer in the hand.
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  Speaker 1: I am sure of it, cried Rouletabille. Fred imperturbable interrupted him.
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  Speaker 1: Defective observation. Defective observation. The examination of the handkerchief, the
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  Speaker 1: numberless little round scarlet stains the impression of drops, which
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  Speaker 1: I found in the tracks of the footprints at the
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  Speaker 1: moment when they were made on the floor, proved to
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  Speaker 1: me that the murderer was not wounded at all, Monsieur Rouletabille.
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  Speaker 1: The murderer bled at the nose. The Great Fred spoke
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  Speaker 1: quite seriously. However, I could not refrain from uttering an exclamation.
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  Speaker 1: The reporter looked gravely at Fred, who looked gravely at him,
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  Speaker 1: and Fred immediately concluded. The man allowed the blood to
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  Speaker 1: flow into his hand and handkerchief and dried his hand
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  Speaker 1: on the wall. The fact is highly important, he added,
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  Speaker 1: because there is no need of his being wounded in
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  Speaker 1: the hand for him to be the murderer. Rouletabille seemed
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  Speaker 1: to be thinking deeply. After a moment, he said, there
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  Speaker 1: is something, a something, Monsieur Frederic laws in much graver
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  Speaker 1: than the misuse of logic, the disposition of mind in
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  Speaker 1: some detectives which makes them in perfect could faith twist
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  Speaker 1: logic to the necessities of their preconceived ideas. You already
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  Speaker 1: have your idea about the murderer, Monsieur Fred. Don't deny it,
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  Speaker 1: and your theory demands that the murderer should not have
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  Speaker 1: been wounded in the hand. Otherwise it comes to nothing,
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  Speaker 1: and you have searched and have found something else. It's dangerous,
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  Speaker 1: very dangerous, Monsieur Fred, to go from a preconceived idea
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  Speaker 1: to find the proofs to fit it. That method may
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  Speaker 1: leave you far astray. Beware of judicial error, Monsieur Fred,
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  Speaker 1: it will trip you up. And laughing a little in
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  Speaker 1: a slightly bantering tone, his hands in his pockets, Rouletabille
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  Speaker 1: fixed his cunning eyes on the great Fred. Frederic Larsan
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  Speaker 1: silently contemplated the young reporter who pretended to be as
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  Speaker 1: wise as himself. Shrugging his showl, he bowed to us
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  Speaker 1: and moved quickly away, hitting the stones on his path
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  Speaker 1: with his stout cane. Rouletabille watched his retreat and then
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  Speaker 1: turned towards us, his face joyous and triumphant. I shall
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  Speaker 1: beat him, he cried, I shall beat the great Fred,
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  Speaker 1: clever as he is, I shall beat them all, and
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  Speaker 1: he danced a double shuffle. Suddenly he stopped. My eyes
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  Speaker 1: followed his gaze. They were fixed on Monsieur Robert Darzac,
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  Speaker 1: who was looking anxiously at the impression left by his feet.
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  Speaker 1: Side by side with the elegant footmarks. There was not
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  Speaker 1: a particle of difference between them. We thought he was
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  Speaker 1: about to faint. His eyes, bulging with terror, avoided us,
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  Speaker 1: while his right hand, with a spasmodic movement, twitched at
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  Speaker 1: the beard that covered his honest, gentle and now despairing face.
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  Speaker 1: At length, regaining his self possession, he bowed to us,
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  Speaker 1: and remarking in a changed voice, that he was obliged
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  Speaker 1: to return to the chateau, and left us. The deuce,
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  Speaker 1: exclaimed Rouletabille. He also appeared to be deeply concerned. From
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  Speaker 1: his pocket book, he took a piece of white paper,
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  Speaker 1: as I had seen him do before, and with his
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  Speaker 1: scissors cut out the shape of the neat boot marks
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  Speaker 1: that were on the ground. Then he fitted the new
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  Speaker 1: paper pattern with the one he had previously made. The
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  Speaker 1: two were exactly alike, rising, Rouletabille exclaimed again the Deuce presently,
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  Speaker 1: he added, Yet I believe Monsieur Robert Darzac to be
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  Speaker 1: an honest man. He then led me on the road
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  Speaker 1: to the Donjon Inn, which we could see on the
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  Speaker 1: highway by the side of a small clump of trees.
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  Speaker 1: End of chapter nine