The Maltese Falcon Chapter 10 Summary

The Belvedere Divan

  • The following morning, Spade slowly gets out of bed, trying not to wake Brigid (yup). He finds a brass key in her coat pocket and goes to the Coronet to search her apartment.
  • He opens every drawer, cupboard, box, bag, and trunk—locked or unlocked—examining its contents in meticulous detail.
  • No black bird.
  • Spade returns to his apartment, has breakfast with Brigid then drops her off at her hotel.
  • He then takes a taxi to Hotel Belvedere in search of Cairo. In the hotel lobby, Spade sees the youth who had been tailing him. Spade finally confronts him, saying that G will eventually have to deal with him, whether he likes it or not. The youth feigns ignorance and calls Spade a dirty name, but we're willing to bet he has ties to this mysterious Mr. G.
  • Shortly after the youth leaves, Cairo enters the hotel and Spade tells him that he was unable to find the black bird in Brigid's hotel room. Cairo also claims that the police had kept him at the station all night.
  • By the time Spade finally arrives at his office, Effie has a message for him: Mr. G had called and said he had received Spade's message and will phone again. Looks like the unnamed youth does work for Mr. G, after all.
  • Brigid is waiting for Spade inside his office. She tells him that her hotel has been searched, and refuses to go back. Spade pretends to be surprised (he's quite the actor when the job calls for it), and asks Effie if she would be willing to put Brigid up for a few days.