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Leroux, Gaston, 1868-1927

"Mystery of the Yellow Room"

"
Five minutes later all were assembled in the laboratory. The Chief
of the Surete, who had arrived at the Glandier, joined us at that
moment. I was seated at Monsieur Stangerson's desk ready for work,
when Monsieur de Marquet made us the following little speech--as
original as it was unexpected:
"With your permission, gentlemen--as examinations lead to nothing
--we will, for once, abandon the old system of interrogation. I
will not have you brought before me one by one, but we will all
remain here as we are,--Monsieur Stangerson, Monsieur Robert Darzac,
Daddy Jacques and the two concierges, the Chief of the Surete, the
Registrar, and myself. We shall all be on the same footing. The
concierges may, for the moment, forget that they have been arrested.
We are going to confer together. We are on the spot where the crime
was committed. We have nothing else to discuss but the crime. So
let us discuss it freely--intelligently or otherwise, so long as
we speak just what is in our minds. There need be no formality or
method since this won't help us in any way.


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