# Slippery Fingers explained — Continental Op Stories

> Chapter companion for Continental Op Stories by Dashiell Hammett.

## What happens

Joseph Clane confesses to the murder of Henry Grover, explaining how he killed Grover in self-defense during a confrontation over blackmail. With the help of Farr, a fingerprint expert, Clane faked his fingerprints to evade detection. The Continental Op uncovers the deception and arrests Clane and Farr.

## Themes in this chapter

### Crime and Detection

The chapter revolves around the murder investigation, fingerprint analysis, and the detective's methodical uncovering of the truth.

### Deception and Identity

Clane fakes his fingerprints to conceal his identity as the murderer, highlighting themes of deception and false identity.

### Corruption and Morality

Clane's blackmail of Grover and the moral compromises of both men underscore corruption and moral decay.

## Character check-ins

### The Continental Op

Investigates the Grover murder, uncovers the fingerprint deception, and arrests Clane and Farr.

### Joseph Clane

Confesses to killing Henry Grover in self-defense and faking his fingerprints with Farr's help.

### Mr. Hook

Referred to as 'Farr,' the fingerprint expert who helped Clane fake his prints.

### Bernard Gilmore

Mentioned as 'Henny' (Henry Grover), the murder victim.

### George Dean

Police detective assigned to the Grover murder case.

## Key lines

> I beat it then and went back to the hotel. The newspapers were full of it next day, and had a whole lot of stuff about bloody fingerprints. That gave me a jolt! I didn’t know nothing about fingerprints, and here I’d left them all over the dump.

Clane fled to his hotel, panicked when he read about the bloody fingerprints in the news, realizing he had left his prints at the crime scene.

_Clane's realization of his forensic mistake drives the plot toward the fingerprint forgery._

> I’ve seen faked prints before, but never any this good. How’d you do it?

Phels admires the quality of the forged fingerprints and asks Farr about his technique.

_Highlights the sophistication of the deception and the expertise of Farr._

> It’s simple! I got hold of a man whose prints I knew weren’t in any police gallery—I didn’t want any slip up there—and took his prints and put them on a copper plate, using the ordinary photoengraving process, but etching it pretty deep. Then I coated Clane’s fingers with gelatin—just enough to cover all his markings—and pressed them against the plates.

Farr explains his method of creating fake fingerprints using photoengraving and gelatin to overlay a different print pattern.

_Detailed description of the forensic forgery technique central to the chapter._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/continental_op_stories_se/chapters/slippery-fingers
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/continental_op_stories_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/continental_op_stories_se/chapters