It is not without a certain emotion that I begin to recount here the
extraordinary adventures of Joseph Rouletabille. Down to the present time
he had so firmly opposed my doing it that I had come to despair of ever
publishing the most curious of police stories of the past fifteen years. I had
even imagined that the public would never know the whole truth of the
prodigious case known as that of The Yellow Room, out of which grew so
many mysterious, cruel, and sensational dramas, with which my friend was
so closely mixed up, if, propos of a recent nomination of the illustrious
Stangerson to the grade of grandcross of the Legion of Honour, an evening
journal—in an article, miserable for its ignorance, or audacious for its
perfidy—had not resuscitated a terrible adventure of which Joseph
Rouletabille had told me he wished to be for ever forgotten.
The Yellow Room! Who now remembers this affair which caused so much
ink to flow fifteen years ago? Events are so quickly forgotten in Paris. Has
not the very name of the Nayves trial and the tragic history of the death of
little Menaldo passed out of mind? And yet the public attention was so
deeply interested in the details of the trial that the occurrence of a
ministerial crisis was completely unnoticed at the time. Now The Yellow
Room trial, which, preceded that of the Nayves by some years, made far
more noise. The entire world hung for months over this obscure problem—
the most obscure, it seems to me, that has ever challenged the perspicacity
of our police or taxed the conscience of our judges. The solution of the
problem baffled everybody who tried to find it. It was like a dramatic rebus
with which old Europe and new America alike became fascinated. That is, in
truth—I am permitted to say, because there cannot be any author's vanity in
all this, since I do nothing more than transcribe facts on which an
exceptional documentation enables me to throw a new light—that is
because, in truth, I do not know that, in the domain of reality or imagination,
one can discover or recall to mind anything comparable, in its mystery, with
the natural mystery of The Yellow Room.That which nobody could find out, Joseph Rouletabille, aged eighteen, then
a reporter engaged on a leading journal, succeeded in discovering. But
when, at the Assize Court, he brought in the key to the whole case, he did
not tell the whole truth. He only allowed so much of it to appear as sufficed
to ensure the acquittal of an innocent man. The reasons which he had for his
reticence no longer exist. Better still, the time has come for my friend to
speak out fully. You are going to know all; and, without further preamble, I
am going to place before your eyes the problem of The Yellow Room as it
was placed before the eyes of the entire world on the day following the
enactment of the drama at the Chateau du Glandier.
On the 25th of October, 1892, the following note appeared in the latest
edition of the "Temps":
"A frightful crime has been committed at the Glandier, on the border of the
forest of Sainte-Genevieve, above Epinay-sur-Orge, at the house of
Professor Stangerson. On that night, while the master was working in his
laboratory, an attempt was made to assassinate Mademoiselle Stangerson,
who was sleeping in a chamber adjoining this laboratory. The doctors do not
answer for the life of Mdlle. Stangerson."
The impression made on Paris by this news may be easily imagined. Already,
at that time, the learned world was deeply interested in the labours of
Professor Stangerson and his daughter. These labours—the first that were
attempted in radiography—served to open the way for Monsieur and
Madame Curie to the discovery of radium. It was expected the Professor
would shortly read to the Academy of Sciences a sensational paper on his
new theory,—the Dissociation of Matter,—a theory destined to overthrow
from its base the whole of official science, which based itself on the
principle of the Conservation of Energy. On the following day, the
newspapers were full of the tragedy. The "Matin," among others, published
the following article, entitled: "A Supernatural Crime":
"These are the only details," wrote the anonymous writer in the "Matin"—
"we have been able to obtain concerning the crime of the Chateau du
Glandier. The state of despair in which Professor Stangerson is plunged, and
the impossibility of getting any information from the lips of the victim, haverendered our investigations and those of justice so difficult that, at present,
we cannot form the least idea of what has passed in The Yellow Room in
which Mdlle. Stangerson, in her night-dress, was found lying on the floor in
the agonies of death. We have, at least, been able to interview Daddy
Jacques—as he is called in the country—a old servant in the Stangerson
family. Daddy Jacques entered The Room at the same time as the Professor.
This chamber adjoins the laboratory. Laboratory and Yellow Room are in a
pavilion at the end of the park, about three hundred metres (a thousand
feet) from the chateau.
"'It was half-past twelve at night,' this honest old man told us, 'and I was in
the laboratory, where Monsieur Stangerson was still working, when the
thing happened. I had been cleaning and putting instruments in order all the
evening and was waiting for Monsieur Stangerson to go to bed.
Mademoiselle Stangerson had worked with her father up to midnight; when
the twelve strokes of midnight had sounded by the cuckoo-clock in the
laboratory, she rose, kissed Monsieur Stangerson and bade him good-night.
To me she said "bon soir, Daddy Jacques" as she passed into The Yellow
Room. We heard her lock the door and shoot the bolt, so that I could not
help laughing, and said to Monsieur: "There's Mademoiselle double-locking
herself in,—she must be afraid of the 'Bete du bon Dieu!'" Monsieur did not
even hear me, he was so deeply absorbed in what he was doing. Just then
we heard the distant miawing of a cat. "Is that going to keep us awake all
night?" I said to myself; for I must tell you, Monsieur, that, to the end of
October, I live in an attic of the pavilion over The Yellow Room, so that
Mademoiselle should not be left alone through the night in the lonely park.
It was the fancy of Mademoiselle to spend the fine weather in the pavilion;
no doubt, she found it more cheerful than the chateau and, for the four
years it had been built, she had never failed to take up her lodging there in
the spring. With the return of winter, Mademoiselle returns to the chateau,
for there is no fireplace in The Yellow Room.
"'We were staying in the pavilion, then—Monsieur Stangerson and me. We
made no noise. He was seated at his desk. As for me, I was sitting on a chair,
having finished my work and, looking at him, I said to myself: "What a
man!—what intelligence!—what knowledge!" I attach importance to thefact that we made no noise; for, because of that, the assassin certainly
thought that we had left the place. And, suddenly, while the cuckoo was
sounding the half after midnight, a desperate clamour broke out in The
Yellow Room. It was the voice of Mademoiselle, crying "Murder!—
murder!—help!" Immediately afterwards revolver shots rang out and there
was a great noise of tables and furniture being thrown to the ground, as if in
the course of a struggle, and again the voice of Mademoiselle calling,
"Murder!—help!—Papa!—Papa!—"
"'You may be sure that we quickly sprang up and that Monsieur Stangerson
and I threw ourselves upon the door. But alas! it was locked, fast locked, on
the inside, by the care of Mademoiselle, as I have told you, with key and
bolt. We tried to force it open, but it remained firm. Monsieur Stangerson
was like a madman, and truly, it was enough to make him one, for we heard
Mademoiselle still calling "Help!—help!" Monsieur Stangerson showered
terrible blows on the door, and wept with rage and sobbed with despair and
helplessness.
"'It was then that I had an inspiration. "The assassin must have entered by
the window!" I cried;—"I will go to the window!" and I rushed from the
pavilion and ran like one out of his mind.
"'The inspiration was that the window of The Yellow Room looks out in such
a way that the park wall, which abuts on the pavilion, prevented my at once
reaching the window. To get up to it one has first to go out of the park. I ran
towards the gate and, on my way, met Bernier and his wife, the gate-
keepers, who had been attracted by the pistol reports and by our cries. In a
few words I told them what had happened, and directed the concierge to
join Monsieur Stangerson with all speed, while his wife came with me to
open the park gate. Five minutes later she and I were before the window of
The Yellow Room.
"'The moon was shining brightly and I saw clearly that no one had touched
the window. Not only were the bars that protect it intact, but the blinds
inside of them were drawn, as I had myself drawn them early in the evening,
as I did every day, though Mademoiselle, knowing that I was tired from the
heavy work I had been doing, had begged me not to trouble myself, butleave her to do it; and they were just as I had left them, fastened with an
iron catch on the inside. The assassin, therefore, could not have passed
either in or out that way; but neither could I get in.
"'It was unfortunate,—enough to turn one's brain! The door of the room
locked on the inside and the blinds on the only window also fastened on the
inside; and Mademoiselle still calling for help!—No! she had ceased to call.
She was dead, perhaps. But I still heard her father, in the pavilion, trying to
break down the door.
"'With the concierge I hurried back to the pavilion. The door, in spite of the
furious attempts of Monsieur Stangerson and Bernier to burst it open, was
still holding firm; but at length, it gave way before our united efforts,—and
then what a sight met our eyes! I should tell you that, behind us, the
concierge held the laboratory lamp—a powerful lamp, that lit the whole
chamber.
"'I must also tell you, monsieur, that The Yellow Room is a very small room.
Mademoiselle had furnished it with a fairly large iron bedstead, a small table,
a night-commode; a dressing-table, and two chairs. By the light of the big
lamp we saw all at a glance. Mademoiselle, in her night-dress, was lying on
the floor in the midst of the greatest disorder. Tables and chairs had been
overthrown, showing that there had been a violent struggle. Mademoiselle
had certainly been dragged from her bed. She was covered with blood and
had terrible marks of finger-nails on her throat,—the flesh of her neck
having been almost torn by the nails. From a wound on the right temple a
stream of blood had run down and made a little pool on the floor. When
Monsieur Stangerson saw his daughter in that state, he threw himself on his
knees beside her, uttering a cry of despair. He ascertained that she still
breathed. As to us, we searched for the wretch who had tried to kill our
mistress, and I swear to you, monsieur, that, if we had found him, it would
have gone hard with him!
"'But how to explain that he was not there, that he had already escaped? It
passes all imagination!—Nobody under the bed, nobody behind the
furniture!—All that we discovered were traces, blood-stained marks of a
man's large hand on the walls and on the door; a big handkerchief red withblood, without any initials, an old cap, and many fresh footmarks of a man
on the floor,—footmarks 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? Don't forget, monsieur, that there is no chimney in The Yellow
Room. 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?—I began to believe in the Devil.
"'But we discovered my revolver on the floor!—Yes, 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 don't
know where we should have been,—I should now be under lock and bar.
Justice wants no more to send a man to the scaffold!'"
The editor of the "Matin" added to this interview the following lines:
"We have, without interrupting him, allowed Daddy Jacques to recount to
us roughly all he knows about the crime of The Yellow Room. 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 it—especially
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 Jacques—
Jacques—Louis Moustier—but 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 tothe pavilion, and that may perhaps lead to the discovery of the assassin.
"We 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:
"'Can you, Monsieur de Marquet, give us any information as to this affair,
without inconvenience to the course of your inquiry?'
"'It is impossible for us to do it,' replied Monsieur de Marquet. 'I 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!'
"We asked Monsieur de Marquet to be good enough to explain his last
words; and this is what he said,—the importance of which no one will fail to
recognise:
"'If 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 The Yellow Room—an examination which I shall to-
morrow intrust to the builder who constructed the pavilion four years ago—
will afford us the proof that may not discourage us. For the problem is this:
we know by what way the assassin gained admission,—he 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 walls—even
to the demolition of the pavilion—does not reveal any passage
practicable—not only for a human being, but for any being whatsoever—if
the ceiling shows no crack, if the floor hides no underground passage, one
must really believe in the Devil, as Daddy Jacques says!'"
And the anonymous writer in the "Matin" added in this article—which I have
selected as the most interesting of all those that were published on the
subject of this affair—that the examining magistrate appeared to place apeculiar significance to the last sentence: "One must really believe in the
Devil, as Jacques says."
The article concluded with these lines: "We wanted to know what Daddy
Jacques meant by the cry of the Bete Du Bon Dieu." 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,—Mother
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.
"The Yellow Room, the Bete Du Bon Dieu, Mother Angenoux, the Devil,
Sainte-Genevieve, Daddy Jacques,—here 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 Stangerson—
who has not ceased to be delirious and only pronounces one word distinctly,
'Murderer! Murderer!'—will not live through the night."
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.