<P> Martins visits Lime's "medical adviser", Dr. Winkel (Erich Ponto), who says that he arrived at the accident after Lime was dead, and only two men were present . Later, the porter secretly offers Martins more information but is murdered before their arranged meeting . When Martins arrives, unaware of the murder, a young boy recognizes him as having argued with the porter earlier and points this out to the gathering bystanders, who become hostile, and then mob - like . Escaping from them, Martins returns to the hotel, and a cab whisks him away . He fears it is taking him to his death, but takes him to the book club . With no lecture prepared, he stumbles until Popescu, in the audience, asks him about his next book . Martins replies that it will be called The Third Man, "a murder story" inspired by facts . Popescu tells Martins that he should stick to fiction . Martins sees two thugs approaching and flees . </P> <P> Calloway again advises Martins to leave Vienna, but Martins refuses and demands that Lime's death be investigated . Calloway reluctantly reveals that Lime had been stealing penicillin from military hospitals, and selling it on the black market diluted so much that many patients died . In postwar Vienna, antibiotics were new and scarce outside military hospitals and commanded a very high price . Calloway's evidence convinces Martins . Disillusioned, he agrees to leave Vienna . </P> <P> Martins visits Anna to say good - bye and finds that she also knows of Lime's misdeeds, but that her feelings toward him are unchanged . She tells him she is to be deported . Upon leaving her flat, he notices someone watching from a dark doorway; a neighbour's lit window briefly reveals the person to be Lime (Orson Welles), who flees, ignoring Martins's calls . Martins summons Calloway, who deduces that Lime has escaped through the sewers . The British police immediately exhume Lime's coffin and discover that the body is that of Joseph Harbin, an orderly who stole penicillin for Lime and went missing after turning informant . </P> <P> The next day, Martins goes to Kurtz and demands to see Lime . Lime comes out to meet him and they ride Vienna's Ferris wheel, the Wiener Riesenrad . Lime indirectly threatens Martins's life but relents when told that the police already know his death and funeral were faked . In a monologue on the insignificance of his victims, he reveals the full extent of his amorality . He again offers a job to Martins and leaves . Calloway asks Martins to help lure Lime out to capture him, and Martins agrees, asking for Anna's safe conduct out of Vienna in exchange . However, Anna refuses to leave and remains loyal to Lime . Exasperated, Martins decides to leave but changes his mind after Calloway shows Martins the children who are victims of Lime's diluted penicillin, brain - damaged as a result of meningitis . </P>

The third man who is the third man