While Barnabas opens the secret panel under the stairs and enters the hidden room, Hoffman watches intently from outside; she can see that there’s a secret room, but not what’s in it. What could be inside? she wonders. I can’t risk trying to find out now. I’ll return when I know he’ll be out of the house--then maybe I’ll know what his secret is. (The writers seem to have remembered that Hoffman and Angelique know he has a secret, but not that he is cursed!) In a soliloquy, Barnabas tells us, I’m disappointed not to find Will at home. I had hoped to enlist his help in looking for Maggie. Once I find the person who has taken her, I must rely on my wolf’s-head cane rather than reveal my powers. But even a ravenous wolf’s jaws are no match for the cane in my hands. Having reassured himself of his ability to deal with any crisis, he closes the panel. As he steps into the center of the drawing room, he seems to sense-- something that disturbs him. After a moment, he leaves Loomis House--apparently having gone there not to find Will, but for the sole purpose of showing Hoffman the secret room??? (Don’t look at me!)
Maggie still hasn't given up trying to escape, yay!
Elizabeth and Sabrina go to the lab after a concert--who knew Collinsport is a hive of cultural activity? Yaeger comes downstairs and greets “Miss Stuart” and “Mrs. Stoddard.” When Elizabeth politely says she doesn’t remember meeting him (and she’s right), he replies smoothly, We haven't been formally introduced, but who could fail to recognize the legendary beauty of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard? In spite of herself, Elizabeth is very flattered. Poor Sabrina has to go through the whole ghastly parody of introducing them properly and acquiescing politely when Yaeger says he has some papers to review with her. Elizabeth leaves, glad to be away from him. Yaeger gives Sabrina some more commands and threats.
Later, Hoffman is serving Elizabeth coffee or tea and wonders if anyone has checked out Barnabas's story about coming from darkest Peru. Elizabeth immediately gets her back up and says sternly, Hoffman, Mr. Barnabas is a member of the Collins family. That name alone indicates integrity. Please remember that. Hoffman replies meekly (for her) and leaves the room. But once she's gone, Elizabeth does start to think about Barn. Somehow these thoughts send her to sleep, and she has a bizarre nightmare about finding Maggie dead in the lab and the equipment trashed. Hoffman hears her call out Maggie's name, but Elizabeth is already halfway out the door. Hoffman asks where she could be going at this time of night, but Elizabeth leaves quickly without answering and with her coat still only half on. Hoffman reflects that she heard Elizabeth call out Maggie’s name, but has no idea what this could mean.
Maggie actually picks the lock--just before Yaeger returns. She pretends that she found the door unlocked. Then what about this curious little object? he wonders, picking up the nail file from the floor. That was very careless of you. Maggie exclaims in dismay as he produces a piece of rope from somewhere and announces, I’m going to cure your restlessness. He stretches out the rope between his hairy hands while Maggie huddles against the far wall, her face averted from the horror that is John Yaeger. He grabs her and forces her to sit in the chair. You’re not going to tie me up! she protests as he proceeds to do just that. I promise not to run away, she pleads. I said I would go away with you and I meant it. Sabrina arrives just in time to hear Yaeger tell Maggie, You’ll go with me, all right, because I’ll make sure you have nothing to go back to Collinwood for. Perhaps you will be more receptive to John Yaeger when there is no Quentin Collins at Collinwood. Maggie is even more horrified when Yaeger snarls, There won’t be any Quentin Collins, except in a grave! Please don’t hurt Quentin, she pleads. Yaeger says only, He won’t be here after today. He ties Maggie’s feet.
Elizabeth has gone to Loomis House. Barnabas has returned, and she asks if he’s found Maggie. When he replies in the negative, she tells him about her dream of going to Cyrus’s lab with Sabrina and finding Maggie there--dead. This word gets Barnabas’s instant attention. Elizabeth says, The dream is easily explained. I did actually did go with Sabrina to the lab--where I met John Yaeger. He was perfectly dreadful! she exclaims. He seemed to fill the whole room with-- Evil? Barnabas supplies, and Elizabeth agrees. So Yaeger’s back! he mutters to himself. Might Yaeger have something to do with Maggie’s disappearance? Elizabeth wonders. I will find out the answer soon, Barnabas vows and takes her back to Collinwood.
In his lair, Yaeger has finished tying Maggie up in the chair. Haggard and still sick, she rocks herself back and forth from sheer exhaustion. He picks up a piece of cloth to gag her, then reconsiders. You can scream all you want, he taunts her. No one will hear you! He puts his hands on her shoulders, and she groans in terror and anguish as she tries to twist away from him. He proves his point by fastening his mouth on hers in a truly degraded kiss (well, for 1970 anyway). Apparently having decided not to wait until they’re in New York, let alone until she loves him, he is actually carrying her (still tied hand and foot) to the bed when he hears a noise from outside. Sabrina has left, unable to bear any more. Yaeger dumps Maggie unceremoniously on the bed and goes out to investigate. He finds the check he had given Sabrina earlier. She knows! He runs upstairs, leaving the door open and Maggie still lying on the cot.
Barnabas is exploring Cyrus’s lab. Somehow the safe is now closed and the picture that usually covers it is back in place. He finds the armoire, full of clothes that can’t possibly belong to Cyrus Longworth. Yaeger! he thinks, but why in Cyrus’s laboratory? I must find out the connection between Cyrus and Yaeger in the hope that it will lead me to Maggie.
Sabrina has rushed to Collinwood, where she calls out for Quentin and Elizabeth. Getting no answer, she picks up the phone and starts dialing when a hand closes over her mouth. Ripping the cord out of the wall for good measure, Yaeger pushes her into the drawing room, where he rips that phone out too. Why are you doing that? Sabrina asks. Because I feel like it, he replies in true Yaeger fashion. You have the exploratory mind of a scientist, he observes, but sometimes it can lead you into dangerous places. Why did you come here? she asks. Why did you come here? he asks back. She tries to improvise something, but it doesn’t work. What about the check I gave you? he asks. Surreptitiously she checks her pocket. Trying to conceal her horror at finding it empty, she replies, I locked it in the safe to take to the bank tomorrow. Then what’s this? he asks, dangling the check in front of her. What are you going to do? she asks faintly. I think you know, he answers calmly. Let Maggie go, she pleads. What did she ever do to you? But Yaeger relentlessly changes the subject back to Sabrina, and she finally says it: You’re going to kill me! She pleads with him one more time. Can’t you reconstruct the antidote? she asks desperately. No, he answers. Cyrus was the only one who could, and do you see any trace of him in me at all? She calls to Cyrus one more time, but this only sends Yaeger into a fury. I’ve killed Cyrus! he screams. Cyrus is dead! He wraps his hands around her throat and strangles her. As Sabrina’s lifeless body sinks to the floor, Yaeger hears a cry; he turns around to see Elizabeth standing horrified in the doorway....
