Murder of Miles Archer

Miles Archer’s murder is the crime that first appears to point toward Floyd Thursby but is ultimately revealed as Brigid O’Shaughnessy’s work. Archer is found dead below a broken alley fence, and the evidence seems to connect the killing to Thursby’s Webley-Fosbery revolver. Only after the investigation has followed the rival factions pursuing the falcon does Sam Spade reconstruct the trap: Brigid used Archer as a hired detective and a supposed pursuer, then killed him when her plan to make Thursby and Archer eliminate one another collapsed. The murder turns the case from a search for a missing object into an inquiry into loyalty, deception, and Spade’s obligation to the partner who was killed.