My House in Umbria

Buongiorno.

- Thank God we're still alive.

- I said I'd get you here on time.

- You were driving like a maniac.

- Oh, not me.

- Like a maniac, Quinty.

- There's no point in dawdling.

We should have left home

half an hour earlier.

Couldn't do that. I was busy.

Busy talking to Rosa Chevelli.

I saw you chatting her up.

We were discussing

the household accounts.

She's a tart. I should never have hired her.

She's a good girl. Right, in you go.

I'll see you tomorrow.

On the fifth of May, in the morning...

I left my house in Umbria and traveled to

Milan on one of my monthly shopping trips.

I manage to travel very well on my own...

despite my limited understanding

of the Italian language.

- Excuse me, is this carrozza 219?

- 219, yes.

In the Grand Hotel Duomo, where I

always stay, excellent English is spoken.

I think you're in my seat.

I have a great affection for the Grand Hotel.

It owes more to the style and manners

of the Belle Epoque...

than to the brash technologies

of the 21st century.

In Italy, men who are strangers

still give me a second look...

although not with the same excitement

as they did some years ago.

There are, naturally, laughter lines...

but my hair is still as pale as sand...

and my voice has not yet acquired

the husky depths...

that steal away femininity.

What's the time?

My watch seems to have stopped.

- Ten to.

- Ten to what?

Oh, Daddy. Ten to 12:00.

It's remarkable how much one can deduce

from the slightest gesture...

a half smile, or a shared glance.

Theirs, I decided, is a good marriage...

whereas their love affair

has only just begun.

Hello.

What's your name?

- Aimee.

- That's a very pretty name.

My name's Emily. Emily Delahunty.

- Do you like it?

- I don't know.

I have several other names.

Perhaps you might prefer one of them?

Gloria Grey...

Janine Ann Johns...

Cora Lemonde.

Why do you have so many names?

We have different clothes

for different occasions.

Why not have different names?

- Are you English?

- I was born in England.

Now I live in Italy.

I have a house in Umbria.

Why don't you live in England anymore?

That's enough, Aimee.

You shouldn't ask so many questions.

- Why not?

- It's impolite.

I don't mind.

Just read your book. There's a good girl.

In the garden,

the delphiniums were in flower.

Through scented twilight,

the girl in the white dress...

walked with a step

as light as a morning cobweb.

Annie. Annie?

No, it's Quinty. Come to see you.

You all right? You'll be okay.

What am I doing here?

You are in hospital.

That's where you are now.

You've had a bit of a bang,

but you're all right.

Praise be to God, you're doing okay.

It was a device.

- A timed device.

- Bomb?

Well, "timed device"

is what the police are calling it.

There were other people on the train.

There was a boy who spoke German,

and his girlfriend...

and there was an American family.

Are they here, too?

I'll ask. Now shush. Go to sleep now.

- She's a British citizen?

- Yes.

- She owns a hotel near Chiusi.

- It's not exactly a hotel.

A pensione? A restaurant with rooms?

It's a house where people stay

when the hotels are full.

- Coffee?

- Si, grazie.

- Sugar?

- No.

- You are...

- I look after this and that.

And the financial matters.

- For the house?

- And her books.

What books?

Grazie.

She writes books. Love stories.

- Are they published?

- They're published all right.

She gets fan mail.

How long have you been with her?

Longer than I care to remember.

"In the garden,

the delphiniums were in flower.

"Through scented twilight,

the girl in the white dress...

"walked with a step

as light as a morning cobweb."

Are you real? Or are you a dream?

Do I not look real?

I've seen you before, I think...

in a dream.

It was here.

I came to see you after the bomb.

You were not conscious.

I'm Inspector Girotti.

It was a dream.

Perhaps. If you say so.

Are they all dead?

The people in the carriage?

- Carrozza 219?

- Not all.

The older Englishman survived.

The German survived,

but he has some burns.

- And the little girl.

- Little American girl.

- Is she injured?

- Not physically.

By some miracle, she escaped unharmed...

but she is traumatized. She cannot speak.

Come in.

- May I talk to her?

- Of course.

Hello, Aimee.

I wonder if you remember who I am.

I'm Mrs. Delahunty.

I have lots of other names as well.

Don't you remember?

Splinters of glass in my legs.

Could have been a lot worse.

They've got me marching up and down

this damn corridor about 50 times a day.

So I struggle back and forth.

- The German boy's got some nasty burns.

- Yes, I was told.

We're lucky to be alive.

The little girl can't talk.

- They're looking for her relatives.

- Oh, dear. How sad. Poor thing!

I'm so sorry about your daughter.

At least it was quick.

Very admirable. Your stoicism.

I expect a military life demands such.

If you'll excuse me,

I'd better do some more walking.

They'll take me off if I don't.

- Where do you want all this stuff?

- In the cabinet, if there's room.

Silk scarves. Sunglasses. Tights.

- Why do women cart around so much crap?

- Cheers the spirit.

- Guess who gave me this.

- No idea.

Ernie Chumps.

It's a birthday present.

Ernie Chumps! You're well rid of him.

I thought he'd come back.

He said he'd come back.

He said a lot of things. I told you he'd skip.

You had no future at the Cafe Rose.

You'd have been stuck with that

fat Egyptian doctor and his greasy friends.

Getting old before your time.

You'd be dead by now.

- I would.

- Dead as a doorknob.

I survived.

- I'll come back later.

- It's okay.

Scusi.

I am sorry, Werner.

- I am so very sorry.

- Thank you.

All we can do is hope.

Hope is one thing that is left to us.

Isn't that right?

We must look to the future and hope.

I'll come back later.

What kind of sickness or malignancy

orders the death of strangers on a train?

What kind of lunatic or devil?

As I sat by the child's bed,

I tried to imagine this wretched individual...

protected, perhaps, by a mother...

who had always believed that one day

he would commit an unthinkable crime.

But it was beyond my imagination.

You saw nothing unusual

in the railway carriage?

No, nothing.

Nor on the station platform

before the train departed?

I was rather late.

I didn't have time to notice anything.

We're asking the same questions

over and over again. I'm sorry.

Are you a Virgo?

Your astrological sign.

Yes, I am a Virgo. You're right.

I thought so.

It's unusual in a detective.

Thank you for your patience.

- Goodbye.

- Bye.

- I wonder what will happen to them.

- Who?

The General. Werner. The little girl.

- They'll go home, live their lives.

- The police won't let them go home.

Not until the investigation is complete.

They'll have to stay in Italy.

What will become of them?

Where will they go?

I suppose they could stay

at the house for a while.

Stay at the house?

- While they convalesce.

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