Monsieur Verdoux Page #5

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Merci, Monsieur.

- A card?

- Yes. Five or six.

Oui, Monsieur. As many as you wish.

I want to repeat it

twice a week for two weeks.

Oui, Monsieur.

- How much will that be?

- Let me see.

That'll be five orders altogether.

2,500 francs, Monsieur.

Oh, la, la.

Very well.

These things have to be done.

- Keep the change.

- Merci, Monsieur.

- Cordial, Martha?

- Yes, thanks.

- Maurice?

- Oh, thank you, Mona.

I hope we'll be seeing you more.

He must be on the go every minute.

One gets caught up

in this monoxide world

of confusion.

I look forward to

these quiet evenings together,

with your edifying talks

on theurgic matters,

the legerdemain of the apothecary.

You should have been a chemist.

Chemistry, my fellow, is the material

manifestation of the metaphysical.

Ah, you're a mystic.

Do you remember discussing a humane

method of killing dumb animals?

- Very distinctly.

- A lethal veterinary formula.

No pain, no convulsions,

absolutely tasteless.

The creature drinks it

and in an hour,

curls up into a comfortable sleep

and dies.

What a memory you have.

You were experimenting

with three elements as I remember.

Exnide, ethna bromide

and something else.

Yes, it was very interesting,

pharmaceutically.

The ethna bromide induces asphyxia,

but in order to delay

the erodent action of the exnide,

C2HC was added.

C2HC?

A freezing agent.

When swallowed,

tissue changes are gradual.

In an hour, the action

of the exnide takes place.

Its effect is like heart disease -

a systolic cramp and poof!

- What have you done about it?

- Nothing.

It's banned.

- Why?

- Too dangerous for public use.

In the post-mortem, not a trace

of the poison can be found.

Can you imagine such a weapon

in the hands of an arch criminal?

Think of the money

from the insurance companies.

Quite an idea. We'll incorporate

and go into business.

Insure people and have them die of

heart failure - we'd make millions.

I'm not sure but I think the poison

might show up in a man.

- Why?

- Different metabolism.

We could find out.

- How?

- Simple.

You say it takes an hour

for the poison to work?

Pick a derelict, poison him

then send him to a hotel.

When a person is found dead

in a public place,

there's an autopsy.

You'd know the result

without taking the slightest risk.

What a diabolical thought.

However, such experiments, we had

better leave to the arch criminal,

don't you think?

C2HC.

And now for the experiment.

- Quite a shower.

- Yes, it is.

- Can I escort you anywhere?

- Oh, thank you.

Allow me.

- You're from Belgium?

- I came after the war.

A refugee?

- Where do you live?

- Hotel Lausanne, off Montmartre.

- Just a few doors away.

- Yes.

Good. Why don't you take off

your coat?

Allow me.

- What's that?

- A kitten, poor thing.

- I picked it up in the doorway.

- You like cats?

Not particularly,

but it was all wet and cold.

I don't suppose you have any milk.

On the contrary, I do. The prospects

are not as gloomy as you think.

- Do I sound that pessimistic?

- You do but I don't think you are.

- Why?

- To be out on a night like this.

You're an optimist.

- An optimist, I'm anything but that.

- Up against it, eh?

Remarkable faculties of observation.

Indeed.

How long have you been

in this predicament?

- Oh, quite a long time.

- How long?

Three months.

- I don't believe you.

- Why?

You would have done better.

Thanks.

Now tell me the truth.

You're just out of a hospital

or a jail. Which is it?

- What do you want to know for?

- I want to help.

- A philanthropist, eh?

- Precisely.

- I ask nothing in return.

- What is this, the Salvation Army?

If that's the way you feel,

you're at liberty to go your way.

If you must know,

I'm just out of jail.

- What were you in for?

- What's the difference?

- Larceny, they called it.

- Larceny?

Pawning a rented typewriter.

Couldn't you do better than that?

- What did you get?

- Three months.

This is your first day out of jail?

Yes.

I see.

Poor dear. Oh, well.

Nothing is permanent in this world,

not even our troubles.

- Are you hungry?

- Frankly, yes.

Then while I tend to

the culinary operations,

you can help to bring in

a few things.

Come.

- Can I adopt your little kitten?

- Please do.

We'll set the table for one.

- Aren't you having any?

- No.

Oh, then all we need

is a knife, fork and napkin.

Here they are.

Well, you will take them in there,

make yourself at home.

- Merci.

- Merci.

I don't know whether this will

appeal. Eggs, toast and red wine.

- Wonderful!

- Be seated.

Thank you.

You're tired. So right after supper,

I shall take you to your hotel.

You're kind. I don't understand

why you're doing all this.

Why not? Is a little kindness

such a rare thing?

I was beginning to think it was.

- The toast! Pardon me.

- Can I help you?

No, no, stay where you are.

I can manage.

- Voil.

- You're funny.

- Am I? Why?

- I don't know.

However, you're hungry.

Please go ahead.

- What book is that?

- Schopenhauer.

- Do you like him?

- So, so.

Have you read his treatise

on suicide?

- Wouldn't interest me.

- Not if the end was simple?

Say you went to sleep,

and there was a sudden stoppage.

Wouldn't you prefer it

to this drab existence?

- I wonder.

- The approach of death terrifies.

I suppose if the unborn

knew of the approach of life,

they'd be just as terrified.

- Yet life is wonderful.

- What's wonderful about it?

Everything, a spring morning,

a summer's night, music, art, love -

- Love?

- There is such a thing.

- How do you know?

- I was in love once.

- Physically attracted by someone?

- It was more than that.

Women are capable of something more.

You don't like women?

On the contrary,

I love but don't admire them.

Why?

Women are of the earth, realistic,

dominated by physical facts.

What nonsense.

Once a woman betrays a man,

she despises him.

In spite of his goodness, she will

give him up for someone inferior,

if that someone is more,

shall we say, attractive.

How little you know about women.

You'd be surprised.

That isn't love.

- What is love?

- Giving, sacrificing.

What a mother feels for her child.

- Did you love that way?

- Yes.

- Whom?

- My husband.

You're married?

I was. He died while I was in jail.

I see. Tell me about him.

That's a long story.

He was wounded in the war,

an invalid.

An invalid?

That's why I loved him.

He needed me, depended on me.

He was like a child.

But he was more than a child to me.

He was a religion. My very breath.

I'd have killed for him.

No, love is something

very real and deep.

I know that.

- However.

- Pardon me.

I believe there's a little cork

in that wine.

Let me get you another glass.

A penny for your thoughts.

Oh, no.

- More wine?

- Thank you, no more.

Come, it's very late

and you're tired.

Here.

This will tide you over

for a day or so.

- Good luck.

- Thank you.

Oh, this is too much.

Silly, carrying on this way.

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