- At night, Archer is standing on the corner of Bush and Stockton when he's suddenly shot dead.
- Sam Spade gets a call a little after 2:00 a.m. letting him know that his partner's croaked.
- Spade calls Effie, his secretary, to break the news to her. He tells Effie to tell Iva, Archer's wife.
- At the scene of the crime, Spade and a police detective check out the murder weapon—a Webley handgun.
- Spade tells the detective, Tom, that Archer was trailing a man named Thursby.
- At a payphone, Spade calls Ms. Wonderly's hotel—but she's checked out. We hope not permanently, like Archer has.
- Back in his apartment, Spade gets a visit from Tom, the detective, and the police lieutenant.
- Sam gets mad at the police, because he thinks they're treating him as a suspect.
- The police have news—Thursby was shot thirty minutes after Spade left the crime scene.
- Spade insists he's never seen Thursby, "dead or alive."