Is it true what the foot notes said about Mary Cecilia Rogers? Did She really exist? If she did, Were the real murderers caught? and In what extension the work of Poe helped solving the Mystery of Marie Rogers?...I really want to know where did the reality end and the fiction begin. Thanks and sorry for my pour English

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2003

Answers

Poe bragged about getting the solution right(like Conan Doyle and other amateur geniuses of detection) although his version varies in some details. In fact it was a botched abortion with the boyfriend trying to cover up. Poe reset it with his stock French detective, Dupin. A good biography, even Silverman's, should run the case and the tale together for you. A magazinist racing with the fiction to compete with the crime news reporting. I don't think anyone used Poe's suggestions and he tends to overbrag.

-- Anonymous, December 01, 2003