Getting Away With Murder

       When I think of the phrase Master Story Teller, Edgar Allen Poe comes to mind. His short stories are especially intriguing. The start of the story ropes you in. As the story progresses and it seems the villain has gotten away with his dirty deed Poe kicks it up a notch, turning up the heat all at once. Take for instance the Tell-Tale Heart, one of my favorites. The evil doer admits to being crazy but he doesn't see it as a problem. After all the disease has sharpened his senses. He methodically stalks his prey, watching him night after night. All because he didn't care for the man's eye staring at him. An eye he described as that of a vulture, pale blue with a film over it. So to rid himself of seeing the eye the man's life had to go.
       I will admit the deed was gruesome but in Poe's story telling he states the facts without the bloody details. Still you see them. This is how Poe describes the villain's actions- If you still think me mad, you will think so no longer when you when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.- You saw it didn't you. All the bloody details.
       The villain had gotten away with murder. Even when the police came a calling. They had not a clue of his wise concealment. He invited them in. Played the gracious host. Touring them around the old man's room. Everything in place. His treasures secure and undisturbed. He was confident his deed was covert. So confident here's how he proceeded- In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim.
       The officers were satisfied. Nothing amiss. He had convinced them. But...his sharpened senses. The heart likened to the beating of a heart. Yes, Edgar Allen Poe is a Master Story Teller. I won't ruin the ending for you. You can read the complete story here.

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