I should start by saying that I am not predisposed to pulling off heists in broad daylight (or at night, for that matter).  But there the black bird The Maltese Falcon stood, just inches in front of me.  It was one of 62 artifacts that made up the exhibit The Maltese Falcon: An American Classic at 75 held at the San Francisco main library.  And although the other items, including the typewriter author Dashiell Hammett used to write his book, original copies of the novel from 1930, and Hammett's Pinkerton Detective Agency badge, were of interest to me, it was the statue that led me to consider a life of crime.

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