"You will excuse me if I speak rapidly, but I haven't much time." "I'm playing some idiotic children's game, and I'm supposed to stand against this wall, blindfolded, and with my hands tied behind me." "While I'm standing here waiting for something to happen, you may watch tonight's drama, "The Dangerous People"." "I shall join you later." "Thank you." "But please, no more applause." "Oh, hello." "Hello." "It was foolish to hurry so." "What's the matter with me?" "Now I'm out of breath." "I'll stay here a minute to get my breath, or else he'll ask what's the matter, and I'll tell him it's asthma, and he'll tell me about how his wife had asthma," "or his boss, or his cousin Wilbur." "That thing makes me nervous, even if it is five miles." "Getting colder out." "You waiting for the Milwaukee train?" "Yeah." "Oh, we've got about half an hour." "Well, might as well get acquainted, I guess." "My name's Bellefontaine." "Mine's Jones." "How do you do?" "You going all the way?" "No, Madison." "Oh." "What do you do?" "I'm a lawyer." "I have a client here who used to live in Milwaukee." "He still insists I handle his affairs." "No need, really, but he can afford it, so I do." "You live here?" "No, in Madison." "I'm an accountant with Saxe Paint Company." "Oh." "I thought Saxe was in Chicago." "They've got a branch in Madison." "I see." "You weren't here on business then, I take it." "No." "It was just a visit." "Oh?" "Excuse me, I have to get my ticket." "A ticket to Milwaukee, please." "One way?" "Yes." "I wish they'd stop that thing." "It's coming from the home for the criminally insane." "One of them escaped, you know." "Yes, I heard." "Lots of people get nervous having one of those places in town, but I find it interesting." "Please, my ticket." "Here." "The things I hear in this waiting room..." "What the people from up there talk about, I've learned a lot." "Say, do you know what a split personality is, mister?" "I'll bet you don't." "It's a person who's two different people and neither one knows the other exists." "My change, please." "Oh, yeah, sure." "Did you ever hear anything like that?" "Yes, I heard of it." "Did you hear about that patient escaping?" "Yeah, I heard." "I stopped for coffee down the street and the waitress told me." "Oh." "I'm a perfectly reasonable man, I assure you." "I know the chance that he's a homicidal maniac, that he'd simply kill you without reason is remote." "Besides, he wouldn't come here." "Why would he?" "Yet that thing gives me the chills." "Isn't that odd?" "Yeah, it sure is." "It's weighty stuff, huh?" "Yes." "Is his description out?" "Huh?" "The man that got away, they know what he looks like?" "I don't know." "I don't think so yet." "They might have a hard time catching him, you know that?" "Lots of these fellas are smart, plenty smart." "Smarter than you, maybe, or me." "Yes, I suppose they are." "They just go off sometimes, get excited, you know." "Yes, I suppose they do." "Don't blame them for trying to get out of there." "You don't?" "'Course, a man gets out of a place like that, he's got it on on other people." "If he kills anyone, I mean." "He can kill anyone he wants to." "And even though they catch him, they can't do anything to him, except put him back in." "You see?" "Yes, that's true, isn't it?" "No." "No, it can't be." "I knew there was something." "His clothes." "They're all muddy and torn." "He must have been in a fight." "What's wrong?" "Nothing, nothing." "Have to control myself." "Mustn't let him suspect." "He killed someone to get his clothes and then came here." "Of course!" "A little station where he could get away." "A bookkeeper." "Why, they're neat." "Whoever saw a bookkeeper like..." "Thank you." "Now, wait, wait." "I've got to calm down." "Why, this is crazy." "He's probably a perfectly ordinary fellow." "Just that his clothes are..." "Probably some perfectly normal explanation." "Have you been with Saxe Paint very long?" "Oh, yeah, a long time." "A long time." "And you're a bookkeeper?" "That's right." "Why?" "Oh, nothing, nothing." "I just..." "Well, nothing." "I have to get out of here." "Can't take a chance!" "Where are you going?" "Well, just to get some gum." "Would you like some?" "No." "He's the one." "I know he is." "Those clothes, and his eyes..." "And Jones, just the name he'd choose." "And the way he keeps putting his hand to his head." "Probably some pressure." "And when it gets too bad he..." "Oh, mister." "Is the 7:55 on time?" "Yup." "But I..." "He suspects me." "He thinks I know." "I can't leave." "He might kill me if I tried." "Try to act natural." "Better sit down." "Sure thirsty." "He's not gonna let me get out of here." "That's clear enough." "What am I gonna do?" "He keeps doing that." "The pressure's building up." "If it gets any worse, any minute he might just..." "Oh, if only there was..." "Of course." "I'll..." "I'll go in the washroom." "Excuse me." "When I think I didn't wanna bring this..." "Why, it could save my life." "Now, the bullets." "Don't wanna shoot him, but I have to defend myself if he attacks me." "Just watch him like a hawk." "Be ready to shoot." "Why, us city fellas just can't drink with country fellas, that's all that's to it." "All that clean living and fresh air." "They're too much for us." "Sure is a strange little beast." "I wonder why he took the briefcase in here." "Maybe he's got something valuable in it." "Time passes slow, huh?" "Yes." "Funny-looking little monkey." "Guess he thinks I'm funny-looking, too." "Can't figure me out." "I wish I had a drink." "I could go uptown and get one, I guess." "I got the time." "But I'm a victim of inertia." "I would go uptown and get myself a drink, but I haven't got the ertia." "I got to have some more water." "That water's plenty cold." "Yes." "I expect it is." "Oh, excuse me." "Oh, I'm sorry." "It's all right." "The water's gotten me cold." "He isn't cold." "He just said that to get the poker again." "What a squirmer." "That siren sure paralyzes him." "If you ask me, he's a pretty weird character." "Looking over his shoulder, getting bug-eyed every time the siren goes." "If you ask me, he's probably nuttier than the one that got away." "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one." "That would..." "He is!" "Of course!" "Why didn't I guess it sooner?" "Sure he is." "He has to be." "'Course he was looking back, to see if he was followed." "And that name, that made-up name." "Nobody really has a name like that." "All this time I've been sitting here with a madman." "If I had said the wrong thing..." "Now, wait a minute, wait a minute." "No use getting in an uproar." "I can handle him okay if he tries anything." "There's nothing to worry about." "He's got a gun!" "That's what he went into the washroom for, to take it out of his briefcase and put it in his pocket." "I can see it, see the barrel." "That's why he's got his hand in there." "I got to be careful." "Very calm." "Not do anything to startle him." "The poker." "Get the poker." "He's getting too close to the poker." "He could reach out suddenly and hit me, probably make me miss, stun me or kill me with the first blow." "Now I'm getting a little warm." "Now I can't get it." "Did he realize what I meant to do?" "Maybe if I just got up and slowly walked out." "No." "He'd know I was going for the police." "I can't risk it." "Look at those eyes, like a snake." "If I make a sudden move, he'll strike." "I've got to keep calm." "I've got to get closer to the poker." "If only..." "How was the gum?" "Oh, all right." "Well, I guess I'll try some." "I need the exercise." "Need the exercise?" "Really very amusing, Mr. Jones." "Yeah, it is kind of amusing, isn't it?" "Mr. Jones!" "It's warm enough." "He did it on purpose, all that business with the gum, to get closer to the poker." "Have to be ready for the first sign of a move." "Aim right at him." "Nothing sudden, so he won't notice anything." "If I just could tell when he's got it." "I can't watch him all the time, make him suspicious." "It's not ours." "Apparently not." "I think it's the through express going the other way." "Yes." "Have to get it pointed right at him." "Finger on the trigger." "Then if he moves, I could do it." "He's waiting for the train." "The noise when it passes," "So nobody'll hear the shot." "What if I miss?" "He might jar me, I might miss the first one." "The train!" "So loud, it confuses me." "Maybe I should go ahead, not wait." "He's raising it." "I can't take a chance!" "Good evening, Officer." "Come in." "Yes, come in." "Good evening, gentlemen." "Waiting for the Milwaukee train?" "Yes, uh..." "When's it due?" "Any minute now." "Have they caught the maniac yet?" "Yes, have they?" "Oh, you heard about that, huh?" "I guess so, with that siren going all the time." "They shouldn't run it so long." "It gets the people in there, the inmates, you know, all upset." "They haven't caught him, have they?" "I'll bet they haven't caught him yet." "No, they haven't." "Not yet." "And you know what?" "I wouldn't be surprised if they don't get him, either, if he's careful and controls himself." "But why?" "He might be right under your nose." "Yes, don't you see?" "He just might, now." "But they won't get him anyhow." "'Cause you know what he did?" "He killed a policeman over in Waynesville, and stole his car, and uniform." "And they don't even know it yet." "Where are you going?" "Let me go!" "Let me go!" "Let me go" "They were waiting for him out there." "They got him." "Yeah." "You know, I was..." "I was sure it was you." "I mean, the clothes." "They didn't seem right for a bookkeeper." "Oh, there's our train." "I got a beaut of a hangover." "I had a few drinks last night," "I celebrated with a couple of friends and fell flat on my face in the yard as I was leaving." "You know, when I found out you were carrying a gun, I could have sworn it was..." "Oh, that?" "That belongs to my client here." "He had it in the service." "He asked me to take it to Milwaukee to give to his son." "All right, I'll go." "You didn't see them." "They were waiting for me." "They just jumped me, no warning, anything." "You're mad, dangerous." "All right, let's go." "I wanna go back where it's safer." "That's where we're going." "That's all for this evening." "I think we shall be back another time with another story." "Until then, good night."