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MAN: What—what the devil do you mean?

GIRL: I'm only trying to tell you what kind of a man you really are!. . . But don't be alarmed. I have no intention of going screaming to the police. I'm quite an understanding woman, you know. Come now, let's not mince words.

MAN: Listen, it's getting late—

GIRL: See? I told you—you're afraid of me! But I simply hate to leave a story unfinished. . .so please let me continue. . . . To you, Saito was an ideal puppet. First, you awakened his interest in detective stories. Then you convinced him that the trick of the dual personality was foolproof. And, bit by bit, by the power of suggestion, you led him deeper and deeper into the pit of crime. . . . The fact that Saito had a mistress was a mere accident, but you used this too.

MAN: You're crazy ... It's easy to put two and two together to fit any pattern. . . .

GIRL: But think back. You know only too well that it was always you—and you alone—who made one event lead to the next—until I finally killed Saito. It was all your doing—by the sheer power of your suggestions— and you know it!

MAN: But you've forgotten one thing. You might not have killed Saito!

GIRL: In that case you would quickly have adopted some other strategy. Of all the kinds of criminals, you're the most cunning, for your strategy was based on probabilities. If one plan went wrong, you would quickly have thought up another. . .and another. . . . One of them was sure to succeed—and without your ever being suspected. Yes, you did indeed commit the perfect crime.

MAN: You're beginning to annoy me. You've made up your story out of whole cloth, and it's sheer nonsense. I'm going back to the inn.

GIRL: Look at you! Your face is covered with sweat. Don't tell me you're not feeling sick! But you'll have to hear me out. When I pulled the trigger of that pistol, I didn't see Saito holding any knife. I was only guessing that he was trying to kill me—so I killed him. . . . But I had another reason too. I loved you, and you knew it. . . . I didn't see the knife until after I'd recovered from the fainting spell—and there it lay beside Saito's body. Now, you were the first one to arrive on the scene after I killed Saito, and how utterly simple it would have been for you to put Saito's fingerprints on the knife and plant it beside his body. You thus not only got rid of Saito, but also provided evidence for my plea of self-defense.

MAN: Your powers of imagination are truly amusing. Ha, ha.

GIRL : You can't fool me with your laughter. Look, you're trembling! You needn't, you know. I'm not going to tell anyone. How could I betray you after you've gone to such great pains to get me? I only wanted to talk this over with you—just once. . . . I won't tell anyone, never fear.

The man rises silently from the bench, and the look he gives the girl eloquently states that he will have nothing more to do with a lunatic. The girl also gets to her feet, and ignoring the man, who stands still, she begins to walk slowly away toward the edge of the precipice. A moment later the man follows her.

Reaching a point only two feet away from the edge of the cliff, she stops. Far. far below, the faint sound of the flowing river rises above the mist that covers the chasm.

Without even turning her head, the girl continues to speak to the man behind her.

GIRL: We've certainly bared our innermost thoughts today, haven't we? But there's one more thing I must tell you. I loved you only for yourself, but you loved my money as well as myself. And now, it's only my money you want. I know this. And you know I know it. Isn't it so? That's why you brought me to this lonely spot today. . . . Just like Saito, you can't live without my money, so you've begun to wish I'd have an accident. If something happened to me, of course, you would inherit all my money, because you are my husband. . . . I even happen to know that you too have a mistress— and that you hate me for being in the way.

At this point, the girl hears the