Suspiria Page #4

-What is it? Is something wrong?

-No, everything's all right.

Is it something personal, dear?

No, no, it's nothing like that.

Miss Tanner, would you mind?

I'd like a few minutes

alone with Suzy.

Well? What is it?

I just wanted to talk to you about some of

the things that have been happening lately.

Oh, I know you're upset by Daniel's

death, as we all have been.

No, but it's more than that.

Does anybody know anything

about who killed Pat?

I spoke with the chief of

police just this morning.

He told me they had

some definite clues.

-You know that I saw her the night I arrived here.

-Yes, you told me that.

And that she was mumbling some

strange, unrelated words.

No, you didn't tell me that.

Because it was something that didn't

make any sense. It was in a thunderstorm.

I just didn't pay much attention to it.

I only caught two words distinctly:

"Secret" and "Irises."

I don't know what they mean, but

I thought they might be important.

You've done very well. Congratulations.

I don't know what the words

"Secret" or "Irises" mean either.

But I think it's only right we should

let the police know about it.

I'm only amazed you waited

two days before-- hello?

-You really messed things up.

-What are you talking about?

Because... Maybe Pat was talking to...

Someone just inside the building that night.

And we know that someone

wasn't one of the teachers.

Come on.

Now you've put them

on the hunt for somebody.

What difference does that make to you?

Big difference.

Because I was Pat's friend.

She was telling me something

When you suddenly showed up.

She got scared and she ran away.

She was in hysterics almost.

And then she was killed.

Remember that voice when you rang the bell?

Well, that was me.

I heard strange, incredible, absurd things.

Pat was taking notes on them for months.

And before going away,

she gave me all the notes.

I've only told one person,

a very good friend of mine.

Frank Mandel. He's here

for a convention.

I'll let you read them tonight.

Suzy, wake up. Please. Wake up.

The notes are gone! Someone

stole them from me!

You understand? They disappeared.

Don't fall asleep! Please help me!

-Wake up! Help me!

-I can't.

Can't?

This is the only thing I got left,

and that's because I kept it on me. Look.

-Look.

-What is it?

What's the matter with you? Don't

you remember? What's going on?

This is the key that'll get us

wherever the teachers go every night.

I thought it out yesterday evening

while I was sitting here next to you.

Suzy, do you know

anything about witches?

Oh, no! Please!

Don't leave me alone!

I must get away!

Wait!

Wait!

Wait, wait, wait, wait!

Looking for Sara? She's disappeared.

But that's impossible. I just

talked to her last night.

She left this morning, as a matter

of fact, without telling anyone.

Just packed her bags and left. She

was heard leaving about 6:00.

-You heard her leave, didn't you?

-Sara? Oh, yes.

I heard the door close and her

footsteps going down the hall.

And then I heard a car driving off down the

street. I guess someone was waiting for her.

-But it's impossible.

-If she wasn't happy here, she could've told someone.

Why sneak off like a thief?

Hello. May I speak to Frank

Mandel, please? Yes, thank you.

Hello. This is Suzy Bannion.

No, we've never met. I'm a

friend of Sara's.

Yes. Hello. Do you happen to

know where Sara is?

Well, she disappeared from

school this morning.

Yes, it seems she left and

took all her luggage.

Yes. Uh, listen, could I see

you sometime today?

Well, I'm really worried about her.

Oh, great. Where?

At the convention center.

Okay. I'll see you there.

She didn't inform any of her classmates.

I've already asked all of them.

It's very upsetting. I can't

understand why she did it.

I'm the one who's held responsible

by their families.

I'll call her father in Geneva.

Perhaps she might have gone there.

I've already phoned Sara's father.

He's the Italian consul in Geneva.

But he wasn't there today.

He was away for the weekend.

They said he'd be back by monday, and

they don't know anything about her there.

Well, do you understand

Why I'm so worried?

Yes, but before we both get upset,

let's wait for the father's return.

Maybe they got together this morning

and went off on their own.

I know her quite well. She was a

patient of mine three years ago.

-Were you aware of that?

-No. I didn't even know you were a psychiatrist.

Well, she had a nervous breakdown

after her mother's death,

And she came to me for treatment.

After she got better again,

we remained friends,

But lately she was upset about some notions

put into her head by a friend of hers.

-Not you, I hope?

-No.

They were kind of wild ideas.

She had discovered that the

Tam academy was founded...

In 1895 by a certain Helena Markos,

A Greek immigrant,

And that the local people

believed her to be a witch.

-I guess you knew that?

-No. But I have a strange feeling...

That somebody already told me

about it--Or something similar.

I can't--can't remember.

Well, that really got Sara's imagination

going. Earlier in the 19th century,

The Markos woman had been expelled

from several european countries.

She seemed to have something about her

which urged religious people to persecute her.

She also wrote a number of books, and

I read that among the initiated,

She went by the name "The Black Queen."

After she settled down here, she became

the subject of a lot of gossip.

Nevertheless, she managed to put

her hands on a great deal of money,

And she founded the Tam academy--

At first a sort of school of

dance and occult sciences.

But that didn't last long,

because in 1905,

After being hounded and

cursed at for ten years,

Madame Markos died in a fire.

That's all there is, as far

as witchcraft is concerned.

The school was taken over by her favorite

pupil. The study of the occult was abandoned.

And soon the place became

the famous dance academy.

But what does it mean to be a witch?

Well, as a believer in the material

world and a psychiatrist to boot,

I'm convinced that the current spread

of belief in magic and the occult...

Is part of mental illness.

Bad luck isn't brought by broken

mirrors, but by broken minds.

Excuse me. Milius?

Professor Milius can answer your

question better than I can.

He wrote a book called paranoia

or magic, and believe me,

It's the final word on the subject.

Excuse me, Milius. If you don't mind,

I'd like you to meet a friend of mine.

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