‘The Purloined Letter’ by Edgar Allan Poe

Posted in America, English Literature, Historical articles, History, Literature on Wednesday, 19 February 2014

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This edited article about Edgar Allan Poe first appeared in Look and Learn issue number 558 published on 23 September 1972.

The Purloined Letter,  picture, image, illustration

A scene from ‘The Purloined Letter’ by Edgar Allan Poe – The letter was laid down on the table in the royal drawing room, by Alberto Salinas

As C. Auguste Dupin and his friend and narrator sat smoking in their library, the door opened and the Prefect of the Parisian Police was ushered in. He had a difficult case to solve and wished to get Dupin’s opinion on how to bring it to a successful conclusion.

A letter had been stolen from the royal apartments – a document of the utmost importance. This was no ordinary case of robbery. The thief, a prominent Minister of State, had been seen taking the letter. The problem was to recover it and restore it to its rightful owner with no fuss. Arrest of the Minister was out of the question, as a scandal must be avoided at all costs.

The Minister was often away from his home at night, and for three months the police had searched every inch of the building. Wallpaper was removed and replaced, furniture was carefully taken apart and reassembled, floorboards were investigated and the bindings of books minutely examined, but no trace of the letter had been found. Policemen disguised as footpads had waylaid and searched the man himself with no more success.

What course did Dupin recommend the Prefect to adopt next? Dupin said, “Search again.”

A month later, the Prefect again approached the detective as further searches had proved fruitless and he despaired of ever finding the paper. The Prefect said he would give fifty thousand francs, his share of the reward, for the letter’s recovery, to anyone who could help him.

Dupin calmly produced a cheque book and said that, if the Prefect would write a cheque for the amount, he would hand him the missing letter at once. The astonished policeman handed over the money – and Dupin produced the letter from his desk.

How had Dupin found the Minister’s cunning hiding place when so thorough a search had failed to reveal it? The Prefect rushed off with his prize, and the detective proceeded step by step to unfold to his friend his process of reasoning and the plan by which he had gained the letter without arousing the man’s suspicion – it was a plan as cunning as the Minister’s own

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