The Mystery of The Yellow Room - Remarks On The Plot

Remarks On The Plot

All the labyrinthine plot twists that follow, that so engage and tantalize the reader, are engendered, directly or indirectly, by a motive that certainly might appear quaint from the modern perspective. The case unfolds in the complicated way it does principally because Miss Stangerson withholds key information and at times actively thwarts the investigation (as does her fiance)--all in her zeal to conceal her connection with her assailant—a youthful marriage to this man whose true, very sordid, identity and proclivities she didn't yet know. To a late 19th century "properly brought-up young lady" this marriage is grounds for profound scandal that would disgrace her beloved father, hence her determination to conceal it even at the risk of her life.

The revelation to the reader of the identity of the assailant (and now murderer, since a minor character is killed by him near the end) is highly dramatic and universally unexpected. One must presume that even that ingenious writer of mysteries John Dickson Carr was surprised, or else he would not have pronounced it the greatest detective tale ever written. It was one of the very early, and very skillful, instances of "the detective did it". Yes, the brilliant sleuth, the when-all-else-fails recourse of the Sûreté, the man commanding the relentless pursuit of the assailant of Miss Stangerson, Frederic Larsan, was in fact her assailant. (Still in love with her, he was determined to prevent her marriage by any means necessary.) And, the reader is dumbfounded to learn, Larsan is not merely her assailant but a notorious criminal of legendary exploits as well. In a final twist, Rouletabille arranges for Larsan to escape justice, in order to protect Miss Stangerson's secret from the inevitable disclosure a murder trial of Larsan would bring.

The plot, intriguing as it undeniably is, depends on the reader's acceptance of the plausibility of Miss Stangerson's not recognizing Larsan as her husband/assailant (or, alternatively, the plausibility that the victim and the chief detective would never have been in close enough proximity, over months, for her to have had an opportunity to recognize Larsan as her husband/assailant) and the likelihood that none of the world's police would realize that the master criminal Ballmeyer and the master detective Larsan were a single person, despite Ballmeyer's having been arrested and, presumably, photographed.

In the final courtroom drama, the proceedings are made overly sensational by surprising entry and actions of Rouletabille. Furthermore, the reader may also be amazed that Rouletabille was let off without any repurcussions for the fact that he wilfully allowed a major criminal to escape by witholding information.