Episode 2 | The Melancholy Countess Part 2

[Woman screaming] Haussmann: Countess Sophia Nadazdy.

Widowed, married a Hungarian count.

Housekeeper Frau Reiss.

Oskar: Who found her?

Haussmann: Her maid.

Max: Gruner prescribed opium for melancholy and depression.

I advised against taking it.

Rachel: What's wrong?

Max: I lost a patient.

Rachel: Oh, Max, how awful.

Max: I didn't catch your name.

Jannik, sir.

Max: How are you?

How--how is everything?

I didn't expect to see you.

An appropriate amount of time has gone by.

Amelia: I think that a young doctor can't afford the stain of scandal.

There is no law against two people becoming acquainted.

Oskar: A woman old enough to be your mother.

Lindner: He was lodging with her at the time of her death.

Maybe it's the same poison.

We go to a judge, request an exhumation.

[Gasps] ♪ [Watch ticking] ♪ [Camera shutter clicks] ♪ [Bell tolling, wings flutter] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [Hammering] ♪ [Indistinct, overlapping chatter] Nothing.

Not a trace of poison in it.

So where does that leave us?

The boiling water in the pot--it's the only thing that could have been tampered with.

Tsk.

The infusion is bitter, would have masked the taste of it.

Max: Means it was done by someone close at hand, someone right beside her at the table.

Hauke.

Very well.

We arrest him.

Miss Lydgate.

Oskar: Leonie Hutter, your landlady... died in an apparent drowning accident.

Does anyone see a pattern here?

This is really why you arrested me, Inspector?

She left you money in her will.

Hardly a fortune, just a modest amount.

Still, when she died, you were able to claim it and move on to a wealthier woman.

Isn't that what happened?

Hmm?

Our scientist confirmed she was killed by someone who laced her teapot with strychnine, someone who knew about her precise rituals and her movements, someone who was right next to her on that evening.

What would you do for money...Hauke?

What would you be prepared to do?

Drag a woman into bed twice your age, and then dispatch her like you wipe some dirt off your shoe?

We were companions, not lovers.

She was eager to spend money on me.

Huh!

You think I am immoral for accepting?

[Sighs] Oskar: How much will you earn from the sale of her estates in Hungary?

[Cackling] Did I say something funny, Herr Hauke?

There is no inheritance.

What?

She never willed any of her money to me.

I don't stand to earn a thing.

I suppose you discussed this often?

You don't believe me.

Ask her solicitors.

Whatever you may think of me, Inspector-- a fortune hunter, a leech... [clicks teeth together, scoffs] I've always known I wouldn't get her fortune.

Where is my motive for killing her?

[Handcuffs jingling] Von Bulow: You've called on all of the solicitors?

Yes, sir.

And?

Hauke's telling the truth.

The estate returns to the count's family after his wife's death.

Hmph.

There goes your motive.

What about the exhumation, the landlady?

No traces of poison.

So Hauke is no longer a suspect.

No, sir.

Five days.

[Sniffs] What else have you got for me?

Now, this can't possibly be all you have achieved.

The investigation is ongoing.

Meaning it's nowhere.

Frankly... if I were you, I'd pray for a miracle.

Sir?

She's Hungarian nobility, a family title and estate.

The Imperial Court has been asking questions.

Politically, this is extremely delicate.

Sir-- Widow of a Hungarian nobleman, dying under suspicious circumstances!

Get your head out of your backside and provide me with something!

Let Hauke go.

Dismissed!

[Door opens] I don't know how much longer I can stop my fist from connecting with that grin of his.

[Exhales sharply] There must be something, a scrap of information.

Max, what haven't you told me?

I've shown you the files, Oskar.

I've shared everything.

[Sighs] The killer must be somewhere in her dreams.

Come on.

You... [Sighs] There was one thing.

I never got to the bottom of it, but it might be significant.

What?

A name.

"Blanka Mar."

Who is she?

Uh, well, she may be nobody, a fantasy.

Max, what's this about?

Our private sessions.

The countess, whenever she became upset or disturbed in some way, she mentioned a girl, Blanka Mar.

At first, I thought it was just a displacement technique, that the feelings were too painful, so she was ascribing them to someone else, to a-- a fantasy character.

And now you've changed your mind?

I don't know, Oskar.

Maybe she's real.

Maybe she's not.

[Scoffs] [Footsteps approach] [Sighs] I don't understand.

I thought you'd made an arrest.

Oskar: We need to begin again, Herr Holler.

We need to widen our search.

When, exactly, is this intrusion going to end?

Bring in the Russians.

Man: Never spoke to us.

She was so... so... consumed by her own sadness.

Uh...what did your wife mean before, when she said there was evil in this hotel?

[Man speaks Russian] [Speaks Russian] [Speaks Russian] A young woman in white.

M-my wife saw her walking outside the countess' room.

What's so strange about a young woman in white?

[Speaks Russian] She had the eyes of a devil.

Thank you.

Haussmann: Superstition.

That's all.

She saw another guest.

Look at the list.

There is no young woman on this floor.

Inspector?

There's something else.

It's gone.

Uh, it's gone.

I--I swear, it was right here.

What did you find?

Um, a book of pictures.

Erotic images.

You know, the sort of things you find in brothels.

No, I don't know, as it happens.

What, exactly, do you mean?

Um, when the clients come from abroad and don't speak the language, you use a picture book to communicate, a menu.

What are you suggesting goes on in this hotel?

♪ I think they're trying to hide a secret.

♪ [Distant inmates chattering] [Inhales deeply, sighs] ♪ I believe we were talking about deception... someone close to you deceiving you in some way.

♪ Do you harbor feelings of...anger or betrayal?

♪ Countess?

Blanka.

I keep seeing her.

♪ [Distant crow squawking] ♪ ♪ [Metal creaking] ♪ ♪ [Baby crying] ♪ [Crying stops, baby coos] ♪ ♪ [Chewing and grunting] [Camel exhales] [Baby giggles] ♪ [Footsteps approach] Liebermann, what do you think you're doing?

Nothing, sir.

I assume you've had your summons to the disciplinary board.

I still have my duties to attend to here.

Not for much longer, I'd wager.

We're out of bromide.

Mr. Hoffbarn needs his medication.

If you're not too busy, I'd be grateful.

[Keys jingle] I'll go to the dispensary right now.

[Distant woman singing indistinctly] ♪ [Distant door opens, metal creaks] Hello?

♪ [Metal creaks, door closes] ♪ Professor Gruner?

Man: Ahem.

Mmm... ♪ Hmm.

Hmm.

Who's there?

♪ [Sighs] Herr Hoffbarn.

What are you doing out of bed?

Come on.

Let me take you back up.

Hmm.

[Keys jingling] [Suspenseful music playing] ♪ ♪ Oskar: Someone was in your office?

Yes, came to the hospital, took the transcripts.

It's as I thought.

He's after you.

You are playing with fire, Max.

Yes.

Don't you see?

This means we have a way to catch him.

He thinks I can identify him, so he wants to know what I know.

He needs me.

You're not serious.

[Scoffs] All we have to do is wait... wait for him to come here again.

[Record playing Strauss' "Wine, Women and Song, Op.

33"] [Music ends, chair squeaks across floor] [Suspenseful music playing] [Floorboard creaks] ♪ [Footsteps approaching] ♪ Who are you?

Doesn't matter about my name.

♪ Can I help you?

I need to see you, Doctor.

It's urgent.

Rather late.

Perhaps, if you came-- No.

It can't wait.

♪ All right.

Something wrong?

Heh!

Yes, there is something wrong.

Would you--would you like to tell me about it?

Doctors.

You think you have the right to know everything about a man's life, every little secret, huh?

Well--well, what goes on in this room is confidential.

What did she tell you about me?

"She"?

My wife.

She's been coming here without telling me.

♪ Max: I... Herr Huber?

She comes here and she talks about me.

I know she does.

I won't be humiliated like this, you understand?!

Herr Huber, let's discuss this calmly.

She doesn't desire me anymore.

You know about that, huh?

Well, look, uh-- What did she tell you, huh?

That I can't satisfy her?!

Listen, I-- What the hell did my wife tell you, huh?!

Answer me, you son of a whore!

[Thud] Aah!

Oh!

[Herr Huber grunting] Aah!

Who the hell are you?!

I'm arresting you.

Keep silent.

[Huber panting] [Handcuffs clinking] Uh, husband of a patient.

What?

It's not the man we're after.

Sorry, Oskar.

♪ Sorry.

♪ Where's my hat?

♪ Ahem.

Hat.

Your hat, sir.

♪ This is not over.

♪ [Door slams] ♪ [Sighs] [Door opens] Max: Sorry, Oskar.

Trap got sprung by the wrong prey.

Hmm.

How many people want you dead, Doctor?

Max: The list seems to get longer by the day.

[Distant, walking hoofbeats] ♪ [Birds chirping] Inspector.

Nothing?

No mention of her anywhere.

No Blanka Mar?

Maybe the doctor's instincts were right.

She doesn't exist, as far as the records are concerned.

Mendel: I've been sent with an agenda, Max.

I'm supposed to mention it casually, but I can't think how, so I'm just gonna come out with it.

An agenda?

From your mother.

Ah.

I see.

Well?

We had a letter from Clara.

She's engaged.

Jonas Korngold.

Ah.

Is that all you have to say?

What do you want me to say?

He's a fine man.

You're connected to him in business.

Makes it neat for everyone.

I just wanted you to hear it from me before people started to gossip.

[Sighs] Oh, Fräulein Spitzer has returned from traveling.

You remember the Spitzers.

Lovely people.

And why are you telling me this part?

Their daughter's back in Vienna.

Ah, I see.

So you'd like me to propose marriage...

It was just a suggestion.

tie up all the loose ends.

We just want you to be content.

Take the Spitzer girl out, see if anything comes of it.

Father, for heaven's sake.

Max?

I'm not a child anymore.

You really don't understand, do you?

For all your analysis, you still don't understand human nature.

[Whispers] Father.

When do you think it stops?

When do you think it ends for us, when you're 18?

When do you think we stop worrying?

The answer is never.

The journey is never over.

You have a child, your life is inextricably linked to theirs forever.

If they're not happy, you can't be happy.

You feel joy in their successes and abject misery in their failures.

Why do you think I was so eager to loan you the money for your business?

I assume Mother begged you.

Mendel: Of course she did, but I was glad to do it.

[Woman speaking indistinctly] Well... not glad.

You were right.

Well, you said as much.

[Boy crying] Woman: Aw.

[Mendel sighs] You'll always be that little boy to us.

Max?

Are you even listening?

Max, what's the matter?

Got to go.

Max: I'm sorry.

Max!

Max: Child!

That's what she was trying to hide!

♪ [Overlapping chatter] [Typewriter keys tapping] ♪ She had a child.

[Exhales sharply] She lied to me.

A-at some point in her life-- Uh, Countess Nadazdy?

Yes, remember the baby in her dreams?

Yes.

So what?

I'm so stupid.

I should have realized.

The animals weren't real, Oskar, they were painted on the walls.

The animals?

Yes, and the sweets in the glass jars.

It was medicine.

It was a hospital, Oskar.

We lie to children.

We give them medicine and pretend that it's sweets.

We--we paint pictures of animals on the wall just to make them feel more comfortable.

The feeling that was bubbling away inside her, it wasn't just fear, it was guilt.

She had a child that she abandoned, and that child came back to find her.

The person she feared, it wasn't a lover.

Oskar... it was her baby.

[Knock on door] ♪ [Sighing] ♪ Max: We need to know about the child.

They conceived a son, she and her husband, the count.

Little boy, beautiful.

Golden curls, an angel.

We need to know about him.

Maid: He had everything.

You understand me?

Everything.

This boy had more love than any child has ever been given.

Spoiled him, I always said.

Changed his nature.

He had no boundaries, you know?

There was nothing he couldn't have if he wanted it.

He became twisted.

Terrible things he did.

Children came to play at the estate.

They never came back.

Their families would never, ever let them come again.

Who was Blanka Mar?

[Sighs] That poor little girl.

He tortured her... disfigured her.

Their family, they were paid for their silence!

[Sobs] [Whimpering] [Sets down glass stopper] [Water pours] [Sniffles] [Sobs] [Sets down decanter] ♪ From this moment on, they decided that he had to be sent away.

His mother never wanted anyone to know about him.

♪ Where is he now?

They sent him to a sanitarium when he was 9 years old, after all the violence, after the... after Blanka.

They brought him here to Vienna.

There was a doctor.

He took charge of him.

Can't recall his name.

The records were destroyed.

[Inhales deeply, sighs] After this day, it was as if he was dead.

And then... something happened?

He was transferred to another place out of Vienna when he was older.

Six months ago, they wrote to her, telling her that he'd escaped.

She knew...he'd be looking for her.

[Sniffles] [Chuckling] István, little Master István, with the golden curls.

[Sobbing] Max: She never forgave herself.

That's why she was so unhappy.

[Maid sobbing] [Trotting hoofbeats] [Footsteps] Max: It all fits-- her attraction to Hauke, drawn to a much younger man.

It was displacement.

[Oskar sighs] You're talking nonsense again, Max.

Give it to me in plainer language.

Anyone who's had a broken relationship sometime in their past, they spend their days trying to mend it.

She lavished her money on Hauke out of guilt for her abandoned son, for István.

She knew that eventually he would find her, and she was right.

When she came to Vienna, he... hunted her down... and he killed her.

[Birds squawking, wings flutter] Max: István!

♪ István!

I'm a doctor!

I can help you!

[Brush rustling] ♪ ♪ Don't yell out or I'll cut you.

István.

No, I'm not István!

Now empty your pockets!

Now!

Do it!

Yes.

And your coat.

Give me your coat!

Of course.

[Grunting] Now, go!

Get out!

Out!

♪ [Cutlery clinking] [Footsteps approach] Dear God!

What happened?

Oh, Max!

Don't say anything, please.

It's fine.

Where have you been?

What have you been doing?

Max: I--I was stupid.

I was in the park last night.

Leah: In the park?

What on earth were you up to?

Let me get some iodine for it.

Mama, please.

It looks awful.

You can't see patients looking like that.

Well, I don't have any patients, so that's a sort of blessing.

[Knock on door] I was robbed.

[Door opens] Well, have you informed the police?

I don't want to.

It's not important.

Not important?

Sir, the police are at the door.

Very prompt.

♪ ♪ [Trotting hoofbeats on cobblestone] ♪ An accident with a patient.

You're a lousy liar.

♪ [Birds chirping] ♪ Your coat... your wallet, your hat.

♪ I was assaulted, here, last night.

By this charming fellow?

And then he was attacked immediately after, wearing your clothes.

Max, why didn't you tell me?

Because...

I knew you wouldn't have approved.

I... [Sighs] I thought I could get him to confess, and I made a mistake, Oskar.

I'm sorry, but he's here.

István is still in Vienna.

He's trying to make contact.

Yes, with a knife in your guts.

He may have just tried to defend himself.

♪ I have to meet him.

I have to reach him somehow.

That's insane.

This could have been you.

He's trying to get close to me.

I can help you catch him.

♪ I'm sorry.

I'm not prepared to gamble with your life anymore.

[Sighs] He is here somewhere, hiding in plain sight.

[Pages turning] She knew she was dying.

♪ She knew he had managed to get to her somehow.

Instinctively, she grabbed at her jewels, but... [Crying] Max: they were worthless to her now.

[Knock on door] Yes?

I've brought you coffee, gentlemen.

Just put it there, uh... Jannik, sir.

Oskar: Jannik.

Uh, what's your surname?

Neubauer, sir.

Jannik, sir... Neubauer.

[Footsteps retreat] ♪ I've met him.

Oskar, I was face to face with him.

♪ He came to my office.

I told you.

The--the one who brought the jewelry.

What?

He spun me a story just to gain access, and then later, he came back and turned the place over.

♪ He's done what he came here to do.

He could be a hundred miles away by now.

We'll never find him.

♪ No... there's another way.

♪ Fräulein?

♪ Oskar: Fräulein, wait.

Max: The doctor, paid to remove all the records.

Would you recognize him?

Try to remember his name, please.

♪ [Distant woman shouting indistinctly] ♪ Liebermann, what the hell are you doing?

You've been here a long time, Professor.

What business is that of yours, and who is this?

Can you recall a patient?

What's this about, exactly?

A boy, István Nadazdy.

We have a witness who says that you were his doctor, that you were paid to keep his crimes from coming out.

What?

You were paid to alter all his files.

Don't be ridiculous.

Get out!

The family paid you to keep it from coming to light, but you were just a junior physician, of course.

but there's a witness to your crime.

I don't answer to you, Liebermann.

This is a police inquiry... so sit down in that chair.

You are going to tell us everything, or I'll arrest you for obstruction, you hear me?

♪ All the years I've worked here, I've never seen anything like it.

What do you remember about him?

♪ He never said much, but... his eyes.

♪ You could tell at once he had a deeply disturbed mind.

♪ I don't know how he got hold of it.

What?

A knife.

Must have kept it from his dinner.

One of the older boys went on, kept on teasing him.

He... he attacked him.

He left when he was 16 years old.

He was taken to another hospital.

I don't know what happened to him after that.

I never saw him again.

Where was he kept when he was here?

I need to see the place.

Gruner: The children's wing.

It closed down long before your time.

The building's still standing.

[Footsteps ascending stairs] ♪ [Water dripping] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ István.

I'm not István.

István is dead.

♪ They killed him.

♪ Tell me everything.

I want to listen.

I want to understand.

♪ No.

They brought you here.

Mm-hmm.

You know, she gave me up?

[Unsheathes knife] Her own son.

♪ I don't think you want to hurt me.

♪ I don't think you wanted to hurt that man in the park, either.

♪ [Breath trembling] Why couldn't she love me?

♪ Because you hurt that little girl, Blanka.

I didn't mean it!

♪ Well... it all has to stop now.

Now your mother's dead and gone.

♪ I didn't kill her.

♪ What?

I wanted to.

I've thought about it every day.

I wanted to hurt her so badly.

Then what happened?

♪ I came to find her when I escaped... got as close to her as I could.

I got into the hotel, stole a valet's uniform, and I watched her with that man, laughing... smiling... [crying] young enough to be her son.

♪ I just wanted to be with her.

I wanted to have her arms around me instead of him.

She wanted your forgiveness more than anything.

♪ István, I can help you.

♪ Come with me.

Aah!

[Grunts] ♪ No, don't shoot him!

[Groaning] ♪ [Knife hits floor] [Groans] [Panting] I'm saving your backside again, just like old times.

Come on.

Max: He's not our killer.

Oskar: "Not our killer"?

No.

That's insane.

Have you lost your mind?

He's just a child.

Craves what we all crave-- acceptance from a parent.

[Sighs] Reunion could never have taken place if she was dead.

Thank you.

He has a complex personality disorder.

He's disturbed, but, uh, no, he's not our killer.

I thought we were so close.

Your hat.

Thank you.

I need a drink.

Oskar: A slivovitz for me and house wine for my friend.

Max: Thank you.

No suspects, no clues, no leads, no witnesses.

[Sighing] Von Bülow has been hoping to kick me off the case.

This has just given him the opportunity he wanted.

I'm sorry, Oskar.

No.

It isn't you.

I was so convinced that it was Hauke, I forgot to do my job, and now the trail has gone cold.

[Sighs] I'm sorry, sir.

It's all right.

♪ Oskar: Mmm.

How... how many tables, how many...places?

What?

What do you mean?

Why?

Well... if we went outside right now, and the drinks arrived, how--how would the waiter know which place was yours and which was mine?

You're talking in riddles, Max.

It's getting tiresome.

No, no, no, listen.

If we got up for a moment and we stepped outside, how would he know for certain that this was your chair?

I don't know.

He-- he would look for my...coat...I suppose.

♪ Remember what Holler told us.

They got up to dance.

Now, I'm the countess.

You're Hauke.

Yes, obviously.

Then Holler said that while they were gone, her shawl, it--it fell to the floor.

Oskar: Yeah.

Now, Holler, he picked it up... ♪ Max: But, what if he placed it on Hauke's chair, instead of hers?

And the person... bringing the poison... put it there?

♪ We may have been wrong this whole time.

What if he... was the intended victim?

♪ [Clink] ♪ [Sets down glass] ♪ ♪ ♪ Oskar: We might have been looking in the wrong place all this time.

Sir.

"Scandal in the regiment."

The Uhlans-- exact, same platoon, and the dates match.

Look.

Young man, an Uhlan, who hanged himself.

Found in bed with another soldier, an officer.

Says the officer seduced him.

Was immediately discharged.

There's no name, so the scandal was hushed up.

Hauke.

His relationship with the countess.

Protection from wagging tongues.

God.

Oskar?

Thank you.

♪ ♪ My beauty.

[Sighs] ♪ ♪ ♪ Oskar: Haussmann found evidence.

I was stupid.

I ignored it.

What evidence?

The staff porters in the hotel, bodies being sold like room service.

That's the reason why Hauke went there.

[Sighs] Still, who would want to kill him?

We've met the killer, Oskar.

We stared right in her face.

♪ ♪ [Cab door slams] ♪ ♪ ♪ [Whip cracking] [Gasps] [Laughing] [Whip cracking] Hauke: Oh!

Oh!

Oh.

Oh.

[Door opens] [Footsteps approaching] So the poison was meant for me?

♪ [Running footsteps] Gentlemen?

[Breath quivering] ♪ Max: He was your son, the young Uhlan.

Frau Reiss: This animal seduced him.

My boy couldn't bear the scandal, hanged himself.

Frau Reiss, please, put it down.

You don't understand.

♪ We loved each other.

[Thud] ♪ [Frau Reiss panting] ♪ [Cocks gun] Gentlemen?

♪ ♪ [Indistinct chatter] ♪ Hauke was no villain.

He was lost... and alone... forced to live a life of lies.

"Evil with a woman's face."

There is no evil here, Max.

♪ They've asked you to be a witness at my disciplinary hearing?

Ironic.

What a moment of victory for you, Liebermann.

You wait.

My time will come.

♪ [Footsteps retreat] ♪ Max, voice-over: There is no greater need for a child than the love and acceptance of a parent, but perhaps that child is still inside us all, still craving their approval.

The love of a parent can be powerful, sometimes all-consuming.

Some parents will sacrifice anything.

♪ ♪ Oskar: Apparently, you've been busy.

Max: I assume it's a case.

Yes, it's a case.

Are you going to tell me?

To order Vienna Blood on DVD Visit SHOP.PBS.ORG Or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS This program is also available on Amazon Prime Video Max: How can I help you?

Oskar: Hypothesis.

Amelia: Hopefully, we can extrapolate some information.

Oskar: She's dead Max Max: May I visit the scene?

Oskar: What exactly do you mean?