Portillo Vs. Poe. By Florentina Abramov

Poe has a very peculiar way of setting up the scene, and building our perceptions. Portillo's story really pulled me in because there was all this drama. It kept a suspenseful feeling, but also brought scandal into it--which always intrigues the thespian in many of us. The obvious is that there are plenty of suspects with strong motives, which reminds me of every Law and Order episode. Also, it makes you believe that they all have a reason, like in Poe's "Rue Morgue" story. The twist of the story, like Poe (with the random monkey popping up) was the murder that was conducted by a number of people and not just one. It really turned it into a whole other story. It seemed that a basic detective would have one person commit the crime, one person solves it, and they get caught and so on and so forth.

Portillo’s story breaks few barriers of detective stories. The only missing link, that would probably be described more in detail is how he found out who “J” was and how he tracked them down. It would have been interesting to read the interrogation process once they got caught and how they proved the evidence. I think that because of the time period, they have used DNA evidence in solving the case as well.