"Yes; there is a window, or rather skylight, in it, which, as it
looks out towards the country, Monsieur Stangerson has had barred,
like the rest of the windows. These bars, as in the other windows,
have remained intact, and the blinds, which naturally open inwards,
have not been unfastened. For the rest, we have not discovered
anything to lead us to suspect that the murderer had passed through
the attic."

"It seems clear to you, then, Monsieur, that the murderer escaped
--nobody knows how--by the window in the vestibule?"

"Everything goes to prove it."

"I think so, too," confessed Rouletabille gravely.

After a brief silence, he continued:

"If you have not found any traces of the murderer in the attic, such
as the dirty footmarks similar to those on the floor of The Yellow
Room, you must come to the conclusion that it was not he who stole
Daddy Jacques's revolver."

"There are no footmarks in the attic other than those of Daddy
Jacques himself," said the magistrate with a significant turn of his
head. Then, after an apparent decision, he added: "Daddy Jacques
was with Monsieur Stangerson in the laboratory--and it was lucky
for him he was."

"Then what part did his revolver play in the tragedy?--It seems