Sleepless (2001) Movie Script
1
SLEEPLESS
TURIN, MARCH 1983
What's your name?
Giacomo Gallo.
Giacomo Gallo.
Sit down, sit down.
I'm going to find out who
killed your mother, Giacomo.
Even if it takes me all my life.
So, now tell me everything you saw.
TURIN, TODAY
Yeah.
Yeah, it's okay.
Even all night.
Oh, no, no.
Then it's another price.
You wanna know now?
No, no, I won't do that!
No way.
That wasn't the deal.
Don't even try to touch me.
You can do those disgusting
things with somebody else.
Not with me!
Come on.
Try it, try it!
And I'll play naughts
and crosses on you.
And you know I will too.
I'm just as crazy as you.
All right, take it,
take it.
Isn't that enough?
Sure, it's enough.
I mean, thanks.
Do you wanna play one
of my special games now?
No.
Go away.
Get out.
May I... may I go to the toilet?
Okay.
I've killed lots of people,
but they'll never catch me.
Another time, another time.
I've killed lots of people,
lots of people,
but they'll never catch me.
WOMAN FOUND
WITH THROAT CUYOUNG WOMAN KILLED
BEFORE HER SON'S EYES
THE CULPRIT IS THE DWARF
MONDAY
THE DEATH FARM
"The Death Farm."
"He had always had to struggle
against his boundless urge to kill,
to see spurting blood.
He could kill animals,
yes, but it wasn't the same.
It couldn't give you
that sublime thrill that
taking the life of another
human being could.
And then one day he came
across the nursery rhyme.
Now his destiny would be fulfilled.
Lots of people.
Lots of people.
Dwarf Murders.
The Killer Dwarf.
Amanda.
It's Angela.
Can you hear me?
Yes, I'm, I'm on the train.
Listen, I was with a client, a sadist,
a murderer.
No, no, no.
He didn't hurt me,
but I left his house.
I picked up by accident this blue file.
It's absolutely incredible.
There's proof of murders he's
committed a long time ago.
Come and pick me up
at the station, will you?
I'll be there in thirty-five minutes.
Maybe we can go
to the police together.
Okay.
Bye.
- Amanda?
- Thief.
- Huh?
- Thief.
Oh, I won't tell.
I won't tell, I swear.
Of course you won't
because I'm going
to cut out your tongue
before I cut your throat.
I hear a noise.
Where are you?
I'm, I'm in a car.
Yes, I'm in a car with my...
I'm with my boyfriend.
Oh, I hear the sound of a train.
You're on a train.
No.
You think you're gonna
get away from me?
No, I'll find you.
I'll find you.
Listen.
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
Hey.
Please.
Hey sir, please wait!
Please, please wait.
Oh, thank god.
What's wrong?
Listen, I know this sounds crazy,
but I met a murderer.
The one from the dwarf murders.
Do you remember?
No, I don't. Sorry.
Well, I do.
Years ago, I was little.
They called him
The Killer Dwarf.
A few minutes ago he called me
and he said he to kill me,
he's going to kill me.
Alright now, calm down. Calm down.
Where are you going?
Garbio.
Well, between here and Garbio,
the train doesn't stop.
So nobody can get on.
It's him.
I know it.
Take it.
Hello?
Yes, hold on.
It's Amanda. She says
she's a friend of yours.
Amanda.
Oh my god.
Hey, hey!
Where are you going?
I'll be in the first car up front.
Can I come with you, stay with you?
Train's empty on this end
of the run, so okay, come on.
I'll be your bodyguard.
Wait, my bag, huh?
Yeah, sure.
No problem.
Oh, Amanda.
Listen, I can't talk right now.
See you at the station, okay?
Okay, bye.
Mister, Mister, Mister.
EMERGENCY BRAKE
Where's the file, you bitch?
I want that file.
Give it to me. Tell me.
I don't know!
Please help!
I don't know, I don't know! Please!
- Excuse me?
- Yes.
When does the train leave?
In exactly three minutes.
It's Angela's.
I picked up this blue file,
blue file, blue file.
Hey, slow down! What
do you think you're doing?
You wanna make me lose my job?
You can't just jump off
a moving train like that.
You can break your leg and then what?
Are there police here at the station?
No. Why?
Wake up!
Wake up, you asshole.
Where's my car?
Wake up!
What the fuck do you want?
Where is my fucking car?
Where is my fucking car?!
The silver compact.
It was right here.
The keys were in the ignition.
Now where is it?
How should I know?
Maybe someone moved it.
And you are here
and didn't see a thing!
You had it stolen!
Go screw.
I'm gonna call the cops!
You dirty whore!
The keys!
Where are the keys?
Hey, it's over there.
Oh my god.
Sir, look.
Must have left a hell
of a mark on the killer.
Know what that means?
No, what?
It means she fought back,
so under those nails
is the killer's DNA.
Alright, Manni.
Take care of it, will you?
I authorize the removal
of the corpses, everything.
Just send a complete report tomorrow.
Right.
It's your ball.
Make sure she gets
a full manicure, Patrick.
She said she met this murderer, a dwarf
who killed some people a long time ago.
Say that again.
Killed some people a long time ago.
No, no, before that.
A dwarf.
She said something about
a dwarf, a killer dwarf.
The dwarf case.
Isn't he dead?
Yes, he is.
Tell Cascio to go to the
archives and get on the computer.
I want everything there is.
Right, sir.
Who was in charge of the case then?
Ulysses Moretti.
They say he was a real genius.
Chief Moretti?
Well, once upon a time, but now...
Do we know each other?
There was a time there
weren't all these written reports.
Cops like you kept
it all in their heads.
Which is why we're here.
If I can be of help, I'd be happy to.
We'd like to know about the dwarf.
The dwarf?
The one who murdered three
women seventeen years ago.
Seventeen years is a long time, huh?
Marcello, before you were born, huh?
Well, it's a case you should remember.
You were about to arrest him,
but he went on the
run and disappeared.
A few months later, his
body was found in a river,
almost unrecognizable
except for his height
and his hunchback.
He'd been shot in the head.
Well, there you are. Good.
You've already got it all.
There's nothing else in here anymore.
Are you sure, Moretti?
You solved that case and
they promoted you too.
But there's still some loose ends
that have never been taken care of.
The gun was never found.
The body'd probably been
carried away by the current,
but was it really suicide?
Oh, who knows? Like
you said, it's a mystery.
But look, it's all in the records
and I don't know anything
more, but I'm sorry,
but my memory plays me
some bad tricks these days.
Depending on the current as they say.
- AC or DC.
- Exactly.
It's not a total blackout, like today.
It's time for my medicine,
that I remember.
It's for the old ticker, you know?
Can I get you some coffee maybe?
No, no, another time.
Thanks just the same.
By the way, call me if
you think of anything.
The dwarf wrote thrillers, didn't he?
One fine day, he decided
to make his murder
fantasies come true.
He might have kept it up for years
if it hadn't been for you, sir.
Yes, in another life.
The dwarf.
It's now midnight
And in my bed
I have...
have a fight...
It's now midnight
And in my bed, I toss and fight
And...
No.
I can't even remember
a stupid nursery rhyme
anymore, Marcello.
DEATH FARM
MORNING AT FOUR
HERE'S KITTY PURRING AT THE DOOR
IN THE TUB FOR AN ICY SWIM
AND DROWNING HER JUST FOR A WHIM
Shit.
Marco?
Marco?
Marco?
Marco?
Short circuit, and boom;
everything was dark.
You're an idiot, you know that?
- Why?
- What kind of joke was that?
Meowing when the lights were out?
Joke? I wasn't playing any jokes.
And meow, meow?
Listen, I've gotta help
to get the lights back on.
Are you coming?
Just a minute.
Well, I have to get
my shit together first.
I have to go. Get a move on.
Come on, just wait for me, can't you?
I'll wait for you up there and hurry up.
Sure.
Hurry, hurry.
Asshole.
Beppe, you're back.
Yeah.
Disappeared 'cause you didn't wanna
talk to the cops, right?
Pietro,
How much you think this is worth?
Looks like solid gold.
Five hundred bucks?
I bet
it's worth five thousand bucks.
Nah!
No, it's a mess here.
Whose jacket is this?
Mine.
I took it off to climb up a ladder.
Something strange, sir.
She has one hand with long
nails and the other with nails
cut right down to the quick.
All right, get her outta here.
What are you doing here?
Oh, nothing...
I heard it on the radio.
The case was mine once.
Once.
Can you stay, sir?
So...
Just before I found her
I saw a, a little person.
Maybe it was a shadow.
Or maybe...
maybe I just imagined it.
You saw a little person.
What was he like?
What was he wearing?
I don't know.
It was too dark.
What are you doing here, Moretti?
Looking for a dead dwarf?
Maybe it's his ghost
come back to get revenge.
Ghosts don't exist.
Copycats do, imitators
who wanna recreate
sensational murders, huh Moretti?
What do you think?
Well, the dwarf is dead.
That's something I do
remember. And me too
I don't believe in ghosts.
So?
I think the case is much
more complicated than that.
You saw that cut-out.
Seventeen years ago we
found figures of animals like that
next to the bodies.
Pig, rooster, and a chick in that order.
I see your memory's coming back.
It happens.
And just like then,
you'll have no fingerprints,
no sexual molesting,
no seminal fluids
or other biological traces
and nothing to do a DNA on.
How are you going to catch him?
ROME
Peking.
Yes. Yes.
Giacomo, telephone.
Hello.
Lorenzo who?
Oh, of course.
Huh, my father.
Is he still alive?
I haven't talked to him for years.
So what's up?
No, I don't want
anything to do with that.
No way.
Thanks for calling, but
I'm really trying to forget.
Bye.
- No more calls.
- Sorry.
Giacomo, what's wrong?
It's nothing.
Mama!
Lorenzo, it's Giacomo.
I was wondering if I
could stay at your place
for a few days.
Yeah, I changed my mind.
By train tomorrow morning.
Yeah, I'll call you back when I know.
Okay, thanks.
Ciao.
So, now you go to work.
Sorry, I have to go.
What are you doing?
Bye-bye, Peking.
Oh, don't worry.
We're better off without him.
He crazy.
Good riddance.
Giacomo.
Lorenzo.
How are you?
I'm fine.
How are you?
Great.
Feels good to be back.
And you, what are you doing?
I've been working in
my dad's law office.
You know him.
He is always on my back, just like then.
How long do you wanna stay?
I don't know.
Why'd you call me?
I thought you might be
interested in what's happening.
Anyway, you can
stay as long as you like.
Good morning.
My name is Adolfo Farina.
I received this summons.
Oh yes, right.
Take a seat in there.
You'll have wait to a while.
Not too long I hope.
No.
I've got an alibi.
I was with my girlfriend.
CRIMINAL RECORD
INVESTIGATION ARCHIVE
Will you make copies of
all the old files for me?
For old time's sake?
Okay, for old time's sake.
Thank you.
You're pretty good on that machine.
Yeah, I had to learn.
Things have changed.
I know.
Now the police talk about DNA.
Telecommunications
print-outs, GPS bugs.
We used to say "tailing."
Now they say "surveillance."
We used to say "following leads."
Now they say "tactical intervention."
Listening to them talking,
they sound more like
marketing managers than cops.
Look, this is a
complicated investigation.
It could take a long time.
You might as well go back to Rome.
What's keeping you here?
My mother, Maria Gallo.
Bye.
I heard what you said. I would
never have recognized you.
What?
What do you mean?
You were just a boy then.
Chief Inspector.
Moretti.
Just Moretti.
I'm retired now.
What are you doing here?
The same as you, my boy.
What's that?
Answering the call of a ghost.
Listen, I would like
to take you somewhere.
There.
Yeah, the ghost of the past.
We lived on the first
floor, me and my mom,
just the two of us.
And then you went to go
and live with your father.
Not for long.
Never came back here?
No.
This is the first time.
It happened under the stairs, didn't it?
Yeah, in front of the cellar door.
I'll be upstairs if you need me, sir.
All right.
And thank you.
Mama!
Mama, mama!
You all right?
Yeah.
He killed her right in front of me
with a musical instrument.
They said it was an English horn.
You didn't see anything else?
You asked me the same question then.
And what did you answer?
That I couldn't see his face.
But there was something,
not something I saw,
but something I heard.
What?
A sound, a strange sound.
A kind of whistling or hissing.
There was all the other
noise, the struggle,
my mother's screams,
but in the midst of all that, this...
I hear it almost every night,
but I still can't figure
out what it was.
What a great team
we make, you and I.
You remember, but don't know.
I know, but don't remember.
Sometimes not even
what my wife looked like,
may she rest in peace.
So you won't remember the
promise you made to me that day.
What promise?
"I'll find out who killed your mother."
I told you that?
Yes.
And then you said, "even
if it takes me all my life."
Well, maybe that's why I'm here now.
And what are you involved in now?
Nothing.
I'm unemployed, but
before I was working
in a Chinese restaurant.
Oh, well a young man should
have different experiences
before settling down.
Oh yes, really?
You never said that to me.
Are you here for long?
Where are you staying?
- I'm staying at...
- In a hotel.
In a hotel?
But Giacomo, you could
have stayed here with us.
Which hotel?
Dad, leave him alone.
You're not in court now.
I only asked him a simple question.
Excuse me.
May be important.
Yes?
This is he.
Yes.
I see.
We could make it for tomorrow.
Wait, I'll make a note of it.
Where's my pen?
Does someone have my pen?
Use mine, Dad.
Thank you.
Okay, go ahead. Yes.
- You never drink?
- Not anymore.
An alcohol problem?
An everything problem.
You see how my parents are.
Mom's kind of out of it
and my dad treats
me as if I was fifteen.
My dad never treated me anyway at all.
He remarried, had another kid.
I was just a pain in the ass for him.
For mine, I'm just
a huge disappointment.
He wanted an athlete, and me,
I got pseudoallergic asthma.
He wanted... he wanted
someone different,
so he sent me all over
the world like a parcel.
Four years of college in
Switzerland, private university,
graduate studies in
international law in New York.
My dad and I used to have fistfights.
He used to beat my mom up too.
Have you seen Gloria?
Gloria?
She knows you're here.
I told her.
Does she still play?
Yes.
What are nice people like
us doing in a place like this?
The smoke, it's like a gas chamber.
Oh my poor allergic baby.
You look great, as beautiful as ever.
You've never said that to me before.
Well, I guess I was shy.
I was only twelve.
Hey, cool it, guys.
Gloria's already got a
boyfriend named Fausto.
Who would ever have thought it?
Chance encounter?
It wasn't by chance.
We were made for each other.
Just took a while to
realize it. That's all.
Right, Gloria?
How's the show coming?
Well, it's a lot of work.
We open next week.
We're doing "Swan Lake."
I hope you come and see it.
- Oh sure.
- Sure.
So, Giacomo, what's up
with the famous dwarf?
The dwarf is dead.
But someone has
brought him back to life.
Is that what you mean, Fausto?
Or it's his ghost.
Oh, come on.
What ghost?
What on earth are you talking about?
Before your time, sweetheart.
You were only three years old.
I don't think the dwarf is dead.
It wasn't his body they found.
It was someone else's.
Maybe even some poor kid's.
If you ask me,
he's just been laying low,
keeping very quiet until now.
Quit calling him the dwarf.
He had a name,
Vincenzo de Fabritiis.
If it comes to that,
he had a nom de plume as well.
John McKenzie.
- Good memory.
- Yes.
Well, I still have a couple
of his books around somewhere.
Fausto, do we really
have to talk about this?
Why not?
It's part of our past.
Do you still live in the same place?
No, we moved.
Hey, do you guys remember
that vagabond, Leone the bum?
He ate a dog, a Pomeranian.
I'll never forget that.
He said a Filipino
gave him the recipe.
There were a lot of other
awful things happening
to animals around that time,
just before the murders began.
Cats drowned, dogs burnt.
Sometimes we did things like that too.
Yeah, but we were just naughty kids.
You weren't a kid anymore.
You were almost eighteen.
Okay, but you were right behind me.
You all were.
You too, Gloria.
No, never.
Come on guys.
Take it easy.
It's the dwarf's curse.
Oh sorry, Vincenzo's curse.
We used to play dirty tricks on him,
make fun of him,
trying to touch his hump.
One day he got
really pissed off.
"You bastards.
I put a curse on you.
You're all gonna be tormented
for the rest of your lives
by me or by one of your own dead."
What a funny little chap he was.
There was a hole in the hedge back then.
We used to get into the garden,
me and the other kids.
Sometimes Vincenzo
would read us his novels,
like... a sneak preview.
Then when our parents found
out, they put a stop to it.
Oh?
Hey, it's still here.
Ulysses!
Look!
I just saw Vincenzo.
I swear to god he was
standing at the window.
Vincenzo?
Impossible.
Well if it wasn't, it looked like him.
Come on.
Ulysses, I know it was him.
Who are you?
Who are you?
- Leone!
- Leone.
I don't know you.
And him! Yeah, he was chief cop.
Hey, Chief.
Do you remember me?
Do you remember me?
Vaguely.
The smell anyway.
They let me sleep in the garden shed.
Nobody lives here anyway.
A few minutes ago I saw
somebody at the window.
Who?
Vincenzo.
Vincenzo?
Oh yeah.
He comes to see me sometimes.
He comes to see me and we talk.
Especially when I've had a glass or two.
That's bullshit.
He was there, Leone.
I told ya.
He comes to see me sometimes.
Where is his study?
Where it always was.
I never go in there.
John McKenzie,
"The Dark Room."
John McKenzie,
"Murder in the Asylum."
John McKenzie,
"The Scythe Murders."
There's no dust.
Someone's been here.
Drink?
No thanks.
You're leaving?
Ciao, Leone.
Hey, thanks for the visit, huh?
It's now midnight
And in my bed, I toss and fight
This is how my war began
With the beasts across the land
Where did you learn that?
Mr. Vincenzo used to sing it.
How does it go on?
You know any more?
No! No. I dunno any more!
No. Nahh..
Murders like these are not accidental.
They're premeditated.
More than that, they're staged.
He likes to hurt. Mmh?
He wants everyone to know it.
He likes to hurt human beings, women.
How's the pasta?
Great.
There's more.
Now, it's all in those papers.
They did a ton of
studies with psychiatrists,
but I had already
figured it out on my own.
All you had to do was to
study his modus operandi.
And it's the same today as it was then.
It could be an imitator. A copycat.
True, but is there one murderer or two?
And if there's only one,
who the hell is it?
Someone who went to
sleep for seventeen years.
That's impossible.
You see, his is not
an illness you can cure.
Wine?
No, thanks.
I don't drink.
Well, I'd like some, but I can't.
Doctor's orders.
I'll have some more of this, though.
Now we, we have to go
back to the train murders.
The only ones without cut-out figures.
They're a break in the pattern.
Spur of the moment?
Exactly.
He was not prepared.
And it's when you're not
prepared that you make mistakes.
I say, we should start
from the train station.
And there was a car park
attendant there that night.
What the devil
happened to him, huh?
Here I am.
Remember me? That night?
Jeez, you really gave it to that whore.
Hey, no. Sorry.
It's your business.
Look, the dedication helped,
but finding you took a while.
That deserves some
kinda reward, doesn't it?
We can make a deal,
then I'll keep my mouth shut.
It's still perfect.
I didn't use it.
It's still got the ink in it.
Try it.
Try it, here.
All right.
I don't have any paper,
but try it here, please.
Go ahead.
What the...
What are you writing?
What's that mean?
Blue blood?
Ink?
"I'm a bad boy."
I better call the police.
Yeah.
Maybe he's still around.
Moretti, what the
hell are you playing at,
tampering with evidence?
Old habits die hard.
And I was interested.
And they put you on the case?
No, but it was mine.
Was is operative.
Now it belongs to
the Major Crimes Unit
that I'm in charge of.
I just thought maybe...
Moretti, I don't need your help,
nor yours, Gallo.
He killed my mother.
It's not the same
for me as it is for you.
Not just a routine
case or a hobby.
Ulysses.
Excuse me, sir, but
Moretti was a god once.
Don't you think
you should treat him
with a little more respect?
Driving at night on the
highway is not a hobby of mine.
You drive.
Okay.
Thanks.
Thank you.
You sure you don't wanna reel beer?
I quite like this
non-alcoholic stuff.
There they are.
Hi.
- Fausto.
- I'm sorry I'm late.
I'm used to it.
Thought
you guys'd never get here.
Come on.
We got a table.
- Okay.
- It's impossible to park...
- Sorry about last...
- Don't worry about it.
I walked walked out
without saying goodbye.
It's alright.
Wanna sit down?
You said we wouldn't get a table.
You see, Fausto?
Thank you.
I need a drink.
Gloria, what would you like?
- My usual.
- Waiter!
What about you, Mary Louise?
I dunno.
Juice or something.
What's that funny taste?
Hey, I asked if you wanted a real one.
- You had your choice.
- No, it's not that.
Wait a minute.
This isn't mine, Giacomo.
It's yours.
Didn't you taste anything strange?
Just have to get
used to it, that's all.
- Oh my goodness, Lorenzo.
- Lorenzo, what's wrong?
- Someone do something please.
- That was my beer.
Someone must've...
It's one of his asthma attacks.
We need an ambulance urgently.
The Barbican, Piazza Vittorio.
Yes, the Barbican.
Please help me!
Lorenzo, no!
Midnight now.
It's now mid, mid, midnight
And in my bed, I toss and fight
This is how my war began
With the beasts across the..
Beasts.
Animals. Like the
killer's cut-outs, Marcello.
Yes.
Coffee, strong coffee.
You want some?
Great stuff for the memory.
Oh Lorenzo, how do you feel?
Better.
You were lucky.
You only drank a little.
Not enough to be fatal, thank god.
That poison was meant for me.
That'll teach you to steal
other people's drinks.
This is your fault.
Dad.
You jeopardized my son's life, my son.
This is what happens when
you go looking for ghosts.
Not for ghosts, for the truth.
Whatever.
If you had stayed home, this
would never have happened.
I'm warning you.
From now on, stay away from Lorenzo.
Oh dad, that's enough.
Giacomo isn't guilty of anything.
You know that.
No. Your father's right.
Ciao.
Goodbye, sir.
Hey, Giacomo, wait.
Giacomo!
Giacomo.
Whose side are you on?
I'm coming with you.
Let's see, let's see.
So the first victim back in the '80s,
animal, a pig.
In other words, a slut,
poetic license for whore.
The second victim, Maria Gallo.
You're right, Marcello!
The Gallo is a rooster.
Nothing wrong with your memory.
And the third, a chick,
given the young age.
A pig, rooster, chick.
And starting again, a kitten.
Animals, beasts across the land, huh?
Oh.
One o'clock.
Morning at one.
"Morning at one.
The farmer has some little boys' fun.
Piggy's throat he quickly slits.
In victory the battle quits."
Another verse, hahah!
Now I remember!
I'm in great shape!
So the wheels are beginning to turn.
Now, so let's see.
"Piggy's throat he quickly slits."
Like the prostitute, who had her's slit.
And as his signature, of course the pig.
So he murders to the nursery rhyme.
There you go. Anything else.
- Dora?
- Yes.
- Come here a moment please.
- Okay.
The mysterious
figure stole like a ghost,
out of the darkness
and entered the room
where his trophies were kept.
And then...
Boy, what a day. I
can't wait to go home.
I'm afraid the dwarf's out there.
Thank goodness my
boyfriend's coming to pick me up.
What about you, Dora?
Do you have someone coming?
No, but I'm not afraid.
From the millions of
girls in the city, why me?
The odds would be
like winning the lottery.
Besides the newspapers
always blow these things up.
Ciao, ciao.
See how brave our little rabbit is?
She just has no idea, does she?
Dora.
Dora...
Dora...
Dora.
Go fuck yourself!
He got another one last night.
Did you hear about it?
Girl who worked in a fast food joint.
Yes, I read it.
God only knows what
else is buried in my mind.
But last night I had another flashback.
The very last interrogation
I had with Vincenzo,
before he went on the run,
he told me that someone
had stolen the manuscript
of his latest novel and
that this person was using it
to commit the murders.
So according to him,
the real murders were all
the exact copies
of those in the novel,
and all based on that
damn nursery rhyme.
- "It's now midnight."
- Yes.
I should know more of it.
You know why?
To try to convince me,
Vincenzo sang a few verses to me.
It was rather long.
Anyway, I didn't believe him.
But what if it really was the truth?
I bet Leone knows the
rest of the nursery rhyme.
Let's hope he's here.
I don't like the look of that sky.
- I'll check the garden shed.
- All right.
He's not there.
Maybe he's in the house.
- Who are you?
- What?
What are you doing here?
I should ask the same of you.
This is my house. I've lived
here for many, many years.
I'm, yes, I'm Laura de Fabritiis.
Oh yeah...
Vincenzo's mother.
But of course.
Do you remember me?
Your face does look familiar.
Moretti.
Moretti.
Yes.
Yes, I remember you.
Excuse us for bursting
in on you like this.
But you see, we are investigating
on our own, I might say,
to try to get to the
bottom of what happened
so many years ago,
especially in light of
recent developments.
But we are actually starting
to consider the idea that
Vincenzo was not guilty,
that there were other people
behind this terrible affair.
It's very strange to
hear you say that,
his accuser.
I was always convinced
of my son's innocence,
and my husband was too.
Then he died of a
broken heart three years
after it happened.
Vincenzo, my little treasure
was the scapegoat,
sacrificed to public outcry.
What made you come here today?
I've been summoned by a judge.
They want to exhume my son's body.
By the way, did you
know that Vincenzo used
to collect nursery rhymes
and poems about animals?
Oh yes, of course I did.
Oh! He adored children's books.
He used to buy them in
secondhand bookshops.
Come to think of it,
they must still be
around here somewhere.
Oh, I hate this thing.
This is the first call I've
received in five years.
Yes?
It's for you.
Sorry, I gave your number to...
Oh, love, youth.
- Hi, where are you?
- At the premiere.
"Swan Lake,"
- don't you remember?
- Oh, no.
Look, I got a problem.
- I can't...
- I go on in ten minutes.
Where are you?
Around...
I'll come and pick you
up later after the show.
It's too bad you can't make it.
I'm so nervous.
I play the harp on stage,
dressed as a swan.
The pages have been torn out.
What?
Maybe Vincenzo hid the original
to stop the killer from
stealing that as well.
- Hid it?
- Yes.
Great.
So we're back to
square one, back to zero.
Isn't there another book
called "Animal Farm?"
I read it years ago.
Who was it by?
- George Orwell?
- George Orwell!
Yes.
We must have a copy.
That's a wonderful book.
Here it is.
Yes.
Thank you, signora!
Let, let me read it to you.
"It's now midnight and in
my bed I toss and fight.
This is how my war began,
with the beasts across the land.
Morning at one, the farmer
has some little boys' fun.
Piggy's throat he quickly slits.
In victory the battle quits.
Morning at two, the
rooster's cock-a-doodle-doo.
The instrument for this fine song
makes the pleasure nice 'n long.
Morning at three,
the farmer strangles the chickie wee.
'Won't let me sleep'
yet in his bed hears not a peep.
Morning at four,
here's kitty purring at the door.
In the tub for an icy swim
and drowning her for just a whim.
Morning at five,
the little rabbit crushed alive.
With rabbit's teeth
she bit and fought,
but in the end it brought her nought.
Morning at six,
now the long swan's neck he'll fix.
When he cuts it from her head
he knows that his last foe is dead.
The break of day,
the farmer in his bed now lay.
With all his weapons in a heap..."
The long swan's neck he'll fix?
Yes.
That was Gloria on the phone.
She, she was about to go on stage.
She was dressed like a swan.
The swan could be her.
Excuse me, sir.
Your ticket please.
I don't have one.
- I have to go.
- Oh yes. Why?
Because I do!
Excuse me.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the second act will
begin in ten minutes.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the second back will begin
in ten minutes.
You can't go up there.
That's right.
And then I'm going
to London to audition.
Yeah, Ricardo called me first.
- Sorry.
- Sorry?
What about my shirt?
Who is that guy?
Gloria!
- Who are you?
- Giacomo.
Sorry.
Hey.
Are you all right?
Of course I'm all right.
Is something wrong?
Nothing.
I thought...
What did you think?
Nothing.
Oh, Giacomo.
Mara darling.
Absolutely wonderful.
Fantastic, Mara.
Fantastic!
Thank you, thank you.
Sorry, but I have to get
ready for the second act.
Yes, of course.
We'll go back to our seat.
Mara, darling, come along.
You've gotta get
ready for the second act.
I'm coming, I'm coming.
Hurry, darling.
- What did you think?
- Oh, you were great.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The second act will
begin in five minutes.
Seamstress.
We need a seamstress here.
We got five minutes before...
Ladies and gentlemen,
the second act is about to begin.
Please return to your seats.
Thank you.
Places, places.
Oh.
Thank you for coming, Mr. Moretti.
Mrs. de Fabritiis,
we should follow the...
I know.
Excuse me.
You are convinced that
I'm just a presumptuous,
incompetent cop, aren't you?
Incompetent, no.
Cold as a machine, yes.
And it will be just those
machines you hate so much
that'll help us get him.
We're monitoring 18,000
telephones in the city,
spot checking, and with
an automatic scanner,
that's programmed
to pick out key words.
Of course, because the killer is going
to call all his friends and say,
"I'm a murderer.
I cut out animal figures."
Say what you like.
Even if we're not excluded,
the killer might have an accomplice
he communicates with.
We're checking out
other possibilities.
For example, those
suspects who don't phone,
we've gotta check on all those
subscribers who have a phone
but haven't made calls or
received calls for the past year.
Stuff like that.
Good luck.
I want a full report on this.
I want to know how
the body was removed,
when it was removed,
and why it was removed.
It was done pretty recently
judging by the scratches in the coffin.
Yeah.
'83.
Laura Migotti.
LAURA MIGOTTI
PIG
Maria Gallo.
Luisa Bisi.
LUISA BISI
CHICK
And Vincenzo de Fabritiis.
There.
Signora de Fabritiis.
Would you excuse
me for the unusual hour?
Come in.
Don't you ever sleep, Mr. Moretti?
I'm not sleepy.
Neither am I.
I haven't slept for seventeen years.
You know, I was so desperate.
When I saw the coffin, it was empty.
Now it'll start all over again.
The rumors, the ghost,
the dwarf, the monster.
A monster twice over
for his deformity, and the murders,
I won't have it.
You must help me.
Please tell your
colleagues my son is dead.
How can you be so sure?
I know.
I know.
But how?
Because I'm his mother!
It's not good enough.
You really want to know why?
All right.
I killed him.
Yes, I killed him
with a gun
my husband gave me.
He asked me to do it.
He begged me to do it, huh.
He didn't have the
courage to do it himself.
I did.
Out of love,
to save him from more suffering,
from being made the laughingstock,
in prison, at the
mercy of other inmates.
Awful cruel people.
Especially with...
Wait a minute, you said a gun,
but the gun was never found.
Oh! Is that
what's missing?
- Well, sorry.
- But, signora.
Signora.
Vincenzo?
Vincenzo?
In 1983, the murders
were all in the same area.
Why?
Marcello, help me.
Huh?
Come on.
We're doing real well.
So now take a look at the
weapons and the way he uses them.
So, pruning knife, musical
instrument... English horn,
rope, drowned,
bashed against the wall,
and a hatchet.
The English horn.
Why?
What a strange choice.
"The rooster's cock-a-doodle-doo,
the instrument for this fine song."
Instrument.
But usually you slit
roosters' throats, don't you?
Or wring their necks, but he...
Oh, you know, that reminds me.
I'M A BAD BOY
Hi, this is Gloria.
Please leave a message.
This is Moretti, Giacomo, heh-heh.
If you wonder how I
managed to find you...
I'm a cop, remember?
Listen, I've discovered
some very interesting things.
First, back in 1983,
the murders were confined
to one small neighborhood.
And now they're all over the city...
Nice.
The first since 1966.
How about that?
Who's there?
Is this a joke?
It's now midnight.
In my bed, I toss and fight.
This is how my war began
With the beasts across the land.
It's now midnight.
And in my bed, I toss and fight.
This is how my war began
With the beasts across the land.
This is Moretti,
Giacomo, heh-heh.
Giacomo, there's a message
for you on my machine.
I've discovered some
very interesting things.
First, back in 1983, the
murders were confined
to one small neighborhood.
And now they're all over the city.
Fascinating, eh?
Why?
Secondly, in your mother's case,
there's a striking discrepancy
with the nursery rhyme.
And thirdly, the writing on
the car park attendant's hand.
Call me as soon as you can.
I really think we've got him, you see.
Ciao.
- Hello?
- Ulysses?
- It's me, Giacomo.
- Giacomo, this is Manni.
Moretti's dead.
I think you better get over here.
His heart gave
out, a sudden attack.
The autopsy confirmed it.
You were following the investigation.
I want you to know
that just before he died,
he emptied his gun at someone.
Who?
We don't know.
Why did he leave me on my own?
Poor crazy old bastard.
Everyone who cares about me dies.
Everyone I care about dies.
You've got me,
Giacomo.
Hey come on, have a look.
Huh?
I'm with you. I'm alive
and I intend to stay that way.
It's Vincenzo's curse.
It's always with me.
I've gotta go.
I've gotta get outta here.
- What do you mean go?
- Just what I said.
I forgot to tell you.
We have to go by the
theater to get my instrument.
What?
I have to get my harp.
I left it there after the performance.
Instrument, a harp.
Okay, let's go.
Hey, wait a second. Stop.
Leone!
Hey, Leone!
Where are you going?
I went to see Mrs. de Fabritiis,
bless her heart.
Oh, come on, get in.
We'll give you a lift.
Oh no. I'm used to walking.
Come on, Leone. Get in.
All right, let's go in style.
Thanks.
- You're welcome.
- Where are you going?
Where am I going?
Back home.
It's all mine now.
Now that Mrs. de Fabritiis is dead.
Here! Leave me here.
Thank you.
Ciao, Leone.
Ciao.
Thank you.
You look like someone who
needs to get away from here.
Well, if we don't
see each other again,
take care of yourself.
- You too, Leone.
- Tootle-oo!
See ya.
Gloria, stop.
- What?
- He forgot his wine.
So?
- So what?
- His wine.
You don't understand. It's...
So go back and give it to him.
Come on, go ahead.
The two of you could
get drunk together.
Will you wait for me?
Maybe.
Let's get outta here.
- Go! Go on.
- What happened?
I said go.
Please, go!
- Where? Where?
- Just go!
- Wait a second.
- What?
Look.
You see that bag he's carrying?
- Yes.
- The dwarf's in there.
Oh, come on, Giacomo.
No, I swear it.
The dwarf, a puppet dwarf.
That's what I saw
in the window, a toy.
But it's not a toy.
Follow him.
Stop.
Let's go.
Stop.
Let's go.
There's no name.
What should we do?
You call the police.
I'll take a look around.
Right.
Oh, oh shit!
I left the phone in the car.
I'll, I'll be right back.
- Gloria?
- Yes?
I'm staying.
Okay.
Leone! I know you're in there.
Leone!
Leone, don't play games with me.
Leone?
Leone, I know you're
here. I saw you come in.
Shit.
You won't go telling anyone, will you?
I'm afraid you have to
end up like that drunk.
No!
Giacomo!
- Giacomo!
- Giacomo!
- Damn you, damn you!
- No!
- It's all your fault.
- No!
- Giacomo!
- No!
Giacomo, where are you?
Giacomo!
Dad, Dad!
Forgive me.
Forgive me.
Lorenzo, it wasn't my fault.
I would never have wanted...
I thought he wanted to kill me.
What happened to you?
I was in the car and, and
someone hit me on the head.
I passed out and
then Lorenzo arrived
and we climbed over the gate.
I gotta stop this bleeding.
How come you ended up here?
I looked through his papers
and I found a telephone bill
with this address.
I'll call the police.
Hello, my name is Lorenzo Betti.
There are two dead people here,
and another one is wounded.
Yes, send an ambulance.
Via Moncalvo, number eleven.
Yes. At the bottom of the hill.
Ulysses had figured it out.
Do you remember
the message he left?
Yes.
Why the murders of 1983 are all,
all concentrated in our neighborhood,
whereas the recent ones
are scattered all over the city.
Do you know why?
The police are on their way.
Because in 1983,
the murderer was only a child
and now he's an adult.
He's free to move around.
He can drive, he can
go wherever he likes.
Only a child would've taken
the nursery rhyme literally,
and mistaken instrument
for a musical instrument.
Lorenzo, I've had enough of this.
I'm sorry about your father,
but he got what was coming to him.
Hey, let go.
And if I don't, what'll you do?
Kill me like you killed my mother?
What are you talking about?
You're crazy.
This is what I heard that day.
Mama!
The hiss of your spray!
You have a dust allergy now
just like you did then.
And your father knew
what you were doing.
That's why he sent you abroad
to Switzerland, to America.
He was always on
your back, wasn't he?
To try to make sure you
wouldn't kill anyone else.
And today he came
looking for you here.
He found the phone bill, not you.
But instead of you, Leone was here
and he shot him point blank
like he wanted to do to me,
to protect you, to protect the family.
It's his own fault he's dead.
He should never have gotten involved.
I was doing fine on my own.
My god, Lorenzo.
Why did you call me?
Why did you have me come back here?
Why?
But it's a game between you and me.
You're my best friend just
like when we were kids.
It excited me to have you around,
to have you in the house.
I'm a bad boy!
And then you got afraid
I might find out too much.
And you staged the poison scene.
Me, afraid?
No way!
That was just a decoy so
that nobody would suspect me.
Hey, don't come near
her or I'll cut her throat.
And you know, I have
no problem doing that.
Okay.
Okay.
Take it easy.
The police are coming.
Oh, sure they are.
I'm the one who called them, stupid.
You were the one who knocked me out.
Yes.
I'm the one who knocked you out.
Wait, why?
Why did you do it?
Nasty stories.
Vincenzo read me a few
lines from his last novel.
There was a nursery
rhyme that kept going round
and round in my head.
It drove me crazy.
Couldn't get it out of my mind.
It was about
animals being killed.
And I killed animals too,
but my real nature was
something different.
So I stole the book and I started
acting out my version of it.
It never occurred to anyone
that it could be a
thirteen-year-old kid.
Even the victims trusted me.
All I had to do was take
them by surprise from behind.
And Leone was your accomplice.
A nothing accomplice,
an alcoholic like you.
He came later in the second wave,
when I needed someone
to work the puppet.
He didn't know anything.
I convinced him it was just
to play a trick on the people
that had given his old
friend Vincenzo a bad time.
And he believed
me. He even had fun.
You should have seen
him at the cemetery
when we stole the body.
I created a perfect murderer,
a phantom killer dwarf,
a phantom killer dwarf,
and all of you were completely fooled.
- Hey.
- What?
How come you didn't
kill for seventeen years?
Who says I didn't?
Have you gone to New York or Geneva?
They know the nursery rhyme there too.
Please, Lorenzo,
Please, take it easy.
Let her go.
Okay?
Let her go, please.
It's about time.
Who knows?
Maybe Moretti would've
closed the case before us.
Come on! Come on.
Come on.
Gloria, it's all over, Gloria.
It's okay.
It's okay.
It's alright. It's alright.
It's all over.
Move, move, move, move!
It's okay, Gloria.
Go, get up there!
- Hope this really is the end.
- You're telling me.
Keep the stairs clear.
Park them along the sidewalk.
How are we gonna put
the labels on all this shit?
Call the DA.
Tell him to get
over here right away.
Hold it.
Don't let anyone else in.
It's already a fucking mess here.
- My god, a bloodbath.
- Careful where you walk.
Checking all those unused
phones finally paid off.
Hey, look what I found.
- The remains of the dwarf.
- Where's the coroner?
Tell him to bring body bags.
I'm in the room
where the body of the young man
shot by Inspector
Manni is located.
The other two bodies
are in the kitchen.
They appear to be
victims of a murder-suicide.
The break of day,
the farmer in his bed now lay.
With all his weapons in a heap,
now he can finally go to sleep.
SLEEPLESS
TURIN, MARCH 1983
What's your name?
Giacomo Gallo.
Giacomo Gallo.
Sit down, sit down.
I'm going to find out who
killed your mother, Giacomo.
Even if it takes me all my life.
So, now tell me everything you saw.
TURIN, TODAY
Yeah.
Yeah, it's okay.
Even all night.
Oh, no, no.
Then it's another price.
You wanna know now?
No, no, I won't do that!
No way.
That wasn't the deal.
Don't even try to touch me.
You can do those disgusting
things with somebody else.
Not with me!
Come on.
Try it, try it!
And I'll play naughts
and crosses on you.
And you know I will too.
I'm just as crazy as you.
All right, take it,
take it.
Isn't that enough?
Sure, it's enough.
I mean, thanks.
Do you wanna play one
of my special games now?
No.
Go away.
Get out.
May I... may I go to the toilet?
Okay.
I've killed lots of people,
but they'll never catch me.
Another time, another time.
I've killed lots of people,
lots of people,
but they'll never catch me.
WOMAN FOUND
WITH THROAT CUYOUNG WOMAN KILLED
BEFORE HER SON'S EYES
THE CULPRIT IS THE DWARF
MONDAY
THE DEATH FARM
"The Death Farm."
"He had always had to struggle
against his boundless urge to kill,
to see spurting blood.
He could kill animals,
yes, but it wasn't the same.
It couldn't give you
that sublime thrill that
taking the life of another
human being could.
And then one day he came
across the nursery rhyme.
Now his destiny would be fulfilled.
Lots of people.
Lots of people.
Dwarf Murders.
The Killer Dwarf.
Amanda.
It's Angela.
Can you hear me?
Yes, I'm, I'm on the train.
Listen, I was with a client, a sadist,
a murderer.
No, no, no.
He didn't hurt me,
but I left his house.
I picked up by accident this blue file.
It's absolutely incredible.
There's proof of murders he's
committed a long time ago.
Come and pick me up
at the station, will you?
I'll be there in thirty-five minutes.
Maybe we can go
to the police together.
Okay.
Bye.
- Amanda?
- Thief.
- Huh?
- Thief.
Oh, I won't tell.
I won't tell, I swear.
Of course you won't
because I'm going
to cut out your tongue
before I cut your throat.
I hear a noise.
Where are you?
I'm, I'm in a car.
Yes, I'm in a car with my...
I'm with my boyfriend.
Oh, I hear the sound of a train.
You're on a train.
No.
You think you're gonna
get away from me?
No, I'll find you.
I'll find you.
Listen.
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
Hey.
Please.
Hey sir, please wait!
Please, please wait.
Oh, thank god.
What's wrong?
Listen, I know this sounds crazy,
but I met a murderer.
The one from the dwarf murders.
Do you remember?
No, I don't. Sorry.
Well, I do.
Years ago, I was little.
They called him
The Killer Dwarf.
A few minutes ago he called me
and he said he to kill me,
he's going to kill me.
Alright now, calm down. Calm down.
Where are you going?
Garbio.
Well, between here and Garbio,
the train doesn't stop.
So nobody can get on.
It's him.
I know it.
Take it.
Hello?
Yes, hold on.
It's Amanda. She says
she's a friend of yours.
Amanda.
Oh my god.
Hey, hey!
Where are you going?
I'll be in the first car up front.
Can I come with you, stay with you?
Train's empty on this end
of the run, so okay, come on.
I'll be your bodyguard.
Wait, my bag, huh?
Yeah, sure.
No problem.
Oh, Amanda.
Listen, I can't talk right now.
See you at the station, okay?
Okay, bye.
Mister, Mister, Mister.
EMERGENCY BRAKE
Where's the file, you bitch?
I want that file.
Give it to me. Tell me.
I don't know!
Please help!
I don't know, I don't know! Please!
- Excuse me?
- Yes.
When does the train leave?
In exactly three minutes.
It's Angela's.
I picked up this blue file,
blue file, blue file.
Hey, slow down! What
do you think you're doing?
You wanna make me lose my job?
You can't just jump off
a moving train like that.
You can break your leg and then what?
Are there police here at the station?
No. Why?
Wake up!
Wake up, you asshole.
Where's my car?
Wake up!
What the fuck do you want?
Where is my fucking car?
Where is my fucking car?!
The silver compact.
It was right here.
The keys were in the ignition.
Now where is it?
How should I know?
Maybe someone moved it.
And you are here
and didn't see a thing!
You had it stolen!
Go screw.
I'm gonna call the cops!
You dirty whore!
The keys!
Where are the keys?
Hey, it's over there.
Oh my god.
Sir, look.
Must have left a hell
of a mark on the killer.
Know what that means?
No, what?
It means she fought back,
so under those nails
is the killer's DNA.
Alright, Manni.
Take care of it, will you?
I authorize the removal
of the corpses, everything.
Just send a complete report tomorrow.
Right.
It's your ball.
Make sure she gets
a full manicure, Patrick.
She said she met this murderer, a dwarf
who killed some people a long time ago.
Say that again.
Killed some people a long time ago.
No, no, before that.
A dwarf.
She said something about
a dwarf, a killer dwarf.
The dwarf case.
Isn't he dead?
Yes, he is.
Tell Cascio to go to the
archives and get on the computer.
I want everything there is.
Right, sir.
Who was in charge of the case then?
Ulysses Moretti.
They say he was a real genius.
Chief Moretti?
Well, once upon a time, but now...
Do we know each other?
There was a time there
weren't all these written reports.
Cops like you kept
it all in their heads.
Which is why we're here.
If I can be of help, I'd be happy to.
We'd like to know about the dwarf.
The dwarf?
The one who murdered three
women seventeen years ago.
Seventeen years is a long time, huh?
Marcello, before you were born, huh?
Well, it's a case you should remember.
You were about to arrest him,
but he went on the
run and disappeared.
A few months later, his
body was found in a river,
almost unrecognizable
except for his height
and his hunchback.
He'd been shot in the head.
Well, there you are. Good.
You've already got it all.
There's nothing else in here anymore.
Are you sure, Moretti?
You solved that case and
they promoted you too.
But there's still some loose ends
that have never been taken care of.
The gun was never found.
The body'd probably been
carried away by the current,
but was it really suicide?
Oh, who knows? Like
you said, it's a mystery.
But look, it's all in the records
and I don't know anything
more, but I'm sorry,
but my memory plays me
some bad tricks these days.
Depending on the current as they say.
- AC or DC.
- Exactly.
It's not a total blackout, like today.
It's time for my medicine,
that I remember.
It's for the old ticker, you know?
Can I get you some coffee maybe?
No, no, another time.
Thanks just the same.
By the way, call me if
you think of anything.
The dwarf wrote thrillers, didn't he?
One fine day, he decided
to make his murder
fantasies come true.
He might have kept it up for years
if it hadn't been for you, sir.
Yes, in another life.
The dwarf.
It's now midnight
And in my bed
I have...
have a fight...
It's now midnight
And in my bed, I toss and fight
And...
No.
I can't even remember
a stupid nursery rhyme
anymore, Marcello.
DEATH FARM
MORNING AT FOUR
HERE'S KITTY PURRING AT THE DOOR
IN THE TUB FOR AN ICY SWIM
AND DROWNING HER JUST FOR A WHIM
Shit.
Marco?
Marco?
Marco?
Marco?
Short circuit, and boom;
everything was dark.
You're an idiot, you know that?
- Why?
- What kind of joke was that?
Meowing when the lights were out?
Joke? I wasn't playing any jokes.
And meow, meow?
Listen, I've gotta help
to get the lights back on.
Are you coming?
Just a minute.
Well, I have to get
my shit together first.
I have to go. Get a move on.
Come on, just wait for me, can't you?
I'll wait for you up there and hurry up.
Sure.
Hurry, hurry.
Asshole.
Beppe, you're back.
Yeah.
Disappeared 'cause you didn't wanna
talk to the cops, right?
Pietro,
How much you think this is worth?
Looks like solid gold.
Five hundred bucks?
I bet
it's worth five thousand bucks.
Nah!
No, it's a mess here.
Whose jacket is this?
Mine.
I took it off to climb up a ladder.
Something strange, sir.
She has one hand with long
nails and the other with nails
cut right down to the quick.
All right, get her outta here.
What are you doing here?
Oh, nothing...
I heard it on the radio.
The case was mine once.
Once.
Can you stay, sir?
So...
Just before I found her
I saw a, a little person.
Maybe it was a shadow.
Or maybe...
maybe I just imagined it.
You saw a little person.
What was he like?
What was he wearing?
I don't know.
It was too dark.
What are you doing here, Moretti?
Looking for a dead dwarf?
Maybe it's his ghost
come back to get revenge.
Ghosts don't exist.
Copycats do, imitators
who wanna recreate
sensational murders, huh Moretti?
What do you think?
Well, the dwarf is dead.
That's something I do
remember. And me too
I don't believe in ghosts.
So?
I think the case is much
more complicated than that.
You saw that cut-out.
Seventeen years ago we
found figures of animals like that
next to the bodies.
Pig, rooster, and a chick in that order.
I see your memory's coming back.
It happens.
And just like then,
you'll have no fingerprints,
no sexual molesting,
no seminal fluids
or other biological traces
and nothing to do a DNA on.
How are you going to catch him?
ROME
Peking.
Yes. Yes.
Giacomo, telephone.
Hello.
Lorenzo who?
Oh, of course.
Huh, my father.
Is he still alive?
I haven't talked to him for years.
So what's up?
No, I don't want
anything to do with that.
No way.
Thanks for calling, but
I'm really trying to forget.
Bye.
- No more calls.
- Sorry.
Giacomo, what's wrong?
It's nothing.
Mama!
Lorenzo, it's Giacomo.
I was wondering if I
could stay at your place
for a few days.
Yeah, I changed my mind.
By train tomorrow morning.
Yeah, I'll call you back when I know.
Okay, thanks.
Ciao.
So, now you go to work.
Sorry, I have to go.
What are you doing?
Bye-bye, Peking.
Oh, don't worry.
We're better off without him.
He crazy.
Good riddance.
Giacomo.
Lorenzo.
How are you?
I'm fine.
How are you?
Great.
Feels good to be back.
And you, what are you doing?
I've been working in
my dad's law office.
You know him.
He is always on my back, just like then.
How long do you wanna stay?
I don't know.
Why'd you call me?
I thought you might be
interested in what's happening.
Anyway, you can
stay as long as you like.
Good morning.
My name is Adolfo Farina.
I received this summons.
Oh yes, right.
Take a seat in there.
You'll have wait to a while.
Not too long I hope.
No.
I've got an alibi.
I was with my girlfriend.
CRIMINAL RECORD
INVESTIGATION ARCHIVE
Will you make copies of
all the old files for me?
For old time's sake?
Okay, for old time's sake.
Thank you.
You're pretty good on that machine.
Yeah, I had to learn.
Things have changed.
I know.
Now the police talk about DNA.
Telecommunications
print-outs, GPS bugs.
We used to say "tailing."
Now they say "surveillance."
We used to say "following leads."
Now they say "tactical intervention."
Listening to them talking,
they sound more like
marketing managers than cops.
Look, this is a
complicated investigation.
It could take a long time.
You might as well go back to Rome.
What's keeping you here?
My mother, Maria Gallo.
Bye.
I heard what you said. I would
never have recognized you.
What?
What do you mean?
You were just a boy then.
Chief Inspector.
Moretti.
Just Moretti.
I'm retired now.
What are you doing here?
The same as you, my boy.
What's that?
Answering the call of a ghost.
Listen, I would like
to take you somewhere.
There.
Yeah, the ghost of the past.
We lived on the first
floor, me and my mom,
just the two of us.
And then you went to go
and live with your father.
Not for long.
Never came back here?
No.
This is the first time.
It happened under the stairs, didn't it?
Yeah, in front of the cellar door.
I'll be upstairs if you need me, sir.
All right.
And thank you.
Mama!
Mama, mama!
You all right?
Yeah.
He killed her right in front of me
with a musical instrument.
They said it was an English horn.
You didn't see anything else?
You asked me the same question then.
And what did you answer?
That I couldn't see his face.
But there was something,
not something I saw,
but something I heard.
What?
A sound, a strange sound.
A kind of whistling or hissing.
There was all the other
noise, the struggle,
my mother's screams,
but in the midst of all that, this...
I hear it almost every night,
but I still can't figure
out what it was.
What a great team
we make, you and I.
You remember, but don't know.
I know, but don't remember.
Sometimes not even
what my wife looked like,
may she rest in peace.
So you won't remember the
promise you made to me that day.
What promise?
"I'll find out who killed your mother."
I told you that?
Yes.
And then you said, "even
if it takes me all my life."
Well, maybe that's why I'm here now.
And what are you involved in now?
Nothing.
I'm unemployed, but
before I was working
in a Chinese restaurant.
Oh, well a young man should
have different experiences
before settling down.
Oh yes, really?
You never said that to me.
Are you here for long?
Where are you staying?
- I'm staying at...
- In a hotel.
In a hotel?
But Giacomo, you could
have stayed here with us.
Which hotel?
Dad, leave him alone.
You're not in court now.
I only asked him a simple question.
Excuse me.
May be important.
Yes?
This is he.
Yes.
I see.
We could make it for tomorrow.
Wait, I'll make a note of it.
Where's my pen?
Does someone have my pen?
Use mine, Dad.
Thank you.
Okay, go ahead. Yes.
- You never drink?
- Not anymore.
An alcohol problem?
An everything problem.
You see how my parents are.
Mom's kind of out of it
and my dad treats
me as if I was fifteen.
My dad never treated me anyway at all.
He remarried, had another kid.
I was just a pain in the ass for him.
For mine, I'm just
a huge disappointment.
He wanted an athlete, and me,
I got pseudoallergic asthma.
He wanted... he wanted
someone different,
so he sent me all over
the world like a parcel.
Four years of college in
Switzerland, private university,
graduate studies in
international law in New York.
My dad and I used to have fistfights.
He used to beat my mom up too.
Have you seen Gloria?
Gloria?
She knows you're here.
I told her.
Does she still play?
Yes.
What are nice people like
us doing in a place like this?
The smoke, it's like a gas chamber.
Oh my poor allergic baby.
You look great, as beautiful as ever.
You've never said that to me before.
Well, I guess I was shy.
I was only twelve.
Hey, cool it, guys.
Gloria's already got a
boyfriend named Fausto.
Who would ever have thought it?
Chance encounter?
It wasn't by chance.
We were made for each other.
Just took a while to
realize it. That's all.
Right, Gloria?
How's the show coming?
Well, it's a lot of work.
We open next week.
We're doing "Swan Lake."
I hope you come and see it.
- Oh sure.
- Sure.
So, Giacomo, what's up
with the famous dwarf?
The dwarf is dead.
But someone has
brought him back to life.
Is that what you mean, Fausto?
Or it's his ghost.
Oh, come on.
What ghost?
What on earth are you talking about?
Before your time, sweetheart.
You were only three years old.
I don't think the dwarf is dead.
It wasn't his body they found.
It was someone else's.
Maybe even some poor kid's.
If you ask me,
he's just been laying low,
keeping very quiet until now.
Quit calling him the dwarf.
He had a name,
Vincenzo de Fabritiis.
If it comes to that,
he had a nom de plume as well.
John McKenzie.
- Good memory.
- Yes.
Well, I still have a couple
of his books around somewhere.
Fausto, do we really
have to talk about this?
Why not?
It's part of our past.
Do you still live in the same place?
No, we moved.
Hey, do you guys remember
that vagabond, Leone the bum?
He ate a dog, a Pomeranian.
I'll never forget that.
He said a Filipino
gave him the recipe.
There were a lot of other
awful things happening
to animals around that time,
just before the murders began.
Cats drowned, dogs burnt.
Sometimes we did things like that too.
Yeah, but we were just naughty kids.
You weren't a kid anymore.
You were almost eighteen.
Okay, but you were right behind me.
You all were.
You too, Gloria.
No, never.
Come on guys.
Take it easy.
It's the dwarf's curse.
Oh sorry, Vincenzo's curse.
We used to play dirty tricks on him,
make fun of him,
trying to touch his hump.
One day he got
really pissed off.
"You bastards.
I put a curse on you.
You're all gonna be tormented
for the rest of your lives
by me or by one of your own dead."
What a funny little chap he was.
There was a hole in the hedge back then.
We used to get into the garden,
me and the other kids.
Sometimes Vincenzo
would read us his novels,
like... a sneak preview.
Then when our parents found
out, they put a stop to it.
Oh?
Hey, it's still here.
Ulysses!
Look!
I just saw Vincenzo.
I swear to god he was
standing at the window.
Vincenzo?
Impossible.
Well if it wasn't, it looked like him.
Come on.
Ulysses, I know it was him.
Who are you?
Who are you?
- Leone!
- Leone.
I don't know you.
And him! Yeah, he was chief cop.
Hey, Chief.
Do you remember me?
Do you remember me?
Vaguely.
The smell anyway.
They let me sleep in the garden shed.
Nobody lives here anyway.
A few minutes ago I saw
somebody at the window.
Who?
Vincenzo.
Vincenzo?
Oh yeah.
He comes to see me sometimes.
He comes to see me and we talk.
Especially when I've had a glass or two.
That's bullshit.
He was there, Leone.
I told ya.
He comes to see me sometimes.
Where is his study?
Where it always was.
I never go in there.
John McKenzie,
"The Dark Room."
John McKenzie,
"Murder in the Asylum."
John McKenzie,
"The Scythe Murders."
There's no dust.
Someone's been here.
Drink?
No thanks.
You're leaving?
Ciao, Leone.
Hey, thanks for the visit, huh?
It's now midnight
And in my bed, I toss and fight
This is how my war began
With the beasts across the land
Where did you learn that?
Mr. Vincenzo used to sing it.
How does it go on?
You know any more?
No! No. I dunno any more!
No. Nahh..
Murders like these are not accidental.
They're premeditated.
More than that, they're staged.
He likes to hurt. Mmh?
He wants everyone to know it.
He likes to hurt human beings, women.
How's the pasta?
Great.
There's more.
Now, it's all in those papers.
They did a ton of
studies with psychiatrists,
but I had already
figured it out on my own.
All you had to do was to
study his modus operandi.
And it's the same today as it was then.
It could be an imitator. A copycat.
True, but is there one murderer or two?
And if there's only one,
who the hell is it?
Someone who went to
sleep for seventeen years.
That's impossible.
You see, his is not
an illness you can cure.
Wine?
No, thanks.
I don't drink.
Well, I'd like some, but I can't.
Doctor's orders.
I'll have some more of this, though.
Now we, we have to go
back to the train murders.
The only ones without cut-out figures.
They're a break in the pattern.
Spur of the moment?
Exactly.
He was not prepared.
And it's when you're not
prepared that you make mistakes.
I say, we should start
from the train station.
And there was a car park
attendant there that night.
What the devil
happened to him, huh?
Here I am.
Remember me? That night?
Jeez, you really gave it to that whore.
Hey, no. Sorry.
It's your business.
Look, the dedication helped,
but finding you took a while.
That deserves some
kinda reward, doesn't it?
We can make a deal,
then I'll keep my mouth shut.
It's still perfect.
I didn't use it.
It's still got the ink in it.
Try it.
Try it, here.
All right.
I don't have any paper,
but try it here, please.
Go ahead.
What the...
What are you writing?
What's that mean?
Blue blood?
Ink?
"I'm a bad boy."
I better call the police.
Yeah.
Maybe he's still around.
Moretti, what the
hell are you playing at,
tampering with evidence?
Old habits die hard.
And I was interested.
And they put you on the case?
No, but it was mine.
Was is operative.
Now it belongs to
the Major Crimes Unit
that I'm in charge of.
I just thought maybe...
Moretti, I don't need your help,
nor yours, Gallo.
He killed my mother.
It's not the same
for me as it is for you.
Not just a routine
case or a hobby.
Ulysses.
Excuse me, sir, but
Moretti was a god once.
Don't you think
you should treat him
with a little more respect?
Driving at night on the
highway is not a hobby of mine.
You drive.
Okay.
Thanks.
Thank you.
You sure you don't wanna reel beer?
I quite like this
non-alcoholic stuff.
There they are.
Hi.
- Fausto.
- I'm sorry I'm late.
I'm used to it.
Thought
you guys'd never get here.
Come on.
We got a table.
- Okay.
- It's impossible to park...
- Sorry about last...
- Don't worry about it.
I walked walked out
without saying goodbye.
It's alright.
Wanna sit down?
You said we wouldn't get a table.
You see, Fausto?
Thank you.
I need a drink.
Gloria, what would you like?
- My usual.
- Waiter!
What about you, Mary Louise?
I dunno.
Juice or something.
What's that funny taste?
Hey, I asked if you wanted a real one.
- You had your choice.
- No, it's not that.
Wait a minute.
This isn't mine, Giacomo.
It's yours.
Didn't you taste anything strange?
Just have to get
used to it, that's all.
- Oh my goodness, Lorenzo.
- Lorenzo, what's wrong?
- Someone do something please.
- That was my beer.
Someone must've...
It's one of his asthma attacks.
We need an ambulance urgently.
The Barbican, Piazza Vittorio.
Yes, the Barbican.
Please help me!
Lorenzo, no!
Midnight now.
It's now mid, mid, midnight
And in my bed, I toss and fight
This is how my war began
With the beasts across the..
Beasts.
Animals. Like the
killer's cut-outs, Marcello.
Yes.
Coffee, strong coffee.
You want some?
Great stuff for the memory.
Oh Lorenzo, how do you feel?
Better.
You were lucky.
You only drank a little.
Not enough to be fatal, thank god.
That poison was meant for me.
That'll teach you to steal
other people's drinks.
This is your fault.
Dad.
You jeopardized my son's life, my son.
This is what happens when
you go looking for ghosts.
Not for ghosts, for the truth.
Whatever.
If you had stayed home, this
would never have happened.
I'm warning you.
From now on, stay away from Lorenzo.
Oh dad, that's enough.
Giacomo isn't guilty of anything.
You know that.
No. Your father's right.
Ciao.
Goodbye, sir.
Hey, Giacomo, wait.
Giacomo!
Giacomo.
Whose side are you on?
I'm coming with you.
Let's see, let's see.
So the first victim back in the '80s,
animal, a pig.
In other words, a slut,
poetic license for whore.
The second victim, Maria Gallo.
You're right, Marcello!
The Gallo is a rooster.
Nothing wrong with your memory.
And the third, a chick,
given the young age.
A pig, rooster, chick.
And starting again, a kitten.
Animals, beasts across the land, huh?
Oh.
One o'clock.
Morning at one.
"Morning at one.
The farmer has some little boys' fun.
Piggy's throat he quickly slits.
In victory the battle quits."
Another verse, hahah!
Now I remember!
I'm in great shape!
So the wheels are beginning to turn.
Now, so let's see.
"Piggy's throat he quickly slits."
Like the prostitute, who had her's slit.
And as his signature, of course the pig.
So he murders to the nursery rhyme.
There you go. Anything else.
- Dora?
- Yes.
- Come here a moment please.
- Okay.
The mysterious
figure stole like a ghost,
out of the darkness
and entered the room
where his trophies were kept.
And then...
Boy, what a day. I
can't wait to go home.
I'm afraid the dwarf's out there.
Thank goodness my
boyfriend's coming to pick me up.
What about you, Dora?
Do you have someone coming?
No, but I'm not afraid.
From the millions of
girls in the city, why me?
The odds would be
like winning the lottery.
Besides the newspapers
always blow these things up.
Ciao, ciao.
See how brave our little rabbit is?
She just has no idea, does she?
Dora.
Dora...
Dora...
Dora.
Go fuck yourself!
He got another one last night.
Did you hear about it?
Girl who worked in a fast food joint.
Yes, I read it.
God only knows what
else is buried in my mind.
But last night I had another flashback.
The very last interrogation
I had with Vincenzo,
before he went on the run,
he told me that someone
had stolen the manuscript
of his latest novel and
that this person was using it
to commit the murders.
So according to him,
the real murders were all
the exact copies
of those in the novel,
and all based on that
damn nursery rhyme.
- "It's now midnight."
- Yes.
I should know more of it.
You know why?
To try to convince me,
Vincenzo sang a few verses to me.
It was rather long.
Anyway, I didn't believe him.
But what if it really was the truth?
I bet Leone knows the
rest of the nursery rhyme.
Let's hope he's here.
I don't like the look of that sky.
- I'll check the garden shed.
- All right.
He's not there.
Maybe he's in the house.
- Who are you?
- What?
What are you doing here?
I should ask the same of you.
This is my house. I've lived
here for many, many years.
I'm, yes, I'm Laura de Fabritiis.
Oh yeah...
Vincenzo's mother.
But of course.
Do you remember me?
Your face does look familiar.
Moretti.
Moretti.
Yes.
Yes, I remember you.
Excuse us for bursting
in on you like this.
But you see, we are investigating
on our own, I might say,
to try to get to the
bottom of what happened
so many years ago,
especially in light of
recent developments.
But we are actually starting
to consider the idea that
Vincenzo was not guilty,
that there were other people
behind this terrible affair.
It's very strange to
hear you say that,
his accuser.
I was always convinced
of my son's innocence,
and my husband was too.
Then he died of a
broken heart three years
after it happened.
Vincenzo, my little treasure
was the scapegoat,
sacrificed to public outcry.
What made you come here today?
I've been summoned by a judge.
They want to exhume my son's body.
By the way, did you
know that Vincenzo used
to collect nursery rhymes
and poems about animals?
Oh yes, of course I did.
Oh! He adored children's books.
He used to buy them in
secondhand bookshops.
Come to think of it,
they must still be
around here somewhere.
Oh, I hate this thing.
This is the first call I've
received in five years.
Yes?
It's for you.
Sorry, I gave your number to...
Oh, love, youth.
- Hi, where are you?
- At the premiere.
"Swan Lake,"
- don't you remember?
- Oh, no.
Look, I got a problem.
- I can't...
- I go on in ten minutes.
Where are you?
Around...
I'll come and pick you
up later after the show.
It's too bad you can't make it.
I'm so nervous.
I play the harp on stage,
dressed as a swan.
The pages have been torn out.
What?
Maybe Vincenzo hid the original
to stop the killer from
stealing that as well.
- Hid it?
- Yes.
Great.
So we're back to
square one, back to zero.
Isn't there another book
called "Animal Farm?"
I read it years ago.
Who was it by?
- George Orwell?
- George Orwell!
Yes.
We must have a copy.
That's a wonderful book.
Here it is.
Yes.
Thank you, signora!
Let, let me read it to you.
"It's now midnight and in
my bed I toss and fight.
This is how my war began,
with the beasts across the land.
Morning at one, the farmer
has some little boys' fun.
Piggy's throat he quickly slits.
In victory the battle quits.
Morning at two, the
rooster's cock-a-doodle-doo.
The instrument for this fine song
makes the pleasure nice 'n long.
Morning at three,
the farmer strangles the chickie wee.
'Won't let me sleep'
yet in his bed hears not a peep.
Morning at four,
here's kitty purring at the door.
In the tub for an icy swim
and drowning her for just a whim.
Morning at five,
the little rabbit crushed alive.
With rabbit's teeth
she bit and fought,
but in the end it brought her nought.
Morning at six,
now the long swan's neck he'll fix.
When he cuts it from her head
he knows that his last foe is dead.
The break of day,
the farmer in his bed now lay.
With all his weapons in a heap..."
The long swan's neck he'll fix?
Yes.
That was Gloria on the phone.
She, she was about to go on stage.
She was dressed like a swan.
The swan could be her.
Excuse me, sir.
Your ticket please.
I don't have one.
- I have to go.
- Oh yes. Why?
Because I do!
Excuse me.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the second act will
begin in ten minutes.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the second back will begin
in ten minutes.
You can't go up there.
That's right.
And then I'm going
to London to audition.
Yeah, Ricardo called me first.
- Sorry.
- Sorry?
What about my shirt?
Who is that guy?
Gloria!
- Who are you?
- Giacomo.
Sorry.
Hey.
Are you all right?
Of course I'm all right.
Is something wrong?
Nothing.
I thought...
What did you think?
Nothing.
Oh, Giacomo.
Mara darling.
Absolutely wonderful.
Fantastic, Mara.
Fantastic!
Thank you, thank you.
Sorry, but I have to get
ready for the second act.
Yes, of course.
We'll go back to our seat.
Mara, darling, come along.
You've gotta get
ready for the second act.
I'm coming, I'm coming.
Hurry, darling.
- What did you think?
- Oh, you were great.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The second act will
begin in five minutes.
Seamstress.
We need a seamstress here.
We got five minutes before...
Ladies and gentlemen,
the second act is about to begin.
Please return to your seats.
Thank you.
Places, places.
Oh.
Thank you for coming, Mr. Moretti.
Mrs. de Fabritiis,
we should follow the...
I know.
Excuse me.
You are convinced that
I'm just a presumptuous,
incompetent cop, aren't you?
Incompetent, no.
Cold as a machine, yes.
And it will be just those
machines you hate so much
that'll help us get him.
We're monitoring 18,000
telephones in the city,
spot checking, and with
an automatic scanner,
that's programmed
to pick out key words.
Of course, because the killer is going
to call all his friends and say,
"I'm a murderer.
I cut out animal figures."
Say what you like.
Even if we're not excluded,
the killer might have an accomplice
he communicates with.
We're checking out
other possibilities.
For example, those
suspects who don't phone,
we've gotta check on all those
subscribers who have a phone
but haven't made calls or
received calls for the past year.
Stuff like that.
Good luck.
I want a full report on this.
I want to know how
the body was removed,
when it was removed,
and why it was removed.
It was done pretty recently
judging by the scratches in the coffin.
Yeah.
'83.
Laura Migotti.
LAURA MIGOTTI
PIG
Maria Gallo.
Luisa Bisi.
LUISA BISI
CHICK
And Vincenzo de Fabritiis.
There.
Signora de Fabritiis.
Would you excuse
me for the unusual hour?
Come in.
Don't you ever sleep, Mr. Moretti?
I'm not sleepy.
Neither am I.
I haven't slept for seventeen years.
You know, I was so desperate.
When I saw the coffin, it was empty.
Now it'll start all over again.
The rumors, the ghost,
the dwarf, the monster.
A monster twice over
for his deformity, and the murders,
I won't have it.
You must help me.
Please tell your
colleagues my son is dead.
How can you be so sure?
I know.
I know.
But how?
Because I'm his mother!
It's not good enough.
You really want to know why?
All right.
I killed him.
Yes, I killed him
with a gun
my husband gave me.
He asked me to do it.
He begged me to do it, huh.
He didn't have the
courage to do it himself.
I did.
Out of love,
to save him from more suffering,
from being made the laughingstock,
in prison, at the
mercy of other inmates.
Awful cruel people.
Especially with...
Wait a minute, you said a gun,
but the gun was never found.
Oh! Is that
what's missing?
- Well, sorry.
- But, signora.
Signora.
Vincenzo?
Vincenzo?
In 1983, the murders
were all in the same area.
Why?
Marcello, help me.
Huh?
Come on.
We're doing real well.
So now take a look at the
weapons and the way he uses them.
So, pruning knife, musical
instrument... English horn,
rope, drowned,
bashed against the wall,
and a hatchet.
The English horn.
Why?
What a strange choice.
"The rooster's cock-a-doodle-doo,
the instrument for this fine song."
Instrument.
But usually you slit
roosters' throats, don't you?
Or wring their necks, but he...
Oh, you know, that reminds me.
I'M A BAD BOY
Hi, this is Gloria.
Please leave a message.
This is Moretti, Giacomo, heh-heh.
If you wonder how I
managed to find you...
I'm a cop, remember?
Listen, I've discovered
some very interesting things.
First, back in 1983,
the murders were confined
to one small neighborhood.
And now they're all over the city...
Nice.
The first since 1966.
How about that?
Who's there?
Is this a joke?
It's now midnight.
In my bed, I toss and fight.
This is how my war began
With the beasts across the land.
It's now midnight.
And in my bed, I toss and fight.
This is how my war began
With the beasts across the land.
This is Moretti,
Giacomo, heh-heh.
Giacomo, there's a message
for you on my machine.
I've discovered some
very interesting things.
First, back in 1983, the
murders were confined
to one small neighborhood.
And now they're all over the city.
Fascinating, eh?
Why?
Secondly, in your mother's case,
there's a striking discrepancy
with the nursery rhyme.
And thirdly, the writing on
the car park attendant's hand.
Call me as soon as you can.
I really think we've got him, you see.
Ciao.
- Hello?
- Ulysses?
- It's me, Giacomo.
- Giacomo, this is Manni.
Moretti's dead.
I think you better get over here.
His heart gave
out, a sudden attack.
The autopsy confirmed it.
You were following the investigation.
I want you to know
that just before he died,
he emptied his gun at someone.
Who?
We don't know.
Why did he leave me on my own?
Poor crazy old bastard.
Everyone who cares about me dies.
Everyone I care about dies.
You've got me,
Giacomo.
Hey come on, have a look.
Huh?
I'm with you. I'm alive
and I intend to stay that way.
It's Vincenzo's curse.
It's always with me.
I've gotta go.
I've gotta get outta here.
- What do you mean go?
- Just what I said.
I forgot to tell you.
We have to go by the
theater to get my instrument.
What?
I have to get my harp.
I left it there after the performance.
Instrument, a harp.
Okay, let's go.
Hey, wait a second. Stop.
Leone!
Hey, Leone!
Where are you going?
I went to see Mrs. de Fabritiis,
bless her heart.
Oh, come on, get in.
We'll give you a lift.
Oh no. I'm used to walking.
Come on, Leone. Get in.
All right, let's go in style.
Thanks.
- You're welcome.
- Where are you going?
Where am I going?
Back home.
It's all mine now.
Now that Mrs. de Fabritiis is dead.
Here! Leave me here.
Thank you.
Ciao, Leone.
Ciao.
Thank you.
You look like someone who
needs to get away from here.
Well, if we don't
see each other again,
take care of yourself.
- You too, Leone.
- Tootle-oo!
See ya.
Gloria, stop.
- What?
- He forgot his wine.
So?
- So what?
- His wine.
You don't understand. It's...
So go back and give it to him.
Come on, go ahead.
The two of you could
get drunk together.
Will you wait for me?
Maybe.
Let's get outta here.
- Go! Go on.
- What happened?
I said go.
Please, go!
- Where? Where?
- Just go!
- Wait a second.
- What?
Look.
You see that bag he's carrying?
- Yes.
- The dwarf's in there.
Oh, come on, Giacomo.
No, I swear it.
The dwarf, a puppet dwarf.
That's what I saw
in the window, a toy.
But it's not a toy.
Follow him.
Stop.
Let's go.
Stop.
Let's go.
There's no name.
What should we do?
You call the police.
I'll take a look around.
Right.
Oh, oh shit!
I left the phone in the car.
I'll, I'll be right back.
- Gloria?
- Yes?
I'm staying.
Okay.
Leone! I know you're in there.
Leone!
Leone, don't play games with me.
Leone?
Leone, I know you're
here. I saw you come in.
Shit.
You won't go telling anyone, will you?
I'm afraid you have to
end up like that drunk.
No!
Giacomo!
- Giacomo!
- Giacomo!
- Damn you, damn you!
- No!
- It's all your fault.
- No!
- Giacomo!
- No!
Giacomo, where are you?
Giacomo!
Dad, Dad!
Forgive me.
Forgive me.
Lorenzo, it wasn't my fault.
I would never have wanted...
I thought he wanted to kill me.
What happened to you?
I was in the car and, and
someone hit me on the head.
I passed out and
then Lorenzo arrived
and we climbed over the gate.
I gotta stop this bleeding.
How come you ended up here?
I looked through his papers
and I found a telephone bill
with this address.
I'll call the police.
Hello, my name is Lorenzo Betti.
There are two dead people here,
and another one is wounded.
Yes, send an ambulance.
Via Moncalvo, number eleven.
Yes. At the bottom of the hill.
Ulysses had figured it out.
Do you remember
the message he left?
Yes.
Why the murders of 1983 are all,
all concentrated in our neighborhood,
whereas the recent ones
are scattered all over the city.
Do you know why?
The police are on their way.
Because in 1983,
the murderer was only a child
and now he's an adult.
He's free to move around.
He can drive, he can
go wherever he likes.
Only a child would've taken
the nursery rhyme literally,
and mistaken instrument
for a musical instrument.
Lorenzo, I've had enough of this.
I'm sorry about your father,
but he got what was coming to him.
Hey, let go.
And if I don't, what'll you do?
Kill me like you killed my mother?
What are you talking about?
You're crazy.
This is what I heard that day.
Mama!
The hiss of your spray!
You have a dust allergy now
just like you did then.
And your father knew
what you were doing.
That's why he sent you abroad
to Switzerland, to America.
He was always on
your back, wasn't he?
To try to make sure you
wouldn't kill anyone else.
And today he came
looking for you here.
He found the phone bill, not you.
But instead of you, Leone was here
and he shot him point blank
like he wanted to do to me,
to protect you, to protect the family.
It's his own fault he's dead.
He should never have gotten involved.
I was doing fine on my own.
My god, Lorenzo.
Why did you call me?
Why did you have me come back here?
Why?
But it's a game between you and me.
You're my best friend just
like when we were kids.
It excited me to have you around,
to have you in the house.
I'm a bad boy!
And then you got afraid
I might find out too much.
And you staged the poison scene.
Me, afraid?
No way!
That was just a decoy so
that nobody would suspect me.
Hey, don't come near
her or I'll cut her throat.
And you know, I have
no problem doing that.
Okay.
Okay.
Take it easy.
The police are coming.
Oh, sure they are.
I'm the one who called them, stupid.
You were the one who knocked me out.
Yes.
I'm the one who knocked you out.
Wait, why?
Why did you do it?
Nasty stories.
Vincenzo read me a few
lines from his last novel.
There was a nursery
rhyme that kept going round
and round in my head.
It drove me crazy.
Couldn't get it out of my mind.
It was about
animals being killed.
And I killed animals too,
but my real nature was
something different.
So I stole the book and I started
acting out my version of it.
It never occurred to anyone
that it could be a
thirteen-year-old kid.
Even the victims trusted me.
All I had to do was take
them by surprise from behind.
And Leone was your accomplice.
A nothing accomplice,
an alcoholic like you.
He came later in the second wave,
when I needed someone
to work the puppet.
He didn't know anything.
I convinced him it was just
to play a trick on the people
that had given his old
friend Vincenzo a bad time.
And he believed
me. He even had fun.
You should have seen
him at the cemetery
when we stole the body.
I created a perfect murderer,
a phantom killer dwarf,
a phantom killer dwarf,
and all of you were completely fooled.
- Hey.
- What?
How come you didn't
kill for seventeen years?
Who says I didn't?
Have you gone to New York or Geneva?
They know the nursery rhyme there too.
Please, Lorenzo,
Please, take it easy.
Let her go.
Okay?
Let her go, please.
It's about time.
Who knows?
Maybe Moretti would've
closed the case before us.
Come on! Come on.
Come on.
Gloria, it's all over, Gloria.
It's okay.
It's okay.
It's alright. It's alright.
It's all over.
Move, move, move, move!
It's okay, Gloria.
Go, get up there!
- Hope this really is the end.
- You're telling me.
Keep the stairs clear.
Park them along the sidewalk.
How are we gonna put
the labels on all this shit?
Call the DA.
Tell him to get
over here right away.
Hold it.
Don't let anyone else in.
It's already a fucking mess here.
- My god, a bloodbath.
- Careful where you walk.
Checking all those unused
phones finally paid off.
Hey, look what I found.
- The remains of the dwarf.
- Where's the coroner?
Tell him to bring body bags.
I'm in the room
where the body of the young man
shot by Inspector
Manni is located.
The other two bodies
are in the kitchen.
They appear to be
victims of a murder-suicide.
The break of day,
the farmer in his bed now lay.
With all his weapons in a heap,
now he can finally go to sleep.