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The Maltese Falcon Scene 3 Summary

  • The next day, the newspaper headline is huge: "THURSBY, ARCHER MURDERS LINKED!"
  • Iva, Archer's widow, is waiting for Spade at the office.
  • She is wearing her best black mourning wear and some really severe drawn-on eyebrows.
  • She leans in and gives him a big kiss, which doesn't seem appropriate for a grieving widow.
  • Iva asks Spade if he killed Archer, and Spade denies it.
  • Effie comes in, rolls Spade a cigarette, and tells him that when she went to Iva's house at 3:00 a.m. to tell her that her husband was dead, Iva hadn't been home very long at all.
  • Spade doesn't believe Iva shot her husband.
  • The phone rings. It's Ms. Wonderly.
  • She tells Spade to meet her at the Coronet Apartments under the name LeBlanc.
  • He heads out, but not before telling Effie to get rid of Archer's desk and have "Spade and Archer" removed from the windows and "Samuel Spade" put on them instead. He moves fast.