Original subtitles

At first, all I could see was this face.

This beautiful babe's face

floating toward me.

And in my head

was this slow, crazy melody,

like a tune from another world.

And then I saw the room.

A queer, mirrored room,

and somehow I was inside it.

There was danger there.

I knew that.

I wanted to turn and run, but I couldn't.

It was as if my brain was handcuffed.

But then I had to do what I had come to do.

What a dream.

Those thumb prints on my throat...

They weren't there last night when I undressed.

But it couldn't be.

That all happened in a nightmare.

Talk about your realistic dreams.

I couldn't have done it in my sleep.

Choke myself without waking up?

Blood.

I must have scratched myself.

There they were. The button and that odd-shaped key.

The things out of the dream.

I'd never seen them before.

They hadn't been there when I undressed last night.

The button wasn't mine. The key wasn't mine.

But if they were there, it must have happened.

The dream, the struggle, the murder, everything.

But how?

Could something like that happen and I wouldn't know it?

Was I going insane?

Across the rooftops, I could see the river.

Out there, everything was status quo.

The hassle was in here, with me.

My stomach was riding a roller coaster.

I couldn't face going to work.

I didn't want to see anybody.

Will you get me Canal 47362?

Listen, baby. If you're not coming down because you're sore about last night,

- forgive and forget. What do you say? - Is it Stan?

Well, if a guy's sick, he's sick.

How long you think it'll be?

Well, I don't know. I'll try to get Pee-Wee.

What did he say? What's the matter?

Four sides we gotta cut, and your boyfriend turns up sick.

What is it? Did he tell you? Is it something serious?

You don't think just because I wouldn't use his arrangements...

Oh, Billy, he wouldn't stand you up at a session. You know that.

- It must be something serious. - Listen, baby.

I know you love the guy. I love him, too. But you gotta admit he's a screwball.

Well, he's the kind of screwball I like.

Have it your way. We gotta get a sub. Fat chance.

Let's see. Thomas. Pee-Wee Thomas.

The more I tried to figure it, the sicker I got.

Even that weird nightmare music kept tearing at me.

Where did I ever hear it before?

All of a sudden, the room started spinning.

Hotel New Orleans? Stan Grayson's room, please.

Mr. Grayson doesn't answer?

Oh. Thank you.

- Funny the genius shouldn't be there. - Oh, Billy...

- If he was laid up, like. - Do you know what I mean?

No, I don't.

Something awful fishy about this. He can be replaced.

Now don't do anything rash. Give me a chance to talk to him.

What good will that do?

And you guys played that last number lousy.

I had to get out of my room.

Out into the sunshine.

I had to stay out of the shadows.

And I knew that tonight I'd be afraid of the dark.

I walked all day. I didn't know where. It didn't matter.

I had to talk to somebody.

Gina?

I'd get sympathy from Gina.

What I needed was an explanation.

Rene, my brother-in-law.

He ought to be able to figure something.

- Hi. - Hmm. Now, wait a minute.

I've seen you somewhere before.

Hello, sis.

I was just telling Rene... It couldn't have been 10 minutes ago

I was saying if you didn't show up in the next few days,

I was going to send out a posse.

Just in time for dinner, as if you didn't know.

- You're staying for dinner, aren't you? - Yeah, sure.

You look a little peaked.

I keep telling Rene, you don't take care of yourself. Those restaurants, those hours...

You feel all right?

I'm okay, sis.

- Why, you look peaked. - Just a little tired.

- Been working today? - Recording session.

Oh, good! I hope you have a hit.

Where's Rene?

- Now, where would he be? - In the garage?

Wait till you see what he's working on now, my "do-it-yourself" husband.

He gets so wrapped up, he's just as liable to forget about his dinner.

So, you tell him it'll be on the table in five minutes.

Will you tell him?

Hello, Rene.

Stan.

Don't ever creep up on me like that. I'm just liable to cut your head off.

How do you like her?

- Sweetheart, isn't she? - Beauty.

- When did you get her? - About three weeks ago. A steal.

You know, this fellow's wife, she's afraid of the water.

Say, Rene, I've got to talk to you.

- Well, I'll just... - Wait a minute.

Something eating on you, fella?

Rene...

- I've got a real problem. - Well, shoot.

I don't know where to start. Don't know how to start.

You and Gina had a row, huh? Well, I'll fix it up for you.

- No, I wish it was that easy. - Well, what else?

You know, you're gonna think that I've flipped my lid.

Last night, I had a nightmare. I dreamed I killed a man.

- Oh, so you had a nightmare. - I don't know who he was.

I don't know where it was supposed to be,

but it was in some kind of a mirrored room.

I had a fight with him.

I stabbed him with some kind of a steel tool of some kind.

I...

During the struggle, a button came off his coat.

And after I'd killed him,

I'd locked his body in a closet and I took the key.

That's quite a dream.

Then, when I woke up...

Well...

Look.

And this morning, there was blood on my wrist.

Oh...

No, listen to me. I figured that I'd scratched myself in my sleep

so I washed it off. But that was before I saw these.

- You're all to pieces, kid. - Rene, you've got to help me.

Well, sure, kid. Sure.

You don't know what I've been through today.

Where'd you get this?

- I told you, I... - No, I mean, where'd you first get it

before you dreamed about it?

You haven't been listening to me.

You don't understand what I'm telling you. I didn't have it before I dreamed about it.

I never saw it before then.

Then when I woke up, it turns out real.

I warned you before.

You work too hard and you play too hard.

I know you're a musician and you're high strung with that artistic temperament,

but you've got to know when to draw the line.

- Oh, Rene... - And it isn't up to me

to lecture you about drinking, either.

- But hanging out in bars... - Stop it, Rene!

Look, I wasn't drunk and I'm not loony.

There's a door somewhere,

right this minute, and this key belongs to it.

And behind that door, there's a man, dead.

I don't know who he is, I don't know where it is, I don't know how it happened.

But it must have happened.

And I must have done it.

Otherwise, how would it come to me in my sleep like this?

- And these things... - Now, you listen to me, kid.

You had these things before. You picked them up someplace

and forgot them someplace a long time ago.

And last night,

you have some chili con carne and a drink too many and you cook up a nightmare.

And in it, you remember these old things and you weave them in.

- No, no... - Now, don't say no.

You either dream a thing or it actually happens.

Don't worry.

If you had a battle with a guy

and you rammed something into him in your sleep, you'd wake up, all right.

It happened, Rene. I tell you, it happened.

You dreamed it. You never had these things.

Now, look.

Why don't you take a few days rest? You're wearing your nerves thin.

Take Gina down to Biloxi. Do a little fishing.

- That's your answer? - Yes.

Take a vacation?

- That's all you can tell me? - Stan, Rene!

Come and get it!

Look, Rene, please. If I tell you once more that I never saw these things...

Now forget these things.

And not a word of this to Sue, you understand? She worries about you enough.

- You haven't helped me a bit. - Well, naturally not.

You expect me to arrest you for murdering somebody in a dream.

Well, the rest will have to happen in a dream, too.

Because I'm off duty when I'm dreaming.

Come on. Come on, kid.

Let's wrap ourselves around some chow.

Would you do me a favor?

Smile for Sue, will you?

Darn it all.

I keep cracking the polish off that one nail.

You like curried shrimp, Stan?

You better like them, eh, Sue? Because that's what we're gonna have.

Stan, why did you tell me you were at a recording session today?

Because I was...

You feeling better, Stan? I thought you were sick.

Well, I was. I just wasn't feeling well.

I kept calling the room all day and there was no one there,

and Billy got a little bit suspicious.

I just didn't feel like working today,

and I wasn't sick enough to stay in my room.

Why does everybody have to make such a big thing out of it?

The blood.

I washed it off.

I don't know how long I was blacked out.

I hazily remember coming to for a moment and I felt that

I was being carried somewhere.

And then I blacked out again.

It must have been around midnight that something awakened me.

Feel any better?

Did I do any talking? Did I say anything?

No, nothing.

But you scared the daylights out of them.

What am I gonna do?

Sue is sleeping now.

I took Gina home a while ago.

- Did they ask any questions? - What do you think?

- What did you say? - The truth.

No, not what you're thinking. Not that dream business.

But the real truth. You've been wearing yourself out.

- Rene, how can I make you understand? - You passed out

just like any high strung guy who's seen ghosts that he made for himself in here.

Go on. Keep talking like that and you'll drive me batty.

Instead of that, why don't you try and help me?

- How? - You're a detective.

Take the key and the button.

You've had plenty of cases where you had less than that to begin with.

Find out where they came from.

Find out what they were doing on me. Find out where that mirrored room is.

Now, forget them. Once and for all, forget them.

I can't. They're all I've got to find out what happened.

Nothing's happened.

You're just selling yourself a phony bill of goods.

Just as phony as that nail polish was blood.

That's the kind of trick your mind's been playing on you.

- It can't be that. - Now, look...

And don't you crack to Sue about this nonsense or I'll...

Well, just don't crack.

She's fretted herself about you plenty, ever since your mother died.

- I know. - Now would be the worst time of all.

Now? Why now?

Well, I wasn't going to tell you until later, but...

She's gonna have a kid.

Oh, that's fine, Rene. That's fine.

After being married nine years?

It's great!

So, now you know. So, forget it, will you?

And if you keep harping on this spooky business,

I'm gonna grab you and take you down to a head doctor, so help me.

Now, go on. Get some sleep.

Sleep?

I felt I'd never sleep again until I knew the answer.

Four days went by without a lead.

I scoured the papers.

Not one line about the murder.

I couldn't figure it.

And all week, I'd been avoiding Gina.

I didn't want her involved in this horror that kept gnawing at my brain.

If something didn't happen soon...

That was it. That out-of-the-world melody.

If I could find out where I'd heard it that would give me something to go on.

One of my hip friends ought to know that tune.

Never met up with that one, Stan boy.

Sorry.

Man, that's a weirdy. You got me.

It was the same from one end of Bourbon Street to the other.

It was a tune that stumped the experts.

Sorry, Stan. I guess I lose the $64,000.

Thanks, anyway, Meade.

See you later.

It was her.

The babe from the mirrored room.

I beg your pardon.

You say something?

I thought you were somebody else.

It's not very original, but it'll do for a starter.

No, you got me wrong. I really thought you were...

"Somebody else." And then I say, "Is that so?" And then you say, "Yeah.

"This friend of mine, she looks just like you."

- From the back. - Yeah, from the back, naturally.

And pretty soon, you're sitting down next to me and we're having a drink together.

So, why don't we just skip all the preliminaries?

What was that when you started it?

"Rye," he says.

Two of the same.

Thanks.

- The greatest. - Mmm.

You come here often?

If nothing happened, I was gonna let one

more number run over me and then I was going.

If nothing happened.

What's your name?

Joe.

Joe May.

Hi, Joe May. I'm Madge Novick.

Well, here's to... What'll we drink to, Joe?

Sunshine?

I'll buy that.

Here's to sunshine.

Why sunshine?

I just like it better than the dark.

Me, too.

Every morning, when that sun is shining, I'm fine.

But by the time night rolls around, if I ain't got something lined up, oh...

Honey, you are in a state of the galloping jitters.

I'm upset about something.

Like to tell Mama about it?

You'd think I lost my marbles.

Take a good look around.

All kinds of people sitting by themselves,

trying to find companionship,

maybe a little sunshine in a glass.

Sometimes I think we're all minus a few marbles.

What do you want, Oscar?

Guess he wants to give me another drink.

I have a better idea.

My place, if you call it a place. It's not quite an apartment.

It's right around the corner.

We can have ourselves a quiet drink there and you can tell me all your troubles.

And pretty soon they'll just fade away, okay?

Okay.

It's not very big.

Make yourself comfortable.

Sit down.

On that?

It's my oriental blood. I like to sit cross-legged and brood.

Fix yourself something. I'll be right back.

Hi.

Do you want to tell me your troubles now, hmm?

What's the matter?

Joe?

- Who is it? - Me, Rene.

Hello, Rene.

Still dragging your nose.

Well, I've got something downstairs that'll cheer you up.

Oh, for Pete's sake, Rene.

Come on, come on. Don't be a mule, put it on.

- We're going on a little picnic. - I don't want to go anywhere.

Well, don't you want to help your sister celebrate?

- Celebrate what? - The brand new car I just got her.

Well, that's fine. I hope she enjoys it, but I don't want to go anywhere.

You're going to hide in your room like a groundhog?

Now, look here. This is Sunday.

It's my day off. Suzy and I are taking a ride in the country,

and she cooked a big pot of jambalaya just for you.

Look, will you stop treating me as though I'm cracked?

I don't wanna take a jaunt in the country to shake

the devils out of me, if that's what you're after.

Now, do it for Sue, will you? Don't make her worry.

Do you want me to have a baby with wrinkles in his forehead?

Come on.

Atta boy.

Now, look, Rene. You're putting me in an embarrassing position.

Now, come on, don't be a weasel. Come on.

- Hello, Gina. - How are you, Stan?

- Hi, Sue. How are you feeling? - Oh, me? I'm fine.

Good. Swell car.

Just another toy for my boy here.

- Sue, I bought it just for you. - Oh, sure.

I can't even drive.

Stan, this wasn't my idea at all, you know.

Oh, don't apologize. I'm glad you picked me up.

Well, where should we go, kids?

Oh, just anywhere out in the country.

Any ideas, Stan?

What about Bayou Lafourche?

Well, Bayou Lafourche it is.

Bayou Lafourche...

It just popped into my head.

Gina and I always preferred the lake,

but something made me say Lafourche.

Somehow it seemed important.

Tell me...

- You know where you're going? - No.

But I've got a hunch that not too far down this road,

we'll find just the spot with nice, soft grass and a cool breeze.

Mmm-hmm.

You ever see anyone so stubborn?

The ants around here are just as friendly as the ants farther down.

Now, what's the matter with that spot, over there?

Nothing, but I think a little further down...

All right, then. Stop here.

- I'm getting hungry. - Okay. Okay, my love.

Seeing that you're eating for two now, you must be awfully hungry.

- Want some more? - Oh, no.

Three plates are enough.

You know, if anybody should ask me, this was the best jambalaya I ever ate.

Just like Mother used to make.

The jambalaya my mother used to make wasn't half as good as yours.

Oh, Rene.

Hey, kids!

- Lots more to eat if you want it! - No, thanks!

Stan...

When are you coming back to work?

I don't know.

Billy's been griping all week.

I can't work. Can you understand that?

I can understand it, darling, but Billy said unless you show tomorrow

he doesn't want you anymore.

Well, that's the way it'll have to be.

Don't you trust me, Stan?

Why don't you tell me what's troubling you?

I know you're not really sick.

If...

If you love me, please don't shut me out.

Forget it, Gina.

You can't help me.

The best thing for you is to just forget about us.

Take it easy, Suzy girl.

I can't help it.

- You know what thunder does to me. - We better go.

Stan, come on. It's going to rain.

Holy smokes, you didn't have to take me seriously!

Gosh, darn wipers are stuck.

You should have tried them, dear, before you bought it.

All right, all right.

Rene, I can't stand any more of this.

Let's stop at the first place we come to and get out of this.

All right now, baby. Calm down, calm down.

No houses around here.

That bridge...

I've seen it before.

But when?

There's a cut-off a little way ahead.

Just around the bend.

There's a big house up there, I think.

- You know this section? - You been here before?

There's the cut-off.

Are you going to get us more lost than ever?

No, keep going. You'll come to it.

There's a brick gateway. You turn in there.

I didn't know how I knew that.

But the closer we came, the harder my heart pounded

and the more frightened I got.

There it is. Turn, Rene, into the gate, like he told you.

Let's make a dash for it.

I wonder if there's anybody home.

I wish we could get in. I feel clammy.

I knew there must be a key here someplace.

Stan, are you going to stand out there all day? Come on in and close the door.

Let's have some light.

Not that one.

What is this, a rib?

How come you know so much about this place?

It's a rib. Your brother, the great comic.

Hello?

Anybody home?

Don't do that.

Stan, you're cold. You're shaking.

So are you. We better find a place to dry out before you get pneumonia.

Looks like they've been away a long time.

You being a detective comes in handy, dear.

If anybody shows up, we won't get into trouble for crashing in like this, will we?

Let's see what gives with the fireplace.

That's a lucky break.

It's a gas log.

Better sit down and dry out before you catch a cold.

I'm bushed.

Must be a kitchen around here someplace.

A little hot tea won't do you any harm.

Remember that one, Sue?

That was it. The nightmare melody.

It was just that old tune slowed down to a lower pitch.

Had I heard it that way before?

Was it here?

Stan?

Why don't you come over here by the fire?

This is the place, all right.

This is the place.

Yeah.

Wipe your forehead.

Give me the key.

What are you two doing up there?

Keep her downstairs. Keep her downstairs.

Be down in a minute!

Watch the kettle in the kitchen. I've got some water boiling for tea.

All right, but I wish you'd stop poking around.

Look.

That's what he was crouched in front of that night.

He must have been using a blowtorch.

That's what made that bluish light.

Made her face stand out in the reflections like a mask.

That must be the one I...

I propped him behind after I...

- No, no, wait. - Now cut it out.

Dried blood.

Someone who was hurt was in here.

Someone who is dead.

Are you two coming down or do I have to come up there and get you?

Come on.

Freud's Studies in Hysteria,

Manual of Psychotherapy,

Narcoanalysis.

The owner of this house must be a doctor or something.

- I'll take the tray back to the kitchen. - Never mind.

I'll take it. The rain ought to let up soon.

Why don't you catch yourself a little nap? Do like Sue.

Close it.

I don't want them to hear this.

Sit down.

Now, let's hear about another dream.

You think I lied, don't you?

You knew how to get here from a dream, didn't you?

You knew where the key was from a dream, didn't you?

That fumbling around didn't fool me.

You knew where the light switch was from a dream.

If you weren't Sue's brother, I'd push your

lying face out through the back of your head.

- I told you how the whole thing happened. - You came to me for help.

But you didn't have guts enough to come clean, to say,

"Look, Rene, I went to such and such a place and I killed a guy."

"Such and such a guy for such and such a reason."

- Rene... - No, you had to cook up a dream!

Now, you respect a man no matter how terrible a crime he's committed,

if he owns up to it.

I can respect a man who would deny it flatly.

But a guy that'll come to someone,

prey on the fact that he happens to be married to his sister,

abuse his common sense...

- Make a fool out of him... - I didn't, I told you...

Like you made of me!

Well, I've got no use for him.

He's lower than the lowest rat we ever

brought in for knifing somebody in an alley.

"Look, Rene, look."

"I found this key in my pocket when I woke up."

"Look, I found this button."

Trying to play on my sympathies, weren't you?

Trying to get me to think in terms of doctors

so as to get you off. Was that it? Was it?

- Rene... - Well, that was quite a dream.

Well, the dream is over and baby is awake.

Now, you're going to tell me the facts.

Whether it goes any further than me, that's my business.

But at least I'm gonna get them.

How can I tell you what I don't know?

Now, what were you doing here that night? What brought you here?

I was never here before!

Who was the man you killed? What was his name?

Are you gonna tell me? Are you?

Are you going to answer me?

How can I answer you what I don't know?

Why did you kill him? Why?

I have handled closed-mouthed guys before.

Now, you're going to tell me or I'm gonna half kill you with my own hands.

Get over there.

What is this?

I'll ask the questions. What are you doing here?

We came in out of the rain. That suit you?

Not yet. Identify yourselves, and be quick about it.

Help yourself.

Rene Bressard.

New Orleans Homicide Division?

Glad to know you, Bressard.

How about doing a little identifying yourself?

I'm a deputy attached to the sheriffs office in this parish.

Torrence is the name.

This is my brother-in-law, Stan Grayson.

Hi. I'm detailed to keep an eye on this place.

I was home having a bite to eat, and on my way back to the station...

Say...

How'd you get in here?

I thought I had it locked.

We found a key in the flower pot on the porch.

You did?

Well, it must have been a spare. I have the original.

We didn't know there was a spare.

What do you mean, you were detailed to keep an eye on this place?

Didn't you know? There was a murder committed here last week.

Was there?

I'd like to hear about it. Murder is my business.

- Have a cigarette. - No, thanks.

I cut them out about a month back.

I always carry a pocket full of these now.

This place belonged to a wealthy couple named Belknap.

He's in the importing business.

Often goes away on long business trips. He was away when it happened.

Somewhere in Mexico.

In fact, we haven't been able to notify him yet.

His wife was a pretty little thing.

- Was? - Kind of flirty.

There was a young duck she used to run around with.

His name was Bob Clune.

Was?

The milkman found Mrs. Belknap about daybreak Monday,

near the road that leads up here.

- Dead? - Dying.

Unconscious, both legs broken, skull fractured,

insides all busted up.

Kind of gets to him, don't it?

Things like this are new to him, I guess.

About this woman...

How did it happen?

Well, the car did it. We found it later. Hair and blood on the tires.

Bob Clune's car. Then Warner, that's my chief,

he comes up here to look around, and he finds a safe busted

in a mirrored room upstairs.

I'll take you up there to show you if you want.

- Mirrored room? - Yeah. Well, that gave us our case.

We figured that Clune knew that Belknap had a lot of money in the safe

when he went to Mexico. So he came up here and started to heist it.

Then Mrs. Belknap caught him. She ran out, afraid he'd kill her,

he got his car, chased her down the road and ran over her.

All of a sudden, life was swell again.

I don't know how to drive.

And Rene knew that, too.

Here, have a smoke, kid.

Yeah, thanks.

- You got a match? - Yeah.

Well...

That was the case we thought we had till Wednesday.

- Thought you had? - Yeah.

We sent out a general alarm for Clune.

And then on Wednesday morning, Mrs. Belknap came to.

First thing she asked was, "ls Bob all right?"

"He didn't kill Bob Clune, did he?"

- He? - Yeah.

What she told us sent us hot-footing back here.

We found Clune's body propped up behind one of those mirrored doors upstairs.

He'd been stabbed with an ice pick or something.

She died that night. Well...

There went our case.

Hmm...

Did you...

Did you get anything on the real killer?

Practically everything, except the guy himself.

She took a good look at him when it happened.

Got all the dope over at my Chief's office.

I was just on my way over there. You interested?

Yeah.

Who knows, I might even be able to help you find the killer.

- Glad to have you come along. - Thanks.

I better let the girls know we'll be gone for a while.

- My wife. - Oh.

You shouldn't let it get you. This is just routine with us.

I know.

It's just that I'm not used to this sort of discussion.

Yeah, I can understand that.

I was a little bit squeamish myself when I first started this job.

I told Gina.

Sue is still asleep.

Come on.

- I'll stay here. - Come on.

Isn't that odd, Captain Warner,

that they never printed anything about it

- in the New Orleans papers? - Well, they're playing ball with us.

Is that so?

We had a theory that if the killer didn't read anything about us finding the bodies,

he might come back, take a look...

Maybe he'd want to find out what happened to Mrs. Belknap.

Yeah.

This is the description she gave us before she died.

Hmm.

Mmm-hmm.

Getting along, about that age.

I had to get me some reading glasses.

- Maybe this will help. - Thanks.

"Killer was about 30, medium build,"

"brown hair."

"His eyes were fixed and glassy."

"He could have been mentally unbalanced."

Have any pictures of them?

This Mrs. Belknap and Clune, I mean.

- We had some taken in the morgue. - Can I have a look at them?

Sure thing.

Thank you.

Stopped raining. Think you'll have that barbeque, Captain?

Oh, sure thing. It'll be dry as a bone by 6:00.

Any ideas?

No, I just thought it might fit in to something at our office.

Have a look at them, Stan.

Who knows? You might even know these people.

It was them all right. The faces in the nightmare.

Now I knew there was no escape.

I was a murderer.

He went out like a light.

What do you suppose made him do it?

Looking at the pictures of those dead people?

Things like that sure get him. I noticed that before.

He's not well. He gets these dizzy spells every now and then.

- It's only since I... - Never mind.

Here, take this.

There, that's better.

Captain...

As soon as I get him home, we'll be 100%.

- Well, I hope so. - Thanks.

It's all right. I'll be seeing you.

Good-bye.

Thanks, Sue. I'm sorry the rain spoiled the picnic.

Take care of yourself, Stan.

You, too. I'll call you.

I'm going up for a minute.

You happen to be parked near a hydrant.

Well, McBurney's on the beat. If he says anything, just tell him whose car it is.

I'm gonna take Sue home before I do anything else.

I love Sue. I think you love Gina. That's your business.

All I know is that I love Sue.

But I don't know what this is going to do to her when she finds out.

Rene, what am I gonna do?

Run out.

I'm giving you that one last chance.

When they catch up with you, I want you to meet your finish somewhere else. Not here.

If you're still here in the morning,

I'm going to arrest you for the murder of those two people.

I still don't know what happened.

I don't have to ask you if you killed them.

You passed out cold when you saw their dead faces in those pictures.

I'm gonna turn in what I know tomorrow at my precinct house

and they can pass it on to Warner.

I'll be back in the morning.

You better be gone.

Oh, I beg your pardon.

Sorry.

Fifteenth floor. Take me up to it.

Can't you go any faster?

Got it wide open.

Fifteen.

You should have let me. You should have let me.

Well, I didn't think of that way out.

Come on, get up.

- Oh, Stan... - I didn't want to drag you into this.

What is it, Stan?

If you're in such terrible trouble that you wanted to...

But why, Rene?

Why would he want to go and do such a...

Never mind, now. I'll handle it.

You go on down and take Sue home.

Don't tell her any more than you have to.

Tell her that Stan is sick,

and I thought I'd better stay with him tonight, okay?

Whatever it is, just make him understand I'm with him.

You go right ahead, will you? And take care of Sue.

Rene?

Did I wake you?

What about the arrest?

What about it?

If you're gonna take me down in the morning, what's the sense of waiting?

None, maybe.

Here, have a smoke.

No, thanks.

What I can't figure...

I give you a chance to run out,

and instead you try to kill yourself. Why?

I can't escape from myself.

There's something wrong with me.

I killed those people. I don't know how or why, or how I got there.

You should have let me jump.

- There's something wrong with this lamp. - Maybe the fuse is out.

It happened to the old guy in the next room one night.

- Yeah? - Yeah.

He had to use a candle.

The same night I had the dream.

Yeah. Just a loose bulb.

What did you say? He had to use a candle?

What do you mean? Were you in there with him?

Huh? No, he came and rapped at my door.

Stuck his head in and wanted to know if my lights had gone out.

Why did he have to come in here? Couldn't he tell by the hall?

I don't know.

There is a little night light in the hall.

Maybe it's on a different circuit.

The night you had this dream?

That's right.

Tell me everything that happened that night.

Anything unusual at the club?

Well, we were all keyed up about a recording session the next day.

We played our closing number at the club, same as always.

Thank you very much. We'd like to play for you all night,

but even musicians have to sleep. Good night, folks.

- Hey, baby. You were the greatest tonight. - Thanks, darling.

- Can I walk you home? - You look a little tired, Stan.

- Feeling all right? - I'm fine.

Stan, we decided to use the old

arrangements on the recording date tomorrow.

Are you kidding? I haven't slept for a week getting these ready.

Maybe that's what's wrong. You need a little shut-eye, genius.

Well, you can't just throw them out. What's the matter with them?

Well, you asked me, I'll tell you.

They're too far out. They're not commercial.

- Who says? - I says.

You can't hear the melody. If the public can't hear the melody, you're dead.

D-E-D, dead.

And how long you gonna keep playing the same old corn?

Just because this stuff is a little progressive...

Leave it up to the guys here.

You played the arrangements. What do you think, fellas?

- Yeah, he's right, Stan. - Too progressive.

Too modern.

You haven't said anything.

Well, you wouldn't want me to lie, Stan.

Here, Stan. We'll play the old arrangements tomorrow.

The corny ones.

Stan...

I know you're disappointed about the arrangements...

I'll see you tomorrow, Gina.

So, I came back here to the hotel and...

And you came upstairs and went to sleep?

Well, no. I was still burned at Billy, so I stopped in at the bar...

Downstairs.

I thought I'd unwind before I tried to sleep.

And this old fellow, Britten,

the one that lived in the next room here,

he came over and bought me a drink.

He was a friendly old duck.

He'd been living here for a week or so.

I used to meet him in the elevator.

I thought I'd have a brandy, but...

He insisted a daiquiri would be more relaxing.

And, you know, I don't like rum, but...

He was such a nice old guy that

- I took it just to please him. - Mmm-hmm.

- How many drinks did you have? - Just a couple.

- I came up here and I went to bed. - You went right to sleep?

No, I read the paper like I do every night. I always read the sports.

I just put out the light and closed my eyes when I heard this knock at the door.

Who is it?

Harry Britten from next door.

Just a second.

Come on in.

Pardon me, did I wake you?

No, I just put out the light.

You did?

My light went out. That's what I wanted to see you about.

I thought maybe the circuit was off.

- Your light working? - You can try it.

Yes, I guess it was just the globe that burned out.

- Sorry to trouble you. - Not at all.

You're tired, aren't you?

I can see you're pretty tired.

- I'm sorry. - No, really, it's all right.

You're tired and I woke you up.

It's all right.

I guess he's got a one-track mind. Used to mumbling to himself, maybe.

Anyway, he finally closed the door and I dropped right off to sleep.

Now, wait a minute.

Are you sure the door closed after him?

Did you hear it? Did you see it close?

What difference does it make? The door must

have closed. He went away and I went to sleep.

He was standing in the door there with a candle in his hand, and he kept saying,

"You're tired."

Well, so what?

His eyes were fixed and glassy.

He could have been mentally unbalanced.

What?

Oh, I was just

remembering something in that deathbed statement that Mrs. Belknap made to Warner.

You say you used to talk to this fellow every once in a while?

- What about? - Sports, politics...

One time, going down in the elevator,

he had this box of mentholated cough drops.

He kept taking them out and offering to me.

Have a cough drop?

Go ahead, have one.

No, thanks. I don't like them.

Go on, they're good for you.

No, thanks, really.

You ought to try one. Your voice sounds kind of hoarse.

I took it because I felt kind of sorry for him. I really hate those cough drops.

You took a daiquiri, too, because he suggested it.

Yeah.

Testing will power, maybe.

You seem to be trying to make something out of this. What is it?

Oh, nothing... Nothing that makes any sense yet.

You get some sleep, kid, will you?

Where are you going?

I'm going back to the Belknap house to see if I can get some more information.

Now?

All the way back there at this hour of the morning?

I don't know what I've got, if anything.

And no more shortcuts.

I thought you'd never get here.

I was here early this morning.

Then I had to go back out there again.

Here, have a look.

Well?

Who is it?

That's Britten. The man who had the room next door to me.

Britten is also Lewis Belknap,

the murdered woman's husband.

Then was he the one who...

There's no out in this for you, Stan.

Not yet.

I checked your fingerprints with the ones Warner got at the mirrored room.

You found your way into the Belknap house.

You killed Bob Clune

and shoved his body into a closet.

And Mrs. Belknap?

You didn't kill her.

You can't drive.

We think Belknap drove you up there

and was waiting for you outside.

Then Mrs. Belknap ran out and the husband, using Clune's car,

deliberately ran over her.

Then why didn't I know what was going on? What I was doing?

We think we know why.

But there's only one way to prove it.

Show that it could have happened the first time

by making it happen all over again.

You mean go back and go through it all over again?

No, not exactly.

You killed a man, Stan.

Right now, you're guilty.

What we have to do is prove that you didn't know what you were doing,

and why you didn't know.

How? What do you mean?

Well, we haven't any time to lose.

They located Belknap yesterday. He wired Warner

to have his wife reburied in the family plot.

He'll arrive in time for the funeral.

Get your coat on.

I was scared sick.

But I got back into that house before Belknap returned from the funeral.

A couple of friends drove back with him.

I waited upstairs,

looking down into the living room as they said good-bye.

Why don't you come stay at our place tonight, Lewis?

Yes, we'd like to have you.

Don't worry about me. I'll be fine here.

Sure you won't come with us?

No, thanks a lot. Good night.

He was coming up.

I wanted to get out of there, but I had to stay. It was my only chance to save myself.

How'd you get here?

You showed me the way, didn't you?

You remember coming here?

- You didn't think I would. - You couldn't have.

Then how did I get here? You explain it.

How long have you been waiting in here, like this?

Since just before dark. I got in while you were at the funeral.

- Who'd you bring with you? - Just this.

You remembered coming here?

You couldn't have. You had the look, the typical look.

Of a hypnotized subject?

I faked it. No matter how good you think you are...

Then why did you do everything I told you to?

When I dropped the knife in your hand and told you what to do, you took it.

I figured maybe you'd pay off afterwards.

To keep me quiet.

And if I tried to quit then, I figured I'd have found a knife in my back.

But what happened? What went wrong in here?

I let you out of the car, I told you what to do...

I dropped the knife somewhere in the dark, but I came up anyway.

Clune was stealing your dough, and about to run off with your wife, wasn't that it?

- Yes... - I could have been killed by Clune.

But just by mistake, your wife put a weapon in my hands

and I had to use it to save myself.

That explains why she got out of the house.

I finished her with the car.

I should have known you were not in control.

Oh, no...

Your control was all right. You still have the talent.

- But you just said... - And you fell for it.

I didn't know what I was doing when I came up here.

And I never would have found you, but I happened to see your face in the newspaper,

as the husband of the murdered woman,

and I recognized you as Britten.

I didn't come back to be paid off for what I did.

You couldn't make me murder. I killed that man in self-defense.

But now, I'll never be able to clear myself in the eyes of the law,

and you're going to pay for doing that to me.

Now, this way.

No, wait. Don't do that.

I can do something for you.

I'll give you money. I'll get you out of the country.

- You should have left me alone. - Wait.

Just one minute. Just one minute...

To make you see.

Just 60 seconds.

You don't want to kill me.

Those two had plotted against me for months. I knew it.

That's why I did what I did. I had to do it.

Can't you understand, I had to do it?

You can understand that.

He's got him going.

Better get up there and cover the front stairs.

If you had suffered the indignities from those two that I did,

you'd have done the same thing.

- Stop it. - Just a few seconds, please.

You don't want to kill me.

Look up.

Look up, please.

See? Just thirty seconds.

I'm sure I can make you see.

Just a few seconds.

- Should I go up and take him? - No, not yet.

We've got to let him really put him under.

We've got to have proof for a jury that he can do it.

Fifteen seconds.

That's right. Look up.

Killing me won't quiet your conscience.

You don't want to shoot me.

Drop the gun.

It's too heavy. Drop the gun.

Drop it, Grayson.

You're too tired to hold it up.

Just drop it.

You'll feel so much better.

Just let go of it.

Better still, give the gun to me, Grayson.

You're tired.

That's better.

That horrible curtain closed over me again.

I couldn't fight it.

Let's get up there.

Oh...

- Did he get past you? - Nobody came down those stairs.

Well, let's try the other rooms.

Captain Warner! Bressard!

There's a back stairway through here.

We better split up. If you see anything, yell.

You're guilty. You killed Clune.

Give me your coat.

Get in the water.

There, you'll find peace.

Warner! Torrence! Over here!

He's a goner.

You all right now, kid?

Yeah.

All of the sudden, I'm all right.

Anything else, madam?

I think I'll have another order of duck.

- Hi, babe. - Oh, Rene.

I was so nervous, I had to do something while I waited.

So I ate. This is gonna cost a fortune.

Well, for junior, I can afford it.

Well, hurry up, tell me. What did the DA say?

I'll have to have a hearing, but with the evidence Rene gave me,

he says I'll have no trouble getting a dismissal.

Oh, thank goodness.

You ought to be very proud of your husband.

Oh, I will be... When he pays this check.

Get your own.