- Kinetoscope number three. - Right over here.
It will be one penny.
_
No!
Ah!
- Shot, you think? - Hmm.
More likely stabbed,
- with something narrow. - A letter opener?
Possibly.
Sir.
A fingermark. In some blood.
It's likely a thumb mark.
Less than 24 hours old.
- We'll compare it to the ones we have on file. - Excuse me, please.
You can't go in there, sir.
I am here to see Detective Murdoch.
Mr Tesla.
It appears we are to renew our acquaintance, Detective.
Once again under tragic circumstances.
What do you know of this, Mr Tesla?
His name is Julius Bosworth.
- He was an inventor like me. - Did you know him well?
We were engaged in a correspondence. He was seeking advice.
His investor was about to pull out.
Alas, I was in same boat.
Yes. I read that you had lost funding
- for your Long Island experiments. - I seek a better world.
J.P. Morgan seeks only money.
So I could only advise as to methods and theory.
What are you doing here?
He said he was close to success
and wanted me to share in it.
Instead, when I arrived he was dead
and some of his equipment had been removed.
What was he working on?
Mr Bosworth was working on a device to render objects invisible.
- Morning, gentlemen. - Ah, Inspector!
Welcome back! How was New York?
- Too hot. Too crowded. Too bloody big. - Glad to be home, then?
A man's got to earn a living, Crabtree. And I'm not exactly home.
I've taken a flat in a house further down my street.
Sir, I'm sorry to hear that.
Eh. Where's Murdoch?
Sir, he's at the scene of a murder with Nikola Tesla.
Field equations. I assume you would understand.
Yes, he was working on the problem of magnetic resonance.
These are my letters.
August 22nd. Two weeks ago.
Yes. I believe that was the last one I wrote.
- Is that blood? - I believe so.
It's been here for some time. I don't believe it's from the murder.
Invisibility?
You're having me on. That's impossible.
- Isn't it? - Air is invisible. Glass and water almost.
- Why? - No theory accounts for it.
You are not familiar with the journal Annalan Der Physik?
- I don't read German. - You must.
A recent article has solved the problem.
See, light can be understood as packets of energy
that are either absorbed or reflected by atoms.
If these atoms could be magnetically realigned,
packets of specific energy will pass through unperturbed.
Rendering the object invisible.
And that's what this Bosworth fellow was trying to do?
Precisely.
It's all bollocks if you ask me.
Uh, Sirs.
Miss Hart has some results for you, sir.
- Oh, very good. Mr Tesla, care to join me? - Of course.
What's your opinion on this invisibility business, Crabtree?
- Or need I ask. - Sir, frankly, it disturbs me.
I can see how it might be to my advantage
to make certain objects invisible.
Things I don't want other people to steal.
But what happens if you've forgotten what you've done with it?
You'd never find it again. And next thing you know,
we're all tripping over invisible objects
other people have left lying around.
Sir, what happens if you're walking down the road and there's a hole,
someone's made it invisible, you fall in and break your leg?
An invisible hole?
- Julia, you remember-- - Mr Tesla!
How wonderful to see you again.
- And you, Doctor. - Are you in town long?
Until we can solve the murder of my colleague.
Oh yes, I heard. How terrible.
We're off to the morgue, actually, if you'd care to join?
Actually, I'm here to see Constable Crabtree for writing advice.
Good idea.
Am I interrupting, George?
Well, I've been charged with matching the fingermarks
found at the crime scene with those in our files.
And while the Detective's classification system does--
If it's a bad time--
Doctor, you would be relieving me of a great tedium.
Well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind
giving our manuscript a quick read.
It's done then, is it?
Well, writing is never quite done, is it?
Always room to improve.
I've managed to liven up the forensics,
but I'm afraid William's portion is a bit dry.
He does tend to be precise.
He thinks that our book is an investigative manual and that's that!
So I was wondering...
- I can have a look and provide some thoughts. - Wonderful!
Or, if you'd like to try your hand at improving it...
- Doctor, I don't know about that. - Anything you can manage.
It would be greatly appreciated.
He was stabbed in the left ventricle.
The entry wound was very small.
A screwdriver, perhaps?
That would be my guess.
The depth of the wound was four inches
but the shaft could have been longer.
Have you established the time of death?
Between 10:30 and midnight.
- George! - Sir!
Have you found a match for the fingermark we found at the scene yet?
Sir, I'm working on that right now.
George, we classified that fingermark
as a right thumb Reverse whorl-3.
There can't be more than a dozen comparables in there.
Sir, I apologise. I fell asleep.
Sir, a woman has just reported Professor Bosworth missing.
Please show her to my office, Henry.
- Please, have a seat, Miss...? - Rossini.
Fiona Rossini.
I'm Detective William Murdoch. This is Mr Tesla.
- Nikola Tesla? - Oh, you have heard of me?
Professor Bosworth talked about you.
How is it you know Professor Bosworth?
We live in the same house. I have the flat below him.
I haven't seen him in days and I'm worried about him.
Why is that?
Because he came to see me the other night
and he was bleeding quite badly.
He said he had cut himself at work. He's always working.
- When was this? - Night before last.
No, sorry.
The night before the night before last.
- So, three nights ago. - Uh-huh.
That could explain the bloody rags we found in the laboratory.
What did Professor Bosworth come to see you about?
He had a box he wanted me to keep.
- A box? - Mm-hmm.
About this big. Made of wood.
He said he wanted me to keep it in case anyone tried to steal it.
I said: "Professor, you're bleeding!" He said it was nothing.
But it bled a lot!
That was the last I saw of him.
Oh! I don't know if I want to do this.
He was such a nice man and I've never seen anyone dead before.
That's not Professor Bosworth.
- It's not? - No.
The Professor is balding with a moustache and
not terribly handsome. Though don't say that I said that.
Oh, I'm so relieved!
Though I suppose I shouldn't be too happy.
After all, this fellow's dead and you don't even know who it is.
Miss Rossini, we'll be needing to have a look at that box.
Oh no, I can't give that to anyone. He was adamant.
As am I, Miss Rossini.
So it wasn't Professor Bosworth?
Apparently I had made an erroneous assumption.
Which means we still need to identify our victim.
I'll contact the other Station Houses,
see if anyone has been reported missing.
Also see that his photograph is distributed.
Oh, and find out what you can about Madventure Capital.
Sir.
Sir, I found a match for our bloody fingermark.
An ex-convict by the name of Sam Marshall.
Very good. Bring him in.
- Is this Bosworth, then? - I believe it is, sir.
No, it can't be.
Bloody hell.
It really is invisible.
So apparently not bollocks.
- I knew it could work! I knew it! - Or it's a trick.
Why would Bosworth do that? He is a scientist, not a charlatan.
More to the point, why was he trying to hide this film, and from who?
- Whom. - I don't know.
And who's the dead body in Bosworth's lab?
I don't know,
but I wonder if the man who left the bloody fingermark
will have an answer to that question.
You're wasting your time.
To the contrary, Mr Marshall.
You left a bloody fingermark at the scene of the crime
which matches exactly the fingermarks
we have on file for you.
All right, I was there.
But I didn't kill him.
Didn't kill who?
Whoever you think I did.
Perhaps this will jog your memory.
That's not the man that--
That's the man--
Please, continue.
I've got nothing to say.
Mr Marshall, I have enough here to hang you
for the murder of this man.
- Yeah, but I didn't-- - Who is he?
- I don't know his name. - But you recognised him.
You said he was the man who what?
What did he do?
Mr Marshall. If we end this interview now,
you will hang for the murder of this man.
- Constable, Mr Marshall doesn't seem-- - He hired me.
To do what?
Did he hire you
to kill this man two days ago?
I've said all I'm going to say.
Because if he did, you will be interested in knowing
that you did not succeed.
- He's alive? - He's wounded, but not fatally.
The charge will be attempted murder.
So you'll escape the noose, if you confess.
I was hired by him to kill him.
- Why? - I don't know.
I didn't ask.
- So you stabbed him. - Maybe.
- Yes. - And you left him for dead in his laboratory.
Yes.
Who is this man?
I don't know his name.
I'm not lying!
But I know who knows him.
I've seen him once before with Simon and Ted Alvin.
The sons of Percival Alvin.
- The banker? - How do you know them?
I've done a few odd jobs for 'em.
So we don't know who the dead man is,
only that he hired this chap to kill Bosworth.
Is it possible that Bosworth figured it out and took revenge?
If he did, I would not blame him.
I'd like to know who hired someone to kill Professor Bosworth and why.
Henry, please bring in Simon and Theodore Alvin for questioning.
Right away, sir.
Look at this.
- Buggalugs! - Sir!
- This is-- - Perhaps we could have a word in your office.
Dr Ogden asked that I read it and give advice.
Did she ask you to rewrite any aspect?
She seemed to suggest that if I had any specific thoughts
I might include them.
I understand.
She wants it to be entertaining.
Sir.
She's not wrong.
For example,
that you map out your thoughts on a blackboard is interesting,
but as far as a technical assessment
of the physical properties of chalk,
perhaps that would be best consigned to some sort of appendix.
- I suppose if it's properly footnoted. - Sir, it's not just that.
This is the dullest thing I've ever read in my life.
And I've read telephone books. At your insistence.
George. The purpose of this book is not to entertain.
It is to educate.
Yes, but sir, surely for one to be educated, one must remain awake.
I dare say if I was pitched in battle with a lion
and this was read aloud to a bullhorn,
I might make it to the end with just a couple of yawns,
but after lunch, sitting at my desk, impossible.
Yes, well, Dr Ogden's solution is to inject her writing with puns.
Oh, her jokes are terrible, sir!
Your writing makes me want to fall asleep.
Hers makes me want to light this document on fire
for the good of humanity.
No, that's all right, George.
The truth hurts, but the truth is necessary.
But that's just it, sir, it's not all bad.
I just think you're missing some of the best parts.
I mean, instead of giving us detailed instructions
on how to build a transmitter and receiver,
tell us the story behind it.
How, years ago, you and Mr. Tesla built such a device
that elicited an actual confession to a real murder.
That would really be something.
I mean, the bits and bobs of its actual construction
could be left to...
The appendix.
Or a separate volume altogether.
- Simon Alvin. - That's me.
- And you're Theodore Alvin. - I go by Ted.
Do either of you know this man?
No.
- Never seen him. - Does the name Professor Bosworth mean anything?
Never heard of him.
- What about this man? - Oh my Lord!
- My God, he's-- - Dead.
- How? - Why? Why did this happen?
- Who is he? - Adam Bester.
He was a friend.
Well, your friend hired a former employee of your father's
to kill this man.
- We don't know anything about that. - We?
How do you know what he knows?
- Are you two in cahoots over this? - Not at all.
If they're not in cahoots,
they still know more than they're letting on.
I agree. Ah, gentlemen.
Tomorrow I want you to determine our victim's last steps,
as well as any connection he may have had to Professor Bosworth
and Simon and Theodore Alvin.
Right. I'm off. Good evening, gentlemen.
Verna Jones.
Welcome to the neighbourhood, Tommy.
I'm still on the same street. Please, do come in.
You've just moved in.
You require hospitality.
And evidently a woman's touch.
Is that La Boheme?
You've got an Edison!
My treat to myself.
Margaret didn't care for opera.
Oh, poor you.
My Jack loved opera. He'd wear his top hat, I'd get all dressed up.
This is a meat pie.
You can eat it cold or heat it up.
- Thank you. - You know how to light the stove?
It's just a stove.
It's a gas stove.
Jack bought me one last year.
- You have to light the pilot first. - The what?
The pilot.
The stove top you can light directly,
but the oven, you have to light the pilot first.
- Or what? - Your apartment blows up.
If I hear an explosion, I'll know you didn't take my advice.
We must do something about this.
So, when this package of light energy
hits an atom,
it dislodges an electron.
Which would explain the photoelectric effect.
But if the atoms are realigned with magnets--
Resonating magnetic field, to be precise.
Well, then the light simply passes right through.
That is correct.
That's fantastic.
Who proposed this theory?
A man by the name of Einsteen.
Albert. No, Alfred.
He's written a few articles of late.
The last one was: On the Electro-Dynamics of Moving Bodies.
That sounds fascinating.
It is not as intriguing as the title suggests.
All about matter and energy
and its relationship to the speed of light.
It has no practical value.
Do you recall our first conversation?
We speculated on the possibility of converting light energy
into a modulated electrical signal
- which could be transmitted and then received. - Of course.
We called it television.
It sounds as though this Einsteen fellow
has described its underlying theory.
We should build it.
I have a murder case to solve first, Mr Tesla.
I will acquire the necessary materials.
Sir. I checked into Madventure Capital.
They specialise in risky commercial loans.
How is our victim, Mr Bester, connected?
He owned it, along with Ted and Simon Alvin.
Odd that they didn't mention that.
Who wants to bet their company invested in Bosworth's invention?
Bring them back in, Henry.
And George, did you find out about our victim's last movements?
Sir, I spoke to the maid,
she said he received some sort of distressing phone call,
left for an arcade off Yonge St. She never saw him again.
Yes.
He was here a few days ago. Asked for machine 3.
What's on machine 3?
It used to be a dog doing tricks, but it's been changed.
What is it now?
It's hard to explain. It needs to be seen.
Although, there is a bit of a wait.
It is our most popular film.
I'll see it now.
Of course.
Excuse me.
I'm sorry, but I'm drawing the line. An invisible man is impossible.
It could be possible if he's realigning his constituent atoms.
But, sir, how is he eating or drinking?
I mean, should we be on the lookout
for undigested porridge floating about in midair?
That's the other thing I don't like about this invisibility.
Perhaps he's fasting.
Or realigning his constituent atoms after every meal.
There is equipment missing from the lab. That could be why.
So an invisible killer is running amok. Excellent.
What have you, George?
- Sir, we've not been able to locate Simon Alvin. - And Theodore?
He was killed in the same manner as Mr Bester.
Small piercing wound to the heart.
Screwdriver?
That was my guess.
So Bosworth is going after them one at a time.
Where's Tweedledee?
Simon Alvin discovered his brother's body and fled the scene.
We haven't been able to locate him.
Thank you.
_
Gift. From a friend.
So is the brother a suspect, then?
No, but very likely the next victim.
- We need to bring him in. - So how are you going to find him?
If he's hiding from an invisible man,
he's hiding from you too.
Not necessarily.
We both received telegrams
to go to Plimley's Arcade and watch machine 3.
Mr Alvin, please, have a seat.
- He could have slipped in here ahead of us. - Who?
Bosworth, of course.
He intends to kill us all with an invisible screwdriver.
Why would he do that?
Because we had plans to discontinue our investment in his projects.
- Why? - Because we didn't think it was going to work.
- Well, it does. - Clearly.
Please.
So Professor Bosworth
planned to kill you because
you had lost faith in a project he knew to be successful.
So why not simply demonstrate its feasibility
and secure financing elsewhere?
Who knows? The man is clearly a lunatic.
So, you had no idea that the project worked
until you saw the film at the arcade today?
- Yes. - Then how did you know about the invisible screwdriver?
That wasn't on the kinetoscope reel.
That was part of this film.
Which Bosworth used to show you that his device worked.
But instead of ramping up your investment,
- you conspired to kill him. - That is total speculation.
I'm not going to stand for it. You can charge me
with whatever you will. I will make my case in court.
You're right.
I don't yet have enough evidence to hold you.
- You're free to go. - No. If I leave, he's going to kill me.
Then give me a reason to keep you in here.
Professor Bosworth had plans to stage a public demonstration
in order to secure more funding for his project.
What he failed to realise is that invisibility is
most valuable when no one knows about it.
Ah.
Hard to keep secrets from someone you don't know is there.
State secrets. Industrial secrets.
We would have been the richest men in the world.
But first you had to kill him.
But we didn't succeed. So protect me.
- Mr Tesla? - Ah!
It is called a Nipkow disk.
It is perforated in such a way
that, as it turns, it sweeps past every point in an image.
As it does, the light produces a modulated current
that can be transmitted by wire to a receiver.
Or recorded onto a wax cylinder.
I would contend magnetic wire is superior.
My problem is how to modulate
the light intensity at the receiving end.
Send the signal through a telephone receiver,
but instead of attaching the magnet to a diaphragm,
- attach it to a fine-toothed comb. - Oh.
As the magnet moves, the amount of light getting through changes.
What's all this, then?
It's something Mr Tesla and I--
It is television.
What?
It's a means by which to convert moving images into electrical signal.
Will it help catch an invisible man?
Miss Rossini? Is everything all right?
- The professor came to see me last night. - He did?
- You saw him? - No, not exactly.
He made me turn out the lights,
and then he put a blindfold on me.
I thought perhaps he'd suffered some terrible deformity.
- What did he want? - He'd come for his box.
And when I told him you had it,
he became very angry.
What's happened to him, Detective?
What's going on?
He has made himself invisible. That is what happened.
- Invisible? - It appears he is attempting
to exact revenge on all those he feels have wronged him.
But I wronged him.
I let you have the box. I--
He's here.
He's what?
I can smell his pipe tobacco.
Now that she mentions it.
Yes, I smell it as well.
He must have followed me here. Ah!! He touched me!!
Shut all the doors!
Good thinking. We'll trap him.
Alright. No one move.
He's here inside the Station House.
We'll clear the offices one at a time,
but first, I want silence.
Listen.
Look for any sign of movement. Don't let him escape.
- Bloody hell. Shut the door! - Shut the door!
Well, if he was here, he's escaped now.
Sirs, we've got a problem.
Miss Rossini?
Is he still out there?
If he was here, he's since fled.
Hold it. Bosworth was here? In the Station House?
Oi! You keep your nose out of this.
Hey, I gave your confession in exchange for protection.
Henry, please escort Miss Rossini home.
- And ensure that her room is unoccupied. - Sir.
I want protection!
You'll need protection from me if you don't keep your mouth shut.
He's right, sir. We do owe him our best efforts.
We'll have a constable in the cells at all times.
All the doors stay locked.
Not even an invisible man can get through bars.
Sir. There is a set of keys missing.
What if he took them?
We would have seen the keys floating through the air.
Not if we weren't looking at that time.
Well, I say we wait for him. He's been in here once and got away.
- More likely he's getting cocky. - How will we know if he's here?
Even an invisible man has to open doors.
We need to be alert. Keep our eyes wide open.
Eyes do not stay open. They blink. They turn away.
It may only be for a moment, but a moment is all he needs.
So what do you suggest?
We need an unblinking eye that remembers everything that it sees.
Television.
With television, we can review events such as
doors opening and closing, objects moving by themselves,
which will tell us when he's in the Station.
- They will be the eyes that never close. - They?
We're building four sensors and one monitor.
So quickly?
Well, the Nipkow disks have already been drilled.
Mr Tesla is obtaining selenium from the university.
The rest is just a reworking of existing devices.
All to catch an invisible man that can't possibly exist.
Oh?
Last night you embraced the idea.
Well, I accept that atoms could be re-aligned
to allow light through an object,
but our bodies are living systems
in a constant state of renewal.
Even if one doesn't eat, every breath
brings in a flood of non-realigned atoms.
Perhaps, but air is invisible.
Yes, but those atoms will join with other atoms
to form molecules which are, in fact, visible.
What does Alfred Epstein have to say about that?
- What's all this, then? - Ah, sir, have a look.
Bloody hell. He made it invisible. You made it invisible.
It's a magician's trick.
The same that Dr Roberts used in his time machine.
Oh, right. I remember.
And what about invisible Bosworth?
Well, his suit would have to be specifically constructed, but
you can see how it could work.
But what are the bandages clinging to if not his head?
- Follow me. - He's very good.
Heavily starched and wrapped around a balloon.
Also a trick.
I confess I am disappointed
that you would seek a conventional explanation.
- It's what I do. - Let me get this straight.
He's now NOT invisible.
- We don't know that for certain. - I suspect not.
And he wasn't in the Station.
It was just our imaginations running amok.
- There's more. - Of course there is. There always is.
Are we transmitting?
We are now receiving the signal from the jail cells.
Adjust the primary comb,
and now the speed of the motor.
There.
- This is happening right now? - It is, sir.
- How wonderful! You got it to work! - We certainly did.
And we can also select other sensors.
Is that us?
Congratulations, gentlemen, on your new invention.
Whatever good it's for.
Right then, I'll bid you all goodnight.
You're leaving? We should celebrate!
I have an opera to attend.
You know, I'm sure you could find a way
to transmit this to our house and you could watch it all night.
It would indeed be possible.
Everyone in the world could have television in their homes.
Oh, I think it's best not.
The weak-minded would waste half of their lives observing it.
It is fascinating to think that I'm watching
what's happening right now.
William! Look!
Where's Henry?
I was just checking the doors when I was grabbed from behind.
A rag was pushed into my face,
and the next I knew, Dr. Ogden was shaking me awake.
He'd been chloroformed.
He must have used the stolen key
to access the back door to the jail room.
There.
He IS invisible.
I was wrong and it cost our prisoner his life.
We were both wrong, William.
On the contrary. I can say with certainty
that your original assumption was correct.
He is not invisible at all.
- But the television shows-- - The television is our proof!
Have you ever seen Bosworth
in this image?
- No. - Exactly.
Professor Bosworth's realignment
is only effective for light in the very narrow part
of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans can see.
If Mr Einsteen's theory is correct--
Wavelengths outside the visual range would also dislodge electrons.
- And if Bosworth were really here-- - We would be able
- to see him on the television. - So the fact that we can't
means that he's not invisible.
- What can I offer you? - What have you got?
- Whiskey. - It better be scotch.
I don't drink anything else.
Got any cigars?
I've never seen a woman smoke a cigar.
Jack hated it.
So does Margaret.
She won't even let me kiss her afterwards.
- Oh, Thomas. - Oh, Verna.
It feels funny saying your name like that.
It felt nice to hear it.
I don't think I'm ready to give up on Margaret just yet.
Even if she won't have you back?
I'm sorry.
Narrow gauge filament
can be very difficult to see.
As long as the line is kept taut.
But when was it set up?
Constable Higgins was in the cells the whole time.
Unless...
What if this is the moment when Henry was attacked?
Could this be Professor Bosworth?
He never shows his face to the sensor.
No, he doesn't.
And look.
With one hand, he's checking the locks
and with the other hand, he's stringing along the filament.
We've been fooled.
Well, how did he stab him, then?
He shot a bolt. Likely with a small crossbow.
- How did he get the bolt back? - Filament.
He was harpooned, then?
Right. So Bosworth never was invisible.
Neither was the screwdriver.
The film was made to lure the investors into providing more funds.
But wait a minute. He had the jail cell keys.
I mean, if he was visible, we would've seen him.
Somebody must have been working with him.
- It wasn't one of our own, was it? - I don't think so.
There was one other person in the Station House
at the time the key went missing.
Miss Rossini led us to believe Bosworth was in the Station House.
Ah!! He touched me!!
No one was watching her. Shut all the doors!
We were all looking for an invisible man.
- That's bloody brilliant. - Have the constables check the train stations.
- They may be trying to escape. - Where are you off to?
To find her. Or them.
George and I will begin at her house.
- Anything upstairs? - No, sir.
Have a look at this.
The Great Rossini?! Did you ever see him, sir?
I'm not much for carnival shows.
Oh, sir, he was incredible. He would make his daughter disappear.
He would put her in one of these chests,
and the next thing you know, she was gone.
His daughter, George.
- Do you think...? - Fiona Rossini
is the Great Rossini's daughter.
You're probably right, sir.
Ah. George.
Sir.
Salt.
Good Lord.
- Sir, isn't that...? - Professor Bosworth.
But if he's dead...?
Then Fiona Rossini is the invisible man.
When my father died, I inherited his act,
but I had no heart for it.
I bought the house and took boarders.
Including Professor Bosworth.
We fell in love.
He was so brilliant.
So driven to prove his device could work.
But it didn't.
He felt he was close.
He was corresponding with Mr Tesla. He just needed a little more time.
A little more money.
- But the investors balked. - He was crushed.
So I said to him:
"If you believe, make them believe."
So you made the screwdriver appear invisible
and they fell for it.
And so they decided to kill him.
And you set out for revenge.
And what better way than to make them believe
the man they tried to kill was now invisible
and coming after them?
And the police would forever be searching
for an invisible man that does not exist.
How did you figure it out?
A wondrous invention.
Television.
Once again, Detective, we used physics to solve a murder.
And had some fun while you were at it.
Are you going to patent this television of yours?
What is to patent?
We didn't do anything that wouldn't be obvious to any scientist.
Besides, it would be of limited interest to the public.
Thank you, Detective Murdoch.
Invisibility, on the other hand...
I had a visit from George, by the way.
Yes. I've given him permission to 'improve' our manuscript.
Well, he suggested that we arrange the book case by case.
I thought perhaps we would call it
The Cases of Detective Murdoch and Doctor Ogden.
Or The Murdoch Case Files.
Am I not to be in the title at all?
Was it not you that told me
that a writer needs to have a thick skin?
Yes, William, but when I said that,
I didn't mean for it to be applied to me!
Corrected by DB