Suspense's "The Mystery of Marie Roget" was adapted from a 1842 story by Edgar Allan Poe that first appeared in Snowden's Ladies Companion in three installments. It is considered the first murder mystery based on the events of a real crime.
The story attempts to solve the mystery of the disappearance and murder of a young woman named Mary Rogers in New York City in 1841, a case that was a sensation in the media at the time. Poe took the events of the crime in New York but fictionalized them into a story that occurs in Paris. "The Mystery of Marie Roget" is available online at Wikisource.
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841) was the first work of detective fiction, and the character of C. Auguste Dupin was the first of many gentleman detectives who would follow. His second appearance was in "The Mystery of Marie Roget" and that is why the story is often subtitled a sequel. He makes his final appearance in "The Purloined Letter.'
In the introduction to this episode, Suspense claims that a confession proved that Poe was correct in his identification of the killer, but in truth, the case of Mary Rogers remains an unsolved murder to this day.
As the episode opens, C. Auguste Dupin extends an invitation to the listener to remember the true events that occurred in the case of Mary Rogers, but then to displace them to Paris, and imagine the tale as if it had happened there.
"The Mystery of Marie Roget" was adapted for radio by E. Jack Neuman and produced/directed Elliott Lewis. Cornel Wilde starred as C August Dupin. Also appearing were John Dehner, Edgar Barrier, William Johnstone, Lou Merrill, Jeanette Nolan, and Paula Winslowe. This episode aired on December 14, 1953.
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Suspense presented this story again on February 7, 1960. Paul Roberts produced and directed. Jackson Beck played Dupin. Also appearing were Guy Repp, Robert Dryden, Jim Boles, Ethel Everett, Abby Lewis, Guy Repp, and Ronald Dawson.
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(Illustration from "The Mystery of Marie Roget"from Wikipedia.)
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