Latest / The Gaston Leroux Library / The Mystery of the Yellow Room Chapter 6 - In the Heart of the Oak Grove
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- 0:02Speaker 1: Chapter six of the Mystery of the Yellow Room. This
- 0:05Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
- 0:09Speaker 1: public domain. For more free audiobooks auto volunteer, please visit
- 0:14Speaker 1: librivoux dot Org. Recording by J. C. Guan. The Mystery
- 0:19Speaker 1: of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux, Chapter six. In
- 0:24Speaker 1: the Heart of the Oak Grove, We reached the chateau,
- 0:29Speaker 1: and as we approached it saw four gendarmes pacing in
- 0:33Speaker 1: front of a little door in the ground floor of
- 0:36Speaker 1: the Donjon. We soon learned that in this ground floor,
- 0:41Speaker 1: which had formerly served as a prison, Monsieur and Madame Bernier,
- 0:45Speaker 1: the concierges, were confined. Monsieur Robert Darzac led us into
- 0:51Speaker 1: the modern part of the chateau by a large door
- 0:54Speaker 1: protected by a projecting awning. A marquise, as it is
- 0:58Speaker 1: called Tabby, who had resigned the horse and the cab
- 1:03Speaker 1: to the care of the servant, never took his eyes
- 1:06Speaker 1: off Monsieur Darzac. I followed his look and perceived that
- 1:11Speaker 1: it was directed solely towards the gloved hands of the
- 1:14Speaker 1: suborn professor. When we were in a tiny sitting room
- 1:18Speaker 1: fitted with old furniture, Monsieur Darzac turned toward Debby and said, sharply,
- 1:24Speaker 1: what do you want. The reporter answered, in an equally
- 1:28Speaker 1: sharp tone, to shake you by the hand. Darzac shrank back.
- 1:34Speaker 1: What does that mean? Evidently he understood what I also understood,
- 1:41Speaker 1: that my friend suspected him of the abominable attempt on
- 1:45Speaker 1: the life of Mademoiselle's Stangerson. The impression of the blood
- 1:49Speaker 1: stained hand on the walls of the yellow room was
- 1:52Speaker 1: in his mind. I looked at the man closely. His
- 1:56Speaker 1: haughty face, with its expression ordinarily so straet forward was
- 2:01Speaker 1: at this moment strangely troubled. He held out his right hand, and,
- 2:06Speaker 1: referring to me, said, as you are a friend of
- 2:10Speaker 1: missus Saint Clair, who has rendered me invaluable services in
- 2:13Speaker 1: a just cause. Monsieur, I see no reason for refusing
- 2:16Speaker 1: you my hand. Rouletabille did not take the extended hand,
- 2:22Speaker 1: Lying with the utmost audacity, he said, Monsieur, I have
- 2:28Speaker 1: lived several years in Russia, where I have acquired the
- 2:31Speaker 1: habit of never taking any but an ungloved hand. I
- 2:37Speaker 1: thought that the suborn professor would express his anger openly,
- 2:41Speaker 1: but on the contrary, by a visibly violent effort. He
- 2:45Speaker 1: calmed himself, took off his gloves and showed his hands.
- 2:50Speaker 1: They were unmarked by any cicatrix. Are you satisfied, No,
- 2:56Speaker 1: replied Rouletabille. My dear friend, he said, turning to me,
- 3:01Speaker 1: I am obliged to ask you to leave us alone
- 3:04Speaker 1: for a moment. I bowed and retired. Stupefied by what
- 3:09Speaker 1: I had seen and heard, I could not understand why
- 3:12Speaker 1: Monsieur Robert Darzac had not already shown the door to
- 3:15Speaker 1: my impertinent, insulting and stupid friend. I was angry myself
- 3:20Speaker 1: with Rouletabille at that moment for his suspicions which had
- 3:24Speaker 1: led to this scene of the gloves. For some twenty minutes,
- 3:29Speaker 1: I walked about in front of the chateau, trying vainly
- 3:32Speaker 1: to link together the different events of the day. What
- 3:36Speaker 1: was in Rouletabille's mind. Was it possible that he thought
- 3:40Speaker 1: Monsieur Robert Darzac to be the murderer? How could it
- 3:44Speaker 1: be thought that this man who was to have married
- 3:47Speaker 1: Mademoiselle Stangerson in the course of a few days, had
- 3:51Speaker 1: introduced himself into the Yellow room to assassinate his fiancee.
- 3:56Speaker 1: I could find no explanation as to how the murderer
- 3:59Speaker 1: had been able to leave the Yellow Room. And so
- 4:02Speaker 1: long as that mystery, which appeared to me so inexplicable,
- 4:07Speaker 1: remained unexplained, I thought it was the duty of all
- 4:11Speaker 1: of us to refrain from suspecting anybody. But then that
- 4:16Speaker 1: seemingly senseless phrase the presbytery has lost nothing of its charm,
- 4:22Speaker 1: nor the garden its brightness, still rang in my ears.
- 4:27Speaker 1: What did it mean? I was eager to rejoin Rouletabille
- 4:31Speaker 1: and question him. At that moment, the young man came
- 4:36Speaker 1: out of the chateau in the company of Monsieur Robert
- 4:38Speaker 1: Darzac and extraordinary to relate. I saw at a glance
- 4:44Speaker 1: that they were the best of friends. We are going
- 4:48Speaker 1: to the Yellow Room. Come with us, Rouletabille said to me.
- 4:53Speaker 1: You know, my dear boy, I am going to keep
- 4:55Speaker 1: you with me all day while breakfast together somewhere about here.
- 5:01Speaker 1: You'll breakfast with me here, gentlemen, No thanks, replied the
- 5:05Speaker 1: young man. We shall breakfast at the Donjon Inn. You'll
- 5:10Speaker 1: fare very badly there. You'll not find anything, do you
- 5:14Speaker 1: think so well? I hope to find something there, replied Rouletabille,
- 5:20Speaker 1: after breakfast, we'll set to work again. I'll write my article,
- 5:25Speaker 1: and if you'll be so good as to take it
- 5:27Speaker 1: to the office for me, won't you come back with
- 5:30Speaker 1: me to Paris. No, I shall remain here. I turned
- 5:35Speaker 1: towards Rouletabille. He spoke quite seriously, and Monsieur Robert Darzac
- 5:40Speaker 1: did not appear to be in the least degree surprised.
- 5:44Speaker 1: We were passing by the Donjean and heard wailing voices.
- 5:48Speaker 1: Rouletabille asked, why have these people been arrested? It is
- 5:53Speaker 1: a little my fault, said Monsieur Darzac. I happened to
- 5:57Speaker 1: remark to the examining magistrate yesterday that it was inexplicable
- 6:01Speaker 1: that the concierges had had time to hear the revolver shots,
- 6:05Speaker 1: to dress themselves, and to cover so great a destince
- 6:08Speaker 1: as that which lies between their lodge and the pavilion
- 6:12Speaker 1: in the space of two minutes. For not more than
- 6:15Speaker 1: that interval of time had elapsed after the firing of
- 6:18Speaker 1: the shots when they were met by Daddy Jacques. That
- 6:23Speaker 1: was suspicious, evidently acquiesced Rouletabille. And were they dressed, That
- 6:29Speaker 1: is what is so incredible. They were dressed completely not
- 6:33Speaker 1: one part of their accustomed wanting. The woman wore sabbats,
- 6:38Speaker 1: but the man had unlaced boots. Now they assert that
- 6:41Speaker 1: they went to bed at half past nine. On arriving
- 6:45Speaker 1: this morning, the examining magistrate brought with him from Paris
- 6:49Speaker 1: a revolver of the same caliber as that found in
- 6:52Speaker 1: the room, for he couldn't use the one held for evidence,
- 6:55Speaker 1: and made his register fire two shots in the yellow
- 6:58Speaker 1: room while the doors and windows were closed. We were
- 7:02Speaker 1: with him in the lodge of the concierges, and yet
- 7:06Speaker 1: we heard nothing, not a sound. The concierges have lied
- 7:10Speaker 1: of that. There can be no doubt. They must have
- 7:13Speaker 1: been already waiting, not far from the pavilion, waiting for something.
- 7:19Speaker 1: Certainly they are not to be accused of being the
- 7:22Speaker 1: authors of the crime, but their complicity is not improbable.
- 7:26Speaker 1: That was why Monsieur de Marquees had them arrested at once.
- 7:31Speaker 1: If they had been accomplices, said Rouletabille, they would not
- 7:35Speaker 1: have been there at all. When people throw themselves into
- 7:39Speaker 1: the arms of justice with the proofs of complicity on them,
- 7:43Speaker 1: you can be sure they are not accomplices. I don't
- 7:47Speaker 1: believe there are any accomplices in this affair, then why
- 7:52Speaker 1: were they abroad at midnight? Why don't they say? They
- 7:57Speaker 1: have certainly some reason for their silence. What that reason
- 8:01Speaker 1: is has to be found out, For even if they
- 8:04Speaker 1: are not accomplices, it may be of importance. Everything that
- 8:09Speaker 1: took place on such a night is important. We had
- 8:13Speaker 1: crossed an old bridge thrown over the douve, and were
- 8:16Speaker 1: entering the part of the park called the Oak Grove.
- 8:20Speaker 1: The oaks here were centuries old. Autumn had already shriveled,
- 8:25Speaker 1: their tawny leaves, and their high branches, black and contorted,
- 8:31Speaker 1: looked like horrid heads of hair, mingled with quaint reptiles,
- 8:36Speaker 1: such as the ancient sculptors might have made of the
- 8:39Speaker 1: head of Medusa. This place, which Mademoiselle found cheerful, and
- 8:45Speaker 1: in which she lived in the summer season, appeared to
- 8:49Speaker 1: us as sad and funereal. Now the soil was black
- 8:54Speaker 1: and muddy from the recent rains and the rotting of
- 8:58Speaker 1: the fallen leaves. The trunks of the trees were black,
- 9:02Speaker 1: and the sky above us was now as if in mourning,
- 9:06Speaker 1: charged with great heavy clouds. And it was in this
- 9:11Speaker 1: somber and desolate retreat that we saw the white walls
- 9:15Speaker 1: of the pavilion as we approached, a queer looking building
- 9:19Speaker 1: without a window visible. On the side by which we
- 9:22Speaker 1: neared it, a little door alone marked the entrance to it.
- 9:28Speaker 1: It might have passed for a tomb, a vast mausoleum
- 9:31Speaker 1: in the midst of a thick forest. As we came nearer,
- 9:36Speaker 1: we were able to make out its disposition. The building
- 9:40Speaker 1: obtained all the light it needed from the south, that
- 9:44Speaker 1: is to say, from the open country. The little door
- 9:48Speaker 1: closed on the park. Monsieur and Mademoiselle Dangerson must have
- 9:53Speaker 1: found it an ideal seclusion for their work and their dreams.
- 9:58Speaker 1: The pavilion had a ground floor which was reached by
- 10:02Speaker 1: a few steps, and above it was an attic with
- 10:06Speaker 1: which we need not concern ourselves. Rouletabille had drawn a
- 10:11Speaker 1: plan of the building, showing the yellow room with its
- 10:15Speaker 1: one window and its one door opening into the laboratory.
- 10:20Speaker 1: The laboratory with its two large barred windows and its doors,
- 10:25Speaker 1: one serving for the vestibule, the other for the yellow room.
- 10:29Speaker 1: The vestibule with its unbarred window and door opening into
- 10:34Speaker 1: the park. The laboratory, the stairs leading to the attic
- 10:39Speaker 1: and the large and only chimney in the pavilion serving
- 10:43Speaker 1: for the experiments of the laboratory. I assured myself that
- 10:49Speaker 1: there was not a line in this plan that was
- 10:52Speaker 1: wanting to help to the solution of the problem then
- 10:55Speaker 1: set before the police. Thus, my readers will know as
- 10:59Speaker 1: much as Rouletabill knew when he entered the pavilion for
- 11:03Speaker 1: the first time. With him, they may now ask how
- 11:08Speaker 1: did the murderer escape from the yellow room. Before mounting
- 11:11Speaker 1: the three steps leading up to the door of the pavilion,
- 11:15Speaker 1: Rouletabill stopped and asked Monsieur Darzac point blank, what was
- 11:20Speaker 1: the motive for the crime? Speaking for myself, Monsieur, there
- 11:24Speaker 1: can be no doubt on the matter, said Mademoiselle Stangerson's
- 11:28Speaker 1: fiancee greatly distressed. The nails of the fingers, the deep
- 11:33Speaker 1: scratches on the chests and throat of Mademoiselle Stangerson showed
- 11:37Speaker 1: that the wretch who attacked her attempted to commit a
- 11:40Speaker 1: frightful crime. The medical expert who examined these traces yesterday
- 11:45Speaker 1: affirmed that they were made by the same hand as
- 11:47Speaker 1: that which left its imprint on the wall. An enormous hand, Monsieur,
- 11:52Speaker 1: much too large to go into my glove, he added,
- 11:56Speaker 1: with an indefinable smile. Could not blood stained hand I
- 12:01Speaker 1: interrupted have been the hand of Mademoiselle Stangerson, who, in
- 12:05Speaker 1: the moment of falling, had pressed it against the wall,
- 12:09Speaker 1: and in slipping enlarged the impression. There was not a
- 12:13Speaker 1: drop of blood on either of her hands when she
- 12:16Speaker 1: was lifted up, replied Monsieur Darzac. We are now sure,
- 12:21Speaker 1: said I, that it was Mademoiselle Stangerson who was armed
- 12:24Speaker 1: with Daddy Jaques's revolver. Since she wounded the hand of
- 12:27Speaker 1: the murderer. She was in fear then of somebody or something.
- 12:33Speaker 1: Probably do you suspect anybody, no, replied Monsieur Darzac, looking
- 12:39Speaker 1: at Rouletabille. Rouletabille then said to me, you must know,
- 12:44Speaker 1: my friend, that the inquiry is a little more advanced
- 12:47Speaker 1: than Monsieur de Marquy has chosen to tell us. He
- 12:51Speaker 1: not only knows that Mademoiselle Stangerson defended herself with the revolver,
- 12:55Speaker 1: but he knows what the weapon was that was used
- 12:59Speaker 1: to attack her. Monsieur Darzac tells me it was a
- 13:02Speaker 1: mutton bone. Why is Monsieur de Marquis surrounding this mutton
- 13:06Speaker 1: bone with so much mystery, no doubt, for the purpose
- 13:11Speaker 1: of facilitating the inquiries of the agents of the surte.
- 13:15Speaker 1: He imagines, perhaps that the owner of this instrument of crime,
- 13:20Speaker 1: the most terrible invented, is going to be found amongst
- 13:23Speaker 1: those who are well known in the slums of Paris
- 13:26Speaker 1: who use it. But who can ever say what passes
- 13:30Speaker 1: through the brain of in examining magistrate Rouletabille added, with
- 13:36Speaker 1: contemptuous irony, Has he mutton bone been found in the
- 13:40Speaker 1: yellow room? I asked him, Yes, Monsieur, said Robert Darzac
- 13:45Speaker 1: at the foot of the bed. But I beg of
- 13:48Speaker 1: you not to say anything about it. I made a
- 13:51Speaker 1: gesture of assent. It was an enormous mutton bone, the
- 13:55Speaker 1: top of which, or rather the joint, was still red
- 13:58Speaker 1: with the blood of the frightful wounds. It was an
- 14:01Speaker 1: old bone which may, according to appearances, have served in
- 14:06Speaker 1: other crimes. That's what Monsieur de Marquer thinks. He has
- 14:10Speaker 1: had it sent to the municipal laboratory at Paris to
- 14:13Speaker 1: be analyzed. In fact, he thinks he has detected on it,
- 14:18Speaker 1: not only the blood of the last victim, but other
- 14:21Speaker 1: stains of dried blood evidences of previous crimes. A mutton
- 14:27Speaker 1: bone in the hand of a skilled assassin is a
- 14:30Speaker 1: frightful weapon, said Rouletabille, A more certain weapon than a
- 14:35Speaker 1: heavy hammer. The scoundrel has proved it to be so,
- 14:39Speaker 1: said Monsieur Roberdarzac. Sadly, the joint of the bone found
- 14:44Speaker 1: exactly fits the wound inflicted. My belief is that the
- 14:49Speaker 1: wound would have been mortal if the murderer's blow had
- 14:52Speaker 1: not been arrested in the act by Mademoiselle Stangerson's revolver.
- 14:57Speaker 1: Wounded in the hand, he dropped the mutton bone and fled. Unfortunately,
- 15:03Speaker 1: the blow had been already given, and Mademoiselle was stunned
- 15:07Speaker 1: after having been nearly strangled. If she had succeeded in
- 15:11Speaker 1: wounding the man with the first trot of the revolver,
- 15:14Speaker 1: she would doubtless have escaped the blow with the bone.
- 15:19Speaker 1: But she had certainly implored her revolver too late. The
- 15:22Speaker 1: first shot deviated and lodged in the ceiling. It was
- 15:27Speaker 1: the second only that took effect. Having said this, Monsieur
- 15:32Speaker 1: Darzac knocked at the door of the pavilion, I must
- 15:36Speaker 1: confess to feeling a strong impatience to reach the spot
- 15:40Speaker 1: where the crime had been committed. It was some time
- 15:44Speaker 1: before the door was opened by a man whom I
- 15:47Speaker 1: at once recognized as the Dejacques. He appeared to be
- 15:52Speaker 1: well over sixty years of age. He had a long
- 15:55Speaker 1: white beard and white hair, on which he wore a
- 15:58Speaker 1: flat basque cap. He was dressed to any complete suit
- 16:03Speaker 1: of chestnut colored velveteen worn at the side. Sabots were
- 16:08Speaker 1: on his feet. He had rather a waspish looking face,
- 16:13Speaker 1: the expression of which lightened. However, as soon as he
- 16:16Speaker 1: saw Monsieur Darzac. Friends said our guide, nobody in the pavilion,
- 16:21Speaker 1: Dad de Jacques, I ought not to allow anybody to enter,
- 16:26Speaker 1: Monsieur Robert, But of course the order does not apply
- 16:30Speaker 1: to you. These gentlemen of justice have seen everything there
- 16:34Speaker 1: is to be seen, and made enough drawings and drawn
- 16:38Speaker 1: up enough reports. Excuse me, Da de Jacques, one question
- 16:43Speaker 1: before anything else, said Rouletabille, What is it, young man?
- 16:47Speaker 1: If I can answer it? Did your mistress wear her
- 16:51Speaker 1: hair and bands that evening? You know what I mean?
- 16:54Speaker 1: Over her forehead? No, young man, my mistress never wore
- 16:59Speaker 1: her hair the way you suggest, neither on that day
- 17:03Speaker 1: nor on any other. She had her hair drawn up
- 17:07Speaker 1: as usual, so that her beautiful forehead could be seen
- 17:11Speaker 1: pure as that of an unborn child. Rouletabyll grunted and
- 17:16Speaker 1: set to work examining the door. Finding that it fastened
- 17:20Speaker 1: itself automatically, he satisfied himself that it could never remain open,
- 17:26Speaker 1: and neither the key to open it. Then we entered
- 17:29Speaker 1: the vestibule, a small welded room paved with square red tiles. Ah,
- 17:37Speaker 1: this is the window by which the mergery escaped, said Rouletabill.
- 17:42Speaker 1: So they keep on saying, Monsieur, So they keep on saying.
- 17:47Speaker 1: But if he had gone off that way, we should
- 17:49Speaker 1: have been sure to have seen him. We are not blind,
- 17:53Speaker 1: neither Monsieur Stangerson, nor May nor the concierges who are
- 17:57Speaker 1: in the prison. Why have they not put me in
- 18:00Speaker 1: prison too, on account of my revolver. Rouletabille had already
- 18:06Speaker 1: opened the window and was examining the shutters. Were these
- 18:11Speaker 1: closed at the time of the crime and fastened with
- 18:14Speaker 1: the iron catch inside? Said Daddy Jacques. And I am
- 18:18Speaker 1: quite sure that the murderer did not get out that way.
- 18:22Speaker 1: Are there any blood stains? Yes, on the stones outside,
- 18:27Speaker 1: but blood of what, ah said Rouletabille. They are footmarks
- 18:33Speaker 1: visible on the path. The ground was very moist. I
- 18:37Speaker 1: will look into that presently. Nonsense, interrupted Daddy Jacques. The
- 18:43Speaker 1: mader did not go that way. Which way did he go? Then?
- 18:48Speaker 1: How do I know? Rouletabill looked at everything, smelled everything.
- 18:55Speaker 1: He went down on his knees and rapidly examined every
- 18:59Speaker 1: one of the paving tiles. Dad Dejacques went on, Ah,
- 19:04Speaker 1: you can't find anything, monsieur. Nothing has been found, and
- 19:09Speaker 1: now it is all dirty. Too many persons have tramped
- 19:13Speaker 1: over it. They wouldn't let me wash it. But on
- 19:17Speaker 1: the day of the crime I had washed the floor thoroughly,
- 19:21Speaker 1: and if the murderer had crossed it with his hob
- 19:24Speaker 1: nailed boots, I should not have failed to see where
- 19:27Speaker 1: he had been. He has left marks enough. In Mademoiselle's chamber,
- 19:33Speaker 1: Rouletabille rose, When was the last time you washed these tiles?
- 19:37Speaker 1: He asked, and he fixed on the Dejacques a most
- 19:41Speaker 1: searching look. Why, as I told you, on the day
- 19:45Speaker 1: of the crime, towards half past five, while Mademoiselle and
- 19:50Speaker 1: her father were taking a little walk before dinner here
- 19:54Speaker 1: in this room. They had dined in the laboratory. The
- 19:58Speaker 1: next day the examining magistrate came and saw all the
- 20:02Speaker 1: marks there were on the floor as plainly as if
- 20:05Speaker 1: they had been made with ink on White's paper. While
- 20:09Speaker 1: neither in the laboratory nor in the vestibule, which were
- 20:13Speaker 1: both as clean as a new pin, were there any
- 20:16Speaker 1: traces of a man's footmarks, since they have been found
- 20:19Speaker 1: near this window outside. He must have made his way
- 20:23Speaker 1: through the ceiling of the yellow room into the attic,
- 20:26Speaker 1: then cut his way through the roof and dropped to
- 20:29Speaker 1: the ground outside the vestibule window. But there's no hole,
- 20:34Speaker 1: neither in the ceiling of the yellow room nor in
- 20:37Speaker 1: the room of mayattic. That is absolutely certain. So you see,
- 20:42Speaker 1: we know nothing nothing, and nothing will ever be known.
- 20:47Speaker 1: It's a mystery of the devil's own making. Rouledabille went
- 20:51Speaker 1: down upon his knees again, almost in front of a
- 20:55Speaker 1: small laboratory at the back of the vestibule. In that
- 20:59Speaker 1: position he remained for about a minute. Well, I asked
- 21:04Speaker 1: him when he got up, Oh, nothing very important. A
- 21:09Speaker 1: drop of blood, he replied, turning towards Daddijacques. As he spoke,
- 21:15Speaker 1: while you were washing the laboratory and this vestibule was
- 21:19Speaker 1: the vestibule window open? He asked, No, Monsieur, it was closed.
- 21:25Speaker 1: But after I had done washing the floor, I lit
- 21:27Speaker 1: some charcoal for Monsieur in the laboratory furnace, and as
- 21:31Speaker 1: I lit it with old newspapers, it smoked, And so
- 21:34Speaker 1: I opened both the windows in the laboratory and this
- 21:37Speaker 1: one to make a current of air. Then I shut
- 21:41Speaker 1: those in the laboratory and left this one open when
- 21:44Speaker 1: I went out. When I returned to the pavilion, this
- 21:48Speaker 1: window had been closed, and Monsieur and Mademoiselle were already
- 21:52Speaker 1: at work in the laboratory. Monsieur or Mademoiselle Stangerson had
- 21:58Speaker 1: no doubt shut it, No doubt you did not ask them.
- 22:04Speaker 1: After a close scrutiny of the little laboratory and of
- 22:07Speaker 1: the staircase leading up through the attic, Rotabille, to whom
- 22:12Speaker 1: we seemed no longer to exist, entered the laboratory. I
- 22:16Speaker 1: followed him. It was I confessed, in a state of
- 22:20Speaker 1: great excitement. Robert Arzac lost none of my friend's movements.
- 22:26Speaker 1: As for me, my eyes were drawn at once to
- 22:29Speaker 1: the door of the yellow room. It was closed, and,
- 22:33Speaker 1: as I immediately saw, partially shattered and out of commission.
- 22:39Speaker 1: My friend, who went about his work methodically, silently studied
- 22:43Speaker 1: the room in which we were. It was large and
- 22:47Speaker 1: well lighted. Two big windows almost bays, were protected by
- 22:52Speaker 1: strong iron bars, and looked out upon a wide extent
- 22:57Speaker 1: of country through and open in the forest. They commanded
- 23:02Speaker 1: a wonderful view through the lengths of the valley and
- 23:05Speaker 1: across the plain to the large town, which could be
- 23:09Speaker 1: clearly seen in fair weather. To day, however, a mist
- 23:14Speaker 1: hung over the ground and blood in that room. The
- 23:18Speaker 1: whole of the side of the laboratory was taken up
- 23:21Speaker 1: with a large chimney, crucibles, ovens, and such implements as
- 23:27Speaker 1: are needed for chemical experiments, tables loaded with files, papers, reports,
- 23:35Speaker 1: and electrical machine and apparatus, as Monsieur Darzac informed me,
- 23:41Speaker 1: employed by Professor Stangerson to demonstrate the dissociation of matter
- 23:46Speaker 1: under the action of solar light and other scientific implements.
- 23:51Speaker 1: Along the walls were cabinets, plain or glass fronted, through
- 23:56Speaker 1: which were visible microscopes, special photographic apparat and a large
- 24:01Speaker 1: quantity of crystals. Rouletabille, who was sperriting in the chimney,
- 24:06Speaker 1: put his fingers into one of the cusables. Suddenly he
- 24:11Speaker 1: drew himself up and held up a piece of half
- 24:14Speaker 1: consumed paper in his hand. He stepped up to where
- 24:18Speaker 1: we were talking by one of the windows. Keep that
- 24:21Speaker 1: for us, Missie Darzac, he said. I bent over the
- 24:26Speaker 1: piece of scorched paper, which Monsieur Darzac took from the
- 24:29Speaker 1: hand of Rouletabille, and read distinctly the only words that
- 24:33Speaker 1: remained legible. Presbytery lost nothing charm nor the gar its brightness.
- 24:44Speaker 1: Twice since the morning, these same meaningless words had struck me,
- 24:49Speaker 1: and for the second time I saw that they produced
- 24:52Speaker 1: on the suburn professor the same paralyzing effect. Monsie Darzac's
- 24:57Speaker 1: first anxiety showed itself when and he turned his eyes
- 25:01Speaker 1: in the direction of da Dejacques, but occupied as he
- 25:05Speaker 1: was at another window, he had seen nothing. Then, trembling,
- 25:11Speaker 1: opening his pocket book, he put the piece of paper
- 25:15Speaker 1: into it, sighing, my God. During this time, Rouletabille had
- 25:22Speaker 1: mounted into the opening of the ferry grate, that is
- 25:25Speaker 1: to say, he had got upon the bricks of a
- 25:28Speaker 1: furnace and was attentively examining the chimney, which grew narrower
- 25:33Speaker 1: towards the top, the outlet from it being closed with
- 25:37Speaker 1: sheets of iron fastened into the brickwork, through which passed
- 25:42Speaker 1: three small chimneys. Impossible to get out that way, he said,
- 25:48Speaker 1: jumping back into the laboratory. Besides, even if he had
- 25:52Speaker 1: tried to do it, he would have brought all that
- 25:55Speaker 1: iron work down to the ground. No, no, it is
- 25:59Speaker 1: not on that side. We have to search. Rouletabill next
- 26:03Speaker 1: examined the furniture and opened the doors of the cabinet.
- 26:08Speaker 1: Then he came to the windows, through which he declared
- 26:12Speaker 1: no one could possibly have passed. At the second window,
- 26:16Speaker 1: he found Dad Dejacques in contemplation. Well, Dad Dejacques, he said,
- 26:22Speaker 1: what are you looking at? That policeman who is always
- 26:26Speaker 1: going round and round the lake? Another of those fellows
- 26:30Speaker 1: who think they can see better than anybody else. You
- 26:34Speaker 1: don't know Frederic Larson, Dad Jacques, or you wouldn't speak
- 26:38Speaker 1: of him in that way, said Rouletabill, in a melancholy tone.
- 26:42Speaker 1: If there is any one who will find the murderer,
- 26:45Speaker 1: it will be he, and Rouletabill heaved a deep sigh.
- 26:50Speaker 1: Before they find him, they will have to learn how
- 26:54Speaker 1: they lost him, said Daddi Jacques stolidly. At lunch we
- 27:00Speaker 1: reached the door of the Yellow room itself. There is
- 27:04Speaker 1: the door behind which some terrible scene took place, said Rouletabille,
- 27:09Speaker 1: with a solemnity, which under any other circumstance would have
- 27:14Speaker 1: been comical. End of Chapter six