sam spade is hired by the fragrant miss wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called floyd thursby. but miss wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous brigid o``shaughnessy, and when spade``s partner miles archer is shot while on thursby``s trail, spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird, a treasure worth killing for, before the fat man finds him?