Vienna Blood (2019) s02e01 Episode Script

1
CLOCK TICKS
BELL CHIMES
BELL CHIMES
MAX (VO):
There are no mysteries.
Not anymore.
No fairy tales, no fables.
The giants have been banished
the dragons have been bled.
Science has found a way to eradicate them.
Reason has vanquished the human imagination.
LAUGHTER ECHOES
There is only one frontier
that is unexplored by man
only one place
where the dragons roam free
the human brain is
the only uncharted land.
STRING QUARTET PLAYS A WALTZ
INDISTINCT CHATTER
GLASSWARE CLATTERS
SHE PANTS
PEOPLE GASP
CROCKERY CLATTERS
- GUESTS GASP
MAN:
Let me help you.
WOMAN GRUNTS
- What happened?
Leave me, leave me!
MAN:
Calm down.
- What's all the fuss about?
- WOMAN: Don't touch me!
SHE PANTS
SHE WHIMPERS
SHE GASPS
SHE GROANS
SHE SCREAMS
Good morning.
CHURCH BELLS CHIME
HER BREATH SHUDDERS
The Countess Sophia Nadazdy, 63
widowed, married a Hungarian Count.
That's how she got her title
and her diamonds.
Housekeeper, Frau Reiss.
Who found her?
Her maid.
Still in shock.
How long had the countess been staying?
- A month.
- And why did she come to Vienna?
DR JAEGER:
Gentlemen.
Dr Jaeger.
Maybe an accident?
She fell, hit her head?
No sign of blood.
Did someone maybe hold her down?
No bruises. No sign of a struggle.
Suicide most likely.
OSKAR:
A gift, never sent.
HAUSSMANN:
There's a prescription here
Opium.
Standard treatment for melancholia.
So she was in Vienna because she was sick?
Tell me, who was treating her?
WOMAN:
You want me to describe it?
I don't know if I can, Doctor.
Sexuality is a natural part
of every person's identity, Frau Huber.
But these thoughts, they are unclean.
Fantasies are simply a part
of the sexual appetite.
Entertaining them
doesn't make you corrupt
doesn't make you evil.
It doesn't even mean that you actually want
these things to happen to you.
It's just they are a part
of the process of
arousal.
Frau Liebermann?
Inspector Rheinhardt.
I'm looking for your brother.
He's with a patient.
I'm not sure it's convenient.
DOOR OPENS
Oh, excuse me!
- In a week, then.
- We'd better be going.
Frau Liebermann.
I've no idea why I'm saying this but
it's good to see you, Oskar.
Max.
Please, come in.
OSKAR WHISTLES
Apparently you've been busy.
Private practice, just getting started.
I'm still at the hospital
two days a week.
Gruner hasn't quite managed
to get rid of me yet.
I assume it's a case?
Is that why you've come?
Yes, it's a case.
But this is official.
Countess Sophia Nadazdy, a patient of yours.
An appointment with you, three days ago.
Hmm.
Well, I'm afraid I can't talk about it.
She's dead, Max.
Discovered this morning.
Drowned in her bathtub,
a suite at The Imperial.
Looks like suicide.
I understand.
It must be difficult.
Anything you can tell me about her?
It's confidential.
Well
there is nothing more to be said.
May I visit the scene?
The place where she died?
It's a police enquiry.
It's confidential too, Max.
Well, I need to understand what happened.
You want me to open up my case to you?
But you're not willing
to give me anything in return?
HORSES CLOP
DRIVER:
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
CROWD CLAMOURS
- CAMERAS CLICK
Hypothesis
a woman is troubled by melancholy.
She travels to Vienna for the latest cure.
She visits a doctor
but he is unable to help her.
She decides to end her life.
She runs a bath and kills herself.
That's what's going in the police report?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Looks to me like she walked out
on her life at a moment's notice.
Is it usual to buy a gift for someone
that you're never going to send?
Yeah.
I had a good teacher.
I don't believe she killed herself.
Too many pieces don't fit.
You can help me get to know her.
Please, Max.
I told you, Oskar.
What goes on
in my office is confidential.
- Max
- You know Vienna.
Reputation is everything.
Visiting a psychoanalyst is still
a cause for gossip.
For God's sake, Max.
She's dead!
You don't have loyalty to a dead woman.
Your reputation hangs in the balance here.
I can't betray her trust.
Even beyond the grave.
For your office.
You desperately need curtains.
MAX SIGHS
Mama, you shouldn't have.
You can't have all those wealthy patients
being gawped at from the street.
There's not too many patients. Not yet.
You just wait! They'll all come flocking.
Mark my words.
What's wrong?
I lost a patient.
What do you mean, "lost"?
MAX SIGHS
She's dead
died this morning
drowned in her hotel suite.
Oh, Max
How awful.
Possible suicide, they're not sure yet.
I sit in a room with them
for just a few hours
think that I have all the answers, but
feel like I'm just stumbling around blind.
Honestly, Mama, I don't know
what I've been playing at.
You can't blame yourself, surely?
Max, what is it?
She was seeing Gruner at the hospital
before she came to me.
I advised her not to take his pills.
A few days later she ends up dead.
You must realise how that seems?
Ah. Everyone's in here, I see.
What's the matter? What's going on?
Just trying to brighten up his office.
The rent on that place is extortionate.
I am hoping for some return
on my investment, Max.
Your new business is costing me
an arm and a leg.
Perhaps you'd better ask for it back.
I was only teasing.
What's the matter with him?
MAX READS (VO):
September 7th
Countess Sophia Nadazdy Introductory Session.
Already had some consultations with Gruner
agreed to become my patient.
Gruner prescribed opium
for melancholy and depression.
I advised against taking it.
"The disreputable science"?
Isn't that what they're calling it?
You don't trust psychoanalysis?
I have doubts.
Yet you travelled halfway across
town to meet with me, Countess.
Touché.
If you think my methods are "disreputable"
then why did you agree to come?
Tell me something, do people find you
easy to dislike? Doctor
Liebermann.
Liebermann.
MAX READS (VO):
September 12th.
No ring on your finger.
You're not married.
I'm not the patient, Countess.
SHE CHUCKLES
Well, we're just two people talking.
Conversation ought to flow both ways.
Not married.
Successful, professional
good prospects,
what is it that women find hard to bear?
Be your inquisitorial manner, or
SHE SNIFFS
or the smell of your cologne?
I'm not your enemy, Countess.
You pay a considerable amount
of money to be here
and yet we simply side step
around each other.
There's a girl
a little girl.
I need to tell you her story.
A girl?
Blanka.
That was her name, Blanka Mar.
Pale
blue eyes
Tell me about Blanka.
Not today.
Maybe
never.
GRUNER:
Liebermann.
Thank you.
A word, if you please.
It says you'd been seeing her as a patient
at your practice in town.
I'm afraid I can't comment, Professor
The woman is dead!
Don't play games with me, Liebermann!
You coerced her to leave my care.
- I didn't coerce her
- You treated her
with your own appalling methods.
Professor!
And she ends up taking her own life!
You can't worm your way out of it,
not like last time.
This time, you'll end up
in front of a disciplinary committee.
When I'm done with you
you won't be able to practice in Vienna.
You'll be forced to go back to England!
INDISTINCT STREET CHATTER
- HORSES NEIGH
You came to salvage your reputation?
Who gave my name to the newspapers?
It's a countess, Max.
The hotel is swarming with press.
They pay for any scrap of information.
Question now is
what are you going to do about it?
Oskar
HE SIGHS
We both need to know how she died
me because I have to solve a crime
you because you have to salvage
your career.
So
if you want to share some information
then maybe we could help each other.
What exactly are these interviews for?
The newspapers said it was "suicide".
Just gathering all the evidence,
Herr Direktor.
SHE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
THEY SPEAK RUSSIAN
What did she say?
I think she said, "Evil
Evil walks here
with a woman's face".
HOLLER:
You're the one they're talking about.
The one whose name is in the papers.
The "Freudian".
Thank you, Herr Direktor.
She suffered badly. Melancholia.
Did she ever threaten violence
against herself?
Prescribed medicine
but then she stopped
taking them, at her doctor's advice.
Your advice, Doctor Liebermann.
FRAU REISS: Heard her crying
in her room most nights, sir.
Wailing, like she was tormented.
Had these desperate fits of anger.
Broke the crockery
and stormed out of the ballroom.
Well, you are the bellboy, uh
Walter, sir.
Walter.
Anything you can tell us?
Well?
Actually, yes sir, I reckon I was
the last one who saw the countess.
I was on duty, sir, upstairs.
And?
WALTER:
Her face
it was all twisted.
You mean like she'd been crying?
No.
Like it was made of wax.
Like it had been melting.
"Melted"?
So the witness claimed.
As if her skin was sliding off her face.
We need you to do a full post-mortem.
Er, who's "we", Doctor Liebermann?
Your reputation is tarnished,
to say the least.
Please, do as he asked. Thank you.
You wanted to see me, sir?
You were interviewed
with all the other staff.
And?
And I told them what I knew, sir.
I told them I saw her.
Dammit, Walter!
I didn't tell them anything more, sir!
You know why people come here?
You know why they choose
to stay with us?
Because we're secret-keepers.
Everyone has secrets.
It's our job to preserve them.
"Anything our clients desire".
That's the Imperial's reputation.
Yes, sir.
INDISTINCT VOICES ECHO
WOMAN LAUGHS
Strychnine?
Produces convulsions in the muscles,
particularly the face.
She was poisoned?
Dead before she hit the water.
- Thank you, Doctor Jaeger.
- You're welcome.
There was no obvious sign of it in her room.
Unlikely it was self-administered.
Maybe this is a murder case after all.
Stop smiling.
I'm not smiling. It's relief.
With a smile, you're not
in the clear, not yet.
I know.
She's still dead, Max!
- INDISTINCT CHATTER
- BELL TINKLES
Max!
Clara.
How are you? How, how is everything?
I didn't expect to see you.
You know Herr Korngold?
Jonas.
- Yes, yes. Of course.
- Max.
I've just read your name
in the newspaper.
Ah.
Yes, it's not very fashionable
to be seen with me today.
Still fighting battles
on every front.
You don't change.
It's no more than he deserves.
After the way he treated you.
Don't, Jonas.
MAN:
Doctor Liebermann?
I didn't catch your name.
Are you going to tell me?
Yannick, sir.
Neubauer.
MAX:
Yannick, please.
So
MAX SIGHS
How can I help you?
I have something precious.
Something belonging to her, sir.
"Her"?
The lady.
The one who died at the hotel.
She said I deserved it, sir.
After everything I did for her.
Fetching and carrying,
running errands.
I see. It's a gift.
She liked you.
You helped her.
And you didn't want to be
accused of stealing it.
No, sir. I don't.
And you thought I could help?
I thought you could say
she left it here, sir.
Dropped it, maybe?
I remembered she came here once before.
I remembered the address
she gave the driver.
Yes, well
Yes, I'll give it to the police,
I'll put it with the other evidence.
What's wrong, Yannick?
There's something else, isn't there?
What else did you want to tell me?
You could have put this back in her room.
You didn't have to come to see me.
You spent time in her company?
There was another gift for someone
a silver cigarette case.
Do you know who that was for?
Did she have a lover?
Oskar Rheinhardt, Leopoldstadt Police.
We're looking for Oktav Hauke.
You've found him, gentlemen.
How long have you been here, in the hotel?
DRINK POURS
A month.
I plan to stay here for the season.
You knew the dead woman?
Yes.
We dined together on occasion.
HE SIGHS
Tragic.
A gift, for you
CIGARETTE CASE CLATTERS
from the countess.
It doesn't have my name on it, Inspector.
We have a witness on the staff
who says you were often seen together.
We spent a lot of time together, yes.
We became close friends.
A woman old enough to be your mother?
There is no law against
two people becoming acquainted.
You were with her on the evening she died?
I was at her table, yes.
She left the dining room alone.
Did she seem particularly unhappy?
Not particularly, no.
She was prone to bouts of melancholy.
You must be devastated by her death.
Excuse me?
People have different ways
of expressing their grief.
Now, would you please
excuse me, gentlemen?
I'm getting ready for lunch.
OSKAR:
You're an Uhlan.
Just resigned my commission.
So you decided to have a little holiday
in a hotel filled with widows.
Thank you so much for dropping by,
gentlemen.
- Morning.
- OSKAR: Morning.
- Morning, Rheinhardt.
- OSKAR MUTTERS
Oh, sorry.
I didn't realise you were cleaning.
Fraulein Linder.
What?
I'm the new archivist.
Uh
What happened to Pichler?
Retired.
Now, can I help you?
Yes, um
I need some research.
Second Lieutenant Oktav Hauke.
Uhlans. Discharged.
Seems the army wanted
to be rid of him pretty fast.
Leaves service with no prospects
starts slobbering over
a woman twice his age.
Forgive me please, Fraulein.
I didn't mean to be indelicate.
I'm an employee here, Inspector.
Say what you want to say.
MAX: This is a record
of what we spoke about
during our sessions.
There's something I want to read to you.
I never understood
its significance before but
I think she foresaw
what was going to happen to her.
Listen to this.
"September 15th
The patient recounted a dream
MAX'S VOICE DISTORTS:
one she said she'd been having
again and again and again
and again.
I'm in the park alone.
HER VOICE ECHOES:
The place is shrouded in mist.
A nanny pushes a pram along the path,
just out of reach.
HER VOICE ECHOES
There's a large white building in the park
like a fairy-tale palace.
I go in. Animals live wild inside.
They're watching me from the shadows.
CAMEL GRUNTS
There are sweets and candy
like in the fairy tale
the witch's house
in Hansel and Gretel.
I find the woman sitting inside.
I hold out my arms
to take care of the little child
but it turns into a bundle of
BABY CRIES
- of rags and dust!
SHE GASPS
Liebchen!
MANIACAL LAUGHTER ECHOES
MAX:
Countess?
SHE GASPS FOR AIR
Do you have any children?
No. None.
Doctor Liebermann
what do you think it signifies?
The unconscious mind,
it's like a pool of dark water
and then, when we dream,
images shoot up and out
like a fountain.
Perhaps Perhaps you are thinking
about that little girl.
SHE WHIMPERS
Well, I sense that something
or maybe someone
has frightened you
and you're trying to find a way to tell me.
Do you think you can
ever truly know someone?
I don't quite follow.
People
People close to you.
People who claim to love you.
How can you ever really know them?
Hmm?
What if
What if somebody you love had done
something truly terrible in the past
a secret so dark
so frightening?
Hm
What if they appeared so charming
but underneath the mask
I'm sorry, Doctor Liebermann.
So, she was scared of someone?
Someone very close to her?
Any clue to their identity?
Whoever they are, they're in this dream.
This is where our darkest fears
rise to the surface.
I think she was afraid
someone was going to kill her.
So, this is what you're bringing me?
This is your great discovery?
A fairy-tale palace?
LISA:
Inspector.
Yes?
What is this?
Leonie Hutter.
Who?
Landlady, Leopoldstadt,
another widow.
I found her in the archives.
Died in an accident. Drowned.
Why are you bringing me this?
Where's the connection to Hauke?
He was lodging with her
at the time of her death.
Alright.
We get a warrant tomorrow.
Search his room.
He's not worthy of the Uhlan's uniform.
We all knew what he was up to
sniffing round the old widow.
You recognise the insignia?
My son was an Uhlan.
Thank you, Frau Reiss.
You can leave us.
Thank you.
OSKAR SIGHS
You have to ask yourself
if he's guilty
then why remain here, in the hotel?
Something must be keeping him here.
KNOCK ON DOOR
Inspector.
Amelia.
Uh, Miss Lydgate.
I came as soon as I could get away.
"Profiling" isn't the only thing
that I've learned from you.
Miss Lydgate has been
consulting for us on several cases.
Right.
Good.
Strychnine poisoning,
if it was prepared in here I need to know it.
Any evidence that it was handled
in this room.
Excuse me, Doctor Liebermann.
Oh, I'll stay.
Two months.
I'm aware.
Two months, four days.
I'm working. Do you mind?
You know how many letters I sent you?
I feel sure you're about to remind me.
Three.
Not a single reply.
Funnily enough I've been busy.
Don't you think that an appropriate
amount of time has gone by?
I think that a young doctor
with a burgeoning reputation
can't afford the stain of scandal.
Particularly now he's in the papers.
Do you mind?
KNOCK ON DOOR
What are you grinning at?
Never mind.
Any signs of poison traces?
Nothing I can find, sorry.
If he prepared it in here,
he sterilised everything.
We need to cast our net wider.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
The Countess, I need to know everything
she ate on her final night here.
What?
She was poisoned.
No question.
This is absurd.
We are not responsible!
Miss Lydgate?
What else do you require?
I need to see menu cards,
the contents of your store
and I need the names of every person
who came into contact with her food.
You have women detectives now, do you?
Just do as you're asked.
Now.
I'm sorry.
HE CHUCKLES
HE CHUCKLES
Thank you, you can go.
Walnuts, hardboiled eggs and champagne?
That's all she ate?
Demanded the same things every evening.
Uh, she bought a few items of her own
A herbal infusion,
used her own supplier from England.
The Emperor Augustus.
What?
Augustus.
He, uh
He thought his wife was
trying to poison him.
Picked his own figs from the trees,
milked his own goat.
What's this about, exactly?
Eggs and walnuts, difficult to tamper with.
Impossible to pierce the shell
of an egg without leaving a trace.
So, if it wasn't in the food then
how else did he manage it?
How long before dinner are the tables laid?
Six o'clock. Two hours.
The Countess, did she occupy
the same table every night?
Tell us about the evening she died.
I saw her, maybe a few minutes
before she left.
STRING QUARTET PLAYS A WALTZ
- HOLLER: Her shawl had fallen.
I hung it back on her chair.
Glanced at the table
I didn't notice anything untoward.
She and that young soldier
were on the dance floor.
I saw the staff deliver her tea-tray.
It was waiting for her.
Then she cleared the table.
She was poisoned right here.
The tea was the only unchecked
thing she consumed.
Maybe it was in the water.
Maybe the pot?
Maybe he soaked
the leaves in a solution.
"Maybe" is not good enough
for us, Miss Lydgate.
CHURCH BELLS CHIME
KNOCK ON DOOR
Time you and I had a little chat,
don't you think?
Please. I've been expecting it.
You asked for my investment, Max
and I gladly put money
into you and your business.
Well, not "gladly". Let's be honest.
Now I find that your name is plastered
all over the newspapers.
And are you worried about
the stain on our good name
or the return on your investment?
I'm worried about you, my son.
Reputation in this city is a precious thing.
Well, I'm afraid it's too late
to salvage mine.
Here.
A disciplinary hearing.
But you've only just shaken
off the scandal there.
Gruner's not giving up so easily.
If he can't annihilate Freud,
I'm the next best thing.
What do you intend to do?
Fight.
What other option do I have?
Max!
Come on. I'm taking you out.
I've finished the new drapes
for your office.
Impress the patients.
It's very generous, all this, Mama,
but you really needn't have bothered.
Stop fussing and come and have a look.
I came in to hang them yesterday.
They make all the difference.
MAX:
Did you lock the door?
Of course.
RACHEL:
Oh
Oh, Max
Who could do such a thing?
RACHEL SIGHS
You and I need to have a serious talk.
Mama please leave those.
- But, Max
- Take the carriage home.
There's no sense you being here. Please.
Please.
Mrs Liebermann.
Thank you.
What?
When I came to see you,
after I read your name in her diary
I knew you had access
to her private thoughts.
- Well?
- The killer has the same notion, apparently.
Oskar.
You think she was frightened by someone.
You think she anticipated her own death.
Who else would she tell about her fears,
if not you; her psychoanalyst?
He thinks you know his name.
He thinks you can identify him.
You are in grave danger,
whether you realise it or not, Max.
MUFFLED CHATTER AND MUSIC
MUSIC STOPS
MUFFLED CHATTER AND MUSIC
CROCKERY CLATTERS
HE GRUNTS
HE GRUNTS
- GUESTS GASP
HE GRUNTS
HE WHIMPERS
HE SOBS
Nothing.
Not a trace of poison in it.
So, where does that leave us?
The boiling water in the pot.
It's the only thing
that could have been tampered with.
The infusion is bitter,
would have masked the taste of it.
Means it was done by someone close at hand.
Someone right beside her at the table.
Hauke.
Very well, we arrest him.
Miss Lydgate.
Leonie Hutter.
Your landlady
died in an apparent drowning accident.
Does anyone see a pattern here?
This is really
why you arrested me, Inspector?
She left you money in her will.
Hardly a fortune.
Just a modest amount.
Still, when she died,
you were able to claim it
and move on to a wealthier woman.
Isn't that what happened?
Hmm?
Our scientist confirmed
she was killed by someone
who laced her teapot with strychnine
someone who knew about her precise rituals
and her movements
someone who was right next to her
on that evening.
What would you do for money
Herr Hauke?
What would you be prepared to do?
Drag a woman into bed, twice your age
and then dispatch her
like you wipe some dirt off your shoe?
We were companions, not lovers.
She was eager to spend money on me. Hah!
You think I am immoral for accepting?
How much will you earn
from the sale of her estates in Hungary?
HE LAUGHS
Did I say something funny, Herr Hauke?
There is no inheritance.
What?
She never willed
any of her money to me.
I don't stand to earn a thing.
I suppose you discussed this often?
You don't believe me?
Ask her solicitors.
Whatever you may think of me, Inspector
a fortune-hunter, a leech
I've always known
I wouldn't get her fortune.
Where is my motive for killing her?
HE RATTLES HIS HANDCUFFS
VON BULOW:
You called the Nadazdy solicitors?
Yes, sir.
VON BULOW:
And?
Hauke is telling the truth.
The estate returns to the Count's family
after his wife's death.
VON BULOW:
Hmm There goes your motive.
So Hauke is no longer a suspect.
OSKAR:
No, sir.
Five days.
What else have you got for me?
This can't possibly be all you've achieved?
The investigation is ongoing.
Meaning it's nowhere.
Frankly
if I were you
I'd pray for a miracle.
Sir
She's Hungarian nobility.
A family title and estate.
The Imperial Court
has been asking questions!
Politically, this is extremely delicate!
- Sir
- Widow of a Hungarian nobleman
dying under suspicious circumstances.
Get your head out of your backside
and provide me with something!
Let Hauke go.
Dismissed!
I don't know how much longer
I can stop my fist
from connecting with that grin of his!
HE SIGHS
There must be something.
A scrap of information.
Max, what haven't you told me?
I've shown you the files, Oskar.
- I've shared everything.
- OSKAR SIGHS
The killer must be
somewhere in her dreams.
Oh, come on!
MAX:
There was one thing.
I never got to the bottom of it but it
might be significant.
What?
A name.
"Blanka Mar".
Who is she?
Uh, well, she may be nobody.
A fantasy.
Max, what's this about?
MAX:
Our private sessions.
The Countess,
whenever she became upset
or disturbed in some way
she mentioned a girl.
Blanka Mar.
At first I thought it was just
a displacement technique.
That the feelings were too painful
so she was ascribing them
to someone else, to uh
a fantasy character.
And now you've changed your mind?
MAX:
I don't know, Oskar.
Maybe she's real.
Maybe she's not.
HE SCOFFS
I don't understand.
I thought you'd made an arrest.
We need to begin again, Herr Holler.
We need to widen our search.
When exactly is this intrusion
going to end?
Bring in the Russians.
RUSSIAN NOBLEMAN:
Never spoke to us.
She was so
so
consumed by her own sadness.
Uh
What did your wife mean before?
When she said
there was "evil" in this hotel?
MAN SPEAKS RUSSIAN
SHE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
SHE CONTINUES IN RUSSIAN
A young woman in white
my wife saw her
walking outside the Countess' room.
What's so strange
about a young woman in white?
SHE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
She had the eyes of a devil.
Thank you.
Superstition, that's all.
She saw another guest.
OSKAR:
Look at the list.
There's no young woman on this floor.
Inspector
there is something else.
It's gone!
It's gone!
I swear it was right here.
What did you find?
Um, a book of pictures.
Erotic images.
You know, the sort of things
you find in brothels.
No. I don't know, as it happens.
What exactly do you mean?
Um, when the clients come from abroad
and don't speak the language
you use a picture book to communicate.
A menu.
What are you suggesting
goes on in this hotel?
I think they're trying to hide a secret.
MAX SIGHS
I believe we were talking about deception.
Someone close to you deceiving
you in some way.
MAX (VO):
Do you harbour feelings of
anger or betrayal?
Countess?
Blanka.
I keep seeing her.
CROW CAWS
BABY CRIES
GRUNER:
Liebermann, what do you think you're doing?
Nothing, sir.
I assume you've had your summons
to the disciplinary board?
I still have my duties to attend to here.
Not for much longer, I'd wager.
We're out of bromide.
Mr Hofbauer needs his medication.
If you're not too busy, I'd be grateful.
I'll go to the dispensary right now.
DISTANT CLATTER
Hello?
GATE SQUEAKS
Professor Gruner?
Who's there?
Herr Hofbauer.
What are you doing out of bed?
Come on. Let me take you back up.
OSKAR:
Someone was in your office?
Yes, came to the hospital,
took the transcripts.
OSKAR:
It's as I thought. He's after you.
You're playing with fire, Max.
Yes.
Don't you see? This means
we have a way to catch him!
He thinks I can identify him.
So, he wants to know what I know.
He needs me.
- You're not serious?
- MAX SCOFFS
All we have to do is wait.
Wait for him to come here again.
GRAMOPHONE PLAYS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
MUSIC STOPS
- STATIC CRACKLES
FLOORBOARD SQUEAKS
Who are you?
MAN:
It doesn't matter about my name.
Can I help you?
MAN:
I need to see you, Doctor. It's urgent.
- It's rather late. Perhaps if you came back
- MAN: No!
It can't wait.
Alright.
Is something wrong?
HE SCOFFS
Yes, there is "something wrong".
Would you would you like
to tell me about it?
Doctors!
You think you have the right to know
everything about a man's life.
Every little secret, huh?
Well, what goes on
in this room is confidential.
What did she tell you about me?
She?
My wife. She's been coming
here without telling me.
Herr Huber?
She comes here and
she talks about me.
I know she does!
I won't be humiliated like this,
you understand?
Oh, but let's discuss this, calmly.
She doesn't desire me anymore.
You know about that?
MAX STUTTERS:
Look
What did she tell you, huh?
That I can't satisfy her?
Please, I
What the hell did my wife tell you?
Answer me, you son of a whore!
HEAD THUDS
- HUBER GRUNTS
HUBER GROANS
Who the hell are you?
I'm arresting you. Keep silent.
Uh, husband of a patient.
- What?
- It's not the man we're after.
Sorry, Oskar.
Sorry.
Where's my hat?
MAX CLEARS HIS THROA
Hat.
Your hat
This is not over.
Sorry, Oskar. Trap got sprung
by the wrong prey.
OSKAR:
How many people want you dead, Doctor?
MAX:
The list seems to get longer by the day.
Inspector?
OSKAR:
Nothing?
No mention of her anywhere.
No "Blanka Mar"?
Maybe the doctor's instincts were right.
She doesn't exist,
as far as the records are concerned.
I've been sent with an agenda, Max.
I'm supposed to mention it casually,
but I can't think how
so I'm just gonna come out with it.
An agenda?
From your mother.
Ah, I see.
Well?
We had a letter from Clara.
She's engaged.
Jonas Korngold.
Ah.
Is that all you have to say?
What do you want me to say?
He's a fine man.
You're connected to him in business,
makes it neat for everyone.
I just wanted you to hear it from me
before people started to gossip.
Oh, Fraulein Spitzer has returned
from travelling.
You remember the Spitzers?
Lovely people.
Why are you telling me this part?
Their daughter's back in Vienna.
Ah, I see. So, you'd like me
to propose marriage.
It was just a suggestion.
Tie up all the loose ends.
We just want you to be content!
Take the Spitzer girl out,
see if anything comes of it.
Father, for heaven's sake.
- Max?
- I'm not a child anymore.
You really don't understand, do you?
For all your analysis,
you still don't understand human nature.
Father
When do you think it stops?
When do you think it ends for us?
When you're 18?
When do you think we stop worrying?
The answer is "never".
The journey is never over.
You have a child, your life is
inextricably linked to theirs forever.
If they're not happy, you can't be happy.
You feel joy in their successes
- and abject misery in their failures.
- CHILD BABBLES
Why do you think I was so eager to loan
you the money for your business?
I assume mother begged you.
MENDEL:
Of course she did! But I was glad to do it.
Well, not glad, you were right
- when you said as much.
- CHILD GRIZZLES
MENDEL:
You'll always be that little boy to us.
Max?
Are you even listening?
Max, what's the matter?
I've got to go.
I'm sorry.
MENDEL:
Max!
A child! That's what she was trying to hide.
TYPEWRITER CLATTERS
She had a child!
She lied to me.
At some point in her life.
- The Countess Nadazdy
- Yes, remember the baby in her dreams?
Yes. So what?
MAX:
I'm so stupid. I should have realised.
The animals weren't real, Oskar,
they were painted on the walls.
- The animals?
- Yes and the sweets in the glass jars.
It was medicine. It was a hospital, Oskar!
We lie to children. We give them medicine
and pretend that it's sweets.
We, we paint pictures of animals on the wall
just to make them feel more comfortable.
The feeling that was bubbling away
inside her, it wasn't just fear
it was guilt!
She had a child that she abandoned
and that child came back to find her.
The person she feared,
it wasn't a lover, Oskar
it was her baby.
MAX:
We need to know about the child.
They conceived a son.
She and her husband, the Count.
Little boy.
Beautiful, golden curls, an angel.
We need to know about him.
He had everything.
You understand me? Everything.
This boy had more love
than any child has ever been given.
Spoiled him, I always said,
changed his nature.
He had no boundaries, you know.
There was nothing
he couldn't have if he wanted it.
He became twisted.
Terrible things he did.
Children came to play at the estate,
they never came back.
Their families would never ever
let them come again.
Who was Blanka Mar?
That poor little girl.
He tortured her.
Disfigured her.
The family, they were paid
for their silence!
SHE WHIMPERS
From this moment on
they decided
that he had to be sent away.
His mother never wanted
anyone to know about him.
Where is he now?
They sent him to a sanatorium
when he was nine years old.
After all the violence, after the
after Blanka.
They brought him here to Vienna.
There was a doctor who took charge of him.
I can't recall his name.
The records were destroyed.
After this day
it was as if he was dead.
And then
something happened?
He was transferred
to another place out of Vienna
when he was older.
Six months ago, they wrote to her
telling her that he'd escaped.
She knew he'd be looking for her.
Istvan.
Little Master Istvan
with the golden curls.
MAX:
She never forgave herself.
That's why she was so unhappy.
SHE SOBS
MAX:
It all fits!
Her attraction to Hauke
Drawn to a much younger man.
It was displacement!
You're talking nonsense again, Max.
Give it to me in plainer language.
Anyone who's had a broken relationship
some time in their past
they spend their days trying to mend it.
She lavished her money on Hauke
out of guilt for her abandoned son,
for Istvan.
She knew that eventually
he would find her.
And she was right.
When she came to Vienna,
he hunted her down
and he killed her.
CROWS CAW
OWL HOOTS
MAX:
Istvan!
Istvan, I'm a doctor,
I can help you!
MUGGER:
Don't yell out or I'll cut you.
Istvan?
No, I'm not Istvan.
Now empty your pockets!
- Now! Do it!
- Yes
And your coat!
- Give me your coat!
- Of course.
PUNCH THUDS
- MAX GRUNTS
Now go.
Get out. Out!
Dear God. What happened?
- Oh, Max!
- Don't say anything. Please. It's fine.
Where have you been?
What have you been doing?
I was stupid. I was in the park last night.
In the park?
What on Earth were you up to?
Let me get some iodine for it.
- Mama, please, don't
- It looks awful.
You can't see
patients looking like that.
Well, I don't have any patients,
so that's a sort of blessing.
KNOCK ON DOOR
I was robbed.
What? Have you informed the police?
I don't want to. It's not important.
Not important?
Sir, the police are at the door.
Very prompt.
An accident with a patient.
You're a lousy liar.
Your coat.
Your wallet, your hat.
I was assaulted.
Here. Last night.
By this charming fellow?
And then he was attacked immediately after
wearing your clothes.
Max, why didn't you tell me?
Because
I knew you wouldn't have approved. I
HE SIGHS
I thought I could get him to confess.
And I made a mistake, Oskar, I'm sorry.
But he's here.
Istvan, he's still in Vienna.
He's trying to make contact.
Yes, with a knife in your guts!
He may have just tried to defend himself.
I have to meet him.
I have to reach him somehow.
That's insane! This could have been you.
He's trying to get close to me.
I can help you catch him.
I'm sorry.
I'm not prepared to gamble
with your life anymore.
He is here somewhere.
Hiding in plain sight.
She knew she was dying.
She knew he'd managed
to get to her somehow.
Instinctively she grabbed
at her jewels but
SHE CRIES
MAX:
they were worthless to her now.
KNOCKING ON DOOR
Yes?
I've brought you coffee, gentlemen.
Just put it there, uh
Yannick, sir.
OSKAR:
Yannick.
What's your surname?
Neubauer, sir.
Yannick, sir.
Neubauer
I've met him.
Oskar, I was face to face with him.
He came to my office.
I told you, the one
who brought the jewellery.
What?
He spun me a story just to gain access.
And then later he came back
and turned the place over.
He's done what he came here to do.
He could be a hundred miles away
by now, we'll never find him.
No.
There's another way.
Fraulein?
Fraulein, wait.
The doctor, paid to remove all the records,
would you recognise him?
Try to remember his name. Please.
Liebermann, what the hell are you doing?
You've been here a long time, Professor.
What business is that of yours?
And who is this?
Can you recall a patient?
- What's this about, exactly?
- MAX: A boy.
Istvan Nadazdy.
We have a witness
who says that you were his doctor.
That you were paid
to keep his crimes from coming out.
- What?
- You were paid to alter all his files.
Don't be ridiculous! Get out!
The family paid you to keep it
from coming to light.
You were just a junior physician, of course.
But there's a witness to your crime.
I don't answer to you, Liebermann!
This is a police enquiry.
So sit down in that chair.
You are going to tell us everything
or I'll arrest you for obstruction.
You hear me?
All the years I've worked here
I've never seen anything like it.
What do you remember about him?
He never said much.
But
his eyes
You could tell at once
he had a deeply disturbed mind.
I don't know how he got hold of it.
What?
A knife.
Must have kept it from his dinner.
One of the older boys,
one who kept on teasing him
he
he attacked him.
He left when he was 16 years old.
He was taken to another hospital.
I don't know what happened to him after that.
I never saw him again.
Where was he kept when he was here?
I need to see the place.
GRUNER:
The children's wing.
It closed down long before your time.
The building's still standing.
Istvan?
I'm not Istvan.
Istvan is dead.
They killed him.
Tell me everything.
I want to listen. I want to understand.
They brought you here.
ISTVAN:
Mm-hm.
You know she gave me up?
Her own son.
I don't think you want to hurt me.
I don't think you wanted
to hurt that man in the park either.
Why couldn't she love me?
Because you hurt that little girl, Blanka.
I didn't mean it!
Well
it all has to stop now.
Now your mother's dead and gone.
I didn't kill her.
What?
I wanted to.
I thought about it, every day.
I wanted to hurt her so badly.
Then what happened?
I came to find her when I escaped.
I got as close to her as I could.
I got into the hotel,
stole a valet's uniform
and I watched her with that man
laughing
smiling
young enough to be her son!
I just wanted to be with her.
I wanted her to have her arms
around me instead of him.
She wanted your forgiveness
more than anything.
Istvan
I can help you.
Come with me.
MAX YELLS
- No, don't shoot!
- GUNSHO
Argh!
MAX GRUNTS
I'm saving your backside again.
Just like old times.
Come on.
MAX:
He's not our killer.
Not our killer?
No.
That's insane!
Have you lost your mind?
He's just a child who craves
what we all crave, acceptance from a parent.
That reunion could never have taken place
if she was dead.
Thank you.
He has a complex personality disorder.
He's disturbed
but uh, no, he's not our killer.
I thought we were so close.
- Your hat.
- Thank you.
I need a drink.
A Slivovitz for me and house wine
for my friend.
Thank you.
No suspects. No clues. No leads.
No witnesses.
HE SIGHS
Von Bulow has been hoping
to kick me off the case.
This has just given him
the opportunity he wanted.
- I'm sorry, Oskar
- No.
It isn't you.
I was so convinced that it was Hauke
I forgot to do my job.
- And now the trail has gone cold.
- CHAIR SCRAPES
- I'm sorry, sir.
- It's alright.
How many tables? How many places?
What?
- What do you mean? Why?
- Well
If we went outside right now
and the drinks arrived
how would the waiter know
which place was yours and which was mine?
You're talking in riddles, Max.
It's getting tiresome.
No, no, listen!
If we got up for a moment
and we stepped outside
how would he know
for certain that this was your chair?
I don't know.
He would look for my coat, I suppose.
Remember what Holler told us?
They got up to dance.
Now, I'm the Countess, you're Hauke.
Yes, obviously.
Then Holler said that while they were gone
her shawl, it fell to the floor.
OSKAR:
Yeah.
Now, Holler, he picked it up.
But
what if he placed it
on Hauke's chair
instead of hers?
And, the person
bringing the poison
put it there.
We may have been wrong this whole time.
What if he was the intended victim?
GLASSES CLINK
We might have been looking
in the wrong place all this time.
LISA:
Sir!
Scandal in the regiment.
The Uhlans.
Exact same platoon,
and the dates match. Look!
Young man, an Uhlan, who hanged himself.
Found in bed with another soldier.
An officer.
It says the officer seduced him.
He was immediately discharged.
There's no names.
The scandal was hushed up.
Hauke.
His relationship with the Countess,
protection from wagging tongues.
Oh, God!
Oskar?
Thank you.
My beauty.
OSKAR:
Haussmann found evidence, I was stupid.
I ignored it.
What evidence?
The staff quarters in the hotel.
Bodies being sold like room service!
That's the reason why Hauke went there.
Still, who would want to kill him?
We've met the killer, Oskar.
We stared right in her face!
HE SIGHS
WHIP CRACKS
- HE CRIES
HE GRUNTS
HE GASPS AND PANTS
So the poison was meant for me?
FOOTSTEPS APPROACH RAPIDLY
Gentlemen.
He was your son.
The young Uhlan.
FRAU REISS:
This animal seduced him.
My boy couldn't
bear the scandal.
Hanged himself.
Frau Reiss, please, put it down.
You don't understand.
We loved each other.
GUNSHO
- BODY THUDS
Gentlemen.
Hauke was no villain.
He was lost and alone.
Forced to live a life of lies.
Evil with a woman's face?
There's no evil here, Max.
They've asked you to be a witness
at my disciplinary hearing?
Ironic.
What a moment of victory
for you, Liebermann.
You wait.
My time will come.
MAX (VO):
There is no greater need for a child
than the love and acceptance of a parent.
Perhaps that child is still inside us all
still craving their approval.
The love of a parent can be powerful
sometimes all-consuming.
Some parents will sacrifice
anything for their child
even themselves.