The Mystery of the Yellow Room - Chapter 23

"The Mystery of the Yellow Room" by Gaston Leroux is a classic locked-room mystery set in France. When Mathilde Stangerson is found in a locked room with no apparent way in or out, journalist Joseph Rouletabille is determined to unravel the mystery. Leroux's tale is renowned for its suspenseful plot, clever twists, and exploration of themes like deception and truth. It's a gripping story that keeps readers guessing until the end, making it a seminal work in detective fiction.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Chapter twenty three of the Mystery ofthe Yellow Room. This is a LibriVox
recording. All LibriVox recordings are inthe public domain. For more free audiobooks
are to volunteer, please visit LibriVoxdot org. The Mystery of the Yellow
Room by Gaston le Roux, Chaptertwenty three, The double sent I had

(00:22):
hardly recovered from the surprise into whichthis new discovery had plunged me when Hultabille
touched me on the shoulder and askedme to follow him into his room.
What are we going to do thereto think the matter over? I confess
I was in no condition for doingmuch thinking, Nor could I understand how

(00:46):
Hultabille could so control himself as tobe able calmly to sit down for reflection,
when he must have known that Mademoiselle'sstranger son was at that moment almost
on the point of death. Buthis self control was more than I could
explain. Closing the door of hisroom, he motioned me to a chair,

(01:07):
and, seating himself before me,took out his pipe. We sat
there for some time in silence,and then I fell asleep. When I
awoke it was daylight. It waseight o'clock. By my watch, all
Taby was no longer in the room. I rose to go out. When

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the door opened and my friend reentered. He had evidently lost no time.
How about Mademoiselle Strangerson, I askedhim. Her condition, though very
alarming, is not desperate. Whendid you leave this room towards dawn?

(01:49):
I guess you have been hard atwork. Rather, have you found out
anything? Two sets of footprints?Do they explain anything? Yes? Have
they anything to do with the mysteryof the keeper's body? Yes? The
mystery is no longer a mystery.This morning, walking round the chateau,

(02:14):
I found two distinct sets of footprints, made at the same time last night.
They were made by two persons walkingside by side. I followed them
from the court towards the oak grove. Larson joined me. They were the
same kind of footprints as were madeat the time of the assault in the

(02:35):
Yellow room. One set was fromclumsy boots and the other was made by
neat ones, except that the bigtwo of one of the sets was of
a different size from the one measuredin the Yellow room incident. I compared
the marks with the paper patterns Ihad previously made still, following the tracks

(02:57):
of the Prince, Larson and Ipassed out of the oak grove and reached
the border of the lake. Therethey turned off to a little path leading
to the high road to Epinay,where we lost the traces in the newly
macadamized highway. We went back tothe chateau and parted at the courtyard.
We met again, however, inDaddy Jacques's room, to which our separate

(03:21):
trains of thinking had led us.Both we found the old servant in bed.
His clothes on the chair were wetthrough and his boots very muddy.
He certainly did not get into thatstate in helping us to carry the body
of the keeper. It was notraining. Then. Then his face showed

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extreme fatigue, and he looked atus out of terror stricken eyes. On
our first questioning him, he toldus that he had gone to bed immediately
after the doctor had arrived. Onpressing him, however, for it was
evident to us he was not speakingthe truth, he confessed that he had

(04:08):
been away from the chateau. Heexplained his absence by saying that he had
a headache and went out into thefresh air, but had gone no farther
than the oak grove. When wethen described to him the whole route he
had followed, he set up inbed, trembling. And you were not

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alone, cried Larson. Did yousee it? Then, gasped Daddy Jacques.
What I asked the phantom? Theblack Phantom. Then he told us
that for several nights he had seenwhat he kept calling the black Phantom.
It came into the park at thestroke of midnight and glided stealthily through the

(04:55):
trees. It appeared to him topass through the trunks of the tree.
Twice. He had seen it fromhis window by the light of the moon,
and had risen and followed the strangeapparition. The night before last he
had almost overtaken it, but ithad vanished at the corner of the dongeon.

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Last night, however, he hadnot left the chateau, his mind
being disturbed by a presentiment that somenew crime would be attempted. Suddenly he
saw the black Phantom rush out fromsomewhere in the middle of the court.
He followed it to the lake andto the high road to Epinay, where

(05:40):
the phantom suddenly disappeared. Did yousee his face? Demanded Larson, No,
I saw nothing but black veils.Did you go out after what passed
on the gallery? I could not. I was terrified, Daddy Jacques,
I said, in a threatening voice. You did not follow it. You

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and the phantom walked to Epinae together, arm in arm. No, he
cried, turning his eyes away.I did not. It came on to
poor and I turned back. Idon't know what became of the black phantom.
We left him, and when wewere outside, I turned to Larson,

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looking him full in the face,and put my question. Suddenly to
take him off his guard? Anaccomplice? How can I tell? He
replied, shrugging his shoulders. Youcan't be sure of anything in a case
like this. Twenty four hours ago, I would have sworn that there was
no accomplice. He left me,saying he was off to Epinae. Well,

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what do you make of it?I asked Rouletabille, after he had
ended his recital, personally. Iam utterly in the dark. I can't
make anything out of it. Whatdo you gather? Everything? Everything,
he exclaimed, But he said abruptly, let's find out more about Mademoiselle stranger

(07:17):
Son. End of chapter twenty threerecording by ISOA in Belgium in August two
thousand and eight.