Poe's story, "The Mystery of Marie Roget," was published in three issues of a women's magazine between November 1842 and February 1843. With seamless logic, Inspector Dupin (that is, Poe) proves that there can be but one murderer, the "man of dark complexion," a naval officer with whom Marie (Mary) had last been seen and with whom she had disappeared for a few weeks three years earlier. At this point, Poe ended his tale, declining to give the name of the culprit as he had done in his earlier crime stories. An editor's note explained: "For reasons which we shall not specify, but which to many readers will appear obvious, we have taken the liberty of here omitting, from the manuscript placed in our hands, such portion as details the following up of the apparently slight clew obtained by Dupin. We feel it advisable only to state, in brief, that the result desired was brought to pass..."
