United States

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE DETECTIVE WRITER'S IMAGINATION BECOMES A FRIGHTENING REALITY?
"Here I am 34 years old... the only two people I can trust in the world are a librarian with a small mouth and a would be bomb-thrower..." San Francisco 1928. Hammett (played by Frederic Forest) encounters an old buddy from his Pinkerton days, Jimmy Ryan (Peter Boyle). He asks Hammett to repay an old favour by helping out on a routine case Ryan is investigating. So the writer becomes implicated in a complex and mystifying chase, his only clue a missing chinese girl called Crystal Ling (Lydia Lei). "...I never heard of any cheat girl called Crystal Ling... If you're half smart you never heard of her... and if your fancy friend with the velvet collar's half as smart as you... which makes him only one quarter smart... he never heard of her either." "An interesting piece of work, Mr. Hammett. Is this pure invention or do you draw your material from life?"