The Long Goodbye

A few days later, Howard Spencer calls Marlowe. They meet in Spencer’s hotel room, and Marlowe says that he wants to meet with Eileen as well, with Spencer present as a “witness” (164). They discuss Wade’s death and the unanswered questions; Marlowe suggests that Eileen may be directly involved in her husband’s death.

Marlowe and Spencer travel to the Wades’ house. On Eileen’s orders, an aggressive Candy allows them into the house. As Spencer examines Wade’s unfinished manuscript, Marlowe takes an interest in Eileen’s pendant. Although she claims it was given to her by her former lover in 1940, Marlowe explains how the pendant is a replica of a badge worn by specific military personnel. He believes that she knew Lennox when he was known as Paul Marston and that she and Lennox were romantic partners when he was captured by the German Army during a fast raid in Norway in 1942. Wade knew that Eileen was once married to Lennox, Marlowe explains. He provides evidence in the form of a copy of their marriage license. Marlowe reveals that Lennox survived the war and that “Paul Marston and Terry Lennox were the same man” (170).

Eileen admits that she saw Lennox only once but immediately recognized him, even after the surgery.