The Vampire Bat

by Frank R. Strayer

MAJESTIC PICTURES
presents
THE
VAMPIRE
BAT

Screen Story		EDWARD T. LOWE
Photography		IRA MORGAN
Art Direction		DANIEL HALL
Film Editor		OTIS GARRETT
Sound Engineer		DICK TYLER

•
RECORDED BY RCA PHOTOPHONE SYSTEM

Directed by
FRANK STRAYER


Produced by
PHIL GOLDSTONE

The Players

⁠LIONEL ATWELL
⁠FAY WRAY
⁠MELVYN DOUGLAS
⁠MAUDE EBURNE
⁠GEORGE E. STONE
⁠DWIGHT FRYE
⁠ROBERT FRAZER
⁠RITA CARLISLE
⁠LIONEL BELMORE
⁠WILLIAM V. MONG
⁠STELLA ADAMS
⁠HARRISON GREENE

Bürgermeister
Gustave Schoen

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
But how else can we explain these terrible deaths? Von Else last night, five others before him—that's six, within as many weeks, Inspector. Our friends, neighbors that we've known for years, drained of their life's blood, found dead in bed, lifeless skeletons of skin and bone. Vampires are at large, I tell you—vampires.

Karl Brettschneider
Yeah. Malignant demons who issue forth from their graves in the dead of night, to attack their victims and drink the blood from their veins. Brr!

Weingarten
Gott im Himmel, Brettschneider, don't jest.

Karl Brettschneider
Ah! That bloodsucking legend belongs in the same category with werewolves and all other peasant superstitions.

Sauer
But the bats, man, the bats.

Weingarten
Gott, yes! Big ones, so!

Karl Brettschneider
Oh, now we're switching to bats again?

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
There was an epidemic of giant bats in Kleinschloss in 1643. And at the same time, there was an outbreak of vampirism.

Karl Brettschneider
Rot.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Why, this record from the town archive proves it.

Karl Brettschneider
Says it, not proves it.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Well, I'll show you. I'll show you. Now, ah, here it is. "And on this day was von Haussmann hanged from a gibbet in the public square, after being convicted on a proven charge of vampirism. And on this same day, there did occur the departure of the bats—thousands of horrible flying creatures which infested the town for weeks. And on the night of this same day, February 13, in the year of our Lord 1643, was there a stake driven through von Haussmann's heart, and his head cut off with a gravedigger's shovel." There.

Karl Brettschneider
Well, all the records in the world can't make me believe in vampires. There are bloodsucking bats, yes—in South America, thousands of miles from here, but not in Kleinschloss.

Weingarten
But bats fly. They could fly here.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
You saw the bodies, all of them—two wounds on the neck right at the jugular vein; two wounds on the neck pierced and spread apart just as if two fang-like teeth had bitten through the flesh and right into the veins; and in every case, a blood clot, eight inches from the victim's neck—the mark of the feast, the Devil's signature.

Sauer
Does that appear the mark of a human being or a demon's?

Weingarten
God save us—the devils.

Karl Brettschneider
You ought to make a pretty fair meal for a vampire. But let's be consistent. Are these human vampires or...or bats?

Sauer
Vampires can take the shape of a human or a bat, just as they choose.

Karl Brettschneider
Oh, they're magicians. Well, it doesn't make sense to me.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
The whole village is in terror. We live in closed houses, behind locked doors and bolted shutters, not daring to close our eyes, fearful lest this unseen silent death may find us in our sleep, for it is then that it strikes, swiftly, silently, ghastly.

Weingarten
My room is tightly closed. The windows are barred—nailed down. Nothing can get in—nothing.

Karl Brettschneider
But they tell me vampires can go through stone walls, like that.

Weingarten
God save me. So they can.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
We've got to do something, I tell you. Kleinschloss will become a deserted village.

Karl Brettschneider
Well, you might catch all the bats and drown them in the river.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Karl, Karl!

Karl Brettschneider
While you're hunting for vampires and chasing bats, I'm looking for a human being—a murderer, a fiend.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Well, then don't jest about it. Do something.

Karl Brettschneider
I'm trying to—every hour, every day, every night since this thing started!

Sauer
Do you hear it?

Weingarten
Hear it? Yes! Night after night, lying awake until dawn, waiting!

Karl Brettschneider
For what?

Weingarten
I don't know.

Karl Brettschneider
That's what I thought.

Karl Brettschneider
Goodnight, gentlemen. Don't let the vampires get you.

Karl Brettschneider
Are your kisses dynamite?

Ruth Bertin
Don't you like my kisses?

Ruth Bertin
Well, how is my mastermind this evening?

Karl Brettschneider
Well, if you want the truth, not so good.

Ruth Bertin
The Bürgermeister and his grand council still stick to the vampire theory, hm?

Karl Brettschneider
Stick to it? Ha! They're quoting history to prove it. I think you and Doctor von Niemann are the only sane people left in the village.

Ruth Bertin
And you? What about you?

Karl Brettschneider
Me? Well, I'm beginning to think I'm seven different kinds of a fool. Murders are being done under my very nose. I must be as blind as the bats themselves. I can't find a single clue.

Ruth Bertin
Oh, but you will, Karl, you will.

Karl Brettschneider
Well, I haven't.

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh, Ruth!

Karl Brettschneider
And here comes dear Aunt Gussie, to spread good cheer and hope.

Gussie Schnappmann
Just what I thought—slaving your life away in this awful place. It hasn't got that nice, clean, wholesome smell of a hospital. How are you, Karl?

Karl Brettschneider
Oh, quite well, thank you.

Gussie Schnappmann
Well, I'm not. This clammy old place is bound to give me pericarditis, endocarditis, neuritis, this...well, anyway, rheumatism. Will you have some coffee?

Karl Brettschneider
No, no thank you, Frau Schnappmann.

Gussie Schnappmann
Well, just as well. There's only two cups. Here, dear, that'll take the chill out of your bones.

Ruth Bertin
Thank you.

Karl Brettschneider
Speaking of chills, Frau Schnappmann, did you know the village is supposed to be infested with ghouls and vampires?

Ruth Bertin
Oh, Karl!

Karl Brettschneider
Vampires! Pariahs among fiends—demoniacal creatures with huge canine teeth, who bite deeply into the necks of their victims, to quaff and gorge on blood—warm, human blood.

Gussie Schnappmann
There's no such thing as a vampire, Karl Brettschneider. I don't believe in it. You're just saying that to frighten me, and I just won't be frightened. I'm entirely too sensible to believe in such rubbish.

Emil
I beg your pardon.

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh, so it's you.

Emil
I'm sorry if I frightened you.

Gussie Schnappmann
Who said you frightened me? I'm not afraid of anything.

Emil
Could you tell me where Doctor von Niemann is?

Ruth Bertin
Well, he drove to the village to see Martha, the old apple woman.

Emil
Thank you.

Doctor von Niemann
Is this what Doctor Haupt prescribed?

Martha's caretaker
Yes, sir. She takes it in water.

Doctor von Niemann
Well, continue giving it to her.

Martha's caretaker
Yes, sir.

Doctor von Niemann
It's stifling in here. Open these windows.

Hermann Gleib
Hermann open windows. Me do! Me do!

Doctor von Niemann
Well, she'll sleep well, now, poor soul. It won't be necessary to you to stay here. A goodnight's sleep will work wonders for her.

Martha's caretaker
It was kind of you to come, Doctor.

Doctor von Niemann
Oh. Martha has sold me apples for many years. Always a good, ripe, juicy one.

Hermann Gleib
Martha give me apples. I like!

Martha's caretaker
Shh!

Doctor von Niemann
She wants her cross.

Hermann Gleib
Hermann get. Hermann get. Here. Here now. There. For Martha. There. No.

Martha's caretaker
She won't let it out of her sight.

Doctor von Niemann
A terrible experience. To be attacked by a giant bat is enough to shatter anyone's nerves.

Martha's caretaker
She talks about it all the time—how it flew in her face and tried to sink its teeth in her throat.

Hermann Gleib
No, no, no, no! Bats no do. They soft, like cat. They not bite Hermann.

Martha's caretaker
Be quiet, Hermann. See what you've done?

Doctor von Niemann
There, there, there, Martha, there.

Doctor von Niemann
She'll be all right. If she isn't, let me know.

Martha's caretaker
Thank you for coming, Doctor.

Doctor von Niemann
That's all right. Goodnight.

Martha's caretaker
Goodnight.

Martha's caretaker
Run along, Hermann. You can see Martha tomorrow.

Hermann Gleib
Aw!

Kringen
Ah, Doctor von Niemann.

Doctor von Niemann
Hi, Kringen, how are you?

Kringen
Much better, thank you kindly, sir, since you prescribed for me.

Doctor von Niemann
That's right.

Kringen
Go to bed, Hermann. Go to bed! You shouldn't be prowling on the streets. It's dangerous.

Hermann Gleib
Aw!

Kringen
I'm afraid.

Doctor von Niemann
Afraid? Afraid of what, Kringen?

Kringen
The bats, sir—big, giant bats, with wings like an eagle's.

Doctor von Niemann
You saw this bat, you say?

Kringen
I saw it swooping down the street. It came directly for my throat, sir.

Doctor von Niemann
When was this, Kringen?

Kringen
Last night, when they came to take von Else. It was a big monstrous thing. I saw it leap across the alley and into a window. I ran just as fast as my legs could carry me.

Doctor von Niemann
And you said nothing about this?

Kringen
There's enough fear in the village already. Maybe I should. Maybe I shou- I will. I'll tell the Bürgermeister.

Doctor von Niemann
Yes, Kringen, that's the thing to do.

Hermann Gleib
No! Bats...bats good. They not hurt Hermann.

Kringen
He plays with them.

Hermann Gleib
You! You no tell?

Kringen
No. No, no, no, no, no, go to bed, Hermann. Go on. Go on, go to bed!

Doctor von Niemann
You say he plays with bats?

Kringen
His garret is filled with them. He makes pets of them.

Doctor von Niemann
That's odd, very odd.

Kringen
Maybe... Maybe he's it! Hermann prowls around the streets all hours of the night, just like an animal. Maybe he's the vampire.

Doctor von Niemann
Now, don't start any gossip with that, Kringen. Heaven only knows where it might end!

Doctor von Niemann
Goodnight.

Kringen
Goodnight, sir.

Doctor von Niemann
All right.

Hermann Gleib
There. Now. Soft. Nice. There. There.

Kringen
You see? What did I tell you?

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Perhaps there's something in what Kringen says.

Sauer
Seems strange that a human being should want to play with bats.

Hermann Gleib
Aah!

Stube

Kringen
He isn't human, I tell you! He's in league with the devil!

Sauer
Yes.

Martha Mueller
Put it on. Put it on.

Martha's caretaker
There.

Martha Mueller
Thanks.

Martha's caretaker
Now, go to sleep. You'll be all right in a few days—the dooctor says so.

Martha Mueller
Close the window. Close the window. I'm afraid—the vampire!

Martha's caretaker
Well, he said leave them open, but I'd have them closed.

Martha's caretaker
Do you want the light?

Martha Mueller
Leave the light. I'm afraid.

Martha's caretaker
Well, I can't blame you for that either. I'll turn it down a little. Goodnight. If you want me, just pound on the floor. I'll hear you.

Martha Mueller
All right, goodnight.

Martha's caretaker
Goodnight, Martha.

Georgiana
Herr Brettschneider is here to see you, sir. He's in the laboratory with Miss Bertin.

Doctor von Niemann
Oh, thank you.

Doctor von Niemann
Ah, here you are.

Ruth Bertin
Good evening, Doctor.

Doctor von Niemann
Good evening, Ruth. How are you, Karl?

Karl Brettschneider
Well, I'd feel a lot better if I could find the solution to these murders.

Doctor von Niemann
You don't believe in this vampire theory, then?

Karl Brettschneider
Feh! Of course not, do you?

Doctor von Niemann
There are many strange happenings, my boy—many mysteries beyond the power of the human mind to comprehend.

Karl Brettschneider
Have you a theory which might explain these deaths?

Doctor von Niemann
Well, I'll be pleased to discuss it with you, but...not now, not now. I have some very important work to do.

Karl Brettschneider
Well, tomorrow, then?

Doctor von Niemann
Tomorrow? Yeah, yes, perhaps. We'll see. Oh, this isn't so important, Miss Bertin, that you can't let it go till tomorrow?

Ruth Bertin
All right, thank you, Doctor.

Ruth Bertin
Oh, how about Martha?

Doctor von Niemann
Huh? Oh, nothing serious. Just a case of nerves, that's all. Goodnight.

Ruth Bertin
Goodnight.

Karl Brettschneider
Goodnight, Doctor.

Doctor von Niemann
Goodnight, Karl.

Martha Mueller
Gasp!

Doctor von Niemann
Name?

Doctor Holdstadt
Martha Mueller.

Doctor von Niemann
Age?

Doctor Holdstadt
I don't know.

Doctor von Niemann
Cause of death?

Doctor Holdstadt
Like all the rest.

Doctor von Niemann
The vampire?

Doctor Holdstadt
Yes, yes, that's so.

Kringen
When I said I was going to tell you, his eyes glowed up like coals of fire. His hand reached out towards me, as if he were going to sink it into my throat.

Sauer
And weigh this well—he never works and never bathes, and yet he appears well-fed always.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
That's so, he does.

Sauer
But what does he live on, then? I'll wager it's as Kringen says.

Townsman
And my woman was in Martha's room tonight, when Hermann put a flower in her hand.

Sauer
Strange business, if you ask me—mighty strange.

Townsman
I'd hate to be in your shoes, Kringen.

Sauer
Yes, after what happened tonight, I'd lock myself in my room, and pray God to protect me from the Devil.

Townsman in crowd
It's Doctor von Niemann.

Townsman in crowd
Good evening, Herr Doctor.

Doctor von Niemann
Good evening.

Townsman in crowd
Doctor von Niemann—Herr Doctor.

Townsman in crowd
The vampire!

Karl Brettschneider
Well, what do you make of it, Doctor?

Doctor von Niemann
Are these two wounds similar to those found on the other bodies?

Karl Brettschneider
Doctor Haupt can answer that for you, sir.

Doctor Haupt
Yes, they were the same in every case.

Doctor von Niemann
This is a strange condition, Karl, so strange that I doubt the evidence of my eyes. What was your conclusion, Haupt?

Doctor Haupt
I diagnosed the wounds as having been made by needle-sharp teeth. Punctures are clean-cut, penetrating into, but not beyond, the jugular vein.

Karl Brettschneider
Do you mean to say that you also believe they could've been made by teeth?

Doctor von Niemann
Frankly I do.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Ah, you see, Brettschneider?

Karl Brettschneider
What kind of teeth, Doctor?

Doctor von Niemann
An animal of some sort. It's hard to say. The fangs of a wolf, perhaps.

Kringen
A werewolf.

Karl Brettschneider
Could they have been made by, well, a bat, for instance?

Doctor von Niemann
A certain species, yes. There are vampire bats. Doctor William Jameson, who explored many of the tributaries of the upper Amazon, states that bloodsucking bats do exist. He further asserts the victims often become blood drinkers themselves, citing a case in which he saw a native tortured to death on an ant hill by his tribe brothers. They swore he had become a human bat. And, states Jameson, he confessed it.

Karl Brettschneider
Do you mean to say that such a thing as a human vampire is possible?

Doctor von Niemann
Who can say? Historic records would have us believe that an evil soul, assuming there is such, can take any shape it pleases.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
So, why not get into that of a human being? Eh, Karl? Why not?

Karl Brettschneider
Have you any literature on the subject, Doctor?

Doctor von Niemann
Yes, I have many interesting volumes on my shelves that might prove very enlightening. I'll be glad to show them to you.

Karl Brettschneider
I don't mind admitting that I'm up a tree—stumped!

Doctor von Niemann
Well, we'll see what can be done, my boy.

Doctor Haupt
No, no, no, Hermann. This is no place for you. Go away, my boy. Go away.

Hermann Gleib
Aw!

Doctor von Niemann
Goodnight, Schoen.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Goodnight, Doctor.

Doctor von Niemann
Goodnight, Haupt.

Doctor Haupt
Goodnight, Doctor.

Doctor von Niemann
See you in the morning, Karl.

Karl Brettschneider
Thank you, Doctor. I'm sorry to have dragged you out at such an ungodly hour.

Doctor von Niemann
Oh, that's all right, that's all right.

Hermann Gleib
Ahh! Ahh! Ahh!

Doctor von Niemann
A child, fleeing in the horror of the sight of death.

Kringen
There goes the vampire! Arrest him! Lock him up! Kill him!

Karl Brettschneider
Has the entire village gone mad? Hermann wouldn't harm a baby and you know it.

Kringen
I've walked the streets of this village for over 40 years, but tonight's the end. He knows that I've told he plays with bats. He knows that I saw him sneak into Martha's house just before midnight.

Doctor von Niemann
Perhaps he was taking her another flower, Kringen. The boy brought her one this evening while I was there.

Kringen
He killed her just like he did all the rest! And now he's going to kill me! Unless he's killed with a stake driven through his heart, I'm a doomed man! He'll kill me! He'll kill me! I'm doomed! He'll kill me! He'll kill me! I'm a doomed man! He'll kill me!

Ruth Bertin
Good morning, Mr. Brettschneider. What brings you to Kleinschloss so early?

Karl Brettschneider
You!

Ruth Bertin
Fibber. I heard the doctor tell Georgiana he expected you.

Karl Brettschneider
I knew there was something else.

Ruth Bertin
You're a delightful prevaricator, Karl, but not a very convincing one.

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh, you don't mind me using your stethoscope, do you, Doctor?

Doctor von Niemann
Not at all, Frau Schnappmann. But what seems to be the ailment this morning?

Gussie Schnappmann
What say?

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh.

Doctor von Niemann
What seems to be the ailment this morning?

Gussie Schnappmann
Well, Doctor, I am positive that I have valvular disease of the aorta. Or maybe it's...the right ventricle. There is something wrong with my heart. I can hear it beat—thump, thump, thump, thump—just like the book says.

Doctor von Niemann
Well, if you didn't hear it beating—thump, thump, thump—just as the book says, I would say there is something wrong.

Ruth Bertin
What? Without a moon?

Karl Brettschneider
You have a heart of stone.

Ruth Bertin
All right, then. Close your eyes.

Ruth Bertin
Now.

Karl Brettschneider
Oh, so, young lady.

Ruth Bertin
It's too early in the morning, Karl, much too early.

Karl Brettschneider
Oh, is it?

Ruth Bertin
Oh, there's Aunt Gussie.

Karl Brettschneider
Mm, she would show up just at a time like this.

Ruth Bertin
Well, Aunt Gussie, what's the matter now?

Gussie Schnappmann
I have palpitation of the auricular...ventricular mitral valves of the chordae tendineae.

Ruth Bertin
You mean you're heart's beating.

Gussie Schnappmann
Of course it's beating. Doctor von Niemann tried to assure me, but I know...I know it's serious. I'm liable to go, just like that.

Ruth Bertin
Did he prescribe for you, dear?

Gussie Schnappmann
Yes, monoacid ester, sylisonic acid.

Ruth Bertin
You mean salicylic acid, don't you?

Gussie Schnappmann
Well, sylisonic or salicylic, it's helped me. My heart is much quieter. Hello, Karl.

Karl Brettschneider
Hello.

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh, Karl, you will be good to her when I'm gone, won't you?

Karl Brettschneider
Yes, of course I will, Frau Schnappmann.

Gussie Schnappmann
Well, I'm not gone yet, and you can't marry her, unless I say so. Don't forget that. Oh, my heart.

Ruth Bertin
There, Auntie, you'll be all right. Just rest a while. What you need is...

Gussie Schnappmann
What?

Ruth Bertin
Rest, dear, and quiet.

Ruth Bertin
Aunt Gussie has a heart like a steam engine.

Ruth Bertin
Come on!

Hermann Gleib
Meow! Meow!

Gussie Schnappmann
Here, kitty, kitty, here! Kitty, kitty, kitty, here! Kitty poo! Come on, come on, kitty poo. That's a baby, come on. Come on, kitty, kitty, kitty poo. Come on, kitty cat. Baby, come on, kitty poo, come on. Ahh! Oh! A turtle! You nasty little beast! Oh!

Gussie Schnappmann
Don't you know it's wrong to steal?

Gussie Schnappmann
You've cut yourself.

Hermann Gleib
See? Blood. Mm!

Gussie Schnappmann
Ugh! Stop it! Stop it!

Hermann Gleib
No hurt me. No hurt.

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh, you poor thing. Now, you wait right here and I'll run in the house and got something for that finger. A subcutaneous wound like that might easily result in a tetanus infection.

Hermann Gleib
Tetan-...tetan-...

Gussie Schnappmann
Tetanus—lockjaw. Not that you need be afraid. From the way you talk, I think you've got it already. Look, here's a nice juicy apple for you.

Doctor von Niemann
Ah, this is it. Traité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires, by Augustin Dom Calmet, in 1746. "Let us suppose that these corpses do not actually stir from their tombs, but only the ghosts or spirits appear to the living. Wherefore do these phantoms present themselves and what is it that energizes them? Is it actually the soul of the dead man which has not yet departed to its final destination?"

Gussie Schnappmann
Fiddlesticks. Now, how could a corpse buried under four or five feet of earth get out to do any such foolishness? I don't believe it.

Karl Brettschneider
It's a fair question, Doctor. How could it?

Doctor von Niemann
Well, according to accepted theory, the vampire dematerializes its body and reintegrates it outside the grave.

Gussie Schnappmann
It's a good explanation if you can believe it. And while I'm standing here listening to all this rubbish, there's a poor man in the garden in danger of a tetanus infection. Now, what should I do for him, Doctor? Shall I apply Mercurochrome, or a 2% solution of dichloride?

Doctor von Niemann
Well, either will do. Get some gauze and some Mercurochrome, Emil.

Gussie Schnappmann
Thank you, Doctor. I'll wait here.

Doctor von Niemann
Difficult to believe, isn't it?

Karl Brettschneider
It's impossible to believe. And yet, it would explain these deaths, wouldn't it?

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Ah, Brettschneider. Pardon our intrusion, Doctor von Niemann, but after what you saw last night, you'll be interested in this, as well.

Karl Brettschneider
Well, what's happened?

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Kringen was found dead an hour ago, with the two punctures in his neck and not a drop of blood in his body. And what's more, Hermann Gleib has disappeared.

Karl Brettschneider
What?

Weingarten
Now are you convinced that we were right and you were wrong?

Sauer
That would be proof enough for anybody. Kringen said Hermann would get him and he did.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Well, Brettschneider?

Karl Brettschneider
I appoint you my deputy. Organize a searching party and comb this countryside from one end to the other. Find Hermann Gleib and bring him in but don't harm him. Do you understand?

Sauer
What good will that do? He is the vampire. There's only one thing for us to do when we find him—kill him and drive a stake through his heart.

Karl Brettschneider
Hermann Gleib will be tried by a court of law! If the charge against him is proven true, the law will decide what to do him, not you! Now get your men together and do as I tell you.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
That's the way to talk.

Karl Brettschneider
I'm going into town for a little while, Doctor. Would you care come along?

Doctor von Niemann
Oh, I hardly believe so. There's little to be done until they find the boy. If you need me then, I'll...

Karl Brettschneider
Alright, thanks, I'll let you know.

Gussie Schnappmann
I feel as though I was going to faint.

Ruth Bertin
Oh, there, Auntie, there's nothing here to be afraid of. Here comes Emil with your Mercurochrome and bandages. Run along, now, and take care of that patient of yours.

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh, heavens, I forgot all about him.

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh, my heart! Oh!

Ruth Bertin
Poor Auntie. She's had every ailment in the book.

Doctor von Niemann
And a lot that aren't, I'm afraid.

Ruth Bertin
Particularly, a palpitation of the auricular or ventricular tricuspid and mitral valves, Doctor?

Doctor von Niemann
Well, I had to tell her something to satisfy her.

Gussie Schnappmann
Here, here. You mustn't do that. Now, where's that finger?

Hermann Gleib
You good like Martha.

Hermann Gleib
She give me apples. Hermann like you.

Gussie Schnappmann
Are you Hermann?

Hermann Gleib
Me Hermann. You give me apple? Hermann give you...nice, soft bat.

Gussie Schnappmann
No, Hermann, no! Get away, Hermann! I know you! I know you! Don't you get me! Hermann!

Gussie Schnappmann
Go away, go, Hermann! Go away!

Doctor von Niemann
What is it, Georgiana?

Georgiana
I just found this in Emil's room.

Doctor von Niemann
Well?

Georgiana
It belonged to my friend, Martha Mueller.

Doctor von Niemann
Are you certain?

Georgiana
I gave it to her myself. Martha died last night. I find her crucifix in Emil's room. Doesn't that mean Emil is the one Herr Brettschneider is seeking?

Doctor von Niemann
This amazes me, Georgiana. It's impossible.

Georgiana
It rained the night von Else died. There was mud on Emil's shoes the next morning.

Doctor von Niemann
Have you mentioned this to anyone?

Georgiana
I intend to tell Herr Brettschneider when he calls again.

Doctor von Niemann
I can't believe it! Leave this with me. I want to talk to Emil before you say anything to anyone.

Georgiana
The Bürgermeister should know at once.

Doctor von Niemann
Yes, all in good time. Emil has been with me too long for us to jump at conclusions. Don't say anything until I tell you. Now, send Emil to me.

Georgiana
Very well, Doctor.

Gussie Schnappmann
That's for the neuritis. And the pepsin—that hasenpfeffer was tougher than shoe leather. And a Sweet Spirits of Nitre—that'll help; at least it won't do any harm. And ginger—that'll warm my stomach. And, now, a little bicarb of soda.

Townsman
We'll get him now.

Sauer
Come on, men! Come on! We've got him! He can't get away from here now! Some of you, go around that way! And if he tries to get past you, you know what to do!

Sauer
Come on, men! Get over here!

Sauer
Get over here!

Sauer
There he is, men! Here, boys!

Sauer
Hermann, you're going back to the village with us. Come on. We won't hurt you.

Hermann Gleib
No! No, won't go. Hermann afraid!

Sauer
Come on. You're going with us, Hermann.

Hermann Gleib
No. No!

Sauer
You're going with us.

Hermann Gleib
No! No! No!

Sauer
Come on, now. Come on men, get him!

Sauer
Come on Hermann, we won't hurt you. Come on, Hermann.

Hermann Gleib
No! No. No. Ahh!

Weingarten
Come, that settles him!

Townsman
Yes, let's go. We've got to go down below.

Sauer
Hey!

Sauer
We've got to make certain.

Townsman
I won't go down there.

Sauer
Nobody asked you to. I'll go myself.

Townsman
Can you see him?

Sauer
He's on a ledge about 50 feet down. I'll get a rope. We've got to make certain, I tell you.

Doctor von Niemann
You must be careful, Emil. Very careful.

Doctor von Niemann
No! It must be, it must be! She's no better than the rest. I've got to go on.

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh, it's you, Doctor. Good evening.

Ruth Bertin
I'm sorry to have to disturb you, Doctor, but we simply couldn't make Georgiana hear the bell.

Doctor von Niemann
That's quite all right, my dear. Georgiana is becoming careless, very careless.

Gussie Schnappmann
Yes, I've noticed that, too. In my opinion, she has negana. That's sleeping sickness. You know the symptoms, Doctor. At first, I thought it was creeping paralysis, so I stuck a pin in her leg to see. And there was a splendid reaction of the reflex motor nerves.

Ruth Bertin
Why, Auntie.

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh, you're shocked? So was she.

Doctor von Niemann
Won't you join me in some coffee?

Karl Brettschneider
Yes, thanks, Doctor. We will. There are a few questions I'd like to ask you about.

Gussie Schnappmann
About blood and murders and vampires, I suppose.

Karl Brettschneider
Yes, I'm afraid so.

Gussie Schnappmann
Well, so am I. Well, goodnight. If such a thing is possible, I'm going to bed.

Doctor von Niemann
Ah, won't you join us too, Frau Schnappmann?

Gussie Schnappmann
Coffee at this hour of the night? No, thank you. I'm going to stick to my monoacid ester sylisonic salad—acid, Doctor, acid. Goodnight.

Doctor von Niemann
What's the news in the village, Karl? Have they located Hermann yet?

Karl Brettschneider
No, not a trace of him. I hate to think of that poor misfit being hunted down like a dog. You know, I simply can't bring myself to believe in that vampire theory.

Doctor von Niemann
Here, will you pour, Ruth?

Ruth Bertin
Certainly.

Doctor von Niemann
I know, Karl. Our saner, calmer judgment tells us that such things can't be, and yet...here, for instance, in this ponderous tome are cited 1,001 phobias and complexes that human beings are heir to. Some of them are strange, more untenable even than werewolves and vampires. Yeah, could I have some more please?

Ruth Bertin
You drink entirely too much coffee.

Doctor von Niemann
It's my one weakness, and also my excuse for tolerating Georgiana's laxity in other things. She does know how to make good coffee. Thank you. She brings it to me every night at exactly 10 o'clock. And when I've drunk it all, then I know it's time to quit.

Ruth Bertin
Yes, and eat breakfast so you can have more coffee.

Doctor von Niemann
No.

Gussie Schnappmann
Georgiana, you mustn't lie like that.

Gussie Schnappmann
You'll get yourself a torticollis—you know, stiff neck. Georgiana? Ahh!

Ruth Bertin
That was Auntie!

Ruth Bertin
Auntie!

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh, my god! I'm all right. I'm all right now. I was...

Karl Brettschneider
Emil, help Frau Schnappmann to her room.

Gussie Schnappmann
My silly imagination. I imagined I saw Georgia-... Ahh!

Karl Brettschneider
The same two wounds, Doctor.

Doctor von Niemann
And my last words to her were angry ones—a petulant reprimand for being late with my coffee.

Karl Brettschneider
What time was that?

Doctor von Niemann
About two or three minutes after 10.

Karl Brettschneider
She's been dead then about 45 minutes.

Karl Brettschneider
Bloodless, like the rest.

Karl Brettschneider
It passes all belief!

Karl Brettschneider
Ruth's aunt saw Hermann Gleib in the garden this morning. Could it be that he...

Karl Brettschneider
You were the first one here. What happened?

Emil
I was in my room reading. My door was open. I must have dozed off for a minute or so, because I awoke to hear Frau Schnappmann scream.

Karl Brettschneider
You say your door was open?

Emil
Yes, my room was very poorly ventilated.

Karl Brettschneider
And you saw nothing? Heard nothing unusual?

Emil
Nothing.

Doctor von Niemann
Karl?

Karl Brettschneider
What is it?

Doctor von Niemann
This crucifix belonged to Martha.

Doctor von Niemann
See who it is, Emil.

Karl Brettschneider
Can you positively identify this as belonging to Martha?

Doctor von Niemann
Without a doubt. I saw it in her room the night she died.

Karl Brettschneider
How in the world did it get here?

Doctor von Niemann
Hermann Gleib was in her room. He had that crucifix in his hands. And Hermann was here, today.

Karl Brettschneider
He may be here now, for all we know.

Ruth Bertin
Who is it?

Karl Brettschneider
Karl.

Ruth Bertin
Oh.

Karl Brettschneider
How is she?

Ruth Bertin
She's had a real shock this time, but she'll be all right. I'm putting her to bed.

Karl Brettschneider
Leave her there. Don't let her out of this room, and don't you leave it either.

Ruth Bertin
Why, what do you mean?

Karl Brettschneider
It looks as if Hermann Gleib is the killer, after all. It's possible he may be hiding here in the castle.

Ruth Bertin
What makes you think so?

Karl Brettschneider
I'll tell you later. Stay in your room, and keep your door locked.

Ruth Bertin
Don't worry about that.

Gussie Schnappmann
I heard every word he said, and I don't think there's any use of them searching for Hermann. They should look for a dog, a human-faced dog.

Ruth Bertin
Auntie, the doors and windows are all locked. There's nothing to be afraid of now.

Gussie Schnappmann
Why, who said I was afraid? I'm not a bit afraid.

Ruth Bertin
No, of course you're not afraid, but you must get some rest.

Gussie Schnappmann
Rest in this awful place? With dog-faced Hermanns and human-faced bats and blood and murders and vampires?

Doctor von Niemann
Find anything, Karl?

Karl Brettschneider
There's an unbroken cobweb in that window. If Hermann did it, he came through the door.

Doctor von Niemann
He must have. And yet, I don't understand how he could find his way up here without us hearing him. Yet Emil was asleep, and I was in the library. Yes, he could've done it. The facts all point to it. What was it, Emil?

Emil
The Bürgermeister. He has news for Herr Brettschneider about Hermann.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Pardon the intrusion, Doctor. Pardon the intrusion. I knew Karl was here, and I thought you wouldn't mind if I ran in to tell him the news.

Karl Brettschneider
About Hermann?

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Yes. He fell into the Devil's Well, in the cave.

Karl Brettschneider
He's dead?

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Dead as a doornail. This ends our troubles, Karl. The vampire's dead. I can feel it in my bones.

Karl Brettschneider
Hm, well, your bones may be wrong. What time did this happen?

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Quite early, about 9 o'clock. The cave is nearly two hours from here. That's why we didn't hear it sooner.

Karl Brettschneider
Well, it may interest you to know that there's been another death, after your vampire died.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Ooh!

Karl Brettschneider
Doctor von Niemann's housekeeper, right here in her own room.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Mother of mercy! What are we going to do?

Doctor von Niemann
But a natural death wouldn't kill a vampire, Karl. You know the accepted theory—a stake driven through the heart?

Karl Brettschneider
Oh, yes, that's the theory all right.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
But...but...

Karl Brettschneider
But what?

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
But they did. They drove a stake through his heart.

Karl Brettschneider
Good god, are we living in the Middle Ages?

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
It wasn't through my sanction, Karl. But Sauer did it. He told me so himself.

Karl Brettschneider
Well, that ends the vampire theory as far as I'm concerned. Hermann Gleib died in the accepted fashion for killing a vampire. Oh, no, there's some human agency at work here, Doctor—a madman, who kills to satisfy some violent, sadistic urge.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Yes, you're right, Karl. I've been a fool, a superstitious fool.

Karl Brettschneider
Did they leave his body in the cave?

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Yes. Yes, they did.

Karl Brettschneider
Well, in view of what's happened, don't you think you owe him a decent burial?

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
You're right. In view of what has happened, we do owe him that, Karl. I'll see to it at once, this very instant. And I'll make arrangements for Georgiana's removal to the morgue. Goodnight, Doctor. Pardon the intrusion.

Doctor von Niemann
Goodnight, Gustave.

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen
Pardon the intrusion.

Karl Brettschneider
Well, here I am, just where I started weeks ago. There isn't a single theory that doesn't lead straight into a stone wall. I've jested about this vampire business because my better judgment told me it was a lot of nonsense. Then I had reached the point where I was willing to accept even that, because it seemed to satisfy the equation.

Doctor von Niemann
All of it was a bit superstitious.

Karl Brettschneider
I don't know which way to turn—where to look, what to look for! Why should anyone want human blood? Why? Why?

Doctor von Niemann
Calm yourself, Karl.

Karl Brettschneider
Calm myself? Calm myself? With all these unsolved murders staring me in the face, and no solution in sight?

Karl Brettschneider
How much blood is there in the human body, Doctor?

Doctor von Niemann
About six liters approximately.

Karl Brettschneider
Can you think of any purpose for which that amount of blood might be used?

Doctor von Niemann
No, not even in transfusions.

Karl Brettschneider
That's the point which stops me. There isn't any other use for human blood. Damn. Murderers leave clues. And these atrocities are murders, Doctor. Those simple fools in the village can believe what they like, but you and I are sane thinking people, and you know and I know, Doctor, that these are murders! The last one was done here, in this very house, right under this roof. All right, I'll start here. I'm going over every foot of this place, both inside and out. Nobody, sane or insane, is clever enough to get away with murder without leaving a clue of some sort. And I'm going to find that clue!

Doctor von Niemann
Now, come, Karl. You mustn't let your nerves run away with you. Here, these...

POISON

SLEEPING TABLETS

Doctor von Niemann
These will help to give you a good night's sleep. If there are any clues, they'll be here in the morning when your nerves are calm and your...your mind is clear. Take my advice and go home and rest.

Ruth Bertin
I imagined 1,000 demons were after me as I came down those stairs.

Karl Brettschneider
Ruth, didn't I tell you to stay in your room?

Ruth Bertin
Yes, but I wanted the doctor to come up and quiet Auntie. You know, it isn't her imagination this time.

Doctor von Niemann
Of course, Ruth, I'll come right away. Take my advice, young man. Go home and go to bed.

Ruth Bertin
Goodnight, Karl.

Karl Brettschneider
Goodnight, Ruth.

Doctor von Niemann
Goodnight, Karl.

Karl Brettschneider
Goodnight, Doctor.

Doctor von Niemann
If his lights are on, you must wait, Emil—wait until he has gone to bed.

Doctor von Niemann
Handle him as you did the others, Emil. You are strong, very strong. I am waiting for you—waiting for you to bring him to the laboratory.

Ruth Bertin
You! You're the one! What mad thing are you doing?

Doctor von Niemann
Mad? Is one who has solved the secret of life to be considered mad? Life, created in the laboratory! No mere crystalline growth, but tissue—living, growing tissue. Life that moves, pulsates, and demands food for its continued growth! You shudder in horror. So did I the first time. But what will a few lives be weighed in the balance against the achievement of biological science? Think of it. I have lifted the veil. I have created life—arrested the secret of life from life. Now do you understand? For the lives of those who have gone before, I have created life!

Ruth Bertin
I'll tell Karl.

Ruth Bertin
You may, for tonight, Karl's name will be added to yours, and all of those whom this achievement will immortalize.

Karl Brettschneider
I didn't take your sleeping tablets, Doctor.

Doctor von Niemann
Emil brought them here. He's the one who murdered them.

Karl Brettschneider
Stay where you are. You'll have a chance to tell everything, Doctor.

Emil
I'll take care of von Niemann! Get her out of here!

Karl Brettschneider
You stay here.

Karl Brettschneider
Von Niemann and Emil.

Gussie Schnappmann
Doctor! Doctor von Niemann!

Ruth Bertin
Karl, she mustn't see them.

Gussie Schnappmann
Where is Doctor von Niemann? I must see him immediately.

Ruth Bertin
Aunt Gussie, you can't, he...he can't be disturbed.

Gussie Schnappmann
Oh, but I must see him, I simply must. That hydrous magnesium sulfate he gave me is affecting me most peculiarly. If you'll pardon me?

Karl Brettschneider
Hydrous magnesium sulfate...why, that's Epsom salts.

THE
⁠END