Why was Spike looking for beans in “Cowboy Bebop: The Movie”?

Question

In Cowboy Bebop: The Movie how did Spike know where to look for the virus? How did he end up in that Moroccan styled market?

Do we see him getting any leads that lead him there?

Answer 1

Rasheed mentions that "you can find anything on Moroccan Street", likely implying the that market may have some back alley that deal with products different sorts.

Perhaps it is a nuance that is lost in translation? What Spike is probably looking for is information. There is a word in Japanese, 豆知識 (まめちしき), which literally means "bean knowledge" and can mean "bits of knowledge", or information. A bean that you can't see.

When he mentioned that he is looking for a bean seller it's possible someone that sells information (the local informant) in general. This is not explicit in the original Japanese language version, but in the English dub only, at around 0h:20m mark, there is an old lady that points and says, "ask for the bean shark, they will know what you mean." This is likely added to the English script for better context to the viewers. In actuality, it likely Spike asking around for sources of information that led him to the market and Rasheed to come out of the works to talk to Spike, since he is said to be well acquainted with the local folk, who likely informed them of a foreign asking for information.

It's probably a coincidence that the bean seller is connected to Vincent and the bioweapon directly. On the outside, Rasheed may seem like a regular bean seller, but it probably is a front or perhaps an informant side business. A bit like asking for a street name of some product so that certain locals can differentiate them from "normal" folk.

He speaks in a very indirect manner, perhaps likely to discern his intent. When he asks what kind of bean he is looking for, he refers to "Calabar beans" and how they can tell if "your wife's cheating", indirectly asking if then he goes on about Pythagoras about fava beans.

The significance of Pythagoras, the fava bean, and his death comes from legends. It is said that he hid and lived inside a cave for some time to hide from a dictator. In some accounts of his death his death was told to be the result of him fleeing attackers, who chased him until a field of flowering fava beans blocked his way, unable to advance any further, his pursuers caught up and he was killed. There are many interpretations of why the chose to stop there, but there his a particular speculation historian that has a bit overlap with the plot of the movie.

It is believed that Pythagoras may have had favism, for those unaware, favism, a genetic disorder that is particularly common in the Mediterranean. The condition, named after the bean, causes people to develop hemolytic anemia from eating favas, or inhaling the pollen from its flowers. Meaning that after consumption or contact, red blood cells start to break down, cause anemia-like symptoms, jaundice, and/or heart failure. Perhaps it is a bit of ironic foreshadowing or illusion to the bioweapon?

Spike likely didn't catch on to Rasheed's true identity until their second meeting, in which Rasheed spoke when he knew about the Doctor in the third person.

Spike likely pieces everything together by the end (Rasheed = the Doctor), asking Rasheed to deliver a messaged to the Doctor before he departs, then promptly punching him in the gut.