"I suppose you're wondering why I'm here." "I was picked up by an agent from the Federal Bureau..." "The Bureau of Standards, that is." "He claims I was lying about my weight." "The vertical stripes were my tailor's idea." "They not only give me that slim look, they also make it impossible for the guards to tell where the bars leave off and I begin." "I have a different uniform for each day." "And on each one, the stripes are closer together." "In 10 days I expect to disappear completely." "As for tonight's story, it is a somber little jape entitled" ""Silent Witness. "" "It will occupy this space in just a moment." ""My conscience hath a thousand several tongues." ""And every tongue brings in a several tale." ""And every tale condemns me for a villain." ""Perjury." "Perjury in the highest degree." ""Murder." "Stern murder in the direst degree." ""All several sins, all used in each degree." ""Thronged to the bar crying all guilty!" ""Guilty!" ""I shall despair." ""There is no creature loves me." ""And if I die, no soul shall pity me." ""Nay." "Wherefore should they," ""since that I myself find in myself" ""no pity to myself. "" "Class dismissed." "Professor Mason, this line, "My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,"" "is that Freudian?" "You're not getting a guilt complex, are you, darling?" "I think one of us has to start developing a conscience." "At this late date?" "It's never too late." "Oh, yes, it is, darling." "I'll tell you about it tonight." "I'm sorry, I can't..." "Tonight." "Absolutely..." "It's always so clear when you explain it, Professor." "Well, perhaps if you were to work on it at home, Miss Powell..." "I certainly will." "In fact, I'm going to spend all this evening just on your course." "Claudia, I can't see you tonight." "I have to take my wife to a dinner party." "Don't get tricky, dear." "Tonight's your wife's gym class." "The usual place?" "No, it's out of the question." "I'm not going to see you again, anywhere." "Nancy." "Yes, dear?" "How would you like to go for a drive, see a movie?" "Fine." "When?" "Now." "Tonight." "What's come over you?" "I don't know." "I just felt like getting out." "Well, it's a perfectly normal, middle-class impulse." "Is there anything wrong in that?" "No." "But I've never known you to have impulses, middle-class or any other kind." "You forgot normal." "I am normal, you know." "I'm just as normal as anybody else." "Oh, look." "I know this is your gym night, but couldn't you miss it just once?" "I mean, it isn't that important, is it?" "Oh, yes, it is." "I've got to control my figure if I'm gonna compete with all the jail bait in your classes." "That isn't very funny." "I know." "And every year it gets less funny!" "Bob, if you're restless, why don't you call Tim and the two of you go bowling?" "That's an idea." "Maybe I will." "See if he can make it." "If not, I'll go to a movie with you." "Professor Mason speaking." "There's been a change of plans, darling." "I won't be at the usual place." "Well, that's too bad." "I know the course is difficult." "I was afraid you wouldn't show up." "So I took a last-minute baby-sitting job at the Davidsons'." "In fact, I can see you right now." "Come on over as soon as Nancy leaves." "No." "No." "That's quite out of the question." "Then I'll come over there." "Don't think I won't, darling." "Very well, Miss McCaffrey." "Anytime, yes." "Good night." "Who was that?" "Oh, one of my students." "She is having a hard time with Richard III." "Well, you see to it he makes an honest woman of her." "I've got to fly." "Happy bowling, dear." "This is absolutely insane." "You're like an avalanche, Bob." "It takes a lot to get you moving." "We've got to stop this, Claudia." "You'll wake Linda." "Do you like babies, darling?" "I don't know." "I..." "Yes, I suppose so." "I..." "I never used to, 'til I started baby-sitting." "I find you can get used to anything if you have to." "I've gotten quite a lot of experience..." "Claudia, you know how dangerous this is." "Getting involved with a student is the worst thing a professor can do." "Do you realize what would happen if we were discovered?" "That never bothered you in the beginning." "I know." "I know." "I must've been out of my mind!" "I never intended for it to go this far." "I don't know how I could have been so incredibly stupid." "Stupid?" "Well, what I mean is we let ourselves go off the deep end." "We've managed to get away with it so far, but it's only a matter of time until we're found out." "I know." "That's why I wanted to talk to you." "We're going to get married." "Oh, I expect it'll be messy in the beginning." "Nancy may object to..." "Have you lost your mind?" "I think perhaps in Nevada or maybe Mexico..." "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "I'm not leaving Nancy for you or for anybody else." "She's my wife!" "A divorce..." "I'd have to resign from the faculty!" "My reputation would be ruined!" "At the moment I'm thinking about my reputation." "You're going to marry me, Bob." "Oh, no, no!" "It's utterly out of the question." "I'll give you all the money you need." "I don't have much but I'll borrow it." "Don't talk to me like that!" "Listen, I've told you how it's going to be and you might as well get used to the idea." "Because if I have to, I'll smear you, Bob." "Then you won't have to worry about anything." "Nancy or your job or your wonderful reputation." "I'll ruin you forever." "You'll ruin me forever?" "Oh, Claudia." "You wouldn't do that, would you?" "Ruin me forever." "You'll ruin me forever?" "Professor Mason?" "Yes." "I'm Sergeant Waggoner." "Oh." "Yes." "I've been expecting you." "Sorry to disturb you, Professor, but she was one of your students and I'm talking to all the teachers." "Now, if you'll be so good as to tell us all you know about her, her background, reputation, the men in her life." "You know what I mean." "She..." "She was very pretty." "Not much of a student really." "She..." "I guess it doesn't matter." "There'd always be someone to make it easy for her." "Kind of wild, eh?" "I understand there was a lot of these college boys hanging around her, Professor." "The trouble is, this place is full of college boys, if you know what I mean." "Yes." "I got to start weeding them out." "You think Claudia was killed by one of the students?" "How else can you figure?" "Nobody broke into the house, she must've opened the door." "Had to be somebody she knew." "But that doesn't necessarily mean it was someone here at the college." "We'll turn up all her friends before we're finished." "Now what about these college boys, Professor?" "Oh, I..." "I don't think there was anyone in particular." "She was popular with all of them." "You didn't happen to glance out your window last night, did you?" "Huh?" "If you would, you would've noticed that your window and the Davidsons' window are in the same line." "Of course, they probably had the shades pulled." "I didn't even notice that." "I'm sorry." "I'm not being very much help." "I don't seem to be able to think very clearly." "Well, only 24 hours ago, Claudia was sitting right over there." "That's the last time I saw her." "I realize this is rough on you, Professor." "But if you think of something later, I'd certainly appreciate a call." "Oh, sure." "I'd be glad to." "But I'm afraid I didn't see anything unusual." "Murders are seldom committed in front of witnesses." "This one was." "Oh, yes, we've got an eyewitness." "But so far she refuses to testify." "The Davidsons' baby, Professor." "She must've seen the whole thing." "If only she could talk." "Yes." "No." "Bob just came in." "I'll talk to you later." "The phone has been ringing all day." "Here, let me take those." "Honestly, the morbidity of people." "Bob, you look simply ghastly." "Sit down and I'll make you a drink." "You must have had a pretty dreadful day." "I had a detective here for an hour." "I suppose the police were in to see you?" "They were around talking to everybody who knew the girl." "I gather a lot of people knew her." "Men, that is." "Why do you say that?" "She was that kind of a girl, wasn't she?" "I found her no different than any of the other girls in any of my classes." "Now really, Bob, none of the other girls got themselves murdered." "She must've been different." "Tell me." "What was she really like?" "C- average student." "Oh, for heaven sakes!" "Somebody could set off an atom bomb and if it didn't demolish your ivory tower, you wouldn't even notice it." "The one I feel sorry for is Linda." "Who?" "The Davidson baby." "An experience like this could have a very serious psychological affect on her." "That's ridiculous." "She's too young to be aware of anything." "I can see you don't know much about babies, Professor." "The age of consciousness begins around the first year." "Well, there have been cases of babies talking about what they've seen after they learn to talk." "How old is Linda?" "Fourteen months." "She'll be talking before much longer." "Here, darling." "Professor." "Good morning." "How are you, Mrs. Davidson?" "I'm a complete frazzle." "I don't mind telling you." "I haven't had an hour's sleep since that dreadful thing happened." "I can understand why." "I was telling my husband last night, telephoned him, you know, all the way to Germany." "I told him to come home right away." "But you know how the Army is." "He's due to come back to the States in a month and not one day sooner." "I told him not to be surprised if I'm a complete nervous wreck when he gets here." "You'd think the police would give us protection." "Why, that fiend might come back and kill me next." "I don't think you have anything to worry about." "How's the baby?" "Frankly, I'm worried." "She's been acting strangely." "Oh?" "You never know what damage a thing like this can do to a child." "Subconsciously, that is." "Why, it might not show up until years later." "Oh, baby." "Now, don't you cry." "It's only Professor Mason, our next door neighbor." "Oh, that's a shameful way to behave with the nice professor." "Shame on you." "Bob?" "You're awfully late." "You know I wanted to have an early dinner." "Bob?" "Didn't you hear me?" "Yes." "This is your gym night." "Well, you run along." "I'll find something to eat." "I set the table in the kitchen." "There's a casserole in the oven and the coffee's all ready." "That's fine." "Thank you." "Aren't you feeling well, dear?" "You haven't looked yourself in weeks." "No, just a little tired." "I've been reading too much, I guess." "You've been working too hard and you don't get enough exercise." "Why don't you go to the men's gym tonight and play some badminton?" "No, I think I'll go to bed early." "I didn't get much sleep with that baby crying all night." "I know." "Mrs. Davidson said she was up with her half the night." "What's wrong with her?" "She's teething." "Oh!" "She's growing up pretty fast." "She'll be 15 months next week." "Her daddy won't even know her." "Mrs. Davidson is expecting him back in a few days." "Has she learned..." "I mean, I suppose she's started to talk." "Who, the baby or Mrs. Davidson?" "You have a good dinner and get some rest." "Bye." "Bye." "Here, here, now, sweetheart." "You'll feel much better out here." "It's nice and cool." "Now then, stop fussing and go to sleep." "Yes, sleep, baby." "Mommy will be right inside." "I'm coming, Linda." "Yes?" "Sorry to disturb you, Professor." "Sergeant Waggoner." "Oh, yes, Sergeant." "Is there anything wrong?" "You mind if we talk inside?" "Were you home all evening, Professor?" "Yes." "I was asleep." "Then you didn't hear the ruckus next door?" "I don't know what you mean." "Mrs. Davidson reported a prowler." "She thinks it's the murderer of the Powell girl returning to the scene of the crime." "Why does she think that?" "Well, she doesn't make much sense." "She's pretty hysterical." "Oh, there was a prowler, all right." "How do you know?" "Found his tracks in the backyard." "Looks like he took off over your hedge, Professor." "You didn't hear anything, eh?" "Professor, you didn't hear anything, eh?" "No, I was asleep." "Well, personally, I don't buy the idea it was the murderer anyway." "No reason for him to come back as I can see." "No, the person who did it is sitting tight, waiting, hoping that we'll walk around him." "Making any progress?" "Not for publication." "We're still sifting out those college boys." "Well, sorry I woke you up, Professor, but we have to check out these things." "We're assigning a police woman to Mrs. Davidson until her husband gets in." "For the baby, mostly." "The baby?" "Yeah, sure." "She was sleeping on the back porch." "It was her screaming that frightened the prowler away." "If this keeps up, I'm gonna have to have a talk with that kid." "Good night, Professor." "Good morning, Mr. Mason." "Good morning." "Isn't she a darling?" "And quite bright for her age." "You know, Mrs. Davidson told me she said her first word this morning." "What did she say?" "Dada." "Oh, once they start talking you can't keep them quiet." "I raised two of my own." "I know." "Oh, that reminds me," "I've got to make a phone call home." "I want to make sure my daughter puts the roast in the oven." "Would you mind watching the baby a second?" "No." "Class dismissed." "Professor Mason." "Would you please explain this passage to me?" "No." "I never give special help to one of my students." "Oh, hello, Professor." "Anything I can do?" "I killed Claudia Powell." "Darling." "How did you get here so soon?" "I didn't expect you till Monday." "I hitched a ride on an Army plane." "Oh, it's so good to see you." "We'd better get inside before we shock the whole neighborhood." "How's the baby?" "She's learning to talk." "It's the cutest thing..." "No." "No..." "No, no, I insist." "She says clearly as anything." "Dada, Mama..." "Now she's learning to say cookie." "Quickly, darling, here she is." "Look, Linda, baby, look who's here." "It's your daddy!" "Hello, darling." "What kind of a welcome is that?" "What's wrong with her?" "Nothing, silly." "It just takes a little time for her to get used to you." "She never sees anything but women." "Every time a man comes near her, she kicks up an awful row." "Oh, it's nothing personal, dear." "She does it with every man." "Look, she stopped already." "Well, you can't win them all." "I understand that Don Mason was condemned to a cell very much like this one." "And now, Daddies and Mommies," "I think the time has come to lam out of here." "Suppose you take this opportunity to escape, until next time, of course."