The Killers Summary & Analysis

Just as it’s getting dark, two men enter Henry’s Diner and sit at the counter to peruse the menu. The only other customer is Nick, who was talking to the manager, George, before the men came in. Nick stays at the other end of the counter and watches the two men.

The first man, Max, orders a roast pork dinner and George tells him that this isn’t available. When Max asks him why it’s on the menu if he can’t order it, George explains that the dinner options are not available for another hour, until 6:00. The second man, Al, points out that the clock actually says it’s 5:20, but George says it is 20 minutes fast. “Oh, to hell with the clock,” Max says.

George tells the two men—who are wearing matching derby hats, gloves, and overcoats that are too small—what menu options are available and they order sandwiches. While they wait, they ask George what they can get to drink and George tells them they do not serve alcohol.

Max makes a snide comment about how “hot” the town is and asks what it’s called. George says the town’s name is Summit, and Max and Al remark that they’ve never heard of it. They joke that all the townspeople do at night is come to the diner to “eat the dinner,” and George says, “that’s right.” Al tells George he’s a “pretty bright boy, aren’t you?” When George says “sure,” Max replies, “well, you’re not.” Al then asks Nick for his name and starts calling him a “bright boy,” too.

George brings Max and Al their meals, but they can’t remember who ordered what. As they eat, they catch George looking at them. Al suggests that “maybe the boy meant it for a joke,” and George laughs. Max tells him not to laugh and George says alright. To Al, Max says “he thinks it’s all right,” and Al replies, “Oh, he’s a thinker.”

Looking at Nick, Max and Al tell the “bright boy” to go behind the counter with his “boy friend.” Nick asks why, and they dodge the question, repeating their order and asking who is in the kitchen. George says that the cook, Sam, is in the kitchen (he refers to Sam with the n-word). Al orders George to go get Sam. “Where do you think you are?” George asks, and Max replies that he knows “damn well” where he is and asks, “Do we look silly?” Al takes charge, again ordering George to bring Sam out, and he complies. 

Al looks Sam over and then drags him and Nick to the kitchen. Once they’re gone, George asks Max what is going on. Max calls back to Al that the “bright boy” wants to know why they are there, and Al suggests that Max should tell him, so Max reveals to George that they are there to kill a Swede named Ole Andreson.

Max asks George if Ole Andreson comes in every night at six, and George says that Ole comes in “sometimes.” Max tells George that he and Al “know all that” already. George asks what Ole did and Max says he and Al have never met Ole—they’re killing him “to oblige a friend.” From the kitchen, Al shouts to Max to “shut up” because he “talks too much.”

Max tells Al that he has “to keep bright boy amused” and Al tells him that Nick and Sam “are amused by themselves” and that he has them “tied up like a couple of girl friends in the convent.” Max asks Al if he was in a convent and Al tell him, “You never know.” Max replies that Al was “in a kosher convent.”

Max instructs George to tell anyone who comes in to order dinner that the cook is gone and to go back and make some orders himself if the customer insists. George agrees, but asks him what he and Al are going to do with them afterwards. Max tells him he isn’t sure because it’s “one of those things you never know at the time.” George looks up at the clock and notes that it’s 6:15.

A motorman comes in to order dinner, but George tells him that the cook is out and the man leaves. Max tells him “that was nice, bright boy” and Al calls out that George “knew I’d blow his head off.” Max disagrees and says, “Bright boy is nice. He’s a nice boy, I like him.” George looks at the clock again and sees that it is 6:55. He tells Max and Al that Ole is “not coming.”

Before this, George recalls, another customer came in and insisted on a sandwich, so George went back in the kitchen to make it and noticed that Nick and Sam were tied up and had towels in their mouths. Al was sitting in the back with a sawed-off shotgun. When George came out of the kitchen, Max said that he would “make some girl a nice wife” because he “can cook and everything.”

George repeats that Ole Andreson isn’t coming in and Max says they’re going to wait ten more minutes. At 7:05, Max tells Al that they “better go,” but Al says they’ll wait five more minutes. Another customer comes in, but leaves when George tells him that the cook is out. Max tells Al it’s time to go and Al asks what they’re going to do with the hostages. Max says, “They’re all right,” but Al seems doubtful and asks Max if he’s sure. Max says he’s sure and that they’re “through with it,” but Al tells him, “I don’t like it … It’s sloppy. You talk too much.”

As Max and Al leave, they tell George that he’s “got a lot of luck” and “ought to play the races.” George watches them through the window while they walk away and notes that they look “like a vaudeville team.” George goes into the kitchen and unties Sam and Nick. Sam says he doesn’t “want any more of that” and Nick, trying to “swagger it off,” asks, “What the hell?” George tells Nick and Sam that Max and Al were going to shoot Ole Andreson if he came into the diner.

Sam tells George that he doesn’t “like any of it at all” and George tells Nick that he better go warn Ole Andreson about Max and Al. Nick agrees, but Sam tells him that he “better not have anything to do with it at all.” George tells Nick he doesn’t have to go if he doesn’t want to and Sam again warns Nick to “stay out of it,” but Nick still says he will go. He asks where Ole lives, and George tells Nick that Ole lives in Hirsch’s boardinghouse. 

Nick walks to Hirsch’s boardinghouse and asks the landlady if Ole Andreson is in his room. The landlady brings Nick upstairs and knocks on Ole’s door. In the room, Nick sees Ole lying in bed, fully clothed. Ole, who had once been a prizefighter, is too big for the bed. Without even looking at Nick, Ole asks him why he’s there. Nick tells him that two men came into the diner and tied him and Sam up in the kitchen and that the two men planned on killing Ole. At first, Ole doesn’t answer and Nick repeats himself, but then Ole tells him, “There isn’t anything I can do about it.”

Nick offers to tell Ole what Max and Al “were like,” but Ole tells him he doesn’t want to know and thanks him for coming. Then Nick offers to go to the police, but Ole tells him it “wouldn’t do any good.” Nick asks if there’s anything he can do and Ole tells him no, so Nick suggests that it might have been “just a bluff.” Ole tells him it’s not and turns to the wall. He tells Nick, “I just can’t make up my mind to go out. I been in here all day.” Nick suggests that Ole should skip town and Ole tells him he’s “through with all that running around.” Nick again asks if there’s anything he can do and Ole tells him there isn’t and that he’ll go out eventually. Nick tells him he is going back to see George at the diner and Ole thanks him for coming and tells him goodbye.

As Nick leaves, the landlady tells him that Ole has been in his room all day and that she had told him to go take a walk, but he declined. Nick tells her that Ole doesn’t want to go out and the landlady says she’s sorry he isn’t feeling well. Nick says, “Good-night, Mrs. Hirsch,” and the landlady tells him that she’s not Mrs. Hirsch—she is actually Mrs. Bell. She just manages the building for Mrs. Hirsch. Nick tells her good night and leaves.

Nick walks back to the diner and finds George behind the counter again. Sam is in the kitchen, but he opens the door to tell Nick and George that he “don’t even listen to it” and shuts the door. George asks Nick if he told Ole about the hitmen and Nick tells him that he did, but that Ole “knows what it’s all about” already and is going to do “nothing” about it. George points out that Max and Al will kill him and Nick says, “I guess they will.” George says that Ole must have “got mixed up in something in Chicago” and it’s a “hell of a thing,” and Nick agrees. George stops talking, grabs a towel, and starts cleaning the counter.

Nick breaks the silence and asks George what he thinks Ole did. George says he must have double-crossed somebody because it’s “what they kill them for.” Nick declares that he is going to get out of town, which George acknowledges is a good idea. Nick says he “can’t stand to think about [Ole] waiting in the room and knowing he’s going to get it.” George tells him he “better not think about it.”