Original subtitles

My Consulate will demand an explanation for this.

They shall have one.

Two hundred children were slaughtered in the raid on the schoolhouse sector...

...occasioned by the information madam so insidiously smuggled through our lines.

My three little sons died in that school house.

Unfortunately we have only small coffins. Madam understands why.

Be so kind as to carry my remembrances to your fellow conspirators...

...who have preceded you.

Hold it!

Shooting a woman in half!

You do sell miracles, Mr. Morgan.

Fine, alright, Eddie, turn off the war.

There you are, Fran�ois, the best illusion I have in stock.

Give me a couple of weeks to build you a new one and I might do better.

No, no, no, I like this one.

Sold. Okay, boys, that's it.

Alright, boys, lower the drop.

It'll make a perfect finish for your new act.

You can set it up in seven minutes and it packs neatly into five crates.

Maybe I can hire the girl too to work in the act, hm?

Sure, I'll introduce you to her brother.

He acts as her agent when he's not working as a prizefighter.

A prizefighter?

Oh, yes, I just remembered, I already have a girl I can use in the act.

I'll have the crates on the boat in a couple of hours.

You'll open in Paris in a month with flying colors.

Oh, I see, you still have a hunger to return to the stage, hm?

Not me, Fran�ois. I'm a lucky gent.

I've traipsed around the theaters of this world long enough...

...and I'm perfectly happy to stay at home in private life.

From now on the magic business with me is fifty/fifty.

You fellows do all the work and I collect half the money.

Wait, Mr. Morgan. This might be for my Paris engagement too.

No, this is already sold.

I've worked out something new for Dave Duvallo to escape from using this tank.

Dave is chained to this anchor and the whole thing's lowered in the water.

- How long? - A minute and seventeen seconds.

Aw, it's too short. I'll stall a little longer and make it look harder.

- Satisfied? - Sure, with everything but the price.

By the way, did you see tonight's paper?

Something very interesting for you in it.

"Beautiful European mystique here for psychic conclave...

...to make New York ghost-conscious.

Curvaceous Madame... hm, curvaceous,

Madame Rapport arrives on S.S. Amsterdam...

...to make bid for Psychic Society's $25.000 prize." You know!

That's right up your alley. Showing up with a couple of phonies,

the Association will give you a medal and you get a nice batch of publicity.

- I don't do it for publicity, Dave. - Huh?

Perhaps some day somebody may look into that dark room we call the beyond, but...

...these fake mediums are the greatest obstacle to progress in that direction.

That's a funny attitude for a guy like you to take,

a guy that sells imitation miracles.

We're magicians, Dave, we entertain the people.

We tell them that the hand is quicker than the eye and fool them legitimately.

It's fun for them and it's a living for us.

But I hate these fakers that trade on human suffering...

...and get money from heartbroken widows and mothers.

If there's any more of this, let's go to the 48 Club and I'll buy you a drink, huh?

I'm sorry, it just happens to be my own private little peace.

But thanks for the invitation. I'll see you there later.

- Right. - Right now I'm waiting for my father.

He just got in town this morning.

Your father? What did you do, adopt one from the Old Soldier's Home?

No, but it was only last week I was able to persuade him to abandon...

...the glories of Jeffersonville courthouse Indiana.

I know the type. Within a week he'll be claiming he's a born New Yorker.

I'm sure of it. I'll set him out first thing this morning to see the town.

Here you are!

And I hope I never see you again as long as I live.

Let that be a lesson to you, young man.

Never to try to take advantage of honest people...

...just because they're strangers in New York.

Bringing you all the way out here ought to be worth at least 50c extra.

Says here all over town for one dollar.

You got my dollar, didn't you? And this is town.

Beat it.

He wanted to drop me in Times Square where we started from.

Not me. Where I come from if you hire a hack, it takes you home.

Dad, I want you to meet a friend of mine, Dave Duvallo. He's an escape artist.

- A what? - An escape artist, he gets out of things.

If he didn't get into them, he wouldn't have to get out of them.

How do you do, sir, how do you do?

So you don't like out town, eh?

New York is the only town I've ever been in...

...that you can learn to hate in one day.

Well, good night, sir, it's been awful nice to have met you.

- Good night, Mike. - Good night.

If you wanted to go in the business, why didn't you open a butcher's shop?

Now, selling meat's a business, selling miracles, that's monkey business.

How would you like to see an act of mine opening tonight...

...with new mind-reading stuff?

- Nightclub? - Yeah.

No, siree. No more fancy joints for me.

I had lunch today in a tea room.

- A tea room. - Don't stay up too late.

I'm not going to go to bed until I've straightened out your books.

This morning a fellow sent you a bill for lumber...

...and I think he had it in his weight and his mother-in-law's blood pressure.

Okay, Dad.

Oh... please... Where can I hide, quick!

Well, just a...

- Did you see anything of a young lady? - Why, did you lose one?

No, but I got a fare out there promised me ten bucks to follow a dame.

Well, um... let's talk to your fare.

Listen, mister, that girl must have sneaked down a cellar.

There's nobody in there, you must have dreamt the whole thing.

Here's my ten bucks. I think I'll go back to sleep again.

- Wait here for me a minute. - Yeah.

All right, little Eva, the bloodhounds have gone.

If that was your husband you're hiding from, why pick on me?

Oh, no, no, it's nothing like that.

But if you're Mr. Morgan, you've simply got to do something for me.

Young lady, you're obviously in some sort of a jam and I don't like jam.

Mr. Morgan, have you some connection with the Psychic Association's $25.000 prize?

Well, a couple of people tried to collect it and I helped put them in jail.

Well, I know a certain medium, she isn't really psychic of course, but...

...she's going to try to win that award.

Wouldn't you be willing to help her and me...

No, I wouldn't.

Mr. Morgan, I haven't very much money, but I...

Save your money, little girl, you may need it for jail bond.

- Please, Mr. Morgan, I... - Save your breath too!

48 Club and hurry.

You must have been a woman. You know you did, but you're still trying to talk.

Ladies and gentlemen, in my next little experiment...

I propose to reverse the usual order of procedure.

I shall pick a card then you shall tell me which card I picked.

Now.

Now which card is this?

Anyone at all?

Possibly the one you wish you'd drawn last week in the poker game, what?

Won't someone please tell me?

- Jack of diamonds. - Ace of spades.

I'm so sorry, the lady is always right.

- The lady is also possibly your stooge. - Oh, really? Are you my stooge?

You bet I'm not. I called for the ace of spades.

- And what card is this? - The jack of diamonds.

I'm so sorry, it's the ace of spades.

Mr. Morgan,

I'm depending on your being enough of a gentleman not to have me thrown out.

Now look, nothing you can say and...

...nothing you can wear will change my mind about mediums in jail.

But the last thing I want to do is change your mind.

You haven't let me explain, I'm trying to stop a certain medium from operating.

Oh, I beg your pardon.

Please forget I was so rude.

Now start at the beginning and I'll promise to listen this time.

Well, I... I can't tell you the whole story. There are reasons.

The same reasons a man followed you to my place tonight?

You can imagine how desperate I must be to come here.

Oh, you've got to help me, Mr. Morgan.

Another cup, please.

Now, you're all upset. Just drink this coffee and relax.

- Anything else? - Just coffee.

Remember, nothing is ever quite as bad as it seems.

Not even that coffee.

Oh, waiter, some sugar, please.

Waiter.

Some sugar, please.

Well, I don't... I just brought...

Yes, sir, sure...

- How many lumps? - How many lumps?

- No sugar. - No sugar.

Waiter, you can remove the sugar now.

It's not my day.

- How are you feeling, better? - Yes.

Now suppose you tell me your name.

Of course you could write it on a piece of paper and swallow it then I'd tell you.

But it might be simpler if you just told it to me.

Judy Barclay. I live at the Hotel Roxbury.

Thanks. Now what is it you want?

Is there any way to get a medium out of a business without having her arrested?

Well, a fellow in Detroit found out I was going profer police charges...

...for fraud against him and he got scared and quit.

You could do that, she'd be afraid of you.

Mr. Morgan, will you go to my... to this woman, I mean,

and prove to her what will happen if she tries for this award?

That doesn't sound very complicated. Is that all you want?

- That's all. - Well, there are some things I'll have to know.

What's the medium's name and where can I find her?

Well, she...

Good evening, Miss Barclay.

Um, Mr. Morgan, Dr. Sabbatt.

- How do you do? - How do you do?

- Dr. Cesar Sabbatt? - Yes.

You're the gentleman who writes the books on demonology.

Vampires and devils and things.

Yes, and unless I'm mistaken, you're the famous unbeliever.

Me? I just don't believe in ghosts, that's all.

Sit down.

- May I buy you a drink? - No, thank you, I haven't time.

I came in to leave a message for Mr. Tauro.

You see, I'm going to give a demonstration tonight

Of vampires, of devils and demons.

Real enough to convince even you, Mr. Morgan.

Would you like to come?

How about it?

No, no, thank you.

You see, we don't even have to come to your party, Dr. Sabbatt,

you've got her scared already.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Leclaires.

Telepathist extraordinary, and featuring Zelma, the girl with the radio mind.

Ladies and gentlemen, scientists agree that telepathy does exist,

but admit their inability to harness it.

We, however, will transfer thought from one mind to another.

To satisfy the skeptic, I will speak merely Mme. Leclaire's name.

using no words that could possibly contain a code or signal to her.

What is your name, please, madam?

Mary.

The lady's name is Mary.

Now, please, please.

Will you whisper your last name, please? Name and address.

Zelma.

Mary W. Hotchkinson of Brooklyn, New York.

That's right, how did she do it?

Excuse me.

It takes me some time to get my devils ready.

Good night, Miss Barclay.

Sorry you have to go. Good night.

Good night.

As soon as the show is over I'm going to let you tell me...

...why you're so frightened of old Dr. Demonology.

This feat I think has never before been duplicated in telepathy.

Any member of the audience can whisper to me a rapid series of numbers...

...and without one moment's hesitation, my wife will repeat them.

Please, sir.

Zelma.

One, five, nine, eleven, fifteen.

- Is that right, sir? - That's right.

Take it off.

Hello, Joanie, how's your old man's rheumatism?

Much better, sir.

- Hand me that hat, will you? - It's Dr. Sabbatt's hat.

Good evening, Doctor, I'm sorry I'm a little late.

Oh, we've still plenty of time.

Or shall we go to your place, Dr. Sabbatt?

All right.

Pardon me, the Leclaires would like to see you in their dressing room.

Oh. Excuse me, I'll only be a minute.

Order a sandwich or something. And don't worry.

All your troubles are going to disappear just like that.

Come in.

- Hello. - Hello.

The act went over great, didn't it?

- She was slow in the numbers. - I was not! It was his fault.

If you and your wife wouldn't fight so much and rehearse a little bit more,

you wouldn't have so much trouble. And, um,

don't forget to send me my check every Wednesday morning.

Your friend Dr. Sabbatt didn't seem to like the act, he walked out on us.

Sabbatt? Oh, he had a date with a ghost.

Funny Sabbatt walking out on you.

I didn't even know he was here.

Oh, you didn't.

I said I didn't!

You'd better get some chewing gum.

Maybe your friend Dr. Sabbatt won't like the smell of gin.

- What became of the young lady? - What became of the sugar?

- Never mind. Did she leave a message? - No message.

- Well, I guess I'll have to wait for her. - She said she wasn't coming back.

- Oh, that's no message. - No.

Well, here's no money.

And don't pay the check.

Hello, Hotel Roxbury?

Has Miss Barclay come in yet?

Oh... Just tell her Mr. Morgan called.

Thank you.

Fleetwood Apartments. Dr. Sabbatt's meeting?

Oh, he said he expected people about 12:30.

Not at all.

- Have you a match? - Yes.

Thank you. How old are you, young man?

- Thirty-one. - Really?

You know, my friend Dr. Sabbatt tells me that this trick...

...wouldn't deceive a child of twelve.

Now, pick a card, please.

Don't look at it! Now, put it in my hand.

Thank you. Now, which card would you like it to be?

Possibly the one you wish you'd drawn last week in the poker game, what?

Friday night I'd have given my right eye for the king of clubs.

It's the king of clubs.

Gosh Almighty!

You see, I... I am Professor Tauro.

Oh, yes, I've seen you on the stage.

Have you really? Then here's another.

I... I beg your pardon. I'd like...

I'd like to see Dr. Sabbatt, please.

- Room 231, you can go right up. - Thank you.

Taxi!

Hotel Roxbury.

Miss Barclay!

Miss Barclay.

Miss Barclay!

Miss Barclay.

- Are you all right? - Yes, I'm all right.

- Are you sure? - I'm sure.

Operator! Operator!

- I don't want a doctor. - I'm calling the police.

Police... no! No, please don't call the police.

That's the last thing in the world I want.

Hey, wait a minute. It doesn't make sense.

This isn't a private little mystery about mediums any longer,

somebody tried to kill you!

- You need protection. - No!

If I hadn't decided to follow you, you...

But I'm all right, he's gone now!

You don't by any chance know who "he" was?

No, I don't. I don't!

I'm sure you have very good reasons for not telling me and it's none of my business.

I apologize for having interfered. Good night.

It's funny, I've never been able to walk out on a woman who was crying.

As a matter of fact this is the first chance I've ever had to really try.

Now that's a pretty good imitation of a smile.

Well, what do we do now? You didn't want me to stay and you don't want me to go.

I'm afraid there's nothing anybody can do.

Can't I even punch somebody in the nose for you?

It'll be much better if you just forget the whole thing.

What changed your mind about wanting me to help you?

I can't tell you.

Is there anything you can tell me?

Not now.

Well, there's one thing I can do and I can do it right now.

- Christopher 7-1872 - Who are you calling?

My father.

Hello, this is Mike. Listen, Dad, I want you to go to my desk and get my gun.

A gun? What do I need a gun for?

I haven't seen a man in New York who looked like he could stand up in a strong wind.

Come over to the Hotel Roxbury right away?

Say, when do people go to bed in this town, in the wintertime?

Okay, kid, I'll be right over.

Okay, Dad.

It wouldn't look very nice to the hotel if I stayed,

but they certainly can't object to a 62-year-old widower.

What are you going to do?

Forget the whole business.

I wish I didn't have to seem so horribly ungrateful.

Don't take all the blame, nobody asked me to follow you.

You'll like my father. He thinks everybody in New York ought to be shot...

...and he's dying to start the movement.

Oh, I'm sorry. You've had a hectic evening and you're all in.

Now you go on and start getting ready to hit the hay.

Dad won't mind meeting you with a little cold cream on your face.

In fact, neither of us will mind it.

Have you a cigarette?

Oh.

Now relax. At least you don't have to worry about me making things worse for you.

- Madame Rapport. - You're not a reporter.

Well, I had to say something to get in.

What do you want?

- I want to know a lot of things. - Such as?

Do you know a young girl by the name of Judy Barclay?

Judy Barclay.

I never heard of her.

Are you sure?

Yes, I'm sure, Mr. Morgan.

Well, I didn't realize I was so famous.

Every sincere worker in the field of psychic research knows about you.

Why shouldn't we?

A man who's done more than anybody in America to ridicule our efforts.

Sincere workers I'll gladly help.

But you're a fake.

Have you ever heard of Colonel Herbert Watrous?

Of the Psychic Association, certainly.

I suppose you'd call him a fake too.

No. The real Watrous is an eminent, responsible scientist.

Colonel Watrous, will you come in here, please?

Colonel Watrous, may I present Mr. Michael Morgan.

A cheap trickster who has managed to secure a lot of publicity...

...by vicious and unwarranted attacks on our cause.

- I've heard of the gentleman. - You're not really Col. Watrous, are you?

Would you care to call the British Consulate?

And you believe this... this woman to be genuine?

That is why I came to America.

Well, I give up.

Madame Rapport, do you know a certain Dr. Sabbatt?

I suppose you're going to tell the colonel that Dr. Sabbatt's a faker too.

Oh, come now, Colonel, not demons and vampires.

Dr. Sabbatt is another reason for my visit here.

If his powers are trickery, then he's the cleverest imposter I've ever met.

Col. Watrous, shall we go? I don't want to be late.

Just a moment, please.

There's only one possible answer to this.

I'm going to the British Consulate and find out about you.

There's another thing wrong with New York.

Now, most towns when they want to spread out, they spread out like this.

But New York, no, it's got to spread out like that.

So, what happens?

They've got a town full of 88-story buildings and...

...then they have an elevator strike.

In other words, if it weren't for your son, you wouldn't stay here.

Not in a million years.

- How long have you known Mike? - I met him today.

Today? Things do move fast in this town, don't they?

Did Mike tell you where he was going?

Mike stopped telling me where he was going nights when he was sixteen.

Dr. Sabbatt's apartment, please.

- Oh, you can go right up, 231. - Thank you.

Well, here we are again.

Easy, I'm not going to bite you.

You're the real Col. Watrous all right, I checked on that.

You didn't have to follow us to tell me that.

Why, I'm a guest here, Dr. Sabbatt invited me.

Why doesn't he answer? Something must have happened.

This meeting's too important to him.

Because there is death in that place.

Death from the other world.

- Call the clerk, get a key. - Just a minute.

Well, that stops even me.

Nobody can get past one of those chains.

Listen.

"Brings the dead to life".

Hey, what is this?

Return to whence you came.

Oh, stop it. This witchcraft nonsense isn't getting us anywhere.

Oh, you stupid fool!

Witchcraft is not dead.

Don't give me any of that.

That was Sabbatt in there giving us a build-up for his show.

That was not Sabbatt's voice.

Yeah?

Well, we'll soon find out. Step over there, please.

It's... it's Dr. Sabbatt!

He's been strangled.

- No! - He's dead!

Colonel, please.

Good evening.

- Really! - Well!

If it isn't the ace of spades.

Oh, am I late? I came to attend Dr. Sabbatt's seance.

- Step right in. - Thank you.

If you have any sense all of you, you'll stay right where you're put.

Death from the other world.

But I'm still going to get the police.

Mike!

I, um... I didn't expect to see you here, I...

I was just on my way to Dr. Sabbatt's demonstration.

Wait a minute. Where's your husband?

Ou, out somewhere, I suppose, getting drunk as usual.

There's been an accident in there.

Something happened to, um...

Hey, come on down, Al.

Oh...

Let me go, I just want to catch her in his place.

Easy, Leclaire, Sabbatt's dead.

Who did it? I'd like to buy him a box of cigars.

- Did you kill him? - Me?

You told fifty people you were going to fix him.

- I didn't kill him, I swear I didn't. - Shh!

I beg your pardon, but would you please ask the clerk downstairs...

to call the Police Department and have Insp. Gavigan come over here right away?

I'll do it for you, Mike.

You know your coming back here would be the same as confessing to this murder.

You've known me a long time, haven't you?

- What was that cop's name? - Gavigan, Insp. Gavigan.

Inspector, it don't make sense.

There's another one of them foolproof chains on the kitchen door just like the front.

- Windows? - Windows are all locked from the inside.

I tell you, a half-grown microbe couldn't have got out of this joint...

...without using a crowbar and a grand jury.

Say, maybe one of you guys can examine a corpse in the dark.

But I'm no bat!

Blackie, when are we gonna get some light?

I'm working on it. As fast as I put in new fuses they blow out.

- Where's the clerk? - Out getting a cup of java.

- Find out where and bring him back. - Right.

Alright, Mike, you're dying to talk. What's it all about?

That monkey business on the floor there.

Well, that presumes to say that Sabbatt invoked some demon out of hell...

...who got sore and wrung his neck.

More like some hophead with delirium tremens.

I wouldn't laugh too loud, Gavigan.

There's an awful lot of humbug about the ocult and the psychic.

But plenty of things happen that can't be explained by any of the rules of this world.

I thought you were poison ivy on mediums and fortune tellers.

On the fakes yes. But don't kid yourself.

For several thousand years the human race...

...has been trying to step across the threshold into the darkness of the unknown.

Call it the other world if you like.

Because there's something there.

And once in a while somebody gets pretty close to it.

Oh, a boogeyman committed this murder, eh?

Or a human murderer set the stage this way.

How did he manipulate those chains? Nothing was tampered with.

And I thought I new all about magic, but that stunt has me guessing.

Look, Inspector.

The murderer left his card.

Duvallo, the Escape King.

Nice, helpful murderer. leaves his card to save the police trouble.

No, Duvallo couldn't have escaped from this room...

...unless somebody like me built it for him first.

Alright, Mike, you keep your ghosts.

I'll take Mr. Duvallo in that room full of human beings.

Enough of this!

Hey, you!

- He claimed he could not only... - See here, Inspector!

- Hey, where do you think you're going? - It's alright, Bergen.

Well now, Professor, something on your mind that won't wait?

I broadcast the Zanadosa program, coast to coast network.

I go in the air at 1 o'clock. I've got to get there now.

What do you know about this mess that you haven't told me?

Nothing. I left the 48 Club tonight with Dr. Sabbatt and Duvallo.

Then Duvallo left us there on the sidewalk and I came here with Dr. Sabbatt.

He was alive when I left him here at midnight.

- No witnesses, of course. - Hardly.

Incidentally, a murderer doesn't walk openly out through a front door.

No? Maybe that's the reason you did.

A murderer hardly stops to talk to a desk clerk...

...so he'll be sure of who he is.

We'll ask the clerk about that.

Really? You might ask the young lady too.

What young lady?

The young lady I heard asking for Dr. Sabbatt just as I was leaving.

- Ever see her before? - Yes.

Once. Tonight.

- With you, at the 48 Club. - I'll explain that, Gavigan.

Excuse me, Inspector, I'll show you why the lights are not working.

Se that? A penny.

Smart guy. There's a copper cent in every socket in the place.

Soon as we get them all cleaned out, I'll give you the juice.

- Okay, Blackie. - I say, see here, Inspector.

You haven't the slightest bit of evidence on which to hold me and you know it.

I shall be on the air at 1 o'clock. I shall return here later if you so desire.

- Alright, go ahead. - My card, my home address.

In case you want me.

- Quinn! - Coming.

- Now, what about that girl? - I'll get her.

- Yes, sir. - Put a tail on that guy Tauro.

- Right. - I'll be back in ten minutes.

Follow that cab!

Gavigan told me to string along with you.

- For why I need you? - Because the hand is quicker than the eye.

But not my eye.

Look, he stopped.

I thought he was in such a hurry to get to his broadcast.

Keep him in sight, Tim.

All he did was to walk around the block.

He did a lot more than that or I'm crazy. Grab him, quick!

Squeeze him off, Tim!

This is police.

Well knock me down!

How much did the gay pay you to double for him?

I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't do anything.

No, but it is a crime to do 20mph in a 15 mile zone.

That's right. Besides, now that I think of it,

you didn't signal your turns, the badge in your hat is upside down,

you left your cab unattended and you parked too close to a fireplug.

You'll love Sing-Sing.

Okay, Buddy, I'll talk.

The guy told me if I'd wear this stuff and walk around the block, he'd...

Then you do exactly what Tauro wanted you to do, follow the hat and cloak.

Right. Soon as we were around the corner, he gets out of the cab...

...and walks calmly away laughing at us.

And in the excitement of being made a fool of...

...you forget all about the mysterious young lady you were going to bring back.

Well, isn't it obvious that Tauro is the one you want?

- Doesn't his disappearence prove that? - Don't worry.

Quinn, get a description of Tauro on the wire to headquarters.

Make it a general alarm, teletype and radio. Pick him up.

- Right. - Send in that clerk.

Now stop stalling, Mike, I want that girl.

- Are you the clerk downstairs? - Yes, sir.

Why did you kill Sabbatt?

Me? Why...

I never killed anybody in my life.

Who came to see Dr. Sabbatt last night?

First it was Professor Tauro, he came with the doctor.

Oh, you know Tauro, do you?

Yes, he told me who he was.

He did a card trick for me before he left.

He seems to have been doing his darndest to identify himself.

What about the girl who came in, did she give her name?

Sure, Judy Barclay.

Anything else?

No, that's all. Go on downstairs but don't leave the building.

Miss Barclay's apartment, please.

Hello, Dad? Bring Miss Barclay to Dr. Sabbatt's apartment right away.

She knows where. As quick as you can.

Shall I bring the gun?

It's against the law to carry a gun in New York?

It's a fine time to tell me.

I read of three fellows who were found yesterday shot full of holes.

What did they shoot them with, saxophones?

Okay.

- Is anything wrong with Mike? - No.

He says that Dr. Sabbatt has just been found murdered.

We've got just one chance.

The green ghoul at the door is watching us through the glass.

I may be able to hypnotize him.

Are you going crazy, Mike?

You tell me a guy disappears and now he pops like Peter Rabbit.

That wasn't Tauro's voice.

If a guy stages an elaborate disappearence act en route to a radio station,

he's not going to show up at the radio station.

Give me the information desk.

Inspector Gavigan, Homicide Bureau.

Is Professor Tauro playing Zanadoza in your program or isn't he?

Huh?

You were right. It's an understudy.

- Tauro didn't show up. - What did I tell you?

Oh, why can't I draw a nice clean axe murder up in the Bronx?

Mr. Morgan! Mr. Morgan!

Say, you can't bust in here like that!

That's all right, I sent for her. Hello, Judy.

I wish he'd said that to me.

I'll be outside in the hall if you want me, Mike.

All right, Dad.

I'm sorry, Judy, I tried to keep you out of this but they want to ask you a few questions.

Inspector Gavigan, Miss Barclay.

Sit down, Miss Barclay.

Now tell me, you knew Dr. Sabbatt?

Is it true, is he dead?

I'm sorry, it's true.

How well did you know him?

Only slightly. I met him several years ago in Europe.

You saw him tonight?

Yes, at the 48 Club with Mr. Morgan.

I mean here, you came here.

But I didn't see hem here, no one answered the door.

Why did you want to see him tonight?

Why, his demonstration. He invited Mr. Morgan and me to come.

But you didn't come with Mr. Morgan, did you?

No... I told him I wasn't going and...

Well... then I went home and I changed my mind.

How am I to know you didn't come to this apartment and kill Dr. Sabbatt?

- But I couldn't get in, I tell you! - And she couldn't get out.

The chains, Gavigan, the chains.

Do you know Al or Zelma Leclaire?

- Leclaire... - The woman with the radio mind.

Oh, yes. I saw them doing their act tonight, but that's all.

Do you know Col. Watrous?

No, I don't think I do. I'm sure I don't.

How about Madame Rapport the medium, do you know her?

I never heard of her in my life.

You see, Gavigan, I told you Miss Barclay wouldn't know anything of value.

- You saw a man called Tauro in the lobby. - Yes, he was doing a card trick.

Obviously this young lady is in the clear, can't you see that, Gavigan?

Nobody's in the clear yet for my dough.

It's plain the Leclaire dame was playing post office with Sabbatt...

...and her husband didn't like it. That makes them both eligible.

Tauro was here the right time, that let's him in.

Watrous, you tell me, is a responsible citizen...

but Madame Rapport's mixed up in this and I can't figure out how.

And I can't figure out how any human got past those chains.

Oh, back in the ghost department again!

Inspector, that guy Duvallo is out here...

Hello, Mike, what are you doing here?

Hello, Dave. Miss Barclay, Dave Duvallo.

Oh, pleased to meet you.

- Inspector Gavigan, Dave Duvallo. - How do you do?

What are you doing here?

Well, this killing, Inspector. I've read all about it in the extra.

Oh, sure, they would have an extra out.

Demons and locked doors. It's a wonder they didn't print it on red paper.

So I came around to see if I couldn't be of some professional help.

That's fine. This card of yours was found under the body.

Suppose you start in helping by explaining that.

My card. If I killed Sabbatt, I wouldn't put my card under his body, would I?

That is, unless I wanted you to think that some other guy...

...was trying to put the bee on poor little innocent me.

- Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'm not that smart. - You said you came up here to help.

I did, to tell you how the murderer could have gotten through those chained doors.

The old Siberian dungeon principle. You remember, Mike.

What Siberian principle?

The same as Ledger's sentry box escape.

Look here, Mr. Duvallo,

the Siberian dungeon trick may be the same as a sentry box escape trick...

...or the Hungarian baloney factory trick, but I'm not a magician.

So would it be asking too much of you to explain it in plain United States?

I'll do better than that, I'll show you how it was done.

Gavigan, do you mind if I take Miss Barclay home now?

Okay, I'll count on you to have her available when I need her.

- Right. - Good night, kid!

Come on, Judy, let's go.

I'll be home if you want me, Marty.

All right, Professor, the Scandinavian icebox trick, if you please.

Alright, then we'll start right out here in the hall.

Now, if it can be shown to be impossible for a human being to get through a locked door,

that just leaves one answer, doesn't it?

Just make one crack about demons and ghosts, it's all I want you to do.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

He hung around out there until somebody smashed in the front door.

Then he came back through here, put the chain back on the door...

...and made his getaway out through the front door.

Then naturally nobody saw him due to the confusion over the finding of Sabbatt's body.

That means Watrous, or Mike, or Madame Rapport.

Or Tauro. Look here, Inspector.

I was at the 48 Club that night with Sabbatt and Tauro...

...but I left him later on the sidewalk because they got quarreling.

It sounded to me like a little blackmail involved.

Are you sure you left him?

I'm positive. Tauro can put me in the clear.

There's only one trouble. Tauro's disappeared.

Disappeared?

Gee, that makes it kind of bad for me, doesn't it?

Tauro could have given me a complete alibi.

Mike, I hope you don't think I have anything to do with...

Sabbatt's murder?

I'm sure of that.

- You can depend on it too, Dad. - You don't have to sell Judy to me.

If I were thirty years younger, you'd be calling your mother tomorrow.

Besides, wasn't I listening at the door?

Who drew all those funny marks on the floor?

- Ghosts. - What?

- Ghosts! - Oh, I thought you said goats.

How come is it that you don't know that Siberian dungeon trick and Duvallo does?

He can't be very smart.

He was born in New York.

I practically invented that trick.

It's based on a principle that in an unsolvable mystery...

...the real facts are just the opposite to what they seem.

I was a little confused before, but now that you've explained, I'm bewildered.

Everything points to Tauro being the murderer so I don't believe it.

Everything points to Tauro being a fugitive...

...so I think I know where I can find him.

Don't mind me,

I haven't understood what you've been talking about since I struck town.

You take Judy to our place and don't let her out of your sight.

- No, I'm going with you. - No, you stick with me, Judy,

He's going to have his block knocked off.

Where are you going to find Mr. Tauro?

The last place anybody would try to look for him.

In his own home.

Hiya, Mike.

If I were you, I'd start doing a lot of explaining quick.

He's dead, Gavigan.

So I see. The same phony business on the floor too.

This is incredible.

Yeah, and he was going to give you an alibi for Sabbatt's murder, now he's dead.

Maybe because he couldn't have cleared you.

You don't think I killed him, do you? Why should I?

Wait a minute. This doesn't make sense. I saw him just before his 1 o'clock broadcast.

Don't you see, I was in your presence at the very moment Tauro was being killed?

And certainly I wouldn't have killed the one man who could prove I didn't kill Sabbatt.

That's the first time in my life I ever heard of one murderer alibiing another.

So, if it's all the same to you, I think I'll run along now.

- Now be sure that you... - I know, I know,

you can always find me, I've been a pretty well-known figure around town...

...for about ten years. Ask Mike, he knows.

It certainly is an awful mess, Inspector. I hope you get it figured out.

- Well, I had a swell theory up to now. - Hold it a minute.

Quinn, notify the Department and wake up Doc Hendricks again.

Hey, Doc!

What time do you figure Sabbatt was bumped off?

Call it midnight in round numbers.

But this man has been dead about four hours.

- Four hours? - About four hours, I said.

Why, it's 3 o'clock now, that means Tauro was killed around 11 o'clock.

Doc, you're crazy.

You yourself saw him alive and talking in Sabbatt's apartment way after midnight.

He's been dead four hours, maybe fifteen minutes one way or the other.

- But I talked to him. - There can't be any mistake.

I followed him when he left the place in a taxi cab.

Then maybe this is the boogeyman you were talking about.

You figure it out.

Okay, Sid, you've got all I need.

Four hours.

According to that Tauro couldn't have killed Sabbatt.

No, he couldn't have.

Apparently he was dead before Sabbatt was.

Hello, Inspector. Is the body in here?

Right over th...

It's gone.

What is this hocus pocus?

Now take it easy, Gavigan.

Go down to the wagon and wait. Quinn, close that door from the outside.

Fine Police Department we are. Even dead guys disappear on us.

I don't like this magic stuff.

Don't let anything funny happen, because if you do,

I'm gonna say a few magic words over you and your job will disappear.

- Yes, Inspector. - Mike!

Is there really anything to this demon and surrogate stuff?

Not this time, I don't think. Let me look around a minute, I'll figure it out.

Steady, Gavigan.

"Death will strike the third time".

Well.

- That stunt's got me fooled. - Mike, you don't think...

Cut it out, Gavigan. Give me a chance to think.

I've been a good, honest cop in the New York Police Force for 19 years...

...and so help me, this is the first time that I ever...

Mart, I've got it.

Hey, Ga...

Gavigan.

Gavigan!

Hey, Marty!

Gavigan, are you all right?

Yeah, I'm okay.

I sat on the couch, Mike, what happened to me?

You fell through a trap door. The place is full of them.

Look!

That's how he disappeared.

- Another typewriter? - Shows you how dumb you can be.

The keys of this typewriter were connected by these loops of thread...

...through this tube to the one upstairs.

Press a key down here, it prints a letter up there, catch on?

But there weren't any threads on the other typewriter.

Oh, when the message was finished, he cut the loops with this pair of scissors...

...and pulled the threads down through the tube.

He, who?

That's what's got me bothered. It looks like there's more than one mixed up in this.

But you said the same person committed both murders.

Maybe there's more than murder involved.

Wait a minute. Hey, Quinn!

Quinn!

- Yes, Inspector? - Quinn!

- Quinn! - Yes, Inspector, where are you?

Come over to the couch!

- What are you doing down there? - Never mind that, come on down!

And be careful.

Don't worry about me being careful in this joint.

Can't you go a little faster?

Well, of course your business is your business.

But if you can at least tell who you think is trying to kill you,

it would be a great help to me and Mike.

I was pretty sure it was Dr. Sabbatt.

But it happened again after he was dead.

If that ain't a great city for you.

At home you'd get to be Miss Indiana, or the Queen of May.

But here in New York, when they find a pretty girl like you, what happens?

They try to strangle you.

New York.

Look! It's Dr. Sabbatt!

- Oh, Mike, Mike! - Judy, Judy.

Take it easy now.

Nobody's going to hurt you. Now, what is it, what happened:

It was Sabbatt! Dr. Sabbatt!

He's not dead, he's still alive.

- He tried to kill me! - Sabbatt...

Oh, nonsense, he's in a nice cold drawer down at the morgue.

But he was at the window with a gun!

Where's Dad?

Well, one minute he was here and the next thing he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Cloud of smoke?

Oh, it's you, Mike.

Oh, I thought the devil ghost had grabbed us.

- Are you all right? - I'm all right.

I'd have gotten that one at the window, but I stepped on the Egyptian temple mystery...

...and I went through the trap door like a ton of brick.

Oh, that was it.

Well, is the ghost still honoring us with his presence?

No, there's not a ghost in sight.

- Say, maybe I dreamed it. - Oh, no, I saw it too. It was Sabbatt.

Judy, let's you and I have a little talk.

Cagliostro!

- Oh! - Step into my parlor.

Robert Houdin.

I know that door is just another one of your tricks,

but what were the words you were using?

Cagliostro and Robert Houdin, two of the greatest magicians that ever lived.

The place is full of stunts like that.

It impresses the customers.

Have you something you want to tell me, Judy?

Yes. Not much, and it isn't very nice.

Well, I'm on your side, you know.

Madame Rapport is Sabbatt's wife.

- And she's my sister. - Hm-hmm.

- Oh, I see you knew. - Yes.

Well, then you must have suspected the rest of it.

That you were trying to protect your sister from the consequences...

...of my exposing her as a fake.

Sabbatt threatened me if I dared tell anybody.

Dr. Sabbatt was a pretty bad boy, wasn't he?

One of the worst.

My sister was doing a harmless spirit act in Budapest when Sabbatt got hold of her.

Since then he's been aiming at that $25.000 prize.

And all the big money he can clean up.

Once he seemed to prove Madame Rapport the real thing.

- This Watrous is on the level, isn't he? - Yes.

He's honest and he's smart.

But he had a son killed in the war...

...and he actually believes Madame Rapport's made contact with the dead boy.

Oh, Mike... most of the time I'm a pretty sensible person, but...

so many weird things have been happening lately I...

Yeah...

Sabbatt used to say that his soul could leave his body...

...and people would believe he was dead.

You can gamble that Dr. Sabbatt is dead and he's going to stay dead a long time.

Well, what was that at the window?

- I don't know. - If Sabbatt's really dead, then...

Then who's been trying to kill me?

I don't know that either.

Why... why does somebody want to kill me?

Well... I've told you the whole story.

Well, maybe somebody's just trying to frighten you.

You're just saying that, aren't you?

- The truth is that you know something. - But...

Or the murderer thinks that you know something that'll hang him.

But I don't!

"I am the demon Sabbatt!"

" I call today from... from..."

Oh, heck, Mike. Inspector Gavigan's here to see you.

Excuse me.

Just a minute, Dad.

I don't want you here when Gavigan comes in, so wait in the bedroom, will you?

Well, how will I find it?

It's right down at the end of the room straight ahead, you can't miss it.

Now you just watch me, brother.

Herman the Great!

Houdini!

- Are you trying to kid me? - No, no, it's...

Say, do you know the names of any magicians?

The greatest magician of them all was a bird named Cagliostro.

Cagl...

Hello, Marty, don't you ever sleep?

Dad, keep a lookout a little longer, will you, please?

I'll be sitting right over here with my eye on the door.

Thanks. I've got a wild hunch we're going to have a visit from Madame Rapport.

No, I just left her. That's what I came to see you about. You see...

Mike, look!

After what's happened tonight I guess I just can't take it anymore.

I didn't do anything but sit down, and all of a sudden I couldn't get up.

Well, it isn't finished yet.

As soon as you sat down it automatically went to work on you.

What do you do to close this fool door, sing Yankee Doodle Dandy?

That I know, Robert Houdin.

Sit down.

Well, what's on your mind, Gavigan?

Mike, I put an x-ray on Madame Rapport. She swears Sabbatt isn't dead.

She says his soul is going to come back to his body.

Well, what did you expect her to tell a cop? That she was a fake...

- ... and have you slam her in jail? - She believes it.

Mike, that dame is on the level about it. And that's not all.

- You don't believe Sabbatt's not dead. - Oh, no!

She says she's going to give a seance tomorrow...

and call back Sabbatt to tell me who strangled him.

- Oh, don't let her fool you. - She ain't gonna fool me.

You're coming to that seance. If the lady produces a ghost,

I'll see what he has to say and you show me how they work the wires...

Where's she going to hold it?

She's so hopped up she'd pull it off on Madison Square Garden.

Have her hold it here in my place, then she can't pull any tricks on me.

Now you're talking. Say...

Suppose she digs up a real ghost.

My old grandmother used to swear they really had them back in Ireland.

- Oh, now you believe in ghosts, eh? - Me?

Not in the daytime. So long, call you tomorrow.

Cagliostro!

Pretty smart for a cop, huh?

Robert Houdin.

Judy, I want to ask you some questions, I want you to tell me everything that you can.

Does Madame Rapport really believe that she has supernatural powers?

Yes, Sabbatt convinced her that she was actually psychic.

If she gave a seance with Sabbatt out of the way,

there'd be no trick between them.

There couldn't be. He handled that end of it.

No ghosts at all.

- Unless they were real ones. - What is it, Mike?

We'll find that out tomorrow.

- Hello, Mike. - Oh, sit down anywhere, Dave.

And lock the door, will you, Quinn?

Now, Miss Barclay, will you sit there, please?

Ladies and gentlemen, I didn't bring you here on the old-fashioned grounds...

...that maybe I can scare one of you into revealing himself as a murderer.

On the contrary, I want you to study everything that happens,

if anything happens. I'm trying to help the Police Department...

...solve a couple of nasty killings.

Mr. Morgan, I expect you to expose any tomfoolery you discover.

Will you bring in Madame Rapport, please.

Mr. Watrous, I charge you, as an acknowledged scientist,

with the responsibility of unmasking any fraud you may detect.

Now, will you sit over there, please, where you can see everything?

I'm convinced that Madame Rapport is about to make a sincere attempt...

...to contact the other world.

I give you my word of honor that she brought with her no special effects...

trick machinery or devices of any kind.

Quinn, will you turn off the lights, please?

Now, Madame Rapport, if you please.

Dr. Sabbatt!

Shh! Judy!

Does one rap mean "yes" and two raps "no"?

Yes.

Dr. Sabbatt, do you know who strangled you?

Yes? Was it Professor Tauro?

Yes...

No?

You mean "yes" and "no".

It was Tauro but it wasn't Tauro.

Yes.

But Dr. Sabbatt, last night...

...someone who looked like you tried to get in the window of this building.

Was that you?

No.

Is Miss Barclay connected with these murders?

No.

Does she know something about these murders?

Yes.

Something that might expose the mystery?

Yes.

Then it is our duty to protect Miss Barclay until she is able to tell us?

Lights!

She just fainted.

The strain was too much for her.

I must be an awful liar,

I saw it, and I heard it, and I still don't believe it.

It wasn't real, I've been working on that ghost illusion for months.

I thought you said on your word of honor there wasn't going to be any phony business.

I said that about Madame Rapport, not about me.

I don't see the sense of it, what are you trying to do?

Marty, you remember what you told me once about people once they've committed a murder?

Sure, they don't care how many more they knock off,

they know they can only go to the electric chair just once.

That's just it. There's one murder that hasn't been committed yet.

- Miss Barclay? - Yes.

I tried to make the murderer realize that he had to get Judy Barclay out of the way.

- Aren't you risking the girl's life? - No, I'm going to save her.

Instead of letting the murderer decide when he's going to kill her...

...and take us by surprise,

I want him to think that we got careless and gave him an opportunity.

And that's just the time we'll be hearing from him, is that it?

At the Magician's Show.

- You want me, Inspector? - Yeah, just find a place there anywhere.

You folks find chairs and sit down, will you, please?

Quinn, don't let anybody in that door.

Well, now that you're all here, I've had time to check up on everybody's story.

Not one of you has a real alibi.

There's a certain half hour during which Dr. Sabbatt was murdered...

and you, Mrs. Leclaire, called on him during that half hour.

Sabbatt was dead when I got there. Mike knows that, he saw me coming out of the elevator.

How long were you hiding in that elevator?

- Hiding? - Yes, hiding!

You walked upstairs past the clerk thirty minutes earlier.

- I... - You could have been in there...

- ...and killed Sabbatt in that 30 minutes. - She was hiding, from me.

- I followed her there. - Yeah, you did.

That brings you there at the right time too.

So you shut up!

Madame, you claim Col. Watrous was your alibi.

Oh, come on now, Gavigan.

I told you they were both with me when I broke down that chained door.

Sure, after Sabbatt was dead. Where was she before that?

Before you arrived at her hotel.

And now, Mr. Duvallo, we checked your story on that missing 30 minutes...

...and it means nothing.

Yes, but I saw Sabbatt last with Tauro in front of the 48 Club.

Sure you did, but what was to prevent you 5, 10 or 15 minutes later...

...going over to Sabbatt's place? And that's where you come in, Miss Barclay!

Take it easy, Gavigan.

I admit Miss Barclay arrived at Dr. Sabbatt's apartment house...

during those thirty minutes but she didn't...

I know what she didn't do and I know what she did.

Now you and I are going to sit down and go over again and again...

every last detail of what you saw until we find out what blunder...

...one of this group committed that proved him or her guilty.

Oh, that's ridiculous, what makes you think any blunder was committed?

Because someody's trying to shut her mouth before we can discover it.

All right, if it'll make you any happier, but it'll have to wait till after the show.

Guy out here says he wants the Leclaires on the stage right away.

Okay. Right here, everyone, the minute Mike's act is over.

We're all going down to headquarters and stay there till we thrash this thing out.

That's all until then.

Well, how did you like my acting, Mike?

Well, Barrymore won't lose any sleep over it.

It was all right.

Mike, if your scheme doesn't work or if anything should go bad...

Maybe we'd better call the whole thing off.

No, Mike, I want to go through with it.

I haven't forgotten that man that came into my room or that horrible face at the window...

Moving along this unprecedented program...

will be the return from private life of the Great Morgan,

who will perform a new version of one of the most dangerous tricks in magic.

The Great Morgan.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,

I'd like to have a committee of about eight or nine of you come up to the stage, please.

Don't be bashful, come on. That's right, thank you, sir.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, right up here, please.

Will you stand over by that table?

Thank you. Don't touch anything until I tell you to.

May I have one or two more, please?

Thank you.

Most of you know the late Sing-Lin Foo's magic bullet trick.

But to those of you who don't, I'll explain it briefly.

A rifle is discharged at the subject...

who catches the bullet between her teeth.

Captain, please.

Now, may I introduce my collaborator and guest for this one performance only.

Captain Robert Z. Storm of the United States Army.

Captain Storm, will you present your credentials to the committee, please.

Now, may I present my charming assistant.

Excuse me.

- Satisfied, gentlemen? - Yes, yes.

The committee will now examine these weapons which Captain Storm...

...certifies are regulation army rifles.

If you please, gentlemen.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is obviously a trick.

And obviously the solution is in some deception,

either with the weapons or the cartridges.

My version dares you to find that deception.

- Everything legitimate? - Yes, okay.

Will one of you please open either box of cartridges.

Now dump the contents out on on the table.

Will another gentleman select any rifle and hand it to the captain.

That's right.

Now will another gentleman select any cartridge at random.

And another gentleman place that cartridge in the rifle.

- Practice shot, Captain? - Oh, yes, please.

Will one of you pass me one of those crackers, please.

Thank you.

Now will one of the gentlemen, any one of you, select another cartridge, please.

Settle it among yourselves.

Now will you mark the bullet so you may be able to identify it later.

All watch closely, please.

Get ready, keep your eye on those aces.

May I have it, please?

This bullet has been marked in the presence of your committee.

Captain Storm will now discharge this bullet at his human target.

If we are successful,

my charming assistant will catch this same marked bullet between her teeth

Will someone please place the cartridge in Captain Storm's rifle.

All right, Captain?

Watch closely, gentlemen.

- Ready, Captain? - Ready.

Miss Barclay?

Ready.

Aim.

Fire!

Get him, Gavigan.

The guy with the beard, get him quick!

I was right, Marty, here's my cartridge, he fell for the scheme.

- Who is he? - We'll soon find out.

It's Duvallo.

Yeah.

All but the eyes.

Look at that, Gavigan.

Those new invisible spectacles.

Yeah, doctored up to make him like he had blue eyes.

Poor Dave. He'll probably have a long story to tell us when he comes to.

But Marty, don't use handcuffs on him, he can escape from a straightjacket.

- You hear that, Quinn? - Don't worry.

Every time I see he's coming to, I'll pop him again.

Judy.

What in the world was in that imitation blood capsule you put in my mouth?

The usual formula. Terrible, wasn't it?

Well, that's the first time I ever had orders to miss my target.

You certainly did just miss me, Captain, I...

I could feel the heat of that bullet on my cheek.

Oh, no, no, I missed you at least that far.

- How do you feel, Judy? - Oh, I'm fine, I...

- Why, I never felt better in my life... - Judy!

Cagliostro!

Robert Houdin!

Boy, you should have seen us coming across town...

...in a police car with me blowing the siren.

I tell you, Mike, we New Yorkers have got the best police force in the world.

We New Yorkers?

- I thought you hated this town. - Me?

Where did you ever get that idea?

No, sir, tomorrow I'm going to go out and buy a pair of spats and a cane,

and if I can get away with that, I'm going to try sleeping in pajamas.

You haven't started to explain that murder mystery yet, have you?

No, I made him wait for you.

Blackmail. Dr. Sabbatt was bleeding Duvallo dry.

Some mess Dave got himself into years ago in Europe.

Then he got the idea he'd kill Sabbatt and make it look like Tauro had done it.

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

Tauro is dead, Tauro isn't dead.

Explain that first.

Dave made himself up to look like Tauro.

Somewhere along the line Tauro got wise...

so he had to strangle him first.

Then, made up as Tauro, he went up to the doctor's apartment, killed him.

That's why he fixed it so the lights wouldn't work until he got away.

Fine. I don't get it.

Well, the lights would have shown up his disguise.

- Oh. - What's that?

Oh, somebody out in front.

Dad, press the button and see who it is, will you?

But don't you say another word until I come back.

Listen, I can't wait. What was it Duvallo thought I knew?

To impress the clerk that he was Tauro, he stopped to do Tauro's favorite card trick.

Unknowingly, he fanned the cards from left to right.

Oh, yes, that's so.

He thought you'd noticed it and you'd tell me.

Oh, than he was the one that tried to get in the window.

Made up as Dr. Sabbatt that time.

Now what I've explained to you will cover all the other points if you stop to think.

I don't want to think and I don't want to hear any more about it.

You know, Judy, with a little training you'd have made a marvelous mindreader.

Why, even a halfwit could tell what you're thinking about.

Hey, Mike, somebody quick! Help!