In the past I’ve covered my fondness for Dashiell Hammett’s mysteries. Given my whole theme here at Balladeer’s Blog, this time I’ll take a look at Hammett’s often overlooked Sam Spade short stories that followed a few years after the novel The Maltese Falcon.
Three of these tales are complete and one other was left tantalizingly unfinished, I’m afraid.
A MAN CALLED SPADE – Published in the July 1932 issue of The American Magazine.
The Client: Financier Max Bliss, who calls Sam Spade in a panic and wants him to come to his home immediately because his life has been threatened.
The Mystery: When Spade arrives at Max’s 10th floor apartment home on Nob Hill, Bliss has already been strangled to death. Detective Sergeant Tom Polhaus and Lieutenant Dundy from The Maltese Falcon are on the scene but are more cordial than they were in Spade’s most famous case.
Max lies on the floor, partially undressed. A five-pointed star has been drawn on his bare chest in black ink and with a Greek letter tau in the center. Spade, hoping Max’s daughter will pay him the fee that her father now cannot, tries selling her on the notion that he’s now working for her late father’s estate, and her.
As the investigation rolls along, Sam seeks out one of his academic sources, Harry Darrell, who recognizes the star with the tau in the center as the mark of assorted Rosicrucian Lodges. The two nearest lodges are in Point Loma/ San Diego and San Jose. The odd design also shows up on a threatening letter found among the murder victim’s papers.
The Suspects: Continue reading
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