Essay 'The Murders In The Rue Morgue'

Both Poe and Doyle make use of the "unusual and baffling crime" literary device in their stories. In "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," Dupin is intrigued by the nature of the crime. He was told that witnesses found the body of Mademoiselle L in a room whose only entrance "was locked on the inside" and whose "windows, both of the back and front room, were down and firmly fastened from within" (Poe 390). Furthermore, the brutal shape Mademoiselle L 's body was found in is certainly unusual. For instance, her body was "so firmly wedged in the chimney that it could not be got down until four or five of the party united their strength," and her "throat was greatly chafed. There were several deep scratches just below the chin, together with a series of livid spots which were evidently the impressions of fingers" (Poe 391). Doyle 's take on this literary device is seen in "The Bruce-Partington Plans," where Cadogan West "was found dead on the Underground" (Doyle 2). The body has a large head injury, but Holmes noted that he did "not see any indications of bleeding on the line" (Doyle 7). Also "there was no ticket in his pockets," raising the question of how he got there in the first place (Doyle 2). Finally, West was at the theater with his wife when he "suddenly darted away into the fog" (Doyle 8). So why was he there in the first place? The circumstances of this mystery were baffling to Mycroft and the police, making it a very intriguing mystery.

Another device used in both Poe and Doyle 's stories is the battle of wits with the police. Neither Detective is an official police officer, but both are asked to help out the local police in these stories. In "The Purloined Letter," Inspector D turns to Dupin to help him find a letter used to blackmail an important individual. In "The Bruce-Partington Plans," Mycroft ask Holmes to help Inspector Lestrade and the police explain the circumstances of West 's