$25,000 reward offered for return of Maltese Falcon

Maltese Falcon replica bestofsanfrancisco.net

By Brent Begin and Aimee Strain, Bay City News Service

February 12, 2007

The owner of a San Francisco landmark restaurant is offering $25,000 to any amateur Sam Spade who can track down a replica of the famed Maltese Falcon.

John's Grill, a century-old restaurant and home to a museum dedicated to detective novel author Dashiell Hammett, became a crime scene today after workers noticed over the weekend that the statuette and 15 rare books by and about Hammett.

Officers arrived today to interview the restaurant's owner, John Konstin, who is pretty steamed up about the falcon's disappearance.

"There's a lot of crazy Hammett nuts," Konstin said. "The replica from John's Grill is worth something to someone."

Waiters at the 63 Ellis St. restaurant noticed the bird was missing Saturday night. Konstin believes the thief jimmied the latch on the glass display case that contained the statuette.

"The falcon has sentimental value to San Franciscans and Hammett lovers," Konstin said.

Made of plaster, the black bird, about 13 inches tall, has several discerning marks that would help Konstin identify the right statuette. He asked for the thief to return the bird and the books, no questions asked. As to whether anything else was stolen, Konstin said, "We haven't counted all the knives and forks yet." All other memorabilia is screwed to the walls on the second and third floor.

John's Grill was established in 1908. It is the 27th literary landmark of America based on Hammett eating there and writing about it in his book The Maltese Falcon.

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