Returning home, she begins to pack, deciding to steal the money and give it to Sam in Fairvale, California. She is seen by her boss on her way out of town, which makes her nervous. During the trip, she pulls over on the side of the road and falls asleep, only to be awakened by a state patrol officer. Suspicious about her nervous behavior, he notes her license plate number and follows her at a close distance. Hoping to shake his pursuit, Marion stops at an automobile dealership and trades in her Ford Mainline, with its Arizona license plates, for a Ford Custom 3. California tags. Driving on, Marion stops for the night at the Bates Motel. The proprietor, Norman Bates, invites her to a light dinner after she checks in. She accepts, but then hears an argument between Norman and his mother about bringing a woman into her house. They eat in the motel parlor, where he tells her about his life with his mother, who is mentally ill and forbids him to have a life outside of her. Her sense of compassion and responsibility awakened by Normans story, Marion decides to go back to Phoenix in the morning to return the stolen money, and prepares for bed. As she is showering, a shadowy figure comes in and stabs her to death with a knife. Norman discovers the murder and assumes his mother is responsible. He meticulously cleans up the crime scene, putting Marions corpse and her possessionsincluding the embezzled moneyinto the trunk of her car and sinking it in the swamps near the motel. A week later, Marions sister Lila arrives in Fairvale and confronts Sam about the whereabouts of her sister. Private investigator Milton Arbogast approaches them and confirms that Marion is wanted for stealing the 4. He checks the motels, and Normans evasive and inconsistent answers arouse his suspicions. After hearing that Marion had met Normans mother, he asks to speak with her, but Norman refuses. Arbogast calls Lila and Sam to update them. He goes to the Bates home in search of Normans mother as he reaches the top of the stairs, he is attacked and murdered. When Lila and Sam do not hear from Arbogast, Sam visits the motel. He finds only Mrs. Bates, who ignores his knocking. Lila and Sam go to the local sheriff, who informs them that Mrs. Bates killed herself ten years ago, and concludes that Arbogast lied to confuse them and made off with the 4. Still convinced that some ill has befallen Arbogast, Lila and Sam make their way to the motel. Norman takes his unwilling mother from her room and hides her in the fruit cellar. At the motel, Lila and Sam meet Norman. Sam distracts him by striking up a conversation while Lila sneaks up to the house. When Sam tells Norman theyve come to question his mother, he knocks Sam out and rushes to the house. Lila sees Norman approaching and hides by going down steps that lead to the fruit cellar. There she finds Mrs. Bates sitting in a chair. Lila turns her around and discovers that she is in fact a mummified corpse. Lila screams as Norman runs into the cellar, holding a chefs knife and wearing his mothers clothes and a wig. Before Norman can attack Lila, Sam, having regained consciousness, subdues him. At the local courthouse, a psychiatrist explains that Norman murdered Mrs. Bates and her lover ten years prior out of jealousy. Unable to bear the guilt, he exhumed her corpse and began to treat it as if she were still alive. In order to preserve that illusion, he recreated his mother in his own mind as an alternate personality, often dressing in her clothes and talking to himself in her voice. This Mother personality is jealous and possessive whenever Norman feels attracted to a woman, Mother kills her. As Mother, Norman had killed two young girls prior to Marion, as well as Arbogast. The psychiatrist says the Mother personality has taken permanent hold of Normans mind. While Norman sits in a holding cell, Mother protests that the murders were Normans doing and that she wouldnt even harm a fly. Meanwhile, Marions car is pulled out of the swamp. The success of Psycho jump started Perkins career, but he soon began to suffer from typecasting. However, when Perkins was asked whether he would have still taken the role knowing that he would be typecast afterwards, he replied with a definite yes. Until her death, Leigh continued to receive strange and sometimes threatening calls, letters, and even tapes detailing what they would like to do to Marion Crane. One letter was so grotesque that she passed it along to the FBI, two of whose agents visited Leigh and told her the culprits had been located and that she should notify the FBI if she received any more letters of that type. Normans mother was voiced by Virginia Gregg, Paul Jasmin, and Jeanette Nolan, who also provided some screams for Lilas discovery of the mothers corpse. The three voices were thoroughly mixed, except for the last speech, which is all Greggs. As Perkins was in New York working on a Broadway stage show when the shower sequence was filmed, actresses Anne Dore and Margo Epper stepped in as his body doubles for that scene. ProductioneditDevelopmenteditPsycho is based on Robert Blochs 1. Wisconsin murderer and grave robber Ed Gein. Both Gein, who lived just 4. Bloch, and the storys protagonist, Norman Bates, were solitary murderers in isolated rural locations. Each had deceased, domineering mothers, had sealed off a room in their home as a shrine to her, and dressed in womens clothes. However, unlike Bates, Gein is not strictly considered a serial killer, having been charged with murder only twice. Peggy Robertson, Hitchcocks long time assistant, read Anthony Bouchers positive review of the novel and decided to show the book to her employer, even though studio readers at Paramount Pictures had already rejected its premise for a film. Hitchcock acquired rights to the novel for 9,5. Robertson to buy up copies to preserve the novels surprises.