My thoughts on "The Purloined Letter"

"The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allen Poe was a short detective story. The most interesting part of this story is the relationship between Dupin and the Paris police. After a month of searching every nook and cranny of the Minister's apartment the Prefect was not able to find the missing letter. Dupin visits the apartment and is able to find the letter with ease for it is hidden in plain sight. He explains to the narrator how he finds it. To me it seems like the Prefect represents the institutionalized and "to the book" way of doing things; while Dupin's approach seems more of a use of reason and logic. Dupin comes across as a smart intellectual detective who proves that it is not always best be overly scrutinous but rather better to sit back and apply logic to the situation.