The Maltese Falcon

Summaries by Chapter
by Dashiell Hammett

Plot

Chapter 1: Spade & Archer

Miss Wonderly hires Sam Spade, a private
detective, to reunite her with her sister,
Corinne, who is with Floyd Thursby, who
is described by Miss Wonderly as
dangerous. Also, the sister has a dark
past.
The plan is for Miss Wonderly to meet
Thursby at night at the hotel, and for
Miles Archer, Spades partner, to follow
Thursby, with the hope of being led to
Corinne.
Chapter 2: Death in the Fog
Miles Archer is shot in the chest (pump
= heart) from close range by one pill
(bullet). He breaks through the fence
railing and falls down the hill. His gun
and cash are still on his body, which
comes to rest in an alleyway (Burritt
Street), off Bush and Stockton Streets in
downtown San Francisco

 Same Spade tells Tom Polhaus, the

investigating police officer (the good
cop), about the job for Miss Wonderly.
Then, after telling Polhaus not to crowd
him, Spade leaves (18).
Spade instructs his secretary, Effie
Perrine, to notify Miles wife, Iva, who
Spade wants to avoid.
Officer Polhaus comes to Spades
apartment, with Lieutenant Dundy (the
bad cop), who is suspicious of Spade.
After pressing Spade, the two officers
inform him that Floyd Thursby was shot
outside a hotel in the middle of the night.
He was shot four times in the back, with a
.44 or .45, from across the street. There
were no witnesses. Thursby was wearing
a Luger in a shoulder-holster. He had
been at the hotel a week.
Spade claims to have no knowledge of
Thursby. Lieutenant Dundy tells Spade
. . . youll get a square deal out of me,
and most of the breaks (25).
Chapter 3: Three Women

 Iva Archer, Miles wife, is waiting at

Spades office. Effie Perrine recounts to
Sam her visit to Iva per his instructions.
She says that Iva had just arrived home
when Effie got there, due to her clothes
and bed sheets. Sam insists, however,
that Iva did not kill Miles.
Sam sees Iva in his office. It is clear that
Sam and Iva have been having an affair,
and thus each had a motive to kill Miles.
After Iva leaves, Effie and Sam discuss
Sams predicamentthat he is a suspect.
Effie rolls Sam a cigarette.
Spade goes to Miss Wonderlys hotel, the
St. Marks, and finds that she has checked
out that morning.
The hotel detective tells Spade that
Wonderly checked in the previous
Tuesday from New York, with no trunk,
only bags; that no phone calls were
charged to her room, nor did she receive
much mail; that she was seen with only a
tall, dark man, age 36 or so; that she
went out 9:30 that morning, returned an
hour later, paid her bill, and had her bags
carried out to a car, probably a hired Nash

touring car. The forwarding address was

the Ambassador, Los Angeles.
Spade returns to his office to find that
Miss Wonderly called, wants to see
Spade, and is at the Coronet Hotel on
California Street, apartment 1001, under
the name Miss Leblanc. Spade burns the
paper with the info, and leaves.
Chapter 4: The Black Bird
At the Coronet, Miss Wonderly admits her
real name is Brigid OShaughnessy and
that the story about a sister was a lie.
Spade says he didnt believe the story,
only her $200. When OShaughnessy
pleads with Spade for help and bemoans
the death of Miles Archer, Spade responds
by noting that Brigid OShaughnessy is a
good liar and a dangerous person.
O. recounts what happened the previous
night: She went to dinner with Floyd
Thursby, returned to the hotel, then
watched Miles Archer follow Thursby
down the street. She woke the next
morning, went to breakfast, saw the
newspaper headline of Miles death, then
returned to her hotel. She mentions that

her room had been searched the previous

day while she was at Sam Spades office.
Spade says he needs to know more if he
is to help her. O. indicates that she met
Floyd Thursby in the Orient, and came
with him to San Francisco from Hong
Kong the previous week; and that
Thursby betrayed her, though she wont
give the details. She describes Thursby
as always armed and careful in
safeguarding his room before retiring to
bed, and she states Thursby is certainly
the one who killed Miles.
O. does indicate that her life is at stake,
but she wont give Spade anything
beyond that. Spade makes to leave but
then sits back down and asks how much
money O. has. He takes it all and tells
her to hock her jewelry.
Spade sees a man about the possibility of
not cooperating with police under the
guise of privileged secrets between him
and his client.
Spade returns to the office with optimism.
Effie tells Spade to trust Miss
OShaughnessy, and warns him not to
bleed her dry of money.

 Joel Cairo arrives in Spades office. He

has Levantine features, a high-pitched
thin voice, sits primly, dresses neatly and
extravagantly, and carries a scent of
chypre, a perfume that originates in the
Mediterranean. (Chypre is French for
Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean.)
Along with other characterizations of Joel
Cairo, he has a feminine quality.
Cairo expresses his condolences for
Archers death, then indicates he would
like to pay Spade $5000 for the recovery
of a black statuette.
After Effie says goodnight and leaves,
Cairo pulls a pistol on Spade.
Chapter 5: The Levantine (This word
suggests a Middle Eastern origin, such as
Lebanon, Syria, or Israel.)
Spade takes the gun away and punches
out Cairo, then examines the contents of
Cairos pockets. Items such as Arabic
writing and Chinese coins suggest world
travels. Cairo also has a newspaper
article on the deaths of Archer and

Thursby, as well as Spades office and

home addresses.
Cairo regains consciousness. Spade
agrees to work for Cairo: $5000 if Spade
can find the black statuette. In the
course of the conversation, another
unnamed person is mentioned as involved
in the pursuit of the black statuette.
Chapter 6: The Undersized Shadow
Later on, Spade leaves his office and is
followed by an undersized youth of
twenty or twenty-one (54).
At a theatre, Cairo says that he does not
recognize the youth, so Spade posits that
the youth might be one of the others
(57).
Spade shakes the tail, and goes to Brigid
OShaughnessy. A long conversation
ensues in which O. plays the part of the
weak, vulnerable girl, which Spade sees
through as a pretense.
He tells O. about Cairos offer of $5000
for the black bird, his first mention of the
statuette, which upsets O., who acts as if
Spade knew all along she was pursuing
the bird. O. then accuses Spade of being

disloyal; on the other hand, Spade is

frustrated by her lack of candor and trust
Spade and O. arrange to meet Cairo at
Spades apartment. At the apartment,
the youth is standing on a corner. Iva
Archer is in a sedan. Spade speaks with
Iva, who wants to come up. Spade says
no, so Ida drives off.
Chapter 7: G in the Air
Spade tells O. the story of a man named
Flitcraft, who left his family and suburban
life after he was almost hit by a beam
falling from a building. After coming to
San Francisco, he wandered around and
then drifted back to the Northwest (66).
Thereafter, he married another woman,
started another family, and settled back
into the same predictable suburban life.
Cairo arrives. Discussion turns to the
falcon. O. asks Cairo if he is prepared
to give them $5000 now if they (O and
Spade?) turn over the falcon. O. says that
Thursby had hid it before he was killed,
and that she thinks she knows where it is.
But both Cairos payment and O.s
knowledge are compromised when each is

asked for promises to do the deal

immediately.
Cairo indicates he works for the birds
owner, whose name is noted as G. O. says
she is selling to get rid of it so she
doesnt end up like Thursby.
Cairo and O. snipe at each other over the
youth or boy. It is suggested they
fought over the boys affections, and
Cairo won. O. slaps Cairo, who slaps her
back. Spade grabs Cairo by the throat
and disarms him, at which point the doorbell rings.
Dundy and Polhaus are at the door. They
ask Spade if he was having an affair with
Iva Archer. He denies it, but Dundy calls
him a liar. After conversation around the
likelihood of Spade having killed Archer
and/or Floyd Thursby, Spade refuses to
let the officers in, but a scream from
within leads to their entering Spades
apartment.
Ch. 8: Horse Feathers
Upon entering, a long conversation occurs
among all involved. Cairo truthfully
recounts events, but backs off when he is

asked to talk about the big picture.

Spade ultimately says the three were
playing a joke on the two officers, which
would be hard to disprove if the three
stick to the story. Ultimately, Cairo wants
to leave, Dundy asks why Cairo is so
frightened to stay, and Spade asks for
his gun, which is Cairos but Spade has
said he lent to Cairo for the joke. Spade
gets the gun.
This odd scene seems to wed Spade to
OShaughnessy, against Cairo; to
interweave Spade further with the
outstanding questions of the murders and
the black bird; and to set up Spade as a
chief suspect and enemy of the police.
Ch. 9: Brigid
After checking to see if the youth is still
downstairs, Spade returns to his
apartment and asks Brigid O. to tell him
about the falcon.
O. says first Cairo, then Thursby had
offered her money to help each get
possession of the falcon from a Russian
named Kemidov. After she discovers that
Cairo has no intention of paying her, she

joins Thursby in cutting Cairo out of the

deal, only to fine Thursby intends to cut
her out first. She indicates that is why
she came to Spade, for him to help her
find the falcon.
Spade calls O. a liar, she admits she is,
then kisses Spade.
Ch. 10: The Belvedere Divan
After spending the night with Brigid,
Spade awakens and takes a key from the
sleeping Bridgids clothes. He goes to the
Coronet Hotel and searches every square
inch of her room, looking for but not
finding the Falcon. Then he returns with
breakfast.
After dropping off O. at home, Spade goes
to the Belvedere Hotel, but Cairo is not in.
He sits down in the lobby next to the
youth, who doesnt want to talk. Spade
drops hints about wanting to speak with
G. After the youth curses Spade, Spade
has Luke, the hotel detective, order the
youth outside. The youth leaves but
promises to remember the two of them.
In the lobby, Spade intercepts Cairo, who
has spend the night questioned by Dundy.
Spade indicates Cairo and he should

attempt to find out the location of the

falcon from Brigid OShaughnessy.
Spade returns to his office in the
morning, where O. awaits him. Privately,
Effie Perine tells Spade that G. has called
and will call again.
Brigid tells Spade that someone has
searched her apartment and, thinking it
might have been the youth or Cairo, she
is afraid to return to her room. Spade,
who is the real culprit, arranges for her to
stay with Effie Perine.
Ch. 11: The Fat Man
Spade returns to his office and
immediately receives a call that seems to
pertain to meeting Mr. Gutman (G)
Iva Archer is waiting for Sam. She says
that Phil Archer, Miles brother, knows
about the affair between Sam and Iva.
She also admits she called the police to
stir up trouble for Sam. Finally, she
claims she was home the night Effie came
to notify her of Miles murder. Spade
sends Iva to Sid Wise to figure out how to
deal with the police when they come see
her.

 Spade goes to see Gutman. The youth

who has been following Spade opens the
door.
Spade and Gutman share cigars and
drinks. Gutman voices approval at
Spades attitude and forthrightness.
The two discuss the Black Birds value
well beyond $10,000. Gutman says he
knows what it is; Spade counters that he
knows where it is. Then they discuss
whether Joel Cairo and Brigid
OShaughnessy know what it is. The
implication is that Gutman will pay Spade
more than the others for the bird because
Gutman knows its true value.
Spade declines to tell Gutman where the
Black Bird is; Gutman declines to tell
Spade what it is.
Spade rants, seemingly pretending he is
frustrated with Gutmans lack of
cooperation. Spade says San Francisco is
his turf.
The youth interrupts Spades tirade, and
Spade threatens to kill the youth if he
gets in Spades way. Then Spade gives
Gutman a deadline of 5:30 to cooperate.

He leaves as the youths curses, his voice

not loud but bitter (114).
Ch. 12: Merry-Go-Round
Spade goes to the office of Sid Wise, who
has questioned Iva Archer. We learn that,
according to her, Iva followed Miles the
evening he was murdered because she
thought Miles was going on a date.
Instead, she saw him follow a man and
woman, the latter someone she saw with
Sam Spade. Presumably, this was Brigid
OShaughnessy and the man was Floyd
Thursby. After trips to Spades
apartment, the movies, her home,
Spades apartment again, and a
restaurant, Iva finally returns home just
before Effie Perine arrives. Spade does
not completely trust Sid Wise. Spades
anxiety might be showing.
Spade returns to his office and finds Effie
upset because Brigid never made it to
Effies house. Spade blows up at Effie,
then apologizes.
Spade tracks down the cab driver who
picked up Brigid (Spade had been in the
cab for a part of the trip.), who says he

got her a copy of the newspaper The Call,

then she redirected him to take her to the
Ferry Building.
Spade combs through a copy of The Call.
Several crimes are noted, and Spade
checks the obituaries looking for clues.
Spade searches Os apartment, and finds
the jewelry box is empty. Perhaps she
hocked her jewelry to raise money.
The youth forces Spade at gunpoint to go
to the apartment of Caspar Gutman.
Before entering, Spade disarms the
youth.
Ch. 13: The Emperors Gift
Gutman tells Spade about the history of
the black bird. The story is convoluted.
The outline is as follows: During the
Crusades (1000s), the Order of St. John
was established in the Holy Land by
monks for the care of Christians on
pilgrimage. Later, the Order became
knights to defend these Christians from
attack. Eventually, the Order was
expelled from Jerusalem, fled to the
Mediterranean, and ultimately was given
control of three islands, one of which was

Malta. As a gift to Emperor Charles, the

Order made a falcon encrusted with
valuable jewels. This falcon was passed
from hand to hand over the centuries, at
a certain point covered with enamel, and
finally forgotten as to its true nature.
Caspar Gutman might be the only one left
who knows its true nature, and now
Samuel Spade does as well.
As the conversation continues, Gutman
offers Spade either two payments of
$50,000 (one now and one later), or onequarter of the ultimate value of the bird.
Spade continues to drink. Drugged, he
becomes wobbly. The youthnow known
as Wilmertrips Spade and kicks him in
the temple. Spade is unconscious.
Ch. 14: La Paloma (= the Dove or-- the
Pigeon)
Spade returns to his office, to find Effie
waiting for him as he instructed. He tells
her what happened, including that
Gutman must have wanted him out of the
way for 12 hours; otherwise, Gutman
would have killed him. Spade recounts
the history of the Falcon. (He has a

tremendous memory.) Effie is excited by

the mystery of it all. Spade sends Effie to
read the history to her cousin, a historian
at Berkeley, to find out if there is
anything to the story.
Spade goes to the Alexandria, where he is
told Gutman has not checked out and had
arrived 10 days earlier.
Spade goes to the Belvedere and
searches Cairos room, where he finds a
piece of the Call newspaper torn out in
the section listing ship arrivals. He gets a
copy at the Call office and narrows it
down to six ships, then underscores the
one arriving from Hongkong (from where
Cairo had his hat manufactured).
Spade uses the phone to arrange
meetings with Sergeant Tom Polhaus and
with Mr. Bryan, the District Attorney, then
calls Sid Wise to check on him to make
sure Spade is okay after the meeting with
Bryan.
Effie tells Sam her brother says all the
facts of the Black Bird history seem
authentic. Effie tells Sam that upon her
return by ferry, a ship was on fire and in
the process of being towed out to see. It

was named La Paloma, which is the ship

that had been scheduled to arrive from
Hongkong.
Ch. 15: Every Crackpot
Spade meets with Tom Polhaus. Polhaus
says that Thursby shot miles, as proven
by the match between the a unique
Webley seen in Thursbys room by a
bellhop the morning of the murders, and
the bullet that killed Miles Archer.
Spade and Polhaus go back and forth as
to Dundys suspictions of Spades
involvement in the murders.
Polhaus says they dug up Thursbys
record: He was a St. Louis gunman as
part of the Egan mob, was imprisoned for
robbery and pistol-whipping a woman.
Then he went to work as a bodyguard for
Dixie Monahan, who was in the gambling
business and didnt pay some debts.
Spade discovers that Cairo was not
interrogated by the police all night, but
for less than a couple of hours.
Spade, as agreed, meets Mr. Bryan, the
District Attorney, who tells Spade that all
he needs to crack the case is the name of

the person who hired Spade. Spade

wont talk.
Bryan pursues the angle of Thursby being
Monahans bodyguard. He has several
possible motives for the murder of
Thursby.
Spade belittles these theories, refuses to
give information, and states his only
chance of clearing himself with the police
is to solve the murders himself. Spade
leaves in a huff.
As far as I can see, none of these theories
from Bryan and Polhausaccount for
the murder of Miles Archer. Is the idea
that Thursby didnt like being followed,
panicked or plotted, and killed Miles?
Ch. 16: The Third Murder
Sam visits hotels but finds no one in. He
returns to his office, where Effie Perine is
angry that Sam is not going to the dock
to investigate the fire and what happened
to Brigid O. Spade goes, then returns.
Later he discovers that Joel Cairo has
checked out of the Belvedere, leaving
behind an empty trunk in his room.

 Returning to his office, Spade recounts to

Effie what he discovered on the ship: that
Brigid had a meal with Captain Jacobi,
who had earlier done some business
uptown. Thereafter, they were joined by
Gutman, Cairo, and the Youth There was
an argument and a gunshot, and then
they all five left around midnight. The
Captain did not return, missing an
appointment on board ship.
Suddenly, a man enters, wounded and
carrying a package wrapped in brown
paper and tied with a rope. He falls to
the floor, dead, shot several times in the
chest. Spade unwraps the bundle to find
the foot-high figure of a bird, black as
coal and shiny where its polish was not
dulled by wood-dust and fragments of
excelsior (163).
Effie and Sam are mesmerized by the
recognition that this is the Maltese
Falcon, so much so that Spade does not
realize he is standing on the dead mans
hand. At that moment, the phone rings.
Effie relates to Sam that it was Brigid
OShaughnessy, who was in distress and
got cut off, but was able to say that she

was at the Alexandria (Gutmans hotel).

Effie insists Spade go to help her. Before
leaving, Spade will take care of the
Falcon, and leaves explicit directions
well-thought out-- for Effie as to how to
handle the body and the police when they
arrive.
Ch. 17: Saturday Night
Spade puts the Maltese Falcon in a safety
box at a terminal, then mails the ticket
for the box to a post office box.
Spade goes to the Alexandria, where he
finds Gutmans daughter drugged. She is
able to tell him that Brigid needs his help
at 26 Ancho in Burlingame.
After calling the Emergency Hospital
about the girl, Spade hires a car, goes to
Burlingame, and finds a dark house that
has not been visited in weeks. Sensing a
wild goose chase, he returns to the hotel
to find that there was no girl found in the
room after Spade left.
Spade tells Effie what happened. Effie
tells Spade everything went well with the
police and the dead body, but when she
was taken to the police station, she saw

the youth there, who Spade describes as

a bad egg, that ladpoison (175).
Spade returns to his apartment to find
Brigid waiting outside for him, panting.
Upon entering the apartment, they find
Gutman smiling benevolently (176),
and Wilmer and Cairo appear carrying
guns.
Ch. 18: The Fall-Guy
In his conversation with Gutman, Spade
reveals his understanding of the recent
events: that Gutman and the others were
trying to get Spade out of the way so they
could find Jacobi (and the Black Bird)
before Jacobi found Spade. (It is unclear
if the others includes Brigid
OShaughnessy, and it is unclear why
Jacobi would know of Spade or want to
give the Black Bird to Spade.)
Spade says he will be ready to make the
transaction (money for the Black Bird) as
soon as they have a fall-guy, in other
words, someone to take the rap for the
three murders, so that the police will stop
investigating. Spade also indicates that
his behavior will only be tolerated by the
police if Spade can turn over the

murderer. Spade makes an argument for

giving Wilmer, the youth, to the police.
Wilmer gets agitated, and threatens to
shoot Spade, who uses his knowledge of
the whereabouts of the Black Bird to hold
Wilmer off.
When Gutman resists the idea, Spade
suggests to give the police Cairo, though
Cairo is not as strong a candidate as
Wilmer. Cairo, in turn, suggests Brigid
OShaughnessy, which Spade is willing to
accept if Brigid can be rigged for the
part (189).
At a standstill, Cairo then whispers in
Gutmans earapparently plotting
against Wilmerafter which Cairo,
Gutman and Spade subdue Wilmer.
Spade punches Wilmer twice, who is now
unconscious. Cairo then attacks Spade,
who fights off the Levantine. Spade picks
up both guns.
Spade gives Gutman an ultimatum: agree
to Wilmer as the fall guy and pay me for
the Falcon, or Ill turn the falcon and the
whole Goddamned lot of you in (193).
Gutman agrees.

Ch. 19: The Russians Hand

Everyone waits for the morning. In the
meantime, Spade insists that Gutman
relate what happened so he can form a
credible story for the police.
In brief, Gutman says Wilmer, the youth,
killed Thursby (after Thursby presumably
killed Miles Archer) because Gutman
believed that would make Brigid
OShaughnessy, having lost her
protection, consider joining Gutman in
profiting from the Black Bird. (Previously,
Brigid had given the falcon to Captain
Jacobi of the ship La Paloma, and she took
a faster ship with Cairo from Hongkong to
the San Francisco.)
Cairo joined forces with Gutman. Cairo
had seen a notice in the newspaper of the
arrival of La Paloma and recalled that
Brigid and Captain Jacobi had been seen
together in Hongkong, and put two and
two together.
Gutman, Wilmer and Cairo indeed went to
La Paloma. Gutman thought he had an
agreement with OShaughnessy to turn
over the falcon, but she and Jacobi
slipped away with the bird. (During the

meeting on the ship, Wilmer had searched

the ship for the bird, and, accidentally or
not, set the ship on fire.)
Gutman and Wilmer located O. and Jacobi
at O.s apartment, but this time Jacobi
slipped out the window with the falcon.
Wilmer, who had been sent downstairs,
shot Jacobi, but a police officer appeared,
so Wilmer backed off and Jacobi got away
in a car. (Wilmer ends up at the police
station, seen by Effie after she notified
the police about the body.) Then Gutman
persuaded Brigid to reveal that she
asked Jacobi to take the Black Bird to
Spade, at which point Brigid called Spade
and sent him on a wild goose chase,
hoping to keep Jacobi from delivering the
bird.
Gutman asks for the $10,000 back from
Brigid before she goes inside, and
discovers one $1000 bill is missing.
Spade, after having Brigid strip, makes
Gutman admit he palmed it (in an attempt
to create a disagreement between Spade
and Brigid).
The morning comes and Effie Perine
delivers the statuette. The bird is

unwrapped and a pocket knife is used to

chip away the enamel covering, only to
reveal that the falcon is made of lead.
Its a fake.
After Cairo berates Gutman for his
stupidity, Gutman, philosophical, resolves
to go on to Constantinople to continue his
pursuit of the Maltese Falcon. It is noted
that Wilmer has slipped away during the
drama.
Gutman insists on retaining the $10,000,
though Spade does get $1000 for his
trouble.
Gutman and Cairo depart, leaving Spade
and Brigid OShaughnessy alone.
Ch. 20: If They Hang You
Spade calls the police and tells Polhaus
about Gutman and the others so Polhaus
can arrest them before they flee.
Spade tells Brigid they have to speak
about what happened before the police
arrive, because they are both facing the
gallows. Ultimately, Spade gets Brigid to
admit that she killed Miles Archer. To
Brigids horror, Spade tells her she is the
fall-guy, and if she doesnt hang by her

pretty neck, he will wait for her; if she

does hang, he will always remember her.
Spade and Brigid have a long
conversation about their love, through
which we see Spade as, first and
foremost, a detective whose
responsibility is to find the killer of his
partner. Also, we sense Spade has had
emotional trauma, perhaps with a woman,
in the past--this is a unique moment in
the noveland has been jaded on love.
We are still left with a character who is
hard-boiled, and after Spade turns Brigid
OShaughnessy over to the police, Effies
coldness towards Sam might reflect her
distaste for Spades callousness toward
Iva and Brigid.