"He asked her, "Will you?"" "She said neither yes nor no that's the way of girls and boys." "THE NIGHT IS YOUNG" "This one, too, same thing." "Every one--suicide, suicide, suicide, suicide." "Jean didn't kill himself!" "It was her, the American woman." "One of her hatchet men." "Jean was pushed." "There were witnesses." "People are blind." "Jean was always depressive." "You don't die of it." "He got worse after Valerie died." "No, it was the American." "That's why she came over." "Jean couldn't pay, so she eliminated him." "It's a warning." "Death isn't always that simple." "lt is." "And it's my turn now." "So let's split." "We'll leave town." "No, the American will find us sooner or later." "Like she found that other woman... with a bullet in the stomach or the head." "ln any case, I'm not budging." "So we'll find the money." "There she is!" "It's her!" "It's all over." "I can't watch this." "Not here, not in broad daylight." "You've nothing to be afraid of." "How do you explain this dreadful heat hitting Paris?" "Is it Halley's Comet?" "It's worse than in Washington." "Marc is sure you killed Jean." "Why would we?" "Corpses never pay their debts." "Look, Michael double-crossed us." "He disappeared with the money." "I know, Marc." "They've all gone-- Michael, Jean..." "It's your bad luck you're the only one left." "So you must pay." "You were always the reliable one." "At least, that's how I remember you." "Leave Michael to us." "But in the meantime, I'm flying back in two weeks." "So you have two weeks." "I could never..." "If you don't pay, you'll pay for it." "Of course you can." ""Never" is such a childish word." "You're too old for that, Marc." "Two weeks!" "I can't grasp what's going on." "It's too fresh, too new." "I can't forget a thing; emotions no longer replace each other." "They seem to accumulate, to pile up and never heal." "I was really scared just now... and that fear will stay with me to the end." "Well, let's beat it, Marc." "No, I've stopped running." "I would gladly finish Michael off myself." "That laboratory job was our only chance." "The Darley Wilkinson thing?" "That's the one." "It's impossible." "We've always managed before, Hans." "Only Jean was quick-fingered enough to pull it off." "You're right." ""Tongue-tied."" "What?" "Jean's son, Alex." "Jean and Valerie called him "Tongue-tied."" "That's right." "The child wouldn't talk." "In fact, I remember that during the first months..." "Valerie began to think that he was dumb." "He never made a sound." "Jean said he'd become almost as fast as him with his hands." "The last time I saw the boy was 10 years ago." "He was 13 or 14." "Jean had been teaching him to shoot... in the forest of Ramboillet." "Valerie was still alive, but already seriously ill." "I could find his address and..." "We must go, Lise." "Already?" "Were you crying?" "No, it's the same allergy I had in the summer." "Such heat in midwinter!" "Can I drive it?" "Not tonight. lt'll be yours when I buy the 750." "It's too old and plodding for me now." "I'll take you home." "No, let's go to your place, Alex." "I'm working tonight." "Not tonight." "I must." "I feel like it." "I do, and I don't." "I must go." "Even though I want to?" "I'd have to be quick, and you don't like that." "I don't care." "You say that now." "Let me do it." "Boys are so slow...even you." "You say I'm prettiest afterwards... but that's when you leave." "I could come round later." "Not tonight, Lise." "Especially tonight." "You promised not to make a fuss." "How can you lie like that?" "You're not in love." "One day, you'll understand." "One day or two, perhaps." "Will you do the ventriloquist?" "Hello, little sphinx." "Hello, Alex, sing me that song." "Close your pretty eyes" "Close your pretty eyes, my little Lise because life is a dream" "Alex, it's Thomas." "I've just heard about your father." "Call me." "Hello, Tongue-tied." "Nobody calls me that anymore." "Do you know who I am?" "About your father, l" "We'd lost touch." "Do you remember Marc?" "He doesn't believe it was suicide." "He thinks the American did it." "It's all the same to me." "He's working on a big job... your father was going to do with him." "I don't want to know." "Marc thought of you." "Jean said how quick-fingered you are." "There'll be lots of money." "Your eyes lit up-- quite right, too." "Young people need money." "Besides... if you pay women when you're young... you'll be less aware of growing old." "M. Alex le Vogan." "This is the Forensic Institute." "Your father's remains are in the morgue." "We await your instructions." "Please call us immediately." "This is Marc's chance to save himself." "It's nothing to do with me." "You may change your mind." "It's easy at your age." "Here's the address." "It's an old horsemeat-butcher's shop." "We'll expect you tonight." "Who saw the card?" "Who wants to play?" "100 francs...200?" "Once more, anyone can win..." "keep your eye on the cards." "The black loses, the red wins." "Just follow my hand." "Winner takes all." "Red wins, black loses." "Who saw the red?" "100 francs--who wants to play?" "You, sir?" "100?" "200?" "Thomas?" "No, I didn't listen to the messages." "I don't want to know." "Yes, an orphan at last." "Yes, it's my chance to start again." "No, I'm leaving Paris without a trace." "I wake up with a belly of cement." "Yes, it's been like that ever since that place." "Very heavy, yes." "No, not even the bike." "But I'll find my speeding smile again." "The morgue tracked me down, but I'm not calling them back." "I'm off to the coast tomorrow... and I'm leaving you all my books." "And Lise, too." "She's a great girl." "I really love her, and she loves me." "She already lights her fags like me." "She must owe nothing to anyone, anyone!" "I'm leaving her, and I don't know how to tell her." "You call her, Thomas, and take care of her." "Little Lise, I'm going away!" "First to the coast, and then we'll see." "One single change can bring about a total change." "One severed bond can sever all others." "It's like a crime, and I'm the killer." "I left my gun at the scene of the crime... but you must be wiped clean of my prints." "I know your youth will preserve your puzzled incomprehension." "That's good." "I'm off." "Lise, don't wait for time to pass." "Forget me at top speed." "Sleep with boys and with men." "I remember your first drawing." "One of your best." "With the title" ""When a girl spreads her legs..." ""her secrets fly away like butterflies."" "But no lovemaking without precautions." "Lise, I won't see or touch you again... as long as life hasn't wiped my fingerprints from you." "Forget me, be wonderful." "I kiss you, Lise, I truly do." "Forever and never, Alex." "P.S." "I enclose the keys to the bike." "It's yours now." "Look." "It's him !" "Let him in." "This is Jean's son." "About your father, I..." "They'd lost touch." "Put your bags down, Tongue-tied." "Do you want a drink?" "So you've decided to come?" "We'll see." "I want to start a new life, and it's expensive." "That's fine." "There'll be money enough." "I've left a clean slate." "That's good." "You can move in here." "Anna will make up your bed." "This is Jean's son, Anna." ""Tongue-tied."" "Alex." "She's half asleep." "Have you changed clothes?" "Alex will need a bed for a few days." "It's bloody hot." "Let's go out for some air." "Haven't you noticed anything new?" "You've changed the seat covers?" "And the mats." "It cost me a fortune." "I'm very pleased with it." "Hans is very vain." "Now, to business." "We have only two weeks." "Jean said you're as quick with your hands as him." "Quicker." "Have you heard of STBO?" "Don't you read the papers?" "Never." "STBO is a new disease." "Syndrome of...something or other." "I can't remember." "It's killed thousands." "And it's only beginning." "It attacks lovers who make love without feeling." "The younger you are, the higher the risk." "It's enough if one partner makes love without love... for both to be infected." "Right, Hans?" "Right." "STBO is a retro virus." "Yes, it's a retro virus." "It's transferred through certain sexual acts." "They say the suffering is appalling." "Failing sight, pain in the joints... vomiting, muscular cramps." "The Darley Wilkinson laboratory... is the first to succeed in isolating the virus." "Any vaccine would open up a vast market." "If they come up with one." "It's a matter of immunity, prevention..." "Their lab is on the 56th floor of a high-rise." "We'll drive past it." "Our client is a foreign lab... prepared to pay for a culture of the virus." "Tell Alex what we want of him." "Up there!" "The Darley Wilkinson." "And the money?" "For you, 150,000." "That's a lot." "Where do you want it, and how?" "I don't know." "Not yet." "Somewhere abroad." "My sister lives in Switzerland... in Chateau d'Oex, up in the mountains." "You could stay there while you make your plans." "And the money?" "We'll arrange to send it over." "I want to leave right after the job." "In case things go wrong..." "I want a plane standing by to fly me out." "Hans, you remember Charlie?" "Charlie Carela." "I haven't seen him for years." "He runs a parachuting club outside Paris." "He got the Vincenson brothers out in '79." "Find him." "Call him in the morning... and we'll see him in the afternoon." "Have you ever done a parachute jump?" "Never." "You must learn." "It might be the only way into Switzerland." "Your father loved parachuting." "It looks good." "It looks good." "Scared of open spaces at her age..." "It infuriates me!" "At least she can try." "I won't have it." "It's like a child refusing new food... a new experience." "You're going to jump, Anna." "Leave her be, Marc." "Let's go." "I'll be furious." "Charlie, you haven't met Anna." "No, I've hear about her, but..." "Hello, Anna." "Alex is Jean's son." "About your father..." "They'd lost touch." "So, you're all going to jump?" "Not me." "I've just been to the hairdresser." "Us three, then." "It will be the first time for Anna and Alex." "You're going to love it." "You go first." "Then Anna." "I'll go last." "No, not her." "She can't jump." "Then I'll jump after her." "As you wish." "Don't look down, Anna." "Don't forget-- bend your knees as you land!" "Go on, Anna." "Go on, jump now!" "Don't jump!" "Look up at me, Anna." "Look up!" "I'm going to cut the strap." "When I cut it, pull the ventral." "Do you hear me?" "Look at me!" "She's fainted!" "Cut it!" "I'm cutting it!" "I'm going to bed." "Good night, Alex." "I've left a clean towel and a flannel on your bed." "Shave before you come up, otherwise it scratches." "Can I have a kiss to help me sleep?" "Say "l love you."" "Not here, I can't." "Yes, say it here, Marc." "Not tonight." "Yes, tonight!" "Damn it." "You've said it before, just say it again." "Say "l don't love you," then!" "No, say "l love you."" "Say it!" "You, too?" ""Love" !" "Say "l love you."" "I love you." "Hurry, Alex." "Bring Hans." "Hurry, he could die." "Across the yard, first floor!" "Marc, darling." "Daddy..." "Hans is coming." "Marc's had an attack." "Go back." "I'll be right over." "You can turn now." "Hans was a doctor." "He got struck off." "Marc and Anna are indestructible." "Listen to me, Alex--keep off!" "Sorry." "I thought you were crying." "I'm leaving, Anna." "I love your moist lips." "Like those old-time actresses." "I had a bad shock." "Ever since I was a child, when I start crying I can't stop." "It's like being a hemophiliac." "Anna, look at me." "Swallow your tears." "Do you hear, Anna?" "Swallow your tears." "Are you a ventriloquist?" "I want to see you smile." "Do you know the apple trick?" "You know it?" "And the pineapple trick?" "You mustn't leave." "I don't know." "The job will go well." "I don't know." "Yes, it will, it must!" "You've made it possible." "Marc has changed." "Your father's death was a real blow." "He's turned nasty because he's scared." "I don't understand it." "He's always been brave." "So resilient--you can't imagine what a life he had." "I can." "My father often told me about him." "So you know." "You can't imagine how much I loved that man." "And now even more, probably." "Life with him is wonderful." "He's so good for me." "He asks wonderful, rigorous things of me." "He's completely self-taught." "He's done it all." "He was me with the eyes of an inventor." "The eyes of an explorer." "Like a treasure-hunter, as if I were an answer to something... something secret and mysterious hidden deep inside him... which I sometimes manage to get close to, so close..." "But more often I'm light years away." "It's exhausting." "I don't have a moment to myself." "That thing is my life." "It's an enigma which glues us to each other... like two accomplices." "Our love will die... if it's revealed too soon or left unsolved." "But now he's scared." "And the mystery deepens." "He's scared of that American woman... of those men with revolvers." "But scared of what?" "That's cowardly." "No, it doesn't mean that." "I'm counting on you, Alex." "The job must succeed so Marc can pay his debts." "Then I hope his fear will vanish." "And I'm sure his love will re-emerge." "And we can get on with our story, our enigma." "He loves me so much." "You have no idea." "Yes, I do." "If I only knew what it is he loves in me... life would be child's play." "Let's have some music." "He won't wake up after that injection." "Alex, would you go up and see if he's all right?" "Leave the light on." "He hates the dark." "If he wakes in the dark, he'll be scared." "Well?" "He's sleeping like a baby." "I'm glad you're here...with us." "Will you choose a record?" "Quick, before the depression takes over." "Nothing's moving." "It's as if..." "I feel so..." "It's all too..." "I don't know what to choose." "I'll put the radio on." "I like the radio." "You just turn it on, and you get the very tune... that was humming inside your head." "You'll see." "It's magic." "Ready?" "No luck." "Give me a number, Anna, any number." "Quick, a number." "All right, 3." "1, 2, 3." "There, let's listen to it and let it guide our feelings." "I don't regret having done what I have done" "I just couldn't bear the sight of her any longer" "I doubt if you've ever suffered as I have suffered" "Let us talk of misery and try to drown it" "Can one ever tell for sure when one is in love?" "Mellow sun of winter, cool water of summer" "I loved her, and I killed her" "And now for Christopher who lives in the 5th... from Juliette who lives in the 1st" ""Modern Love" by David Bowie." "Do you believe in love that comes quickly-- that strikes quickly... but which lasts forever?" "I'm going to bed." "Last night, I was with Lise in a strange, foreign country." "We were in a dark dormitory." "There were hundreds of beds and a body in each bed." "We walked slowly." "Our knees kept knocking against the beds." "I saw you stretched out on a bed... and I lay down next to you." "You looked surprised... but when you saw Lise by the bed staring at us... you became very tender." "Your breasts swelled in my hand." "The lips of your belly pumped my engine." "Our faces almost touched-- we could only see each other's eyes." "Your lips came close to my ear, and they whispered..." ""lf you see a tiny yellow moon in both my eyes..." ""it means I'm going to come."" "I gazed into your eyes." "And in a little while, I saw two tiny yellow moons... and I woke up." "Don't stare so much." "I love women in a mirror." "That's easy." "You need to feed the eyes for your dreams." "That's what's so awful inside." "Inside where?" "In jail." "You've been in jail?" "Yes." "Which one?" "Sante." "For long?" "15 months." "Do you think about it?" "My head doesn't, but my belly does." "It couldn't digest all that concrete." "Those pills you take, are they...?" "Yes, opium." "Tell me, how did they treat you?" "Like a dog?" "A dog has a bitch, his treats-- some stroking." "I don't really know." "Tongue-tied-- did they nickname you that?" "No, my parents did." "Jean and Valerie, as a joke." "I was a frighteningly silent child, apparently." "I kept silent..." "but that's not right." "Silence keeps us." "Silent men make you uneasy." "You think they're either shy or stoned." "Let's talk, then." "How old are you?" "That's a nice question." "I'll soon be a woman of thirty." "You won't." "I will." "See that man who went by?" "If you weren't here... if I were alone... he'd press against the window and watch me in silence." "Completely still." "Hans bashed his head in once." "But he still comes back now and then." "He's the local Peeping Tom." "I envy him--a nice profession." "You never spoke to him?" "No, but he reminds me of my first love..." "Julien Destouches." "He was your age, I was sixteen." "Lise's age." "I sometimes wonder if he isn't Julien." "Shall I run and ask him?" "It's impossible." "It would mean he hasn't aged at all." "He was my sister Marion's friend, then Marion left him." "And I took him." "We were terrible together." "Tell me." "He was a medical student." "He'd bring syringes from the faculty." "And once we drew each other's blood and drank it." "Shut up!" "One summer, we went on a hunger strike." "He gave in first, and I was mad with him." "We swore to die before we turned twenty... but we broke up before then." "Lise was like that." "She frightened me." "One night... riding through the Bois de Boulogne at full speed... she threw herself off." "She wasn't hurt, but she could have di..." "She explained it to me later." "She'd suddenly doubted my love and thought..." ""lf he doesn't look at me before the next traffic lights..." ""he doesn't love me, and I'll jump off."" "She had faith-- you know, religious." "She believed in eternity." "She worshipped me." "Her parents had her very late." "She was a mystical child, probably because of her father." "Was her father a mystic?" "No, her father was dead." "She made a cult of him." "I only loved girls whose fathers were dead." "My father isn't dead." "I'm glad." "You're the first, then." "At the start of every affair..." "I have the same nightmare." "I see a graveyard... where all those orphans' fathers are buried." "And they speak from beyond the grave, like in old movies." "They say to me..." ""You don't know how to love my daughter, and you never will!" ""You don't know how to make love to her with feeling..." ""and to make her happy."" "But they also say..." ""Come and tell me about her from time to time" ""tell me how she's doing."" "You see that couple?" "The woman who looks a bit dated?" "At the table by the dance floor?" "I envy them." "They're happy together." "A good-looking couple, made for each other." "In a little while, the woman will turn to the man... and whisper words of love to him and kiss him on the mouth." "No, Alex, you just don't understand." "No, I never understand." "The first time a girl fell in love with me, I thought..." ""That's it." "Girls love me."" "Then we broke up, and I couldn't understand... how any girl I loved didn't love me." "It's worse with you." "Life has thrown us together, and you..." "It's stupid." "No, it isn't." "I love big men." "And you're not big." "I love men who are twenty, thirty years ahead of me... or behind me." "I love a man who..." "A man who reminds me of another..." "Stop!" "Don't say you don't understand, or I'll strangle you." "I'm going to bed." "Don't sleep upstairs-- not tonight." "Have my bed." "I couldn't sleep in this heat anyway." "I can't sleep here because of that Peeping Tom." "I don't mind him in the evening." "I quite like seeing him there-- knowing he's there-- but it's different at night." "I'll draw the windshield." "A man's gaze isn't wind." "You can't sleep upstairs." "He lies across the bed." "You'll wake him." "I was lying here yesterday." "I could hear you two during the night." "I felt like a cartoon figure with a bubble above its head." "A pathetic bubble." "Right." "I'll sleep at the hotel across the street." "It won't be the first time." "Good night, Tongue-tied." "Good night, Alex." "It's burning hot." "The paving is burning hot." "It's like New York at noon in summer." "It's incredible!" "Have you read the papers?" "It's the passage of Halley's Comet." "It's passing 10,000 km from earth... and is causing this unbearable heat." "It could last a few days." "Halley's Comet?" "You're joking." "It's true, Anna." "A huge ball of snow and dust-- it was predicted." "It's incredible." "It's a scientific fact." "Take my bed." "No, I'll make a dash." "Have you a room for the night?" "A single room." "Thanks." "I'll settle the bill tomorrow." "Good night, Alex." "I'm calling the woman in the blue robe." "It's me, Alex." "I wanted to say good night, my sweet, and also..." "What?" "No, I can't see you, but I'd like to." "I'd like to see you one more time before you fall asleep." "Give me your room number." "Yes, all right." "Wait!" "Don't hang up." "Yes, I can see you." "I must tell you..." "I have this feeling... if I pass near you, I'll pass near everything for a long time." "No, that's not life, and if it is, I don't care." "But that's not life, Anna." "I love you." "You'll see." "I'm hanging up." "Wait." "Alex, we must save Marc!" "My love is in the streets of the city." "Is it you in there?" "Morning, Alex." "Have you seen Marc?" "He went out for the papers." "Tongue-tied has a girl's skin." "This is the Forensic Institute." "We've had no instructions from you... so we've disposed of your father's body." "Alex, it's Lise." "Call me back." "Something terrible has happened." "Lise, it's Alex." "What's happened?" "It's awful." "What, Lise?" "I can't tell you." "Where are you calling from?" "From the coast." "Where?" "What's happened?" "I write every day, but I've no address." "Tell me what's happened." "Something awful." "What?" "Promise you won't..." "What is it?" "I was unfaithful to you." "Stupid, you frightened me." "I thought--she's pregnant, lost a limb... her mother's died, she's blind, paralyzed..." "Don't you see, Lise?" "You couldn't be unfaithful to me." "You don't mind?" "You don't understand." "Did you get my letter?" "Yes, that's why..." "lt was so cold, without any..." "My letter?" "No, I mean..." "I don't want to know." "If you knew how much I regret it..." "You shouldn't." "Can you guess who with?" "I don't want to know." "Why, do I know him?" "It can't be, Lise." "Not someone I know." "Don't tell me." "I don't want to know." "It's not Thomas." "I don't know, Alex." "It's Thomas, stupid." "Why did you tell me?" "I didn't want to picture it." "You've done something irrevocable." "I can never touch you again." "I'm hanging up." "You can't, Alex." "We did something irrevocable, and for what?" "For nothing." "I didn't want to." "We've ruined everything..." "for nothing." "He said he could never touch me again." "He said so." "I never want to see you again as long as I live." "I'm hanging up now." "Freeze--police!" "Hello, Tongue-tied." "No one calls me that any more." "I was a friend of your father's." "I really was." "We were even..." "He and I..." "several times, years ago." "Funny." "I could have been your mother." "Did you love him?" "I never knew what love was, my boy." "About your father, I..." "I don't give a damn." "I want you to know I didn't kill him." "I know." "Marc doesn't." "Marc is scared." "Of committing suicide?" "What a fool." "I know all about the operation Marc is working on with you." "I always know what's happening." "Marc owes me money, you see." "A lot of money." "But if this job succeeds, he'll make ten times as much." "How much will you get?" "150 grand." "That's a lot." "I'll double it." "Do you like money?" "Yes." "I want to start a new life." "Already?" "That cannot be bought with money." "Well?" "I'll think about it." "It's very simple." "You stick to the plan." "Marc is a great organizer." "But instead of giving him the box of microbes... you give it to me." "And Marc's debt is settled?" "That's my business." "I'll think about it." "Do that and give me your answer in 48 hours." "10 a.m. at the Palm Cafe, near where your gorilla found me." "Boris will be there." "No, you can't imagine how gentle he is." "It's his fear that makes him like that." "I've only seen him lose control once." "He found a love letter in a drawer by chance." "A letter dated three years before which began..." ""Anna, my angel."" "He pulled my hair and kept shouting, "Tell me!"" ""Tell me!" And I kept crying." ""Show me the letter!"" "Finally, he let go of me, and I read it." "It was a letter he'd written to me himself... from Chateau d'Oex in Switzerland... but with his left hand-- his right was in plaster." "He didn't recognize his own handwriting." "Listen, Anna, I'll do the job and get him his bloody microbes." "He'll pay me, and you'll go away with me." "No." "Marc is the love of my life." ""The love of my life" !" "It makes me sick." "Thirty and scared of open spaces..." "You know what he said to me, the love of your life?" ""I'll give her part of the money, and I'll leave her."" "You're making it up." "No, listen." "He said, "She depresses me." ""Her youth is withering too fast." ""When I look at her, she seems out of place." ""She's useless, like a cold hot-water bottle."" "Those were his words." "He said..." ""I'm a killer..." ""and she's the weapon I left at the scene of the crime." ""l only hope my prints are wiped off."" "Shut up." "You must know when to let go." "We'll always love each other." "A short-circuit love." "Yes, it hardens." "It's bleak." "It's sealed like a safe, but I'm sure..." "It's too late." "You can't open a safe when the key is inside." "Yes, Alex, you can." "You know all about safes." "I'm counting on you." "What?" "You could be wrong." "So, we agree?" "Yes." "On everything?" "Yes." "Is that your daughter?" "No, my niece." "I'm bringing her up." "Why is she outside?" "I don't want her near the gang." "You are the gang." "I was." "It's not me." "One day, she'll be an artist." "She already writes beautiful poetry." "Anything else?" "Do you have the house pastry?" "What do you mean by "house"?" "Yes, what do you mean?" "Forget it." "Don't look now." "That man with white hair" "I think its Jean Cocteau the poet." "Jean Cocteau is dead." "No, look, he's moving." "Have you no questions?" "No." "Take care, Tongue-tied." "I'm warning you." "I don't like traitors, betrayal." "A woman betrayed me one day." "Or rather, one night." "She didn't live to tell the tale." "You poor sod." "Poor sod." "Did you hear?" "Poor sod." "It's you." "You're a ventriloquist." "What if I am?" "Take care, Tongue-tied." "Take care." "The American tends to get sentimental as she grows old." "I'm just the opposite." "I get more and more pleasure... out of watching the bullets fly from my revolver." "A bullet in my guts... could release the pressure inside me." "One false step and..." "Sorry, Alex." "Are you all right?" "Just the top books." "Have my share." "I'm leaving the country." "Drop me on the bridge." "Good luck, Alex." "You, too." "I thought you were on the coast." "What's that?" "An eye infection." "I shouldn't have trusted you." "You've often told me... that you prefer novels... where a single sentence could revolutionize a life." "But everything has its price." "You hurled sentences like knives, and you must pay." "You toyed with your life once too often." "All those hundreds of books you've read and re-read... have made you horribly precocious." "So you'll grow old very fast, Alex, and one day... you'll implode like a TV set." "Lise loves you, and I love Lise." "I loved you." "But today, I ask myself only one thing when I look at you-- if you'll be more loathsome dead than alive." "And also..." "Never mind." "No, she isn't at home." "Please don't phone again." "Where, in Paris?" "Quickly, hang up!" "Follow him." "Make sure he doesn't see you." "Hurry!" "Find out where he lives." "Call me back." "Evening, Tongue-tied." "What have you done to your hand?" "It's nothing." "What do you mean, nothing?" "Look, Hans, his hand's pouring blood." "You've been at your pathetic little jobs again." "I warned you." "Leave me alone." "Shut up, Hans." "The boy is mad." "We've got involved with a madman." "He'll ruin everything." "It's all over." "Calm down." "24 hours before the job, and he risks the whole operation." "What if the police had caught him?" "And his hand's bleeding." "It's your hands we're paying for." "My hands are fine." "They won't be shaking tomorrow night." "Calm down, Hans." "It'll be all right." "It's late." "Go upstairs to Anna." "I'll take care of the boy." "Fear doesn't age well." "Shut up, Alex." "What are you wearing tomorrow?" "What?" "You can't go like that." "You look scruffy." "What if you're caught?" "Before a big job... one must always go to the hairdresser... and dress properly... in case you get caught by the police... and photographed by the press." "I'll have to stitch it." "I want infinite happiness." "Soon..." "I wish..." "If you ever despise me, will you tell me?" "I'd rather you didn't." "I'd be too miserable." "Stop babbling." "Where the hell is Hans?" "It's nearly midnight." "He's sprucing himself up." "An amateur kid and an old bachelor." "What a team !" "We'll blow it." "Don't say that." "This mirror is distorted." "What's this insect?" "It's the heat." "It's a mayfly." "Come on, Anna, get dressed." "You want to take a gun?" "You're right." "I planned it to the last detail." "You won't need it." "Let me see it." "It's Jean's old "Chief."" "He brought it back from the States... with the Highway Patrol." "Loaded?" "Put it away." "What's keeping Hans?" "Calm down." "I'll go and get him." "Here he is." "You look wonderful, Hans." "You look perfect." "Honestly?" "Alex, does it suit me?" "We must be going." "Charlie phoned." "The plane is standing by in case things go wrong." "Of course it's Antonin." "Yes, I'll be right over." "I'm Inspector Antonin Mouchette." "My men and I are waiting for you down here." "There's nothing you can do." "Come down." "I have a hostage." "We're coming down." "One false move, and I shoot him." "Who is it?" "The night watchman?" "A hostage!" "Over here, they've got the guard!" "We're in a real mess." "Routine action." "He's armed, and he's got a hostage... or he says he has." "It's just a kid." "I have three, and they never phone me." "Now listen, no individual decisions." "Wait for my orders." "I'm coming out with the hostage." "One move, and I shoot." "Keep calm." "One move, and I shoot!" "Don't shoot!" "One move!" "No, not you!" "Don't shoot!" "Stay here." "I'll deal with him." "Are you asleep?" "No." "It's Thomas." "He shopped you." "He followed you." "Did you kill the cop?" "I think so." "Why, Alex?" "It's murder." "It's a life sentence!" "That's probably why." "You'll stay with us--mom and me." "We'll hide you." "What are you doing?" "The virus must be nourished." "Come on, Hans, go to bed." "Call me the minute you hear anything." "Let Charlie know." "Tell him to keep the plane ready till 7 a.m." "This place stinks of meat." "You should go to bed, too." "I'm not sleepy." "I'm going up." "That little creep has betrayed us." "The little creep tried to betray us." "Halley's Comet brought further disruption... with snow in parts of the city tonight." "The next news bulletin is at 6 a.m." "Good night, Tongue-tied." "Marc, Alex is here." "Marc, Alex is here." "Wake up!" "Has he got the box?" "I don't know." "Hans, Alex is here." "I've got the box." "He's got the box." "Hurry!" "Not on me." "It's all marked there." "Hans will drive you to the plane." "I'll get the box." "Once I've seen to everything here..." "Anna and I will join you at Chateau d'Oex." "My sister will get you the money." "Are you all right, Alex?" "Yes." "Hurry, the American is after me." "The American?" "Is the box here?" "No." "Leave at once." "Alex will explain in the car." "Let's go, Tongue-tied." "Let me say good-bye to Anna." "I'll miss you." "I've almost forgotten what it's like, being missed." "Can I come closer?" "Of course." "I'm stocking up for the nights to come." "I'll see you off." "Me, too." "Who was it on the bike last night?" "Lise, a friend." "She's following us." "Look, the American." "Are you cold, Alex?" "Because your eyes are blue" "And the sheen of your hair rivals the sun" "Because you are twenty" "And bite into life like a red fruit, laughingly" "You think you can get away with anything" "And do as you please" "Remorseful one minute, then ready to do it again" "You play with my heart like a spoilt child" "Who wants his toy back just to break it to pieces" "Because I love you too much" "You steal my nights from the depth of my sleep" "And make my days weep" "Aren't you singing, Alex?" "He's tongue-tied." "I never could." "Marc can't either." "That doesn't stop him." "Because I have only you" "I am ruled by my heart, which obeys love's laws" "Because you live in me" "And nothing can replace the joy I find in your arms" "I cannot be concerned with God or with man" "I am ready to die, if you die one day" "Because love is a game, compared to death" "And life is nothing without love" "Because..." "Because..." "Marc, he's bleeding!" "Why's he bleeding?" "Is it the American?" "The American shot him." "Hans, stop the car." "No." "I must get that plane." "Slow down till they catch up." "Slow down!" "They're slowing down." "I'll have no more shooting." "Lower your window." "Don't let them overtake us." "Stop, we need to talk!" "Faster, Hans!" "Are you all right, Tongue-tied?" "I must get on that plane." "We're nearly at the airfield." "Stop by the gray hangar." "They have First Aid there." "Hans will fix you." "He's a great doctor." "He's removed bullets before." "Right, Hans?" "First, he'll get you back on your feet." "I must get on that plane." "Who hasn't been shot or stabbed in his youth?" "It passes." "I feel better already." "Relieved." "My guts have been like cement for months... getting harder and harder." "I was knotted up all over." "It couldn't go on." "That big gorilla hit a bull's-eye." "A bullet in the guts is nothing." "I saw that insect coming... and it was a bullet." "Faster, Hans." "What will you do in Switzerland?" "I'll wander about in the wild... and kiss each pavement and thank each stair... if I stay alive." "If I don't, I'll be furious." "I've lived my life any old way... like a rough sketch-- a real mess." "Like a wave which keeps breaking in mid-ocean... and never reaches the shore or the rocks." "It's too late now to learn to live... but I thought I had so many years still to go." "Years and years ahead of me... to put it right." "Faster, Hans." "The grass is black, or it's my eyes." "A bullet hole in the guts." "Girls always told me..." ""Don't complicate things." I did my best." "It was so hard to keep things simple." "The American shot the boy." "It looks bad." "The boy's had it." "Tell me, what time will I be taken on board?" "Will you please get me out of here?" "I can walk a bit..." "take a few steps." "Not on the stomach, Anna." "On the back." "Hello, Lise." "Anna, this is Lise-- the angel on the bike." "So you've found the smile of speed?" "I'll speak from inside." "It'll be easier." "And I'll close my eyes." "Lise, my little Lise." "Swallow your tears." "I never want to see you cry again." "That's why... it's over." "I'm crying because it is over, Alex." "But it's not over." "It isn't." "One day it will seem as if we've lived all this before." "Dead." "Dead." "He would have broken up with me anyway." "Don't say that." "One day, you'll be together again." "One day or two, perhaps."