Doctor X

Are you bad luck!

Hiya, Doctor.

Hiya, babe.

Hey, where are you going?

Inside, inside.

No, you ain't.

Only stiffs go in there tonight.

-No kidding. -No kidding.

What's keeping you out?

I'm go... What?

-Listen, we're pals, ain't we? -Yeah.

Get a flash of that.

Yeah, well, it won't do you any good tonight.

Now, look, I got me orders.

Nobody's going in there,

and that goes for you newspaper guys, too, how...

Sergeant, all I wanna do is identify a body.

Now, look, walk down the street,

because somebody might think I know you.

-Go ahead. -That's an idea. Bones.

-Hello, Dee. -Hello.

Say, say, what's the hurry, big boy?

I just wanna use your telephone.

Oh, yeah? Well, there's one down at the corner drugstore.

Listen, I haven't got time.

Will you be a sport? Come on, act natural.

Alright, but step on it.

-This is no telephone exchange. -Uh-huh.

Haven't I...

Say, didn't I meet you in Havana?

Yes... What?

Hello, World? Give me the night desk, please.

Yeah. Uh, Willard Keefe. Yeah, this is Lee Taylor.

I'm down at the Mott Street Morgue.

Just now they bring in the body of an old scrub woman

murdered under very peculiar circumstances.

No, they won't let me see it.

I can't get any dope, police, police...

Mm. Very good. I say very... What?

I say I can't get any dope on it. Police orders.

Just now, Stevens, O'Halloran

and a guy named Dr. Xavier arrived.

Something's doing.

Yeah, I've heard that one, too.

Listen, you lunkhead, I'm not clowning.

Look out the window, will you?

What do you mean, the moon?

Certainly I mean the moon.

I'm laying ten bucks to a dime

it's another Moon Killer murder.

Well, that's different.

Now, listen, Lee, stick right on it.

Fine.

I, uh, I thought I...

Ah.

Oh, Rachmaninoff.

How about the, uh, "The Prelude,” huh?

Hey, Mike, just a minute.

Please! Hello, Mike.

Hey, listen, what's going on across the street tonight?

I don't know a thing, Lee, I'm walking my beat

and minding my own business.

Mm-hmm. Well, have you got a cigarette?

I never use them. Here, smoke this.

Paddy, the bartender down at the corner, gave it to me.

Oh, much obliged, Mike.

-Yeah, no problem. Hey! -Thanks!

Good gracious! What, what you got there?

Nothing, just a little handshake buzzer.

You see, fits right in the palm of your hand.

You wind it up, you wind it up like that,

and it discourages these professional handshakers.

I ought to have one on each hand for my beat here.

Well, I gotta be going now. Goodbye.

-So long. -Ah!

Forgot all about that thing.

Don't ever bring any of those

darned tricks around here again.

What's your theory, doctor?

Strangulation by terrifically powerful hands.

You will notice how deeply the thumbs

are embedded in the sternocleidomastoid.

And what do you think of this incision

at the base of the brain?

Obviously made by some type of scalpel

used for brain dissecting.

But it's peculiar that this left

deltoid muscle should be missing.

It's been torn right out.

Gentlemen, it wasn't torn.

This is cannibalism.

-This portion of the body was... -Impossible!

-There's no doubt about it. -Thank you, Doctor.

I appreciate your professional opinion.

I'm only too happy to be of any service to you, gentlemen.

Now, uh, if you'll excuse me,

I have rather an important experiment in progress

that demands my attention every few hours.

I hardly think I can be of any further use to you,

so if you don't mind, I'm very, very sorry,

but I'll say good night.

Just a moment, doctor, if you don't mind.

One thing more.

-Very well, sir. -Yes, what?

Now, look here, doctor,

this is the sixth murder in the same number of months,

all committed in the full of the moon with no apparent motive

by means of strangulation and an incision

with a strange surgical knife.

Yes, it is peculiar, isn't it?

Most peculiar.

What's your theory of the killer, doctor?

A neurotic, of course.

Some poor devil suffering from a fixation.

Fixation? What do you mean?

A knot or kink tied to the brain by some past experience.

A madness that comes only at certain times

when the killer is brought in direct contact

with some vivid reminder of the past.

It's hard to believe that.

Yes, for a policeman, I suppose it is.

But I tell you that locked in each human skull

is a little world, all its own.

Yes, well, what would these reminders be, for instance?

Anything. The sight of the sea, the full moon.

Anything.

The poor devil, sane at all other times,

is forced to live over the scene

of the action that first drove him mad.

Very interesting.

Particularly in view of the fact that all these murders

occur in the vicinity of your medical academy.

Are you implying that someone in my academy could have done this?

I am convinced of it.

This is preposterous!

I spent 26 years building up my institution

to its present high standard.

I'm familiar with the character of every student and professor,

and they're all men of the highest integrity.

There are other academies in the state...

But they don't have that kind of knives.

The surgical supply house swear they import them from Vienna

especially for your institute.

It's the only place in the country that they're used.

Commissioner Stevens, if you jump at a hasty conclusion

like this, you'll ruin the integrity of an institution

that has one of the finest reputations in the world.

I'm sorry, doctor, but I have to start an investigation.

I tell you this first, because I'm hoping for your cooperation.

Naturally, I shall do everything to protect your institution.

But the newspapers, the publicity.

Ah, don't worry about them.

We don't want publicity any more than you do.

If my academy is under suspicion,

give me a chance to conduct an investigation of my own first.

Surely, with our knowledge of the human brain,

we have every facility to catch a madman.

Well, how would you proceed?

By immediately studying the pathological reactions

of every man placed under suspicion.

Then trap the guilty one by a brain examination.

May I examine the records of your students and faculty?

Why, assuredly, assuredly.

You can come to my office now, if you wish.

But, I beg of you, no publicity, please.

-No, don't worry. -Please.

Not one newspaper in the country shall hear of this

until you've had every opportunity

to clear your academy of suspicion.

Thank you. Thank you.

I appreciate your gesture.

Ha!

Ah.

What? What is it?

What do you want?

Father!

Oh, it's, uh, it's you, Joanne.

-What, uh, is it, dear? -Nothing.

I, I just came in here to say good night to you.

Father, what are you doing in here in the dark?

-You frightened me. -I'm sorry, Joanne.

I just came here to get those records.

It's late. You're looking very tired, darling.

You're only heading for a nervous breakdown unless...

That, uh, that moon, mixed with this other light,

it's... it's too ghastly.

Father, you worry me. You promised me you'd take a rest.

-Lately you've been so... -No, my dear, I... I'm alright.

Just a little nervous, that's all.

Now, I have some gentlemen next door in the office.

You run along. I'll be through shortly.

-But, father... -Now, Joanne, please.

This is very important.

Goodnight.

But, really, gentlemen, this investigation is useless.

The academy is closed.

The students are away on their vacations.

It surely isn't wise to spend your time on this.

What's that?

Probably Professor Wells. He's in his laboratory.