Vienna Blood (2019–…): Season 3, Episode 1 - Deadly Communion - full transcript
With the discovery of a young seamstress murdered in a luxury Viennese fashion house, Max and Oskar sense that the glamour industry conceals dark and sinister truths.
This programme contains
some violent scenes
and some scenes of a sexual nature
BELL CHIMES
Frau Schmollinger,
welcome to the fairy-tale.
Please, sit.
A painter once wrote,
"There is nothing in this world
"that is not beautiful.
"You can take the plainest,
most unprepossessing thing,
"change the light,
"change the perspective,
and voila...
"..it becomes dazzling."
100 years later,
a Viennese doctor wrote
that beauty is redundant.
It has no use...
..and yet it can become
the most dangerous thing
in the world.
It can become the source
of an addiction.
APPLAUSE
Who is it for?
It is Jurgen's.
Plautus.
For Petra.
Who is it for? Just your name.
All right.
Ladies, thank you for
your excellent work
but it's time to go home.
Aren't you coming, Adele? No.
I just want to finish off here.
All right.
So you're going to lock up?
Of course.
You work too hard, Adele.
See how beautiful I am?
Come. Catch me.
Can you tell me her name?
Adele Zeiler.
How long did she work
for the company?
I don't know. Maybe a year.
I left her alone last night
to lock up.
Any idea what happened here?
No, sorry, Inspector.
Inspector. Doctor.
No wounds of any kind
and no sign of a struggle.
No bruising.
Might simply be a heart attack.
Hard to say.
Millers, out of my way!
What's all this about?
What happened to her, Inspector?
Rheinhardt, Leopoldstadt Police.
Her underwear was on the floor
beside her.
Looks like she had intercourse.
No signs that she was raped.
Well, then, doctor, how did she die?
Very fine weapon.
Like a needle directly inserted
into her brain.
Difficult to achieve
but somehow he managed it.
Thank you, doctor.
BELL RINGS
I'm looking for Dr Liebermann.
Who shall I say is calling?
Inspector Rheinhardt.
A friend.
You'll have to wait.
He's with a patient.
Thank you.
Why do you wash them so often?
I scrub and I scrub...
..but I never feel truly clean,
doctor.
I want you to consider that
perhaps it's not dirt
you're trying to scrub away.
I don't understand your meaning.
Well, perhaps it's something else.
Perhaps it's a memory.
Memory?
See you next week. Yes.
You tracked me down
to my apartment, then.
You can't hide from me, Max.
Please, come in.
RHEINHARDT WOLF WHISTLES
A tiny puncture wound
received to the back of her neck.
Dr Jaeger tells me her death
almost certainly
would have been instantaneous.
The occipital bone.
When the head is tilted forward,
there's a tiny aperture
giving access to the brainstem.
Someone who knew
what they were doing.
A surgeon or a doctor?
Please don't touch that. Thank you.
So, they...
..were intimate, and...
And then he murdered her
straight after.
No apparent motive.
A senseless crime.
Hmm.
What do you think?
Do you have a different
interpretation?
I found it deep inside the wound.
It must have broken off.
Some sort of pin? It's a long shaft.
Maybe a hat pin.
Hmm.
What more can you tell us, Max?
What about the dress?
I'm taking fibres for analysis.
It's elegant and not her size.
Borrowed it off a mannequin.
So she was expecting company.
She...
..dressed up.
Hold, please.
Eager to impress him.
Max, what are you doing?
A re-enactment.
You're the victim, I'm the killer.
Would you like me to clear
some space on the floor
so you can lie down together?
No, thank you, doctor.
There were no bruises on the body.
No blood beneath the fingernails.
I mean, she probably consented
to lie with him.
We've already come to
the same conclusion
without the theatrics,
Dr Liebermann.
Oh, but then, why kill her?
Maybe they argued?
A crime of passion.
The wound was precise. It wasn't
inflicted in a rage, Inspector.
Max...
..there must be something.
The French call it "la petite mort".
A little death.
I believe she was killed
during their communion.
Stabbed at the point
of sexual climax.
That was very helpful. Thank you.
You're welcome.
Inspector. Max. Fraulein Weiss.
I didn't expect to see you here.
You're not interested in fashion,
are you? Erm, no, no. Erm...
We're here on a case, actually.
Really? Mm.
What about you?
Are you here for a fitting or...?
Oh, of course.
Women only have one thing on
their minds - looking glamorous!
Right. Yes, sorry.
Actually, I'm here on business.
Oh? What business is that?
My business and none of yours.
Well, it was lovely to
see you again. You, too.
Good day.
Fine collection you have here.
Torture instruments, most of them.
The price of beauty.
I keep them to remind myself.
It's my mission to free
Vienna's women.
Thank you.
Adele had been with a man
shortly before she died.
The dress, the way we found her,
she was dressing up
for their encounter.
She entertains him after
everyone had gone.
They had intercourse
right where we found her.
Dear God, I had no idea... Sh!
How did she die, Inspector?
She was murdered.
A hat pin inserted
into the brainstem. Oh!
You live here, above the workroom?
Yes.
And last night?
My husband was here with me.
Selma and Valentin
have rooms upstairs.
You're saying that she was murdered
whilst the four of us
were on the premises?
God.
How many men work here?
Valentin, obviously, and
Ludo Rainmayr, our photographer.
Well, your husband, your secretary,
and your photographer
will all need to present themselves
for interview.
This is Aschenputtel.
Yes.
Cinderella begging for a dress
to make her beautiful.
Transformation - that's my job.
I provide the magic.
Frau Vogl.
I've seen bad things.
I've seen terrible things
on the job, for sure.
We've been to very dark places,
but...
..this is beyond my comprehension.
It's not the dead that excites
him, Oskar. It's death itself.
He has to be there at
that precise moment.
It's a kind of penetration.
There's your motive.
Do you have to speak about it
with quite so much relish?
Some boys collect butterflies...
And for you it's murderers?!
What's the matter with you, Max?
All murders are sickening, Oskar.
Why do you find this one
so repellent?
Why do you find it so fascinating?
Sometimes you actually
sound like you...
..you're enjoying it.
Murder is a sexual act.
What?
Affection, intimacy...
..are sacred, beautiful things, Max.
What kind of man taints
these things with murder?
That's exactly why
we need to find him.
Exactly why we need to peer
inside his mind.
Well, it was interesting
to run into Clara again.
She didn't seem happy to see you.
Yes.
Too many things have happened.
Too many...
We had a flirtation.
OSKAR GAGS
Next thing I know,
she's called off her engagement.
Oh.
Quite a scandal, eh? Mm.
It's like two stars colliding
whenever we come together.
We agreed never to meet again.
It always seems to end
in devastation.
To devastation. To devastation.
Adele was a promising
young seamstress.
Did you know much about
her private life?
Came to Vienna to find work.
No family.
She was all alone in the world.
Did she ever make
any sexual advances?
No.
I don't know their names,
the women that toil
in the back room.
What is your work at the salon?
I'm the photographer.
I work with the models.
I won't be much use to you.
To be honest, I'm quite busy, so...
..may I go?
What's your field of expertise,
doctor?
I'm in general practice.
Why?
Adele was killed by a hat pin
inserted to the base
of her brainstem.
Whoever did it had some skill
in anatomy.
My wife and I were together
in our apartment.
I'm sure she will vouch for me.
It's backbreaking work.
Look here. My hands are raw.
If you're unhappy here,
maybe it's time you left us, Selma.
Ah!
Here's that chambray.
Oh, and the new silk poplin is here.
Ah.
Eh? It's beautiful. Mm-hm.
Oh, and the copen blue
is gorgeous. Mm.
Max!
I'm sorry, am I disturbing you? No.
Changed your mind and decided
to join the family business?
Too late, I'm afraid.
Your sister is running things now.
Keeps us all in line.
I just had one question.
Are you telling us that someone was
actually murdered when wearing this?
That's not the sort of enquiry
we get that often.
It just seemed sort of unusual.
The design, I mean.
And I wondered if it had
some sort of significance.
Very intricate.
It looks almost Slavic. Mm.
Who's the designer?
A woman named Kristina Vogl. Oh.
I know her.
She's quite the latest thing.
Loose fitting, billowing sleeves,
no corsets.
Very modern.
Not the sort of thing
your mother would wear.
Or anyone's mother, to be honest.
But the victim was wearing it?
Dressed in it specifically
to entertain her killer.
I don't know much about
Frau Vogl, Max, but...
But? There are rumours.
What rumours?
Well, she's an artist, after all.
They say she's not entirely normal.
Oh, Papa, how can you be
such a dreadful old gossip?
Well, you only have to look
at the designs, Leah.
Vogl's women look like they've
been stuffed into a paper bag.
Like she's disguising
their femininity.
It's called fashion.
But I don't suppose that word has
any meaning around here, does it?
Sure you don't still want
that job after all, Max?
Ha!
Well, thank you, Papa.
Any callers, Elena?
Erm, no, sir. Just the mail, there.
Ah, thank you. You can leave.
CHURCH BELLS RING
"If there is beauty in all things,
then surely death is among them.
"Consider the roses
cut from their stems
"at the exact moment of blooming.
"You are looking for me, I know.
"But maybe you have already met me.
Maybe I am closer than you think.
"I am the man who killed her."
"If there is beauty in all things,
then surely death is among them."
It's just as I thought, Oskar.
He finds death sexually alluring.
I don't understand.
Max, what is the connection? That's
why he killed her with the pin.
A deliberately tiny wound
so as not to spoil her beauty.
You think he's boasting?
You think that's why he wrote this?
I think he wants company
on his journey.
I think his madness
is a lonely place to live.
It was forwarded from the hospital
so he doesn't know where I live.
Not yet.
He followed the cases
that we've done together.
He thinks I'm a connoisseur
of murderers.
That I alone can appreciate
his gift.
Price of fame.
Mm.
Hold on.
Forwarded from the hospital?
Delivered by hand this morning.
Did you look at the postmark?
It's from a week ago.
That was before Adele Zeiler
was murdered.
That doesn't make any sense.
"I am the man who killed her."
Killed.
He says it like it's already
happened.
He's not talking about Adele.
There's another victim somewhere.
BELL RINGS
Yes?
How was your meeting at the station?
I'm sorry.
This has been difficult for you.
For us all.
Would you mind?
Dr Vogl said...
You work for me, not my husband.
Now, do as I ask.
Sending the little doggie
to run your errands.
And off he goes,
wagging his little tail.
He's loyal.
Always has been.
But loyalty is something
you will never appreciate.
HE SCOFFS
You know what I think?
I think secretly he wants to
dress up in one of your gowns.
That's why he hangs around here,
sniffing at your heels.
DOG BARKS
VENDORS CLAMOUR
Very nice stone.
CHILDREN SHOUT
Inspector. Fraulein Lindner.
Dr Liebermann.
How can I help you?
We are looking for
unexplained deaths.
Women. Young women who died
under mysterious circumstances.
The wound would have been
very small, back of the neck,
and it may not have been recorded.
Also, evidence of sexual congress
just prior to death. Gentlemen...
..do you have any idea how many
women are murdered in Vienna?
Well, if anyone can find her,
Fraulein.
Of course.
Just cases from the last few weeks.
Here's one. She...
..worked in a flower market.
Flower market?
"Consider the roses
cut from their stems."
"In the exact moment of blooming."
That's what he meant.
Do we have a name?
Mathilde Brunner.
When did she die?
The case is relatively new -
reported a week ago.
And the officer on duty?
Detective Taube.
Inspector Rheinhardt.
What can I do for you?
Mathilde Brunner.
You recall the case?
Didn't pay the rent on time,
landlord broke into her apartment,
found her dead.
Nothing more to it.
May I have a look at the file
a moment?
Thank you.
Doesn't mention the cause of death.
Nothing that we could find.
You didn't order a postmortem?
For a slum death?
Happens all the time.
So you closed the case on her?
The poor girl was ragged.
Thin, barely skin and bone.
We need to see that body.
What?
Dr Liebermann consults with us
on these matters.
Pauper's grave.
You may be lucky.
They might not have sealed it.
There. That one.
The white shroud.
We threw her in a couple
of days ago.
Are you sure you want to see her?
I won't be pretty.
Just help me get her out, would you?
OSKAR RETCHES
That her?
There it is.
Barely noticeable.
Puncture wound
at the back of the head.
Could be post mortem.
Could have happened in the
graveside. Don't be ridiculous.
She was murdered and you failed to
spot it. No. Now, wait a minute...
She was the first.
Adele Zeiler was next.
There will be more, Oskar.
This is just beginning.
Thank you, doctor. Welcome.
Fraulein.
Identical methods. We are looking
at a multiple murderer.
Hmm.
He's just beginning his...work.
And then there's this.
Ah.
Interesting.
Dr Liebermann has an admirer.
It's common among psychotic killers.
They feel the need to share their
plans. They want an audience.
Hmm.
So, erm...
..Taube...
..you didn't identify the wound?
No, sir.
Erm... Rather sloppy bit of work.
You can go.
You're no longer needed here.
So...
..Rheinhardt, you've done well.
I guess...
..you should take the reins
on both matters.
What's the matter with him?
What do you mean?
I've never seen him smile before.
This way, Inspector.
It's a real tragedy that she died.
Is it?
Yes, of course. She was behind
with the rent, two months.
It's just through here.
Fraulein.
RAT SQUEAKS
Brunner's apartment,
where I found her...
RAT SQUEAKS
Hey, out of my way girl. Come on!
Go home!
This way, Inspector.
Who are these men, Haas?
What are they doing here?
Police. Get into your apartment.
Ha!
I hope they've come to arrest you
for making us live in this pigsty.
I said get back in your apartment!
Damn troublemaker.
"She will never fade
like the dead blooms."
He was describing her death scene.
SHE HUMS
Death, you horror of nature,
ever moving runs your clock.
Poor girl. She was so sweet natured,
but also lonely.
Did you ever see a man with her?
There were always men.
Never the same one twice.
You think you'd recognise a face?
I doubt it.
Just in case...
..you think of anything else.
Inspector...
..you really want to arrest
some criminals?
That bastard who owns this place,
we pay him rent
and he does nothing for us.
Anything else I can help
you with, Inspector?
Yes.
The next time I come back here,
I want the place to be cleaned up.
There are rats running around
and children playing here.
These people pay next to nothing.
They give you what they can afford.
They are used to living in squalor.
This is how they were brought up.
And, I mean, what do you expect?
Most of them are immigrants.
Keeping people no better than
animals, I'd say that was a crime,
and my business is
to punish criminals
in whatever way I choose.
Do you understand?
Yes. Yes, what?
Yes, Inspector.
Don't disappoint me.
Your hat.
All right, I'm beginning
to see glimpses of him.
The picture is forming.
Hmm. All right, then.
What do you see?
Some time in his past,
perhaps in his youth,
he's witnessed death close at hand.
He's seen someone die and yet...
What?
It only rendered them
more beautiful.
That hardly narrows it down, Max.
Everyone at some time in their
life suffers a bereavement.
It doesn't explain what started
this spate of killings.
Something took him back
to that moment.
Re-awoke those feelings inside him.
What?
What if we play his game?
Encourage him to keep
making contact.
How would you plan to do that?
Well, I could give an interview
in the newspaper.
Some small acknowledgement.
A little flattery.
What if that spurs him into
his next act of violence?
Oskar, he's like a child who
wants attention from a parent.
If I can show him I understand,
then perhaps he'll talk to me.
The psychopathy of this killer
is unlike anything
I have ever encountered before.
He is obsessed by beauty...
Is that a new suit?
..and he wishes to preserve it,
like pinning a butterfly to a board.
Wait.
I'm here... I'm here.
Thank you, gentlemen.
So, what happened?
We're celebrating my first
article for the newspaper.
Oh! You sold it? Yes.
Oh, congratulations, darling.
It's a piece about the fashion
industry in Vienna. How exciting.
An interview with Kristina Vogl.
And it will be published on Monday.
Is she as odd as they say she is?
My father thinks
she's positively scandalous.
What's wrong?
I ran into your brother.
Ah, yes.
Erm, there was an incident
at the Vogl workshop.
Apparently a girl was killed there.
Yes, I heard. Terrible.
Max is assisting the police.
You know how he likes to make
a nuisance of himself.
THEY LAUGH
Anyway, let's celebrate.
To your new career. Prost. Prost.
Are you all right, Kristina?
Can't seem to find the inspiration.
You've had a shock.
My poor sweet.
It's only to be expected.
I thought we'd agreed.
I haven't been sleeping, Heinz.
Forgive me.
It's my fault.
I should've never prescribed it.
It's not your fault.
I sent Valentin to get it for me.
What is the matter?
There is something else,
something...
Something is wrong.
What is it?
I'm not sure.
Kristina.
The night that Adele died,
I think I might have seen something.
TENSE MUSIC
I should go to the police,
tell them everything.
What if you're mistaken?
You've had episodes before.
This wasn't an hallucination.
Mathilde Brunner.
Flower girl.
Worked at the flower market,
Hollandstrasse.
No family.
Not much income.
Living in a slum apartment.
Second victim, Adele Zeiler.
Worked as a seamstress.
Michaelerplatz.
They were both poor,
rather lonely, needy.
What's the connection?
They were both drawn to beauty.
The borrowed dress, the flowers.
Where would you go? Hmm?
If you were him?
If you were scouting the city
for victims?
Where would you hunt for them?
FAIRGROUND MUSIC
TENSE MUSIC
You like these pictures?
I think she's beautiful.
I wish I could be a model.
A pretty girl like you.
Would you like me to help you?
I could make you into a goddess.
I've thought about it, Heinz.
About what?
I have to talk to the police.
And tell them what?
You saw a shadow, or spectre?
The night that Adele died,
you were in no state
to be a credible witness.
Maybe I can end this.
Please, for the sake of
your reputation,
don't get involved.
All right.
Ready?
I suppose.
Where is the gown?
The gown?
Well?
Well.
So?
Good.
Please.
Keep going.
A man?
I saw him distinctly.
He was inside the house
that same evening.
Why didn't you come forward before?
I couldn't recall him at first.
The shock, you understand,
Inspector?
I've been ill.
Some medicines can produce
an hallucinogenic effect.
You think this man could
have been an illusion?
That's why you asked me
to come here?
WHISPERING: He had no face,
Inspector.
He was masked, featureless.
A black mask stretched
across his face.
No strings like it...
Like it was fused to his skin.
You understand why
I was unwilling at first
to trust my senses.
You touched my hair. Get off me!
Be quiet. You stink!
Let me go. I want to go home now.
Let me go.
All the herren wanted me
to eat them.
I didn't even swallow. I just put it
in my mouth for a moment...
THEY SHOUT OVER EACH OTHER
Inspector?
Oh, hello again.
Therese Thanhofer.
We met before.
Fraulein Brunner's apartment.
Of course. Of course.
Please, come in, Frau Thanhofer.
Oh...
Do you have any further
information for us?
Oh. I'm sorry.
Well...
..ah, have a seat.
Can I...
Haas, our landlord.
I don't know what you said to him.
I heard you having an argument.
Forgive me.
Sometimes I can be a little blunt.
I've come here to say...
..thank you.
Oh.
The apartments have been swept.
We've had builders in
to fix the roof.
We've even had a visit
from the rat-catcher.
A gift.
For you.
Hmm.
I'd be glad to accept that.
Ah...
Therese.
Therese.
Oskar.
I'll...be sure to come and call
next time I need someone threatened.
Oskar.
Interesting piece
in the newspaper, sir.
Yes, thank you.
What time's luncheon? I've got
back-to-back patients
this afternoon.
It's ready now. Huh.
Oh, and the gentleman,
he left, sir.
Gentleman?
He said he had an appointment.
There was no appointment.
Who was he?
He didn't give a name.
He knocked at the door.
I had my hands full.
What did he look like?
Didn't see his face.
But, erm...
..he left something for you.
Thank you.
ECHOING: He is obsessed by beauty
and he wishes to preserve it,
like pinning a butterfly to a board.
So he knows where you live, Max?
Mm.
Like a hound, a hunting dog
bringing gifts to its master,
begging for his approval.
I'll put a police guard
on the building.
He's bound to come back.
This is exactly what we wanted.
We wanted him to let his guard down.
Yes.
So what's troubling you?
What's troubling me is
your excitement.
Do you really have to put that thing
up there, on display?
He's really got to you, hasn't he?
Yes. I admit it.
He repels me.
Why don't you feel the same way?
You keep telling me you're eager
to get closer to him.
But when that happens, I will be
the one who has to protect you.
So I'm sorry but we're not going to
be able to print your article.
Not going to print it?
I'm sorry.
But you said that... I know,
and you can keep the money.
But all this scandal at
Mode Salon Vogl...
Look, people want to know
about the crime story
and not just fashion gossip.
This was my first piece.
And you write very well.
I'm sorry.
I know Max Lieberman.
We were close once.
Do you want me to go after
the crime story?
Yes.
Yes!
So you've come for a story?
He knows that I know you.
He wants details of the case.
Yes, well, I'm sorry, Clara,
but I can't help.
You gave an interview
to another paper?
Yes. Well, that...
It was different.
It wasn't the same.
I think I can be good at this.
I'm smart. I can write.
The only thing that's missing
is good contacts.
Ah. So that's what I've become,
is it?
Don't you think that maybe
I can be helpful to you?
I know the fashion world.
And you have to admit
it's completely alien to you.
These women,
all poor, all lonely.
They willingly let him
into their lives.
He gave them something
to further their dreams.
It seems to me you need
a woman's perspective.
Why can't we share information?
I tell you what I've learned at
the salon and you let me
into your investigation.
What do you think?
I can't be your passport
to a new life, Clara.
I wondered.
What?
I wondered if you'd come in
and sleep with me tonight.
It's been such a long time.
I thought that you no longer
wanted...
It's just...
..with everything,
with poor Adele dying...
..I'd like to feel safe,
just for one night.
Uh-huh.
Of course.
Well, I must say, I'm impressed.
It's a very comfortable
place you have here.
Yes. It'll be nice when
it's decorated.
RACHEL GASPS
Decorate...
What's wrong with it?
Ah... A bit sparse.
Thank you. It reminds me of
my chiropodist's surgery.
LEAH LAUGHS
My mother's chinoiserie
would look lovely on that sideboard.
Would you like it, Max?
No, thank you. I...
I don't want clutter.
It's hardly clutter!
It's expensive.
Not quite the fashion, though,
Mama, is it?
Ah! Of course, if Klimt
had made it...
Oh, well, that would be another
story altogether, ah?
TELEPHONE RINGS
Mm.
Who shall I say is calling?
Telephone, sir.
Yes. Who is it?
Wouldn't give a name.
Ah...
This is good. Mm.
Delicious.
I wonder if it's a man or a woman.
Mendel. Or could it be Amelia?
Max Lieberman.
MAN: Dr Lieberman,
I sent you a gift.
Did you receive it?
Yes. Thank you.
I don't need to ask if you
understood its significance.
I did, yes.
Do you think the apartment comes
with a policeman outside?
Should we get one?
RACHEL LAUGHS
LEAH: Oh, definitely!
You want me to understand you?
That's why you've contacted me.
You're a connoisseur of minds.
I imagine that mine would merit
a detailed examination.
Do you think he'll come
back to the table, though?
Sh! He's probably working.
What, on the telephone?
That's odd, isn't it?
I've read your book.
You said beauty can be
the source of an addiction.
Death excites you, doesn't it?
Death is a sublime experience.
Tell me about your first
taste of it.
I remember seeing a young girl
in a coffin.
She was so peaceful, so beautiful.
Like she had been kissed by angels.
You want to preserve these women at
their moment of greatest splendour,
fulfil their dreams of beauty,
make the dream go on forever.
Max, the food's getting cold.
Why don't you leave that?
I needed someone
to appreciate my work.
You think I admire what you do?
I'm a true artist.
I paint in death.
Soon there will be
another work of art.
Tell me how you're choosing.
Max, aren't you coming
back to the table?
DISCONNECT TONE
OSKAR: What did he sound like?
Young. I mean, the voice wasn't old.
Educated.
But you're certain that it was him?
Yes.
He didn't sound manic.
He was rather charming,
rather...reasonable.
So you got what you wanted?
You even started to kindle
a relationship.
Let's see if you can write his story
before I put some lead in him.
Don't joke about it, Oskar.
I wasn't kidding.
So you have an admirer too?
And a good deal less sinister
than yours.
Hmm.
The neighbour from
the apartment block.
Apparently, things improved.
And she brought you some...
..cake?
Yes, she did.
Baked it herself.
Hmm.
That's very interesting.
What?
Hmm? Oh, the jam.
It's unusually thick.
Don't tell me...
..you're making a psychological
profile of a cake?
Anyway, the sweetness,
I'd say she's...
..head over heels in love with you.
Well, do let me know if you want
any further analysis.
Free of charge, of course.
Go. Get your own cake.
SHE SCREAMS
There's someone there.
What? Where?
Someone was watching me
through the skylight.
I saw him!
All right. Here.
You wait here.
Stay there.
Be careful, please.
Wait!
The skylight was open.
But whoever was out there,
he's gone.
I saw him.
I swear. I swear!
You do believe me, don't you?
Please tell me that you believe me.
I'd better check upstairs,
check if Selma's all right.
Stay.
HE KNOCKS AT DOOR
Selma?
DRAMATIC MUSIC
Oh, my God.
My wife said she saw someone
climbing across the skylight.
She's downstairs. She...
She's in shock.
I'd better go to her.
Same method.
Exact same pattern.
Did she have intercourse before?
Semen stains on her legs, and...
..she's been beaten
by a blunt instrument.
Maybe this one changed her mind.
Didn't want to go through with it.
Maybe he knocked her out
to pacify her.
It doesn't quite fit, Oskar.
It's not his fantasy.
He wouldn't want to force
himself upon her.
He'd want her to submit willingly.
Well, maybe she fell.
Could the bruising have
been postmortem?
No.
Why come back here?
What is it about this Mode Salon?
Inspector? Haussmann?
I...
I think I saw him, Inspector.
I think I saw her killer.
What?
I woke up during night and I went
downstairs to the kitchen,
and in the study I glimpsed
what I assumed was a mannequin.
But maybe...
Go on.
Now I know there was an intruder,
maybe I saw him, her killer.
But I can't be sure.
What did he look like?
I think he was...wearing a mask.
Yeah. No, I'm sure he was
wearing a mask.
You saw him again?
Yes, through the skylight.
Frau Vogl, I'm a doctor. I can
recognise certain symptoms in you.
Constriction of the pupils,
dysphoria...
I suffer terrible pains,
Dr Liebermann.
My husband, he prescri...
Prescribes you laudanum.
You've suffered hallucinations
as a result of
the quantities you've taken?
Yes.
You understand the pressure of
my business, the constant
need to summon up new ideas.
This is why you were initially
reluctant to come forward,
why you doubt yourself?
Heinz, my...
..my husband, he explained that
there was a chance...
A chance that I was mistaken.
Never mind what your husband says.
Valentin saw him exactly the way
you described him.
And you saw him twice. Yes.
Trust yourself.
Did you notice the bed? Hmm?
She sleeps alone.
They have separate bedrooms.
I see. So there goes his alibi.
There's something about
this photographer, Rainmayr.
I swear I recognise him
from somewhere.
Very nice.
KNOCK AT DOOR
Fraulein?
Inspector, forgive me.
Is everything all right?
I wondered if I could beg
a moment of your time?
Please.
You said you were trying to find
some connection between the women,
the first two victims?
Yes.
What have you found?
Maybe nothing.
I took this...
..off the body of Adele Zeiler.
Mm-hm. No relatives, so no-one's
come to claim it.
I ran a few extra tests.
Oh?
It's definitely silver.
Odd, don't you think?
A poor girl like that, able to
afford expensive jewellery?
It must be second hand.
How can you be sure?
There was an inscription inside.
But it's been removed.
Oh. Forgive me, Fraulein,
but how exactly does this help us?
A poor girl buys herself a piece
of second-hand jewellery.
What does that tell us?
I took...
..this off the body of
Mathilde Brunner.
All the original markings
have been filed off as well.
Oh.
There is a second-hand jewellery
market near the Prater.
Oh, my God.
TENSE MUSIC
This is our connection.
You recognise these?
The inscriptions have been
filed off them,
like the others on your stall here.
So what?
People prefer it.
Leopoldstadt Police.
It's not illegal, selling
second-hand jewellery.
Do you remember anything about
the women who bought them?
Could be any one of 1,000 women.
People pick up antiques
on the cheap.
Well, has anyone been
hanging around,
perhaps chatting to the women
who come here?
Hey, I mind my own business.
Listen, three women are dead,
brutally murdered.
All we know they have in common
is that two of them came here
to your stall and purchased
rings from you.
Look, I don't know anything.
Tell us about the rings.
How do you come by them?
Someone brings them to me.
Someone?
I don't know his name.
We split the money.
And where does he acquire them?
The stall owner told us someone
brings them to him to sell.
A man who works for
a funeral director - Schapp.
Inspector, this is preposterous!
Not at all. It makes perfect sense.
Someone here has decided to make
some money on the side, selling
jewellery stolen from corpses.
Look, I refuse to believe...
We're not here to investigate
the thefts, Herr Schapp.
That's not our concern.
He started hanging around
the jewellery store, meeting women,
women who then became
murder victims.
A man obsessed by
the nature of death,
the nature of beauty.
He calls himself an artist.
Who paints the corpses here?
Where is Sprenger?
These gentlemen need to see him.
I let him go early.
He was dressed up smart.
It looked like he had a date.
Hey, what the hell?!
When was she last here?
Who?
Don't play games with me.
He hangs around here to meet women
after he sold you the stolen pieces.
The woman!
The last woman he spoke to.
She's a waitress at the tavern,
at the Bacchus tavern.
They have an address for her.
Here you are, my handsome prince.
SHE MOANS
DRAMATIC MUSIC
SHE SCREAMS
Get away from her.
Dr Liebermann,
I've been waiting such a long time
to talk to you in person.
Shame it couldn't be under
more salubrious circumstances,
Herr Sprenger.
You understand, don't you?
I'm no monster.
It's a gift I'm giving them.
Those three women aren't
beautiful, Sprenger.
They're food for worms now.
WOMAN CRIES
You're going to pay for
what you've done to them.
Go! Go. Go, Max.
SHE CRIES
Markus Sprenger.
Worked as an embalmer,
Schapp and Sons.
And how did you track him down?
How did you find him?
He was careless,
making money on the side,
stealing jewellery from corpses.
Oh. Interesting.
Sold the jewellery to
a dealer in the marketplace
and then watched the stall.
Some of the girls bought
rings from there.
That's how he found them.
Well...
Well, congratulations.
Excellent result.
We shall call a press conference.
So where is he?
Oh, no.
HE SIGHS
Please, please, don't tell me...
Elena?
I need you to run an urgent
errand for me.
These need to be delivered to
the hospital tonight,
and tell the officer
on the door he can leave.
Sir, I... It's fine.
Trust me.
TENSE MUSIC
Doctor.
Herr Sprenger.
Good evening.
Did you know that I would visit you?
I thought perhaps you might.
I've...
..sent my housekeeper away.
Cleared my schedule.
So...
..when did it begin?
This...compulsion.
I want to understand you.
Tell me everything.
I suppose when I was a boy,
13-years-old.
A girl that I loved,
she was taken from me suddenly.
And how did that ch-child...
..become a killer?
Mathilde.
The first victim.
And you met her at the jewellery
store by the Prada.
Her face.
She was so like her.
Like my angel who died.
And then after you killed her...
..you got a taste for it.
You said "three victims"
when we met before.
It wasn't three.
I came back here
to tell you that, Doctor.
Mathilde,
Adele, Selma.
I don't know her.
Selma. Who is she?
Are you saying you didn't kill her?
No.
You have made a mistake.
The method of murder was
exactly the same.
Someone is walking my shadow,
someone climbing on my shoulders,
using my reputation!
Quite certain the killer
has copied you.
To me, death is art.
I won't have some amateur
soiling my name!
I see.
So that's why you've come here
tonight.
You are my messenger.
You will proclaim what I have done
in your next book.
I want you to tell the world
I had nothing to do
with this final murder.
Will you do that?
I will not be a part of your plan.
What?
I cannot deny that you fascinate me,
but...
..I will not participate
in your game.
But you are the only one who
truly understands me.
Those women died, Herr Sprenger,
their lives cut tragically
short by you.
I cannot tell the world you are
anything other than a murderer.
There is no glory in what you do.
You know what this is?
They use it in the mortuary.
Herr Sprenger...
I imagined meeting you.
I didn't imagine
it would go this way.
What are you waiting for?!
Put down the knife, Herr Sprenger.
You don't think there's
any art in what I'm doing?
Then the session's over!
How long were you planning to wait?
I thought you found him fascinating.
You told me you found peering
into his mind captivating.
I was just giving you a chance
for further study.
There's not much study I can do now
there's a bullet in his brain.
Well, you heard what he said.
One murder unsolved.
This isn't over.
Selma was beaten senseless,
remember?
That's what was different about her.
Whoever killed her, they felt
the need to pacify her.
Also...
..there was no ring here.
What is it?
Silver emulsion.
Someone burnt a photograph.
Mm.
The photographer, Rainmayr.
I know where I've seen him
before, Max.
Come.
We want to know about Selma.
I...didn't know her that well.
I found traces of silver
emulsion in her room,
a burnt photograph.
You and me, we met before.
Five years ago.
Thank you. You can go.
Ladies.
You were dealing in
pornographic pictures.
You look fancier now.
You changed your name,
but I know you.
You want me to get a warrant
to search your home?
What pictures would we find
hidden away there, hm?
So why the burnt photograph?
People pay well for the stuff
I provide.
Respectable people.
People in business.
Even some policemen.
Who was in it?
Was it Selma?
Who, then?
Come forward!
I took her picture once,
a long time ago.
But...
What?
We...
We were laughing.
Selma and me.
We got drunk in a room one night,
and that's when I told her.
What?
Someone who posed for me
in the past.
I had the old photograph.
I showed it to her.
Selma couldn't believe it.
Herr Rainmayr,
who was in the image?
Markus Sprenger was killed
last night whilst we were trying
to apprehend him.
So...
..it's over.
So it would appear.
We just came here to inform you.
Thank you, Inspector.
Before we leave,
would it be possible to take one
last look at the antique dresses?
You see, my family's
in the fabric business,
and I'd love a chance
to examine the collection.
Of course.
Be careful.
That's very delicate.
There are no masks in
your collection.
I... I believe they were used
to provoke sexual desire.
What's all this about, Doctor?
You weren't always quite so
successful, were you?
Your life was once
a great deal harder.
The painting of Aschenputtel...
..the girl in rags who becomes
a princess...
..that's you, isn't it?
That's your story.
I suppose.
I've worked my way up.
Certainly, I've been lucky.
Not all the time.
Luda Rainmayr photographed you.
You posed naked for him
when you were younger.
And he kept the image of you.
No, that's absurd.
What happened after Selma
took the photo?
Did she tried to sell it
back to you,
the mistress for whom
she'd acted as a drudge?
Kristina...
What is this all about?
I swear, I don't know.
Rainmayr told us.
You gave him a job just to
buy his silence.
But he was indiscreet.
He told Selma.
He showed her the photograph
and she took it.
And that's the reason
she's dead now.
You told me it was your mission
to emancipate women.
That these dresses were a reminder
of the suffering women endured
in the name of fashion.
Where's the mask?
We can tear the place apart
to find it.
Women used to paint their faces
in lead white.
Ended up with poison in
their bloodstream.
They put drops of belladonna
in their eyes just to make them
sparkle, and ended up blind.
This mask is just another
one of life's cruel tortures.
The painful price of beauty.
Rich women wore it to shield
their faces from the sun.
Simply to have pale skin.
You claimed you saw Adele's
killer wearing a mask.
Later, you gave us a description
of Selma's killer.
You saw him,
through the skylight.
But it was all a sham.
YOU wore the mask that night.
YOU killed Selma.
And Valentin saw you.
You just wanted us all to believe
that the same person
perpetrated all three murders.
She was a disgusting leech.
I should have fired her.
She was useless, lazy.
Tell us what happened.
She got hold of the photograph, yes.
Something I'd done years ago.
Another lifetime.
Before all this,
before everything.
She taunted me with it.
So you paid her?
But it was never enough.
I thought she would leave me in
peace, but...
..she hated me so much.
She said she was going to leak it
to the press to...destroy me.
How did you fake the sexual liaison?
Kristina, please...
Heinz, my love.
Please tell me what's...
..what's going on.
Frau Vogl,
I'm arresting you for
the murder of Selma Wirth.
DOOR OPENS
Fraulein Weiss, sir.
Max.
I've brought you something.
Congratulations, Clara.
Thank you.
I hope this is going to be
the beginning of a partnership.
KNOCK AT DOOR
I thought you might want this back.
Thank you.
Erm, come in and have some supper.
My daughter, Hannah.
This is Inspector Rheinhardt.
Oskar.
You're not bothered by
children, I hope?
No, I'm not bothered by children.
I'm just in the kitchen.
Hannah, be good for the gentleman.
She likes stories -
if you wanted to make
yourself popular.
Well, um...
This is a story about a poor little
girl who became a princess.
Once upon a time,
in a land far, far away,
there was a kingdom...
some violent scenes
and some scenes of a sexual nature
BELL CHIMES
Frau Schmollinger,
welcome to the fairy-tale.
Please, sit.
A painter once wrote,
"There is nothing in this world
"that is not beautiful.
"You can take the plainest,
most unprepossessing thing,
"change the light,
"change the perspective,
and voila...
"..it becomes dazzling."
100 years later,
a Viennese doctor wrote
that beauty is redundant.
It has no use...
..and yet it can become
the most dangerous thing
in the world.
It can become the source
of an addiction.
APPLAUSE
Who is it for?
It is Jurgen's.
Plautus.
For Petra.
Who is it for? Just your name.
All right.
Ladies, thank you for
your excellent work
but it's time to go home.
Aren't you coming, Adele? No.
I just want to finish off here.
All right.
So you're going to lock up?
Of course.
You work too hard, Adele.
See how beautiful I am?
Come. Catch me.
Can you tell me her name?
Adele Zeiler.
How long did she work
for the company?
I don't know. Maybe a year.
I left her alone last night
to lock up.
Any idea what happened here?
No, sorry, Inspector.
Inspector. Doctor.
No wounds of any kind
and no sign of a struggle.
No bruising.
Might simply be a heart attack.
Hard to say.
Millers, out of my way!
What's all this about?
What happened to her, Inspector?
Rheinhardt, Leopoldstadt Police.
Her underwear was on the floor
beside her.
Looks like she had intercourse.
No signs that she was raped.
Well, then, doctor, how did she die?
Very fine weapon.
Like a needle directly inserted
into her brain.
Difficult to achieve
but somehow he managed it.
Thank you, doctor.
BELL RINGS
I'm looking for Dr Liebermann.
Who shall I say is calling?
Inspector Rheinhardt.
A friend.
You'll have to wait.
He's with a patient.
Thank you.
Why do you wash them so often?
I scrub and I scrub...
..but I never feel truly clean,
doctor.
I want you to consider that
perhaps it's not dirt
you're trying to scrub away.
I don't understand your meaning.
Well, perhaps it's something else.
Perhaps it's a memory.
Memory?
See you next week. Yes.
You tracked me down
to my apartment, then.
You can't hide from me, Max.
Please, come in.
RHEINHARDT WOLF WHISTLES
A tiny puncture wound
received to the back of her neck.
Dr Jaeger tells me her death
almost certainly
would have been instantaneous.
The occipital bone.
When the head is tilted forward,
there's a tiny aperture
giving access to the brainstem.
Someone who knew
what they were doing.
A surgeon or a doctor?
Please don't touch that. Thank you.
So, they...
..were intimate, and...
And then he murdered her
straight after.
No apparent motive.
A senseless crime.
Hmm.
What do you think?
Do you have a different
interpretation?
I found it deep inside the wound.
It must have broken off.
Some sort of pin? It's a long shaft.
Maybe a hat pin.
Hmm.
What more can you tell us, Max?
What about the dress?
I'm taking fibres for analysis.
It's elegant and not her size.
Borrowed it off a mannequin.
So she was expecting company.
She...
..dressed up.
Hold, please.
Eager to impress him.
Max, what are you doing?
A re-enactment.
You're the victim, I'm the killer.
Would you like me to clear
some space on the floor
so you can lie down together?
No, thank you, doctor.
There were no bruises on the body.
No blood beneath the fingernails.
I mean, she probably consented
to lie with him.
We've already come to
the same conclusion
without the theatrics,
Dr Liebermann.
Oh, but then, why kill her?
Maybe they argued?
A crime of passion.
The wound was precise. It wasn't
inflicted in a rage, Inspector.
Max...
..there must be something.
The French call it "la petite mort".
A little death.
I believe she was killed
during their communion.
Stabbed at the point
of sexual climax.
That was very helpful. Thank you.
You're welcome.
Inspector. Max. Fraulein Weiss.
I didn't expect to see you here.
You're not interested in fashion,
are you? Erm, no, no. Erm...
We're here on a case, actually.
Really? Mm.
What about you?
Are you here for a fitting or...?
Oh, of course.
Women only have one thing on
their minds - looking glamorous!
Right. Yes, sorry.
Actually, I'm here on business.
Oh? What business is that?
My business and none of yours.
Well, it was lovely to
see you again. You, too.
Good day.
Fine collection you have here.
Torture instruments, most of them.
The price of beauty.
I keep them to remind myself.
It's my mission to free
Vienna's women.
Thank you.
Adele had been with a man
shortly before she died.
The dress, the way we found her,
she was dressing up
for their encounter.
She entertains him after
everyone had gone.
They had intercourse
right where we found her.
Dear God, I had no idea... Sh!
How did she die, Inspector?
She was murdered.
A hat pin inserted
into the brainstem. Oh!
You live here, above the workroom?
Yes.
And last night?
My husband was here with me.
Selma and Valentin
have rooms upstairs.
You're saying that she was murdered
whilst the four of us
were on the premises?
God.
How many men work here?
Valentin, obviously, and
Ludo Rainmayr, our photographer.
Well, your husband, your secretary,
and your photographer
will all need to present themselves
for interview.
This is Aschenputtel.
Yes.
Cinderella begging for a dress
to make her beautiful.
Transformation - that's my job.
I provide the magic.
Frau Vogl.
I've seen bad things.
I've seen terrible things
on the job, for sure.
We've been to very dark places,
but...
..this is beyond my comprehension.
It's not the dead that excites
him, Oskar. It's death itself.
He has to be there at
that precise moment.
It's a kind of penetration.
There's your motive.
Do you have to speak about it
with quite so much relish?
Some boys collect butterflies...
And for you it's murderers?!
What's the matter with you, Max?
All murders are sickening, Oskar.
Why do you find this one
so repellent?
Why do you find it so fascinating?
Sometimes you actually
sound like you...
..you're enjoying it.
Murder is a sexual act.
What?
Affection, intimacy...
..are sacred, beautiful things, Max.
What kind of man taints
these things with murder?
That's exactly why
we need to find him.
Exactly why we need to peer
inside his mind.
Well, it was interesting
to run into Clara again.
She didn't seem happy to see you.
Yes.
Too many things have happened.
Too many...
We had a flirtation.
OSKAR GAGS
Next thing I know,
she's called off her engagement.
Oh.
Quite a scandal, eh? Mm.
It's like two stars colliding
whenever we come together.
We agreed never to meet again.
It always seems to end
in devastation.
To devastation. To devastation.
Adele was a promising
young seamstress.
Did you know much about
her private life?
Came to Vienna to find work.
No family.
She was all alone in the world.
Did she ever make
any sexual advances?
No.
I don't know their names,
the women that toil
in the back room.
What is your work at the salon?
I'm the photographer.
I work with the models.
I won't be much use to you.
To be honest, I'm quite busy, so...
..may I go?
What's your field of expertise,
doctor?
I'm in general practice.
Why?
Adele was killed by a hat pin
inserted to the base
of her brainstem.
Whoever did it had some skill
in anatomy.
My wife and I were together
in our apartment.
I'm sure she will vouch for me.
It's backbreaking work.
Look here. My hands are raw.
If you're unhappy here,
maybe it's time you left us, Selma.
Ah!
Here's that chambray.
Oh, and the new silk poplin is here.
Ah.
Eh? It's beautiful. Mm-hm.
Oh, and the copen blue
is gorgeous. Mm.
Max!
I'm sorry, am I disturbing you? No.
Changed your mind and decided
to join the family business?
Too late, I'm afraid.
Your sister is running things now.
Keeps us all in line.
I just had one question.
Are you telling us that someone was
actually murdered when wearing this?
That's not the sort of enquiry
we get that often.
It just seemed sort of unusual.
The design, I mean.
And I wondered if it had
some sort of significance.
Very intricate.
It looks almost Slavic. Mm.
Who's the designer?
A woman named Kristina Vogl. Oh.
I know her.
She's quite the latest thing.
Loose fitting, billowing sleeves,
no corsets.
Very modern.
Not the sort of thing
your mother would wear.
Or anyone's mother, to be honest.
But the victim was wearing it?
Dressed in it specifically
to entertain her killer.
I don't know much about
Frau Vogl, Max, but...
But? There are rumours.
What rumours?
Well, she's an artist, after all.
They say she's not entirely normal.
Oh, Papa, how can you be
such a dreadful old gossip?
Well, you only have to look
at the designs, Leah.
Vogl's women look like they've
been stuffed into a paper bag.
Like she's disguising
their femininity.
It's called fashion.
But I don't suppose that word has
any meaning around here, does it?
Sure you don't still want
that job after all, Max?
Ha!
Well, thank you, Papa.
Any callers, Elena?
Erm, no, sir. Just the mail, there.
Ah, thank you. You can leave.
CHURCH BELLS RING
"If there is beauty in all things,
then surely death is among them.
"Consider the roses
cut from their stems
"at the exact moment of blooming.
"You are looking for me, I know.
"But maybe you have already met me.
Maybe I am closer than you think.
"I am the man who killed her."
"If there is beauty in all things,
then surely death is among them."
It's just as I thought, Oskar.
He finds death sexually alluring.
I don't understand.
Max, what is the connection? That's
why he killed her with the pin.
A deliberately tiny wound
so as not to spoil her beauty.
You think he's boasting?
You think that's why he wrote this?
I think he wants company
on his journey.
I think his madness
is a lonely place to live.
It was forwarded from the hospital
so he doesn't know where I live.
Not yet.
He followed the cases
that we've done together.
He thinks I'm a connoisseur
of murderers.
That I alone can appreciate
his gift.
Price of fame.
Mm.
Hold on.
Forwarded from the hospital?
Delivered by hand this morning.
Did you look at the postmark?
It's from a week ago.
That was before Adele Zeiler
was murdered.
That doesn't make any sense.
"I am the man who killed her."
Killed.
He says it like it's already
happened.
He's not talking about Adele.
There's another victim somewhere.
BELL RINGS
Yes?
How was your meeting at the station?
I'm sorry.
This has been difficult for you.
For us all.
Would you mind?
Dr Vogl said...
You work for me, not my husband.
Now, do as I ask.
Sending the little doggie
to run your errands.
And off he goes,
wagging his little tail.
He's loyal.
Always has been.
But loyalty is something
you will never appreciate.
HE SCOFFS
You know what I think?
I think secretly he wants to
dress up in one of your gowns.
That's why he hangs around here,
sniffing at your heels.
DOG BARKS
VENDORS CLAMOUR
Very nice stone.
CHILDREN SHOUT
Inspector. Fraulein Lindner.
Dr Liebermann.
How can I help you?
We are looking for
unexplained deaths.
Women. Young women who died
under mysterious circumstances.
The wound would have been
very small, back of the neck,
and it may not have been recorded.
Also, evidence of sexual congress
just prior to death. Gentlemen...
..do you have any idea how many
women are murdered in Vienna?
Well, if anyone can find her,
Fraulein.
Of course.
Just cases from the last few weeks.
Here's one. She...
..worked in a flower market.
Flower market?
"Consider the roses
cut from their stems."
"In the exact moment of blooming."
That's what he meant.
Do we have a name?
Mathilde Brunner.
When did she die?
The case is relatively new -
reported a week ago.
And the officer on duty?
Detective Taube.
Inspector Rheinhardt.
What can I do for you?
Mathilde Brunner.
You recall the case?
Didn't pay the rent on time,
landlord broke into her apartment,
found her dead.
Nothing more to it.
May I have a look at the file
a moment?
Thank you.
Doesn't mention the cause of death.
Nothing that we could find.
You didn't order a postmortem?
For a slum death?
Happens all the time.
So you closed the case on her?
The poor girl was ragged.
Thin, barely skin and bone.
We need to see that body.
What?
Dr Liebermann consults with us
on these matters.
Pauper's grave.
You may be lucky.
They might not have sealed it.
There. That one.
The white shroud.
We threw her in a couple
of days ago.
Are you sure you want to see her?
I won't be pretty.
Just help me get her out, would you?
OSKAR RETCHES
That her?
There it is.
Barely noticeable.
Puncture wound
at the back of the head.
Could be post mortem.
Could have happened in the
graveside. Don't be ridiculous.
She was murdered and you failed to
spot it. No. Now, wait a minute...
She was the first.
Adele Zeiler was next.
There will be more, Oskar.
This is just beginning.
Thank you, doctor. Welcome.
Fraulein.
Identical methods. We are looking
at a multiple murderer.
Hmm.
He's just beginning his...work.
And then there's this.
Ah.
Interesting.
Dr Liebermann has an admirer.
It's common among psychotic killers.
They feel the need to share their
plans. They want an audience.
Hmm.
So, erm...
..Taube...
..you didn't identify the wound?
No, sir.
Erm... Rather sloppy bit of work.
You can go.
You're no longer needed here.
So...
..Rheinhardt, you've done well.
I guess...
..you should take the reins
on both matters.
What's the matter with him?
What do you mean?
I've never seen him smile before.
This way, Inspector.
It's a real tragedy that she died.
Is it?
Yes, of course. She was behind
with the rent, two months.
It's just through here.
Fraulein.
RAT SQUEAKS
Brunner's apartment,
where I found her...
RAT SQUEAKS
Hey, out of my way girl. Come on!
Go home!
This way, Inspector.
Who are these men, Haas?
What are they doing here?
Police. Get into your apartment.
Ha!
I hope they've come to arrest you
for making us live in this pigsty.
I said get back in your apartment!
Damn troublemaker.
"She will never fade
like the dead blooms."
He was describing her death scene.
SHE HUMS
Death, you horror of nature,
ever moving runs your clock.
Poor girl. She was so sweet natured,
but also lonely.
Did you ever see a man with her?
There were always men.
Never the same one twice.
You think you'd recognise a face?
I doubt it.
Just in case...
..you think of anything else.
Inspector...
..you really want to arrest
some criminals?
That bastard who owns this place,
we pay him rent
and he does nothing for us.
Anything else I can help
you with, Inspector?
Yes.
The next time I come back here,
I want the place to be cleaned up.
There are rats running around
and children playing here.
These people pay next to nothing.
They give you what they can afford.
They are used to living in squalor.
This is how they were brought up.
And, I mean, what do you expect?
Most of them are immigrants.
Keeping people no better than
animals, I'd say that was a crime,
and my business is
to punish criminals
in whatever way I choose.
Do you understand?
Yes. Yes, what?
Yes, Inspector.
Don't disappoint me.
Your hat.
All right, I'm beginning
to see glimpses of him.
The picture is forming.
Hmm. All right, then.
What do you see?
Some time in his past,
perhaps in his youth,
he's witnessed death close at hand.
He's seen someone die and yet...
What?
It only rendered them
more beautiful.
That hardly narrows it down, Max.
Everyone at some time in their
life suffers a bereavement.
It doesn't explain what started
this spate of killings.
Something took him back
to that moment.
Re-awoke those feelings inside him.
What?
What if we play his game?
Encourage him to keep
making contact.
How would you plan to do that?
Well, I could give an interview
in the newspaper.
Some small acknowledgement.
A little flattery.
What if that spurs him into
his next act of violence?
Oskar, he's like a child who
wants attention from a parent.
If I can show him I understand,
then perhaps he'll talk to me.
The psychopathy of this killer
is unlike anything
I have ever encountered before.
He is obsessed by beauty...
Is that a new suit?
..and he wishes to preserve it,
like pinning a butterfly to a board.
Wait.
I'm here... I'm here.
Thank you, gentlemen.
So, what happened?
We're celebrating my first
article for the newspaper.
Oh! You sold it? Yes.
Oh, congratulations, darling.
It's a piece about the fashion
industry in Vienna. How exciting.
An interview with Kristina Vogl.
And it will be published on Monday.
Is she as odd as they say she is?
My father thinks
she's positively scandalous.
What's wrong?
I ran into your brother.
Ah, yes.
Erm, there was an incident
at the Vogl workshop.
Apparently a girl was killed there.
Yes, I heard. Terrible.
Max is assisting the police.
You know how he likes to make
a nuisance of himself.
THEY LAUGH
Anyway, let's celebrate.
To your new career. Prost. Prost.
Are you all right, Kristina?
Can't seem to find the inspiration.
You've had a shock.
My poor sweet.
It's only to be expected.
I thought we'd agreed.
I haven't been sleeping, Heinz.
Forgive me.
It's my fault.
I should've never prescribed it.
It's not your fault.
I sent Valentin to get it for me.
What is the matter?
There is something else,
something...
Something is wrong.
What is it?
I'm not sure.
Kristina.
The night that Adele died,
I think I might have seen something.
TENSE MUSIC
I should go to the police,
tell them everything.
What if you're mistaken?
You've had episodes before.
This wasn't an hallucination.
Mathilde Brunner.
Flower girl.
Worked at the flower market,
Hollandstrasse.
No family.
Not much income.
Living in a slum apartment.
Second victim, Adele Zeiler.
Worked as a seamstress.
Michaelerplatz.
They were both poor,
rather lonely, needy.
What's the connection?
They were both drawn to beauty.
The borrowed dress, the flowers.
Where would you go? Hmm?
If you were him?
If you were scouting the city
for victims?
Where would you hunt for them?
FAIRGROUND MUSIC
TENSE MUSIC
You like these pictures?
I think she's beautiful.
I wish I could be a model.
A pretty girl like you.
Would you like me to help you?
I could make you into a goddess.
I've thought about it, Heinz.
About what?
I have to talk to the police.
And tell them what?
You saw a shadow, or spectre?
The night that Adele died,
you were in no state
to be a credible witness.
Maybe I can end this.
Please, for the sake of
your reputation,
don't get involved.
All right.
Ready?
I suppose.
Where is the gown?
The gown?
Well?
Well.
So?
Good.
Please.
Keep going.
A man?
I saw him distinctly.
He was inside the house
that same evening.
Why didn't you come forward before?
I couldn't recall him at first.
The shock, you understand,
Inspector?
I've been ill.
Some medicines can produce
an hallucinogenic effect.
You think this man could
have been an illusion?
That's why you asked me
to come here?
WHISPERING: He had no face,
Inspector.
He was masked, featureless.
A black mask stretched
across his face.
No strings like it...
Like it was fused to his skin.
You understand why
I was unwilling at first
to trust my senses.
You touched my hair. Get off me!
Be quiet. You stink!
Let me go. I want to go home now.
Let me go.
All the herren wanted me
to eat them.
I didn't even swallow. I just put it
in my mouth for a moment...
THEY SHOUT OVER EACH OTHER
Inspector?
Oh, hello again.
Therese Thanhofer.
We met before.
Fraulein Brunner's apartment.
Of course. Of course.
Please, come in, Frau Thanhofer.
Oh...
Do you have any further
information for us?
Oh. I'm sorry.
Well...
..ah, have a seat.
Can I...
Haas, our landlord.
I don't know what you said to him.
I heard you having an argument.
Forgive me.
Sometimes I can be a little blunt.
I've come here to say...
..thank you.
Oh.
The apartments have been swept.
We've had builders in
to fix the roof.
We've even had a visit
from the rat-catcher.
A gift.
For you.
Hmm.
I'd be glad to accept that.
Ah...
Therese.
Therese.
Oskar.
I'll...be sure to come and call
next time I need someone threatened.
Oskar.
Interesting piece
in the newspaper, sir.
Yes, thank you.
What time's luncheon? I've got
back-to-back patients
this afternoon.
It's ready now. Huh.
Oh, and the gentleman,
he left, sir.
Gentleman?
He said he had an appointment.
There was no appointment.
Who was he?
He didn't give a name.
He knocked at the door.
I had my hands full.
What did he look like?
Didn't see his face.
But, erm...
..he left something for you.
Thank you.
ECHOING: He is obsessed by beauty
and he wishes to preserve it,
like pinning a butterfly to a board.
So he knows where you live, Max?
Mm.
Like a hound, a hunting dog
bringing gifts to its master,
begging for his approval.
I'll put a police guard
on the building.
He's bound to come back.
This is exactly what we wanted.
We wanted him to let his guard down.
Yes.
So what's troubling you?
What's troubling me is
your excitement.
Do you really have to put that thing
up there, on display?
He's really got to you, hasn't he?
Yes. I admit it.
He repels me.
Why don't you feel the same way?
You keep telling me you're eager
to get closer to him.
But when that happens, I will be
the one who has to protect you.
So I'm sorry but we're not going to
be able to print your article.
Not going to print it?
I'm sorry.
But you said that... I know,
and you can keep the money.
But all this scandal at
Mode Salon Vogl...
Look, people want to know
about the crime story
and not just fashion gossip.
This was my first piece.
And you write very well.
I'm sorry.
I know Max Lieberman.
We were close once.
Do you want me to go after
the crime story?
Yes.
Yes!
So you've come for a story?
He knows that I know you.
He wants details of the case.
Yes, well, I'm sorry, Clara,
but I can't help.
You gave an interview
to another paper?
Yes. Well, that...
It was different.
It wasn't the same.
I think I can be good at this.
I'm smart. I can write.
The only thing that's missing
is good contacts.
Ah. So that's what I've become,
is it?
Don't you think that maybe
I can be helpful to you?
I know the fashion world.
And you have to admit
it's completely alien to you.
These women,
all poor, all lonely.
They willingly let him
into their lives.
He gave them something
to further their dreams.
It seems to me you need
a woman's perspective.
Why can't we share information?
I tell you what I've learned at
the salon and you let me
into your investigation.
What do you think?
I can't be your passport
to a new life, Clara.
I wondered.
What?
I wondered if you'd come in
and sleep with me tonight.
It's been such a long time.
I thought that you no longer
wanted...
It's just...
..with everything,
with poor Adele dying...
..I'd like to feel safe,
just for one night.
Uh-huh.
Of course.
Well, I must say, I'm impressed.
It's a very comfortable
place you have here.
Yes. It'll be nice when
it's decorated.
RACHEL GASPS
Decorate...
What's wrong with it?
Ah... A bit sparse.
Thank you. It reminds me of
my chiropodist's surgery.
LEAH LAUGHS
My mother's chinoiserie
would look lovely on that sideboard.
Would you like it, Max?
No, thank you. I...
I don't want clutter.
It's hardly clutter!
It's expensive.
Not quite the fashion, though,
Mama, is it?
Ah! Of course, if Klimt
had made it...
Oh, well, that would be another
story altogether, ah?
TELEPHONE RINGS
Mm.
Who shall I say is calling?
Telephone, sir.
Yes. Who is it?
Wouldn't give a name.
Ah...
This is good. Mm.
Delicious.
I wonder if it's a man or a woman.
Mendel. Or could it be Amelia?
Max Lieberman.
MAN: Dr Lieberman,
I sent you a gift.
Did you receive it?
Yes. Thank you.
I don't need to ask if you
understood its significance.
I did, yes.
Do you think the apartment comes
with a policeman outside?
Should we get one?
RACHEL LAUGHS
LEAH: Oh, definitely!
You want me to understand you?
That's why you've contacted me.
You're a connoisseur of minds.
I imagine that mine would merit
a detailed examination.
Do you think he'll come
back to the table, though?
Sh! He's probably working.
What, on the telephone?
That's odd, isn't it?
I've read your book.
You said beauty can be
the source of an addiction.
Death excites you, doesn't it?
Death is a sublime experience.
Tell me about your first
taste of it.
I remember seeing a young girl
in a coffin.
She was so peaceful, so beautiful.
Like she had been kissed by angels.
You want to preserve these women at
their moment of greatest splendour,
fulfil their dreams of beauty,
make the dream go on forever.
Max, the food's getting cold.
Why don't you leave that?
I needed someone
to appreciate my work.
You think I admire what you do?
I'm a true artist.
I paint in death.
Soon there will be
another work of art.
Tell me how you're choosing.
Max, aren't you coming
back to the table?
DISCONNECT TONE
OSKAR: What did he sound like?
Young. I mean, the voice wasn't old.
Educated.
But you're certain that it was him?
Yes.
He didn't sound manic.
He was rather charming,
rather...reasonable.
So you got what you wanted?
You even started to kindle
a relationship.
Let's see if you can write his story
before I put some lead in him.
Don't joke about it, Oskar.
I wasn't kidding.
So you have an admirer too?
And a good deal less sinister
than yours.
Hmm.
The neighbour from
the apartment block.
Apparently, things improved.
And she brought you some...
..cake?
Yes, she did.
Baked it herself.
Hmm.
That's very interesting.
What?
Hmm? Oh, the jam.
It's unusually thick.
Don't tell me...
..you're making a psychological
profile of a cake?
Anyway, the sweetness,
I'd say she's...
..head over heels in love with you.
Well, do let me know if you want
any further analysis.
Free of charge, of course.
Go. Get your own cake.
SHE SCREAMS
There's someone there.
What? Where?
Someone was watching me
through the skylight.
I saw him!
All right. Here.
You wait here.
Stay there.
Be careful, please.
Wait!
The skylight was open.
But whoever was out there,
he's gone.
I saw him.
I swear. I swear!
You do believe me, don't you?
Please tell me that you believe me.
I'd better check upstairs,
check if Selma's all right.
Stay.
HE KNOCKS AT DOOR
Selma?
DRAMATIC MUSIC
Oh, my God.
My wife said she saw someone
climbing across the skylight.
She's downstairs. She...
She's in shock.
I'd better go to her.
Same method.
Exact same pattern.
Did she have intercourse before?
Semen stains on her legs, and...
..she's been beaten
by a blunt instrument.
Maybe this one changed her mind.
Didn't want to go through with it.
Maybe he knocked her out
to pacify her.
It doesn't quite fit, Oskar.
It's not his fantasy.
He wouldn't want to force
himself upon her.
He'd want her to submit willingly.
Well, maybe she fell.
Could the bruising have
been postmortem?
No.
Why come back here?
What is it about this Mode Salon?
Inspector? Haussmann?
I...
I think I saw him, Inspector.
I think I saw her killer.
What?
I woke up during night and I went
downstairs to the kitchen,
and in the study I glimpsed
what I assumed was a mannequin.
But maybe...
Go on.
Now I know there was an intruder,
maybe I saw him, her killer.
But I can't be sure.
What did he look like?
I think he was...wearing a mask.
Yeah. No, I'm sure he was
wearing a mask.
You saw him again?
Yes, through the skylight.
Frau Vogl, I'm a doctor. I can
recognise certain symptoms in you.
Constriction of the pupils,
dysphoria...
I suffer terrible pains,
Dr Liebermann.
My husband, he prescri...
Prescribes you laudanum.
You've suffered hallucinations
as a result of
the quantities you've taken?
Yes.
You understand the pressure of
my business, the constant
need to summon up new ideas.
This is why you were initially
reluctant to come forward,
why you doubt yourself?
Heinz, my...
..my husband, he explained that
there was a chance...
A chance that I was mistaken.
Never mind what your husband says.
Valentin saw him exactly the way
you described him.
And you saw him twice. Yes.
Trust yourself.
Did you notice the bed? Hmm?
She sleeps alone.
They have separate bedrooms.
I see. So there goes his alibi.
There's something about
this photographer, Rainmayr.
I swear I recognise him
from somewhere.
Very nice.
KNOCK AT DOOR
Fraulein?
Inspector, forgive me.
Is everything all right?
I wondered if I could beg
a moment of your time?
Please.
You said you were trying to find
some connection between the women,
the first two victims?
Yes.
What have you found?
Maybe nothing.
I took this...
..off the body of Adele Zeiler.
Mm-hm. No relatives, so no-one's
come to claim it.
I ran a few extra tests.
Oh?
It's definitely silver.
Odd, don't you think?
A poor girl like that, able to
afford expensive jewellery?
It must be second hand.
How can you be sure?
There was an inscription inside.
But it's been removed.
Oh. Forgive me, Fraulein,
but how exactly does this help us?
A poor girl buys herself a piece
of second-hand jewellery.
What does that tell us?
I took...
..this off the body of
Mathilde Brunner.
All the original markings
have been filed off as well.
Oh.
There is a second-hand jewellery
market near the Prater.
Oh, my God.
TENSE MUSIC
This is our connection.
You recognise these?
The inscriptions have been
filed off them,
like the others on your stall here.
So what?
People prefer it.
Leopoldstadt Police.
It's not illegal, selling
second-hand jewellery.
Do you remember anything about
the women who bought them?
Could be any one of 1,000 women.
People pick up antiques
on the cheap.
Well, has anyone been
hanging around,
perhaps chatting to the women
who come here?
Hey, I mind my own business.
Listen, three women are dead,
brutally murdered.
All we know they have in common
is that two of them came here
to your stall and purchased
rings from you.
Look, I don't know anything.
Tell us about the rings.
How do you come by them?
Someone brings them to me.
Someone?
I don't know his name.
We split the money.
And where does he acquire them?
The stall owner told us someone
brings them to him to sell.
A man who works for
a funeral director - Schapp.
Inspector, this is preposterous!
Not at all. It makes perfect sense.
Someone here has decided to make
some money on the side, selling
jewellery stolen from corpses.
Look, I refuse to believe...
We're not here to investigate
the thefts, Herr Schapp.
That's not our concern.
He started hanging around
the jewellery store, meeting women,
women who then became
murder victims.
A man obsessed by
the nature of death,
the nature of beauty.
He calls himself an artist.
Who paints the corpses here?
Where is Sprenger?
These gentlemen need to see him.
I let him go early.
He was dressed up smart.
It looked like he had a date.
Hey, what the hell?!
When was she last here?
Who?
Don't play games with me.
He hangs around here to meet women
after he sold you the stolen pieces.
The woman!
The last woman he spoke to.
She's a waitress at the tavern,
at the Bacchus tavern.
They have an address for her.
Here you are, my handsome prince.
SHE MOANS
DRAMATIC MUSIC
SHE SCREAMS
Get away from her.
Dr Liebermann,
I've been waiting such a long time
to talk to you in person.
Shame it couldn't be under
more salubrious circumstances,
Herr Sprenger.
You understand, don't you?
I'm no monster.
It's a gift I'm giving them.
Those three women aren't
beautiful, Sprenger.
They're food for worms now.
WOMAN CRIES
You're going to pay for
what you've done to them.
Go! Go. Go, Max.
SHE CRIES
Markus Sprenger.
Worked as an embalmer,
Schapp and Sons.
And how did you track him down?
How did you find him?
He was careless,
making money on the side,
stealing jewellery from corpses.
Oh. Interesting.
Sold the jewellery to
a dealer in the marketplace
and then watched the stall.
Some of the girls bought
rings from there.
That's how he found them.
Well...
Well, congratulations.
Excellent result.
We shall call a press conference.
So where is he?
Oh, no.
HE SIGHS
Please, please, don't tell me...
Elena?
I need you to run an urgent
errand for me.
These need to be delivered to
the hospital tonight,
and tell the officer
on the door he can leave.
Sir, I... It's fine.
Trust me.
TENSE MUSIC
Doctor.
Herr Sprenger.
Good evening.
Did you know that I would visit you?
I thought perhaps you might.
I've...
..sent my housekeeper away.
Cleared my schedule.
So...
..when did it begin?
This...compulsion.
I want to understand you.
Tell me everything.
I suppose when I was a boy,
13-years-old.
A girl that I loved,
she was taken from me suddenly.
And how did that ch-child...
..become a killer?
Mathilde.
The first victim.
And you met her at the jewellery
store by the Prada.
Her face.
She was so like her.
Like my angel who died.
And then after you killed her...
..you got a taste for it.
You said "three victims"
when we met before.
It wasn't three.
I came back here
to tell you that, Doctor.
Mathilde,
Adele, Selma.
I don't know her.
Selma. Who is she?
Are you saying you didn't kill her?
No.
You have made a mistake.
The method of murder was
exactly the same.
Someone is walking my shadow,
someone climbing on my shoulders,
using my reputation!
Quite certain the killer
has copied you.
To me, death is art.
I won't have some amateur
soiling my name!
I see.
So that's why you've come here
tonight.
You are my messenger.
You will proclaim what I have done
in your next book.
I want you to tell the world
I had nothing to do
with this final murder.
Will you do that?
I will not be a part of your plan.
What?
I cannot deny that you fascinate me,
but...
..I will not participate
in your game.
But you are the only one who
truly understands me.
Those women died, Herr Sprenger,
their lives cut tragically
short by you.
I cannot tell the world you are
anything other than a murderer.
There is no glory in what you do.
You know what this is?
They use it in the mortuary.
Herr Sprenger...
I imagined meeting you.
I didn't imagine
it would go this way.
What are you waiting for?!
Put down the knife, Herr Sprenger.
You don't think there's
any art in what I'm doing?
Then the session's over!
How long were you planning to wait?
I thought you found him fascinating.
You told me you found peering
into his mind captivating.
I was just giving you a chance
for further study.
There's not much study I can do now
there's a bullet in his brain.
Well, you heard what he said.
One murder unsolved.
This isn't over.
Selma was beaten senseless,
remember?
That's what was different about her.
Whoever killed her, they felt
the need to pacify her.
Also...
..there was no ring here.
What is it?
Silver emulsion.
Someone burnt a photograph.
Mm.
The photographer, Rainmayr.
I know where I've seen him
before, Max.
Come.
We want to know about Selma.
I...didn't know her that well.
I found traces of silver
emulsion in her room,
a burnt photograph.
You and me, we met before.
Five years ago.
Thank you. You can go.
Ladies.
You were dealing in
pornographic pictures.
You look fancier now.
You changed your name,
but I know you.
You want me to get a warrant
to search your home?
What pictures would we find
hidden away there, hm?
So why the burnt photograph?
People pay well for the stuff
I provide.
Respectable people.
People in business.
Even some policemen.
Who was in it?
Was it Selma?
Who, then?
Come forward!
I took her picture once,
a long time ago.
But...
What?
We...
We were laughing.
Selma and me.
We got drunk in a room one night,
and that's when I told her.
What?
Someone who posed for me
in the past.
I had the old photograph.
I showed it to her.
Selma couldn't believe it.
Herr Rainmayr,
who was in the image?
Markus Sprenger was killed
last night whilst we were trying
to apprehend him.
So...
..it's over.
So it would appear.
We just came here to inform you.
Thank you, Inspector.
Before we leave,
would it be possible to take one
last look at the antique dresses?
You see, my family's
in the fabric business,
and I'd love a chance
to examine the collection.
Of course.
Be careful.
That's very delicate.
There are no masks in
your collection.
I... I believe they were used
to provoke sexual desire.
What's all this about, Doctor?
You weren't always quite so
successful, were you?
Your life was once
a great deal harder.
The painting of Aschenputtel...
..the girl in rags who becomes
a princess...
..that's you, isn't it?
That's your story.
I suppose.
I've worked my way up.
Certainly, I've been lucky.
Not all the time.
Luda Rainmayr photographed you.
You posed naked for him
when you were younger.
And he kept the image of you.
No, that's absurd.
What happened after Selma
took the photo?
Did she tried to sell it
back to you,
the mistress for whom
she'd acted as a drudge?
Kristina...
What is this all about?
I swear, I don't know.
Rainmayr told us.
You gave him a job just to
buy his silence.
But he was indiscreet.
He told Selma.
He showed her the photograph
and she took it.
And that's the reason
she's dead now.
You told me it was your mission
to emancipate women.
That these dresses were a reminder
of the suffering women endured
in the name of fashion.
Where's the mask?
We can tear the place apart
to find it.
Women used to paint their faces
in lead white.
Ended up with poison in
their bloodstream.
They put drops of belladonna
in their eyes just to make them
sparkle, and ended up blind.
This mask is just another
one of life's cruel tortures.
The painful price of beauty.
Rich women wore it to shield
their faces from the sun.
Simply to have pale skin.
You claimed you saw Adele's
killer wearing a mask.
Later, you gave us a description
of Selma's killer.
You saw him,
through the skylight.
But it was all a sham.
YOU wore the mask that night.
YOU killed Selma.
And Valentin saw you.
You just wanted us all to believe
that the same person
perpetrated all three murders.
She was a disgusting leech.
I should have fired her.
She was useless, lazy.
Tell us what happened.
She got hold of the photograph, yes.
Something I'd done years ago.
Another lifetime.
Before all this,
before everything.
She taunted me with it.
So you paid her?
But it was never enough.
I thought she would leave me in
peace, but...
..she hated me so much.
She said she was going to leak it
to the press to...destroy me.
How did you fake the sexual liaison?
Kristina, please...
Heinz, my love.
Please tell me what's...
..what's going on.
Frau Vogl,
I'm arresting you for
the murder of Selma Wirth.
DOOR OPENS
Fraulein Weiss, sir.
Max.
I've brought you something.
Congratulations, Clara.
Thank you.
I hope this is going to be
the beginning of a partnership.
KNOCK AT DOOR
I thought you might want this back.
Thank you.
Erm, come in and have some supper.
My daughter, Hannah.
This is Inspector Rheinhardt.
Oskar.
You're not bothered by
children, I hope?
No, I'm not bothered by children.
I'm just in the kitchen.
Hannah, be good for the gentleman.
She likes stories -
if you wanted to make
yourself popular.
Well, um...
This is a story about a poor little
girl who became a princess.
Once upon a time,
in a land far, far away,
there was a kingdom...