Who's the buyer?
Professor at the university, Riley McDane.
Did your daughter ever mention one of her professors, a man named, uh, McDane?
A beast. A devil.
You're responsible!
David, David, what's wrong?
Your ideas killed her.
He's taking on some consultants, Sam. Tough words. I can deliver, but I'll need a bigger commission.
Mark, call the airport for me. I want to borrow one of those devices they use to detect concealed weapons.
I want it attached to the cemetery gates.
Pollution.
Pollution is merely a symptom of a disease that we might call pretense.
This pretense is a derivative of mankind's mindless wanderings over the face of this once beautiful place.
It's a place where you can't see the truth.
Where you can't see the truth.
It's a place where you can't see the truth.
And then we see that it's quite a place where you can't hear the 살� distributions of the weapon...
And then we see that it's quite a place where you can't...
And then we see that it's quite a place where you can't hear the造
threat and evasion for statesmanship.
So we turn our eyes heavenward and we look for a sign.
What we discover is that void, that void that's as vast
as the emptiness of our lives.
How is it that we're adrift, that we're lost,
that we're standing in fear and trembling
like pitiful children as we witness the crumbling
of the institutions around us on all sides.
We see them floundering in impotence.
We see them muttering and stuttering
and stumbling onward toward that uncertain future
that inevitably becomes paralyzed by its own inertia.
So what are we to do with this humankind, this mankind?
What are we to make of this species,
this species whose ultimate victim appears to be itself?
See you Wednesday.
You're under arrest, section 288, Corrupting the Youth.
Are you ready to get down here?
How are you, Raleigh? Welcome home.
Dr. McDane?
Excuse me. Yes, Laura.
Do you believe the drug experience has any validity?
Well, I believe that all experience has a validity.
You've been reading Castanen, have you?
But is it an answer?
I mean, when faith and even reason fail,
well, what is the answer?
Well, I'm not sure there is an answer, Laura.
I think the idea is to find the right question
that leads you to it.
I do believe that the narcotics tend to isolate you, though.
The Youth of America.
Want some lunch? Sure.
You gonna buy? No, you buy.
Oh, no, no, no, you buy. No, you buy.
No, you buy. This is your school. You buy.
It's not that I don't love you. I do.
You must believe that.
I'm doing something I have to do.
You've done all you can.
My only regret is that I'll never see you again.
Please believe me. It's better this way.
Better this way.
Thank you for everything.
Thank you.
Hello, Dr. Lutting. Janet.
You seem to have quite a following.
Well, shouldn't they like me?
I'm the only philosopher they've got.
Well, I get the feeling that there's more to it
than the simple appreciation of your ideas.
Oh, you do, huh?
Might be.
Now, I'll see you tonight, huh?
I'm madly in love with her.
Happily married man.
Excuse me.
You did it! You're responsible!
David, what's wrong?
Your ideas killed her.
It's Laura.
Your so-called philosophies led her astray, Professor!
You can't talk your way out of this, McDame!
You've got juice to pay weight and seed!
As I said.
Yes, of course.
No, no, no, no problems at all.
We seem to have the world really under control.
For the moment, at least.
Mm-hmm.
Talk to you soon.
Gesundheit!
Whatever that means.
Want some aspirin, Chief?
Oh, I think I'll survive without it.
Are you sure you're not coming down with a Hong Kong flu?
You know, half the town's down with it.
Hong Kong flu, Asian flu, why does everybody need to have an exotic disease these days?
Irritability is one of the symptoms.
In that case, it's obvious my health is perfect.
Your health wouldn't be any other way.
What's that up to?
Spending the evening with his friend McDame.
What does that name flash alight?
Well, they're old friends, roomed together at college.
No, that is not why.
Maybe you're familiar with his book, Death, Reality, and the American Dream.
Yeah, that's heavy going.
Didn't get past the third chapter.
What's it about?
Oh, life, choice, responsibility, honesty, the whole ball of wax.
Have you read it, Chief?
Well, it's a copy around some place.
All I know about the man is that one of his students has died, and Ed wants us involved.
I'm sorry.
Sham.
Where are you?
How are you, Sham?
Different. You wouldn't recognize me.
It's not like the old days.
What do you want?
I've got something for you, if you're interested.
I'm interested, Sham.
How much is it?
Same as it used to be.
What are the terms?
F-O-B.
Who's the buyer?
Professor at the university, Riley McDame.
M-A-C-D-A-N-E.
Make the delivery as soon as you can, huh?
There came to me the blinding insight.
I pursued my design, moved, won, and then wed, the rector's only daughter.
And I've been eating well ever since.
He led me to believe that he wished to acquire the rudiments of civilization.
And I've spent the last three years dragging him, kicking and screaming in that direction ever since.
And you have done well.
Considering the heroic proportions of your plans.
I'll get it.
Hello?
One moment, please.
Darling?
It's for you.
Thank you.
Hello?
Yes, darling.
All the essays I do day after, that's right, day after tomorrow.
Again.
All right.
The end of the week?
That's all right.
All right.
Bye-bye.
Give me.
One of McDame's merry maidens, I assume?
Your assumption is correct.
You know, Ed, I married a cult figure.
I should have realized that that would happen.
After all, he does have a certain churlish appeal.
You don't understand.
I'm simply attempting to motivate their minds to self-discovery.
To learn about themselves and the world.
You know, darling, I think that sometimes you overdo that a little bit.
What does that mean?
Just that some of your students invest you with extraordinary power.
And at times that can be rather dangerous.
I'm sorry.
It's...
It's a...
...clinic girl.
It's depressing.
Excuse me.
It's my fault.
I hadn't realized that that Kaleidi girl's death had upset him so much.
You know, sometimes I invest him with extraordinary powers, too.
He'll probably amble on down to the local pub.
Brewed about it.
He'll probably be a good friend.
Brewed about it over a glass of beer until it falls into perspective.
Why don't you go down and try and cheer him up a little, Ed?
Eh?
Here.
Let me get you some wraps.
Back in a minute.
MUSIC
I think we can dismiss the notion that what occurred was an accident.
Mr. McDane, can you add anything to Ed's description of the car?
No, nothing substantial. It was too dark.
And you saw nothing that might be of help, nothing else?
No, the impression that I was about to witness my own death was so overwhelming.
You think of anybody who would want to run you down?
Well, I don't have any enemies, if that's what you mean.
A few critics.
Riley, that's not exactly true.
Some people have been quite savage in their opposition to Riley's ideas.
Like that young man this afternoon.
Oh, Rosarcus Boy is just...
You know, very bright.
We can't eliminate him as a possible suspect.
We've made arrangements for you to spend the next few days at a hotel under a different name until we straighten this out.
I'll be with you.
Do you think that's a bit ridiculous?
I mean, that should reshuffle my life because of what was all probably was a childish prank.
As far as we're concerned, it's attempted murder.
Well, I didn't wish to go into hiding simply because my ideas provoke controversy.
How can you be so pig-headed?
Your ethics are one thing, but you do have other responsibilities.
To me, for example.
Well, you're right, but my objection, however, is nonetheless valid.
I'm going to agree with that, and I'm sorry I have to ask you to compromise your principles.
Ed, we'll talk in the morning.
Good night.
Good night, Miss McDame.
Thank you.
Good night.
Chief, drink this and be sure to take these.
Vitamins.
I suppose they can hurt.
No, Fran, I want you to find out what you can about the Coletti girl.
Maybe a connection between her death and what happened tonight.
Mark, we've got busy time ahead.
Sure you're filled up to working?
Absolutely.
What's that?
Instant chicken soup. Great for colds.
I think I prefer the symptoms to the cure.
You're playing Clara Barton, throwing a little Julia child, won't you?
I'm sure there's a place we can get some real soup.
My name is Robert Ironside. I spoke to Mrs. Coletti this morning. We're expected.
I'm Mrs. Coletti. Please.
What do you want here?
Guido, these are the policemen I told you about. Please, be comfortable.
We're sorry to intrude. We want you to know you have our deepest sympathy.
We're trying to discover all we can about what happened to your daughter and why.
We need your help.
These things we do not understand.
We try to make a good life for her to see that she's happy.
I don't know.
Perhaps we did wrong.
I doubt that very much.
This, sir...
This she left for us. Maybe it will help you.
Thank you. We'll return it as soon as possible.
Did your daughter ever mention one of her professors, a man named, uh, McDane?
A beast! A devil!
Guido, we do not know this man, but to Laura he was important.
Her feelings for him, they were very strong.
My husband believes that he was to blame.
But you will hear on the tape, she asks that this man speak at her grave.
Because she's taken her own life, no priest will say the words.
This is the last thing she asked us to do for her.
Please excuse me.
If there is anything we can do, Mr. Colletti, please let us know.
You policemen, can you bring my girl back?
I apologize.
I have a great hurt inside me.
And it makes me want to hurt others.
I begin to hate myself for what life is.
Do you understand?
Yes, I understand.
Please say goodbye to your wife for us.
If you've got any more like that scheduled, I resign.
When we get back, tell the coroner's office I want a complete autopsy on Laura Colletti.
Check, then you can resign.
Hello? Hello?
Hello?
Suppose you tell me what you're doing here.
Suppose I don't feel like it.
Well, then I have to arrange for your transportation to the local police station.
Officer Belding. San Francisco police.
A girl died in this room, and you don't belong here.
I suppose you have a search warrant?
As a matter of fact, I do.
However, I wasn't expecting to find a burglar.
Laura gave me a key.
Her roommate can tell you.
Well, she can't tell me that right now, or why you're hiding.
I gave her a good luck charm a couple of months ago.
I wanted it back, okay?
You're David Rosakis.
What if I am?
Well, you are next on my list.
What were you doing last night between the hours of 8 and 10?
Oh, wow. The third degree already.
I've just about had it with you.
Your friend is dead.
Yesterday you made some threatening remarks to Professor McDane.
And last night someone tried to run him over.
Now, you better answer my questions or call your lawyer,
because you'll be in jail in 10 minutes.
What kind of car were they driving?
The campus security department, please.
I drive a 68 Volks.
I was with some friends last night. They'll tell you.
Cancel the call, will you?
I don't need them.
Get out of here, David.
Officer Belding and I were just getting into things.
You can take it someplace else.
Miss Barrett.
I know why you're here.
David has convinced the police that Professor McDane is responsible for Laura's suicide.
Well, David's always hated him. He hates him because he's jealous.
You're bananas.
You...
You're trying to railroad an innocent man, and I won't let you.
Riley McDane is the most brilliant thinker of the 20th century.
Miss Barrett, I'm not interested in railroading anyone.
I'll credit your rudeness to the emotional shock of Laura's death.
Believe me, you will answer my questions when I get back.
You will answer my questions when I ask them.
I'll be in touch with you.
101.2.
I wonder if college professors get fan mail.
You should be in bed.
You didn't answer my question.
The sale isn't going to be as easy as we thought, sir.
I spent all morning trying to get in touch with the buyer,
but his whole routine has been changed.
He doesn't even live where he used to.
He's taken on some consultants, sir.
Tough ones. I can deliver, but I'll need a bigger commission.
Have I ever let you down?
Okay.
As soon as I set up the conference, I'll let you know.
You send the additional $5,000. Deal?
Okay, we'll be talking.
I'm sorry.
You're terrific.
You're always there when I come home.
Come sit down and have some coffee.
I can tell you that.
You work too hard and you press too much.
So? If I don't work, how do we live like this?
What's the matter?
I don't know.
Sometimes I get these pains.
Should I call the doctor?
No, no, no, no. I just pulled a muscle on the job. That's all.
You've got a foreman, men working for you.
You own the business. Let them do the heavy work.
What do they care? You've got to keep an eye on them.
I can do as much work as any two men.
That's the day you put me six feet under.
I'll see if Sonny's up yet.
Reggie, it's a new day.
No arguments, okay?
Who wants to argue?
Sonny?
Hey, hey, what's the matter?
No good morning or nothing?
Good morning.
That's better.
How many times are you going to keep reading this piece of junk?
It's not junk.
All right, all right. It's not junk. It's not junk.
You tell me.
I mean, what do you really know about life from this?
Not much, but enough to know that I have lived my own.
Sure, that's the way we all start out when we're young.
But there's more to all of it than just being yourself.
I mean, other people count, too.
Of course they do.
But the way to make other people really count is for me to confront what I am first.
I have to find out who I am, past and present, and face it honestly, really honestly.
Then everything else falls into place.
Now, listen, listen, Sonny, baby.
That sounds like a lot of intellectual crap.
Don't go fooling yourself.
There are things we know in our bones, bigger things, things a person knows that you don't have to think about.
Like, come on, you know what I mean.
You sent me to college.
If you don't want me to think, you should have sent me to a convent or a secretarial school or something.
All right, think, think.
Go ahead and think.
Think about how that precious Mcdane of yours has got you all twisted up.
He happens to have untwisted me.
He's not afraid of ideas or truth.
He makes the world come alive.
Alive, huh?
Like your friend Laura Coletti's alive, huh?
Riley had nothing to do with that.
Riley?
Riley, is it?
Sonny, listen, if that degenerate has laid a hand on...
You mean something else than just a hand, don't you, Daddy?
Let me tell you this.
You're three years too late to worry about that.
As for Riley, I'd make it with him on the steps of City Hall at high noon if he asked me, but he won't.
He's not that kind.
He's not your kind.
Oh, Sam, Vinnie, I just wanted you to know I'm gonna make the sale tomorrow, Thursday.
Well, it was just a question of finding out when I could see him for a few minutes, you understand?
You remember our deal?
Okay, fine.
You know where to send it.
Thank you. You'll let me down for the phone, mister.
Get a job.
Here it is, Chief.
The department keeps a correspondence file for all of its professors.
In the short time that he's been at the university, McDane has drawn more mail than anyone else.
Not all of it.
Favorable, I'm sure.
Can any of the letters be interpreted as real threats?
I'll have to let you know after I read them.
I spent most of the day checking on his students.
Progress?
Nothing solid.
He has a total of 57 students in all of his classes.
All but three of them have alibis for Monday nights.
All right, follow up on them.
No, no, let Mark do that.
See if any names in there match your list of students.
Chief, I had times on this.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Thank you.
Coroner's office.
Laura Colletti had a dangerously high white blood count and a large liver,
apparently on the verge of mononucleosis.
As up to the lack of energy, depression, suicidal impulses would not exactly be inconsistent for someone in that condition.
A victim of her own body chemistry.
I'm beginning to see how McDane's philosophy might be threatening.
Threatening?
Only to people hiding from themselves.
Chief, listen to this.
Gentlemen, I am deeply concerned with the effects of Professor Riley McDane's teachings.
Since she has been one of his students, my daughter and my husband have become enemies.
A teacher shouldn't be allowed to break up a family.
Please tell him the terrible thing he is doing.
It's signed by Mrs. Reggie Barrett.
Sonia Barrett and Laura Colletti were roommates.
How's the name spelled?
B-A-R-R-O-T.
Barrett. Barrett. Barrett. Barrett.
It mean something?
Maybe.
The funeral is a well-publicized event.
Perfect opportunity for our unknown suspect.
But a murderer has to have a weapon.
Mark, call the airport for me.
Are we going somewhere?
I want to borrow one of those devices they use to detect concealed weapons.
I want it attached to the cemetery gates.
Roger.
Sooner the better.
Tinfoil.
But in the context of our discussion, how do you feel, Sonia?
Powerful.
Yolanda, how do you feel?
Really strange. Helpless.
What's your conclusion?
Well, the money gave her power.
And I wanted to obey her just because she had it.
Well, thank you. Sit down. Thank you.
This little piece of paper holds a very definitive symbolic significance.
The things that we believe are soon to become are fatal.
If mankind is to advance beyond its present state,
I'd say it would be largely dependent on whether he becomes the master of his symbols or remains their slave.
Judging from your reaction, I must conclude that you all have the mentality of slaves.
Well, actually, it was a little sleight of hand.
That's a fake one-dollar bill. It's not the real one hundred.
You're a fraud.
Well, perhaps so, Mr. Azagas, but not in terms of my pyrotechnic demonstration, would you think?
The fact, the point was, Mr. Azagas, that things that we believe are soon to become.
You can rationalize your way out of that. You can rationalize your way out of anything.
But that's because you're empty. You've got nothing to give.
Well, that's rather a severe judgment on your part, wouldn't you say?
Yeah, but it's true. You're like a machine.
You've got no soul. You don't even believe in caring.
As far as what I believe in, it's irrelevant.
But what you believe in, Mr. Azagas, which makes me think of something that's chaotic and prejudicial and contradictory,
which is a result of your experience, is pertinent.
That is pertinent, Mr. Azagas.
Now, if we choose together to explore this chaos and throw away all those concepts that should and do crumble under close scrutiny,
well, then we might very well find ourselves in a world that is very fine and clear,
a world in which, if you will, we might lay the foundation for a house of intellect,
a foundation that is made of honesty and openness, and then confrontation.
We'll see you Monday. Thank you.
Good night.
Mrs. Barrett? Yes?
My name is Robert Ironside. I'm with the San Francisco police.
May I talk with you for a moment?
Well, there's nothing wrong. I'm just looking into some complaints registered against Professor McDane.
You wrote a letter to the head of his department.
Yes. Come in. My husband and I were just talking. Please.
Reggie, these men have come about for Professor McDane.
We don't even know the man.
Your wife wrote a letter to the college expressing certain complaints about him.
What letter?
Just a letter, that's all. When you were so upset about Sonia and everything.
You shouldn't have done that. The family is my business. Nobody else is mine. I take care of my own.
I'm sure you do. I have just a few questions.
I'm not the answer man. You come to the wrong place making waves I don't need. You know where the front door is.
Somebody tried to kill the professor. That's why I'm here. Your privacy is just going to have to take a back seat for a while.
My wife wrote the letter? You talk to her. I've got to go to work. I'll be at the job in a minute.
Forgive him. He's upset.
Professor McDane, is he the problem?
I don't know. But ever since Sonia started taking classes with that man, everything here has been different.
Have you talked to the professor?
No, I couldn't do that.
But you did write a letter.
Maybe I wrote to the wrong person. I don't know. I had to do something for my husband.
Everything we ever worked for suddenly... I had to do something.
That's him, no question.
Rogerio. Sam. He ran a construction company in LA about 20 years ago. Mob front.
But the real business was nobody ever found out.
But all he disappeared when the FBI closed in.
Went straight and changed his name?
And his lifestyle.
You think he tried to kill McDane?
Well, Mark, that wasn't the way it worked in the old days. The big boys never did their own dirty work.
A hit, Matt?
Good one. Nobody ever found out who he was.
It was always the same set of circumstances. A public place, a racetrack, zoo, theater...
Funeral?
Whatever. He'd make his hit, and there would be some sudden and unexplained disaster.
Fire, an explosion, something. He was ruthless and efficient.
It was difficult to know who his victim was, and who was simply a random casualty.
Mark, you have a book on buried treasure?
I don't think so.
You'll keep dragging your tail like that, I'll let you off to leap here!
Hey, the contract talks. The local 475 broke off, boss.
Looks like we're up the creek in two, three days. They aren't even meeting again until Saturday.
What's the date?
The 30th. Thursday.
Keep your eye on him.
Amidia!
Where's Sonny?
Didn't she say where she was going?
What time is the funeral?
Oh dear God, no!
We've all come together in this place, each for his own reason.
We all join in a ritual that is as old as civilization itself, that of the banding together in face of the unknown.
Some of us have come here to mourn. I'm not one of those.
Perhaps I will later. For now I stand in awe. I stand humble in the face of power whose magnitude so overwhelms human understanding.
I speak of life and death.
Sonny, come on, we've got to leave here. We've got to get out of here.
If you say one more word before this is over, I'm going to scream. I swear it.
Not know what either is. It is a curse to know our end. To know that time is merely a prelude to the confrontation of the final mystery.
It is only through death and life.
Hold it right there!
Watch me, I'll kill them all.
Wrong. We found it.
Now it's dropped. Now! Now down on your stilts.
Hands behind your back. Now you don't move. Don't move.
We are the reality in which we exist. We are richer not poorer in our experience. And we should nourish that richness that Laura gave us the opportunity to grasp. And we should celebrate that gift that is as close and as precious as the memory of other.
Major. If it found a concealed bomb and a Barrett rifle, I figured it ought to find that quarter that I lost somewhere last week.
Don't bounce in the bed. You neither.
Oh, Chief, try this, please.
I feel fine. Whatever it is, I do not need it.
We got two indictments. Barrett and his hit man.
Don't bounce in the bed. You neither.
Barrett hasn't been connected with the mob for years. He had a new identity, respectability. Why kill McDain?
Sonia's thesis may answer that question. McDain's insistence on confrontation and honesty led her into real self-examination and a hard book at her past, her family.
Most importantly, her father. Things were going so well for him. Perhaps that's what made it all the more difficult for him to give up old patterns, old ways of thinking.
You think we should?
Depends. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
That sounds a little inconsistent.
Consistency, to paraphrase Emerson, is the hobgoblin of small minds.
Maybe you'd like to paraphrase hobgoblin. No? How about small minds?