"Robbed." "Cleaned out." "$9,967, precisely as I told you over the telephone." "And that girl did it, Marion Holland." "That's the girl, Marion Holland!" " Can you describe her, Mr. Strutt?" " Certainly I can describe her." "Five feet five, 110 pounds, size eight dress, blue eyes, black wavy hair," "even features, good teeth..." "Well, what's so damn funny?" "There's been a grand larceny committed on these premises!" "Yes, sir." "You were saying, black hair, wavy," " even features, good teeth." " Yeah." "Yes." " And she was in your employ four months?" " Mmm." "What were her references, sir?" "Well, as a matter of fact..." "Yes, she had references, I'm sure." "Oh, Mr. Strutt, don't you remember?" "She didn't have any references at all." "Well, she worked the copying and adding machines." "No confidential duties." "Mr. Rutland." "I didn't know you were in town." "Just had a robbery." "Almost $10,000." "So I gathered." "By a pretty girl with no references." "You remember her." "I pointed her out to you the last time you were here." "You said something about how I was improving the looks of the place." "Oh, that one." "The brunette with the legs." "Excuse me, men." "Mr. Rutland's a client." "I don't think you've got time to discuss business today, Mr. Strutt." " Not with your crime wave on your hands." " Oh, no, no." "Always time for Rutland business." "You know that." "How are things in Philadelphia?" "The little witch!" "I'll have her put away for 20 years!" "I knew she was too good to be true." "Always so eager to work overtime, never made a mistake." "Always pulling her skirt down over her knees as though they were a national treasure." "She seemed so nice, so efficient, so..." "Resourceful?" "Wilmington, Baltimore, Washington." "Richmond, Petersburg, Rocky Mount." "Wilson, Fayetteville, Florence." "Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville," "Miami, Tampa, Saint Petersburg." "Charleston, Pittsburgh, Camden leaving on track number 12." " Hello, Mrs. Maitland." " Oh, so nice to have you back, Miss Edgar." " We put you in your same room." " Thank you, Mrs. Maitland." "Can someone drive me over to Garrod's right away?" "Of course." "Any time you're ready." "As soon as I change." "How do, Miss Edgar?" "Good to have you back." "Hello, Mr. Garrod." "Oh, there's my darling." "That big old spoiled baby of yours knew something was up." "Tried to bite me twice already this morning." "Oh, Forio, if you want to bite somebody, bite me." "Thanks." "Mother, Mother, I am ill." "Send for the doctor over the hill." "Call for the doctor." "Call for the nurse." "Call for the lady with the alligator purse." ""Mumps," said the doctor." ""Measles," said the nurse." ""Nothing," said the lady with the alligator purse." " How many years will I live?" " Thank you." "One, two, three, four, five, six," " seven, eight, nine, 10, 11..." " Oh, it's you." "Where's my mother?" "She's making a pecan pie for me!" "That figures." "Mother, Mother, I am ill." "Send for the doctor..." "Who is it, Jessie?" "Hello, Mama." "Well, I just swan." "Marnie!" "If you're not the very limit." "I can't take in the way you jump around all over the place like you do." "Boston, Massachusetts." "Elizabeth, New Jersey." "I brought you some chrysanthemums." "Those gladiolus are brand fresh." "Miss Cotton brought them to me only last night." "I never could stand gladiolus." "I'll get rid of these." "For land's sake..." "Marnie, now watch the dripping." "Here, Jessica, why don't you take these home to your mother?" "She don't get home from work till 6:00." "I'm supposed to stay here till 6:00." "Well, take them out to the kitchen then." "Just get rid of them." "Take them on out to the kitchen, Jessie, honey, before they drip all over." "We could stand gladiolus!" "I send you plenty of money, Mama." "You don't have to be a babysitter." "Well, whoever said I did have to?" "It's my pleasure." "That smart little old Jessie." "Marnie, if you could just hear some of the things that she says." "Oh, but I do." "Seems to me I get a report in exhaustive detail on all the bright sayings of old Jessie Cotton." "What's more, every time I come home, she's roosting here." "I see that you've lighted up your hair, Marnie." " A little." "Why?" "Don't you like it?" " No." "Too blonde hair always looks like a woman's trying to attract the men." "Men and a good name don't go together." "I brought you something, Mama." "Now what have you thrown good money away on?" "Oh, Marnie." "You shouldn't spend all your money on me like you do." "But that's what money's for, to spend." "Like the Bible says, "Money answereth all things."" "We don't talk smart about the Bible in this house, missy!" "Well, I just swan!" "How do I wear it?" "Like this." "Real high up under the chin." "Oh, it's smart." "It's very, very smart." "Going around buying fur pieces like they's nothing." "Mr. Pemberton gave me another raise." "I told Miss Cotton my daughter is private secretary to a millionaire." "He's as generous with her as if she was his very own daughter." "Miss Bernice, don't you want to get my hair brushed up before my mommy gets home?" "Well, I sure do, honey." "You run up and get the brush." "Oh, that kid and her hair." "Puts me in mind of yours when you was little." "The color." "This side of the street don't get the afternoon sun." "My hip and my leg ache me something awful." "I got the hairbrush!" "Uh, Marnie, mind my leg." "I never had time to take care of Marnie's hair when she was a little kid like you." " How come?" " Oh, child!" "Well, after I had my bad accident, well, first I was sick so long, and then I had to work." "Didn't you all have a daddy either?" "No, we didn't." "We surely did not!" "There." "As pretty as brushing can make you." "Oh, sugarpop, it's 6:05." "You better scat on home." "And you be sure to take your mama those glads." "How about my pie?" "How about my pecan pie?" "I'll get it done tonight and bring it over to you." "Now, Jessie, you mind you go straight home." "Okay." "Bye, Miss Bernice." "See you later, Miss Bernice." "Do you really like the scarf, Mama?" "It's real mink." "Oh, there." "You look just like an old man's darling." "No man ever give me anything so good." "We don't need men, Mama." "We can do very well for ourselves." "Just you and me." "A decent woman don't have need for any man." "Look at you, Marnie." "I told Miss Cotton, look at my girl Marnie." "She's too smart to go getting herself mixed up with men, none of them." "Well, let's go on back to the kitchen." "I've got to see to that pie." "Uh, Marnie, I've been thinking seriously about asking Miss Cotton and Jessie to move in here with me." "Miss Cotton is a real nice woman." "She's decent." "A hard-working woman with a little girl to raise." "Come on, Mama, why don't you just say what you mean?" "What you want is for Jessie to come live with you." "Marnie, you oughtn't let yourself act jealous of a little old kid like that." "She don't bother me none." "And we could always use extra money." "The Cottons are mighty decent people." "Why don't you love me, Mama?" "I've always wondered why you don't." "Oh, you never give me one part of the love you give Jessie." "Mama." "Why do you always move away from me?" "Why?" "What's wrong with me?" "Nothing!" "Nothing's wrong with you." "No." "You don't think that." "You've always thought there was something wrong with me, haven't you?" "Always!" "I never." "My God!" "When I think of the things I've done to try to make you love me." "The things I've done!" "What are you thinking now, Mama?" "About the things I've done?" "What do you think they are?" "Things that aren't decent, is that it?" "Why, you think I'm Mr. Pemberton's girl." "Is that why you don't want me to touch you?" "Is that how you think I get the money to set you up?" "I'm..." "I'm sorry, Mama." "I don't know what got into me talking like that." "I know you've never really thought anything bad about me." "No, I never." "Well, I'm sorry." "I really am." "I'll pick up the pecans." "No, uh, you go upstairs and lay down." "You're all wore out." "I'll ask Jessie to come over and pick up the nuts." "All right." "After all, it is Jessie's pie, isn't it?" "No, I don't want to." "Mama, no!" "Marnie, wake up." "Marnie?" "Don't make me move, Mama." "It's too cold." "Wake up, Marnie." "You're still dreaming." " Get washed up." "Supper's ready." " Oh." "I was having that old dream again." "First the tapping and then..." "I said, supper's ready." "It's always when you come to the door." "That's when the cold starts." " Miss Clabon." " Good morning." "Is Mr. Ward in his office?" "Yes, Mr. Rutland." "He's interviewing for the new office assistant." "Rutland  Company is an old established publishing..." "Oh, Mr. Rutland." "This is Miss Blakely, Mr. Rutland." "Well, you'll hear from us, Miss Blakely, I'm sure." " Thank you very much." " Thank you for your time, Mr. Ward." " Good day, Mr. Rutland." " Good day, Miss Blakely." "Well, I guess that does it." "She seems to have the exact qualifications..." "Come in." "Come in for a moment, please." " Now, sit down, Mrs. Taylor." " Thank you." "I have here your Pittsburgh references." "Reference, that is." "Kendall's, yes." "This the only reference you have to show us?" "Well, Mr. Ward, I have good training, but I've had very little actual experience." "Kendall's was my first real job." "After I finished school, I was married." "My husband was a CPA and he helped me keep up with my training." "I learnt a great deal more from him, accounting, cost-price, even something about computers." "I see." "When my husband died very suddenly last November, well, he left me a little money, but I felt I needed work." "Good, hard, demanding work." "I got the job at Kendall's, but it was..." "Well, it wasn't a very exacting position, and there didn't seem much immediate chance for anything else at Kendall's." "Oh, I don't mean pay." "Salary isn't the most important thing with me, but more interesting work, Mr. Ward." "Something that will keep me busy, occupied." "Well, I don't care how much work I'm given or what hours I work." "Uh, but, Mrs. Taylor, why did you leave Pittsburgh?" "Well, after my husband died, I just..." "Now, Mrs. Taylor, this is a post of some confidence." "Oh, please, let me have a chance to prove myself, Mr. Ward." "Uh, very well, Mrs. Taylor." "I suppose you might as well report to work on Monday." "Our Miss Clabon in the outer office will brief you." "I'll be out in just a moment." "Now, why are we taking on someone without the proper references?" "You're always such a stickler..." "Let's just say I'm an interested spectator in the passing parade." "I don't get it." "You're not supposed to get it." " Hi, Miss Clabon." " Fine, fortunately..." "Hello, Mr. Sam." "How's the curmudgeon business?" "Oh, Miss Mainwaring!" "Is Mark in there?" "I'm looking for a free lunch and somebody to cash a check for me." "I thought I'd stick Mark for the lunch and you for the cash." "Go right on in." "You have your social security card, Mrs. Taylor?" "Yes, of course." "It's right here in my purse." "Who's the dish?" "Miss Clabon will show you around." "She's been with us for seven years." "I believe she's found the work exacting enough." "Good day, Mrs. Taylor." "Miss Clabon, will you call Personnel and have them send the forms up?" "Certainly, Mr. Ward." "Hello." "This is Mr. Ward's office." "Would you please send up a W-4 and the rest of the employment forms?" "Yes, before lunch." "I'll wait." "Thank you." "Maud, what about Saturday?" "No, I only thought as you said your mother wasn't coming with us," "I just wanted to make sure about our reservations." "Well, why don't you call me back?" "All right." "Any time." "Thanks, Mr. Sam." "I'll try not to do anything sensible with it." " Bye, Miss Clabon." " Bye." "That's Lil Mainwaring, Mr. Rutland's sister-in-law." " Her sister was Mr. Rutland's wife." " Was?" "Yes." "She died about a year and a half ago." "Some kind of heart thing." "Imagine." "Only 29." "Well, anyway, she kind of brought Lil up." "Lil lived with them and old Mr. Rutland down at Wykwyn." "I get the feeling little old Lil plans to stay on permanently." "Anyway, like I was saying, old Mr. Rutland, that's Mark's father, they say he's never even been inside this place." "And the company was really headed into the ground when Mark took over." "They say the first week he was here he retired..." "Retired." "Three board members, the acting president, the president's secretary, and the secretary's secretary." "Coffee time, ladies." "Would you mind bringing me a cup?" "Just coffee?" "Doughnut, Danish?" " Oh, lady, have I got for you a Danish!" " No, just coffee." "Oh, I'm out of red ink." "Oh, here, use mine." " Oh, I'll get it." " No, no, I will." "Thanks." "Mrs. Taylor, are you hurt?" "Mrs. Taylor!" "I think she's hurt." "Find out." "Mary, are you all right?" "What?" "Of course, I'm all right." "I just spilled a little ink on my blouse." "The way you rushed out of the office..." "Mr. Rutland's standing out there." " He said he thought you were hurt." " Well, I'm not." "All that happened was I spilled a little ink on my blouse." "Good heavens." "What a lot of excitement over nothing." "Why in the world does he keep locking and unlocking that drawer?" "He never can remember the safe combination." "It's kept locked up in that drawer." "Mr. Rutland and I have the keys to it, too, for emergencies." "It's only five numbers, for Pete's sake." "Mrs. Taylor?" "I've just had a call from Mr. Rutland, Mrs. Taylor." "He remembered your saying you'd be willing to work overtime." "He wondered if you'd be prepared to work on Saturday?" " Saturday?" "Of course, Mr. Ward." "What time?" " 2:30." "I'll advise Mr. Rutland that you are available." "Come in, Mrs. Taylor." "Good afternoon, Mr. Rutland." "Are you interested in pre-Columbian art, Mrs. Taylor?" "Those were collected by my wife." "She's dead." "The only things of hers I've kept." "And that's Sophie." "She's a jaguarondi." "South American." "I, uh, trained her." "Oh?" "What did you train her to do?" "To trust me." "Is that all?" "Well, that's a great deal for a jaguarondi." "Shall we get to work?" "You can use the typewriter over there." "I want an original and one copy of this." "If you can't decipher any of it, speak up." "I typed it myself and I'm a very creative typist." ""Arboreal Predators of the Brazilian Rain Forest."" "Before I was drafted into Rutland's, Mrs. Taylor," "I had notions of being a zoologist." " I still try to keep up with my field." " Zoos?" "Instinctual behavior." "Oh." "Does zoology include people, Mr. Rutland?" "Well, in a way." "It includes all the animal ancestors from whom man derived his instincts." "Ladies' instincts, too?" "Well, that paper deals with the instincts of predators." "What you might call the criminal class of the animal world." "Lady animals figure very largely as predators." "Put on the overhead light if you like." "The switch is by the door." "Why don't you sit down, Mrs. Taylor?" "If the storm worries you that much, I'll get you something to drink." "Mrs. Taylor?" "The building is grounded, Mrs. Taylor." "You're quite safe here, from the lightning." " The colors." "Stop the colors." " What colors?" "It's over." "All over." "You're all right." "Okay, now?" "Would you like something to drink?" "Some brandy?" "No, thank you." "I'm awfully sorry." "I..." "Oh, don't be silly." "What is it about colors that bothers you?" " Colors?" " Mmm." "You seem to be terrified of some colors." "No, no." "What I'm terrified of is thunder and lightning." "You know, I wouldn't have pegged you for a woman who'd be terrified of anything." "Well, we've all got to go some time." "Look, this place is wrecked and you're in no state to work." "Suppose I drive you home." "You can do this job some other time." " Oh, thank you." "I..." " Go get your things." "It's cold and damp here." "I must get the maintenance people in." "I'm really sorry about the cabinet." "Why should you be?" "You said it was all you had left of your wife." "I said it was all I had left that had belonged to my wife." "Oh." "Native Winkler is second." "Hopeless is third." "Oh, no, please." "I'd like to hear." " You like racing?" " I like horses." "I go to the races when I can." " Was your husband a track fan?" " Yes." " And you go alone now?" " Yes." "Atlantic City track's open till the end of the month." "We could drive out there next Saturday." " All right." "Are you fond of horses?" " No, not at all." "Fast Return moving up on the outside." "Well, that's another one." "Oh, I like it here like this." "Well, you're the expert." "What do you like in the next race?" "Lemon Pudding." "He's finished third his last three times out." " He's got a good jockey up today." " Lemon Pudding it is." "The morning line says he's four to one." "I'll get on him." "Pardon me, but you're Peggy Nicholson, aren't you?" "Remember me?" "I'm sorry." "What did you say?" "I said, aren't you Peggy Nicholson?" "No, I'm not." "Yeah?" "I was pretty sure you were." "You know, when I first saw you down here..." "No, I'm sorry, you've made a mistake." "I am not Miss Nichols." " Nicholson." " Nicholson." "Frank Abernathy introduced us a couple years ago in Detroit." "Frank Abernathy." "You remember Frank." "No, I do not know anyone named Frank Abernathy." "I have never known anyone named Frank Abernathy." " Now, will you please go?" " Oh, come on now, honey, you're trying to pull my leg, aren't you?" "Now, why should any young lady want to pull your leg?" "Oh, sorry." "I thought I recognized this lady." " Did he recognize you?" " No." "You did not recognize her." "I said, I thought I recognized her." "I said I'm sorry." "Well, good for you." "You've apologized nicely." "You may go now." " You came back so quickly." " Yes." "Who's your fan?" "You know, I just seem to have one of those faces." "Well, what do you like in the next race?" "Can we go to the paddock?" "I'd like to see Telepathy." "Been watching him ever since I saw him work out once as a two-year-old." "Oh, I believe that's our old friend Telepathy." "Yeah, number 8." "Telepathy." "He's a lanky-looking piece of business but I bow to your superior knowledge." "What is it?" "What's the matter?" " Don't bet him." " Why not?" "He's walleyed." "Can we go now?" "What a paragon you are." "You don't smoke, drink or gamble." " Just this once, for luck." " I don't believe in luck." " What do you believe in?" " Nothing." "Oh, horses, maybe." "At least they're beautiful and nothing in this world like people." " Oh, yes, people." "Thoroughly bad lot." " Generally." "Did you have a tough childhood, Mrs. Taylor?" "Not particularly." "I think you did." "I think you've had a hard, tough climb." "But you're a smart girl, aren't you?" "The careful grammar, the quiet good manners." " Where did you learn them?" " From my betters." "What about your tough childhood, Mr. Rutland?" "The old, sad story." "Promising youth blighted." "Dragged down by money, position, noblesse oblige." "By the time I came along, the company was hanging on the ropes." "We had about a thousand employees who were about to go down for the count." "What about the Rutlands?" "What would've happened to your family?" "Nothing ever happens to a family that traditionally marries at least one heiress every other generation." "Well, you shouldn't have chickened." "Your walleyed reject just won by four lengths." " I think I've had enough." "Can we go?" " Well, if you like." "See here." "The track's open till the end of the month." "That gives us two more Saturdays." "If your luck holds out, by this time next month, I'll be a rich man." " Oh, Miss Nicholson." " You really are pressing your luck, old boy." "Where are we going this time?" "I thought it was time I brought you home to meet my old man." " Oh, you should've told me." " You're all right." "Dad goes by scent." "If you smell anything like a horse, you're in." "Here we are, old bean." "The homestead." " Hello, Dad." " Who's this?" "This is Mary Taylor." "Mary, this is my father." " How do you do, Mr. Rutland?" " A girl, is it?" "Oh, it's all right, Dad." "She's not really a girl, she's a horse-fancier." "Now that the track's closed, I thought if I brought her round to see your horses, I'd hold her attention a bit longer." "Splendid, splendid!" "Come along, my dear." "I was just about to have a cup of tea." "Oh, Mary, this is my sister-in-law, Lil Mainwaring." " Mary Taylor." " How do you do?" "Hi." "I've seen you at Rutland's, haven't I?" "It bewilders me what any of you can find to do at Rutland's." "Oh, dear!" "I think I rather sprained my wrist this afternoon." "There's sure to be droppage and spillage." "Would you mind awfully?" "Strong, please." "No milk, two lumps of sugar." "The meals in this house are shocking bad, but I do insist on good Horn  Hardart cake at tea." "You take yours with lemon, don't you, Lil?" "Yes." "Lemon for Lil, Mary." " Strong with a dash of rum for me." " Spinster's tea." "Mucking up tea with strong drink." "Something sneaky about it, eh?" "What's your opinion, Miss Taylor?" "Do you think old Mark here is a sneaky one?" "Possibly." "How do you take your tea, Miss Taylor?" "Usually with a cup of hot water and a tea bag." "Lazy habit, my dear." "I'll have quite a large slice of that butter cake, please." " Do you ride, Miss Taylor?" " A little." "Best thing in the world for the inside of a man or a woman is the outside of a horse." "I shouldn't think you'd find old Mark very interesting." "Doesn't hunt." "Doesn't even ride." "Please, Dad." "I was hoping to lead up gently to all that." "I'd even planned to show her the horses first." "Swill that down or bring it with you to the stables." "Mark's trying to behave as if he brought Miss Taylor out to see the horses." " He really brought her to see me." " Really?" "Whatever for?" "Showing off." "I'm quite a presentable old party, you know." "Lil, I'm sure your sturdy young wrist has recovered sufficiently to pour Dad another cup of tea." " Yes, I will have another cup." " I can't!" ""When Duty whispers low, Thou must." ""Then youth replies, I can."" "Ratfink!" "And you misquoted!" "Will you come out and spend next weekend with us?" "You can bring your tea bag, have your pick of the horses." "Good night, Mary." "I have to run." "See you on Monday." "Good night, Susan." "Good night!" "See you Monday." "Good night." "See you on Monday." "I haven't got my powder puff." "Have you got one?" "Yeah, here." " Come on." " Wait a minute." " Come on." " All right, I'm coming." "You mean you just have to hang around and wait until he calls?" " Good night, girls." " Good night." "I'll see you." " I think that's..." " Have a good weekend." "Yeah, I think that's..." " What are you gonna do?" " Well, I don't know." "Let's get home." " Because he may have already called you." " Oh, well." "If I miss his call, that's the way it goes." "Oh, this is the best one you've had!" "See you next week." "You're sure making time tonight, Rita." "What's the big rush?" "I want to get to bed." "That's the big rush." "Please get down." "You'll walk back to the stables." "I'll ride." "Are you staying at an inn or have you friends among the local gentry?" " You said you didn't trust horses." " I don't, but they trust me." "Which brings us directly to our relationship, Miss Edgar!" "Is Edgar your real name?" "And you're blonde." "You'll save a good deal of time and make for a better feeling all round if you just tell me the truth." "Is Edgar your real name?" "Now, don't crowd me, lady!" "I'm fighting a powerful impulse to beat the hell out of you." "At last we communicate." "Now, for the third and last time, is Edgar your real name?" "And don't bother to lie to me." "I'll check you out in every detail." "Yes, Edgar." "Margaret Edgar!" "Now, where are you from?" " California." " Where in California?" "Los Angeles." "Where's the money?" "Here!" "Some of it." " Where's the rest?" " Oh, don't worry." "It's safe." "Safe?" "At some pari-mutuel window?" "Or has it gone for an operation for your old sick mother?" "Or perhaps you're putting your kid brother through school?" "I don't have a kid brother or a mother." "I don't have anybody." "Not even Mr. Taylor?" "You know, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to hear that the rest of the haul is with your late husband, Mr. Taylor." "Somewhere around these parts, I expect to find him happily reincarnated, and the pockets of his good blue burial suit bulging with Rutland money." "The rest of the money is in a registered package addressed to me in a post office box in New York." "You can pick it up there by tomorrow." "Here's the key." "Thank you, Miss Edgar." "Now I'll take the registration receipt." "This receipt and the unopened package are as good as a signed confession." "You understand that?" "All right." "Now, where does Mr. Taylor come in?" "There's no such person." "I've never been married." "Mrs. Taylor was an old friend of my mother's." "And when you applied at Rutland's, the name just came to your mind." "I was trying to get away from someone." "I have a cousin Jessie." "She's no good." "I was afraid if she found out about the insurance money, she'd try to get a part of it." "Make trouble for me." "What insurance money?" " Mrs. Taylor's." "She died." " Oh, Mrs. Taylor died." "Pity." "Now you're working with this naughty cousin Jessie." "Nobody's working with me!" "You talk as if this was some kind of regular thing I do, did." "All planned out in cold blood." " And it wasn't?" " No!" "You're not from Los Angeles, Miss Edgar." "Insurance is only pronounced "insurance" in the South, and that's where you're from." "Where?" "Around here?" "You're a cold, practiced little method actress of a liar." " I can't help it." " It would appear not." "I don't mean that." "I mean, I wasn't born in California." "I was born in Richmond, Virginia." "My father deserted us when I was a baby." "My mother and I lived in Richmond until I was seven." "And then we moved to California, where Mother could get work in the airplane factories." "That's the truth." "I swear it!" "My mother died when I was 10, and Mrs. Taylor took care of me out there." "Come on, get moving." "How did you find me?" "You're here to answer the questions, old girl." "Now how did you get the combination to Ward's safe?" "I took Susan's key from her purse." "I see." "Now, suppose you just begin at the beginning." "It's just like I told you." "I was born in Richmond." "We were poor." "We were grindingly poor." "I was so horribly alone after Mother died." "Well, go on." "You still have my attention." "I just went to school and took care of Mrs. Taylor until she died." "She left me her house and $5,000 in insurance." "I sold the house." "It had a mortgage so I only got $9,000 cash." "But there I was with $14,000." "Me!" "I could do exactly what I wanted to with it." " There isn't much more." "I bought Forio." " Forio?" "My horse at Garrod's." "I had two wonderful years." "Then last November it was all gone so I had to get a job." "I went to Pittsburgh and got the job at Kendall's until I could look around for something better." "All right, let's try again." "Let's back up and see if you can turn that Mount Everest of manure into a few facts." "One, your dates are all wrong." "Previously you were employed by the firm of Strutt  Company." "I saw you there once." "Mr. Strutt is the tax consultant for Rutland  Company." "He pointed you out to me and you were a brunette then." "And then some months later he pointed out your absence." "You mean, you knew all about that when you hired me?" "No." "I wasn't positive." "But I thought it might be interesting to keep you around." "And all this time you've been trying to trip me up, trap me!" "Um, I'm not sure anymore." "I think I was just curious at first." "And then things got out of control and I liked you." "So I see!" "Incidentally, I think you took a bit of a chance, knowing that Rutland's was a client of Strutt's." "I didn't." "My job at Strutt's didn't give me access to all the clients' names!" "All right." "Let's get on." "We've established that you're a thief and a liar." "Now, what is the degree?" "Are you a compulsive thief?" "A pathological liar?" " Oh, what difference does it make?" " Some." "It makes some difference to me." "Have you ever been in jail?" "Certainly not." "I know you'll never believe me now and it's my own fault." "It's true about Strutt." "I did it." "I don't know why." "I just kind of went crazy, I guess, but old Mr. Strutt was so..." "Oh, I hated him!" "Like you hate me?" "Oh, no, not you." "Clean up your face." "Come on." "Good afternoon." " What'll you folks have?" " A frank and a coffee, please." " Same for me." " Okey-doke." "Let's get on with that little discussion." "The chronic use of an alias is not consistent with your story of sudden temptation and unpremeditated impulse." "If you'd stolen almost $10,000, wouldn't you change your name?" "Oh, what's the use?" "Why should I even try to make you understand?" "I'm not only trying to understand you, I'm even trying to believe you." " Why?" " Because, damn it, I want to." "Can you understand that?" "Here you are, folks." "Mark?" "The reasons for what I did at Rutland's, they were so mixed up, what I wanted to say before." "I needed to get away, can't you see?" "Away from Rutland's." "Don't you understand?" "Things were..." "We were..." "So we were." "Was that any reason to run away?" "Yes, I thought it was time I got out before I got hurt." "I mean, why try to kid myself?" " Are you called Margaret?" " Marnie." "Oh, God, Mark, if you let me go, I swear..." "I can't let you go, Marnie." "Somebody's got to take care of you and help you." "I can't just turn you loose." "If I let you go, I'm criminally and morally responsible." "Well, then, what..." "Marnie." "Yeah, that suits you." "All right, Marnie, this is how it's gonna be." "I'm driving you back to Philadelphia." "Tonight we'll go to the house." "Tomorrow you'll return to Rutland's." "You'll see that Susan's key finds its way back into her purse." "How can I go back to Rutland's?" "You're covered." "I replaced the money." "When I called to pick you up yesterday and found you'd pulled out," "I knew instantly what had happened." "So I went to Rutland's and checked Ward's safe." "Figured the loss and replaced it." "Then I set out to find you." "Remember that first day at the races when you were so hot about a horse called Telepathy?" "I remember, you'd said you'd watched him training as a two-year-old." "That's all I had to go on, so I looked him up, and found he'd been bred by a Colonel Marston of Virginia." "I phoned Marston and asked him if there was anywhere around there that they had horses for hire." "He gave me the names of three." "Yesterday I drove up to the plains, checked out the stables." "No luck." "But at the last place, the man said why didn't I try Garrod's, over by Middleburg?" "You folks be sure and come back now." "Why are you taking me back to Wykwyn?" "Because I don't trust you not to run away." "How can I run away?" "You have the receipt, the post office key, my name." "Margaret Edgar." "You sure that's all the name you have?" "You sure you haven't misplaced an old husband or two" " somewhere in your travels?" " I told you I've never been married." " Near misses?" " No." "And no lovers, no steadies, no beaus, no gentlemen callers, nothing!" "Okay." "Eat up." " Mark, I'd like to go freshen up a little." " Uh-uh." "You're fresh enough." "Come on." "You know, I can't believe you, Marnie." "There must've been a great many men interested in you." "I didn't say men weren't interested in me." "I said I wasn't interested in them." " Never?" " No." "That is, not until..." "Why me?" "Because you were different, Mark." "It won't wash, Marnie." "But it's true." "I really liked you." "Yes, I think you did." "But don't try to make it sound like any more than that." "When we get home, I'll explain that we had a lover's quarrel." "That you ran away, that I went after you and brought you back." "That'll please Dad." "He admires action." "Then I'll explain that we're gonna be married before the week is out, therefore you should stay on at Wykwyn." "That I can't bear to have you out of my sight." "He also admires wholesome animal lust." "We'll be married just as soon as the law allows." "We'll catch an outbound boat." "Where do you want to go?" "You ever been to the South Seas?" "What are you trying to pull?" "I'm trying to pull a proposal." "Let's see, how shall I phrase it?" "How about "will you be mine"?" "You're crazy!" "You're out of your mind!" "That's a possibility." "The name Marnie." "Yes, I'll just go on calling you Marnie." "That's easily explained." "Pet name." "But the Taylor..." "We'll just have to marry you off as Mary Taylor." "It's perfectly legal." "You can sign yourself Minnie Q Mouse on a marriage license, you're still legally married." "But you know what I am." "I'm Minnie Q Thief!" "I'm a thief and a liar and..." "Well, it seems to be my misfortune to have fallen in love with a thief and a liar." "In love?" "Oh, Mark, if you love me, you'll let me go." "Just let me go, Mark, please." "Mark, you don't know me." "Oh, listen to me, Mark." "I am not like other people." "I know what I am!" "I doubt that you do, Marnie." "In any event, we'll just have to deal with whatever it is that you are." "Whatever you are, I love you." "It's horrible, I know." "But I do love you." "You don't love me." "I'm just something you've caught." "You think I'm some kind of animal you've trapped." "That's right, you are." "And I've caught something really wild this time, haven't I?" "I've tracked you and caught you, and by God, I'm gonna keep you!" "Oh, and, Marnie, when we get home, no cute ideas about absconding with the Wykwyn silver." "Just get a grip on yourself for one short week and after that, well, you can take legal possession." "Like you?" "Like you take legal possession?" "Yes, if you want to put it that way." "Somebody's got to take on the responsibility for you, Marnie." "And it narrows down to a choice of me or the police, old girl." "Indispensable." "Ah, Cousin Bob, I almost forgot." "Do you have the old necessary?" " Have fun, my dear." " Traveler's checks in this." " Letter of credit in this." " Thanks, old man." "Will you see about having my car picked up at the airport?" "Bob is our banking cousin." "A very handy fellow." "Take care, Lil." "We'll send you a noble savage." " Goodbye, Dad." " Bye, Mark." "Thank you, Dr. Gillian." "Without you it wouldn't have been legal." "It's been a pleasure." "Let's go back and finish the champagne and cake before they spirit it away." "Really splendid cake, you know?" "I attended to that myself." "I've made the acquaintance of one of those excellent Horn  Hardart executives." "That engagement ring must have been at least five carats." "Six and a half." "Blue-white." "Perfect stone." "His mother left perfectly good jewelry." "It's just sitting there at the bank in safety deposit." "He said he wanted her to have something that had never belonged to anyone else." "But six and a half carats!" "And cashing in a bond to pay for a ring." "But he didn't pay for it." "He charged it." "I helped him pick it out." "It cost $42,000, plus tax." "Did you say $42,000?" "The man's deranged." "You know what he did to me last Saturday?" "He came out to the club waving a check for $7,000 and insisted that I break up my golf game, go in and open the bank and hand over to him $7,000." "Then he drew out..." "Well, let's just say enough to pay for this trip plus the letter of credit." "He cashed that very nice bond against my advice, made me get him the money." "$10,000 in small bills." "And when I asked him why he wanted $10,000 in small bills, he said," ""Well, old man, I'm being blackmailed and they specified small bills."" "I know that most people find Mark's humor charming." "I do not." "There is nothing charming about running through, including the unpaid bill for a ring, approximately $70,000 in one week." "A $6,000 or $7,000 South Seas honeymoon, conservatively speaking, and a $42,000 ring." "All that money spent to celebrate what?" "This meager, furtive little wedding?" "He didn't even ask Mother." ""Pay off Strutt."" "Strutt." "Booze?" "Shall I fix you a drink?" "Would you like some bourbon to brush your teeth?" "No, thank you." "Contrary to the movies and the Ladies' Home Journal, the battleground of marriage is not, I repeat, not the bedroom." "The real field of battle is the bath." "It is in the bath and for the bath that the lines are drawn and no quarter given." "It seems to me, we are getting off to a dangerously poor start, darling." "You've been in the bathroom exactly 47 minutes." " You can have the bath now." " Thank you." "You're very sexy with your face clean." "Marnie, come here." "Sit down." "I can't!" "I can't!" "I can't!" "For God's sakes, Marnie!" "I can't stand it." "I'll die." "If you touch me again, I'll die!" "I won't touch you." "I promise I won't touch you." "Just get out of that damn corner, please." "Now, suppose you tell me what this is all about." "Is it your own little way of saying you don't find me particularly attractive?" "I told you not to marry me." "I told you!" "Oh, God, why couldn't you have just let me go?" " Marnie." " Don't." "Please, don't!" " Let me fix you a drink." " I don't want a drink." " At least have a brandy." " I don't want it." "Just leave me alone." "Not till I find out what's the matter with you and find some way to help you." "The only way you can help me is to leave me alone!" "Can't you understand?" "Isn't it plain enough?" "I cannot bear to be handled!" " By anybody?" "Or just me?" " You." "Men." "Really?" "You didn't seem to mind at my office that day, or at the stables." "And all this last week I've handled you, kissed you many times." "Why didn't you break out in a cold sweat and back into a corner then?" "I thought I could stand it if I had to." "I see." " Well, have you always felt like this?" " Always, yes." "Why?" "What happened to you?" "Happened?" "Nothing." "Nothing happened to me." "I just never wanted anybody to touch me." "You ever tried to talk about it, to a doctor or somebody who could help you?" "No, why should I?" "I didn't want to get married." "It's degrading." "It's animal." "Anyway, I was doing all right the way I was." "I wouldn't say that, Marnie." "If I hadn't caught you, you'd have gone on stealing." " No." "No I wouldn't." " Yes, you would, again and again." "Eventually, you would've got caught by somebody." "Since you're such a tempting little thing." "Some other sexual blackmailer would've got his hands on you." "The chances of it being someone as permissive as me are pretty remote." "Sooner or later you'd have gone to jail." "Or been cornered in an office by some angry old bull of a businessman who was out to take what he figured was coming to him." "You'd probably have got him and jail." "So I wouldn't say you were doing all right, Marnie." "I'd say you needed all the help you could get." "Well, I don't need your help." "I don't think you're capable of judging what you need or from whom you need it." "What you do need, I expect, is a psychiatrist." "Oh, men!" "You say "no thanks" to one of them, and bingo, you're a candidate for the funny farm." "It would be hilarious if it weren't pathetic." "Let's try to get some rest, hmm?" "We'll talk this out tomorrow." "There's nothing to talk out." "I've told you how I feel." "I'll feel the same way tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that." "All right, Marnie." "We won't talk about it until you want to." "But we're gonna be on this damn boat for many days and nights." "So, let's just drop the whole thing for the present and try to get through this bloody honeymoon cruise with as much grace as possible." "Let's try at least to be kind to each other." "Oh." "Kind!" "All right, if that's too much," "I'll be kind to you, and you'll be polite to me." "You won't..." "I won't." "I give you my word." "Now, let's try to get some rest." "How about it?" "You in your little bed over there, and me light years away in mine here." "Thank you." "I think I'd like to stay out here for a while, but thank you." "You're gonna bring a little pizzazz down to the old farm, my dear." "I noticed before we left, Dad was pulling out his silk shirts." "What do you mean, what will I do with myself?" "I had of course assumed I would become a society hostess." "In Africa, in Kenya, there's quite a beautiful flower." "It's coral colored with little green-tipped blossoms, rather like a hyacinth." "If you reach out to touch it, you'd discover that the flower was not a flower at all, but a design made up of hundreds of tiny insects called fattid bugs." "They escape the eyes of hungry birds by living and dying in the shape of a flower." "I'll close the door, if you don't mind." "The light bothers me." "Hmm, what's that, dear?" "The light?" "Oh, yes, of course." "You've been an absolute darling about my sitting up reading so late these nights." "I'm boning up on marine life since entomology doesn't seem to be your subject, and I'm eager to find a subject, Marnie, any subject." "All right." "Here's a subject." "How long?" "How long do we have to stay on this boat, this trip?" "How long before we can go back?" "Why, Mrs. Rutland." "Can you be suggesting that these halcyon honeymoon days and nights, just the two of us alone together, should ever end?" "If you don't mind, I'd like to go to bed." "I've told you the light from the sitting room bothers me." "Well, we certainly can't have anything bothering you, can we?" "If you don't want to go to bed, please get out." "But I do want to go to bed, Marnie." "I very much want to go to bed." "No!" "I'm sorry, Marnie." "Why the hell didn't you jump over the side?" "The idea was to kill myself, not feed the damn fish." "Mark!" "Oh, I'm so glad to see you." "Was Fiji grisly?" "Well, we didn't get to Fiji." "We jumped ship in Honolulu and flew back." "And we had to take a cab from the airport." "We're both a bit tired and grimy." "Remember when you were six, you wanted to go to New York?" "I warned you then that traveling was a nasty business." "You poor things." "You must be exhausted." "Yeah, I think what we'll do is go straight up, have a fast drink, and pop up to bed." "The travel lecture will have to wait for morning, okay?" " Where's the rest of your luggage?" " At the airport." "Goodnight, Dad." "I'll have breakfast with you in the morning." " We'll see you then, Lil." " Goodnight, Mark." "Come on, Marnie." "It's not exactly a house of correction, you know." "Look, Marnie, for the present, all we've got is the facade, and we've got to live it." "Dad has breakfast downstairs at 8:30 every morning and I always join him." "So, naturally, as you want to be with me..." "This is the drill, dear." "Wife follows husband to front door." "Gives and/or gets a kiss." "Stands pensively as he drives away." "Oh, a wistful little wave is optional." "Mark, are you going to the office?" "On the first day back after our honeymoon?" "How indelicate." "No, I'm going down the road on a little errand." "I'll see you later." "Mark, I, um..." "I don't have any money." "Oh, I'm sorry, Marnie." "I'll call Bob and have him make out an account for you." "It won't be much for a while." "You understand, I've had a lot of heavy expenses." "And you might as well know I've paid off Strutt." "Anonymously, of course." " But that's all over!" " So?" "So, you've given away $10,000, so you're a prize fool!" "Possibly, but they don't put you in jail for being a fool." "I'm not the one the cops are after." "Not yet." "And I don't intend to be." "Not if there's anything I could do to prevent it." "Perhaps you, madam, but not me." "Hello, Mama?" "No, I'm all right." "I'm perfectly all right now." "I had a bad case of the flu and just didn't feel up to writing." "Oh, I couldn't." "I had laryngitis, too." "Oh, yes, I am still a little hoarse." "Look, Mama, I can't talk long." "I just called to tell you that I'm all right and that I'll send you some money this week." "No, I can't." "I don't know when I'll get to Baltimore." "But not for a few weeks anyway." "But I'll talk to you soon." "If you need anything, just write to me at the same post office box in Philadelphia." "I've got to go now, Mama." "Goodbye." "Goodbye, Mama." "Oh, Forio!" "Oh, beauty!" "Well, she said she could ride a little." " Mark?" " Hmm?" "Mark, listen." "I'm a good fighter if you need me." "I mean, if you are in some kind of trouble." "I have absolutely no scruples." "I'd lie to the police or anything." "What on Earth are you talking about?" "I heard you and Marnie this morning right out here." " Heard?" " Okay, I eavesdropped." "We should've made you go to college or come out or something." " I can see that now." " Don't patronize me, Mark." "That Mary-Marnie brown-haired blonde you married so fast and sneaky and tried to hustle off to the South Pacific, for Pete's sake." "I didn't have to overhear stuff about your not intending to go to jail, too, to know that you're in some sort of fix." " Please, Mark, will you let me help?" " All right, you can help." "You can help by being nice to Marnie." "She needs a friend." "I always thought that a girl's best friend was her mother." "Poor old Mark." "Is her mother that ghastly?" "I mean, when the in-laws are so grim, you don't dare have them to the wedding." "The usual excuse is poor health or the strain of the trip, you know?" "But to claim they're dead, now, come on!" "All right, Lil, what is it you're up to?" "Out with it." "Me?" "I'm just offering you my services." "Guerrilla fighter, perjurer, intelligence agent." "All right, intelligence agent." "Baltimore." "There's a mother in Baltimore." "Marnie made a phone call this morning." "She said she hadn't been able to write because she'd had the flu." "She didn't know when she'd be able to get to Baltimore but that she'd send money this week." "She said to go on writing to her at the same post office box." "I listened through the library door." "She's having you on, Lil." "It's some sort of gag." "You've been ratty." "She's set out to teach you some manners." " You're being had, Lil." " You can say that again!" "But I don't want to say it again." "I don't want to have to say it again." "All right, Mark." "You seem to be growing up, Lil." "I expect what we should do is find you some young man." " What's your type?" " I was waiting for you." "I'm queer for liars." "Really?" "Well, what sort of liar do you fancy?" "We could run an ad." "Would you prefer an indoor liar or an outdoor liar?" "Playboy or Field  Stream?" "Anybody home?" "Hi!" "Where's Marnie?" "She and Dad are still out riding." "He's taking her over the hunt country." "Big deal." "She's going to ride with the hunt." "And Dad's throwing some kind of bash to introduce her." "Oh." "I was expecting a long-distance call." "Has it come in?" "No." "Not that I know of." "I'll get it." "Hello?" "Yes." "Now hold on, I want to take it on another phone." "I'll take it upstairs." "Hang up as soon as I get it." "Uh, Lil, you will hang up, won't you?" "Okay, Lil." "Hello?" "Yes, I'll talk to him now." "Hello, Mr. Boyle." "You've found anything interesting down there?" "Hold on." "Let me get a pencil." "Okay, ready." "Bernice Edgar." "116 Van Buren Street, Baltimore." "Yeah, I got that." "Go on." "Wait a minute." "You say she killed him?" "Well, when was that?" "That means the little girl must have been about five, is that right?" "Well, what happened to her?" "No, not the woman." "The child." "I want to know what happened to the little girl, the daughter." "No, no." "Stay on there." "Get me anything else you can." "Look, have photostats made of all the court records." "Send them to me immediately." "Yes, to my office." "Registered." "You're doing an excellent job, Mr. Boyle." "Marnie, did you have a good ride?" "Yeah." "Mr. Boyle, get the photostats to me." "Yes." "And call me the minute you get anything further on the child." "Thank you." "I'll expect to hear from you." "Goodbye." "Mama?" "Oh, Mama, don't cry." "Please don't cry, Mama." "No!" "No!" "Mama?" "Mama, don't cry." "No!" "Mama?" "Mama?" "Mama?" " Mama?" " Wake up, Marnie." " Mama?" " Marnie?" "Mama?" "Oh, don't hurt my mama." " Marnie." " Please don't hurt my mama!" "Marnie." "No, don't, don't!" "What's going on?" " She's having a nightmare." " No." " No, Mama." " Come on, Marnie." " Mama?" " Wake up." "Wake up." "It's just a nightmare." "Come on." " She's all right." " I'm cold." "That's supposed to be your department, isn't it, old boy?" "Good night, all." " Let me get you a brandy." " Uh-uh." "Where did you get these things?" "I can get more any time I want them." "Yeah, of course you can." "You can also find, at your convenience, heights, ropes, ovens, even plastic bags." "The world's full of alternatives." "I'd like to go back to sleep now." "Why?" "Your sleep seems even less agreeable than your waking hours." "That, uh, dream." "You know, you've had it before." "Is it about something that really happened to you?" "No, I don't know what it means." "Nothing." "Well, it's about your mother." "She wants you to get up." "Yes, but first there are the three taps." "And then she says, "Get up, Marnie." "You have to get up now!"" "But I don't want to." "If I..." "If I get up, I'll be cold and they'll hurt her." "Who?" "Who'll hurt her?" "The..." "The..." "Them!" "I don't know." "I don't know." "But I hear the noises." "I'm cold and I hear the noises!" "What noises?" "What are they like?" "Who makes them?" "You Freud, me Jane?" "If you won't see an analyst, why don't you try to help yourself?" "But that's why I'm in this trap, is from trying to help myself." "Just leave me alone, Mark, please." "If I give you some books, will you read them?" "Your new homework?" "Frigidity In Women?" "The Psychopathic Delinquent and Criminal?" " Have you read them?" " I don't need to read that muck to know that women are stupid and feeble and that men are filthy pigs." "In case you didn't recognize it, that was a rejection." "I want you to read them." "Start with The Undiscovered Self." "Oh, for God's sake, Mark, leave me alone!" "I'm tired!" "Why can't you just leave me alone?" "Because I think you're sick, old dear." "I'm sick?" "Well, take a look at yourself, old dear." "You're so hot to play mental health week, what about you?" "Talk about dream worlds." "You've got a pathological fix on a woman who's not only an admitted criminal but who screams if you come near her!" "So, what about your dreams, Daddy dear?" "Well, I never said I was perfect." "That was quite a speech." "It encourages me to believe that you have leafed through one or two books." "Which one did you find the most interesting?" "You're really dying to play doctor, aren't you?" "Okay, I'm a big movie fan." "I know the games." "Come on." "Let's play." "Shall I start with dreams or should we free-associate?" "Oh, Doctor, I'll bet you're just dying to free-associate." "All right now, you give me a word and I'll give you an association." "You know, like, needles, pins, when a man marries, trouble begins." "You ready?" "Well, come on." "I thought you wanted to play doctor, so let's play." "Water." "Bath." "Soap." "Cleanse." "Pure." "Made pure for me." ""And his tears shall wash away thy sins and make thee over again."" "Baptists." "Mother used to take me to church twice on Sundays." "There." "I'm not holding back at all, am I?" "You're bringing me out marvelously, Doctor." "You'll have me up on my poor paralyzed little legs by the very next scene." "Go on." "Air." "Stare." "And that's what you do." "You stare and blare and say you care, but you're unfair, you want a pair." "Sex." "Masculine." "Feminine." "Adam and Eve." "Jack and Jill." "I'll slap your filthy face if you come near me again, Jack!" "Death." "Me." "Oh, listen, Mark..." " Needles." " Pins." " Black." " White." " Red!" " White." "White!" "White!" "It's all right, Marnie." "Darling, come here." "I won't let anything bad happen to you." "You're all right." " You're all right." " Oh, help me!" "Help me." "Oh, God, somebody help me." " What name, sir?" " Strutt." "Mr. and Mrs. Strutt." " Mr. Strutt." " Yes." " Mrs. Strutt." " How do you do?" "I'm Lil Mainwaring, Mark's sister-in-law." " So good of you to come all this distance." " So nice of you to ask us." "Wait till tomorrow, Charlie." "Wait till you see her on a horse, eh?" " I'm not a bit nervous, Mark." " You have no reason to be." "You're unquestionably the best-looking woman here." "The best-dressed, the most intelligent." "And you're with me." " I think everyone's here." " Well, Lil's scorekeeper." "She has the list, made the table arrangements and everything." "I'm afraid I wasn't much help but I'll do better next time." "You're doing well enough." "I suppose we should keep circulating." "Why?" " Why?" " I don't know." "I swear I don't know." "He wasn't invited here." "He's never been invited here." " It's Lil." " Lil?" " She doesn't even know Strutt." " It's Lil!" "Get me out of here, please." "It's too late." "Here they come." "Look, call his bluff." "I'll back you up." " Oh, hello, Strutt." " Hello." " Good to see you." " Good to see you." "I don't know if we've met Mrs. Strutt." "I'm Mark Rutland." " How do you do?" " And this is my wife." "How do you do?" "Well, this is a surprise." "I hadn't heard about your marriage." "You know, we all think a great deal of your husband." "We've been doing business with the Rutlands for a long time." "I believe we've met before." "I don't think so." "Think again, Mrs. Rutland." "Are you just recently married?" "Oh, Marnie and I have been married for two months." "But we've known each other quite well for about four years." "Four years?" "Before Estelle..." "Yes, didn't you know?" "Darling, Betty seems rather stranded over there." "You'll have to excuse us for a few moments, Mrs. Strutt." "Oh, and Lil, would you see that Mr. and Mrs. Strutt's glasses are kept brimming?" "That's a good girl." " I'm going to be sick." " You're not going to be sick." "You said we'd known each other four years." "Lil thought..." "I don't give one infinitesimal damn what Lil thought or thinks." " Dinner is ready, sir." " Good." "Announce it." "Dinner is served." "Mr. Strutt, my wife's taken a fancy to you." "Will you see her into dinner?" "Five minutes." "I'm five minutes behind you, and in those five minutes you've got yourself up like a cat burglar and packed for a world cruise." "I've got to get out of here, and you've got to let me go." "That man is going to send me to jail." "You know he is!" "Oh, what are you using for guts this season, Marnie?" "Don't you understand?" "He's coming back here tomorrow and he's coming for my head!" "Well, darling, we just won't give it to him." "Strutt may be throbbing away out there in the night with vengeful fantasies, but the fact is he's a businessman." "That means he's in the business of doing business." " So?" " So we try to do business." "The Rutland account is one of the biggest he's got." "And if he insists on acting like the little swine he is, then..." "And he'll lose others, too, I'll see to it." "But first I'll see to it that he understands that I'll see to it." "Suppose you can keep him from prosecuting, you can't keep him from talking." "I don't care if he outtalks every Southern senator on Capitol Hill." "Well, I do." "I care." "Darling, didn't your mother ever tell you about sticks and stones?" "Can't you understand, there may be other things involved, other people that I don't want to hear about me?" "Yes, I can understand, but since you're the well-known, friendless orphan child, who's to care?" "The police, damn you." "Now what can the police do if we can stop Strutt from prosecuting?" "They can start investigating other jobs." "Other similar jobs." " Well, that's something else again." " Yes, it is." "How many?" "How many other jobs?" "Well, tell me the truth, damn it." "You've nothing to gain by lying to me now." " How many jobs have you pulled?" " Three." "Try again." "Four." "Five counting Strutt." "Over how long a period?" "Five years, and that's the truth, I swear it!" "All right." "How much?" " How much all together?" " Under $50,000." "In what towns?" "Buffalo, Detroit, Elizabeth, New Jersey and New York." "Well, in New York and Philadelphia," "I'll be poor old Mark Rutland who lost his head over a pretty girl." "And in the others, I'm just an accessory after the fact" " and equally liable under the law." " Well, then let me go." "They can't blame you because you didn't know." "After you found out, I ran away." "Just let me go!" "If I let you run out now, nothing could keep the lid on it." "They've got your real name." "They'll work up a complete dossier on you." "When they finally catch you, and they will catch you, Marnie, they'll throw the New York City Library at you." "But suppose we don't lose our heads?" "All we've got to fight is Strutt's big mouth." "At least that gives us time." "Sit down." "Listen." "Now, we can do one of two things." "We can hire a lawyer and a psychiatrist, and make an immediate voluntary confession and an offer of restitution." "That'll make the whole thing public." "But the chances are very good that you'll get a suspended sentence." "Now the alternative." "We can go together and make private calls on all the places you've robbed." "You'll express deep sorrow and repentance, sincere and vocal contrition." "And while you sob, I show a check for the amount stolen and press it into their hot little hands and ask as a special favor to a distraught husband, to withdraw the charge." "But if one of them says, "Thanks, I'll take the money back" ""but I won't drop the charge." Then we've had it." "After that it's an open court case, and a very probable sentence." "On the other hand, with a bit of luck, we might pull it off." "Think it over." "It's late." "You better get some sleep now." "You got to be up for the hunt." "You don't expect me to ride in the hunt." "Certainly I expect you to ride." "For one thing, I want you out of the house when Strutt comes here." "And for another, I don't want to give Lil the satisfaction of seeing you chicken." "And, Marnie, tonight the door stays open." "Forio!" "A gun!" "Give me a gun!" "My horse is screaming!" " Get me a gun!" " You want to shoot your horse?" "Hey, wait a minute!" "I can't give you a gun, my mister isn't home." "I don't know what he'd..." "You must be crazy!" "Mrs. Turpin!" "Miss Mainwaring, this woman comes tearing in here demanding I give her a gun." "Tell this fool to give me a gun." "Forio's hurt!" " Marnie, wait." "I'll call a vet." " There's nothing a vet can do." "We don't have a phone anyway, Miss Mainwaring." "If the horse is hurt bad, I could give her Jack's pistol." "Hurry." "Oh, hurry, please." "He's suffering." "Go get the gun!" "I'll do it, Marnie." "You wait here." "Are you still in the mood for killing?" "Please, Marnie!" "Stay out of my way!" "Marnie, please!" "If you don't want me to do it, then let me go back for one of the men." "There." "There now." "So you can see, Mr. Strutt, how very disadvantageous any action on your part would be for everyone." "For me, certainly." "For a sick girl, and for you." "Yes, I'm sure that's the fashionable attitude, Mr. Rutland." "But just wait until you've been victimized." "Try to look at the situation from a business point of view." "Yes." "We've been business friends for a number of years now." " I want you to apply them all for my benefit." " Hmm." "Oh, sorry." "Hello?" "Yes, Lil, what is it?" "Yes, I understand." "I'm hanging up now." "You'll have to forgive me, Strutt, I've had a bit of trouble at the hunt." "I'll talk to you again, possibly tomorrow." "I'm sorry to have to run out like this." "I'll take you home, Marnie." "It's all right, darling." "You're just exhausted." "Now, don't panic." "I've spoken to Strutt." "I think I'll be able to talk him around." "I'll just put this away." "Go on." "You want the money." "You wanted the money, or you wouldn't have taken my keys, would you?" "You took the keys, now take the money!" "I said take it!" "What's mine belongs to you." "It's yours." "You're not stealing." "You want the money, take it." "I said take it!" "Marnie, now we're going to Baltimore to see your mother." " No!" " Yes." "Come on." "So, I knew you'd run away and you'd want money." "It didn't take me a minute to find out the office drawer key was gone." "If you tell my mother about me, I'll kill you." "If you mean about the robberies, I've no intention of telling her anything." "It's your mother who's going to do the talking." "Marnie, come on." " No!" " Come on." " It's all right, Marnie." "You're inside." " What in the wide world?" "I'm sorry to crash in on you like this, Mrs. Edgar." "I guess you know how Marnie feels about storms." " Marnie, stop acting like such a ninny." " Pardon me." "Who are you, mister?" "You're not Mr. Pendleton." "No, I'm not." "Who's Mr. Pendleton?" "Then what have you got to do with my Marnie?" "Well, I'm Mark Rutland, Marnie's husband, Mrs. Edgar." "Marnie hasn't been very well." "I don't believe she's been very well since you had your accident." "My what?" "I think you've always called it "your accident."" "What do you think you're talking about?" "Coming into my house like this, talking about my accident!" "You're not married to Marnie." "I don't believe you." " Marnie?" " Your daughter needs help, Mrs. Edgar." "You've got to tell her the truth." "She has no memory of what happened that night." "And she needs to remember everything." "You must help her." "Mister, you must be plumb crazy." "If you won't tell her, I will." "I know everything that happened, and I'll tell her the whole story." "Oh, no you won't, mister, because you don't know the whole story, and nobody does but me!" "Oh." "Well, since you're so very knowledgeable, Mrs. Edgar, do you also know that your daughter, your beautiful, young daughter, cannot stand to have a man touch her?" "Any man?" "She doesn't know why, but you do." "Don't you think you owe it to her to help her to understand what happened to make her like this?" "What matters what made her?" "She's lucky." "She's lucky to feel like that." "Just plain lucky!" "That's very interesting, Mrs. Edgar." "But I've had an investigator working here." "I've read the transcript." "Hmm?" "The records of your trial for murder." "In the records it states quite plainly that you made your living from the touch of men." "And it was one of your clients that you killed that night." "Oh, God!" "Was there also a storm that night, Mrs. Edgar?" "Is that why Marnie's terrified of storms?" "Was there thunder and lightning that night?" "Did the storms terrify your little girl, hmm?" "In addition to everything else that happened?" "Get out of my house." "You get out!" "I don't need any filthy man coming in my house no more!" "Do you hear me?" "You get out!" "You get out of my house!" "You get out!" "You let my mama go!" "You hear?" "You let my mama go!" "You're hurting my mama!" "Who am I, Marnie?" " Why should I want to hurt your mama?" " You're one of them." "One of them in the white suits." " Shut up, Marnie!" " No!" "Remember, Marnie." "Tell us how it all was." "The white suits, remember?" "What does the tapping mean, Marnie?" "Why does it make you cry?" "It means they want in." "Them in their white suits." "Mama comes and gets me out of bed." "I don't like to get out of bed." "Come on, Marnie." "Get up." "All right?" "Good girl." "That's my baby." "There." "There." "Mmm." " You go on back to sleep, sugarpop." " Bernice." "Now, you ain't afraid of a little bit of lightning, are you?" "Huh?" "What happens next, Marnie?" "He came out to me." "Oh, I don't like him." "He smells funny." "Your old captain's gonna be here all through the night now." "There's no reason to cry." "I want my mama!" "I don't want you!" "Let me go!" "Mama!" "Get your damn hands off my kid!" "What are you trying to..." "What are you..." "Mama?" "Make him go, Mama." "I don't like him to kiss me." "Make him go, Mama!" "Get your hands..." " Get your hands..." " There's nothing the matter" " with my hands!" " ...off my Marnie!" "What is it, Marnie?" "What's the matter?" "He hit my mama!" " No!" " What's the matter with you?" " No!" " You crazy or drunk?" "Now, don't go hitting me." "You're gonna get hit yourself, girl." "Oh, my leg!" " Mama?" " Is your mother hurt?" " How?" "How is she hurt?" " He fell on her." "Oh, she's so hurt." "Oh, Mama." "Marnie." "Marnie, help me!" "I got to help my mama!" "Marnie?" "I hit him!" "I hit him with a stick." "I..." "I hurt him!" "There." "There now." "You're all right now, darling." "You're all right." "It's all over." "You're all right." "I thought when she lost her memory of that night, it was a sign of God's forgiveness." "I thought I was being given another chance to change everything, to make it all up to her." "I'm sorry, Mrs. Edgar." "Truly sorry." "Your mother told the police that she'd killed the sailor in self-defense." "They could see how bad hurt I was." "They believed me." "And I never told anyone the truth." "Never." "Not even when they tried to take you away from me, Marnie." "Not even then." "You must've loved me, Mama." "You must've loved me." "You're the only thing in this world I ever did love." "It was just that I was so young, Marnie." "I never had anything of my own." "You know how I got you, Marnie?" "There was this boy, Billy." "And I wanted Billy's basketball sweater." "I was 15." "And Billy said if I let him, I could have the sweater." "So I let him." "And then later on when you got started, he run away." "I still got that old sweater." "And I got you, Marnie." "And after the accident, when I was in the hospital, they tried to make me let you be adopted." "But I wouldn't." "I wanted you." "And I promised God right then, if he'd let me keep you, and you not remember," "I'd bring you up different from me." " Decent." " Decent?" "Oh, Mama!" "Well, you surely realized your ambition." "I certainly am decent." "Of course, I'm a cheat and a liar and a thief," "but I am decent." "Marnie, it's time to have a little compassion for yourself." "When a child, a child of any age, Marnie, can't get love, it takes what it can get, any way it can get it." "It's not so hard to understand." "Get up, Marnie, you're aching my leg." "There." "That's better." "Mark?" "What am I going to do?" "What's going to happen?" "What do you want to happen?" "I guess I..." "I want it all cleared up." "Will I..." "Will I go to jail?" "No." "Not after what I have to tell them." "We'll go now." "Mrs. Edgar, I'll bring Marnie back." "She's very tired now." "Goodbye, Mama." "Goodbye." "Goodbye, sugarpop." "Oh, Mark, I don't want to go to jail." " I'd rather stay with you." " Had you, love?" "Send for the doctor over the hill." "Call for the doctor." "Call for the nurse." "Call for the lady with the alligator purse."