Monday, July 25,
1966
My name is
Victoria Winters. The early morning mist rises from the sea at the foot of
Widow’s Hill. The great house sits quietly on its crest, and the events of a
shattering night seem almost like the vague memory of a forgotten dream. But it
was no dream. And there’s no forgetting that a man had almost been killed.
Carolyn asks Vicki if the
coffee will perk faster if she stares at it.
“I was just thinking.”
“What about? The meaning of
life?”
“No, death. . . . What do you
want, toast or cereal?”
“Toast, and I’ll fix it. You
were hired to be a governess in this house, not a cook. What do you mean,
death?”
“Have you seen your uncle this
morning?”
Carolyn puts bread in the
toaster and they discuss whether what happened to Roger was an accident. Vicki
thinks not and is worried it could happen again. She explains to Carolyn about
the bleeder valve and seeing Burke with a wrench by Roger’s car.
Carolyn blames herself for
being a bad judge of character. Vicki tells her about Burke’s denial—and that
she believed him, which of course sets Carolyn back on hoping for Burke’s
innocence.
Bill pays Burke a visit at his
hotel room while Burke is having breakfast. Bill doesn't use the house phone
this time; he just shows up.
He tells Burke that anything
that touches the Collins family touches him. He doesn't believe bygones are
bygones. He remembers Burke’s threat to take away everything the Collins family
owned. Burke says that was a long time ago, when he was a kid. Now they’re just
some family he used to know.
Bill asks about Wilbur Strake.
He knows he worked for Burke and that he’s a private investigator.
Carolyn tries to tell her
mother that Vicki thinks Burke is innocent too. Liz doesn't care. She tells
Vicki she has a letter from the foundling home in her mail.
Vicki tells Carolyn she
believes Burke, but how can she be sure? This is a great distinction and seldom
made. Beliefs are not facts. When Vicki was a little girl, one of the
attendants at the foundling home played a mean trick on her, telling her that
her parents were coming to get her. (What kind of a sadist is that?) She was
six.
Liz wants Carolyn to go away
before all the unpleasantness really starts with Burke. She remembers the kids
teasing her at school, saying her mother was a witch. (Too bad Carolyn and
Vicki couldn't have known each other as children.)
“I survived,” Carolyn says.
And if Burke isn't trying to cause trouble, someone else is, and they have to
find who it is.
Burke wants to know how Bill
knows about Wilbur Strake. A chambermaid at the hotel used to work at the
cannery. Bill has his sources. Burke comments it’s a good thing he doesn't
leave his briefcase unlocked.
“Burke, nobody hires a private
detective to tell ’em if the weather’s gonna be good or the hotel rooms are
comfortable.”
Burke claims he hired Strake
for business reasons. There’s a cannery for sale over in Logansport. Bill
wonders why Strake asked so many questions about the Collinses.
“Well, they own a cannery,
don't they?” is Burke’s fairly weak rejoinder.
Bill thinks Burke is a smooth
talker. Always has been. Burke tells Bill he should come and see him again sometime.
Bill says he might.
After Bill leaves, Burke calls somebody named Bronson and tells him to take the first plane to Bangor tonight.
Cast,
In Order of Appearance
Victoria Winters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .Alexandra Moltke
Carolyn Stoddard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .Nancy Barrett
Burke Devlin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . Mitchell Ryan
Bill Malloy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Frank Schofield
Elizabeth
Collins Stoddard.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan Bennett
Fashion by Ohrbach’s
Directed by Lela Swift
Story created
and written by
Art Wallace
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