The Maltese Falcon
by Dashiell Hammett
Plot Summaries by Chapter
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, Spade’s 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 Spade’s 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 shoulderholster. He had been at the hotel a week.
 Spade claims to have no knowledge of Thursby.
Lieutenant Dundy tells Spade “. . . you’ll get a square deal
out of me, and most of the breaks” (25).
Chapter 3: Three Women
 Iva Archer, Miles’ wife, is waiting at Spade’s 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 Sam’s
predicament—that he is a suspect. Effie rolls Sam a
cigarette.
 Spade goes to Miss Wonderly’s 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 O’Shaughnessy and that the story about a sister
was a lie. Spade says he didn’t believe the story, only her
$200. When O’Shaughnessy pleads with Spade for help
and bemoans the death of Miles Archer, Spade responds
by noting that Brigid O’Shaughnessy 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 Spade’s 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 won’t 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 won’t
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 O’Shaughnessy, and warns him not to
bleed her dry of money.
 Joel Cairo arrives in Spade’s 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 Archer’s 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 Cairo’s 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 Spade’s 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 O’Shaughnessy.
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 Cairo’s 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 Spade’s
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
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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 Cairo’s payment and O.’s
knowledge are compromised when each is asked for
promises to do the deal immediately.
Cairo indicates he works for the bird’s owner, whose
name is noted as G. O. says she is selling to get rid of it
so she doesn’t end up like Thursby.
Cairo and O. snipe at each other over the youth or “boy.”
It is suggested they fought over the boy’s affections, and
Cairo won. O. slaps Cairo, who slaps her back. Spade
grabs Cairo by the throat and disarms him, at which point
the door-bell 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 Spade’s 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 Cairo’s but Spade has said he
lent to Cairo for the joke. Spade gets the gun.
 This odd scene seems to wed Spade to O’Shaughnessy,
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 Bridgid’s 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 doesn’t 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 O’Shaughnessy.
 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 Spade’s attitude and forthrightness.
 The two discuss the Black Bird’s 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 O’Shaughnessy 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
Gutman’s lack of cooperation. Spade says San Francisco
is his turf.
 The youth interrupts Spade’s tirade, and Spade threatens
to kill the youth if he gets in Spade’s way. Then Spade
gives Gutman a deadline of 5:30 to cooperate. He leaves
as the youth’s 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 O’Shaughnessy and
the man was Floyd Thursby. After trips to Spade’s
apartment, the movies, her home, Spade’s apartment
again, and a restaurant, Iva finally returns home just
before Effie Perine arrives. Spade does not completely
trust Sid Wise. Spade’s anxiety might be showing.
 Spade returns to his office and finds Effie upset because
Brigid never made it to Effie’s 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 O’s 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 Emperor’s 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 one-quarter of the ultimate value of the bird.
 Spade continues to drink. Drugged, he becomes wobbly.
The youth—now known as Wilmer—trips 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 Cairo’s 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 Thursby’s 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 Dundy’s
suspictions of Spade’s involvement in the murders.
 Polhaus says they dug up Thursby’s 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 didn’t 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 won’t talk.
 Bryan pursues the angle of Thursby being Monahan’s
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 Polhaus—account for the murder of Miles Archer. Is
the idea that Thursby didn’t 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
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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 man’s hand. At
that moment, the phone rings. Effie relates to Sam that
it was Brigid O’Shaughnessy, who was in distress and got
cut off, but was able to say that she was at the
Alexandria (Gutman’s 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 Gutman’s
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
lad—poison” (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
O’Shaughnessy, 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 “fallguy,” 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 O’Shaughnessy,
which Spade is willing to accept if Brigid “can be rigged
for the part” (189).
 At a standstill, Cairo then whispers in Gutman’s ear—
apparently plotting against Wilmer—after 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 “I’ll turn the
falcon and the whole Goddamned lot of you in” (193).
 Gutman agrees.
Ch. 19: The Russian’s 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 O’Shaughnessy,
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
O’Shaughnessy 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. It’s 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
O’Shaughnessy 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 Brigid’s horror, Spade
tells her she is the fall-guy, and if she doesn’t 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 novel—and has been jaded on love. We
are still left with a character who is hard-boiled, and after
Spade turns Brigid O’Shaughnessy over to the police,
Effie’s coldness towards Sam might reflect her distaste
for Spade’s callousness toward Iva and Brigid.