The cops, especially the Lieutenant, act suspicious for a number of reasons:he refuses to identify his client or provide details about the casehe didn""t go to Miles"" house to break the news to his wife Iva as he said he did (he gave the job instead to Effie, his efficient assistant)he has no witnesses to support his whereabouts for he last hourAnd then they divulge the reason for their visit - Floyd Thursby was murdered in front of his hotel only a half hour after Sam left the Archer murder scene.As she retrieved Shelly""s wallet that she had dropped in the water, he held the spear-gun at eye level, and shot her in her left eye with a spear-gun arrow(# 6 death), penetrating into her skull - she died half-submerged in the lake.Upset and distraught, she sat down on a park bench in a wooded area, "Alone," not knowing what to do next.Although highly ridiculed and disdained when released as an extreme, dark, vulgar and disgusting film, it also won critical praise - Best Film of 1986, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Dennis Hopper) and Best Achievement in Cinematography (Frederick Elmes) by the National Society of Film Critics.