"The Stranger" "Leave the cell door open." "That's all there is to it." "Let him escape." "In my view, it's all very irregular." "It might entail the most embarrassing repercussions." " Exactement." " Certainly." "It's a responsibility of the first magnitude." "I'm sorry, Mr. Wilson, but you must..." "Oh, blast all this discussion!" "What good are words?" "I'm sick of words." "Hang the repercussions and the responsibility!" "If I fail, I'm responsible." "Leave the cell door open." "Let him escape." "Let him!" "It's our only chance!" "Let them threaten me with the bottom pits of hell and still I insist!" "This obscenity must be destroyed!" "Do you hear me?" "Destroyed!" "All passengers ready to disembark." "I am traveling for my health." "I am traveling for my health." "Get your passports ready." "I am traveling for my health." "I don't understand." " Your business in this country, senora?" " I'm joining my husband." "Stephen Polasky." " You take care of him, please." " Si, senor." " Your business in this country, senor?" " I am traveling for my health." "Health?" "I am traveling for my health." "You are a native of what country?" "Poland." "Oh, Poland." "Next, please!" "Hello?" "Yes." "You haven't lost him?" "You're sure you know where he's going?" "My wife is following him." "He's gone to the photographers." "Probably to get a new passport and new instructions." "Hold it." "I wish to know the whereabouts of Franz Kindler." "Franz Kindler." "There is no Franz Kindler." "Franz Kindler is dead and cremated!" "It's a command!" "I have a message for Franz Kindler, from the all highest." "It is forbidden." "I command you in the name of that authority." "You know the name he is using?" "Connecticut." "In the United States." "The town of Harper." "Harper!" "Excuse me." " Good afternoon." " Good afternoon." "Have a nice trip?" "Yes, thank you." "It's quite a store you have here, Mr. Potter." "That's me." "We sell about everything here." "This suitcase." "I could leave it here?" "This bag, huh?" "I don't assume no responsibility." "Just put it up on the shelf." "It'll be there when you want it." "Thank you." " Can I buy this magazine?" " That'll be a dime, mister." "What's the best hotel in town?" "The best place to stay is down at Mrs. Peabody's." "It's just down the road here a piece." "This way, mister." " Yes, thank you." " I may come in?" " Yes, of course." "Does Mr. Charles Rankin live here?" "Yes he does, but he isn't here right now." "You expect him?" " Yes, in a few minutes." " How soon?" " Well, a few minutes." " Few minutes." "A few minutes." "I may..." "I may wait here?" "Well, yes, if you like." " Would you like to sit down?" " Thank you." " You a friend of Mr. Rankin's?" " Yes, a friend." "I'm Mary Longstreet." "How do you do?" "How do you do?" "Mr. Rankin ought to be here now." "Sometimes he stays after his last class, but he'll be coming straight here today, I'm sure." " Because this is our wedding day." " You're getting married?" "Yes." "At 6:00." "I know it's most unconventional, my being here today, but I want to get these curtains up." "When he comes, which way does he come?" "Why, from Webster Hall." "It's the big domed building right over there." "You see?" "I shall meet him." "Well, who shall I say that ca..." "Franz." "It's I, Franz." "Meinike, we mustn't be seen talking together." "Go back to the church." "Into the woods." "Into the woods." "You understand me?" "Follow the path." "I'll meet you there." " Hello, Professor Rankin." " Hello, men." " What are you up to?" " A paper chase." " Oh, a paper chase." " I go ahead and lay the trail." "You ought to have Jerry's job, Mr. Rankin, take a little off that waistline." " Naw, you ought to go with us, Mr. Rankin." " Where to?" " The woods." "Hi, blondie." "Oh, brother!" "The woods?" "Well, I'd like to." "I'm afraid I have a couple of things to attend to." "Well, join us later." "We'll be out till dark." " All right." " Well, we'll catch up with you." "This way, fellas!" " Meinike." " Yes." "Meinike." " I thought..." " I had been hanged." "The others, but not I." "A dead man could not stand face to face with you, Franz." "Hey, Noah, wait for me!" "You're not much changed." "Put you back in your old uniform, you'd look very much the same." "Franz, I am a different man than before." "I, too." "I, too, am different, Konrad." "You know how I gathered and destroyed every single item in Germany and Poland that might have served as a clue to my identity." "Well, guess what I'll be doing at 6:00 tonight." "Standing before a minister of the gospel with a woman's hand in mine, the daughter of a Justice of the United States Supreme Court, a famous liberal." "The girl's even good to look at." "Yes, the camouflage is perfect." "Who would think to look for the notorious Franz Kindler in the sacred precincts of the Harper school, surrounded by the sons of America's first families?" "And I'll stay hidden until the day when we strike again." "Franz, there will be another war?" "Well, of course." ""War is an abomination," sayeth the Lord." "It is to tell you this that I am here." " He set me free that I might come here" " Set you free?" " and tell all these things to you." " Who set you free?" "The all highest." " You don't mean..." " I mean God." " Franz, I am a new man since I found him." " You, Konrad, religious?" "Franz, Franz, all doors were opened to me." "All doors." "It was one of God's miracles." "They freed you so you'd lead them to me." "Have you been followed?" " Were you followed here?" " Yes." " Who followed you?" " The evil one." "He looked like any other man." "He was dressed like any other man." "He even smoked a pipe." "But I recognized him through his disguise, and I killed him." "Striking from on high, down." "God's will be done." "You killed him, the man with the pipe?" "The man who followed you?" "No one else followed you?" "You must be brought to salvation, Franz." "Confess your sins as I have." "Proclaim your guilt." "Only thus you can attain salvation." " You really think so, Konrad?" " It will take strength." "Such strength as can come only from God." "Kneel by me, Franz." "And together, we will pray to him to give you strength." ""I have sinned against heaven and before thee." ""I am not worthy to be called thy son. "" "Say these words after me." "I despair of my sins." "I despair of my sins." "Oh, God of all goodness," " how could I ever have offended thee?" " Oh God, of all goodness." "Hey, this way, fellas!" "Don't let him get away!" "Hey, fellas, here's the trail!" "Hurry up!" "This way, fellas." "Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God and in the face of this company to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony." "And forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her so long as you both shall live?" "I will." "Mary, wilt thou have this man for thy wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance in the holiest state of matrimony?" "Wilt thou love him, comfort him, honor and keep him in sickness and in health and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him so long as ye both shall live?" "I will." " Good afternoon." "Afternoon." " Wedding?" " Yep." "Judge Longstreet's daughter." "He's Supreme Court Justice, you know." "A bottle of aspirin, please." "Right back there, third shelf down from the top." "You'll see the big ones on the left, economy size." "Have to get it yourself, mister." "Right back there." "All your needs are on our shelves." "Just look around, help yourselves." "Right in there, just one..." "That's it, that's it." "Living down at Mrs. Peabody's?" "Just a few days only." "Some coffee, too, please." "Or should I get it myself?" " Cafeteria style around here, mister." "That's right." "Self-service." "The usual, Frank." " Yes, that's $3 even, Mr. Todd." "No limit on the cream?" "Well, all the people around here take it black." " The one on the right, mister." " Oh, thank you." " Who is Miss Longstreet marrying?" " One of the teachers down at the school." "A stranger in town." "I issued the license." " Oh." "Yep." "I'm town clerk." "Checkers?" "All right." " Town clerk, huh?" " Yep." "Well, that must be quite a responsibility." "Oh, town clerk runs the town, you might say." "Yep." "We usually make it for..." "Fifteen, twenty." "We often play as high as 25 cents the game." "Well, that's kind of stiff for me, but I'll take a flyer." " Make a million, lose a million." " That's the way it goes." "My move." "All right." "Well, you must know just about everybody in town here." "Not just about." "Know everybody." " Here on business?" " Uh-huh." "My move." "School business?" "No, no." "Selling something?" "No, no." "Buying?" "Oh, antique dealer." "They all come to Harper." "Judge Longstreet's got the best collection in these parts." " Won't do you no good, though." " No, I don't suppose he'd sell." "Happen to know... there any other out-of-town buyers here?" "Let me see." "Come to think of it, there's a fella come in this morning." " Yeah?" " Came on the same bus with you." "Really?" "Left his suitcase here." "Never did come back for it." "He might have been one of them." "Well, no." "No, he was more the missionary type." "Wasn't in here but a minute." "Just looked in the phone book." "Tiny little fella he was." "Thinish." "Unfortunate looking." " Hurt your head, mister?" " No, no, nothing serious." "Oh, that's too bad." "It's a game you got to keep your mind on." "25 cents, please." " I won't pretend I'm not disappointed." " Hello, Father." "Has anybody seen my brand-new husband?" "Don't tell me he's deserted you already?" "Yes, it looks as if, the brute." "Listen, Red, have you seen Charles?" "Well, you go find him for me." "Go on." "Go on, go find Charles." "Hurry up." "I've looked everywhere for him, Mary, and I can't find him." "I wonder where he could be." "I'm getting worried." "Are you, darling?" "What about?" "Charles, you've changed." "Don't you think you'd better?" "After all, aren't we supposed to be going on a honeymoon or something?" "Give me five minutes." " Hello there!" "Hello." "Was that you working up there on the clock?" "No." "No, I was just cleaning around it." "Oh, it's a beautiful thing." "From what I could see out front." "Beautiful." " My name's Wilson." " Oh, I'm Longstreet." "Noah Longstreet." " Well, I'm glad to know you." " Mr. Wilson." "I couldn't judge any too well out front, but I'd say it was late 16th century." "Probably by Habrecht of Strasbourg, the clock." "Oh, I wouldn't know." "My brother-in-law is going to work on it." "Is he up there now?" "No, no, he's on his honeymoon." "He plans to work on it when he gets back." "Is he an expert?" "Well, yes, but it's really more of a hobby with him." "Really?" "Well, it is with me, too." " Honeymoon?" " Yes." "He and my sister." "He has to be back on Friday because of the examinations." "He's one of the teachers at the school." " His name is Rankin." " Oh." "It's nice to be able to show it to someone who knows what Revere silver is all about." "But, personally, my specialty is pewter." "Oh, yes, pewter." "The Revere workmanship, although sometimes heavy in design, almost invariably shows the sign of a master craftsman." " It is beautiful." " Noah." " Hello, Mary." " Hello, honey." " Hello, Mary, dear." " Adam." "Mr. Wilson, my daughter Mary." " Oh, how do you do, Mr. Wilson?" " My son-in-law, Charles Rankin." " How do you do?" " How do you do?" "I hope you don't mind my intruding on your homecoming." "Good evening, Mary." " Jeff, how are you?" " Fine." "You're looking good." " Welcome home, Miss Mary, dear." " Sara!" " If you don't sit down, it'll get cold." " Come on, gents." "Well, sister, how were the mountains?" "They were perfectly marvelous." " Mr. Wilson?" " Yes." "Will you come sit over here on my right?" "Jeff, your usual place." "And, darling, you're right there." "You ought to see Charles on skis." "He's absolutely wonderful!" " No." " Yes, darling, you are." " And I'm pretty good, too, aren't I?" " Very." "Well, for a beginner." "Did you remember to keep your knees together and your apparatus in?" "Yes, freshie, I did." "Mr. Wilson here is compiling a catalog of Paul Revere silver." "How nice." "Mr. Wilson is also an authority on clocks." "Oh, really?" "That's Charles' hobby, too." "Yes, so your brother tells me." "I understand you're going to fix the one in the church tower." "Well, I may try." "Well, that's quite an undertaking." "Show the kind of a wife I am, I hope he fails." "I like Harper just the way it is, even with a clock that doesn't run." "Have you been in Harper long, Mr. Wilson?" "Since Friday, a week ago." "You lost a day." "I patched you up on Friday." "By the way, how's the head?" "Oh, very much improved, thanks to you, Doctor." "You were hurt on Thursday, remember?" "The day of the wedding." "Yes, that's right." "Wednesday I left Bangor." " You were hurt, Mr. Wilson?" " Oh, nothing serious." "Well, serious enough to raise a bump on his head the size of a billiard ball." "The usual door." "It's a good thing you're back, sister." "That dog of yours has been inconsolable." "Well, all right, Red." "Wait a minute." "Here you are." "It's for missing me." "How's that?" "There, that's a good boy." "How was your meeting, Adam?" "Oh, irritating." "Foreign Policy Association." " I read that fellow's report." " Standish, yes." "I think he's full of prunes." "Well, that's the way we used to talk in the 1930s, Noah." "Standish?" "The London Times man in Berlin." "Yes, of course, he was quoting rumors, mostly." "Men drilling by night, underground meeting places, pagan rituals." " Do you believe him, Pa?" " Well, anything's possible." "I'm sorry, sir, but I think it's ridiculous." "Oh, there may be some fanatics, but no German in his right mind can still have a taste for war." "Do you know Germany, Mr. Rankin?" "I'm sorry, I I have a way of making enemies when I'm on that subject." "I get pretty unpopular." "Well, we shall consider it the objective opinion of an objective historian." "Historian?" "A psychiatrist could explain it better." "The German sees himself as the innocent victim of world envy and hatred." "Conspired against, set upon by inferior peoples, inferior nations." "He cannot admit to error, much less to wrongdoing." "Not the German." "We chose to ignore Ethiopia and Spain." "But we learned from our casualty lists the price of looking the other way." "Men of truth everywhere have come to know for whom the bell tolled, but not the German." "No, he still follows his warrior gods, marching to Wagnerian strains, his eyes still fixed upon the fiery sword of Siegfried." "And in those subterranean meeting places that you don't believe in, the German's dream world comes alive, and he takes his place in shining armor beneath the banners of the Teutonic Knights." "Mankind is waiting for the messiah, but for the German the messiah is not the prince of peace." "No, he's..." "He's another Barbarossa, another Hitler." "Well, then you have no faith in the reforms that are being effected in Germany." "I don't know, Mr. Wilson." "I can't believe that people can be reformed except from within." "The basic principles of equality and freedom never have and never will take root in Germany." "The will to freedom has been voiced in every other tongue." "All men are created equal, liberte, egalite, fraternite," " but in German..." " There's Marx." ""Proletarians, unite." "You have nothing to lose but your chains. "" "But Marx wasn't a German, Marx was a Jew." "But, my dear Charles, if we concede your argument, there is no solution." "Well, sir, once again, I differ." "Well, what is it, then?" "Annihilation." "Down to the last babe in arms." "Oh, Charles, I can't imagine you're advocating a Carthaginian peace." "Well, as an historian, I must remind you that the world hasn't had much trouble from Carthage in the past 2,000 years." "Well, there speaks our pedagogue." "Speaking of teachers, Mr. Wilson." " Yes, yes." "The faculty is coming for tea next Tuesday." "If you have nothing better to do, would you like to join us?" "Oh, I'd like to, but my work here is finished." "I'm leaving Harper tomorrow." "Extraordinary, isn't it, clocks being Mr. Wilson's hobby, too?" "Yes, isn't it?" "Well, Red, how do you like your new house?" "He loves it." "Come here, Red." "I think I'll take you for a walk." "Come here, boy." "Oh, darling, you don't have to take him out." "Just let him out." "He won't run off." "I need the walk, I'm restless." "Come on, boy." "That's good." "How are you coming along?" "I'll be in Washington tomorrow afternoon." "You were right about Rankin." "He's above suspicion." "Here, Red." "Red, come here." "Give me long distance." "I want Washington, D.C." "Well, who but a Nazi would deny that Karl Marx was a German because he was a Jew?" "I think I'll stick around for a while." "What is it, dear?" "Oh, I'm sorry." "I was dreaming." "About that little man." "What little man?" "Oh, you know, dear." "I told you about him." "He came here the day we were married." "Light me a cigarette, will you?" "I've never had a dream like that before." "It frightened me." "Thanks." "You know that little man was walking all by himself across a deserted city square." "Wherever he moved, he threw a shadow." "But when he moved away, Charles, the shadow stayed there behind him and spread out just like a carpet." "I wish you could think who he might have been." "You're overtired." "Yes, perhaps." "Here, dear." "Put this out, will you?" "What was that?" "Why, that sounded like Red, Charles." " What in the world's the matter with him?" " I put him in the cellar." "Oh, darling, no wonder he's howling." "He's never been locked up in his entire life." "But if he's to live with us, he must be trained." "And at night, he will sleep in the cellar." "In the daytime, he'll be kept on a leash." "Charles, I don't believe in dogs being treated like prisoners." " Red's my dog." " Please, Mary." "I know what's best." "Hi, there, Red." "Thought you'd gone to live with your mistress." "Well, Mary brought him home." "Said he howls all night." "Well, fishing any good in these parts?" "Pretty fair." "Would you like to come along?" "Well, I'm afraid I've got the wrong clothes on, but the fish probably won't mind." "Thank you." "I'm just not lucky today, that's all." " Would you like a candy bar?" " Oh, I don't mind if I do." "Thank you." "All your folks like fishing?" "Oh, my dad's great." "He always brings in something." " Well, what about Charles?" " Charles?" "Oh, I have to call him Mr. Rankin in school." "I get little mixed up sometimes." "He spends most of his time on the clock, you know." "Why don't you like him, Noah?" "What do you mean?" "You don't like your brother-in-law." "It's none of my business, but I wish you'd tell me why." "Well, I like him well enough." "I don't know any reason why I shouldn't." "Don't tell me I'm butting in because I know I am, but I can't help myself." "It's my business." "I hate bringing you into this, Noah, but you're the only one I can turn to." "I need your help very badly." "Well, what is it?" "Your sister may be in great trouble." "I know that you're man enough for what I'm going to ask you to do for her." "The truth is I'm not really an antique dealer." "I'm sort of a detective." "Well, what do you want me to do, Mr. Wilson?" "It would help me a lot if I knew every move Charles Rankin made on the day of his wedding, right up to the ceremony." "Well, I should be able to..." " Unless Charles realizes what I'm doing." " I'll keep him busy." "Gee, Mr. Wilson, you must be wrong." "Mary wouldn't fall in love with that kind of a man." "I hope I am wrong, Noah, but that's the way it is." "People can't help who they fall in love with." "Good evening, Mr. Potter." " Good evening, Mr. Wilson." " Evening, boys." " Evening, sir." "85 cents." "Hear you and Professor Rankin aim to fix the clock." "That's right." "Figure it to tell time rightly?" "And will the angel circle around the belfry?" "Is that a man or woman angel, Mr. Wilson?" "I don't know." "Well, reckon it don't make much difference amongst angels." "Well!" "Give up?" "Oh, no, no, no." "We'll play it out." " That's my privilege, 25 cents." " Yeah." "Oh, by the way, did Mr. Rankin pick up his supper this evening?" "Nope." "He generally gets through up there about now." "Yes, I know." "Gets dark earlier these days." "Our little man never did pick up his suitcase, did he?" "Nope." " Strange." " Ain't it, though?" "I've been tempted once or twice to look and see what's inside it." "It ain't even locked." "Well, it seems to me that under the circumstances, that you have a perfect right." "You do?" "Well, I wouldn't want to do it without a witness." " Well, that's me." " It is?" "That's all I wanted to know." "I've been trying to look in that thing ever since it's been here." "I wonder what's in it?" "Soiled linen, sweater, soap, and a razor wrapped in a towel with S.S. Cristobal written across it." " A pair of old shoes." " Yeah." "Yep." " Nothing but religious pamphlets." " Yep, that's all." "Good evening, Mr. Potter." " Oh." " Oh, hello Mr. Wilson." " Good evening." "Mr. Wilson, hi." "Good evening, Mr. Rankin." "Mr. Potter and I have been poking our noses into somebody else's business." "That suitcase." "That chap left it here and he never did call back." "That's been more than two weeks ago." "Did he say what he was doing in Harper?" "Nope." "Looked in the phone book." "Didn't telephone." "Kind of funny looking, he was." "Scrawny little fellow, with big starey blue eyes." "Had a queer walk, like any second he might break into a run." " Did he have a foreign accent?" "Why, yes, he did." "Not so much of an accent as a foreign way of talking." "Do you happen to know who he could be, Mrs. Rankin?" "Why, why, no." "I was just trying to complete your mystery for you." "Don't all foreign strangers have to have foreign accents?" "Mary, have you seen Red?" " Why, no." "Not since I took him home to you a couple of days ago." "He's been spending all his time out in the woods and he doesn't even come home for his meals." " I thought you told me he never ran away." " He never did." "Well, that's why Noah's so anxious." "Come on, Mary." " Good night, Mr. Wilson." " Good night." " Good night, Noah." " Good night, Mary." "Were you able to find out anything?" "Meinike did go to Rankin's house." "And your sister did see him." " Did Mary say so?" " She started to." "Now your sister is a fine woman, Noah, but she must find out the kind of man she's married to." "You don't know Mary." "She wouldn't listen to anything against him, much less believe..." "Noah, we must arrange it so that she finds out for herself." "You understand?" "Yes." "One thing's certain." "She knows nothing now, nothing at all." "Except that he didn't want her to admit having seen someone she did see." "I'd give something to know what explanation he's making right now." "I was a student in Geneva." "There was a girl." "The night before I was to leave, we went out on the lake together." "She told me unless I promised to marry her, she'd never return to shore." "Well, I thought she was joking, naturally, but she wasn't." "Before I could stop her, she stood up in the boat." "Well, I dived in after her, but it was too late." "She was gone." "Only one person knew we were on the lake together, her brother." "He knew I hadn't murdered her, but he he told me he'd be willing to call it an accident for compensation." "I gave him all I had and left Switzerland." "As the years went by," "I allowed myself to believe that the dead past really was dead." "And then, on our wedding day, Mary, he appeared again." "Her brother, the little man." "I gave him all the money I have in the world." "And he went away again." "Oh, darling." "You should have told me, and not carried this awful thing around by yourself." "You're a very wonderful person, Mary." "I love you very much." "Oh, Charles." "But... why didn't he go back for his things?" "Well," "I suppose once he had money, he could afford better." "Darling, I'm terribly nervous." "I think I'll work up in the clock alone tonight, by myself." "It will calm me." " You understand, don't you?" " Of course I understand." " Shall I walk you home?" " No, dear, there's no need for that." " It's pretty late." " That's all right." "In Harper, there's nothing to be afraid of." "I love you." "Poor old Red." "He heard my whistle, I'll bet." "He couldn't bark or anything." "He just crawled this far and died." " Why do you think he died?" " Let's go and find out." "That's young Longstreet's dog, Red." "Looks like he's dead to me." "They're taking him up to Doctor Lawrence's office." "Would you know anything about it?" "Wonder what in the world's the matter with him." "Checkers?" "No." "No, thanks." "That Coke's a nickel." "Thanks, Mr. Rankin." "Oh, Doctor, how long could the dog have lived with that amount of poison in him?" "Oh, not more than a minute or so, I'd say." "Well, then, Red must have been poisoned within a few hundred yards of where you found him, Noah." "And the latter part of the distance, he must have been moving slower and slower." "Thank you very much, Doctor." "Thanks, Jeff." "Mr. Peabody, would you please get that magazine rack in, and hurry up about it?" "Yes, Mr. Potter." "Hurry up about it." "Move along and..." "Afternoon, Mr. Wilson." "Afternoon, Noah." "Bring them right in there, will you, Mr. Peabody?" "What does the law say about this kind of murder?" "Is it the same as killing a man?" "It ought to be." "It's just as bad." "Forepaw's muddy, no mud on hind." "Dry leaves mixed with the mud." "Red must have been digging somewhere in the woods." "Have you any idea what for, Mr. Wilson?" "A body, I think." "Meinike's." "The little man." "Then..." " You just caught me." " Anything wrong?" "Wrong?" "Oh, you mean, closing up like this?" " Yeah." " Just going on a search." " What you after?" " A can of machine oil." " What search?" " For the body." "The state police deputized half the town." "Just reach up there, fourth shelf." "One misses the news up in the clock tower." "What body are they searching for?" "My bet is it's the fellow that left his bags here." "Scrawny little duck." "Unhappy looking." "I knew he'd come to a bad end." "That oil will be 15 cents, mister." "Well, sir, I'll just put it on your account." "Oh, Sara told me you were up here." "Why are you packing?" " Are we going somewhere?" " We aren't, dearest." "I am." "What are you talking about?" "As a rule, men leave their wives because they don't love them, but I must leave you because I do." "Oh, you won't object once you know the kind of man you've married." "But you are the man I've married, and that's all that matters." "Darling, I meant it when I said for better or for worse." "Even to..." "To killing Red?" "You couldn't have." "It was an accident." "No, I meant to kill him." "Murder can be a chain, Mary, one link leading to another until it circles your neck." "Red was digging at the grave of the man I killed." "Yes, your little man." "You killed him?" "With these hands." "The same hands that have held you close to me." "Now are you satisfied to let me go?" "Why?" "Why did you do it?" "I'd have given him all I had, but his dreams were far grander." "He knew that your father was well-to-do." "He knew that Justice Longstreet would be glad to protect his daughter from any scandal by paying a few thousand dollars." "Oh, Mary, I should have gone away and lost myself in a world where he could never find me, but..." "I loved you, and I was weak." "Darling, if one of us goes, we'll both go." "You would have shared half my trouble if I'd had any." "Charles, what is there to connect you with that man?" "Nothing, actually." "You're the only one that knows I knew him." "Well, then, you need have no fear, if I'm the only one who can speak." "But, Mary, in failing to speak, you become part of the crime." "But I'm already a part of it because I'm a part of you." "But you shudder at the first touch of my hands as though it was the touch of death." "It's nerves." "Hold me close, Charles." "Hold me close." "Mr. Peabody, go back to town with the Sheriff" " and open up the coroner's office." "Yes, sir." "I knew darn well it was the same fellow." "Course he's changed some." "Being buried in the earth does it." " Evening, Mr. Wilson." " Good evening, Mr. Potter." " Evening, Noah." " Evening, Mr. Potter." "A mess, ain't it?" "What do we do about Mary?" "We can't leave her alone with him now that we know." "Well, she realizes now that whatever story he told her about Meinike was false." "Noah, I think your sister should be ready to hear the truth." "Charles." "Will they make me look at the body?" "I shouldn't think so." "Because I couldn't do it." "I mean, I don't think I could." "See, I've never seen a dead person." "I..." " How many are you having to tea, Mary?" " Twenty-eight altogether, I think, dear." "You didn't eat nothing at dinner." " Isn't that rather a lot?" " You'll be fainting again, Miss Mary." " Twenty-eight, with just you and Sara?" " No." "Oh, we'll manage all right." " But suppose I should..." " Should what?" "I don't know." "Only now I'm terrified of seeing anybody or being seen." "Mary, you must get tight hold of yourself." "If you're determined to go through with this thing, you must know beforehand exactly what you're gonna do and say at all times." "Perfect naturalness at all times." "Now, darling, listen to me." "Darling," "I am prepared to go to the police." "It's your father, Miss Mary." "He wants to talk to you." " Yes, thank you, Sara." " Mary." "Hello?" "Yes, I think so." "Just a minute and I'll see." "He wants me to come over." "Did he ask me, too?" "He said he wanted to see me alone." "There's nothing unusual about a father wanting to see his daughter." "Is there?" " Is there?" " No." "All right, Adam." "I'll be right over." " Don't you think that's rather strange?" " Strange?" "No, not strange." " Charles." " Tell you what I'll do." "I'll go over to the church and work on the clock while you're with your father." "Then you come by and pick me up later." "I'm so afraid." "It was so pointed, his wanting to see me alone." "His voice sounded so different." "Now you know what you're going to say, don't you?" "Come in, Mary." "Is something wrong?" "Mr. Wilson is here on a very serious matter." "We must try to help him every way possible." "What do you want to know, Mr. Wilson?" "You know about the body that was discovered yesterday, Mrs. Rankin?" "Yes." "Did you ever meet the deceased?" "No." "No, no, I never met him." "Have you seen the body?" "No." "Well, then, how can you be sure you've never met him?" "Of course, I can't be certain." "Mr. Wilson, do you suspect me of something?" "If so, what?" "Of shielding a murderer." "Perhaps this photograph will refresh your memory." "Do you recognize this man?" "That is Konrad Meinike." "Commander in charge of one of the more efficient concentration camps." "You know him, don't you?" "You have met him here in Harper." "No, no, I've never seen that man, Mr. Wilson." "Judge, would you mind putting out the lights?" "I've been showing your father some films, and I'd like you to see them, too." "I'm on the Allied Commission for the punishment of war criminals." "It's my job to bring escaped Nazis to justice." "It's that job that brought me to Harper." "Well, surely you don't think that..." "Mr. Wilson, I've never..." "I've never so much as even seen a Nazi." "Well, you might without your realizing it." "They look like other people and act like other people, when it's to their benefit." "A gas chamber, Mrs. Rankin." "The candidates were first given hot showers so that their pores would be open and the gas would act that much more quickly." "And this is a lime pit in which hundreds of men, women and children were buried alive." "Why do you want me to look at these horrors?" "All this you're seeing, it's all the product of one mind." "The mind of a man named Franz Kindler." "Franz Kindler." "Yes, he was the most brilliant of the younger minds from the Nazi party." "It was Kindler who conceived the theory of genocide, mass depopulation of conquered countries." "So that regardless of who won the war," "Germany would emerge the strongest nation in Western Europe, biologically speaking." "Unlike Goebbels, Himmler and the rest of them," "Kindler had a passion for anonymity." "The newspapers carried no picture of him." "Oh, no, and just before he disappeared, he destroyed every evidence that might link him with his past down to the last fingerprint." "There's no clue to the identity of Franz Kindler, except one little thing." "He has a hobby that almost amounts to a mania." "Clocks." "So have lots of people." "You yourself." "Well, I'm not quite finished, Mrs. Rankin." "In prison, in Czechoslovakia, a war criminal was awaiting execution." "This was Konrad Meinike, onetime executive officer for Franz Kindler." "He was an obscenity on the face of the earth." "The stench of burning flesh was in his clothes." "But we gave him his freedom on the chance that he might lead me to Kindler." "He led me here, Mrs. Rankin." "And here, I lost him." "Until yesterday." "Your dog, Red, found him for me." "But unfortunately, Meinike was dead and buried." "Now, in all the world, there is only one person who can identify Franz Kindler." "That person is the one who knows, knows definitely, who Meinike came to Harper to see." "No, he's not a Nazi!" "My Charles is not a Nazi!" "You were in Rankin's house during the afternoon of the day..." " Where?" " Rankin's house." " Oh, yes, yes." " Did anyone come while you were there?" " Not that I remember." " Now try hard to remember." "It's not so long ago." "Only two weeks." " You were hanging curtains." " No one came." " Were you alone all the time?" " No." " Who else was there?" " Charles." "He came right after his last class." "And we were together for more than an hour." "You have nothing to link my husband with this man Kindler except a wild suspicion." "It's a ridiculous suspicion." "If you're trying to use me to implicate him, you can't." "You can't involve me in a lie." "That's..." "That's all it is, is a lie." "It's a lie, you know." "It's a lie." " It's a lie." " Mary!" "Mary!" "Wait a minute." "Mary!" "Mary!" "Wait a minute, sister!" "Now that's better." "You know that your welfare, and Noah's, means more to me than anything, don't you?" "Yes." "Yes." "Then you've got to face this thing with complete honesty, sister." "Your entire happiness may well depend on your telling me the absolute truth." "If Mr. Wilson is right, and you have innocently married a criminal, well, then, there is no marriage." "There's no call upon your loyalty as a wife." "He's good!" "He's good." "He wouldn't hurt anybody except to protect somebody he loved." "He's..." " He's good." " Well, then, the truth can't hurt him." "Charles was not with you that afternoon, sister." "I remember your saying so when you came home." " You're against him, too, Adam!" " No." "Yes you are!" "You've never liked him and that's why you don't believe me now!" "Leave us alone, Adam!" "He's not a Nazi!" "He's not one of those people!" "He's not!" "Leave us alone!" "She has the facts now, but she won't accept them." "They're too horrible for her to acknowledge." "Not so much that Rankin could be Kindler, but that she could ever have given her love to such a creature." "But we have one ally, her subconscious." "It knows what the truth is and it's struggling to be heard." "The will to truth within your daughter is much too strong to be denied." "Look here, Wilson, if he's not Charles Rankin, we should be able to expose him without too much difficulty." "I'm not interested in proving that he isn't Charles Rankin." "I'm only interested in proving that he's Franz Kindler." "How do you propose to do that?" "Through your daughter." "Unless I'm mistaken, she's headed for a breakdown." "That's the usual result of a person being inwardly divided." "Rankin will recognize this and that's what I'm banking on." " What do you mean?" " Well, he can't afford to trust a person approaching hysteria." "He won't." "He'll have to act." "He may try to escape before she collapses, which would only be an admission of guilt or..." "Go on." "He may kill her." "You're shocked at my cold-bloodedness." "Well, that's quite natural, you're her father." "And it's because you are her father, Judge Longstreet, that I am talking to you like this." "Naturally, we'll try to prevent murder being done." "However, the proof that murder is his aim would be the strongest evidence that your daughter could have." "Charles." "Listen, it's striking." "A hundred years after..." "It was a trap, Charles, just like you said." "Mr. Wilson was there." "He tried to tell me that you were a Nazi, and I was supposed to believe it." "Imagine you being an escaped Nazi." "Oh, he thinks he's very clever, that Wilson." "His idea was to horrify me into telling him about the little man." " Who did he say he thought I was?" " A Nazi." "Franz Kindler." "He made it all up just to trick me." "But I didn't tell him anything and I didn't tell father anything." "I out-faced both of them, Charles." "It'll be simple enough to prove you're not that Nazi." "We'll just find someone who was in your class at college and he'll identify you, and that's all there'll be to it." "If what you say is true, he can't touch me." "I'm quite safe if you say nothing." "Oh, I won't, Charles." "I promise I won't." "They can torture me and I won't tell them anything!" "Look, the chimes have awakened Harper." "We must go down and greet them." " You must act natural." " Yes." " Smile at them, you understand?" " Yes." " Are you all right?" " Yes, I'm all right." "We'll face them, darling." "And when she struck, that angel started marching." "It was a sight to behold." "Professor, you sure knocked it off, my hat's off to you." "Congratulations, Mr. Rankin." "Won't the rector be delighted?" "What I want to know is, if she's gonna chime all night long, how's a body gonna get any sleep?" "We'll face them, darling, all of them." "Them chickens sure is gonna be on and off the roost every 15 minutes." "Sara." "Sara, I've told you I want these curtains drawn." "I don't like the sunlight streaming in, it's bad for them." "Mary, that's rubbish and you know it." "Up at the other house, we never closed the curtains." "That has nothing to do with it." "This is my house and I want them drawn." "Well, suit yourself then." "It's going to look mighty gloomy for the party." "Is it that time already?" "Were you able to see when they opened the grave, Mr. Randall?" " Oh, yes." " Was it too horrible?" "Well, not the most pleasant sight." "There's Mary." "Hello, Mary." "Filling out prescriptions." "That's the part of this business I hate." " Sleeping pills, that's another." " That's for Mrs. Rankin." " $1.65." " Okay." " Want them wrapped?" " No thanks." " Sleeping pills!" "Don't approve of them!" " No?" "Man does a day's work, man gets a night's sleep." "Leastways, he could until that clock started bonging every few minutes..." "I believe Mrs. Rankin ordered some ice cream, didn't she?" " Ice cream?" "Already gone." " Yes." "Fellow said he was going past your house, so I give it to him." "Mr. Wilson." "Mrs. Rankin." "I wouldn't dream of setting foot outside the house unless Fred were along." "Who knows, he might be anywhere." "The murderer, I mean." "Waiting for a new victim." "I hope you haven't forgotten you were kind enough to invite me, Mrs. Rankin." "No, of course not, Mr. Wilson." " Mr. Potter asked me to deliver this." " Oh, the ice cream, good." " Sara's waiting for it." " I hope it hasn't melted." " Well, I won't detain you any longer." " Ah, yes..." " I have a drink for you." " Just the medicine I need." " You know Dr. Hippard?" " Oh, yes, of course." "How are you, Doctor?" " Excuse me." " Yeah, sure." "Grandma Lawrence, can I get you something else?" "Nothing more, thank you, dear." " Where's Dr. Rankin?" " Oh, he'll be here in just a few minutes." "I want to have a word with him about that clock." "Yes." "Well, thank you, brother." "Yes, on my last trip." " May I get you something?" " No, thank you." "And Jack the Ripper." "And what was that Frenchman's name?" " Hello, dear." " Hello." "Landru." "Yes, there may well be ten or a dozen graves" " out there in those woods." "Ten or a dozen!" "Autopsy showed the murder was committed just three weeks ago." " May I get you some more tea?" " Thank you, no." "Jeff, may I get you another drink?" "I wish I could remember what Emerson says about crime." "Oh, there's Rankin." " He may know." " Sorry to be late." "Hello, everybody." "Darling." " Oh, hello, there, Rankin." " How are you, Mr. Wilson?" " You know the quotation?" " Mr. Hippard." " Emerson." " Quotation?" ""Commit a crime and the earth is made of glass. "" "No, I don't." ""Commit a crime and the earth is made of glass." ""Commit a crime..." ""Commit a crime, and it seems as if a coat of snow fell on the ground," ""such as reveals in the woods the track of every partridge and fox" ""and squirrel and mole." ""You cannot recall the spoken word," ""you cannot wipe out the foot-track," ""you cannot draw up the ladder, so as to leave no inlet or clue. "" " You're Mr. Wilson, aren't you?" " Yes." "Do you know you're our number one suspect in our murder case?" " Oh?" "So far you're the only suspect." "Potter put the finger on you." "He thinks you committed the crime to get possession of some priceless antiques." "You want a drink, Mr. Wilson?" "Mr. Rankin, I wish you'd left that clock alone." "Harper was a nice quiet place until it started banging." " Mary, what's Wilson doing here?" " I don't know." "You invited him, didn't you?" " What's he after?" " I don't know." " Are you all right?" " Yes, quite all right." " Now, remember Friday, Mary." " Yes, all right." " Good night." " Good night." " May I help you, dear?" " No!" "No, no, no!" " Mary, Mary, Mary." " No." "It's all right, dear." "It's all right." "It broke, and the beads fell all over the floor." "He took her upstairs." "When I left, I could still hear her crying." "Well, the floodgates have opened." "Her subconscious has almost won." "From now on, we must know every move that Mrs. Rankin makes." "She's never to leave the house unless I know where she's going." "If for any reason I can't be found, she's to be detained, no matter on what pretext." "You understand, Sara?" "Don't worry, she won't get by me." "When she snapped those beads, she signed her own death warrant." "We're carrying her life in our hands." "Every time she walks on a slippery sidewalk, is near something that can fall, drives an automobile, anything that could result in an accidental death, her life is in danger." "Yes, Judge." "She won't get by me." " Good afternoon, gentlemen." "Good afternoon, sir." "Today we will attempt to finish with the career of Friedrich der Grosse," "Konig von Preussen," "Kufurst von Brandenberg, Prince von Polen." "Frederick the Great to you." "86..." " 862, please." "That'll be 85 cents." " Hello?" " Mary." "Mary, this is Charles." "Can you hear me, dear?" "I can't speak very loudly where I am, but I want you to understand this." "Something very important has come up." "You must come to the church immediately." "The church tower." " Understand?" " Yes, I understand." "I don't want anybody to know that you're going there." "Mary, don't tell anybody you're going." "Go to the church tower and leave your car in the rear and come in through the back door." "Okay?" "Goodbye now." "Peabody!" "They're coming." "They're coming, Mr. Potter." "Rack that wood down there with the rest of them, then get back to work." "Yes, sir." "Watch that, Mr. Peabody." "Your move, Professor." "Going someplace?" "Where to?" "I asked you where you was going, Miss Mary." " I heard." " Well." "Sara, you seem to forget I'm no longer a child, I'm a married woman." "Well, you ain't been married very long." "Wait, Mrs. Rankin." "What is it?" "I'm in a hurry." "Well, you don't need to go biting my head off!" " What is it, Sara?" " Well, I..." "I don't..." "If you've got something to say, say it!" "What is it, Sara?" "I don't know what's got into you lately." "Indeed I don't." "You never was mean to me like this back at the old house." " Sara, I..." " Maybe I've outworn my usefulness." "I'm not as young as I used to be." "Maybe you don't want me around anymore!" "For heaven's sake, stop talking such nonsense!" "Well, it's true and you know it!" "I'm gonna pack my things and leave here!" "Indeed I am!" "Sara, I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings." "I didn't mean to, really I didn't." "Sara, now I couldn't get along without you and you know that, don't you?" " Well, don't you?" " Honest, Miss Mary?" " Yes, honestly, honestly, Sara." " Oh, Miss Mary." " Oh, Miss Mary." " Sara, Sara, please, wait, just a minute." "Sara, you will never leave me, will you?" "You know how I feel about you, don't you?" " Yes, I do, Sara." " Like you was my own daughter, my own little girl." "How could I..." "Sara, I've got to go now, really I do." "I promised to be somewhere." "Well..." "Well, where to, Miss Mary?" "Stop fussing, Sara." "It's a secret." "Oh, Miss Mary!" "What's the matter?" "Sara, what's the matter?" "My heart!" "I can't breathe!" "The pain!" "No, Miss Mary, please don't leave me!" "No, don't leave me!" "Now lie there, keep quiet." "Keep quiet now, Sara!" " Maybe I'm dying!" " You're not dying." " Please stay with me!" " I won't leave you." "130, please." "Yes, Mary?" "Look, I was supposed to meet Charles at the clock tower right away and I can't get there." "Will you go and tell him to please wait for me?" "And, Noah, no one's to know where or why you're going." "It's important." "All right." "238, please." "Hello, may I speak to Mr. Wilson?" "Looks like it's coming up for snow." "Yes, that's right." "Mrs. Rand, Mrs. Lundstrom." "Isn't it after hours?" "You ladies are working too hard at the library." "Oh, no, Mr. Rankin, we closed as usual at 3:30." "You're perfectly right." "I dismissed class 10 minutes early." "Yes, it's 3:44." "I was playing checkers with Mr. Potter and I didn't realize." "You know what you are, Mr. Rankin?" "You're the absentminded professor!" "You sure are lucky today." " I am, indeed." " You sure are." "Good afternoon, Mr. Potter." " Afternoon, Mr. Hill." "Sorry, Mr. Potter, I can't find them." " What?" " The earmuffs." "Right over there by the mittens." "Come on, Mr. Potter, help us look." "Well, I'll be right back in a minute, Professor." "Right over there by that box where I told you they was." " Those?" " They're the latest thing out." " How much do you want for them?" " 85 cents." " That's an awful lot." " Well, they come high this year." " You want this thing?" " Aw, keep it." "You know, Mr. Potter, you're a bad influence." "I, ah..." "I intended only to spend a couple of minutes." "You've made me spend the whole afternoon." "Look what time it is." "Yeah." " I'd like to get even." " It's your move." "Look there, Professor." " Like I told you, it's coming up for snow." " Yes." "Look here, Professor." "Double or nothing?" " Good afternoon, Mr. Potter." " Afternoon, Professor." "Charles." " You didn't go to the church?" " No." " No, Sara..." " Sara, what about Sara?" "Well, just as I was leaving, Sara had some kind of an attack." " An attack?" " She's resting now, yes." "And Jeff said it wasn't very serious, but that I should stay with her." "What's the matter, Charles?" " Nothing's the matter." "Then why did you want me to go to the church?" "You said it was important." "It isn't important." "Nothing actually." "My sense of proportion is failing me these days." "Please, Charles, what is it?" "I'm sorry." "I've just begun to feel the strain." "You see, I have my weak moments, too." "I'll tell you in my own good time." " Have they found out anything more?" " No, nothing that I can find out." " Unless you?" " No, I haven't seen anybody all day." "I've been in my room." "There's a rumor going around that there's an arrest to be made." "My head aches." "The incident with the beads yesterday made me doubt your strength." "I thought maybe you'd gone to your father and told him something." "If you had..." "You didn't have to be afraid." "No?" "What did you tell Noah?" "Why, what about?" " Didn't you see him?" " No, why should I see Noah?" "Well, did you come here directly from the church?" "Am I being cross-examined?" "No, but when I found out I couldn't leave Sara," "I called Noah and told him to go there and tell you I was detained." " I told you not to call anybody!" " But surely, Noah." "Call him and tell him not to go!" "Well, I can't, I talked to him over..." " Call him, I say!" "He's gone!" "If he dies, his blood will be on your hands." " What are you saying?" " It's your meddling that's done this!" "I'd have been all right if it wasn't for you." "But that you..." "You had to be here on that day!" "Hanging your stupid curtains." "Calling Noah." "Did you kill Noah?" "Yes, if he goes to the church and climbs up that ladder!" " It was I you intended to kill, wasn't it?" " No." "Why wasn't it I?" "Franz Kindler!" "Kill me." "Kill me, I want you to." "I couldn't face life knowing what I've been to you and what I've done to Noah." "But when you kill me, don't put your hands on me!" "Here!" "Use this!" "Mary!" "Noah!" "Operator." "Operator, get me the state police." "Yes, the roadblocks are up." "We're watching the railroad station and he isn't hiding in the woods." "Judge Longstreet!" "Judge Longstreet!" "You get Wilson, Noah!" "I'll go for the police!" "Mr. Wilson!" "Well, if he is where I think he is, it's going to be easy." "We'll do everything possible to bring him back alive." "She's gone, Mr. Wilson!" " She's not in the house!" " The clock tower?" "I don't know." "Well, if that's where he's hiding, and she gets there before us..." "What will we do?" "Call Captain Samuels and the deputies." " Get all the help you can." " Where?" "The church, the church." " What about you?" " I'll get there." "Now hurry up now, will you?" "Your sister may be still alive." "Don't move." "I have a gun." "You don't need it." "I'm alone." " What are you doing here?" " Lift me up." "You're telling the truth?" "Why should I lie?" " You were followed here?" " I came by our way." "Through the cemetery." "No one saw me." "I needed the excuse." "I was afraid you wouldn't let me up." " What do you want?" " I came to kill you." "No, no, Mary, it's you that's going to die." "You were meant to fall through that ladder." "You're going to fall." "I don't mind if I take you with me." "You are a fool." "They've searched the woods." "I watched them." "Here, like God, looking at little ants." "I'll hide in the woods." "They won't search there again." "In a day or two, they'll be sure I got out of town." "When they find me, they'll know you're still here." "But, darling, you're on the verge of a breakdown." "Now you've cracked." "Why else would you leave your bed, climb to an empty church tower in the dead of night?" "Any child could see you'd wind up killing yourself." "Killing is what led you here." "It won't help you now." "Look out the window!" "Look!" "Well, that's an old trick, Mr. Wilson." "A very poor trick!" "Tricks!" "That's all you know is tricks!" "I don't need any tricks!" "No matter what happens to me, tricks won't do you any good!" "You're finished, Herr Franz Kindler!" "The citizens of Harper, they've come after you." "The plain, little, ordinary people, the ones you've been laughing at, Herr Franz Kindler!" "Well, you can't fool them anymore." "Oh, sure, you can kill me, Mary, half the people down there, but there's no escape." "You had a world and it closed in on you till there was only Harper." "That closed in on you and there was only this room!" "And this room, too, is closing in on you!" "It's not true, the things they say I did." "It was all their idea." " I followed orders." " You gave the orders." "I only did my duty." "Don't send me back to them." "I can't face them." " I'm not a criminal." " You are." "Give me that gun!" "All right, Mr. Wilson, Mary's safe." "Let me give you a hand." "No, no, no, no." "No, thanks." " Hi, what happened?" " V Day in Harper." "I don't get that." "Come on down!" "Oh, no, not until you get me a new ladder." "I've had my ankle busted and my head conked." "From here on in, my friends, I'm taking it easy." "Well, I'll get you another ladder, Mr. Wilson." "You've had enough trouble." "Good night, Mary." "Pleasant dreams."