The Dain Curse · Chapters

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Chapter companions for The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett.

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Chapter 1
Dedication
The book is dedicated to Albert S. Samuels.
Chapter 2
The Dain Curse
The chapter introduces the Dain Curse, a family legacy of misfortune and tragedy, and sets the stage for the investigation into the Leggett family's troubles.
Chapter 3
Part I: The Dains
The narrator introduces the Dain family and the mysterious circumstances surrounding their lives, setting the stage for the unfolding mystery.
Chapter 4
I: Eight Diamonds
The narrator, a Continental Agency detective, is called to the Leggett home to investigate the theft of eight experimental diamonds. Edgar Leggett explains the diamonds were on loan from Halstead and Beauchamp for his glass-coloring experiments. Mrs. Leggett reports seeing a suspicious man near midnight, and her daughter Gabrielle recalls a similar sighting. The detective finds one diamond planted in the grass, suspects an inside job, and inadvertently causes the maid Minnie Hershey to quit in protest.
Chapter 5
II: Long-Nose
The narrator canvasses the neighborhood to identify the man seen by Mrs. and Miss Leggett, gathering descriptions from Mrs. Priestly and Warren Daley of a tall man with a long nose. He interviews Eric Collinson, who downplays Gabrielle's account of the time, then visits jeweler Watt Halstead to learn about Leggett's background and the diamond transaction involving Owen Fitzstephan. He investigates Minnie Hershey's connections in a Negro neighborhood, then goes to the police station and learns of a murder at an apartment on Golden Gate Avenue. There, he finds O'Gar and Reddy investigating the corpse of Louis Upton, with the diamonds missing and a tall, long-nosed man seen fleeing.

Dedication

The Dain Curse

Part I: The Dains

I: Eight Diamonds

II: Long-Nose