Learn vocabulary - 5 ways to use the word 'run' - Rue Morgue part one - BBC Learning English

Hello, I'm Mariam. I hope you don't scare easily because today I've got a story that

will make your blood run cold. It's a story about murder and intrigue and a detective

who has to work out who has committed a very serious crime.

The story is set in Paris in the 19th Century. On a dark and foggy night, a terrifying scream

echoes around the streets. People nearby hear two voices coming from the apartment above.

One of them clearly sounds French but the other one is high-pitched and isn't easy to

understand. Then it goes quiet.

Quickly, the people run into the house where the noise came from and run up the stairs.

With a great force they burst into the apartment. What a horrific sight they see; there is mess

everywhere, there's a woman's body hanging from the chimney and another is on the courtyard

below with blood running from a cut in her neck and there are two bags of money left

behind no one has taken them. But strangely, the windows are closed and the doors are locked

and no one saw anyone run down the stairs as they came up. What a mystery.

The police have never run up against something like this before so it requires the brains

of a super-sleuth to solve it - enter the smart private detective Dupin. He runs through the

evidence with all the possible scenarios running through his head - the strange voice, someone

very cruel, no means of escape. Then he examines the handprints on the woman's body - they are

large and possibly not human. Could it be some kind of animal - an ape perhaps? That would

explain the strange voice but what about the other human voice that was heard?

What a mystery indeed - but I'm going to leave it there. Join me again next time to find

out what went on that night. Bye for now.