I believe there is a short story by Poe in which an evil king is killed, and the killers escape by a ladder to the roof. What is the title of this story?
I read this story several decades ago, in a printed book.
There is also a slight chance that I might be misremembering the correct author.
Everything I can remember of the story went something like this: The opening scene has the protagonist, a friend of the protagonist, a kitchen maid, and the king all together in the kitchen of the castle. The kitchen maid makes some small mistake, and the king strikes her. Shortly afterwards, the king asks the protagonist for a suggestion of some grand activity, and the protagonist, beaming with cooperation, suggests a party (masked ball) for the king and all the gentry. The king readily agrees, and leaves the preparations to the protagonist and his friend. They arrange for the doors of the hall to be locked after the last guest arrives, and then during the ball the protagonist kills the king and his friend lowers a rope ladder from the ceiling through the roof for the protagonist to escape. As the protagonist is climbing the ladder, he stops and explains to the guests why he has killed the king, and then continues to the roof. The hall being locked gives the two friends time enough to escape.