Deep Red (Profondo rosso)

DEEP RED

Great!

Really, that's good. Very good.

Maybe a bit too good.

Too clean. Yes, too precise.

Too... formal. It should be more trashy.

See what I mean?

Remember that this sort of jazz

came out of the brothels...

...and this phenomenon, as the latest studies confirm,

is not restricted to superior species

but includes vertebrates and invertebrates as well.

Butterflies,

termites, zebras,

all these animals, and many more,

use telepathy to transmit orders and relay information.

This is a proven fact that can easily be demonstrated.

For instance, if we put a butterfly in a cage, within a few hours,

it will be able to gather many other butterflies around it

which will quickly swarm in, in answer to its call,

even covering a distance of several miles. This is telepathy.

The faculty comes naturally to the newborn in the early stages of life

but they lose it as they acquire means of verbal communication.

On the other hand, certain rare individuals,

for reasons as yet unknown to us, do not lose this faculty.

One such exception is Mrs Helga Ulmann

who is here in Italy for a series of conferences.

Helga has extraordinary telepathic powers.

We've been amazed by her natural inclination for the paranormal.

I will let her tell you herself. Helga Ulmann.

I would like to point out immediately

that my faculties have nothing whatsoever to do with magic,

the esoteric or fortune-telling.

I pick up facts the very moment they occur or have occurred

but nothing of what is to come.

I can feel thoughts the very instant they are formed.

Some I can even sense a long time afterwards,

being so strong,

that they linger about the room

like cobwebs.

You, sir.

Yes you, in the third row, with your right hand in your pocket.

You're clutching a bunch of keys.

Four keys, one of them very long.

It's true. Look, they're right here!

Your name is Pietro...

Forgive my pronunciation... Valgoi?

Yes, Valgoi, that's right.

Mr Valgoi, excuse me. May I ask you something?

Do you know Mrs Ulmann by any chance?

- No. - Forgive my persistence.

Could you have met her before and told her your name?

How could I? I live in Bologna. I only arrived in Rome three hours ago!

It's absolutely impossible.

Good, thank you, sir.

No, no!

Out! Out! No!

Excuse me.

I'm sorry.

There is something...

...someone.

No, I don't know what it is. Forgive me. I'm sorry.

Helga?

I can't explain what it was.

Something strange and sharp, like a knife

entering my flesh.

Please forgive me, but it's all right now, thank you.

I feel it again.

It's here. I can feel death.

I feel a presence.

I have entered into contact with a perverse mind!

Its thoughts are of death.

Go away!

You...

...have killed

and you will kill again!

That children's song

and that house down there

and...

...death.

And that blood!

I'm scared, I'm scared!

Helga, it's all right! Calm down, that's enough!

Yes, let's hide everything,

as if nothing happened in the house. Everything back the way it was.

No one must know, no one must find out!

Just forget, forget everything...

...forever... forever.

Are you OK?

Anything I can do for you? Get some help?

It was all so clear, believe me. It was so frightfully clear.

Like a thorn piercing my brain.

I heard his twisted thoughts,

cruel and yet childish at the same time.

How odd. Before, in front of the audience,

I couldn't express all the sensations that gathered in my mind,

but I'll write them all down tonight at home.

I'll let you have it tomorrow.

You may use it as you see fit.

I'm saying this because now, you see,

I also know who that person is.

- What's the matter? - No, it's nothing.

Those evil thoughts must be here, stagnating in this room.

Just a moment ago it came back to me.

I must admit I'm frightened. I'm really frightened.

I really need some rest.

I'm feeling very tired.

Shouldn't we talk about that right away?

I'd like this article to be published while I'm still in Italy.

Yes, I am alone.

Yes, I am a bit jumpy, but don't worry.

We'll talk again tomorrow?

Hinno, Marc!

Hinno? What does that mean?

What are you talking about?

A client just said it to me in the bar.

He said it's a Tahitian word.

Or was it Madagascar?

I'm so damn drunk, I can't even remember!

Anyway, it means

alla salute, cheers, à votre santé, skåI!

Listen, Carlo, when I was in America I met a lot of people like you.

Heavy drinkers, they don't last long, you know?

Who says I want to last?

You're speaking like a true masochist.

You obviously have the vocation.

Definitely not a masochist, on the contrary.

You know...

...as long as I'm drunk...

...I'm as happy as a lark!

And I play better too!

I mean, the piano is like the body of a beautiful woman

and I tickle her.

Cut it out!

Speaking of pianos, my half hour of fresh air is up.

I'll go back in to bang out a few more notes.

Otherwise, I won't get paid tonight.

On your feet, then. Up!

You know what, Marc?

The difference between you and me is purely political.

You see, we both play rather well.

But I am the proletarian of the pianoforte

while you are the bourgeois.

You play for the sake of art and you enjoy it.

I play for a living.

It's not the same thing.

My, my! One of your philosophies I wasn't aware of yet!

Actually, I just thought of it. I'm really sharp when I'm drunk.

What was that?

A scream, I'd say.

Who knows, maybe a rape.

I drink to you, deflowered virgin!

Bye, Marc.

- Bye. - Bye.

Five fatal blows, twelve wounds.

Probably from a hatchet or a butcher's cleaver.

The victim seems to be about 35 to 40 years old.

She has abrasions and cuts all over her body.

So, you're a foreigner, then?

Yes, I was born in London

but I lived in America for several years before coming here.

And what are you doing in Italy?

I'm a pianist. Jazz. I teach here at the conservatory.

- I teach jazz. - And you play the piano, right?

So, in that case you don't have a job, right?

- I told you, I'm a pianist. - Yeah, sure.

So, then, that's your only job.

Playing an instrument isn't a job? What is it, a joke?

What are you saying? No, I would never say that.

In fact, in my family I have a cousin who plays the...

What?

The violin.

Strange paintings, huh?

Yes.

Did you move, change or take anything from here?

Are you crazy? We're very careful not to move anything.

Why? Is there something wrong?

No, no. I mean... It's just an impression.

Sorry, you were asking?

Ah yes, the victim. After you.

You knew her, didn't you?

I already told you, I live upstairs. Her name was Helga Ulmann.

- Coffee? - Thank you.

Tell me about the raincoat the murderer was wearing.

Wait a minute. I didn't say the murderer was wearing it.

All I said was that I noticed a man with a dark raincoat

walking away from the building.

Good evening. Hi, everybody!

Get lost! You can't come in here.

Why not? With a crime like this, the first thing you do is call the press.

Get your hands off me! I told you, you can't come in here!

This is a complex investigation.

Look who's here. Gianna Brezzi.

Yes, Captain.

- Who told you about the crime? - I have my sources.

The victim was rather famous, even in Italy.

In fact, she gave an important lecture this very afternoon.

What did this famous lady do?

She was a sort of magician.

She could read people's minds.