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Eddie Mars
Although Rusty Regan does not appear in person in The Big Sleep, his presence, or lack thereof, hangs over the text, as he has been missing since before the narrative picks up. Rusty married Mrs. Regan, the eldest daughter of General Sternwood. The son and father-in-law got along well, and the General was personally hurt when Rusty left without saying goodbye. When Sternwood hires private detective Philip Marlowe to investigate why Arthur Gwynn Geiger is blackmailing him, everyone else assumes Marlowe is looking into Rusty’s disappearance. At the end of the novel, Marlowe discovers that the General’s daughter, Carmen, killed Rusty in a fit of rage. To protect her sister, Mrs. Regan called in local racketeer Eddie Mars to help her cover up Rusty’s murder. Mars devises a ruse, hiding Rusty’s car at his wife Mona’s apartment complex, to make it seem the two ran away together. Mona goes into hiding to keep up appearances.
Terrence “Rusty” Regan Quotes in The Big Sleep
The The Big Sleep quotes below are all either spoken by Terrence “Rusty” Regan or refer to Terrence “Rusty” Regan. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 20
Quotes
He’s got friends in town, or he wouldn’t be what he is.
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Chapter 21
Quotes
Eddie Mars would have been very unlikely to involve himself in a double murder just because another man had gone to town with the blonde he was not even living with … If there had been a lot of money involved, that would be different. But fifteen grand wouldn't be a lot of money to Eddie Mars. He was no two-bit chiseler like Brody.
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Chapter 32
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What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that.
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Terrence “Rusty” Regan Quotes in The Big Sleep
The The Big Sleep quotes below are all either spoken by Terrence “Rusty” Regan or refer to Terrence “Rusty” Regan. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 20
Quotes
He’s got friends in town, or he wouldn’t be what he is.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21
Quotes
Eddie Mars would have been very unlikely to involve himself in a double murder just because another man had gone to town with the blonde he was not even living with … If there had been a lot of money involved, that would be different. But fifteen grand wouldn't be a lot of money to Eddie Mars. He was no two-bit chiseler like Brody.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 32
Quotes
What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that.
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