After Brigid leaves, the telephone rings; it is the elusive "Mr. G." otherwise known as Caspar Gutman. He arranges a meeting with Spade. After this call ends, the door opens and a repentant Iva comes in. She confesses to Sam that she sent the police to his apartment because she was jealous when she saw him with another woman. Sam asks her where she was on the night of Miles' murder and she tells him that she was home all night, which he knows is a lie. He tells her that by insinuating to the police that Miles was killed because of her and Sam's affair, she has directed suspicion towards herself and sends her to see his lawyer, Sid Wise. He then goes to the Alexandria Hotel to keep his appointment with Mr. Gutman.
It turns out that Brigid is waiting for Sam inside of his office. She tells him that her room has been searched and, fearing that she's been tracked down, she doesn't want to go back there. Sam acts surprised, as though he hadn't turned over her place early that morning. He asks Effie to let Brigid stay with her for a few days, and when she agrees, he sends Brigid off to go there. After Brigid leaves, the telephone rings; it is the elusive "Mr. G." otherwise known as Caspar Gutman. He arranges a meeting with Spade. After this call ends, the door opens and a repentant Iva comes in. She confesses to Sam that she sent the police to his apartment because she was jealous when she saw him with another woman. Sam asks her where she was on the night of Miles' murder and she tells him that she was home all night, which he knows is a lie. He tells her that by insinuating to the police that Miles was killed because of her and Sam's affair, she has directed suspicion towards herself and sends her to see his lawyer, Sid Wise. He then goes to the Alexandria Hotel to keep his appointment with Mr. Gutman. Caspar Gutman is a large, well-spoken, and overweight man. Bluffing, Spade says that he knows where the Maltese Falcon is, but first wants Gutman to tell him all about the bird. Gutman refuses to do so unless Sam first tells him what he knows, so they are at an impass. Talking tough, Spade gives Gutman until 5:30 to decide to cooperate with him. Leaving the Alexandria, Spade goes to see Sid Wise and find out what Iva told him. Wise says Iva admitted to not being home on the night of Miles' murder; wanting a divorce, she thought that Miles was going out with another woman and was folllowing him, hoping to get evidence to use against him. She soon realizes though that Miles is on a job, tailing a man and the woman whom she later saw with Sam (Brigid). Giving up, she went to a movie, then went to Spade's apartment but he wasn't home. She then went home herself where she was met by Effie, telling her that Miles was dead. Sam doesn't know if this is all true, but it sounds plausible. Sam returns to his office and finds a worries Effie, who says that Brigid never showed up at her apartment. Spade tracks down the cab driver who was supposed to take her to Effie's place and he says that Brigid had him stop so that she could buy a newspaper, then had him drive her to the Ferry Building. Sam buys a paper to see if there's anything in it which would cause Brigid to alter their plans, but can't find anything. He goes back to her hotel, but she and her stuff are gone. Returning to the office, he's met by the young tough who had been tailing him who says that Gutman wants to meet with him. Armed and threatening, he doesn't give Spade any choice and they go to the Alexandria. Sick of this punk, when they reach the hotel Sam punches him, and takes his guns, turning the tables. Sam pushes the youth- whose name is Wilmer- roughly through the hotel suite door and casually hands the guns over to Gutman, who is impressed by his impudence. Gutman has decided to tell Sam about the history of the Falcon, a convoluted tale which starts out in the 1500's when the Knights of Rhodes paid Emperor Charles V the tribute of a golden, gem-encrusted falcon in return for the Isle of Malta. Over the intervening years, the falcon changed hands many times, at some point acquiring a coat of black enamel to disguise its value. Gutman claims to have been tracking the falcon for years, eventually tracing it to Constantinple where it was in the hands of a Russian named Kemidov. Gutman offers to buy the figurine from him but Kemidov doesn't want to sell it, even though he doesn't know its actual value. Desperate to get his hands on the bird, Gutman hires Joe Cairo, Frank Thursby, and Brigid O'Shaughnessy to steal it. They get it, but Thursby and Brigid got greedy and ran off with the Falcon themselves. Spade claims that he'll be able to produce the Falcon in a few days, and Gutman says that he will be well paid for it. During this visit, Gutman had given Sam a glass of whiskey, which he has now finished drinking. He suddenly becomes extremely dizzy, and it's obvious that his drink has been drugged. Realizing he's in trouble, Sam tries to leave, but Gutman calls Wilmer, who trips the staggering Spade. Then, as Sam falls to the floor, Wilmer kicks him in the head, knocking him unconscious. He wakes up around 6 am the next morning, unable to remember anything after being drugged. His head bloody and aching from Wilmer's kick, Spade staggers back to his office, where he finds Effie asleep at her desk. Sam asks her to contact her uncle, who is a history professor, and try to establish whether or not Gutman's account of the Maltese Falcon was true. Brigid still hasn't turned up, so Sam goes to the Belvedere and searches Cairo's room with the help of the hotel detective, who's a friend. In the garbage, he finds a copy of the same newspaper that Brigid had bought; a section about shipping news has been ripped out, which contains the arrival times of ships which will be coming into port. One is marked: La Paloma, arriving from Hong Kong at 8 am. Back at the office, while waiting for Effie to return, Sam makes a few calls, one being to the district attorney who has been trying to track him down to talk to him. When Effie comes in, she tells him thtat her uncle thinks Gutman was telling the truth. She also informs Sam that a ship in the harbour is on fire... it's the La Paloma.
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