Doctor X Page #4

I refuse to say another word to you.

You're just contemptible

and impudent enough to publish it.

Oh, impudent, maybe,

but not contemptible.

- Don't call me contemptible.

- You are contemptible.

You deliberately fooled me last night

into believing that you were an officer.

Well, I merely showed you

my police press badge.

Don't you think you've been here

a very long time?

Listen, honestly, I am ashamed.

But don't you see?

This is the biggest thing

that's happened in this town

in six months.

If I don't get something on this story,

why, I'll have to join

the army of the unemployed,

- and you wouldn't want that to happen.

- I'd be very grateful to you if you'd leave.

I didn't quite get that.

Yeah, would you say it again?

A little closer.

You hard of hearing?

No, no, but don't you see?

That's the closest thing

to anything coaxing that you've said yet.

- You get out of here.

- Oh, don't be angry.

Come on, let's laugh it off.

- Won't you shake hands and be friends?

- No.

Lucky.

I've got to get something on this story,

or I'm out of a job.

Hey!

Take this home to your grandmother.

Bad luck.

There is no need to be temperamental.

We are here on a matter

of the utmost gravity.

That's why I've sent for you

so unceremoniously.

We are all under suspicion of murder.

- What?

- Absurd.

- Ridiculous.

- What imbecile thought that up?

Gentlemen, I know you're all acquainted

with these recent horrible murders.

Moon Killer murders,

as the press calls them.

The investigation has proven that,

in every case,

the killer has made use

of a surgical instrument,

a type to be found only in our academy.

- But, Doctor...

- One moment, please.

Naturally, I prefer to believe

that everyone in this room is innocent,

but circumstances point to the conclusion

that one of us may be guilty,

any one of us.

Confound it, Xavier.

Bring us up here on a night like this.

Why couldn't you have told us this

at the academy?

For a simple reason.

I wish to conduct

an investigation of my own,

alone, quietly.

And I want your help.

This is a lot of tommyrot.

Don't you realize

what the publicity of a police investigation

would mean to us?

You are quite right, Doctor.

What do you propose to do?

I want every one of you

to submit to a psycho-neurological test,

an experiment that I have devised,

which I hope will prove

each one of us innocent.

But if it should prove otherwise?

Then, my dear Doctor,

surely one's own farewell to life

is preferable to that demanded by the law.

- This is preposterous. I refuse.

- Good. Then the police will give it to you.

Gentlemen, I consider it a privilege

to have an opportunity

of proving my innocence.

- Doctor, I'm ready.

- Thank you, Dr. Rowitz.

- Dr. Wells?

- Yes.

- Professor Duke?

- I agree.

- And you, Professor Haines?

- Well, if they all agree.

- Good.

- Oh, I think it's a lot of nonsense.

Gentlemen, I suggest you all

retire to your rooms and unpack.

In 10 minutes we shall all meet

in the laboratory.

A still?

Wonder where they bottle it.

Bad luck.

You and me both.

Very well, Doctor. At once.

Your room is at the end of the corridor.

Mine's over there.

I just fixed yours for the night.

Is there anything else, miss?

Why, Mamie, what's the matter with you?

Your teeth are chattering.

This terrible house.

It gives me the horrors worse than ever.

Well, don't be absurd.

Go to bed and go to sleep.

Well, I hope you get a good night's sleep.

- Good night.

- Good night, Mamie.

Good night.

Come, Mamie. Come.

Come, Mamie.

How would you like

to meet a ghost in here, eh, Mamie?

Well, I'll tell you one thing.

He'd be a lot pleasanter than you.

Stop that, Otto.

Stop it.

There ain't anything in this room

to be afraid of.

So you can just stop

trying to make me nervous.

Well, well, Mr. Zilch, how are you?

The smells,

don't they remind you

of an embalming parlor, eh, Mamie?

The only thing in this room

that does that right now is you.

Yes, you can laugh now, if you want to,

but you won't laugh tonight when you

have to wear these for the experiment.

- Where did Dr. Xavier get that?

- From the morgue.

The old scrubwoman wore these

the night that she was murdered.

Look, Mamie, look here.

You can see some of the blood on them.

- No, Otto! No, please, Otto! No, no!

- Look, Mamie. Look, Mamie. Yes.

- I take back what I said, please.

- Look, Mamie, look.

Otto, Mamie, what's wrong with

the switchboard? What's going on here?

- Nothing, sir.

- Yes, there is, Doctor.

- He's trying to scare me.

- Otto, stop this foolishness.

- Yes, sir.

- Now, pay attention, both of you.

- You have the dress, Otto?

- Right here, sir.

Mamie, you'll kindly put it on.

- Put in on? But, Doctor...

- Now, I want your help.

You and Otto will enact the last murder

of the so-called Moon Killer

before an audience I've selected.

Otto knows all about it

and will instruct you in your part.

- What part do I play?

- The scrubwoman, of course.

- The one who was murdered last night.

- Murdered?

But, Doctor, please, please.

Couldn't Otto play it?

No, Otto has his own part,

that of the killer.

There's nothing to be afraid of.

Remember our signals, Otto.

Just as I explained.

Yes, sir.

You see, Mamie, there's nothing

to be afraid of. There's nothing...

How've you been, babe?

Now, cut it out, now, will you? Cut it out.

You're right.

There's nothing like this way.

How utterly absurd.

Good heavens, Doctor, what have

you done with your laboratory here?

It's nothing like it was at my last visit.

- I've made a few changes, that's all.

- A thousand, I should say.

Thermal tubes, huh?

A blood reaction,

by high frequency current, as well.

Dr. Xavier is still working on his theory

that strong mental repressions,

phobias, hidden in the darkest corners

of the subconscious mind

can be brought to the surface

and made to register

through certain reactions of the heart.

- Am I correct, Professor?

- Precisely.

And tonight I hope to prove my theory.

Now, gentlemen, would you kindly

be seated in these chairs?

We'll begin the experiment.

Well, if we must,

then let us get it over with quickly.

Dr. Rowitz, Dr. Haines and Professor Duke.

And now, gentlemen,

with your permission,

Dr. Wells will assist you in clamping

these contact wires to your wrists.

Are yours included?

Certainly.

As close as possible.

But, see that the connections aren't

too tight. You'll be quite comfortable.

Pardon me a moment, Doctor,

as I attach the contact clamp.

That's it. Thank you.

Did I have to come all the way down

from the city to play guinea pig for you?

I'm sure you'll forgive me

in just a few moments.

- We're ready, Professor.

- The moon.

Perfect.

- Just as though we'd ordered it.

- Close those curtains.

Give me the shivers.

Moon shining right in my face.

- Oh, no, no. No, leave them alone.

- Close them!

- Shall I?

- All right, you may close them, Wells.

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