Episode 61: The Ant and the Elephant

Monday, September 19, 1966

My name is Victoria Winters. The great house on Widow’s Hill stands as a dread reminder of a past that will not die. It casts its shadows far into the night, reaching out to another house, a cottage, into which the past has suddenly and unexpectedly intruded.

Burke makes everything awkward by crashing the dinner party for Vicki at Sam and Maggie’s. 

When Sam points out that you can’t just walk into someone’s house and invite yourself to dinner. Burke guilt trips everyone, saying they would have forced him to stay in the old days, and finally, Maggie relents.

Burke claims he forgot Vicki was going to be there.

He only wants to talk about his manslaughter conviction or Bill Malloy’s death.

Burke goes over the whole accident story again, ostensibly for Vicki’s benefit.

He recounts being on the witness stand and looking out at Roger and his intended bride, but only seeing Collinwood, the symbol of the Collins family, who owned the cannery and the fishing fleet and put money into the pockets of half the people in town. He felt like an ant trying to crush an elephant.

Burke says he was driving (and drunk) when they left the tavern, but then Roger decided he should drive and took over the wheel.

Sam goes to the kitchen and doesn’t come back. Maggie reports he is gone. Burke says he’s running from himself.

Sam goes to the hotel and tries to get the clerk to give him Maggie’s letter. He says he can’t give it to Sam unless Maggie says so.

Maggie calls the Blue Whale, but Sam isn’t there. Burke tells Maggie and Vicki he thinks Sam had something to do with Bill’s death.

Under Burke’s questioning, Vicki tells about the night Bill came to Collinwood and argued with Roger. 

Maggie says if Sam knew Burke was innocent, he would have walked into the courtroom and said so.

Burke leaves.

Maggie and Vicki discuss the situation. 

Vicki thinks Bill might have jumped to a wrong conclusion. 

But Maggie wonders why Sam ran off.

Burke returns to the hotel. The clerk can’t believe that Bill just fell in the water—even though Sam says anything can happen.

Sam was there?

Yes, and he tried to get a letter Maggie left in the safe too.

Sam calls out to Burke from the restaurant. 

If Burke wants to have a private talk, they can go up to his room and have it now.

        Cast, In Order of Appearance

Victoria Winters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Alexandra Moltke

Sam Evans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .David Ford

Burke Devlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mitchell Ryan

Maggie Evans  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathryn Leigh Scott

Mr. Welles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conrad Bain

Fashion by Ohrbach’s

Directed by John Sedwick

Story created and written by Art Wallace