The Beast Must Die Page #2

I admire his taste in flesh.

- She used to be jan's pupil.

Had a great scene going

until he gave her the push.

- Hmm, well, they

seem close enough now.

- Now, yes, jan hasn't

played in over a year.

He got sick with some sort of virus.

As soon as Davina heard,

she dropped her jet-setting

and came back to him,

and he took her back.

It could be either one of them.

- She looks like butter

wouldn't melt in her mouth.

- Maybe she prefers meat, raw.

- Talking of raw meat, I, uh,

heard what you said in the conservatory.

- Last year in San trope, a

man was found partially eaten.

Paul foote spent the

summer there painting.

One of the paintings he did,

a man being attacked by a devil.

The face of that man--

- was the face of the victim.

- Right, he claims he copied it

from a newspaper photograph, he claims.

Well, maybe he's telling

the truth, just maybe.

One of my guests is certainly lying,

but which one?

Many books have been

written to show the werewolf

does not exist, but tonight,

I'm going to prove them wrong.

The conditions are ideal.

First, one must have a

full moon, oh, thank you.

- Oh, and I'm supposed to be

your favorite neighborhood nut!

- Well, let's ask the scientist.

Dr. lundgren, do you believe

such creatures exist?

- Each man, each woman has a

mass of glands in the throat,

here, the lymphatic glands.

Once it served a purpose, to

secrete into the bloodstream

a hormone, a fluid called lymph.

Now, this gland is the vital element

in the condition that creates a werewolf.

The fluid it releases

is a colorless alkaline

resembling blood but

containing no red corpuscles.

Once conveyed into the bloodstream,

it causes the disease, for disease it is,

which produces the werewolf.

- You sound sorry for the beast.

- Well, of course, it has no choice.

- No choice?

- It is totally unable to deny the urge

to feed on human flesh.

The primary symptoms are the

growing of more body hair

and, oh, what is the word?

Iklienda, ah, yes, the

itchiness of the skin, so--

- tell us what the

secondary symptoms are, lundgren.

- As the lymphatic hormone breaks down,

the molecular structure of

the blood through the victim,

and make no mistake, the

werewolf is a victim,

begins to change identity.

Now, first the eyes, red,

like those of a mad dog,

then, the body also.

Finally, when the

transmogrification is complete,

the urge to eat human

flesh is uncontrollable.

It's appetite must be assuaged.

- Guess what, I've just lost mine.

- Go on, doctor.

- Well, I'm afraid there's worse to come.

The werewolf will eventually

die of its condition,

die one of the most painful

and pitiful deaths imaginable.

In the early stages of the

disease, the blood recovers,

and the werewolf can regain

human shape almost at will.

But at last, the blood becomes

more and more unstable.

The white corpuscles can no

longer combat any disease,

any virus known to mankind.

This is what kills the werewolf.

- Well, if anyone feels

like eating after that,

he's welcome.

- I find it fascinating,

Dr. lundgren is an expert.

He's been looking for a

werewolf all his life,

isn't that right, doctor?

- But never, i

regret, have I ever caught one.

- How would you go about

catching one, doctor?

- I'll tell you how.

He'd gather together a

number of possible suspects,

isolate them miles from

anywhere, wait for a full m00n--

- like tonight,

and then when the man or woman

was compelled to turn into a werewolf

and ran loose on the estate,

every inch of which has

been electronically bugged,

he'd take his rifle,

track it,

corner it,

and kill it as I shall.

- You know, I think we

can settle this matter

once and for all.

Oh, I hate to deprive tom of his sport,

but if somebody wanted to kill a werewolf,

I can think of a simpler way.

- What's that?

- Please.

This is silver, isn't it'?

- Of course.

- Am I right, doctor, silver's

supposed to be poisonous

to the werewolf, even the touch of silver?

- Death would be almost instantaneous.

Minute particles of silver

will be absorbed by the skin

and, together with the lymphatic hormone,

would combine to make a deadly poison.

- Then why

don't we pass this around?

If one of us is a werewolf and drops dead,

we can get on with our meal in peace.

- Great, a kind of

classy Russian roulette!

Give it here, mwah!

- I've always loathed party games,

what am I supposed to do, hmm?

There.

Satisfied?

- How about our hostess?

- There!

And since you've completely

succeeded in wrecking dinner,

I think I'll have a stiff drink.

- I'll join you.

- Well, if that was dinner,

i can't wait for the cabaret!

- Your husband knew

the experiment could not work.

- Why not?

- An essential

element was missing.

Pollen has to be in the air,

pollen from the plant wolf bane.

- You sound so disappointed!

- Oh, no, not really, but

i have waited many years.

You understand, it is rare

for all the necessary elements

to assemble as one at the same time.

First, there must be a full moon.

This activates the gland in the same way

as the full moon influences the seas,

the tides, the winds.

- The moon might make

me feel a little odd,

but I can't see

myself turning into a werewolf.

- Then you do not mind?

For that to happen, the lymphatic hormone

would have to be released

into your bloodstream.

The wolf bane pollen acts as an irritant,

the trigger mechanism if you like.

- Moral, stay away from harvest festivals.

- No, all

of us are safe enough.

Wolf bane does not grow in Great Britain,

and in any case, it only

pollinates during the Autumn.

- The full moon.

Shame nobody thought to order--

- wolf bane?

Carefully nurtured in the hot house

and pollinating beautifully.

- We've played pass the candlestick,

and I think we've put our guests

through enough for one evening.

- But there was no pollen in the air then!

There is now.

How long before any change takes place?

- I do not know for sure.

If the werewolf is young,

and the disease in its early stages,

then the willpower may hold

off the change for a few hours.

- But not until morning

when the moon goes down.

- Oh, no, not for so long.

- Good!

Then, we wait.

The full moon lasts at least three days.

Oh, by the way,

we'll be alone in the house from now on.

I've given the staff a rest.

I'm sure Caroline will look

after you all beautifully,

won't you, Caroline?

- Of course, tom.

- It's called aggro art.

You cover a canvas with paint,

express your creative

aggression by beating it

with different sizes of whip.

- I'm a landscape man myself.

- You really expect

something to happen, don't you?

- Of course.

Damn it, two of them are missing!

Go closer.

Give me sound!

- I can't think

what's got into tom,

perhaps he's drunk.

- Well, you've known him

longer than I have, Davina.

What's he really like?

- Well, I don't know him all that well.

Caroline, yes, we shared a flat together

before she got married.

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