"The Gold Bug" On an island off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, a mysterious bug is found.  Legrand, a man from a now poor southern family, finds the bug while exploring the island to which he has moved.  Jupiter, his servant, is skeptical and afraid of the bug because of it strange gold like appearance and heavy weight.  Legrand uses critical thinking skills and logical reasoning to solve the mystery of the bug and a buried treasure linked to the mysterious creature.  Legrand will need the help of his servant and the narrator during his adventure.  During the story, readers are given details to support evidence that Legrand is obsessed with the Gold Bug, which is driving him mad.  The story ends with a mystery for the readers to solve.  Did Legrand follow the pirate's actions and kill his comrades?  Poe leaves a mystery for us.  Thus, the story is one of Poe's greatest mysteries, which helped give Poe the name of the first detective writer.  The plot builds on facts.  Although the main mystery is solved, one is left open for readers--like many mysteries today.  However, Poe did take time to include his hobby and pastime, the cryptogram.

"The Murders in Rue Morgue" When reading the title, you might have thought it ironic that a murder would take place in a morgue.  However, Rue Morgue is a section of Paris, the home of Dupin (the famous detective mentioned in the story).  A horrendous murder has been committed in Rue Morgue.  An old woman and her daughter have been brutally tortured and killed.  The daughter has been cut with a razor and her body is stuffed up a chimney.  The old woman's head is nearly ripped from her body and she has been pushed out a window.  The Paris police are stuck without a motive and witnesses swear to a voice in the house, although they did not recognize the male's nationality or language.  Dupin and his friend search the house for clues.  Within one search, Dupin has carefully solved the mystery.  When he and his roommate return home, he goes into a long monologue on the culprit.  The story reviews each witnesses testimony and the crime scene.  Dupin's supernatural ability to use logical reasoning, leads him to an orangutan murderer, possibly the pet of a sailor.  His thought is proved after he submits a lost and found column in a newspaper saying he had found an orangutan roaming his streets, of course he had not.  The sailor showed up to claim his pet.  Instead, he is interrogated by Dupin.  He proves Dupin's theory correct when he tells what really happened to the dead couple.  The orangutan was playing; however, the fright of the women drove him to anger.  The animal killed them, then fled.  This story has a solid ending.  The mystery is solved thanks to Dupin's ability.  Instead of being relieved of his financial burdens, Dupin must carry on with his poor life and roommate--unless he is offered a job from the Paris police--maybe that is Poe's final mystery.

 
 

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