The House on 92nd Street Page #5

Let's go over to my office.

The cigarette which

Dietrich was shrewd enough...

...to take from Elsa Gebhardt's desk

was examined by FBI technicians.

Without a doubt...

...the woman who had delivered

the data from Mr. Christopher...

...was the woman

who had left the cigarette.

It was still the only lead

to her identity.

First, a portion of the stained cigarette

was examined by spectrograph...

...to determine what properties

it contained.

The lipstick could then be identified

by comparison...

...with all known brands

in the Bureau's files.

That's fine.

Send it along as soon as you can.

Here's the lab report on the lipstick.

The analysis revealed

a particular brand of lipstick...

...used by 98 different beauty parlors

in New York City.

By checking clients and operators

of these establishments...

...against the records of every known

suspect, the FBI narrowed their search...

...to one particular beauty parlor...

...and one particular suspect:

Luise Vadja.

Well, what was in the envelope

to cause so much trouble?

- Don't you know?

- I understood.

Family messages from people in Germany

to be smuggled underground.

I saw no harm in it.

- Perfectly innocent messages.

- That's all.

Now let's stop this little game

and get down to real honest facts.

I've told you the facts.

We know a great deal about you,

Miss Vadja.

You once worked

on a North German Lloyd liner.

You were a hairdresser.

You used to bring across letters

from Germany...

...and mail them

when you got ashore.

I never knew what was in them.

They were instructions

to German agents in this country.

And you were working as a courier

for the German secret service.

Right now, you're what

we call a sleeper agent.

You were planted here

a long time ago by the Nazis.

You lived a normal,

inconspicuous life for years...

...making friends, earning a living...

...just waiting until you got a call

for the one particular job.

And they saved you for a big one.

But you made one mistake.

You took the trouble

of becoming an American citizen.

And that, Miss Vadja,

makes you a traitor.

I've done nothing since the war began.

Nothing. I swear it.

All right. Now let's get back

to this envelope. Where did you take it?

I was told to take it

to a house on 92nd Street.

- And who told you to take it there?

- I don't know.

Could it have been a name

like Mr. Christopher?

- I don't know that name.

- Are you sure?

Yes, I know the name, but I don't know

who he is. I've never seen him.

Have you ever delivered messages

any other place?

- Just the house and to a bookstore.

- Bookstore.

If something goes wrong,

I deliver the messages there.

What bookstore?

It's on 59th Street.

I think the name is Lange.

- Aren't you sure?

- Yes, it's Lange's Bookstore.

You have a friend who's a scientist.

He's engaged

in very important war work.

- What is his name?

- I have no friend.

Yes, you have,

because he visits you at your home.

There is your friend...

...and there is your home.

And the name of your friend

is Charles Ogden Roper.

You can keep this young lady

in custody.

I want a surveillance made

of Lange's Bookshop on 59th Street.

Right. We've been through

the Vadja apartment.

- Find anything?

- We found the typewriter and checks.

That's the one

that was used to copy the data.

Then Roper is the man

who's been getting it out.

- Shall we pick him up?

- No.

We can't pick him up

until we find out how he does it.

Here we've got a man

under 24-hour surveillance.

He never leaves the laboratory

without being thoroughly searched...

...and still he's getting the stuff out.

That's our problem.

That's what we have to solve.

How does he do it?

How does he do it?

The following day,

an unusual message from Germany...

...was picked up

by the FBI monitoring station...

...and relayed on to Dietrich.

It was also teletyped to Briggs.

Hey, you're in the wrong lane!

Stop a black coupe, 516 New York,

last three numbers. One man driving.

- Let me see your driver's license.

- I haven't got it with me.

- Well, let's see your registration card.

- I haven't got that either.

Okay, you come down

to the station house with me.

We wanna check up on you.

Have you anything to say?

I prefer not to say anything

till I talk to my lawyer.

All right. What's your lawyer's name

and telephone number?

Rector 23515.

Ask for Mr. Briggs.

You received that message

from Hamburg today?

- That's right.

- Have you done anything about it?

Well, not yet, Mr. Briggs.

I was about to contact you for advice

when the message came to meet you.

Oh.

We think that this may be the lead

that we've been looking for.

- It might be.

- What does it mean to you?

That's a familiar word in Hamburg

for a very special type of agent.

- Oh?

- It's the name of a performer...

...who accomplishes

spectacular feats of memory.

- Memory artist.

- Memory artist.

Hamburg's always looking for people

with unusual memories.

They take a special course

just to improve their memories further.

Yes, but do you think that a man

even with a very unusual memory...

...could get those formulas out?

All that complicated stuff?

Sounds incredible,

but that's what they're trained to do.

Sure, it is incredible.

Memory artist.

Photographic mind.

A little bit at a time.

Well, it may be a lead.

Maybe it's a solution.

What will I do about the message?

You just send it

through your regular channels.

- Oh, anything new on Christopher?

- No, not yet.

Mm-hmm. Well, I'll arrange

for your bail and fine.

Oh, uh, when you give

the message to Elsa...

...why, be very sore

at the police, huh?

- Yes, sir.

- Don't overplay it, you know.

The FBI had to know every

detail of Charles Ogden Roper's life.

Yeah, I remember that crazy

act, but I can't remember the name.

Never could remember names.

Does this sound like it:

"Has performed in clubs,

Sunday school entertainments...

...banquets, special parties.

Demonstrates amazing feats

of memory. "

Oh, don't pay any attention to that.

They always write their own.

"Performs amazing feats of memory. "

What kind of feats? What's the angle?

Well, you see, people call for things

from the audience.

They want to hear stuff

out of highbrow books.

You know, this guy can keep 14 games

of chess going at the same time?

- Chess?

- Boy, there is a lousy game.

But 14 games going at the same time

would take a remarkable memory.

- Sure, but it ain't box office.

- I'll take this along. You'll get it back.

Don't worry, brother,

that act is out of date.

Mr. Roper.

- Yes?

- I'd like to see you in my office.

- Yes, Dr. Appleton.

This is Mr. Briggs of the FBl.

Mr. Roper, my credentials.

Sit down, won't you?

You recognize those?

Those are Photostats of Process 97.

They were stolen from here.

I understand you're one of the workers

allowed to leave the institute.

A few evenings each week, yes.

And you always spend those evenings

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