英语小说网

The police have talked to many people about this terrible tragedy. This is what witnesses have said, but nothing so far can explain the mystery in any way.

Dupin said nothing about these horrible murders that evening, but I knew he was interested, because the next day he opened the morning newspaper at once. There was a lot more about the mystery.

THE TRAGEDY IN THE RUE MORGUE

"I have lived all my life in this quarter. The house in the Rue Morgue belongs to Madame L'Espanaye, and she and her daughter have lived there for six years. Madame sometimes came into my shop, but I didn't see the daughter very often. The two of them lived very quietly. In six years I never saw anybody go into their house except the postman and the doctor."

Pauline Dubourg, washerwoman:

"I've known Madame and her daughter for three years. I do their washing for them and they pay very well. People say that the old lady was rich, but I don't know about that. I never saw anybody in the house when I went to get the washing or to take it back. I think they lived only on the fourth floor of the house."

Pierre Moreau, shopkeeper:

Henri Duval, a neighbour:

"I was called to the house in the Rue Morgue at about three o'clock in the morning, and found twenty or thirty people at the front door. The screams from a person or people inside the house were very loud, but they stopped suddenly when we broke the front door down. I was the first up the stairs and when I reached the first floor, I could hear two angry voices, arguing loudly. One was a deep voice, the other high and shrill -- a very strange voice. The deep voice was that of a Frenchman. I'm sure it wasn't a woman s voice. I could hear the words 'diable' and 'Mon Dieu'. The shrill voice was a foreigner, perhaps a man or perhaps a woman. I couldn't hear any words, but the language was Spanish, I think."

Isodore Muset, policeman:

Many other neighbours said the same thing. There were no visitors to the house, either friends or family. The shutters of the windows, front and back, were nearly always closed, except for the large back room on the fourth floor.

"I agree with what Isodore Muset has said, except about the voices. The shrill voice was speaking in Italian -- I'm sure it wasn't French. No, I don't know Italian myself, but I'm sure it sounded like Italian words. I knew Madame L. and her daughter, and it certainly wasn't either of their voices."

Jan Odenheimer, kitchen worker:

"I was walking past the house when I heard those long, terrible screams, and I was one of the people who went into the building and heard the voices on the stairs. I am from Holland and don't speak French, but I'm sure the shrill voice was a man's voice -- a Frenchman. I couldn't hear the words but the voice sounded angry and afraid. The deep voice said the word 'diable' many times."

"On Monday, at about 12 o'clock, I went with Madame L'Espanaye to her home, carrying the four thousand francs in two bags. When Mademoiselle L'Espanaye opened the front door, she took one of the bags, and then Madame took the other bag. I said goodbye and left. There was nobody in the street at that time."

Jules Mignaud, banker, Mignaud & Son:

Adolphe Le Bon, bank clerk at Mignaud & Son:

"Madame L'Espanaye opened an account at my bank eight years ago. She did not often take money out of her account, but three days before her death she took out four thousand francs. This money was paid in gold, and a clerk took it to her house in the Rue Morgue."

"I'm an Englishman and I've lived in Paris for two years. I went into the house with the others and heard the voices on the stairs. The deep voice was that of a Frenchman -- I remember hearing the words 'Mon Dieu'. I also heard a sound like people fighting. The shrill voice was very loud -- louder than the deep one. It wasn't an Englishman's voice. I think it was a German, possibly a woman. No, I don't understand German."

Alfonzo Garcia, cook:

William Bird, musician:

Several witnesses said that the door of the room on the fourth floor was locked, with the key on the inside. Everything was silent when they got up there, and when they broke the door open, they saw nobody in the room. The two windows were closed and fastened on the inside. The police have looked through the house very carefully -- every room, every chimney, every corner -- but they have found nothing. The witnesses do not agree about the time between hearing the voices and breaking open the door -- some say it was three minutes, others say five minutes.

"I live in the Rue Morgue, but I come from Spain. I was too afraid to go upstairs, but I heard the voices arguing. The deep voice spoke in French, and the shrill voice was that of an Englishman. Yes, I'm sure. No, I can't speak English, but I know what it sounds like."

Alberto Montani, fruit-seller:

"I was one of the first up the stairs, and heard the voices -- a Frenchman with a deep voice, saying something angry, and a shrill voice, which spoke quickly and unclearly. I think it was the voice of a Russian. Yes, I'm Italian. I've never spoken to a Russian person."

Paul Dumas, doctor:

"I was called to see the bodies at daybreak. Both of them were then lying in the room on the fourth floor. The young lady's body was bruised and cut all over when it was pushed up the chimney. The face was blue-black, the eyes were half out, and the neck was badly bruised, with deep red marks made by very strong fingers. These marks show how she died. The mother's body was also horribly bruised, and all the bones of the right leg and arm were broken. How was this done? I don't know -- perhaps by a heavy piece of wood like a table leg. A razor was used to cut the neck, and the head was no longer joined to the body. All this was done by a very strong person -- a man, and a very strong one."

There has never been a crime in Paris as mysterious as this one. How did the murderer or murderers escape from the house? The door to the room was locked, the windows were fastened. All the chimneys in the house are too narrow for a person to get through, there are no back stairs, and the door to the roof is very old and impossible to open. Whose voices did the witnesses hear? Why was the money left in the room? The police have no answers to these questions.