"Good evening." "And thank you for allowing me to come into your living room." "The miracle of electronics makes many new pleasures possible." "I frequently watch television." "It takes my mind off my work." "You aren't interrupting, however, for I seldom pay much attention to this part of the program." "It's really quite superfluous." "I find I can miss it entirely and still know what the commercial is all about." "I must say I sometimes find myself fascinated by the amazing ego of this man." "He speaks as though he were certain we were all sitting here with ears akimbo listening to his every word." "Let's listen to what he is saying now." "But first we have an important announcement." "My sponsor..." "The way he bows and scrapes before the sponsor." "It's disgusting." "He's obviously a relative." "Shhh." "... an expensive message." "Hello, Celia." "You're late." "I'm sorry, I had some trouble on the road." "I've already finished dinner." "It doesn't matter." "I stopped on the way and had some." "I wasn't sure you got my wire." "Oh, where can I put these?" "Christmas presents." "Well, it is Christmas Eve." "Yes, I know." "Only, I hoped that you'd realize that presents would be a little out of place at a time like this." "I'm sorry." "How is Charlie?" "The same." "Where is he?" "Where he usually is, in his room." "He sits up there by the hour, doing nothing, brooding." "I'll go and tell him I'm here." "Maybe if I have a little talk with him I can cheer him up a bit." "John." "Talk to me for a little first." "I'm sorry if I snapped at you." "It's just that I never seem to talk to anybody anymore." "I get so lonely." "There's no need for that, you know." "Well, what can I do?" "Charlie hasn't spoken to me since it happened." "Except when he loses his temper." "I didn't mean just Charlie." "I meant shutting yourself away like this, not seeing anybody." "Did you expect that we'd have big parties the way we used to?" "Not if you don't want to." "But at least you don't have to keep the place like this." "It's enough to depress anyone." "A little more light wouldn't hurt, you know." "It's easier in the dark." "It's easier to pretend it never happened." "There." "That's a little more cheerful." "It doesn't seem right somehow." "But it can't hurt Jessie now." "Can I get you some coffee?" "No, please don't bother." "Let's go into the library and talk for a few minutes." "I'll see Charlie later." "Oh, it's all set." "Yes, yes, I laid it this morning." "I suppose it was a foolish thought, but I thought that if you would talk to Charlie, he'd stop blaming me and staying up in his room." "It'd be so lovely to have a big fire the way we always used to on Christmas Eve." "Celia." "Oh, I don't mean a lot of people." "I know that that wouldn't be right so soon." "Why not?" "But you're not just anyone." "You're an old friend." "It wouldn't be disrespectful to Jessie for just the three of us to have a quiet Christmas Eve." "No, it certainly wouldn't." "It wouldn't even be disrespectful to have a few people in." "Oh, no, no." "I wouldn't want that." "Why not?" "Well, I should think you'd understand without my explaining." "Well, I don't." "I suppose it's because you never felt the same way about Jessie as I did." "Oh, I know you liked her, but I loved her." "Why?" "Because she was your brother's wife?" "Partly, I suppose." "But more because of her." "She was so good, so sweet." "You hated her." "Don't say that!" "You're just like all the others." "I wouldn't even be surprised if you believed what they were all whispering." "They weren't whispering." "That was your imagination or your conscience." "Everyone thought the three of you got on well together until you started acting this way." "But you didn't believe it?" "Well, answer me." "I've wondered sometimes, yes." "How could you?" "You've known me all my life." "How could you think that I could hurt anyone, let alone Jessie?" "It was an accident, John." "She tripped and fell down the stairs." "Celia, I don't care much anymore, one way or the other." "You were cleared at the inquest." "Yes, and what good did it do me?" "Everyone still believes that I did it, even Charlie." "That's what hurts the most." "My own brother." "Celia, please, don't." "John, why do you care so much?" "I've always cared." "You know that." "Then you've got to talk to him." "You've got to make him see the truth." "Celia, the only thing you can do is to go away from each other." "Oh, no." "No, I don't mean forever, but just for a little while." "This is my home." "I have no place else to go." "You only see things the way you want them to be." "This isn't your home." "This was Jessie and Charlie's home." "I was born in this house." "But your father left it to Charlie." "That's because he knew it didn't make any difference." "He knew that Charlie would always want me here." "Don't you understand the way he feels now is because he's so unhappy?" "He loved her so much." "That's why he blames me." "He has to blame someone." "Do you honestly believe he'll ever feel differently?" "Oh, yes." "Yes, he has to." "I couldn't go on bearing his hatred." "He's all I have." "He's all I ever had, really." "John, is that you down there?" "Yes, I just got here." "Come on down, Charlie." "You come up." "All right, in just a minute." "I guess I'd better." "What are those?" "Jessie's clothes, her personal things." "I packed them last night." "What are you gonna do with them?" "Get rid of them." "Because you loved her so much?" "You don't understand." "It's not because of me, it's because of Charlie." "It hurts him to be reminded of her." "John!" "I'm coming." "Hello, Charlie." "John, it's so good to see you." "It's good to see you, Charlie." "Come into my room." "I don't want her to hear us." "Come on in, John." "We're all right now." "What's the matter?" "Oh, you didn't know I'd moved back into my old room, did you?" "Yes, I knew." "She told you, I suppose." "What difference does it make?" "None." "Nothing makes any difference now." "But it's better in here." "I feel easier, somehow." "Yes, you always did." "Ever since we were kids, this was your favorite refuge." "It was the only place I was really away from both of them." "Mama and Celia." "It's funny." "Sometimes, I get them both mixed up." "Don't look at me like that." "I'm not losing my mind." "It's just that I couldn't bear to stay in the room that Jessie and I had." "Running back in here isn't the answer, Charlie." "What is?" "Getting away from this house, from Celia, from all the unhappy memories this house holds for you." "I'm going to." "Do you mean that?" "I never meant anything more." "But there's something I have to do first." "What?" "You'll know about it when it happens." "That's no answer." "I don't want to talk about it." "Charlie, listen to me." "We've been friends for a long time, but I didn't want to come here tonight." "I didn't want to spend Christmas like this." "Then why did you come?" "Because you can't go on like this any longer." "Go look at yourself in the mirror." "You're as pale as a ghost." "You haven't shaved." "What do you expect to accomplish this way?" "I told you I'm going away as soon as I can." "But you haven't told me what's stopping you, why you can't go right away, tonight even." "You know as well as I do." "What is that supposed to mean?" "She killed Jessie." "You know it." "I know it." "Everyone knows it." "But why did they let her go?" "Why did they clear her at the inquest?" "The verdict was accidental death." "There was no other verdict possible under the circumstances." "There was no evidence, no motive." "What are you talking about?" "She hated Jessie." "What stronger motive is there?" "If she did, no one knew but you, or possibly me." "You all pretended so in front of everyone else." "Yes, that's right." "We were a great family of pretenders." "We always have been for as long as I can remember." "We were always taught, it didn't matter what happened inside the house as long as the neighbors didn't know about it." "I know." "No, you don't." "Because we even pretended in front of you." "Oh, not as much, I suppose, but we pretended." "I used to watch the people laughing and talking when Mama was giving a party, and I used to wonder if all families were like that." "If they only pretended to be happy and love each other when other people were watching." "No, they're not all like that." "Charlie." "No, don't say it." "I'm not going away until I do what I have to do." "She killed the only thing I ever loved and she's going to be punished for it." "She wasn't even here." "She was shopping in Boston." "A dozen witnesses testified to that." "Jessie was alive after she left." "She talked to two people on the phone." "Two people who knew her voice." "Then why do you think Celia killed Jessie?" "I saw you looking at her when she was cleared at the inquest." "You knew she was guilty." "It's true, I've wondered." "Although I don't know why, exactly." "I'll tell you why." "Because you knew how badly lit that stairs was." "And the foyer." "You knew Jessie always rested in the afternoon." "All Celia had to do was to wait until Jessie went up for her nap and tie a cord across the stairs and leave to do her shopping." "And when Jessie came down..." "That's only a theory, Charlie." "There's no evidence to support it." "What if I found evidence?" "What evidence?" "I'll show you." "She had it hidden in her bedroom." "It's just an ordinary ball of cord." "It's what she used." "Can't you see that?" "It doesn't matter what I see." "It isn't evidence." "It won't hold up in court." "That's what I thought." "So it's up to me, isn't it?" "It isn't up to you to do anything except clear out of here." "You're still young." "You can make a whole new life." "Without Jessie?" "You never loved anyone, or you'd know that's impossible." "Charlie, loving someone is one thing." "But to stop living because you lose them is not loving." "It's sickness." "You don't understand, do you?" "Perhaps I don't." "But I'm your friend and it's Christmas." "So do one thing for me, will you?" "What?" "Walk town to the tavern with me and let's have a Christmas drink." "Why should I?" "Because it'll do you good to get away from here, even for a little while." "I don't want to." "Why not?" "All your friends are there." "I stopped by there on the way here." "They're all asking after you." "How could you ask him to do that?" "How could you ask him to go drinking at a time like this?" "I told you never to come into my room." "I'm not in it." "I came to tell you your dinner is on the table." "I thought you said you'd finished dinner." "I said I'd finished." "We don't dine together." "Why don't you go and eat while I unpack?" "I'm not hungry." "Besides, I want to show you something." "I can see it after you've eaten." "I want you to see it now." "It's a Christmas present from Jessie." "From Jessie?" "She made it." "She had it all wrapped and waiting for Christmas Eve, and then she died." "Well, this is Christmas Eve." "I'll get it." "I keep it with her things." "Charlie." "Her things are gone." "Charlie, listen to me." "She took them!" "Celia!" "You took Jessie's things." "Yes, I took them." "What's the use of keeping them?" "They only make you unhappy, Charlie." "I told you never to touch anything of Jessie's." "Not anything." "Where are they?" "What did you do with them?" "They're in the library." "I packed them in two suitcases." "Why did you tell him?" "I didn't." "Well, it doesn't matter." "It only means that I'll have to pack them all over again." "Celia, you can't do this." "If he wants to dispose of them, it's up to him." "He won't do it." "And it only makes him miserable to have them there." "Always reminding him." "Leave him alone, Celia." "What about me?" "If you ever touch anything of hers again," "I'll kill you." "Celia, I want to talk to you for a minute." "Come in." "What is it?" "I can't stay here tonight." "I'm going back to town." "Well, I can't blame you." "Who'd want to stay in a house where there's so much unhappiness?" "I wouldn't mind if I were doing any good, but I'm not." "In fact, I may be making matters worse." "Thank you for coming to say goodbye." "I wanted to promise me you'll stay in your room tonight." "Well, I usually have a glass of hot milk before I go to bed." "I was just on my way to get it." "Couldn't you skip that just one night?" "Why should I?" "You don't need to worry about me, John." "He's not going to do anything to me." "Charlie has never done anything in his whole life except talk." "Oh, are you sure I can't get you something before you go?" "No, no, no, thank you." "I'll just pack while you're getting your milk." "And, Celia, after the holidays, I'm going to do something about all this whether either one of you like it or not." "I don't care anymore." "Do what you like." "Are you sure I can't get you anything, John?" "It's a long drive to town." "I don't think I'll go back tonight." "I'll stay at the tavern and go back in the morning." "Oh, I'd forgotten they have rooms." "I'll see you before I go." "Celia!" "Are you all right?" "Yes." "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm all right." "It didn't work, Charlie, not quite." "I'm sorry it didn't." "How could you hate me so much?" "How could I not?" "I didn't kill her." "You know that as well as I do." "I couldn't kill anything." "Couldn't you?" "What do you call what you've done to me?" "The only difference is you did it slowly to me, little by little." "All I ever did was to love you and to take care of you." "I never even wanted anything in return." "I couldn't speak to anyone, go anywhere or do anything unless it met with your approval." "That's not true." "Of course, it's true!" "You're so like Mama." "She had to own everything too." "When she died I thought I'd be free." "But you were right there waiting to take over." "But you wanted it that way." "You always wanted to be taken care of." "You never really wanted to be on your own." "I wanted to be married, to have some sort of life of my own." "That's why I married Jessie." "But you couldn't stand that, could you?" "So you fixed it." "Well, it may not have worked this time." "But there'll be other times." "Charlie." "Charlie, wait." "Get out of my house." "You're not my friend." "You're on her side." "I'll get out as soon as I know that Celia is safe." "Don't worry about me, John." "I'll be all right." "Charlie, if anything happens to Celia," "I'll go straight to the police." "Well, Merry Christmas, John." "Merry Christmas, Al." "How have you been?" "Fine." "I was hoping you'd stop by for a Christmas drink with me." "I was afraid you weren't gonna make it." "I barely did." "Well, what's it gonna be, the usual?" "The usual." "Just come from there, huh?" "Yeah." "See Charlie?" "And Celia." "Well, that's less unusual than seeing Charlie." "I see her pretty often when she goes shopping." "But I never see Charlie." "You think it's safe for them to be alone together like they are?" "I mean, the way things stand and the way Charlie feels." "There could be another lot of trouble there." "It looked that way tonight, but I think it's all right now." "Until the next time." "Until the next time." "You know something?" "This is one day I'd like to cut out of the calendar permanently." "And leave them alone to their troubles." "It'd served them right." "They're not alone." "Jessie is with them." "Jessie will always be with them." "I suppose so." "That's certainly the queerest thing ever happened in this town." "Both of them up there, hating each other day after day since..." "When was it, John?" "When was it Jessie took that fall?" "Twenty years ago." "Twenty years ago, tonight, on Christmas Eve." "After that, I think you must agree..." "That was a very charming mime." "I don't think we should be bothered with much more by our sycophantic friend." "I have a remote control device which eliminates those portions of a program you don't wish to hear." "Just a moment." "Here's a part I never miss." "... day." "... sponsor goes to keep you amused..." "This remote control device is secondhand but is in excellent condition." "It belonged to a little old lady in Pasadena." "A widow who only used it once." "Ah, there's that obnoxious fellow again." "... next week, good night."