Chapter 7 Chapter 5 The Levantine

Without looking directly at the pistol, Spade leaned back on the chair with his arms up and folded his fingers over his head.There was no strange expression in his eyes, and he kept staring firmly at Kai Luo's black face. Kylo coughed apologetically and smiled nervously.His lips were a little pale.Those dark eyes looked watery, timid, and sincere. "I'm going to search your office, Mr. Spade. I warn you, if you try to stop me, I'll kill you." "Search." Spade's voice was as expressionless as his face. "Stand up, please," said the man with the pistol aimed at his thick chest. "I have to check to see if you have a gun on you."

Spade stood up, pushed the chair back with his shins, and straightened his legs. Kylo walked behind him and switched the pistol from his right hand to his left.He pulled up the back of Spade's jacket, looked in, put the pistol against Spade's back, and ran his right hand through Spade's waist and then his chest.Kylo's face was now just below Spade's right elbow, not more than six inches. Spade spun sharply to the right and elbowed.Kai Luo's face jerked back, but it was too late.Spade's right heel landed on the toe of his patent leather shoe, trapping the smaller fellow at his elbow.The elbow caught him just below the cheekbone, knocking him so wobbly that he would have fallen if Spade hadn't caught his foot.Spade's elbow continued to poke at the astonished black face, and then he extended his hand and slapped the pistol hard.As soon as his fingers touched the pistol, Kyoma let go of it.The pistol looked small in Spade's hand.

Spade lifted his feet off Kylo's, spun backwards, grabbed the little man's collar with his left hand—the green tie with the ruby ​​pin sticking out over his knuckles—and grabbed the captured man with his right hand. The weapon was stuffed into the pocket of his clothes.His sallow eyes were cloudy, and his face was expressionless except for a sullen twitch at the corner of his mouth. The look of pain and regret intertwined on Kai Luo's face.There were tears in his dark eyes.The complexion on his face was as dark as polished lead, only the cheek was flushed by the bump of the elbow.

Spade gripped him tightly by the collar, slowly turned him around, pushed him back, and pushed him all the way to the chair he was sitting on just now. The look on the leaden face was no longer pained, But inexplicable.Spade looked at him and smiled.His smile was gentle, even a little dazed.His right shoulder lifted, and his bent right arm lifted with it.From the fist, the wrist, the forearm, the bent elbow to the upper arm, they are all in one piece, like an iron rod.All movements are directed by elastic shoulders.He punched Kylo in the face, hitting half of his jaw, the corner of his mouth, and the cheek between the cheekbone and the jawbone.

When Kai Luo closed his eyes, he fell into a coma. Spade laid the limp body back on the chair.He just lay there sprawled, mouth open, head slumped back on the back of the chair. Spade felt from pocket to pocket on the unconscious man.He moves methodically, moving the slack body when necessary.He piled the contents of his pockets on the table in a heap.After rummaging through the last pocket, he returned to his chair, rolled a cigarette, and lit it.Start checking his loot.He went over these things calmly, solemnly, and thoroughly. A large black leather wallet.It contained three hundred and sixty-five dollars in various denominations, and three five-pound notes; a Greek passport with many visas, with Cairo's name and photograph on it.Five folded sheets of pink onion paper covered with what appeared to be Arabic, a crumpled newspaper clipping of the discovery of the bodies of Archer and Thursby; A pretty woman with bold, sharp eyes and a gentle mouth with the corners down.A large silk handkerchief, yellowed with use, and torn at the creases; a thin stack of business cards bearing the words "Mr. Joel Carroll"; a ticket for that evening's Gilly Theater.

Besides the purse, there were three brightly colored silk handkerchiefs, smelling of chypre; a platinum Longines watch with a red gold fob on a pear-shaped ring of white metal; A pair of coins from the United States, Britain, France, and China; five or six keys on a key ring; a fountain pen inlaid with silver agate; a metal comb in a leatherette case; A nail file in a leatherette case; a small San Francisco street guide; a South Pacific luggage deposit certificate, half a packet of violet incense sticks; a Shanghai insurance broker's business card; four pieces of Belvedere hotel stationery, One of them bore clearly in small letters the name of Samuel Spade, and the addresses of his office and residence.

As he went over them all - even lifted the watch cover to see if there was anything hidden in it - Spade leaned forward and pulled the unconscious man's wrist up with two fingers. , according to his pulse.After feeling the pulse, he put down his wrist again, returned to the chair and sat down, rolled a cigarette and smoked.When smoking, only the lower lip on his face moved slightly unconsciously occasionally, and he was calm and lost in thought.It looked almost dumb; but when Kylo moaned and his eyelids quivered, Spade put on a pleasant face, with a friendly smile on his eyes and mouth.

Joel Kylo slowly came to life.He opened his eyes first, and it took a full minute before he fixed his eyes on the ceiling.Then he closed his mouth, swallowed, and sucked in rough nostrils.He drew back one foot, rolled one hand over his thigh, raised his head from the back of the chair, looked around the office in shock, and sat up when he saw Spade.He opened his mouth to speak, was startled again, and lightly stroked his face where Spade's fist had been.By now a red and blue lump had swelled up on his face. Kylo gritted his teeth and said painfully: "Mr. Spade, I could have shot you."

"You were going to shoot," Spade admitted. "I didn't intend to shoot." "I know that." "Then why did you hand in my gun and beat me?" "Sorry," Spade said, grinning like a jackal, showing his gums. "Think about it, how annoyed I must have been when I found out that the bid of five thousand yuan turned out to be nonsense." "You're wrong, Mr. Spade. There's a real bid." "What the hell are you doing?" Spade's surprise was entirely genuine. "As long as I can get the statue back, I'm ready to pay 5,000 yuan." Kai Luo moved his hands away from his red and swollen face, sat up, and looked serious and serious again. "Is this statue in your hand?"

"Not here." "If it's not here,"—Carol's skeptical tone was very polite—"then why didn't you risk serious injury by letting me search it?" "Should I sit still if someone comes in to snatch me?" Spade flicked Kai Luo's things on the table with one finger. "You got my address, have you been there?" "Yes, Mr. Spade. I'm ready to pay five thousand dollars for the restoration of the statue. But if I can, I will try to save the owner of the statue first. Isn't that human?" "Who is he?" Kylo shook his head and smiled. "I beg your pardon, I cannot answer your question."

"Forgive?" Spade leaned forward and smiled with his lips pursed. "Carol, I've had a hard time getting you down. You've come to the door and asked for it. It just so happens that there were two murders last night, and that alone should take you to the police. Well, now you have to Completely at my mercy." Kai Luo's smile was a little reserved, but he didn't panic at all. "Before I took action, I had inquired about your situation in many ways." He said. "I'm sure you're a reasonable man. You'd never let go of a profitable business for any other reason." Spade shrugged and asked, "What about the deal?" "I offered you five thousand dollars as—" Spade tapped Kailo's wallet twice with his backhand and said, "I bet you, it doesn't look like you have five thousand dollars in it. You can also walk in and say you're going to give me a million dollars." Dollar, tell me to find a purple elephant. What the hell does that mean?" "I see, I see," said Kylo, ​​narrowing his eyes thoughtfully, "you want some guarantee of my sincerity." He wiped his red lower lip with the tip of his finger. "Does it count to pay a little handling fee in advance?" "Can." Kailo reached for the wallet, hesitated for a moment, then retracted and said, "I'll give you a hundred dollars, okay?" Spade picked up his wallet, took out a hundred dollars, then frowned again and said, "Two hundred would be better." He took another hundred dollars. Kylo said nothing. "Your first assumption was that I got the bird," Spade said dryly as he pocketed the two hundred dollars and threw the wallet back on the table. What are the two ideas?" "You know where things are. If you don't know exactly where, then you know where to find them." Spade was noncommittal, as if he hadn't heard it at all.He asked, "What evidence can you provide that your man is the original owner?" "Unfortunately, the evidence is scant. That is, no authoritative evidence of ownership has been presented by anyone at all. If you know these things as well as I do, I think you do—otherwise I wouldn't be on the Here comes—you know that the bird was taken from him, which proves that his claim to the bird is more legitimate than anyone else—much more legitimate than Thursby's, of course." "And what about his daughter?" Spade asked. Kylo's eyes and mouth opened wide with excitement.He blushed, and his voice was shrill: "He is not the owner of the bird!" "Oh," Spade said, softly and noncommittally. "Is he in San Francisco now?" Kylo asked, his voice less high-pitched, but still excited. Spade blinked sleepily and suggested, "We'd better open up the skylight and talk." Kai Luo jerked and regained his composure. "I don't think there is any benefit in that." He said softly again, "If you know more than I do, I will benefit from what you know, and you will get five thousand yuan if you say nothing. If you I don’t know as much as I do, so it was a mistake for me to come to you, and if I try to do what you say, it will only add to the mistakes.” Spade nodded coldly, waved at the things on the table and said, "This is yours," and when Kylo put the things back in his pocket, he said, "So, I'm looking for blackbirds for you." When you want to pay my expenses, five thousand dollars when you get it?" "Yes, Mr. Spade; that is, five thousand dollars minus what has been advanced to you—five thousand dollars altogether." "Okay, that makes sense." Spade looked solemn, with the corners of his eyes slightly wrinkled. "You're not hiring me to kill or rob, but to get things back, as honestly and legally as possible if you can." "If you can," Kylo agreed, his expression dignified except for his eyes. "If it's important," he stood up, taking his hat. "I'm staying at the Belvedere Hotel. If you want to inform me--room 635. I look forward with confidence to our mutual best interests by cooperating, Mr. Spade." He hesitated. "May I take back my pistol?" "Of course, I forgot." Spade took the pistol out of his coat pocket and handed it to Kylo. Kylo pointed the gun at Spade's chest. "Put your hands on the table, please," Kailo said earnestly. "I'm going to search your office." Spade said, "Damn it." Then he said with a throaty laugh, "Okay, search, I won't stop you."