Episode #47 - I can still remember the words I heard the night I arrived at Collinwood: "Welcome to the beginning and the of the world"--they had no meaning for me then, but now they seem terribly real--as real as the mysteries of this strange, dark house and the troubled souls that live within its walls--as real as the passing minutes and the growing fear they bring.
Carolyn, in a flowing nightgown, drifts downstairs to the strains of piano playing. She enters the drawing room to find her mother playing a melancholy tune. Is this the late concert? asks Carolyn. You startled me, says Liz. Then neighbors have been complaining for hours, teases Carolyn--go on, play some more. What about Uncle Roger and David--I don't want to disturb them, says Liz. I was only kidding, says Carolyn, I couldn't hear them until I got just outside the door--go on, I love to listen to you, I always have. I think it's probably too late, says Liz, rising from the bench. It's only 10 past 11, says Carolyn, not even the witching hour. The witching hour, repeats Liz--oh, Carolyn, I something think I'm losing my mind! What's the matter? asks Carolyn. I'm frightened, says Liz. Of what? asks Carolyn. I don't know, replies Liz, but I have this awful feeling of impending disaster. The clock strikes and Liz does look very afraid.
Liz goes to the phone and dials. There's no answer. She hangs up, disturbed. Who are you calling? Asks Carolyn. Bill Malloy, says Liz. At this hour? asks her daughter. He didn't answer, anyway, says Liz. You don't usually make phone calls at 20 minutes pass 11, points out Carolyn. Liz, agitated, says she wanted to discuss a business matter with him. Liz looks out the window. Does Bill have anything to do with your premonition? Asks Carolyn. Forget what I said before, Liz asks her--it was silly of me. Are you afraid something might have happened to him? demands Carolyn. Of course not, says Liz, why do you ask that? Because he seemed pretty upset today, says Carolyn--because he came up here and had a private talk with you--and because when he walked out of here, he didn't seem like a very happy man. Bill Malloy is our fleet manager, says Liz, shrugging--why shouldn't we have a private talk? Why shouldn't you be able to sleep tonight? asks Carolyn. Darling, says Liz, Bill and I discuss things relating to the business and they were disturbing--nothing that need concern you. But it can't wait until morning, says Carolyn. Please, begs Liz. Just answer the question, says Carolyn--does it have anything to do with Uncle Roger. Why do you ask that? queries Liz. It is Uncle Roger, isn't it? asks Carolyn--we had a terrible row earlier this evening, did you know that?--something silly--a pen!--You know how fond of Uncle Roger I am, but tonight--I guess that's why I couldn't sleep--the strange way he behaved--that is what you and Bill were talking about, Uncle Roger?
What do you mean, strange? asks Liz. I don't know, says Carolyn, there was this pen business, and later on, we were talking about the family--you know, different things that had been done to keep the family together--and Uncle Roger said something about self-protection--about how sometimes a person has to do terrible things to protect himself. He said that? asks Liz--Uncle Roger?--Uncle Roger used those words? Carolyn nods--words like that, she says, and then later he said, and I can even remember his exact words--I refuse to be anyone's sacrificial lamb--Mother, where are you going? Liz, opening the double doors, says she's going upstairs to talk to Uncle Roger. Liz heads upstairs. The clock strikes 11:30.
Roger's office - Roger is on the phone, Burke sitting across the desk from him. Still no answer? asks Burke. Roger, his forehead still dimpled from the cut he received in the accident, doesn't reply, and Burke asks again--still no answer? Sam sits beside Burke, further back. No, says Roger. Let it ring, says Burke. Why, Malloy obviously is not home, says Roger. Sam rises from his chair, tucking his hands in his pockets. He has a housekeeper, doesn't he? asks Burke--at least she should answer it--let it ring. You sure he said he'd be here at 11? Asks Sam. That's what he said, agrees Burke, be here at 11 sharp--isn't that what he said to you, Roger? I guess he changed his mind, says Roger, hanging up--this is a waste of time, he's obviously not there. Look, says Sam, it's 11:30, if he were going to be here, he would have been here half an hour ago, so let's just forget the whole thing. Sit down, Sam, orders Burke--Malloy set up this meeting, and he told us to be here--well, we're here, and staying here until he gets here--unless you want to get into the matter right now. I don't know what he wanted, says Sam. I see, says Burke--what about you, Roger? Bill came to my house and asked me to come down here, that's all I know, says Roger. You're a great pair, aren't you? asks Burke--let me tell you what I know--Malloy said he had some information on my manslaughter conviction. Oh, come off it, will you? asks Roger disdainfully. Who do you think you're talking to? demands Burke. If you're going to be obnoxious, begins Roger, rising in his chair. Burke stands, too--obnoxious? He says--we've been sitting here for half an hour, talking about the weather and the price of sardines--well let's stop sitting around and get down to facts. Sam wanders around near the dart board, silent. What facts? Asks Roger. Ten years ago, says Burke, you were a witness at my murder trial--but you knew I was innocent, didn't you? That's not true! says Roger. And you, Sam, says Burke, turning to the other man, you know something about it, too, don't you? Sorry, Burke, you're wrong, says Sam. Am I? asks Burke--Bill Malloy wouldn't have asked you over here if he didn't think you were involved. Evans wasn't at your trial, points out Roger, how could he be involved. I don't know--suppose you tell me, Burke says to Sam. There's nothing to tell, insists Sam. Burke picks up the phone and dials Malloy. You're wasting your time, insists Roger, he didn't answer a couple of minutes ago, why should he be home now?
All right, says Burke, hanging up, but if either of you are gone when I get back, so help me I'm coming back here and drag you back! He goes to the door, telling Sam he's going to Malloy's house--he's going to get him up if he has to break the door down--and remember, be here when I get back! He leaves. Sam and Roger survey each other, unnerved.
Drawing room, Collinwood - Carolyn, pouring tea, asks her mother what her uncle meant by "sacrificial lamb"? I don't know, says Liz, complaining that it seems cold in here. The chill of doom, of course, teases Carolyn, sipping her tea. Don't say that, begs Liz. I was only joking, says Carolyn. Please don't, says Liz, sitting down--I think you ought to go back to bed. Carolyn rises from the sofa and goes to her mother, kneeling in front of her. I'm sorry, says Carolyn, it wasn't a very good joke. I'm so worried, says Liz, you have no idea how worried I am. About what? Carolyn asks. I wish I knew, says Liz, it happened once a long long time ago, this fear... I love you, Carolyn assures her, and I want to help if there's anything I can do. Darling, says Liz, smoothing back her daughter's hair, for your own happiness, you can walk out that front door and never look back--that's what you can do for me. I don't want to, says Carolyn. Why do I feel this way? asks Liz--it's as if death had walked into this house. That's silly, and you know it, says Carolyn. did you hear a car pull up? asks Liz, on edge. No, says Carolyn. Liz glances out the window--I'm sure I--nothing, she says, twisting her hands together. Carolyn puts an arm around her mother and begs her to please not do this to herself. Where could Roger have gone? worries Liz. I'm sure nothing has happened to him--if that's what you're worried about, says Carolyn. The altar, murmurs Liz, perhaps the lamb has gone to the sacrificial altar. . .
Absolutely not! says Roger--I have no intention of playing into Burke's hands, not even for a second. It's ridiculous, says Sam--why should we sit here and wait? Burke will come back, says Roger--I don't want him to think you have any reason to be afraid of him--you'll wait here just as I will and face him just as I will. There's no point in it, says Sam, he'll find that Bill's not at home. How do you know that? asks Roger. Because I... begins Sam, because I know Bill, if he were at home, he'd answer the phone. Is that the only reason? asks Roger. Of course, says Sam--I mean look, his phone is right in the bedroom, if he were there, he couldn't have helped hearing it. Then where do you think he is? asks Roger. How should I know? asks Sam, all I know is he was supposed to be here at 11 o'clock--Sam rises from his chair--what are you driving at, Collins? You would feel a lot safer, wouldn't you, if Malloy never showed up? asks Roger, smiling. You think I'd, begins Sam...he grabs Roger by the lapels of his suit jacket--Collins, I could kill you! That wouldn't solve your problem, says Roger dryly, glancing own at Sam's fists grasping his lapels--it would only add to it. Sam releases him.
Tell me, says Roger, if Malloy does show up, what are you going to say to him. Tell him what a fool I was 10 years ago, says Sam, and tell him how I let you talk me into... Into what? demands Roger--being an accessory after the fact?--that's the legal term for it, you know--and it does carry a prison sentence--you know that, don't you? Yes, yes, says Sam, distracted rubbing his hair and face. Maybe Malloy will be here, and maybe he won't, says Roger, but should Burke bring Malloy back with him, I want you to do exactly what you've done for 10 years--keep your mouth shut! It's endless! Cries Sam. That's right, says Roger, that's what I want it to be--neither Burke not Bill Malloy can touch us if we stand together--and that means no statements, no facts, no information--is that clear? Sam doesn't have a chance to respond when Burke returns and says, "He's either out or dead." What do you mean by that? asks Sam. I rang his bell a couple of dozen times, says Burke, banged on the door. It's as I told you, Roger reminds him, no one's home. His car was parked in front of the house, says Burke. Doesn't mean a thing, says Roger, Bill likes to walk, he often walks here from his house. Maybe he got lost, suggests Burke with a grim smile. Look, says Sam, we know he's not at home--what are we gonna do? Just what we've been doing, says Burke--wait--and he sits back down in the chair opposite Roger. It's 11:40.
11:55 - The clock ticks audibly in Roger's office as the three men wait, and wait, sometimes looking at each other, sometimes not, lost in their own private thoughts. I think we've given Bill enough time, don't you? asks Roger. No, says Burke. This is ridiculous, it's almost 12, I'm tired, complains Roger. So am I, insists Sam, rising from his chair, let's go. Sit down, Sam! orders Burke. We've been here almost an hour, points out Sam. We'll wait another hour if we have to! says Burke. Maybe you will, but not I, says Roger. Bill Malloy said he would be here, says Burke. Then he obviously has realized that there's no point to this big meeting of his, says Roger. I don't believe that, says Burke. I have no intention of sitting here waiting for someone who has apparently decided there is no basis for whatever charges he was going to make. Burke stands and gets right in Roger's face--then you do know what was on his mind? he says. I know nothing, says Roger--only that I'm going home and to bed. Roger, says Burke, Malloy knows there's something between you and Evans, and you know it! Roger has taken his coat from the coat tree, and he turns to Burke and says, "Do I?--do I indeed?--do you know anything about that?" he asks Sam. Not a thing, says the latter. Unless of course, Bill Malloy chooses to have another meeting of the board, says Roger smugly. So that's it, is it? asks Burke angrily. Yes, says Roger--oh, there's one more thing--you had lunch today in Bangor with my niece, didn't you? Yes, says Burke. You gave her a present, didn't you--a fountain pen? Oh--yes, says Burke, as if he's forgotten. Roger reaches in his pocket and takes out the pen--Carolyn asked me to return it to you--you see, there's some people from whom we choose not to accept presents. Forget the pen! Orders Burke. I seem to have left it at home, says Roger, but I'll find it and return it to you.
All right, you find it and return it to me, agrees Burke brusquely. And just stay away from my family, says Roger, and that includes Carolyn--do you have your car, Evans? No, says Sam, I walked. I'll drop you at home, Roger tells him--good night, Burke. Listen, says Burke, rubbing his face distractedly, I'm going to try Malloy one more time. Go right ahead, says Roger, and if you get him, don't hesitate to call me, and Evans--you'll be home, won't you? he asks Sam. Yes, says Evans. You see, Burke, says Roger, we've neither of us anything to hide. The phone rings and rings at the other end as Sam and Roger leave the office. Answer, Bill! cries Burke desperately, answer!
Carolyn is laughing riotously, telling Liz, "You never answered--I remember the phone rang and rang and you refused to answer!" Could you blame me? asks Liz, in a much better frame of mind--Halloween, midnight, three calls for the ghost of Collinwood were not for me--I suppose all your friends were very angry with me." Still laughing, Carolyn covers her mouth with he hand and says, oh, no, Mother, no one could ever be angry with you--you've always been very kind--a bit of a kook, maybe, but kind. A bit of a kook? Says Liz, grinning--is that any way to speak to your mother? If it makes you laugh, it is, says Carolyn--I wish you'd laugh more often--it sounds so marvelous in this gloomy house. We have had some wonderful times together, haven't we, darling? Asks Liz. Yes, agrees Carolyn, and we'll have them again, right? Right, agrees Liz--if you'll go upstairs and get your beauty sleep--it's almost midnight! The witching hour, says Carolyn--why don't you come up to bed yourself? I want to wait for Uncle Roger, says Liz, there's something I want to discuss with him. Will you smile? asks Carolyn. I'll try to, promises Liz--now scoot! A smile's the best thing to chase the goblins away, says Carolyn--how long will you wait--suppose Uncle Roger's out all night? Then I'll be up all night, says Liz--now go to bed. Carolyn kisses Liz on the cheek and says, "I love you, Mother--please don't worry!" I'll try not to, agrees Liz--and thank you for being so sweet. Carolyn blows her a kiss and leaves. The clock strikes midnight. Liz goes to the window, nervous, and just stands there.
Roger returns home, whistling. He slips off his coat and tosses it on the foyer table, then enters the drawing room and pours himself a drink. You're feeling pretty good, aren't you? asks his sister, coming up behind him, causing him to spill a bit. Liz, what are you doing up this hour of night? he asks. Waiting for you, she says. I thought you'd stopped waiting up for me, he says--care for a nightcap. (I lose sound here in several spots.) Where were you tonight? she asks. . . .personal, as a matter of fact, says Roger. Did it have anything to do with Bill Malloy? asks Liz. What makes you ask that? Roger queries, uncomfortable. I've been trying to reach him all evening, she says. Unsuccessfully, I gather, he says. Yes, she admits--he came to see me this afternoon--did you know that? No, says Roger. He said some extremely unpleasant things about you, she says--things I chose to ignore at the time. But you've had second thought? Says Roger. He said you were responsible for the accident that sent Burke Devlin to prison, says Liz--he said that you knowingly allowed Burke to pay for a crime you committed.
Liz! says Roger reproachfully, are you serious? Do you think I'd joke about a thing like this? she demands angrily--he said he could prove it and that's what he intended to do. And did you ask him to bring his proof to you? asks Roger. What I asked him to bring me was not important, she says--what you say to me is--did he speak to you about this? Last time I saw him was this afternoon, says Roger--no, he didn't say anything to me about it. (Liar, liar, pants on fire!) Then you deny his story? she asks. Deny it? he asks, amazed, what do you want me to say? I want you to tell the truth, says Liz--were you or were you not responsible for Burke going to prison? Yes, I was, he admits. Roger! she says. But not the way you think, he says, I was responsible because I was on the witness stand--I was responsible because I testified against Burke--and every word of my testimony was true--Liz, that's where you'll find the answer--in the jury's verdict--not in the ravings of Bill Malloy! Why would he say all those things? asks Liz. Why don't we find out?--let's call him, shall we? suggests Roger. He stands. I tried, there's no answer, says Liz. Then we'll try again tomorrow, says Roger--arrange for you, me and Bill to sit down together and I'll answer any questions you put to me--I can't do anymore than that, can I? NO, says Liz. Fine, says Roger--you just arrange the meeting and I'll e there--now you go to bed. He leads her out of the drawing room. They bid each other good night. Pleasant dreams, he tells her. She goes upstairs. He looks pensive, and takes a sip of his drink.
NOTES: What have we here--a murder mystery? Bill Malloy was very determined to bring this whole sordid business out in the open, and for him to not show up was highly uncharacteristic. When Sam snapped that brush in half, had he already made his plan to do away with Bill--and went ahead with it? Or did Roger cleverly suggest this meeting with Liz, himself and Malloy, knowing the latter won't show up because he, Roger, made sure he couldn't?
I loved the scenes between Carolyn and Liz. You really do sense love between these two, and I understand Barrett and Bennett (sounds like a law firm) had a wonderful rapport off-screen too. When Carolyn kneels like a little girl at Liz' feet and speaks so earnestly to her, you see a wonderful mother-daughter relationship. I love the way they joke about the ghosts, too.
Poor Burke--he felt vindication close enough to touch, and now it's been taken away from him. What will he do? Return to his original plan to take down ALL the Collins family. Roger was so smug and nasty, I wanted to smack him, and Sam is so spineless, despite his burgeoning conscience, I want to smack him, too!
Liz is apparently psychic, sensing doom--and she mentions feeling this only on one other occasion--what could that have been? Her illegitimate daughter's birth, perhaps?
Roger is reprehensible, a coward and liar. I wish Bill Malloy had shown up and exposed him for what he is!
Episode #48 - "I can hardly remember how long I've been here at Collinwood, how long I've been exposed to the fears that seem to pulse through the halls of the great house on Widows' Hill, and now another day has begun, not only for me, but for a troubled boy." During the voice-over, David has been diligently searching his room, culling through stacks of papers, trying to find something. He looks on his desk (where the popular Robbie the Robot toy from LOST IN SPACE stands perched atop a bunch of books), on his night table, in his night table, and apparently hasn't found what he's looking for. He's puzzled and perturbed--where is it?
There's a knock at his door. A cheerful Vicki, his drawing of Collinwood in her hand, greets him good morning and asks if he's ready for a hard day's schoolwork. David pulls the drawing out of her hand and asks, defensively, where she got it. She admits she "borrowed" it from him last night. David examines the drawing--he's been looking all over for it. She apologizes; she knows she should have asked first, but she was so excited when she saw it. "It's a wonderful drawing, David, do you know that?" she asks, an enthusiastic grin on her face. He protests that it's "all right," but she says it's much more than that, proclaiming him a very talented boy. He smiles self-consciously: "It's not that good," he insists, but it's obvious that her praise truly pleases him. She says it's good enough so that she would like to show it to a real artist someday--how would he like that? He carries the drawing over to his night stand and stares at it. Smiling, he says he supposes it would be all right, but remarks the she probably doesn't even know any artists. She glances at the drawing over his shoulder and admits, "Not yet, but I'm going to--so you take very good care of it, because I want to show it to him." Upset, he points out that there's a smudge on it. Vicki spots it and offers to erase it. No, he'll do it, he says, and pulls out a pencil to repair the damage. She agrees that only the artist himself should touch his own work. They both survey his handiwork and agree it looks much better. "All right, Michaelangelo," Vicki says, "let's get down to history." She heads for the desk, pencil in hand. David glances over his shoulder at the picture on his night stand before sitting down at the desk with Vicki. She observes how proud he is of the drawing, and he agrees. She says his father was proud, too, when she showed it to him. David's countenance changes, reflecting horror and anger. "You showed it to my father?" he demands, eyes blazing. "Yes, last night," she says. David immediately races over to the night stand, picks up the drawing, and savagely tears it into pieces. Vicki, seeing the uncontrolled fury on his face, asks him what's the matter. Seeing him destroying his picture, she cries out, "David!"
Vicki has the torn picture pieces on the desk and is trying to fit them back together. Sighing, she asks him why he did it. "Because I wanted to," he says petulantly. Because she showed it to his father? "It was my drawing, I can do anything I wanted with it," he says, lower lip thrust out. She wonders if she should put some tape on the back, and David races from his defensive post by the door. "Leave it alone!" he insists, "I don't want it anymore!" He deliberately wrecks the pieces she had so carefully laid out on the desk and tosses them onto the floor. Resigned, Vicki tells him his father only looked at it, he didn't contaminate it. "I drew it for somebody else, not for him," David says furiously, and Vicki tells him his father thought it was pretty wonderful. David says he doesn't care what his father thinks of his drawing, or anything else. "All right, David, it's over," Vicki sighs, knowing their tenuous relationship has moved one step forward, two steps back. She suggests they get back to work. David stands behind his chair and spits out, "I hate him!" Again, Vicki tells him they should get down to history, but David blathers on, accusingly, "If I'd wanted him to see it, I would have shown him myself!" Vicki says she didn't know that and apologizes for her mistake, she's sorry, what more can she say to him? He says she had no right to steal it out of his room. She tells him that's ridiculous, she only borrowed it to show it to his father. "You took it without asking, and that's the same as stealing," insists, David. "You told me that when I borrowed your letter." Vicki protests that's different, but he insists she has different rules for grown-ups and kids..."sure!" He thrusts out his lower lip angrily. "You're a thief, just like you called me," he cries, "and I wish you'd go away and never come back!" She says they've had enough of this talk, and he plows on--"I bet you can't wait to tell Aunt Elizabeth what I said!" Vicki ignores him and opens the history book. "We were studying American history," she reminds him. "Just because Aunt Elizabeth told me to be nice to you doesn't mean I REALLY like you," he says. Annoyed, she orders him to sit down and do his work. He sits, then says, "I hate you just like I hate him, just because you got me in trouble doesn't mean I'm gonna forget...I'm NEVER gonna forget!" Vicki tries to capture his attention, but he continues, "And if you want to tell Aunt Elizabeth, go ahead and tell her--I don't care!" "Tell me what, David?" queries his aunt's cultured voice, and Liz herself, carrying a silver and white striped gift box with a ribbon on top, walks into his room. "What do you want Miss Winters to tell me, David?" He turns away and walks over to his bookcase, avoiding everyone and everything. Liz asks Vicki if David is being rude again. Vicki assures her no, that they were discussing the American Revolution and had a disagreement. "I see," Liz says, disbelieving. She walks over to David and says, "I hope you haven't forgotten our talk--I don't want any reports of trouble between you and Miss Winters--is that clear?" "Yes," David agrees. Liz suggests her open the gift that came for him, delivered from Collinsport. David is delighted and excited when she points out that it's addressed to him, David Collins, at Collinwood. He takes the package over to his bed and opens it. Amidst a lot of tissue paper he lifts out a crystal ball. When Liz asks Vicki what's going on, she explains to Liz that she borrowed a drawing of David's without asking, and that he has every right to be angry. "Wow!" David cries, holding the crystal ball up to his face. Liz asks what it is while David is gushing over what a beauty it is. "It's a crystal ball, like the fortunetellers use," he says, and turns it over to glance at the base. "It's even got a stand on it!" Vicki agrees it's great, and asks if there's a note saying who it's from. David looks through the box and finds a note: "'Now you can tell us all where we're going. Your friend, Burke.' It's from Mr. Devlin!" David exclaims. He rises from the bed and says it's great, he has to thank him. Liz comments that it's a strange present, grabs David's shoulder and tells him not so fast. He insists he must thank him for the gift. Liz says she isn't sure he should keep it. He stares at her, open-mouthed, horrified. "Mr. Devlin really isn't a friend of our family," Liz points out diplomatically. David says, "I don't care. He's a friend of mine and he sent it to me and it's mine." Liz says she realizes that, and David immediate goes into wheedle mode, begging to be allowed to keep it. "Please, Aunt Elizabeth, he sent it to me, please don't make me send it back! It's not fair."
Liz is forced to agree that he's right, reluctantly. "All right," she says, frowning, "go make your phone call." He races downstairs and Liz gazes after him, unhappy. She plucks the note out of the box and glances at it, obviously wishing Burke had never sent it.
David, one possessive hand on the crystal ball on the table beside him, is on the phone with Burke, gushing over the gift. "It just came--and thank you very much. Of course I know what it is...you bet I will. I'll look into it real hard, and I'll tell you what I see. . .anytime it's important, OK? Burke, I made a drawing for you and something happened to it...well, it tore...of this house, Collinwood..." There's a knock at the door. "I'll make another one, only this time I'll hide it until I can give it to you. You promise?!?! OK, 'bye." David hangs up and runs to the door. He lets in Joe, who is clutching a portfolio of papers, and bubbles, "Wanna see what I just got?" Joe says sure, then asks if his Aunt Elizabeth is around. David carefully lifts the crystal ball from the table, explaining that his aunt is upstairs. He proudly holds up the crystal ball for Joe's inspection and says, "Bet you can't guess what it is!" Joe guesses the biggest marble in the world. "A crystal ball," David corrects. "Haven't you ever seen one? You look into it and you can tell the future." "Just what you need in this house," Joe humorously remarks. David says he'll have a lot of fun with it and says he bets Joe never had one when he was a kid. Joe concedes no, but he has some other things. "Better than this?" David persists, and Joe ruffles David's hair and says, "I guess not," and suggests he go tell his aunt that he's here. David comments that he thought Joe only came to see Carolyn. Not this time, Joe says. David suggests Carolyn never had a crystal ball, either, and Joe, glancing around, agrees that all Carolyn ever had was this old damp, dark house. "I hope you grow up with a little more than that," Joe tells David. The door at the top of the stairs opens and Liz appears. "I thought I heard the door," she says, hurrying down the steps. She wonders what he's doing here this time of day, and Joe explains that Mr. Collins sent him with some papers for her signature, contracts that had to be in the mail today. Liz walks around David and tells Joe to go into the drawing room. Liz asks David if he called and thanked Burke for the toy. David indicates yes, sounding distracted as he gazes into the crystal ball. Liz orders David to get back to Vicki and his studies, then goes into the drawing room and shuts the doors behind her. "It isn't a toy," says David defensively.
In the drawing room, Liz is seated on the sofa, and Joe shows her the contracts. He wants to take them right to the post office after she signs them. Liz asks why Mr. Malloy didn't bring them, as he always does, and Joe explains that Mr. Malloy hasn't been into work at all today. He doesn't know why--he didn't phone. "I thought you might know what had happened to him," Joe suggests. "What makes you think something's happened to him?" Liz counters, concerned. Joe indicates that was just a word, and she gets up and heads for the phone, murmuring, "I'd better find him." Malloy isn't home; he stopped by there on his way to Collinwood, Joe explains. He saw Mrs. Johnson, Malloy's housekeeper, she hadn't seen him since about 10:30 last night. "That's impossible," Liz says, "she fixes his breakfast every morning! When did she last see Mr. Malloy?" Joe says, according to Mrs. Johnson, Malloy came home about ten o'clock last night and had some supper. About 10:30, he received a phone call. Mrs. Johnson had to leave to visit her daughter, but Malloy was still there when she left. "What happened this morning?" asks Liz. Joe says Mrs. Johnson came back to the house, around 6:30 to fix his breakfast. He never came down, so she went upstairs to look. He wasn't there, and his bed appeared not to have been slept in. Liz rises from the sofa, rubbing her hands nervously together. "He must have left sometime between 10:30 and 11:00, she muses. Why does she says that?" Joe asks, and she describes how she tried to reach him several times after eleven, with no answer.
She asks if Mrs. Johnson knew who phoned Malloy, and Joe says no, all she said was Malloy seemed very upset. "You don't suppose something really did happen to him, do you?" Joe asks. Liz says, "I don't know, Joe, I don't know."
With Joe standing worriedly by, Liz calls Mrs. Johnson and asks her if Mr. Malloy said anything about visiting friends or his cousins. "I see," Liz says, "no, I can't check with them, they have no phone. Oh, Mrs. Johnson, if you hear anything, please call me immediately. Yes, thank you. Goodbye." Liz hangs up and says to Joe, "Still no word on him. I hope nothing's gone wrong." Vicki comes in, looking for David. Mrs. Stoddard said she sent him up to Vicki, but he apparently never got there. Liz turns to Joe and suggests they check the hospitals in case Malloy got hurt. She also asks him to inquire around in town and see if anyone has seen Malloy since last night. Joe agrees. "A man doesn't just vanish into thin air," Liz comments, and Vicki drops a bombshell--"He was here last night." "In this house?" Liz asks, looking totally perplexed. "What time was that?" A little bit before 10, Vicki says--he came to see Roger. "Mr. Collins saw Mr. Malloy last night?" Liz persists, again startled. Yes, Vicki says. Liz tells Joe she'll get to the contracts in a few minutes, and asks him if he'd mind waiting outside. Not at all, Joe says, and closes the double doors behind him. Liz turns to Vicki. "You said Mr. Malloy came here to see my brother a little before 10 last night?" "Yes." Vicki doesn't know what Malloy came to see Roger about, however, but she volunteers that, on her way upstairs, she let Malloy, who seemed very upset, into Collinwood. In what way, Liz inquires. Vicki asks if something had happened to Mr. Malloy, and Liz explains that she doesn't know. In what way did he seem upset, she asks Vicki, what did he say. Vicki explains that he was very anxious to see Roger, and when she told him Roger was busy, she said Malloy told her to go disturb him or HE would. Malloy seemed very distraught. Liz asks why Vicki didn't mention all this before, and Vicki says she didn't think it her business. Liz asks if she told Roger Malloy had stopped by, but Vicki says she didn't--just at that moment, Roger came in and saw Mr. Malloy. He asked him into the drawing room and closed the doors. Then she didn't hear what they were discussing, Liz asks,
and Vicki tells her, "I did hear...Mrs. Stoddard, I don't want Mr. Collins..." Liz interrupts and says she has every intention of discussing this with her brother, so Vicki can go ahead and tell her what happened. Tilting her head, speaking slowly and carefully, Vicki says, "Well, as they were going in, before Mr. Collins had shut the door, Mr. Malloy said something about coming to extend an invitation. Mr. Collins seemed to know what he was talking about, and he was furious at the idea." "Invitation to WHAT?" Liz persists, but Vicki says, "Some kind of meeting--that's all I know." Liz walks and stares into the fire. Vicki asks if Mr. Malloy hasn't ever gone off before, and Liz says soberly, "No--this is the first time."
Joe waits in the foyer, staring at the clock , which reads 11:30. He paces, wandering over to an ancestor's portrait on the wall, holding the sheath of contracts loosely in his hands. From the landing, David intones, in a deep, teasing voice, ""Your time is up--the crystal ball has spoken!" Joe jumps and says, "David, don't creep up behind me like that, not in this house." He asks David if he isn't supposed to be studying, but David starts walking downstairs, asking, "Aw, who likes to do schoolwork anyway?" Joe reminds him it isn't what we like to do, it's what we have to do. David, balancing the crystal ball in his hands, carefully walks downstairs. Joe asks if Carolyn is home, and David rests the crystal ball on the flat part of the banister, gazes into it and says, "Carolyn, huh? Hmm. Let me see. Uh uh, she went into town." Joe asks David to check and see if he can figure out where Bill Malloy went, while he's checking the crystal ball. David asks, "What happened to him?" "Nobody knows, he just disappeared," Joe explains, and David asks where to. Somewhat exasperated, Joe points out that if they knew WHERE, they wouldn't be saying he's disappeared. He suggests David's crystal ball is a fake. David lifts it protectively into his hands and protests, "It is not!" Joe asks why it can't tell them where to find Mr. Malloy, then, and David retorts, "It can! It tells other things, too!" Joe teasingly brushes the sheath of papers over David's hair and calls him a phony. "I am not!" David scowls. "I can see other things, too! You think you're going to marry Carolyn, don't you?" "Well, sure," Joe says. David petulantly informs him, "Well you're not! You're never going to marry her, never! The crystal ball told me!" Joe, chuckling uncertainly, looks at the boy and says, "It did? Did it tell you who she would marry?" "Yes, and it never lies--she's going to marry a friend of mine." Joe asks who that is, and David says, defiantly, "Burke Devlin," then pounds upstairs. Joe frowns unhappily around him as Liz and Vicki emerge from the drawing room. Liz says, "Thank you very much, Miss Winters, you've been more helpful than you know." Vicki says she's sure nothing has happened to him, and Liz says she hopes not. Liz tells Joe to come inside; she's ready to sign the contracts. Joe tells Vicki, "Your student is back upstairs." "Good," Vicki says, smiling crookedly. "Vicki," Joe says, "give him a swat for me, will ya?" He follows Liz into the drawing room. She reminds him to make inquiries about Malloy after he mails them at the post office, and he assures her he will. He promises to phone her if he learns anything, and she says goodbye. He says goodbye and leaves. She makes sure he's gone, then closes the double doors and picks up the phone. "I'd like to speak to Mr. Collins, please," she says, her tone clipped. "Well, then cut in, this is his sister and it's important. Hello, Roger, I'd like to see you at once...I don't care what you're doing at the moment, this is more important...all right. Hadn't you told me you hadn't seen Bill Malloy since early yesterday afternoon? Well, I've just learned differently, and I'd like an explanation from you. No, I have no intention of discussing it on the telephone! I want you here and now!" She hangs up, looking very upset indeed.
We see one of David's blinking eyes reflected eerily through his crystal ball. Vicki says, impatiently, "David, stop playing with that thing or you'll never get through with your lessons!" "I want to see what's going to happen," he says. Vicki, seated at the desk, predicts direly, "Well, you won't learn a thing, that's what's going to happen. Now come on, sit down" He reluctantly sits next to Vicki, who points to a paper on the desk and says she wants him to do these math problems. David takes pen in hand and works for half a second, then looks up and asked, "Everyone's wondering about Mr. Malloy, aren't they/" Vicki taps the paper and says, "We're doing math!" David works another two seconds and asks, "When did he disappear?" "Last night," Vicki supplies. "Now come on, David." He writes a bit more, then offers, "I bet nobody really knows what happened to him." "I don't think anything happened to him," Vicki says. "He probably had some sort of emergency and had to leave town unexpectedly. Now come on, finish that." "If they would ask me, I could tell them," David boasts, his eyes bright. Vicki crosses one hand over the other, giving in. "All right, David," she says, "go and look in your crystal ball and tell me where Mr. Malloy is--then let's get this finished." "I don't have to have to look, I looked already," David admits. "He's DEAD!" David rises from his seat and Vicki chastises, "David, that's a terrible thing to say!" "And that's not all," David continues ignoring her, "it told me something else--he was killed by someone!" "David, stop it!" Vicki admonishes. "And do you want to know who he was killed by?" David asks, walking over towards the crystal ball and gazing at it triumphantly, "I bet you do!" "All right, tell me," Vicki asks.
David looks into the round glass ball and announces, gleefully, grinning triumphantly, "My father!"
Marginalia: Poor David. He's angry at Vicki for "borrowing" his drawing (and excited or not, she really had no right to just take it without asking; she's not setting a good example for the kind of behavior she expects from him), yet he's pathetically pleased to learn she liked his drawing that much. Of course, once he learns she showed it to his father, the drawing becomes, in Vicki's words, tainted in David's mind and he feels compelled to tear it up. We learn why when we find out who he intended the drawing for--his father's hated enemy, Burke Devlin. One wonders if David ever overheard Laura and Roger arguing over his paternity; undoubtedly, David would prefer to be Burke's son to Roger's. You can see the potential in David to be a good, mannerly boy; upon his receipt of Burke's wondrous gift, David immediately wanted to phone and thank him. There is much potential in David, for love, for gratitude, but Roger never bothered to seek it or give it, which is sad for both of them. Also, it seemed that Vicki was making progress in her relationship with David, but once she betrayed him, in his mind at least, by showing his artwork to his hated father, she was immediately back in the same untrusted, despised position as before in David's ledger.
Cute scene between David and Joe, who seems like David's big brother, almost, or at least displays that much concern. Of course, if he thinks David sees his crystal ball as a toy, he doesn't know David all that well! Then again, Joe has other things on his mind. It takes him aback when David says his crystal ball reveals he'll never marry Carolyn (something we know is truth, although she does not, as he predicts, marry Burke--that's wishful thinking on David's part). As for Joe, perhaps he senses there is more truth than he'd like to think in what David is saying, and it annoys him enough to ask Vicki to "give him a swat" for him.
What happened to Bill Malloy? Whatever else we know about him, we KNOW damn well he would always call if he didn't show up at work. That's the kind of man he is. Liz tells Vicki he's never "gone off" before. He never showed up for the meeting HE called at the plant the previous night, and now he hasn't shown up and there's been no phone call. Uh oh--where is he? David has a bombshell response to this--he's not only dead, he was murdered by his father, Roger Collins! Is this truth, or more wishful thinking on David's part?
Liz is beginning to learn more about Roger than she wants to know. Vicki's revelations about his meeting with Bill Malloy and that there was obviously a serious disagreement between them must surely have pricked Liz' intuition. What did Roger want with Bill? Liz calls Roger and demands he come home, and she's going to expect answers.
One more observation--David seems to have attention deficit disorder; he can't focus on his schoolwork longer than a second or two at a time! I don't envy Vicki
Love, Robin
