Episode 79: Divided Loyalties

Thursday, October 13, 1966

My name is Victoria Winters. Even though the coroner has given an official opinion in the unexplained death of a man, the mystery of that death still creates dissension in our town. And not everyone agrees with the verdict.

Mrs. Johnson comes to see Burke. He tells her to softpedal how she feels about Mr. Malloy’s death. It won’t help with her undercover operation at Collinwood. Burke says he has two goals, to own Collinwood and everything it represents and to avenge Bill Malloy’s death.

Mrs. Johnson says Mr. Malloy thought it was a shame that Sam Evans let himself go to seed.

Burke thinks if they could find out the answer to why Sam went to seed, they might find the answer to the big question.

Sam gets annoyed with Maggie for suggesting that he was worried about the coroner’s verdict. She asks about his meeting with Roger last night. Sam snaps at her and then apologizes, saying he hasn’t been himself lately.

“That’s what I’ve been wondering about, Pop. If you’re not yourself, then who are you?”

Burke tells Mrs. Johnson to keep watch on Roger. She points out she might not be hired at all.

She wonders what Vicki’s story is.

He tells her she’s a total stranger. Isn’t it strange that Mrs. Stoddard hired someone she didn’t know anything about?

Mrs. Johnson thinks that’s exactly what she would do, hire someone who didn’t know anything about the family.

Burke wonders what they have to hide.

They decide to have breakfast downstairs. Maggie’s working, so Sam will probably come in. She goes down ahead. Burke reminds her that she doesn’t like him.

He gets a call from his friend Blair and asks him to contact the Collins family lawyers representing some money people with an offer of mortgage money. Burke is going to see if he can make them have the need for a large sum of money.

Maggie shows Mrs. Johnson the new menus, but she isn’t that interested. 

She observes to her father that Mrs. Johnson is a bundle of laughs. “Well, why should she be?”

Maggie wonders whether she should mention about Carolyn wanting her hired at Collinwood. Sam says no. Maggie says she doesn’t trust Mrs. Johnson. Female intuition.

Burke comes down and is greeted warmly (why?) by Maggie. Burke says Sam must be happy about the verdict. Sam says it was the only possible verdict. Nobody had anything to do with Bill Malloy’s death.

Mrs. Johnson steps up and says someone did—Burke Devlin.

“Oh, I don’t say you drowned him, but if you hadn’t come back to Collinsport, Mr. Malloy would still be alive.” (That’s probably true.) She says he stirred things up about an accident ten years ago till Mr. Malloy didn’t know whether he was coming or going, and that’s why he had the accident.

David comes in and interrupts, saying Mrs. Johnson doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

Burke takes David in the lobby to talk to him. “I’m sick, the way everybody’s blaming you for everything. That’s just the way they treat me too,” David says. Burke and David go upstairs to talk.

Sam asks Mrs. Johnson if she thinks Burke stopped Bill before Bill could stop him. 

Mrs. Johnson says no, she thinks Bill was so distracted he lost his footing.

David wants to know if Burke is really trying to take Collinwood away. 

Burke says he offered to buy it. David says everyone says he can’t have divided loyalties. 

It’s a hard decision. Miss Winters has been teaching him about the Civil War.

He says they’ll beat him when he gets home. It’ll be even worse when Mrs. Johnson comes to work there. Burke convinces him Mrs. Johnson is all right, just upset about Bill’s death.

David admits to stealing Burke’s picture. Burke says he didn’t steal it—it’s his.

Sam tells Maggie to be polite to Mrs. Johnson. She’s been through a lot lately. Maggie agrees she was a little harsh on her. “She’s all right.”

David apologizes to Mrs. Johnson, and she says maybe she was harsh about Mr. Devlin.

 

                          Cast, In Order of Appearance

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

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

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

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

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

David Collins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  David Henesy

Fashion by Ohrbach’s

Directed by Lela Swift

Written by Francis Swann