Morgue kadun kauhu

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

76496

Title

Morgue kadun kauhu

Language

fi

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

In a fog-shrouded Paris, a destitute scholar and his eccentric friend, C. Auguste Dupin, investigate the baffling double murder of a French couple found in a Morgue Street apartment. When police fail to solve the gruesome crime, Dupin deduces that a pet orangutan, escaped from a sailor's home, committed the killings. This psychological tale blends Gothic horror with logical deduction, exploring themes of isolation, the power of imagination, and the thin line between reason and madness.

Summary up to 500 words

Set in the winter of an unspecified year, the narrator arrives in Paris and befriends C. Auguste Dupin, a man of immense intellect and eccentric habits. They rent a dilapidated house in Faubourg St. Germain, living in isolation and exploring the city's mysteries late into the night. Their quiet existence is shattered by a shocking crime: the bodies of a French couple, M. and Mme. l'Espanaye, are discovered in their apartment. The daughter's body is found burned in the fireplace, while the mother's remains are crushed and her head severed. The police, including the renowned Vidocq, are baffled by the lack of motive and the impossibility of escape, as the windows are barred and the chimney too narrow for a human. Dupin, however, sees the absurdity in the police's conclusions. He notes that witnesses agree the murderer spoke French but disagree on the voice's quality, suggesting a non-human source. Dupin deduces the killer must have entered through the open window of the fourth floor, where the light from the victim's apartment drew the perpetrator. He hypothesizes that the murderer is a Frenchman who owns a pet orangutan. Dupin publishes a notice in a maritime newspaper claiming the orangutan has escaped in Boulogne. A sailor responds, claiming ownership of the animal. Dupin confronts the sailor, who confesses that his pet orangutan, trained to shave, escaped its cage, entered the victim's apartment through the open window, and killed the couple in a fit of rage before fleeing back through the chimney. The sailor, terrified, had abandoned the animal, but the police eventually recaptured it. The sailor is acquitted, and the mystery is solved, revealing the terrifying power of nature and the limits of human understanding.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Mystery
• Horror