The Big Sleep

Brody pulls a pistol from a desk drawer and hands it to Agnes, who aims it at Marlowe. Brody opens the door. Carmen enters with a gun against his mouth. Agnes turns her gun on Carmen, but Marlowe grabs it away. Brody grabs Carmen’s gun, and it goes off. Brody dives at her feet and knocks her down; the gun skitters away. Brody reaches into his pocket, but Marlowe points Agnes’s gun at him. Brody whines, “Don't let her kill me!” (64), as Marlowe laughs hysterically.

Carmen crawls toward her gun. Marlowe warns Brody to be still and retrieves Carmen’s gun. He collects all the guns and orders Brody to give him the photo. Brody hands over an envelope with the original negative and copies.

Carmen wants the photo and her gun, but Marlowe tells her to go home and wait. Happy, Carmen kisses him on the mouth and hurries away.

Carmen’s gun is small with a pearl grip and a plaque with a dedication from Taylor. Marlowe thinks, “She made saps of all of them” (65). He pockets the pistol.

Marlowe asks Brody why he blackmailed Carmen instead of her father. Brody already tapped the general once and didn’t want to risk it again. He has serious money problems. In exchange for pretending that Carmen never was there, Marlowe promises some cash to Brody if he can swing it. When Brody won’t say where he got the photo, Marlowe responds that Brody he isn’t as smart as he thinks. Agnes sighs, “A half smart guy […] That’s all I ever draw” (67).

Marlowe points out that Brody still has no alibi for two murders. Brody admits he was watching Geiger’s house, trying to learn his methods, when he heard shots and saw Owen Taylor run from the house and drive away. When Taylor skidded off the road, Brody pretended to be a cop, knocked Taylor out, and found the photo. Taylor regained consciousness and drove off.

The door buzzer sounds. Brody answers, and someone shoots him dead.

Marlowe gives chase. Downstairs, the shooter fires twice at Marlowe, and runs away. Marlowe drives up and down the nearby streets until he hears whistling. He parks, pulls his gun, and hunkers down until the whistler walks past. He springs up and confronts the shooter. It’s the young valet from Geiger’s store.

The valet reaches for his gun, but Marlowe presses Carmen’s pistol into his belly. As sirens approach, Marlowe hustles the valet into his car and orders him to go home. Home is Geiger’s house—the valet is Carol Lundgren, Geiger’s partner. When Marlowe informs Lundgren that Brody didn’t shoot Geiger, Lundgren curses in frustration—clearly, he’d been eager for revenge.

Marlowe knows that Lundgren lives with Geiger and that they are lovers. Lundgren jumps out of the car, but Marlowe follows and they fight. Marlowe gets Lundgren into a choke hold until the young man collapses. Marlowe drags him behind a hedge and handcuffs the unconscious Lundgren’s arms behind his back.

He drags Lundgren inside. Lying face-down, Lundgren comes to and resumes cursing. Marlowe visits Geiger’s bedroom; it’s untouched. He unlocks Lundgren’s bedroom and finds two flickering candles, incense, and Geiger’s body, fully dressed, lying in state on the bed. Chinese tapestries are arranged in a cross atop him, covering the blood. Geiger’s arms lie folded across his chest.

Marlowe calls Ohls at home and tells him that, if the police have Owen Taylor’s revolver, it’s missing three bullets. He asks Ohls to come to Geiger’s house.

Ohls and Marlowe caravan to the stately home of District Attorney Taggart Wilde near Lafayette Park. A police chauffeur keeps an eye on the still handcuffed Lundgren while Ohls and Marlowe go inside.

Ohls and Marlowe sit near the portly DA and Cronjager, a hatched-faced, nervous-fingered police captain in a fine suit. Cronjager reports on the Brody killing. His men found a rattled blond woman outside—Agnes—trying to start Brody’s car. She claims she saw the murder but not the killer.

Ohls says the killer is sitting outside in his car—Marlowe caught him and reported a second killing that he’d been keeping quiet. Cronjager is irritated about private eyes going their own way. Ohls explains what they know: the Owen Taylor pier death, its connection to the Sternwoods, Taylor killing Geiger, and Brody’s killer being Geiger’s partner.

Marlowe fills in more details but omits Carmen’s visit to Brody’s place and Eddie Mars’s visit to Geiger’s house. Cronjager scolds Marlowe, pointing out that, had he simply reported Geiger’s murder right away, Brody would probably still be alive. Wilde asks whether Brody might have killed Geiger and planted the weapon on Taylor, but Marlowe says Brody’s interests were commercial, not lethal. He wouldn’t have killed Geiger in front of Carmen, but Taylor might have. Lundgren might at first have hidden Geiger’s body, then thought better of it and laid Geiger out respectfully on the guest bed. When Lundgren saw Geiger’s books being stolen, he must have assumed Brody killed Geiger—that’s why he shot Brody.

Marlowe turns over the Geiger blackmail papers, Carmen’s photo, and Geiger’s coded notebook. When Wilde asks if Marlowe has told them everything, Marlowe replies that he left out a couple of details to protect Sternwood: “[M]y client is entitled to that protection, short of anything but a Grand Jury” (82). Plus, keeping the blackmail suppressed the police’s interests: The police permitted Geiger’s porn store to operate, which might come out during grand jury proceedings.

The group agrees to keep the scandal out of the papers. Wilde again asks Marlowe for more details, but protecting the client is Marlowe’s chief duty. Wilde warns that the Sternwood family is bound eventually to get into trouble it can’t hide. He asks if Regan might be central to the family’s problems, but Marlowe doubts it—the general liked Regan and was hurt by his son-in-law’s sudden departure. Wilde hands Marlowe Carmen’s photo and the Geiger blackmail envelope: “I've no further use for them” (85).

Late in the evening, Marlowe arrives home. In the lobby, one of Eddie Mars’s men orders Marlowe to come with him to see his boss. Exhausted, Marlowe refuses. The guy almost goes for his gun, but Marlowe browbeats him into leaving. Mars calls Marlowe, who confirms that he never mentioned Mars to the police. Mars has news about Regan, but Marlowe says he isn’t looking for that man.

Marlowe downs a much-needed drink and dials the Sternwoods. He tells the butler, Norris, to inform Vivian that Carmen’s pictures are safe. Later, Marlowe’s phone rings; he ignores it, places a piece of paper between the phone’s bell and clapper, and goes to sleep: “I had a bellyful of the Sternwood family” (87).

In the morning, newspaper headlines state that Brody shot Geiger over a business dispute and that Carol Lundgren, who had a long rap sheet, killed Brody in revenge. Agnes Lozelle is under guard as a witness; Owen Taylor’s death is ruled a suicide; Chief Cronjager gets the credit for closing both cases. No mention is made of Marlowe or the Sternwoods.