(thunder crashing)
(phonograph powers up)
(slow ragtime jazz playing)
(mechanical creaking)
(chimes tinkling)
(thunder crashes)
(classical music playing)
When is this thing over?
Shh. Be quiet.
If I fall asleep, wake me before you leave.
(whistling tune)
(footfalls)
Who's that?
MICKI: The second violin.
What's her name?
How should I know?
(clanking)
You're right.
Actually, this isn't so bad.
(loud breathing)
(music builds)
(loud screeching)
(lush romantic passage)
(loud screeching continues)
(music builds)
(door hinges creaking)
(dramatic conclusion)
(groaning)
(joints cracking)
(accompanying orchestra perfectly)
(playing rapidly)
(cheering and applause)
Bravo!
Bravo! Bravo!
Excuse me. Sorry.
(bravos continue)
(animated party chatter)
Excuse me. Excuse me.
(man speaking Italian)
Excuse me. Yes?
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your concert tonight.
Oh, well, thank you.
I've never been to a classical concert before,
but you were just great.
My name's Ryan Dallion. Leslie Reins.
You're very flattering, Mr. Dallion.
I never thought I'd like this kind of music,
but that part where the second violin came in was just... haunting.
I've really got to go.
Do you think may...
Good night.
(ambulance siren wailing)
(garbled police radio transmission)
(gurney wheels clacking)
JACK: Micki, what makes you so sure someone was killed?
Well, I saw them carry a body into the ambulance,
and it was all covered.
Besides, there were police crawling all over the place when we left.
Jack... which album would I listen to
if I want to get an education in classical violin?
Since when are you interested in classical music?
Oh, he's not interested in music.
He's interested in a certain musician.
I see.
It's culture.
She's an artist.
(playing classical piece)
(violin playing classical piece in distance)
(violin continues playing in distance)
(violin music grows louder)
(violin music stops)
(gasps) Phil!
Leslie, what's the matter? Are you all right?
Yes. I'm fine.
Leslie!
Yes?
Hi. Ryan Dallion.
I met you the other night after your concert.
Oh, yes. I remember.
How are you?
Fine.
It's good to see you again.
What brings you here?
I was just looking at some records.
I guess your performance the other night really inspired me.
Good.
Maybe you could tell me what I should be listening to
over a cup of coffee.
Thanks, no.
Okay, maybe later. How about dinner?
I'm afraid not.
I've got rehearsal tonight.
Okay. Maybe some other time.
Maybe.
(clock ticking)
(violin and piano playing slow, sad melody) Here you go, Ryan.
Who is it?
Janos Korda, one of the greatest musicians
and composers of our generation.
Died about five years ago.
How did he die?
Auto accident.
Listen to this.
(music continues)
Jack, the date on this record, it's last year.
There's a new recording released every year
around the anniversary of his death.
Maybe he's got a ghost writer.
(chuckles): No, it's his music all right.
It has to be from unreleased tapes, hmm?
(soft chuckle)
It sounds so sad.
(music continues)
(lively chamber music playing)
(music ends)
Okay, that's fine.
Leslie, can you keep a little more concentration from bar 82?
You're getting very sloppy in there. Okay.
Let's take five.
(violin plays dissonant chords)
Who's there?
(violin plays dissonant chords)
(gasps)
(gasping)
(yells)
(crazed laughter)
(siren wailing in distance)
Leslie?
You all right?
What are you doing here?
I was, uh, just out for a walk, and, uh,
I saw the cops.
What happened?
Our first violinist was murdered.
(whispers): Murdered.
He went out on the roof, and somebody stabbed him.
(sobbing)
It's so senseless.
I'll take you home.
(sniffles)
(violin playing slow, sad melody in distance)
(violin continues playing)
(violin playing virtuosic passage)
(music ends)
(people cheering, applauding)
(applause and cheers fading)
(applause and cheering completely muted)
(flames crackling)
(gasps)
(siren wailing in distance) (panting)
Where the hell's Ryan?
I don't know.
He's certainly spending a lot of energy
on this classical music thing, isn't he?
I think he likes Leslie more than music.
Well, from what Ryan says, she certainly matters to him.
Maybe too much.
(chuckles): Why would you say a thing like that?
Well... she just seems a little strange to me.
It's almost as though she has this hypnotic effect on him.
Oh, Micki, come on.
Look, Jack, two people die at the concert hall,
both in the same way.
Stabbed through the heart.
Look at this.
Guevarius violin.
Sold to a...
Frank Macklin.
And Leslie's a violinist.
That's a little close, isn't it?
All right, why don't you check out
this, uh, Frank Macklin.
See if Leslie could have got the violin from him.
I'll see what I can find out about the curse.
(sotto voce): Guevarius violin.
That was a really good dinner.
I'm starting to feel a lot better.
Sorry if I wasn't good company.
That's all right-- I know how you must feel after what happened.
But I also get the feeling that you don't get out much.
I guess I don't.
I'm married to my work.
"For me, there can be no relaxation in human society.
I must live quite alone, like an outcast." (laughs)
I did a little reading last night-- Beethoven.
I know. Yeah?
A lot of musicians let music consume their lives.
I also think a lot of people are lonely
and can't admit it.
You might be right.
See ya.
(violin playing slow, sad music in distance)
(violin continues playing)
LESLIE: Who's there?
(violin continues playing)
Who's there?
(music stops)
(gasps) Sorry. Did I scare you?
Yes. What are you doing here?
You forgot your music.
Leslie, if there's something wrong, you can tell me.
Something's happening to me.
LESLIE: I keep... I keep hearing him play,
and he...
It can't be him.
(low, muffled breathing)
Ryan...
I'm afraid.
I don't want to be alone tonight.
(muffled breathing grows louder)
(sighs): Mmm...
(birds chirping)
'Morning.
Mmm, I'm glad you came back with me last night.
So am I.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, my God, it's 8:30--
I've got to go over my score before rehearsal.
Do it later.
What about the score?
(laughs): Who's counting?
Ryan, I really have to go.
Ask me if I care.
Mmm.
You know, you work too hard.
I want to be the best.
(violin playing sad, slow music)
(violin continues playing)
(rats squeaking)
(door opening)
(door bangs shut)
(violin continues playing)
(violin stops playing)
(violin resumes playing slow, sad music)
Why are you doing this?
I played that piece six years ago.
You are as beautiful as ever.
Janos...
I thought you were dead.
I would have preferred death.
Janos, what happened?
Don't you know what happened?
I know about the accident, about the fire.
(tires squealing, crashing sound)
Fire.
The car in flames.
The smell of burning flesh.
(sobbing): I married you!
Who did I marry?
I don't know.
Janos, I can help.
(chuckling)
How could you help me?
I was a musician!
An artist...
and now I'm a monster.
I've watched you play.
You've become so masterful.
So beautiful.
Why didn't you come to me?
I didn't want you to see me like this.
Oh... oh, Janos.
(sobbing)
You must tell no one about me.
No one.
(ringing)
Curious Goods.
JACK: Ah, Micki, it's me.
Jack, where have you been?
Why didn't you come home last night?
I was getting worried.
I was out at Rashid's place
trying to get a fix on that curse.
And?
Dead end. Absolutely nothing. What did you find out?
Well, Macklin bought that violin all right.
At least he paid the check.
It was a gift to Korda from one of his students.
Who?
Well, he couldn't remember,
but I just got back from the Conservatory.
I have a list of all of Korda's former students.
Jack, one of them was Leslie Reins.
Oh, my God.
Look, we gotta get back that violin.
Ryan didn't get back last night either.
I think he's getting pretty serious about her.
Then we'd better be pretty sure of it
before we make our next move.
Give me the names of the other students
that studied with him.
Uh, John Anderson,
Francis Peters, Martin Curry...
(students tuning up)
JACK: She was one of his students.
Did you know her?
Yeah, I know Leslie Reins,
but I haven't seen her in a few years.
You and Leslie studied
with Janos Korda, didn't you?
Is this about the new Korda release?
What?
You're from the press, aren't ya?
You're trying to find out
if one of Korda's students is writing his music.
No, I'm just trying fi...
Well, it isn't me, and I don't care who it is.
Could it be Leslie?
(snorts) No way.
What makes you so sure?
Because it's Korda.
Anybody could tell that style.
It's gotta be old tapes.
But if Leslie studied with Korda,
she'd have to be pretty good, wouldn't she?
Leslie's pretty good at a lot of things,
if you know what I mean.
You mean, they were lovers.
Well, let's just say
in his eyes, she couldn't do anything wrong.
She'd make a mistake,
and he'd dump all over the rest of us.
Did she ever give him a violin, a Guevarius?
Yeah.
Yeah, the night he died.
It was at a reception after his opening at Carnegie Hall.
I remember they had this big argument about his drinking,
and he stormed out and drove away, bombed out of his skull.
But you're positive that she couldn't be the one
who's playing Korda's music?
Look, man, Leslie's good,
but she'd have to sell her soul to play like Janos.
(shop bell jangling)
(door closes)
Jack, wait till you see what I found.
Ah, what do you got?
"Music Lover Slain"?
Look at all the dates.
Every year, there's a new Korda record, correct?
And every year there's a whole rash of killings.
Most of the musicians, all of them stabbed through the heart.
Someone's using that violin
to keep the myth of Janos Korda alive.
Probably getting very rich, too.
Someone who is suddenly attracting a lot of attention
as a violinist.
Leslie and Korda were lovers.
She gave him the Guevarius.
(clock ticking)
Maybe she got it back.
(knock at door)
Who is it?
RYAN: It's me.
Ryan, go away. I want to be alone.
What? What's wrong?
Nothing. I just have to be by myself right now.
Please, I'll talk to you later.
No, I want to talk to you now.
Ryan, please.
Leslie, what's wrong?
Ryan, there's something you should know.
For a long time, I was empty inside.
And then you were there.
You made me feel alive again.
Leslie...
Ryan, that man I told you about,
the one I thought was dead?
He's alive.
What? How do you know?
I saw him.
Believe me,
I don't understand this any more than you do.
But I care about you...
No, I understand. I do.
Promise you'll wait here till I get back?
Do you want me to go with you?
No, just stay here.
Wait for me till I come back.
(muttering)
(violin plays dissonant chords)
(playing dissonant chords)
(violin plays dissonant chords)
(blade strikes flesh)
(man moaning)
(gasps)
(stifled whimpering)
(sobbing quietly)
Shh...
(playing duet)
(stifled sobbing)
Why did you stop?
I... I can't.
How could you just kill somebody like that?
I don't think you understand.
(tape recorder clicks off)
Without the deaths, there would be no music.
This was your gift to me.
I could not play without it.
I could not live without it.
And now, this beautiful piece is almost finished.
I think it might be my best work ever.
Don't you?
(shouting): Don't you?! (gasps)
(tape recorder clicks on)
Now continue.
(firmly): Continue.
(stifled sobbing)
(playing slow, sad melody)
(door closes quietly)
(paper rustling)
(grunts)
(muffled grunts)
Jeez.
What are you doing here? (panting)
I'm looking for something.
What?
A violin.
What are you talking about?
Ryan, six years ago,
Leslie bought a Guevarius violin from Uncle Lewis.
It was a present for Janos Korda.
Korda was her teacher.
I don't believe you!
It's true.
People are dying, and it's no coincidence
that a Korda tape is expected soon.
That Guevarius and your girlfriend
are in the middle of all of this.
Look, there's a thousand people that could have that violin.
Why are you hassling Leslie?!
Look, I know her, Micki!
Ryan, don't shut me out!
She's not the person you think she is!
She and Korda were lovers!
Leslie!
Korda!
Leslie, where is he?
Ryan, please go away.
It isn't safe.
Please.
(playing dissonant chords)
LESLIE: Janos!
He's just a friend.
Liar!
(playing dissonant chords)
(bow screeching)
(playing dissonant chords)
(panting)
You're not even human!
Not human?
(screaming)
(laughing maniacally)
(laughter continues)
No...!
(piercing scream)
(Janos laughing maniacally)
Korda!
(maniacal laughter)
Korda!
(quiet chuckle)
(chuckles)
(grunts)
(straining)
(grunts) (laughing)
(panting)
(body thuds)
(panting softly)
(sobbing quietly)
MICKI: Well, the Guevarius is in the vault.
Ryan, I know there's nothing I can say...
That's right; there's nothing you can say.
I'm just trying to help.
I don't need your help.
I don't need anyone's help.
Ryan.
She didn't know, Ryan.
She didn't know about Korda, the killings
or even the curse.
I know, I know.
She wasn't a part of this.
Korda shouldn't have lived through that fire.
He should have died.
Have you listened to that?
No, I haven't.
Well, I have, and it's beautiful.
If you ask me,
she had a greater talent than he had.
What do you want to do with it?
Burn it.
A lot of lives went into that music.
Including Leslie's.
What do you want me to do,
publish it?
He killed her, Jack.
She's alive in that music, Ryan.
(clock ticking)
(tape recorder clicks on)
(violins playing classical melody)
(wind whistling)
♪ ♪