"It all began one night when the lights went out." "What do I know?" "They just keep blowing." "The circuit is overloaded." "It's your bloody exercise machine." "It's not my stair stepper." "I nearly got electrocuted last night." "This whole house needs rewiring." "We can't afford it." "Maybe with your raise..." "My raise?" "I wanted to do a surprise party for your promotion, but the deposit check bounced at mariela's." "The job isn't mine yet, Leslie." "Mariela's supposed to be the only civilized caterer out here." "I said to her, "mariela, it can't bounce."" "It's one of the brown ones."" "The money market?" "Jesus, Leslie." "Kathy and Jason." "Doesn't anybody in this house pay any attention to you?" "Well, for god's sake, it's my account." "I said to her, "the green ones bounce."" ""That's my husband's account." "My brown ones never bounce."" "All right, now, you children run into the kitchen, and grandma's gonna get you some breakfast." "Anyway, I practically had to beg her to take plastic, and you know how backed up that is." "Arguing with Leslie about her money again?" "Lillian." "As always, your timing is impeccable." "Don't try to be so sarcastic." "I actually came over to congratulate you on your new... your coffee's hot." "It's all right for us to have a little cup before exercise class." "And that reminds me." "I remembered some more names for his surprise party." "Fabulous." "And folding chairs, right?" "How many do we need?" "250?" "Try to understand he'd always fancied himself a sorcerer capable of fixing anything." "And now, in his own house, there were constant failures of power." ""Good-bye, darling." ""Love you, darling." "Slay the dragons, sweetheart."" "If a sorcerer's house isn't his castle, what is it?" "Still, he was looking forward to his promotion." "He'd worked hard for many years in the American corporate structure." "He'd earned it." "But the magic was just draining out of him every time he got on that commuter train, back and forth from the suburbs every day." "Excuse me, please." "Every day." "You look fit today, George." " Ready to do battle?" " I don't know." "It's all up for me, and I've done what I can for you." "Now let's just read our papers." "I think you're jumping the gun." "Come on." "The whole point of these takeovers is to sell off the assets and put old farts like me out to pasture." "I can hear the fat lady singing, Graham." "I can hear her singing." "Space invaders, Graham." "The new people are all gadgets and the bottom line." "I hear you, George." "Stop them early, or they'll run right over you." ""We can be more efficient on such-and-such a program."" "Ba, ba ba ba ba." "It's all bullshit, Graham, soup to nuts." "It's code for mass firings and low quality." "Just melt the market dry and get out." "I mean, if our system wasn't any good, why did they take us over in the first place, right?" "Hey, buddy." "Give me a buck, will ya?" "What do you make, a million a year?" "Yeah, that's the way." "This city is getting to be like Calcutta." "I remember when New York was a pleasure." "I can remember when it was... now, that was true." "New York wasn't what it used to be." "Stella." "Lend me $20." "I know I can win this." "I refuse to keep being the only practical person I know." "Minute to win, babe." "Minute to win." "Even in their summer dresses, he scarcely noticed the temptations anymore." "God, he could remember when it was all he noticed." "He tried to remember that power he used to have over women back in his dangerous days." "When you brain drain boys came over from england in the '60s and '70s," "I had no problem." "I know." "I don't know, Graham." "These young turks, hell." "Their efficiency system is just a cover." "What was the name of that film, the one about space invaders taking over living people?" "Pods." "Pod people." "Body snatchers." "That's it, invasion of the body snatchers." "Hey, I saw that movie." "It was pretty happenin'." "Pods, pods, pods." "Graham?" "Can we push Jay Walter to 10:00?" "Yeah, check with frank." "I think that's good." "You'll love this." "Wonder oats wants to kill the dog." "Have we got the numbers back from the west coast yet?" "Not yet." "They're supposed to get back by 4:00." "Don't touch the dog." " Graham?" " Yeah?" "The results of the great Kentucky gelatin wars." "Tell me they're not shit, Amy." "They're not shit, Graham." "They're shit, Amy." "I knew you had a crush on somebody." "Would you, for god's sake, behave yourself?" "Stella, I don't know how to play this person, and I don't know who she is." "It's not a role." "It's a job, a rent-paying job." "Now come on;" "I want to introduce you to the boss." "All right." "David, David, can you bring this over to Jones?" "Graham Marshall's office." "Yes, I'll be happy to take a message." " Graham." " Graham, hi." "Excuse me a moment, Stella." "Have a look at this." "The number crunchers designed it, but the thinking, basically, is mine." "What is this?" "A program that projects survey responses from preprocessed data." "Well, that's great, but what is this?" "It makes it unnecessary to go back to the public with a new release." "It predicts how they'll react." "Does it buy the product for them?" "Well, not yet." "Bring it back when it does, and we'll do lunch." "Graham, seriously, this has huge cost-cutting... later, Bob." "I'm sorry, Stella." "Thanks, Graham." "I just wanted to introduce you to Melanie o'Connor." "Do you remember I told you about her, my roommate?" "Mr. Marshall, I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for the job." "I'm sure you'll do just fine." "Stella will take you over to personnel, and she'll put you to work, okay?" "My resume." "Thanks." "He's nice." "Graham." "Peter Reynolds from Beatrice called with congratulations." "Well, that's nice." "Bob?" "About that... that thing..." "Forget about this." "There's something more important." "As spokesman for some of the younger turks," "I'm supposed to invite you to lunch in celebration of your approaching greatness." "Christ." "Today?" "Come on, executive bonding." "Raucous, unfunny jokes." "And we'll kiss your ass in the hopes you'll mistake it for affection." "How degrading for you." "I'll be there." "What time?" " 12:30?" " Fine." "Bring your ass." "See you at the elevators, 12:30." " Right." " Roger." "You got it." "Marshall." "Graham." "Stella." "Thanks again for the job for Melanie." "She'll make a great receptionist." "She's got an outgoing personality." "And congratulations." "I heard you're going to replace Mr. Brewster." "It's about time." "Yes, I guess it is, at that." "Just about time." "Charles has got to announce the promotion Friday." "That's what I heard, Friday." "It's the least they can do, give you a couple of days to celebrate." "Two glorious days, three fun-filled nights." "And how will you fill those fun-filled nights," "Mr. Marshall?" "Well, right now, I'm planning to have the wife's mother over to berate me for not letting her live with us." "Wouldn't be my choice." "That reminds me." "We're putting the boat in this weekend." "And we forgot ours, didn't we, lads?" "Tara's coming out to the house." "Tara?" "What kind of a name is that?" "Her last name is raboomdeay." "*" "The man is dating a plantation." "Gentlemen, gentlemen." "You don't understand." "We are the young, the proud." "We shouldn't be ashamed of success." "We should say, "yes, I have a boat."" ""I have a country home." "I have a girlfriend named Tara."" "Say it with me, brothers." "I do have a Mercedes." "I have a condo with a pool." "I have a personal sports trainer." "I have a wife, a mortgage, and two dogs." "Very sad." "God bless and keep the old-fashioned family." "Hear, hear." "So there it was, his promotion..." "The climax of his business life." "This was as good as it would get." "Tara raboomdeay." "Jeez." "What the hell is the matter?" "What's everybody up to?" "What is going on here?" "Graham?" "Can I speak to you for a second?" "What the hell is going on out there, George?" "Did somebody die or lose money or something?" "They're asking me to get out early." "I'm sorry, George." "I mean, I wanted this spot, but..." "Not this way." "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, Graham." "They certainly want you to stay on." "It's just, they felt when it came to head of department..." "What?" "Felt what?" "Well, there's a general opinion that you weren't in somehow with the new program, that you were..." "What are you telling me, George?" "You didn't get it, Graham." "You're not the one." "You're fucking kidding me." "I'm sorry, Graham." "Those assholes." "I don't believe this." "Those fucking assholes." "It's a whole new ball game, pal." "Who got it, George?" "Who's the new head?" "That." "Benham." "Robert benham." "Benham." "Hail the conquering hero." "God help us all." "Spare some change?" "No." "Go away." "Come on, buddy." "Give me some change." "Didn't you hear me?" "I said go away!" "You know, I could teach you a little something about being a gentleman." "Get the fuck out of here!" "Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please." "This train is being taken out of service." "All passengers must leave the train immediately." "Attention, please." "All passengers must leave the train immediately." "We have had an passenger injury." "Please, your cooperation is needed." "This train is..." "Had he really killed a man?" "He wanted to run away from himself as if he'd split into two pieces, him and the murderer." "Hey, hey, I'm off duty." "Grand central station, please." "All right." "He must be in shock." "This rush, this adrenaline, the fear." "Christ, the fear!" "You left early." "I couldn't take it either." "I hope to hell there's a bar car." "I don't know, Graham." "For me, the fun went out of it after Wendy died." "It was never any good, really, after that." "Your wife, your health..." "That's the real stuff." "A guy like benham..." "Okay, he's smart." "He's ambitious." "His shirt was torn." "He must have killed a man." "Do you know?" "See, you're more like me, Graham, someone who understands that flesh and blood..." "Human life, you know..." "Is precious." "Life." "Murder, Graham." "What?" "Do you want to talk about a day that has been absolute murder?" "But the good news is," "I finally got mariela to take a postdated brown check, so your surprise party is a definite after all." "Look what you did, Mr. mcfuddlehead." "That's a perfectly good shirt you threw away." "It's torn." "Well, maybe Esmeralda can sew it." "Mr. martelli, he came next." "I was working out on my stair stepper, and all of a sudden, ffffft!" "It jammed, I banged my shin, and every air conditioner in the house went off." "It's that damn fuse box again." "That's just what Mr. martelli said, except somehow when he said it, it cost $153." "We've got to economize, Leslie." "What was I..." "The shirt." "That's what it was." "Yeah, he said there's probably a short in the stair stepper." "I don't see any rip." "I thought there was one." "Honestly, Graham." "What is the matter with you tonight?" "Me?" "Nothing." "Graham, Bob benham wants to see you." "Fine." "Mr. Bob." "Sir Robert." "Graham, he's in George's office today." "The emperor Bob." "Mr. benham will meet him at the restaurant at 1:00." "Good." "I'll tell him." "Okay." "I will." "This isn't exactly comfortable for me." "I know you wanted this job." "I suppose, if we were rival princes," "I could just have you killed." "Save a lot of politics." "It's not that easy to kill someone and get away with it." "I thought instead, it would be good if we could get together this weekend out at the house..." "You and Leslie, me and Tara." "The actual ta-ra." "Yes, that would be nice, Bob." "Good." "We'll do a little sailing, a lot of eating, and find the time to discuss the new order of things." "Graham, do you happen to have a light?" "Yes, of course." "He kept expecting a bolt of lightning to come out of of the sky and strike him dead." "Hey, buddy." "Spare some change?" "Thanks." "God bless you." "But it never did." "All he felt was good, clean, free..." "As if he'd taken a thousand-pound load off his back." "*" "Are we making this the 754 or the 813?" "Where do they get those numbers?" "Everyone's so..." "Young." "Scotch, rocks, please." "No, wait a minute." "I'll have something vibrant and youthful." "Do you want a Shirley temple?" "A light beer with a twist for my friend." "No, the scotch will be fine." "I'll have a side order of bran flakes." "Who's that with benham?" " Where?" " Over there." "That's Henry park," "Mr. computer from downstairs." "Some of the hardware is so outdated." "I'll bet he's drinking something vibrant and youthful." "You look very vibrant to me." "Well, I think it's rotten, Mr. Marshall." "The only reason you didn't get that job is 'cause they didn't give it to you." "Well, I think you've handled it very gracefully and vibrantly too." "I haven't even told my wife yet." "You haven't?" "Graham, why not?" "Dread, really." "It's going to be a disaster." "That's ridiculous." "These things happen." "Not to her husband, it doesn't." "Usually, I just reach out my hand, and obstacles disappear." "Pshew!" "Great drink." "She thinks she's Mrs. Merlin." " Who?" " Merlin." "The wizard, king Arthur." "Now, don't use the quiet voice, Graham." "It's just the same as yelling." "It is too expensive to maintain, Leslie!" "And don't yell at me." "It's not the machine's fault." "I've never understood why you need a stair machine when we had stairs!" "Because I have to keep going up, silly." "If I had to keep going down," "I'd lose the whole aerobic benefit." "It's like a computer." "You're not turning it on right." "You turn it on like this." "Well, that's very impressive, Mr. Einstein." "But aren't you supposed to scream "booga-booga"" "or something?" " Fuck!" " Graham." "Well, I guess it's back to Mr. martelli." "There isn't gonna be any Mr. god damn martelli." "I'm going to flick a switch in the god damn fuse box, and all the lights will magically go on for free!" "Graham..." "And you are going to follow me, and you're going to learn how to do it!" "You know, there's lots of money" "I don't spend around here." "Is this going to take long?" "There's that big check I saw for $2,157." "That is our mortgage." "And the big one?" "That $3,300 one?" "That's our life insurance, Leslie." "Well, it's not as though" "I don't pay my share of things around here, more than my share." "And anyway, you're finally getting a decent raise." "I mean, I'm just beginning to feel that there's a great big whole lot of male chauvinist prejudice in operation here." "I mean, part of what helps you get ahead is having a wife from a good family who looks nice and a house near George and all the proper things, and you can't blame me just because I sign the checks" "when, really..." "Leslie?" "Come up here." "I want to show you how to fix the lights." "Graham." " Come on." " Why do..." "Do I need to know this?" "Yes." "Yes, you do." "Get up." "Stand on the top box." "Get on there." " Okay?" "You all right?" " Yeah." "Now put out your right hand, and get hold of that pipe very, very firmly." "Ew." "It's all filthy and wet." "Yuck." "It's important for your balance." "Right?" "Got hold?" "Now reach out with your left hand, get hold of that chain, and pull down hard." "I see..." "I see, and here's the fuse box right here." "Ew, my hands are all yuck." "I didn't get the job, Leslie." "I see." "So what do we do now?" "Just..." "What?" "The promotion." "I didn't get it." "No, of course you got it, Graham." "You always get it." "I'm sorry." "I know what it meant to you." "No, you don't, Graham." "I really don't think you do know how much it meant to me." "That's when he realized she was a witch." "For his survival, he was going to have to get rid of her spell." "Yeah." "Hey, what took you so long?" "I hope the traffic wasn't terrible." "He missed the turn." "Graham." "Leslie." "Bob." "How are you?" "This is Tara, not the plantation." " How do you do?" " Hello, Tara." "Tara liston the model." "Nice to meet you." "Shall we show them the ranch?" "I think we have to." "Come on up." "She was perfect." "He was perfect." "The house was perfect." "The boat was perfect." "The American dream." "She feels a bit small up top, but she's surprisingly roomy for overnights." "I want one." "I want one!" "Cuts along on a jolly clip too, doesn't she?" "She jolly well does." "By golly." "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." "Graham?" "Could you give me a hand down here, please?" "Certainly." "Let me." "It's this gas." "I just can't seem to..." " Let me try." " Get it." "There." "Thank you, kind sir." "What department do you head at gibb, Graham?" "I'm in marketing too." "So you're under Bob now." "Yeah." "Don't stop." "No." "The power was draining out of him again." "He had to act." "I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, Graham, but George was simply dealing with smoke signals and drums." "Our hackers can have the present hardware linked internationally six months, tops." "Great." "As long as we don't overextend ourselves." "I think it's exciting to plan so big." "I'd like you to be at that San Francisco convention next week." "That should give you the real overview of where we're headed." "What day next week?" "Wednesday, I think." "The day of the head of departments meetings." "Yes, actually." "Yes." "I chair that meeting, Bob." "Well, actually, you have chaired it in the past, Graham, and, frankly, that's because George was too apathetic to take care of it himself." "It is a meeting of department heads, after all." "Maybe we should talk this one over with George." "I cleared it with George." "Graham?" "For goodness sake, you have your lighter with you." "Well, thank god somebody around here's getting a vacation." "Have a good time, sweetheart." "Do you remember the old days, when we didn't have any money and we said... now, don't get all pitiful, Graham." ""I forgive you for failing, Graham."" "Graham?" "I forgive you for failing." "By the way," "I fixed your stair stepper." "Good." "Say bye-bye, now." "Bye to daddy." "Bye." "He had no idea what was going to happen." "Actually, it was the first black magic he'd ever even tried." "He was gambling with the fates, rolling the great dice." "Hostility is dissipated through distance." "And we have created what we term a wedge of accountability, such as we see here." "Darn it, Graham." "Fuck." "Hello." "Mr. Marshall." "I'm afraid we have some very bad news for you." "An... an accident?" "Easy, Joe, easy." "Watch the rug." "Yes." "I'm very sorry." "My god." "What a shock." "Da!" "Aren't you going to say something?" "Yes, of course." "Dearest Leslie, your mother and I have brought you to this spot to share this last private..." "This moment of..." "Grief and pain." "Would you like to say something, Lillian?" "No." "Abracadabra." "Shalakazam." "Bye-bye, baby." "Boom." "I'm the guy who called you in San Francisco." "I'm Larry laker." "I'm with the Connecticut state police." "Yeah." "If you'd rather I come back later..." "No, no." "Now is as good a time as any." "Can you help me out with this crazy wiring on the socket?" "And that god damn stair machine." "If I had just... yeah, your mother-in-law explained that to me, but, you know, I do have this particular question about there not being any dust on the electrical tape." "Electrical tape?" "Yeah, you see, because being down in a basement and everything, everything gets very dusty, but the tape, there wasn't any dust on that." "Yes?" "Mr. Marshall, I'm here to pick up Kathy and Jason." "Jason just went round there." "I think Kathy followed him." "Okay." "Boarding your dogs." "Yes, I'm looking for a place in town." "Well, it's a good thing I caught you, then, because I really did have this question about this electrical tape being down in the basement." "Like, I mean, everything's dusty down there, and there's just this one piece that's hanging loose that's got no dust on it." "Well, that's because I was down there before." "I saw this tape loose, and... and I rewrapped it." "If only I'd done a better job." "Hey, don't be too hard on yourself." "These things happen." "You're as human as the next guy." "Well, if there's nothing more, I..." "I would like a little time to myself." "Absolutely." "I just wanted to clear that up." "You go ahead and let the grieving process happen." "Thank you." "*" "Honey." "That is really great coffee." "Mr. Marshall," "I'm Bob benham's new secretary, and I just wanted to say how sorry he was to hear about your wife." "Thank you." "Graham." "We missed you, buddy." " Is Bob in yet?" " Yes, he is." "Hi, Graham." "I'm sorry I didn't get to send you a card yet about your wife." "Has Bobby gotten here yet?" "Yes, but he's in his office..." "Graham, can you believe this?" "They just faxed me the chewgood numbers." "And listen, I'm sorry about your wife." "I appreciate it." "The chewgood numbers at last." "Great, let me have them." "Bobster told me I should give them to him right away." "You know where he is?" "No, I don't." "Why don't you try George's office?" "Amy, has the big, bad Bobby got a couple of minutes for me?" "Well, I'm not sure." "Yes, but he's with his decorator." "Graham." "I feel so bad." "I'm shocked." "Did you get my note?" "Yes, thank you." "I just can't stop thinking about you." "Well, I am, as we say in the grief business, swell as can be expected." "Anyway, here's the artwork you wanted." "Stella Henderson." "She always comes through." "All right." "What if we had dinner?" "I give up." "What if we had dinner?" "Tonight." "Tonight." "Okay." "Okay." "But you know what I mean about these pod people, these yuppies." "If you don't treat people the way they do, they question your manhood." "And believe me, there is nothing worse for a woman in business than to have her manhood questioned." "But it's like this benham." "I mean, he thinks of people as though they're made of styrofoam, not as though they're... human beings." "Which is the opposite of the way you treat people under you." "Sweet old Graham." "No, but you know what I mean." "I mean, Bob, for instance, would never appreciate Melanie." "Melanie?" "You should see what she does to prepare for a role." "Bob benham would just write her off as a loser, which is why you didn't get George's job..." "Because you wouldn't treat people the way they do." "You know, you're very perceptive." "You talk about people, and you listen to other people talk." "But you never talk about yourself." "Why is that?" "I guess I'm afraid you'll find me out." "Don't be afraid." "Good night." "The world, as they say, had become his oyster." "Now he was going to pry it open." "Hi." "I will try and put this as politely as possible, Henry." "What the fuck are you doing in my office?" "Bob says I'm supposed to help out with the reorganization report." "Let me rephrase the question." "What the fuck are you doing in my office?" "Bob just felt it was crazy not to have a computer in here." "It's not the computer!" "It's you and your god damn desk!" "Look, Bob felt that..." "I'll talk to Bob." "George?" "What are you doing, George?" "Well, Bob asked me to wait outside for a moment." "In the... in the hall?" "You're standing in the hall." "Yeah, well, he's busy, you know." "I didn't want to make waves." "What in the name of god is Henry park doing in my office?" "Excuse us." "This'll just be a second." "I have to run anyway." "You'll get the estimates." "That decorator is harder to get an appointment with than the mayor." "Tell me this is about something." "There is a man in my office." "I thought it'd be more efficient to have you and Henry working closely together." "It is my office!" "It is the assistant chief's office!" "It's still your office." "Why don't you bring Henry park in here?" "That's entirely... why don't you bring Melanie in to make sure the phone gets answered?" "Hell, we could bring in the whole god damn New York Knicks just to make sure your trash hits the basket!" "How's that?" "If I thought I needed an assistant to do my job... meaning what?" "That I don't do my job?" "Then why don't you have me removed, Bobby boy?" "Because you're too senior in the company to be fired for anything less than gross insubordination." "So you've decided to have me removed piece by piece..." "A privilege here, a responsibility there, never enough to fight over, just a subtle little drain of power, right?" "Well, let me tell you something, bobster." "You don't know the first fucking thing about power." "I have more power in this hand than all you fucking know." "Get out of the god damn hallway, George." "But take my picture." "Take my picture." "Bobby boy." "George." " Cheers." " Cheers." "Could you take a picture with me?" "Sure." "Bob has really made a difference." "Look at this party." "I lie awake at night and pray he'll die." "We are witnessing the making of a legend, George, the kind of thing that front covers are made of." "Congratulations, George." "Hey, great." "Thanks." "I'm going to miss you, George." "Well, you're right." "And he won't stop with just marketing or even with gibb." "Don't get stepped on." "Hey, George, have a wonderful retirement." "Hey, great." "Right." "Retirement, Christ." "Without work, I'll be dead in a year." "He was getting ready to try the biggest trick of his career." "Beware, Graham." "Beware." "No one is safe." "You're not safe, my friend." "My old friend." "Not safe." "Take it easy, George." "Here we go." "Reorganization." "Your own report from your own office." "All right." "All right, lie down, George." "Now, relax." "I've got to call a cab." "George?" "George." "Have a good year, George." "Bob, Bob man." "The bobster." "That bad, bad Bobby." "Bobby boy." "Bobby, baby." "Bibbidi bobbidi..." "Boo." "Could be he thinks I'm too young." "Well, he probably thought that you weren't interested." "God, you're probably right." "But I am interested." "What do I do?" " Give a clear signal." " Clear signal." "That's all you can do." "You're right." "You're absolutely right." "A clear signal." "Hi, Graham!" "Nice suit." "Hi, Melanie." "Stella, could I have a word with you?" "I didn't get a chance to say good night to you at George's party." "Did you get drunk, dance in your underwear, and sing sea shanties?" "Will you have dinner with me Saturday?" "Yes." "I'll come by, like, 7:00?" "I'll be, like, there." "Every sorcerer needs an apprentice." "Henry, Henry, Henry, Henry." "How is it hanging or clicking or bobbing or whatever it's supposed to do?" " Not too bad." " Good." "You know, I would very much like to see this report we've been working on." "Well, I don't know." "Bob told me to bring it out this weekend so he can have a first look at it." "He wants it all hush-hush." "Well, the thing is, Henry, this isn't Bob's office." "It's mine." "And as my name is going to be on that report," "I would like to see it." "Then maybe you should talk to Bob." "No, maybe you should talk to Bob, because gross insubordination could be the cause for your dismissal, and I am asking you to show me that report." "All right." "I'll talk to Bob." "Good." "Hello." "Dr. Simms, please." "My name is George Brewster." "* abracadabra, shalakazam * * bye-bye, baby, boom hello, Dr. Simms." "No, no, I'm fine." "I'd just like to renew my prescription for seconal." "Well... yeah, well, I know I just had it refilled, but I seem to have lost the bottle." "Yeah, yeah, I'm aware of the regulations." "No luck?" "Very well." "I understand, doctor." "Yeah." "Good-bye." "Joe." "Hi, Mr. Marshall." "What can I get for you?" "Can you get me some heavy downers?" "Something that'll really make me sleep." "100 bucks." "Here by 5:00." "You got it." "Thank you." "Hello?" "Hudson rent-a-car?" "Yeah, yeah, I'd like to rent a car Saturday." "Yeah." "My name is George Brewster." "I'm at the gibb building." "I'll be paying with cash." "You have a record of my driver's license, yeah." "Hello." "Graham, is that you?" "I know it's you, not your machine." "I always get your machine." " Lillian." " Well?" "Where have you been?" "Don't tell me you tried to call me back, because I know you did not." "What did you say?" "It's a bad connection, lil." "You sound far away." "I've been giving them this expensive..." "Very far away." "But I just can't afford it." "Listen, Graham, they are your kids, you know." "You are being so rude, very rude." "I can't hear you at all now, lil." "And I don't understand it either... bibbidi bobbidi boom." "Unless, of course, you would like to curse the darkness." "George gave me this." "Do you know why?" "So that he would always have a light." "Let's not think about George or anything sad right now." "I feel so happy." "Can't we just make the office go away?" "Like it never existed at all." "Piew!" "What a lovely place." "It's bigger than I thought it would be." "Okay, where's da booze?" "In da kitchen." "What'll it be?" "Surprise me." "What about music?" "I have '60s." "I have '80s." "I have frank Sinatra." "I have the Beatles." "Anything with a saxophone." "You got it." "*" "What's our poison?" "White wine." "You're so beautiful, Stella." "After this..." "After this." "Thank you, Mr. Brewster." "Come on." "Stop complaining." "It's not that early." "You want to get on the boat as soon as possible." "Graham?" "Graham?" "What?" "I can't remember a thing from last night." "I can." "How was it for me?" "Well, you thought it was good." "Just let me get her out of the channel." "Then you can take the helm." "All right." "There's some coffee down below, if you want." "Great." "Here." "It gets stuck sometimes." " Take the tiller." " All right." "Just keep her going towards that buoy over there, okay?" "That was magic." "Bibbidi..." "Bobbidi..." "Boo." "He felt like one of those gods who appear to maidens in human form." "He knew he'd been great." "That's what always happens when people fall in love." "Stella... such a sweet girl, really." "Or didn't you think magicians could fall in love?" "He'd have to be sure to reward her for being in the right place at the right time." "My father had it all figured out." "He was a London bus driver, and when I was a boy, he used to take me over the river to Mayfair, where the rich people lived." "And he used to say to me, "son"," ""there is no heaven."" ""Here is the closest you'll ever get."" ""Life here is sweet."" ""Life back over there is hard."" ""So live over here, son."" "In a freakish accident off the Connecticut shoreline this morning, a privately owned sailboat burst into flames and sank." "We spoke to police lieutenant Larry laker at the scene this afternoon." "Lieutenant, what exactly happened here?" "The boat..." "Tara's dream..." "Was demolished." "So it's going to be very hard to determine a precise cause of the explosion." ""The investigation is continuing."" "The investigation is continuing." "I always say that." "What can I say?" "We're tired, and we have no clues." "Fuck it." "You mind?" "I hate watching myself." "What do you think?" "Well..." "For a start, I think I need a new doorman." "Robert benham died in that explosion." "We haven't released that yet." "But you're not surprised." "Well, you said the name of the boat on television." "I knew it was Bob's." "He was your superior, wasn't he?" "No, he was my boss." "Yeah, he was your boss." "Right." "Well, maybe you can get his job now that he's gone?" "Maybe." "You know, sudden death hasn't been all bad to you." "What's that supposed to mean?" "What do you think?" "Where were you this morning?" "You questioning me?" "I mean, am I a suspect?" "Where were you?" "I spent the night with a girl called Stella Anderson." "Am I sure?" "I apologize." "A very personal question." "Well, yes, actually." "I was there." "I'm sure." "We just need a witness to confirm his whereabouts." "May I come in?" "Bob benham would have gone far." "I'm sure he did." "Would have." "But life goes on." "And more importantly, business goes on." "I need you to act as head until the board decides on a replacement." "That doesn't bother you." "No, not at all." "No hard feelings about Bob getting the spot over you." "No, I believe the best man always wins in the end." "Good." "Well, you'd better get back out there." "It's been a madhouse today, and I need that reorganization report benham promised me." "I don't know these sailboats." "I think my cessna is safer anytime." "You fly a plane?" "Every weekend." "Mr. Marshall?" "Legal's having fits about the..." "Jim wants to know..." "Let's not all panic." "You, you, and you panic." "The rest, stay calm." "Now you." "You've really wanted this promotion for a long time, haven't you?" "A man wants a lot of things." "Do you hate champagne?" "I love champagne." "It was so strange talking to that cop today." "It's left me with such a weird feeling." "I don't think it's weird." "He's doing a good job." "If there's something wrong, I want to know about it." "Don't you?" "Cheers." "Would you like music?" "I'd love some music." "Shit." "What?" "It's my god damn lighter." "I can't find it." "Where the bloody hell is it?" "*" "Here, Graham." "Great." "Matches." "Of course." "We mustn't let a little thing like this ruin our evening." "I took it upon myself to make some changes." "For all Bob benham's undoubted skills, cost-cutting was not one of his strong points." "I'm afraid there's still a considerable amount of fat to be cut from this company." "So do you mean you want to reorganize the entire marketing department?" "Yes." "It's funny." "I had the wrong take on you, Marshall." "I had you pegged as one of George Brewster's hold-the-fort boys." "You mean extra weight in personnel?" "I mean people." "Let's get rid of some of them." "Regular coke for me, please." "Somebody left a lighter in that rental car." "George Brewster says he didn't rent a car." "The rental company says he did." "Whatever." "I don't know." "Wanda, get holtz, Kim, and Hartwell into my office at 3:00 this afternoon." "You know, Graham, it's funny." "Until today, I'd never really noticed you." "We should get rid of anybody that doesn't put the company first." "Now, this man is good." "He's got something to tell all of us." "Miss Anderson, listen." "It's not personal." "It's just, we really need to establish this alibi for Marshall... an alibi?" "I told you he was there, at my house," "Saturday night, all night." "What... what can I say?" " Okay." " Okay." "I have to go to work." "Yeah, listen, I want to give you my number here in New York." "I'm in New York right now." "I'd like you to have it." "Fine." "I really mean it when I say be careful." "Bye." "Thanks." " Marshall." " Graham." "Hi, Stella." "I was just wondering..." "I won't take too much time..." "But did you find your lighter last night?" "Yeah." "It was under the sofa." "Now, stop distracting me." "Bye, Stella." "Stella?" "Stella, does George Brewster ever come into the office?" "'Cause we just got a package, and I don't see his address here in the..." "Mr. Marshall, there's a message from Mr. Jones." "Thank you." "Executives are always on pink slips, so he would be in this one." "Why can't they put them in the right place?" "Let's see." "Brewster, Brewster, Brewster." "There." "Would you please tell Mr. Jones' secretary" "I can make lunch?" "Certainly will." "Boy." "You, you, and you panic." "The rest of you, stay calm." "Thanks, Joe." "Melanie, you have a package for George Brewster, and Graham said he'd be happy to deliver it." "Joe." "What an idiot." "Wrong one." "No big deal." "Stella, I'm out of here." "How late are you gonna stay?" "Not too much longer." "Didn't Joe pick up this package?" "I'm sure you can get these numbers for the morning, Wanda." "It will be tight." "Give it a try." "Good night." "Taking work home, Melanie?" "No, I'm just going to mail these." "Yes, I had a question about the Bob benham case." "Don't usually have the boss over." "Of course, you've been here before." "He almost laughed aloud." "His powers had been switched on to the point no woman could resist him." "The beers are in the refrigerator." "Thank you." "I'm sorry to take so long." "I'll be right out." "Did you find it?" "What?" "Did you find the beer?" "It took every ounce of his self-control to stop himself from..." "To remind himself he had come for that god damn lighter package." "You know, Melanie, I've just remembered" "I've got quite a lot of work to do tonight, so I think I'll be going." "I'll..." "I'll post these letters for you on the way home." "No, just take the train." "I'll be right there." "Then can I come by your place to pick it up?" "Right away." "Stella." "Stella?" "Graham." "I think you have my lighter." "I called the cop." "I called laker." "He's coming." "You betrayed me." "Graham." "You killed your wife, didn't you?" "You did." "You killed your wife." "You killed benham." "That's why he was asking me all those questions." "That's why I couldn't remember anything on Saturday." "God." "You betrayed the magic." "Magic?" "Magic." "I trusted you." "Give me the lighter." "She'd felt his power." "She'd never testify against him now." "And, besides, there was no evidence." "She was a terrific girl, Stella." "Very loyal." "I felt badly for her, but it couldn't be helped." "Help a guy out, buddy?" "God bless you." "Poor lieutenant laker." "All hunches and circumstantial evidence, not even enough to keep me in jail overnight." "Good evening, lieutenant." "And what is it this time?" "I was untouchable." "Hey, wake up." "And then, of course, there was the unexpected and, I must say, regrettable suicide of George Brewster." "It completely demolished whatever case laker might have tried to put together." "Poor old George." "He just couldn't adapt to the new people." "I, on the other hand, had beaten them at their own system and subsequently Rose rather effortlessly, floating up from mere marketing through the corridors of policy and on to the board and along the way promoting Stella" "to the Los Angeles office." "There was only one tiresome detail:" "Jones." "He just wouldn't let go of that corner office." "Abracadabra." "Shalakazam." "Bye-bye, baby." "Boom."