Category
😹
AmusantTranscription
00:00Chapter 2
00:13Like so many cases in the famous history of Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Augustus Van Dusen,
00:20called the machine of thought,
00:22it also began with the fact that James, Van Dusen's faithful factotum,
00:27knocked on the door of the laboratory, behind which his master,
00:30with chemical, perhaps also physical or biological,
00:34in all cases was busy with epochal investigations.
00:38It was on a cool autumn afternoon, exactly on September 20, 1902.
00:46Yes!
00:54Professor...
00:55How many times have I told you, James, that you must not disturb me during the experiments.
00:59Yes, I know, Professor.
01:00Please!
01:01Excuse me, Professor, but the master is not to be denied.
01:05Which master?
01:06The master at the door, Professor.
01:09The master who must speak to you, he says.
01:12Yes, if it is so urgent, give me the card.
01:16The master has not given me a business card, Professor.
01:20What? No card? Strange, what is his name?
01:23The master did not give me his name either, Professor.
01:26So, very strange, not to say inappropriate.
01:30The master has no name, he says.
01:35He has no name?
01:37The master does not know what his name is, he says.
01:40Does he say that?
01:44In this case, ask the master without a name in the salon
01:49and make fire in the fireplace, James.
01:51It is already very cold.
01:52Very well, Professor.
01:53I'll be back in a few minutes.
02:00The case of the man who had lost his name, his memory, and thus, to a certain extent, his head,
02:05the professor later described to me as one of the most interesting and attractive problems
02:11he had ever had to deal with.
02:14When he stopped his analysis and went to the salon in a white lab coat
02:19to take a look at his mysterious visitor,
02:22he still had no idea what was to come to him in the next 48 hours.
02:29Your call has come to me, Professor.
02:33I think I know better about you than about myself.
02:36Really?
02:37Yes, yes.
02:38In a magazine, I read a long article about you.
02:41You are a doctor, you are a natural scientist, even a well-known one.
02:45Quite well-known.
02:47Yes, yes.
02:48But you also have other qualities.
02:50In the article, it said how you had kidnapped the gaslight murderer from Park Avenue
02:54and solved the mysterious theft of our radio.
02:58I need a man like you, Professor.
03:00One who is a doctor at the same time, a scientist, and...
03:04Yes?
03:05A private detective.
03:07If you are looking for a private detective, sir,
03:11then you are hardly at the right address with me.
03:14Of course, I solve crimes from time to time.
03:17But only when you put me in front of such interesting problems
03:21that my brain can, so to speak, rub itself against you with mental gain.
03:26That's why.
03:28And because I do not pursue this occupation professionally,
03:32I call myself an amateur criminologist.
03:34I am not a private detective.
03:36Please note that.
03:37As you wish, Professor.
03:39In any case, I need you.
03:41Only you can help me.
03:42We'll see.
03:43First, we need to know what this is all about.
03:46Let's get down to business.
03:48Let's come to you, Mr...
03:52Mr. Nameless.
03:54The unknown Mr. Nameless, as Van Dusen called him,
03:58was a tall, stately man of about 40 years.
04:03The angular, smooth-shaven face,
04:05the high forehead,
04:06the pronounced chin,
04:08the energetic mouth,
04:09the firm gaze,
04:10but above all, the expensive suit in inconspicuous gray.
04:14All this pointed to the fact that the professor
04:17did not have a random stranger in front of him,
04:20but a man of weight.
04:22Tell me your story, Mr. Nameless.
04:24Leave nothing out.
04:26What is important, I decide.
04:28Well...
04:31In short, my story is that I have no story.
04:36I don't know who I am.
04:37I don't know what my name is,
04:39I don't know where I come from,
04:40what job I have.
04:41I have forgotten everything that concerns me.
04:44I have lost my memory, Professor.
04:47Completely and utterly lost.
04:49Hm.
04:50I suspected that.
04:54What is that?
04:56Excuse me.
04:57Answer me, what is that?
04:59A table, of course.
05:01Aha.
05:03And this?
05:05A painting.
05:06I guess an oil painting.
05:07An oil painting, yes.
05:09And what do you see on it?
05:12A mountain in the foreground,
05:14a kind of gorge with a mountain stream.
05:18Two men are standing on a rock slab.
05:20That's enough.
05:21May I ask what all this is about?
05:23Just a little experiment.
05:24I wanted to know how far your memory actually goes.
05:28Apparently you know some things very well.
05:31Of course I know what a table is,
05:33or a picture, or a house, or a pair of shoes.
05:36I know the general terms, the things around me.
05:40But that doesn't help me any further.
05:42I don't know anything about myself, about my person.
05:45Literally nothing.
05:48I have no past, no identity.
05:52Sometimes I wonder if I even exist, don't I?
05:56Am I perhaps crazy?
05:58That, my dear Mr. Nameless, I find extremely unlikely.
06:01But let's go back to the heart of the matter.
06:04Since when have you lost your memory?
06:06Or to be more precise, since when can you remember again?
06:10Exactly three days ago.
06:12So, and what happened exactly three days ago?
06:16I woke up in a strange room, in a strange bed.
06:21I woke up and didn't know who I was.
06:24It's a terrible feeling, Professor.
06:27I hardly believe you can imagine it.
06:29I'm trying.
06:31Then go on.
06:34Five minutes before eight.
06:36Then on the calendar, September 17, 1902, Tuesday.
06:40It was clear to me.
06:42Why don't I know?
06:44That I was in a hotel.
06:46I stood up.
06:48A mirror hung over the sink.
06:51I... I...
06:55Here.
06:56I saw a face I didn't know.
07:00A completely strange face, Professor.
07:02My face.
07:03A shock for you, without a doubt.
07:07Go on.
07:08Please, go on.
07:09Well, when I had a little rest, I got dressed.
07:13My things were in the closet.
07:15Then I went to the reception.
07:17I was in Montana, in a small hotel on the Bowery.
07:20Not fine, not shabby, average.
07:23The porter must have thought I was crazy,
07:26or just crazy.
07:28Because of my strange questions, you know.
07:30And what did you find out?
07:32I arrived at the hotel the night before.
07:35On the 16th of September.
07:37Together with a friend.
07:39That was around 11 o'clock.
07:41At night.
07:43I had taken a room.
07:45About two hours later, my friend had left again.
07:48Before that, because the porter had asked him to,
07:51he had brought me into the guest book.
07:53And what...
07:54Of course, I checked right away.
07:56That's understandable.
07:58And?
07:59Next to my room number,
08:01there was a name.
08:03Jonathan Henry.
08:05Nothing else.
08:07No home address, no occupation, nothing.
08:10Only...
08:11Jonathan Henry.
08:13Then you do have a name.
08:16Oh, no, Professor.
08:18I don't know my real name,
08:20but I know it very well.
08:22My name is not Jonathan Henry.
08:24Are you sure?
08:26One hundred percent, Professor.
08:28The name doesn't mean anything to me.
08:30All right.
08:32Nevertheless, I will call you Mr. Henry,
08:34for the sake of simplicity.
08:36Until we manage
08:38to find out your real name.
08:40You don't mind, do you?
08:41Call me whatever you want, Professor.
08:45As long as you help me.