Return of the Fly

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(thunder)

Pater noster, qui es in caelis,

sanctificetur nomen tuum.

Adveniat regnum tuum.

Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra.

Here passes from this Earth

Hlne Delambre...

... widow of my brother Andr...

... whom I loved deeply, hopelessly.

She was destroyed in the end

by dreadful memories:

a recollection of horrors

that did not dim as the years went on...

... but instead grew monstrously,

and left her mind shocked and unsteady...

... so that death, when it came,

was a blessed release.

Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,

et lux perpetua luceat eis.

- Requiescat in pace. Amen.

- (thunder)

- Beg pardon, gentlemen. May I speak to you?

- No, you may not.

Mr Delambre? My condolences

on the death of your mother.

- Would you please get out of our way?

- I am an accredited freelance journalist.

You are an accredited scandalmonger!

Now will you please leave us alone?

Why don't you want me

to speak to your nephew?

Because of unanswered questions

about the death of your brother?

All very mysterious.

First it was called murder.

Then it was called suicide.

First Hlne Delambre was held.

Then she was released. All very odd!

Granville, get out of here.

And never try these tactics again.

Oh, Inspector Beauchamp. You were

part of that big cover-up, weren't you?

This is going to make

nice reading, I promise you.

Thank you, Inspector Beauchamp. The

newspapers can be unpleasantly persistent.

You must understand

their eagerness to uncover a mystery.

Yes. You and Inspector Charas

were very kind.

- I only aided Charas. It was his case.

- No.

No, you were invaluable, too.

I shall never forget that.

You had a great deal to bear, monsieur.

If I can be of any help, please call on me.

Thank you.

That man's a disgrace to all decent

journalists, intruding at such a time.

Nevertheless, he asked a question.

Why was Mother accused?

- I can't tell you.

- You've got to.

All my life I've heard whispers.

I know something terrible happened,

something even more terrible than...

...suicide or murder.

What was it?

Franois...

Anything is better than not knowing.

If I tell you, Philippe,

it will haunt you for the rest of your life.

Tell me. I have a right to know.

Take us to Delambre Frres, please.

The old foundry.

(thunder)

- Monsieur Delambre!

- Gaston.

Philippe! I beg of you,

please, do not enter here.

This place is cursed! I swear to you it is.

Ever since... Ever since the day

Andr Delambre began to work in it.

It is I who...

who found his poor, crushed body.

Believe me, I know... I know.

Oh, please. Please, I beg of you. Do not go in.

OK, Gaston. All right.

Thank you for warning us.

Now, we won't be long. Go about your work.

Poor old fellow.

It disturbs him when anyone comes here.

He remembers too much.

This laboratory has been locked

since the day Andr died.

It's just as he left it.

The equipment... It's all smashed.

Yes, he did it - in a blind rage,

to destroy the machine he created...

...because it destroyed him.

It destroyed him and your mother...

...because he ventured into areas of

knowledge where man is not meant to go.

Pure superstition! There are no areas

of knowledge where man is not meant to go.

Fifty years ago, stupid people

said man was not meant to fly.

Father did research in transmission

of molecular structures. I know that.

- Just tell me what happened.

- Very well, Philippe. I will tell you.

Yes, it's true. Andr did do research

in the transmission of matter.

The device you see lying shattered there

was built to prove his theory:

that three-dimensional molecular structures...

...can be transmitted

instantaneously through space...

...much in the same way

as a television image is.

But a television image is merely an electronic

representation of light and shadow.

Andr's machine actually disintegrated

the molecules of solid matter...

...and then reintegrated them again

in a different place.

Eventually, Andr gained

such confidence in his machine...

...that he put himself through

the disintegration-integration process.

He successfully transmitted himself.

Then, on a tragic second attempt...

...something went wrong.

Unwittingly, he found himself

in the disintegrator chamber...

...but he was not alone.

With him was a fly.

The result was a creature

with the body of Andr Delambre...

...and the arm and the head...

...of a fly.

And so Andr decided to

dispose of himself in such a way...

...as to keep such an abomination

from the eyes of the world.

With your mother's help,

he crushed his monstrous head and arm...

...in one of the presses

out there in the old foundry.

Now you know why I didn't want to tell you...

...and why we've got to get out of here

and lock this place up...

...and never come back again!

- Franois?

- Yes?

Do you remember what you told me

after my father's death?

Yes, I think so.

You said he was...

like an explorer in a wild country...

...where no man had ever been before.

That he was searching for a great truth.

He almost found it,

but for one instant... he was careless.

- Yes, Philippe, I remember that.

- Do you remember what I asked you then?

Yes. You said you wanted

to be an explorer like your father.

- And you asked me to help you.

- Will you help me?

Haven't I done so?

The finest scientific education...

I said I wanted to be an explorer like

my father. I read his scientific papers.

I understand what he was trying to do.

I've done some work in the field myself.

I want to rebuild this.

It'll be his monument... his vindication.

Philippe... It destroyed him.

It could destroy you.

He was careless. I won't be.

- No, Philippe!

- You'd break your promise?

- It was the promise to a child.

- It was a promise to me.

- I'm sorry, I can't help you.

- Why not? Give me one reason.

- Besides a touching concern for my safety.

- I'll give you one reason: money.

I simply can't afford to back you

in this venture. Nor can the business.

That's the plain,

unpleasant truth of the matter.

All right, Franois. I don't believe you,

but I won't argue the point.

- You'll give up the idea?

- Of course not.

- Philippe, look...

- I'll never give it up.

While Mother was alive, she was so obsessed

with fears that I couldn't work openly.

I did what I could.

I worked secretly.

Now... she's gone.

- Philippe, listen to me...

- Please! I want to be alone.

I want to stay here for a while.

Please leave me alone.

- Hello, Alan.

- Hello, Phil.

- I hope it wasn't too trying.

- Thank you.

- I had a talk with my uncle.

- Oh? Did he agree to help you?

No. But I learned some things that made me

more determined than ever to go ahead.

- You still want to work with me?

- Of course I do.

I'll pay you the same salary my uncle does,

as long as my money holds out.

- We'll pick up where my father left off.

- The money isn't important.

It's the chance to follow up on Andr

Delambre's work. When do we start?

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