The Abominable Dr. Phibes Page #3

- The what, sir?

- The G'tach.

The ten curses visited

upon the Pharaohs before Exodus.

- Here, I'll show you.

- Thank you, sir.

They were all ancient maledictions.

Solemn curses, anathemas,

wished upon the Pharaohs

for keeping the Israelites in bondage.

Ah, here it is.

But all this would just be myth,

of course, sir?

- Oh, I think not.

- No?

No. There is little doubt

that the plagues did occur -

though so distant now as to seem a myth.

I see. What form

would the curses take, sir?

Oh, such as the curse of boils, of bats...

- Frogs?

- Frogs, yes. And the curse of blood...

I see, sir, yes...

These ten curses -

would they follow any particular order?

That is a point Talmudic scholars

have debated for generations.

But there is no doubt that the classical

tradition is the curse of boils,

bats, frogs, the curse of blood,

the curse of rats,

hail, of beasts, the locusts of course...

the death of the first-born,

and then, finally, of darkness.

- Darkness, Rabbi?

- Yes.

The final curse upon the land.

To end for ever the sleep of man.

My love...

sweet queen and noble wife,

I alone remain

to bring delivery of your pain.

Severed, my darling,

too quickly from this life

of fires drawn and of memories met.

I shall hold our two hearts again

in single time.

I have prepared a little mathematical

equation for you, Inspector.

These files represent

all of the surgical cases

on which I have served

over a decade - some 1200.

As you know, modern surgery

is all a matter of teamwork,

sometimes involving a dozen or more

people - interns, residents, specialists...

Quite so, sir.

Now, ruling out all the cases

that are over five years old -

the year that Dr Dunwoody, our bat victim,

resumed his practice in London -

that leaves us 37 cases on which I worked

with any two of the four now-dead men.

A scant dozen with three...

but only one...

just one case...

where I worked with all of them.

"Victoria Regina Phi-bes."

I think they called it Phibes.

"Victoria Regina Phibes.

Born November 27th, 1893,

married, no children.

Diagnosis:
immediate radical resection."

- Well, what happened?

- We were too late.

Nine killed you.

Nine shall die,

and be returned your loss.

Nine times nine.

Nine killed you.

Nine shall die.

Nine eternities in doom!

- Very attractive.

- Quite beautiful.

A strange presence, even in death.

- And the husband?

- Dr Anton Phibes.

He was in Switzerland. We cabled him.

But, as he raced back, his car went off

the cliff and he was burned to death.

Are you quite sure of that, sir?

I know it must be

a tempting theory for you,

but they were interred at the same time

in the family vault just outside London.

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