""The only way to kill monsters is to accept them."" "Each individual is the sum of the personalities inhabiting it." "The impression of unity that we give arises from our inhibitions." "What others call our character is simply a shield protecting our true nature, an envelope designed for social intercourse which is only effective in times of peace." "For in cases of aggression, and only at such times, we become what we are." "When threatened, we can reveal, in a flash, everything we try so hard to conceal." ""No" finds it harder to lie than "yes"." "LABYRINTH" "How many lies to seal that wound?" "Doctor!" " How many stitches?" "Why must we constantly mend our wounds?" "Why not say out loud who we are really?" "What are we afraid of?" "Of what others will think if they find we're not who we claim to be?" "Claude chose differently." "Claude reopened the scars." "Claude picked away the thread of the stitches and followed it into the labyrinth of the mind to confront... the Great Imprecator, the inner monster who persecutes us all." "Claude's story is a true one." "One of modern psychiatry's strangest cases." "But... summing up the case now would make no sense." "Let us return instead to what led me to this..." ""patient"... whose treatment would change my life." "Six nights before Claude's arrest" "Claude?" "Are you all right?" "I thought you were about to faint." "Sit down for a minute." "Remember the rent you owe me." "You're two months behind." "Mossberg. 12 bore." "The US Police assault rifle." "Good for clay pigeon shooting too." "Three boxes of finned bullets." "Anything else?" "It's a class-four weapon." "But the procedure's simple." "I'll just need your license..." "What's going on?" "You want cash?" "What's that for?" "What was Claude doing here?" "Many times, since childhood, my patient had had a sensation of "stolen" time." "Someone was borrowing Claude's time and using it to some unknown goal." "Claude simply woke in an unfamiliar place with no memory of what had occurred." "14 women and 13 men, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, who unluckily crossed this monster's path." "Does your client plead guilty or not guilty?" "Your Honor, my client is unable to answer." "Unable to discern good and evil, my client cannot choose." "Have I hurt someone?" "Therefore, the defense requests the court to appoint a psychiatric expert to evaluate my client's mental condition." "The expert was my friend and colleague," "Professor Karl Froebe." "Claude would spend three months in a HSH, a High Security Hospital." "The goal was improved emotional integration so Claude could co-operate with a lawyer and stand trial." "At times, I blame Karl." "He gave me this case." "But, looking back, was there a better therapeutic option?" "He merely opened the door to the labyrinth, nothing more." "I had been waiting to descend." "Perhaps... if you..." " Karl." "I no longer practise and you know it." "I agreed to join this establishment solely..." "To live with the patients in order to understand them." "But you needn't interrupt your work." "Just give me 45 minutes a day." "It's not that difficult." "You only ever get one subject like this." "She's a different person every day." "The voices she hears, her expressions, her way of moving or talking can all change." "She's aggressive one day and the next you pity her." "She has the symptoms of schizophrenia but the standard treatments don't work." "Why me?" "Because we never agree." "Because you have a skeptical nature." "Because descents into hell don't scare you." "What does she say about it?" "What can she say?" "She decides nothing." "A roll of the dice decides if she eats, takes a shower or the way she dresses." "The very same dice that allowed her to kill." "You're her last chance." "I report to the court next month." "Traditional psychiatry gives up." " It's that bad?" "What if we let Claude decide?" "No neuroleptics while I treat her." "I want to hear the voices she hears." "Six nights before Claude's arrest" "Hi, Ray." " Long time no see, Matthias." "No corpse or witnesses." "Just the victim's blood." "Nice and sordid, the way you like it." "You want me back?" " No." "I just want your opinion." " As a charlatan or as a profiler?" "Both." "I must be dreaming." "Nostradamus!" "Any coffee grounds left?" "We'll steam ahead now!" "Why're you here?" " How many samples?" "Just one." "Why?" "You can tell the victim's blood from the killer's?" "One sample per stain." "So what's missing?" " Lots of stuff, sir." "And not playthings :" "Mossberg, Desert Eagle..." "He took out the video cam." " Got the footage?" "We'll have it in an hour." "No, no way out." "It was the rush hour, no one could've taken a corpse out unnoticed." "The bin." " What?" "Ask the janitor." "There's a bin missing." "Charly!" "The janitor!" "What's your game, Ray?" "He can't rule us because of his two-bit visions again." "Any other solution, Malik?" "Your pubes won't solve this one." "You're right about the bin." "He pulled it this far then loaded it onto a vehicle." "Stolen." "He improvises everything." "Got many kidnappings?" "Why d'you ask?" "Cut it out, Ray, I knowwhat you're after." "It's like last year all over again." "Seven with this one." "You're back." "You knowwhere it got me last year." "The best thing you did was to fire me." "So let's not spoil it, okay?" "What are you looking at?" " Claude." "Is she always alone like that?" " Always." "Except when consulting." " How do you mean?" "She counsels other patients, often contrary to us, and makes them call her doctor." "She caused such trouble we had to transfer her." "So she's with the men now." "She's always been with them." "Women traumatize her." "I hear you're taking over the case." "Hello." "Great reintegration." "Despite treatment, they stayed dangerous." "I bet they still kill and rape there." "I'm Doctor Brennac." "And you're Claude, aren't you?" "That's the name on your file." "Could you sit on that couch, please?" "Very good." "Well now..." "It says in your file that you live alone in an apartment on the Rue des Martyrs." "Is that true?" "It also says here that... you're very gifted at drawing." "Is that false too?" "Listen, Claude." "If you want me to help, you have to answer." "One therapist has already given up, half the staff's against you." "You lost two months with your bullshit." "Knowwhat you get if we fail?" "Jail." "For life." "Isn't it worth making an effort?" "I'll see you every day at ten sharp for a 45-minute quiz." "Think you can survive that?" "Can you, doc?" "Well?" "She thinks I won't survive our sessions." "But you..." "What do you think?" "I think you overestimate me." "They're rechargeable." "You can listen to that nigger beat non-stop." "Charge them for 12 hours first time." "I owe you, doctor." " So listen to that far from me." "I wanted to ask you..." "I see the commission tomorrow." "How can I make them let me out?" "It's simple." "Just talk about your victims without creaming your pants." "Think you manage that?" "Forget it then, you stay." "Fuck, Stan!" "Not for you." " It's against my religion?" "Five nights before Claude's arrest" "Gun store footage" "Missing" "Hello." "I didn't hear you come in." "No, stay, please." "What time is it?" "I'm late." "Sit down." "Karl, I'm sorry." "I worked late." "I crashed out on your couch." "But... since Claude is very punctual, we can start our session." "I'll leave you." " See you later." "They said to come and see Dr Brennac." "That's me." "Don't you recognize me?" "Is this yours?" "Yes." "I use it to record our sessions." "You operated it yesterday." "Don't you remember?" "Could you sit over there, please?" "How old are you?" "Seven and a half." "Your file says you're older." "It's not my file." " It's not yours..." "Whose is it then?" " It's Claude's." "You're not Claude?" "So who are you?" " Theseus." "Theseus?" "That's a boy's name." "You're a boy?" " Yeah." "You're a boy." "Can't you tell?" "So where's Claude?" " She's sleeping." "Where?" "Could you wake her?" "I need to talk to her." "No." "Why?" "Dedalus says no." "It's too dangerous." "Dedalus?" "Who's he?" "I'm not allowed to say." "Why not?" "The others will get mad at me." " The others?" "Which others?" "I'm not allowed to say." "Listen..." "Listen, Theseus..." "If you want me to help, you must talk to me." "They won't let me out again." "You want to stay sick?" "To get better, you must talk to someone." "You started with me." "So you must trust me already somehow." "Don't touch him!" "You get it?" "Don't touch him!" "What did you do to him?" " Claude?" "You're obsessed." "Didn't I tell you I'm not Claude?" "You didn't tell me much." ""You didn't tell me much." The kid told you too much." "He disobeyed and he'll be punished." " No outings?" "Who made the rules?" "The boss." " Meaning?" "Dedalus?" "Got it in one." "So what's your name?" "Ariadne." "Ariadne, Theseus, Dedalus..." "You certainly like mythology." " So I'm a mythomaniac?" "How many are you?" " I've no idea." "I don't knowthem all." "But too many for my liking." "How old are you... "Ariadne"?" "25." "Blonde, five foot eleven, an athlete's body, big tits." "I'm the family hottie." "Dedalus gave me foreign affairs." "He says I have "acute territorial sense"." "I almost forgot..." "I hate authority." "Filling out your cards, doc?" "Getting our details down?" "Who knows, you might find a contradiction or two to prove it's all bullshit." "Poor little doctor." "Two days in therapy and he's already out of it." "There'll be no contradictions." "Knowwhy?" "Because we're not "characters" but people, as different as you and me." "You knowwhat?" "You can stuff your quiz up your ass." "I had come to unmask a fake and she had unmasked me." "I felt like telling Karl." "But I knewwhat he'd say." "I knewwhat they'd all say if I put into words what my instinct was whispering to me." "No, I needed further evidence." "There's only one kind of DNA :" "the gunsmith's." "He looks down as he fires." "He knows we're watching." "Is he saying something?" "Enlarge the mouth." "Your wish is my command." "Focus." " This isn't Hollywood." "I can only improve contrast." "Four syllables, right?" " I reckon he says, "The money"." "Concentrate, damn it!" "While you fuck around, he's out killing." "What?" "Play it on a loop." "Please?" " Please." "The first syllable is "O", the second's "VE"," "the third's "TO"..." "I can try matching sound to it." "You see, when you try..." "Over to you." "What?" ""Over to you." That's what he says." "Play it back." "Stop just before he puts that thing on the counter." "There." "Enlarge the hand." "He puts dice on the counter." "He lets the gunsmith play first." "He doesn't decide to kill, chance does." "I had put Claude under 24-hour observation." "Without an audience, an actor stops perfrming." "The nurses' report was categorical." "Either she was perfrming for herself or she was really sick." "The hospital was divided." "Some thought Claude was a genius actress who was acting mad to stay out ofjail, while others thought she was ill." "I'd change sides more than once." "Now, looking back, the most amazing thing" "was that I had doubts." "After three days, I had a letter from Claude." "It was a letter of dismissal." "She wanted to end treatment by me." "In fact, she wanted to end all treatment." "Ifl thought she was guilty, then she had to be." "Her shoulder." "Look out!" "To prevent suicide attempts, Claude was strapped to her bed." "That's where we had our third talk, the one that would start it all." "It hurts, doctor." "Did Ariadne do that, Theseus?" " No, it was Claude." "Wasn't she sleeping?" "Sometimes, she runs off." "Is she dangerous when she runs off?" "He who inflicts punishment must sample it." "Dedalus?" " Until proved otherwise." "I'm Dr Brennac." " I knowwho you are." "We all promised Karl we'd do our best to help you solve your problem." "My problem?" "I'm your psychiatrist, Dedalus." "You're certainly not mine." "Claude's in any case." " Could you untie me?" "You seem tense and nervous." "Do I intimidate you?" " Far from it." "As a colleague who knows Claude well..." "I just tidied up her life, that's all." "I knew her as a child." "I'm a bit like her great-uncle." "A great-uncle who terrifies Theseus." "Why punish him so harshly?" "He's just a child." "He's a member of the family." ""No member of the family must reveal the others' existence."" "Our lives depend on it." "In that case, don't punish Theseus, punish the killer." "He's why you're all here, right?" "Do you knowthe culprit, Dedalus?" "Do we ever know anybody, doctor?" "What's that fucking bitch done to us now?" "Ariadne?" " Shit, untie me." "Fucking untie me, I hate being tied." "All right." "Why force Claude to sleep?" "Why?" "Why?" "Fucking questions!" "Do I ask if you wear briefs or boxers?" " Want to know?" "Yeah." " Boxers." "Why force her to sleep?" "If we didn't, we'd all be dead by now." "What do you mean?" " Guess." "She first tried to kill ourselves when she was 10." "You were born when she was 10?" " You're a twisted bastard." "You think I'm nuts." "Isn't that what you want?" "Why?" "To avoid jail." "What do you call this?" "Got a cig?" "Here." "Fucking family of non-smokers!" "I didn't kill them and I'm not mad." "I won't admit either one." "Who's asking you to?" "I just want to help." "I don't need help." " The others do." "Fuck 'em." " Even Theseus?" "You think he's innocent because he's a kid?" "Kids kill more easily than grown-ups." "They're not ruled by their Conscience, that disease that kills off the Animal in us." "Is Theseus the killer?" " I'm not really a star witness, doc." "If you believe Karl, I tend to mix up today and yesterday." "You speak very freely, Ariadne." "Doesn't Dedalus scare you?" " No one scares me." "Not even Minotaur." " Minotaur?" "Who's that?" "The man with a bull's head?" "Wait till he turns up." "That won't be so much fun." "He can't control his strength." "Is Minotaur the killer?" " I'm not a snitch, doc." "You want to help me?" "Rid me of these nutters." " after I speak to Claude." "She doesn't know about us." "She's amnesiac." "I'll tell her the truth about all of you." "Her body will be in prison, right?" "You don't have the balls." "Want to bet?" "If I win, we tell Claude everything and work my way." "Ifyou win, I stop hassling you." "Over to you." "Roll them." " No, it's okay." "Just take the car." "Roll them, I said." "Four nights before Claude's arrest" "Your ticket, please." "Sir..." "The last metro isn't free." "30 euros if you pay now, 180 if you wait." "Claude!" "Can you hear me?" "Claude!" "I keep shouting but you don't stop or answer me." "You owe me two months' rent." "Are you going to pay it or not?" "If you don't, I'll throwyou out." "What do you think this is?" "The Salvation Army?" "Claude!" "Almost a fractured skull." "We're lucky." "Untie me, goddammit!" "Karl, about time." "These idiots pounced on Claude and then they forgot to untie me." "What happened to you?" "Minotaur." "That's what happened." "What?" "Going to untie me?" "Yes, of course." "I screwed up, really screwed up." "I untied Ariadne for 5 minutes." "When Minotaur came out and..." "Have you heard of Sybil?" "The patient with multiple personalities." "Dr Wilbur's case." "Yes, I know it." "I've found 4 personalities in your patient." "Ariadne, Theseus, Dedalus and Minotaur." "We've never even spoken to Claude." "She has amnesia and knows nothing about them." "Listen, I have great respect for Dr Wilbur and others working on multiple personalities but..." "Why not come and play St Thomas in our session tomorrow?" "But... she'll never agree to it." "She has no choice." "I won at dice, the therapy goes on." "Make your mind up!" "A man in drag?" "Awoman with a deep voice?" "You're confusing me." " No, you're confusing me." "A guy." "With a woman's voice." "I'm not stupid." " So I see." "He had a Desert Eagle, like the Terminator." "The bastard was after my wheels." " Take his statement." "We played dice for it." "I was so fucking lucky." "Keep back." " No, let him through!" "The gun was from the store." "He spared a pizza guy before wasting two ticket inspectors." "I'll only help because I have no choice." "Got a description?" "Several but all contradictory." "Some say it's a woman, others a man." "Too many witnesses are worse than none at all." "But they all agree on one thing." " The dice." "With a higher score, they'd be alive." "How does he choose them?" "He doesn't." "They designate themselves by speaking to him and so forcing him to decide." "The woman and baby were here." "The old people there... and the killer was here." "There..." "That's where he was sitting." "You questioned the blind man?" "You know about him?" " Was there one?" "Yes, but we let him go." "Not a great eyewitness." "Where was he?" "Where you are now." "He was closest to him." "If the killer spoke, he'll know if it's a man or a woman." "If this die is yours, why was it in the carriage where the inspector was shot?" "How should I know?" "Ask the others." "All I know is I lost it yesterday." "Yesterday?" "The crime took place 3 months ago, Ariadne." "You're confusing recent past and distant past." "You're trying to confuse me." " Ever heard of multiple personalities?" "Call me a personality and I'll belt you." "We're people, okay?" "People who are all called Claude." " lsn't that cooler for you?" "I mean, look at me." "Has this wretch anything to do with me?" "This "wretch", as you call her, is a patient here." "You go where she goes." "To prison, for life, for serial killings." "Is that what you want?" "What day is it today, Ariadne?" "Who gives a shit?" "All days are alike here." " Can you at least tell me the time?" "Time is passing, Ariadne." "The past can't be changed with a roll of the dice." "Your score three months ago is still your score." "And the score of the 27 who died because of you too." "Because of me?" "He said that?" "Because of me?" "Aria..." "Dedalus!" "Don't worry." "In 48 hours, she'll forget her resentment." "You must understand her." "The lack of liberty hurts her more than the rest of us." "She acts tough but she won't last a week in jail." "Still, Ariadne never killed anyone." "We've had long talks." "She's incapable of it." "How do you communicate together?" "Out loud or in your mind?" "It depends if people are around." "As I watched Karl's face, I recognized my own resistance." "Like him, I had felt the need to take this machine apart, to seek out its failings." "Like him, I was caught in the web of logic that Claude had woven around her and that grew with each question." "Like him, I ended up believing that I had spoken to four different people." "But I still hadn't met my patient and I feared a new clash with Minotaur who had burst out of nowhere to punish me." "Three nights before Claude's arrest" "A talk or a fuck this time?" "A talk." "The nightmares are back?" "I hear their voices murmuring." "As if I wasn't alone in my head." "Every sound I hear unleashes an image now." "And it's so real that it feels like my life," "you understand?" "Do you understand?" "Even if I close my eyes... or plug my ears," "the voices are there." "The images are there, unforgettable." "They don't leave me alone." "I hear hideous things, unhealthy things." "All those remains in the labyrinth..." "That repulsive stench..." "This treatment sucks!" "My other tenants act freely just like you do!" "It's always the others, never you." "That's too simple." "And if we go against you, you bring out Minotaur!" "Start assuming responsibility for your shit, Ariadne, or everyone here will go on calling you Claude." "Claude, like on your passport." "Which one killed?" "Until I knowthat, we won't get anywhere." "Who kills?" "The one who eats?" "Or the one who gives the food?" "Who gives the food?" "The mother." "Weeks locked in the dark..." "She gave birth to us by starving Claude." "Why did she do that to you?" "Karl!" "Alex!" "Are you okay?" "I'm through with this case." "It's your patient, not mine." "It's because of Minotaur." "But you can't give up this close to the goal." "What goal do you mean, Karl?" "Yours or mine?" "I told you before not to bolt the fucking door!" ""Over to you," he said." "Then I heard a sound like dice rolling." "Several dice." "You're sure it was a man?" " Positive, lieutenant." "It wasn't just the voice, it was... the intonation, everything." "Nobody moved?" " Nobody." "Are you surprised?" " Not really, no." "He killed them right away?" " No." "For about 20 seconds, the attackers argued together." "The attackers?" "There was a woman too." "And a child." "What?" " The woman was furious." "She was against killing them." "But the man wouldn't listen." "As for the child, he was scared to death." "And after?" " after..." "Then came the screaming and panic in the carriage." "It was horrible, lieutenant, horrible not being able to see then." "Labyrinth  chance" "Myths and legends : the Minotaur" "He wasn't born like that." "But he disobeyed me." "Do you see the Minotaur in your dream?" "I can hear him." "Bed, board and laundry..." "This hospital is cushy number for her." "With luck, she'll be judged irresponsible and her crimes will be erased." "We won't even be able to mention them." "As psychiatrists, we're so obsessed with the cure that we'd do anything to reintegrate patients." "Two years of table soccer and Claude will be out, ready to start again." "You don't believe that." " I do." "I knowyou don't." "Look, I realize that this case is stirring up things in you, things... you thought you'd locked away for good." "It's a bit late for that now." "What did Minotaur say exactly?" "Nothing important." "Enough to put you in that state." "You've no idea what her mother did to her." "I can imagine." " I don't think so." "You're thinking "corporal punishment", "sexual abuse" and so on." "You get used to that kind of pain, Karl." "I don't mean the tormentor's presence but her absence." "An endless absence." "Weeks, months without seeing your mother..." "locked in a basement, chained like an animal... starved by the woman who nursed you." "Weeks... waiting for her footsteps... imagining, in the dark, a look of tenderness on her face... when she brings you water." "See?" "It's not so hard." "You just need to tell someone what they want to hear." "That's what Claude's doing." "We've been had." "She's made fools of us." "She's faking it." "She doesn't even have one personality." "I'm sorry I got you into this." "What can I say?" "I thought I'd be smarter than you." "It's a little odd this should occur after meeting Minotaur." "There is no Minotaur." "Just when you're on the verge of discovering the horror, of confronting your own fears." "This isn't about me, Karl." "My past has nothing to do with it." "My words don't show denial or resistance or other defense mechanisms patients use." "They're just the truth." "And the truth is, I no longer believe it." "You've reached Karl Froebe." "I'll be away until Tuesday." "In an emergency, call Alex Thanel at St Joseph's, extension 225." "The court sent us out there after Claude's teacher filed a complaint." "It caused a stir at the time." "A complaint about what?" " Maltreatment." "The child's back had been whipped." "Out at the farm, the mother said Claude was at the grandparents'." "We searched the whole place and found the child in the basement." "She'd lock Claude away to forget the rape." "The rape?" " Claude was born of a rape." "A prowler attacked the mother 9 months before the birth." "She never filed a complaint." "You know how it is, news travels in a small village." "She refused an abortion, as if in giving birth..." "How can I put it?" " She caught the culprit in a way?" "Who'd have suspected it?" "Claude adored the woman." "You should have seen them together after school." "True, Claude was absent from school for months." "Officially, for health reasons." "What was wrong?" "Claude heard voices, stuff like that." "It was a weird family, you know." "I got that impression." "This is where we found Claude." "Chained up like an animal." "Semiconscious." "The doctor said Claude hadn't eaten for a month." "And all around... human remains." "A number of people had gone missing nearby but we couldn't identify them in the days before DNA." "Here you are." "The statement, medical report, the lot." "How old was the child at the time?" " 10." "And never a word?" " The same as during the ordeal." "Claude actually cried when we arrested the mother." "What became of her?" "She hanged herself in her cell two years ago." "Two years." "The child had that." "'Ariadne's Thread'" "Two nights before Claude's arrest" "He was at the bus stop." "It was 9 o'clock." "The streets were still busy." "But he didn't try to stifle her cries." "The driver and 4 passengers were killed, without a silencer," "using a Mossberg, 12 bore, from the gun shop." "He knew someone would call us." "He wasn't afraid?" "He's waiting for it." "Only Theseus can end his ordeal." " Matthias, you've lost me." "Does the Minotaur ring a bell?" "Vaguely." "You know..." "the story of a queen raped by a bull." "In Greek mythology." "Where do the fucking Greeks get this stuff?" "Pasiphae, Queen of Crete." "The Minotaur's mother." "She was so ashamed of her child, half man, half bull, that she made Dedalus design a prison for him." "A prison he'd never leave." "Dedalus invented the labyrinth and shut the Minotaur away." "Every year, 7 boys and 7 girls were picked at random... as a sacrifice to the hungry monster." "7 of each last year." "One man to go now?" "The killer's living out the legend?" "It matches his life." " He thinks he's the Minotaur?" "He is the Minotaur." "He sees himself as a monster, handicapped or mentally sick." "I vote for mentally sick." "Like the Minotaur, he's rejected by others for a crime he didn't commit..." "That of being born." "He hates his mother." "I'd hate mine if she'd slept with a bull." "Let's say..." "the killer is the Minotaur... the labyrinth, his madness..." "Who's the woman the blind man heard?" "Who's the child?" "He's all three at once." "At times, a man, at others, a woman, tormentor or victim." "That's why nothing tallies." "That's why the blind man heard three people when others only saw one." "What is this?" "Schizophrenia?" " None of this makes any sense." "Exactly." "It's a great story but we can't prove anything you're saying." "I hope you're good at dice, Ray." "Out of the way!" "Want to play, Mr Clean?" "What at, doctor?" " A game, asshole." "What game?" "A God Almighty game." "He plays all day." "Who does?" " God, asshole." "Each day, he notes six ideas on a bit of cloud." "Then he rolls his dice." "Depending on the result, it's rain or sun, peace or war, Left or Right, you shit or you're constipated." "That's how it happens?" "You thought what?" "Misfortune is bad luck." "Like Aids or foot-and-mouth." "How do we play, doctor?" " Don't you ever listen?" "We note six ideas, roll the dice and make our destiny." "Anything we want?" " Anything." "Screwthe head nurse." "You're full of beans, Luigi." "Screwthe head nurse." "If number 1 comes up." " Stop taking sedatives." "Number 2, Karim." " Stand." "Stand up from my armchair... and walk." " Number 3." "Climb up to the roof and tan naked all day." "Number 4." "You're turning me on, Simon." "If number 5 comes up," "I'll kill the first one who speaks to me." "Can we kill?" "What does God do all day?" "He's a serial killer too." "Number 5." "One more?" "Kill all Whites." " That'll be tough." "Who says no?" "Sorry, some other time maybe." "Well?" "Number 6?" " Fuck off out of here." "Can I roll it?" "Over to you, Luigi." "What do we do now?" "You fuck the head nurse like you said." "Ifyou don't, I will." " Me too!" "Yeah, me too!" " All go." "Wait for me!" "6) Fuck off out of here." "It's stuck!" "Okay?" "What're you doing?" "My van!" "Forget it!" "Are you a dealer or what?" " Not really." "One night before Claude's arrest" "You're an artist?" "I work for the police." " Cut the crap!" "You painted these?" "Are you famous?" " At police HQ, yes." "I love your painting." "You must be pretty wasted to paint like this." "Will you pay me with one?" "This is the big time..." " Don't get upset." "It's not the same as a quickie." "I just like it, that's all." "Which one do you want?" " The catacombs." "The what?" " The catacombs." "What did I say?" "Ray, I knowwhere he's hiding them." "We've searched the northern galleries and found nothing." "Message received." "Let's call it a day, okay?" "I look stupid enough already." "Matthias, no!" "They said to keep out of the sewers." "You'll catch something!" "What the hell..." "Sir, what are you doing?" "Don't screw up!" "Matthias!" "Fucking flashlight..." "I'll never flush my john again." "Matthias!" "Wait, goddammit!" "Oh, my God!" "Ray!" "What's up?" "Call the guys!" "Quick!" "Get yourselves over here!" "Matthias has found something!" "No, Matthias!" "He could be armed." "Stay where you are!" "This way, guys!" "One of the missing women, Ray!" "She's one of the missing!" "Get a fucking ambulance!" "I'll send someone to pay." "Hi, Alex." "Not you as well." "What's wrong?" "Am I phosphorescent?" "Actually, I wasn't expecting you." "Hadn't you given up Claude's case?" "That would be tough now." "Any news of her?" "Claude came back of her own free will." "Maybe the dice told her to." "What do you plan to do now?" "I don't know." "What would you do?" "It's your case, thank God." "I went to the farm where she was raised." "And?" " And... every word is true." "I sawwhere her mother starved her." "If she's faking it, she's done so since she was 10." "I also found something crucial to merge the personalities, something neither of us had seen." " What?" "The thing that Claude and the legend have in common." "The Minotaur was born of a rape, just like Claude." "Like him, her mother either adored her or hated her, according to whom she saw, her child or her rapist's." "Look," "I can't really advise you but I'd forget this merging business." "Why?" "Because... if these personalities truly exist, some of them will die in the process." "What gives you the right to choose?" "They won't die." "They'll dissolve into each other." "Like milk and sugar in your coffee." "Nothing will be lost." "We'll end up with a common conscience." "Conscience..." "Know how Ariadne defines Conscience?" "A disease that kills off the Animal in us." "A disease?" "Yes, a disease." "Can you merge a mind that thinks like that?" "I think we have to." " This may shock you but I almost agree with Ariadne." "I go further." "For me, the Conscience tortures the mind." "It's a puzzle invented by God to control us." "The awareness of evil creates evil." "Without the Conscience, evil can't exist." "The Conscience opposes Nature." "It tries in vain to tame it and say," ""Heel!" "Down!"" "Why force something to walk away when it gallops back?" "Because Claude is suffering." "Her suffering has nothing to commend it." "It's our duty to relieve it." "She's done that herself by splitting up." "Why not respect her will?" "Multiples have a gift we've lost :" "each facet of their soul expresses itself." "We were all multiples in the egg." "By merging, we've silenced our other personalities." "Is that your plan?" "My plan is to work out why she started killing two years ago and not before." "Why she sacrificed 27 people to her dead mother." "She can only recover by finding out why." "The gunsmith, the inspector and this year's other missing persons." "The first one taken this year." "She's in the block now." "They'll call us." "Why didn't he kill her too?" "Okay, I'll keep you posted." "That was Malik." "The remains are those of last year's 14." "Let's hope the survivor will be able to talk." "She won't talk any more." "Two years on the case and the only witness..." "We need you, so spare us the guilt, okay?" "He'll kill one more man." "7 men, 7 women." "Not one more." "Then he'll vanish for a year." "No." "We have to stop him now." "He's bound to screw up." "Since we found his lair, he must feel at risk." "At risk?" "The labyrinth is part of the story." "You don't win by killing the monster but by finding your way out." "We're all with you." "75, Rue des Martyrs." "Don't worry, Claude." "We're all your friends." "Your friends." "Are you okay?" "The eyes like this?" "Yes?" "No?" "It would help me to talk to Claude." "To the personality born with that name." "We've gone over this a thousand times." "It's very dangerous to wake Claude." "I thought of hypnosis." "A regression?" "You're against the idea?" "If it fails, we aren't likely to see Claude again." "If it succeeds, you won't see us again." "Dedalus, the 3 months are almost up." "I have to report to the court." "I have no choice." "Minotaur won't let you do it." "He'll fight to defend our lives." " I know." "You don't enter a labyrinth without a thread to lead you out." "Take Claude back to her 7th birthday." "We were born that day." "I'll miss you, professor." "I'll miss you too, doctor." "It's not much but..." "your patient will need them." "He feels he's a monster, rejected by others for a crime he didn't commit, that ofbeing born." "He's among his future victims now." "Someone will jostle him, ask him the time..." "It can be anybody." "Your father, your brother..." "Someone you love." "Don't let them down." "I want you to go back slowly in time to your 7th birthday." "I'll count to three and, on three, it will be your 7th birthday." "You'll open your eyes but stay relaxed." "Ready?" "One... two... three..." "You're 7." "Are your friends with you?" " No." "You didn't invite them to your party?" "I don't need friends." "I have Mom." " Mom!" "Mom, where are you?" "Where are you, Claude?" "In the labyrinth." "What's the labyrinth?" " The basement." "Is Mom with you?" "What's wrong, Claude?" "What's happening?" " Someone's hurting Mom." "Who's hurting your mom?" "Who else is in the labyrinth?" "The monster." " Which monster?" "Mom?" "Can you hear me?" "What is it?" "You disobeyed, Claude." "I have to punish you." "No, Mom, no." "Don't punish me, please." "I waited in the kitchen." "I waited." "Don't punish me, please." "One new message." "Good evening, Matthias." "It's odd talking to you through a machine." "We've already met butyou probably don't remember." "All this has to end." "I think we need to talk." "We'll be waiting at 75, Rue des Martyrs, apartment 7, right-hand door." "Can you hear me?" "Claude..." "I'll count to three." "At three, you'll come back." "One, two..." "Try to make him talk and I'll kill him!" "What can't we talk about?" "I'll kill him before you kill us." "I don't want to kill you." "I want to save him." "Isn't that what you wanted in splitting up?" "What happened, Minotaur?" "What happened in the labyrinth?" "I won't do it again, Mom." "It's God's will, Claude." "Ifyou win, He frees you." "Ifyou lose," "He punishes you." "Over to you." " Any news from Matthias?" "Malik, give me some good news." "Good maybe not but it's news." "I have the photofit." "With an identity?" "What?" "Claude!" "Claude, can you hear me?" "No, no!" "Mom, don't leave me!" "Claude, I'll count to three." "Come back." "One... two..." "Don't leave me, Mom!" "Breathe, Claude!" "Take deep breaths, Claude." "Breathe." "That's good." "Breathe deeply." "Perfect." "There..." "It's over now." "It's over." "It's over." "Minotaur is free." "So are Ariadne, Dedalus and Theseus." "You won't hear them again." "You don't need them any more." "I remember." "I remember." "No!" "How many are you?" "I've no idea." "I don't know them all." "Each individual is the sum of the personalities inhabiting it." "What others call our character..." " The photofit is simply a shield protecting our true nature..." "I'll only help you because I have no choice." "...an envelope designed for social intercourse which is only effective in times ofpeace." "For in cases of aggression, and only at such times, we become what we are." "When threatened, we can reveal, in a flash, everything we try so hard to conceal." "Over to you." " Over to you." "How many lies to seal that wound?" "How many stitches?" "Why must we mend our wounds?" "Matthias!" "Don't screw up!" "Why not say out loud who we are really?" "What are we afraid of?" "Of what others will think if they find we're not who we claim to be?" "Claude chose differently." "Claude picked away the thread of the stitches and followed it into the labyrinth of the mind to confront the Great Imprecator, the inner monster who persecutes us all." "Have I hurt someone?" "At times, I blame Karl." "He gave me this case." "But, looking back, was there a better therapeutic option?"