"The whole point is that the detective exists complete and entire and unchanged by anything that happens; he is, as detective, outside the story and above it, and always will be. That's why he never gets the girl, never marries, never really has any private life except insofar as he must eat and sleep and have a place to keep his clothes. His moral and intellectual force is that he gets nothing but his fee, for which if he can protect the innocent, guard the helpless, and destroy the wicked, and the fact he must do this while earning a meager living in a corrupt world is what makes him stand out." - Raymond Chandler (from a 1949 letter)
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