Complaining of weak eyes he wore a pair of green spectacles, the true purpose of which was to disguise his eyes as he searched for the letter. He explains that D- knew the police detectives would have assumed that the blackmailer would have concealed the letter in an elaborate hiding place, and thus hid it in plain sight.ĭupin says he had visited the minister at his hotel. For example, Dupin explains how an eight-year old boy made a small fortune from his friends at a game called ' Odds and Evens.' The boy was able to determine the intelligence of his opponents and play upon that to interpret their next move. The Prefect mistakes the Minister D- for a fool because he is a poet. Dupin explains the Paris police are competent within their limitations, but have underestimated who they are dealing with.

The Prefect determines that it is genuine and races off to deliver it to the victim.Īlone together, the narrator asks Dupin how he found the letter. He writes the check and Dupin produces the letter. The Prefect is astonished but knows that Dupin is not joking. Dupin asks him to write that check now and he will give him the letter.

He is motivated to continue his fruitless search by the promise of a large reward, recently doubled, upon the letter's safe return, and he will pay 50,000 francs to anyone who can help him. The Prefect then bids them good day.Ī month later, the Prefect returns, still bewildered in his search for the missing letter. Dupin asks the Prefect if he knows what he is looking for and the Prefect reads off a minute description of the letter, which Dupin memorizes. His men have examined the tables and chairs with microscopes and then probed the cushions with needles but have found no sign of interference the letter is not hidden in these places. They checked behind the wallpaper and under the carpets. The Prefect says that he and his police detectives have searched the Ministerial hotel where D- stays and have found nothing. Therefore he must have the letter close at hand. Therefore Minister D- still has the letter in his possession.Ģ.) The ability to produce the letter at a moment’s notice is almost as important as possession of the letter itself. The Prefect makes two deductions with which Dupin does not disagree:ġ.) The contents of the letter have not been revealed, as this would have led to certain circumstances that have not arisen. D- was in the room, saw the letter, and switched it for a letter of no importance.

It is said to contain compromising information. The Prefect has a case he would like to discuss with Dupin.Ī letter has been stolen from the boudoir of an unnamed female by the unscrupulous Minister D. Auguste Dupin some of his most celebrated cases when they are joined by the Prefect of the Police, a man known as G. The unnamed narrator is discussing with the famous Parisian amateur detective C.

The purloined letter summary