"(theme music plays)" "(barking)" "Hello, Frank." "Hello, Harry." "Anything happening?" "Nobody's stolen my secret papers." "Nobody's infiltrated anywhere." "Nobody shot the prime minister." "Nobody's pushed the red button." "The world is still intact." "Nothing, it seems, has happened." "Another uneventful night." "Can I buy you a coffee?" "No, thanks, I've got to finish these reports." "You know, Harry, for you, dedication has become a vice." "(telephone rings)" "Hello?" "Man:" "May I speak to Boris, please?" "Who?" "Boris." "Is he there?" "I'm sorry, you must have the wrong number." "Sure I can't persuade you to change your mind, Harry?" "After all, all work and no play..." "Harry... (silenced gunshot)" "(whistling tune)" "Frank!" "Frank..." "Mercer here." "This is an emergency!" "Someone's murdered Frank Compton." "I'm sorry about your holiday, Lord Barnes." "So am I." "We wouldn't have asked you back unless it'd been very urgent." "I would have come back if it hadn't been urgent." "I'm sorry, but this whole business has knocked me sideways." "(tires screech)" "An agent murdered is bad enough, but when it happens inside the Ministry of Top Secret Information, the most security-conscious area in the country, well..." "Oh, frankly, I don't believe it." "I still don't believe it." "Hello, sir." "Hi." "(elevator whirs)" "The profound silences are my prerogative, Major Rooke." "What progress are we making?" "None." "Hmm." "Who, um..." "Who found the body?" "Harry Mercer." " Is he a good man?" " None better." "Steed's questioning him now." "He must've been lying there the whole time." "That's what gets me." "I was sitting there writing my report, and all the time, Frank was..." "When we find out..." "If we find out..." "We'll find out." "Ah, Steed, I'm glad you're here." "Good morning, Lord Barnes." "It's a bad morning." "It's a disastrous morning." " You're Mercer?" " Yes, sir." " You found him, eh?" " And, yes, sir." "And the murder weapon, you made an immediate check?" "I want it found." "I want the whole place combed." "We already have it." "Compton's own gun, sir." "His own gun?" " Any fingerprints?" " Only his own." "All right." "You better tell me all the facts from the beginning." "Mercer was writing his report in here." " Alone?" " Yes, sir." " He finished at..." " 5:30 exactly." "He started to leave, and he moved to about here, and then he saw Frank Compton lying on the floor there under the table." "Yes, and then I gave the alarm." "Of course we checked everything immediately, all the staff," " personnel, all the exits." " (telephone rings)" "And we double-checked on all the visitors" " to the area here yesterday." " The result was a negative." "Hello?" "Who?" "Boris?" "The cellar, the roofs, the grounds." "I'm afraid you've got the wrong number." "Nothing remains unchecked, negative." "I won't accept negative." "I won't accept anything less than positive, positive action, positive plans, results." "But we're covering all the visitors here" " within the last month." " The last month?" "The last year, Major." "I want every member of the staff rescreened and interrogated." "I want a complete rundown on Frank Compton, his movements retraced up until the moment that he died, the cases that he worked on, the people he'd met." "Better try Operations Security." "It's in the micro-files." "What have you done to your hand?" "A legacy from Berlin, October '63." "Really?" " He must've been mistaken." " King:" "Who?" "Harry Mercer, when he said he was in Berlin in '63." "He couldn't have been." "I was there at that time." "I was involved in quite a little fracas or two, and I know that Harry was nowhere in the area." "Well, as you said, he must've been mistaken." "Unless he's lying." "No, he must've got the dates mixed up, that's all." "That's not all he got mixed up." "Ambidextrous." "Where'd you get that?" "Mercer's desk." "Funny." "Clearly the handwriting of a strong, weak, happy, sad, anxious, carefree man." "Is that a fact?" "No, I made it up." "Well, let's find someone who can give us the facts." "Remarkable." "Quite remarkable." "Remarkably remarkable." "Would you care to... remark on the remarkability?" "Yes, I would." "Well?" "Well, this first section here, you want the facts?" " The facts." " Factually." "It's remarkable." " Yes, you said that." " Twice." "This first section of writing, a neat, precise hand, the work of a reliable man, a man to be trusted, an industrious man, gentle by nature, yet strong character, dedicated, a man of great loyalty and moral strength." "But this next section here, the penmanship is the same." "It's definitely written by the same hand." "(laughs) I can't see how it can be." "Why not?" "Well, the personality of the writer has completely changed." "It's... it's fantastic." "Remarkable." "How has it changed?" "Well, this writing indicates a mind of great cunning, a brutal, extrovert man, a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his ends, a man to whom cruelty means pleasure, to whom loyalty means nothing, a mean man," "devious, scheming, dangerous." "Thoroughly nasty piece of work, in fact." "Would this kind of man be capable of murder?" "Very, very capable." "Odd." "Odd and quite a coincidence." "A brutal extrovert man who'd stop at nothing, mean, scheming, dangerous." "That's a first-class description of Boris Kartovski, one of their top agents." "So where's the coincidence?" "Kartovski was the fellow who was involved with me in that fracas in Berlin, October '63." "Panic's still on." "Did you find anything?" "No." "I checked the files." "Nothing." "(telephone rings)" " Hello?" " Rooke." "Yes, Steed." "I want you to root out all the information you can on a member of the opposition, Kartovski," "Boris Kartovski." "That should be simple enough." "Bound to have some information on him." "Yes, it's not information I want." "It's a specimen of his handwriting." "What?" "I'm not sure if we can..." "Well, he must've passed messages or broken a code or something like that." "You dig out all you can." "I'll do my best." "Can't promise, though." "Yeah, right, bye." "You should call it a day, Harry, get some rest." "Boris Kartovski... (door closes)" "Put me through." "Put me through to the..." "The Nullington Private Hospital!" "(telephone rings)" "Nullington Hospital." "Tell the doctor..." "Tell the doctor that..." "What?" "Who is this?" "Harry..." "Harry..." "Harry..." "Harry Kartovski!" "Dr. Constantine, I have Mercer on the line." " What?" " Listen." "Tell the doctor it's..." "Harry..." "Boris!" "It's... it's Boris!" "No, tell the..." "Help me." "Tell the doctor it's Boris..." "Mercer..." "Kartovski!" "Help..." "Help me." "Help me." "Petra?" "Look, talk to him." "Calm him down." "Tell him to sit tight." "Tell him we'll help him." "He's breaking up." "I told you." "I explained there might be an element of failure risk." "But to Mercer, and right now at this moment... we're so close, Doctor." "So close to wrecking the whole Ministry of TSI, smashing it, disintegrating, destroying it from within." "Mercer is a threat to our objective." "We must be rid of him." "(classical piano music playing)" "(telephone ringing)" "(music stops)" "(ringing continues)" "Hello?" "Man:" "Hello." "Is that you, Boris?" "Evening, sir." "Good evening, sir." "Good evening, sir." "Good evening, sir." "(elevator whirs)" "No!" "Here's Mercer's file and the other thing you wanted..." " a specimen of Kartovski's writing." " Ah." "It must have happened just before I found him." "I must've been within yards of the killer, within seconds of the murder." "I know how he must've felt when he found Compton." "Baffled and so..." "So helpless." "So do we all." "In a case like this, there's usually some lead, something you can follow up, but..." "He was admitted to hospital." "Mercer." "A few weeks ago, he had a minor accident and was admitted for a few hours." "It was the only unusual incident in an otherwise routine existence." "Not that unusual." "Could happen to anyone." "Happened to me some time ago." "All the same, I think I'll take a look at this hospital." " Good morning, sir." " Good morning." "Mercer." "Well, Mr. Mercer..." "Oh, no, no, you misunderstand." "I'm inquiring about Mr. Mercer." "We have no one of that name in the hospital." "A casualty, a minor road accident about three weeks ago, Harry Mercer?" " Well, Mister..." " Steed, John Steed." "Just how can we help you concerning Harry Mercer?" "Well, I should like to speak to the doctor" " who handled his case." " Get down there." "It will mean going through the records, and if the doctor's not on duty, well, it'll mean a long wait for you." "Oh, not to worry." "I'll make myself comfortable here." "Ah, Dr. Constantine, this gentleman would like to know about a casualty patient named Mercer." " Mercer?" " Harry Mercer." "Are you a relative?" "No, but I'm a close friend." "I see." "Well, we don't usually give information, but I do remember this." "A road accident, wasn't it?" "Nothing serious, a mild concussion." "You handled the case?" " I did." " And?" "And what?" "Forgive me, what exactly do you wish to know?" "How long was he here?" "One hour, possibly two, certainly no longer." "Did he have any visitors?" "No." "And there was nothing unusual about the case?" "I told you, a mild concussion of the simplest nature." "I only wish all our road casualties were so minor." "Well, thanks anyway." " Good day." " Good day." "I don't like it when Steed gets this close." "Uncomfortably close." "We'll have to get rid of Mr. Steed." "(rings)" "Hello?" " Lord Barnes?" " Oh, Steed, yes." "You said that you were involved in an accident recently." "Uh, yes, just a minor bump, you know." "But you were admitted to hospital." "For a short time, yes." "Do you mind if I come and talk to you about it?" "If you think it's important." "Yes, I'll be expecting you." "You rang, milord?" "Yes, Miller, you can take a few hours off." "I don't want to be disturbed for a bit." " You go and enjoy yourself." " Yes, thank you, milord." "Oh, and, Miller?" "Don't bother to lock up." "As you wish, milord." "(doorbell rings)" "Lord Barnes?" "Steed!" "What has happened?" "My dear fellow, are you all right?" "Miss King... drawing upon my not inconsiderable experience as a calligraphist..." "Please, just a simple explanation, words of one syllable?" "Identical." "Identical?" "This and this, both the work of the same personality." "But that's impossible." "My dear lady," "I am the foremost authority." "The same personality?" "Brutal, extrovert, and dangerous?" "Very, very dangerous." "Feeling any better?" "Much better, thank you." "Must have shaken you up." "It's an occupational hazard." "You get used to it." "He's pretty cool, whoever he is, to attack you here under my roof." "Well, the front door was open." "Ah, that would be Miller, my butler." "I'll talk to him, don't you worry." "Oh, which reminds me, you wanted to talk to me about something." " Yes, that accident you had." " Yes?" "Which hospital were you taken to?" "Which hospital, which hospital?" "Do you know, Steed, I simply don't remember." "It was some time ago." "Ridiculous, it's completely slipped my mind." " If it does occur to you..." " I'll let you know right away." "I was..." "I was feeling a bit extrovert." "(chuckles)" "You'll let me know when you remember?" "What?" "The name of the hospital?" "Uh, yes, yes, I'll let you know." "(classical piano music plays)" "(banging keys tunelessly)" "Subject... myself." "I am... alarmed... to check a change... in my behav..." "(door opens)" "Ah." "Look at this." "I checked with the handwriting experts, and both specimens of the handwriting are ex... (telephone rings)" "Hello?" "Steed." "Get back here straightaway." "Hurry." "Well, what's the..." "Lord Barnes?" "See you later." "(doorbell rings)" "Oh, Major Rooke." "Is he in?" " Nope." " Oh." "I wanted to talk to him about some handwriting." "So did I." " What did you have..." " What did you..." "I'm sorry." "Look." "Both the handwriting of Boris Kartovski." "A letter written by Lord Barnes." "But that's who Steed's gone to see." " Huh?" " Lord Barnes!" "Doctor." "Failure number two." "He's breaking up, Doctor." "It's obvious he's breaking up like Mercer." " Well, we did anticipate..." " A failure risk?" "You said that." "All right, I accept that." "The question is... what do we do now?" "Doesn't make sense, Lord Barnes killing one of his own agents." "And what about the first killing?" "Lord Barnes wasn't even in the country." " Doesn't make sense." " It makes some kind of sense." "One thing is certain..." "Barnes's a traitor, a dangerous traitor." "There he is." "Steed, I must..." "I must tell you... (gunshot)" "Lord Barnes was about to..." "Not Lord Barnes." "Boris Kartovski." "A specimen of Kartovski's writing." "Letter from Lord Barnes." "Don't know how they did it." "Some new technique, plastic surgery?" "Anyway, that was Boris Kartovski." "Impossible." "I shot Boris Kartovski, Berlin, 1963." "I shot him through the heart." "(buzzer buzzes)" "He wants you to stand where he can see you." "He likes to look at you." "He was always one for a pretty woman." "His appetite was remarkable, voracious." "And he could be cruel." "So cruel." "He frightens me." "There's no reason why he should." "He's not a monster." "On the contrary, he's a monument, a medical triumph." "Isn't that so, Boris?" "When he was brought to me, he was without hope, not dead, but with a bullet, Steed's bullet, so deep in his heart that an operation, even a transplant was out of the question." "I kept him alive." "Didn't I, Boris?" "With my skills, I kept you alive." "You call that alive?" "Well, his brain still lives." "The mind and personality of Boris Kartovski still unimpaired, lucid, brilliant." "And that's only part of my achievement." "To take that mind, the mind of the best agent we ever had, and with this, to transfuse it, to infuse his will, his thoughts, his ego into another man's brain, into that part of the mind that remains dormant in all of us," "unexplored, waiting, waiting to receive the personality of Kartovski, to restore him to active duty, to give him a healthy body again, a strong hand with which to hold a gun." "(chuckles)" "The ultimate infiltration, a traitor hidden within an unsuspecting mind." "Barnes is dead." "We'll need a replacement, you understand that?" "Very well." "The same method as the others, a faked road accident?" "Tell Morrell to stand by." "We're still at the experimental stage," " you agree that?" " Yes." "I'd like to go a step further, explore a new avenue." "The personality of Kartovski, of a man, within the brain of a woman." "Steed, I think I'll get a second opinion on this handwriting." " Right." " See you later." "Look, there's no point in both of us searching." "I'll be better off tackling things at the Ministry end." " I'll check with you later." " Right." " Ah, Miller." " Sir." "About Lord Barnes." "Oh, it's a tragedy, sir." "A terrible tragedy." "Do you feel that you can talk about it?" "Yes, sir, but I really don't think I can add to what I have already told you, sir." "He gave you the afternoon off, and when you returned later, he was getting into his car." "He was in a panic, sir, at least that's how it looked to me." "Very distraught." "I thought there might have been an accident, sir." "What made you think that?" "Well, I'm sure I heard him mention a hospital, sir, something about having to get to the hospital." "Hospital..." "You will feel no pain, Miss King, no pain at all." "Unless you try to fight it." "Then, well, your suffering will be considerable and so unnecessary." "The technique is irresistible." "Ultimately, we must win." "I advise you to relax, Miss King, and you will experience only a feeling of well-being, a drifting into sleep." "Remember, Miss King, relax." "Let his mind flood into yours." "(whimpers)" "I think we might allow ourselves the luxury of splitting a bottle together, don't you?" "A small celebration." "After all, this is likely to take some time." "An excellent idea." "Boris, don't forget you're dealing with a lady." "Think some nice thoughts." "(humming tune)" "(yelps)" "(blows landing)" "The machine!" "That one." "No, on top, on top, there." "I can't promise you'll play the violin again." "Thank you, Doctor." "At least I'm still me." "Boris Kartovski?" "Not exactly up and around, but definitely alive and very active, mentally speaking." "There's the real villain of the piece." "Looks like a home perm device." "No, it's a sort of mind transfuser, makes his mind go into someone else's." "Get back to the ministry, see Major Rooke, tell him what happened here." "I'll be all right." "Hurry, hurry." "I'd like to have stayed and had a chat, Kartovski." "Have to be later." "(shudders)" "Call the doctor, tell him... (elevator whirs)" "(cabinet doors pounding, Petra shouting)" "(gunshot)" "The machine!" "Hinnell!" "The machine!" "Hinnell!" "It's my life's work!" "Hinnell!" "Hinnell!" "Please!" "Hinnell, please!" "The machine, I... (gunshot)" "(gunshot)" "Nullington Private Hospital?" "That's right, Steed's waiting for us there now." " Come on." " Not just yet." "Close the door." " Major Rooke." " No." "Not Rooke." "Not Rooke." "Boris." "The others, Barnes, Mercer, they were failures, abject failures." "They broke up." "The way you're breaking up." "No!" "Perfect." "I am the perfect prototype." "I. Boris Kartovski." "I don't have to be triggered in any way." "We..." "I think for myself." "I am the perfect prototype!" "Help me." "I will have to kill you, Miss King." "Oh, for pity's sake, help me." " Major Rooke..." " I am going to kill you, Miss King." "Kill." "Kill." "Kill!" "You won't beat me." "Not me." "Boris Kartovski!" "Rooke!" "Rooke!" "Major." "Peter." "Rooke." "Pick it up." "Steed, pick up the gun and kill me." "Steed." "Pick it up and kill me." "Please pick up the gun and kill me!" "Oh, Steed!" "If you don't kill me, I'll kill you!" "Please!" "Kill you, old chap?" "I'd rather cure you." "Hello?" "Steed:" "Come on in." "Won't keep you a moment." "It's all right." "Help yourself to a drink." "What do you fancy?" "What have you got?" "Everything." "Everything." "Well, um, in that case," "I should like a tall crystal glass of crushed ice permeated with grenadine, laced with a mixture of Cantonese sake and Crème de Violette, topped with a measure of Calvados, a tablespoon of Devonshire cream, and a fresh, unripe strawberry." "Bottom drawer down." "I haven't got any of those, but champagne sounds far more digestible." "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, but I was changing." "Changing?" "Oh." "My suit." "Ooh, the leg was hit in the thigh in the hospital." "(groans)" "Sorry." "For a moment, I wondered who had gotten into you." "(theme music plays)"