Police Corruption

Much of the plot of this novel is built on the actions of a corrupt police officer. It is indicated that Degarmo was still so in love with his ex-wife that he could not bear the idea of her going to jail, so he covered up her act of murdering Florence Almore. Degarmo's first act of corruption only leads to further acts of corruption as he has to continue to try to hide the truth from others. He convinces two of his cop friends to trump up fake drunk driving charges against the investigator who was hired by Mrs. Almore's parents to prove she was murdered. After Marlowe becomes interested in the Almore case, he also tries to find out exactly what happened to Mrs. Almore. Of course, he is looking for evidence that Mr. Almore may have had something to do with Lavery's death. However, Degarmo's...