Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen Saturday Night
Spade tucked the package easily under his arm, and walked briskly out of the office building, only the eyes that were constantly shifting showed some caution.He walked through an alley and a narrow yard to the corner of Kenny and Post Streets and stopped a passing taxi.
The taxi took him to the terminal on Fifth Street.He stored the bird in the luggage room there, put the receipt in a stamped envelope, wrote the name "MF Helan" and a San Francisco Post Office PO Box number, sealed the envelope and dropped it in the mailbox.Another taxi took him from the bus terminal to the Alexandra Hotel.
Spade went upstairs to suite 12C and knocked on the door.When he knocked a second time, the door opened, and there was a little blond girl in a bright yellow satin gown.Pale and groggy, she clasped her hands desperately on the inside doorknob, and gasped, "Mr. Spade?"
Seeing that her body was shaking, Spade said "It's me" and quickly supported her.
She fell on her back in his arms, her head thrown back, her short blond hair hanging down, her slender neck forming a tight arc between her chin and chest.
Spade raised the arm that was supporting her, and held her back, and bent down to place the other arm behind her knee.But she suddenly regained consciousness, struggled up, her two parted lips trembled slightly, and said vaguely: "No! Ma-mi! Ah!"
Spade let her stomp on the ground.He kicked the door shut and walked with her up and down the green-carpeted room, from wall to wall.He put one arm around her petite body, put his hand under her armpit, and grabbed her other arm with the other hand, straightening her up when she tripped him, paying attention to the movement of her body, and kept urging her to move forward. Walk forward, but let her shambling legs bear her own weight as much as possible.They walked up and down the room.The girl's steps were uncoordinated and she stumbled, but Spade put his weight on the forefoot and was not affected by the girl's staggering steps and lost his balance.Her face was as white as chalk, and her eyes were closed, while his face was gloomy, looking around intently.
He said to her in a steady tone, "That's right, left, right, left, right. That's right. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, turn around." Turn around in front of the wall He shook her, "Now go back, one, two, three, four. Hold your head up, that's right, girl. Left, right, left, right. Now we turn around again." He again Shaking her, "Good girl. Go, go, go, go. One, two, three, four. Now turn around." He shook her more roughly, picking up his pace, "That's the trick, left, right, left , right. We're in a hurry. One, two, three..."
She shivered and made a swallowing sound.Spade began rubbing her arms and sides, bringing his ear to her mouth. "Well, you're doing well. One, two, three, four. Quick, quick, quick, quick. That's right. Go, go, go, go. Put your feet up, put them down. That's right. Now turn around. Left, right, left, right. What did they do? Drug you? The same way they drug me?"
Her eyelids twitched, opening for a split second to reveal her dull, golden-brown eyes.She tried to say "yes" but could only make the first half sound.
They walked on, the girl almost trotting to keep up with Spade.Spade patted her with his hands through the yellow satin, pinched her, talked to her constantly, his eyes still hard and alert. "Left, right, left, right. Turn around. Good girl. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. Put your chin up. That's right. One, two..."
Her eyelids barely lifted an inch or so, and her eyes rolled feebly.
"Very well," he said sharply, changing his monotonous tone, "keep your eyes still and open a little—big!" He shook her.
She moaned reluctantly, and her eyelids lifted a little more, though they were still dull.He raised his hand and slapped her cheek five or six times in quick succession.She groaned again, trying to break free from his grasp.He wrapped his arms around her and pushed her back and forth between the two walls.
"Go on," he ordered in a raspy voice, and then asked, "Who are you?"
The words "Rhea Gutman" she said were slurred, but still audible.
"His daughter?"
"Yes." Now she can finish the pronunciation, but she has a big tongue.
"Where's Bridget?"
Suddenly she writhed convulsively in his arms and seized Spade's with both hands.He quickly pulled his hand out and saw a thin red scratch on the back of it, at least an inch and a half long.
"What the hell?" he growled in a low voice, checking her hands.Her left hand is empty.He opened her right hand and saw a three-inch jade-inlaid steel bouquet brooch in the palm of it. "What the hell?" he growled again, holding the brooch up to her eyes.
As soon as she saw the brooch, she sobbed and unbuttoned her robe.She pushed back the cream-colored pajamas under the robe, and showed him the underside of her left breast: thin red marks criss-crossed on the white skin, and there were also small red spots scattered among them, which were scratched and pierced by the brooch. from. "Stay awake...go...wait for you...she said you came back...too long..." She faltered.
Spade held her tighter and said, "Go."
She struggled to push his arm away, twisting her body to face him. "I won't tell you...sleep...save her..."
"Bridget?" he asked.
"Yes...take her... Bo,... 26 Anker Street. Soon...too late..." Her head dropped on her shoulders.
Spade roughly straightened her head. "Who took her there? Your father?"
"Yes...Wilmore...Carol." She writhed in pain, her eyelids fluttered but failed to open, "...kill her." Her head drooped again, and he lowered her head again. help up.
"Who shot Jacoby?"
She didn't seem to hear the question, and just tried helplessly to lift her head and open her eyes.She murmured, "Go...she..."
He shook her savagely. "Stay awake until the doctor comes."
Fear made her open her eyes briefly, and her sanity recovered a little. "No, no," she cried inarticulately, "Daddy...kill me...swear you don't...he'll know...I did it...for her...promise...don't sleep...it's okay ……morning……"
He shook her again. "Are you sure you'll be fine when you wake up?"
"Yes..." Her head drooped again.
"Where's your bed?"
She tried to raise her hand, but she just pointed to the carpet, and she couldn't raise her hand anymore.She sighed like a tired child and curled up relaxed in Spade's arms.Spade picked her up, scooped her up like a drowning person, and walked toward the nearest of the three doors.He turned the handle to retract the deadbolt, then kicked the door open with his foot into a hallway.There was a bathroom with an open door in the hall, and a bedroom.He looked into the bathroom and saw that it was empty, so he carried the girl into the bedroom.
No one was in the bedroom.Clothes and clutter on the closet revealed that this was a men's room.Spade carried the girl back to the green-carpeted room and walked to the opposite door.The door led to another hallway, and he passed another empty bathroom and into a bedroom with a very feminine decor.He lifted the coverlet, put the girl on the bed, took off her slippers, lifted her up so that the yellow gown could be ripped off, put a pillow behind her head, and pulled the coverlet over her.
Then he opened the two windows in the room and stared at the sleeping girl with his back to the windows.Her breathing was heavy, but not disturbed.He frowned and looked around, his lips pursed tightly.Twilight darkened the room.He stood in the fading light for about five minutes, and finally walked out impatiently shaking his broad sloping shoulders, leaving the door of the suite open.
Spade went to the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph office on Powell Street and called 2020 Davenport Street. "Emergency Hospital please... Hey, there's a girl in Suite 12C at the Alexandra Hotel, she's been drugged... Yes, you'd better send someone to look at her... I'm Hu from the hotel Mr Pere."
He put the receiver back on the cradle and laughed a few times.Then he dialed another number and said, "Hello, Frank, I'm Sam Spade, can I have a car and a driver who speaks louder? . . . ...just a few hours ... well, let him pick me up from John's Kebab on Ellis Street, the sooner the better."
He dialed another number—his office.He put the receiver to his ear and waited for a while, then hung up without saying anything.
He walked over to John's Kebab, ordered lamb chops, baked potatoes, and sliced tomatoes, hurried the waiter to serve them, and hurried through them again.He was smoking with his coffee when a stocky young man entered the kebab shop and came to his table.He had pale eyes under a plaid baseball cap that was tilted on one side, and a rough face that looked jovial.
"It's all ready, Mr. Spade. The car is full of gas and ready to go."
"Excellent." Spade finished his cup of coffee and walked out with the burly man. "Know the road or street 'Ankor'? It's in Burlingame."
"I don't know, but we can look for it."
"Just do it," Spade said as he got into the black Cadillac and sat next to the driver. "We're going to 26th, as soon as possible, but don't park at the front door."
"OK."
They passed five or six blocks in silence.The driver said, "Mr. Spade, your partner got killed, didn't he?"
"Ok."
The driver made a tsk-tsk sound. "This line of work is not easy to do. If you don't pay attention, you will step on landmines."
"But taxi drivers don't live long."
"Maybe you're right," the strong man took a step back, "but it's all the same. When things don't happen to you, everyone thinks they will live a long life."
Spade stared blankly ahead, no matter what the driver said, he only answered "yes" or "no" indifferently, and finally the driver finally said tired and stopped talking.
The driver found directions to Ancore Avenue at a pharmacy in Burlingame.Ten minutes later, he parked the car in a dark corner, turned off the headlights, and waved to the block ahead. "There it is," he said. "It should be on the other side, maybe the third or fourth building."
Spade said "OK" and got out of the car, adding: "Don't turn off the engine, we might have to hurry."
He crossed the street and walked to the other side of the block.A lone street lamp was burning far ahead.There are houses on both sides of the road, and there are five or six houses in each block. There are slightly warm lights in the houses, decorating the night.A crescent moon hangs high in the sky, as cool and dim as that distant street lamp.From the open window of a house across the street came the dull sound of a radio.
Spade stopped at the second house from the corner.The gateposts in front of the house were much thicker than the fences on both sides, and there were two reflective off-white metal numbers on one of the gateposts, two and six.A white square card is pinned below the number.Spade looked closer. The card was a FOR SALE AND RENTAL sign.There is no door fitted between the post.Spade walked toward the house along a cement walkway.For a moment he stood motionless on the walk under the porch steps, not hearing a sound from inside the house.The whole room was pitch black, except for a white square card nailed to the door.
Spade went to the door and listened.He couldn't hear anything, so he tried to look in through the glass on the door.There are no curtains behind the glass, but the room is too dark to see anything.He tiptoed to one window, then to another.Like the doors, they were uncurtained, but through the windows there was only darkness.He tried the two windows and they were both locked.He tried the door again, and it was also locked.
He left the porch, stepped carefully on the strange, dark ground, and walked around the house among the weeds.The side windows are too high to reach from the ground.There was a rear window that he could get his hands on, but it was locked like the rear door.
Spade went back to the doorpost, folded his hands over the flame of the lighter, and leaned over to the FOR SALE AND RENTAL sign.Printed on it was the name and address of a real estate agent, and in blue pencil: The key is at number 31.
Spade went back to the limousine and asked the driver, "Is there a flashlight?"
"Of course," he handed Spade the flashlight, "may I help?"
"Maybe," Spade got into the limousine, "we'll go to number thirty-one and you can turn on the lights."
No. 31 is a square gray house, a little north of No. 26.There was light from the downstairs windows.Spade went out on the porch and rang the bell.A dark-haired girl of fourteen or fifteen opened the door.Spade bowed and said with a smile, "I want to get the key to number twenty-six."
"I'm going to call Dad." After she finished speaking, she walked into the house and shouted, "Dad!" A bald, red-faced, fat man with a bushy mustache came out with a newspaper in his hand.
Spade said, "I'd like the key to number twenty-six."
The fat man looked suspicious."Without electricity, you can't see anything," he said.
Spade patted his pocket: "I have a flashlight." The fat man looked more suspicious.Spade showed him a business card, put it back in his pocket, and said in a low voice, "We've got word that there might be something hidden in it."
The fat man's expression and voice became urgent. "Wait a minute," he said, "I'll go with you." A moment later he came back with a brass key with a black and red tag fastened to it.Spade waved to the driver as they passed, and the driver followed.
"Has anyone seen the house lately?" Spade asked.
"Not as far as I know," replied the fat man. "I haven't been asked for a key in the last few months." Stuffing his hands, he muttered, "Here you are." Then he stepped aside.Spade unlocked and pushed the door open.The room was dark and silent.
Spade, flashlight in his left hand—but not on—went into the house.The driver followed closely behind him, and the fat man followed them at a distance.They searched the house up and down. They were cautious at first, but later they found nothing, and their actions became grandiose.There was no doubt that the house was empty, and there was no sign of recent visits.
Spade said "Thanks, nothing else", and got off the car at the entrance of the Alexandra Hotel.He entered the hotel and came to the front desk, and a tall young man with a serious face said, "Good evening, Mr. Spade." "Good evening." Spade pulled the young man to the end of the front desk. "Gutman's gang—the ones in 12C—are they there?" "No," answered the young man, casting a quick glance at Spade.Then he looked away, hesitated, then at Spade, and said in a low voice, "There's something interesting going on tonight about them, Mr. Spade. Someone called the emergency hospital and said that There's a sick girl in the room." "but?" "Oh no, there's no one in the room. They went out earlier in the evening." Spade said, "Forget it, let these jokers have fun too. Thanks." He went into a phone booth, dialed a number, and said, "Hi, Mrs. Palin? … Is Fee there... yes... thanks... hello, sweetie. How did you say that nice thing? Great, great! I'll be there in twenty minutes... yes." Half an hour later, Spade rang the doorbell of a two-story brick building on Ninth Avenue.Effie Palin opened the door.Her boyish face was full of weariness, but it was still smiling. "Hello, boss," she said, "come in." Then she said in a low voice, "If Mommy says anything to you, Sam, don't worry about her. She's terribly worried." Spade reassured He grinned softly at her and patted her on the shoulder.She took his arm. "Where's Miss O'Shaughnessy?" "I didn't find it," he growled. "I've been tricked. Are you sure that's her voice?" "That's right." He made a displeased expression. "Well, she was lying." She led him into a bright living room, sighed, and slumped down heavily on the end of the couch, looking up at him again, tired but happy. smile.He sat beside her and asked, "Is everything going well? Didn't you talk about the package?" "I didn't say anything, I just told them as you ordered. They seem to think that the phone call has something to do with this matter, and you are going to investigate this matter." "Dundee gone?" "No, it's Hof and Oga, and a few others I don't know. I've talked to the superintendent, too." "They took you back to the Bureau?" "Oh, yes, they asked me a bunch of questions, but it was - you know - routine." Spade rubbed his hands together. "Fine," he said, frowning again, "but I guess they'll make a bunch of things up on me when we meet. At least that damn Dundee will, and Brian." He Shrugged, "Apart from the police, do you know who else went there?" "Yes," she sat up, "that lad, who carried Gutman's message, was there too. He didn't come in, but the porch door was left open when the police were there, and I saw him standing outside." "You didn't say anything, did you?" "Oh, no. You told him not to talk, so I deliberately ignored him. When I looked at it later, he was gone." Spade smiled at her. "It's very lucky for you, little sister, that the police arrived first." "why?" "He was a villain. The boy was cruel. Was it Jacobi who died?" "That's right." He patted her hand and stood up. "I'm leaving. You'd better go to sleep. You're too sleepy to keep your eyes open." She stood up. "Sam, what's-" He put his hand over her mouth and cut her off. "On Monday," he said, "I'm going to sneak out and tell your mother to drag her lamb into the jackal's den before she catches me." It was nearly midnight when Spade got home.As he put the key in the lock of the gate, there was the clack of high heels on the pavement behind him.He let go of the key and turned to see Bridget O'Shaughnessy running towards him down the steps.She put her arms around him, leaned against him, and gasped, "Oh, I thought you weren't coming!" She looked very haggard, with a worried look on her face, shaking from head to toe. He found the key with his free hand, opened the door, and helped her into the house. "You've been waiting for me here?" he asked. "Yes," she said intermittently, panting, "in the north, on the side of the street, at the entrance of the building." "Can you still go?" he asked, "Or do you want me to hug you?" She leaned on his shoulder and shook her head. "I should, can do it, wait for me, to, where I can sit down." They took the elevator to Spade's floor and headed to his apartment.When he opened the door, she let go of his arm and stood beside him, her chest still heaving.He turned on the light in the entrance, and the two walked in together.He closed the door and walked towards the living room with his arms around her.When they were a step away from the door, the lights in the living room came on. The girl screamed and climbed on top of Spade. Chubby Gutman was standing just inside the living room door, smiling kindly at them.Young Wilmore came out of the kitchen behind them, the black pistol looming large in his small hand.Kylo comes out of the bathroom, also holding a gun. Gutman said, "Well, sir, as you can see, everyone is here. Now let's all come in and sit down and talk comfortably."
Notes:
Spade said "Thanks, nothing else", and got off the car at the entrance of the Alexandra Hotel.He entered the hotel and came to the front desk, and a tall young man with a serious face said, "Good evening, Mr. Spade." "Good evening." Spade pulled the young man to the end of the front desk. "Gutman's gang—the ones in 12C—are they there?" "No," answered the young man, casting a quick glance at Spade.Then he looked away, hesitated, then at Spade, and said in a low voice, "There's something interesting going on tonight about them, Mr. Spade. Someone called the emergency hospital and said that There's a sick girl in the room." "but?" "Oh no, there's no one in the room. They went out earlier in the evening." Spade said, "Forget it, let these jokers have fun too. Thanks." He went into a phone booth, dialed a number, and said, "Hi, Mrs. Palin? … Is Fee there... yes... thanks... hello, sweetie. How did you say that nice thing? Great, great! I'll be there in twenty minutes... yes." Half an hour later, Spade rang the doorbell of a two-story brick building on Ninth Avenue.Effie Palin opened the door.Her boyish face was full of weariness, but it was still smiling. "Hello, boss," she said, "come in." Then she said in a low voice, "If Mommy says anything to you, Sam, don't worry about her. She's terribly worried." Spade reassured He grinned softly at her and patted her on the shoulder.She took his arm. "Where's Miss O'Shaughnessy?" "I didn't find it," he growled. "I've been tricked. Are you sure that's her voice?" "That's right." He made a displeased expression. "Well, she was lying." She led him into a bright living room, sighed, and slumped down heavily on the end of the couch, looking up at him again, tired but happy. smile.He sat beside her and asked, "Is everything going well? Didn't you talk about the package?" "I didn't say anything, I just told them as you ordered. They seem to think that the phone call has something to do with this matter, and you are going to investigate this matter." "Dundee gone?" "No, it's Hof and Oga, and a few others I don't know. I've talked to the superintendent, too." "They took you back to the Bureau?" "Oh, yes, they asked me a bunch of questions, but it was - you know - routine." Spade rubbed his hands together. "Fine," he said, frowning again, "but I guess they'll make a bunch of things up on me when we meet. At least that damn Dundee will, and Brian." He Shrugged, "Apart from the police, do you know who else went there?" "Yes," she sat up, "that lad, who carried Gutman's message, was there too. He didn't come in, but the porch door was left open when the police were there, and I saw him standing outside." "You didn't say anything, did you?" "Oh, no. You told him not to talk, so I deliberately ignored him. When I looked at it later, he was gone." Spade smiled at her. "It's very lucky for you, little sister, that the police arrived first." "why?" "He was a villain. The boy was cruel. Was it Jacobi who died?" "That's right." He patted her hand and stood up. "I'm leaving. You'd better go to sleep. You're too sleepy to keep your eyes open." She stood up. "Sam, what's-" He put his hand over her mouth and cut her off. "On Monday," he said, "I'm going to sneak out and tell your mother to drag her lamb into the jackal's den before she catches me." It was nearly midnight when Spade got home.As he put the key in the lock of the gate, there was the clack of high heels on the pavement behind him.He let go of the key and turned to see Bridget O'Shaughnessy running towards him down the steps.She put her arms around him, leaned against him, and gasped, "Oh, I thought you weren't coming!" She looked very haggard, with a worried look on her face, shaking from head to toe. He found the key with his free hand, opened the door, and helped her into the house. "You've been waiting for me here?" he asked. "Yes," she said intermittently, panting, "in the north, on the side of the street, at the entrance of the building." "Can you still go?" he asked, "Or do you want me to hug you?" She leaned on his shoulder and shook her head. "I should, can do it, wait for me, to, where I can sit down." They took the elevator to Spade's floor and headed to his apartment.When he opened the door, she let go of his arm and stood beside him, her chest still heaving.He turned on the light in the entrance, and the two walked in together.He closed the door and walked towards the living room with his arms around her.When they were a step away from the door, the lights in the living room came on. The girl screamed and climbed on top of Spade. Chubby Gutman was standing just inside the living room door, smiling kindly at them.Young Wilmore came out of the kitchen behind them, the black pistol looming large in his small hand.Kylo comes out of the bathroom, also holding a gun. Gutman said, "Well, sir, as you can see, everyone is here. Now let's all come in and sit down and talk comfortably."
Notes: