Sisters (1973) Movie Script
"It's" Peeping Toms!
Starring Ted Craft.
And now, here's Ted!
Hello, everybody,
and welcome to "Peeping Toms,"
New York's newest
and grooviest game.
You have just seen
the first half...
of our real-life
candid situation.
Now, in one minute,
you will have to predict...
just what our unsuspecting
subject will do.
You folks there in the audience,
and those of you peeking in at home,
guess along with us, okay? All right.
Now, today, our Peeping Tom's
problem is, chivalry.
What does a fella do
when a pretty girl...
starts taking off all her clothes
right there in front of him?
A blind girl, that is.
Lovely young model
Danielle Breton...
agreed to be our decoy.
Now, Danielle
is not really blind,
but that's what we want
our male friend to think.
Okay, peepers,
look at the board.
You've got 20 seconds
to pick your answer.
"Well, look at that!"
Both of our contestants
have picked the same answer.
Let's see if they're right.
Oh, I am sorry, Pat and Fred,
but better luck next time.
- Right, audience?
All right. And now, before we meet
our contestants for tomorrow,
let's bring out the lovely
Danielle Breton, our blind girl.
- Bravo, Danielle.
- Thank you.
It's so nice to see you.
Danielle, what do you do in real life?
Right now I study
to be a model with Gene Fox,
and also I study
to be an actress.
Great!
That's wonderful, Danielle.
Danielle, let's bring out
our other guest,
Peeping Tom's
own Mr. Chivalry,
Philip Woode.
Hello, Phil. Nice to meet you.
You're a great sport.
Phil, what do you do
in real life?
I'm an advertising manager
for "The Amsterdam Star."
Oh, great.
That's wonderful.
I'm glad to... Oh! Uh-oh.
It's been wonderful
talking with you, Danielle and Phil,
but that music tells us that we just
have time to give away our prizes...
before we have
to say bye-bye.
Danielle, for you, this complete set
of Reynolds stainless steel cutlery.
- Thank you.
- Ha, ha. Congratulations.
And Phil, for you,
good sport that you are,
dining and dancing
for two...
at Manhattan's famous
African Room.
Philip!
I just remembered
that I haven't eaten all day...
and I thought maybe you want
some help with your dinner for two.
I don't bite, you know.
That is, if I'm filled
I don't bite.
I- I have brought
my own cutlery.
- All right, let's go get my car.
- Okay.
... I don't know
what to do, so I just stand there...
and, uh, I feel very stupid
and about, uh...
Then I said
to the photographer...
I said something so terrible you can't
even put it in the French movie.
But he deserved that,
you know.
He's a...
How you say that word?
He's a son of a bastard.
- Son of a bitch.
- Yes, he was that too. Son of a bitch.
But I'm not, you know, I'm not
like you Americans' women's liberation.
I don't, uh, I don't
spend my life to hate the men.
I don't like that, but this man,
he have deserve what I tell him.
So, after that have
happen to me, then, uh,
I said to myself, "Now it's time
for you to go from Quebec."
- Quebec?
- Yes.
- I thought you were French.
- Oh, yes, I'm French-Canadian.
It's not the same,
you know.
Quebec is very pretty,
you know, but now, for me,
New York is the home. Is for me...
is for me, freedom, New York.
Yesterday you know
what I have do?
I go to the top
of the Empire State Building.
You know, the...
that building, the big...
And I am up there by myself,
and nobody know I am there.
I look down, I can see
all the little car and the people,
and I'm all by myself,
and nobody knows that I'm there.
Do you like
to be alone?
Sometime I do,
but not tonight.
Danielle, I think
I should take you home now.
I'm sorry.
This is so embarrassing.
I waited for you at the TV studio.
You saw me.
Why can't you
leave me alone?
Look here, Miss Breton
and I were just having a drink.
Mrs. Emil Breton
and you.
I am not married!
I have been divorced for a year.
- But still he follows me.
- Danielle, that is quite enough.
We do not want to discuss our very
private problems in front of strangers.
- Come along now.
- Don't touch me!
- Waiter?
- I will go, but not with you.
- It is important we go home now.
- Yes, sir?
This gentleman
is bothering us.
You better come
with me, sir.
- Just come with me.
- Danielle. Danielle!
Come home with me!
Danielle!
Get your hands off me!
Come on.
Uh, I better take you home.
- Okay.
- Where do you live?
- Staten Island.
- Staten Island?
I thought you said
you lived in New York.
Isn't Staten Island
in New York?
I guess it is.
Come on.
You know, there are
so few people...
that I have
any feeling for.
Not just men, you know.
Ever since
my sister left.
We have had
such a close bond.
Hey. Hey!
Oops!
Well, here
is my apartment.
I have just move in, you know.
I have a dishwasher.
A real dishwasher?
Ah.
I think it's very hot
right here.
I think I'll turn
the thermostat down.
Philip, you know I think
what you should do?
Ooh! You just must
wait there for me.
Oh, Christ.
Philip, what
are you doing?
Does your ex-husband
make a habit...
of standing guard
out there?
Why he is always
following me?
What is so terrible,
you know, is his persistence.
He-He says that we can
work it through,
but I don't want
to work it through.
Some time there are
no solution.
I think you better go.
- Wait. Wait, look. I got an idea.
- No, I think...
- What?
- Why don't I go downstairs.
I'll get in the car.
I'll drive around the block.
And I'll park. And then I'll
come back through the back entrance.
I'll pretend to leave.
Okay?
- I don't know if that's such a good idea to do.
- Trust me.
I got rid of him before.
I can do it again.
- Okay.
- I'll be right back.
I'll wait for you.
You forgot
your cutlery.
Danielle.
Danielle!
- Oh, excuse me.
- Oh, say...
Shh, shh, shh.
- Who was that? Who was that?
- It is my sister.
Come on, take it easy.
You can tell me.
She's so crazy.
She get...
She get so angry with me
when I'm with anyone,
except for her,
my husband and now you.
Why is she here?
Because we are twins
and today is our birthday...
and she can come visit me but she know
that she have to go back...
and so...
And so she feel very bad.
- Look, why don't I leave.
- No, no, no! Please?
- "Stay with me."
- Okay.
I look so terrible,
I think.
- No.
- I have such a headache.
- I have had too much Manhattans last night.
- A little.
Philip, I think
I would feel better.
I have no more
of these pills.
- Could you get me some at the drug store?
- Sure.
- You know where is Bay Street?
- Yeah.
And then we have
a happy birthday together.
$4.50.
$.79, $.89, $ 1.29.
That's $ 7.68.
- Yes.
- You must do as I tell you.
- Yes, I...
- You are not well.
Yes, I know.
Please, but I have only...
I have only two pills left.
Please hurry.
Yeah, that one's fine.
And I'd like something written on it.
Can't have it.
The cake decorator isn't in yet.
- Well, couldn't you do it?
- Are you kidding?
- Well, why not?
- Hey, Louise, he wants me to write on a cake.
- You? I'd like to see you try.
- Mm-hmm.
All right then, I will.
What do you want written?
Happy birthday to Danielle...
No. Uh...
Happy birthday
to Dominique and Danielle.
Dominique and Danielle.
You gotta be kidding.
Come on.
Let me show you.
Surprise.
Hey, now you know you're
not supposed to cut the cake...
until you make a wish
and blow out the candles.
No!
Hello? I want to report
an emergency... a murder.
Hello.
I want to report a murder.
A man, about 25, black.
I saw it just now
through my window.
I live in the apartment just across
the courtyard. 36 Hamilton.
Yes. I'll meet you downstairs
right away. My name is Grace Collier.
Yes, the Grace Collier.
I wrote that story.
I'm sorry you feel that way, Detective,
but I have to write it
the way I see it.
Sometimes the police
are wrong.
Look, this is ridiculous. We can't
discuss it now. A man is bleeding to death.
Yeah. Right away.
I'm coming, I'm coming.
Dominique?
Just a minute.
- What's wrong?
- Oh, Emil, thank you for coming,
but, uh, everything
is fine now and I get dressed...
- and go out...
- What happened?
Well, this morning
I felt those pains...
What happened?
Dominique. What have you done?
Dominique is here?
She was.
Watch out.
Someone might look
in the window.
Help me.
Help me!
- Help me!
- Wh-What are you going to do?
It's a beautiful day
here in New York.
This is Windy Craig
on the radio for you.
On the couch.
Help me.
Put on some makeup.
It must look as if
nothing has happened.
- Drop it there.
- I'm Grace Collier.
I just spoke to you
on the telephone.
How you doing, Miss Collier?
I'm Detective Kelly.
My partner,
Detective Spinetti.
- What seems to be the problem?
- You're the man...
I spoke to,
aren't you?
- That's right.
- Well, I imagine we can discuss...
I hope there's not
too much imagination involved here.
You obviously don't think so,
or you wouldn't be here.
Now, I just saw a man viciously
and repeatedly stabbed.
It was in that apartment up there... 3-R.
The name is Breton.
The man's probably dying
if he's not dead already,
so I think the best thing to do
is to get up there.
All right, take it
easy, will you, lady?
These people are
always stabbing each other.
- "These people"?
- All right, all right. Let's just keep calm.
One step at a time.
Your story is that you
looked out the window.
- What time would that have been?
- Your people have this written down.
The thing to do
is to try to get up there...
and try to save
that poor guy.
Miss Collier, our work
is a profession.
- A doctor, for example, doesn't begin to operate...
- You're not a doctor.
I read your article
about police brutality in Stapleton.
And the next time "The Staten Island"
"Panorama" decides to investigate...
- our methods, I hope they send a real reporter.
- I'm going up there.
- And you're certainly not a cop.
- And you're not either...
if you don't do
something about this.
Unless, of course, you'd rather
go beat up a few students.
Ever hear of a search warrant,
Miss Civil Liberties?
Well, you haven't got one,
and neither do I.
You mean you're actually gonna stand
here and ask me idiotic questions...
like some dumb courtroom
drama while a man dies?
I saw it.
Saw it happen.
- Actually saw it happen.
- Calm down, calm down.
Now, you just go back
to your apartment and relax.
And watch you walk off?
You'd like that,
wouldn't you?
That'd make a great story
for your next issue.
"Police refuse to investigate
brutal race murder."
Not a chance, lady.
You stick with us.
And keep
your mouth shut.
I'll do what
I consider necessary.
This isn't
a police state yet.
- Yes?
- Police officer.
- Oh, yes? Can I help you?
- Are you the lady of the house?
- Yes, I am.
- You live here alone?
- Yes.
- Had any company this morning?
- Oh, no. - Two people...
- That will do, Miss Collier.
If there is some information that
you need, I will be glad to help you,
but as you can see,
I am in the middle of dressing,
so, uh, if you excuse me,
I'll finish.
- She's afraid.
- You mind...
- You mind if we come in?
- Just what do you want?
If you don't mind our coming in,
this lady will explain.
Have you the search, um... the search
permission? Have you that?
- You mean a search warrant?
- Yes, the search warrant. Have you that?
- No.
- She's stalling. She's hiding the body.
If you have not the search warrant,
it's not very important.
So if you will excuse me,
I finish to dress.
It'll take me just ten minutes
to get a search warrant,
and while Spinetti here is going
to the trouble of doing that,
- I shall naturally have to...
- Excuse me.
I don't mean to offend you.
Come in.
But you know, I see all the time
on the television show...
the scene of the evil criminal
and the policeman,
and the policeman
knock on the door...
and the criminal,
he ask about, you know,
what you have ask me...
the search warrant.
But you have not
said to me,
"Open in the name of the law."
You have not said that.
- Now, then, Miss...
- Danielle. Danielle Breton.
I'm Detective Kelly.
This is Detective Spinetti,
- How do you do?
- This is Miss Collier, your neighbor...
- "from across the way."
- Hello. How are you?
- Hello.
- "Something very unusual" occurred this morning.
Seems that Miss Collier happened to
glance out of her window...
and saw something which so shocked
and disturbed her...
- that she called the police department.
- I saw a murder.
Thank you, Miss Collier.
Now, then, Miss Breton,
I suppose you can see...
- Miss Collier's apartment from here.
- I really don't know.
You know very well
you can.
Yes, there's my window.
This is definitely the right apartment.
Miss Collier, do you spend a lot of time
watching my apartment?
You saw me.
You know you did.
Lf, uh, I have seen you,
then I would have pulled
the shade and if I do that,
I have to give up
all my life...
- "to have the privacy."
- She did draw the shade.
Obviously once she'd
hidden the body she felt safe.
But it must be here
somewhere.
I can't believe
that this is serious.
He wrote "help"
on this window in his own blood.
And I watched him
write it.
- Here he write that?
- "Naturally she washed it off."
It's all so obvious.
This girl is protecting someone.
But the murderess
is someone this girl knows.
She was shorter
and had a twisted face...
and stringy hair and was having
a terrible fit of some kind.
- You know someone who would fit that description, Miss Breton?
- No.
Good God! I saw the knife!
I saw her stab him!
Could somebody have gotten in here
without your knowledge?
It would be impossible.
I was here all morning.
What about the man
that stayed over?
I was quite alone.
You see, I'm-I'm divorced
from my husband, and still, uh...
Well, it's
very personal, you know.
But Miss Collier, many time at night
I watch the television show...
and I watch the horror film,
and it make me full of fear,
and-and I jump
at every noise.
I understand that when you live alone
it make you... It's very difficult.
I understand that.
What I saw happen
was real.
Mind if we have
a look around?
No, it's perfectly
all right.
Thank you, Miss Collier.
I know you're doing your best
to help the forces of justice,
but they will be better served
by your sitting down.
That body is
here somewhere,
and she knows it.
How many rooms do you
have, Miss Breton?
Well, uh, there is
the living room here,
and then the bathroom
and the kitchen
and then past
is the bedroom.
You mind if we see
the bathroom?
No. The bathroom
is here.
- See? This. And, uh...
- Bedroom?
Yes, the bedroom
is down here.
- In here.
- Coming, Miss Collier?
Oh, uh, 'scuse me
for a second.
Miss Collier,
would you stick with us, please?
- I understand.
- Have you looked under the bed?
I was waiting for you.
Any luck?
I think we should check
those hallway closets.
- It's fine with me. They are right here.
- Thank you.
There you are...
and there.
- Can we look in these bags?
- Yes, fine.
Why do you have things
in pairs, like twins?
- You have a twin.
I have a television commercial
to do some time...
and in case I should get
the makeup on the dress,
then there is another one
for the next take.
You see, uh,
I'm a model.
And some time
an actress too.
- You certainly are.
- That will do, Miss Collier.
I'm sorry to have
troubled you, Miss Breton.
- I'm coming, I'm coming.
- I'm sure you'll report it to the police.
- Oh, yes.
- By withholding evidence,
you can make yourself
an accessory after the fact.
If I do hear anything,
I'll telephone you.
Oh, excuse me.
- Oh!
- Hello, darling. Am I late?
No. Officer Kelly,
this is my, uh, husband...
my ex-husband, Emil Breton,
and Officer Spinetti.
Now you have done something
naughty and the police have found out.
No, they tell me
that they look for a dead body.
Are you serious?
Well, the lady claims
she saw a murder victim.
- Mind if I ask you a few questions?
- No, not if I can help.
Just what
is your full name?
- Emil Breton.
- How long have you and Mrs. Breton been divorced?
We are not divorced.
We are separated.
Dominique and Danielle!
She "does" have a twin! Oh!
It was right...
right here.
- Listen...
- Listen. One more word out of you and I'm going to book you.
I'll book you on something. I'll find
something in the book to book you on.
Attempted libel,
assault on a police officer...
I don't care what it is,
but I'll do it.
I saw a murder,
and I'll prove it.
Listen, Miss Collier, I don't know
what kind of a nut you are,
or what kind of an expos
you're looking to get,
but just don't bother me
or that girl upstairs, okay?
Far as I'm concerned, this case
is closed, you got that? Closed!
Grace, I thought we were
supposed to meet upstairs.
What are you
doing here?
Grace, it's Tuesday.
Oh, I forgot.
Um, well, let's go.
Honey, don't you think you ought to
change into something a little bit more...
Yeah, I'll change.
I'll meet you at the car, okay?
Honey, I thought we were
going upstairs to have a little chat,
and if you were embarrassed
about the mess,
you know I'm always glad
to help you tidy up.
Although, what you're going to do
when you get married, I don't know.
Oh, did I tell you
the Cunningham girl is engaged?
She's about your age, and she finally
found somebody that suits her.
He's a doctor.
Well, he's a veterinarian, but the
animals are all owned by wealthy people...
and he has
his own hospital.
So you see, honey? Just because things
aren't working out...
with you and your editor...
Uh, what's his name?...Jim?
- I don't want to discuss that.
- Oh.
Well, I'm not trying
to interfere, honey.
But you know, this doctor has
a very interesting young assistant.
Grace, that reminds me.
They've started
right in our neighborhood,
and I don't know whether the zoning laws
are going to permit it.
And I just don't know
how they got away with it.
But three or four blocks away
from us... Are you listening, honey?
Because this would make a very
interesting story for your newspaper.
An experimental
madhouse.
Now, you see, what's worse is that
they just let them walk around.
The whole idea is that instead
of locking them up,
they let them live
in a house...
and the doctors make
a home for them,
and it's sort of a family situation,
just like real people.
It's very advanced.
I saw something about it on television.
Now you see, honey?
There are interesting things...
going on right here
on Staten Island.
But I tell you,
I don't feel safe at night.
- Would you stop here? Pull over.
- Why?
Everything looks so...
If you want pastry,
let's wait and get it at Brian's.
I don't want
any pastry.
Did a man come in here
this morning and buy a birthday cake?
Lady, ten men came in
and bought ten birthday cakes.
This cake had two names on it, but written
the way a child writes, not the way a...
Oh, yeah. The colored guy that
made me write on the cake.
- What were the names?
- I don't know.
Daisy and Debbie.
Dominique and Danielle.
- That's what it was.
- Yeah! That's it.
I did it,
and I don't even remember.
- Can I have your names, please?
- What for?
My name is Grace Collier, and I write
for "The Staten Island Panorama."
And I'm her mother,
Mrs. Payson Collier.
My girlfriend and I
read your column.
My name
is Elaine Deanna.
Deanna.
- And the other girl is Louise Wilanski.
- Wilanski.
- What do you want to know?
- Thank you. That's fine.
Huh.
How do you like that?
She says she's gonna write an article,
and she doesn't ask us any questions.
They're just terrible
about deadlines.
Next, please?
Really, Grace,
you were rather abrupt.
I happen to be working
on an assignment.
Well, don't you think you're taking this
little job of yours a bit seriously?
You're 25 years old. You should be
thinking about something else.
I'm not gonna marry anybody.
And I wish you'd stop referring
to my work as "a little job."
I like to call what I do
a profession,
only working for "The Staten Island"
"Panorama" is a bit of a joke.
- Do you know what my next assignment is?
- No, I don't.
I'm having lunch tomorrow
with an 80-year-old ex-con...
who's just carved an entire replica
of the Danbury Penitentiary out of soap.
- Oh, that's interesting.
- Oh, I want to write about...
about the apathy
in the police force.
- About where the heroin goes after a bust. About the...
- Shh!
You don't have to shout
like you're on the street.
What's the matter with you?
I've never seen you like this.
- I'm on to something big.
- Are you on diet pills again?
I can see that you
have your mind on other things.
- Can we have another date?
- We "do" have another date.
- You have supper with us on Friday.
- Fine.
I'll be there.
Well, can I
drop you somewhere?
No. It's okay.
I'll walk.
Well, it's not the way
we planned it, but...
A white woman kills
her black lover,
and those racist cops
couldn't care less.
I saw it happen,
and they won't investigate.
Well, if you're not
interested,
I'm sure I can find
someone else who'd print it.
Lots of people would.
Good. You're interested.
I'll do my own investigation.
Why not?
I know more
than those idiot police.
I know karate...
A private detective. Waste of money.
I...
All right.
All right, what's his name?
"Joseph Larch."
- Now, I think the best thing for us to do...
- This is what we do.
You go up to your apartment, call
Danielle, and see if anybody's home.
If someone answers, wave once.
If no one is there, wave twice.
- Well, you're going up there if no one's there?
- Sure.
All I have to do is know
the situation in advance.
- I can play it either way.
- Well, in that case, I can pretend...
- to be making an informal telephone survey...
- You just do hand signals.
If there's no one
up there,
I can charm the superintendent
into giving me a passkey.
- No, you've got to make a wax impression.
- No one does that.
Go up to your apartment,
watch the front while I'm up there,
and if you see someone coming,
telephone the apartment.
- One ring. One ring and hang up.
- Well, what if...
- Does that answer your question?
- Yeah.
- But suppose that...
- Hey, have you ever been a detective?
- No.
- Have you?
No, but simple logic suggests
a way of doing things.
- I don't see that it can be all that mysterious.
- Grace, this is a craft.
I wouldn't try to teach you how
to write magazine articles.
Listen, I went to school
to learn this...
The Brooklyn Institute
of Modern Investigation. Okay?
- Okay.
- Okay.
Now, you go on up to your apartment
and do what I told you. Go ahead.
I'll be here.
Larch?
The boxes.
- What?
- Meet me in the truck.
My God.
Get out of there, Larch.
We got to get
out of here.
- What was that you were waving?
- I don't know,
but they had it hidden in the bedroom,
so it might be something important.
Take a look in it
while I tell you...
about the real evidence
I found in the living room.
I got up there
without any trouble.
I did the usual search...
nothing.
I began to think that cop was right about
you until I tried to move that couch.
- I couldn't. It was too heavy.
- The couch.
- Yeah. He's in the couch.
- What?
- The body.
- What about the body?
What I went up there
to look for, remember?
The body
is in the couch!
Terrific!
And the murderess is in here!
- What?
- Do you know what you've found?
A complete file
on the Blanchion Twins.
- Now what are you talking about?
- Do you remember...
about a year ago, "Life" magazine
ran a whole story on them.
- The only Siamese twins...
- Look, I was up there, Grace,
and I know what I know and saw,
and I didn't see no Siamese twins.
I do know that you have to have
a dead body before you have a murder.
I gotta get going.
We gotta catch this ferry.
You mean that's all you're gonna do...
locate the body and then split?
- Yes, for Quebec.
- Quebec?
That's where Breton
told them to take it.
Now, wherever that couch goes, I follow,
because somebody's gonna be waiting for it...
at the other end,
and I want to know who.
- That makes sense.
- Hey, lend me a dollar, will ya?
When we get to Manhattan,
I'm gonna go see this writer,
- and then...
- Then you go back to your apartment,
lock the door, and wait
for me to call. Period.
Where's Arthur McLennen's
office?
Uh, end of the hall,
to your right.
- Uh, Miss, uh, Miss Collier?
- Yes.
Ah, yes.
Well, I'm, uh, I'm Arthur McLennen.
- How do you do?
- Hello.
I, uh, I'm afraid
I'm a little disorganized today.
Are, uh, are you here
about, uh...
- Well. That's the Blanchion Twins file.
- Yes, it is.
Now, I know you did the story
over a year ago,
but I was hoping you might remember
enough about it to help me.
Oh, those poor girls.
You know, this looks like the file
I saw at the Loisel Institute.
- Oh, it "is" the original, isn't it?
- Yes, I believe it is.
How'd you get it?
Are you going to do a follow-up?
We never did. The managing editor
would never assign it.
Well, they've asked me to find out
as much as I can about it.
We're not quite sure
what kind of a piece we'd do.
Oh, well, come on in
and we'll talk about it, huh?
The subject
is a curious one.
After we ran this story,
we got about 500 letters.
No matter what else they said, they all
had that same tone of morbid fascination.
I don't excuse myself,
either.
Though I actually met the Blanchion
girls, I was the same way.
Hey. You know,
if you're going to do that piece,
I've got something
I'd like to show you.
- Oh, I'd appreciate anything that...
- You do have some time now?
- Of course!
- Sometimes I forget myself when I get going on a subject,
but actually, if you have the time,
I'd like to show you a videotape.
The more I learned,
the more interested I became.
You see, to me at any rate, the
psychological and philosophical elements...
are of extreme importance.
Yes. Fine.
Well, there.
About to begin.
Conjoined twins,
called Siamese,
challenge life
at their first breath.
History had them
as the stuff of myth and symbol.
Some tried to achieve
such normality as they could.
The famous Chang and Eng,
the twins of Siamese birth...
who gave this congenital
abnormality its popular name,
married and fathered families.
Other twins lived by hiring
themselves out to sideshows...
or running
small town souvenir shops.
With the sophisticated surgical
techniques developed in this century,
some twins have been separated
and lead normal lives.
Others never can.
Born on March 27, 1948,
in Quebec, the Blanchions...
were Canada's
first Siamese twins.
Their parents died in an automobile accident
only days before their first birthday.
Dominique and Danielle
were to grow up...
from then on within the pale walls
of the Loisel Institute,
where surgeons, reluctant to risk an
operation on their delicate spinal conjoinment,
decided to let
them live as one.
- But whether as twins through life...
- That's Danielle's husband.
- Who told you that?
- I want to hear this.
There is always
a price to pay.
It seems the older
they become,
the more precarious
is their psychological balance,
both within themselves
and between one another.
In this, I am in agreement
with my colleagues.
Although, they tend
to think that Dominique...
is the truly disturbed one,
I think they will find that
Danielle, who is so sweet,
so responsive, so normal,
as opposed to her sister,
can only be so
because of her sister.
- Bonjour, Dominique.
This was the last interview
the conjoined twins would ever give.
That night, the doctors
were forced by nature...
to perform an operation
they had hoped to avoid.
Late the next day, the institute
announced the successful separation.
Dominique and Danielle,
once one, would now
stand each alone.
- Well, what do you think?
- That's an extraordinary tape, Mr. McLennen.
Now, I tried
to do a follow-up,
but the institute was closed to me
even as a friend of the twins.
- Why was that?
- Well, all I could find out at the time was that...
after the operation there
had been some complications.
- What sort of complications?
- I never did get any official information,
so I slipped 20 bucks to one of the
suture nurses, and she told me that...
Dominique Blanchion had died
on the operating table.
- What are you doing?
- I have my work to do.
- Do you live here?
- So they tell me.
Do you mind
if I use your telephone?
- No.
- Where is it?
It's in the kitchen
down the hall.
Thank you.
Better spray yourself, hon.
You're not supposed to be in here.
I've got
to use the telephone.
You're not supposed
to be in here.
I think you have a cold.
No, no.
It's a clean telephone.
Don't just think you can
walk in here like that.
Did you know that the germs
can come through the wires?
I never call
and I never answer.
It's a good way
to get sick.
Very, very sick.
That's how I got so sick.
Someone called me on the telephone!
What's going on here?
Who are you?
My name is Grace Collier and I write
for "The Staten Island Panorama,"
- and I must use the telephone.
- No!
No!
Don't give it to her. Don't!
She won't use it, Arlene.
She won't.
Trust me.
Look, this is the Lynton Clinic. You
can't just come walking in here like this.
Well I can if one of your patients is
roaming around loose murdering people.
Oh, come on. There have been a lot of
wild rumors going around about us,
but I wouldn't expect the "Panorama"
to take them seriously.
I take them seriously
and I'm going to call the police!
Better talk to the head of the clinic.
Now, if you call about 10:00 tomorrow...
I'll speak
to him now!
- I'll see if he'll see you.
He's probably gone to bed.
Hello, Doctor.
I'm sorry to disturb you.
There's a girl here who says she's
"a reporter from the" Panorama.
She insists
on talking to you.
Okay.
Doctor will be
right with you. Arlene...
- You did a good job cleaning up.
Now, you can take your things
back to the supply room.
One of your patients is a murderess.
I followed her here tonight. Now, we've
got to call the police. That's him!
Dr. Breton, this girl says
she's from the "Panorama."
Hello, Margaret,
why aren't you in your room?
This man is involved in a murder
and we have got to call the police.
She came to us last night. We're
very happy to have her join our family.
Oh, I was off duty.
Margaret, this is Mr. Jansen.
Margaret Grisham.
- Hello, Margaret.
- Nice try.
If you'll go and check my I.D.,
it's in my car outside.
I am Grace Collier.
I wouldn't insist on "Margaret" right
away. We want to respect your wishes.
When you're ready to have us
call you Margaret, you tell us.
- Take her to room 23.
- Right.
Dr. Corbin, prepare her
for hypnotherapy.
Come with me, Margaret.
Grace, I mean. It's all right.
Please. Now, you've
got to believe me.
I am perfectly sane. Just go downstairs
and check my bag. It's in my car.
- Yes, Grace. Just as soon as you're settled in.
- No! Now!
- I'm afraid my life is in danger.
- I understand.
Oh, God!
I know what that sounds like.
I'm serious. As soon
as you find out who I am,
you'll know that they are
making all of this up!
Grace, I believe
you're serious in what you think.
- Let go of my arm!
- Well, it's a little rough going here in the dark, Grace.
- Stop calling me Grace!
- Then, you really do want to be Margaret?
No, damn it,
my name is Grace!
Let go.
Let go.
All right, Margaret, just push up your
sleeve for me. This won't hurt a bit.
- Help!
- Get her in the room.
No!
Help!
Open your eyes.
You came here
to ask me questions.
- Is that correct?
- Yes.
You will ask me questions. You will
remember my answers exactly, word for word.
- Do you understand?
- Yes.
Good.
Now, repeat after me.
What did you do
with the body?
- Repeat.
- What did you do with the body?
It was all
a ridiculous mistake.
There was no body.
- Repeat.
- It was all a ridiculous mistake.
There was no body.
There was no body,
because there was no murder.
Repeat.
There was no body
because there was no murder.
- Again.
- There was no body because there was no murder.
Good.
When you awaken, all you will remember
is what I have told you...
if anyone should ask.
- Do you understand?
- Yes.
Good.
Now, I'm going to take you deeper...
into deeper sleep.
Relax. Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Now, listen to me
very carefully.
You came to watch us, to spy on us,
to feed on our sorrows...
look at me... at no cost.
- Do you hear me?
- Yes, I hear you.
Good.
You want to know
all our secrets?
All right. We will
share them with you.
Watch.
Wh-Why is she here?
Don't you remember?
She was always here.
Don't you remember?
- No.
- Go back.
- Go back. Remember.
- I can remember.
- Remember when you were very young.
I am in agreement
with my colleagues.
Although they
believe that Dominique...
is the one
who is truly disturbed,
I think that they will find
that Danielle, who is so sweet,
so responsive, so normal,
as opposed to her sister,
can only be so
because of her sister.
- Danielle...
- And the time we had the picnic.
- That's right, the picnic.
- And people have come to see us.
- To see you, yes.
- I remember.
- What else do you remember?
- She is not just one.
- They were all my friends.
- They were... They were your friends.
- Oh, Dominique, it's okay.
- They brought...
- Thank you, Charlie.
- Their picnic lunches...
- and their cameras.
- Yes.
And they brought
their little children.
- Ah, yes. I remember that.
- They gave you treats.
- Little cakes, candies...
- Yes, an apple... You gave me an apple.
Apples, yes.
And then they asked...
- if they can take your picture.
- Yes.
- Dominique didn't like the children very much.
- Is that right, Dominique?
- No, she said that they were laughing at us.
- Do you remember?
- No, I can't remember.
- Go back. Try.
- What did they call you?
- I-I can't remember that.
- Try to remember what they called you.
- Go away, please!
- You can remember. "You" can "remember. Look at me."
- I can't remember. No!
- Look at me!
- Go away! I can't remember that.
"- You" can "remember." What did
they call you? - No. I don't know!
- Remember!
- They said, "freak." "Look at the freak."
- ... the freak, the freak...
- Sweetie, smile.
... the freak, the freak...
- Smile.
Make them go away
from me, please.
Don't you remember what you learned
last spring that you could never have?
- No, I can't remember. No, I can't remember!
- Yes, you can. Try.
Don't you remember you realized
you could have no home,
- no husband, no children, no baby?
- Yes, I remember that.
Yes, I remember that.
You're supposed
to be sleeping.
Why can't you
make her go away?
Can you make her go away?
Please. Please.
Of course.
Help me.
Don't let him hurt me.
Help me.
Help me.
- Danielle,
what happened afterward?
L... I was walking in the garden...
with Dominique and...
I tried to tell her that
I was going to have a baby.
And l...
I tried to explain that
it could be her baby too, but...
but she doesn't understand
and she get very angry at me.
And she... tried to kill
the baby with the garden shear.
- Are you in pain?
I'm-I'm going
to lose my baby.
No,
you will be fine.
- I'm going to die.
- Everything will be fine.
- Everything will be fine.
Everything will be fine.
Oh, it hurts me.
Please help me.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid.
I am a surgeon.
You have lost our baby.
You are
bleeding very badly.
The only way I can save you
is to separate you from Dominique.
- Am I going to die?
- No.
You will be fine.
Everything will be fine.
Sleep.
Sleep. Sleep.
Relax, relax,
relax, relax.
- Relax. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.
- I-I am sure you've
come back, Dominique.
- Dominique! Dominique.
- Dominique is dead.
Please come back,
Dominique.
Dominique is dead.
Remember.
No, she's not dead.
She's going to kill you.
- She "is" dead.
- No!
- I know she's not. No! No, she's not.
- Sleep.
- Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.
- No. No...
- She's not.
- Dominique is dead. She is dead.
Time you learn
to accept her death.
We both have
to go away now.
Danielle, I'm going
to marry you.
Do you remember?
How we came here to the clinic...
and made it our own?
It was good
for a while.
But Dominique
never died for you.
You kept her alive
in your mind.
Sometimes... Sometimes,
you even became her...
to reassure yourself
of her existence.
You could never
accept the guilt,
The terrible guilt
for Dominique's death.
It was hard for me
to accept what had happened...
- that we could never live
together as man and wife.
Every time
I made love to you,
Dominique came back...
and took control of you.
I did not know
how to rid you of her.
All I could do was
give you the pills...
and keep you sedated...
until she went away.
- I tried to warn you about Dominique.
Dominique is dangerous
for both of us.
To Dominique,
any man that made love
to you is me...
Emil.
Danielle? Danielle?
I love you.
- Look at this knife.
Look at it. You killed
a man with this knife.
- Remember. Remember.
- Remember. That's it.
- What happened?
- There was a cake.
A cake?
What else?
They had candles.
Yes.
What did you do?
- I made a wish,
- Yes.
- And I blew out the candles.
- Yes.
And then I cut him!
Relax, fellas.
He's dead.
Just a minute,
Mrs. Breton.
Are you prepared to confess to the
murder of your husband, Emil Breton?
I warn you that whatever you say
may be used as evidence against you.
I have never
hurt anyone in my life.
You claim that you had
a sister who did it?
My sister died last spring.
Dawson.
- Well, Miss Collier, up and about?
- How do you feel today?
- Oh, fine. Thanks.
- Oh, thank you for the chocolates.
- Oh, you're welcome.
- Would you like one?
- No, thank you.
Well, you'll be interested to know
that we're reopening the whole case.
We already got her on first-degree
murder for Breton.
But we haven't had any luck turning up
that black man you saw her slice up.
Now, I want you to tell me
everything you can remember.
It was all a ridiculous mistake.
There was no body.
Look, I apologize
for having been so skeptical.
I should have
put more trust in your claim.
It-It was all
a ridiculous mistake.
What else do you want me to do?
Apologize in print?
- I sent you candy.
- I'm telling you all I can remember!
Look, I talked to your editor, and he
told me about the detective that you hired.
What did he think? I got a witness
who saw the couch loaded onto the truck.
Now, obviously the body
was hidden inside that couch.
Otherwise,
why would they move it?
It's really quite simple. There was
no body because there was no murder!
What was simple? There's nothing
simple about any of this.
L- I just don't understand you.
Now you claim that there wasn't a body.
If there wasn't a body,
why did you make such an accusation?
You know how serious
that could be?
Grace has never deliberately
told a lie in her life.
You have to understand
that she's not quite herself.
I'm fine! There's absolutely
nothing wrong with me!
All I know is there was no body
because there was no murder!
Starring Ted Craft.
And now, here's Ted!
Hello, everybody,
and welcome to "Peeping Toms,"
New York's newest
and grooviest game.
You have just seen
the first half...
of our real-life
candid situation.
Now, in one minute,
you will have to predict...
just what our unsuspecting
subject will do.
You folks there in the audience,
and those of you peeking in at home,
guess along with us, okay? All right.
Now, today, our Peeping Tom's
problem is, chivalry.
What does a fella do
when a pretty girl...
starts taking off all her clothes
right there in front of him?
A blind girl, that is.
Lovely young model
Danielle Breton...
agreed to be our decoy.
Now, Danielle
is not really blind,
but that's what we want
our male friend to think.
Okay, peepers,
look at the board.
You've got 20 seconds
to pick your answer.
"Well, look at that!"
Both of our contestants
have picked the same answer.
Let's see if they're right.
Oh, I am sorry, Pat and Fred,
but better luck next time.
- Right, audience?
All right. And now, before we meet
our contestants for tomorrow,
let's bring out the lovely
Danielle Breton, our blind girl.
- Bravo, Danielle.
- Thank you.
It's so nice to see you.
Danielle, what do you do in real life?
Right now I study
to be a model with Gene Fox,
and also I study
to be an actress.
Great!
That's wonderful, Danielle.
Danielle, let's bring out
our other guest,
Peeping Tom's
own Mr. Chivalry,
Philip Woode.
Hello, Phil. Nice to meet you.
You're a great sport.
Phil, what do you do
in real life?
I'm an advertising manager
for "The Amsterdam Star."
Oh, great.
That's wonderful.
I'm glad to... Oh! Uh-oh.
It's been wonderful
talking with you, Danielle and Phil,
but that music tells us that we just
have time to give away our prizes...
before we have
to say bye-bye.
Danielle, for you, this complete set
of Reynolds stainless steel cutlery.
- Thank you.
- Ha, ha. Congratulations.
And Phil, for you,
good sport that you are,
dining and dancing
for two...
at Manhattan's famous
African Room.
Philip!
I just remembered
that I haven't eaten all day...
and I thought maybe you want
some help with your dinner for two.
I don't bite, you know.
That is, if I'm filled
I don't bite.
I- I have brought
my own cutlery.
- All right, let's go get my car.
- Okay.
... I don't know
what to do, so I just stand there...
and, uh, I feel very stupid
and about, uh...
Then I said
to the photographer...
I said something so terrible you can't
even put it in the French movie.
But he deserved that,
you know.
He's a...
How you say that word?
He's a son of a bastard.
- Son of a bitch.
- Yes, he was that too. Son of a bitch.
But I'm not, you know, I'm not
like you Americans' women's liberation.
I don't, uh, I don't
spend my life to hate the men.
I don't like that, but this man,
he have deserve what I tell him.
So, after that have
happen to me, then, uh,
I said to myself, "Now it's time
for you to go from Quebec."
- Quebec?
- Yes.
- I thought you were French.
- Oh, yes, I'm French-Canadian.
It's not the same,
you know.
Quebec is very pretty,
you know, but now, for me,
New York is the home. Is for me...
is for me, freedom, New York.
Yesterday you know
what I have do?
I go to the top
of the Empire State Building.
You know, the...
that building, the big...
And I am up there by myself,
and nobody know I am there.
I look down, I can see
all the little car and the people,
and I'm all by myself,
and nobody knows that I'm there.
Do you like
to be alone?
Sometime I do,
but not tonight.
Danielle, I think
I should take you home now.
I'm sorry.
This is so embarrassing.
I waited for you at the TV studio.
You saw me.
Why can't you
leave me alone?
Look here, Miss Breton
and I were just having a drink.
Mrs. Emil Breton
and you.
I am not married!
I have been divorced for a year.
- But still he follows me.
- Danielle, that is quite enough.
We do not want to discuss our very
private problems in front of strangers.
- Come along now.
- Don't touch me!
- Waiter?
- I will go, but not with you.
- It is important we go home now.
- Yes, sir?
This gentleman
is bothering us.
You better come
with me, sir.
- Just come with me.
- Danielle. Danielle!
Come home with me!
Danielle!
Get your hands off me!
Come on.
Uh, I better take you home.
- Okay.
- Where do you live?
- Staten Island.
- Staten Island?
I thought you said
you lived in New York.
Isn't Staten Island
in New York?
I guess it is.
Come on.
You know, there are
so few people...
that I have
any feeling for.
Not just men, you know.
Ever since
my sister left.
We have had
such a close bond.
Hey. Hey!
Oops!
Well, here
is my apartment.
I have just move in, you know.
I have a dishwasher.
A real dishwasher?
Ah.
I think it's very hot
right here.
I think I'll turn
the thermostat down.
Philip, you know I think
what you should do?
Ooh! You just must
wait there for me.
Oh, Christ.
Philip, what
are you doing?
Does your ex-husband
make a habit...
of standing guard
out there?
Why he is always
following me?
What is so terrible,
you know, is his persistence.
He-He says that we can
work it through,
but I don't want
to work it through.
Some time there are
no solution.
I think you better go.
- Wait. Wait, look. I got an idea.
- No, I think...
- What?
- Why don't I go downstairs.
I'll get in the car.
I'll drive around the block.
And I'll park. And then I'll
come back through the back entrance.
I'll pretend to leave.
Okay?
- I don't know if that's such a good idea to do.
- Trust me.
I got rid of him before.
I can do it again.
- Okay.
- I'll be right back.
I'll wait for you.
You forgot
your cutlery.
Danielle.
Danielle!
- Oh, excuse me.
- Oh, say...
Shh, shh, shh.
- Who was that? Who was that?
- It is my sister.
Come on, take it easy.
You can tell me.
She's so crazy.
She get...
She get so angry with me
when I'm with anyone,
except for her,
my husband and now you.
Why is she here?
Because we are twins
and today is our birthday...
and she can come visit me but she know
that she have to go back...
and so...
And so she feel very bad.
- Look, why don't I leave.
- No, no, no! Please?
- "Stay with me."
- Okay.
I look so terrible,
I think.
- No.
- I have such a headache.
- I have had too much Manhattans last night.
- A little.
Philip, I think
I would feel better.
I have no more
of these pills.
- Could you get me some at the drug store?
- Sure.
- You know where is Bay Street?
- Yeah.
And then we have
a happy birthday together.
$4.50.
$.79, $.89, $ 1.29.
That's $ 7.68.
- Yes.
- You must do as I tell you.
- Yes, I...
- You are not well.
Yes, I know.
Please, but I have only...
I have only two pills left.
Please hurry.
Yeah, that one's fine.
And I'd like something written on it.
Can't have it.
The cake decorator isn't in yet.
- Well, couldn't you do it?
- Are you kidding?
- Well, why not?
- Hey, Louise, he wants me to write on a cake.
- You? I'd like to see you try.
- Mm-hmm.
All right then, I will.
What do you want written?
Happy birthday to Danielle...
No. Uh...
Happy birthday
to Dominique and Danielle.
Dominique and Danielle.
You gotta be kidding.
Come on.
Let me show you.
Surprise.
Hey, now you know you're
not supposed to cut the cake...
until you make a wish
and blow out the candles.
No!
Hello? I want to report
an emergency... a murder.
Hello.
I want to report a murder.
A man, about 25, black.
I saw it just now
through my window.
I live in the apartment just across
the courtyard. 36 Hamilton.
Yes. I'll meet you downstairs
right away. My name is Grace Collier.
Yes, the Grace Collier.
I wrote that story.
I'm sorry you feel that way, Detective,
but I have to write it
the way I see it.
Sometimes the police
are wrong.
Look, this is ridiculous. We can't
discuss it now. A man is bleeding to death.
Yeah. Right away.
I'm coming, I'm coming.
Dominique?
Just a minute.
- What's wrong?
- Oh, Emil, thank you for coming,
but, uh, everything
is fine now and I get dressed...
- and go out...
- What happened?
Well, this morning
I felt those pains...
What happened?
Dominique. What have you done?
Dominique is here?
She was.
Watch out.
Someone might look
in the window.
Help me.
Help me!
- Help me!
- Wh-What are you going to do?
It's a beautiful day
here in New York.
This is Windy Craig
on the radio for you.
On the couch.
Help me.
Put on some makeup.
It must look as if
nothing has happened.
- Drop it there.
- I'm Grace Collier.
I just spoke to you
on the telephone.
How you doing, Miss Collier?
I'm Detective Kelly.
My partner,
Detective Spinetti.
- What seems to be the problem?
- You're the man...
I spoke to,
aren't you?
- That's right.
- Well, I imagine we can discuss...
I hope there's not
too much imagination involved here.
You obviously don't think so,
or you wouldn't be here.
Now, I just saw a man viciously
and repeatedly stabbed.
It was in that apartment up there... 3-R.
The name is Breton.
The man's probably dying
if he's not dead already,
so I think the best thing to do
is to get up there.
All right, take it
easy, will you, lady?
These people are
always stabbing each other.
- "These people"?
- All right, all right. Let's just keep calm.
One step at a time.
Your story is that you
looked out the window.
- What time would that have been?
- Your people have this written down.
The thing to do
is to try to get up there...
and try to save
that poor guy.
Miss Collier, our work
is a profession.
- A doctor, for example, doesn't begin to operate...
- You're not a doctor.
I read your article
about police brutality in Stapleton.
And the next time "The Staten Island"
"Panorama" decides to investigate...
- our methods, I hope they send a real reporter.
- I'm going up there.
- And you're certainly not a cop.
- And you're not either...
if you don't do
something about this.
Unless, of course, you'd rather
go beat up a few students.
Ever hear of a search warrant,
Miss Civil Liberties?
Well, you haven't got one,
and neither do I.
You mean you're actually gonna stand
here and ask me idiotic questions...
like some dumb courtroom
drama while a man dies?
I saw it.
Saw it happen.
- Actually saw it happen.
- Calm down, calm down.
Now, you just go back
to your apartment and relax.
And watch you walk off?
You'd like that,
wouldn't you?
That'd make a great story
for your next issue.
"Police refuse to investigate
brutal race murder."
Not a chance, lady.
You stick with us.
And keep
your mouth shut.
I'll do what
I consider necessary.
This isn't
a police state yet.
- Yes?
- Police officer.
- Oh, yes? Can I help you?
- Are you the lady of the house?
- Yes, I am.
- You live here alone?
- Yes.
- Had any company this morning?
- Oh, no. - Two people...
- That will do, Miss Collier.
If there is some information that
you need, I will be glad to help you,
but as you can see,
I am in the middle of dressing,
so, uh, if you excuse me,
I'll finish.
- She's afraid.
- You mind...
- You mind if we come in?
- Just what do you want?
If you don't mind our coming in,
this lady will explain.
Have you the search, um... the search
permission? Have you that?
- You mean a search warrant?
- Yes, the search warrant. Have you that?
- No.
- She's stalling. She's hiding the body.
If you have not the search warrant,
it's not very important.
So if you will excuse me,
I finish to dress.
It'll take me just ten minutes
to get a search warrant,
and while Spinetti here is going
to the trouble of doing that,
- I shall naturally have to...
- Excuse me.
I don't mean to offend you.
Come in.
But you know, I see all the time
on the television show...
the scene of the evil criminal
and the policeman,
and the policeman
knock on the door...
and the criminal,
he ask about, you know,
what you have ask me...
the search warrant.
But you have not
said to me,
"Open in the name of the law."
You have not said that.
- Now, then, Miss...
- Danielle. Danielle Breton.
I'm Detective Kelly.
This is Detective Spinetti,
- How do you do?
- This is Miss Collier, your neighbor...
- "from across the way."
- Hello. How are you?
- Hello.
- "Something very unusual" occurred this morning.
Seems that Miss Collier happened to
glance out of her window...
and saw something which so shocked
and disturbed her...
- that she called the police department.
- I saw a murder.
Thank you, Miss Collier.
Now, then, Miss Breton,
I suppose you can see...
- Miss Collier's apartment from here.
- I really don't know.
You know very well
you can.
Yes, there's my window.
This is definitely the right apartment.
Miss Collier, do you spend a lot of time
watching my apartment?
You saw me.
You know you did.
Lf, uh, I have seen you,
then I would have pulled
the shade and if I do that,
I have to give up
all my life...
- "to have the privacy."
- She did draw the shade.
Obviously once she'd
hidden the body she felt safe.
But it must be here
somewhere.
I can't believe
that this is serious.
He wrote "help"
on this window in his own blood.
And I watched him
write it.
- Here he write that?
- "Naturally she washed it off."
It's all so obvious.
This girl is protecting someone.
But the murderess
is someone this girl knows.
She was shorter
and had a twisted face...
and stringy hair and was having
a terrible fit of some kind.
- You know someone who would fit that description, Miss Breton?
- No.
Good God! I saw the knife!
I saw her stab him!
Could somebody have gotten in here
without your knowledge?
It would be impossible.
I was here all morning.
What about the man
that stayed over?
I was quite alone.
You see, I'm-I'm divorced
from my husband, and still, uh...
Well, it's
very personal, you know.
But Miss Collier, many time at night
I watch the television show...
and I watch the horror film,
and it make me full of fear,
and-and I jump
at every noise.
I understand that when you live alone
it make you... It's very difficult.
I understand that.
What I saw happen
was real.
Mind if we have
a look around?
No, it's perfectly
all right.
Thank you, Miss Collier.
I know you're doing your best
to help the forces of justice,
but they will be better served
by your sitting down.
That body is
here somewhere,
and she knows it.
How many rooms do you
have, Miss Breton?
Well, uh, there is
the living room here,
and then the bathroom
and the kitchen
and then past
is the bedroom.
You mind if we see
the bathroom?
No. The bathroom
is here.
- See? This. And, uh...
- Bedroom?
Yes, the bedroom
is down here.
- In here.
- Coming, Miss Collier?
Oh, uh, 'scuse me
for a second.
Miss Collier,
would you stick with us, please?
- I understand.
- Have you looked under the bed?
I was waiting for you.
Any luck?
I think we should check
those hallway closets.
- It's fine with me. They are right here.
- Thank you.
There you are...
and there.
- Can we look in these bags?
- Yes, fine.
Why do you have things
in pairs, like twins?
- You have a twin.
I have a television commercial
to do some time...
and in case I should get
the makeup on the dress,
then there is another one
for the next take.
You see, uh,
I'm a model.
And some time
an actress too.
- You certainly are.
- That will do, Miss Collier.
I'm sorry to have
troubled you, Miss Breton.
- I'm coming, I'm coming.
- I'm sure you'll report it to the police.
- Oh, yes.
- By withholding evidence,
you can make yourself
an accessory after the fact.
If I do hear anything,
I'll telephone you.
Oh, excuse me.
- Oh!
- Hello, darling. Am I late?
No. Officer Kelly,
this is my, uh, husband...
my ex-husband, Emil Breton,
and Officer Spinetti.
Now you have done something
naughty and the police have found out.
No, they tell me
that they look for a dead body.
Are you serious?
Well, the lady claims
she saw a murder victim.
- Mind if I ask you a few questions?
- No, not if I can help.
Just what
is your full name?
- Emil Breton.
- How long have you and Mrs. Breton been divorced?
We are not divorced.
We are separated.
Dominique and Danielle!
She "does" have a twin! Oh!
It was right...
right here.
- Listen...
- Listen. One more word out of you and I'm going to book you.
I'll book you on something. I'll find
something in the book to book you on.
Attempted libel,
assault on a police officer...
I don't care what it is,
but I'll do it.
I saw a murder,
and I'll prove it.
Listen, Miss Collier, I don't know
what kind of a nut you are,
or what kind of an expos
you're looking to get,
but just don't bother me
or that girl upstairs, okay?
Far as I'm concerned, this case
is closed, you got that? Closed!
Grace, I thought we were
supposed to meet upstairs.
What are you
doing here?
Grace, it's Tuesday.
Oh, I forgot.
Um, well, let's go.
Honey, don't you think you ought to
change into something a little bit more...
Yeah, I'll change.
I'll meet you at the car, okay?
Honey, I thought we were
going upstairs to have a little chat,
and if you were embarrassed
about the mess,
you know I'm always glad
to help you tidy up.
Although, what you're going to do
when you get married, I don't know.
Oh, did I tell you
the Cunningham girl is engaged?
She's about your age, and she finally
found somebody that suits her.
He's a doctor.
Well, he's a veterinarian, but the
animals are all owned by wealthy people...
and he has
his own hospital.
So you see, honey? Just because things
aren't working out...
with you and your editor...
Uh, what's his name?...Jim?
- I don't want to discuss that.
- Oh.
Well, I'm not trying
to interfere, honey.
But you know, this doctor has
a very interesting young assistant.
Grace, that reminds me.
They've started
right in our neighborhood,
and I don't know whether the zoning laws
are going to permit it.
And I just don't know
how they got away with it.
But three or four blocks away
from us... Are you listening, honey?
Because this would make a very
interesting story for your newspaper.
An experimental
madhouse.
Now, you see, what's worse is that
they just let them walk around.
The whole idea is that instead
of locking them up,
they let them live
in a house...
and the doctors make
a home for them,
and it's sort of a family situation,
just like real people.
It's very advanced.
I saw something about it on television.
Now you see, honey?
There are interesting things...
going on right here
on Staten Island.
But I tell you,
I don't feel safe at night.
- Would you stop here? Pull over.
- Why?
Everything looks so...
If you want pastry,
let's wait and get it at Brian's.
I don't want
any pastry.
Did a man come in here
this morning and buy a birthday cake?
Lady, ten men came in
and bought ten birthday cakes.
This cake had two names on it, but written
the way a child writes, not the way a...
Oh, yeah. The colored guy that
made me write on the cake.
- What were the names?
- I don't know.
Daisy and Debbie.
Dominique and Danielle.
- That's what it was.
- Yeah! That's it.
I did it,
and I don't even remember.
- Can I have your names, please?
- What for?
My name is Grace Collier, and I write
for "The Staten Island Panorama."
And I'm her mother,
Mrs. Payson Collier.
My girlfriend and I
read your column.
My name
is Elaine Deanna.
Deanna.
- And the other girl is Louise Wilanski.
- Wilanski.
- What do you want to know?
- Thank you. That's fine.
Huh.
How do you like that?
She says she's gonna write an article,
and she doesn't ask us any questions.
They're just terrible
about deadlines.
Next, please?
Really, Grace,
you were rather abrupt.
I happen to be working
on an assignment.
Well, don't you think you're taking this
little job of yours a bit seriously?
You're 25 years old. You should be
thinking about something else.
I'm not gonna marry anybody.
And I wish you'd stop referring
to my work as "a little job."
I like to call what I do
a profession,
only working for "The Staten Island"
"Panorama" is a bit of a joke.
- Do you know what my next assignment is?
- No, I don't.
I'm having lunch tomorrow
with an 80-year-old ex-con...
who's just carved an entire replica
of the Danbury Penitentiary out of soap.
- Oh, that's interesting.
- Oh, I want to write about...
about the apathy
in the police force.
- About where the heroin goes after a bust. About the...
- Shh!
You don't have to shout
like you're on the street.
What's the matter with you?
I've never seen you like this.
- I'm on to something big.
- Are you on diet pills again?
I can see that you
have your mind on other things.
- Can we have another date?
- We "do" have another date.
- You have supper with us on Friday.
- Fine.
I'll be there.
Well, can I
drop you somewhere?
No. It's okay.
I'll walk.
Well, it's not the way
we planned it, but...
A white woman kills
her black lover,
and those racist cops
couldn't care less.
I saw it happen,
and they won't investigate.
Well, if you're not
interested,
I'm sure I can find
someone else who'd print it.
Lots of people would.
Good. You're interested.
I'll do my own investigation.
Why not?
I know more
than those idiot police.
I know karate...
A private detective. Waste of money.
I...
All right.
All right, what's his name?
"Joseph Larch."
- Now, I think the best thing for us to do...
- This is what we do.
You go up to your apartment, call
Danielle, and see if anybody's home.
If someone answers, wave once.
If no one is there, wave twice.
- Well, you're going up there if no one's there?
- Sure.
All I have to do is know
the situation in advance.
- I can play it either way.
- Well, in that case, I can pretend...
- to be making an informal telephone survey...
- You just do hand signals.
If there's no one
up there,
I can charm the superintendent
into giving me a passkey.
- No, you've got to make a wax impression.
- No one does that.
Go up to your apartment,
watch the front while I'm up there,
and if you see someone coming,
telephone the apartment.
- One ring. One ring and hang up.
- Well, what if...
- Does that answer your question?
- Yeah.
- But suppose that...
- Hey, have you ever been a detective?
- No.
- Have you?
No, but simple logic suggests
a way of doing things.
- I don't see that it can be all that mysterious.
- Grace, this is a craft.
I wouldn't try to teach you how
to write magazine articles.
Listen, I went to school
to learn this...
The Brooklyn Institute
of Modern Investigation. Okay?
- Okay.
- Okay.
Now, you go on up to your apartment
and do what I told you. Go ahead.
I'll be here.
Larch?
The boxes.
- What?
- Meet me in the truck.
My God.
Get out of there, Larch.
We got to get
out of here.
- What was that you were waving?
- I don't know,
but they had it hidden in the bedroom,
so it might be something important.
Take a look in it
while I tell you...
about the real evidence
I found in the living room.
I got up there
without any trouble.
I did the usual search...
nothing.
I began to think that cop was right about
you until I tried to move that couch.
- I couldn't. It was too heavy.
- The couch.
- Yeah. He's in the couch.
- What?
- The body.
- What about the body?
What I went up there
to look for, remember?
The body
is in the couch!
Terrific!
And the murderess is in here!
- What?
- Do you know what you've found?
A complete file
on the Blanchion Twins.
- Now what are you talking about?
- Do you remember...
about a year ago, "Life" magazine
ran a whole story on them.
- The only Siamese twins...
- Look, I was up there, Grace,
and I know what I know and saw,
and I didn't see no Siamese twins.
I do know that you have to have
a dead body before you have a murder.
I gotta get going.
We gotta catch this ferry.
You mean that's all you're gonna do...
locate the body and then split?
- Yes, for Quebec.
- Quebec?
That's where Breton
told them to take it.
Now, wherever that couch goes, I follow,
because somebody's gonna be waiting for it...
at the other end,
and I want to know who.
- That makes sense.
- Hey, lend me a dollar, will ya?
When we get to Manhattan,
I'm gonna go see this writer,
- and then...
- Then you go back to your apartment,
lock the door, and wait
for me to call. Period.
Where's Arthur McLennen's
office?
Uh, end of the hall,
to your right.
- Uh, Miss, uh, Miss Collier?
- Yes.
Ah, yes.
Well, I'm, uh, I'm Arthur McLennen.
- How do you do?
- Hello.
I, uh, I'm afraid
I'm a little disorganized today.
Are, uh, are you here
about, uh...
- Well. That's the Blanchion Twins file.
- Yes, it is.
Now, I know you did the story
over a year ago,
but I was hoping you might remember
enough about it to help me.
Oh, those poor girls.
You know, this looks like the file
I saw at the Loisel Institute.
- Oh, it "is" the original, isn't it?
- Yes, I believe it is.
How'd you get it?
Are you going to do a follow-up?
We never did. The managing editor
would never assign it.
Well, they've asked me to find out
as much as I can about it.
We're not quite sure
what kind of a piece we'd do.
Oh, well, come on in
and we'll talk about it, huh?
The subject
is a curious one.
After we ran this story,
we got about 500 letters.
No matter what else they said, they all
had that same tone of morbid fascination.
I don't excuse myself,
either.
Though I actually met the Blanchion
girls, I was the same way.
Hey. You know,
if you're going to do that piece,
I've got something
I'd like to show you.
- Oh, I'd appreciate anything that...
- You do have some time now?
- Of course!
- Sometimes I forget myself when I get going on a subject,
but actually, if you have the time,
I'd like to show you a videotape.
The more I learned,
the more interested I became.
You see, to me at any rate, the
psychological and philosophical elements...
are of extreme importance.
Yes. Fine.
Well, there.
About to begin.
Conjoined twins,
called Siamese,
challenge life
at their first breath.
History had them
as the stuff of myth and symbol.
Some tried to achieve
such normality as they could.
The famous Chang and Eng,
the twins of Siamese birth...
who gave this congenital
abnormality its popular name,
married and fathered families.
Other twins lived by hiring
themselves out to sideshows...
or running
small town souvenir shops.
With the sophisticated surgical
techniques developed in this century,
some twins have been separated
and lead normal lives.
Others never can.
Born on March 27, 1948,
in Quebec, the Blanchions...
were Canada's
first Siamese twins.
Their parents died in an automobile accident
only days before their first birthday.
Dominique and Danielle
were to grow up...
from then on within the pale walls
of the Loisel Institute,
where surgeons, reluctant to risk an
operation on their delicate spinal conjoinment,
decided to let
them live as one.
- But whether as twins through life...
- That's Danielle's husband.
- Who told you that?
- I want to hear this.
There is always
a price to pay.
It seems the older
they become,
the more precarious
is their psychological balance,
both within themselves
and between one another.
In this, I am in agreement
with my colleagues.
Although, they tend
to think that Dominique...
is the truly disturbed one,
I think they will find that
Danielle, who is so sweet,
so responsive, so normal,
as opposed to her sister,
can only be so
because of her sister.
- Bonjour, Dominique.
This was the last interview
the conjoined twins would ever give.
That night, the doctors
were forced by nature...
to perform an operation
they had hoped to avoid.
Late the next day, the institute
announced the successful separation.
Dominique and Danielle,
once one, would now
stand each alone.
- Well, what do you think?
- That's an extraordinary tape, Mr. McLennen.
Now, I tried
to do a follow-up,
but the institute was closed to me
even as a friend of the twins.
- Why was that?
- Well, all I could find out at the time was that...
after the operation there
had been some complications.
- What sort of complications?
- I never did get any official information,
so I slipped 20 bucks to one of the
suture nurses, and she told me that...
Dominique Blanchion had died
on the operating table.
- What are you doing?
- I have my work to do.
- Do you live here?
- So they tell me.
Do you mind
if I use your telephone?
- No.
- Where is it?
It's in the kitchen
down the hall.
Thank you.
Better spray yourself, hon.
You're not supposed to be in here.
I've got
to use the telephone.
You're not supposed
to be in here.
I think you have a cold.
No, no.
It's a clean telephone.
Don't just think you can
walk in here like that.
Did you know that the germs
can come through the wires?
I never call
and I never answer.
It's a good way
to get sick.
Very, very sick.
That's how I got so sick.
Someone called me on the telephone!
What's going on here?
Who are you?
My name is Grace Collier and I write
for "The Staten Island Panorama,"
- and I must use the telephone.
- No!
No!
Don't give it to her. Don't!
She won't use it, Arlene.
She won't.
Trust me.
Look, this is the Lynton Clinic. You
can't just come walking in here like this.
Well I can if one of your patients is
roaming around loose murdering people.
Oh, come on. There have been a lot of
wild rumors going around about us,
but I wouldn't expect the "Panorama"
to take them seriously.
I take them seriously
and I'm going to call the police!
Better talk to the head of the clinic.
Now, if you call about 10:00 tomorrow...
I'll speak
to him now!
- I'll see if he'll see you.
He's probably gone to bed.
Hello, Doctor.
I'm sorry to disturb you.
There's a girl here who says she's
"a reporter from the" Panorama.
She insists
on talking to you.
Okay.
Doctor will be
right with you. Arlene...
- You did a good job cleaning up.
Now, you can take your things
back to the supply room.
One of your patients is a murderess.
I followed her here tonight. Now, we've
got to call the police. That's him!
Dr. Breton, this girl says
she's from the "Panorama."
Hello, Margaret,
why aren't you in your room?
This man is involved in a murder
and we have got to call the police.
She came to us last night. We're
very happy to have her join our family.
Oh, I was off duty.
Margaret, this is Mr. Jansen.
Margaret Grisham.
- Hello, Margaret.
- Nice try.
If you'll go and check my I.D.,
it's in my car outside.
I am Grace Collier.
I wouldn't insist on "Margaret" right
away. We want to respect your wishes.
When you're ready to have us
call you Margaret, you tell us.
- Take her to room 23.
- Right.
Dr. Corbin, prepare her
for hypnotherapy.
Come with me, Margaret.
Grace, I mean. It's all right.
Please. Now, you've
got to believe me.
I am perfectly sane. Just go downstairs
and check my bag. It's in my car.
- Yes, Grace. Just as soon as you're settled in.
- No! Now!
- I'm afraid my life is in danger.
- I understand.
Oh, God!
I know what that sounds like.
I'm serious. As soon
as you find out who I am,
you'll know that they are
making all of this up!
Grace, I believe
you're serious in what you think.
- Let go of my arm!
- Well, it's a little rough going here in the dark, Grace.
- Stop calling me Grace!
- Then, you really do want to be Margaret?
No, damn it,
my name is Grace!
Let go.
Let go.
All right, Margaret, just push up your
sleeve for me. This won't hurt a bit.
- Help!
- Get her in the room.
No!
Help!
Open your eyes.
You came here
to ask me questions.
- Is that correct?
- Yes.
You will ask me questions. You will
remember my answers exactly, word for word.
- Do you understand?
- Yes.
Good.
Now, repeat after me.
What did you do
with the body?
- Repeat.
- What did you do with the body?
It was all
a ridiculous mistake.
There was no body.
- Repeat.
- It was all a ridiculous mistake.
There was no body.
There was no body,
because there was no murder.
Repeat.
There was no body
because there was no murder.
- Again.
- There was no body because there was no murder.
Good.
When you awaken, all you will remember
is what I have told you...
if anyone should ask.
- Do you understand?
- Yes.
Good.
Now, I'm going to take you deeper...
into deeper sleep.
Relax. Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Now, listen to me
very carefully.
You came to watch us, to spy on us,
to feed on our sorrows...
look at me... at no cost.
- Do you hear me?
- Yes, I hear you.
Good.
You want to know
all our secrets?
All right. We will
share them with you.
Watch.
Wh-Why is she here?
Don't you remember?
She was always here.
Don't you remember?
- No.
- Go back.
- Go back. Remember.
- I can remember.
- Remember when you were very young.
I am in agreement
with my colleagues.
Although they
believe that Dominique...
is the one
who is truly disturbed,
I think that they will find
that Danielle, who is so sweet,
so responsive, so normal,
as opposed to her sister,
can only be so
because of her sister.
- Danielle...
- And the time we had the picnic.
- That's right, the picnic.
- And people have come to see us.
- To see you, yes.
- I remember.
- What else do you remember?
- She is not just one.
- They were all my friends.
- They were... They were your friends.
- Oh, Dominique, it's okay.
- They brought...
- Thank you, Charlie.
- Their picnic lunches...
- and their cameras.
- Yes.
And they brought
their little children.
- Ah, yes. I remember that.
- They gave you treats.
- Little cakes, candies...
- Yes, an apple... You gave me an apple.
Apples, yes.
And then they asked...
- if they can take your picture.
- Yes.
- Dominique didn't like the children very much.
- Is that right, Dominique?
- No, she said that they were laughing at us.
- Do you remember?
- No, I can't remember.
- Go back. Try.
- What did they call you?
- I-I can't remember that.
- Try to remember what they called you.
- Go away, please!
- You can remember. "You" can "remember. Look at me."
- I can't remember. No!
- Look at me!
- Go away! I can't remember that.
"- You" can "remember." What did
they call you? - No. I don't know!
- Remember!
- They said, "freak." "Look at the freak."
- ... the freak, the freak...
- Sweetie, smile.
... the freak, the freak...
- Smile.
Make them go away
from me, please.
Don't you remember what you learned
last spring that you could never have?
- No, I can't remember. No, I can't remember!
- Yes, you can. Try.
Don't you remember you realized
you could have no home,
- no husband, no children, no baby?
- Yes, I remember that.
Yes, I remember that.
You're supposed
to be sleeping.
Why can't you
make her go away?
Can you make her go away?
Please. Please.
Of course.
Help me.
Don't let him hurt me.
Help me.
Help me.
- Danielle,
what happened afterward?
L... I was walking in the garden...
with Dominique and...
I tried to tell her that
I was going to have a baby.
And l...
I tried to explain that
it could be her baby too, but...
but she doesn't understand
and she get very angry at me.
And she... tried to kill
the baby with the garden shear.
- Are you in pain?
I'm-I'm going
to lose my baby.
No,
you will be fine.
- I'm going to die.
- Everything will be fine.
- Everything will be fine.
Everything will be fine.
Oh, it hurts me.
Please help me.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid.
I am a surgeon.
You have lost our baby.
You are
bleeding very badly.
The only way I can save you
is to separate you from Dominique.
- Am I going to die?
- No.
You will be fine.
Everything will be fine.
Sleep.
Sleep. Sleep.
Relax, relax,
relax, relax.
- Relax. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.
- I-I am sure you've
come back, Dominique.
- Dominique! Dominique.
- Dominique is dead.
Please come back,
Dominique.
Dominique is dead.
Remember.
No, she's not dead.
She's going to kill you.
- She "is" dead.
- No!
- I know she's not. No! No, she's not.
- Sleep.
- Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.
- No. No...
- She's not.
- Dominique is dead. She is dead.
Time you learn
to accept her death.
We both have
to go away now.
Danielle, I'm going
to marry you.
Do you remember?
How we came here to the clinic...
and made it our own?
It was good
for a while.
But Dominique
never died for you.
You kept her alive
in your mind.
Sometimes... Sometimes,
you even became her...
to reassure yourself
of her existence.
You could never
accept the guilt,
The terrible guilt
for Dominique's death.
It was hard for me
to accept what had happened...
- that we could never live
together as man and wife.
Every time
I made love to you,
Dominique came back...
and took control of you.
I did not know
how to rid you of her.
All I could do was
give you the pills...
and keep you sedated...
until she went away.
- I tried to warn you about Dominique.
Dominique is dangerous
for both of us.
To Dominique,
any man that made love
to you is me...
Emil.
Danielle? Danielle?
I love you.
- Look at this knife.
Look at it. You killed
a man with this knife.
- Remember. Remember.
- Remember. That's it.
- What happened?
- There was a cake.
A cake?
What else?
They had candles.
Yes.
What did you do?
- I made a wish,
- Yes.
- And I blew out the candles.
- Yes.
And then I cut him!
Relax, fellas.
He's dead.
Just a minute,
Mrs. Breton.
Are you prepared to confess to the
murder of your husband, Emil Breton?
I warn you that whatever you say
may be used as evidence against you.
I have never
hurt anyone in my life.
You claim that you had
a sister who did it?
My sister died last spring.
Dawson.
- Well, Miss Collier, up and about?
- How do you feel today?
- Oh, fine. Thanks.
- Oh, thank you for the chocolates.
- Oh, you're welcome.
- Would you like one?
- No, thank you.
Well, you'll be interested to know
that we're reopening the whole case.
We already got her on first-degree
murder for Breton.
But we haven't had any luck turning up
that black man you saw her slice up.
Now, I want you to tell me
everything you can remember.
It was all a ridiculous mistake.
There was no body.
Look, I apologize
for having been so skeptical.
I should have
put more trust in your claim.
It-It was all
a ridiculous mistake.
What else do you want me to do?
Apologize in print?
- I sent you candy.
- I'm telling you all I can remember!
Look, I talked to your editor, and he
told me about the detective that you hired.
What did he think? I got a witness
who saw the couch loaded onto the truck.
Now, obviously the body
was hidden inside that couch.
Otherwise,
why would they move it?
It's really quite simple. There was
no body because there was no murder!
What was simple? There's nothing
simple about any of this.
L- I just don't understand you.
Now you claim that there wasn't a body.
If there wasn't a body,
why did you make such an accusation?
You know how serious
that could be?
Grace has never deliberately
told a lie in her life.
You have to understand
that she's not quite herself.
I'm fine! There's absolutely
nothing wrong with me!
All I know is there was no body
because there was no murder!