"The Mystery of the Yellow Room" "A foul crime..." "In which there is some confusion ...at Professor Stangerson's home, as he worked in his lab." "Mlle Stangerson's life was threatened as she rested in an adjacent room." "Continued on page 5." "Despite the guards around the house, we can present a full account of events by Père Jacques, the Stangersons' loyal servant who was in the laboratory with the professor and Mathilde." "The laboratory cuckoo clock rang midnight..." " Good night, Papa." " Sleep tight, my dear." "Mathilde Stangerson stood and kissed her father." "She entered her room next to the lab." "She locked the door of the Yellow Room and bolted it." "Mademoiselle is locking herself in." "I bet she's scared of the Beastie." "Père Jacques laughed and said," ""I bet she's scared of the Beastie."" "Mr Stangerson ignored this quip and concentrated on his work." "But then a bloodcurdling cry was heard outside." "At that point, as the hideous cuckoo chimed half past midnight, a terrible uproar came from the Yellow Room." "Mademoiselle cried," ""Murder!" "Murder!" "Help!"" "Mathilde!" "Answer me!" "Shots immediately rang out with a din of tables and furniture being knocked over as in a struggle and again Mademoiselle called," ""Murder!" "Help!" "Papa!" ""Papa!"" ""Mr Stangerson and I leapt to our feet" ""and rushed at the door."" "But the door had been locked and bolted by Mademoiselle." "Mr Stangerson was unable to budge it." "Then Père Jacques had a brainwave." "The killer used the window!" ""The killer used the window," he cried." ""I'll go to the window!"" "He rushed out of the pavilion." "Père Jacques found Mr and Mme Bernier, the caretakers, coming to the rescue." "They found the window bars intact and the shutters closed behind them." "Mr Stangerson and Bernier still couldn't break the door down." " Bernier?" "Who's Bernier?" " The caretaker." "In the end, the door gave way." "Mathilde, what happened?" "She's dead!" "There's blood everywhere!" "With the laboratory's powerful dynamo lamp," "Père Jacques lit the room." "Mademoiselle lay on the floor in her nightdress." "She was drenched in blood, scratched and blood from a wound on her right temple was forming a small puddle on the floor." "On the floor, a gun." "Père Jacques was terrified to see that it was his." "On examining it, it was clear that two shots were fired." "Père Jacques's gun." "We'll keep an eye on him." "My dear chap, he was behind the door with old Stangerson." "Be logical." "Nobody under the bed, nobody behind the furniture, nobody!" "Nobody..." "But there were traces:" "A bloody handprint on a wall and fresh footmarks on the carpet." "Where did he vanish to?" "Up the chimney?" "No chimney." "No passage for any being, human or otherwise." "A man passed through the shutters" ""Judge Demarquet is expected today."" "Two words." "De Marquet." "They keep doing it." ""But the famous Inspector Larsan of the police" ""is already present." ""His men are examining the Yellow Room."" "Let us pray this fine sleuth of a policeman won't demolish such a beautiful mystery." "Fear not." "We won't learn anything." "May I introduce myself?" "Joseph Rouletabille, reporter with L'Epoque, and our photographer, Sainclair." "Good day." "De Marquet, examining magistrate, and Mr Maleine, my clerk." "We are sworn to professional secrecy, you know." "Of course." " A fine case." " Yes." "A most mysterious one." "We won't find the key to it for a long while, I hope." "What do you hope, sir?" "Well, I don't hope." "I believe." "I still love trains." " Don't you?" " I suppose." "The smell of the ballast..." " Can you smell it?" " Yes." "Watch your egg." "See how good it smells..." "Mystery!" "As journalists, you must know the Stangersons." "Only by reputation." "You won't be able to enter the house or the grounds." "I'll get in." "I doubt it." "The orders are strict." "From Mr Stangerson, the police and Inspector Larsan." " And you, sir!" " And me, of course." "Two words." ""De" and then "Marquet"." "Tell me, my fellow, is that the house there?" "Yes." "Please thank Mr Stangerson for sending his car but my assistant and I would rather savour the freshness of this country morning." "We'll cut across the fields to the estate." "You're sure..." "Yes!" "Have a nice cup of coffee waiting for us." "In which Joseph Rouletabille makes a remark that has an effect on Robert Darzac" "Are you Robert Darzac, Mlle Stangerson's fiancé?" "Yes, I was..." "I am." "Listen carefully then." ""The presbytery is bewitching in its radiant garden."" "Sir!" "Pull yourself together!" "Come, come!" "This is Sainclair, photographer with L'Epoque." "Joseph Rouletabille." "You know those words?" "I'll tell you how but it must stay confidential." "Climb in." "Sir, I never shake hands with a gloved man." " Satisfied?" " Is Mlle Stangerson better?" "She nearly didn't last the night." "They must save her..." "or it will kill me." "I can't hear the engine." "The sun's beams power the car." "The axial sensor on the roof allows..." "Professor Stangerson's invention." "A breakdown?" "A cloud." "No more sun for the turbine." "We'll have to wait." "I'll answer a quick call of nature." ""The presbytery is bewitching in its radiant garden."" "Sainclair!" " We're going to the Room." " All right." " We'll sleep at the house." " All right!" "Odd idea you had coming on foot." "Strange, isn't it?" "Inspector Frédéric Larsan is already at work." " Who?" " You don't know him?" "The famous Frédéric Larsan." "Back from Spain just for this case." "An artist, in his way..." "We need to have his permission to enter." "You mustn't make a sound." "Mathilde is resting in her bedroom and so is the professor." " In the same room?" " No!" "In his!" "Now, we'll have to eat red meat!" "Who are they?" "The caretakers." " Why arrest such decent folk?" " They lied." "I pointed out to the police that the Berniers couldn't have heard both shots, dressed and arrived in two minutes." "Dressed." "That is fishy." "An accomplice would've stayed away." "There are no accomplices here." "We'll go this way." "Larsan had them arrested but they don't matter to him." "Really?" "Every little thing matters on such a night." "Come along, sir." "Look!" "It's him!" "I can't see." "Robert!" "What's going on here?" "What are you ferreting about for?" "Have you all gone mad?" "Meet Mr Rouletabille and Mr Sainclair." "I'm sorry but, you know, after what happened..." "I'm really very upset," "I'm discombobulated, I'm all over the place," "I'm welding any old how." "The professor won't be pleased." "He's such a kind and emotional man." "What a tragedy..." "Watch my glubber, if you don't mind." "Why was Mlle Stangerson sleeping here?" "Mademoiselle likes to spend the summer in the pavilion instead of the house." "It's nicer." "It's to be close to her father!" "Something happened behind this door..." "The perfume of the lady in black!" "This window is inviolable and intact." "The Beastie!" "I should murder the gloomy thing!" "No!" "It's my fault." "I caused the caretakers to be arrested." "It's hungry." "Look at this blood on the wall..." "There was no blood on Mlle Stangerson's hands." "The man who left this mark here was in the dark and thought he was pushing a door." "That's why he pressed his hand down so firmly, leaving this incriminating mark." "There aren't many hands like this one." "What an odd hand." "The outline has been altered by its motion." "He wiped his wounded hand on the wall." "In which Rouletabille explores under the bed" "Did you look under the bed?" "We looked everywhere!" " He was under here." " After his socks..." "The immensity of what we cannot see..." "This is indeed a huge, magnificent and most curious enigma." "Inspector Larsan claims that the killer left the Yellow Room in a perfectly natural manner and will soon explain how." "Does Larsan know something that I merely sense?" "Larsan is a clever man." "But this isn't just police work." "Abandon experience and be logical." "Tackle it from the right angle." "I write "angle"?" "The right angle of reason." "Look here!" "Boot marks..." "The killer came this way." "These are the only marks." " After all, it could be..." " After all what?" " What do you mean?" " Calm down..." "Don't say a thing could be when it can't not be!" "Coming, Mr Darzac?" "Yes." "If you..." "A straight line here..." "Look, more boot marks..." "There was a stone here." "Search the bottom." "Right now?" "Yes." " We don't have the equipment." " Do it." "How long have famed reporters known Mr Darzac?" "How long, Mr Larsan, famed detective, have these dainty steps been here?" "Since the crime, young man." "You see..." "Footmarks that come and footmarks that go." "I've been waiting for these." "The killer's footmarks." "What about the heavier ones?" " The killer's too." " Two killers?" "No, just one and no accomplices." "Very clever!" " Very clever indeed." " Watch." "The man sat down here, removed the boots he used to fool the police, and, taking them with him, stood up on his own two feet and calmly walked to the road." "Bravo!" "Mr Darzac..." "Let me see your sole." "Dainty." "You'd make a wonderful policeman, sir, with a little more method." "Let observation guide you." "I see blood." "The killer's hand was wounded by Mlle Stangerson's gun." "A brutal, instinctive observation." "Beware, Mr Rouletabille!" "Logic can play nasty tricks if you mishandle it." "The victim fired but you're wrong about the wound." " I'm sure of it!" " Poor observation." "The killer wasn't wounded." "The killer, Mr Rouletabille, had a nosebleed!" "You have your suspicions, Mr Fred." "But if the killer was wounded, your whole theory collapses." "So you mulled it over and invented a nosebleed." "That's a dangerous game." "It's dangerous to use your idea of the killer to reach the proof that you need." "You're heading for a judicial error." "I'll beat "the Great Fred"." "I'll beat them all." "The Great Fred, famous, formidable Fred has the logic of a slipper!" "He probably reckons that the killer used the stone to sink his boots." "Hats off." "The immensity of what we cannot see..." "I have to be going." "Maybe..." "What?" "Mathilde is being questioned..." "Right now?" "I want to hear." "Come on then." "If the corpse talks, this can get interesting." "Let's go back to that day." "I'd like to go over everything you did that day." "My father and I were up late the night before because we had attended the French President's reception." "Such lovely grounds..." "And a wonderful ball too." "Handsome gentlemen waltzing, such original gowns..." "A delicious buffet..." "Delicious." "And a firework display of incredible beauty." "Yes, we already know that." "Do you have an idea how the killer left your room?" "None at all." "I can't remember." "You don't know what happens when you're dead." "Indeed... if you were dead..." "Yes, officer?" "I'm inspecting, sir." "Go and inspect elsewhere." "What was that?" "Don't stand there like a lump." "Where have you been?" "I was finishing off some trifles." "Trifles?" "Sit down, Robert my boy." "Was the man tall or short?" "The shadow I saw looked formidable." "You can't tell us more?" "A man pounced on me, I fired at him." "That's all I know." "Did you have your soup?" "Not yet." "I was waiting for you." "Did you take your essence of croune?" "Not yet." "It gives off such a peculiar smell." "It's the crushed croune." "Père Jacques picked it late." "It'll do you good." "It would do you good too." "Me?" "Diluted with a little sugar maybe." "Have the caretakers freed to cook for their employers." "You need to build yourself up with a good steak." "Now we'll have to eat red meat" "It's all right, we're not the police." "I'm not afraid." "A fine grate for roasting a chicken." "There's no chicken, nor even a rabbit." "I know." "I know that "now we'll have to eat red meat."" "Bloody hell..." "Something smells good." ""Now we'll have to eat red meat"?" "You manage to make people understand incomprehensible words." "May I take your photograph in your kitchen?" "As a portrait..." " Is that your idea of a joke?" " No, it's for..." "My wife, Mme Bernier." "Get some eggs, please." "What were he and his wife doing near the pavilion, fully dressed?" "Poaching." "Catching rabbits." "And why did you say those words when we got here?" ""Now we'll have to eat red meat."" "Père Jacques said it after their arrest." "No caretakers, no more game." "Only red meat." "So, poaching." "Of course, poaching." "Not him!" "Who is he?" "The Green Man." "The gamekeeper." "The white wine's gone." "These gentlemen just had the last jug." "Go and milk the goat, you!" "Slut!" "Don't worry, she just has toothache." "In the middle of the night." "What "crime"?" "I don't speak Apache." "Come on, out with you!" "You may say, "Now we'll have to eat red meat", but that's the killer for you." "He's a philanderer, a chief banished for sleeping with his wife's lover!" "He acts high and mighty but he's lucky old Stangerson took him in." "That should do it." "She needs more fresh air." "All that time alone with her father..." "Many photographers are depressed." "Really?" "Are you?" "Well, no..." "This part is the "diving", with hints of amber and musk." "I'll soon see." "What're you smoking?" ""Romeo and Juliet"." "Really?" "Me too." "Where are you going?" "I'm savouring..." "I'm basking in all this peace." "Do you happen to know whom Mr Darzac is meeting later?" "No." "The meeting with the magistrate will begin shortly at the pavilion!" "Good, a meeting!" " Maybe we can't..." " Smart guys like us?" "The magistrate's meeting begins at the pavilion immediately!" "Put this back where you found it." "You're here?" "So Mr Darzac let you in?" "We didn't want to disturb you..." "We're rehearsing." "A few ideas for the re-enactment." "Is everyone here?" "A startling weapon." "And dried blood..." "Several different kinds of blood." "Where's my hat?" "The first shot hit the ceiling." "The second struck home." "The wounded killer dropped the bone and fled." "I don't understand a thing." "Your duty, sir, is to understand." "Of course." "All right." "Let's go." "Am I presentable?" "Stop messing." "Put that ball down and leave it alone." "Too many uniforms..." "My home's turning into a barracks!" "I write plays." "Three-act tragicomedies." "Gentlemen!" "Calm down, please." "This whole matter is very sensitive and complex." "Why don't we go outside?" "Such a nice day." "Let's make the most of the garden." "Why not?" "Come along, everybody." "We've wined and dined, thought and pondered and it's got us nowhere." "So now we're going to talk." "I've brought you here to talk." "We're going to talk with generosity and intelligence or with stupidity." "We can speak our minds, without logic, since logic isn't working here." " Are you back in the kitchen?" " Yes, sir." "Anything tasty?" "Veal rolls." "Yes, veal rolls." "With?" "You maintain that you were in bed when you heard a shot." "Yes, Your Honour." "Well, you're lying." "There were two shots, not one." "Yes, two shots." "A muffled one first and then a more deafening one." "My caretakers aren't guilty or involved." "Mr Darzac, you're very quiet." "What do you think?" "I don't think anything." "Mlle Stangerson was about to marry, I believe." "Yes, to a friend I'd have been glad to call my son, Robert Darzac." "Mlle Stangerson is better." "The date is merely postponed?" "I hope so." "You hope so?" "You're not sure?" "My daughter swore she'd never leave me." "I often tried to persuade her to marry as was my duty." "We've known Mr Robert Darzac for many years." "Mr Robert Darzac loves my daughter." "I'm an elderly man, sir, not far from kicking the bucket." "I felt blessed when I knew she'd found someone to love her and pursue our work." "A man I am fond of and esteem for his kind heart, skills and for his happy face." "But, sir, two days before the crime, through some reversal of her will, my daughter declared she wouldn't marry him." "That's odd." "You won't find the motive there." "Of course." "How about here?" "The killer wore these boots." "Recognize them?" "I threw them in the shed..." "Père Jacques was with Mr Stangerson." "Good for him." "Otherwise, there'd be no doubt that he did the deed." "We agree so far but I'm afraid" "I have nothing to counter his imminent error." "But is an idea truly nothing?" "I don't know." "The man who was able to enter here so mysteriously and take precautions against Père Jacques clearly knew the house." "He watched you and during dinner..." " That's highly unlikely." " But not impossible." "As for his exit..." "How did he manage to flee?" "Quite simply." "Let's return to the darkness, sir." "In which Larsan explains... how the killer left" "I've studied this room but I suppose you think that the door is the only exit." "The killer did indeed use the door to leave." "He committed the crime and left through the door." "When?" "When it was easiest for him, when it all becomes explicable." "So explicable there's no other explanation." "Let's examine the instants after the crime." "The first instant, when the exit from the room is blocked by Mr Stangerson and Père Jacques." "The second instant, when Père Jacques rushes out, leaving Mr Stangerson alone in front of the door." "The third instant, when Mr Stangerson is joined by the caretaker." "The fourth instant, when we have Mr Stangerson, the caretaker, his wife and Père Jacques in front of the door." "The fifth instant, when the door is broken down and the Yellow Room invaded." "The instant when escape is the most explicable is when the fewest people are here." "There's one instant with just one person here, the second one when Mr Stangerson is all alone" "in front of the door." "The door to the Yellow Room only opened in front of Mr Stangerson when he was alone and the man came out." "Mr Stangerson clearly had good reasons not to stop the killer." "Mlle Stangerson, horribly wounded, found the strength, at her father's behest, to close the door of the Yellow Room, lock it and bolt it before collapsing again." "We don't know the killer." "We don't know the wretch who is victimizing the Stangersons but there is no doubt that they know!" "It must be a terrible secret if a father doesn't hesitate to leave his daughter dying behind a door that she locked." "A terrible one if he allowed the killer to escape." "Firstly, I swear on my dying daughter's life that I never left this door." "Secondly, that this door remained closed when I was here alone." "Thirdly..." "Where was I?" "Oh, yes!" "When I finally entered the Yellow Room with my employees, the killer wasn't there." "Thirdly," "I swear" "I don't know the killer." "That was fourthly but never mind." "Ladies and gentlemen, this conversation is over." "I believe you, sir." "The presbytery is bewitching in its radiant garden" "Why do you believe Stangerson?" "What were those words that struck Robert Darzac?" "About a presbytery..." "The date, July 23, says it all." "The Stangersons attended a presidential reception." "I was there for work." "It was a very mild evening." "Suddenly, in the gardens, I smell..." " I smell..." " You smell?" " The perfume of the lady in black." " What's that?" "A perfume I was very fond of." "The perfume of a lady dressed in black who was kind to me as a child." "And the lady who was wearing it that evening was dressed in white." "I couldn't help but follow her and her perfume." "Everyone turned as they passed, murmuring, "Professor Stangerson and his daughter."" ""Ah, the eternal fiancé", some of them sniggered." "Robert Darzac led Mathilde Stangerson off taking her along another pathway." "They made sure no one followed." "She was gripping her purse." "I followed them." "They were poring over a piece of paper held by Mlle Stangerson." "She kept folding it over and over, repeating in scornful desperation:" ""The presbytery is bewitching in its radiant garden."" "Must I commit a crime for you?" "Oh, don't speak!" "Then they walked away." "That was my evening, old chap." "And you told Darzac that when we arrived." "I repeated his words to him:" ""Must I commit a crime for you?"" ""Is someone keeping you apart?" ""Someone who'd kill her to prevent your marriage?"" "Gently!" "Darzac was haggard, sweating and scared." " He told me..." " What?" ""Sir," he said," ""my request may seem absurd" ""but I'd die for it." ""The magistrate must not know" ""and please forget the reception."" "I swear I'm innocent." "I'll help you to find the criminal." "Be my guest at the house here but forget the President's reception." "I have to go away for the night." "Make sure that no one can enter Mlle Stangerson's room." "Set up an impassable barrier around her room." "The killer must not be able to approach her." "Don't sleep." ""Do not take a minute's rest."" "All right." "I said the very same thing." "Sainclair, old chap," "I expect the killer tonight." "You're sure?" "He'll be back to finish the job." "We need weapons." "Why not warn the police, Larsan..." "Why not the airforce too?" "We must protect Mathilde's secret." "I know where to go." "Anybody in?" "He must hide his guns well..." "We're looking for pistols..." "To kill who?" "Just for a little shooting practice." "To wound someone at the worst." "I don't shoot to wound people or to scare them." "When?" "Perhaps when the Beastie will..." "This one is pleasant." "And you?" "Choose." "Tonight, it's just two of us against the killer?" "Yes, but if someone's killed" "I'll warn the caretaker, Larsan..." " He's sleeping here?" " Next door." " And De Marquet?" " At a hotel he's fond of..." "He looks odd, doesn't he?" " And Darzac?" " He's in Paris." "Seeing someone, I suppose" " So someone will be killed?" " If necessary." " Killing a man..." " I don't want to." "I don't even want to catch him." "I just want to see his face." " You'd let him go?" " I'm not a policeman." "I just want to see his eyes." "What are the guns for then?" "If he knows I saw his note to Mathilde, he'll stop at nothing." "I fancy veal rolls." "That's Mlle Stangerson's voice" "Robi?" "Her pet name for Darzac." "She's talking to him." "We need to hear better." "Try shutting up." "Since we can't hear, let's try to see." "Where are you going?" "My legs gave way." ""My legs gave way"." "You're hopeless." "Try again." "Give it all you've got this time." "One, two, three..." "I think Darzac is a total hypocrite." "And I think this backs him up." "Something worries her." "The cat's still out." "What's she doing?" "Pouring something." "She wants to knock her father out." "Darzac dreads the killer's visit but she's preparing it." "It looks like it." "Joseph?" " Evening, Mr Sainclair." " Inspector!" "Can we eat now?" "Would you like to dine in my room?" "Gladly." "You're not watching Mathilde's room?" "I have four men keeping an eye on the grounds." "Why on the grounds?" "Policemen tend to annoy Professor Stangerson." "I have two lads tailing Darzac and I'm watching the inside of the house." "Discreet surveillance." "Drat!" " My cane." " Your cane?" "Yes, I left it by the tree." "I'll catch up." "I never saw Larsan with a cane before." "Where did he get it?" "He started investigating before me." "The fact that he suspects Robert Darzac must be grounded in facts, facts that he knows and that I don't, in fact." "Who's there?" "Joseph, come back!" "They're with me, Marcel." " Where's William?" " Still in the loo." "Still?" "No one's at the gate?" "No, and I hoped to grab a bite to eat." "Go back to the gate and put William on the east side, damn it!" "Good lads but not that smart." "May we see your cane?" " Certainly." " Thank you." "Very nice." " See you in half an hour?" " Very good." " That outline..." " The Inspector's?" "The cane's!" "It was a woman's profile." "I bet the cane belongs to Darzac." "And that the profile is..." "You think Darzac's innocent?" "There are odd coincidences:" "The footmarks, his whereabouts during the crime, his broken engagement, tonight's quarrel, his appointment..." "That's a lot." "Coincidence is truth's enemy." "It backs up Larsan's theory about the door." "But is that theory really leading Larsan astray?" "Shall I follow Darzac?" "He'll be long gone by now and I need you here." "Good idea, though." "I could have followed him on the sly." "I'll do the right-hand gallery." "You'll need to hide to watch her door." "Try here." "Can you get down lower?" " Lower." " I'm doing my best." "No, it's grotesque." " OSAGCMOF." " Huh?" " OSAGCMOF." " What are you talking about?" "I learnt it during an army report." "It's the rule to follow for good camouflage." "The "O"... is for outline." "Your outline blends with your surroundings." "This is good, you stand vertically in a vertical outline." "A human outline is easy to spot." "I think the "S" is for shadow." "Watch your shadow." "Or for smell." "I only give off a faint smell!" ""A" is for action." "You follow the action." "Then..." " What's the "G" for?" " Very important." "Glint." "The glint of your spectacles or your gold tooth." "I won't smile." "No reason to smile anyway." " I might want to." " Don't." "It's not easy..." ""C" is for colour." "Blend with the background." "And the MOF in OSAGCMOF?" "Fundamental." "You must be able to Move," "Observe and Fire, of course." " Move means run away?" " That too." "Listen." "If you see him, let me know." "Make the clock chime by turning the hands." " And?" " And you'll see me appear." "Walk towards me, behind the man, but I'll get there and see his face." "The Inspector's expecting us for dinner." "Not a word about tonight's plan." "Of course, we act alone." "And all the glory's ours." "Right, Dwight." " It's us." " Good evening." "Gentlemen." "Something smells good." "No thank you." "Enjoy your dinner and have a good evening." " Excellent." " A little green but never mind." "I think we've both reached our conclusions." "I think so too, Mr Fred." " Found the guilty man?" " Have you?" "Yes." "Maybe..." "Could it be the same man?" "Unless you've changed your mind." "Mr Darzac is an honest man." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure of the contrary." " So this is war?" " It's war." "And I'll beat you, Mr Larsan." "The rashness of youth." "Indeed." "Those veal rolls were tasty." "Bravo." " One more time?" " Please." "I always count to three, even when I'm alone, to let the magic work." "And see what you think you see..." "Mr Larsan?" "Mr Fred?" "He's asleep." "Mlle Stangerson has drugged everybody." "We all ate the same thing." "The veal rolls!" "Do you feel unwell?" "No." "Let me check your pulse." "Is that your pulse?" "It's a bit weak." "And you're pale." "How about yours..." "You look a bit peaky." "Feel like sleeping?" "No." "Did I yawn naturally?" "Stocking feet now!" "Stocking feet time!" "Sainclair!" "Men only embrace on great occasions or when they're in danger." "I'm not a hero but I'm no coward either." "OSAGCMOF then..." "I don't believe it!" "Joseph!" "He can't have gone to bed." "You're asleep!" "I know, it's the wine." "I didn't drink any." "Joseph, wake up!" "Carry on but not so hard." " Do it quietly." " How can I slap you quietly?" "I was drugged." "I tried to resist." "All right, that's enough now." "What's going on?" "I was trapped in the clock." "I crawled..." "I found you unconscious." "I was scared." "The beast cried out too." "Someone entered Mlle Stangerson's room." "Now you tell me?" "Oh, God, we're useless!" "It's no use." "Why don't you raise the alarm?" "The killer may get away but not Mlle Stangerson." "It may not be the killer." "What terrible secret obliges Mlle Stangerson to remove all the obstacles between her and her killer?" "I don't know." " I want to see." " Go on." "Go back and hide." "Keep a drastic look out." "Are you the black man's ghost?" "What black man?" "You hurt me." "I thought you were his ghost." "I heard the Beastie." "The killer's back." "Fetch the gamekeeper!" "I'm sorry." "I must have hurt you." "Just a little bump." "With a cold compress..." "I'm going!" "Little Foot isn't at home." "Be quiet!" " Who's Little Foot?" " The gamekeeper." " And?" " He's not at home." "All right." "Stay here and keep quiet." "Leave me now." "Have mercy." "Mercy." " Are you catching him or not?" " Shut up!" "If I hop into the room, he'll escape." "He's carrying a horrible blade..." " You have a gun." " It's not easy." " Kill him!" " Not now." "We'll set a trap." "We can blow down the door." "The man's in Mathilde's room." "What happened?" "You were drugged." "Come quickly." "Did you see his face?" "He has a welder's mask." "Is he still there?" "Yes but he has three possible escape routes." "Stay near the window at the end of the gallery." " All right." "Do you want a gun?" " No, I have one." " Can you use it?" " Yes." " That's better." " Be careful." "Thank you." "Just a second..." "Put yourself here." "Watch the stairs with all your eyes." "Back there." "That's good." " Sainclair?" "Where are you?" " Here." "Excellent camouflage job." "Yes, I made an effort." "You can't see anything though." " No." "Did you see him?" " Yes." "He had a welder's mask on." "I'll climb in the window." "Every exit's blocked." "We can't miss him." "Shall I hide?" "Just try to stop him." "Shall I fire?" "No, just stop him, all right." "I'll stop him." "It's a reasonable, simple and safe plan." "Blocking the killer's path, whichever way he comes or goes." "Help me!" "That way!" "He was here!" " Where is he?" " Impossible!" "We touched him..." "I felt his breath on me." "I touched him." "Nothing!" "Nothing." "Nothing." "Where is he?" "My dear, what are you doing?" "Mathilde, what's the matter, dear?" "What is it?" "Are you hurt?" "Père Jacques, help me." "Hurry!" "Lt'll be all right." "Calm down now." "Papa!" "Did you catch him?" "By some magical charm, he got away." "You know the solution." "Explain it to us and perhaps we can save you." "There he is!" "Stop or I'll kill you!" "What's going on?" "Over there!" "Where is he?" "Don't shoot!" "Wait!" "He's dead." "He's dead." " He's dead." " I heard you!" "It's too dark." "Get a lantern." "The gamekeeper!" "I don't believe it!" "This man wasn't shot, he was stabbed through the heart." "Indeed, a sharp blade has pierced the heart." "Calm your wife down!" "It's quite odd that I should be so wrong." " Did you see him clearly?" " Who?" " The man." " Yes." "He had the same mask and clothes." "That's how I saw him too." "He knows the house well." "I'm sure Darzac is innocent." "I'd like to know where he is right now." "We'll know soon enough when a new day dawns." "Good night." " Still in stocking feet." " So I am." " Follow me." " Where?" " To our room." " What for?" "To lie down and have a think." " Are you thinking?" " Yes." "And?" "The killer that we're after was in the gallery while we were after him." " That's all?" " Yes." "A good start but a bit brief." "If he didn't use a window or a door, he left through a different exit." "You reason like a slipper." "Worse." "Like Frédéric Larsan." "Or maybe..." "I should ignore exterior elements..." "Not my veal roll!" "Please, not my veal roll!" "Sorry, I thought you were ill." "Where's Joseph?" "Don't you know?" "How's Mlle Stangerson?" "She's been stabbed in the belly." "She's still alive." "That's terrible." "I have to go back." "It's looking bad." "Larsan is convinced Darzac did it." "Have you thought?" "I woke with my mind raging." "I went back to the gallery where my reasoning revealed something so incredible to me that I can't stand without it." "I need all my energy." "It's mathematically possible, so why not humanly too?" "But in that case, the whole business is huge." "I've had enough of this." "Poor Beastie, it knows death has struck." "Come here, Bandar, have your essence." "Come on, my baby." "Ignore the nasty men." "Poor baby's scared." "You're still coughing..." "The professor said to drink your essence of croune." "It'll do you good." "Yes, my baby." "You did your duty to the end." "Little Foot, my darling, believe me, they'll all pay!" "Stay in bed, don't move and you'll be all right." "What on earth is this essence?" "A real gut scorcher!" "Filthy muck!" "She's alive." "I arrived too late." "This officer saw you get off the train in Corbigny." "At 10:30 pm." "That's right." "What were you doing last night just miles from where Mlle Stangerson was attacked?" "Mr Darzac, can you tell me everything you did last night?" "No, sir." "Think hard or I shall be forced, should you still refuse to talk, to remand you in custody." "I refuse." "In the name of the law" "I arrest you." "Don't talk!" "You won't defend yourself?" " I'll defend you." " You can't." "I will." " I know more than you." " Forget what you know!" "Let my words support you." "You know the killer's name, Mathilde knows half of him, but I know both halves." "I know the whole killer!" "You know both halves?" "Yes." "I'll find the second half." "Rouletabille knows the two halves of the murderer" "There could be more crimes if we leave." "That's unlikely with Darzac in jail." " Know what Mathilde said earlier?" " I didn't hear." "I heard her." "She told him, "Don't talk!"" " Will he talk?" " Never." "That's why I'm leaving." " Where?" " On a journey." " For long?" " A good month perhaps." "I'll leave an envelope with you." "You can read that note when you want." " Now?" " If you want." "But don't forget what it says." ""My old friend," ""if I'm not back for the re-enactment with Darzac," ""open the big envelope for the magistrate." ""It contains the killer's name but no proof." ""I have gone to fetch the proof." ""But it does give an explanation of his guilt." ""Act if it becomes necessary."" "You won't tell me who?" "In which Rouletabille leaves for America" "We're here!" "Let us in!" "I don't believe it!" "It's incredible!" "We've come from Paris!" "Bitch!" "Yes, I loved him!" "And you killed him!" "You!" "Mlle Stangerson's murder and the gamekeeper's are one case." "Mlle Stangerson's killer was shot fleeing across this yard." "We believed we had hit him or even killed him... when in fact he simply tripped" "as he rounded the house's right wing." "The gamekeeper met the real killer holding the blade used on Mlle Stangerson." "The killer, caught unawares, struck the gamekeeper in the heart and killed him." "What became of the killer?" "He obviously hid, Your Honour, in a dark corner of the yard and, after everyone had left, simply fled unhindered." "I agree about the blow to the heart but not about the way in which the killer fled the yard." "It's me, Your Honour." "It's me." "Joseph Rouletabille." "We expel him?" "He's a witness, Your Honour." "The Transatlantic was late." "I was in America." "Very good." "I'm glad for you." "From that smile on your face, I deduce that you know the killer's name." "I won't be able to tell you his name until 6:30." "Five hours to wait." "Joking aside, we have a re-enactment to re-enact." "When I tell you the killer's name, you'll see why we had to wait." "But, for now," "I can explain the murder of the gamekeeper." "Let's hear him, sir, especially as we don't agree." "How did the killer flee?" "Mme Bernier has admitted her affection for the gamekeeper..." "Bitch!" "Quiet or I'll have you locked in the greenhouse!" "To allow her lover to visit her," "Mme Bernier made use of her Beastie, in other words, Bandar, her superb turkey." "When he heard its sinister gobbling, the gamekeeper came out to meet her anywhere." "The slut!" "Bernier!" "Shut your trap now!" "I'm sorry, Professor." "It's most tiring." "That night, Mme Bernier was caring for Mathilde and slept in the room next to her mistress's." "No rendez-vous." "Good night." "Bandar the turkey, feeling ill, coughed, bawled and gobbled all the same and loudly too." "Driven by base desire, the gamekeeper hurried to the house." "They flirted in the boudoir." "A noise disturbed them." "On leaving the boudoir, the gamekeeper's ladder had gone." "Then came the chase." "The guard stayed hidden." "As soon as everyone was with Mathilde, he ran for the exit." "Sainclair spotted him and fired." "There he is!" "Stop or I'll kill you!" "What's going on?" "At the right wing, a shadow leaps out and kills him." "We take his body for the killer's." "What was Mme Bernier doing?" "I ran to see to Mlle Stangerson." "Filthy slut!" "In the greenhouse." "Get rid of him." "Take him away." "Did you see the killer?" "I didn't see a thing, sir." "Rouletabille can tell us how the killer got away." "Of course!" "This is a tiny yard." "As hermetic as the Yellow Room." "Indeed." "And?" "You can ask "And?" For five more hours." "I'll say no more until 6:30 as I told you." "All right, we'll take a break until then." "We'll have a bite." "Mme Bernier, you mentioned rabbit to Mlle Stangerson earlier." " Rabbit..." " Yes, rabbit." "That's right." "Could you free my husband to help me cook it?" "So be it." "Mr Stangerson, will you stay?" "Rabbit..." "I'm not very hungry." "Is your daughter eating a little?" "Yes." "Mashed vegetables." "Dairy products." "Stewed fruit at times." "Not much fun." "Come along, let's enjoy a little rabbit." "Leave the poor animals alone." "Honestly!" "Do you know they don't eat rabbit in England?" "Sainclair, my friend." "Well, did you find the second half?" "Yes." "I have it." "What did you go to America for?" "I'm quite pleased with myself." "After countless travels," "I happened across the right trail." "This trail led me straight to the truth and the truth is in here." " In that little case?" " Yes, indeed." " What are they doing?" " Having brandy." "I've never seen the like!" "I won't make you take the oath." "I'm sure you're fully aware of the import of your words here today." "The import of your words for you, if not for us." "Yes, Your Honour." "This yard was enclosed." "The killer couldn't escape unnoticed." "That's the honest truth." "When we were here, in the yard, so was the killer." "You didn't see him?" "We all did!" "Speak now!" "Tell us the killer's name." "He was in the yard with us." "Tell us his name immediately." "The people who were in the yard were the dead gamekeeper..." " Was it him?" " No." " Père Jacques?" " No." " The caretaker?" " No." " His wife?" " No." "Mr Sainclair?" "No." "You then!" "That leaves you." "You're the killer." "Wonderful but absurd." "No, sir." "There was no one else in the yard." "No one else in the yard, nor below it but someone above it, leaning out of the window above the yard." "Frédéric Larsan?" "Lmpossible!" "He's mad." "Mr Rouletabille," "Mr Darzac says you're mad." "If you aren't, prove it." "You want proof?" "I'll give you proof all right." "Fetch Frédéric Larsan!" "Fetch Inspector Larsan." "Larsan left at three and hasn't been seen since." " That's my proof." " What proof?" "My irrefutable proof." "Frédéric Larsan has fled." "Why didn't you accuse him earlier to his face?" "What better reply could he give?" "He doesn't reply." "He'll never reply." "I accuse him and he flees." "He couldn't know you'd accuse him." "I told him so earlier." "You did that?" "You allowed a suspected killer to escape?" "Yes, I did that." "I'm not with the courts or the police." "A journalist doesn't get people arrested." "I use the truth as I wish while you safeguard society." "I won't get a man guillotined!" "I took the time to warn Larsan and allow him to catch the 4:17 to Paris, plus one hour to erase his traces." "You won't find him." "He has always eluded you." "He's smarter than anyone but me." "What's that you're holding?" "This man who made his name with the national police, this man, Frédéric Larsan... is Ballmeyer." "Ballmeyer!" "It was true!" "The gentleman thief." "There was no finer gentleman and no more skilful conjuror." "He stole honour and fortunes with unrivalled skill." "On being arrested, he threw pepper in his guards' eyes and, undisguised, attended a stage premiere that night." "He left France for America." "I could talk until midnight." "That man became Frédéric Larsan." "Everything that this young man is saying is the gospel truth." "Yet it is violent too." "The knife..." "The mutton bone..." "From now on, I really must..." " I must refrain..." " What do you know, sir?" "Leave him be, sir, you can see he's not well." "But why did Larsan-Ballmeyer kill the gamekeeper?" "And how?" "The gamekeeper saw what he shouldn't have seen:" "Larsan as the killer." "To leave the house unrecognized, he put on the mask that Larsan had hidden" "then fled before our eyes." "Larsan had to silence him." "He killed him with this." "He stuck it here." "There's still a mark." "He could climb up and leap into the room while we were with the gamekeeper." "Where is he?" "Don't shoot!" "Wait!" "Child's play for an acrobat like Ballmeyer." "He vanished especially as he hadn't been drugged as he claimed he had been." "We dined with him and he played one of his tricks on us:" "A sudden and propitious sleep." "He waited to enter Mlle Stangerson's room until we fell asleep, unaware that Sainclair was camouflaged at the end of the gallery." "How did you suspect Larsan?" "By the right angle." "Meaning?" "There's a right angle and a wrong angle." "But only one you can rely on." "Please try to be quiet." "Mathilde's resting in her room." "Mme Bernier, if she's awake, give her some croune." "She's asleep." " Go on, Mr Rouletabille." " Well now..." "We were chasing the killer right here." "He couldn't have left the gallery normally or abnormally." "From the right angle, I drew a circle and enclosed the problem in it." "A round circle." "Let's form a circle, please." "Since the killer couldn't be outside the circle..." "He was inside!" "Who do I see in this circle?" "The right angle shows me, along with the killer who has to be there," "Père Jacques," "Sainclair," "Frédéric Larsan, you, for example, officer, and me." "Five people in all." "So one of these people is two." "In other words, he is himself and the killer." "I saw Sainclair and the killer." "Père Jacques and the killer." "Myself and the killer." "But had I seen Larsan at the same time as the killer?" "No!" "Because for a few seconds," "I lost sight of the killer and he arrived a few seconds before us where the galleries meet." "Typical Ballmeyer!" "This discovery overwhelmed me." "He's amazing!" "When Larsan threw his mask in the room, he found someone hiding there:" "The gamekeeper." "He pretended to search that room just after." "There he is!" "Stop or I'll kill you!" "As we chased after him," "Larsan caught him outside and killed him." "The devilish rascal!" "It doesn't match up." "Bring the exterior signs into the circle of the right angle." "I don't understand." "You see the killer in Mathilde's room, then you find Larsan..." "Woozy with sleep." "It's likely that Larsan saw me on the ladder." "Are you catching him or not?" "I put him in the gallery." "Why, after arming my gun for me, did he go back to her room?" "That was a dangerous move." "He had forgotten his cane... that could give him away." " Be careful." " Thank you." "Go on." "Why did he try twice to kill Mlle Stangerson?" "Because he loved her." " Did Mlle Stangerson know?" " Yes." "But she didn't know her pursuer was Frédéric Larsan." "In her room, he stood to one side, never speaking, his head lowered." "Why didn't Mlle Stangerson mention it?" "Mathilde never told me." "Does all this sound right?" "Robert..." "Did Mathilde tell you about Ballmeyer?" "Mathilde told me absolutely nothing." "And you still can't say where you were?" "No." "Now, I'll explain the mystery of the Yellow Room itself." "Ladies and gentlemen, let's go." "Lead on, my boy!" "In which Rouletabille appears in all his glory" "The Yellow Room was shut like a safe." "Yet the killer got out somehow." " He didn't need to." " What?" "He simply wasn't in there." " He wasn't in there?" " Of course not." "He couldn't have been." "The right angle again." "Your angles are getting on my nerves." "It is annoying." "Carry on, sir." "I have a small circle of indisputable truth." "The killer wasn't in the Yellow Room." "Why did people think he was?" "Because of traces he left." "But he could have been there earlier." "No, he had to have been there earlier." "But Mlle Stangerson was killed later." "Or rather seems to have been killed later." "Don't touch, please." "We must rebuild the two stages of the case." "Two stages that took place a few hours apart." "The first stage during which someone really tried to kill Mlle Stangerson, an attempt that she hid." "And, at midnight, much later, the second stage during which... following a nightmare that she had, the men in the lab thought she was being killed." "What about her wounds?" "On her neck and her temple." "Her neck doesn't bother me." "She could have hidden a wound done earlier under her collar or a scarf." "For if I accept that events occurred in two stages," "I also have to accept that Mathilde concealed the first stage's events even from her dear father." "A double life..." "A setback..." "Insoluble mysteries..." "Père Jacques, fetch me my peach brandy." "What about her head wound?" "Excuse me..." "It's all right." "Exactly!" "The head wound." "I couldn't work it out." "Especially with a mutton bone as the weapon." "I'll come to that." "And the mark of the killer's hand, wounded by Mlle Stangerson?" "That mark was made before." "Not there." "Stand to the right." "This mark was made before." "The killer was wounded in the first stage, while he was here." "Every trace of him is from that stage:" "The mutton bone, the dark footmarks, the blood on the wall." "And all those traces were there later but Mlle Stangerson didn't see them." "She undressed by the faint light of her lamp." "She went to bed, worn out by the day's emotions and by the terror, the terror that made her stay up so late." "Excuse me, we still have "exterior signs"." "Shots were fired in the second stage when "he wasn't there"." " There were cries." " "Help!" "Murder!"" "The cries first." "With no killer in the room, that means it was a nightmare." "They heard furniture being knocked over." "I imagine..." "I have to imagine this." "She fell asleep, haunted by that afternoon's frightful scene." "She was dreaming." "Her nightmare was tinged in red." "She saw the killer again, pouncing on her." "She cried out," ""Murder!" "Help!"" "The other way round..." ""Help!" "Murder!" then "Help!"" "Help!" "Murder!" "Help!" "We were talking about the two shots." "Yes." "One shot to wound the killer earlier." "And one during the nightmare, later." "And the head wound?" "I'm getting there." "I asked the Yellow Room that and the Yellow Room replied." "This hair," "Your Honour, is a bloodstained hair." "A hair from Mlle Stangerson's head." "The doctors say a blunt object knocked her out." "You accused the mutton bone." "But this hair was found stuck, bloody," "on a marble corner of the bedside table." "She stood, staggered, fell, hit the corner and fainted." "That's when you broke down the door." "It's a bit of a letdown." " What is?" " This solution." "Knowing all that." "So the killer wasn't here." "But when was he here?" "At what time?" "Mlle Stangerson told you in her statement." "They returned from a walk at six and the gamekeeper stopped Mr Stangerson to have a word." "The drama took place in those few minutes." " Another trap." " Really?" "We can't be sure but, at one point," "Mathilde cried out." " Are you all right?" " Yes." "Why this mystery?" "Why, after nearly being murdered, should she conceal it from her father?" "You know the truth." " I know nothing." " You're a hero." "Yes." "And a spurned lover." "They're always dangerous." "It goes without saying, Mr Darzac, that henceforth, in any case, following this account, by virtue of the powers vested in me, in other words, forthwith, you shall be provisionally released." "The mystery of Mathilde Stangerson" "But what were you up to in America?" "What did you go there for?" "In other words, you want to know what mystery forced Mathilde and Darzac to be silent?" "Yes, that's what I mean, in other words." "It's very simple, very brief." "It dates from a distant time when Mathilde was living with her father" "in Philadelphia." "At a reception, she met a fellow countryman who charmed her with his manners, with kindness and love." "He was said to be rich." "He asked the professor for her hand but he refused." "He didn't want his daughter to marry some conjuror." "He banned him from his house." "Mathilde, who was discovering love and who saw no man finer than Ballmeyer, was outraged." "In the face of her fury, her father sent her to rest on the banks of the Ohio with an old aunt." "Ballmeyer joined Mathilde there." "They lived happily together." "We fooled her old aunt and fled." "We married under the name of Roussel." "Thanks to his conjuring skills," "Ballmeyer was invited everywhere." "He met young filmmakers, aviators like the Wright brothers, artists like Stieglitz, John Marin," "Hartley," "Dove..." "Dove... stupid bugger." "One day, they came knocking." "The cops were after Jean Ballmeyer." "I cleared off." "They told her about me." "A criminal sentenced to prison." "Ballmeyer, enraged, had sawn Prosecutor Picot in two." "He had cracked open a night-watchman's skull." "After a failed suicide attempt, Mathilde went back to her aunt." "She swore her to secrecy." "The old woman agreed." "She started working with her father to forget her husband, Ballmeyer." "But after telling Darzac her story, believing the rumours of Ballmeyer's death," "just as she was about to marry," "Ballmeyer suddenly reappeared." "She had a letter from him at the reception." "He refused to allow her to marry Darzac." "He still loved her." "He reminded her of their love in a presbytery..." "The presbytery is bewitching..." "Larsan wrote..." "She confided in Darzac." ""The presbytery is bewitching in its radiant garden."" "I'd die if Papa found out." "Anyway, it will kill him too." "Just think." "He'll take me to America or he'll kill me!" "Must I..." "Must I commit a crime for you?" "Don't be silly!" "She'd kill herself if her father knew." "The shock would probably kill him too." "Darzac swore to silence Larsan even if it meant committing a crime." "But Larsan lured him to secret appointments." "He thought he'd learn the truth but he ended up accused." "Larsan demanded that Mathilde go with him or die." "How about that..." "Quite an investigation." "I kept seeking, visiting jails on Ballmeyer's trail..." "I even found the old aunt." "And then..." "And then?" "Nothing." "Do you know the whole mystery of Mathilde Stangerson?" "I don't know." "Mathilde and Jean Ballmeyer had a child." "A boy." "He was born at the old aunt's and no one ever knew about him in America." "Neither did the professor nor Ballmeyer." "How did you end up with the cane?" "Larsan gave it to me." "The last vestige of Ballmeyer the magician." "That perfume..."