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00:00Disappeared?
00:03Yes, Professor. Disappeared without a trace.
00:06Disappeared into thin air. And that practically in front of my nose.
00:09And in front of 300 spectators.
00:11Oh, that sounds different.
00:13Did you get the police?
00:15Of course. And Detective Sergeant Caruso is already looking for him.
00:18But he won't find anything.
00:20The case is so mysterious, so inexplicable, that only one person can solve it.
00:23Professor Doctor Doctor Doctor Augustus Van Dusen.
00:26Called the thinking machine. And that's why I'm here.
00:29Very sweet, my dear Hedge.
00:32I think he's interested in me.
00:35Tell me the story.
00:37Yes.
00:38The whole story. With all the details. From the beginning.
00:41Well, I was in the theater last night.
00:44The whole world is a stage.
00:47And all women and men are mere spectators.
00:50They get up and leave again.
00:53For his whole life, one plays some roles through seven acts.
01:00First, the child, who cries and whines in the arms of the guardian.
01:05You may be surprised to find Hutchinson Hedge,
01:08the well-known court reporter of New York,
01:11in the theater.
01:14Especially at Shakespeare.
01:16And you're probably wondering if I've committed myself to high art
01:20and become a playwright.
01:22I can only say, not the bottom.
01:25But if the human being has to deal with murder,
01:28execution and arson every day,
01:31in short, with the normal facts of life,
01:34then from time to time he feels like doing something completely different.
01:38The last act, with which the strangely changing story ends,
01:45is second childhood.
01:48Complete forgetting.
01:52Without eyes.
01:54Without teeth.
01:56Taste.
01:58And everything.
02:08I also got the tickets as a gift.
02:11From our theater critics.
02:13And it was finally the event of the season.
02:17The famous Shakespeare players from England
02:20on their first and only America tour.
02:23With Belinda Belmond in How Do You Like It?
02:28And today there was the last performance in New York,
02:31in the small but fine Gehrig Theater at Washington Square.
02:36The third act had just begun.
02:39And how do you like this life of Schaefer, Master Probstein?
02:43Truthfully, Schaefer,
02:45in and of itself it is a good life,
02:48but in view that it is a life of Schaefer, it is not suitable.
02:52Stop!
02:53Here comes the young Mr. Ganymed, my new brother-in-law.
02:58Here comes the young Mr. Ganymed, my new brother-in-law.
03:04The young Mr. Ganymed, I said!
03:08It seems to me, my friend, that you have made a mistake.
03:13That may be. I heard him very clearly.
03:18Where is he?
03:20Mr. Ganymed, if you do not come, we are in the devil's kitchen.
03:26Mr. Ganymed!
03:27I know my Shakespeare so well,
03:30that I knew what the two were doing on stage,
03:33but not in the play.
03:35Something was wrong.
03:37Mr. Ganymed came and did not come.
03:40If you, as you like, have ever seen,
03:43then you know, of course, that Mr. Ganymed is actually a woman.
03:47Rosalind, the daughter of the exiled duke,
03:50and Rosalind was in this case the star of the evening.
03:54Belinda Belmond, BB, as she called the press of the civilized world.
03:59And Belinda Belmond did not come on cue.
04:03Her colleagues were confused.
04:05The public was calm.
04:07And now the iron curtain went down.
04:10In the middle of the play.
04:15Ladies and gentlemen,
04:18a sudden unwellness of Miss Belmond
04:23forces us to our greatest regret, as you can imagine.
04:31To cancel our last performance in New York.
04:37Please, do you understand?
04:41You will get your entrance fee back at the ticket office.
04:47A reporter is always on duty,
04:49even if he sits in the theater and trains himself.
04:52I said goodbye, also with regret, as you can imagine,
04:56to my charming companion,
04:58who, by the way, does not play a role in the story,
05:01pushed me through the excited spectators
05:03and marched behind the stage with a pre-reserved press card.
05:07And then it turned out
05:09that Belinda Belmond's unwellness was more of a non-existence.
05:15Every spot behind the stage was searched,
05:18but the famous actress was gone without a trace.
05:21That's the situation, Professor.
05:25So you call that a comprehensive report?
05:28Yes.
05:29You like to be a good journalist, my dear Hedge.
05:32I can't judge that, I don't read newspapers.
05:34But as a scientist, especially as a criminologist,
05:38you have a lot to wish for.
05:40Yes.
05:41If I'm going to solve the case,
05:43I need more than a picture of the mood from the high culture life.
05:47Facts, my dear Hedge.
05:49Precise information, if I may ask.
05:51For example?
05:52For example?
05:53For example, what does Miss Belmond look like?
05:56How was she dressed?
05:58When and under what circumstances was she last seen?
06:02Yes.
06:03What possibilities are there to leave the theater?
06:06Did you notice anything unusual during the search?
06:09Did Miss Belmond have her own wardrobe?
06:11Did she have...
06:12Stop, stop, Professor. That's enough for now.
06:14As you wish.
06:15Then please answer my questions now,
06:17one after the other, as precisely as possible.
06:19As precisely as possible, at your command.
06:21First of all, Miss Belmond,
06:23one of the most famous actresses in England and the world,
06:26has been with the Shakespeare Players for about ten years.
06:29Age?
06:30Thirty-four years, officially.
06:32In truth, a few years over forty.
06:34Appearance?
06:35Big, stately.
06:36A majestic appearance, as they say.
06:39For the Rosalind, as you like her,
06:41perhaps a little too majestic.
06:43I understand.
06:44Clothing?
06:45According to the role, of course.
06:47That tells me little.
06:48What did Miss Belmond wear when she disappeared?
06:50But, Professor, don't you know the play?
06:52My dear Hansch,
06:53I am a man of the young twentieth century,
06:55and I like it.
06:56My world is the natural sciences,
06:58physics, chemistry, medicine, technology, and so on.
07:00Culture is an ingredient for me,
07:03a pleasant side-effect of life,
07:05a side-effect, if you will.
07:06As soon as my time permits,
07:08I will make myself familiar with the play again,
07:10because I suppose
07:11that for the case and its solution,
07:13it may be of some significance.
07:15But at the moment you have to help me,
07:17as an exception.
07:18So, how was Miss Belmond dressed?
07:21She wore a short green jacket,
07:24if I remember correctly,
07:26red-striped trousers,
07:27and high-heeled boots.
07:28A rather unusual appearance.
07:30That has to do with the play, Professor.
07:32You see, Rosalind disguises herself as a man
07:34and flees with her friend Celia
07:36into the Ardennes Forest.
07:37Yes, at the moment that probably doesn't matter.
07:39Go on, please.
07:40Where and when was Miss Belmond last seen?
07:43I can tell you that exactly in a minute.
07:46Yesterday evening, behind the stage,
07:48I spoke with the inspector.
07:50What can I tell you, Mr...
07:52Hedge, from the Daily New Yorker.
07:54She was just here, Mr. Hedge.
07:56And now she's gone.
07:57I don't know any more.
07:59You mean Miss Belmond left the theatre?
08:02In the middle of the play.
08:04Hard to believe, but I don't see any other possibility.
08:06And why?
08:07I don't know.
08:08Maybe she didn't feel well.
08:11Even in the first and second act,
08:12she had severe headaches, migraines.
08:14She's been suffering for years.
08:16Maybe she didn't know what she was doing because of the pain.
08:19Yes, maybe.
08:20In the short break after the second act,
08:22she went straight to her wardrobe.
08:24And I saw her there.
08:26Aha.
08:27When was that?
08:28I just need to look at my schedule.
08:30Um...
08:32curtain up for the third act.
08:35Exactly at 9.45 p.m.
08:37Yes.
08:38At least a minute earlier,
08:39I was at the door of Miss Belmond's wardrobe.
08:41So, 9.44 p.m.
08:44Exactly.
08:48Miss Belmond, please get ready for your performance.
08:54Miss Belmond!
08:58All right, Paul. I'll be right there.
09:04Did you notice anything about Miss Belmond?
09:07Notice?
09:08No.
09:09No.
09:10She was a little pale under the make-up because of her migraines.
09:12Are you sure that it really was Miss Belmond?
09:15What else could it have been?
09:16Of course I'm sure.
09:17I've known her for years.
09:18So you saw her at 9.44 p.m.
09:21And when did you notice that she had disappeared?
09:24Well, at her cue.
09:25Um...
09:26Third act, second scene.
09:27And when was that?
09:28Wait a minute.
09:30At 9.51 p.m.
09:32Schaefer says,
09:33Here comes Mr. Gunny.
09:34Miss Belmond performs.
09:35And when Miss Belmond doesn't perform?
09:37I rushed to her dressing room, knocked on the door,
09:40but no one was there.
09:41Don't talk nonsense.
09:43Don't go around with newspapers.
09:45Act like Miss Belmond, Mr. Director.
09:47But we already have...
09:48Then act normal.
09:50You're in every corner, somewhere.
09:52You have to act.
09:53Yes, Mr. Meany.
09:54It's being done, Mr. Meany.