Chapter 5

Tom moved uncomfortably on the sofa and, not looking up, asked: “Did you break the news to Miles’s wife, Sam?” Spade said: “Uh-huh.” “How’d she take it?” Spade shook his head. “I don’t know anything about women.” Tom said softly: “The hell you don’t.” The Lieutenant put his hands on his knees and leaned forward. His greenish eyes were fixed on Spade in a peculiarly rigid stare, as if their focus were a matter of mechanics, to be changed only by pulling a lever or pressing a button. “What kind of gun do you carry?” …