The Maltese Falcon Stolen Again

In a missing-bird caper reminiscent of the one that perplexed Dashiell Hammett's fictional sleuth, the owner of a landmark restaurant in San Francisco is offering 25 Gs ($25,000) for a replica of the famed Maltese Falcon swiped from a locked display case over the weekend.

John Konstin, the owner of John's Grill, a nearly 100-year-old restaurant with a museum dedicated to the crime novelist, said the purloined plaster statuette and 15 rare books by and about Hammett that were also stolen are emotionally priceless.

"The statue had historical significance to this restaurant and to the city," said Konstin, as he sat in a dining room framed by movie stills and Hammett mementos. "People came from all over the world to see that bird. And we want it back."

Hammett used to frequent John's — and the falcon has been housed since 1995 in a wooden display case just upstairs from booth 21, where, as the story goes, he wrote parts of the 1930 novel that introduced readers to Spade, the womanizing, sly-talking gumshoe.

"He came here a lot, he drank a lot, hung out a lot," Konstin said of Hammett, who died in 1961. "Sam Spade ate here as well. One scene was set at the restaurant."

Comments

[Burl Barer]

I haven't been in The City for a couple years. HA! I just realized your web site is at DIARYLAND...for some reason I always thought it was DAIRY LAND...and wondered what dairy had to do with anything except maybe your paint brushes!

[DogsDontPurr]

John's Grill is one of my favorite places to go in SF. It's most definitely a classic. If you're ever up here in the Bay area, let me know....we'll go hang out there.