Золотой жук. Уровень 1 / The Gold-bug

He was the one who forced the gateway. While opening the gate, he heard shrieks. They suddenly ceased when the gate was open. They were loud and drawn out, not short and quick. When he entered the house, he heard two voices in loud and angry contention-the one a gruff voice, the other much shriller. He was not sure whether it was the voice of a man or of a woman but he was sure the gruff voice was of a Frenchman and the shrill voice was speaking Spanish. He does not speak Spanish himself.

Henri Duval, a neighbor, claims he was one of the party who first entered the house.

He, too, heard the voices speaking. He could not distinguish the words, but was convinced by intonation that the shrill voice was of an Italian. He does not speak Italian himself.

Alfonzo Garcio, a native of Spain, was also one of the party who entered the house. He thinks the gruff voice was of a Frenchman and the shrill voice of an Englishman. He does not understand the English language, but judges by the intonation.

William Bird, another foreigner, an Englishman, also entered the house first.

He claims the shrill voice was speaking Italian. He does not understand Italian himself.

Mr. Alberto Montani, an Italian, was passing the house at that time and heard voices too. He thinks the shrill voice belongs to a Russian. He never conversed with a native of Russia.

All witnesses agreed that the chimneys of all the rooms on the fourth floor were too narrow for anyone to escape.

Paul Dumas, a doctor, was called to see the bodies soon after they were found.

They were in a horrible condition. Such results could not come from a woman’s hands, only from those of a very strong man. The daughter was strangled by strong hands around her neck.

That’s all the police knew. This was the strangest killing in Paris of all time.

Later, we read in the paper that the police arrested and imprisoned Adolphe Le Bon, although nothing appeared to criminate him. I could tell that Dupin was interested in the progress of this affair.

He asked my opinion on the murderers. I said I saw no means by which it would be possible to trace the murderer.

“We must not judge of the means,” said Dupin, “the Parisian police is famous for its acumen. They have a vast parade of measures but, for the most part, they achieve results by simple diligence and activity. When these qualities are useless, their methods fail. There is such a thing as being too profound.