A part of the right wrist, also,
      was much chafed, as well as the back throughout its extent, but
      more especially at the shoulder-blades. In bringing the body to
      the shore the fishermen had attached to it a rope; but none of
      the excoriations had been effected by this. The flesh of the neck
      was much swollen. There were no cuts apparent, or bruises which
      appeared the effect of blows. A piece of lace was found tied so
      tightly around the neck as to be hidden from sight; it was
      completely buried in the flesh, and was fastened by a knot which
      lay just under the left ear. This alone would have sufficed to
      produce death. The medical testimony spoke confidently of the
      virtuous character of the deceased. She had been subjected, it
      said, to brutal violence. The corpse was in such condition when
      found, that there could have been no difficulty in its
      recognition by friends. The dress was much torn and otherwise disordered. In the outer
      garment, a slip, about a foot wide, had been torn upward from the
      bottom hem to the waist, but not torn off. It was wound three
      times around the waist, and secured by a sort of hitch in the
      back. The dress immediately beneath the frock was of fine muslin;
      and from this a slip eighteen inches wide had been torn entirely
      out—torn very evenly and with great care. It was found around her
      neck, fitting loosely, and secured with a hard knot. Over this
      muslin slip and the slip of lace, the strings of a bonnet were
      attached; the bonnet being appended. The knot by which the
      strings of the bonnet were fastened, was not a lady’s, but a slip
      or sailor’s knot. After the recognition of the corpse, it was not, as usual, taken
      to the Morgue, (this formality being superfluous,) but hastily
      interred not far from the spot at which it was brought ashore. Through the exertions of Beauvais, the matter was industriously
      hushed up, as far as possible; and several days had elapsed
      before any public emotion resulted. A weekly paper, (*9) however,
      at length took up the theme; the corpse was disinterred, and a
      re-examination instituted; but nothing was elicited beyond what
      has been already noted. The clothes, however, were now submitted
      to the mother and friends of the deceased, and fully identified
      as those worn by the girl upon leaving home. Meantime, the excitement increased hourly. Several individuals
      were arrested and discharged. St. Eustache fell especially under
      suspicion; and he failed, at first, to give an intelligible
      account of his whereabouts during the Sunday on which Marie left
      home. Subsequently, however, he submitted to Monsieur G——,
      affidavits, accounting satisfactorily for every hour of the day
      in question. As time passed and no discovery ensued, a thousand
      contradictory rumors were circulated, and journalists busied
      themselves in suggestions. Among these, the one which attracted
      the most notice, was the idea that Marie Rogêt still lived—that
      the corpse found in the Seine was that of some other unfortunate. It will be proper that I submit to the reader some passages which
      embody the suggestion alluded to. These passages are literal
      translations from L’Etoile, (*10) a paper conducted, in general,
      with much ability. “Mademoiselle Rogêt left her mother’s house on Sunday morning,
      June the twenty-second, 18—, with the ostensible purpose of going
      to see her aunt, or some other connexion, in the Rue des Drômes. From that hour, nobody is proved to have seen her. There is no
      trace or tidings of her at all.... There has no person, whatever,
      come forward, so far, who saw her at all, on that day, after she
      left her mother’s door.... Now, though we have no evidence that
      Marie Rogêt was in the land of the living after nine o’clock on
      Sunday, June the twenty-second, we have proof that, up to that
      hour, she was alive. On Wednesday noon, at twelve, a female body
      was discovered afloat on the shore of the Barrière de Roule. This
      was, even if we presume that Marie Rogêt was thrown into the
      river within three hours after she left her mother’s house, only
      three days from the time she left her home—three days to an hour. But it is folly to suppose that the murder, if murder was
      committed on her body, could have been consummated soon enough to
      have enabled her murderers to throw the body into the river
      before midnight. Those who are guilty of such horrid crimes
      choose darkness rather the light.... Thus we see that if the body
      found in the river was that of Marie Rogêt, it could only have
      been in the water two and a half days, or three at the outside. All experience has shown that drowned bodies, or bodies thrown
      into the water immediately after death by violence, require from
      six to ten days for decomposition to take place to bring them to
      the top of the water. Even where a cannon is fired over a corpse,
      and it rises before at least five or six days’ immersion, it
      sinks again, if let alone. Now, we ask, what was there in this
      case to cause a departure from the ordinary course of nature?... If the body had been kept in its mangled state on shore until
      Tuesday night, some trace would be found on shore of the
      murderers. It is a doubtful point, also, whether the body would
      be so soon afloat, even were it thrown in after having been dead
      two days. And, furthermore, it is exceedingly improbable that any
      villains who had committed such a murder as is here supposed,
      would have thrown the body in without weight to sink it, when
      such a precaution could have so easily been taken.”

      The editor here proceeds to argue that the body must have been in
      the water “not three days merely, but, at least, five times three
      days,” because it was so far decomposed that Beauvais had great
      difficulty in recognizing it. This latter point, however, was
      fully disproved. I continue the translation:

      “What, then, are the facts on which M. Beauvais says that he has
      no doubt the body was that of Marie Rogêt? He ripped up the gown
      sleeve, and says he found marks which satisfied him of the
      identity. The public generally supposed those marks to have
      consisted of some description of scars. He rubbed the arm and
      found hair upon it—something as indefinite, we think, as can
      readily be imagined—as little conclusive as finding an arm in the
      sleeve. M. Beauvais did not return that night, but sent word to
      Madame Rogêt, at seven o’clock, on Wednesday evening, that an
      investigation was still in progress respecting her daughter.