The Big Sleep Chapter 27 Summary

  • Marlowe meets Agnes in a parking lot, where she tells him that Mona is hiding out east of Realito, in a house next to a small garage run by a man named Art Huck. There's a cyanide plant nearby, and the house is just off the highway.
  • Agnes had accidently discovered Mona's hideout one day when she and Brody were driving. They saw Canino in a car with Mona so they tailed her.
  • Marlowe drives toward the location described by Agnes. It's still raining. As Marlowe nears what looks like a small garage, his car runs over some tacks and he gets two flat tires. 
  • Not good. He sees a light coming from what he thinks is Art Huck's garage. Canino's car is in the driveway.
  • Pretending he needs new tires, Marlowe knocks on the garage door. Art reluctantly lets Marlowe inside, where Canino is waiting. 
  • Canino orders Art to go fix Marlowe's tires and then offers Marlowe a drink. There doesn't appear to be any cyanide in the glass, but when Marlowe isn't paying attention, Canino and Art attack him and Marlowe's knocked out cold. 
  • Fun project: Count the number of times that Marlowe has to resort to violence or is the victim of violence. Compare this to a detective like Sherlock Holmes, who rarely has to get down and dirty to solve a crime. Now imagine if Marlowe and Holmes had to join forces on a case, who'd solve it first? Pretty mind-blowing, right?