The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux (thriller books to read TXT) đ
- Author: Gaston Leroux
Book online «The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux (thriller books to read TXT) đ». Author Gaston Leroux
ââBut how to explain that he was not there, that he had already escaped? It passes all imagination!âNobody under the bed, nobody behind the furniture!âAll that we discovered were traces, blood-stained marks of a manâs large hand on the walls and on the door; a big handkerchief red with blood, without any initials, an old cap, and many fresh footmarks of a man on the floor,âfootmarks of a man with large feet whose boot-soles had left a sort of sooty impression. How had this man got away? How had he vanished? Donât forget, monsieur, that there is no chimney in âThe Yellow Roomâ. He could not have escaped by the door, which is narrow, and on the threshold of which the concierge stood with the lamp, while her husband and I searched for him in every corner of the little room, where it is impossible for anyone to hide himself. The door, which had been forced open against the wall, could not conceal anything behind it, as we assured ourselves. By the window, still in every way secured, no flight had been possible. What then?âI began to believe in the Devil.
ââBut we discovered my revolver on the floor!âYes, my revolver! Oh! that brought me back to the reality! The Devil would not have needed to steal my revolver to kill Mademoiselle. The man who had been there had first gone up to my attic and taken my revolver from the drawer where I kept it. We then ascertained, by counting the cartridges, that the assassin had fired two shots. Ah! it was fortunate for me that Monsieur Stangerson was in the laboratory when the affair took place and had seen with his own eyes that I was there with him; for otherwise, with this business of my revolver, I donât know where we should have been,âI should now be under lock and bar. Justice wants no more to send a man to the scaffold!ââ
The editor of the âMatinâ added to this interview the following lines:
âWe have, without interrupting him, allowed Daddy Jacques to recount to us roughly all he knows about the crime of âThe Yellow Roomâ. We have reproduced it in his own words, only sparing the reader the continual lamentations with which he garnished his narrative. It is quite understood, Daddy Jacques, quite understood, that you are very fond of your masters; and you want them to know it, and never cease repeating itâespecially since the discovery of your revolver. It is your right, and we see no harm in it. We should have liked to put some further questions to Daddy JacquesâJacquesâLouis Moustierâbut the inquiry of the examining magistrate, which is being carried on at the chateau, makes it impossible for us to gain admission at the Glandier; and, as to the oak wood, it is guarded by a wide circle of policemen, who are jealously watching all traces that can lead to the pavilion, and that may perhaps lead to the discovery of the assassin. âWe have also wished to question the concierges, but they are invisible. Finally, we have waited in a roadside inn, not far from the gate of the chateau, for the departure of Monsieur de Marquet, the magistrate of Corbeil. At half-past five we saw him and his clerk and, before he was able to enter his carriage, had an opportunity to ask him the following question:
ââCan you, Monsieur de Marquet, give us any information as to this affair, without inconvenience to the course of your inquiry?â
ââIt is impossible for us to do it,â replied Monsieur de Marquet. âI can only say that it is the strangest affair I have ever known. The more we think we know something, the further we are from knowing anything!â
âWe asked Monsieur de Marquet to be good enough to explain his last words; and this is what he said,âthe importance of which no one will fail to recognise:
ââIf nothing is added to the material facts so far established, I fear that the mystery which surrounds the abominable crime of which Mademoiselle Stangerson has been the victim will never be brought to light; but it is to be hoped, for the sake of our human reason, that the examination of the walls, and of the ceiling of âThe Yellow Roomââan examination which I shall to-morrow intrust to the builder who constructed the pavilion four years agoâwill afford us the proof that may not discourage us. For the problem is this: we know by what way the assassin gained admission,âhe entered by the door and hid himself under the bed, awaiting Mademoiselle Stangerson. But how did he leave? How did he escape? If no trap, no secret door, no hiding place, no opening of any sort is found; if the examination of the wallsâeven to the demolition of the pavilionâdoes not reveal any passage practicableânot only for a human being, but for any being whatsoeverâif the ceiling shows no crack, if the floor hides no underground passage, one must really believe in the Devil, as Daddy Jacques says!ââ
And the anonymous writer in the âMatinâ added in this articleâwhich I have selected as the most interesting of all those that were published on the subject of this affairâthat the examining magistrate appeared to place a peculiar significance to the last sentence: âOne must really believe in the Devil, as Jacques says.â
The article concluded with these lines: âWe wanted to know what Daddy Jacques meant by the cry of the Bete Du Bon Dieu.â The landlord of the Donjon Inn explained to us that it is the particularly sinister cry which is uttered sometimes at night by the cat of an old woman,âMother Angenoux, as she is called in the country. Mother Angenoux is a sort of saint, who lives in a hut in the heart of the forest, not far from the grotto of Sainte-Genevieve.
ââThe Yellow Roomâ, the Bete Du Bon Dieu, Mother Angenoux, the Devil, Sainte-Genevieve, Daddy Jacques,âhere is a well entangled crime which the stroke of a pickaxe in the wall may disentangle for us to-morrow. Let us at least hope that, for the sake of our human reason, as the examining magistrate says. Meanwhile, it is expected that Mademoiselle Stangersonâwho has not ceased to be delirious and only pronounces one word distinctly, âMurderer! Murderer!ââwill not live through the night.â
In conclusion, and at a late hour, the same journal announced that the Chief of the Surete had telegraphed to the famous detective, Frederic Larsan, who had been sent to London for an affair of stolen securities, to return immediately to Paris.
CHAPTER II. In Which Joseph Rouletabille Appears for the First Time
I remember
Comments (0)