Los Angeles Union Station

Los Angeles Union Station is the site of Nico Peterson’s unexpected reappearance and the practical arrangements that follow. Its crowds offer a measure of anonymity, but the distinctive suitcase Peterson carries allows Philip Marlowe to recognize both the man and the baggage, turning an ordinary meeting place into a pivotal point in the investigation.

Setting and Character

During commuter hour, Marlowe joins the hurrying crowd at the station, which he compares in scale to a giant adobe church. The concourse is busy with travelers, trains, hot dogs, and an unintelligible public-address system. A redcap runs over Marlowe’s foot with a trolley and does not apologize, an incidental encounter that underscores the station’s impersonal rush.

Marlowe arrives early and buys chewing gum at a paper stand simply because he cannot think of anything else to ask for. The station’s activity gives him time to wait, but he is keyed up rather than at ease. When he spots Peterson, he recognizes him at once by his pencil mustache, oiled wavy hair, bright blue jacket, and pale slacks. Peterson is seated beneath the large departures board, visibly wary, with a suitcase beside him and his hand gripping its handle.

Peterson’s Return

The meeting has been arranged by telephone: Peterson asks Marlowe to come to the station, choosing it because he has a suitcase and does not want to attract attention. The crowd therefore serves a practical purpose in the encounter, providing cover for a man who has returned while trying not to be conspicuous.

Marlowe’s surprise comes not only from seeing Peterson alive but from recognizing the suitcase. It is an old, bleached pigskin case with battered gold-colored fittings, familiar from an earlier point in the investigation. The object makes the station meeting more than a confirmation of Peterson’s identity: it reconnects his return to the unresolved trail of the missing baggage.

Consequences of the Meeting

After meeting Peterson, Marlowe tells Bernie Ohls that the encounter took place at Los Angeles Union Station and explains Peterson’s reason for selecting it. When Ohls asks about the case, Marlowe identifies its English manufacture, pigskin exterior, and gold fittings. The station thus becomes part of the account Marlowe gives the authorities, even as he withholds Peterson’s precise whereabouts.

Marlowe says the suitcase is in a station locker, while its key is placed in an envelope in a mailbox on South Broadway for delivery the following day. He explains that he made this arrangement because he promised Peterson time to make himself scarce, and tells Ohls that Peterson has gone on a cruise to South America. The station’s role consequently extends beyond the face-to-face meeting: it is where Peterson reappears, where Marlowe identifies the case, and where the baggage is left temporarily while Peterson gets a chance to leave.