Marlowe disarms Everett and calls the police about the shooting

Marlowe disarms Everett Edwards and summons the police after Everett shoots Terry Lennox at Langrishe Lodge. His quick intervention prevents another shot; his decision to call Joe Green rather than Bernie Ohls brings uniformed officers into a wealthy family’s private crisis and begins the immediate handling of the killing.

The Intervention

Everett has just shot Terry, who had lunged for a glass ashtray and was still trying to throw it when Everett fired. Marlowe reaches Everett before he can shoot again and takes the gun from him. Everett offers little resistance: he has gone limp, and, in Marlowe’s account, as good as hands over the weapon. He stands staring at Terry, visibly shaken. Marlowe’s action is decisive but limited: he stops the immediate threat and takes control of the gun, not the larger consequences of what has happened.

The scene leaves no uncertainty about who fired. Terry lies on the floor, and Everett remains beside him with the weapon. Marlowe’s prompt intervention closes off the possibility of another shot, while Everett’s collapse gives way to helplessness rather than an attempt to escape. Clare Cavendish then enters and kneels beside Terry. Her silence and response make plain to Marlowe that she loved him. The killing has therefore altered more than the immediate balance of danger: it has made the loss unmistakable to the people in the room.

Calling Joe Green

Marlowe chooses Joe Green as the officer to contact. He does not call Bernie Ohls, whom he feels has had enough of him for the time being and whose earlier anger he does not want to face again. Joe, by contrast, is someone Marlowe thinks of as companionable and familiar. That choice shapes the arrival that follows: instead of summoning an investigator with whom he has recently clashed, Marlowe calls a working officer he expects to respond.

Joe is on duty, as usual, and reaches Langrishe Lodge twenty minutes after Marlowe’s call, with two squad cars behind him. The interval is short, but it gives the event a clear sequence: Everett is disarmed first; police intervention follows. Marlowe remains at the scene until they arrive rather than leaving the family and the dead man to manage the aftermath alone.

The Police at Langrishe Lodge

Joe’s first reaction is bewilderment. He looks at Terry, at Everett, and then at Marlowe, unable to make sense of the room. Marlowe’s account contrasts Joe’s usual work—tenement stairs, forced doors, and confrontations with street offenders—with the situation at the Lodge. To Joe, this wealthy household’s crisis resembles a country-club parlor game gone badly wrong, not the kind of scene he knows how to handle.

That contrast does not prevent Joe from taking charge. He turns to Clare, initially addresses her as Mrs. Langrishe, and is corrected by Marlowe: her name is Cavendish. Clare appears too shocked to register the exchange. A patrolman provides a blanket and escorts her from the room; she goes without resistance, still composed in bearing despite the blood on her dress. The officers also take Everett away in handcuffs. He is in pajamas and loafers, and he looks at no one as they lead him out.

Custody and Immediate Aftermath

Marlowe’s call transfers the scene from private confrontation to police custody. Everett is removed rather than left with the family, and Clare is escorted away from Terry’s body. Marlowe expects that Everett may face San Quentin in the months and years ahead, while recognizing that his wealthy family might find a lawyer able to secure a legal escape. This is his projection, not a stated outcome: the account ends with Everett in custody, not with a verdict or sentence.

After Clare and Everett have gone, Dorothea Langrishe enters wearing a hairnet and a face mask. She looks at the covered body and at Marlowe and Joe without understanding what has happened. Her confusion leaves the room’s aftermath without any comforting resolution. The police have secured Everett, but neither the family’s shock nor the killing itself has been repaired.

The event also clarifies Marlowe’s role at the end of the confrontation. He is not merely a witness: by taking the gun and calling Joe, he prevents further immediate violence and makes official intervention possible. Yet his control extends only to those urgent acts. Joe is unsettled, Clare is in shock, Everett is taken away, and Dorothea cannot comprehend the scene. The practical response is completed; its personal consequences remain open.