At the back can be seen an additional document box that slides behind the pigeonholes on that side. In the foreground are two of the secret drawers. The central section has been removed to show the pocket concealed at the back. ILLUSTRATION IV: Fifteen Secret Places: This is the interior of the New England Queen Anne desk illustrated on the cover. Some were large enough for several letters others were so small that only a coin or two, or possibly a half-dozen pieces of Continental currency folded in half, could be accommodated. There were twenty-one in this simple slant-top desk. At the end, the owner came to my rescue and pointed out several that I had missed. Sometime ago I spent an entire afternoon trying to locate the secret compartments in an American secretary that looked quite innocent of any. Some pieces have a single secret others have a score. Many a piece has yielded up its hidden caches only when sent to a cabinetmaker for thorough reconditioning. I know of a collector who owned a piece of furniture for several years before finding that it even had a secret compartment. The sweeping statement of the Prefect regarding the stupidity of anyone who fails to find a secret drawer shows that he knew little about these ingenious evidences of the cabinetmaker’s skill. But the details of the story are beside the point. Auguste Dupin, who eventually finds the missing letter and gets the reward of 50,000 francs. Of course, it is Poe’s master detective, C. The central cabinet can be removed and hides four drawers and two document boxes. ILLUSTRATION I: An 18th-Century American Secretary: This shows the interior in place.
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