Nothing so resembles virtue as true crime. (Saint Just)
GENEALOGIES OF A CRIME
On the 1st day of the 8th moon of Year One
of the Taiyuan era of Sun Quan of Wu,
a young man destined by the stars for murder
killed a woman of the family of Liu Bao.
A solitary woman hid him in her house.
But she was the ghost
of the woman he had killed.
He fell in love with the ghost.
She revealed her true identity
and that her only motive was revenge.
It was as if he was never there.
Not that he was absent-minded.
I'm Iistening...
He aIways seemed to be mocking one.
So you agreed to take him on...
That was the day...
Yes. It was then.
I'd just discovered my son had died.
He'd gone on a motorbike tour, I was aIone at home.
I'm not sure why I sIept in his room, in PascaI's room.
He was just 20
but he stiII Ioved nursery taIes, fairy-taIes.
A book was open on his bedside tabIe.
I started to read, then fell asIeep.
Who is it?
When did this happen?
I didn't react immediateIy.
I think I went back to sIeep.
My mother woke me, it was dayIight.
I spent the rest of the day doing mundane tasks.
The eggs mustn't emuIsify.
I see...
As soon as they do, you add vinegar
saIt
and chives...
Where did you find chives?
Secret...
Chives aIways disappoint one.
Then add the yoIks, mashed...
Is that essentiaI?
Any objection?
It's your recipe...
There, it's ready.
Don't move!
Don't repIy!
Solange, it's Mathieu, good news.
A man who's killed his aunt, there's a witness.
He denies it of course.
Plus - l know you'll love this -
he claims the real killer is a group... a club
The Franco-Belgian Psychoanalytical Society.
Fun, isn'tit?
SoIange, Judge Verret is here.
Evening SoIange. Be brave. We'd better be off.
What are you up to?
Not much. Mathieu's found me something.
Of interest?
Hope so. I need something.
What about you?
I'm Iooking into this Society...
- StiII? - It's tough.
- They're tricky. - Mother's seeing...
a member of that Society.
- No!? - What?
No, I was saying, your... anaIysis group...
Mr Verret's Iooking into...
- Don't. They're quite respectabIe. - I'm sure.
They embezzIe money, Iots of it.
- One must Iive. - But Mummy...
They rob patients to fund a poIiticaI...
Fine by me.
It's against the Iaw.
- The Iaw's stupid! - But it's the Iaw.
- Nothing's proven ! - It's quite obvious.
Sorry, you're not the first...
Are you a SociaIist?
Do I have to say?
Of course not. My mother's crazy.
So Iike my daughter!
I'II be right back.
Know why I'm smiIing?
- No I don't. - It's your saIad dressing.
- What about it? - It's great.
Sure!
But first you make a mayonnaise...
Not here Mum !
I'm not being nasty. She's never managed a mayonnaise...
Stop it, Mum !
So she turns her mess into a vinaigrette!
Great isn't it? I don't know...
turning your faiIures into something new and creative.
I know what I mean. I'II shut up.
Sorry, if you'II come this way...
Madam need not join us.
I want to see him.
The night of PascaI's cremation, I sIept in his room again.
I found the book he'd been reading.
He'd marked page 97.
"One day, a young man destined by the stars for murder
"kiIIed a woman of the famiIy of Liu Bao..."
I went on reading tiII dawn.
- At Iast, he's here. - What?
Your ex,
your son's father, I mean.
Hello, Solange. It was hellish...
getting here. HeIIo, Louise.
HeIIo young man. Fit as ever.
I traveI a great deaI.
- How's work? - Fine.
Mathieu, Bob Christine, my... PascaI's father.
Mathieu's our senior partner... weII, my boss.
A pIeasure.
Bob writes chiIdren's books.
"PascaI's Book" is by him. It won a prize in...
- Where was it? - GrenobIe.
Wasn't it AngouIeme?
I'm not as famous as SoIange.
I've got to go, I'm not buIIying you but I need an answer.
Not here.
"PascaI"s Book"! To think he's in there!
Perhaps you were wrong to cremate him.
Of course I was, Mum.
So I can count on you, yes?
I have no choice.
- You won't regret it. - I never do.
Of course you'II regret it.
She's defending that monster, that murderer.
- And she'II Iose. - As usuaI, say it.
Fighting form, I see.
Excuse me.
Why "PascaI"s Book"? I never asked.
I wanted to expIain PascaI's phiIosophy
to a ten year-oId: my son.
But PascaI was 13 at the time.
I'm a sIow writer.
My condoIences.
You don't know me. I'm a friend of our Iamented Jeanne's.
Mad Jeanne, your new cIient's victim.
Is it too Iate to convince you
not to defend the boy?
Sorry... but who are you?
Franco-Belgian Psychoanalytical Society
The boy did us much harm.
And the cheek of it is, he's accusing us.
Too funny!
What does he say?
Everything. And anything.
It's a mistake. My name's Georges Didier.
Freudian sIip, I expect! OnIy joking.
Not reaIIy.
You have nothing to fear.
I fear nothing. And no one.
I observe that we have many enemies.
- I Iose aII my cases. - I know.
You Iove a Iost cause. As does the pubIic.
I know.
You're in the IimeIight. PsychoanaIysis requires...
shade and secrecy!
Do you know him?
We've just met.
HeIIo Mr Georges.
Didier. Georges Didier.
- HeIIo Judge. How is the enquiry? - Fine.
Oh I see, this Society is...
Yes. Our enemies are everywhere... which sounds paranoid.
No it doesn't.
It does. The age is paranoid. The paranoid are right.
Have some respect. You forget where we are.
Forgive me.
I didn't want to... My condoIences Madam...
He's barking !
You'II see him often, he's your eye-witness.
Doctor, what's wrong?
I didn't recognize you.
Don't caII me Doctor.
So you went to the prison
to meet the murderer,
knowing nothing about the case, not even the press-reports.
A Iegitimate technique.
What did you make of Rene EngeI?
Nothing much except...
he wanted to make friends.
In what way?
In every way.
For instance, he'd suggest swapping roIes.
He'd say, for the next haIf-hour, I'II be you and you be me.
For exampIe?
The foIIowing week...
Isn't it coId here?
No. Quite the opposite.
Must be me.
I am going to ask you something very painfuI.
NaturaIIy.
I shaII ask you
to teII me very preciseIy what happened.
I don't know if I can. Where do I start?
WeII you might say...
I came in the door, the window...
I entered the room, searched it, she found me.
Did I do aII that?
I am here to defend you.
NaturaIIy.
If you don't want to heIp...
Madam...
CaII me SoIange.
I have to say, I remember nothing.
I don't beIieve you.
I didn't kiII her.
The Franco-BeIgian PsychoanaIyticaI Society did.
You can Iaugh.
I'm sorry.
You remind me of someone I Iiked.
Your aunt.
You're very aIike.
She just Ioved it,
being one step ahead of everyone.
TeII me about her.
She enjoyed games.
- Games? - One game.
You pIayed together?
She'd say, now you be me and I'II be you.
Did this happen often?
In the end, yes. Fancy a go?
- What? - It's easy.
What for?
You need to find mitigating circumstances,
seeing it my way is the perfect method.
Don't worry, it's fun.
If you get it wrong, I'II go 'beep'. And you do the same.
Right then.
I'II start.
I am you.
When did you first decide to kiII your aunt?
- Never. - I don't beIieve you.
- As you wish. - I don't wish to waste time.
Because your time is precious?
Yes.
You're in a hurry to Iose.
How do you know?
You know you'II Iose, SoIange.
I'II be convicted and you'II confirm your reputation.
You Iose aII your cases and never refuse a Iost cause.
What is it, SoIange?
Did we go too far?
You're very good. We'II caII it a day.
I'm sorry.
After this, you read Mrs Higgins' diary
and viewed the tapes.
- Why not before? - I don't know.
Maybe he had me weII and truIy hooked.
Meaning?
My interest was not just professionaI.
I was under his skin. I was him.
I started thinking Iike PascaI, seeing what he saw.
PascaI? You mean Rene?
Sorry yes. I mean Rene.
I was abIe to visit the victim's home, stay there.
I read everything, tried to understand.
Can I see Rene's room?
The monster's room?
Of course. There's nothing to see.
Why not?
Mr Didier emptied it. He's pIanning a museum to MademoiseIIe.
A museum...
We get piIgrims aIready.
ReaIIy?
WeII, you've come.
OnIy for work.
Yesterday we had three, more tomorrow,
a coachIoad from BeIgium at the weekend. She was very famous.
This is the monster's room.
You don't sound Iike he was a monster.
Things are never as simpIe as they seem.
That's true.
Why was it emptied?
It wasn't my idea.
I'm sure not.
Anyway, peopIe are sick.
I don't mean to be nasty
but they're aII Iike you. They want
to see the monster's room.
Don't be shocked, we aII caIIed him that, he caIIed himseIf that.
When he arrived, he was nine,
he doffed his hat and said the monster's arrived.
The IittIe monster.
I never thought of that.
He was tiny then,
scared he'd never grow up.
Those ones weren't expected.
You shouId have caIIed.
I can see him,
he spent the whoIe afternoon at the piano.
But he won't have Iessons.
He'd rather sit and pretend to read the score. He Ioves pretending.
6th January.
At night, he teIIs me his dreams.
He dreams of my Iipstick.
Today he said, your Iipstick's kiIIing.
He says "such-and-such is kiIIing" aII the time.
Connection between Iipstick and penis.
2 1st January.
He wakes me and says "You can't
sIeep if I'm awake."
He dreams of a wooden statue
his father brought back from Asia before he died.
What are you Iooking at?
He's masturbating aIready.
Knives fascinate him, he won't cut bread,
he stabs it for pIeasure.
I re-read one of Von Hug's Iectures:
"After the age of 5, criminaI tendencies cannot be corrected."
Is Rene a criminaI?
In my opinion, yes.
It's Iate,
you can stay here.
There's a spare room.
You're very kind.
Is it yes or is it no?
Yes.
That's a surprise.
Why?
Nothing.
There's some food in the kitchen.
- I'm not very hungry. - Just in case...
You'II be me
and I'II be you.
Some Gascon fox, or Norman perhaps,
starving saw, high on a treIIis, bunches of...
ripe-Iooking grapes and buttocks of giIded dames.
The rascaI grew hard...
He came yesterday, with onIy a hat for Iuggage.
He sIeeps naked, except for the hat.
- The monster! - He Ioves to shock
and when ignored, throws a tantrum.
He's shattered eight pieces of china.
Today we heard his mother had died.
Rene refused to cry.
He hid in the garden, aII night Iong.
He'II Iive here.
I'II be abIe to monitor his behaviour.
I'II foIIow his deveIopment, his descent into heII.
It's too earIy to discuss it now.
He must stay innocent. He mustn't know what is in store.
Yesterday, he kiIIed a cat, to save it he said.
He gave it ether and gutted it aIive.
He took out the Iiver.
Where are you?
The monster!
Rene has been here seven years.
His behaviour seems normaI, but deep down nothing has changed.
Today, at breakfast,
he was at his dubious puns again.
I Iove bread. It's seditious.
SpeciaIIy with bIackamoor jam.
MmmmkiIIing... what's funny?
Nothing.
Course not.
ActuaIIy,
I've never seen you eat bIackberry jam.
Because I'd never seen it before.
You said bIackamoor jam.
A mate of mine in schooI says that.
ReaIIy? Who?
He's caIIed SaIar.
SaIsar, or something...
He's Spanish, he aIways says,
bIackamoor jam.
He says bIackamoor jam is mmmkiIIing.
He's kiIIing.
MmmmkiIIing, she says?
He not she.
You Iove bIackberry jam
but you haven't touched it.
I'm not hungry.
My fears were confirmed the next day:
Rene's friend does not exist. He's an invention.
There's no Spaniard in Rene's cIass.
Did he mention a foreigner?
Maybe in another cIass?
Mrs Higgins,
I am sorry but your nephew...
Don't. My friend Didier has toId me aIready.
The worst is
he denies it aII,
- despite the evidence. - I know.
I must rush.
15th November.
He's been gone 9 days now.
He wrote to arrange a meeting.
He was Iate. I was due to see Georges at 5.30.
I was just Ieaving when he came.
Where were you?
- I need money. - Oh Lord!
You've no money on you ! See you !
- Rene - Yes.
- What time'II you be home? - Late.
- We'II taIk then. - WiII you...?
No. I won't. Ever.
- I onIy want 2000. - 2000. Then 3000.
- I can't heIp it. - Is it your girIfriend?
- No. Not her. - Some other girI then?
It's a boy. I'II expIain.
The Spaniard. Remember?
TeII me tonight.
20 minutes Iater, waiting for Georges,
I saw him pursued by a crowd shouting "Thief!".
Jeanne! I'm sorry I'm so Iate.
It doesn't matter.
You're so paIe!
I've just seen Rene.
Rene! I was just with him.
Where?
My pIace I think... Yes, definiteIy.
Was he...? I mean... aII right?
I wouIdn't say that, no... But...
You know more about that than I do.
Am I wrong?
OnIy joking.
You are forgetting the biII, Madam.
I wasn't not going to pay.
We've so many thieves about.
You are iII-mannered, Sir!
- Better that than... - Than what? Say it!
I shan't make a scene. I'II see you again Sir.
Whenever you say.
- Wherever you Iike. - The honour is yours.
- Monday! - What time?
- 8 pm. - I can't.
- We cIose at 8.30. - You're mad!
Indeed, a thing Iike that drives me mad.
8.35 then.
8.45. I've got to do the tiII.
SIippery, aren't you? Tricky.
You're back-sIiding.
"Her pure nails display their onyx, the lampbearer, Anguish, at midnight...
"Vesperal dreams burnt by the Phoenix...
"Though she, nude and defunct, yet
"in the oblivion the mirror frames,
"there rain scintillations of the septet. "
Amazing ! The "Sonnet en X"!
He knows MaIIarme by heart.
MaIIarme's my favourite.
Rene was here.
And what wiII Sir have?
A coffee.
- What did he want? - Guess!
- How much? - 2000.
No way!
- But what can I do? - Resist.
I've found him a job - fairIy decent too.
What about schooI?
He's about to get expeIIed, he doesn't Iike it.
Now he'II earn a decent Iiving.
I've found him a cheap fIat.
- Where? - Not near you.
I need him nearby.
I need to know how things turn out.
CaIm down !
Things'II turn out fine, or not at aII.
Not at aII!
You know we can't force him, if he doesn't want to.
I know, but...
Forgive me, I beIieve we are coIIeagues.
If you say so...
I am Christian CoraiI.
So what?
Is our conversation
stimuIating?
I thought you'd know who I am.
CoraiI. Sounds Iike a train.
You must've heard that before.
EndIessIy.
Which is how you came
to psychoanaIysis.
Georges, the session is about to start...
AII I can say is
for a therapist you seem fairIy unstabIe.
And you're a bore.
Waiter! The biII.
It's just that in the case in question...
How wouId you know?
- Thousands of them. - That's untrue.
LuckiIy.
You're barking up the wrong tree.
What the heII is this?
Societe Psychanalytique de l'lle de France.
The SPIF! I knew it!
You do a great deaI of damage.
WeII you Iot, the SPFB,
you manufacture kiIIers.
So that's the SPIF!
You spy on peopIe, you bug them !
Your voices do rather carry.
I'd Iike to smash your face.
Go right ahead.
- 83 francs. - What!
You wanted the biII.
- 83 francs! - I'II do it.
That's it! SettIe your debts!
I don't need you to...
I'II go and pay.
I gather MaIIarme was a frustrated kiIIer.
- Who said that? - Your friend.
Me too. I'd kiII them aII.
Keep the change!
Thank you, Madam.
We're off, Georges.
We shaII meet again.
I Iook forward to it.
Bugger off.
TripIe bugger off.
Figure three fetish !
Stupid bastard!
When I got home, Rene was in the study.
He'd found my notes on his case.
So you're keen, now?
Yes, now I'm keen.
Very keen.
It's aII there, nearIy.
You shouIdn't have Iooked.
It's about me.
You shouIdn't be aware. It couId harm you.
So I'm a gonner then?
No one's saying that. It's not that easy.
"We reckon a human being is formed at 5.
"After, there's nothing to be done." Is that true?
Yes. At Ieast I think so.
No, it is true.
WeII, good night.
I'm staying, to know my fate.
You can be so siIIy sometimes.
You're pretending Rene! Don't fooI with me.
SiIence pIease. We're working.
At 3 am, a sound woke me.
The shoes he'd stoIen earIier were on my tabIe.
I went to his room.
He was pretending to sIeep.
I'd not pretend to wake him.
I'd not enter into his game. He must enter into mine.
I'm scared.
- Let me go. - No. Why?
There's no need to be scared.
Don't worry, don't be afraid.
There she is!
The monster!
Come here! Come on !
The next day, I caIIed Rene in. I'd decided to treat him
after aII.
ShaII I Iie down?
That won't be necessary, not yet.
So what wiII we do?
We'II pIay a game.
You'II be me and I'II be you.
Sit over there.
Let's have a chat.
Here?
Yes.
Must I taIk about growing up?
No.
Not that either.
You must try and be me.
You can imitate me, make fun of me if you Iike.
I'II do the same.
No one wiII ever know.
What's the point?
Who knows? We'II see.
You Iook unimpressed.
It seems a bit triviaI.
Perhaps everything is.
My probIems are triviaI, are they?
See? I'm being you now.
I'm Rene. You are Jeanne... PIease... !
AII right, Rene. I'm Iistening.
Jeanne, did you enjoy seeing me nude?
- Were you perturbed? - Of course not.
- You're Iying. - Rene! I ought to sIap you !
Go on, sIap me.
I deserve it.
Now teII me, Rene.
Why are you afraid of steaIing?
Afraid? You must be joking.
I'm not.
Look what I've found.
Why did you conceaI it here, and not seII it? Look!
NeckIaces...
BraceIets...
You're crazy!
Look!
Money...
You're mad.
Everything he'd stoIen was in the house.
I was reIieved, triumphant.
A few minutes' pIay had done more than years...
of formaI therapy.
Now I saw Rene differentIy, he was compIex.
AIas, his compIexity was to prove IethaI
and my game wouId have awfuI consequences.
Yves LecIerc...
Two weeks Iater,
Rene arrived with an unexpected friend.
His probIem is Iike mine. OnIy worse.
He went to Georges, but he's useIess.
I said maybe you'd heIp.
Cool...
WouId you Iike an appointment?
- Yeah. Great. - Hang on. Let me...
- We'd Iike to start now. - Right. Wicked.
That won't be possibIe.
Jeanne! Don't be a stiff Iike Georges.
The treatment won't work with witnesses.
I toId you.
Treatment? I thought it was a game.
It is a game, and it isn't.
Rene, this is not right.
Rene, stop it!
Rene, I couId sIap you.
That isn't cooI, man.
Enough ! Get the heII out!
From then on, I sought a new kind of treatment
which I discussed at our weekIy gathering.
OddIy, the Society concurred. The meeting went on Iate.
I came home to an unpIeasant surprise.
Jeanne!
Rene was there, with two accompIices.
They were ransacking the house.
Rene, kindIy put aII that back.
How can I?
I am not aIone.
You can't want me to Iose face.
Do as I say.
You can't want me to caII the poIice.
After aII we've been through, I don't understand.
- You're drunk. - Want a drink?
Don't worry, it is not yours. But it's exceIIent.
Madam, if I may...
Rene Iied... He said you'd be out,
he said we couId take this stuff,
- as a favour to you. - I never said that.
- I never said she'd be OK. - You did.
He's right, Madam.
Our apoIogies.
- I Iook a fooI. - That's not our aim
but what wiII she think, that we're burgIars?
Don't worry. We're not burgIars.
You're from a thrift store then !
AImost. We Iike doing favours. Right?
He's right. Don't worry.
Rene said you wanted a change. A night job, he said - oddIy.
She Ioves it, he said. WouId you Iike a drop?
No thanks.
Don't worry. We've more.
No thanks.
AII right, I beIieve you. PIease put it aII back.
Rene! You're mad!
Jeanne, you're haIf-asIeep. Wake up.
- Go to bed Rene. - No. I'm scared.
- You can't sIeep when I'm awake. - I shan't Ieave.
- She stoIe the Iot. - She did? You're mad, Jeanne.
What the heII is this?
You can't do this.
Come here. Why did you...? What is this mess?
Shit! You can't do this. Are we burgIing or not?
Know what Rene? I know one thing.
You're dying to kiII me.
Go on. You've got a gun.
See? I never touched it.
At Iast!
Some action.
Hurry up though.
Shit!
Beep, beep! You're mad!
Listen, Jeanne...
I'm scared now, I'm terrified.
Jeanne Higgins' diary ends there. 4 months before she died.
It took me 8 hours to read it.
I thought this is Iike ending a nightmare.
But was it reaIIy over?
This is the murderer's room. There's nothing to see.
Nothing. Indeed.
Excuse me, I'm very sorry.
Don't worry, Iawyers are naturaIIy curious.
Part of the job, right?
- The mirror's... - A one-way mirror.
It's a period thing.
There are three in the house.
Jeanne kept them, she Iiked them.
Perhaps you know, this house used to be a brotheI.
The pictures beIonged in it.
- But the pictures... - Yes. OriginaIIy,
they weren't of Jeanne but... IocaI taIent, shaII we say.
She took out the faces
and put herseIf in instead.
Yes, Jeanne was quite a... pIayer, shaII we say.
So she couId spy on her nephew?
She didn't need that. Not her.
And he... there was nothing to see. nothing at aII!
Not that I was aIways here.
WeII, that's it.
I must go.
Did you read it?
- Yes. Everything. - WeII?
Nothing. We must speak.
I thought so.
The door... She doesn't cIose the doors.
Out!
AII right.
I must...
go back to Paris, I'II come back... I'II caII.
You're very weIcome.
Goodbye.
The truth must out. I can say nothing.
Why not?
Goodbye.
Right, the idea is
a young man is driven to crime by his victim.
I am certain. I have proof.
- But he kiIIed her. - Under the infIuence.
- Under her infIuence. - Meaning?
Suicide.
Think they'II beIieve you?
If you read the fiIe carefuIIy,
you don't need a psychoIogy degree.
I see a weak point: the eye-witness.
He's the onIy one for a start. Met him?
Georges Didier. Yes.
I may be wrong, but I'd start there.
Is that it?
No. The accused.
Of course, I'm not you
but couIdn't you push him a mite? TeII me I'm mad.
I'II get nothing from him.
I don't know.
There's something fishy about him. I don't want to... but...
Fishy? What do you mean?
I've offended you.
Yes.
Did I say, you Iook great?
No. Is that it?
The boy's a bother.
He's not guiIty, he's not innocent. So what is he?
I've offended you again.
I'm off. UnIess there's anything eIse?
- Are you cross? - No.
It's over, Mathieu, stop it.
Sorry, it's for SoIange.
Aren't we Iunching?
Sorry, I quite forgot.
Where shaII we go?
Chinese.
Very fascinating.
Except Mathieu won't hear of it.
He's a git. It's too good.
That's what Mathieu says.
It's a gift. They're up to their eyes in...
- That, what's his name? - Georges Didier...
Judge. I didn't recognize you.
Christian LapIace!
- How are you? - And you?
Looking for soIitude.
In Paris!
True. City of encounters.
You know SoIange?
I don't think so. Or maybe I do. Where?
She's defending the murderer.
Forgive me, I Iive in the cIouds.
The Higgins-EngeI affair.
I do see...
WiII you sit down?
Why not? We can have coffee together.
I'II just get my briefcase.
Who's that?
Christian LapIace. EthnopsychoIogist I think.
He caIIs himseIf Christian CoraiI.
Where wouId I know him?
Narrative syndrome? Shared romance?
- Means nothing. - Read it.
He's Georges Didier's officiaI enemy.
There.
Large coffee pIease.
Two thirds decaf, one third caf.
- I was recommending you. - Thanks.
What do you do?
She's a Iawyer, I toId you.
Oh yes.
Is it fun?
- Not aIways. - She's Iying.
She aIways gets the best cases,
now it's Jeanne Higgins' kiIIer.
KiIIer? Victim you mean.
Why do you say that?
Because I knew Jeanne weII, Jeanne the Terror.
Thank you.
She came here often, with the nephew.
She was tough, I was fond of her.
At the end, she was about to change.
She was opening up.
A bit anyway.
To the end, she was IoyaI
to the orthodox way.
I don't understand these subtIeties,
- I'm onIy a judge. - You're wrong.
Our jobs are simiIar.
OnIy for peopIe Iike Jeanne,
the subject is guiIty as soon as charged.
To me, he's onIy guiIty at the end.
Behind any sociaI science, you'II find the Law.
And behind the Law, a fairy-taIe.
I find your theories fascinating.
Where can I send you my book?
Our friend beIieves fairy-taIes
are dangerous.
- I never said that. - ApproximateIy.
I said fairy-taIes and stories in generaI
act on us Iike iIInesses
or demons.
You, for instance,
may be one of the brothers Karamazov.
And me another.
Together, we can reIive the noveI
and drag in innocent victims
who wiII die without knowing they've been murdered
by a bIood-thirsty taIe.
I'm sorry, once I get going I can't stop,
Iike aII dreamers.
So according to you, who was Jeanne Higgins?
What story did she embody?
She's a speciaI case.
It wasn't a noveI or a taIe.
She was more unassuming,
she was reviving a true, turn-of-the century story:
the case of Dr Hermine HeIImut von Hug,
which doctor was repIaying
an 18th century NeapoIitan taIe,