The Mystery of Marie Roget by Edgar Allan Poe
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character of_the deceased . she had_been subjected, it said, to brutal violence . the corpse was in_such condition when found, that there could_have_been no difficulty in its recognition by friends .

the dress was much torn and otherwise disordered . in_the outer garment, a slip, about a foot wide, had_been torn upward from_the bottom hem to_the waist, but not torn off . it_was wound three times around the waist, and secured by a sort of hitch in_the back . the dress immediately beneath the frock was of fine muslin; and from_this a slip eighteen inches wide had_been torn entirely out - torn very evenly and with great care . it_was found around her neck, fitting loosely, and secured with a hard knot . over this muslin slip and_the slip of lace, the strings of a bonnet were attached; the bonnet being appended . the knot by_which the strings of_the bonnet were fastened, was not a lady's, but a slip or sailor's knot .

after_the recognition of_the corpse, it_was not, as usual, taken to_the morgue, ( this formality being superfluous,) but hastily interred not far front the spot at which it_was brought ashore . through_the exertions of Beauvais, the matter was industriously hushed up, as far as possible; and several_days had elapsed before any public emotion resulted .a weekly paper, {*9} however, at_length took up the theme; the corpse was disinterred, and are- examination instituted; but nothing was elicited beyond what_has_been already noted . the clothes, however, were now submitted to_the mother and friends of_the deceased, and fully identified as_those worn by_the girl upon leaving home .

meantime, the excitement increased hourly . several individuals were arrested and discharged .St .Eustache fell especially under suspicion; and he failed, at first, to_give an intelligible account of_his whereabouts during the Sunday on_which Marie left home . subsequently, however, he submitted to Monsieur G----, affidavits, accounting satisfactorily for every hour of_the day in_question . as time passed and no discovery ensued, a thousand contradictory rumors were circulated, and journalists busied themselves in suggestions . among_these, the one which attracted the most notice, was_the idea that Marie Rogt still lived - that_the corpse found in_the seine was_that of some other unfortunate . it_will_be proper that I submit to_the reader some passages which embody the suggestion alluded to . these passages are literal translations from L'Etoile, {*10} a paper conducted, in general, with much ability .

"Mademoiselle Rogt left her mother's house on Sunday morning, June the twenty- second, 18--, with_the ostensible purpose of going to_see her aunt, or some other connexion, in_the rue des Drmes . from_that hour, nobody is proved to_have seen her . there_is no trace or tidings of her at all .. .. there has no person, whatever, come forward, so_far, who saw her at all, on_that_day, after she left her mother's door .. .. now, though we_have no evidence that Marie Rogt was in_the land of_the living after nine o'clock on Sunday, June the twenty- second, we_have proof that, up to_that hour, she was alive . on Wednesday noon, at twelve, a female body was discovered afloat on_the shore of_the Barrire de Roule . this_was, even if_we presume that Marie Rogt was thrown into_the river within three hours after she left her mother's house, only three days from_the time she left her home - three days to an hour . but it_is folly to suppose that_the murder, if murder was committed on her body, could_have_been consummated soon enough to_have enabled her murderers to throw the body into_the river before midnight . those who_are guilty of_such horrid crimes, choose darkness rather the light .. .. thus we see that if_the body found in_the river was_that of Marie Rogt, it could only have_been in_the water two and a half days, or three at_the outside . all experience has shown that drowned bodies, or bodies thrown into_the water immediately after death by violence, require from six to ten days for decomposition to_take place to bring them to_the top of_the water . even where a cannon is fired over a corpse, and it rises before at_least five or six days' immersion, it sinks again, if let alone . now, we ask, what_was there in_this cave to cause a departure from_the ordinary course of nature ? .. . if_the body had_been kept in its mangled state on shore until Tuesday night, some trace would_be found on shore of_the murderers . it_is a doubtful point, also, whether the body would_be so soon afloat, even were it thrown in after having been dead two days . and, furthermore, it_is exceedingly improbable that any villains who had committed such a murder as is here supposed, would_have throw the body in without weight to sink it, when such a precaution could_have so easily been taken ."

the editor here proceeds to argue that_the body must_have been in_the water " not three days merely, but, at_least, five times three days," because it_was so_far decomposed that Beauvais had great difficulty in recognizing it . this latter point, however, was fully disproved .I continue the translation:

" what, then, are the facts on_which M .Beauvais says that he has no_doubt the body was_that of Marie Rogt ? he ripped up the gown sleeve, and says he_found marks which satisfied him of_the identity . the public generally supposed those marks to_have consisted of some description of scars . he rubbed the arm and found hair upon it - something as indefinite, we_think, as can readily be imagined - as little conclusive as finding an arm in_the sleeve .M .Beauvais did_not return that night, but sent word to Madame Rogt, at seven o'clock, on Wednesday evening, that an investigation was still in progress respecting her daughter . if_we allow that Madame Rogt, from her age and grief, could_not go over, ( which_is allowing a great deal,) there certainly must_have been some one who_would_have thought it worth while to_go over and attend the investigation, if_they thought the body was_that of Marie . nobody went over . there_was nothing said or heard about_the_matter in_the rue pave St .Andre, that reached even the occupants of_the same building .M .St .Eustache, the lover and intended husband of Marie, who boarded in her mother's house, deposes that he_did_not hear of_the discovery of_the body of_his intended until the next morning, when M .Beauvais came into his chamber and told him of it . for an item of news like this, it strikes us it_was very coolly received ."

in_this_way the journal endeavored to create the impression of an apathy on_the_part of_the relatives of Marie, inconsistent with_the supposition that_these relatives believed the corpse to_be hers . its insinuations amount to_this: - that Marie, with_the connivance of her friends, had absented herself from_the city for reasons involving a charge against her chastity; and that_these friends, upon_the discovery of a corpse in_the seine, somewhat resembling that of_the girl, had availed themselves of_the opportunity to impress press the public with_the belief of her death . but L'Etoile was again over- hasty . it_was distinctly proved that no apathy, such as was imagined, existed; that_the old lady was exceedingly feeble, and so agitated as to_be unable to attend to any duty, that St .Eustache, so_far from receiving the news coolly, was distracted with grief, and bore himself so frantically, that M .Beauvais prevailed upon a friend and relative to_take charge of him, and prevent his attending the examination at_the disinterment . moreover, although it_was stated by L'Etoile, that_the corpse was re-interred at_the public expense - that an advantageous offer of private sculpture was absolutely declined by_the family - and_that no member of_the family attended the ceremonial: - although, I_say, all this_was asserted by L'Etoile in furtherance of_the impression it designed to convey - yet all this_was satisfactorily disproved . in a subsequent number of_the paper, an attempt was_made to throw suspicion upon Beauvais himself . the editor says:

" now, then, a change comes over the matter . we_are told that on one occasion, while aMadame B---- was at Madame Rogt's house, M .Beauvais, who was going out, told her that agendarme was expected there, and she, Madame B ., must not say anything to_the gendarme until he returned, but let the matter be for him .. .. in_the present posture of affairs, M .Beauvais appears to_have the whole matter looked up in_his head .a single step cannot_be taken without M .Beauvais; for, go which_way you_will, you run against him .. .. for some reason, he determined that nobody shall_have any thing to_do with_the proceedings but himself, and he has elbowed the male relatives out_of_the way, according to_their representations, in a very singular manner . he seems to_have_been very_much averse to permitting the relatives to_see the body ."

by_the following fact, some color was given to_the suspicion thus thrown upon Beauvais .avisiter at his office, a few_days prior to_the girl's disappearance, and during the absence of_its occupant, had observed a rose in_the key- hole of_the door, and_the name "Marie" inscribed upon a slate which hung near at hand .

the general impression, so_far as_we were enabled to glean it from_the newspapers, seemed to_be, that Marie had_been the victim of a gang of desperadoes - that by_these she had_been borne across the river, maltreated and murdered .Le Commerciel, {*11} however, a print of extensive influence, was earnest in combating this popular idea .I quote a passage or two from its columns:

" we_are persuaded that pursuit has hitherto been on a false scent, so_far as_it_has_been directed to_the Barrire du Roule . it_is impossible that a person so_well known to thousands as_this young woman was, should_have passed three blocks without some one having seen her; and any_one who saw her would_have remembered it, for she interested all who knew her . it_was when_the streets were full of people, when she went out .. .. it_is impossible that she could_have gone to_the Barrire du Roule, or to_the rue des Drmes, without being recognized by a dozen persons; yet no one has_come forward who saw her outside of her mother's door, and there_is no evidence, except the testimony concerning her expressed intentions, that she did go out at all . her gown was torn, bound round her, and tied; and by that_the body was carried as a bundle . if_the murder had_been committed at_the Barrire du Roule, there would_have_been no necessity for any such arrangement . the fact that_the body was found floating near the Barrire, is no proof as_to where it_was thrown into_the water .. .. .a piece of one_of_the unfortunate girl's petticoats, two feet long and one foot wide, was torn out and tied under her chin around the back of her head, probably to_prevent screams . this was_done by fellows who had no pocket- handkerchief ."

a day_or_two before_the prefect called upon us, however, some important information reached the police, which seemed to overthrow, at_least, the chief portion of Le Commerciel's argument . two small boys, sons of aMadame Deluc, while roaming among_the woods near the Barrire du Roule, chanced to penetrate a close thicket, within which were three or four large stones, forming a kind of seat, with a back and footstool . on_the upper stone lay a white petticoat; on_the second a silk scarf .a parasol, gloves, and a pocket- handkerchief were also here found . the handkerchief bore the name "Marie Rogt ." Fragments of dress were discovered on_the brambles around . the earth was trampled, the bushes were broken, and there_was every evidence of a struggle . between_the thicket and_the river, the fences were found taken down, and_the ground bore evidence of some heavy burthen having been dragged along it .

a weekly paper, Le Soleil,{*12} had the following comments upon_this discovery -- comments which merely echoed the sentiment of_the whole Parisian press:

" the things had all evidently been there at_least three or four weeks; they were all mildewed down hard with_the action of_the rain and stuck together from mildew . the grass had grown around and over some_of_them . the silk on_the parasol was strong, but the threads of it were run together within . the upper part, where it had_been doubled and folded, was all mildewed and rotten, and tore on its being opened .. .. . the pieces of her frock torn out by_the bushes were about three inches wide and six inches long . one part was_the hem of_the frock, and it had_been mended; the other piece was part of_the skirt, not the hem . they looked like strips torn off, and were on_the thorn bush, about a foot from_the ground .. .. . there can_be no_doubt, therefore, that_the spot of_this appalling outrage has_been discovered ."

consequent upon_this discovery, new evidence appeared .Madame Deluc testified that she keeps a roadside inn not far from_the bank of_the river, opposite the Barrire du Roule . the neighborhood is secluded -- particularly so . it_is_the usual Sunday resort of blackguards from_the city, who cross the river in boats . about three o'clock, in_the afternoon of_the Sunday in_question, a young girl arrived at_the inn, accompanied by a young man of dark complexion . the two remained here for some_time . on their departure, they took the road to some thick woods in_the vicinity .Madame Deluc's attention was called to_the dress worn by_the girl, on account of_its resemblance to one worn by a deceased relative .a scarf was particularly noticed . soon after_the departure of_the couple, a gang of miscreants made their appearance, behaved boisterously, ate and drank without making payment, followed in_the route of_the young man and girl, returned to_the inn about dusk, and re-crossed the river as_if in great haste .

it_was soon after dark, upon_this same evening, that Madame Deluc, as_well as her eldest son, heard the screams of a female in_the vicinity of_the inn . the screams were violent but brief .Madame D

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