Episode 6 | Death is Now a Welcome Guest Part 2

I'm blind!

-Recommendations?

-[Max] Talking cure.

The reason has to be explored.

I think there might be a quicker route.

I can see again.

You are a miracle worker.

[Rosa] Fraulein Ida Rego.

Help!

Poisoned.

Arsenic, I'd say.

Definitely the wine.

-Do you drink, Herr Adler?

-No.

Never touch a drop.

I'm convinced he was in that room with her.

The profile fits.

She is so... unlike you, your sister.

You should tell her that.

It'll make you enormously popular.

Amsel was originally contracted to play the lead in Queen of Carthage.

You think that I was so consumed by hatred that I slipped her the poison.

[Oskar] There's one piece of the puzzle we still don't have.

The man in her apartment.

[opening theme music playing] [clinking] [ticking] As I am now, I can be nothing to them.

[slow claps] Andreas?

Are you still here?

Who's there?

I told you!

I don't want you near me!

-Thank you.

You can go now.

-Thank you, ma'am.

Good night, Josef.

Oh, I forgot my gloves.

I'll just be a minute.

[screams] [muffled scream] [grunting] Stay!

Why were you there?

Why were you following her?

I just wanted...

I just wanted to be close to her.

So, you attacked her?

No!

No!

No, no.

It wasn't like that.

I panicked!

So, you wrote these letters... [paper rattles] ...to Ida Rego.

And you arranged a little accident, on the film set.

[Ida] And from mine ashes let a conqueror rise, -that may revenge-- -[Rosa] Ida, stop.

No... Start again.

No, don't look at the camera.

[Rosa] And die... [screams] I am sorry.

It was stupid.

Damn right that was stupid because Ida Rego now is dead!

I had nothing to do with her death, I swear.

-Really?

-Yes.

Convince me.

I just couldn't bear to see Arianne humiliated.

But I didn't want to hurt Ida.

Not really.

I just...

I just wanted Arianne reinstated.

You do believe me?

I believe Arianne Amsel possesses that rare gift... the ability to make people feel like she is giving a performance just for them.

I believe you projected your own deep needs and desires on to her.

Your need to be loved, your need to be adored by someone beautiful like her.

But it was an illusion, Stefan.

Sergeant?

We'll continue this later.

Definitely our man.

So, how long?

How long has he been pursuing you?

My officer said you were frightened.

You knew that someone was following you.

How long?

Ever since I lost the job.

You must have had some suspicions?

He had said things when we were working.

Things that seemed unbalanced.

I tried not to listen.

You could have come to us.

You could have lead us to him.

It's not my fault!

You knew that he was obsessed, resentful.

You knew that Ida was brutally murdered!

So, what on earth were you waiting for?

Why didn't you come forward?

Perhaps, in some way, you felt responsible.

In some small way... glad she was gone.

[whimpers and cries] Guilt can be painful.

What do you think, Max?

I think something deeply dangerous is happening here.

A woman stands in front of a camera and she becomes an empty vessel.

People fill her with their dreams, their fantasies.

Well, at least we have him under lock and key.

I know what you're going to say next.

Please...

He's not our killer, Oskar.

[scoffs] Not again, Max.

-He wanted to scare Ida.

Not destroy her.

-[Oskar sighs] You can't know that for sure.

What's more, you agree with me!

Think about it!

He needed Ida to back down.

He wanted Arianne to have her moment of glory.

This is an act of worship.

He is a disciple, he's a devotee, a supplicant... many things but he is not a murderer.

You saw what happened, the accident he arranged.

There was never any chance it would kill her.

It was a clumsy warning, designed to scare her away.

Oskar, the film was already in the can when she was poisoned.

He had nothing to gain.

It would've been too late.

[door opens] Rheinhardt?

"Leopoldstadt Police, investigating the murder of Hungarian actress Ida Rego, interviewed American Senator Paul Adler in connection with the case."

God... "Evidence suggests that Adler was in her salon the night she died."

[Oskar] I did not brief the press.

All I did was write his name in a file... Adler is a very important man.

He enjoys rights as a diplomat.

If you had the slightest inkling he was involved, you should have brought it straight to me and I would have gone to the Minister!

[phone rings] That'll be the American Embassy on the line.

[slams his hand] Damn it!

Yes, Commissioner Von Bulow speaking...

Yes, I... Get out of here!

Just get out!

Yes, of course, yes, I... in front of me... Yeah, I'm devastated, but he looks good in the picture though, yes... Must be someone in this office, junior detective or a clerk.

Glanced at your files and went to the newspaper?

[Oskar] Stop it, Max!

We both know who's responsible.

It's not just someone.

Who?

She had plenty of leads from you in the past.

Clara?

[scoffs] You write about our cases in your journals, don't you?

Can you be quite certain that she hasn't seen them?

When was she last in your apartment?

What are you suggesting?

Spell it out to me in plain terms.

All right.

You told me you were eager for a story.

And the police investigation has leaked.

Somehow, someone got hold of the information.

And so you just assume that I'm the one responsible?

Oskar's my friend, too.

Are you saying we can't be friends anymore?

Inspector?

Fraulein.

What are you doing here so early?

Waving my career goodbye.

-What?

-Nothing.

How can I help you?

Well, I spent a good few hours at the library, but finally I found it.

Found what?

The crest.

It's an old one.

Hasn't been used for decades.

The All-German movement.

The ultra-nationalists.

This is their emblem.

[doorbell rings] [Max] You think it could be Adler's?

He was rather shy about the reasons he came to Vienna.

Ancestral voices.

Sixty years ago... what happened here?

-1848?

-Hm.

The Vienna uprising.

The Empire came close to collapse.

The students called it a revolution.

I'd rather call it a rebellion.

Unity for all the German-speaking people!

Opponents of the Austrian Empire wanted to see all Slavs deported.

It was the start of an ultra-nationalist movement calling for a unification of all German speakers.

You think that's why he came here?

I mean, you think the All German Movement has some political demonstration planned?

And he's involved?

A man like Adler, with an international reputation.

Making a case for German unification.

If he were to lend his support...

It would be a significant threat to the monarchy.

What have we waded into, Max?

I told you both I have nothing more to say.

The All-German society of Vienna.

Makes interesting reading.

So, that's why you've been coming to this city.

Apparently, you've been funding them.

I told you, Inspector, thousands of my constituents are Austrian.

I have a duty to them.

To their ancestors.

Austria must be protected from the intruders!

So, you would stir up hatred, incite a race war.

My family is Slovak, Senator.

Are you saying I don't belong here?

Perhaps your enemies, whoever they are, just got lucky.

You were embroiled in a murder and it's the perfect opportunity to tarnish your reputation.

Tell us what's going on.

We keep on his tail, Max.

He's definitely involved somehow.

9:00 a.m.

He leaves the hotel.

He enters the embassy.

People to meet, documents to sign.

And guess what?

There's a constant shadow on him.

And on that day, the anniversary of the uprising, their descendants shall gather and tell the story of how their ancestors were betrayed by the sickening weakness of Austria!

[audience clap and applaud] [Oskar] At 2:00, we have him addressing a meeting of business owners.

Promoting All-German interests.

Calling for a boycott of all Slavic businesses.

And every moment of the day he's under close surveillance.

They must be terrified of him.

They?

Whoever they may be.

The question is... Did they kill Ida Rego just to destroy him?

Commissioner...

I need your permission to dig deeper.

Things are delicate, Rheinhardt.

Everyone's eyes are on us.

The business with the Russians last year.

Our reputation hangs in the balance.

No... my reputation.

What are you going to do next?

Find out who's behind it.

Find out who's trying to smear him.

Maybe that will lead us to our killer.

Very well.

You can go.

[woman] Good evening.

What is it?

What's wrong?

Er, nothing.

Nothing at all.

The Professor was just leaving.

He just stopped by to pay a call.

Forgive me, Max.

I'm due back at the hospital.

Fraulein Liebermann, thank you for your hospitality.

I'll see you again soon, I hope.

Please don't get, how you get.

How I get?

Jealous.

Stupid.

Odd.

[Max] Jealous?

Of whom?

Well, he's your colleague, and he came to call on me.

Yes, apparently so.

-Also... -Also what?

Well, he's invited me to dine.

You must be joking.

Well, he's courting me, Max.

It's the sort of thing men and women do from time to time.

And I... want to know if it's all right with you.

Would it matter if I said no?

No, but I'd still want your approval.

Call me old-fashioned.

All these years.

Felix gone.

Trying to raise Daniel on my own.

Law and duty.

That's what it's been.

I didn't-- You didn't imagine you might fall for someone new.

No.

[sighs] -I'm happy for you, Leah.

-Mm.

You certainly sound happy.

He is a decent and honorable man.

And it wouldn't bother you just a little bit?

I'll try my best to get over it.

[suspensful music] [metal hits hard] [breathes heavily] [groans] [Adler] You've made life rather uncomfortable for me here in Vienna... but I don't want your blood on my conscience.

Thank you for coming to my aid.

Who was he?

[Adler] You didn't recognize him?

Who do you think my enemies are, Inspector?

They're people you might call colleagues.

The Viennese Secret Service.

Your Director of Internal Affairs has had an agent permanently on my tail.

They've been looking for any way to defame me.

And now, with that newspaper report, you handed them the opportunity on a plate.

But he attacked me.

He had no idea who you were.

Just a shadow.

You see now why I don't wish to give you a statement, why I don't wish to co-operate.

As far as I'm concerned, you are one of the enemy.

You think it was one of us?

Who?

[scoffs] You think I have a name?

Yeah, you were at her salon.

You're my best witness.

So, you wish for me to make a statement and destroy my reputation.

A woman was murdered-- And what makes you so damned certain I was even at the scene?

The evidence.

The tie pin, the glass... And you don't think these things can be staged?

You don't think my enemies are clever enough for that?

What?

Who was at the scene when you arrived?

Who had access to her salon?

Your colleagues, Inspector.

Officers of the Viennese Constabulary.

The blood.

Your hand.

I saw the cut.

I injured myself on a railing.

The cut was clearly visible to everyone.

Easy enough to spray blood around.

But the pin, the crest on it... [Adler] Stolen from me and planted in her apartment.

You look at me, a man whose politics you revile and you're eager to believe I'm guilty.

You've already made up your mind.

Can you prove... beyond a shadow of a doubt that you weren't at her salon?

I was here in my suite.

With someone.

He will vouch for me.

Now... does that satisfy you?

You know these men, Inspector, these men at the top of the Secret Service.

Ask yourself... how far would they go to destroy an enemy's reputation?

We've been hoodwinked.

The pair of us.

They played us like a cheap viola.

What happened to your...

The Ministry, they wanted to destroy Adler.

And chose us as their instrument.

Oskar, what are you telling me?

Someone goes to Ida's room after her murder and leaves us clues to find... the unused glass, the tie pin.

So, who was with her?

Max.

No one was with her.

She was all alone that night.

They put out a second plate and glass, they even ruffled the bed sheets, just to lead us straight to him.

They fed us Adler because they wanted him brought down.

He was never at that place.

And he can prove it.

We wanted him to be guilty.

We projected our own desires.

I see.

So... you think the American plays no part in this inquiry.

I thought that the evidence suggested-- The evidence is unreliable.

It's been manufactured.

I'll give a statement to the press, clearing Herr Adler of any involvement.

Is that entirely wise, Rheinhardt?

It wouldn't look very good for us.

The truth is not a luxury, Chief Strasser.

What?

We don't know how she died.

We still don't know who is responsible.

But whoever it was, Adler's enemies seized the moment to implicate him.

And you believe this man is innocent?

He's a danger to the monarchy!

Doesn't give us the right to charge him for a murder he didn't commit.

-Now, wait a minute-- -Doesn't give the Austrian Secret Service the right to plant clues to smear him.

He has a witness who claims that he wasn't even there that night.

The Empire is under threat, Rheinhardt.

From men like Adler.

I know that you are a patriot.

I know that in your heart you're a true Austrian.

With all due respect, I was asked to find Ida Rego's killer.

If someone in this service manufactured evidence... You have no proof... to back up that allegation!

Isn't there any chance that she was killed by someone here?

To smear him, to silence him.

No chance at all.

How can you be so certain?

Because she was our agent.

Ida Rego?

Merci beaucoup.

She was paid by the Ministry to become intimate with the Senator... to spend time with him, to report on his movements... his contacts...

Paid?

You were the ones who helped launch her career.

Young woman.

Bright, attractive.

Everyone wants to be seen with her.

The Senator enjoys her company.

He quickly takes a fancy to her.

So, we made an approach to her.

A deal was struck.

Keep a watch on Adler, tell us who he's financing, and in return we help you launch a career here at Koller Studios.

But then she died.

And you decided to capitalize on it, alter the plan, implicate him.

Make it look as if he was responsible.

I think this meeting is now at an end.

Hm.

What about her bag?

Someone stole it.

Was there something in it that linked her to you?

It wasn't us.

We didn't take it.

She was the victim of a pickpocket we assume.

-What the hell?

-Inspector... [Oskar] And then this thief, this little pickpocket, said he had evidence of a crime.

[Max] You think he was talking about Ida's bag?

We need to find him and quickly!

He must be here somewhere, Max.

Hey.

Wait!

Wait!

Hey!

Wait.

Wait.

Wait.

I don't mean you any harm.

Sit, please.

We really need to know where your friend is.

He's not coming back.

What do you mean?

I mean he left me.

Abandoned me on the street.

He came into some money.

Where from?

Some bag he stole.

There were letters inside.

Valuable letters.

What were they?

Personal messages.

Declarations of love.

He said he was going to sell them back to the writer.

And the next thing I knew, he's got hold of the money, sold them like he said... and he was gone.

Do you remember anything about these letters?

They belonged to someone famous.

An actress.

Tell us everything.

What was in them?

They were signed... "The man who works miracles."

It's worth checking, Oskar.

-Inspector?

-We need to see the film again.

There.

Are you all right?

I'm just terribly shaken...

I...

There he is... By her side that day.

Who is he?

The man who works miracles... the man who cures blindness.

Max.

It's you.

I wonder if I could talk to you, Professor, in private.

Is it about your sister?

We're having dinner together.

I assumed you knew.

The man who works miracles... That's what you called yourself, in your letters.

I don't understand.

I think you do, Professor.

You had an affair with Ida Rego.

Your patient.

When did it begin?

After she came here?

After you, er, cured her?

I supposed she was overwhelmed with gratitude?

Is that what drew her to you?

It breaks every rule.

A relationship with a patient, still in your charge.

You must have been determined to keep it from coming out, at all costs.

You don't deny it.

Perhaps you ran out of lies.

What happened then?

You tried to break it off?

But... the lady wasn't used to being turned down.

And then... she told you about the poison pen letters... Amsel's hate mail.

And suddenly... you saw an opportunity and you sent her that wine, Professor.

Here you are.

In 35mm nitrate film.

Hugging her, kissing her.

Not her doctor... her lover.

The pictures don't lie, Professor.

It was madness...

It must have been a practiced routine for her.

So many men must have fallen for it, so many were ensnared by her.

Told me she worshipped me... how I had given her back her sight.

Invited me to dine with her at home, and... And... Then?

Well, you can imagine.

It was only a brief affair but I knew it was injudicious.

[Ida screams] I tried to break it off.

It's over!

I was worried about my position.

She went wild... Told me she wouldn't allow me to humiliate her this way.

I suppose she had never been refused before.

Told me she would finish me, destroy my career.

I... You stuck her...

It wasn't love, whatever we had.

It was toxic, twisted, perverted.

One moment we were consumed by passion and the next, by rage.

The threat to destroy my reputation.

You came to my home, Professor... and you visited my sister.

Just to get closer to the investigation.

Whatever you think of me, Max, I did genuinely like you.

And I have a real affection for your sister.

The police are outside...

Professor.

[sniffs] [lock clicks] Professor Neumann!

Professor Neumann!

[Oskar] Max, stand aside.

[Max] Professor Neumann!

Professor...

So... it was all an illusion.

Perhaps... some of it.

I don't know.

If it's any consolation, he fooled us both.

It's no consolation at all.

No.

I didn't expect so.

I don't know what to feel, Max.

I suppose I should feel angry.

I do know what I feel.

I feel humiliated.

I feel used.

-[knock on door] -Yes.

It's Fraulein Weiss, sir.

Clara.

I'm very grateful for you coming over.

Well?

I know that you're very busy.

Just get on with it, Max.

What did you want to say to me?

Well, I had a message from the Inspector.

One of his junior detectives has been disciplined for stealing files and leaking them to the press.

I see.

We know that you weren't involved.

Is that everything?

No.

No, uh... Just one more word...

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry that I accused you.

It was inexcusable, and if there's... anything I can do to gain your forgiveness... Dinner.

What?

Expensive.

-Yes, right, of course-- -Wait.

I haven't finished.

Opera tickets.

Grand circle.

-Very well.

-There's more.

Right, how long is this list, Clara?

I want regular access to all your murder cases.

You don't expect me to agree to that, do you?

Let's just have that dinner first.

[knocking] Is everything all right?

What's the matter?

Oskar, it's not really convenient.

What do you mean, not convenient?

I mean, you being here this evening.

I'm so sorry.

But... [man] I heard a voice.

Oskar, this is my husband.

Oskar's here!

Are you coming in for supper?

Not today.

Come on, darling, let me read you another story.

I didn't know he was back in Vienna.

I... told you there were things you didn't know about me.

I'll be going then, I suppose.

If you don't mind.

I think it would be easier.

[emotional music playing] [Max] Freud tells us the most dangerous mistake a person can make is to project their own shadow onto another human being.

To pretend they are an embodiment of one's fantasy.

The route to happiness is to accept people as they are, not as we wish them to be.

To see them in the clear light of day.

And still love them.

That is the mark of a true friend.

To order Vienna Blood on DVD, Visit ShopPBS.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS This program is also available on Amazon prime video