The Big Sleep

The next morning, the district attorney’s chief investigator, Bernie Ohls, calls Marlowe, asking how things are going with General Sternwood, but Marlowe stays quiet. Ohls stuns Marlowe with news that a man lies dead in one of the Sternwoods’ cars found half-submerged just offshore. It’s not Regan, Vivian’s missing husband. Ohls asks why Regan disappeared, but this isn’t part of Marlowe’s purview.

Ohls invites Marlowe to join him at the crime scene. They drive to the beach and walk out on a pier and step onto a barge holding the scratched and dented car. Inside lies the body of a young man. Damage to the pier shows that the car flew through the railing and hit the water the previous evening, sometime after the rain stopped. A doctor from the coroner’s office says that the injury shows bleeding before death. Marlowe identifies the young man as Sternwood’s chauffeur, Owen Taylor. Taylor has a rap sheet and once tried to run off with Carmen. He was arrested for transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes, but was freed when the Sternwoods got the charges quashed. They then kept Taylor on as an employee.

Ohls plans to visit the Sternwoods about the death, but Marlowe asks him to keep the ailing general out of it. Marlowe walks to Geiger’s store.

Inside the store, everything is the same. This time, though, Marlowe tells the clerk that he’s really a purveyor of “fancy smut” who wants to visit Geiger at his house; at this, the clerk nearly faints. Through a rear door; Marlowe can see that “[s]ome of Geiger’s stock was being moved out” (37).

Marlowe walks around the corner to the rear of the store. A man in overalls is loading a truck with Geiger’s boxes. Marlowe bribes a taxi driver to tail the truck. They nearly lose it in traffic, but locate it parked behind an apartment building.

Marlowe enters the lobby. He examines the mailboxes: One belongs to a Joe Brody. Marlowe walks downstairs to the garage, where the man in overalls lugs boxes to the elevator. Marlowe chats with him and realizes the man doesn’t know he’s working for criminals.

The cab takes Marlowe to his office, where he finds a client waiting—Vivian.

Vivian apologizes for being rude the day before, but Marlowe acknowledges that they “were both rude” (40). When Vivian mocks his shabby workplace, Marlowe says it’s hard for an honest detective to make much money. She asks how an honest man got into so slimy a business; in response, Marlowe asks how she came to marry a bootlegger.

They discuss the death of the chauffeur. Vivian believes that everyone’s corrupt, but she’s not there about Owen Taylor. She shows Marlowe a photo she received that morning of a nude Carmen, her eyes glazed, sitting in Geiger’s chair. A woman called and demanded a great deal of money by evening, or else the photo goes to the scandal sheets, the police get involved, and Carmen goes to jail.

Vivian was out the previous night, gambling. Taylor told her that Carmen was in all evening. Taylor always borrows a car on his night off, but not last night. Marlowe won’t speculate on any connection between Taylor and the photo. It’s too risky to inform the police, who might have to reveal the affair in court. He suggests that Vivian borrow money to pay off the blackmailers. Meanwhile, he’ll see what he can do to clear things up.

Vivian downs a drink and says she’ll borrow money from Eddie Mars, the proprietor of a casino in Cypress, who’ll be sympathetic because her ex-husband Regan ran off with Eddie’s wife. Marlowe notes that this could help him find Regan—if that were his assignment.

Leaving, Vivian glances at Carmen’s photo and seductively says that she, too, has a good body—Marlowe might want to see it. Coolly, he expresses only mild interest, to her frustration. She asks to call him Phil and tells him to call her Vivian; he replies, "Thanks, Mrs. Regan” (44). Flustered, she stalks off.

Marlowe calls Ohls, who visited the Sternwoods and let the butler break the Owen Taylor news to the general. Ohls thinks the death will be attributed to suicide, but he remains troubled by the bruise on Taylor’s temple.

Marlowe puzzles over Geiger's notebook, but doesn't make any progress.

Marlowe goes to see whether Geiger’s body is hidden in his garage, but the garage is padlocked. He finds Carmen looking scared at the door. She remembers him from his first visit to her family’s home. He unlocks the door and pulls her quickly inside.

By day, the interior “had a stealthy nastiness” (46). Carmen looks exhausted and lost. She’s in trouble, but no one, to Marlowe’s disgust, is helping her. He asks Carmen what she remembers of the previous night. Carmen insists she was at home. He points to the chair and reminds her of the photo session, and him taking her home. Carmen blushes.

Marlowe asks who she thinks killed Geiger and suggests that Joe Brody might know. Carmen yells that Brody did it, and that she hates Brody. Marlowe asks if she’s willing to say that to the police, as long as the incriminating photo is left out of it. When Carmen giggles uncontrollably, Marlowe slaps her, and she stops. She puts a hand to her slapped cheek and smiles.

Carmen knows who Marlowe really is because Vivian told her. Marlowe knows that Carmen came to the house looking for the photo; he promises to take care of things and warns that she mustn’t tell anyone she was here. As she turns to leave, a car drives up and the doorbell rings. A key goes into the lock and the door opens. A man steps in and stares in surprise.

The man—Eddie Mars—is dressed in a gray suit, gray tie, and gray shirt. His hair is gray too. Mars asks for Geiger; Marlowe says he’s not around and that Marlowe and Carmen are there for a book. Mars smiles knowingly. He says Carmen can leave but Marlowe must stay. Carmen departs quickly.

Mars owns the house and is there to figure out why his tenant, Geiger, has gone missing. He warns that two men outside will fill Marlowe’s belly full of lead if he interferes. Mars looks around, notices dried blood on the floor, pulls out a pistol, and picks up the phone, intending to call the cops.

Marlowe warns Mars that Marlowe’s pull with the police will merely get Mars in trouble if he contacts them. He adds that Geiger’s store just got emptied, that Geiger probably was rubbed out, and that the killers are taking over Geiger’s criminal enterprise. Mars whistles for his men, who come in and search Marlowe; they retrieve his wallet and report his ID to Mars.

Mars sends his goons back to their car. He tries to order Marlowe to tell him what he knows; he even offers money. Marlowe mockingly asks, “By the way, how is Mrs. Mars these days?” (55). Angry, Mars tells Marlowe to stay out of his way. Marlowe drives off. No one follows. He heads back toward Hollywood.