Vienna Blood (2019–…): Season 2, Episode 1 - The Melancholy Countess - full transcript

There are no mysteries.

Not any more.

No fairy-tales. No fables.

The giants have been banished.

The dragons have been bled.

Science has found a way
to eradicate them.

Reason has vanquished
the human imagination.

FAINT GIGGLING

There is only one frontier
that is unexplored by man.

Only one place
where the dragons roam free.

The human brain is the only
uncharted land.



CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS

Let me help you.

What happened? Leave me.
Calm down. Don't touch me.

SHE SHRIEKS WEAKLY

Good morning.

Countess Sophia Nadazdy.

63. Widowed.
Married a Hungarian Count.

That's how she got her title
and her diamonds.

Housekeeper. Frau Reiss.

Who found her? Her maid.

Still in shock.

How long had the Countess
been staying? A month.

And why did she come to Vienna?
Gentlemen.

Dr Jaeger.



Maybe an accident.
She fell, hit her head?

No sign of blood.

Did someone maybe hold her down?
No bruises. No sign of a struggle.

Suicide, most likely.

A gift, never sent.

There's a prescription here.
Opium.

Standard treatment for melancholia.

So she was in Vienna
because she was sick?

Tell me, who was treating her?

You want me to describe it?

I don't know if I can, Doctor.

Sexuality is a natural part of every
person's identity, Frau Huber.

But these thoughts,
they are unclean...

Fantasies are simply
a part of the sexual appetite.

Entertaining them doesn't make you
corrupt, doesn't make you evil,

it doesn't even mean that you
actually want these things

to happen to you. It's just they are
a part of the process of arousal.

Frau Liebermann.
Inspector Rheinhardt.

I'm looking for your brother.

He's with a patient.

I'm not sure it's convenient.

Oh, excuse me.

In a week, then.
We'd better be going.

Frau Liebermann.

I've no idea why I'm saying this
but...it's good to see you, Oskar.

Max.

Please, come in.

Apparently, you've been busy.
Private practice,

just getting started. I'm still
at the hospital two days a week.

Gruner hasn't quite managed
to get rid of me yet.

I assume it's a case,
is that why you've come?

Yes, it's a case.

But this is official.

Countess Sophia Nadazdy,
a patient of yours.

An appointment with you,
three days ago.

Hm. Well...I'm afraid
I can't talk about it.

She's dead, Max.

Discovered this morning.

Drowned in her bathtub,
her suite at The Imperial.

Looks like suicide.

I understand.

It must be difficult.

Anything you can tell me about her?

It's confidential.

Well...there is nothing more
to be said.

May I visit the scene?
The place where she died.

It's a police enquiry.
It's confidential too, Max.

Well, I need to understand
what happened.

You want me
to open up my case to you

but you're not willing
to give me anything in return?

CLAMOURING

Hypothesis.
A woman is troubled by melancholy.

She travels to Vienna
for the latest cure.

She visits a doctor,
but he is unable to help her.

She decides to end her life.

She runs a bath and kills herself.

That's what's going
in the police report? Maybe.

Maybe not.

Looks to me like she walked out
on her life at a moment's notice.

Is it usual
to buy a gift for someone
that you're never going to send?

I had a good teacher.

I don't believe she killed herself.

Too many pieces don't fit.

You can help me get to know her.

Please, Max.

I told you, Oskar,

what goes on in my office
is confidential.

Max. You know Vienna.

Reputation is everything.

Visiting a psychoanalyst
is still a cause for gossip.

For God's sake, Max.
She's dead.

You don't have loyalty
to a dead woman.

Your reputation
hangs in the balance here.

I can't betray her trust.

Even beyond the grave.

For your office.

You desperately need curtains.

Mama, you shouldn't have. You can't
have all those wealthy patients

being gawped at from the street.
There's not too many patients.

Not yet. You just wait. They'll all
come flocking. Mark my words.

What's wrong?

I lost a patient.
What do you mean lost?

HE EXHALES

She's dead.

Died this morning.

Drowned in her hotel suite.

Oh, Max, how awful.

Possible suicide,
they're not sure yet.

I sit in a room with them
for just a few hours,

think that I have
all the answers but...

..feel like I'm just
stumbling around blind.

Honestly, Mama, I don't know
what I've been playing at.

You can't blame yourself, surely.

Max, what is it?

She was seeing Gruner at the
hospital before she came to me.

I advised her not to take his pills.

A few days later she ends up dead.

You must realise how that seems.

Ah. Everyone's in here, I see.

What's the matter? What's going on?

Just trying to brighten up
his office.

The rent on that place
is extortionate.

I am hoping for some return
on my investment, Max.

Your new business is costing me
an arm and a leg.

Perhaps you'd better
ask for it back.

I was only teasing.

What's the matter with him?

September the 7th.

Countess Sophia Nadazdy.
Introductory session.

Already had some consultations with
Gruner, agreed to become my patient.

Gruner prescribed opium
for melancholy and depression.

I advised against taking it.

The disreputable science,

isn't that what they're calling it?

You don't trust psychoanalysis?
I have doubts.

Yet you travelled halfway across
town to meet with me, Countess.

Touche. If you think my methods
are disreputable

then why did you agree to come?

Tell me something, do people
find you easy to dislike, Doctor...

Liebermann. Liebermann.

September the 12th.

No ring on your finger.
You're not married.

I'm not the patient, Countess.

Well, we're just two people talking.

Conversation ought to flow
both ways.

Not married.
Successful, professional.

Good prospects. What is it
that women find hard to bear?

Your inquisitorial manner or...

SHE SNIFFS

Or the smell of your cologne?

I'm not your enemy, Countess.

You pay a considerable
amount of money to be here

and yet we simply side-step
around each other.

There's a girl. A little girl.

I need to tell you her story.

A girl? Blanka.

That was her name.
Blanka Mar.

Pale.

Blue eyes.

Tell me about Blanka.

Not today.

Maybe...never.

Liebermann.

Thank you.

A word, if you please.

It says you'd been seeing her as
a patient at your practice in town.

I'm afraid I can't comment,
Professor... The woman is dead.

Don't play games with me,
Liebermann.

You coerced her to leave my care.
I didn't coerce her...

You treated her with your own
appalling methods. Professor...

..and she ends up
taking her own life.

You can't worm your way out of it,
not like last time.

This time you'll end up in front
of a disciplinary committee.

When I'm done with you, you won't be
able to practise in Vienna.

You'll be forced
to go back to England.

You came to salvage your reputation?

Who gave my name to the newspapers?
It's a Countess, Max.

The hotel is swarming with press.

They pay for any scrap
of information.

Question now is...what are you
going to do about it? Oskar.

We both need to know how she died.

Me because I have to solve a crime,

you because you have to
salvage your career. So...

..if you want to share some
information,

then maybe we could help each other.

What exactly are these
interviews for?

The newspapers said it was suicide.

Just gathering all the evidence,
Herr Director.

UNTRANSLATED

What did she say?
I think she said,

"Evil. Evil walks here.

"With a woman's face."

You're the one
they're talking about.

The one whose name is in the papers.
The Freudian.

Thank you, Herr Director.

She suffered badly. Melancholia.

Did she ever threaten violence
against herself?

Prescribed medicine,

but then she stopped taking them,

at her doctor's advice.

Your advice, Doctor Liebermann.

Heard her crying in her room
most nights, sir, wailing,

like she was tormented.
Had these desperate fits of anger.

Broke the crockery
and stormed out of the ballroom.

Well, you are the bell-boy...

Walter, sir. Walter.

Anything you can tell us?

Well?

Actually, yes, sir, I reckon I was
the last one who saw the Countess.

I was on duty, sir, upstairs.

And?

Her face, it was all twisted.

You mean like she'd been crying?
No.

Like it was made of wax,

like it had been melting.

Melted?
So the witness claimed.

As if her skin
was sliding off her face.

We need you to do
a full postmortem.

Er, who's "we", Doctor Liebermann?

Your reputation is tarnished,
to say the least.

Please, do as he asked.
Thank you.

You wanted to see me, sir?

You were interviewed
with all the other staff.

And?
And I told them what I knew, sir.

I told them I saw her.
Dammit, Walter.

I didn't tell them anything more,
sir. You know why people come here?

You know why
they choose to stay with us?

Because we're secret-keepers.

Everyone has secrets.

It's our job to preserve them.

Anything our clients desire.

That's The Imperial's reputation.

Yes, sir.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

LAUGHTER

WEAK SHRIEKING

Strychnine? Produces convulsions in
the muscles, particularly the face.

She was poisoned?
Dead before she hit the water.

Thank you, Doctor Jaeger.
You're welcome.

There was no obvious sign of it
in her room.

Unlikely it was self-administered.

Maybe this is a murder case
after all.

Stop smiling.

I'm not smiling. It's relief.

With a smile, you're not
in the clear, not yet. I know.

She's still dead, Max.

Max.

Clara.

How are you? How-how is everything?
I didn't expect to see you.

You know Herr Korngold? Jonas.

Yes, yes. Of course. Max.

I've just read your name
in the newspaper. Ah.

Yes, it's not very fashionable
to be seen with me today.

Still fighting battles
on every front. You don't change.

It's no more than he deserves
after the way he treated you.

Don't, Jonas.

Doctor Liebermann?

I didn't catch your name.

Are you going to tell me?

Yannick, sir. Neubauer.

Yannick, please.

So...

..how can I help you?

I have something precious.

Something belonging to her, sir.
Her? The lady,

the one who died at the hotel.

She said I deserved it, sir.

After everything I did for her.

Fetching and carrying,
running errands.

I see. It's a gift.

She liked you. You helped her.

And you didn't want to be accused
of stealing it. No, sir, I don't.

And you thought I could help?

I thought you could say
she left it here, sir.

Dropped it, maybe. I remembered
she came here once before.

I remembered the address
she gave the driver.

Yes, well.

Yes, I'll give it to the police.
I'll put it with the other evidence.

What's wrong, Yannick?

There's something else, isn't there?

What else did you want to tell me?

You could have put this back
in her room, you didn't have
to come to see me.

You spent time in her company?

There was another gift for someone.
A silver cigarette case.

Do you know who that was for?

Did she have a lover?

Oskar Rheinhardt,
Leopoldstadt Police.

We're looking for Oktav Hauke.

You've found him, gentlemen.

How long have you been here,
in the hotel?

A month.

I plan to stay here for the season.

You knew the dead woman?

Yes.

We dined together on occasion.

Tragic. Hm.

A gift, for you.

From the Countess.

It doesn't have my name on it,
Inspector.

We have a witness on the staff who
says you were often seen together.

We spent a lot of time together,
yes. We became close friends.

A woman old enough
to be your mother?

There is no law against two people
becoming acquainted.

You were with her
on the evening she died?

I was at her table, yes.

She left the dining room alone.

Did she seem particularly unhappy?

Not particularly, no. She was
prone to bouts of melancholy.

You must be devastated by her death.
Excuse me?

People have different ways
of expressing their grief.

Now, would you please excuse me
gentlemen?

I'm getting ready for lunch.

You're an Uhlan.
Just resigned my commission.

So you decided to have
a little holiday.

In a hotel filled with widows.

Thank you so much
for dropping by, gentlemen.

Morning. Morning.

Morning, Rheinhardt.

Oh, sorry.

I didn't realise you were cleaning.

Fraulein Linder.

What? I'm the new archivist.

Oh.

What happened to Pichler?
Retired.

Now, can I help you?

Yes, erm, I need some research.

Second Lieutenant Oktav Hauke.

Uhlans. Discharged.

Seems the army wanted to be
rid of him pretty fast.

Leaves service with no prospects,

starts slobbering over a woman
twice his age.

Forgive me, please, Fraulein.
I didn't mean to be indelicate.

I'm an employee here, Inspector.

Say what you want to say.

This is a record of what we spoke
about during our sessions. There's
something I want to read to you.

I never understood its significance
before but...I think she foresaw
what was going to happen to her.

Listen to this.

"September the 15th.

"The patient recounted a dream.

"One she said she'd been having

"again and again
and again and again."

I'm in the park. Alone.

The place is shrouded in mist.

A nanny pushes a pram
along the path, just out of reach.

There's a large...

There's a large white building
in the park

like a fairy-tale palace.
I go in.

Animals live wild inside, they're
watching me from the shadows.

There are sweets and candy.

Like in the fairy-tale, the witch's
house in Hansel And Gretel.

I find the woman sitting inside.

I hold out my arms
to take care of the little child.

But it turns into a bundle of...
of rags and dust.

CHILDREN GIGGLE

MAN LAUGHS

WOMAN LAUGHS

Countess?

SHE GASPS

Do you have any children?
Oh, none.

Doctor Liebermann,
what do you think it signifies?

The unconscious mind,
it's like a pool of dark water.

And then, when we dream, images
shoot up and out, like a fountain.

Perhaps...

Perhaps you are thinking about
that little girl.

Well, I sense that something
or maybe someone,

has frightened you

and you're trying to find a way
to tell me.

Do you think you can ever
truly know someone?

I don't quite follow...

People. People close to you.

People who claim to love you.

H-H-How can you ever
really know them?

Hmm?

What if...
What if somebody you loved

had done something truly
terrible in the past,

a secret so dark, so frightening...

Hm.

What if they appeared so charming...

..but underneath the mask...

Sorry, Doctor Liebermann.

So, she was scared of someone?
Someone very close to her?

Any clue to their identity? Whoever
they are, they're in this dream.

This is where our darkest fears
rise to the surface.

I think she was afraid
someone was going to kill her.

So, this is what you're bringing me?

This is your great discovery?
A fairy-tale palace? Inspector. Yes?

What is this? Leonie Hutter.

Who? Landlady. Leopoldstadt. Another
widow. I found her in the archives.

Died in an accident. Drowned.

Why are you bringing me this?

Where's the connection to Hauke?

He was lodging with her
at the time of her death.

All right.

We get a warrant tomorrow.
Search his room.

He's not worthy
of the Uhlan's uniform.

We all knew what he was up to,
sniffing round the old widow.

You recognise the insignia?
My son was an Uhlan.

Thank you, Frau Reiss.
You can leave us.

Thank you.

You have to ask yourself,

if he's guilty
then why remain here, in the hotel?

Something must be keeping him here.

KNOCK ON DOOR

Inspector. Amelia.

Er, Miss Lydgate.

I came as soon as I could get away.

Profiling isn't the only thing
that I've learned from you.

Miss Lydgate has been consulting
for us on several cases.

Right. Good.

Strychnine poisoning. If it was
prepared in here I need to know it.

Any evidence that it was handled
in this room.

Excuse me, Doctor Liebermann.

Oh, I'll stay.

Two months. I'm aware.

Two months, four days.

I'm working. Do you mind?

You know how many letters
I sent you?

I feel sure
you're about to remind me.

Three.

Not a single reply.
Funnily enough, I've been busy.

Don't you think that an appropriate
amount of time has gone by?

I think that a young doctor
with a burgeoning reputation

can't afford the stain of scandal.

Particularly now he's in the papers.

Do you mind?

KNOCK ON DOOR

What are you grinning at?
Never mind.

Any signs of poison traces?
Nothing I can find, sorry.

If he prepared it in here,
he sterilised everything.

We need to cast our net wider.

The Countess, I need to know
everything she ate

on her final night here.
What? She was poisoned.

No question.

This is absurd.

We are not responsible.
Miss Lydgate?

What else do you require?

I need to see menu cards,
the contents of your store

and I need the names of every person
who came into contact with her food.

You have women detectives now,
do you?

Just do as you're asked.

Now.

I'm sorry.

Thank you, you can go.

Walnuts, hardboiled eggs
and Champagne?

That's all she ate?

Demanded the same things
every evening.

She bought a few items of her own.
A herbal infusion.

Used her own supplier from England.

The Emperor Augustus.

What? Augustus.

He... He thought his wife
was trying to poison him.

Picked his own figs from the trees,
milked his own goat.

What's this about, exactly?

Eggs and walnuts,
difficult to tamper with.

Impossible to pierce the shell
of an egg without leaving a trace.

So, if it wasn't in the food then...

..how else did he manage it?

How long before dinner
are the tables laid?

Six o'clock. Two hours.

The Countess, did she occupy
the same table every night?

Tell us about the evening she died.

I saw her, maybe
a few minutes before she left.

Her shawl had fallen.

I hung it back on her chair.

Glanced at the table,
I didn't notice anything untoward.

She and that young soldier
were on the dance floor.

I saw the staff
deliver her tea-tray.

It was waiting for her.

Then she cleared the table.

She was poisoned right here.

The tea was the only unchecked
thing she consumed.

Maybe it was in the water.

Maybe the pot?

Maybe he soaked the leaves
in a solution.

"Maybe" is not good enough for us,
Miss Lydgate.

BELL CHIMES

KNOCK ON DOOR

Time you and I had a little chat,
don't you think? Please.

I've been expecting it.

You asked for my investment, Max,

and I gladly put money
into you and your business.

Well, not gladly, let's be honest.

Now I find that your name is
plastered all over the newspapers.

And are you worried about the stain
on our good name or the return
on your investment?

I'm worried about you, my son.

Reputation in this city
is a precious thing.

Well, I'm afraid it's too late
to salvage mine. Here.

A disciplinary hearing.

But you've only just shaken off
the scandal there.

Gruner's not giving up so easily.

If he can't annihilate Freud,
I'm the next best thing.

What do you intend to do?

Fight.

What other option do I have?
Max... Come on.

I'm taking you out. I've finished
the new drapes for your office.

Impress the patients.

It's very generous, all this, Mama,

but you really needn't
have bothered. Stop fussing
and come and have a look.

I came in to hang them yesterday.
They make all the difference.

Did you lock the door?

Of course.

Oh.

Oh, Max.

Who could do such a thing?

You and I
need to have a serious talk.

Mama, please leave those.
But, Max... Take the carriage home.

There's no sense you being here.
Please. Please?

Mrs Liebermann.

Thank you.

What?

When I came to see you,
after I read your name in her diary,

I knew you had access
to her private thoughts.

Well? The killer has
the same notion, apparently.

Oskar. You think
she was frightened by someone,

you think she anticipated
her own death.

Who else would
she tell about her fears,

if not you, her psychoanalyst?

He thinks you know his name.
He thinks you can identify him.

You are in grave danger,
whether you realise it or not, Max.

Nothing.

Not a trace of poison in it.
So, where does that leave us?

The boiling water in the pot,

it's the only thing that could have
been tampered with.

The infusion is bitter,
would have masked the taste of it.

Means it was done
by someone close at hand,

someone right beside her
at the table. Hauke.

Very well, we arrest him.

Miss Lydgate.

Leonie Hutter, your landlady...

..died in an apparent
drowning accident.

Does anyone see a pattern here?

This is really why you arrested me,
Inspector?

She left you money in her will.

Hardly a fortune,
just a modest amount.

Still, when she died,
you were able to claim it

and move on to a wealthier woman.

Isn't that what happened?

Hm?

Our scientist confirmed
she was killed by someone

who laced her teapot
with strychnine,

someone who knew about her precise
rituals and her movements,

someone who was right next to her
that evening.

What would you do for money,
Herr Hauke?

What would you be prepared to do?

Drag a woman into bed
twice your age

and then dispatch her like you
wipe some dirt off your shoe?

We were companions, not lovers.

She was eager to spend money on me.

Hah.

You think I am immoral
for accepting?

How much will you earn from the sale
of her estates in Hungary?

HE LAUGHS

Did I say something funny,
Herr Hauke?

There is no inheritance. What?

She never willed
any of her money to me.

I don't stand to earn a thing.

I suppose you discussed this often?

You don't believe me?

Ask her solicitors.

Whatever you may think of me,
Inspector, a fortune-hunter,

a leech...

..I've always known
I wouldn't get her fortune.

Where is my motive for killing her?

You called the Nadazdy solicitors?
Yes, sir.

And?
Hauke is telling the truth.

The estate returns to the Count's
family after his wife's death. Hm.

There goes your motive.
So Hauke is no longer a suspect.

No, sir.

Five days.

What else have you got for me?

This can't possibly be all
you've achieved?

The investigation is ongoing.
Meaning it's nowhere.

Frankly...

..if I were you,
I'd pray for a miracle.

Sir. She's Hungarian nobility.

A family title and estate.

The Imperial Court
has been asking questions.

Politically,
this is extremely delicate. Sir.

Widow of a Hungarian nobleman!

Dying under suspicious
circumstances.

Get your head out of your

backside and provide me
with something.

Let Hauke go.

Dismissed.

I don't know how much longer
I can stop my fist from connecting

with that grin of his.

There must be something.
A scrap of information?

Max, what haven't you told me?

I've shown you the files,
Oskar, I've shared everything.

The killer must be
somewhere in her dreams.

Come on.

There was one thing.

I never got to the bottom of it
but it might be significant.

What? A name.

Blanka Mar.

Who is she?
Er, well, she may be nobody.

A fantasy.

Max, what's this about?

Our private sessions.

The Countess, whenever she became
upset or disturbed in some way.

she mentioned a girl. Blanka Mar.

At first I thought it was just
a displacement technique,

that the feelings were too painful
so she was ascribing them

to someone else,
to a fantasy character.

And now you've changed your mind?

I don't know, Oskar.

Maybe she's real.

Maybe she's not.

I don't understand.
I thought you'd made an arrest.

We need to begin again.
We need to widen our search.

When exactly is this intrusion
going to end?

Bring in the Russians.

Never spoke to us. She was so...

So consumed by her own sadness.

Oh, what did your wife mean before

when she said there was
"evil" in this hotel?

UNTRANSLATED CONVERSATION

A young woman in white,

my wife saw her
walking outside the Countess' room.

What's so strange
about a young woman in white?

UNTRANSLATED

She had the eyes of a devil.

Thank you.

Superstition, that's all.

She saw another guest.

Look at the list.

There's no young woman
on this floor.

Inspector...there is something else.

It's gone.

It's gone!

I-I swear it was right here.

What did you find?

Erm, a book of pictures.

Erotic images.

You know, the sort of things
you find in brothels.

No. I don't know, as it happens.

What exactly do you mean?

Erm, when the clients
come from abroad

and don't speak the language,

you use a picture book...
to communicate.

A menu.

What are you suggesting goes on
in this hotel?

I think they're trying
to hide a secret.

SICKLY MOANING

I believe we were talking
about deception.

Someone close to you
deceiving you in some way.

Do you harbour feelings of...
anger or betrayal?

Countess?

Blanka.

I keep seeing her.

CROW CAWS

BABY CRIES

BABY WHINES

Liebermann,
what do you think you're doing?

Nothing, sir.

I assume you've had your summons
to the disciplinary board?

I still have my duties
to attend to here.

Not for much longer, I'd wager.

We're out of Bromide.
Mr Hofbauer needs his medication.

If you're not too busy,
I'd be grateful.

I'll go to the dispensary right now.

DOOR OPENS

Hello?

DOOR CLOSES

Professor Gruner?

MUFFLED GRUNTS
Who's there?

Herr Hofbauer.

What are you doing out of bed?
Come on. Let me take you back up.

Someone was in your office?

Yes, came to the hospital,
took the transcripts.

It's as I thought - he's after you.

You're playing with fire, Max.

Yes.

Don't you see? This means
we have a way to catch him.

He thinks I can identify him.

So, he wants to know what I know.

He needs me.

You're not serious?

All we have to do is wait.

Wait for him to come here again.

MUSIC PLAYS

MUSIC ENDS

Who are you?
Doesn't matter about my name.

Can I help you?

I need to see you, Doctor.
It's urgent.

Rather late.
Perhaps if you came back... No.

It can't wait.

All right.

Is something wrong?

HE SCOFFS

Yes, there is "something wrong".

Would you...
like to tell me about it?

Doctors.

You think you have the right to know
everything about a man's life.

Every little secret, huh?

W-Well, what goes on in this
room is confidential.

What did she tell you about me?

She? My wife.

She's been coming here
without telling me.

Herr Huber?

She comes here,
and she talks about me.

I know she does!

I won't be humiliated like this.
You understand?

Er, let's discuss this - calmly.

She doesn't desire me any more.
You know about that?

Look... What did she tell you, huh?

That I can't satisfy her?!
Please, I...

What the hell did my wife tell you?

Answer me, you son of a whore!

HE WHIMPERS

Ah! Who the hell are you?!

I'm arresting you. Keep silent.

SHACKLES CLINK

Er, husband of a patient.

What? It's not the man we're after.

Sorry, Oskar.

Sorry.

Where's my hat?

Hat. Your hat.

This is not over.

Sorry, Oskar.
Trap got sprung by the wrong prey.

How many people want you dead,
Doctor?

The list seems to get
longer by the day.

Inspector. Nothing?

No mention of her anywhere.

No "Blanka Mar"?

Maybe the Doctor's instincts
were right.

She doesn't exist, as far as
the records are concerned.

I've been sent with an agenda, Max.

I'm supposed to mention it casually,
but I can't think how,

so I'll just come out with it.

An agenda?

From your mother.

Ah. I see.

Well? We had a letter from Clara.

She's engaged. Jonas Korngold.

Ah. Is that all you have to say?

What do you want me to say?
He's a fine man.

You're connected to him in business,
makes it neat for everyone.

I just wanted you to hear it from me
before people started to gossip.

Oh, Fraulein Spitzer
has returned from travelling.

You remember the Spitzers?
Lovely people.

Why are you telling me this part?

Their daughter's back in Vienna.

Ah, I see. So, you'd like me
to propose marriage.

It was just a suggestion.
Tie up all the loose ends.

We just want you to be content.

Take the Spitzer girl out,
see if anything comes of it...

Father, for Heaven's sake. Max.
I'm not a child any more.

You really don't understand, do you?

For all your analysis, you still
don't understand human nature.

When do you think it stops?

When do you think it ends for us?
When you're 18?

When do you think we stop worrying?

The answer is "never".

The journey is never over.

You have a child,
your life is inextricably linked

to theirs forever.

If they're not happy,
you can't be happy.

You feel joy in their successes

and abject misery in their failures.

Why do you think I was
so eager to loan you the money

for your business?

I assume Mother begged you.

Of course she did.
But I was glad to do it.

Well, not glad, you were right
when you said as much.

You'll always be
that little boy to us.

Max? Are you even listening?

Max? What's the matter?

I've got to go. I'm sorry.

Max?

A child!

That's what she was trying to hide!

She had a child.

She lied to me -
at some point in her life.

The Countess Nadazdy...

Yes, remember the baby
in her dreams? Yes. So what?

I'm so stupid,
I should have realised.

The animals weren't real, Oskar,
they were painted on the wall.

The animals? Yes, and the sweets
in the glass jars, it was medicine.

It was a hospital, Oskar.

We lie to children.

We give them medicine
and pretend that it's sweets.

W-We paint pictures of animals
on the wall just to make them

feel more comfortable.

The feeling that was bubbling away
inside her, it wasn't just fear.

It was guilt.

She had a child that she abandoned.

And that child came
back to find her.

The person she feared,
it wasn't a lover, Oskar.

It was her baby.

We need to know about the child.

They conceived a son.

She and her husband, the Count.

Little boy, beautiful.

Golden curls. An angel.

We need to know about him.

He had everything.
You understand me?

Everything.

This boy had more love than
any child has ever been given.

Spoiled him, I always said.
Changed his nature.

He had no boundaries, you know?

There was nothing he couldn't
have if he wanted it.

He became twisted.

Terrible things, he did.

Children came to play at the estate,

they never came back.

Their families would never,
ever let them come again.

Who was Blanka Mar?

That poor little girl.

He tortured her.

Disfigured her.

The family?
They were paid for their silence.

SHE SOBS

SOBBING CONTINUES

From this moment on...

..they decided that he had
to be sent away.

His mother never wanted anyone
to know about him.

Where is he now?

They sent him to a sanatorium
when he was nine years old.

After all the violence,
after the...

After Blanka.

They brought him here to Vienna.

There was a doctor
who took charge of him.

I can't recall his name.

The records were destroyed.

After this day...
it was as if he was dead.

And then, something happened?

He was transferred to another place
out of Vienna, when he was older.

Six months ago they wrote to her,

telling her that he'd escaped.

She knew he'd be looking for her.

Istvan.

Little Master Istvan,
with the golden curls.

She never forgave herself.

That's why she was so unhappy.

QUIET SOBBING

It all fits.
Her attraction to Hauke.

Drawn to a much younger man.
It was displacement.

You're talking nonsense again, Max.

Give it to me in plainer language.

Anyone who's had a broken
relationship some time in

their past, they spend
their days trying to mend it.

She lavished her money on
Hauke out of guilt

for her abandoned son, for Istvan.

She knew that eventually
he would find her.

And she was right.

When she came to Vienna,
he hunted her down...

..and he killed her.

CROWS CAW

Istvan!

Istvan, I'm a doctor,

I can help you!

Don't yell out, or I'll cut you.

Istvan? No, I'm not Istvan.

Now empty your pockets.

Now, do it! Yes.

And your coat.

Give me your coat! Of course.

Now, go. Get out! Out!

Dear God, what happened?

Oh, Max. Don't say anything,
please, it's fine.

Where have you been?
What have you been doing?

I was stupid.
I was in the park last night.

In the park?
What on earth were you up to?

Let me get some iodine for it.
Mama, please, don't...

It looks awful. You can't see
patients looking like that.

Well, I don't have any patients,
so that's a sort of blessing.

I was robbed.

Have you informed the police?
I don't want to. It's not important.

Not important?!

Sir, the police are at the door.

Very prompt.

An accident with a patient.

You're a lousy liar.

Your coat.

Your wallet, your hat.

I was assaulted. Here. Last night.

By this charming fellow?

And then, he was attacked
immediately after,

wearing your clothes.

Max, why didn't you tell me?

Because...
I knew you wouldn't have approved.

I thought I could get him
to confess.

And I made a mistake,
Oskar, I'm sorry.

But he's here.

Istvan, he's still in Vienna.

He's trying to make contact.

Yes, with a knife in your guts.

He may have just tried
to defend himself.

I have to meet him.
I have to reach him somehow.

That's insane.
This could have been you.

He's trying to get close to me.

I can help you catch him.

I'm sorry.

I'm not prepared to gamble
with your life any more.

He is here somewhere.

Hiding in plain sight.

She knew she was dying.

She knew he'd managed
to get to her somehow.

Instinctively she grabbed
at her jewels, but...

SOBBING ECHOES

..they were worthless to her now.

KNOCK ON DOOR

Yes?

I've brought you coffee, gentlemen.

Just put it there, er...

Yannick, sir. Yannick.

What's your surname?

Neubauer, sir.

ECHOING: Yannick, sir. Neubauer.

I've met him.

Oskar, I was face-to-face with him.

He came to my office, I told you,
the one who brought the jewellery.

What? He spun me a story
just to gain access.

And then, later, he came back
and turned the place over.

He's done what he came here to do.

He could be 100 miles away
by now, we'll never find him.

No.

There's another way.

Fraulein?

Fraulein? Wait!

The doctor - paid to remove all the
records, would you recognise him?

Try to remember his name, please.

Liebermann,
what the hell are you doing?

You've been here a long time,
Professor.

What business is that of yours?

And who is this?
Can you recall a patient?

What's this about, exactly? A boy.

Istvan Nadazdy.

We have a witness who says that
you were his doctor,

that you were paid to keep
his crimes from coming out.

What? You were paid to
alter all his files.

Don't be ridiculous. Get out.

The family paid you
to keep it from coming to light.

You were just a junior physician,
of course.

But there's a witness to your crime.

I don't answer to you, Liebermann.

This is a police enquiry.

So, sit down in that chair.

You are going to tell us everything,

or I'll arrest you for obstruction.
You hear me?

All the years I've worked here...

..I've never seen anything like it.

What do you remember about him?

He never said much.

But...his eyes.

You could tell at once,
he had a deeply disturbed mind.

I don't know how he got hold of it.

What?

A knife.

Must've kept it from his dinner.

One of the older boys,
one who kept on teasing him,

he...he attacked him.

He left when he was 16 years old.

He was taken to another hospital.

I don't know what happened
to him after that.

I never saw him again.

Where was he kept when he was here?

I need to see the place.

The children's wing.

It closed down
long before your time.

The building's still standing.

Istvan?

I'm not Istvan.

Istvan is dead.

They killed him.

Tell me everything.

I want to listen,
I want to understand.

Hm.

They brought you here. Mm-hm.

You know she gave me up?

KNIFE SWISHES

Her own son.

I don't think you want to hurt me.

I don't think you wanted
to hurt that man in the park.

Why couldn't she love me?

Because you hurt that
little girl, Blanka...

I didn't mean it!

Well, it all has to stop now,

now your mother's dead and gone.

I didn't kill her.

What? I wanted to.

I thought about it, every day.

I wanted to hurt her so badly.

Then what happened?

I came to find her when I escaped.

Got as close to her as I could.

I got into the hotel,
stole a valet's uniform.

And I watched her with that man.

Laughing, smiling.

Young enough to be her son.

I just wanted to be with her.

I wanted her to have her arms
around me, instead of him.

She wanted your forgiveness
more than anything.

Istvan, I can help you.

Come with me.

Ah!

No, don't shoot.

Ah!

HE WINCES

I'm saving your backside again.

Just like old times. Come on.

He's not our killer.

Not our killer? No.

That's insane.
Have you lost your mind?

He's just a child who craves
what we all crave -

acceptance from a parent.

That reunion could never have
taken place if she was dead.

Thank you.

He has a complex personality
disorder, he's disturbed...

But no, he's not our killer.

I thought we were so close.

Your hat. Thank you.

I need a drink.

A Slivovitz for me, and house wine
for my friend. Thank you.

No suspects. No clues.
No leads. No witnesses.

Von Bulow has been hoping
to kick me off the case.

This has just given him
the opportunity he wanted.

I'm sorry, Oskar... No.

It isn't you.

I was so convinced that it was
Hauke I forgot to do my job.

And now, the trail has gone cold.

I'm sorry sir. It's all right.

How many tables? How many places?

What? What do you mean? Why?

If we went outside right now
and the drinks arrived,

how would the waiter know which
place was yours and which was mine?

You're talking in riddles, Max.
It's getting tiresome.

No, no, listen.

If we got up for a moment
and we stepped outside,

how would he know for certain
that this was your chair?

I don't know.

He would look for my...
coat, I suppose.

Remember what Holler told us?

They got up to dance.

Now, I'm the Countess, you're Hauke.

Yes, obviously.

Then Holler said that while
they were gone, her shawl,

it fell to the floor. Yeah.

Now, Holler, he picked it up.

But what if he placed it on
Hauke's chair, instead of hers?

And the person
bringing the poison...

..put it there?

We may have been wrong
this whole time.

What if he...
was the intended victim?

We might have been looking in
the wrong place all this time.

Sir. Scandal in the regiment.

The Uhlans. Exact same platoon.

And the dates match. Look.

Young man, an Uhlan,
who hanged himself.

Found in bed with another soldier.

An officer.

It says the officer seduced him.

He was immediately discharged.

There's no names.
The scandal was hushed up.

Hauke.

His relationship with the Countess,
protection from wagging tongues.

God.

Oskar?

Thank you.

My beauty.

Haussmann found evidence,
I was stupid.

I ignored it. What evidence?

The staff quarters in the hotel.

Bodies being sold like room service.

That's the reason why
Hauke went there.

Still, who would want to kill him?

We've met the killer, Oskar.

We stared right in her face.

WHIP CRACKS

DISTANT WHIP CRACKS

So, the poison was meant for me?

Gentlemen.

He was your son, the young Uhlan.

This animal seduced him.

My boy couldn't bear the scandal.

Hanged himself.

Frau Reiss, please, put it down.

You don't understand.

We loved each other.

GUN COCKS

Gentlemen.

Hauke was no villain.

He was lost and alone.

Forced to live a life of lies.

Evil with a woman's face?

There's no evil here, Max.

They've asked you to be a witness
at my disciplinary hearing?

Ironic.

What a moment of victory for you,
Liebermann.

You wait.

My time will come.

There is no greater need for
a child than the love

and acceptance of a parent.

Perhaps that child is
still inside us all,

still craving their approval.

The love of a parent
can be powerful,

sometimes all-consuming.

Some parents will sacrifice
anything for their child,

even themselves.