"I wonder where I'll be tomorrow." "I wonder why I didn't stay where I was a week ago and a thousand miles from here." "I wonder whether I shouldn't go back." "They really weren't doing me much good there." "It was too overcrowded, too understaffed, too hard up for money." "But they were pretty nice to me, and if I hadn't gotten so damn restless, if they hadn't made it so easy to escape..." "I've been walking away from things for a long time, ever since I couldn't walk away from him." "He was fouling me and getting me in the clinches." "I couldn't get him to stop, and I couldn't walk away." "Always comes back the same." "Above the roar of the crowd." "That one wildly shrieking voice." ""He's punching his brains out."" ""It's murder."" ""It's murder."" "Personalized." "That's nice." "Is something like that expensive?" "I suppose with the volume it might not be that bad." "That's what it's all about" "Volume." "You sure know how to serve a beer right, I'll give you that." "Ice cold." "Nice clean glass." "I can see you run a pretty tight ship here all around." "I can understand." "You're probably a little tired." "Hiya, Fay." "Rather warm day." "Really develops a person's thirst, doesn't it?" "Here you go, Fay." "I was driving South with this friend of mine, Jack Billingsley." "You know, big real estate family." "And, um..." "Anyways, our car broke down, so I go to get a tow truck." "And I..." "You know, I can fix lots of things, but, uh, cars..." "Darned if old crazy Jack wasn't gone when I got back." "I imagine what happened was, he..." "Jack got the car started himself." "That's what happened." "Now you're in here looking for him while he's out there looking for you." "Yeah." "Darn old crazy Jack ought to know I'd come into a place like this looking for him, though." "Probably had an accident." "In fact, I think I read about it." "What?" "Uh-huh." "He and a girl named Jill." "You read about it, didn't you, Bert?" "Yeah." "Yeah, they uh..." "They fell down a hill, and their bucket got broke." "Then they got their heads busted." "Well, I guess I just don't really get the point." "Why don't you reach to the top of your head?" "Maybe you'll feel it." "OK, Mac." "Disappear." "I haven't done anything." "I've been acting all right." "You got no right..." "Beat it." "I said I was waiting for a friend." "All right?" "I've been polite." "You know?" "Look." "You know, I'm an ex-serviceman." "I've been to college, alright..." "I've been to junior college for 1 1/2 years." "Hey, hey, hey." "Take it easy." "Keep your hair on." "All right." "Hey!" "Get in." "Look, it's all right." "Bert's not going to make any trouble for you." "Yeah?" "That's good, he's not going to get the chance." "I just stopped in there for a minute and I'm moving on now." "I tell you, it's all right." "Bert's the last person in the world to call the cops." "Anyway, we're not going back there." "I'm taking you home with me." "Home with you?" "It's not far from here." "Come on now." "There's a good boy." "I wondered why she's acting so friendly all of a sudden." "She was nice to you one minute, needling you the next." "Seemed to depend on how she felt, and how she felt, depended on how much wine she had in her." "Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick." "By the way, I'm Mrs. Fay Anderson." "Very happy to meet you, Mrs. Fay Anderson." "And I'm very happy to meet you." "It's a unique privilege to meet a man without a name." "Excuse me." "I'm, uh, Kevin Collins." "No." "Not the Kevin Collins." "Yeah, I guess maybe I am." "Well, don't feel bad about it." "It's your story, so stick with it." "Well, what are you waiting for?" "You want a piggyback ride?" "Actually, I was wondering about Mr. Anderson." "He's dead, Kevin." "Gone to hell." "Collins..." "Collins." "Collie." "Mind if I call you Collie?" "All right." "A lot of people call me Collie." "That's because you look like one." "Stupid and shaggy with a big, long nose to poke in other people's business." "I wasn't, uh..." "Forget it." "Cheers!" "You're very fast with your mitts, Collie." "Fast and efficient." "You ever fight professionally?" "I had a few fights." "Well, what happened, stop a few too many with your head?" "I'll tell you something, Mrs. Anderson." "I'd like to correct an erroneous impression you seem to have about me." "You see, I'm not at all stupid." "I may sound like I am, but I'm really not." "Well, you swear to that, Collie." "Have it signed and notarized, and I'll take it under consideration." "I'm not stupid, and I don't like for people to treat me like I am." "Most of my life I've been in places where..." "I've worked in places where it's difficult to converse with someone on equal footing." "It's hard to carry on an intelligent conversation, so after a while, you sort of lose the knack." "Shut up." "But I'm..." "Shut up." "Someone's coming." "You think you could fix a few things up around here, Collie?" "Who's that?" "Nosy, nosy." "You can use some of my husband's work clothes." "You're around his size." "I didn't say that I'd stay." "You seem to forget I'm waiting for a friend of mine--Jack Billingsley." "You might even get these old trees working again." "What are they?" "Date palms, Collie." "My husband imported them direct from the Arabs." "Get-rich-quick-scheme number 302." "What's wrong with them?" "They've all dried up, withering away from lack of attention." "It's not much, but it's private." "Don't get the wrong idea about me, Collie." "We just met." "I don't have any ideas yet." "Oh, that's right." "I forgot." "In any case, you can start work tomorrow." "You get cleaned up, and I'll buy you dinner." "I'm in the mood for a drink." "Oh, and Collie, darling." "Do your Fay a favor and don't shave." "I like the shaggy dog look." "Before my old man kicked the bucket, we used to come here once a week." "He loved to tie one on and dance." "Do you want to dance?" "I mean, I don't dance, but if you want to dance..." "I thought that was you, Fay." "Garrett Stoker." "But you can call me uncle Bud like everyone else." "Don't mind me." "I just saw you and Fay dancing here, and I said to myself: "oh, hey, it sure would be nice to meet you"." "Fay told me, that you were going to help her out, when I came by this afternoon." "Yes, sir." "And nice to meet you." "Hey, miss." "Another bottle of red and one more glass, thank you." "I didn't really understand this afternoon, when you told me you had a Kevin Collins helping you out." "Didn't think much about it and then suddenly I saw you two on the dance floor, and it hit me like the Kid's left hook here." "That's what they used to called him" "Kid Collins." "When was that last fight of yours, Kid, the big one?" "It was, uh, some time ago." "It was, uh..." "It wasn't even a big fight, sir." "Sure, Kid, sure." "But every fight's a big one." "Being in the ring." "Facing someone who wants to kill you." "You know what I mean." "What am I telling you for?" "Yeah, I understand you, sir." "So cut out the "sir" stuff." "Let me know when sports at 11:00 is over." "Where you going?" "Talk to a mirror." "Sure I am glad you decided to settle down, Kid." "Now you got some friends, and people who admire you, take an interest in you." "Settle down?" "Yeah, take it easy for a while." "Rest up a few days." "Keep Fay out of trouble." "Let me see what I can stir up for you." "I got a feeling that I might be able to put you next to something pretty good." "Look, sir." "Uncle Bud." "I appreciate you wanting to help and all, but..." "Go ahead, get it off your chest." "Well..." "You don't really know anything about me." "Oh, but I know people." "I know what they'll do and I know what they won't do." "Now, I figure you've had a pretty tough time, but you're sharp, nervy, know a good angle when you see it, and you have what it takes to finish it out." "Yeah, sure." "I used to be a detective, you know." "Fay tell you that?" "I was." "Put a lot of guys next to some pretty good deals." "Some of them had experience, some of them didn't." "A lot of them never even done a deal, didn't know they could, until your old uncle Bud here showed them how." "You're not a detective now?" "Forget about that." "I'll tell you what you need to know when you need to know it." "I was just..." "One more thing." "Make sure you sleep alone." "Oh, maybe I just clear out of here now then." "Don't take it personally." "I, uh..." "I'm going to leave you and Fay alone." "Well, Collie, my blushing boy, what did I miss?" "Plenty." "Really?" "Let's get out of here." "Go away, Collie." "This little scheme's been cooking for months, and if you leave, it'll go right on cooking till it boils away." "I'd ask you to stay the night if it wasn't for uncle Bud." "But I don't want him talking you into this mess." "And if he saw you..." "Fay." "Here." "Take the bottle." "You look lonely, and a bottle can be a lot of company." "What's going to happen to you, Fay?" "Nothing." "Same as been happening since my husband died." "Oh, never mind, Collie." "Just go and keep going." "Go." "Go." "Go." "Fly away into the night up to the moon." "Whether she was watching me or not," "I don't know." "I only knew that I was moving again, away from her and uncle Bud." "I felt kind of sad in a way, but at the same time, I felt good." "Don't flash that bottle around so much, huh?" "Some highway patrolman come in here and pfft!" "Geesus!" "Um, man." "How about..." "How about a ride?" "Sorry." "The company says no riders." "Man, I could..." "I could ride in the back, just till daylight." "We'll probably run into that dunk crazy Jack Billingsley." "Please, Mac." "Clear out, will you?" "What will people think, for god's sake?" "They come in here, and you start jabber away on them." "I'm sorry." "I won't say another word to anyone." "I'll just, uh, wait here quietly till it gets a little lighter." "Well, get away from the counter, and go sit in the back." "Certainly." "I'd be glad to." "Alright." "Sorry." "Feel OK?" "Like me to order you something?" "No, thank you." "You ought to eat something or at least have some coffee." "I think I'll just sit here and wait for my friend Jack Billingsley." "That's not necessary with me." "Where do you live?" "Well..." "I see." "Been getting along all right?" "About like always." "Pretty good, I guess." "Not really good, you know, but all right." "How long since you were under commitment?" "It's been a few, uh..." "More than a year now." "Would you like to go back?" "Don't you think you should go back?" "Yeah." "I guess I should." "Kind of." "I haven't been in any trouble or anything." "You a doctor?" "Yes." "And I think you should go back, unless, of course, you've got some friend or family member who can help you." "I haven't." "I wish I could help you myself, but you know there are limits to how much each of us can give of ourselves." "Well, don't worry about me, doctor." "I'll be all right." "You sure you'll be OK?" "You lay off the booze and behave yourself." "Yes, sir." "You are, like hell." "How can you?" "Why the hell should you?" "Come on." "He had a nice house." "My own room." "Nobody staring at you." "Except that I kept thinking about Fay and worrying about her." "Thank you, doctor." "Take care getting home now." "Hey." "Collie, I was going to ask you, in case the hospital should refuse to send for you, if they don't feel able to, that is, because of the expense..." "Yes, doc?" "Collie, how would you feel about staying on here with me?" "You'd be a big help to me." "And I think I'd be of some help to you." "And well, it would be a fine arrangement for both of us." "Well..." "Doc..." "You see, my friend, your judgment just isn't good." "A man in your condition is easily influenced and, broadly speaking, dependent on the good will of others." "Well, you can see the potential for tragedy." "I don't know, doc." "I never really hurt anyone." "I never did anything really bad." "What do you really call bad, Collie?" "Never mind." "I'm sure you've done fine, hard as it was." "And from now on, you'll do even better." "You stay here for a year or so, however long it takes, and, uh..." "You'll see." "Come on!" "Oh, Collie." "You crazy, silly sweet." "What happened to you, honey?" "I just, you know, happened to be in the neighborhood, so I thought I'll step by and bring you a little present--some wine." "Well, come on in, and we'll drink your clothes." "I'm glad you came back, Collie." "I wish you hadn't." "I prayed you wouldn't." "But I'm glad." "I'm glad, too." "I didn't mean to." "It just seemed like I had to." "After I met you, and, uh..." "And everything..." "I just, um..." "Couldn't..." "Couldn't what, Collie?" "Couldn't keep doing the same thing." "It's like you don't know what it is..." "That you're supposed to do." "But, uh..." "You know it's going to be different." "Something has to change." "Feels good with you, Fay." "You feel good." "What do the words mean, Kid?" "What's good?" "What's bad?" "I'd say it'd be bad for a nice guy like you to have to go on like he's been going." "I'd say it'd be good if you never had to worry about money the rest of your life." "I guess it would be." "Actually, you wouldn't want to hurt anyone." "You wouldn't have to." "Just be a case of putting pressure on certain people." "People that have more money than they know what to do with." "Making them come across." "That'd be alright, wouldn't it?" "Damn shame." "What?" "All that money." "Their kids have to make an appointment to play." "Our boy Vanderventer, booked here Saturdays 1:00 to 4:00..." "Putting practice." "Chauffeur's here at 3:45, never a minute earlier." "That means by 3:40 you've got to be airborne." "Airborne?" "It's a quick in and out, Kid." "You show up dressed in the uniform, tip your hat to the play supervisor, scoop up little Charlie, and away you go." "You've got it pretty well organized, uncle Bud." "Down to the tee, Kid." "With my connections inside the department I'll know every move the cops are making, before they make them." "I'm sorry, doc." "I just couldn't stay there." "You know I couldn't." "It just wouldn't be right." "I would have worried about it." "That's not very straight-thinking, Collie." "That's the kind of mixed-up, one-sided thinking that can get you into serious trouble." "I'm not mixed up." "Just something I had to do, so I did it." "With a gallon of red wine, I suppose?" "That was not for me." "It was a present." "I bought it for the these people that I'm working for." "I made a few discreet inquiries." "I know who lives in this place." "She's a widow, isn't she, Collie?" "She needs me, doc." "You know what that means to have someone who really need you for the first time in your life?" "I know." "But, Collie, it still isn't right." "Oh, it must be because when I woke up this morning," "I was glad." "I was glad to be alive, doc, because I knew someone else would be glad..." "And people just aren't glad unless you need them." "They may be nice and friendly like you were, but if they don't need you," "they really can't be glad." "They really can't care whether you're alive or not." "And.." "...when no one else cares, and when that goes on year after year, doc, when nobody cares..." "All right, Collie." "I'll agree to your staying on here, but she'll have to be told about your condition." "I can do it in such a way, that she won't be alarmed." "Won't be alarmed?" "What?" "!" "You're gonna tell her" "I'm on the loose from an insane asylum, and you don't think she's gonna be alarmed?" "No, Collie..." "I think I can pose the situation much better than that." "Besides, I'd be violating my duty if I didn't do it." "Don't do that, doc." "Because if you do this to me, if you make me lose her..." "Well, all right, my friend." "For the time being, until you can get a little better settled at least, I won't see her." "I..." "I don't know how to thank you." "I went back to trying to get the trees working again, but not for long." "I was too weak." "The strain I've been under when I thought he was going to see Fay had taken too much out of me." "Kid." "Kid." "Kid?" " You're clear on all this, right?" " Yes." "What's the problem?" "I was just thinking." "Yeah?" "I was wondering if maybe there wasn't some way that we could do this, without actually going through with the kidnapping." "We'll fake it, we'll start into it and then you come in and rescue the boy." "Something like that." "And then what?" "Family probably give you a reward." "Lot less money to split, but I think that" "Fay and I can get along with less." "Yeah, um..." "How do I... become a hero, though, if, uh nobody gets caught?" "I don't know." "Yeah, it's not gonna work." "It just can't be done that way." "Yeah, I guess you're right, it can't be." "We'll just, uh stick to the original plan and, um tomorrow afternoon this time, three of us are going to be sitting pretty." "Well..." "How do I stack up as an advertisement for sobriety?" "You stack up." "Period." "Yeah?" "You really think so?" "You ought to make sure, don't you think?" "I guess with you so, uh..." "Clean and pretty and everything, I, uh..." "Yeah." "Whatever you think." "I'll just wash up and be back in a minute." "Well, you know where I'll be." "In fact..." "I may as well..." "OK..." " Hello?" " Collie." "Collie?" " Look, fella, where are you?" " Right where I've always been." "I see." "You remember now, I only agreed not to see her." "I didn't say I wouldn't telephone." "I know, you're a man of your word, doc." "I didn't say anything that should have alarmed her, Collie." "On the contrary, I was careful to reassure her." "Well, that makes her kind of crazy, doesn't it, doc?" "She shouldn't have been alarmed, and she should have been reassured." "But it turned out the exact other way." "She didn't react properly." "She's abnormal, isn't she, doc?" "I'm terribly sorry it's turned out this way, Collie, but you have to understand my only interest is in doing what's best for you." "Remember, Collie, we're friends." "Ha!" "Yeah." "Yeah." "I remember that, doc." "You'll stay there then?" "Give me a chance to straighten this out?" " No." "I'm leaving now." " No!" "No, Collie." "If you don't feel that you can stay there, you must come back over here." "We'll go ahead just as we planned." "I'm hitting the trail now, doc." "And uh, don't try to pick up that trail, because if you do..." "Hi, Kid." "Hi, uncle Bud." "You know, Fay called me." "Was pretty upset." "I..." "I'm not sure I really got it all right." "I know what happened." "Hell of a note." "Two of you were hitting it off so well, and then something like that has to happen." "But she'll get out of it." "Soon as she gets used to the notion, she'll snap out of it." "She'll be fine." "Just like you, uncle Bud?" "Yeah." "Just like me." "Nothing bothers me." "You know, a man's a man." "All that." "Bet you'd like a drink." "He let me know that after thinking it over, he decided we should go ahead with everything just as planned." "Fay wouldn't be in the car to help with the kid, but he was convinced I could handle it on my own." "I begun to see how, from his point of view, the situation had actually improved." "I'd never meant anything to him, and now that I didn't mean anything to Fay either, and since I practically told him, how he could fake the whole thing and still cash in, wow..." "You'd have to be blind not to see what was coming." "I was due to get killed, and uncle Bud was due" "Or thought he was" "To be a hero." "Hey!" "1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8..." "He's punching his brains out!" "It's murder!" "Murder!" "Knowing what I did, I couldn't say why I was going ahead." "Just seemed like something I had to do, like I'd been set in a rut and had to follow it right to the end." "I was hurt, of course, hurt and mad at the whole world." "Guess that was why." "All I knew was I had to go ahead." "Yeah?" "What are you gonna do about it?" "Hey!" "Hey, give him back his ball." "I needed a plan" "Something that would pull them into the deal and hold them in it." "You're a pal Rogers, help save my ass." "Maybe a quick around-the-block?" "Appreciate it, buddy." "Besides, I wanted to talk to you about our friend Charlie." "What's happened to him anyway, Rog?" "What kind of shoving around are those losers parents of his giving him?" "Shoving around?" "I guess I don't know what you mean." "Never mind." "I know how they treat him." "How they've always treated him." "He's been sick for years, and he's getting sicker." "And the worse he gets, tougher they make it for him." "Boy, I wish I was a little bigger." "I'd get me a club and..." "Something wrong, Rogers?" "Want me to duck out of sight?" "No, these are just some friends of mine." "and no, I want you to sit right up, like we were..." " I get it." "You were too early to pick Charlie up, so you're killing time with a pal." "What are you two doing out this way?" "That boy." "That's the wrong boy." "Well, he looks..." "He's not." "You got a wrong boy." "A blind man can see that's a wrong boy." "OK, you know, it's getting sorted out, just take him back... and get the right one tomorrow." "Oh, just like that?" "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." "He won't say anything." "I'll make him think it's some kind of game." "But it's too late." "You're practically a cinch to run into the other chauffeur." "No, I can make it." "Then do it." "Go on, get moving." "I'll see you back at the house." "No, no." "Get back in the car." "Come on." "Come on!" "About this little ride of ours." "I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything about it." "I won't." "And don't you say anything either." "Just give me a minute to sneak back inside, and you can go pick up Charlie and no one will be the wiser." "Oh, hello, Rogers." "You're early for a change, aren't you?" "Charles." "Charles Vanderventer." "Here you are." "Run along with Rogers now." "Is... that Rogers?" "Is it?" "Oh my goodness." "And who else would it be?" "Rogers!" "Rogers!" "Charles has had a pretty trying day." "Would you please tell Mrs. Vanderventer that I suggest he stay home next week?" "Hey!" "Just relax, Charlie boy." "Just be real nice and quiet, and everything will be all right." "Don't hurt me, mister." "I won't hurt you, and I won't let anyone else hurt you." "...as crowds of onlookers gathered to watch the police proceedings." "No leads have been uncovered as of this time." "The one person who might be able to give a more detailed description of the kidnapper remains unconscious in the intensive care." "What's the matter?" "I didn't surprise you, did I?" "Surprise us?" "Oh, Collie, why in the world did you do it?" "Why not?" "It's what we planned on," "It was what I was supposed to do, right?" "Yeah, but not this way." "Not after you made a mistake and..." "and... and..." "I got to hand it to you, Kid." "I don't know another guy in this country..." "Who pulls a stunt like that and gets away with it." "Oh, uncle Bud, sure, there is." "All you got to do is pick yourself a guy who's a little bit off and throw him a curve." "He'll do it." "I know exactly what you mean." "You hold the short end of that old stick just so long, and then you're gonna want to start swinging it." " Shut up." " What?" "I said shut up." "Whatever you say..." "Look, what's this "curve" stuff, huh?" "Who's throwing who a curve?" "Huh?" "How about it?" "You were set to use that gun an hour ago, right?" "so why don't you use it now?" "Can't you make up your mind?" "You're scared." "Stupid and scared." "So let me help you." "Stop it!" "Look, I just want to know what this is all about, OK?" "No." "I told you, Fay, right from the beginning, that I wasn't stupid, and I didn't like for people to treat me like I was." "Honey..." "What's that got to do with it, huh?" "Is it..." "Does it have something to do with yesterday, huh?" "Look, I'm really sorry about that, darling, but it just came as..." "As such a shock to me." "And I..." "And I couldn't think and..." "And I didn't know what I was doing for a while." "And then I..." "I..." "I ran off and started drinking and I made such a mess of myself that I was ashamed to face you." "Forget it." "I know exactly what you felt, so no point in telling me." "Then is it about today, huh?" "Look, I wanted to be in the car with you, but the way I was feeling, I wouldn't have been much help." "But you felt good enough to ride with uncle Bud." "Conveniently show up." "Yeah, I mean I still felt sick, but I was worried about leaving you to do everything." "and uncle Bud, he said.." "That's just the way it was, Kid." "Just like she said." "And it's a damn good thing we were there." "You would've taken the wrong boy." "Hasn't it occurred to you, Fay, that maybe I picked up the wrong kid on purpose?" "What?" "I am getting fed up." "What the hell is he talking about?" "The Kid's just got the wrong slant on things." "Oh, do I?" "Does he?" "Yeah." "Don't you remember the other day?" "We talked all about it, you remember, the Kid's plan about... we wouldn't actually go through with the job." "I'd step in at the last minute and be the big hero and then collect the reward, et cetera, et cetera, you know." "But it couldn't be done, huh?" "Someone would have to get caught or..." "So that's what you think?" "That's what you think of me?" "Why not?" "Well, sure." "Why not?" "I mean if a person won't stop at kidnapping, hey!" "Why should she stop at murder, huh?" "Oh, Fay..." "Damn right, because with people like us, people who've become what we have, we were bound to arrive at it sooner or later." "Hey, and you are damn wrong about not being stupid." "You are, I am, and uncle Bud here decided..." "You know, uh... we should really... stop all of this moping around." "Look, we..." "We had a little misunderstanding." "And it's all over now." "We got what we wanted." "We are about to collect." "Yes, gentlemen and lady, now we can collect." "Well, that's just what I said." "I got an idea, Kid." "I've been thinking." "If it's OK with you, the first thing I ought to do is the car." "Into the yard, I can have it scrapped in one hour." "In the meantime," "I send the ransom note." "Look, we've been through all this." "There is no point in asking me about it." "I just don't want you to get any more wrong ideas." "So don't give me any reasons, and I won't get any ideas." "OK." "Did he eat all right?" "Don't tell me you don't know." "He must've been pretty hungry." "It hadn't occurred to me." "I see now that he must have been." "I've been thinking things over." "And I think maybe I was wrong about today." "You think so?" "Maybe?" "About you, not about uncle Bud." "I know what he planned on doing." "But that doesn't mean you had to be in on it." "And you might not have known about it beforehand." "Well..." ""I might not have"." ""I maybe didn't"." "It's algebra, isn't it?" "Two minuses give you a plus." "Look." "Did you or didn't you?" "Just tell me." "It's against rules, Collie." "If you have to ask the person for the answer, it doesn't count." "Well, then you tell me this." "About you finding out about me, would that have been all right?" "Before this afternoon, I could have answered you, and you would have believed me." "You'd have no reason not to." "But after your flat accusation..." "All right!" "Why do you harp on that?" "What would you have thought if you were in my place?" "Exactly what you did, my friend." "That door leads to a walk." "At the end of the walk, there's a lane." "At the end of the lane, there's a highway." "This door's wide enough for two people." "These two?" "We could end all this right now." "You and me." "Then what?" "Then we figure it out together." "You and me, together forever?" "You really believe that, Collie?" "You really believe there could be a you and me?" "I know it, Fay." "Collie and Fay." "Through that door, down the lane..." "Onto the highway." "We could do it, Fay." "And I can take care of you real good." "Oh, I almost forgot." "The car keys, Collie." "What do you mean?" "It's rather simple, really." "I want the keys to the car." "Where are you going?" "Why, I'm going out." "Maybe this was her plan, a way of cutting me out of the deal." "She'd point me in one direction so she could move in another." "But right from the beginning, she'd been able to get me so rattled and mixed up," "I didn't know what I was doing." "Sure, she sent me away that first time, but she must have known I'd come back." "I didn't have anyplace else to go and..." "Mister?" "Mister." "I'm sick." "I think I'm gonna..." "Sorry." "I'll clean it up, mister." "Don't worry about that." "Just cut loose as much as you want to." "You're..." "You're not mad at me?" "Why would I be mad at a little boy for being sick?" "Honest, you're not mad at me?" "No, I'm not mad." "And no one else is going to be mad either, because if they do get mad..." "They just better not." "That's all." "I like you, mister." "I like you very much." "Collie, wake up." "Wake up, Collie." "Aah!" "Put the gun down!" "It's the boy, Collie." "He's..." "What's the matter with it?" "What did you do to him?" "Do to him?" "Oh, you see he's sick, that's what." "He looks like he's dying." "Damn it, say something." "Do something." "Turn on the radio." "Turn on the radio?" "There's probably something about his condition over there." "I think I know what it is." "There were some guys in the hospital." "Turn it on." "Hey, Charlie boy." "You'll be OK." "Good news, Kid." "The family's ready to pay up." "And they told the police to mind their own business." "They just want the boy back." "They ain't going to be picky whether he's alive or not?" "What are you talking about?" "He's got diabetes." "Yeah, I know, it says something about that right in here." "Who would ever thought he'd have a thing like that?" "It's all that starch and sugar, wasn't good for him." "Wonder it didn't kill him." "Well, maybe it will yet." "Maybe I'll get him next time." "Why the hell don't you say what you mean." "Now, now!" "Come on." "So, Kid, what are you drinking?" "He needs insulin." "He'll die if he doesn't get it." "I know a couple of places, but uh with it being in all the papers and everything, it's like advertising that we have the boy." "I see your point." "Besides, if you look at it from one angle, it's a lot less risky for us, if we let him die." "Get the money beforehand in any case." "and without him around as evidence, so someone was able to identify us, well..." "Well." "Of course I wouldn't want nice little boy like that to die, but if we just couldn't help it, like you say, it'd sure turn out nice for us." "I was just pointing out how you may look at it." "I mean, I don't see it that way." "Because if things don't come as smooth as we hope, well... it'd sure be a lot better if he was alive." "Any way you look at it, you're right, but how's that leave us?" "Get some insulin at doc Goldman's." "You phone him, get him out on a fake call." "I slip in, get the stuff, he never knows the difference." "Sound good to you, Fay?" "No car." "He must have left already." "Now remember, Kid." "The pool hall, the corner of Main and 5th." "We're pals, right, Kid?" "That a boy, Kid." "You're doing fine." "You cheating bastard." "You thought I'd never catch up with you?" "Well, guess what." "Look, I..." "I..." "I just need you to give me a little more time." "I'll give you something, you sorry son of a bitch!" "You were gonna give it to me?" "You son of a bitch!" "Where'd he pick you up?" "That's what I don't know." "I was just coming through the door, and there the murderous son of a bitch was." "So he could have been following you here?" "No, no." "He was just in the neighborhood." "Boy, I would hate to think..." "No!" "You don't know what you're doing." "You're crazy!" "But I know what you're doing, and you're through doing it." "OK, Charlie boy." "OK." "You can go in and look at him if you want to." "I can, huh?" "He's all right, and he's gonna stay that way." "How long's this stuff gonna last?" "Long enough for me to figure out what to do with him." "You wouldn't be thinking about giving him back for free, would you?" "I don't know." "Are you?" "Skip it." "I'll be screwing myself if I talk to you much longer." "I'm getting myself something to eat now." "Poor Collie." "They may hang him, but he'll fill his stomach first." "With food." "Ha." "Very good." "It's that sort of thing that throws me about you, Collie." "You're so sharp sometimes that..." "Yeah?" "Never mind." "The way it is, is the way it is." "Look Fay, if I only knew what you wanted..." "If you just talked straight to me, maybe I could..." "That's a lot of ifs and maybes, my friend." "So maybe someday..." "If..." "Collie." "I just spoke to uncle Bud." "Yeah?" "He thinks we should come over there right away." "I just called him and that's what he said." "Go on." "Why does uncle Bud think we should go over right away?" "Honey, hm..." "You're not afraid to tell me, are you, Fay?" "After all two people as close as us..." "Sweethearts, I guess you'd call us, shouldn't be afraid of each other." "It's the boy, Collie." "He ran away." "Well, he can't be very far." "He's probably hiding in somewhere." "No, I looked before I called uncle Bud." "Well, we'll look together." "That way, if one of us sees something, he can point it out to the other." "Yeah, that's what we'll do, and we'll do it right now." "Looks like he had time to make his bed before he ran for his life." "We've got to leave, Collie." "He's had plenty..." "I told you the boy had to stay alive, and I told you why." "Now, where is he?" "What'd you do with him?" "You really think I'd do something to him?" "Oh, Collie." "Let's be nice, huh?" "Let's..." "Let's..." "Let's lie down a while, huh?" "Let's..." "Let's get all nice and calm." "Shall we?" "That was just a simp." "Try something like that again and see what happens." "I want you to remember I warned you, I'm gonna kill you for that." "Maybe." "Right now, you're gonna do something else." "Fast and no maybes." "Well, I guess I screwed up, huh?" "Didn't hit him hard enough." "What happened?" "You'd just leave him out there hoping he'd be found?" "Did I?" "You tell me, you dot all the answers." "I guess you probably did." "You do, huh?" "You'd actually give me a break." "Well, shove it, bright boy." "I hit him, you get me?" "I slotted him as hard as I could with a big rock and left him out there to die." "And if I'd had more time, I'd have beat his brains out." "Be quiet." "You're upsetting the boy." "Why the hell should I?" "Didn't I just try to kill him?" "Well, didn't I, you rotten, mean, hateful son of a bitch?" "Sure I did." "That's kind of a woman I am." "I tried to kill him!" "I meant to!" "I did!" "I did!" "I..." "Mrs. Anderson..." "Isn't it?" "I'm Dr. Goldman." "Well, hello, doctor." "I just dropped in for a moment." "I'm due at the office right now, but I happened to be out this way, and..." "Your son?" "Collie didn't tell me you had any children." "It's her nephew." "He's visiting for a few days." "I see." "Fine-looking boy." "A little... under the weather, is he?" "Not feeling too well, huh, sonny?" "Never mind." "You don't need to talk." "Let's see if I don't have something to, um..." "No, I guess not." "I remember I was looking for some this morning, before I left the office." "He could do with a B12 shot." "You might mention that to his mother." "Yeah, all right." "Thanks, doctor." "Don't mention it." "Just sorry I couldn't do something for him." "How did it happen, Collie?" "How could you have done it?" "Get out of the way." "Do you hear me, Collie?" "Stand out of the way at once." "You don't know what you're doing." "Someone duped you into this." "They're using you for their own criminal purposes." "It doesn't make any difference, doc." "You're not going anywhere." "We're leaving, and you're gonna stay." "Can't I appeal to you, Mrs. Anderson?" "Can't you make him understand?" "Fay, we're leaving." "Get together anything you want to take and go on out to the car." "Well..." "I suppose if that's the way it has to be." "There's something inside of every man that keeps him going long after he has any reason to." "For years I kept going when going didn't seem to make any sense, and now I just had to keep going." "I had to have the end come." "So, Kid..." "You see anything I've overlooked?" "If you think of anything, just let me know." "We're not going to need all this." "You can't be sure now." "I want you and Fay to be comfortable." "You may have to hole up here for quite a while." "There's plenty." "What I mean is, you never know when you gonna need something, and um..." "I'm not gonna be around to get it for you." "Well, don't worry about it." "I better get into town and check up on the cops, make sure they're not cooking anything up." "Stay right where you are." "We're going with you, uncle Bud." "Going with me?" "What for?" "For the same reason you're going." "To get the money." "Uh, it..." "It ain't time, Kid." "You know it ain't." "Yeah, how do I know that?" "How do you know that?" "Because we made a plan." "Forget it." "It doesn't change anything." "See, uh, Fay doesn't trust me, and I don't trust her." "We both don't trust you, but I can fix that part--you." "We'll park near the terminal where I can see you go in an come out." "I'll give you 15 minutes." "You're not back by then, I'll tip off the cops team." "Kid, I..." "Yes?" "I'm gonna level with you." "I'm not quite the guy you think I am." "Sure about that?" "Yeah." "I've got no pipelines into the department." "The guys I know, they won't even speak to me anymore." "They see me coming, and, uh..." "They turn the other way." "So you are not sure, whoever goes in for the money won't be walking into police trap." "Right." "You're going to find out awfully fast, uncle Bud." "Kid." "Don't make me do this, Kid." "Please don't make me do this." "If one of those guys should call Bert," "he could be there in five minutes." "We sat there for another half-hour or so, and he was talking every minute of it." "The words poured out of his mouth, and they didn't mean a thing to me." "They were just a lot of noises coming from a sickish-looking face." "What other people said had never meant a thing to him." "And now it was his turn." "Now he was meaningless, and what he said was meaningless." "I'm begging you." "I've got a bad feeling about this." "If the cops don't get me..." "Well..." "Shut up!" "Get up and start moving." "I am so sick of looking at you." "How's our boy doing?" "Our boy is sick." "The white zone is for passenger loading and unloading only." "Collie, what are they doing, huh?" "What are they doing?" "Well, do something." "Let's go." "Come on." "Let's..." "Collie, I'm scared." "I'm so scared." "Hey!" "Uh, something the matter, officer?" "I'm sitting here with my wife, and, uh..." "What are you waiting for?" "I'm waiting for a friend of mine, Jack Billingsley." "He's coming in on a plain from the East." "What's your name?" "Is this your car?" "Let me see the registration." "You've got the registration, haven't you, honey?" "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" "What did you say your name was?" "Collins." "I'm waiting for my friend Jack Billingsley." "I've seen you." "You ever been in trouble?" "How you doing on that registration, ma'am?" "I think you have me mixed up with somebody else." "I'm, uh, retired now, but I used to..." "I ain't got you mixed up." "I've seen you." "Let me see your driver's license." "Hold it!" "Collins!" "Kid Collins!" "Why, sure." "I won a 100 bucks on you." "You say you're retired now, huh, Kid?" "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to give you and wife a hard time, but but with all this going on." "What is going on here, something... trouble?" "You said it." "You'd be better off coming back later for your friend" "Let's see." "Why don't you back it on up, and I'll wave you through." "OK." "Aah!" "He's got a gun!" "Freeze!" "Drop your weapon!" "You'd still be better off coming back later for your friend." "This place is gonna be little crazy for a while." "Why don't you pull it on out that way, and I'll signal ahead for the guys to let you through." "Thank you." "So far the kidnapping has stymied the police." "However, the authorities are optimistic because Mr. Rogers, the Vanderventer family chauffeur, was able to talk with police for the first time this afternoon." "While still in intensive care, he was able to provide the first detailed description of the suspect to the police." "Wait." "This just in." "The police department is now reporting a sighting of the suspect as he fled the scene of a shootout at the airport a few moments ago." "He's being identified as Kevin "Kid" Collins, an ex-boxer who recently moved to the area." "He was last seen traveling with a woman who police believe may herself have been abducted by the kidnappers." "Headed what may prove to be a related development, the body of longtime resident Dr.Jake Goldman, was found this morning bound and gagged in an isolated desert home." "The 50-year-old bachelor apparently died from a single blow to the heart." "The valley planning commission is meeting..." "When a man stops caring what happens, all the strain is lifted from him." "Suspicion and worry and fear, all the things that twist his thinking out of focus, are brushed aside, and he can see people exactly as they are at last..." "As I saw Fay then" "Weak and frightened, but... basically as good as a person could be and hating herself for not being better." "Suddenly, the only thing that mattered was that she live." "It was the only way my having lived could make any sense." "It was why I had been made like I was" "To do something for her that she could not do for herself, and then to protect her, so that she could go on..." "So that she would have the reason for living, that I'd never had." "Funny how sometimes things that aren't true, are more true than the truth..." "Because in a way Fay had been abducted." "None of this would've happened, if I hadn't come along." "As she said, this scheme had been cooking a long time." "Now without me, it would just boil away to nothing." "She had sent me away once, but I came back." "I had to." "And now Fay was the one paying the price." "I needed a way." "One last plan to make the whole thing right and leave her in the clear." "Well, we know what we got to do." "Let's get it over with." "Might as well." "One last thing, Collie." "We've done some pretty inexcusable things." "I know you weren't responsible." "You thought you had to protect the boy from me." "Whatever I said, I'm sorry." "Forget it, Fay." "It was all my fault." "I thought it was smart to keep the boy alive, and now I see it was about the dumbest thing I ever did." "Well..." "Regardless who was at fault, that..." "What?" "Why, Collie, what do you mean by that?" "Don't you get it?" "You call me stupid, and you don't see what I mean?" "No, no, I don't see." "Oh, you've got to." "Uncle Bud could be blamed for practically everything I've done, couldn't he?" "And you..." "Collie, what are you getting at?" "You've got it just about perfect." "It looks about 100% better for you than it does for me." "You're a woman." "Living alone." "Uncle Bud threatened you." "You were scared to death of me, so you went along with this." "I asked you." "I asked you what you're getting at." "You really don't get it, do you?" "Then I guess you wouldn't at that." "It won't hurt you if the boy talks, but it will hurt me plenty." "So..." "There's your answer." "All spelled out for you." "He's not gonna do any talking." "You don't mean that." "You can't mean it." "You've had even more than a normal person could take, and... you're excited and frightened." "You don't mean it, do you, darling?" "I know my Collie." "I..." "Ooh." "I really had you fooled, didn't I?" "Well, I guess I should." "All this practice." "I was up for murder, Fay." "And it was the only thing I could think of, so I went into the act, and it got me off." "It started to look like such a good deal," "That I started working it full-time." "What act?" "Crazy stuff, Fay." "Hell, it's better than a pension." "I can just roam around, doing whatever I want, acting stupid." "And then, when I get a little tired," "I just check into an institution for a while." "Hell, I tell you, sometimes they give you a private room, anything you want to eat." "I don't know why people don't get wise." "You do all sorts of things to give yourself away, but somehow, they never catch on." "They keep falling for the same act and feeling sorry for you." "God." "Let's just get this over with." "I won't kill you." "Just gonna mess you up a bit, make you look like you've been through a struggle." "I tried to keep you from killing the boy," "The gun accidentally went off." "Don't!" "Do anything you want to me, but don't kill the boy." "There's an idea." "Instead of just bumping off the brat and leaving me here alone." "I like you too, Charlie." "I like you very much." "It's OK, Fay." "You did the right thing." "You and me, together forever." "You really believe that, Collie?" "You really believe there could be a "you and me"?" "I know it, Fay."