Chinatown Scene 4 Summary

  • In the lobby of city hall, Jake talks to another detective named Claude Mulvihill, who's doing some work for the Water and Power Department—helping address threats from anonymous farmers who say they'll blow up the city's reservoirs.
  • Jake goes over to Hollis's house and rings the bell. A servant lets him in.
  • In the garden in back of the house, Jake sees a servant tending to a pond, who tells him the water is "bad for the grass"—although it sounds like "bad for the glass," which is what Jake thinks he says.
  • Jake peers in the pond and sees something in it—he moves to extract it, but then Mrs. Mulwray, who's first name is Evelyn, enters the garden and he stops.
  • Evelyn says Hollis isn't there, and they have iced tea together. Afterward, Jake tells Mrs. Mulwray he thinks he's being played by people who set Hollis up to get caught committing adultery.
  • She agrees to drop the lawsuit against him, but Jake says he wants to discover what's really going on. He wants to find Hollis and help him.
  • Evelyn tells him to check out the reservoirs, where Hollis walks around sometimes.
  • Jake drives out and finds cops at the reservoir, who tell him its closed to the public. Jake uses Yelburton's business card to impersonate him and they let him pass.
  • The detectives by the reservoir recognize Jake and chat with him—the detective in charge, Lou Escobar, tells Jake he's no longer working the Chinatown beat.
  • Finally, they show Jake what they're investigating—a suspicious death.
  • They're pulling Hollis Mulwray's dead body out of the reservoir…