Wilmer shoots Gutman

Wilmer shoots Gutman is the reported aftermath of the falcon struggle: the police find Gutman dead after Wilmer has shot him. The brief confirmation closes one strand of the pursuit while leaving the scene itself outside the narration; its significance lies in the abrupt collapse of the partnership Gutman had tried to preserve and the cost of the violence surrounding the falcon.

Background and Context

Gutman’s account to Spade describes a chain of failed attempts to recover the falcon. After locating Brigid O’Shaughnessy’s apartment, Gutman and Joel Cairo heard movement inside and then heard a window open. Wilmer went downstairs to cover the fire escape and encountered Captain Jacobi, who was carrying the falcon. Wilmer shot Jacobi, but Jacobi continued on with the bird, knocked Wilmer down, and escaped. The attempt to intercept Jacobi thus failed, and Gutman’s group was left dependent on the possibility that Jacobi would deliver the falcon to Spade.

That account also places Wilmer among the group’s active agents rather than merely among its observers. Gutman said Wilmer had been searching for the falcon while the others talked in the cabin, and allowed that Wilmer was probably responsible for a fire through careless use of matches. These details establish a pattern of independent, consequential action by Wilmer, though the account does not explain what immediately led him to shoot Gutman.

The Report of Gutman’s Death

The event reaches Spade through Lieutenant Dundy and Tom Polhaus after Spade returns to his office on Monday morning. Tom tells him that the police got their information from Cairo and that Gutman is dead: Wilmer had just finished shooting him when the police arrived. The report establishes the outcome, but supplies no fuller description of the shooting or its precise circumstances.

Spade responds with a nod and remarks that Gutman ought to have expected it. His reaction is matter-of-fact rather than surprised, linking the killing to the danger already inherent in the group’s pursuit. The exchange does not present Spade as a witness to the shooting; it is a piece of information brought to him during the police conversation.

Consequences and Significance

Gutman’s death ends his personal role in the search and negotiation over the falcon. His earlier dealings with Spade had involved money, concealment, and attempts to manage the police consequences of the group’s actions; now the police’s report reduces that elaborate contest to a short confirmation of his death. The falcon’s pursuit has produced another fatal outcome, following the earlier murders and Jacobi’s shooting.

The report also leaves Wilmer’s fate distinct from Gutman’s. It confirms that Wilmer shot Gutman and that the police arrived afterward, but does not state here what happened to Wilmer in the immediate aftermath. The event therefore closes Gutman’s part in the struggle without resolving every consequence for the surviving participants.