Tuesday, May 2, 1:00 p. m.
Mickey Patchek was a dealer, a snitch, a peddler of information.
His clothes were as cheap as his reputation.
So when he phoned me with some information to sell,
I was surprised he wanted to meet me in the heart of Chicago's chichi high fashion district.
What started out as a mild surprise...
culminated in stark raving terror.
Hey! Mickey!
Oh, I'm sorry.
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to the Trevi Salon...
and welcome to the midpoint year of the 197 Os,
when fashion will once again become just that- fashion.
I don't like long introductions,
so, ladies and gentlemen, the Trevi Collection for 1975!
First, Madelaine,
whose chocolate dress announces the end of nostalgia...
and the return of the cape.
Her matte jersey dress is in chocolate.
Her jersey cape, with the hand-dyed feathers, is in delicious caramel.
The truly liberated woman...
is not afraid to be a woman.
No camp, no kitsch,
no cartoon T-shirts.
Melody, whose evening gown in bronze pailleted sequins...
all hand-sewn,
and for that very mystifying entrance, souffle veiling.
Ah!
Oh! You scared me.
What are you, a policeman? Do I look like a policeman? I'm a reporter.
I covered the fashion show this afternoon.
Oh, they put me in that awful cape thing with all those feathers.
I was invisible. Do you think that'll catch on?
Well, who knows? The Nehru jacket had its day.
Does that stairway go up to the top floor? Mm-hmm.
But they won't let you in there. Why?
The police are taking fingerprints. Ah.
Why do you want to go up there?
Why do I want to go up there? Because it's there. Oh.
Is there another way up?
You know, I could probably tell you more than you'd find out up there.
Why? Why would you want to do a thing like that?
Because I'd like the publicity.
That I understand.
And you want to know about the man who fell, right? Mm-hmm.
I knew him.
The police think that he was trying to steal some fashion designs...
and trying to get away through the window when he fell.
You mean there's a market for that kind of crud? Fashion designs? Are you kidding?
That's where Trevi keeps all the designs for her next season.
Hey, what kind of story could you do about me?
I might be able to tie you in to a story on the man's death. Terrific!
I like the contrast.
Beautiful fashion model, grim, tawdry death of a fashion spy.
Yeah, yeah. Well, first the spy, huh?
You say you knew Mickey Patchek? Indirectly.
He was dating one of the models. Which one?
Oh, doesn't this place have the perfect texture and ambience of a fashion layout?
Yeah, it's great. Listen, what's this model's name?
Look,
some of the girls like to date kind of rough types.
I don't know- it's chic, but it's also kind of kinky.
So I don't wanna tell you her name until I've checked with her first. Okay?
Yeah, sure. Okay. All right. You check, and I'll call you later.
No, wait! She might be inside right now.
And if she's not, I'll ask some of the other girls what they think. Okay?
Look, I really do want to help you.
And if you're serious about this publicity business,
well, you have to know something about fashion and something about me.
I've got a whole string of titles.
Miss Teen Queen, state baton twirling champion,
4- H club competition winner.
Oh! 4-H club winner!
Sloppin' the hogs? Winnowing the chaff?
Or is it chaffing the winnow?
I raised a prize goat.
Come on.
Hi, Randy. Hi, Flo. Kitty, kitty, kitty.
Oh, I love animals. Mention that. The public likes that sort of thing. Right?
Yeah, sure. Great.
Listen, is one of the models you're talking about here? No, I don't see her.
Then after the Teen Queen thing, I decided to freelance for a while. Mm-hmm?
Then I went exclusive with Madame Trevi. Yeah. Right to the top, huh?
Oh, no, not hardly.
This session is a big step for me, and for Trevi.
It's for Vogue, the international edition.
Uh, maybe I'd better get out of here.
Oh, no, Mr. Kolchak. Just wave this around. Nobody will notice you.
Madame Trevi picked you for the layout. Looks like you're on your way up, huh?
I was her second choice.
She wanted Melody Sedgewick, but she and Melody had a big argument.
Melody's leaving to do cosmetic commercials...
right in the middle of the showing.
Boys, step out of there, please! We're coming in with lights.
You see that girl over there?
Oh! Oh, yeah!
That's Ariel,
the top international model,
and she never lets anyone forget it.
Huh.
Pardon me. Ariel won't work with you.
She says you look alike. What?
Ariel is Ariel.
Why, she can't do this!
Oh, yes, she can. The layout features her. It's in the contract.
I'm sorry.
Well, about that model you were talking about.
She's not here.
Well, thanks a lot, Madelaine. I'll be in touch with you.
Thank you. We got so much accomplished.
11:45 p. m.
I received word that Murray Vernon, Mickey Patchek's leading competitor in the information business,
was ready to deal for the same tidbits Mickey had been holding-
some pieces of paper that would blow a labor extortion racket wide open...
and put several garment union bosses in prison.
I was to call Murray at a certain number to arrange the pass.
But before I could say much of anything, we both discovered that Murray Vernon's number was up.
Wait, wait, wait. Have we met?
Don't give us none of your double-talk, Kolchak. We know that you got it.
Oh, you do? Yeah.
Murray Vernon told us before he - Oh.
Where is it, Kolchak? I don't know. I haven't the faintest-
It'll take me a little time to get it. How much time?
Oh, about a week- A week?
Well, about five days?
You have it over here tonight. N- No-
Tonight! I need at least four days.
I'll give you 24 hours. No, no, I couldn't possibly do it in less than 72.
Forty-eight. Seventy-two.
Forty-eight! Hey, hey. You guys nearly got a deal.
Split the difference. Make it 60 hours.
Yeah. Okay.
The day after tomorrow night. Day after t-
Oh, like they tell us down at police headquarters? Yeah?
Don't try to leave the city. Oh, no, no.
We told Murray Vernon the same thing, Kolchak.
You could run, but you can't hide. Uh-huh.
Where have I heard that line before?
Murray Vernon? He's a small-time informer. Not even back-page news.
- He called me up last night, wanted to sell me some evidence. - What evidence?
Who knows? Something connected with an extortion racket in the garment industry.
- So, why do you wanna cover this story? - I don't want to! I have to!
'Cause the guys that killed Murray think I've got or can get the evidence he was trying to sell me.
They gave me a deadline, with an accent on "dead. "
Threats are the standard situation with those men, Carl. You know that.
- It goes with the territory, like the high salary. - You're really full of it today, Tony.
Can you come over to the window?
Can you get up out of your chair and walk to the window?
Can you make it?
Now what do I do? Jump?
Want me to open the window for you? Look down there in the street.
Yeah, see the guy leaning up against the car, reading the newspaper?
Yeah. Well, does he look like a scoutmaster to you?
Look, Carl, we can call the police. They'll pick him up, shake him down.
On what charge? Slow reading in public?
They're just watching me, Tony, that's all.
They're just keeping an eye on me.
They gave me a time limit. Very generous- 60 hours.
Sixty hours? How did you come up with that?
Arbitration.
Oh.
- Sixty hours. You don't know what evidence they want? - No.
- You have no leads. - No- Oh, I got one lead, yeah.
Yeah, see, these are the last things...
that Mickey Patchek saw before he died.
Okay? Yeah.
He wasn't much of a photographer. Yeah. He wasn't much of a skydiver either.
Huh. Look at that, Tony.
Look. Those dressmaker dummies have moved. See? The shadows are in different positions.
Yeah, the cops say that Patchek was alone up there.
- So they were wrong. - Yeah. Wrong.
Have you been able to connect Murray Vernon with Mickey Patchek? No.
No, not yet. Those hoods have spooked my stringers.
- They act like I got leprosy. - You'd be better off. You'd be safer in a leper colony.
- That's very funny. - Have you got any leads at all?
No! Not yet.
I have got a model that works for Trevi checking on Patchek for me.
Say, did you hear about the cat that clawed up Ariel's face, that French model?
No, Carl. The only connection I have with the fashion world is Mr. Napoli's Menswear.
Famous makers' suits that go for 59.95.
And it looks like it too.
You should experience "hot" couture.
That's high fashion, Tony. I mean, those people really are in another world.
Well, so is Murray Vernon, and you could be joining him.
No, I got plenty of time. Carl, where are you going?
To check with my stringer, the model. Carl, listen, forget the model.
Forget the model, forget the cat, forget the moving dummies.
Just get back to Murray Vernon and the evidence he had.
Yeah, right, Tony, right. No, no, no, no.
I've seen that look before, Carl.
You get that slack jaw, your mind drifts off, and you don't even really hear me.
What? You see? You don't hear me!
You're not thinking about Murray Vernon. You don't care.
You're gonna follow something else. You're gonna follow something else! You know why?
'Cause you are suicidal! You are self-destructive, Carl!
I can't talk to you when you get emotional like this. I'm not emotional! Who's emotional?
You're the one that's gonna get splattered all over the sidewalk!
You're the one they're gonna get! You're the one that's gonna be Humpty Dumpty!
Don't you understand? I got a business to worry about! Why should I have to worry about y-
May 2, 8:45 p. m.
Melody Sedgewick was exhausted after a day of riding herd on her new career and her many offers.
She wanted to soak her tensions away.
Her tensions left her... forever.
Hmm?
What?
I couldn't find Madelaine, and my usual stringers were laying low.
But Miss Emily managed to contact me to tell me something she knew would interest me.
It had come over the wire that Melody Sedgewick, thoroughbred clotheshorse,
had been scalded to death in her shower.
Dying and maiming were coming into vogue in the fashion business.
- I.N.S. - Independent News Service?
Well, it's not Ladies' Wear Weekly or Women's Wear Daily. L-
I could have guessed that. Yeah.
However, I do think our subscribers would be very interested in what's happening in the fashion field,
particularly in your collection.
Kind of a man-in-the-street look at haute couture.
- What? - Haute couture.
Oh, yeah, sure. That too. Yeah.
Uh, I suppose a great deal of secrecy surrounds your showings and your designs.
Is espionage a major problem?
You think of us as the Detroit automobile industry?
Well-
We don't produce for the masses.
Uh-huh. I see.
But, uh, knowing your competitors' designs would have some value.
Yes, some.
Cornelius, we're not doing nostalgia.
Courreges was doing this in the '60s.
Here, lower the belt a little, a-and...
Fluff out the sleeves a little, please.
This we'll abandon.
Listen, do individual models play an important part in your collection?
Uh, you're speaking about Melody.
Exactly.
She was leaving, and you argued with her.
N- No. No, no. She talked to me before the accident.
- She said she was staying on. - Can you prove that?
Good. Now it's out in the open.
And just as I suspected, you have absurd and vague suspicions.
Did you know Mickey Patchek?
I never met him. I wish I could say the same about you.
That's very good.
You don't have any idea about why Mickey Patchek jumped off the top floor of your saloon?
Salon. Leave.
Please. Yeah, sure.
Please leave my salon.
Yeah, sure. I know when I'm not wanted. Salon, saloon.
11:00 p. m.
It seemed very odd to me in these days of dwindling energy reserves and increased costs of public utilities...
than anyone, Miss Melody Sedgewick included,
would be likely to die from having too much hot water in their shower.
I've talked to the cops. I've talked to the reporters. I'm not gonna talk to anybody else.
How about talking to a good lawyer...
to, uh, cover your personal liability?
What personal liability? Yours.
To put it delicately, a young lady was fricasseed in one of your showers.
You just might be open to charges of negligence.
Oh.
I told the police there's nothing wrong with the shower.
Water heater's first-rate. Huh. Okay.
Do you mind?
You see? Like clockwork. Everything works. First-rate.
Ever get complaints about the hot water? Never.
It's all regulated automatically. Never too hot, never too cold. Mm-hmm.
Yeah? Aye. You see? It never gets hotter than that.
Just right.
First class?
Right. Everything's just right. It's a happy building.
Yeah.
Hi! You like it?
Yeah. Well, that's very pretty. Yeah.
It's hand-painted crepe de chine.
Just a bundle of scarves, really, but look how it floats.
See? See how it floats? Yeah, yeah.
Floats like a butterfly.
I called your exchange. They told me-
What are you doing here so late?
I'm taking Melody's place tomorrow.
Madame Trevi wanted me to come down and try on some of the wardrobe.
Oh. Then you know about Melody. Oh, God, yes.
And Madame Trevi has you doing this, at this hour, after what happened?
It's all right.
No, no. No, I don't think it is all right.
You look pretty scared to me.
Please. I don't want to talk about it. All right?
What do you mean, you don't want to talk about it? What kind of a thing is that to say to a reporter?
I've gotta find out what's going on around here. There's a couple of guys with bent noses looking for me.
Listen to me. She won't let you find out.
Wh-What do you mean? She has power.
What power? Madame Trevi, she's a witch.
A witch? You mean, like on a broomstick?
Yes. Really?
Well, I've never met a witch before. I'd like to talk to her.
No, no, no, please. If she knew I told you, she'd kill me. No, don't worry about it.
Is she upstairs? No, no, no. She's not here right now.
Oh, she's not here.
Well, I'll come back later.
Witch, huh?
Yes.
You take care of yourself, Madelaine. I will.
Witchcraft. The black arts.
In this enlightened day, do rational people believe in the existence of witches?
The answer proved to be a simple "yes. '"
Historically, the concept of demonic witchcraft...
assumed its greatest importance in Western Europe...
during the fifth to 17th centuries.
How about today? I mean, do witches exist in Chicago today, now?
If you believe witches exist, then they do exist.
Andjudging from the recent revival of interest in the occult and witchcraft,
then we must conclude that witches do indeed exist for a great many people.
How do you recognize a witch?
Aside from the pointed hat and the cackle.
You mean some identifying test?
Yeah. Yeah.
Just one.
Witches cannot be drowned.
In Salem, they were placed in dunking chairs and held underwater, watched carefully.
That ability to survive underwater is the only absolute test for a witch.
Tell me, is there some way to take away a witch's power?
Yes. They must be publicly accused of witchcraft.
The judges in Salem believed...
that such accusation lessened a witch's power...
until such time as they could be finally dealt with by burning.
Oh, charming. It's all right here in my book.
Yes, yes, yes. I bought it.
Oh, thank you. You're welcome.
Next! For 10.95.
"Devil or warlock. "
Let's see. "Kiss the devil on Sunday. " "For sale: '72 Ford. "
Chicanery, fraud. Nothing ever changes.
These covens aren't all sincere, you know.
Well, could you recommend a good coven?
I don't endorse individual covens.
I see you bought his book. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why? Isn't it any good?
Good? It'll probably be a best-seller. Most trash is.
If he's such a schlock artist, why did they invite him to speak here?
Don't ask me.
Unfortunately, for those of us who are genuinely interested in the occult, witchcraft's big business.
Ah. Big business and free speech is what this country's all about, right?
Well, I'll agree about free speech.
Skip the reading.
Try this coven.
It saved my marriage. Yeah?
Even my husband's a believer now, and he's a stiff-necked Freudian psychiatrist.
Hmm.
But don't say you heard it from me.
Witchcraft does have professional ethics.
Like big business.
Webster's definition of a coven is concise, terse,
without the usual disclaimers or qualifications.
It states simply that a coven is "a band or assembly of witches. '"
Hi. I'm here to-
We know why you are here.
Come in.
Okay, how much is it?
There is no charge.
A nominal contribution will be appreciated.
Not that nominal.
I just have a couple of questions.
All your questions will be answered.
What's that? A robe.
You want me to get into it? Put it on.
We will begin...
the invocation...
with a sacrifice.
Our lord will not come!
- Speak, Griselda. - There is one among us who cannot be part of this coven.
He is under the spell of a black witch.
- Is this true? - I don't know!
She's killed a couple of people, maimed another.
- Maybe she's trying to kill me. Trying to scare me to death, maybe. - She is a black witch.
We have no power over them. We fear them as much as you do. You must go!
Okay, okay, all right.
I came to get some questions answered. You told me all my questions would be answered.
- What am I gonna do? - I can help.
- Then quickly, Griselda. - Yeah.
Yeah, okay.
You must read what has been written in the mirror.
"Oak chest.
"Mojo bags.
"Brass bells.
Copper thread. "
The spirits say the black witch's power is in an oak chest.
To destroy her, you must destroy its contents.
She's here! Go!
Yeah.
"Chest.
Closet behind witch's desk. "
Stop it! Stop it!
Do you know what you've done? Why are you doing this?
To strip you of your power, madam. Now we can talk about Mickey Patchek.
He was trying to steal my designs.
And you stopped him with witchcraft!
I see.
She's made you think I'm the witch.
- What? - She was using you to destroy the things that controlled her.
Nothing will stop her now! She'll kill us both!
What are you talking about? Who will kill us both?
Madelaine- Madelaine-
Madelaine the witch.
Good heavens.
Madame Trevi was hospitalized with something they called a laryngeal constriction.
It simply meant she was choking to death.
The doctors didn't know how to stop it, but of course they refused to admit that.
Nor could they explain why they were powerless.
We got ripped off. Right? Wrong!
Obviously your friends are not satisfied with your progress on the Murray Vernon business,
so sometime last night they came in here to spur you along.
What did that say? They called you a-
It was a very filthy word, Carl, and I tend to agree with them.
Oh, you do! Get it off of there, George.
Mr. Vincenzo left his Homburg in here,
and they broke into the refrigerator and smeared peanut butter all over the brim.
No. My favorite hat.
Now it'll always smell like some kid's lunch box.
I'm sorry, Tony, but I'm doing the best I can.
Now, look, Carl. I want you to understand - Tony!
Now, look, Carl- Carl, now, this is an order.
I want you to lay off the fashion business.
Find out what Murray Vernon and Patchek had for you,
and do it before they drag Lake Michigan and find us all wearing cement kimonos.
Tony, I'm trying to do that. I'm going to. I really am.
You see, I think it's all kind of interrelated, the whole thing.
- But I'm gonna get to the bottom of it yet, with this. - What's that?
You been robbing lint traps down at the Launderama?
- No, it's a mojo bag. - A what?
A mojo bag. Yeah. See, it's got bear claws in it, and, uh, and a little bell.
It's the only thing that'll ward off the power of a black witch.
A black witch? Yeah, that's right. A black witch.
Carl.
Yeah? Carl-
You know, every year my brother-in-law asks me to come into the venetian blind business with him.
He's got a $50,000 home over in Evanston.
He's got a company car.
And I always say, "No, Rocco, I love the news business. It's in my blood. "
Uh-huh.
I tell you something, Carl. This is the year I'm gonna become a venetian blind executive.
Tony, you got a brother-in-law named Rocco...
in the venetian blind business?
Hey, that's a terrific cover, Tony.
No, no, I'm serious. I'm really very serious, Tony.
This mojo bag and the sound of breaking glass are anathema to a black witch.
Good-bye, Carl.
Think he means it? I wonder who'd take control of the bureau.
Be my guest, Ron. Just remember, I like my underwear in the top drawer.
Oh, Carl, there was a telephone message for you.
Dr. Gravanites from the City General wants you to come down right now.
Oh, thanks, Em. Thanks very much.
But I've forgotten something. Something I'm missing here.
I've got my bell, the bear claws and the buttons.
Wire! Copper wire. That's right. Witches hate copper.
Oh. Carl. Yes?
I merely point it out to you. I don't say "yea" or "nay. "
I say "yea," Em. Thank you, my darling, very, very much.
Aha. Kolchak!
You gotta repair it anyway, Tony.
Besides, the venetian blinds behind my desk over there have been broken by the guys.
You got your first big sale. Congratulations.
She's been trying to say something, repeating your name.
It's Kolchak. Wh-What-
A doll.
A doll? Yes.
A doll? What kind of a doll?
A rag doll.
Rag- Rag doll? Like- Like-Wh-What, like you?
- She's very weak. - I know, I know, I know.
Just-Just give me a moment. It could be important.
Yes, go on. Who?
It's... Madelaine.
Madelaine?
Yeah, I understand.
Where is the doll?
In my office.
L- In the office. Where? Where in the office?
I don't know. You don't know.
You don't- Yeah, all right.
Find it. Yeah, I will.
I will.
I will. Yeah.
How long can you keep her alive?
If she lasts the night, we'll be lucky.
What was that about a doll? Voodoo?
No, no, no. Witchcraft. I've got to cut the hair from around the doll's neck.
You don't believe in witchcraft, of course.
No. Of course not.
But in this particular case I'd agree with what my mother used to say about chicken soup.
Oh, yeah? What was that?
It couldn't hurt. Yeah, yeah.
This going down to the morgue? I'll walk.
Ah!
Mm-hmm.
Hello, Carl.
My, that was a courageous thing you did just now,
coming up here with your little bag ofbells and copper threads,
all to save poor Madame Trevi.
Yeah, well, it seems to me we're all a little old for playing with dolls, wouldn't you say?
Hmm.
Maybe I'll forgive you for that.
Oh. Trevi's a fool.
She could have been the leading couturier.
I could have made her that.
But instead she's a coward.
She turned against me,
conspired with you.
Well, I think your methods upset her a lot.
She knew what I was.
She and I had a little deal.
Yeah, but we didn't. Why'd you try to kill me in that car in the parking lot?
I just wanted to really convince you that there, uh - there was witchcraft afoot.
Hoo!
I needed your help to, uh,
to eliminate some of those power objects she was using to keep me in line.
Oh? But let's talk about you.
Well- I could use you.
I mean, uh,
oh, I could make you so important.
You could make me important?
How? By killing off all my enemies?
We'd have to buy out a controlling interest in a doll factory for that one.
I know things, Carl.
I know, for instance, that now you're looking for something, some kind of evidence.
Some man was murdered.
A... Murray Vernon?
I know where it is.
His mother has it in a shoe box...
in a rest home.
Canceled checks from a garment union extortion.
Well, that's terrific!
That's really very good.
Listen, what do you, uh- what do you really want?
I mean, where do you go from here?
After modeling, I go into film, like Lauren Hutton.
Maybe marry a rich Greek likeJackie, or a prince like Grace.
Oh. Just what any girl wants - fame, fortune, a Maserati.
I want it all, Carl. Everything.
Sure. Why not?
But do you mind if I think over our agreement for a little while first?
You've already thought it over.
I know when you're lying.
Just like my mother.
Aaah!
You can't get away from me, Carl!
You can't accuse me in front of anyone!
There's no one here but us... and them.
And they don't care!
Mojo!
No! Carl, no!
No!
No! No!
Drown, witch! Drown, you witch! Drown!
Drown! Drown!
Aah!
I'll kill you!
Madelaine Perkins, I publicly accuse you of being a witch! No! No!
In front of these people, I accuse you of practicing the black arts of witchcraft!
Of consorting with the prince of darkness!
Madelaine was uncannily correct about the shoe box full of checks.
Miss Emily found them, as predicted,
and we're about to break a large story about extortion in the garment industry.
Uh, Madelaine was incorrect, however, about her own glorious future.
A conviction for murder could never be lodged against her,
but along with her black powers went her mind.
I'm told that she is to be consigned to the women's ward of Grassland State Mental Hospital.
The doctors there give her little hope of ever recovering her sanity.
They can't understand what caused such massive trauma.
They say that the form of medieval pox which she contracted...
has not been seen in our world for over 500 years.
It will leave permanent scars.
Ah, Madelaine, poor Madelaine.
She won't even be pretty anymore.
Isn't that a pity?