Episode 67: Special Order for Breakfast

Tuesday, September 27, 1966

My name is Victoria Winters. Even daylight cannot dispel the dark suspicions that constantly hover over Collinwood—and over all of Collinsport.

Carolyn comes into the restaurant looking for Burke. Maggie says she hasn’t seen him, and she’d be happy never to see him again.

Carolyn says her mother told her what Burke said to Sam—about him and Roger letting Burke go to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Maggie says she maybe she’ll put rat poison in his coffee.

Carolyn says her mother told her Burke is bitter and angry.

Maggie says she also said he was capable of murder. Carolyn says she took that part back after Maggie left.

Burke arrives and they tell him they were just talking about him. He says they couldn’t have picked a more fascinating subject.

Sheriff George Patterson questions Sam about his movements the night of Bill’s death. Sam says he didn’t keep track of exact times. George wonders if Maggie would know.

The sheriff gets beeped and is told Mrs. Johnson, Bill’s housekeeper, is there. Sam leaves as she comes in. She tells George she only wants one thing from him—who killed Bill Malloy.

Carolyn and Burke are sitting at a table. She says she understands he almost had dinner with Vicki again. 

Then she asks him about his visit to Collinwood the night before. He says he only learned that Carolyn is probably the only completely honest person living at Collinwood. (Yeah, Carolyn never lies.)

He is upset that Vicki semi-gave Roger an alibi.

Maggie comes over to ask if Burke wants more coffee. He says he’s surprised he survived the first cup. “I was fresh out of arsenic,” she tells him. Exit Burke.

Maggie sits down at the table. Carolyn says she knows she ought to hate Burke, but she doesn’t.

“I know. It’s the same with me.”

George asks Mrs. Johnson (Sarah) about the night of Bill’s death. She says she heard him shouting on the phone at someone. He didn’t kill himself, and he didn’t have an accident. He asked her to give him breakfast a half hour early. A man doesn’t do that and then go out and kill himself ten minutes later. She starts to cry.

She thinks his death has something to do with the Collins family. That was all he ever thought about, the Collins family, the Collins cannery.

George says she probably resented that.

Sarah says she had a right to. The Collins family was his whole life, and she thinks they were his death too.

Sam visits Maggie at the diner and asks if she remembers whether he was home at 10:45. 

She asks if Burke wants to know. He finally tells her no, the sheriff does. She tells him the sheriff can ask her himself.

Enter George. What time did Sam leave the house?

“At 10:45. I happened to check my watch, and then I called the naval observatory just to make sure.”

Burke is on the phone plotting when there’s a knock on the door. 

Carolyn wants to know if he really accused Roger of being involved in Mr. Malloy’s death.

“But how could he have been? And why? I just don’t believe it.”

“I wish someone had felt this strongly about me ten years ago.”

Burke tells her Bill was killed because he believed Burke was innocent. She says he wasn’t murdered. He slipped and fell.

“There was no reason for him to slip and fall. There was a good reason for him to be killed.”

Maggie says if anybody asks her what time her pop left the house that night, she’ll tell them 10:45. George asks if she would swear to that in a court of law. Sam says no, she won’t. He left the house at 10:30. George tells her he’s just trying to get the facts and not to be scared.

She says maybe it’s not him she’s scared of. He tells her not to worry about Burke Devlin. He’s still the law in this town. He leaves.

Sam tells Maggie the letter was just his will, leaving her everything.

“Pop, you know that I love you, don’t you?” Maggie asks.

“I hope so.”

“Then you don’t mind if I don’t believe you?”

“No, darling, I. . . I don’t mind. No reason why you should.”

Burke tells Carolyn his version of what happened ten years ago. She points out that he doesn’t remember, that he was drunk at the time.

He says he was drunk enough to remember very little, but he does remember that he wasn’t driving the car at the time.

She says Roger wouldn’t have done that.

Burke says he doesn’t think Roger killed Bill with malice aforethought. Maybe he went to see him. Maybe there was a struggle. He tells her to ask Roger about it.

         Cast, In Order of Appearance

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

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

Carolyn Stoddard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Nancy Barrett

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

Sheriff George Patterson . . . . . . . . . .  Dana Elcar

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

Mrs. Sarah Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clarice Blackburn

Fashion by Ohrbach’s

Directed by Lela Swift

Written by Francis Swann