The Mask of Dimitrios Page #2

A fig-packer,

you affirm only to the winds.

I will give you

one more chance.

Did you or did you

not rob konrad?

Rob him? Yes, yes,

i robbed him.

But i did not kill him.

It was dimitrios,

dimitrios who did it.

And who is dimitrios?

He is a fig-packer,

and a bad one.

He is always in trouble.

And he has fled

the country, no doubt?

Yes, that's why

he wanted the money.

I am a man who loves

other men as brothers.

I would not speak-

enough! Hold your

tongue, imbecile.

You've admitted that

you robbed konrad. That is sufficient.

Even if there was

6 dimitrioses,

you would still

be guilty.

The sentence is death.

Take him out.

No! No, no!

Oh, no, no, no!

I did not kill konrad!

I tell you, i did not

kill him!

It was dimitrios!

Dimitrios! Dimitrios!

That beggar was right.

But we had no definite proof

till later.

What a despicable

character,

but as much as

i hate to admit it,

very brilliant.

Oh, yes.

I don't deny it.

I see it intrigues

your fancy.

You want to know more?

Certainly i want

to know more.

I learned he had fled

to athens.

I issued a warrant

for his arrest, but he escaped me.

Later i found out that

he sometimes used the name of talat.

Talat? T-a-l-a-t?

But again too late,

huh?

Yes. From athens

we traced him to sofia,

where in '23

a man named dimitrios

was connected with

the stambulisky affair.

No?

Then he turned up

in belgrade.

That was... let me see-

oh, yes, in 1926.

This time stealing

military secrets.

Military secrets?

Nothing was too big for him, huh?

No.

And the last time i heard

of him was in paris

in connection with

an international smuggling gang.

When was that?

Between '29 and '31,

about that time.

The gang was

eventually broken up.

Dimitrios had

betrayed them.

That's logical.

Murder, treason,

and betrayal.

That's

the finishing touch.

What an evil genius

that man was,

but fascinating.

Wonderful character

for a novel.

You really think so?

There's so much

i don't know.

For instance, what is it

about a man like that?

Why does anybody trust

him in the first place?

Details. If i could

only know more details.

You will need patience,

mr. Leyden.

Yes. You see,

colonel haki,

i'd love real characters

for my stories.

And that man, well...

he obsesses me,

and i admit it,

and i have to go on.

I don't know whether

i should like you

for introducing me

to that mr. Dimitrios

or whether i should

hate you for it.

It's true.

I come to istanbul for a little rest.

Well, tracing the

life of dimitrios,

i don't think

that will be a very peaceful occupation,

do you?

No. Ha ha!

Where did you say

he went from smyrna?

Oh, athens.

I want a ticket

for athens, please.

Tomorrow morning.

One ticket.

Leyden on phone:

What is the earliest train?

7:
00.

Thank you very much.

Yes, sir.

I beg your pardon.

Is there a man named

konstantin gollos

staying

in this hotel?

No one by that name

is registered, sir.

Could you tell me

if a mr. Gollos has been registered here

any time during, say,

the last 30 days

or has he made

any reservation?

Just a moment, please.

I'm sorry, sir.

I don't find any record of that name.

Thank you, sir.

I beg your pardon,

but would it be

possible for me to view the remains

of a man you have here?

He may be a relative.

The place is empty.

Clean.

The paper

said a man named dimitrios makropoulos-

oh, him.

He's been disposed of

an hour ago.

Disposed of...

come. It's a question

of patience and organization.

Organization is the secret

of modern statecraft,

but patience is necessary.

You say the surname

was makropoulos?

That's right-

makropoulos.

Dimitrios makropoulos.

That would be

drawer number 13.

Why? Because "m" is

the 13th letter of the alphabet.

Oh.

This is

organization.

That's very good.

Makropoulos,

makropoulos,

makropoulos...

makropoulos,

but no dimitrios.

Gone.

Who is gone?

Didn't you see that

stout gentleman?

I have no assistants

in my work of organization here.

The whole burden falls

on my shoulders,

and people

have no patience.

I'm engaged

for a moment, they cannot wait.

A man can only do

his duty,

no more, no less.

But patience...

pardon me, sir,

could we try under

the name of talat?

Talat? That is

a turkish name.

I know,

but could we try?

Talat. "t" that is

the 20th letter of the alphabet.

That will be

drawer number-

Very clever.

Talat!

Dimitrios talat.

Yes?

A fig-packer?

That's right.

Mm-hmm...

name-dimitrios talat;

born-salonika, 1889;

occupation-fig-packer;

identity card lost...

said to have been

issued at smyrna;

warrant for arrest

on charge of robbery

and attempted murder.

That's dimitrios,

all right.

You see?

That is organization.

Here you are,

my man.

Porter:

Thank you.

Hd

i must apologize

for intruding on your privacy.

Oh, please.

You're not intruding.

This berth was not

occupied.

How good of you

to say so.

How little

kindness there is in the world today,

how little thought

for others.

May i ask how far

you are going?

I'm going to sofia.

Oh, beautiful city.

Beautiful.

I am continuing

to bucharest.

Oh?

I trust that we shall

have a pleasant journey together.

I hope so.

Will you allow me

to smoke, please?

Please,

go right ahead.

You know, the moment

the attendant told me

that there was a

hollander on the train,

i knew that i should

have a pleasant journey.

That's very kind of you

to say so.

I'm english by birth.

But actually i'm

a citizen of the world.

To me, all languages

are beautiful.

If only men would

live as brothers without hatred,

seeing only

the beautiful things.

But no, there are

always people who look on the black side.

Well...

i think i'm going

to sleep now.

Sleep-

a great mercy vouchsafed

to us poor humans.

My name is mr. Peters.

How do you do?

If you'll forgive me,

i think we're getting

to sofia very early.

Good night, sir.

We are coming into

sofia, sir.

Thank you,

i'm all ready.

Good morning, sir.

Good morning.

I'm sorry, i tried

not to awaken you.

I was not really

asleep.

I want to tell you

that the best hotel to stay in sofia

is the slelyanska

posada.

Oh, really? Thank you,

that's very kind of you.

That's the trouble

with this world.

There's not

enough kindness.

Good-bye,

mr. Leyden.

Happy journey,

sir.

How did he know my name?

I didn't tell him.

I'm very happy

to repay you

for the kindness you

showed me in amsterdam, professor.

You are very

clever people, you journalists.

I just talked to you

this morning,

and already

you have discovered

the only person here

who knew dimitrios.

How did you do this?

It was very easy

the moment you mentioned

the fact that dimitrios

was one of the foreign agents

in the stambulisky affair.

This is her establishment.

She's the proprietress.

She does not get up

until about 10:
00 in the evening,

so we'll probably

have to wait awhile

before we can talk

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