“Spade laughed a harsh syllable, “Ha!” and went to the buff-curtained window. He stood there with his back to her looking through the curtain into the court until she started towards him. Then he turned quickly and went to his desk…His yellowish eyes glittered between narrowed lids.” -bottom of Page 25

The passage starts off with Spade scoffing at the the idea that Iva has presented to Spade. Did he kill Miles? From this reaction, Spade gives off an attitude of an offended stranger. “How dare you think of me like that? Do you even know me?” This reaction almost signifies that Spade thinks that he is too good to kill Miles. What was the benefit? They’re partners, at least they were. However, the latter part of the sentence hints at the possibility that Spade could indeed have committed the aforementioned crime.

Spade then walks to the buff-curtained windows. The curtains covers the windows. Windows by nature behave similarly to a mirror in that it reflects the image in front of it. Is Spade not able to face himself? Why? Because he knew what happened or is it because Iva is in the room? Whatever the answer may be, he ponders this while his back faces Iva until she walks towards him. Spade responds by quickly dashing towards his desk. As we can see, Spade is acting contrary to his usual behavior. He is avoiding Iva and/or hiding something from her. Perhaps gender plays a role in this situation. With men, Spade is the all mighty sarcastic jerk that does what he wants, but with woman, he completely crumbles. In a sense, he is a “glass cannon” in front of a woman. He is able to dish out retorts but is not able to take in successive attacks of questioning; he “breaks” under this pressure.

“His eyes glittered between narrow lids.” Eureka! The shine from his iris indicates that he has thought of a way to combat the frontal attack he is facing. And that is going to back to how he deals with people best; by being a jerk.