По следам детективов: увлекательные истории для изучения английского языка - Анжелика Ягудена

and collect all the clues that lead to the suspect. Find all the information needed to solve the mystery.

● Collect the evidence, check out alibis, and interrogate each suspect to solve the crime.

● Possible suspects: Jessica, Linda, Grace, Jane, Jeremy.

The night before the wedding, Mary was having some close friends over: Jessica, Linda, and Grace. They were watching romantic comedies, singing songs, and gossiping. Mary was so excited and happy because her dream was about to come true. She had been dating Mark since high school, and he finally proposed to her.

Everyone was laughing, cheering, and clapping their hands when Mary showed her elegant wedding dress to them. She looked like a queen in it. She said that it was a present from her mom Jane. As a parent, Jane wanted only the best for her daughter. Her eyes were filled with tears of happiness, and she was proud of Mary. Jane was on good terms with Mark and hoped they would make a loving couple. Everyone seemed to be having fun. Actually, all of them had their own secrets.

Jessica was secretly in love with Mark but kept her feelings hidden. Mark lived in her neighborhood and sometimes gave her a ride home. They had much in common: they had exactly the same taste in music, films, sports, etc. Jessica hoped that one day he and Mary would split up. She was not going to give up.

Linda disliked Mark, and she had her own deeply personal reasons as well. First, Linda’s brother Jeremy was in love with Mary. Second, Mark pretended to be something he wasn’t. He was a gambler and constantly lost large sums of money. Linda had discussed it with Mary, but she didn’t want to believe her. So, Linda made peace with Mary’s choice. She hoped that Mark would change after marriage.

Grace had a secret as well. She saw Mark with another girl last week, but she didn’t tell Mary about it. She didn’t want to upset her best friend or destroy other people’s relationship.

When the party ended and all the guests left, Mary immediately went to bed. She woke up about five hours after her alarm was supposed to go off. She felt dizzy and sick. When she went into the dining room, she had a strange feeling that something really bad might have happened. When she looked at her watch, Mary realized that she overslept and was late for her own wedding. She also discovered that her wedding dress had been ruined. Mary felt even worse and called an ambulance. The doctors found it was an attempted poisoning and called Sherlock Holmes. When the detective came to the crime scene, he immediately got a clue. The offender endangered Mary’s life and secretly put sleeping pills into her cocktail. Who was the criminal?

Edgar Allan Poe

(January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849)

Some people are born under a lucky star, while others are forced to resist the heavy blows of fate all their life. That’s how the world really works. However, we all must realize that hardships are a part of the precious gift called life. They make us stronger and wiser. They purify our souls. As the saying goes, “When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.” Unfortunately, the life of Edgar Allan Poe was filled with losses, trials, and sadness and ended in а horrible tragedy. He died very young, but he managed to leave a significant mark on the world of literature. Poe’s contribution to the development of detective fiction was so great that, according to many, without him, we wouldn’t even have Sherlock Homes. Years later, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would say that Edgar Poe was “a model for all time.” The legendary writer’s last moments were the biggest mystery covered in darkness. The causes of Edgar Poe’s mysterious death are still unknown, though they have been the topic of persistent speculation over the years. Many theories exist, including serious illness and even murder. However, the circumstances of the incident and the sequence of events remain unclear. As I see it, the undisputed “father” of the detective story left behind him a mystery so puzzling that even the most illustrious detective Auguste Dupin, a fictional character created by Edgar Allan Poe, wouldn’t be able to solve it. Let’s together touch the enigmatic life of the greatest writer of all time and the man of extraordinary fate.

Edgar Allan Poe, an American writer, poet, literary critic, and the inventor of the detective novel, was born in Boston, on January 19, 1809, into the family of traveling actors Elizabeth and David Poe. Since childhood his life was full of tragic events. The legendary writer never really knew his parents. Just a year after Edgar Poe’s birth, his father abandoned their family and never returned. No one knows exactly about his fate, but reportedly he died the same year the writer’s mother did. By the age of three, little Edgar was orphaned. He was unofficially adopted by John Allan and his wife Frances, a well-to-do childless couple. His older brother Henry and younger sister Rosalie went to live with other families.

Poe was never reunited with his siblings as a family. Sadly, things weren’t easy for Rosalie and Henry, as if fortune turned back on them. For many years, Henry sailed around the world. On returning to Baltimore, he started writing short stories and poems. One of his works called “The Pirate” described the first relationship between Edgar Poe and his adolescent sweetheart Sarah Elmira Royster. Unfortunately, Henry died very young, when he was just twenty-four years old. Interestingly, his sister’s life was also covered in mystery and misfortunes. Even her exact date of birth was unknown. There was speculation that Rosalie was not the true child of either David or Eliza Poe, and that her real father was supposedly the prominent actor John Howard Payne. Even Edgar Poe added fuel to the fire when he once said that Rosalie was actually his older sister. Rumors persist that when Rosalie was still a child, a wealthy resident of Richmond left her an enormous fortune. She was the sole heiress in his will, which gave rise to many curious speculations, rumors, and legends. As for her foster family, no one knows exactly whether she was treated like a family member or merely a ward. Unfortunately, Rosalie’s adult life was also a failure. She was said to walk the streets trying to sell postcards of her famous brother. As I see it, she was devastated and scared. Being unemployed, it was the only possible way to earn her living. She had no one to rely on and was left alone to survive in this world. Eventually, she lost heart. Rosalie spent her last days in a charity home.

Let’s go back to the childhood of Edgar Poe. Taking pity on the baby, John and Frances Allan became his foster family, but they never adopted him officially. Poe seemed to have a strong bond with his foster mother, but he couldn’t find a common language with his foster father. In fact, John Allan was a wealthy merchant and wanted Edgar to follow in his footsteps. He didn’t approve of his passion for literature. Edgar, in turn, had no interest in taking up the family business. It’s not surprising that they didn’t get along well with each other. Though it’s commonly believed that opposites attract, in reality, the reverse is true. As I see it, Edgar Poe lived for his ideas and, like most writers, needed inspiration and privacy. Poe was a dreamer who lived in his little world, while