"THE WHITE CAT" "Written, directed and produced by Hasse Ekman" "We have now arrived." "Hello there." "We have arrived." " Arrived?" "Where?" " In Stockholm, of course." "In Stockholm?" "Yes, of course." "Travellers on the train to Mjölby at 7.40 pm, please board the train." "Please board the train." "Please close the doors." " Hello there!" "Your ticket, please." " Ticket?" "Yes, of course." "The ticket." "Where did I put it?" " Ah, here it is." "Here you go." " Thank you." "Hello, hello." "The train to Uppsala at 8 pm departs today from platform 1." "Platform 1." "Hello, hello." "There's a telegram for Engineer Söderström" " in the information booth near platform 4." " Going to the city?" " Yes, I am." " Cigarette?" " Yes, please." "I know a damned good hotel nearby." "No porter, free entrance." "Lots of ladies, pretty ones!" "Not for me." "And I've only got a tenner." "I see..." "For a lady?" " What?" " For a lady?" "Lassie... damsel..." "I don't know." "Maybe it's for the prime minister." "10-7-5-8-4." "This number is not in use." "Hello, hello." "Train to Uppsala at 8 pm departs today from platform 1." " Excuse me, do you remember me?" " Yes, I do." "How so?" "Do you recall from where I arrived?" "Did you see it on the ticket?" "Good God!" "At least 500 people came with the train from Göteborg." "How on earth would I recall what it said on your ticket?" "From where you arrived?" "Are you having a laugh?" "Not at all." "I was just curious." "Miss!" "May I pay?" "Tea, ham and a liver patty and cucumber, right?" " 1,40." " Could you exchange a tenner?" " Yes, fine." " When do you close?" " At eleven." " Are you busy tonight?" "Yes, and all other nights." " What do you want?" " Coffee, please." "And sandwiches." " What kind?" " Doesn't matter." " Miss, what's the date?" " The 9th." " Of which month?" " October, of course." " October?" " It's mad!" "A mental patient has escaped again, a sex offender!" "No..." "This morning." "He stole one of the wardens' clothes and escaped." " "Missing at the morning meeting."" " This is what our tax money is spent on!" " Is there a photo?" " No, just a description:" ""Abrahamsson was dressed in a grey suit, white shirt, blue tie and brown shoes." "Above average height, brown hair, oval face, blue eyes and healthy teeth." "On his left cheek he has a a three cm barely visible scar"" " I wonder how he got it." " Yes, one may wonder." "Let's have another pastry." " Hello there!" "Are you leaving?" " I'll be right back." "There's a telegram for Engineer Söderström in the information booth near platform 4." "There's a telegram for Engineer Söderström in the information booth near platform 4." "Miss Rautila!" " We have to do the cash register." " There's one guest left." "Ah, that layabout!" "Tell him to go." "Excuse me, could you pay now?" "You may sit till eleven." " Of course, how much was it?" " 1,35." "I don't understand..." "I had a tenner." " It was that man on the bench!" " Have you been robbed?" " Apparently." " Do you remember what he looked like?" "Yes, very well." "Report it then." "There's a policeman there." "Well...to report the theft of a tenner, isn't that taking it too far?" "It'll only cause trouble." "And I won't get the tenner back." "And you are certain you had a tenner?" "I realize I don't look trustworthy, but it is true." "That was the only money I had." "Tell me...can't you take this pen?" "It's worth a couple of crowns." "Keep your pen." "I'll pay for you." "Very kind of you." "I won't forget this." " Good night." " Good night" " Another one, miss." " Here you go." "Good night." "Good night." " You're still sitting here?" " Yes." " They'll tell you to leave soon." " Oh?" " Where will you be going?" " Don't know." "I'll work it out." "Without money?" "Have you got friends in the city?" " I don't know." " You don't know?" "How are you?" "It sounds silly but the truth is that I have lost my memory." " What?" " Completely." " I don't even know my name." " But that's terrible!" " Don't you remember anything?" " Yes, for example how the town hall looks." "That it costs 30 pennies to take the bus." "That AIK is a football team." "That Dante wrote "Divina Commedia"." "That Paraguay is in South America..." " ...but of myself I know nothing." " Nothing at all?" "Yes...that I arrived with the Göteborg train today, but not from where." "That I've got a key chain with two keys, but not what they're for." "And I've got a note with an address and a telephone number not in use." "C'est tout." "I speak French too, apparently." "Or maybe that's the only French I know." "Don't worry." "The police can help you." " The police?" " Yes." " I don't think I want to." " Why not?" "This may sound odd, but I feel strange when I hear the word 'police'." " As when you said I'd report the theft." " I don't think you've done anything." " You don't look that way." " Don't be so certain." "Looks can deceive." "I still don't think so." "If you have anything on your conscience, you're not the kind who withholds." " Who knows?" "I may have a bad character." " At least you're not stupid." "Come, let's go to the police." "I'll come with you." "Come." " No, I don't want to." " Yes, come on, let's go." "Don't you understand?" "I'm afraid." "I can't get rid of this strange feeling." "When I see a copper or read that sign, it appears." " Who am I?" "What the hell have I done?" " Nothing at all." "At least nothing dangerous." "Trust me." "I would have known." "I wish you could persuade me." "But this feeling gnaws and tears at me." "Sometimes I get the feeling I've done something terrible." "Or experienced something unpleasant." "But I don't know what it is." "It's like having had one's legs amputated, but still feel the pain in them." " Hurry up!" "Get in!" " Damn, take it easy!" "Where's the bloody dog?" "It's run off." "Putti!" "Putti!" "I can't whistle." "Can you whistle?" "I can't do it." "There's no sound." "Dear, kind gentleman, help me!" "My dog has run off and I'm drunk." "I can't whistle." "There's no sound." "Please, help me whistle." "What the hell, are you in the city?" "Where the hell have you stayed?" "Nice to see you!" "Look, here it comes!" "Great!" "Putti, come to your master!" "Do you know me, sir?" ""Do you know me, sir"?" "What the hell, are we in formal terms again?" "Don't start a fight, Algot!" "Get in!" "What the hell...?" "You're dead, for God's sake!" "Well, it can't be you then!" "But it must be you!" "Whatever!" "Call me sometime   dead or alive!" "Say hello to Pax, for God's sake!" " Did you recognize him?" " No." "Did you see the number plate?" "No." ""Pax"?" "Do you know someone named Pax?" "I don't know." "Of course!" "The staircase never lights up here." " Do you dislike cats?" " No." "But it reminded me of something." "A white cat..." " Whose is it?" " I don't know." "Never seen it before." "Let's just call each other by name." "I'm Auri." " It's Finnish." "Do you dislike Finns?" " You forget I've lost my memory." "But I associate them with liquor and knives." "Sorry, but I've got neither." "Get the plates and glasses." "How come you haven't got an accent?" "My grandfather's father came from Finland." "I've hardly been there myself." "What shall we call you?" "Whatever you want. "X"." "It's a bit impersonal, but it'll do for now." " Have you worked at the central for long?" " Since New Year." "I went to folk high school in Kalix." "But I left when my father died." " No more money." " Do you like living in the city?" "No." "I wonder if I'm from here." " I don't think so." " Why not?" "I don't know." "It doesn't feel right." "There's something assuring about you." "I wish I could feel the same." "Don't worry." "You've done no-one wrong." "Perhaps just yourself." "I'm sure of it." " I've only got milk" " That's fine." " But you can have liquor with your coffee." " Yes, please." " There must be a reason." " For what?" "For the damned memory loss." "You don't just lose memory like this!" " Such things can happen." " Yes, maybe." "But I've got a feeling that it may be an escape from reality." "From a reality you can't cope with." " It's called hysterical memory loss." " You don't seem hysterical." "Maybe I was before." "There are cases of insanity which have the same properties." " By the way, have you read the news?" " No." "A mental patient escaped this morning, he was dressed just like me." "The description fit perfectly, every detail." "You shouldn't let in strangers." "It might've just as well been him." "Don't be silly!" "Don't you think one can tell things from people's eyes?" "I'm not so sure." "Who knows?" "Maybe I am that patient." "The description could have been wrong." " He was a sex offender." " I don't want to listen to this!" "If you need money, there's 25 crowns in the box on the bureau." "Come and eat now!" "Hurry up!" "In the mountains, in the grey cliffs." "Are you comfortable?" "Yes." "I'm sorry I didn't have pajamas large enough for you." "I'm happy about that." " Sleep well." " Same." "Nadja?" "Nadja!" "Can't you hear me?" "It's Svenne." "I've come home." "May I come in?" "Nadja?" "Don't bloody pull the door!" "There's no Nadja here!" "Ah, so that's how it is?" "You've found another man, you damned whore!" " Don't worry, he can't get the door open." " Nadja?" "Please, pretty Nadja, come out for a bit!" "Nadja!" "Nadja!" "This happens all the time here." "I've been dead scared since I arrived." "Someone found a prostitute half-strangled and assaulted in the cellar." "Another time an old man kissing a boy by the gate." "It was horrible." "Often it's empty and silent here." "But it's an unpleasant silence." "Not like in the countryside." " Calm down, I'm here." " Never leave me!" "No." "Maybe we belong together, you and I." "Who knows?" "Maybe we belong together." "I'm not going to be leaving you." "You can't promise..." "I don't know where you belong." "Maybe you are married... with children." " I don't know anything." " Don't say so." "I'm afraid enough as it is." "I don't think so." "I don't feel longing for anyone." "Only fear." "If I only knew of what." "It's like I've known you for a thousand years." "When I first met you, I got the feeling I'd seen you before." "Maybe you have." "I don't think so." "If only you knew how long away from home I've felt!" "I've never been so lonely." "Loneliness in the countryside is something else." "There are springs, rivers and old paths." "And animal tracks all over." "Earth and heaven are closer there." "I think you're right." "That I'm from the countryside too." "This city feels like a cellar, without air and light." "You're from the countryside." "I know." "I can feel it." "Perhaps we should sleep now?" "Do you want to?" "No." "Me neither." "Don't be afraid." "It's not the first time." "But I wish it were." "Come in." "Can't you hear me?" "Come in, I said!" "Come in!" "Don't stand there knocking!" "I can't enter." "You have to open the door." " Who is it?" " Can't you hear?" "Yes...it's Nadja." "Why aren't you coming in?" "Nadja!" "Come here!" "Help me." "I'm so lonely." " It's so dark here!" " I'm not Nadja." "I'm Pax." " Pax?" " Yes." "You haven't forgotten me?" "Yes, I have forgotten you." "And everything else too." "Come." "Come here." "I want to see what you look like!" " The door only opens from the inside." " I'll find it." "Wait, Pax!" "Promise you won't leave!" "Where is it?" "Where is it?" "I'll find it!" " Why is it so dark here?" "!" " Hurry up, or I'll leave." "No, don't!" "I'll find the door." "I must find the door." "God, help me!" "Where's the door?" "!" "Where's the door?" "!" "Where's the door?" " Where's...?" " Wake up!" "Wake up!" "Poor you, what were you dreaming of?" "I was locked inside a dark room." "I heard your voice." "But you said that you were Pax." "I tried to open the door, but I couldn't find it." " Do you want a cigarette?" " Yes, thank you." "Auri...who am I?" "I must find out who I am!" "Otherwise I'll go mad." " Perhaps I already am." "What do I know?" " Here you go." "Try to calm down." "Who knows?" "Perhaps you'll get your memory back tomorrow." "Such things happen." "That might be even worse." "It may be better to know nothing." "Don't be silly." "What's worse than uncertainty?" "Promise me you won't leave while I'm away." "If I find traces of myself, I have to follow them." "Wherever they lead." "But I promise I'll return." "What if you're put in jail?" "You must be prepared for that." "You must be prepared for anything." "I'll wait for you, whatever you've done, whoever you are." "We've known each other for a thousand years, remember that." "I was in your life before anything else." "And you in mine." "Excuse me, but I was given this address and a telephone number: 10-75-84." "But it's no longer in use." "Do you know if anyone has used this number?" "No, but just ask around." "There are only six apartments in the house." "We've been here 15 years." "Never had another number!" "No, it can't...be here." "No, I've got no telephone." "No one would ever call me." "I've had several numbers, but not that!" "You could have found a better excuse." "My shackles left last month!" ""Sender:" "Ingeborg Eksell, Ovantorp"" "Ingeborg Eksell?" ""Dear Elias, why did you leave without explanation?" "That wasn't nice." "Do you think I deserved such treatment?" "And who is that damned Pax?"" " Excuse me, is miss Rautila here?" " No, she'll be back at two." "I'm taking a train in ten minutes." "Have you got a piece of paper?" "Yes." " Here you go." " Great, thank you." "May I come in?" "Who is it?" "Don't you recognize my voice?" "It's me, Pax." "Why won't you open?" "You know that." " I can't find the door." " It can only be opened from the inside." "You have to do it yourself." "I'm right outside it now." "I'm here!" "I'm here!" "I'm here!" "I'm here!" "Hurry up, or I'll leave!" "And I may never come back." "Pax!" " Where are you?" " I'm here." "No, you're not Pax." "I know." "You're somebody else." "Who else?" " I've forgotten her name." " My poor friend." "You're ill." "Very ill." "But I am your Pax." "Your Pax, whom you can't live without." "Come here." "I've longed so much for you." "I want to love you, tear you and scratch you!" "Just like a cat." "For I am a cat." "A white, tender and randy cat." "A mad cat!" "Come now." "I don't want to." "Are you afraid of me?" "No..." "but I think you're disgusting!" "You're lying." "You love me." "Say that you love me!" "I want to hear you say it!" "Yes, I love you." "I love you, Pax." "Pax?" "My name is Auri." "Hello there!" "Change to Ovantorp next." " No." "No, damn, that won't work!" " You and your chess puzzles!" "Good evening." "What is it?" "What do you want?" " I don't know." " Don't you know what you want?" " This may sound strange..." " What?" " I'm looking for Elias Sörbrunn." " I don't know anybody by that name." " Do you?" " No, I've never heard it before." " Do you recognize me?" " No." " Do you recognize him, Ingeborg?" " No." "Listen, who are you?" "If you don't know Elias Sörbrunn, my name is of no interest." " I want to know who you are." "Who are you?" "!" " I may be Elias Sörbrunn." " Who did you ask for?" " Elias Sörbrunn." " So you...asked for yourself?" " The answer is both yes and no." "I see." "Unfortunately we don't know anything about this or that." "Let me apologize for the intrusion and leave." "Wait!" "Let's calm down." "We may have misunderstood you." "I can try to call someone and find out who Elias Sörbrunn is." "I prefer finding out for myself." "Watch where he's going!" "I'll call the mental hospital." "The mental hospital, miss." "I don't have the number, but I'm in a hurry." "It's about an escaped patient." "Elias, what are you doing?" "Have you gone mad?" " I got your letter." "You asked me to come." " Not like this." "I said you should let me know beforehand." "And then you come while Jarl is here!" "We can't talk here." "Let's sneak into the mission hall." " The meeting lasts a little longer." "Tell me." " Now I remember." " I remember what you look like naked." " Oh, really?" " I've lived in your loft." " Don't tell me what I already know." "What has happened to you?" "You're different." " There's something I don't recognize." " What?" "You've lost that confidence." "You're less of a man than before." "And you're a whore." "A respectable bourgeois lady who's a whore in secret!" "Now I recognize you." "That's how I want you." " God, how I've missed you!" " Let me be!" " I don't want anything to do with you!" " Don't even try." "Let's go to the homestead." "There's a bus in a couple of minutes." "Can't you feel how I long for you?" "I've never had such a good lay!" "Let me go!" "Whatever I've done with you, there will be no more of it!" "How can you treat me like this, Elias?" "Why did you return, then?" "To find out who I am." " What kind of damned person am I?" " I've wondered that too." "When you were chased by the police and you broke in here, I served you!" "You didnÕt call me a whore then!" "You were grateful for most things." "Elias, say that you want me back!" "Go to hell!" "I never want to see you again!" " Are these your last words?" " You can be damned sure!" " Too late!" " For what?" "For coffee." "If you're not here from the start, you get none." "I tried once, but it didn't work." "Now they think they can convert me." "But they'll never be able to!" "I don't like their hallelujas." " I count bones." " Bones?" "Yes, I collect bones." "I live off buying and selling bones." " What do you collect?" " Nothing." "Yes..." "I collect pieces of myself." "Yes, as you wrote on the blackboard in Sämle schoolhouse." "In the night, with a candle." "But you didn't snuff it out fast enough." "Väglusen, that's me." "I can see clearly though IÕm old." "Ingeborg, there's a call for you!" " It's from Stockholm." " Stockholm?" "Yes?" " It's Ingeborg Eksell." " Excuse me, my name is miss Rautila." " Is there a young man in your house?" " A young man?" "What would his name be?" " Don't you know?" " No and neither does he." "He's lost his memory, you see." " Lost his memory." "That's right..." " Well..." "I see." "A strange figure appeared, unknown to my husband and myself." "But he left just as soon as he'd arrived." "Do you know where he went?" "No?" "Apologies for the inconvenience." ""I'm tracing your tracks, Elias." "I know a little, but I want to know it all." "Thank you and farewell, old ghost house." "Thank you for the deep loneliness." "But why didn't you let me forget?" "Why did you let me remember everything I couldnÕt recall?"" "That's what I thought!" " What?" " That is was you." "No one else would dare." "They've believed it's haunted since he was here and saw the light." " What are you looking for?" " My father." "He's drunk tonight." "But he's seen the lights too, just like I have." "You know where he is." "Oh, why did he have to come here that night..." "Which night?" "When we lay here and you kissed me and said that you felt sorry for me." "Why did he have to come?" "It might have been for the best." "Do you think ill of me because I'm a virgin?" "No...no, I don't." "But there's someone else for me now." "Oh..." "I see." "Tell me, last time we met, did I tell you something about myself?" "No...it was almost the only night we spoke." "It was as if you didn't want to talk about yourself." "You asked about Elias Sörbrunn." " About who?" " Sörbrunn." "And the lady he had here." " Here?" " Yes, they lived here in the spring." "I told you." "Have you forgotten?" "Yes.." "I must have." "Did you tell me more about them?" "No, just that he painted me and said many strange things." "But he was never pushy." "What did he say?" "Well..." "lots of things." "That he'd lived an unnatural life." "That he wanted to teach himself the simple and natural." ""That which is coy and just grows in the earth, like you", he said." ""But it's too late for us, for we have burned our bridges."" " And her?" " I never saw her." "She never went outside." "It was because she was afraid, Sörbrunn said." "Afraid?" "Of what?" "I asked if it was the ghost, but then he said:" ""It's not that easy, for when the ghosts live inside you, you've lost."" " Did he call her Pax?" " No, he never mentioned her name." " Did I never say where I came from?" " No." " But you said something strange." " What?" ""It's strange that I was born in a graveyard."" " What?" " Yes, and when I laughed, you said:" ""It's nothing to laugh at." "My life began at the graveyard in Vist."" " The graveyard in Vist?" " Yes." "It's father." "Let me handle him." "Well, you haven't started?" "Not this time either?" " Go home now, father." " Why?" "Keep on!" "I won't disturb you." "I've got a beautiful daughter." " Right, mister...?" " Come now, father!" "Don't harass me!" "Listen, brother!" "I have a right to know your name." "You come and go." "And you make my daughter miserable." "But you won't be honorable and tell me your name." "Neither do you want to talk about why you wanted that ring." " What ring?" " The one I got from Sörbrunn when the money ran out, and on which "Pax" is engraved." " Come now, father!" "You're drunk!" " That may be so." "But it's still not appropriate for him to be bad-mannered!" "Shame on you, brother!" "Miss, a miss Rautila wants to talk to you." "Haven't I told you to knock before you enter my bedroom?" "Rautila..." "Ask her to have a seat." "I'll be there soon." "Please enter, the missus will be here soon." "Thank you." " Oh, so you're that type?" " Yes, sometimes." "Are you?" "No, I prefer living things." "Elias Sörbrunn isn't here, if that's what you think." " Elias?" " Elias, yes." " Or do you call him something else?" " No, but I want to see him." " He may not be as eager?" " I don't care." "He's mine, and I won't let him go." "You sound like a child in a secret meeting place." ""This is Pax's place!"" "Pax...of course..." " You are Pax, of course?" " Where did you hear that name?" " "Pax" is engraved on a ring he gave me." " When?" " A week ago." " Why did he give it to you?" " It can't be that difficult to understand?" " Yes... the ring bore someone else's name." " May I buy it from you?" " So you are Pax?" " No, I don't have it." " Have you given it away?" "Not given, precisely, but I bribed a man with it." "A man who unfortunately saw Elias leaving." "My husband is very jealous." "Dreadful feature, right?" "Can I get hold of the man?" "He lives in a little house on the way to the station." "Ask for Väglusen." " Thanks for the information." "Good morning." " Good morning." "Good luck, little Pax!" "Come in!" " Excuse me, are you Väglusen?" " Yes, that's what they call me." "Who might you be?" "Wipe your feet when you enter the holy house of bones." "I've got nothing to offer you." "The champagne's gone and one can't have coffee without Napoleon brandy." "But one should be polite nonetheless!" "What's this about?" "Mrs Eksell gave you a ring." "I wish to purchase it." "No, you can't." "My daughter stole it when she was here to pick up moonshine." " Want a sip?" " No, thank you." "Just as well." "The policeman drank the last drop the other night." "So you can't..." "Don't sit on the rococo bureau!" "It's a little flimsy." " Your daughter, where is she?" " You never know." "No, she's of the wild sort, always makes a mess." "Last time she lived permanently   she was a maid for the ladies called Patkull." "Is that a real name?" "Pat...kull!" "No, I don't know..." " Where do they live?" " In a place called Vist." " It's six-seven miles from here." " Is there a train there?" "To Vist?" "Yes, of course!" "That's funny." "But the morning express has left, you'll have to wait for the night snail." "And it departs at..." "Let me see 8.15 am, God willing, and if the stationmaster's buttoned up his pants." "Imagine, he's got eight children!" "That's the danger of living near a city line!" " There's no bus service?" " Yes, there is!" "The trash can explodes four times a day." "It leaves in four minutes." "You'll catch it if you go like a bat out of hell." "And tell Ella that I'll go fox hunting next week in the woods." "She's got a nice behind." "Sotis!" "Sotis!" "Sotis!" "Sotis!" " Hey!" "You're here again?" " Yes." "Here I am again." " Where have you been?" " All over the place." " Did you meet that man?" " What man?" "He who lived here with that lady." "Who had stolen your name." " Elias Sörbrunn, you mean?" " Yes, that's what he called himself." " No, he escaped." " Ah." "So you're still chasing him?" " Yes, and not only him." " No, her too, of course." "What is it about her?" " I don't know." " There was something strange about her." "But Sotis can't forget her." "He's here every day." "He sits here wailing for hours." "It's impossible to get him to leave." " In what way did she seem strange?" " Don't you remember what I said?" "She never went outside, just sat in her room smoking cigarettes." "Always half-naked." "And she looked so strange when she petted the cat." "One time she screamed as if she'd been cut by a knife." "I got dead scared." " Why was she screaming?" " No reason, as far as I could see." "And she started crying, it was nasty." "Her whole body shook." "And you must remember what she did afterwards?" "No." "What?" "She got out a snuffbox and took a pinch." "But it wasn't snuff, but something white." "Then she got calm and just sat staring." "And she started petting the cat." "P A X." "Pax!" "I always knew it was her!" "Please go away!" "You were a bad human being." " We don't want anything to do with you." " Ebba, it can be dangerous." "Nonsense!" "Our conscience is clean." "Go and check on the cowberries." "No, my conscience is not clean." "I wish I didn't know this much." " Stop screaming, Otti!" " It was her." "I'm certain." "Who are you?" "Excuse me,IÕm only seeking cover from the rain." "Come in." "God bless you." " Are you Ella?" " No, not at all." "She's moved away." "Why did you want to meet her?" "She's got a ring I want, a ring on which "Pax" is engraved." "Did you know Pax?" " We've never heard that name." " No, we only knew her husband." "Don't be daft, Otti!" "You know that both she and her husband are dead." "They were burned in a fire, poor people!" "Burned in a fire." "When?" "23 September." "The moon was full and Ebba and I had a seance." "Well, we did!" "We saw it and called the fire brigade." "But when they arrived, there was nothing left." "Neither of the house nor the adulterers." " It was God's punishment" " Adulterers?" "So it wasn't her husband?" " Yes, it was!" " Of course not!" "Let me tell you." "It was her lover and only we knew of him." "What was his name?" " Don't tell more, Otti!" " I will!" "Elias Sörbrunn!" "Elias Sörbrunn?" "Did he live around here?" "Yes." "Up in the woods, half a mile from here." "Come in, I won't shoot you." "Excuse me, who are you?" " And who are you?" " My name is Rautila." "Sounds Finnish." "I don't like Finns." " Who are you looking for?" " Elias Sörbrunn." "I'd stay away from him if I were you." "He's not good company for a young girl." "Do you see the painting over there?" "She once was a very pretty young woman." "Before Elias Sörbrunn had his way with her." "Now there are only ashes left." "Do you know what she thought she was when she died?" "A cat." " What?" " Elias Sörbrunn liked snorting." "He taught her to do it too." "He loved cats." "In the end he painted only cats." "And her naked, with a cat's head." "Or a large white cat with her face." "The studio is full of them." " Do you know where Elias is now?" " Yes." "In the graveyard in Vist, six feet under." "Judging by your description, you're talking about Torben Gall." "Yes, he's been here." "He came one morning a fortnight ago." "Bloody, dirty and half insane." "He was looking for Elias." "I told him he was dead, but that I hadn't told the authorities   since I wasn't completely sure." " Do you know what the guy said then?" " No." ""Bloody hell!" he screamed." ""It's Torben Gall who's dead." "Don't say anything else!"" " "Lena's memory must be clean!"" " Lena's?" "Yes, that was Pax's real name." "He then ran round the house screaming:" ""Where are you, Elias?" "Where are you hiding?" "I'll find you!"" "Then it went all quiet." "He'd entered the studio and seen the paintings." "You could have stopped him." "Sure." "But I let Gall look at Pax and the cats." "Before he left I gave him a stack of letters   that I thought would interest him." " What letters?" " Pax's letters to Elias." " They were detailed indeedÉ" " How can anyone be so evil?" "Evil?" "I only wanted to help him." "Get him to see that Pax's death was nothing to mourn." "Do you know where he went afterwards?" "He'd decided to find out everything about Pax and Elias." "So I told him to visit the schoolhouse in Sämle." "I assume he went there." " You've still not told me your name." " No." "And I see no reason why I should divulge that information." "I hope I never see you again!" "Likewise." "The author Tobern Gall and his wife Lena." "Torben Gall..." "Do you know who you are now, Torben?" "Auri?" "Yes." "I followed you." "I was worried about you." "This was my home once." "What happened here?" "I'd been abroad for a year to write a book." "It was Lena's idea that we'd stay apart." "I'd be able to "work completely undisturbed"." "We'd meet here again on our anniversary." "I couldn't find a flight on that date, so I came the night before." "I walked here from the station." "When I came here, the house seemed abandoned." "I saw no lights in the windows." "But then the gramophone started playing." "Lena?" "Torben..." "Are you home already?" "Come in!" " Do you want anything to drink?" " Lena, what's amiss?" "Nothing." "Yes, something's amiss." "Why are you dressed like that?" "Why did you come tonight?" "We'd agreed on tomorrow." "It was not my intention that you'd see me like this." "Lena..." "My beloved Lena, don't cry!" "I'm sorry I didn't telegraph." "What has happened?" "Lots of things..." "Sometimes I think I'm a cat." "What are you saying?" "Lena!" "Why do you have that strange expression?" "!" "Is it liquor?" "No it's not that simple." "It meddles with your brain." " Then you go mad!" " Where did you get it?" " Who gave it to you?" " It doesn't matter." "It's over." "Everything's over." " Who's that?" " A beggar who asked for a sandwich." " I asked him in." "He got drunk." " You're lying!" " Wake up, you bastard!" " Let him be." "He's done nothing wrong." "You can't fool me." "Wake up, you damned carcass!" " Stop it!" "He's done nothing wrong." " Who are you?" "Elias, where have you hidden it?" "!" "I need some more!" "Just a little!" "Elias, I need it!" " Elias..." " There's nothing left, Pax." "I took the rest." "You bastard!" "I'm sorry you had to go through this." "But it's your own fault." "We'd decided to take our own lives tonight." "To spare you the worst shock." " How long has this been going on?" " It started long before you left." "It was so you'd never find out the truth." "So she convinced you to go abroad." " Do you understand what you've done?" " Yes, considerably better than you do." "You can only see the backside now." "But there was a front side too, that you can never even imagine." "It came at a great cost, I agree." "But what she and I have experienced was worth the price." "You must be crazy." "Who dares climb mountains of whose existence you are not even aware?" "Rather than crawl like a worm in the dirt?" "Yes, we all fall one day, our lives are short." "But tell me honestly, do you think your life, as it is now   is desirable to such a degree that there is a reason to keep living it?" "Would you please leave?" "I won't leave Pax." "We belong together now." "We've reached the end." "We'll die together." "You've come too late." "You can't change anything." "I'll help you." "Everything will be fine." "Go away!" "We have nothing in common anymore." "I'm his and nobody else's!" "For God's sake, leave us alone!" "I don't know whether it was an accident ...or whether I tried taking my own life." "But when I woke up I lay over there, below the precipice." "I must have been unconscious for a day or two." "The house burned down and it didn't smolder at all." "Their bodies were gone." "I didn't think of that then." "I didn't remember anything." " Had you lost your memory already?" " No, only concerning that night." "I ran to our neighbors the Patkulls who nearly got a stroke when they saw me." "Everybody thought it was my skeleton." "They'd found the typewriter." "Witnesses had seen me arriving that night." "The ladies told me the story of Elias and Lena." " They promised not to tell anyone else." " To keep her memory pure?" "Yes, precisely." "That I was declared dead didn't matter." "My life was over anyway." "That's how I felt then." "I then went to Villa Siesta to look for Sörbrunn." "You don't have to tell me." "I was there just now." "But why didn't you realize that it was Elias who gave you the letters?" " Even if you didn't recognize him?" " Yes, but he swore it was a lie." "He claimed that Elias had died along with Lena." "And I believed him." "But you started looking for Elias." "That doesn't add up." "No, I know." "I wasn't sane." "The painting of Lena and the cats got to me." "So Sörbrunn betrayed her." "Do you think he was too great a coward?" "We'll find out." " Wait here, I'll be right back." " Do you have to go inside?" "Yes, I have to." "Well?" "What did he say?" "He couldn't say anything, Auri." "We have to go to the police." "Torben?" "There are some things I must ask you." " May I?" " Ask away." "Why did you have the keys to Själagårdsgatan?" "I took them from Sörbrunn's villa, in the studio." "That's why the police were after you?" "No." "I'd broken into a farm to steal food." "I was hungry, with no money." "And the address and number to Själagårdsgatan?" "I found them in a directory at Eksell's." " How long did you stay there?" " How so?" "That's the only thing I don't quite forgive you for." "Why did you give the ring to Ingeborg?" "To get money to go to Stockholm, to Själagårdsgatan." " Did Pax give you the ring?" " No, she gave it to Elias." "It's just as well that I didn't get hold of it." "Why did you tell people that your name was Elias Sörbrunn?" "It was a darkly humorous idea." "A fool's logic." "He'd taken my name, I thought." "So I took his." "Did you read the letters from Pax?" "Yes." "I waited for a long time." "I considered throwing them away several times." "But in the end I gave in to the desire." "It was on this train, three days ago." "I was on my way to Själagårdsgatan." "I read them chronologically, from beginning to end." "The first was written in May 1948." "The day after their first night together." "There weren't that many letters." "But they were eloquently written." "When I'd read them, I tore them apart   and threw them out of the window." "And then you escaped a reality with which you no longer could cope." "Yes." "And then I met you." "I'm afraid, Torben." " Of what?" " Of Lena." "You must have loved her deeply." "Yes." "Or rather, I was infatuated with her." " I feel so very simple." " That is why I love you." "You are simple, just like a bluebell." "Or a spring in the forest." "Or an accordion on a Saturday night." "A Swedish birchen hill." "You are sound, pure, real and practical." "You are everything I want and need." "Bluebell?" "Sound and pure and practical?" " Do you think that's what I wanted to hear?" " No, but it's the truth." "I wouldn't be too certain." "I can be bad too!" "Don't laugh at me!" "I don't want to be a bluebell you just happened to pick." "What do you want to be, then?" " Do you enjoy being that arrogant?" " Yes." "I hate you!" "Torben, forgive me!" "I'll never say such things again." "I'm happy being as you want me to." "That's how simple I am." "Almost."