Detective Philip Marlowe dresses up for his visit to the estate of General Sternwood. The property, tucked into the Hollywood Hills, sports an enormous mansion, lawns, a garage, and stands of trees.

Marlowe climbs the stairs to a large furnished gallery. Above a huge fireplace hangs a portrait of a 19th-century military leader. A young beautiful woman enters and flirts with Marlowe. He responds coolly; irritated, she falls backward, forcing him to catch her.

The butler announces that the general will see Marlowe and explains that the woman was Carmen Sternwood, one of the general’s daughters. Marlowe brusquely calls her a baby.

Marlowe and the butler walk past a chauffeur polishing cars and into an uncomfortably hot greenhouse filled with orchids. Sitting in a wheelchair at the center is the aged General Sternwood. His black eyes are similar to the ones in the gallery portrait.

Marlowe removes his jacket and pats his sweating neck with a handkerchief. Sherwood signals for the butler, Norris, and orders brandy. He invites Marlowe to smoke, inhaling Marlowe’s cigarette vicariously: "A nice state of affairs when a man has to indulge his vices by proxy” (5).