再见，吾爱 (1940)

《再见，吾爱》（英语：Farewell, My Lovely）是雷蒙·钱德勒第二部以洛杉矶私家侦探马罗（Philip Marlowe）为主角的小说。写于《大眠》(The Big Sleep)之后，却是最先被搬上大萤幕的马罗故事。

1942年电影《烈鹰接管》引用了《再见，吾爱》小说情节。1944年电影《谋杀，我的甜心》即以小说为蓝本，该片在英国上映时，片名恢复和小说《再见，吾爱》同名。三十年后的1975年，《再见，吾爱》三度拍摄成电影，罗伯特·米彻姆饰演马罗这位私家侦探硬汉。

Farewell, My Lovely is a novel by Raymond Chandler, published in 1940, the second novel he wrote featuring the Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe. It was adapted for the screen three times and was also adapted for the stage and radio.

Plot

Private detective Philip Marlowe is investigating a dead-end missing person case in Bay City (based on Santa Monica) when he sees a felon, Moose Malloy, barging into a club called Florian's, looking for his ex-girlfriend Velma Valento. The club has changed owners and now has an African-American clientele and staff, so no one there now knows her. Malloy ends up killing the owner of the club and escaping. The murder case is assigned to Lt. Nulty, a Bay City police detective who has no interest in the murder of a black man. Marlowe advises Nulty to look for Malloy's girlfriend, but Nulty prefers to let Marlowe do the routine legwork and rely on finding Malloy based on his huge size and loud clothes. Marlowe decides to follow up and look for the girl.

Marlowe tracks down Mrs. Jessie Florian, the widow of the nightclub's former owner, and plies her with bourbon. Mrs. Florian remembers Malloy's girlfriend and tells Marlowe she is dead. He manages to get hold of a photo that's signed, "Always yours, Velma Valento" and takes it with him. Before making further progress, Marlowe receives a call from a man named Lindsay Marriott, who claims his friend has been robbed and requests Marlowe's presence in delivering a ransom payment for a stolen necklace. Later that evening, in a deserted canyon, Marlowe waits in the dark and is hit on the head from behind. When he awakes, Marriott is dead. A passerby, Anne Riordan, finds him and takes him home.

Lt. Randall, the cunning but honest Los Angeles cop investigating Marriott's murder, is skeptical about the story. At Marlowe's office, Anne explains that she is from Bay City, a policeman's daughter interested in local crime. Anne's father was cashiered by the corrupt cops running the Bay City police. She tells Marlowe that she learned from Randall that the necklace belongs to a Mrs. Lewin Lockridge Grayle, the young wife of a wealthy and influential Bay City resident. Mrs. Grayle is a ravishing blonde whom Grayle met when she was singing for the radio station he owned. She married him in Europe under an assumed name to keep her background secret. Anne offers to have her hire Marlowe to find the necklace.

Marlowe examines some marijuana cigarettes he found on Marriott's body and discovers the card of a psychic, Jules Amthor. He makes an appointment to see him. On a hunch, he investigates Mrs. Florian's house and discovers that Marriott held a trust deed on it, meaning he could foreclose on her at will. Following up with Mrs. Florian, she reveals she was once a servant for Marriott's family, and Marlowe suspects she was somehow blackmailing him. Marlowe visits Mrs. Grayle, who finds him attractive and hires him, which he can use as an excuse to continue investigating the two murders. They make a date to meet again at the club of a local hoodlum, Laird Brunette, near the spot where Marriott was killed.

At Amthor's office, Marlowe probes him for his connection to Marriott and the drugs. Amthor summons a pair of Bay City detectives out of their jurisdiction to arrest Marlowe, claiming Marlowe tried to blackmail him. Instead of taking him to jail, the detectives knock Marlowe unconscious and lock him up in a private hospital run by Dr. Sonderborg, a drug dealer who keeps him docile with drug injections. Marlowe escapes, but on the way out, he sees Malloy in another room. He discusses the case with Randall, who is annoyed at his persistence in investigating. They suspect Marriott of blackmailing wealthy women, in league with Amthor. They return to Mrs. Florian's home only to find her murdered, apparently shaken to death by Malloy.