Episode #87 - Collinwood is a mansion of more than 80 rooms, but most of them have been closed off for years, and their only visitors have been ghosts and specters that locked doors cannot keep out, or in--and I have been kept a prisoner by the treachery of a small boy who has told no one where I am. Time has seemed endless, and all I can do is sit and wonder if anyone will come to my rescue.
Vicki sits dejectedly in her prison, wondering if there is any hope of rescue.
Roger looks at the grandfather clock in the foyer and checks his watch against it.
Vicki leans against a wall, hair a mess, depressed and fearful.
1 AM - Carolyn comes into the drawing room to warm up, and Roger, sitting on the sofa, asks her what kept her out so late on a night like this. Not fit for man or beast, she says, but kids love it. Your mother was worried, says Roger--she was about to send a posse out to look for you. She never would have found me, says Carolyn. Are you as clever at hiding as Vicki is? asks Roger. Vicki? asks Carolyn, rubbing her shoulders--what do you mean? She wasn't here for dinner and no one's seen her around anywhere, says Roger. That's funny--I wonder where she could be? muses Carolyn. What about that artist friend--could she be at Evans' house? asks Roger. No, says Carolyn bitterly, that's one place I'm sure she wouldn't be tonight. Why is tonight so special? asks Roger. I believe Maggie Evans had other plans this evening, says Carolyn. Oh, you sound a little vehement, he says. Why shouldn't I be? she asks, unless I'm mistaken, she's very busy entertaining a certain person who used to be a friend of mine. Oh, and may one inquire as to the identity of this ex-friend? inquires her uncle. Joe Haskell, replies Carolyn, that's who--and she marches from the room, takes her coat and umbrella, and hurries upstairs.
Candles gutter on Maggie's table, which was elegantly set for dinner. She sits beside Joe on the sofa, coffee cup in hand, legs tucked under her, and says, "That sounds like a Joseph Conrad story--how did you get back?" We didn't, not that night, he explains--they cut the engines off and we just drifted--some of us sang songs, the old men told their favorite stories--everyone had heard them a million times before, except me. I wish I'd been there, she says admiringly.
Then we all realized the silence had sort of crept up on us--the sea was calm, it was starting to get light, with the sun rising, we got our bearings back, he says, and returned to port about five in the afternoon--it had been quite a night. What a great adventure! she says, offering him another cup of coffee. Sounds great, he says. She takes his cup and her own and tells him they have one thing in common--boats. What do you know about boats? he asks--if I even start to talk to Carolyn about them, she gets seasick. Try me, she says. All right, he agrees--why is a boat always called a she? That's easy, she says, because we're so unpredictable--like hurricanes, you never know which way we're going to turn. She hands him a cup of coffee. The scene looks very domestic.
Very good, Miss Evans, praises Joe, I've got to say you seem like quite an expert on diesel engines. She smiles proudly. But, he says, now we get to something a little more difficult. Proceed, Professor, she says. Describe to me, if you can, says Joe, the rigging of a schooner's sails. First of all, the inner and outer gyps are sometimes fitted instead of a single gyp--in that case, we have--she counts on her fingers--one flying jib, two jibs, three four topsail--and she goes on in this vein, rapidly, and Joe, amazed, tells her she's right. Did I leave anything out? she asks. I don't know, to be sure, I'd have to look it up myself, he says. Oh, says Maggie, what about your boat, the one you want to buy? Most of the time, I just dream of buying, he says, I've got a year and a half yet before I can even make the down payment. I thought you were going into partnership with someone to get the boat, she says. That fell through, he says. Sometimes I could just kick my Pop in the pants, she says--about 10 years ago, he sold a bunch of paintings for 15 thousand dollars--and blew every cent of it (I thought he spent it on Marie's illness)--just think, if he'd saved even a part of that money, we could have gone into partnership with you. I've got to admit, you're a lot prettier than my ex-partner, he says. You know what I'm going to do? asks Maggie--just because of what Pop did--snitch some of that fine old brandy he's been saving and lace this coffee the way it should be laced--that is, if you'll join me? I'll join you, all right, he says, there's only one small problem--(he sings, three times) what do you do with a drunken sailor, early in the morning, as she pours the brandy into glasses.
Roger pours himself a drink. You promise you won't tell Mother? asks Carolyn. I promise with reservations, says Roger. I was with Burke tonight, she tells him. How did you run into Burke? asks Roger. I went into the Blue Whale, looking for excitement, says Carolyn, brushing her hair, and there he was, sitting and drinking with Sam Evans. This displeases Roger--Burke was with Sam Evans? he asks. Yes, she says, I couldn't have been more surprised. And I couldn't be more surprised that you're learning to deal with Burke--you know how he hates us. I don't think he hates me, says Carolyn. You say you care for me, says Roger, and yet you make every effort to be friendly with the very man who's sworn he's out to get me. Burke was entirely different this evening, she says, friendly with everybody, especially Sam Evans. I can imagine, says Roger, did you by any chance find out how they got so friendly? They just said this was a night no man had any enemies, says Carolyn--everyone was a friend. What a shame I wasn't invited to your little party, says Roger. They were singing in the memory of a good friend, says Carolyn, whose ghost was seeking vengeance. Roger drinks. Bill Malloy, he guesses--did they elaborate on the theory of this ghost seeking vengeance? No, says Carolyn, but Burke did ask me why Vicki hadn't come along, and that's how I know he hasn't seen her. And that brings us back to the mystery of Vicki Winters--what in the world do you suppose has happened to her? he asks. I haven't the faintest, says Carolyn. It's odd, says Roger, she really came to us out of nowhere. She came to us from that foundling home she worked in, says Carolyn, annoyed--you know that. But neither she nor they knew who she really was, says Roger, and so as I say, she came to us from nowhere, and now it seems she's disappeared into nowhere.
Carolyn looks worried.
You don't mean that, says Carolyn, Vicki couldn't really have just disappeared. If a person is there one minute and then not there the next, what do you call it? he asks. I know, says Carolyn, sitting beside him in front of the fire, but you yourself said there had to be some logical explanation. It's very true, he says, you remember how not long ago, people got upset when Bill Malloy disappeared--but there was a logical explanation for it. Yes, he was dead, she says--you don't think anything might have happened... Of course not, Kitten, he says reassuringly, I didn't mean to put such an idea into your head--if I thought any harm had come to Vicki, I'd be scouring the countryside. (LIAR!) Then what do you think did happen to her? asks Carolyn. I imagine for reasons of her own, she just wanted to be by herself, he says--I don't think she's very far away. Carolyn rises to her feet and asks him if he doesn't think he should just look. Are you that upset about her? he asks. Yes, she says vehemently, I'd hate to think anything happened to her. He stands, too, and advises her not to worry her pretty little head about a thing--I promised your mother I'd sit down here and wait for Vicki--but I didn't promise you'd sit and wait with me--now you just bundle yourself off to bed. Then you think she's all right? asks Carolyn. I've always been honest with you, Kitten, he says, I really don't know. You let me know the minute you find out anything? she asks. Of course, he promises, and he kisses her cheek. She leaves the room, banging the brush against her hand. Roger paces the drawing room, looking out at the storm.
2:15 - Wow, says Joe to Maggie, where did the time ever get to? I think someone got into that brandy bottle, says Maggie. I've got to get home and hit the sack, he says. Me, too, she says, but I'm already home. Before I go, let me prove I still have some manners, he says--thank you, Miss Evans, for a very great dinner. Thank you, sir, she giggles, shaking his hand. I do have to be getting home, he says, and I have to thank you for the education you've given me on the rigging of sailing vessels. My pleasure, she says. I bet it was a great pleasure showing off all that knowledge to an ignorant lout like me, he says, taking his coat. Stop knocking yourself, she says, you're not an ignorant lout and you know it--any man that know what he wants and goes after it isn't ignorant--it's us poor slobs that don't know what we want who are ignorant! Now who's knocking himself? asks Joe. I'm allowed two minutes of self-pity a day, she says. They agree it's past their bedtime. Thanks again, for everything, says Joe. Maybe another night? asks Maggie. You bet, he says. Good night, she says. Good night, he says, and kisses her cheek. He leaves.
She grins. Good night--pal, she says.
Roger listens to the rain falling outside. He exits the drawing room and looks upstairs, then checks the clock--nearly 3:30. He turns off a lamp in the drawing room, opens a drawer and pulls out a flashlight. He opens the secret panel in the wall by pressing a button underneath the rim of the armoire,
then goes in, closing the panel behind him. Carolyn, wearing a nightgown, comes downstairs to find the room dark and her uncle gone. She calls to him, but receives no reply, and wanders back into the foyer.
Roger, now walking in the wing where David tricked Vicki into the room, opens a door and follows the beam of the flashlight through the dark hallways. His shoes gleam. He walks up a carpeted flight of stairs and through another door, closing it behind him. He continues to walk, through cob-web strewn corridors, to the accompaniment of creepy music and thunder. He walks down a carpeted flight of steps which looks like the same one he walked up, then stops by a window where lightning flashes.
Vicki lies on the cot, covered by a filthy blanket, trying to find a comfortable position in which to sleep. Roger finds a winding staircase (this set is marvelous!) and climbs up.
Vicki twists and turns on the cot, finally giving up her attempts to sleep. She draws her sweater more securely around herself, then hears a noise and goes to the door to investigate. David, is that you? she asks. Roger walks past a chimney, a column. He hears Vicki calling to David and spots the key on the floor. He picks it up and shines the flashlight on it. Who is it? calls Vicki, near tears. Roger walks away from the door, then, smiling, deliberately knocks a metal vase off a table. Who is it? sobs Vicki. Roger takes a cane and bangs it against the door, sending Vicki falling backwards in fear. (WHY is Roger doing this to her?) He covers his mouth with a handkerchief and, disguising his voice, says, "Victoria Winters, leave Collinwood!--you are in danger here!--go home!--go home!" Vicki, terrified, screams, "Who is it?" Roger replaces the handkerchief in his pocket, then finally unlocks the door.
Vicki is sobbing, terror-stricken, pleading, "Who is it? Roger pulls her into his arms. Vicki, thank God! he cries. She's crying, hysterical, so grateful to see him. It was David! she says--he's a monster, you're right! There, there, you're all right now, dear, he assures her. How did you know where to find me? she asks. Something David said, Roger tells her--I put two and two together and thought you might be up here. Vicki sobs out how David got her up here by admitting he stole the pen--but it wasn't here, and then he left me alone and he ran out and locked the door. Let's get out of here, he says soothingly, still holding her. He did it deliberately, she sobs, he tried to kill you and now he tried to kill me. Let's get out of this dismal place, he says. That's not all, says Vicki--there ARE ghosts in Collinwood! Ghosts? he asks. I never believed it before, she says, but I do now--I saw a ghost--it was here, in this room, it was tall and shimmering and covered with water and dripping with seaweed--I know it was a ghost--he spoke to me--it warned me to leave Collinwood! Who was it? asks Roger. It was Bill Malloy! she wails, and falls into his arms again.
NOTES: I never realized before how desperately Roger wants Vicki out of Collinwood. But why? She seemed to be getting through to David, is willing to love him. It's what he needs. Why does Roger want to get rid of one of the two people who really seem to care about his son, especially since he doesn't. That he felt it necessary to scare the already-terrified young woman is beyond me. Looks to me like she's ready to go now, after seeing Bill's ghost. And does Roger believe she saw a ghost? Is he afraid that Bill Malloy might be haunting him?
You can already see a bond forming between Joe and Maggie. They really do look great together, with their dark looks. Plus she understand about boats, appreciates what he wants and really likes listening to him. She is a much better companion for him than Carolyn, and I really want to see them together.
Roger is understandably upset about Carolyn seeing Burke. Even though she doesn't realize it, that's going to spell disaster for everyone, especially Carolyn herself.
Episode #88 - Collinwood has a reputation for ghosts and specters and the unseen widows who weep for their men missing at sea--I had always scoffed at these ghost stories--until last night.
Carolyn sits on the sofa, drinking coffee, while Vicki paces the drawing room. If you don't sit down, warns Carolyn, I'll lose my mind. That's just about what your charming little cousin did to me last night, says Vicki. Are you positive you saw a ghost? asks Carolyn. Yes, I saw a ghost, says Vicki. But you've always been the one who didn't believe in things like that, says Carolyn. I've changed my mind, says Vicki--or else I've lost it--she resumes pacing--I'd been asleep for a few minutes when I heard Bill Malloy's voice, telling me to leave Collinwood before I was killed--there was only one door in that room, and it was locked--my mind tells me not to believe it, but every instinct in my body tells me that what I saw last night was the ghost of Bill Malloy.
Liz has come into the foyer, and her mouth drops open at Vicki's last statement.
What did I just hear you say? asks Liz. Last night when I was locked up in that room, explains Vicki, I saw the ghost of Bill Malloy. That's nonsense! says Liz. I'd like to agree with you, says Vicki, but it seemed very real to me. Liz laces her fingers and says Roger did mention something to her about David playing a prank on her, but he didn't say anything about a ghost. It wasn't any prank, says Vicki--David was very angry at me and I think he wanted to kill me. Vicki! says Liz reproachfully, he's only a child. (Who has attempted murder once before.) So he is, agrees Vicki, and considering the events of the past few days, I've decided it would be best if I left Collinwood. That isn't fair, says Carolyn, running from the sofa to join them. Fair to whom? asks Vicki. To any of us, says Carolyn. David has been urging me to leave Collinwood, says Vicki, and I think this should make him very happy. I don't think you should make a decision in a hurry, says Liz. I didn't make it in a hurry, says Liz, I had quite enough time to think in that room last night--and I finally decided the best thing to do would be for me to leave Collinwood. Roger, wearing a robe over his shirt and tie, enters. I quite agree, says Roger. Roger! says Liz. In fact, says Roger, I think it would be very unwise for Vicki to stay on in a place where she is obviously in danger. Liz asks Carolyn and Vicki to leave them alone. The girls exit. Liz closes the doors and faces her brother. Well? he says. Would you please tell me why you want Vicki to leave? demands Liz. Because I think it would be in Vicki's best interest, says Roger, if she were to move as far away from Collinwood as she possibly could. What exactly was David trying to do? asks Liz. It was a childish prank that backfired, says Roger, and he became frightened, so obviously, I didn't know--actually, when you were questioning him, something he said led me to suspect what had happened. Why on earth didn't you go let her out of the room at once? asks Liz. (Get him, Liz!) I had to have a little time to put the pieces together, he says, and when I did, I went up to look for her. How were you able to get into the locked wing? she asks--the door is locked--where did you get a key? The door wasn't locked, I passed through it, he says, otherwise, I'd have had to waken you. Did you ask David what they were doing there in the first place? asks Liz. Of course I did, says Roger, but you didn't expect him to tell me the truth, did you?--he said he happened to press against this door and it opened--he was curious and so was Vicki--Roger sits on the sofa with a cup of coffee--they decided to explore so they ended up in that section of the house above the eaves there--and then they went into one of the rooms--after a while, they came out and he locked the door, thinking Vicki had gone on ahead of him. A moment ago, says Liz, you said it was a prank. Oh, he's confused, says Roger--we'll never know the truth of it. I wonder, says Liz--if he's as confused as he'd like us to believe. You're always defending him, Roger reminds her. Yes, when you call him a little monster, she says. I think I had good reason to, says Roger, I hope you're not forgetting the fact that he almost tried to kill me. I thought we agreed that was an accident, says Liz. Yes, says Roger, so we did. There's only one thing, says Liz--has it occurred to you lately there have been too many accidents at Collinwood? Roger nods. (Duh!)
Vicki, in her room, brushes her hair. Obviously troubled, she lies down in bed. Carolyn comes in and asks if she's napping. No, come on in, says Vicki. You simply can't leave Collinwood, says Carolyn. I don't see how I can stay, says Vicki. What about the reason you came to Collinwood in the first place? asks Carolyn. I haven't found one thing that has the remotest connection with my past, says Vicki. But you might, points out Carolyn. I might and I might not, says Vicki, and I could stay here for the rest of my life and not come any closer to the solution. Isn't it worth it to stay if there's even a chance of finding out? asks Carolyn. I don't know, says Vicki, but if I don't get out of here, I may lose my mind--you don't know what it was like in that room last night. I'm so sorry, says Carolyn. Didn't anybody miss me? asks Vicki. Now you make me feel guilty, says Carolyn--I was out, with Burke Devlin. I thought you were never going to see him again, says Vicki, surprised. I ran into him by accident, says Carolyn, at the Blue Whale--if I hadn't been so angry with Joe for breaking that date, I never would have gone out. So now Joe is the culprit, says Vicki. Don't you know what he was doing? asks Carolyn--he was having dinner with Maggie Evans! If you would forgive me for butting into your private affairs, says Vicki, I'd like to remind you that yesterday, Joe came to the house looking for you, and you were out. He could have waited for me, couldn't he? asks Carolyn. I wouldn't have thought very much of him if he had, says Vicki. But why? asks Carolyn, I was just taking a walk. From some of the things you've told me, says Vicki, you've kept Joe waiting for quite a while. What if I have? she asks, that still doesn't give him the right to have a dinner date with Maggie Evans. And does it give you the right to have a date with Burke Devlin? asks Vicki. I didn't have a date with him, says Carolyn, I told you, I didn't know he was going to be there! But he was, says Vicki, and so were you, and that's all that mattered at the moment--am I right? Carolyn nods. I suppose so, she says--I was so glad to see him without all that hatred in him, when he wasn't accusing anybody of anything--can't you understand that? I think so, says Vicki. He was so charming, says Carolyn, I simply lost track of the time--but when I did get home and found out you'd been missing, I was terribly worried about you--we all care about you, we're not demonstrative or anything, but we care, all of us! Including David? asks Vicki. How can I explain what David thinks? asks Carolyn--he's a nut!--but Mother and I care about you, and so does Uncle Roger. This may sound very strange, says Vicki, but the person I'm most concerned about is David. I thought you said he's the one that locked you in that room, says Carolyn. That's why I'm so concerned about him, says Vicki. I don't get it, says Carolyn, I would think you'd hate him. No, I feel very sorry for him, says Vicki. Then you must have the most generous nature I've ever heard of, says Carolyn. It doesn't have anything to do with that, says Vicki, I feel so sorry for him because Collinwood has become his whole world, and there's nothing he can do to get away from it. Oh, says Carolyn, and there is something you can do to get away. Of course, says Vicki, sitting on her bed, all I have to do is walk out that door and turn my back. Carolyn sits beside her and begs her to please don't. Come on, you managed perfectly well before I came along, says Vicki. No, says Carolyn, not perfectly well, let's just say we managed. And you'll continue to manage, says Vicki. I'm not so sure, says Carolyn--the day you arrived was the same day Burke came back to Collinsport. What's that got to do with me? asks Vicki. Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with you, but it has everything to do with me--don't you see--that's why I'm so confused!
Drawing room - No matter how many times you explain what happened to Vicki last night, says Liz to Roger, I'm still confused and upset. I've told you all I know, he insists. Did Vicki actually say she saw the figure of Bill Malloy? asks Liz. We have only her word for that, says Roger. I've never had any reason to doubt her word, says Liz. Of course there's some way we might satisfy our curiosity, says Roger. It's not just curiosity, says Liz, I'm really worried--as long as you've lived in this house, even when you were a child, have you ever seen anything you could actually call a ghost? I'm not sure, admits Roger--I've seen and felt things I couldn't explain--but you can't tell me that hasn't happened to you, because I know better. You said there was a way we could satisfy our curiosity, says Liz--what were you going to suggest? I think we should go to the closed section of the house, says Roger, back to that room, and see if there's any evidence of what Vicki claimed to have seen. He rises from the sofa and takes a flashlight out of a drawer. She precedes him as they head upstairs.
What does my leaving have to do with you and Burke Devlin? Vicki asks Carolyn. You're the only person I can talk to about him, says Carolyn--can you imagine the mess I'd have been in without your advice? Would it be any worse than the mess you got in with it? Absolutely nothing happened between Burke and me, Carolyn assures her. Was it your fault nothing happened? asks Vicki. I never thought about it that way, admits Carolyn--do you always have to be so honest? Yup, says Vicki. In that case, says Carolyn, if Burke hadn't been drinking so much, oh, how can I say what might have happened? Did you want to happen? asks Vicki. I don't know, admits Carolyn, I told you I was confused, didn't I? It's funny, says Vicki, I've seen Burke drink, but I've never seen him drunk. I didn't say he was drunk, says Carolyn, I said he'd been drinking, like he was celebrating something.
I wonder what he was celebrating? Muses Vicki.
Roger and Liz enter the closed off wing where David imprisoned Vicki. We see the door through a hole in a cobweb (nice effect). This is the room, says Roger, I found the key on the floor, picked it up and unlocked the door, and as you see, I left the key in the door. He unlocks the room and they enter and look around. Liz makes a face as she surveys the awful room, and asks her brother how he knew which room to look for. I didn't, at first, he says, I walked along miles of corridor until I came to this one here, and I heard her scream--when I came in the room, she was cowered there in that corner. I don't blame her, I'd have been terrified, says Liz. That's the one thing that makes me wonder about this story of ghosts, says Roger--the fact that she was so frightened--then she said she fell asleep, probably here on the bed--it could all have been a bad dream. Liz looks around, spots David's toys, and asks what all these things are doing here? I can't imagine, says Roger. One of David's drawings, his toy, his books, says Liz--David's been in this room before--he brought Vicki here deliberately! All right, says Roger, suppose he did all of this deliberately, and intended to come get Vicki out--now, by the enormity of what he'd done, it must have scared him off and he said nothing. Poor Vicki, remarks Liz, and Roger echoes her sentiments--he's done a very dangerous thing, and if I know David, he's going to twist it so it seems to be Vicki's fault. Is that why you're afraid for her? asks Liz. Yes, he says, I suppose it's a horrible thing for a father to say about his son, but I think David is an incipient psychopath--there's no telling what he might or might not do. And that's why you think she must leave? asks Liz. To be perfectly candid, yes, says Roger. Liz walks across the room and asks Roger if Vicki's claim that she saw Bill Malloy's ghost have any effect on his decision. Why should it? he asks--anyway, it's utter nonsense--when I found her, she was babbling and I saw nothing at all to substantiate what she said. Then you didn't look very closely, says Liz--she points to the floor, where the seaweed sits in a pile. She picks up a piece and says it's just as she described it--wet seaweed.
Roger gazes at it, his face twisted with disbelief.
Liz and Roger return to the drawing room. There's no doubt ion your mind what it is? asks Liz, holding up the seaweed. Of course not, it's a strand of seaweed, he says. Still damp, adds Liz, and throws it into the fireplace. Roger puts the flashlight back into he drawer and joins Liz by the fireplace. What do you suppose it all means? asks Roger. It was your idea to go to that room and see if there was any evidence of the ghost Vicki said she saw, Liz reminds him, as the seaweed crackles and burns in the fireplace--I think we saw the evidence we were meant to. Meant to see? asks Roger--by whom?--Liz, he's dead and buried! His body is dead and buried, agrees Liz, walking to the window--I've heard that ghosts are restless souls that never stop wandering until a wrong has been righted. Are you trying to tell me you actually think there was a ghost in that room? demands Roger. Something was there, says Liz--how do you account for the seaweed? I don't know! says Roger--perhaps David put it there. Didn't Vicki tell you the ghost was dripping wet and covered with seaweed? Quizzes Liz. Well, yes, says Roger reluctantly, but...I don't know! He walks away. Liz closes the window, rubbing her hands together.
Carolyn rushes into the drawing room, Vicki behind her, and tells her mother she simply must convince Vicki to change her mind about leaving Collinwood. I don't think I have the right to, objects Liz. Oh, Mother! pouts Carolyn. Well, now, says Roger, it doesn't have to be something that's decided right away, does it? :Liz goes to Vicki and, for the first time calls her by her first name--Vicki, dear, I want you to understand one thing, she says--I don't want you to leave Collinwood--I'd be much happier if you stayed, but I think the decision is entirely up to you. I understand, says Vicki, at least I think I do. Mrs. Johnson could never begin to take you place here, says Liz, and there's not the slightest chance she could get through to David. I don't seem to have done a very good job myself, says Vicki. You mustn't blame yourself, says Liz. But I do blame myself, insists Vicki--or rather, I did until last night. Even though he behaved strangely, says Liz, I think David does respect you. He's got a funny way of showing it, says Vicki. I'm sure you and David can work things out! says Carolyn. I don't agree, says Roger--I think Vicki should leave Collinwood. Don't listen to him! says Carolyn, shaking her head. It's for her own good, says Roger. The decision is up to Vicki, says Liz. I don't think it is at all, counters Vicki. What do you mean by that? queries Roger. All along, even when I was most determined to leave, says Vicki, I knew the final decision would have to rest with David--he's the one with the most concern about it, and I don't want to decide anything until I speak to him. But why? asks Carolyn--why must you ask David?
Because he hates me more than I ever guessed, explains Vicki, and I want to know why!
NOTES: I actually think Vicki is smart to want to elicit David's opinion about whether she should go or stay. He's in her charge, and if he's going to keep on trying to do away with her, I makes sense for her to leave. I suspect Roger's reasons for wanting her to go are different--perhaps now he sees her as a magnet for Bill Malloy, whom he might have killed. Or does Bill Malloy think she should go because of David--or someone else? Mysteries abound! For someone with very little experience, Vicki knows a lot about the ways of love--at least as far as Carolyn is concerned. She understands that Carolyn is very much attracted to Burke, but still doesn't want to free Joe from her romantic clutches. Vicki believes in doing the right thing, and even Liz chastised her daughter about her treatment of Joe.
Incipient psychopath, Roger? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree! You encouraged David to do this to Vicki, then went out of your way to terrify her further, and now you want to push her out of a house where Liz and Carolyn, at least, adore her and David truly needs her! Bad Roger!
Both Roger and Liz have apparently seen ghosts before, even if they are reluctant to admit it, but now that Bill Malloy's ghost has made an appearance, does Roger really have reason to worry?
Will Vicki leave Collinwood? We know she doesn't, at least not now, but how does it come about that she sticks around another two years? Stay tuned!
Love, Robin
