Good morning, Mr Briggs. You remember Dr Martha Richards.
Two years ago while on vacation in Austria,
she met and married Dr Kurt Zubrovnik.
She never returned to America, continuing her extremely important
research work with her husband in Austria.
About a year ago, Kurt Zubrovnik was burnt to death
in a laboratory fire in their home.
Martha went on working after her husband's death,
but recently stopped sending us the results of her experiments.
We have reason to believe it is because this man, Sigmund Poljac,
is pressuring her to work behind the Iron Curtain.
If it were an ordinary pressure, we could fight it
but Poljac is a medium and Martha Zubrovnik is being asked
to defect by the ghost of her dead husband.
Mr Briggs, your mission, should you decide to accept it,
would be to keep her from going behind the Iron Curtain
and get her working for us again.
As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed,
the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.
Please dispose of this recording in the usual manner.
Martha.
Martha, this is Kurt.
You can't see a beam of light, correct?
It's because I'm using a black light.
Now watch what happens when I put my hand over this slave projector.
Very nice.
All right.
You'll be a psychic research team,
anxious to document a valid supernatural event.
I can't go with you, because Martha Zubrovnik knows me.
- Ariana, would you care for a drink? - White wine and soda, please.
Oh, I brought a tape here of a séance I conducted. I'd like you to hear it.
Dr Zubrovnik swore to his wife before his death that
if it were possible for him to come back from the grave, he would.
And he seems to be doing it.
This is the man through whom he speaks.
Familiarise yourself with his background.
- The fake in the case, huh? - I wish you wouldn't use that word.
Fakes exist, Ariana.
I know, but you know how I hate any dishonesty
in regard to the supernatural.
Why don't we just convince Mrs Zubrovnik she's being taken?
Because we don't know the ghost's not real.
Thank you for that.
Oh, come on, Dan.
For Martha Zubrovnik, the spirit of her dead husband exists,
and you can't fight that belief with logic.
Well, if you can't fight ghosts with logic, fight ghosts with ghosts.
That's right.
Ladies and gentlemen...
Why don't you use the earphones?
Dan was at the séance and he's familiar with it.
Dan, you know the truth about me.
Why so much selling, so much loud confidence in me?
Rollin and Barney are sure that you're as much a fake as Poljac.
For the sake of the mission, I don't want them absolutely sure.
- A bee. - Bees don't fly at night.
Hello?
I thought we were expected.
Hello!
We won't hurt you.
We won't hurt him?
Stay. Stay. Be calm.
Be calm.
Remember many kindnesses.
Good dog.
Who's that?
- Dr Zubrovnik? - Yes.
I believe we're expected.
Oh, yes, of course. I'm so sorry.
- Mister... - Rollin Hand.
- Madame Domi? - Yes.
- Mr Collier. - Yes.
Did you have a difficult trip from Vienna?
No, it was quite lovely until, just now when we ran into your dog.
What dog?
A big dog, it looks as if it might be part wolf.
Bulba?
Where did he go?
He ran out the door. It was open when we arrived.
When my husband died,
the dog went wild and he hasn't been seen in the house since.
- Let me show you to your rooms. - Oh, thank you.
You must be so tired after the long trip.
I'm so pleased you could come.
Have you had something to eat?
- Yes, we stopped on the way. - Yes, thank you.
Oh, Mr Poljac, these are the psychic research people.
Sigmund Poljac.
My assistant, Mr Kroger.
- How do you do? - How do you do?
Rollin Hand.
Ariana Domi.
Barney Collier.
The skeptics.
You should be glad that they're here, Mr Poljac.
They can only help to document what you've already proved.
We'd much prefer finding real evidence of the supernatural than not finding it.
Oh, yes. Of course.
Will you excuse me?
Come this way.
Gentlemen, this is your room.
Oh, I hope you don't mind.
I left two cases of equipment in the hallway downstairs.
Of course not.
We've heard a great deal about your interest in the spirit world.
We look forward to a demonstration.
Perhaps you'd care to join us in an hour or so.
- You and Mr Poljac? - Yes, and my husband.
- Looks like it's trying to rain. - Yes.
So, cameras with alarms and clocks that record
the exact time they're tripped.
Yes, and electric eyes that trip the cameras.
And a heat sensor that will record any movement of ghostly material.
- Is everything almost ready? - Almost.
Good.
This casket has been locked since my husband put a message in it,
just after we were married.
He said that if anything should happen to him, he'd try to come back to me.
Tonight is the anniversary of his death.
Not another soul knows what is in this box but me.
That's like the message Houdini left with Dunninger.
I think we have greater possibilities.
Kurt and I were a little closer than Houdini and Dunninger.
Please sit down, everyone.
Now, join hands.
Your left foot should be touching the foot of the person sitting beside you.
My control is named Dulois.
He was an Alsatian pugilist who was killed in the boxing ring.
I will try to reach him.
Dulois, we are here.
Dulois, we are six tonight.
Dulois, we are waiting.
I feel that you are coming closer,
approaching from beyond.
Come into me, Dulois.
Come into this place through me.
Dulois, I feel that you are near.
Why is it so difficult for you to come?
There is doubt.
Yes, there is doubt, Dulois, but it will go away.
We are grateful, Dulois, grateful that
you have come to us so quickly.
The promise made will be fulfilled.
But there are those among you who do not believe.
Don't, please come back, Dulois.
They mean you no harm. Dulois, don't leave us.
Eyes closed, everyone. No one move.
I am with you.
There is a message for Martha.
Your work must go quickly to its conclusion.
When you are finished,
Kurt will come to you himself.
Four.
Seven.
Back 19!
Death, not life
is the overture to eternity!
No one else knew.
I was the only one.
I will try to work harder.
I will try, I will try.
Oh, Kurt.
Kurt.
You all right?
Yes.
No one else could have known the combination, or the message.
I was the only one who knew.
Four. Seven.
Back 19.
Open the box quickly, please.
"Death, not life, is the overture to eternity.
"Kurt."
Thank you, Mr Poljac.
And thank you, dear, dear Kurt.
There is life after death.
Were you impressed by what you witnessed?
Very.
And you, Mr Collier?
- Very impressed. - Good.
I was greatly moved.
It seems to me there is no doubt there is a spirit in this house.
Martha, I'll see you to your room.
- Good night. - Good night.
What about that box?
The box couldn't have been tampered with.
The rust on the hinges was real.
You saw the paper, yellow with age,
and the seals on the envelope had not been touched.
Ariana, he was good,
but wasn't his voice a little obvious?
Perhaps.
Perhaps? Oh, come on, level with us, Ariana.
It was nonsense.
Perhaps.
I'll try to concentrate.
Kurt wants your work to go well, and to be completed.
- Could he be angry with me? - Possibly.
Everything isn't supernatural. It was vibration from the thunderstorm.
The whole house shook.
Barney, maybe Mr Poljac is right.
You claim to be objective, Mr Hand. You know you don't really believe that.
- Now, why do you say that? - I am a medium. I feel it.
You are not oriented to be a believer.
Rollin, why did you let her think Poljac is right?
Well, we mustn't let her feel we suspect Poljac,
if we're gonna expose him.
- Well, are you sure you can? - What do you mean?
Well, there's no need to lie about it. I told him the truth.
There is a spirit, a ghost, if you prefer,
in this house.
I thought you were just being tactful.
I'm never tactful about the supernatural.
Well, there's something you should know. You see,
Madam Zubrovnik wants to believe that the spirit here is kind and loving.
But the spirit here isn't kind and loving.
Unfortunately,
it's quite malevolent.
You see, spirits don't usually move about.
They generally remain near the place where the death occurred.
And that's where you'll find the truth. Not here.
And Zubrovnik was burnt to death in his laboratory.
Kill the lights. We'll use the burner.
Do you want us to hold hands or something?
No, no, no. I want you to sit quiet and try to help me.
My control is a young girl of 16, Frances, who died in 1900.
Frances.
Can you hear me?
This is Ariana.
I am far from home,
but I know that you can hear me.
Frances.
Please.
Hear me and talk to me.
We are anxious.
We are so anxious
to talk to you.
Frances.
Ariana.
I hear you.
Frances, Frances.
There was a fire here a year ago, and a man was burnt.
Yes.
Frances.
Frances, can you hear me?
Frances. Frances, please come back and talk to us.
You were here a moment ago.
I am here.
Vengeance!
There is death.
And agony and torment close to you!
I don't like to talk about it!
It has an unquenchable power.
It hates. It hates.
It cannot be controlled and it will kill!
Oh, that was the spirit of the fire.
But it's not the one we expected.
It's another spirit.
- Ariana, are you all right? - Yes.
The spirit of the man who died in the fire.
That was not the spirit of Kurt Zubrovnik!
That's it.
Kurt Zubrovnik is alive.
I don't know how I know.
My subconscious knows, and that's how it tells me.
You mean you came to the conclusion that Kurt is alive
on the basis of her séance?
No, Barney, no. That's not it.
I don't know how she came to that conclusion, but it's logical.
Now, look. The combination of the lock.
The contents of the letter.
Now look, we both know that box was not tampered with.
Neither was the letter.
So Kurt is alive. They're getting the information from him.
They're even torturing him, possibly.
If Kurt is alive, what was that?
That was the spirit of the man who really died.
It's quite possible that they could have burnt someone else.
Wow!
They knew of Kurt's interest in spiritualism through Poljac.
So they faked his death in order to get control of Martha's research.
Now all we have to do is find Kurt.
When I put the luggage in the storeroom,
I saw a trunk in there that belongs to Poljac.
Let's get a look at it.
No, wait a minute.
What about Martha? Suppose she's not on the up and up.
Suppose she's faking this whole thing to defect.
It's too elaborate. She wouldn't go to all that trouble.
Now let's take a look at the trunk.
Maybe there's a clue as to where Kurt's hidden.
All right. Ariana?
No. You leave me alone in here.
You try your way and I'll try mine.
That's it.
- You got it. - That wasn't me.
It's bolted.
Get the window.
- Can we get out the window? - No, it's too high to jump.
- Give me a hand. - How?
Get that electric heater over there and rip the cord off of it.
Here.
Oh.
How did you get in here, Madame?
The door was open.
Are you in the habit of entering every open door?
Well, isn't this where the fire started?
Why does that concern you?
Oh, I'm interested in the circumstances of the death.
I think the magnet's going to work.
Almost had it.
Good boy.
Get the trunk.
Why, we were only discussing the supernatural.
Now, why should that upset you?
I should prefer not to continue this discussion.
Kroger.
I want a word with you.
And I with you.
How are you boys doing?
Did you find anything?
Not what we were looking for.
How about you?
Well, yes, I had a vision of Kurt Zubrovnik.
Of streets, a small community not far from here
and the butchering of lambs and cattle.
- The town we drove through. - Maybe.
Well, that's as good a guess as any.
Gentlemen. Excuse me, Mr Poljac.
Somebody's tripped this camera by hand.
My apologies. I accidentally moved the lever.
It's all right. Let's see if you caught anything.
That looks like the way out.
- Come on, Ariana. - Wait a second.
Trying to find Kurt Zubrovnik was a good idea 10 minutes ago.
Kurt Zubrovnik is dead.
What's that blur in the corner?
That's a bee.
There's no point in going on. He's dead. They'll move the body immediately.
How do you know this? How did he die?
I can't tell you that. All I know is what I know.
What I feel.
You're sure about what you feel?
All I know is what I feel, not what I think.
Hello. Yes, this is he.
Yes.
Kroger.
- What happened? - I think Kurt's dead.
Now, if Poljac's source of information is gone,
and he loses control over Martha,
he could make a sudden move.
You're right.
I'm so sorry, but we have to leave tomorrow.
Forgive me for bringing you such a great distance
for so brief a visit.
You're leaving? Where are you going?
I must complete my work.
Away from this place Dr Zubrovnik will be able to concentrate.
I'm afraid you'll have to prepare to leave as well.
If she leaves with Poljac, we're finished.
Poljac, the door is locked!
Kroger.
What is it?
Kroger!
He's dead.
Our only chance is to have another séance before they get away.
Barney, how long will it take you to rig that projector in the living room?
I've already got my spots picked out.
Twenty to twenty-five minutes at the most.
Good.
Ariana, I want you to get to Martha and get her to agree to another séance.
Tonight. In half an hour.
At this séance, I want you to go into a trance.
Have the ghost of Kurt Zubrovnik accuse Poljac of being a murderer
and having held him prisoner.
Oh, Rollin. I can't.
- I'm sorry. - You've got to.
The only way to break a man like this is to have him trap himself.
You mustn't ask me to do this.
You know what I told Briggs.
I don't like being dishonest about the supernatural.
Barney, we're on our own. Better get started.
Ariana, can you at least stall Martha for half an hour
while we're in the living room?
Oh, don't be angry with me.
All right, I'll try to arrange another séance. But the rest is up to you.
- Yes, who is it? - It's Ariana.
I know how tired you must be, but I'd like to talk to you.
Come in.
What is it?
Well, madam, I was hoping to persuade you to put your trip off
for a couple of days.
We've been so impressed by what's happened here,
we'd really like to document it.
I think that you've got enough already.
I must get away from here and concentrate and complete my work.
That's what Kurt wants.
Martha, are you all right?
- Martha, may I come inside? - Yes, come in.
I was hoping to persuade Dr Zubrovnik to delay her trip
for a couple of days.
Were you?
We cannot delay our departure just for psychic research.
But I feel her husband's presence very close to me.
You feel?
Yes. Like you, I'm a medium and I feel I can reach him.
- A medium? - Could you?
It would be wonderful if he could come to me through someone else as well.
There will be no one else.
Well, then perhaps Madam Zubrovnik and I, alone, could...
- No. - You mustn't deny him to me.
He may have something important to say to me.
Please bring him to me, either of you.
Very well. But we must do it immediately.
I'll change at once.
Okay, try it.
Perfect.
We're going to have another séance.
Oh, really? Wonderful.
It always happens when there's a storm.
- Well, let's wait then. - Yeah, let's wait.
No, no, there isn't time.
Sit down.
Please sit down.
Dulois, these are moments of anxiety.
Martha Zubrovnik feels and some others of us feel
that the spirit of her husband is near
urgently demanding audience.
Dulois, is Kurt disturbed?
Is he near you?
Yes. He is near me.
He is impatient.
There are still strangers with you.
They annoy him.
His wife must finish her work.
When she arrives,
Kurt will come to her himself.
He is proud of her and of her work,
but he does not want to speak to her again
until she has arrived at her destination.
Martha, Martha.
I will speak to you.
Martha.
Martha, it is I.
It is Kurt.
It is I.
What is this interference?
Breaking the laws of infinity
to come to you.
Martha, this is trickery!
No.
No, I'm sure it's Kurt's voice. I know it.
Martha.
I am with you.
I do love you.
How can this be Kurt's voice coming from this woman?
She does not have a control.
Do not be afraid.
I thought you were angry with me.
I am not angry with you.
It is another man who was angry.
Martha, what you are hearing is fakery.
I don't understand. What man is angry?
It is a simple man who was murdered.
He was a beekeeper.
It was he, the beekeeper, who was angry.
I don't understand it. The damper's open.
Mr Poljac.
What's happened?
Mr Poljac!
- What's wrong with the bolt? - I can't budge it, it's stuck.
- Is that bees? - Mr Poljac.
- Oh, thank you. - Yes.
We wish you'd change your mind.
I don't think I will. I want to stay here, where Kurt is.
And I'll work well, now that I know the truth.
We need you and we'll miss you.
Thank you, Mr Hand. I'll start sending the reports again.
- Good. - Goodbye.
- Goodbye, Mr Collier. - Goodbye.
- Goodbye and thank you. - Goodbye.
Thank you.
Ariana, how'd you know about that beekeeper?
I saw bees. It was a hunch.
Ariana, I'll never doubt you again, out loud.
And you, Rollin?
Well, I don't know.
You don't know?
Then I gave my greatest performance.