The Seventh Victim

Three times nine is 27. Four times nine is 36.

Come in, please.

Here we are, Mary.

I have a most painful matter to discuss with you, Mary.

Your sister.

Have you heard from her lately?

No, Mrs. Lowood. She doesn't write often.

Have you any other relatives, Mary?

No. Jacqueline brought me up.

Somehow, I never felt I needed other relatives.

That makes it all the more difficult.

Difficult?

Has anything happened to Jacqueline?

We don't know, Mary.

We've been unable to get in touch with your sister.

Sometimes she can be quite careless.

Why don't you try Mrs. Redi?

I have written repeatedly to Mrs. Redi.

She vouchsafes no information whatsoever.

It is six months, Mary, since your tuition has been paid.

Naturally, it's impossible for you to stay on here as a paying pupil.

Course.

Miss Gilcrist and I have talked the matter over.

You can stay on here and work

with the younger children

as sort of an assistant teacher.

But, Mrs. Lowood, I can't just stay on here

without knowing what's happened to my sister.

Maybe if I went to New York... If I saw Mrs. Redi myself--

I doubt if you'll get anything out of that woman.

But if you'd like to try,

I'll advance you the money to make the trip to New York.

Of course, my dear, if you don't find your sister,

you can always come back here.

Thank you.

Mary.

Don't come back.

No matter if you never find your sister,

no matter what happens to you, don't come back.

My parents died when I was a pupil.

I left, as you are leaving, but I didn't have courage.

One must have courage to really live in the world.

I came back.

Gilcrist!

Agnes!

John Quincy Adams did not follow John Adams as president.

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,

As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past!

Let each new temple, nobler than the last,

Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,

Tilt thou at length art free...

That's enough.

It seems all right, Joseph.

You see, we do keep up the quality of La Sagesse products,

in spite of Jacqueline's absence.

But you must know someone who has seen or heard of my sister.

I'm afraid not.

Your sister had many friends, but they were not my friends.

I was only the manager of her plant.

Mrs. Redi, there's one thing.

With Jacqueline gone, how do you carry on the business?

What do you do with the receipts?

How do you sign the checks?

Why, Mary, I'm amazed.

Didn't Jacqueline tell you?

She sold the business to me at least eight months ago.

It's my business now.

I didn't know that.

Yes, and I must say I've done quite well with it.

Perhaps even better than Jacqueline.

There's nothing you can think of? Old letters?

Anything that might give me some hint as to where I might find Jacqueline?

Leave me your address. If I find anything, I'll get in touch with you.

I'm stopping at the Chatsworth.

Thank you, my dear.

Why, Mary!

- Hello, Frances. - How are you, honey?

How's Miss Jacqueline?

I don't know. That's why I came to see Mrs. Redi.

I'm trying to find her.

You mean she's gone, and you don't know where she is?

Come here a minute.

I don't get this.

Miss Jacqueline's so crazy about you.

She was always talking about you,

and she had your picture in her office, and...

I know.

For the first time, I'm beginning to feel frightened.

I almost feel as if I'd never known my sister.

Nothing's happened to her.

It's just that I can't understand her not keeping in touch with you.

I can't understand it at all.

Well, don't worry about it.

I saw Miss Jacqueline myself about a week ago

at a restaurant the boyfriend took me to.

A little Italian place down in the Village called the Dante.

- The Dante? - Yes, it's on Perry Street.

Why don't you ask the people who own the place?

They'll remember Miss Jacqueline.

Anybody who ever sees her never forgets her.

I'll try there.

I'm sorry to bother you. I want to ask you about my sister.

- Yes? - I thought you might know her.

She was seen here about a week ago.

Her name is Jacqueline Gibson.

I don't know no Gibson. This is a restaurant.

Many people come here.

She's very beautiful.

I wish I could tell you what she looks like.

I'm sure you'd remember her.

She's tall, with dark hair.

Once you'd seen my sister, you'd never forget her.

Giacomo, la bellissima madonna.

Maybe.

Let me look at you.

Why, you could be her sister.

Yes. Yes, if she made that much impression on you,

I'm sure it was Jacqueline.

She hasn't been here for a long time.

- But she was here. - Oh, yes, yes.

One day a beautiful car comes here.

This beautiful woman in furs gets out.

There is a handsome man with her and the chauffeur.

The lady rents one of our upstairs rooms,

and the chauffeur changes the lock on the doors.

Then the lady does not come back.

Not to live, anyhow.

She came back three or four times,

but always alone.

Just to eat.

You mean she just came here,

rented the room, locked it and left?

Yes. And pays the rent every month.

Could you let me see that room?

If it is hers, there might be something there

to help me find my sister.

No. The rent is paid. The lady asked us to promise.

I won't open the door.

Please.

It's important.

What did he say?

He said he always wanted to see the inside of this room anyway.

I tell you, young lady, when a thing like this comes up,

you've got to go to the police.

What do you think people pay taxes for?

It ain't just to keep us chasing after crooks

and regulating traffic.

We're supposed to help everybody.

Now, you've got to go to the police about your sister, miss.

Uh, I've had some experience with the Bureau of Missing Persons--

Yeah. Well, Mr. Hoag,

lost persons are the concern of the Missing Persons Bureau.

You stick to your poetry.

You're the poet, Jason.

Well, in a way, that makes everything my business, doesn't it?

Were you going to make a suggestion?

Yes.

I was going to ask you to look into your own heart.

Do you really want to find your sister?

Oh, my Jason, always laughing,

always joking to help others.

He's a good boy, miss. He just talks that way.

I'm a good boy, but no one listens to what I say.

Now, you do what I tell you, young lady,

and go to the Missing Persons Bureau for your sister.

- If you'll give me the address. - Certainly.

- She was only 16, and she seemed-- - Had she ever run away before?

What did he have on when last seen?

He went out without his hat or his coat.

It's very cold for such an old man.

Any identifying marks or characteristics?

Scars, amputation, tattoo marks, speech impediments?

No, none.

- Sign here. - Any further details?

Oh, she sold her business about eight months ago

to Mrs. Esther Redi.

What relation are you to the missing person?

Sister.

Sign here.

Excuse me, uh, I'm Irving August, private investigator.

I think I can help you. Here's my card.

The name may not mean anything to you, but just say the word,

and I'll have your sister for you in 48 hours.

Can you?

Look, sister, Manhattan is only nine miles long

and four and a half miles wide.

I ain't never been off it.

I know it like... Like you know your own backyard.

Now, you just get me a small retainer, say, uh, 50 bucks,

and I get your sister for you. I guarantee it.

I haven't any money right now, but I'll get a job and--

Lady, this kind of work costs money.

I gotta cover all the hospitals, the morgue.

That's the first place you gotta go, and it ain't pleasant, the morgue.

You know who I am, August?

Sure, I do.

Then you know if I give you a little advice, it'll be good advice.

Yeah, sure.

That girl was looking for Jacqueline Gibson.

If I were you, I'd forget it.