Summary of The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Dupin and the narrator read about the murders in the Rue Morgue in a newspaper. Mademoiselle L'Espanaye had been strangled and her body had been placed in the chimney. Hrer mother was found in the garden with her throat cut. There appeared to be no motive for the murders. A number of witnesses gave their testimonies. They all agreed that they had heard a French voice but each witness claimed to have heard a second voice in a different foreign language, although none of them could agree on which one. Dupin started his own investigation and realised that the murderer had got in and out of the house through a window in the back room.He also realised that the hand which had strangled Mademoiselle L'Espanaye was enormous and therefore could not belong to a human being and neither could the hair which had been found in Madame L'Espanaye's hand.This led him to believe that the murderer had been an orang-outang.By writing an advertisement in Le Monde he found the owner of the orang-outang,who recounted the whole story.The sailor himself was innocent and when he finally caught his orang-outang he sold it to the city zoo.