To Catch a Thief

My jewels! My jewels!

I've been robbed! Someone stole my jewels!

Help! Help! Police!

My diamonds! My diamonds! They're gone! Help!

- Lepic. - Mercier.

Monsieur Robie, we represent the Sûreté.

We are making some inquiries

in reference to a number of jewel robberies.

We have reason to believe that you could provide us with information

that would help us in our investigations.

Would you be good enough to accompany us to our office in Nice?

All right, but would you mind if I put on something more formal?

Okay.

You left in a hurry, huh?

- They came for me an hour ago. - The police?

- Five of them. - Naturally, you are innocent.

I haven't stolen a piece of jewelry in 15 years.

- Honesty. - Well, it has a good feeling.

What do you think of my kitchen? Works like a machine, yes?

- Bertani... - Just like our little band

in the Underground during the war. Cutting, slicing, just like the old days.

They think I'm responsible for these robberies, don't they?

Well, once they were all in prison with you.

I know. And now if there's any crime on the Riviera,

we're the first to be suspected by the police.

But since the war, I have obliged all these men to be honest.

I have beat honesty into their skulls.

I did not want them to break their paroles and return to prison.

Listen, if my parole is broken, they'll throw away the key.

I came here for one reason, to tell these men and you

that I had nothing to do with the robberies.

Perhaps I believe you, but your comrades

are very angry with you, Robie. They think you let them down.

So long, Bertani. I wouldn't put it past any of them

to be doing the robberies themselves.

Simple men without education? No, Robie.

Excuse me. Business calls.

Don't go.

But, you know, coincidence can be terrible.

These robberies all bear your mark, but you claim to be innocent.

I do more than claim. I insist.

What I can't understand is how this thief could imitate me so perfectly.

It has to be someone who knew every detail of my technique.

Maybe somebody in the police.

He picks perfect victims with only the right stones.

Goes up walls, over the roofs, down through the skylights,

leaves no clue and then disappears in the night.

Just like John Robie, the Cat.

You don't believe me any more than the rest.

Oh, he's as nervous as a cat.

If somebody caught this imitator, we'd all be off the hook, wouldn't we?

- Surely. - Well, no one believes me,

but the police are chasing the wrong man.

Someone's got to start chasing the right one.

One day he'll make a mistake.

Bertani, there's only one answer, and I should have seen it sooner.

- I've got to catch this imitator myself. - You couldn't do more than the police.

Oh, but I could, and I'm the only one who could,

because I can anticipate him, try to figure out his next move,

and then get there ahead of him

and catch him with his hand right in the jewel case.

If they catch you, nobody will believe what you say.

Who believes me now? The biggest problem is time.

I've got to hit this copycat before he hears I'm after him.

To catch him in the act, I need better information than he has,

the kind that takes months to dig out.

Like who has jewels that deserve to be stolen?

Yeah. Where they live, which room they keep the stones in,

what time they usually go to sleep, how much they drink,

whether they have dogs, guns, servants, insurance.

Well, for old times' sakes, perhaps I can help you.

- Come on, Bertani. What have you got? - You made me remember something.

Two days ago, a man came into this restaurant.

- I did not like him. - Why not?

He called me to his table.

He asked me about crime and criminals,

me, a respectable, honest restaurateur.

You think he may know something about the robberies?

He asks me strange questions. I refuse to answer.

Then he asked me about the jewels my clients wear,

and I said to myself, "You have something to do with this new Cat."

"Maybe you are the new Cat."

Foussard's daughter will take you out of here by boat.

- Where? - The beach club in Cannes.

Wait for a phone call there.

Okay, Mr. Cat, let's go.

Danielle, do me a favor. Don't call me a cat.

I only do one favor a day.

Will you do as your father here asks?

Did I brush your fur the wrong way?

Hey, you're getting us wet.

It must be true, what they say. Cats don't like water.

I'll thank you not to mention that word again.

Oh, a man should never regret his past.

- I only regret one thing. - That you never asked me to marry you?

No, that I ever took the time to teach you English.

You only taught me the nouns. I learned the adjectives myself.

- The word "cat" is a noun. - Not the way you use it.

For you it means excitement, danger, affluence.

What do you think of that word, "affluence"?

It means wealth.

What's on your mind?

Nothing. I was just thinking about you.

Imagining you in your expensive villa, enjoying life,

while we work like idiots for a loaf of bread.

I work for a living, too, raising grapes and flowers.

And rubies and diamonds and pearls.

School's open again. Professor Robie will now conduct a class

in bad manners, or how to get spanked in a hurry.

You can't touch me. I've graduated.

- You going to South America? - No, just the beach club at Cannes.

I've always dreamed of going to South America.

People say it's a virgin country.

I can cook, sew, keep my mouth shut

and peddle stolen jewels on the black market.

Now, Danielle, you don't think I'm responsible

for all those recent robberies?

- I think so, yes. - Yes.

Together with your father and the rest of my old Resistance pals.

But there's one great difference.

They are furious with you. I am not.

Danielle, listen carefully. I stole once a long time ago.

- I went to jail. - I know.

The Germans bombed the prison and you all escaped,

joined the Underground and became heroes.

I joined because I wanted to make up for some of the things I'd done.

- I've never stolen since. - I don't know what you wanted.

I know what you got. Pardons that are not worth anything.

They weren't pardons, they were paroles,

and we fought for six years to earn them,

those of us who were still around for the graduation.

Those paroles don't have much value today, huh?

Well, at least they haven't been withdrawn from circulation.

No South America?

No, just the beach club at Cannes, please.

Well, in that case, we should hurry.

That airplane up there, it probably belongs to the police.

- Hey, stupide, the contact. - Oh.

What's he doing now?

He's coming back over us.

Good. When he comes by again, wave to him.

- Suppose he's not my type? - Oh, wave to him anyway.

Act as if you're a pretty girl just out for a ride.

Well...

Hey, hey, not that pretty. We want to get rid of him.

- How much further to the beach club? - Oh, about 15 minutes.

Well, when you get there, pull close in shore

and mingle around with the other boats.

And then?

And then I'm getting out. I'll leave my clothes with you.

And I thought you hoped to be inconspicuous.

Well, nobody will ever recognize me in these.

- Hello? - The man I speak with you about,

the man who asked me the questions about the jewels,

he will wait for you at the entrance of the flower market in Nice.

He will find you. I told him you would be tossing a coin in the air.

Tails?

H.H. Hughson, Lloyd's of London.

Am I to understand you're the man who knows everyone

who owns the best jewelry in this vicinity?

We insure most of the important pieces.

Insurance. That's gambling, isn't it?

Well, shall we say betting?

Yes, let's just say betting, because I have a long shot for you.

A little help in return for some of your losses.

- So Mr. Bertani told me. - Are you interested?

Well, the proposition sounds intriguing, albeit a little unorthodox.

What does that mean? Yes or no?

- My dear Mr. Robie... - Smith.

I beg your pardon. Ever been married?

No, but what has that to do with yes or no?

It might help you to understand my problem.

I have two wives, Felicity, God bless her,

and the London office. I must return worthy of both of them.

I see. And you don't think they'd approve of your giving me

a list of your richest clients.

Officially, you come under the category of extremely bad risk.

Well, see you later, Hughson.

It's always a pleasure to meet an insurance agent

who enjoys paying off such expensive claims.

However, unofficially, there's hope for you.

I was sure there would be.

We're both taking a big chance, you know.

Really? What happens to you if I'm caught?

I might be embarrassed, even censured officially.

- They could put me away for good. - You made a bad choice of professions.

Well, then let's come to an understanding.

I'm doing you a favor.

I take all the risks, you get all the jewelry back.

Mr. Smith, it strikes me that only an honest man would be so foolish.

Thank you.

- How much of a list do you need? - Only the top half-dozen names.

- Anything else? - Oh, the addresses, habits,

whatever you've got. Descriptions of the stones and settings.

- Suppose it falls into the wrong hands? - Perhaps it already has,

unless you've been pulling the thefts yourself.

I say, that's not a bad idea.

- And where are you staying? - Carlton, Cannes.

Okay.

No, no, no, my dear fellow, not in the middle of the day.