Marlowe is in Randall’s office watching a “shiny black bug with a pink head and pink spots on it” crawling on his desk (211). Randall has Marlowe sign some papers, presumably about Mrs. Florian’s murder, and then says that he will let him in on a few details, “[j]ust so you won’t go master-minding all over the landscape any more” (213). Randall says there were no prints, but she was dead “before the guy started to smack her head around. Now why did he start to smack her head around?” (213). Marlowe and Randall agree that due to the spacing of the finger marks on her neck, it looks like Moose Malloy killed her. It seems to be a crime of passion, as though he didn’t know his own strength and killed her by accident.

Marlowe and Randall share theories about the murder, Marriott, and everything else going on, but then Randall tells Marlowe to leave the investigation to the police. Marlowe subtly says no, implying that he has ideas and he might tell Randall about them if they pan out.