The private eye Arbogast ( Martin Balsam) is murdered, in a shot that uses back-projection to seem to follow him down the stairs.
Analyzing our feelings, we realize we wanted that car to sink, as much as Norman did. Before Sam Loomis reappears, teamed up with Marion’s sister Lila ( Vera Miles) to search for her, “Psycho” already has a new protagonist: Norman Bates. This is one of the most audacious substitutions in Hitchcock’s long practice of leading and manipulating us. The rest of the film is effective melodrama, and there are two effective shocks. The private eye Arbogast ( Martin Balsam) is murdered, in a shot that uses back-projection to seem to follow him down the stairs. And the secret of Norman’s mother is revealed.