The Talk of the Town

It started the fire.

I'm convinced that this fire was deliberately set.

But by who, Mr. Holmes? By who?

Dilg escaped?

Escaped?

Miss Shelley...

One move, and I'll brain ya.

I'd appreciate the keys to your car.

You get out of here, Leopold Dilg.

I'm sorry, Miss Shelley, but it's very important.

I'm warning you!

Oh. Oh!

Dilg! Dilg!

Excuse me.

Dilg, what are you doing here? You broke out of jail.

In passing, it was necessary to hit me on the skull.

You fool, the whole police force

must be looking for you.

The whole country.

I would like to stay here.

You can't. I'm fixing this house up for rent.

It'll be occupied tomorrow.

Why did you escape?

Come on, you've got to get out of here.

Now come on, please.

Oh!

What's the matter?

My ankle.

Oh, my gosh!

How far do you expect to get with that?

And where are you going?

I would appreciate any suggestions, Miss Shelley.

Why didn't you think of that in the first place?

Miss Shelley...

do you believe I could burn down a factory?

You're crying.

One day you love the whole world,

and all of a sudden, every...

No!

Get upstairs, quick.

Quick. Now, look...

I want you to go in the attic.

And keep quiet, you understand?

Close that door behind you.

Get up there, quick.

Good evening.

I am Michael Lightcap.

Oh, uh, Michael Lightcap.

Oh! Oh, Professor Lightcap.

You weren't supposed to arrive till tomorrow.

Your secretary wrote...

My secretary is getting married.

Nothing deranges a woman's mind more than marriage.

My entire life has been in complete confusion

for the last two months.

You must be the person with whom we corresponded.

Yes, Nora Shelley.

How do you do, Miss Shelley? How do you do?

An excellent name.

Yes. Uh, it's raining, isn't it?

Definitely.

Uh, we're having an early summer.

Yes. Could we continue the conversation inside?

It's rather damp out here.

Oh, nothing is ready.

I-I thought that tomorrow about noon...

Really, I suggest a hotel.

Well, I planned to spend the night here,

so I'll spend the night here.

Oh, uh...

Standing under an open umbrella inside a house, bad luck.

Silly superstition, isn't it? Yes.

Still, in a new, strange house,

you never can tell what's liable

to turn up, so why take chances?

I've had that umbrella 11 years.

I'm so sorry.

There's a certain... nervous, impulsive quality

about you, Miss Shelley,

that I find in many of my students.

Disease of the age.

Yes, sir.

I'll get my bag.

Get up in the attic.

Didn't you hear? That's the new tenant!

You shouldn't have broken his umbrella.

Get up in the attic. Do you know who he is?

He's number-one legal genius in the state.

Dean of Commonwealth Law School.

He eats with the governor. He writes to the president.

Yeah, a very cold character, Mr. Lightcap.

He's back.

Now remember, keep quiet up here.

And later, out you go.

I wonder where.

Oh, darn.

Oh, hello.

Why did you lock the door?

Did I? Why, isn't that queer?

Miss Shelley, there seems to be a strange atmosphere

hanging over this house.

Soon as I get the curtains up, it'll be... all right.

Yes.

You're a very sarcastic man, aren't you?

I've just finished teaching for nine months

400 weary young men the rudiments of law, Miss Shelley.

I've had to drive all the way down here myself

because my man went to see

his ailing mother in West Virginia.

I've had a long, hard trip,

and I was looking forward to a cheerful, brightly lit house

a warm bed.

And I find myself, late on a rainy night,

in this shambles.

I must confess, Miss Shelley, I...

I've never seen such monumental inefficiency.

Well...

Why didn't you tell your blithering secretary

to get things right before she ran off and got herself married?

Is it my fault because you come barging in here

24 hours ahead of schedule?

If you'd come tomorrow like you were supposed to,

this house would have been efficiently whipped together.

Yes, and it would've been cheerful and bright.

Are you through?

Yes.

There's a certain justice in what you say.

However, the violence with which you say it...

Well, I'm sorry, but I...

I accept your apology. Please accept mine.

And now, may I ask...

is there a bedroom in the house fit to be slept in?

The master bedroom happens to be quite fit.

Thank you.

Oh, I'll show you where it is.

No, no, I can find it.

It's, uh, the second floor.

I assumed it wasn't the attic.

Good night, Miss Shelley, you may leave now.

Oh, I think I'd better stay and finish this job, if you don't mind.

I'd rather you leave everything as it is for the time being,

and go home.

Good night, Miss Shelley.

Uh, right in there. Good night.

Thank you. Good night.

I forgot my hat and coat.

Uh, Miss Shelley? Miss Shelley?

Would you please close the front

door noiselessly when you leave?

Thank you, good night.

Good night.

Hey, where are you?

I was going to break your neck.

Lucky you spoke.

Yes, it certainly was.

All right, Leopold, he's asleep now.

You used to live here, you and your mother, didn't you?

Yes. We live in town now and rent this place.

Come on, get up. You can make it if you go quietly.

My ankle is so swollen now,

I couldn't walk five yards with it.

Oh, why does everything happen to me?

What are you going to do? You can't stay here.

You're still the prettiest girl in Lochester.

Now, look.

This escape was insane. You haven't been convicted yet.

The best thing for you to do is to go on back.

Maybe they won't convict you.

The first day I saw the faces

of those 12 citizens on the jury,

I knew my goose was cooked.

They don't like me.

What do you suppose they think now

after this stupid jailbreak?

Why, that you're as guilty as sin.

It's possible I am. Don't you think?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Leopold, as far as I know, you're capable of anything,

even burning the factory.

You were the wildest kid that ever went to a Lochester school.

You wore pigtails then. I was in love with you.

Always collecting a bad reputation,

even after you grew up.

Speeches on street corners, petitions. Any kind of a squawk,

and Leopold Dilg's right in the middle of it.

Something like this was bound to happen.

What's wrong with you, anyway?

Well, it's a form of self-expression.

Some people write books, some people write music.

I make speeches on street corners.

This is no time for nonsense.

You're even prettier now.

Look, what about Yates? Does he know what you've done?

Yates?

Yates. Sam Yates, your lawyer.

Don't you know your own lawyer?

The state made me a present of a lawyer.

If anybody can help you, it's Sam Yates.

I'll call him,

and that's the end of the line as far as I'm concerned.