Crime and Punishment Page #3

I took some of your old newspapers.

I haven't seen a paper for days.

TO MY SON.

MAY HE WEAR IT IN HONOR.

Company to see you.

I don't want to see anybody.

You've been sleeping with your gloves on.

There's a policeman here for you.

Here he is, Officer.

- Are you the writer, Raskolnikov?

- Yes.

Come with me.

You're wanted at headquarters.

- Why?

- You'll find out when you get there.

Hurry up. We haven't got all day.

Excuse me.

This door.

What I want to know is who says

they were drunk in my cafe and fighting?

As far as I can judge,

every neighbour within the radius of a mile.

What do you want us to do?

Go around talking in whispers?

Why, it's the most refined place in town.

You ought to know,

you were there last week.

Please remember, madam,

I was there in my official capacity.

- What do you want?

- Why have I been brought here?

In a hurry, eh? When your turn comes,

we'll give you plenty of time.

Well, if there was a disturbance,

why don't you go after

the person who caused it?

One of your own officers.

Oh, we won't mention any names,

but in comes your fine captain,

drunk as a pig,

and orders three bottles of champagne.

Then he lifts up one leg, like this,

and brings it down on my piano

and starts to play with his boot.

And when I asked him, most politely,

please, please not to break my piano,

he slapped me in the face.

Then he slaps Henrietta

and he slaps Louise and he slaps Matilda.

He slapped all of my entertainers.

And then he chases me all over the house.

Well, chase yourself

over there and cool off.

- What's your name?

- Raskolnikov.

Raskolnikov.

You owe your landlady 30 rubles,

and you refuse to vacate the premises.

Is that... Is that why I'm here?

Are you going to pay or get out peaceably,

or must we throw you out?

I'll pay. I'll pay tomorrow.

The rent, do you hear?

It's the rent! 30 rubles!

Stop that shouting!

Do you realise where you are?

Do you realise where you are?

See that sign?

"No smoking"! What are you doing

with that thing in your face?

I don't know anything about it!

I don't know anything about it!

Let me go! Let me go!

What's going on here?

Is this the man

who tried to sell the earrings?

Yes, sir. We found him working

in an empty flat under the old pawnbroker's.

Your Honour! I know nothing! Nothing!

You'll have no trouble with him, sir.

Get him to talk.

He knows who committed the murder.

Oh, my gracious, he's fainted!

I'm sorry. The heat!

- Who's that?

- He's a writer, sir.

His name is... Just one moment, sir.

Raskolnikov, sir.

Raskolnikov!

That's just the man I want to see.

Here, wait a minute!

This is an unexpected pleasure.

Porfiry is my name, Chief Inspector.

You know what I did immediately

after I read your article?

I wrote to the editor of Current Review

to find out the name of the genius

who was the author.

I thought I knew something about crime,

but I swear you put me and my staff

in the kindergarten class.

Come into my office.

You'll find it a little cooler there.

I'd like to have you help us

on a brand new murder case.

It'll give you a chance to see

how the blundering police work.

What do you mean

the policeman took him away?

They arrested him? What for?

The policeman came and took him away.

Come in. Sit down.

An old pawnbroker was killed last night,

a well-known character

by the name of Leona.

- Bring the prisoner in.

- Yes, sir.

I consider myself very fortunate

to have you here.

You see, I have a feeling that you have

an instinctive understanding

of criminal types

that might be more valuable

than all the years of my experience.

You can leave us. Sit down.

An obvious criminal type, in my opinion.

What do you think?

You mean to say you can tell

by looking at a man

whether he's capable of crime?

In most cases, yes.

The born criminal has certain facial

characteristics that brand him immediately.

The difficult case is the normal person

who's driven to crime

through passion or need.

Such a man, however, gives himself up

in the end through fear.

Fear of the law or of God.

Then your ability to inspire fear

must be a powerful weapon.

Very. Half the time it drives a man to us,

saving us the bother of going after him.

And then, I wouldn't confess this openly,

but as one criminologist to another,

we take credit for being inhumanly skilful.

So you were working in the empty flat

underneath the pawnbroker's, huh?

- Yes, Your Honour.

- What time last night did you finish work?

- About 7:
00, Your Honour.

- Where did you go after you left work?

- I just went to a place to get a drink.

- How long did you stay there?

- A few hours.

- Well, what time did you get home?

About midnight.

You had blood on your clothes

when you got home last night, didn't you?

- Yes, Your Honour.

- How did it get there?

We were feeling happy, Your Honour,

and I banged on the table

with my glass, like this,

and it broke and it cut my hand.

What did you do when you got home?

Well, I wanted to go to sleep, Your Honour,

but my wife,

she started to make a lot of noise,

screaming and scolding, so I beat her.

You beat your wife often?

Oh, no, Your Honour. Not often.

About once a week.

This must be one of the extraordinary men

you describe in your article.

You know, I was very much amused,

the way you classify

all men into the ordinary and extraordinary.

Ordinary men, you say,

must obey the law because,

well, because they are ordinary.

But extraordinary men have a right

to transgress the law,

because they are extraordinary,

is that right?

Not exactly.

I maintain such a man should

not be judged by ordinary standards.

For example, Napoleon.

A man may wipe out millions of lives,

but if he builds an empire,

no one condemns him.

Oh, come, my friend. I doubt very much

that Napoleon murdered this pawnbroker.

I'm glad my theories furnish you

with a chance to be witty.

Now! Don't be so touchy!

You see, my friend, I'm a practical man,

a policeman.

I'm just wondering what instructions

I'm to give my men

to help them in discriminating between

the great men and the herd.

It would make it a lot simpler for us

if they were to have

some distinguishing mark,

a medal or ribbon,

or a resemblance to Napoleon,

like yourself, for instance.

At what time did you get to work

this morning?

7:
00, Your Honour.

But you left your work

immediately afterwards,

and at 8:
00,

you tried to sell a pair of gold earrings.

- Yes, sir.

- Where did you get those earrings?

- I found them.

- Exactly where did you find them?

Behind the door in the empty flat

where I was working.

Did you ever see this before?

- It's a poker, but...

- So you know it's a poker!

- Have you ever seen this before?

- No, sir.

Look at me.

You tied this package tightly,

pretending there was something in it

you wanted to pawn.

While she was bending over,

trying to untie the knots,

you picked up a poker

and struck her over the head.

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