"I'm busy." "Me too." "Turn the volume down!" "Thank you." "THE SILENCE AROUND CHRISTINE M." "Whose's them ham and eggs getting cold here?" "Up yours, mate, I say." "Up yours." "Come and get it then!" "Haven't I got enough to do?" "Do your figure good." "Since when you been interested in my figure?" "You coming, then?" "If you don't want it, I'll have it for you." "Give us a hot meat-roll." " Hot meat-roll." "Undiminished pressure on prices remains heavy... especially in Germany." "AKH's personnel decreased by... 14 percent to... 3489." "Of these... what was last year's percentage?" "8 percent." "Overseas 6 percent, that's unchanged." "There are now 902 employees." "Note that, and see that I get the results of the reorganisation." "Have this typed out." "Good morning, madam." "Would you accompany us to the police station?" "We believe you may be able to assist us in our inquiries concerning..." "You keep out of this, An." "Only thing women know about economics... is how to hold out the hand for cash and open the legs as a reward." "Why don't you throw your hat in the canal and crawl under it." "Don't fly off the handle." "Where's your sense of humour?" "Haven't got one today." "The law is getting younger alle the time." "Look!" "There's two of them, cheaper than one with a dog." "They're coming to get me, lads." "I've been found out at last." "Now I'm for it." "I'll spend the rest of my life in the nick, between four walls." "You lot can come and visit me with a file in the cake." "Sit down, lads." "Have one on me." "Mrs Jongman?" " Yes, lad." "For 15 years." "And I'm glad I got rid of the bastard." "I sweated blood for that bugger." "What'll you have?" " We want to talk to you about..." "I know, lads." "I know." "Now come on, take the weight off your feet and have a drink." "What've you done, An?" "Cough up, An." "You know me, silent as the grave." "Murder, lads." "Murder." "I done someone in." "I sat on top of him." "How, An?" "Where's my knitting?" "I throttled him..." "I swear to God..." "Honest..." "Well, what are you waiting for?" "No, that's impossible now." "She's busy." "Very well." "The police urgently want to see you." "Highly inconvenient." "First let's arrange my appointments." "Admit that I, on the morning of 10th March, 1981 ... did bring about the death of the owner of Boutique 22, van Houten... together with Andrea Jannie Brouwer and Christina Maria Molenaar." "This statement has been read to me and I duly append my signature." "Sign here please." " Anything to oblige." "Let's have a read." "Andrea Jannie, Christina Maria." "Those your names?" "Fancy!" "You might have had the decency to introduce us." "Didn't you know each other then?" "No, never had the pleasure." "Now there's one more thing." "Who's going to look after my cat?" "I don't know what to do, Janine." "But if you really want to, you can get the facts." "If you're willing to dig deep enough, you can still uncover a lot." "The West does not have total censorship." "Not yet." "Exactly, you admit it." "Holland is still one of the 10 or 1 1 countries... without censorship." "Yes, but you don't see what I'm getting at." "I'll do this." "Ruud means that the opportunity to acquire information still exist... but that people are systematically taught not to look for it." "Right, darling?" "More or less." "Another sherry?" "I call it preserving the Status Quo." "Who's winning?" "How can you teach people not to look?" "Anyone can..." "Sure, by stimulating their preoccupation with what is merely pleasurable." "What cannot give immediate pleasure... is done away with, considered unimportant..." "Van den Bos..." "Got Spasski on the run yet?" "No, I'm the lawyer, My wife's the psychiatrist." "It's for you, Janine." "No weekends off for a working woman." " Help yourself to sherry." "Are you winning?" "Van den Bos." "Mrs Van den Bos." "Coincidence meeting you here." "Of course, you're visiting the three women." "So I heard from the investigating magistrate." "It's an open and shut case." "They didn't deny a thing." "They weren't very clever if you ask me." "If they wanted to get rid of someone, they should have done it more professionally." "After you." "There's no doubt at all." "They're completely mad." "But I don't have to explain what you already know professionally." "Of course you don't get cases like this every day." "I assume you're usually assigned to women." "What are you going to do with these?" " Talk to them, try to get to know them." "Women like those you can recognise a mile away." "I've got to go to the investigating magistrate now." "Visit for Mrs Molenaar." "Room 7." "Hello." "I'm Mrs Van den Bos." "You knew I'd be coming, didn't you?" "Your lawyer and the police officer told you?" "I'd like to talk to you a bit." "As you know I'm the psychiatrist." "Don't be scared of the cassette recorder." "That's just for me so I won't forget important details." "I thought we might talk a bit about what happened... and about yourself." "I've had a chat with your husband." "The children are fine." "He took the eldest to his mother's and the baby is with his sister." "May I call you Christine?" "That's your name, isn't it?" "Perhaps I can take a message to your children?" "Or your husband?" "He'll manage alright." "You don't feel like talking, do you?" "I understand." "It's difficult to discuss something like this suddenly with a stranger." "Did you know the man beforehand?" "Seen him previously?" "No?" "How old are your children?" "I saw your husband but not your children." "They're quite young, aren't they?" "Why don't you want to see your husband?" "Shall we leave it at this for today?" "I'll be back tomorrow." "Perhaps you'll feel like talking then." "You're not rid of me yet, you know." "I'm taking these ladies to the High Block." "Lift to ward 4A, please." "My mother minded dreadfully." "Every time I went home, she tried to find out if I'd hooked anyone." "Five years ago... when she got desperate... she tried to marry me off to someone from the village, a widower with a child." "A good prospect, she said." "He turned out to be a commercial traveller in coffee!" "Old coffee clot, I called him." "Why was your mother so anxious for you to marry?" "An unmarried daughter isn't respectable." "Not quite normal." ""Men don't like old maids." "You'll have to get a move on, girl..."" "My mother always had my best interests at heart." "She wanted me provided for." "Married for financial security and children for when I'm old." "What is so remarkable is the fact that none of you knew this man." "You didn't either, did you?" "Had you ever been in that shop before?" "Why that man especially?" " Why not?" "You didn't wake up in the morning with the feeling that..." ""Today's my day off, I'm going to murder the owner of a dress shop."" "Not really." "Could it have been another man?" "Why not?" "Could it have been a woman?" "Why not?" "Because..." "That's an irrelevant question." "It wasn't a woman." "Look, you're an intelligent woman." "You must have thought about this." "There must have been a reason..." "Try to understand I want to help you." "Why that tone of voice?" "What's your name, your Christian name?" "Janine." "You don't really want to claim, Janine... that you are so naive as to believe you can help me?" "Why not?" "My report can have a great influence on..." "It'll be of no influence whatsoever." "Why couldn't it have been a woman?" "In spite of the fact that you could kill some women because they're so stupid... we would never have murdered a woman at that moment." "Aren't some men stupid, too?" " Yes." "You've always worked with men, haven't you?" "For men." "Were they all stupid?" "Yes." "One of the best workers I ever had." "My right hand." "Since she left all my appointments have got muddled up." "Did you notice anything unusual about her?" "Was she tense?" "Restless?" "Didn't strike me." "She did her work, was punctual." "She was exceptionally good, you said." "Did you ever consider having her on the board?" "She was a secretary." "...development of the overseas network and potential expansion." "Miss Brouwer." "I have examined the position of Chemical United and Chemie National... who like us have recently established subsidiaries in Africa... in those sectors essential for future development..." "Could you be brief, Miss Brouwer?" " Certainly." "Disappointing results from certain Dutch companies... and higher interest charges caused by payment delays from West Africa... make it inadvisable for us to expand our investments in those countries." "Right." "Chemical Ltd have recently held informal discussion... with Mattinkro in Houston... on radioactive... radioactive isotopes." "Is there anything we can do about this?" "I should like to propose not to expand our activities in West Africa... because prospects are highly doubtful." "Good thinking, Bob." "Item Nr 8." "Company structure." "Most recent marketing data indicate..." "No, we had a good marriage." "It was a very good marriage." "We had our problems, ok." "But who hasn't?" "I don't understand how she could do this to me." "The two eldest are with my mother, they've got their school." "I've got work, see..." "The baby is with my sister." "I just don't understand it." "She could have know I'm useless with kids." "No, she never talked much." "She was the quiet type, never said a lot." "Never had much to say." "I mean..." "I worked hard, always have done." "I'd do anything for the kids, anything." "If you work hard the whole day, you want a bit of peace and quiet." "Christine, she could have kept them quiet for a bit." "I mean, she didn't have anything to do all day anyway." "...was wearing this dress she'd made herself, all frills... with a plunging neckline... and a flared skirt." "Very nice, but it was a job, I tell you." "I wouldn't have minded one but she had no time she said." "I believe her, what with five blokes hanging around... the one more unemployed than the other, say they can't get a job." "Moaning all day." "No-one could keep that up for long." "Jan's wife, the one I was talking about... you know how much she gets?" "Couldn't feed a budgie on that." "I'm glad my bloke's gone, glad." "He was another, spend money like water." "I told him, I was very reasonable at times..." "I said, you can't go on like that, lad, you just can't." "He didn't understand, no idea." "How long have you been living alone now?" "Let's see, that was when..." "Just before Janneke married, my daughter..." "So that was about nine or ten years ago." "Has your daughter visited you here?" " Her?" "I haven't seen her for years... and she won't show her face here... unless I'm very much mistaken." "Why not?" "She's barmy, she wanted to get married that bad." "What she didn't do to hook that feller of hers." "A white wedding what wasn't if you follow me." "He married her, I'll give him that... but now she's stuck in that flat with her kind." "And since then you've lived alone." "Did you have a bad night?" "Do you like living alone?" "Like?" "Like?" "I can think of something that's more fun." "But it's peaceful all right." "No one nagging..." "Do this, do that, nothing." "Nice and quiet." "Weren't you happy in your work?" " Happy, that's a big word." "I mustn't complain, but happy..." "It's not that I jumped out of bed raring to go every morning... but it was varied work and you could have a laugh at times." "But the work was heavy, and always the smell of that fat..." "Did you ever try to get another job?" "A bit of an innocent, aren't you?" "An old women like me, who'd want her?" "I was lucky to have what I had." "Didn't you ever want to remarry?" "Do me a favour!" "Got a cigarette?" "What do you want?" "Is anything the matter?" " Why would there be?" "You haven't smoked for ages." "I felt like a cigarette." "No thanks." "Dinner's almost ready." "Didn't you ever want to remarry?" "Do me a favour!" "Where's my shirt, Christine?" "Turn that radio off." "I'm late enough as it is." "Can't you feed your kids a little earlier, or later." "Bloody hell!" "Keep your tea." "Too late now." "Bag?" "Daddy's going to work now." "Be good." "...injuries over the whole body, inflicted by blows and kicks... with the hand, shoes and a number of blunt and sharp instruments... like coat-hangers, and one of those carts, you know... a shopping cart." "Marks left by a ring or various rings visible in the face." "The attacks were mainly concentrated on the head... the abdomen, and the genitals." "I just have to get a file." "Here you are, professor." "On the torso there is a deep cut from the Adam's apple... also heavily damaged, by the way, to the lower part of the abdomen... probably caused by a broken plastic coat-hanger wielded with great violence." "The genitals are barely recognisable as such." "That imbecile of an inspector... came with a couple of shoes and boots belonging to the women... and asked lf I could establish which kick had been fatal!" "Absurd question, of course." "As if I could say from that mess." "The back of the head is crushed, the temple smashed... and the nose broken..." "Do you want to see those shoes?" "Yes, the ladies gave him quite a dusting." "But madam..." "Now, look here, ladies..." "And after that, what happened then?" "Well, we began." "Doing what?" " Hitting and kicking and all that." "Do you know what I really feel like now?" "Chocolate." "I could just murder someone for a bit of chocolate." "But seriously, my mouth is watering." "Couldn't you bring me a bar tomorrow?" "Yes?" "Lovely." "Put it on the bill." "Do you eat a lot of sweets?" " No, only now and then." "Good food, that's what I like." "Once in a while I prepared a slap-up meal, just for myself... really grand, genuine French cuisine, got it from a cookery book... the one you get with all those coupons on packets of coffee... with lots of garlic, I don't mind if I smell." "And wine, usually I drink beer, but it was wine then... a good one, at least that's what the bloke in the off license said." "Was it a special occasion?" " Oh no, just for me." "The best of everything." "Delicious." "Got it from the cookery book." "The wine was really too expensive... but believe me it tasted like heaven." "And the beef!" "I got it from that expensive butcher's... much too expensive, but he's very good quality..." "When did you do this?" "Can't remember." "Sometimes he's got these special offers..." "Was it then, after the boutique?" "Might have been." "Steak the other day, just under a quarter pound..." "Was it the evening of the murder?" "Jesus, who cares, girl!" "Let me think." "Yes!" "That's when it was!" "Did he cry?" "Had you ever hit or kicked anyone before?" "Hurt anyone?" "Did your father ever hit you?" "Yes!" "He kicked my behind once when I wouldn't eat my dinner." "He was furious." "Nothing else?" "My mother didn't hit me either." "You don't feel like talking about this?" "Why not?" "I'm not interested." "But you joined in." "Were you angry?" "Weren't you furious?" "What did you feel, then?" "Wasn't there anyone else in the shop?" "No." "You three were alone with the man?" "And no one came in the whole time?" "Christine's child was there, wasn't she?" "Yes." "Did she see any of it?" " No." "So no one saw anything." "No." "Here Central Post to N6, over." "Why did you kick him, Christine?" "Because of the dress?" "Do you know why you killed him?" "May I see what you've drawn?" "Is that why you did it?" "I'll bring some drawing materials tomorrow." "Wasn't there anyone else in the shop?" "Hello." "I've just popped in to bring you the chocolate." "That's really nice." "I was just thinking what to do next." "Fruit and Nuts, delicious!" "I could eat boxes full." "By the way, wasn't there anyone else in the shop?" "Do you know what she said?" "She said it was as crowded as a supermarket on Saturday." "And Christine, she doesn't talk, she draws." "One drawing after the other." "I think she's slowly leaving her catatonic state." "After all, she's already talking through her drawings." "Soon..." "How much time have you got left?" "I've asked the investigating magistrate for a postponement." "That's annoying." "Why?" "I haven't finished with them." " What do you mean?" "Exactly what I said." "I don't know enough yet." "You've been working on it long enough." "I shouldn't have thought it was so difficult." "From what you've told me..." " What do you mean?" "Well, it's obvious." "These women are completely deranged." "Or at least they were at the time of the murder." "The photo's of the body you showed me..." "You mean they're mad." " Yes, what else?" "That's rather a rash judgement for a layman." "I'm only a humble lawyer and not a psychiatrist... but what else can they be?" "To mutilate that man in such a way..." "Have you never seen photos of war atrocities?" "That's something else entirely." "Oh, that's all right, is it?" "What's the matter with you, darling?" "What makes this case different from the others?" "You're usually very much involved with your patients..." "Clients." " Clients." "I beg your pardon." "But you don't think of anything else but those women." "I can't reach them." "They're three very ordinary women... people I meet every day, in the street... at the butcher's, at my work..." "You know, they are such normal women... in spite of the fact that one doesn't talk at all... the other far too much, and the third..." "They are really very ordinary women." "Except that they..." "Yes I know, but that's not what it's all about." "That is what it's all about, but I don't mean that." "You know..." "Andrea..." "Who's that?" "The secretary." "She's lying." "That's nothing new." "Most of your patients lie to you." "Not her." "She's ruthlessly honest." "What's she lying about?" "She says there wasn't anyone else in the boutique." "And Christine was lying too." "How can she lie if she never talks?" "I phoned the inspector." ""My dear lady", he said..." ""theoretically it's possible that others were present... but then we should have found them, or they would surely have reported it."" "Or tried to intervene." "Yes..." "I wonder..." "I don't think those women are insane." "What?" "I don't think those women are insane." "How much?" "700 guilders?" "No." "OK." "...one of the most undemocratic systems you can imagine." "The defendant is allowed to testify, and is listened to politely, but what he says..." "Has no influence whatsoever on the verdict." "Exactly." "The Dutch legal system is by no means impartial." "The defendant's social background is taken into account... but it's doubtful whether this is to his advantage." "It's more a kind of blanket in which the system can wrap up its sense of guilt." "The system is such that everything has been arranged before the trial." "During the trial defending counsel is more or less present as a formality... so that the defendant has the impression he's being defended." "Or she." "Or she, of course, that he's being defended, but personally..." "I think you can do precious little as counsel for the defence." "The only thing the judicial system does is to hurt people in the name of justice... and legal retribution." "Aren't you exaggerating a bit?" "Now there is a tendency to punish physical violence more severely... than a few years ago, when crimes against property were severely punished." "Of course that development was to be expected... but one wonders what is solved by stiffer sentences... if the underlying factors, I mean education, schooling aren't changed." "That was a lovely dinner, darling." "You excelled yourself again." "That brandy was much better than the one we had before." "I'll order a case tomorrow." "Come to bed, love." "Don't." "...those women are completely deranged they're utterly mad she didn't have anything else to do your report will be of no influence whatsoever..." "Three children, the first two planned and the third by accident... and spends the rest of her life stuck to the kitchen sink... and a minor civil servant... whose most exciting activity is probably stamp collecting!" "Do you really wonder why Christine has stopped talking?" "Nobody is listening." "But you said you'd never talked to her." "How do you know she's like that?" "A blind child can see that." "What did you do after..." "The murder?" "I felt like an ice-cream." "What are you going to do with all those tapes?" "I'll get them typed out." "By whom?" "By my secretary." "Or would you like to do it?" "No." "Never again." "I'll never have to type out anything again." "I'll never have to work again." "The government will take care of me." "They won't shoot me or hang me, they'll take care of me." "I'll be allowed to go quietly mad in here." "Aren't you mad, then?" "That's for you to establish." "That's what you're here for." "Did you have an orgasm?" "You're here to establish whether I'm insane... not to ask after my sex life." "The one could have something to do with the other." "Definitely." "Do you have many friends?" "Are you often in love?" "Have you had many lovers?" "Have you?" "What sort of man was that in the hotel?" "The man wasn't important." "Did you come?" " No." "Why not?" "Why the hell should I have." "You don't understand people at all, do you?" "And certainly not women." "Was it different?" "After the act... the crime... the release of tension?" "Yes?" " No." "Was it liberating?" "Are you married?" "Is it a good marriage?" "What does your husband do?" " He's a lawyer." "What's your sex life like?" "The sexual life of the psychiatrist and the lawyer." "Do you do it often?" "What's often?" "During the day too?" "Short?" "Long?" "How?" "This way?" "Or... like this?" "Or... like this!" "Or like this?" "Or perhaps like this?" "Perhaps you both pray to Freud after fucking." "I'm sorry." "What'll happen to you for the rest of your life... doesn't that interest you?" "I know what will happen." "Do you believe there are people who won't think you're mad?" "Yes." " Who?" "Women." "Who?" "The others?" "Christine?" "Mrs Jongman?" "Among others." "Who else?" "Does that help?" "How can I do my job if you don't help me?" " I'm not talking about your job!" "Do you know she still won't speak?" "Christine?" "Brave of her." "What's brave about it?" "Turn that thing off." "Do you ever stop to think?" "Why do you ask?" "Why do you ask?" "Can't you just for once give a straight answer?" "Do you ever stop to think?" "Did you ever try to imagine... what kind of a person she was, that child who murdered a man?" "I do nothing else all day!" "The only thing you do... is to try and discover whether we're fully responsible for our actions or not." "You parrot the book, you play the understanding psychiatrist... but that's the only thing you want to know... so that you can give the court a definite answer as to our temporary... or permanent insanity, after which you can begin your next case... and we can devote the rest of our lives to really growing insane." "So you're not insane?" "Isn't that what it's about?" " That's not what it's all about!" "...or do they think you don't have to clean your arse in the nick." "Filthy rotten bitches, scabby whores." "I want a clean towel sod it... and you with your stupid questions, you scumbag." "What use are question to me, sod it, I want a clean towel." "And if I get my hands on you I'll do you proper..." "Going on and on all the time." "I've been here three weeks... talking myself hoarse, are you stupid..." "I've sodding had it, the only thing I want is a clean towel." "Is that too much to ask?" "I'm sodding sick of it all, do you hear, sick of it..." "I want a clean towel." "She won't come." "You still don't want to talk, do you?" "Do you believe me when I tell you..." "I really would like to talk to you?" "Not only because I have to, in my professional capacity, but..." "May I open the curtains?" "Please tell my husband he mustn't forget to speak to Simon's teacher." "I'll tell him." "I'd like you to tell me why you stopped talking." "You still don't want to, do you?" "Pity." "Bye." "What do you want now?" "Excuse me, wrong door." "You are Andrea Brouwer... resident in Johan Kernstraat, Amsterdam." "Christina Maria Molenaar, nee Smith." "resident in Jaques Veltmanstraat, Amsterdam." "Annie Jongman, nee Harmsen, divorced wife of P.C. Jongman... resident in Andries Snoekstraat, Amsterdam:" "I caution you to pay attention to the proceedings... you are not obliged to give evidence." "Will the Public Persecutor please proceed." "The accused are charged with having on 10th of March, 1981 ... jointly and with malice aforethought, wilfully... murdered Antonius Paulus Mathias van Houten." "The arraignment is one of murder under Article 289... on the indictment that they did wilfully take his life... by the application of blows and kicks with pointed or sharp objects... to the face and body with the intent to injury him so grievously... that death would inevitably follow." "On the further indictment that they did, with malice aforethought... cause grievous bodily harm as the results of which he died." "Should no conviction ensue:" "that a further indictment be laid of grievous bodily harm resulting in death:" "that they did severely injure him with blows and kicks... which injuries were followed by his death, the causing being... the wounds resulting from those blows and kicks." "Ladies, you have heard the Public Prosecutor... and now know with what you are charged:" "that you did kill Mr Van Houten by whatever..." "Your Honour." "Before you proceed with the case, may I urge that this trial held in camera... in view of the case's intimate nature." "Evidence may be brought of an extremely painful nature." "Evidence, that can better not be heard in the presence of the press." "Request denied." "Around 11 o'clock I saw her going into the boutique." "I just happened to look, I didn't have anything special to do." "..I remember when it came on the news An..." "Mrs Jongman I mean..." "She said..." "Them what did it..." "At the time I didn't know that An... that they kicked his balls in... because his clothes were much too expensive where I was taking down the particulars of a traffic obstruction... caused by a car illegally parked." "The lady in question arrived meanwhile, I ordered her to remove the vehicle." "She was behaving in an odd manner..." "What exactly do you mean by odd?" "Have you ever, as a pathologist come across such a brutal murder?" "Your Honour, I object, the question is irrelevant..." "Let me put it differently." "Was not the body so mutilated that it appeared... as if a high-heeled army of Furies had viciously and horrible inflicted..." "Your Honour, this really goes too far." "Would the Public Prosecutor be so good... as to restrict himself to less florid metaphors... and to direct his question to having taken all this into consideration, I can come to no other conclusion... than that the three women are completely sound of mind." "I demand order." "The public gallery must be silent, otherwise..." "I shall be compelled to clear the court." "Do you mean to say, madam... that these women can be held fully responsible for their acts?" "That's for the court to decide." "But what do you think as a psychiatrist?" " I am speaking as a psychiatrist." "And as a woman, I assume." "Isn't it so, Mrs Van den Bos... that these three women have in cold blood... committed one of the most hideous and repulsive murders" "I have ever come across?" "And moreover, Dr. Van den Bos... that they have shown not a single sign of remorse." "Neither during the time they spend in custody nor during this trial." "Isn't it so, esteemed expert witness, that these women completely lack... any moral sense whatsoever." "They are not only immortal... they are cold-bloodedly a-moral and a menace to society." "I wasn't aware that it was the court's task to establish... whether a defendant feels remorse or not." "Nor was I aware that defendants have to demonstrate their sense of morality." "Would you restrict yourself to answering the questions." "This expert witness is stating personal opinions not compatible with..." "My opinion of these women is based on years of experience as a psychiatrist." "In this capacity I judge whether people are responsible for their actions." "But from a psychiatrist one might at least expect... even from a woman, an objective attitude towards..." "What you understand by an objective attitude is your attitude." "So you approve of their crime!" "You are putting words into my mouth." "I'm not here to approve or disapprove of this crime or to pronounce sentence." "But my good woman..." "We shall unfortunately have to postpone discussion of you report... to recess for lunch." "The court will reconvene at two o'clock." "What do you mean, if I go on like this?" "Well, you do hold some very peculiar ideas." "So you think in this case I'd better not act according to principle?" "Of course you should, after all they've always brought you a lot of success." "You're a woman with a very impressive record in threating criminals." "But perhaps you could express yourself somewhat less vehemently." "I could say that I consider these woman are not insane... but that I might be mistaken?" "Something like that." "In that way you'll..." " Preserve my reputation?" "And yours." "Darling, I'm not concerned with me." "Not in the first place." "I'm concerned about you." "You must realise that your views will have repercussions on your career." "I don't matter." "Those women do." "What difference do they make!" "I mean, they're going to be locked away for years." "You really must be more realistic, dear." "There's no way you can score one of your brilliant successes." "More beans?" "So this "case" as you insist on calling it although..." "I've tried to explain more than once that this isn't just a "case"..." "Stop and think, darling!" "If you get carried away by momentary idealism..." "Do you really think I'm such an imbecile?" " You must face the consequences!" "I can't afford to lose clients because of this sorbid affair." "If you back-pedal on what you said in court..." "I mean if you just tone it down a bit..." "So if tomorrow... there's a pleasing mention in the paper... then your name won't be tarnished by this "sordid affair"!" "Darling, you must think of yourself." "Don't worry." "I will." "As those women did." "Mrs Van den Bos, if I might now refer to a passage in your report... on the defendant Molenaar... in which you state that her catatonia... need not necessarily be caused by, or be a consequence... of her mental state during the crime." "That's right." "Her catatonia is no indication of diminished responsibility... or possible insanity." "I consider that latent symptoms of catatonia... were already present in her life before she committed the crime." "Do you mean she was already insane before she committed the crime?" "Absolutely not." "Long periods of lethargy... of not talking, were normal in Mrs Molenaar's life." "But she was aware of that." "Her refusal to speak now is the consequence of a choice she has made." "She is capable of communication but no longer sees the sense of it." "But why hasn't she talked to you?" "I take it you have explained to her... that the court always takes a defendant's social... and psychological background into account." "And surely she knows that your report is of the greatest importance... in determining her sentence... and that her future depends to a large extent on..." "The defendant seems to find this highly amusing." "Dr. Van den Bos, I put it to you again." "We are confronted here by three women... who have confessed to a murder... at which no one else was present and which no one else saw... of a man they did not know, and against whom they held no grudge." "These women did not know each other." "The police verified that they had no connection with each other whatsoever." "You agree with me so far." "Hasn't it struck you this concerns three women?" "Of course it's struck me this concerns three women." "It's a fact one can hardly overlook." "These three women however, improbable as it sounds... happen to meet each other in a boutique one fine March day... to buy dresses, blouses and suchlike." "But instead of indulging in this harmless pastime..." "I don't understand why you think it necessary to describe... buying clothes as "indulging in a harmless pastime"." "Do you buy your clothes like that?" "Madam, please allow me to do my duty without bothering me with trivialities." "These three women then, indulged, no wallowed... in the butchery of the proprietor of the boutique..." "Your Honour, I object to the prosecutor's choice of words..." "Would counsel be so kind as not to interrupt." "With a savagery which should horrify every decent minded person provided of course that they are sane." "And that this was done by women!" "I ask you, Dr. Van den Bos, as an experienced psychiatrist, why?" "What was the motive of these women to commit this murder?" "It's not my task to establish motive." "That's for the court to decide." "But my dear madam, you must have some idea!" "But my dear sir, I gave you some excellent reasons just now!" "You chose to treat it flippantly." "As an experienced prosecutor... you have clearly shown in your entertaining speech... that you do not really wish to go into the motives of these women!" "Mrs Van den Bos, you are a highly qualified person." "Let me assure you we are all convinced of that." "As a psychiatrist you have surely more than enough experience... to provide a diagnosis in this matter too." "But perhaps, because of the exceptional nature of this case... you may prefer to offer a tentative, provisional diagnoses?" "What I mean to say is..." "If these women are sane, as you state... they must surely have had a motive?" "It will not have escaped your attention that these women killed... a man who also happened to be the owner of a boutique." "What are you getting at?" " That it's an important point!" "If you refuse..." "Do you mean they had something against a man who happened... to sell clothes as a job?" "There are so many like him." "Exactly!" "Now don't you understand that this man..." "Really, Mr Van den Bos, I see absolutely no difference... between this case and, let's say... if they had killed the female owner of a shop, or the other way round... if three men had killed the female owner of a boutique." "Ladies..." "Ladies, this is contempt of court..." "Mrs Jongman, you're not doing your case any good at all." "Ladies, this is contempt of court..." "Ladies, this is impossible..." "This is enough!" "This disgraceful behaviour..." "It's really quite funny." " What did you say?" "This is quite enough." "Officer, will you remove the ladies with as little force as possible." "The case will now continue in the absence of the defendants." "Mrs Van den Bos?" "Dr. Van den Bos..." "The case will continue in the absence of the defendants." "Look where you're going, cunt."