*CREDITS*
Humans are storytellers.
All through history, we have been the authors of legends and fables,
the Greeks and their celestial beings, the Egyptians
and their mythology of the universe.
Somehow, our stories make sense of who we are.
But why do we so desperately feel the need for heroes and idols?
Are they simply a vehicle for our own hidden feelings and desires?
Perhaps they expose a darkness in us.
Hey, get your hands off me.
I could say the same to you.
You got your hand in my pocket.
You picked on the wrong man tonight.
I'm a police officer.
No, I didn't...
It's a mistake.
This is how you operate, is it?
Rub shoulders with all the lords and ladies.
I wouldn't.
You're lucky I'm not on duty tonight.
Get lost.
You made it.
- Max. - Nice hat.
- Sorry we're late. - Oh, not at all.
It hasn't started yet.
So, moving pictures...
Not something I've ever done.
It all seems very prestigious, Max,
how did you manage to get us an invitation?
I'll bet one of the people here is his patient...
and he's far too discreet to tell us who.
Merci beaucoup!
- You're wonderful. - Wow.
Ida.
These are my friends,
Therese Thanhofer and Oskar Rheinhardt.
This is Ida Rego, the star of tonight's film.
Nice to meet you.
Good evening.
Max never told me
he mixed in such glamorous circles.
He never told me he had such handsome friends.
Fraulein Rego...
Enchante.
- May I ask you a few questions? - Excuse me.
Well, I have to tell you, if a little is great and a lot
is better, then way too much is just about right.
Of course.
Can you say that again?
Ladies and gentlemen, you're about to witness the world's
next true miracle.
You're about to be swept back in time...
3,000 years, to one of history's greatest love stories.
The person you will meet there
is the city's bright new captivating star.
Fraulein Ida Rego!
Please, turn off the lights.
What's happening?
Ida?
We need a doctor.
- Yes. - Help!
What's the matter?
What's wrong?
Please, tell me, so I can help you.
Lights!
Just try to breathe.
Poisoned. Arsenic, I'd say, the faint odour of the corpse
and the jaundiced skin.
- Self-inflicted? - Painful way to die.
Suicides usually opt for something less harrowing.
How long before she died
could it have been administered?
The effect is not immediate.
Maybe an hour, maybe two.
Well, then, this is a murder investigation now.
Tell me everything.
Start at the beginning.
_
I've called you all here today because an interesting case has come
to light, one that profoundly demonstrates the frightening power
of the human mind.
Patient is a woman. 24.
Referred to this hospital with a severe neurological disturbance.
Some doctors might call it hysteria, though I believe that's
no longer the fashion.
Do we have a name?
Her name is Ida Rego, a screen actress.
She comes from Budapest.
Contract with the Koller Studios.
Destined to become the next bright star in the cinematic firmament.
You look wonderful today!
Thank you.
Good morning.
Ida, be careful with the angel.
Oh! Can I have a glass of water?
I'm dying of thirst.
She was referred to the hospital yesterday afternoon,
an emergency patient.
How does the disturbance manifest, Professor?
A sudden onset of total blindness.
Why hasn't she been referred to the ophthalmology department?
They've already seen her.
And what was the diagnosis?
Read the report.
There's nothing physically wrong with her.
It's all in her mind.
Ida?
- Ida. - Leave us alone.
- Hey, Fraulein. - I can't see.
What? No.
I can't see.
- I can't see. - Sit down, sit down.
My eyes.
I'm blind!
Sh, sh.
Fraulein Rego...
..I'm the head of neurology here.
My name is Professor Neumann.
We're not alone.
No, I've invited my colleagues.
I'm afraid I can't sign autographs just at the moment.
What a pity.
Our ophthalmologist, Dr Bauer, could find nothing physically
wrong with you.
What are you suggesting?
Do you think that this is all just an elaborate performance?
No. No, please don't upset yourself.
There might be another reason for your condition.
Such as...?
Would you allow one of my colleagues to examine you?
Dr Liebermann.
You know how many men ache to touch what you are touching?
You have very gentle hands.
But also strong.
I feel very safe with you.
Normal dilation muscles are responsive.
So, yes, must be some kind of neurological condition.
- Heilig? - I concur.
Good. So...?
Perhaps she's had a shock, something she didn't want to see...
And her brain has blocked it out.
Agreed.
- Recommendations? - Talking cure.
If her brain has elected to switch off the sensory apparatus,
then the reason has to be explored.
Hmm.
You disagree, Professor?
A talking cure could take months to reach a conclusion.
I think there might be a quicker route.
A simple placebo.
Nurse.
Surely the trauma has to be investigated.
The reason behind the condition.
Dr Liebermann...
You're a passionate believer in your methodology, Doctor.
Yes.
That's quite commendable, but I'm not used
to having my practice questioned in front of my colleagues.
Nurse.
Would you be so kind as to fetch me a saline solution?
Doctors.
Right, you'll just feel a little scratch.
And it will begin to flow.
Oh, dear God.
I can see.
I can see again!
Professor...
..you are a miracle worker.
You truly have the gift of healing!
And that's it. That's how I came to know her.
May we take the body?
Thank you, Doctor.
How long ago?
Two months.
You had no further dealings with her?
The professor saw her for a follow-up appointment, but there was
no recurrence of any symptoms.
Still, she invited you to her premiere.
She invited all of us.
Typically theatrical gesture.
Neumann couldn't make it, so I offered you his tickets.
Are you telling me her blindness was just psychological?
I believe it was caused by something she witnessed.
Perhaps something connected to her murder.
- Inspector Rheinhardt, what can you say? - No comment.
- Could you make a statement? - Max?
Can you comment?
Is it a suicide, Inspector Rheinhardt?
- What can we print? - Gentlemen, please.
Let's see what Ida's apartment tells us.
She didn't sleep alone.
Someone was a little careless.
So she dined with someone.
Fraulein, you purchased all of this yourself?
Apart from the wine, of course, it was a gift.
She gets so many from admirers.
- Who drank wine with Ida Rego? - Hmm.
The other glass looks clean.
- Now, you're sure you have everything? - Yes, Mama.
I'll be fine.
- We will be back on the 12th. - The 12th.
Better you have company, while we're away.
Don't want you rattling around that big house all alone.
Listen to them.
They still talk to me like I'm 12 years old.
And I don't want you teaching
her any nonsense, leading her astray.
I'm the youngest. I think she'll be teaching me nonsense.
Now, go. Go.
Please, enjoy yourselves.
Goodbye, Son.
- Goodbye, Papa. - Be good.
- Goodbye, sweetheart. - Goodbye.
- Goodbye, Mama. Safe travels.
- Goodbye, Leah. - Goodbye, Papa.
- Be good. - We will.
Oy vey!
- Cocktails? - Mm.
Definitely the wine.
Are you sure?
Strong chemical traces.
Don't you think she would have noticed?
Arsenic has no discernible smell or taste.
Her maid said that it was a gift.
Sent to her anonymously.
The poison could have been injected through the cork.
So it was coldly and deliberately premeditated.
Well, whoever dined with her last night, either they're already dead
or they knew they shouldn't share the contents.
Whoever it was, he's our killer,
if he's alive.
Inspector.
Badly bruised cheekbone.
She suffered a nasty blow.
Must have happened a few days ago.
You didn't notice it before?
It took me a while to find out...
the lady wore a lot of make-up.
Sorry, Doctor.
Unity for the German-speaking people.
Unity now for all the German-speaking people.
Unity for all the German-speaking people.
60 years since the revolution, and still we are forced to live
alongside the scum of the lower races.
Hey, what's the matter with you?
Don't you care about this country, my friend?
I'm surprised you're still awake. How are you settling in?
All right?
We, um...
- We have a visitor, Max. - At this hour?
Sorry, I won't disturb you both.
Actually, it's you I came to see.
I'll, uh,
I'll leave you both to it.
Mm...
What went on at the salon last night?
Who's asking?
My friend or her editor?
I went there to get an interview with the fraulein.
And you ended up with the story of her murder.
So, it's true.
She was murdered.
There will be a statement by Leopoldstadt Police
first thing in the morning.
But you can save me the bother and share it with me now.
How did she die?
They suit you.
Come on, Max.
Just a little hint.
All I get offered is trivial little pieces in the gossip columns.
I really want the story.
Trouble does tend to follow you around.
That's true enough.
What if I gave you something in return?
Such as...?
They say she had a secret lover.
- No, that's just gossip. - Maybe.
Maybe not.
Someone with influence.
Someone important.
She was poisoned.
Arsenic.
But don't use my name when you write it up.
What's your name?
Stefan, sir.
Stefan.
And how long did you know the fraulein?
Ever since she came to Vienna.
I was her assistant on the film set, sir.
Assistant?
What does that involve, then?
Fetching.
Carrying. Running errands.
Anything.
- No, sir. - You can leave now.
Thank you.
Yes, sir.
Assistant, you say?
You must have been close to her.
Did she have enemies? I wouldn't know, sir.
You must have observed her day-to-day.
Anyone hanging around here at odd moments?
- Hmm? - No.
We're looking for a bag or a personal diary
of Fraulein Rego.
Searched her apartment yesterday.
Couldn't find anything there either.
Her bag was stolen a few days ago.
Stolen?
She was rather shaken by it.
You will die screaming in agony
the moment you appear on that screen.
She got these months ago.
Look at the date. Same time she lost her sight.
This is it, Oskar, these are what she saw.
I still don't understand.
The human body can rebel against significant trauma.
If we don't want to see something painful, our eyesight
can potentially vanish.
An acute nervous reaction.
This is why I wanted to talk with her,
consult with her.
Neumann just wanted a quick result.
But who would send her something like this, Max?
There are always crazies.
I'm afraid it goes with the job, Inspector.
The other side of hero worship.
The dark side of idolatry.
Yes.
They hint at obsession, madness, a pathological hatred of her.
People look at the screen and they project their own desires.
Maybe she reminded someone of a lover who had spurned them.
Who knows?
Had there ever been any threat to Ida's safety, Fraulein Koller?
Here, you will want to see this.
- What was that? - A mirror.
A lighting mirror.
Somehow, it came loose.
Is that usual?
Most unusual.
And yet you didn't report it.
I didn't know about the letters.
I just assumed it was an accident.
We all did.
She wasn't hurt, just badly shaken by it.
Fraulein, what sort of person was Ida Rego?
I mean, was she someone who inspired love amongst those close to her?
You know, about the camera, Doctor...
The camera adores you.
It is a lover, a slave.
You can ignore it, spurn it, mistreat it, and still
it will worship you.
Ida Rego was a woman who lived her short life in front
of the camera, her most intimate friend.
She was addicted to making people fall in love with her.
I'm not sure she had the ability to reciprocate.
- Oskar, that's not Ida Rego. - Arianne Amsel?
Amsel was originally contracted tomplay the lead in
Queen of Carthage.
What happened? Why did she leave?
Personal problems.
That's what they say.
- And they replaced her with Ida Rego. - Three months ago.
That's when the letters began to arrive.
You think there's a connection?
You didn't realise.
You don't understand.
Fraulein Amsel.
Oskar Rheinhardt, Leopoldstadt Police.
We need to ask you some questions.
You must have heard the news, Fraulein.
Ida Rego is dead.
I read about it.
You want me to rub ashes into my hair,
knife myself in the bosom like Juliet?
- We're just asking because... - You want me to tell you,
she was a dear friend and a highly gifted actress.
She was neither of those, Inspector.
I'm sorry that I'm unable to sugar-coat it.
You were supposed to play Queen Dido in the film.
Ah, I see your line of reasoning.
You think that I was so consumed by hatred
that I slipped her the poison?
I just meant...
Who told you that I was hired for the job?
Someone working at the studios.
And did they tell you why I stepped aside?
They suggested there were problems of a personal nature.
Of course, all part of the Ida Rego legend.
Thrilling and engaging, no doubt,
but not a shred of truth in any of it.
Fraulein, please tell us what happened.
One day I was working on set, next moment,
I was whisked out of costume.
No explanation given.
They simply told me that I was being replaced by a fresher talent.
You must have done something.
What I did, Inspector, was refuse to prostitute myself!
Find out who was financing the film.
Find out who had money in it.
I guarantee you, Ida was a wizard in her bed.
That's the way she conducted business.
Do you have any idea who might have sent these to Ida Rego?
Fraulein,
what if someone outside the studio knew you'd been let go?
Someone with a fanatical devotion to you?
I have many admirers, Inspector.
I do not know them all personally.
I can't explain.
I look at it each day.
I see it out of the corner of my eye.
It's always there, lurking beside me.
And yet I know for a fact it isn't mine.
- Your hand? - Yes.
- May I...? - Yes.
What's happening, Dr Liebermann?
The mind can play tricks on us, Frau Buchberger.
It is a complex engine made of many parts.
Some of them are occasionally prone to malfunctioning.
Well, the nerve endings in your fingers work perfectly.
They are not my fingers, Doctor.
It's not my hand.
Someone else has taken possession of it.
How can I make you understand?
I believe you.
- At some point in your life, your brain has made a miscalculation. - Oh.
It's simply a matter of re-educating it.
Is there a medicine that can do that?
Yes.
It's called talking.
Oh... no.
- May I? - Of course.
Please.
Difficult morning?
Ah...
You were right.
Sorry?
About...
..Fraulein Rego.
She was more than just a set of symptoms.
That's what I came to tell you.
I should have realised.
I should have done something more.
Perhaps.
You feel my motives are shallow.
You think I'm only interested in results.
But you're wrong.
I'm a passionate healer, just like you.
Perhaps...
..you would care to dine with me at my home,
so that we can work together better.
Thank you.
- Oskar! - She's very fond of you.
She likes spending time with you.
They both do.
I wish I could be here more.
I understand about your job, Oskar.
It's not just the job that makes me seem distant.
There are things you don't know about me, about my family.
It's all right,
there are things you don't know about me, too.
Let's take our time getting to know each other.
We don't have to hurry, do we?
Look at him, Max.
What do you see?
Someone who felt a deep connection to Amsel.
Probably sexual.
Almost certainly unconsummated.
Most likely he's only ever seen her at a distance.
He basks in her success.
But feels acute pain at her failure,
so...
..when a competitor like Ida arrives, well...
- He feels compelled to destroy her. - Hmm.
Perhaps he sent her the poisoned wine.
His instincts are terrifying.
It's as though he felt Amsel belonged to him.
Ah, Hausmann, good.
You wanted to see me?
How are things?
I beg your pardon?
How are you?
How's your wife?
I'm not married, Inspector.
Oh, no, of course, I knew that.
Anyone special in your life?
For God's sake, Oskar, get to the point.
I was just being friendly.
He needs a favour.
That's what this is.
- We need to run some surveillance. - See?
Surely it's someone else's turn.
What about Hofer?
He's keen.
I need my...
..best officer. You.
Can I quote you on that?
Just tell him the subject.
- Arianne Amsel. - The actress?
We think she has a dangerous admirer.
She claims to know nothing,
but whoever it is, he might be our killer.
All right.
I'll see what I can discover, Inspector.
Good man.
No, I-I mean it.
There's one piece of the puzzle
- we still don't have. - The man in her apartment.
He must have been there when she ingested the poison.
What do we know about that man?
Well, he was her lover,
no doubt.
The bed was slept in.
The maid was sent away for the evening.
He's cautious, discreet.
Perhaps someone with a position.
I've been through the newspaper archives...
very fascinating.
Oh...
All these men.
It flatters them, having their picture taken
with a pretty young woman.
She had no shortage of admirers.
Koller said that Ida was addicted to making people fall in love with her.
None of these are him, Oskar.
I told you, he wants to be invisible.
All right, then, how about this one?
Who is Paul J Adler?
An American senator from Pennsylvania.
All right, what do we know about him?
Says here he visits Vienna often.
Twice this year.
Independently wealthy, from an old family,
an iron and steel magnate.
Newspaper says that they met this spring at some sort
of charity benefit.
Ida had so many admirers,
why should we focus on this one?
Says here he's a founder of the ATU...
ATU? The American Temperance Union?
Let me put it this way...
offer this gentleman a glass of wine,
he would undoubtedly refuse.
Please, gentlemen, take a seat.
How can I help you?
You knew Fraulein Rego?
No, not really.
We met on one or two occasions.
You know Vienna.
May I ask...
why do you keep coming to this city?
Why Vienna?
Ancestral voices calling.
- Your family are Austrian? - Like many thousands of my constituents.
Pennsylvania has a strong Teutonic tradition.
The dead woman, Ida Rego, she was very young, very glamorous.
What was it that drew you to her?
What exactly are you insinuating?
Did you ever dine together?
It's a calamity.
Heartbreaking.
Poor young woman.
She was so very gifted.
Her family has my deepest sympathies.
But more than that, gentlemen, I'm afraid I cannot help you.
Now, if you'll excuse me...
Senator...
..someone dined with Fraulein Rego...
..the night that she died.
Someone whose identity she wished to keep a closely guarded secret.
That's no concern of mine.
Do you drink, Herr Adler?
No. Never touch a drop.
Neither did whoever dined with the fraulein.
Luckily for them.
Why do you say that?
Well, the wine was poisoned.
Laced with arsenic.
And whoever dined with her, they didn't drink it.
Maybe he knew what was in it.
Senator.
You think he's lying?
You think they were lovers?
I'm convinced he was in that room with her.
The profile fits.
- You saw him sweat when you mentioned the poison. - Hmm.
What do you think he meant by ancestral voices?
Goodnight, Hofer.
- What the hell...? - Inspector?
I've been looking for you.
Oh, you.
Have you come to steal from me again?
I've got something you might like.
What will you pay me for some information?
Why should I be interested?
I know about a crime.
I'll tell you what I know.
So tell me, then.
Show me the money first.
Or I'm not going to talk.
Don't waste my time.
You said he would pay.
You said he would help us!
Even at the age of two, everyone knew he was destined
to become a doctor.
How could you tell?
Was he born with a stethoscope?!
My mother took him for an eye test...
Oh, not this story again.
Tell us... what happened?
The doctor sat him in front of some pictures.
He's on my mother's knee.
The doctor gets an implement from his desk and he points
at the pictures, so Maxim can see.
So the doctor points with his pointy thingy at a picture of a dog
and he says, "Tell me, young man, what is this?"
And without even blinking, my two-year-old brother says...
- "It's a spatula!" - .."It's a spatula!"
- Precocious, even at the age of two. - That's very funny,
I'm so glad I invited you!
When he was younger, he was...
She is so... unlike you, your sister.
You should tell her that, it will make you enormously popular.
I've been meaning to ask you, how's the investigation progressing
about Ida Rego's murder?
I'm afraid there's very little I can say.
Oh, of course, I understand.
- Professor... - Enchante.
It's funny.
What?
I thought all psychiatrists were oddballs and cranks.
They're not supposed to be so charming, let alone... attractive.
Listen...
..when the wife leaves her husband's house,
I've heard that in the eyes of the law,
he's freed from any duty towards her.
There.
There's your ring back.
Give me mine.
All right, let's end it there.
You've worked incredibly hard.
Let's call it a day.
I would like to try something alone.
I'll be just a moment, Andreas.
As you wish.
"Flies off..."
As I'm now...
..I can be nothing to them.
Andreas?
Are you still here?
Who's there?
I told you, I don't want you near me!
Thank you. You can go now.
Thank you, ma'am.
Goodnight, Josef.
Oh, forgot my gloves. I'll just be a minute.
Stay!
Why were you there?
Why were you following her?
I just wanted...
I just wanted to be close to her.
So you attacked her?
No, no, no, no.
It-it wasn't like that.
I panicked.
So you wrote these letters...
to Ida Rego,
and you arranged a little accident on the film set?
And from my ashes, let a conqueror rise...
Ida, Ida, stop...
No, not again.
No. Don't look in the camera.
And die...
I am sorry.
It was stupid.
Damn right that was stupid, because Ida Rego now is dead.
I had nothing to do with her death, I swear.
Really?
Yes.
Convince me.
I just couldn't bear to see Arianne humiliated.
But it didn't want to hurt Ida.
Not really. I just...
I just wanted Arianne reinstated.
You do believe me?
I believe Arianne Amsel possesses that rare gift.
The ability to make people feel like she is giving a performance
just for them.
I believe you projected your own deep needs and desires onto her.
You're need to be loved.
You're need to be adored by someone beautiful like her.
But it was an illusion, Stefan.
Sergeant?
We'll continue this later.
Definitely our man.
So, how long?
How long has he been pursuing you?
My officer said you were frightened.
You knew that someone was following you.
How long?
Ever since I lost the job.
You must have had some suspicions.
He had said things when we were working,
things that seemed unbalanced.
I tried not to listen.
You could have come to us.
You could have led us to him.
It's not my fault.
You knew that he was obsessed, resentful.
You knew that Ida was brutally murdered.
So, what on earth were you waiting for?
Why didn't you come forward?
Perhaps...
..in some way, you felt responsible.
In some small way...
..glad she was gone.
Guilt can be painful.
What do you think, Max?
I think something deeply dangerous is happening here.
A woman stands in front of a camera and she becomes an empty vessel.
People fill her with their dreams, their fantasies.
Well, at least we have him under lock and key.
Hmm.
I know what you're going to say next.
Please...
He's not our killer, Oskar.
Oh, not again, Max!
He wanted to scare Ida, not destroy her.
You can't know that for sure.
What's more, you agree with me.
Think about it.
He needed Ida to back down.
He wanted Arianne to have her moment of glory.
This is an act of worship.
He is a disciple.
He's a devotee, a supplicant.
Many things, but he is not a murderer.
You saw what happened... the accident here.
There was never any chance he would kill her.
It was a clumsy warning designed to scare her away.
Oskar, the film was already in the can when she was poisoned.
He had nothing to gain.
It would have been too late.
Rheinhardt.
Leopoldstadt Police, investigating the murder
of Hungarian actress Ida Rego,
interviewed American Senator Paul Adler in connection
with the case.
God.
Evidence suggests that Adler was in her salon the night she died.
I did not brief the press.
All I did was write his name in a file.
Adler is a very important man.
He enjoys rights as a diplomat.
If you had the slightest inkling he was involved,
you should have brought it straight to me,
and I would have gone to the minister!
That will be the American Embassy on the line.
Damn it!
Yes.
Commissioner von Bulow speaking.
Yes...
Rheinhardt, get out!
Yes, of course.
Yes.
In front of me. I'm devastated.
But he looks good in the picture, though, yes?
Must be someone in this office.
Junior detective or a clerk glanced at your files and went
- to the newspaper. - Stop it, Max!
We both know who's responsible.
It's not just someone!
Who?
She's had plenty of leads from you in the past.
Clara?
You write about our cases in your journals, don't you?
Can you be quite certain that she hasn't seen them?
When was she last in your apartment?
What are you suggesting?
Spell it out to me in plain terms.
All right.
You told me you were eager for a story
and the police investigation has leaked.
Somehow...
..someone got hold of the information.
And so you just assume that I'm the one responsible?
Oskar's my friend too.
Are you saying we can't be friends any more?
- Inspector? - Fraulein.
What are you doing here so early?
Waving my career goodbye.
- What? - Nothing.
How can I help you?
Well, I spent a good few hours at the library, but finally
I found it.
Found what?
The crest.
It's an old one.
Hasn't been used for decades.
The Old German Movement.
The ultranationalists.
This is their emblem.
You think it could be Adler's?
He was rather shy about the reasons he came to Vienna.
Ancestral voices.
60 years ago.
What happened here.
1848, the Vienna uprising.
The empire came close to collapse.
The students called it a revolution.
I'd rather call it a rebellion.
Unity for all the German-speaking people!
Opponents of the Austrian empire
wanted to see all Slavs deported.
It was the start of an ultranationalist movement
calling for a unification of all German speakers.
You think that's why he came here?
I mean, you think the Old German Movement has some political
demonstration planned and he's involved?
A man like Adler, with an international reputation
making a case for German unification...
If he were to lend his support...
It would be a significant threat to the monarchy.
What have we waded into, Max?
I told you both, I have nothing more to say.
The Old German Society of Vienna... makes interesting reading.
So that's why you've been coming to the city.
Apparently, you've been funding them.
I told you, Inspector, thousands of my constituents are Austrian.
I have a duty to them, to their ancestors.
Austria must be protected from the intruders.
So you would stir up hatred, incite a race war?
My family is Slovak, Senator.
Are you saying I don't belong here?
Perhaps your enemies, whoever they are, just got lucky.
You were embroiled in a murder, and it's the perfect opportunity
to tarnish your reputation.
Tell us what's going on.
We keep on his tail, Max.
He's definitely involved somehow.
9:00am,
he leaves the hotel,
he enters the embassy.
People to meet, documents to sign.
And guess what?
There's a constant shadow on him.
And on that day, the anniversary of the uprising,
their descendants shall gather and tell the story
of how their ancestors were betrayed by the sickening
weakness of Austria!
At 2:00, we have him addressing a meeting of business owners,
promoting all German interests, calling for a boycott
of all Slavic businesses.
And every moment of the day, he's under close surveillance.
They must be terrified of him.
They...?
Whoever "they" may be.
Question is...
Did they kill Ida Rego just to destroy him?
Commissioner, I need your permission to dig deeper.
Things are delicate, Rheinhardt.
Everyone's eyes are on us.
The business with the Russians last year...
our reputation hangs in the balance.
No...
..my reputation...
What are you going to do next?
Find out who's behind it.
Find out who's trying to smear him.
Maybe that will lead us to our killer.
Very well.
You can go.
Good evening.
What is it? What's wrong?
Er... nothing. Nothing at all.
The professor was just leaving.
He just stopped by to pay a call.
Forgive me, Max, I'm due back at the hospital.
Fraulein Liebermann, thank you for your hospitality.
I'll see you again soon, I hope.
Please don't get... how you get.
- How I get? - Jealous.
- Stupid, odd. - Jealous of whom?
Well, he's your colleague.
And he came to call on me.
Yes, apparently.
Also...
Well, so what?
Well, he's invited me to dine.
You must be joking.
He's courting me, Max.
It's the sort of thing men and women do from time to time.
And I...
..want to know if it's all right with you.
And would it matter if I said no?
No.
But I'd still like your approval.
Call me old-fashioned.
I'm happy for you, Leah.
Hmm, you certainly sound happy.
He's a decent and honourable man.
And it wouldn't bother you just a little bit?
I'll try my best to get over it.
You've made life rather uncomfortable for me here in Vienna.
But I don't want your blood in my conscience.
Thank you for coming to my aid.
Who was he?
You didn't recognise him?
Who do you think my enemies are, Inspector?
They are people you might call colleagues, the Viennese Secret Service.
Your Director of Internal Affairs has had
an agent permanently on my tail.
They've been looking for any way to defame me.
And now with that newspaper report,
you've handed them the opportunity on a plate.
But he attacked me.
He had no idea who you were.
Just a shadow.
You see now why I don't wish to give you a statement?
Why I don't wish to cooperate?
As far as I'm concerned,
you are one of the enemy.
You think it was one of us?
Who?
You think I have a name?
Yeah.
You were at her salon.
You're my best witness.
So you wish for me to make a statement
and destroy my reputation?
A woman was murdered.
And what makes you so damn certain? I was even at the scene.
The evidence, the tie pin, the glass.
And you don't think these things can be staged?
You don't think my enemies are clever enough for that?
What?
Who was at the scene when you arrived?
Who had access to her salon?
Your colleagues, Inspector, officers of the Viennese constabulary.
The blood.
Your hand. I saw the cut.
I injured myself on a railing.
The cut was clearly visible to everyone.
Easy enough to spray blood around.
The pin, the crest on it.
Stolen from me. And planted in her apartment.
You look at me...
a man whose politics you revile, and you're eager
to believe I'm guilty.
You've already made up your mind.
Can you prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you weren't
at her salon?
I was here, in my suite.
With... someone.
He will vouch for me.
Now...
..does that satisfy you?
You know these men, Inspector,
these men at the top of the Secret Service.
Ask yourself...
how far would they go to destroy an enemy's reputation?
We've been hoodwinked.
The pair of us, they played us like a cheap viola.
What happened to your...?
The Ministry, they wanted to destroy Adler,
and chose us as the instrument.
Oskar, what are you telling me?
Someone goes to Ida's room after her murder and leaves us clues
to find... the unused glass, the tie pin.
So who was with her?
Max...
..no-one was with her.
She was all alone that night.
They put out a second plate of glass.
They even ruffled the bedsheets, just to lead us straight to him.
They fed us Adler because they wanted him brought down.
He was never at that place, and he can prove it.
We wanted him to be guilty.
We projected our own desires.
I see.
So... you think the American plays no part in this inquiry?
I thought that the evidence suggests...
The evidence is unreliable.
It's been manufactured.
I'll give a statement to the press, clearing Herr Adler of any involvement.
Is that entirely wise, Rheinhardt?
It wouldn't look very good for us.
The truth is not a luxury, Chief Strasser.
What?!
We don't know how she died.
We still don't know who is responsible, but whoever it was,
Adler's enemies seized the moment to implicate him.
And you believe this man is innocent?
He's a danger to the monarchy.
Doesn't give us the right to charge him for a murder he didn't commit.
Now, wait a minute.
Doesn't give the Austrian Secret Service the right
to plant clues to smear him.
He has a witness who claims that he wasn't even there that night.
The empire is under threat, Rheinhardt.
From men like Adler.
I know that you are a patriot.
I know that you are, in your heart...
You're a true Austrian.
With all due respect, I was asked to find Ida Rego's killer.
If someone in this service manufactured evidence...
You have no proof...
..to back up that allegation.
Isn't there any chance that she was
killed by someone here, to smear him?
To silence him.
No chance at all.
How can you be so certain?
Because she was our agent.
Ida Rego?
Merci beaucoup.
She was paid by the Ministry to become intimate with the senator.
Spend time with him.
To report on his movements...
..his contacts...
Paid?
You were the ones who helped launch her career.
Young woman, bright, attractive.
Everyone wants to be seen with her.
The Senator enjoys her company, he quickly takes a fancy to her.
So...
..we made an approach to her.
A deal was struck.
Keep a watch on Adler?
Tell us who he's financing.
And in return, we help you launch a career here at Koller Studios.
Yeah.
Then she died.
And you decided to capitalise on it.
Alter the plan.
Implicate him.
Make it look as if he was responsible.
I think this meeting is now at an end.
Mm.
Ah... what about her bag?
Someone stole it.
Was there something in it that linked her to you?
It wasn't us.
We didn't take it.
She was the victim of a pickpocket, we assume.
- What? - Inspector.
And then this thief, this little pickpocket, said he had evidence
of a crime.
- You think he was talking about Ida's bag? - Uh-huh.
We need to find him, and quickly.
He must be here somewhere, Max.
Hey.
Wait.
Wait. Hey!
Wait, wait, wait.
I don't mean you any harm.
Sit, please.
We really need to know where your friend is.
He's not coming back.
What do you mean?
I mean, he left me.
Abandoned me in the street.
He came into some money.
Where from?
Some bag he stole.
There were letters inside.
Valuable letters.
What were they?
Personal messages.
Declarations of love.
He said he was going to sell them back to the writer.
And the next thing I knew...
..he's got hold of the money...
..sold them, like he said.
And he was gone!
Do you remember anything about these letters?
They belong to someone famous.
An actress.
Tell us everything.
What was in them?
They were signed...
.. "A man who works miracles."
- It's worth checking, Oskar. - Mm.
Inspector?
We need to see the film again.
There.
Are you all right?
I'm just terribly shocked...
There he is.
By her side that day.
Who is he?
The man who works miracles.
The man who cures blindness.
Oh, Max, it's you.
I wonder if I could talk to you, Professor?
In private.
Is it about your sister?
We are having dinner together.
I assumed you knew.
"The man who works miracles."
That's what you called yourself.
In your letters.
I don't understand.
I think you do, Professor.
You had an affair with Ida Rego, your patient.
When did it start? After she came here?
After you cured her?
What happened then?
You tried to break it off.
But...
..the lady wasn't used to being turned down.
And then she told you... about the poison-pen letters.
The hate mail from Amsel's fan.
Suddenly, you had an idea.
And you sent her that wine, Professor.
Here you are.
In 35mm nitrate film, hugging her.
Kissing her... not her doctor...
..her lover.
The pictures don't lie, Professor.
It was madness.
It must have been a practised routine for her.
So many men must have fallen for it.
So many were ensnared by her.
It was only a brief affair, but I knew it was injudicious.
I tried to break it off.
It's over!
I was worried about my position.
You struck her.
It wasn't love,
whatever we had.
It was toxic.
Twisted.
Perverted.
One moment,
we were consumed by passion, and the next,
by rage.
The threat to destroy my reputation.
You came to my home, Professor.
And you visited my sister.
Whatever you think of me, Max, I did genuinely like you.
And I have a real affection for your sister.
The police are outside... Professor.
Professor Neumann?!
Professor Neumann!
Max, stand aside.
Professor Neumann!
Professor...
_
So...
..it was all an illusion.
Perhaps.
Some of it.
I don't know.
If it's any consolation, he fooled us both.
It's no consolation at all.
No, I didn't expect so.
I don't know what to feel...
..Max.
I suppose I should feel angry.
I do know what I feel.
I feel humiliated.
I feel used.
Yes?
It's Fraulein Weiss, sir.
Clara...
I'm very grateful for you coming here.
Well...?
I know that you're very busy.
Just get on with it, Max. What did you want to say to me?
Well, I had a message from the inspector.
One of his junior detectives has been disciplined
for stealing files and...
..leaking them to the press.
I see.
We know that you weren't involved.
Is that everything?
No, no, er...
..just one more word.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry that I accused you.
It was inexcusable.
And if there's...
..anything I can do to gain your forgiveness...
Dinner.
What?
Expensive.
Yes. Right. Of course.
Wait, I haven't finished. Opera tickets.
Grand Circle.
- Very well. - There's more.
Right, how long is this list, Clara?
I want regular access to all your murder cases.
You don't expect me to agree to that, do you?
Let's just have that dinner, first.
Is everything all right?
- What's the matter? - Oskar...
..it's not really convenient.
What do you mean, not convenient?
I mean you being here this evening.
I'm so sorry, but...
I heard a voice.
Oskar, this is my husband.
Oskar is here!
Are you coming for supper?
Not today.
Come on, darling, let me read you another story.
I didn't know he was back in Vienna.
I-I told you there were things you didn't know about me.
I'll be going, then, I suppose...
If you don't mind, I think it would be easier.
Freud tells us the most dangerous mistake a person can make
is to project their own shadow onto another human being, to pretend
they are an embodiment of one's fantasy.
The route to happiness is to accept people as they are,
not as we wish them to be.
To see them in the clear light of day...
..and still love them.
That is the mark of a true friend.
*CREDITS*