What is the name of the prefect of police in 'The Purloined Letter'?

The prefect of police in “The Purloined Letter” is Monsieur G—.

Poe introduces G— as the prefect of the Paris police when he visits the unnamed narrator and C. Auguste Dupin. G— brings news of a politically dangerous letter stolen from the Queen. The letter’s contents could expose her, and the thief, Minister D—, is using it to blackmail her.

The police prefect believes the letter must be hidden somewhere in the minister’s rooms. His officers conduct an exhaustive search, examining furniture, walls, carpets, floorboards, and other possible hiding places. Their failure is central to the story: they search according to the assumption that an important object must be concealed in an elaborate secret compartment.

Dupin solves the case by recognizing that Minister D— has hidden the letter in plain sight, disguising it as an ordinary, damaged document. Monsieur G— is therefore neither the narrator nor Dupin, and Minister D— is the thief. Poe’s use of initials and dashes keeps the political identities deliberately veiled while emphasizing the story’s puzzle structure.