Marlowe drives along Westmore Street and is followed by a police car. He speeds up and tries to make it to a better part of town, where the police will be reluctant to engage in violence, but they threaten to shoot him, so he pulls over. Two cops, Cooney and Dobbs, question Marlowe about speeding and being a private detective. They force him to take a drink, and Cooney punches Marlowe in the stomach while he is drinking, spilling alcohol all over him. When Cooney tries to knee Marlowe, Marlowe hits Cooney. Dobbs hits Marlowe in the knee with a blackjack, and Cooney kicks Marlowe after he falls down. Dobbs prevents Cooney from further injuring Marlowe and demands Marlowe ride in the cop car while Cooney drives his car. Dobbs drives Marlowe to jail.

In Marlowe’s jail cell, another man sleeps in the top bunk. Marlowe smokes while sitting on the bottom bunk, listening to a woman scream far off in the distant women’s section of the jail. While admiring the new jail cell, he thinks about a girl he knew who lived in Bay City. After 9:54, a cop opens the cell and escorts Marlowe to the counter, where Degarmo is waiting.