Julia whacking Hoffman is one of the great DS moments! She's horrified when Hoffman lies motionless at her feet, but she's so obviously ready to do it again. (Barn's eyes move slightly under closed lids.)
Will returns from Portsmouth at 6:00 a.m. and goes straight to the Great House, where he suddenly wonders where Hoffman has gotten to and realizes that Barnabas is alone and unprotected. (Why didn’t he go to his own house first?) why does he stop at Collinwood instead of going straight to Loomis House??? Just so that Angelique can try to grill him about Yaeger and Maggie. Sheesh.
Julia totters out of the secret room (fortunately remembering to shut the bookcase) but freezes when someone knocks on the door. She decides to hide and starts up the stairs, but comes back down when she realizes she doesn’t know who or what might be up there. Eventually the front door opens to reveal that composer about town, Bruno Hess. Naturally taking her for Hoffman, he asks her what she’s doing here. For almost too long she is unable to reply, then she says she came on an errand. What sort of errand? Bruno asks, freezing Julia in her tracks. You look so different, he comments--your hair, your clothes. (Julia is wearing her green tweed suit.) I was going into town, Julia says, indicating her clothes. I’m looking for Will, Bruno says, not really interested. I’m planning to leave that stupid cottage (even though he practically blackmailed Quentin into letting him live there) and I need some money. Since Will isn’t at home, he tries to borrow from “Hoffman”: I just need a couple of hundred--how about five? I don’t have anything, Julia replies with perfect truth. Bruno wheedles, Surely you’ve accumulated quite a lot over the years, what with Angelique and him and a couple of others paying for your cooperation. Julia denies it. Bruno tells her, Tell Will I’m looking for him, but don’t tell him why. He adds, Even your voice is different. Julia is able to smile for the first time as she replies, I assure you, I am who I am. (And who are we to argue?)
Bruno finally leaves, and Julia shuts her eyes in sheer relief. Then she goes back into the secret room to check on Hoffman--and discovers that she’s dead. I didn’t mean to kill her, Julia murmurs, just to stop her. At that moment Will returns home, and when Julia comes back out of the room, he’s pointing a gun at her. When I couldn’t find you at Collinwood, Hoffman, I figured you’d be here. I’m not Hoffman, Julia protests--I’m a friend of Barnabas. I know whose friend you are, Will says. Julia tries to lead him into the secret room, but he threatens to shoot her. Eventually she persuades him to see for himself that Hoffman is in the secret room, dead. He takes a look and exclaims, Hoffman! But how? Julia starts to explain that she comes from another time, but Will is ahead of her. Julia! he exclaims, not without some wonder and even with some pleasure. You’re Doctor Julia Hoffman! Barnabas told me all about you and how you tried to find a cure for him. I was writing a book about him--for a little while, he adds, a bit shamefaced. In turn Julia explains, I arrived here in parallel time the same way as Barnabas. He told me where his coffin was, and when I got here, Hoffman was here with a hammer and stake. I didn’t mean to kill her, she says remorsefully, but Will replies drily, You’ll pardon me if I’m not brokenhearted about it. Julia still can’t get over the wonder of it all: But if I had lived in this time, this would have been me. I don't understand it, but ... it feels very strange. Her name was Hoffman too--Julia Hoffman.
Angelique is desperate enough to actually phone her father/stepfather/whatever and find out if Hoffman gave him any info on Barnabas. (She didn't.) Angelique is actually worried about where Hoffman is. Bruno (still looking for someone to “borrow” money from, I suppose) walks in on her and she hastily hangs up. Crossly she observes, You still haven’t lost your habit of walking in without knocking. (Of course he still thinks she’s Alexis.) Where is Quentin? Probably sleeping, Angelique says. This late? Bruno asks. After what happened last night, I wouldn’t be surprised, Angelique replies. What happened? Bruno asks, and explains sarcastically, There’s a little communication problem between Collinwood and my cottage. Apparently Cyrus Longworth abducted Maggie, she says. The mouse with the M.D.? he asks with a surprised laugh. Angelique tells him what she knows about Cyrus and Yaeger and Maggie and how Cyrus was really Yaeger--or something. It was some experiment of Cyrus’s, she winds up dismissively. Of course Bruno knows all about the experiment, since he helped out with it a couple of months before. And now Cyrus is dead? And Sabrina too? He killed her, Angelique says. Bruno is stunned at first. Both of them gone! he exclaims, but then grows thoughtful. What a shame, he observes, barely hiding his sudden grin and leaving before Angelique has a chance to ask him if he’s seen Hoffman.
At Loomis House, Julia and Will continue their conversation. Julia tells Will, I know it isn’t safe for me to stay in this time, but I’m reluctant to leave Barnabas. I think I understand why, Will says with a smile. Julia rather too quickly corrects his accurate first impression by saying, My interest in Barnabas has always been a medical one. I’m still trying to find a cure. Of course, Will agrees diplomatically. I don’t know how I can protect Barnabas here, Julia frets, but then she suddenly gets an idea. I know Hoffman was close to Angelique, she says. We call her Alexis here, Will corrects her. We have to find out somehow whether Hoffman told Angelique, Julia continues. Will remembers that Angelique was in Bangor--but Hoffman might have phoned her--but Angelique didn’t act strange when he just spoke to her. What if she left a note? Julia asks in alarm. I can’t get into Angelique’s room to search, Will tells her. Eventually Julia decides to change into Hoffman’s clothes and fix her hair and search Angelique’s room herself. Will is dubious about her prospects for success but agrees to tell her everything he knows about Hoffman and Alexis and everyone else at the Great House. It is suicide, Will insists. I will take that risk, Julia replies firmly.
Once again the Collinsport constabulary prove their ineptitude by not sealing off Cyrus’s lab. We find Bruno there, searching through Cyrus’s papers for the combination to the safe--he knows Cyrus kept money in it. Cyrus, he shouts, how about one last payment for services rendered?
Now in Hoffman’s stark black dress, Julia is searching through Angelique’s (new) room when Angelique (“Alexis”) enters, wearing a very Peter Max-like dress. I knew we’d meet sooner or later, Angelique comments to “Hoffman” drily. What did you find out about Barnabas? Julia is shocked at the suddenness of her meeting with Angelique, but stalls for a while by talking about Yaeger and Cyrus. Yaeger was stupid, Angelique says contemptuously. I should never have involved him in my plan for Maggie. But I have to give Cyrus Longworth credit--he had a lot more going on than I ever suspected. She returns to the subject of Barnabas, but when Julia seems unable to reply, Angelique gets impatient. Julia improvises: Will told me that Cyrus phoned Barnabas and told him where Maggie was. So I started to follow Barnabas out to the farm, but then I decided that it was too risky to actually enter the house. Barnabas is out of town for the day, she winds up. Disappointed that Hoffman found out nothing significant, Angelique orders her, Start following Barnabas again. This time, we will have to keep in touch with each other, Angelique says, then orders “Hoffman” out. Julia is only too glad to leave.
Like most composers Bruno turns out to be an expert safe cracker. He opens the safe--only to discover that it’s empty of money. This annoys him no end until he discovers a marble-covered notebook marked “Private: In the event of my death, this is to be presented unread to my friend Quentin Collins.” However, the unworldly Cyrus did nothing to prevent anyone else from looking at it, so Bruno settles down happily for a good read. [As he takes the book, someone can be seen in the window behind him.]
Back at Loomis House, our formidable Julia is shaking with reaction and practically shredding her handkerchief after her encounter with “Alexis.” While Will comforts her, she explains, Apparently Hoffman never had a chance to tell “Alexis” anything, so Barnabas is still safe. She adds, Hoffman and Alexis knew that Yaeger had kidnapped Maggie, and that this was part of Alexis’s plan for her. I want to continue impersonating Hoffman and find out more about the plan. Will tries to discourage her, but now that she’s passed muster with Bruno and “Alexis,” Julia enthuses, It will the perfect way to find out what “Alexis” is doing. It’s not the perfect way, Will argues. She’ll find you out! It isn’t perfect, Julia acknowledges, but I have to try. Why are you doing this for Maggie Collins, someone you don’t even know? Will asks. Julia looks him in the eye and finally admits, I’m doing it for Barnabas--not for Maggie.
Bruno has finished reading Cyrus’s journal. Laughing triumphantly, he wonders, Why did I think there was no money in that safe? He kisses the journal and gloats, There was more money than I expected--and I intend to get it all. He picks up the phone (Cyrus’s phone number is also Collinwood 4099!) and calls “Alexis.” Where did you go after you ran off in such a hurry? she asks. Coyly he tells her, I had a very, very busy afternoon, visiting old friends and gathering information. I know you’re trying to tell me something, Angelique says. You’re very perceptive, Bruno replies. Yes, she agrees. Now tell me something I don’t know. With another laugh, Bruno asks her, What would you say if I told you I know who murdered Angelique?....
