Chapters 1-5 study guide

 The story’s protagonist  A private detective  He looks like a “blond Satan.” he is a tall, thickly built man (physically imposing), and he is in his 30s  He seems shady and more concerned about his own well-being than others  He presents a rough exterior; unsympathetic to others  He’s a womanizer who is having an affair with his partner’s wife

 A lanky, sunburned girl with a boyish face (almost childlike)  She is Spade’s trusted secretary  She appears kind and conscientious, and worries over Spade

 A young woman with blue eyes, red, curly hair and very attractive. She’s 22 years old  She lies about her identity (her name is actually Brigid O’Shaughnessy)  She pretends she is innocent and in need of help, but, in reality, she appears to be a manipulator who uses her sexuality to get what she wants

 A private investigator and Sam Spade’s business partner  He’s of medium height, solidly built and in his 40s  He also appears to be a womanizer, although he is married

 She is supposedly looking for her sister, who ran off with a man named Floyd Thursby. She’s hoping they can find her before her parents realize she’s gone

 San Francisco

 Sam’s partner, Miles Archer  He was murdered - shot through the heart with a Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver

 He appears unsympathetic and unmoved by Miles’ death. For him, it’s business as usual

 Floyd Thursby  He was shot down in front of his hotel 35 minutes after Sam Spade left Miles’ murder scene

 Two police officers: Tom Polhaus and Lieutenant Dundy  They want to question Sam over the murder of Floyd Thursby

 That they were having an affair

 She suspects Sam of having killed Miles  She naively believes that Sam wanted to get Miles out of the picture so she and Sam could be together

 He doesn’t appear to love her. He only seems to have been using her sexually. Now he doesn’t appear to want any part of her

 He doesn’t become emotionally involved with them.  He uses them for his own sexual gratification and treats them as inferiors  He doesn’t trust their motives or instincts

 That her name is actually Brigid O’Shaughnessy and that she really wasn’t looking for her missing sister  Also, she had known Floyd Thursby and that they arrived in San Francisco together from Hong Kong

 No  He constantly scowls in disbelief and reacts with impatience at her stories and even tells her that she “is dangerous”

 Brigid claims that Thursby shot Miles because he found out Miles was tailing him

 He asks her how much money she has, then takes almost all of it for his services

 Sam Spade’s attorney

 A small, dark-complexioned man with Levantine features  He is very stylish in his attire, wears a perfume, and acts in an effeminate way  He’s searching for a black figurine of a bird

 He knocks him unconscious when Cairo pulls a gun on him. He then rifles through Cairo’s belongings

 He’s come to hire Sam to help him find the black statuette. He also has come to search Sam’s office to see if he is, in fact, hiding it