Chapters 9 through 12 Summary

In Chapter 9 Lindsay Marriott hides in the back seat and Marlowe drives to Purissima Canyon to make the money-for-jade exchange. Parking the car in an inconspicuous spot, Marlowe leaves Lindsay Marriott in the car and goes on foot to investigate. From where he stands in the canyon, Marlowe can see the lights of a nearby beach club and little else. He returns to the car, convinced that the jewel thieves are not going to come to the meeting place. Someone ambushes Marlowe from behind and knocks him unconscious.

The opening of Chapter 10 finds Marlowe just coming to his senses. He is lying on the ground talking to himself about what happened. The money is missing from his inside coat pocket, the car is in a different location. Lindsay Marriott is missing as well. Marlowe is confronted by a woman with a...