Chapter 8 Chapter Eight: Nonsense

Bridget O'Shaughnessy was curled up in an armchair by the coffee table, her arms shielding her cheeks, her knees raised to hide the lower half of her face.Her eyes were white and filled with fear. Joe Kylo stood before her, stooped, holding in one hand the pistol that Spade had knocked out of him earlier, and with the other he was covering his forehead, and the blood was running from between his fingers and into his eyes. .The blood oozing from his broken lip drew three wavy lines on his chin. Carol ignored the detectives and glared at the girl curled up in front of him. His lips parted and closed, but no coherent tone came out.

Dundee was the first of the three to enter the living room.He quickly walked up to Kailo, put one hand under the coat to hold down his waist, and grabbed the Levantine's wrist with the other, shouting, "What are you doing here?" Kylo took the red hand off his head and waved it in front of the Inspector.After removing the hand, a three-inch long irregular wound appeared on his forehead. "She did it," he cried, "you see." The girl put her feet on the ground and looked warily at Dundee, who was grabbing Kylo's wrist, then at Tom Burrows who was standing not far behind them, and then at Spade leaning on the door frame.Spade looked calm.When their eyes met, a malicious mockery flickered in his sallow eyes, and then they fell back to their stoic expressions.

"Did you do it?" Dundee asked the girl, shaking her head at the gash on Kylo's head. She looked at Spade again.The latter was indifferent to her eyes asking for help, and leaned against the door frame like an indifferent bystander, observing the few people in the room with a polite but alienated attitude. The girl's eyes returned to Dundee.Her eyes were wide open, deep and earnest. "I have to," she whispered, sobbing, "I'm here alone with him, and he's going to hit me, and I can't—I want him to go away, and I—I can't shoot him. " "Oh, you liar!" Kylo yelled, trying unsuccessfully to free his gun arm from Dundee's grasp, "you dirty, dirty liar!" He turned and turned his face toward Dundee. "She lied a lot. I came up here in good faith, and they both beat me. When you came here, he went out to talk to you, and left her the gun. Then she said that when you left they would kill me, so I yelled for help so you wouldn't leave me here to die, and she hit me with a pistol."

"Here, give me this," said Dundee, taking the pistol from Kylo. "Now let's get this straight. What are you doing here?" "He asked me to come." Kylo turned and stared at Spade hostilely. "He called me and asked me to come here." Spade blinked sleepily at the Levantine, but said nothing. Dundee asked: "What does he want you to do?" Kylo wiped his bloody forehead and chin with a lavender-striped silk handkerchief before answering.Now he was less angry and more cautious. "He said he—they wanted to see me. I don't know why."

Tom Burrows looked down, sniffed the chypre scent of the bloody handkerchief, then turned his head to stare suspiciously at Spade.Spade winked at him and went on rolling a cigarette. Dundee asked: "Okay. So what happened then?" "Then they got their hands on me. She hit me first, then he strangled me and took the pistol out of my pocket. I don't know what they would have done if you hadn't come. I dare say They're going to kill me. He left her the gun when he answered the door, so she could watch me." Bridget O'Shaughnessy jumped up from her armchair, exclaimed, "Why don't you make him tell the truth?" and slapped Kylo.

Kylo yelled inarticulately. Dundee pushed the girl back on the chair with her free hand and growled, "No hit." Spade lit his cigarette, smiled softly through the smoke, and said to Tom, "She's a little impulsive." "Yeah," Tom agreed. Dundee stared at her and asked, "What's the truth you want us to hear?" "Not what he said," she replied, "not a word." She turned to Spade. "Right?" "How would I know?" Spade responded. "I was in the kitchen making an omelet when it happened, wasn't I?"

Her brow furrowed, and she studied him with bewildered eyes.Tom grunted in disgust.Still staring at her, Dundee ignored Spade's words and asked her directly: "If he wasn't telling the truth, why was he shouting for help and not you?" "Oh, he was scared to death when I hit him," she replied, looking at the Levantine contemptuously. Kylo's face was flushed where it wasn't covered by blood.He argued: "Bah! Another lie!" She kicked him, and the heel of her blue high-heeled shoe struck just below his knee.Dundee pulled her away, and Big Tom came and stood beside her, and said in a thunderous voice, "Behave yourself, little sister. It can't be like this."

"Then tell him to tell the truth," she said defiantly. "Don't worry, we will," he promised her, "just don't be rough." Dundee looked contentedly at Spade with those hard bright green eyes, and said to his subordinate: "Come on, Tom, I think we did the right thing in getting 'em all in." Tom nodded gloomily. Spade left the door, walked to the middle of the room, and threw the cigarette butt into the ashtray on the coffee table.His smile and demeanor were friendly. "Don't worry," he said, "everything can be explained."

"Of course." Dundee said with a sneer. Spade bowed to Bridget. "Miss O'Shaughnessy," he said, "let me introduce you, Inspector Dundee, Inspector Burrows," he bowed to Dundee, "Miss O'Shaughnessy is on my staff." Joe Kylo said indignantly, "That's not it. She—" Spade interrupted him, loudly but kindly: "I hired her only recently, yesterday. This is Mr. Joe Carroll, a friend of Thursby's—acquaintance, at least. He came to me this afternoon and wanted to hire me to find something that was supposed to be in his possession when Thursby was killed. The way he brought it up to me was kind of weird so I didn't want to take it. Then he Just draw a gun—though, unless it gets to the point of mutual accusations, these can be put aside. Anyway, after discussing with Miss O'Shaughnessy, I think maybe I can get some things out of him with Miles. Thursby's murder case, so I told him to come here. Maybe we were rude in the way we questioned him, but he was not hurt anyway, at least not enough to call for help. I just Had to get his gun first."

Kylo blushed with worry as Spade spoke.His eyes went up and down, looking restlessly back and forth between the floor and Spade's placid face. Dundee confronted Kylo and ordered roughly, "So, what do you have to say about this?" For a minute or so Kylo stared at the Inspector's chest, unable to say anything.He raised his head, his eyes timid and cautious. "I don't know what to say." He muttered, looking genuinely embarrassed. "Let's be honest," Dundee reminded him. "Tell me the truth?" Kai Luo's eyes looked irritated, but his eyes still stayed on the inspector, "Will what I say be accepted?"

"Don't hold back. You just have to swear that they beat you, and the clerk will believe you and issue a warrant for us to take them to the police station." Spade said amusedly, "Say it, Kylo, ​​make him happy, tell him you'll sue us, and then we'll sue you under oath, so he can have us all." Kylo cleared his throat and looked around the room nervously, but he didn't look at everyone.Dundee let out a breath through his nose that sounded like a low hum."Put on your hat," he said, and Kylo met Spade's derisive look, his eyes full of worry and question.Spade winked at him and sat down on the arm of the rocking chair. "Come on, ladies and gentlemen," he said cheerfully, grinning at the Levantine and the girl, "we did a great job." Dundee's grim square face was darkened to the extreme.He repeated savagely: "Take your hat." Spade turned to look at the inspector with a smile, changed a comfortable position on the arm of the chair, and asked lazily, "Don't you know that you have been played hard?" Tom Burrows' face was flushed and glistening with sweat. Dundee didn't change his face, only his lips moved stiffly, and said: "No, but we will find out when we get to the bureau." Spade stood up, with his hands in his trouser pockets, and straightened himself so that he could look down upon the Inspector.His smile is full of irony, and his gestures reveal confidence. "I dare you not to take us all in, Dundee," he said. "We'll make fun of you in every paper in San Francisco. You don't really think any of us are going to swear under oath against the other Man? Wake up, you're being played. I said to Miss O'Shaughnessy and Carol when the doorbell rang, 'Those goddamn guys are at it again. They're annoying. Let's play a joke on them.' When you hear them going, let one of you scream and see how long you can be fooled before they come to their senses.' Then—" Bridget O'Shaughnessy bent over her chair and laughed hysterically.Kylo was taken aback, then laughed too.His smile was lifeless, but it was still firmly fixed on his face.Tom complained angrily, "Sam, stop that nonsense." Spade chuckled, "But that's the way it is. We—" "And the wounds on his head and mouth?" asked Dundee contemptuously. "Where did they come from?" "Ask him," Spade suggested. "Maybe he cut it himself when he shaves." Kylo said quickly before being asked, "I fell. We were going to fight over that pistol when you came in, but I fell. I tripped over the edge of the rug while we were pretending to fight. I fell." He was still smiling when he spoke, and the muscles on his face trembled slightly. "It's nonsense," Dundee said. Spade said: "It's true, Dundee, believe it or not. The point is that it's what we say, and we believe it to be. Believe it or not, it's going to be in the papers, and it's going to happen anyway. Funny. What are you going to do? It's not illegal to play tricks on the police, is it? You can't catch anything. What we just told you was a joke. What are you going to do with us?" Dundee, with his back to Spade, grabs Kylo's shoulder. "You can't run away," Dundee growled, shaking the Levantine, baring his teeth. "You called for help, so let us get you away." "No, sir," Kylo spattered anxiously, "that was a joke. He said you were his friends, and you'll understand." Spade laughed. Dundee grabbed Kylo by the wrists and the nape of the neck, pulling him roughly around. "Anyway, I'm going to take you out for armed charges," he said, "and then I'll pick up the rest of you and show you who gets the last laugh." Kylo's eyes turned to one side, staring in horror at Spade's face. Spade said, "Don't be silly, Dundee. Guns are for teasing you too. That's mine." He laughed. That's the one that killed Miles and Thursby." Dundee let go of Kylo, ​​turned sharply, and caught Spade in the jaw with his right fist.Bridget O'Shaughnessy uttered a short exclamation.Spade's smile disappeared the instant he was hit, but returned immediately, with a tinge of ambiguity.He took a small step back and steadied himself, his broad sloping shoulders twisting in his coat.Before he could raise his fist, Tom Burrows was facing Spade and pushing him between them, shielding Spade with his beer belly and arms. "Don't, don't, for God's sake!" pleaded Tom. After a long stalemate, Spade's muscles relaxed. "Then get him out of here quickly," he said.His smile disappeared again, and his face was gloomy and pale. Tom still stood close to Spade, with his arm on Spade's, and looked back at Inspector Dundee with reproach in his small eyes. Dundee stood firm with his fists clenched in front of him and his feet spread apart, but a little white between his green eyes and upper eyelids made him look less aggressive. "Write down their names and addresses," he ordered. Tom looked at Kylo, ​​who said quickly, "Joe Kylo, ​​Belvedere Hotel." Spade said without waiting for Tom to ask the girl, "You can always reach Miss O'Shaughnessy through me." Tom glanced at Dundee. Dundee said, frowning unhappily: "Write down her address." "Her address was forwarded by my office," Spade said. Dundee took a step forward and stopped in front of the girl. "Where do you live?" he asked. Spade said to Tom: "Get him out. I've had enough." Looking straight into Spade's stern eyes, Tom muttered, "Don't take it to heart, Sam." He buttoned up his coat, and turning to Dundee, asked in as light a tone as possible: "Well, that's all. ?” Then he took a step towards the door. Dundee was full of anger but couldn't hide his hesitation. Carol went suddenly towards the door, and said, "I'm going too, and would Mr. Spade be kind enough to give me my hat and coat?" Spade asked, "What's the hurry?" Dundee said angrily: "It's all a joke, but you dare not stay with them." "How could that be?" The Levantine looked flustered, and he didn't look at anyone as he spoke, "But it's late, and——I'm leaving. If you don't mind, I'll go out with you." Dundee pursed his lips tightly and said nothing, and there was a gleam in his green eyes.Spade went to the hall closet to get Kylo's hat and coat, his face expressionless.He helped the Levantine into his coat, stepped back, and said to Tom in the same deadpan voice, "Tell him to keep the gun." Dundee took Kylo's pistol out of his coat pocket and put it on the coffee table.He went out first, followed by Kylo.Tom stopped in front of Spade and whispered, "God bless you know what you're doing." Getting no response, he sighed and followed the other two out.Spade followed them to the corner of the hallway, where he stood until Tom closed the door to the corridor.