"Thank you." "You won't believe this, you've probably heard it before but I've never known any artists." " I am not an artist." " Well, what's all this?" "I do sketches for fashion drawings." " May I see it?" " Oh, no, it's not good." "If I let you see it, you might not want to know any artists, ever." "I'm afraid it would have to be pretty bad to do that." "Besides, look:" ""Let no one say, and say it to your shame... "" "Irena Dubrovna, is that a Russian name?" " No, I'm from Serbia." " Oh, I see." "Would you mind spelling it?" "Want to know how to spell my name?" " Are you going to write me a letter?" " I'd like to write you a letter." " What about?" " I would say in this letter:" ""Dear Miss Dubrovna... " I would say, "Will you have tea with me?"" "In that case, I'd just have to write you another one." "I'd say..." "Here's my house." "Perhaps, Mr. Reed, you would like to have tea in my apartment?" "Oh, Miss Dubrovna you make life so simple." "You know I never cease to marvel at what lies behind a brownstone front." " Well, what's the matter?" " Nothing." "But you..." " You looked at me in such a funny way." " I've never had anyone here." "You're the first friend I met in America." "Oh, I know lots of people in business." "Editors, secretaries, other sketch artists, you know." " But you might be my first real friend." " Thank you." " Nice." " That's Lalage." " Lalage?" " The perfume I use." "I like it." "Perhaps too well." "Maybe I use too much of it, living alone like this." "It's hard to describe." "Not like flowers, exactly." "It's..." "It's like something warm and living." "What's that?" "It's the lions in the zoo." "One can hear them here often." "Many people in this building complain." "The roaring keeps them awake." " And you don't mind it?" " No." "To me, it's the way the sound of the sea is to others:" "Natural and soothing." "I like it." "Some nights there is another sound, the panther." "It screams like a woman." "I don't like that." "Oh, I hadn't realized how dark it was getting." "I like the dark." "It's friendly." "No, no, keep still, please." " Are you admiring my statue?" " Not exactly." " Who's it supposed to be?" " King John." "Oh, King John, the Magna Carta and all that stuff?" "No." "King John of Serbia." "He was a fine king." "He drove the Mamluks out of Serbia and freed the people." " Well, why have this around?" " Well, perhaps you have in your room a picture of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln." "Well, what does it mean?" " Why is he...?" "Why is he spearing that cat?" " Oh, it's not really a cat." "It's meant to represent the evil ways into which my village had once fallen." "You see, the Mamluks came to Serbia long ago and they made the people slaves." "Well, at first, the people were good and worshipped God in a true Christian way." "But little by little, the people changed." "When King John drove out the Mamluks and came to our village he found dreadful things." "People bowed down to Satan and said their Masses to him." "They had become witches and were evil." "Well, King John put some of them to the sword but some the wisest and the most wicked escaped into the mountains." "Now do you understand?" "Well, I still don't see what it has to do with you." "Those who escaped, the wicked ones their legend haunts the village where I was born." "Boys who come to tea can't expect to stay to dinner." "Some other time perhaps." "Tomorrow?" "Well, what time tomorrow?" "Dinner?" "A little more to the left, Harry." "Easy." "Just a hair." " I'm afraid she's gonna be all right, Alice." " She's got what it takes, commodore." "Isn't it a darling?" " Where'd you get it?" " I bought it." " You're not going in for cats, are you?" " No, I bought it for a friend." "We arrive at the inescapable conclusion that our Oliver has a girl." "A brilliant deduction, Carver." " I want to show you something." " A girlfriend?" " A girl." " Anybody I know?" "Not yet, but I know you'll like her." "Well, if you like her, she's okay with me." " Well, hello." " Look, Irena." "I brought you a present." "Why, you little devil." "Oh, it's all right." "It's just that cats don't seem to like me." "Yeah, but this is only a kitten." "It's very friendly." "When I had it in the office Alice, that's the girl who works in our department it played with her." "Cats just don't like me." "Oh, I know what we can do." " You got it at a pet store, didn't you?" " Yes." "Good." "Well, we could exchange it for some other pet." "I'll get my coat." " I'd like to exchange this kitten for a canary." " You'll have to talk louder." " What did you say?" " I can't understand a word you say." "I can't imagine what..." "Oh, landie, dearie me." "I can't imagine what got into them." "All that caterwauling." "The last time they did that was when an alley cat got in and ate up one of my nice Rice finches." "I wanted to exchange this kitten for a bird." "Why, of course." "I have some lovely canaries." "One little lemon-colored fellow with top notes like Caruso." "As peaceful as my dream of heaven." "Shall we go back now and select just which little birdie?" "You go, please, Oliver." "You pick the one you like." "I'd rather stay here." "Of course." "I'll only be a minute." "Animals are ever so psychic." "There are some people who just can't come in here." "My dear brother's wife, for instance." "She's a very nice girl." "I have nothing against her but you just should see what happens when she puts her foot inside this place." "The cats particularly." "They seem to know." "You can fool everybody, but landie, dearie me, you can't fool a cat." "They seem to know who's not right, if you know what I mean." "Here we are." "Isn't he a ducky little angel?" " This is it." " Thank you." " What do you think of it?" " Oh, he is sweet." "He will like me very much." "You will see." " I like to be liked." " That ought to be easy." "Really easy." " Irena." " Yes." " I've been asleep." " I know." "It couldn't have been very entertaining for you." "I was watching you." "And that was fun?" "Do you love me, Irena?" "You know I love you, don't you?" "I've never kissed you." "Do you know, that's funny." " Why?" " Well..." "When people in America are in love, or even think they're in love they've usually kissed long ago." "Well?" "Irena, what's wrong?" "I've lived in dread of this moment." "I've never wanted to love you." "I've stayed away from people I lived alone." " I never wanted this to happen." " But you just told me you love me." "I do." "I do." "I've fled from the past from things you could never know or understand." "Evil things." "Evil." "Irena you've told me something of the past." "About King John and the witches in the village and the cat people descended from them." "They're fairy tales, Irena." "Fairy tales heard in your childhood." "Nothing more than that." "They've nothing to do with you, really." "You're Irena." "You're here in America." "You're so normal, you're in love with me, Oliver Reed, a good, plain Americano." "You're so normal, you're gonna marry me and those fairy tales, you can tell them to our children." "They'll love them." "Comitadji." "Oh, Mr. Carver, you should not call a good man that." "But it's Serbian." "I got it from my barber this afternoon." "But you might insult him." " Comitadji means "thief," "bandit. "" " I've been double-crossed." "Oliver's bride seems to be a very nice girl." "And a very pretty one too." "Carver tells me she's a bit odd." " He's worried about the marriage." " Nonsense, Irena's a grand girl." "She and Oliver are going to be very happy together." "I certainly hope so." " To the bride." " To the bride." "Look at that woman." "Isn't she something?" "Looks like a cat." "Thank you so much for this lovely party, Alice." "I didn't know there was a Serbian restaurant." "Anything you want to know about this city, ask me." "I know all the unimportant details." "Well, how do you like that?" "What did that woman say to you, darling?" "Well, what did she say?" "Now, wait a minute." "It can't be that serious." "Just one single word." "She greeted me." "She called me sister." "You saw her, Oliver." " You saw what she looked like." " Oh, the cat people." "She looks like a cat, so she must be one of the cat people." "One of King John's pets." "Irena, you crazy kid." "I know a joke about weddings." "Why would my wedding be a dollar-and-cents wedding, eh?" "All right, why?" "I haven't a dollar, and me girl hasn't any sense." " That's a corny joke even for you, doc." " Come on, Carver." "What is it, darling?" "I'm..." "I'm going to beg." "Mrs. Reed." "It's nice to hear that." "Nice." " I want to be Mrs. Reed." " Well, you are." "But I want to be Mrs. Reed really." "I want to be everything that name means to me." "And I can't." "I can't." "Oliver be kind, be patient." "Let me have time." "Time to get over that feeling there's something evil in me." "Darling you can have all the time there is in the world if you want it and all the patience and kindness there's in me." "Only a little time, Oliver." "I don't want more than that." "Good night, Irena." "Good night, Oliver." "Good night, Irena." "Well, ain't seen you here in some time, ma'am." "I've been married." "I've been married for almost a month." "That's what I tell this critter." "Nobody comes to see him when they're happy." "No, sir." "The monkey house and the aviary gets the happy customers." "But he's beautiful." "No, he ain't beautiful." "He's an evil critter, ma'am." "You read your Bible." "In Revelations where the book's talking about the worst beast of them all." "It says:" ""And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard. "" " Like unto a leopard." " Yes, ma'am." "Like a leopard, but not a leopard." "I guess that fits this fella." "Yes, it fits him." "Best wishes for your marriage, ma'am." "Would you like some sherry?" "If you're determined to mourn that bird, we'll have a regular wake." "It's not just because the bird died." "It's me." "I envy every woman I see on the street." " They can't match your little finger." " I envy them." "They are happy." "They make their husbands happy." "They lead normal, happy lives." "They're free." " Do you know what happened to the bird?" " It died." "It died of fright when I tried to take it in my hand." "All right, the bird was afraid of you." "That's nothing." "I had a rabbit once that hated me yet I grew up to be quite a nice fella." "Oliver." "When I went past the panther's cage I had to open the box." "I had to throw the bird to him." "Do you understand?" "I had to." "I had to do it." "That's what frightens me." "Irena, I've been trying to kid you out of it." "Maybe that's wrong." " I've tried to..." " No one could have been more gentle or more patient." "I've tried to make you realize all these stories are so much nonsense." "But now I see it's not the stories." "It's the fact that you believe them." "We've got to have help, Irena." "Not that sort of help." "There's something wrong, and we have to face it in an intelligent way." "We don't need a King John with fire and sword." "We need someone who can find the reason for your belief and cure it." "That's what we need." "A psychiatrist." "Oh, find one for me, Oliver." "The best one." "The very best one." "You were saying, the cats..." "They torment me." "I wake in the night and the tread of their feet whispers in my brain." "I have no peace for they are in me." "In me." "In me." "Hypnosis always tires me." "Some of my patients, too, find it exhausting." "It's only that I remember nothing." "It's my duty to remember." "I have it all here." "Most interesting." "You told me of your village and the people and their strange beliefs." "I am so ashamed." "It must seem so childish." "And the cat women of your village too." "You told me of them." "Women who, in jealousy or anger or out of their own corrupt passions can change into great cats, like panthers." "And if one of these women were to fall in love and if her lover were to kiss her, take her into his embrace she would be driven by her own evil to kill him." "That's what you believe and fear, isn't it?" "These things are very simple to psychiatrists." "You told me about your childhood." "Perhaps we will find this trouble stems from some early experience." "You said you didn't know your father." "That he died in some mysterious accident in the forest before your birth." "And because of that, the children teased you and called your mother a witch, a cat woman." "These childhood tragedies are inclined to corrode the soul to leave a canker in the mind." "But we will try to repair the damage." "You're not to worry." "And what shall I tell my husband?" "Naturally, he is anxious to have some word." "What does one tell a husband?" "One tells him nothing." "Alice, it's so nice to see you." "Hello, darling." " How did you make out with Louis?" " Louis?" "Dr. Judd." "Alice knows, darling." "Of course." "Didn't I suggest Dr. Judd?" "I met him on the commodore's boat." "The way he goes around kissing hands makes me want to spit cotton." "But I guess he knows all there is to know about psychiatry." "I told Alice." "I knew she'd know some good doctor." "I don't see why that was necessary." "Sorry." "I seem to have put my big foot in it." "I'm sorry, Irena." "I'm sure neither Oliver nor I had any notion of offending you." "I'm dreadfully sorry." "Goodbye, Alice." " Darling, really, there's no reason to..." " But, Oliver how can you discuss such things?" "Such intimate things about me?" "How much did you tell her?" "You can tell Alice anything." "She's a good egg, she understands anything." "There are some things a woman doesn't want other women to understand." "Irena." "I woke up." "You were gone." " What's wrong, darling?" " I couldn't sleep." "I went out." " Where'd you go?" " Just walked." "I'm sorry about this afternoon." "I just didn't think." "Oliver we should never quarrel." "Never let me feel jealousy or anger." "Whatever is in me is held in, is kept harmless when I am happy." "I'd turn handsprings, darling." "I'd dance in the streets to make you happy." "Toward the sheer line." "Sixty-two degrees." "Hey." "I'm sorry." "I must have given you the wrong figure." "Let me try again." "Wait, let's have a cigarette first." "That's the third wrong figure you've given me this morning." "Getting careless in my old age." "Something's on your mind." "Anything wrong?" "Nope." "Must be marriage." "Well, in a way, it is." "I'm worried about Irena." "But I thought she was going to Dr. Judd." "Yeah, that's what I thought." "But I ran into Dr. Judd this morning." "She hasn't been back since the first visit." "But you told me she seemed so anxious to be cured." " Apparently not." " I'm sorry, Ollie." "Must make you very unhappy." "You know, it's a funny thing." "I've never been unhappy before." "Things have always gone swell for me." "I had a grand time as a kid." "Lots of fun at school and here at the office with you and the commodore and doc." "That's why I don't know what to do about all this." "I've just never been unhappy." "Hey." "Now, wait a minute." "I can't help it." "I just can't help it." "I can't bear to see you unhappy." "I love you too darn much, and I don't care if you do know it, Ollie." "I love you." "I'm sorry." "Forget it." " There's Irena, you're in love with her." " I don't know." "All this trouble has made me think I don't know what love really is." "I don't know even whether I'm in love with Irena." " I know what love is." "It's understanding." "It's you and me, and let the rest of the world go by." "It's just the two of us living our lives together, happily and proudly." "No self-torture and no doubt." "It's enduring and it's everlasting." "Nothing can change it." "Nothing can change us, Ollie." "That's what I think love is." "Well that isn't the way I feel about Irena." "It's a different feeling." "I'm drawn to her." "There's a warmth from her that pulls at me." "I have to watch her when she's in the room." "I have to touch her when she's near." "But I don't really know her." "In many ways, we're strangers." "You and I we'll never be strangers." "You forgot your key." "Oh, I'm always forgetting it." "But ain't no worry in it." "Nobody would want to steal one of them critters." "You resist temptation admirably." " Temptation?" " The key." " Why would I want it?" " For many reasons." "There is, in some cases, a psychic need to loose evil upon the world." "And we all of us carry within us a desire for death." "You fear the panther, yet you're drawn to him again and again." "Couldn't you turn to him as an instrument of death?" "You didn't come back to see me Friday, I've had to come to you." " Well, how did you know where to find me?" " You told me many things." "Why didn't you come back?" "I don't feel you can help me." "You're very wise, you know a great deal yet when you speak of the soul, you mean the mind." " And it is not my mind that is troubled." " What a clever girl." "All the psychologists have tried for years to find that subtle difference between mind and soul." "And you found it." "It does seem presumptuous of me, doesn't it?" "Goodbye, doctor." "Irena." "I'm worried." "What's happening to us?" "I love you, Oliver." "I know, but people can love and people can still drift apart." "And that's what I feel is happening to us." "We don't talk together openly." " You're not frank with me." " I've never lied to you." "I ran into Dr. Judd today." " You haven't been back to see him." " He cannot help me." "Well, you won't let him help you." "You won't let me help you." "You won't even help yourself." "It's what I said to Alice this afternoon." " You're content to go on as we are..." " Alice." "Oh, I..." "I promised you we'd never quarrel." "Let's calm down a bit." "I'll go back to the office." "I've got some work to do." "Oh, do you wanna go up to the office, Mr. Reed?" "I think I'll go around to Sally Lunn's, get a cup of coffee before I get to work." "I'll be back." " Hello, Mr. Reed." " Minnie." "Maybe you'd like some nice chicken gumbo today?" "No, thanks, Minnie." "How about some apple pie and a cup of coffee?" "Yes, sir." "My goodness, don't nobody like chicken gumbo?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "John Paul Jones, don't you hate people who do that?" "Good night, John Paul." "Here, Mrs. Agnew, new matchbooks for your collection." "Oh, thank you, Miss Moore." "Chartreuse." "Ain't that elegant?" "Too bad you wasn't here just a minute ago." " Mr. Reed looked in." " Oh, where did he go?" "Said he was going around to Sally Lunn's." " I'll see if I can catch him." "Good night." " Good night, Miss Moore." " Could you squeeze the coffee pot for me?" " Hello." "I sure could, only this coffee's been working so long it's got muscles." "What are you doing in this part of town at this hour of night?" "Stormy weather." "You're going to have to solve your problems your own way." "I'm going to drink up and go home." "I think you'd better go home too and make it up with Irena." "Alice, you're very swell." "That's what makes me dangerous." "I'm the new type of other woman." " Good night, Minnie." " Good night." " Good night, Minnie." " Good night." " You cold?" " A cat just walked over my grave." "Don't you want me to walk you home?" "No, thanks." "I'm a big girl now and I'm not afraid." " Well, good night." " Good night." "Climb on, sister." "Are you riding with me, or ain't you?" " You look as if you'd seen a ghost." " Did you see it?" "Taxi, lady?" "No, please, don't." "Don't touch me." "Irena." "I'm sorry." "I've been worried to death." "I didn't know where you were." "I thought..." "What happened tonight happens in every family." "I was all on edge." "You've got to understand and you've got to forgive me." "I forgive you." " Irena." " What?" " Are you all right?" " I'm all right." " to loose evil upon the world." "There is, in some cases, a psychic need to loose evil upon the world." "There is, in some cases, a psychic need, a desire for death." " to loose evil." "A desire for death." "A psychic need." "The key." "The key." "The key." "The key." "I'm afraid this is dull for Irena." "Darling, there are some beautiful moderns upstairs." " Why don't you take a look at them." " But I like these little boats." "I want to be with you." " Don't send me away." " We're not sending you away." "We just don't want you to be bored." "We'll meet you in the main lobby in an hour." "Ollie, look, a drawing of the Victory." "You know, that's the last man-of-war with a lateen sail aft." " Could I have the key to the swimming pool?" " Of course, dearie." "What a darling kitten." "Yeah." "It's one of four." "A tabby had them about a month ago." " Turn the lights out when you're through." " I won't forget." "Hello?" "Yeah." " Just a moment, dearie." "Yes?" " Is Miss Moore in?" "She just went downstairs to the swimming pool." "Would it be all right if I went to see her?" "Of course, dearie." "Right down them steps there." "Oh, gee, I can't tonight." "Help!" "Help!" "Gee whiz, Mrs. Hanson." "Help!" "What is the matter, Alice?" " Gee whiz, dearie, are you all right?" " It's nothing." "It was dark down here, and Mrs. Reed coming in unexpectedly frightened me." "I'm terribly sorry." "No, don't go." "I'm coming right out." "Sorry to have disturbed you, Alice." "I missed you and Oliver, and I thought you might know where he is." "We waited for you at the museum." "You'll probably find him at home." "If you don't mind then, I'll run on." " Could I have my robe, please?" " Sure." "Gee whiz, honey, it's torn to ribbons." "Thank you for coming at so late an hour, Dr. Judd." "I phoned you because I'm troubled." "I think you can help me." "How much do you believe about the cat people?" "The cat people?" " The story Mrs. Reed told me?" " Yes." "I believe, my dear Miss Moore, exactly as I told Mrs. Reed:" "The story is a product of her own fear, her own overworked imagination." "What would you say, Dr. Judd, if I were to tell you that I believe Irena's story?" " Yes?" "Twice I've been followed by something that was not human something that attempted to take my life." "I believe that was the cat form of Irena." "But why should she wish to harm you?" "Because I'm in love with her husband." "My dear Miss Moore this story grows more and more charming." "Simpler too, all the time." "You're both victims of fear." "Mrs. Reed fears the past, and you fear the present." "Mrs. Reed has a very strong imagination and you have an equally strong conscience." "Dr. Judd, the danger that threatened me was very real." "You disappoint me, Miss Moore." "Here is my robe." "To understand this, I should first have to hear Mrs. Reed's version of the story myself." "That should be a most interesting interview." "I shouldn't advise you to see her alone." "Do you think I'm afraid of so charming a lady?" "Dr. Judd, I know you don't believe me, but you must be careful." "Oh, you want me to carry some means of protection." "A gun, perhaps, with a silver bullet." "Is that what you mean?" "If you are lucky enough to have one." "Of course this isn't silver." "Good night, Miss Moore." "You say you have lapses of memory for which you cannot account." "They are becoming more frequent, and you're afraid." "Help me." "I can't help you." "You're not truthful with me." "But I am." "I've told you everything." "I have not lied to you." "Do you sincerely believe that if your husband were to kiss you you would change into a cat and rend him to bits?" "I don't know." "I am only afraid." "And if I were to kiss you?" "I only know that I should not like to be kissed by you." "My dear Mrs. Reed, sometimes in my profession there comes a contest of wills between the doctor and his patient." "Patients are clever." "Very clever." "And they can fool the doctor sometimes." "You are very clever." "And perhaps you enjoy this little game you are having with me." "But I shall discover your secret." "Dr. Judd, believe me." "I beg you to believe me." "I have no secret." "I told you everything." "I have not lied to you." "I need your help." "I can't help you." "But I can warn you." "These hallucinations approach insanity." "This nonsense about Miss Moore at the park and in the swimming pool it's a deterioration of the mind, escape into fantasy." "And it's dangerous." "At this moment I could go before a board and have you put away for observation." "You are that close to real insanity." "I can't help you." "You can only help yourself." "You keep going back to the mad legends of your birthplace." "Forget them." "You surround yourself with cat objects, pictures." "Get rid of them." "Lead a normal life." "You know, for the first time you've really helped me." "Maybe it's because you interest me." "Oliver." "I went back to Dr. Judd's office." "I'm no longer afraid." "Believe me, Irena, I'd have been the happiest man in the world if you told me that a little while ago." "But things have changed." "I had to learn, maybe through this marriage of ours." "I didn't want to tell you this but now, you see, I have to." "I love Alice." "Irena, it's too late." "Too late." "Well, there seems only one decent thing for me to do." "I'll give you a divorce." " Believe me, it's better this way." " Better?" " Better for whom?" " Irena, I..." "Speak." "You can't speak." "There's nothing you can say." "There's only silence." "But I love silence." "I love loneliness." "And they..." "They are in me." "Their strength, warmth." "They're soft." "They're soft." " Irena, you're talking like an insane woman." " Please go." "I want you to go, please." "Go." "Go." "Bavarian cream?" "Roquefort?" "And you get the apple pie." "I have pointed out two alternatives, Mr. Reed:" "Either have her put away for observation and restraint or have your marriage annulled." "It's tough for Oliver either way, doctor." "As a psychiatrist, I should recommend that you have her put away." "As your friend, however, I have much more reasonable advice to offer." "I think you should have your marriage annulled." "In that way, you are free of responsibility." " You two could marry." " And if Irena's sent away?" "The law is quite explicit." "One cannot divorce an insane person." "If she's not well, I've got to take care of her." "It's the only right thing, Ollie." "As you will." "I'll have the commitment papers drawn up and arrange an interview with Mrs. Reed at her apartment tonight." "Shall we say 6:00?" "Let's not play that." "I don't think Irena's coming." "We've waited an hour and a half." "Perhaps it's useless to wait." "I don't think she intends coming." "She's probably walking in the park." "Ollie, let's get back to the office." "We've had a broken-up day and there's lots of work to be done." " Suits me." "How stupid of me, I left my walking stick in the apartment." " I'll get it for you." " No, it's my fault." "Give me the key." "I shall only be a moment." "Five and a half." "Five and a half." "And one and three-eighths." "And one and three-eighths." "There." "I'll get it." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "They hung up on me." " That's funny." " What?" "It happened once before like that." "The telephone rang, and I answered." "There was someone on the other end of the line." "I could almost hear them listening." "And then there was a little click as they hung up the receiver." "That was the night I was followed on the transverse." "Ollie let's get out of here." "I'm afraid." "That was Irena." "I know it was Irena who called." "She could call from downstairs." "She may be on her way up now." "Get your things." "The door's open." "We can see to get out into the hall." "I'll turn out the table lights." "It's shut now." "Just a minute ago, it was open." "It's locked." "Irena." "Irena." "Leave us, Irena!" "In the name of God, leave us in peace." "Come on." "Let's go down the stairs." "Don't, Alice." "It's gone." "Everything's all right." "Don't be afraid." "I'm not afraid." "Look." "Irena's perfume." "Strong." "Sweet." "I need a drink." " Yes?" " Dr. Judd." "Miss Moore?" "Yes." "We've been trying to get you on the phone, Dr. Judd." "I called your hotel." "Yes, I know, that's what I want to talk about." "Are you alone?" "You'd better leave then." "She may be on her way back now." "But she is dangerous, Dr. Judd." "I warn you." "Hello?" "Hello, Dr. Judd?" "Dr. Judd?" "I think Irena just came in." "He hung up on me." "Come on." "We'll get a taxi." "You're late, aren't you?" "I kept my appointment." "You see, I've never believed your story." "I am not afraid of you." "I take you in my arms." "So little, so soft." "This warm perfume in your hair." "Your body." "Don't be afraid of me, Irena." "He's dead." "Mr. Reed." "Oh, Mr. Reed." "Oh, don't worry, Mr. Reed." "Sue Ellen and I phoned the police just as soon as we heard the racket." "Thank you." "Sue Ellen, you know better than that." "You're not supposed to touch anything until the police get here." " The sword cane." " Broken." "Half of it's gone." "We've got to find her." "Come on." "She never lied to us."