"What an extraordinary thumb." "It completely obscures the subject I'm painting." "I used to paint along the roadside." "But I had to quit." "Motorists insisted on giving me rides." "Hold that pose." "Remain perfectly still for the next half hour." "Care to see my handiwork?" "I have several canvases ready." "Or, if you like something more exotic..." "It's French, and of course..." "I'm sorry, sir, but we're closed." "Now wait a minute, I was in this morning..." "I spoke to Mr. Harrison about a painting, and made a payment on it." "I'm Mark Halliday." "This is Mrs. Halliday." "How do you do?" "How do you do?" "I am sorry, sir, but you'll have to come back" "I brought Mrs. Halliday all the way downtown just to make sure she likes it." "Please." "It's our anniversary." "First anniversary." "This is a little present for her." "It won't be the same tomorrow." "Don't you see?" "Please?" "Come on." "Let's see, it was number 128." "So would you mind getting it for us, please?" "Yes, sir." "I'll be right back." "Thanks." "128." "What a fine, round, high-sounding name to hang over our mantel." "Think so?" "Yep." "What did your husband give you, for your first anniversary, Mrs. Halliday?" "A 128 to hang over my mantel." "Tell me, darling, what is it?" "Well- No, let me guess." "All right, go ahead." "Van Gogh's ear." "No." "All right, I give up." "Mark, I don't care what it is." "Just as long as you picked it out." "Okay, let's celebrate at home tonight." "We'll open a bottle of champagne." "We'll hang 128 over..." "Mark!" "I said 128." "You made a mistake." "No, this is it, sir." "Well that's not the painting I saw this morning." "It's 128." "See for yourself." "I don't see the joke, Mark." "Debbie, wait a minute." "No, let me" "Debbie, I never saw that painting before in my life." "There must be some explanation." "Who put you up to that?" "Put me up to what?" "Where did you get that?" "Back there." "How'd it get back there?" "I don't know, sir." "You'll have to ask Mr. Harrison." "Would you like to leave it here, sir?" "I'll have Mr. Harrison call you." "No." "I'll take it with me." "Is it Jocelyn?" "I don't know, Mark." "You ought to know your own sister." "You know her better than I do." "You were married to her." "It certainly looks like Jocelyn." "Of course, she could have a double." "Let's see, when was it she disappeared?" "April, four years ago, wasn't it?" "Five." "Five years ago last month." "I had hoped you would be over it by now." "I thought I was." "Newspaper clippings, magazine stories, I've kept them all." "I finally had a letter from the detectives, you know." "Told me they were getting nowhere." "Jocelyn had dropped out of sight, without leaving a trace." "She's unforgettable, isn't she?" "I'm sorry." "She's a little older than I remember her." "Shows around the eyes." "We're all a little older, Mark." "Hey, look!" "Here are the initials and the date." "September, 19- That was three years ago." "It must have been done before she went to Europe." "I don't know, Mark" " Wait a minute." "What do you mean, Europe?" "Forget it." "What do you mean?" "I wasn't going to mention it." "It doesn't make any difference now, I guess." "I had a letter from her." "When?" "Couple of years ago." "She was in Switzerland." "Where is it?" "I burned it." "What did you do that for?" "I didn't want you to know, Mark." "You'd divorced her for desertion." "She wasn't the right person for you." "And you'd found someone who was, Debbie." "So I kept it quiet." "Where in Switzerland was she?" "St. Moritz." "What's she doing there?" "I wish this hadn't come up, Mark." "Never mind that." "Did she say anything about me?" "No." "Apparently, there was someone else." "She doesn't love you, Mark." "She never did." "I guess you're right." "She never did." "Dinner ready?" "It's on the table." "I'm hungry." "Want me to carve?" "All right." "What's that doing there?" "I thought it was very appropriate." "There's no reason to hide it behind the sofa." "She's been looking over my shoulder" "Debbie, please." "I can do without hysterics." "If that's what it is, I can't help it!" "She's been in the house with us ever since our marriage." "She's in your mind when you kiss me" "Stop it!" "I'm sorry." "Oh, Mark." "So am I." "I couldn't help it." "I showed that painting to Jeff." "He's almost certain it's Jocelyn." "He said he'd got a letter from her." "When?" "Two years ago." "She was in Switzerland." "Has he seen her?" "No." "Nobody's seen her." "It's a great waste." "She was born to be seen." "I remember the first time I saw her... at the beach at Shell Harbor, in the rain." "That old yellow slicker, thrown over her shoulders." "That scarf tied around her head... glowing, radiant." "Her hair, her skin, her eyes..." "She didn't even look wet." "Can we change the subject?" "Yes, of course." "Let's eat." "I'll return that painting tomorrow morning." "Hello?" "Jeff." "Yes, what about it?" "Who?" "Clymer." "C-L-Y-M-E-R." "Mr. Harrison says he's an amateur painter, shows a lot of promise." "He brought in the picture last week." "Harrison doesn't know how it got mixed up with yours." "Are you sure about that?" "Seems a strange coincidence, but that's what the man said." "Think we should go up there and look around?" "I'll let you know." "Thanks, Jeff." "Goodbye." "Who was it?" "It was about the painting." "It was done by a man named Clymer." "He lives in Shell Harbor." "What are you going to do about it?" "Nothing." "You shouldn't have married me, Mark." "Don't start that again" "It's true." "She still has a hold on you." "You're still in love with her." "Shut up!" "You're still in love her." "You want her back." "Debbie, as far as I'm concerned, she's dead." "Suppose she isn't?" "Suppose she's living in Shell Harbor right now." "All right, let's settle it once and for all." "Go pack your things." "We're going up to Shell Harbor." "Now?" "Now." "Hotel's closed." "Both motel people went to Florida." "I found that out." "I suppose you don't have anything, either." "How long you gonna be here, a day, a week?" "I don't know." "I got just one left. $10 a day, $60 a week, one day in advance." "Good, I'll take it." "Willman cottage in the cove." "Are you sure that's all you've got?" "You'll like it, all right." "Beautiful setting." "I'll have the utilities turned on right away." "Are you positive there's nothing else available?" "That's the only place in town, mister." "Nice comfortable place, too." "You can take it from me, the Willman cottage is one of the" "I know all about the Willman cottage." "I lived there... five years ago." "There's no electricity." "No." "The man from the power company will be over right away." "What do you think?" "About what?" "Does it look the same?" "I told you, nothing ever changes around here." "Did you ask the real estate man about Mr. Clymer?" "No, I didn't." "Why not?" "Because I thought it was more important to have a roof over our heads." "It's getting late, and this is the last place in town." "You don't have to take my head off." "I'm sorry." "That's interesting." "What is?" "Flowers." "They're fresh." "Really?" "Lily of the valley." "Weren't they Jocelyn's favorite flowers?" "Mark." "How did she do it, I wonder?" "Throw an old slicker over her shoulders, and a scarf over her head... and look like a magazine cover." "Take those off!" "How long since you've stayed here with her?" "These can't be hers." "They are hers." "I can see her in them now." "Are you trying to tell me they've been hanging in the closet for five years?" "She's been staying here, Mark." "She's in this town right now." "That's ridiculous." "Oh, Mark." "Mark, darling, stop trying to protect her." "Why don't you face it?" "What she did to you isn't enough." "Now she's going to ruin us, too." "You know that's nonsense." "You know it's true." "It isn't true!" "I don't believe she's here." "I feel kind of foolish running around town, asking people..." "It's her, isn't it?" "Hello." "Glad I found you in." "I heard you people had taken this house." "I'm Arthur Clymer." "May I come in?" "Of course." "Thank you." "I'm Mark Halliday." "This is my wife." "Hello." "How do you do?" "I'm a neighbor of yours, up on the point." "I remembered this morning I'd left a few things down here." "Thought I'd better stop by and pick them up." "I hope I'm not intruding." "No." "No, not at all." "You, you don't mind, then, if I take that back with me?" "Go ahead." "Thank you." "I'm pretty proud of this." "Like a mother with her firstborn, in a way." "This is my first attempt at sculpture." "When did you do this?" "Couple of months ago." "I was living here at the time, thanks to the Willmans." "It's a nice piece of work." "Thank you." "Did you use a model for that?" "Yes, my wife." "Is her name Jocelyn?" "Why, yes, you know her?" "I did once." "Then you must come and see us." "Just a minute." "Don't these belong to her?" "They look familiar." "I didn't realize she'd" "Mark, why don't you walk home with Mr. Clymer and carry these for him?" "Nonsense." "I can take them." "I'm sure Mark would be happy to, wouldn't you, Mark?" "Not just now, Debbie." "Some other time." "It isn't far." "I said not now." "Here, let me take them." "Come see us when you feel up to it, Halliday." "Night." "That's the first cowardly thing I've ever seen you do." "Welcome." "Hello." "I was just walking along the ocean, saw your light, thought I'd..." "Sure." "And you thought to yourself, "I'll drop in on old Clymer." ""Charming man, brilliant conversationalist, wonderful company..." ""and there's a bare chance his wife is home."" "Jocelyn, bless her." "Where is she?" "Just like the rest of them, aren't you, Halliday?" "Took one look at the statue, decided you had to see the original." "Look, Clymer- Don't apologize." "You're no different from the rest of them." "You want to see her, don't you?" "Okay." "Jocelyn." "Jocelyn, we have company." "Jocelyn, darling!" "Come on down for a minute." "You thought she'd come down these stairs, didn't you?" "Where is she?" "What happened to her?" "Happened to her?" "Nothing could ever happen to Jocelyn." "Have a drink." "No." "Come on, have a drink with me, come on." "Sorry to disappoint you, Halliday." "She hasn't been around for quite a while." "Oh?" "Where did she go?" "Bless her little heart." "She loves me madly, you know, writes me letters nearly every day." "Come on, drink up, it's good wine." "There, that's better." "I asked you where she was?" "I don't know." "I don't want to know." "The little cheat." "I'm getting tired of this, Clymer." "What happened to Jocelyn?" "She's gone." "Where is she?" "I told you I don't know." "You said something about letters." "Where are they?" "You're lying, Clymer." "Where is she?" "All right." "All right." "You want to know where she is?" "I'll tell you." "She's dead." "How did she die?" "How does one die?" "That's an interesting question." "Someday when the breath leaves the body... there, there's death." "But it's also true we live suspended in each others' minds." "So perhaps there is no death." "What happened to Jocelyn?" "That's a complicated story, and it's getting late." "Some other time." "Right now." "She was such a thrilling woman." "You've seen her face." "To kiss that face... to have her always by your side." "To know she was mine, to love, to kiss, to hold." "Yet never mine completely." "Jocelyn could never belong to anybody but herself." "No one, no man on Earth could possess her, really." "Where is she?" "I'll show you." "I'll show you." "Outside." "Come on." "Her grave is right outside." "Over there, near the edge of the cliff." "You mean she's over there?" "You're out of your mind." "She isn't over there." "She can't be." "I can't take it anymore." "What do you mean?" "I'm tired of carrying it around." "I have to tell someone." "Jocelyn." "Jocelyn!" "I had to get away from her." "Couldn't take it anymore." "I left her in New York, and came up here." "Took the cottage alone for a couple of weeks, alone." "As if I could ever live without her." "One night she came up." "Didn't tell anybody she was coming, least of all me." "I heard the door open, looked up." "There she was." "No, you didn't." "You're lying." "There was another man, always another man." "I couldn't take it anymore." "I don't remember what happened." "She was there, talking to me, laughing at me." "Telling me she wanted a divorce." "The next thing I remember, she was lying at my feet." "That's what happened." "But you weren't there." "No one was there but Jocelyn and me." "How do you know I killed her?" "How did you know?" "Mark." "Mark." "Get up." "Jeff." "How did he know?" "How did he know?" "We didn't know." "We had to guess." "I told him how I thought it happened, Mark." "With five years under the bridge, and no witnesses... we had to resort to psychology." "I'm sorry, Halliday." "It was a brutal thing to do to you." "We had to do it." "Who are you?" "My name's Iverson." "Detective Inspector, Homicide." "And you made the painting." "And the sculpture." "And arranged for the cottage." "Yes." "And she isn't buried over there?" "No." "She was found where you buried her." "There was a landslide there about a month ago." "A piece of the cliff slumped off." "Fishermen found her." "When the laboratory reported who it was... we knew you did it." "But we had to have proof." "Did Debbie know?" "No." "That's something, anyway." "She was right." "I never should have married her." "There never could be anybody like Jocelyn." "And so Mark Halliday... finally found the bluebird of happiness." "It had been there all the time." "In any theatrical presentation... the next-to-closing spot... is deemed the most advantageous." "That explains the placement of this number... in tonight's variety show." "Bravo, Bravo." "That was a real showstopper... in every sense of the word." "Now I see there is just time enough... for me to wish you pleasant dreams." "And a happy analysis." "Good night."