HARRY
No, thank you, I don’t feel like sniffing at dusty old rags.
Harry puts the cape back where he and James found it
CAPTAIN WRIGHT
Jamie, have you fallen for this fabled beauty?
JAMES
I wouldn’t have minded meeting her.
HARRY
(laughs)
But, as always, you are too late.
INT-CARDIE’S CASTLE, PORTRAIT GALLERY-SAME EVENING
A portrait of a beautiful woman (aka Rita) with a spray of red roses at the waist of her blue dress hangs on the wall of the portrait gallery.
INT-HIDDEN SALON – SAME EVENING
Karl Ivanovich hands Harry a small gold-edged book
KARL IVANOVICH
I’ve fallen on it
Harry takes the book and opens it. The title page bears an inscription in Italian
HARRY
(reads it out loud)
Pray for my poor soul…
KARL IVANOVICH
It is a catholic prayer-book.
Harry’s words silence the laughter and the banter. It is as if the corpse itself is with them in the room.
James comes up to the table with the vase with dried field flowers. He points to the open decanter, whose stopper lies next to it on the table
JAMES
Here is the stopper. Whoever lived here had no time to close it.
HARRY
Why did the owners fled from here?
Georges looks inside a birdcage that stands near the window. Tiny bones of the long-dead bird lie at its bottom. Seashell-shaped feeder is empty
GEORGES
Good question.
Karl Ivanovich opens the drapes on the furthest window and discovers that it is really a door
KARL IVANOVICH
Here’s the door.
He turns the key and the door opens with an unpleasant creak. Evening breeze rushes into the room
Candles flicker, curtains and the dried flowers in the vase move, as if the spirit of the dead woman has invaded the room, angered at the disturbance
EXT – WITCHES” VALLEY – SAME SUMMER EVENING
The mist rises over the lake.
A quiet female laughter, like a bell, is heard here and there.
Nenufares seem to move on the water surface.
The mirror surface of the lake darkens.
INT – HIDDEN SALON WITH A BALCONY – SAME EVENING
Everybody looks around in a small adjacent room.
Miller approaches one of the four windows, looks into it, turns to everyone and gestures lively
MILLER
This salon forms a part of the suit of rooms that includes the lady’s bedroom.
HARRY’S VOICE
(behind the scenes)
I found a small balcony, the size of a bird’s nest!
Captain Wright comes close to one of the paintings decorating the side wall