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C. Auguste Dupin

A Parisian crime solver. Dupin discovers the truth behind the violent murders of two women after the Paris police arrest the wrong man. He employs psychological analysis and intuition and considers possibilities not imagined by the police to conclude that the murders were committed by an orangutan.

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The Narrator

A friend and housemate of Dupin. The narrator attempts to provide an objective chronicle of the crime, but his tone celebrates Dupin’s brilliance.

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Madame L’Espanaye

The older of the two Parisian murder victims. Violently beaten with a club, Madame L’Espanaye dies from a cut throat and is thrown through the window to a courtyard below her apartment.

Mademoiselle Camille

Daughter of Madame L’Espanaye. Mademoiselle Camille is choked to death by the murderer and then stuffed into the chimney.

Adolphe Le Bon

A bank clerk and the first suspect in the two murders.

Sailor

The owner of the orangutan. The sailor witnesses the two murders but is unable to interfere. His inability to restrain the orangutan also represents the limits of the Paris police to imagine a nonhuman explanation for the vicious murders.

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