House of Wax Page #5

Of course you were, dear.

A lager for the gentleman.

Sarsaparilla for the lady.

- And two knockwurst on rye.

- Thank you.

- Enjoying yourself?

- It's exciting.

- Do nice people come here?

- Of course.

- These Sunday matinees are very popular.

- I don't know.

It doesn't seem proper,

all those girls showing their talents.

You never saw a show

like this in Provincetown?

Don't worry, your reputation is safe.

You've been worrying too much...

about wax figures

and seeing monsters in your dreams.

You need something like this

to bring you back to normalcy.

Prosit!

Remember Mr. Jarrod said he first saw

Cathy's picture in the newspaper.

Yes. What's wrong with that?

I knew her so well.

I knew every little expression

and they are all there.

They would be. The man's an artist.

There's something else I saw

that night in the museum.

Cathy had a habit

of wearing an earring in her right ear.

She had the lobe of her right ear only

pierced for that.

But that's there, too.

How could he see that in a photograph?

- How can he make it so real unless...

- What?

Unless it is Cathy.

I'm going to take you

to Lt. Brennan's office tomorrow.

Tell him exactly what you told me here.

He's a policeman, he knows.

He'll convince you once and for all

that no such thing could happen.

Now relax, honey, and enjoy the show.

I know it sounds fantastic,

but you asked me to tell you everything.

You can see this idea is an obsession,

an unhealthy one, if you ask me.

- You say Jarrod is a cripple?

- He uses a wheelchair.

He can walk with crutches,

but not very well.

Such a man came and asked to see

police photographs of Cathy Gray.

That's how it's done. Every detail

is studied to make the features true to life.

But why should Joan of Arc

have her right ear pierced?

- Why not? They wore them then.

- Two, not one.

Lieutenant, it's not a suspicion.

It's more a kind of fear, an intuition.

Intuition isn't much help in police work.

Facts are what we need.

Suppose you forget about it,

and let us do the worrying.

You mean you'll investigate it?

- Of course he does.

- Yes, that's what I mean.

- You both think I'm crazy.

- We think nothing of the kind.

It was very good of you to listen

and be so patient. Thank you.

- Goodbye.

- Goodbye.

Thanks.

This is Brennan speaking. Give me Shane.

Hello. I want you to go

to the City License Bureau...

and check up

on a man named Henry Jarrod.

Yes, he opened a museum

on 29th Street, near Broadway.

Yes, The House of Wax.

Dig up all you can. Get a list

of his employees and check with me here.

That's a copy of her face, all right.

But she didn't look like that

when I saw her.

- Not so composed.

- Poor kid.

You know, this fellow Jarrod's good.

- You think Miss Allen's fears are justified?

- Heck, no. Do you?

That's wax, how could it be anything else?

Leave it to a skirt

to dream up a crazy idea like that.

So you did come to see me,

my Marie Antoinette?

Or was it that you came to see?

Mr. Jarrod, I'm so sorry. I know

I'm not supposed to touch the figures.

You couldn't help yourself.

Don't let it trouble you.

I beg your pardon,

this is Leon Averill and Igor.

- How do you do?

- Igor isn't impolite. He simply can't talk.

Leon is an artist in his own right.

It was he who did the waxwork

on the figure of Joan of Arc.

- Does she still seem real to you?

- As life itself.

Of course, her hair is different,

but that doesn't change her face.

What puzzles me is

how you can get such detail from a photo.

Was Cathy wearing her earrings

when the police photographed her?

Earrings? I don't remember.

Was she, Leon?

No. I don't think so.

The police would remove the jewelry

from the body, wouldn't they?

Yet you were careful to show that

both her ears had been pierced for them.

Yes, of course.

If I missed a detail of that sort,

Mr. Jarrod would be most displeased.

He insists on reality.

I can understand that.

Just a moment, Leon.

There's something in this box

I think would interest you. Open it, Leon.

Your Mr. Andrews permitted us

to make a cast of the head he did of you.

Leon has just finished it in wax.

Do you like it?

It's sort of a shock

to see your head detached that way.

- I guess it's a very good likeness.

- Yes, and no.

Andrews is clever,

but like all modern sculptors...

he has too much imagination.

He would improve on nature.

What I need for my Marie Antoinette

is you.

The real you.

Nothing less will satisfy me.

Will you come to see me again, my dear?

You know this fellow Jarrod's

quicker at finding these guys than we are?

That's what he says in his advertising.

Look at that. Even the twist in the neck.

That's a case that gets me.

Where is Burke? Who got him?

- Who'd want him?

- We better find out pretty quick.

- Did you read the blast in today's World?

- Yeah, it's dynamite.

The Chief had me in his office

this morning.

If I'm not careful,

I'll be pounding a beat in the Bronx.

Come here, Jim.

Do you remember Patterson, the

Deputy City Attorney who disappeared?

Sure.

Does Booth look like Wilbur,

or am I crazy?

He does a tad with the brush off his lip.

The hair is different, of course,

but the features are like Patterson's.

Maybe he looked like Booth. I've seen

dummies that look like people I know.

The caveman is a spitting image

of the new Commissioner.

Please. Don't touch the exhibits.

- Can't you read the sign?

- I'm sorry.

Look, where'd you get the face

for this guy that shot Lincoln?

- From photographs.

- They take them at that time?

If you go to the City Library...

you'll find the volume of Mathew Brady's

photos taken during the Civil War.

- Do you work here?

- Yeah.

- You make these things?

- Some of them.

What's your name?

Leon Averill. What's yours?

Jim Shane. I'm an engineer on the

You know me. I'm no good at names,

but I don't forget faces.

If I can take the muff off of that one

I might be able to place it.

It was a long time ago.

Mr. Wallace, I'm Lt. Brennan. Sgt. Shane.

- Glad to know you.

- Won't you sit down?

- Sorry I kept you waiting.

- That's all right.

This is the first time I've been

asked to come to Police Headquarters.

What am I suspected of?

Nothing. We thought perhaps

you might be able to help us.

We heard that your partner

is the same Professor Jarrod...

whose museum on 24th Street

burned down some time ago.

That's true.

This Professor Jarrod was

supposed to have been killed in the fire.

- Apparently, a slight mistake.

- You suspect him of some criminal act?

- We haven't a thing on him.

- We're curious.

So is the insurance company.

What do you know about his employees?

- There's Scott Andrews, a protg of mine.

- Yes, we know of him.

Then there's Igor, deaf-mute,

and Leon Averill, who does the wax work.

Averill's an odd character.

Periodical drunkard, but a fine artist.

I've seen some of his sketches.

One of the Savior with his disciples.

Beautiful work.

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