The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe. Short summary

5 seconds

The Prefect of Police asks Dupin to solve a case. A minister has stolen an important letter from a resident of the royal apartments, which he wants to use for political purposes.

1 minute

The narrator meets his pal Auguste Dupin and recalls his past investigations. A mutual acquaintance, the prefect of police, visits them. He asks for advice.

The man tells him classified information that must be kept secret. An extremely important letter has been tampered with by one of the residents of the royal apartments. The kidnapper was a certain minister who wants to use the stolen paper for political purposes. The victim cannot return the letter in any way and appeals to the prefect for help.

The police secretly conduct a search of the minister’s house. The prefect carries out several separate searches, but finds nothing. He explains to his friends what the letter looked like.

Soon the prefect comes to Dupen again and offers a reward. The master of the house asks him to write a check and then gives him the letter. It transpires that Dupin has had his own quarrel with the minister. He visited him twice, noticed the letter and replaced it with another.