"Matin" from his pocket, he showed it to him and said:

"There is one thing, Monsieur, which I may enquire of you without
committing an indiscretion. You have, of course, seen the account
given in the 'Matin'? It is absurd, is it not?"

"Not in the slightest, Monsieur."

"What! The Yellow Room has but one barred window--the bars of
which have not been moved--and only one door, which had to be
broken open--and the assassin was not found!"

"That's so, monsieur,--that's so. That's how the matter stands."

Rouletabille said no more but plunged into thought. A quarter of
an hour thus passed.

Coming back to himself again he said, addressing the magistrate:

"How did Mademoiselle Stangerson wear her hair on that evening?"

"I don't know," replied Monsieur de Marquet.

"That's a very important point," said Rouletabille. "Her hair was
done up in bands, wasn't it? I feel sure that on that evening, the
evening of the crime, she had her hair arranged in bands."

"Then you are mistaken, Monsieur Rouletabille," replied the
magistrate; "Mademoiselle Stangerson that evening had her hair drawn
up in a knot on the top of her head,--her usual way of arranging it