"My glasses." "Should make you feel pretty good, Matt." "Number 50 leaving San Francisco flying the Cabot flag." "I want a full report on why she sailed 40 minutes late." "If it was the dock force, not a man stays on our hiring list." "Did you get that?" "Yep." "First thing in the morning." "First thing this afternoon." "Forget your golf game just once." "Where were we, Miss Lee?" "The radio to the captain of..." "Yeah." ""Proceed under tow to Hong Kong for repairs..."" "Bad today?" "Don't hold your breath, Howard." "I'll be around for a while yet." "What's that supposed to mean?" "You know what it means." ""Proceed under tow to Hong Kong for repairs." ""First mate will relieve you, pending inquiry into collision." "Cabot."" "That's all, Miss Lee." "Yes, Mr. Cabot." "You got anything more?" "Nothing pressing." "Longshoremen are talking strike again, but so far it's just talk." "And we don't have to decide that tug contract till the 10th." "I've already decided." "It goes to Acme Towing." "Acme?" "What for?" "They'll do the best job." "Draw up a letter of agreement." "Matt, you know who runs Acme Towing?" "I know everything on the waterfront and a few miles inland." "You're ready to trust Joe Richards' son with a million tons of Cabot shipping?" "What has trust got to do with it?" "I don't trust you, either." "I keep you around because you're the best man for the job." "I also know where a few bodies are buried." "I guess we both do, Matt." "Fair enough." "On your way out, tell Sheila I want her up here." "Sheila." "Did I startle you?" "Why do you walk so quietly, Howard?" "Maybe it's something to do with this house." "I bring a summons." "The affairs of empire having been settled for the day, your presence is commanded above." "Thank you." "He's a little late today, isn't he?" "I mean, that would be Dr. Rivera, wouldn't it?" "Well, he is expected." "Matt really likes that fellow, doesn't he?" "He seems to." "DO you?" "Well, yes." "Don't you?" "Me?" "I like everybody." "I just can't stand the smell of ether." "Come in, Doctor." "Tawny." "Good afternoon, Mrs. Cabot." "Good afternoon, Doctor." "Mr. Mason." "How are you, Rivera?" "May I take your coat?" "Thank you, Tawny." "I'm sorry I'm late." "An operation with a few unforeseen complications." "You made out all right, I presume." "I think so." "And the patient?" "Equally all right?" "Sheila!" "If that's the doctor, get him up here!" "Excuse us." "Well, what sort of day, Mr. Cabot?" "My ships are late." "My doctor's late." "Apart from that, like any other day." "Pain bad?" "That's one thing I can depend on." "It was on time." "More severe than yesterday?" "I don't measure it." "I'm getting to be as bad as those hop-heads on the waterfront." "Can't go through the day without a fix." "What's so funny?" "I don't like having to depend on anything or anybody!" "What's this I hear about you running out on me?" "Switzerland, isn't it?" "Who told you that?" "Your distinguished predecessor, Dr. Kessler." "Chief of staff of some big hospital, he tells me." "Why didn't you tell me yourself?" "I haven't decided to go yet." "You're meeting the director of the Zurich Hospital tonight, aren't you?" "To hear what he has to say, yes." "What's so special in Zurich?" "Money?" "No." "Facilities for independent research, mainly." "That still leaves me here." "Who takes your place?" "Hold still." "I think Dr. Beloit would be the best." "Beloit, huh?" "Is he a good man?" "I'm sure Dr. Kessler would recommend him." "He already has." "All right." "Bring him along tomorrow." "If I decide to go." "You'll go." "Quite a feather for the son of a Napa Valley fruit picker." "You'll go, all right." "You're the type." "Dedicated, that's the word, isn't it?" "I hope you have a comfortable night, Mr. Cabot." "Yeah, sure." "All right, Sheila." "The doctor knows his way out by now." "If I'm needed, I'll be at home." "Three minutes, that's all it'll take." "Too much to ask of my wife?" "No, Matt." "Of course, it could go a few seconds overtime." "It takes a bit longer every day." "The magic needle." "The miracle of medicine." "Kills the pain, keeps a man alive for years." "Well, half alive, anyway." "Too bad they can't find something for your condition." "That would really be a miracle, wouldn't it, Sheila?" "A vitamin shot for love deficiency." "Is there anything else, Matt?" "Yes." "I got something in the mail today, about you." "About me?" "A Photostat." ""Department of Motor Vehicles," ""learner permit issued to Sheila Cabot, the 16th."" "That's day before yesterday." "Your friends are everywhere, aren't they?" "Why, all of a sudden, do you want to drive?" "Well, why do you make it sound like a criminal offense?" "Chauffeur and limousine not enough anymore?" "Not enough privacy, huh?" "Matt, your own daughter drives." "Her mother used to drive..." "Where would you drive to?" "Why, I don't know." "I haven't given it much thought." "The hairdresser, stores, friends..." "That's what I pay Cobb for." "Well, and sometimes nowhere, nowhere at all!" "Just to drive!" "Just to be alone!" "Listen, you're my wife!" "You don't go anywhere alone!" "Matt, you're hurting me." "Just learn to take it, like I did." "You don't need any permit for that." "All right, your three minutes are up." "Mommy!" "Mommy!" "Peter, your father's sleeping." "Look what Miss Lee brought me from the office." "All airmails." "My" "They're from all over the world, aren't they?" "Did you remember to thank Miss Lee?" "I think so." "Will you help me paste them in?" "Well, not right now, darling." "Tonight before you go to bed." "All right?" "Okay." "I'll go and sort them out." "Yes?" "Tawny, I'm going out." "Mr. Cabot is sleeping, but I'd like you to look in on him while I'm gone." "Yes, Mrs. Cabot." "Cobb is here now." "I'll tell him." "Mrs. Cabot wants you to bring the car around." "Wouldn't you know?" "The whole day to choose from, and she has to pick this minute." "She would like it at once." "Naturally." "The car sits in the garage for days with the battery draining away." "But when she wants it, it's right now." "On the dot." "With no regard for the fate of my investments." "You're well-paid for doing very little." "Little?" "Parading around in this monkey suit?" "I won't be wearing it all my life." "One of these days my luck will hit, and I'll take the track home with me." "Then it'll be Top of the Mark for Cobb O'Brien." "In the meanwhile, bring the car around." "There speaks the wisdom of the inscrutable East." "You ought to save it for a fortune cookie." "How's Father?" "He's sleeping." "Dr. Rivera was just here, and he gave him a sedative." "And you're going out?" "I have some shopping to do downtown." "Tawny will look after him." "She doesn't have to." "I will." "Cathy..." "Yes?" "I haven't been out of the house in three days." "I need a breath of air." "Surely you can't object to that." "Enjoy yourself, Sheila." "Pick me up in an hour, Cobb." ""He, IRS-gm'?" "Well, yes." "Why?" "The store closes in 45 minutes, ma'am." "All right." "Forty-five minutes, then." "On the dot, ma'am." "Thank you." "1201 Divisadero Street." "I was hoping you'd be able to get away." "I had to, David." "Today of all days." "Sheila, about Zurich..." "I wanted to tell you." "Not now, darling." "Don't say anything for a moment." "Just hold me, please." "Darling." "Oh, darling!" "Darling." "It is true, then." "Darling, now, sit down." "May I take your coat?" "No, David." "I can't stay long." "Is it true?" "Yes." "Sheila, please look at me." "It sounds like a splendid opportunity for you." "Yes, it is." "It's..." "It's the kind of thing you've always wanted, isn't it?" "Sheila..." "In Switzerland." "Such a beautiful country, and so clean and so..." "Don't cry, darling." "Please, please don't cry." "No, I'm not." "The only other time I saw you cry was the first day you came here." "Those were very different tears." "Yes." "Oh, David." "David." "It's strange what goes through one's mind at a time like this." "All I can think of is..." "I've never known what it's like to awaken from sleep" "and find you beside me." "And now I never will." "You will, darling." "Believe me, you will." "It's only a matter of time." "No." "Your husband's not going to get well." "His condition is hopeless." "So is mine." "If you could only leave him." "Sheila, come with me." "How?" "Just pick up and run away?" "He'd never give me a divorce, you know that." "And Peter..." "Matt would hound me to the ends of the Earth to take him away from me." "And he'd destroy you, too, David." "He'd see to it that you could never practice medicine again as long as you lived." "I know, I know!" "How well I know." "Oh, my God, if anybody had ever told me that I would be praying for the death of one of my own patients..." "I know what hell it's been for you, just as it has been for me." "All those hours of lying and plotting and sneaking through side exits just for a few moments together." "But when I think of what my life would be without them, I..." "Sheila, please." "Don't leave me, David." "Please don't go away." "I've got to go." "But why, darling, why?" "I don't know what I'll do if you go." "I'm afraid of what I'll do if I stay." "Afraid?" "Look at this." "It's more deadly than a gun." "A thousand times less detectable." "I use it every day on him." "David." "Have you any idea of how easy it would be?" "Nothing so crude as an overdose of his daily injection." "That could be discovered in an autopsy." "A simple bubble of air, that's all it would take." "Don't, David." "Don't even think it." "Don't think it?" "Day and night for months I've thought of nothing else." "Sheila, I've got to get away." "I don't dare stay!" "When will you go?" "Soon." "Tomorrow night." "Then this is the last time I'll see you?" "No, I'll be by tomorrow with the new doctor." "A public farewell." "Goodbye." "Sheila." "Wait." "Tawny, show Dr. Rivera and Dr. Beloit directly to Mr. Cabofs room." "Yes, Mrs. Cabot." "Good afternoon, Doctor." "Good afternoon, Tawny." "Are you alone?" "Yes, Tawny, I am." "Honey, the way you push that Crackerbox, one of these days you're gonna wind up in my engine room the hard way." "This can't wait." "Blake, I've got wonderful news." "Well, next time use the phone." "It's safer." "If I'd known you were hauling fertilizer again, I would have." "Phew!" "It may be "phew" to you, honey, but it's bread and butter to me." "What's up?" "Blake, what do you want more than anything else in the world?" "No, next to that." "A load of Chanel No. 5." "Blake, I'm serious." "Well, in that case, I wouldn't turn down a couple of new towing contracts." "Well, would you settle for one?" "The Cabot Line?" "Yeah, if you twisted my arm." "Well, hold tight, darling." "I think you've got it." "Are you sure?" "Well, pretty sure." "I talked to Miss Lee down at the office." "And she said she wasn't at liberty to tell me, but, well, then she winked at me." "Winked, did she?" "Which eye?" "Right or left?" "Blake, are you kidding me?" "Have you heard anything?" "I hate to spoil your surprise, honey, but I got more than a wink this morning." "A call from your father, direct." "Blake, that's wonderful!" "Did..." "Did you tell him anything about..." "About us?" "No, Cathy." "And I'm not going to." "I've lived with this for a long time." "You want to tell him?" "Fine." "He's your father." "But my father's dead, and the Cabot Line's the reason why." "Matt Cabot gives me a contract, okay, I do my job." "But Blake..." "I know, honey." "It's easy for me." "Everything's simple." "I love you and I want to marry you." "It's more complicated for you." "You've got a tough decision to make." "Well, I've made it, Blake." "You better be sure, Cathy." "Real sure." "It's a long step down from a Cabot liner to an Acme tug." "I'll float down." "You know, this is the first time you've ever mentioned marriage." "Did I do that?" "You must've caught me in a weak moment." "Well, it's high time." "Blake!" "Look!" "Lord, what is man that Thou takest knowledge of him?" "His days are as a shadow that passeth away." "As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth." "For the wind passeth over it and it is gone." "And the place thereof shall know it no more." "And the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting." "I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord." "He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." "And unto the dust from which we came, we commend this body where it shall rest until the final day of judgment in the sight of our Lord." "Amen." "Would you like me to drive back to the house with you?" "No, thank you, Howard." "I think it would be better if I were alone with the children." "I don't know what I can say, Cathy." "You've said it, Blake, just by being here." "Cathy?" "You go on to the car, Sheila." "I'll be there in a moment." "Would it be okay if I called you tonight?" "Please." "David." "Catherine, dear." "Dr. Kessler." "David, I..." "Well, I wanted to tell you," "I mean, everyone's been so kind and sympathetic to the family." "Well, I couldn't help thinking how awful the doctor must feel." "Please don't think we're not grateful." "We are." "Father was so vital." "For him to be chained to a bed for the rest of his life..." "I don't know." "I think it's better this way, quickly and peacefull in his sleep." "Don't you?" "Well, I..." "If he doesn't answer that, it's only because of something we call medical ethics." "Well, anyway, David." "I wanted you to know." "Goodbye." "Bye, Cathy." "You know, in my time, if a young girl called a doctor by his first name, somebody would have taken a gun to him." "Nowadays, the girls are older and doctors are younger." "It's our educational system." "Older, younger..." "I still go 18 holes a day at Pebble Beach." "Bring your clubs some time." "I'll beat the pants off you." "What's the old man trying to do?" "Change your mind about that Zurich job?" "No, we didn't discuss it." "Why do you ask?" "It was practically all he talked about on the golf course the other day." "He thinks you're a chump." "Really?" "How do you feel about it?" "Me?" "I have no feeling about it, one way or the other." "Should I have?" "I don't know." "I was just wondering." "Well, it's hardly worth brooding about." "Hardly." "I'll probably get around to it one of these days." "I hope so." "I think it would be very good for you." "Magic needle..." "Kills the pain, keeps a man alive for years." "Deadly as a gun, a thousand times less detectable." "And unto the dust from which we came we commend your body, No." "Too bad they can't find something for your condition." "No, please don't!" "A simple bubble of air, that's all it would take." "Matt, you're hurting me." "No!" "No!" "Tawny?" "Oh, it's you, Mrs. Cabot." "Why are you up?" "I couldn't understand it, but the buzzer rang downstairs from Mr. Cabofs room." "Yes, it was Rajah." "He woke me, too." "He must be very lonely now." "Please see that he's kept downstairs." "Yes, Mrs. Cabot." "Dr. Rivera speaking." "David." "Sheila." "You know you mustn't call me from the house." "It's insane." "But when am I going to see you?" "David, it's so horrible alone." "May I come to your place tomorrow?" "No, Sheila, no." "We don't dare." "Not yet." "But I've got to see you." "I can't sleep." "I keep hearing sounds from his room." "Please, darling." "Please, I must see you or I'll..." "Oh, God, David, I'm sick!" "Help me, please!" "All right, Sheila." "Try to get a hold of yourself." "I'll come by." "When?" "When?" "First chance I get." "But when, David?" "Tomorrow?" "As soon as I can." "Now, will you please get some sleep?" "Yes, I'll try, but..." "Oh, darling, I need you." "I need you so much." "Shei..." "Howard, it's only one day after the funeral." "I can't read all those legal documents today." "I'm not asking you to read them." "All you have to do is sign them." "But why just this minute?" "Because the waterfront's boiling over, and I'm sitting on the lid." "A couple of weak sisters in the Association have been talking about signing a separate contract with the Union." "I've got to hold them in line." "And I can't do that unless I speak for Cabot with full Power of Attorney to back me up." "Please, Howard!" "Please, I'm just not up to it." "Is it really as bad as all that?" "Prostrated with grief?" "Isn't there maybe the slightest sense of relief at being free after all these years?" "I wondered just how long you'd wait before saying something like that." "I've been waiting for years, Sheila." "You've always known that." "Yes, I suppose I have." "You made it very clear, right in this room" "the night they took Matt to the hospital." "You're not going to hold that against me, are you?" "After all this time?" "It was no then, Howard." "It's still no." "I was in love with you that night." "I still am." "Love?" "I know you wanted me, but it's not quite the same thing." "All right, I wanted you." "Let's not quibble over words." "I'm sure you've known any number of women who wouldn't quibble over words." "Sheila, I want to marry you." "I've never said that to any other woman." "I'm sorry, Howard, but I don't want to marry you." "Why?" "ls there somebody else?" "Well, I could hardly blame you." "A beautiful woman, young, healthy, with healthy appetites, married for years to, shall we say, half a man?" "After all, you..." "Howard." "I think you'd better leave, and now." "I hadn't planned to talk about this today, but you're going to find that you need me, Sheila." "I can wait a little longer." "Sign the papers." "Don't wait, Howard." "It's no use." "We'll see." "I usually get what I want, one way or another." "That's right, they'll never strike." "If we stick together, we'll break their backs, and they know it." "That's why I want a unanimous vote at that meeting." "Excuse me, Frank." "I'll have to call you back." "Tell your friends to take their hands off before somebody gets hurt." "All right, boys." "Now, we have a custom around here." "We knock before entering an office." "My name is Blake Richards." "I know who you are." "I trust I won't have to ask you to speak up, Mr. Richards?" "The word's around that you've given Bill Coleman your towing contract." "How does that concern you?" "That contract's mine." "Yours?" "That's interesting." "Cabot called me about it himself, the day before he died." "I find that hard to believe." "We discussed your bid and rejected it." "Well, then why did he phone me?" "Why did he tell me he was drawing up a letter of agreement?" "I don't believe that he did." "Miss Lee, will you come in, please?" "What're you trying to pull?" "Yes, Mr. Mason?" "Miss Lee, I want you to think very carefully before you answer this." "A great deal depends on it." "Do you know of anything about a letter of agreement between Mr. Cabot and Mr. Richards here?" "No, Mr. Mason." "Well, Richards, you satisfied?" "You tell her straight out she'd better lie if she knows what's good for her, so she lies." "Who do you think you're kidding?" "You've got your answer, now get out." "You're not getting away with this, Mason." "Because I'm not the only one who knew about that agreement." "His daughter knew about it, too." "I see." "Well, suppose I told you that Matt Cabot knew about the way you were using his daughter." "That's one of the reasons we turned you down." "There are a lot of ways to get ahead in this world, boy, but that's about as low as you can get." "Why, you dirty..." "No wonder Cabot was able to break my father." "He wouldn't fight like that." "But I will." "Remember that, Mason." "I don't break that easy." "I'm not through with you yet." "Blake." "What happened?" "Well, from what Miss Lee says, there never was a contract." "She didn't wink at you that day." "She must have had something in her eye." "That's not true." "I know it isn't." "So do I. But that doesn't help much." "I'll see about that!" "I'm going up there and I'm..." "And do what?" "Stamp your pretty little foot?" "You know, Mason says it's on account of us that they lowered the boom." "You mean he knows about us?" "Oh, yes, indeed." "And so did your father." "You know, he probably also knew about the two new tugs I contracted for, and the crews I signed on." "They made sure I was carrying a full cargo before they scuttled me." "You better run along." "Will you call me?" "Yeah, if I can manage to keep my head above water." "Not many phone booths at the bottom of the bay." "I'll see you." "Good morning." "Good morning." "What are you doing with the mail?" "Well, is it a crime to be expecting a letter?" "From whom?" "That man who came to see you the other night?" "I heard him warning you." "If Mrs. Cabot finds out people like that are coming to the house, you won't be here much longer." "I'll take it, please." "Don't start packing my bags just yet." "It's still even money which one of us will be the first out of the starting gate." "What do you mean by that?" "Well, it was the first Mrs. Cabot brought you here, wasn't it?" "Now that the old man's gone, who knows?" "Good afternoon, Miss Cathy." "Quite a batch of mail today." "Thank you, Cobb." "Is that Dr. Rivera's car, Tawny?" "Yes." "He's in the library with Mrs. Cabot." "There's really nothing to worry about, Mrs. Cabot." "I'm sorry." "I hope I didn't interrupt anything." "It's all right, Cathy." "I was just finishing." "I'll give you a prescription to help you sleep." "Sheila." "Yes?" "Did Father happen to mention anything last week about a contract with Blake Richards?" "He never discussed business with me, Cathy." "Why?" "It doesn't matter." "Are you all right, Cathy?" "Yes, I'm fine." "Here's the mail." "Thank you, dear." "Would you put it on the desk, please?" "You haven't opened yesterday's mail." "Well, I'll get to them all later." "They're mostly sympathy letters." "Don't you need sympathy, Sheila?" "Cathy." "I am sorry." "I shouldn't have said that." "Excuse me, David." "That could've been very bad." "I'm sure she didn't notice anything." "Sheila, you've got to be more careful." "At a time like this, neglecting sympathy letters, that's just the sort of thing that could give us away." "You're right, David." "I didn't think." "I just couldn't face them." "I know, I know." "Will you take care of them?" "Sheila, I have to go." "But you just got here a moment ago." "Cathy saw me write the prescription." "That usually comes at the end of a professional visit." "When will I see you again?" "Not until it's safe." "David, are you making excuses?" "Sheila." "You know that isn't true." "This was supposed to bring us together." "Now it's only keeping us apart." "Ironic, isn't it?" "Darling, we have a lot at stake." "All right, David." "You go along to your hospital." "I'll comfort myself with these." "Please try to understand." "We don't dare." ""Dear Mrs. Cabot," ""I knew and respected your husband for 30 years..."" "Sheila, don't make it worse than it is." ""My dear Mrs. Cabot, what small comfort can a letter be?"" "Darling, it's only for just a little while longer." "I know." "Goodbye." "David!" "Look at this." ""Dear Mrs. Cabot," ""congratulations on the success of your murder."" "Will you take over, John?" "Sheila." "How did you get here?" "It's all right." "I changed cabs twice." "David, what about the letter?" "I've been over it a thousand times." "What can you find from an anonymous letter?" "Printed words, dime store paper?" "He knew that when he wrote it." "We don't even know that it was a man." "All we have to go on is a postmark." "Carmel." "Carmel, 11:00 p. m." "Monday, the 21st." "Oh, darling." "This was to be so quick and final." "Sheila..." "All in that one moment in Matt's room." "David, what are we going to do?" "Wait." "For what?" "He must be after something or he would have gone to the police." "But how can anyone know?" "No one can." "A sick man dies in his sleep." "The death certificate says natural causes." "Unless he found out about us and put two and two together." "But if he's guessing, why did he write what he did?" "To test us." "Then he sits back to watch for a reaction." "We may have given ourselves away already." "Sympathy letters you didn't open, an operation I couldn't go through with." "He may even have followed you here." "But I told you I was careful." "How?" "Switching taxis?" "How do you think that'd look to anyone who was watching you?" "But no one was watching." "I'm sure of that." "We still shouldn't have taken a chance." "You don't want to see me?" "Come on, now." "Don't be..." "You don't want to see me at all?" "Don't be ridiculous." "Oh, darling." "Oh, my darling." "I'm sorry." "What's happening to us?" "Darling..." "David, it's all my fault." "No." "I should have let you go away." "Quarter to 7:00, folks." "Park closes in 15 minutes." "Yeah, thanks." "Look, I'm shaking." "Well, don't worry." "He won't come out of the dark like that." "He'll wait, he'll watch, he'll make sure he's right." "That's our one hope, Sheila." "Hope?" "Sometime, somehow, he's got to give himself away." "It'll be in his attitude, something he says." "We're looking for it, we'll find it." "And when we do?" "Well, it depends on who it is and how dangerous." "What do you mean?" "Well, you can trap a fox." "A wolf has to be killed." "Oh, no." "Good evening." "I'm looking for Miss Cabot." "Oh, yes." "Right this way, ma'am." "Good evening, Cathy." "Hello." "What is this?" "Some sort of joke?" "I asked her to come, Blake." "Please sit down, Miss Lee." "I don't blame you for feeling the way you do, Mr. Richards, but I had to lie the other day." "She'd have lost her job." "You know that." "Sometimes you can lose more than a job." "I know." "That's why I wanted to make it up to you if I could." "Did you find a copy of the agreement?" "No." "Mr. Mason destroyed it and the carbons." "But I brought something else that might interest you, Mr. Richards." "Well, what are these?" "They go back quite a number of years when Mr. Cabot was in Hong Kong and Mr. Mason was running the office." "These are about my father." "They won't bring him back, Mr. Richards, but I just couldn't let you go on blaming Matt Cabot for destroying him." "When your father was alive, Cathy, I got to..." "You get to know a person very well in 20 years." "I'll miss him very much." "Looks like I've said a lot of things I shouldn't have." "That's not important now, Blake." "It's all forgotten." "No, it isn't, Cathy." "Not all." "Hey, Petey-boy!" "Hi, Cobb." "Come here." "Say, how about finishing that story about the race at Indianapolis?" "Which one was that?" "You know." "You were beating Barney Oldfield by a whole lap, and the wheel came off in your hands." "Oh, that one." "Sure." "Say, you know, a funny thing happened just now." "I was sitting in my room, minding my own business, when suddenly I saw the postman go by." "So, naturally, out I came to pick up the mail, and what do you think?" "What?" "It was gone." "Stolen?" "I don't know." "Gosh!" "That's a federal offense." "Right." "Now, who do you suppose would dare tamper with the United States Mail?" "Me." "You?" "Well, in that case, I don't suppose we can prosecute." "I took them all up to Mother." "Fooled you, didn't I, Cobb?" "You surehad me there." "And tell me, did you read the mail to your mother like you sometimes do?" "Nope." "Today she read them herself." "Did she seem upset or anything?" "Don't think so." "Peter, lunch is ready." "Lunch already?" "Come along, now." "Better do what the heavenly princess says." "What was Cobb talking about just now?" "Nothing." "He just asked me about the mail." "Hi, Mommy." "Where're you going?" "To the doctor's office, but only for a little while." "You have your lunch now." "Gosh, Mom!" "I can still taste my breakfast." "Oh, Peter!" "Go on." "Tawny." "Yes, Mrs. Cabot?" "Is there anything bothering you?" "Bothering me?" "Well, these past few days you've been acting rather strangely." "In what way?" "I feel you've been deliberately avoiding me." "No, of course not, Mrs. Cabot." "I'm sorry if I gave you that impression." "Peter's getting careless with his toys." "I'll just leave this inside where the weather can't get at it." "Mrs. Cabot?" "Yes?" "I was wondering if I could ask you something of a personal nature." "Personal?" "Personal to me, that is." "What is it, Cobb?" "Well, not to put too fine a point on it, ma'am," "I was wondering if you could let me have an advance on my salary." "But I've already paid you several months ahead." "So you have." "You've been most generous, ma'am." "But if you could see your way clear to letting me have my salary for..." "Let's see now..." "That would bring us to next March, wouldn't it?" "What do you want it for, Cobb?" "Oh, horses, women, champagne." "Don't worry, ma'am, I won't be wasting it." "Confidentially, I'm being pressed by certain creditors." "They're putting the heat on, to state it bluntly." "Well, I'm sorry to hear that." "I'll think about it." "Thank you, ma'am." "It's a little uncomfortable walking around with that kind of a threat hanging over you." "Well, did you tell him you'd give him the money?" "I said I'd consider it." "You shouldn't have!" "Next time it could be more than salary he wants." "No, David, not Cobb." "Look at all the chances he's had to spy on us." "Chauffeuring you downtown two or three times a week." "He's in debt, that's all." "He gambles every cent he makes." "Was he off on the 21st?" "That was a Monday, wasn't it?" "Yes." "No, no, he couldn't have been." "Is there any way he could've driven to Carmel that night?" "Well, not without my knowing about it." "Well, are you sure?" "It's no use, David." "Everything I see seems suspicious, every person, every action, every word." "I know, I know." "Oh, Sheila." "Yes'?" "Excuse me, Doctor." "I told you I wasn't to be interrupted." "I know, Doctor, but there's a phone call for Mrs. Cabot." "The gentleman says it's urgent." "A Mr. Mason." "Howard Mason." "How does he know you're here?" "I don't know." "Miss Bell, will you please put Mr. Mason through?" "But why?" "Talk to him." "But, David, I don't see why..." "We've got to find out what he wants." "Be careful." "Hello." "Sheila." "I didn't mean to interrupt your consultation." "I was just wondering if you'd stop by the office while you're downtown." "How did you know I was here, Howard?" "Tawny told me." "Did she betray a confidence?" "Well, no, of course not." "I was a little concerned about you." "I understand the doctor came up to the house yesterday." "Today you're returning his call." "I had no idea that you were that ill." "Well, it's nothing serious." "Just emotional strain, David says." "Well, I'm sure we can depend on David's judgment." "What did you want to see me about?" "There's a meeting of the Association Thursday night." "I'll need your proxy." "Well, I'll be through here shortly." "I'll stop by." "Good." "Well, I'll let you two get back to more clinical matters." "Goodbye, Howard." "Goodbye." "He knows you're not here for medical advice." "That's absurd." "He couldn't possibly know." "Did you hear the way he picked up the name David?" "Sheila, I wonder..." "Sheila, do you suppose it's Mason that..." "Howard?" "Blackmail?" "That's incredible." "He has more money now than he can spend." "Maybe it's not money he's after." "Well, what else could it be?" "I'm sure that..." "What is it?" "Nothing." "Sheila." "Sheila, what is it he wants?" "He says he's in love with me." "He asked me to marry him." "When?" "Yesterday." "Why didn't you tell me?" "'Cause I was afraid you wouldn't understand." "I'm beginning to understand." "After all, a man doesn't propose to a blank wall." "You see?" "That's why I didn't tell you." "He's known you a lot longer than I have." "David, I love you!" "Did you tell him that?" "How could I?" "How could I?" "He seems to know all about me." "Well, he can't." "He's been talking to Dr. Kessler." "Asking a lot of questions, for all I know." "Dr. Kessler?" "Yeah, playing golf." "Why is he spending so much time with Matt's former doctor?" "But that means nothing." "They've been playing Pebble Beach on Mondays for years." "Pebble Beach?" "Well, why do you say it like that?" "Sheila, when was that letter mailed?" "On the 21st." "Monday." "Pebble Beach is only six miles from Carmel." "Howard Mason?" "Howard Mason." "Sheila, don't go to the office." "You go home and call him." "Tell him you don't feel well." "Tell him to pick up the proxy at your house the night of the meeting." "David, what are you thinking?" "I don't know." "I'm not sure." "No, darling..." "Sheila, Mason is more dangerous than a fox." "Tonight is the deadline for the negotiations between the Longshoremefis Union and the Shipping Association." "Both sides have made their final offers, and unless one of them is prepared to make concessions, which is highly unlikely in view of their published statements..." "Well, it looks pretty good." "After midnight, don't bother to challenge anyone." "Hit them first." "I'll ask the questions afterwards." "Okay." "Hey, Sid." "Better get on up there." "Back in '29 a mob of them come up in rowboats." "I still got the scar." "You better send a launch out, with a couple of rifles aboard." "Larry!" "Get out on the Janie D!" "Take a couple of boys with you!" "Okay!" "I'll be at the Cabot home if you need me." "8:30 at the Shipping Association." "Right." "Cabot residence." "Yes." "Yes, sir." "I'll tell Mrs. Cabot." "Tawny, who was that?" "It was Mr. Mason." "He'll be here in 20 minutes." "Thank you." "That'll be all." "Good night." "Good night, Mrs. Cabot." "I thought all the servants were going to be off." "She's going now." "The others have left." "What about Cathy?" "She's having dinner with Blake Richards." "Good." "Now, remember, the instant Mason's car pulls away from the curb, you go..." "David." "What's the matter?" "I'm frightened." "Are you sure?" "Are you sure we have to..." "Sheila, he could lift a telephone and send us to the gas chamber." "I know that, but..." "We have no choice." "But only one block from here." "Won't somebody suspect?" "On the night of a strike vote, they won't look beyond the waterfront." "Darling, everything depends on your signal." "Now, the second his car pulls away, you draw the curtains open" "so that I can see the light from the top of the hill." "Now remember, when the car pulls away from the curb, not one moment sooner or later, you draw the curtains open." "Yes." "Yes, I understand." "Are you all right?" "I love you, David." "I love you." "Hi, Cathy." "Hi." "Is that how you're taking me out to dinner?" "Is it 8:00 already?" "If I'd known we were going to a beatnik joint for coffee and word-jazz," "I'd have worn my black tights." "Well, I'm sorry, honey, but Rosie and I are gonna be stuck here for a while." "You look beautiful, too." "Gee, it's a shame to waste that outfit." "Well, that helps a little." "I've got to get this tub back in shape." "The way things are at the bank, every penny adds up." "Well, I forgive you this time." "I'll tell you what." "We ought to be through in a couple of hours." "Why don't you go on home and get a bite and I'll call you?" "Looks like coffee and word-jazz after all, huh?" "Could be." "But skip the black tights." "You'll be sorry." "Listen, kid." "Save it, Rosie." "I hope you know what you're doing." "I know what I'm doing." "It's perfectly beautiful, Howard." "Here, let me." "You've been spoiling me these past few days." "I enjoy it." "Would you like a brandy?" "Love one." "Howard, I've been worried about you." "About me?" "Why?" "The radio says that there might be violence at the waterfront." "It's been known to happen during a strike." "Why don't you call an agency and hire a bodyguard or something?" "I've already taken care of it." "How?" "I got me a private eye." "Trench coat and all." "I think that's very wise of you." "Thank you." "I'm flattered about your concern." "Well, I do need someone to run things for me." "Is that all?" "For the present." "To the future." "I'd better be going." "Did you sign that proxy, Sheila?" "Yes, it's right over here." "About that bodyguard, I hope he's trustworthy." "Hasn't lost a client yet." "Good." "Is he with you now?" "No." "I'm picking him up at the meeting." "You know, he's gonna play merry hell with my most intimate moments." "Will we see you tomorrow night?" "Dinner, perhaps?" "Skyway Inn?" "It sounds wonderful." "Good night." "Good night, Howard." "David." "Lock the door." "What happened?" "Somebody took a shot at me." "I need a drink." "Did..." "Did you see who it was?" "No, he was in a car parked at the corner." "It's a lucky thing that light turned green when it did." "If I'd stopped..." "As it is, that bullet only missed me by inches." "But who could it have been?" "Someone from the waterfront?" "Well, we'll soon know." "How?" "I saw his license number." "His license?" "I only got a glimpse of it as he drove away." "L-B something and then..." "And something 4-0." "It's not much, but it's a lead for the police." "Get them on the phone, Sheila." "Howard, before we call them, are you sure we ought to?" "What are you talking about?" "Well, you're alive, that's all that matters." "You know what the police would mean, reporters and headlines, and it mightn't be good for the Cabot Line." "Look, I can't help that." "If he'd try it once, he could try again." "Here, I'll do it." "Hello?" "Oh, yes, Cathy." "I'm so glad you called." "Something awful has happened." "Howard is here, and someone tried to kill him." "What does he know?" "Can you talk?" "No, no, he's all right." "He's right beside me." "We were just going to call the police." "He saw the license number of the car." "I see." "Don't let him phone." "Keep him there." "Yes." "That's a very good idea." "What's a very good idea?" "She's right next to the police station." "She's going there now." "Yes." "But hurry." "They should be here in a few minutes." "Good." "Where are you going?" "To make sure I locked the door." "It's all right." "When you came in I was so startled..." "I wonder if I ought to call the Shipping Association, let them know." "Well, maybe you should wait until the police get here." "They may not want you to say anything to anyone." "You're probably right." "It was really foolish of you to wait so long to get a bodyguard." "Well, I never dreamed they'd go this far." "Sorry." "It's a delayed reaction, I guess." "You could do with another drink." "Yes, I could." "Well, what's keeping them?" "It's only been a minute." "Police." "If I'd gone through a red light, there'd have been a squad car at that corner." "I'll get it." "Hello." "Who?" "Hello." "Who's this?" "Howard?" "Didn't you have a meeting or something?" "Well, yes, I did." "But I was delayed." "Well, look, would you mind telling Sheila that if Blake Richards calls," "I'm here at the yacht club having dinner and that he's to pick me up here." "Yes, I'll tell her." "Good night, Cathy." "Poor Cathy!" "All of a sudden her memory's gone to pieces." "She seems to have forgotten about the police entirely." "But that's impossible." "She's having dinner at the yacht club." "She wanted Blake Richards to pick her up there if he called." "But I don't see how she could have said a thing like that..." "Who called the first time?" "Well, Cathy, of course." "There's some mistake." "Why are you lying?" "I'm not." "Why didn't you want the police here?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "You're trying to confuse me." "I'll tell you why." "Because you knew the man in the car was waiting for me." "How could I have known that?" "You sent him there!" "No." "No, I didn't!" "I didn't think you'd be fool enough to try to kill me for what I suspected." "Who was in the car?" "I don't know!" "Who was it?" "Don't!" "My arm." "Shall I get a doctor?" "How about your friend Rivera?" "Of course, maybe he's not in his office right now." "Maybe he's sitting somewhere in a car with a gun." "Or maybe he's in a phone booth." "It was Rivera who called, wasn't it?" "Wasn't it?" "Yes." "You told him to come here!" "And then you went to unlock the door." "Well, he's not going to find me here." "Or you." "Get your coat." "Mommy!" "Mommy!" "Go to him." "Stay there, darling." "I'm coming right up." "What is it, darling?" "I heard a noise." "It woke me up." "I was frightened." "Oh, you mustn't be frightened." "It was just a bad dream." "That's all." "I wouldn't let anything happen to you." "Boy, it sure was loud for a dream." "Like on Wagon Train." "Well, everything's all right now." "Come on, you go to bed." "Mommy, could I go to sleep in your room tonight?" "All right, dear." "In you go." "Good night, Mommy." "Good night, baby." "Sheila." "Where is he?" "Get your coat." "But darling..." "I have to get rid of the car." "Hurry!" "Wait." "We'll go along the Coast Highway." "I'll drive his car." "You take mine and follow me." "David, I can't drive." "You've got to." "I have to have a way to get back." "But I can't." "I just can't." "Sheila, you've got to!" "There's no other way." "Come on!" "David, I can't!" "Go on, get in." "Get in." "Now, look, Sheila, here's all you have to do." "Now you step on the brake, here, you release the emergency." "You push this button, D." "This pedal makes the car go..." "This one makes it stop." "All you have to do is steer it." "Sheila, the car practically drives itself." "Now, can you remember all that?" "I'll try." "You keep my rear lights in view." "Don't let them out of your sight for a second." "But David..." "Sheila..." "Sheila, you can do it." "Go on!" "Move along!" "Sheila!" "Sheila!" "Quiet, honey." "Quiet." "Quiet, baby." "No wonder Cabot was able to break my father." "He wouldn't fight like that!" "But I will." "I'm not through with you yet!" "Is that what you'd call an idle threat?" "No, I meant it." "Meant to kill him?" "No, just change his looks a little." "Now, look, son." "Miss Cabot says you broke a dinner date to work on your tug." "But the night watchman on the dock says you drove off a few minutes after she left." "Now you say..." "And I'll say it again." "I was waiting for him outside the Shipping Association." "But he never showed." "Anybody see you there?" "When you're gonna push somebody's face in, you don't stand under a street light." "I was next door in a parking lot." "Convenient." "Are you sure you didn't jump him in his car, drive him down Highway One and then nudge him over into Half Moon Bay?" "With a little lead in him for ballast?" "It wouldn't have been a bad idea." "I just never thought of it." "You're not sorry he was killed." "You admit that." "What do you want me to do?" "Send him a get-well card?" "Look, it's all there in that file." "The whole blueprint for squeezing my father out of the shipping business, step-by-step, nice and legal and dirty." "And signed by Howard Mason." "How would you feel about the man who wrecked your father and left him sucking exhaust fumes in a locked garage?" "How I feel's got nothing to do with it." "Okay!" "I hated his guts!" "But I didn't kill him!" "Why not make it easy on yourself and tell the truth?" "That is the truth!" "Okay." "You'd better cool off for an hour." "Maybe that'll help your memory." "Come on, son." "Blake." "Are you all right?" "I'm fine." "My car is downstairs." "I'll drive you back." "I think you'd better run along, Cathy." "Is there anything I can do, Blake?" "Shall I get one of the Cabot lawyers?" "Don't bother, honey." "Their hearts wouldn't be in it." "Hi, Peter." "Hi, Cath." "Aren't you cold?" "No." "Guess what?" "Some police are here asking Mommy questions about Mr. Mason." "That's their job, darling, to ask questions." "I wish I could ask somebody some questions." "What?" "About this dream I had last night." "You want to hear about it?" "Not now, Peter." "Do you know if Mr. Mason had any relatives in San Francisco?" "No." "Did Mr. Mason say anything to you that suggested his life might be in danger?" "Well, he did tell me that he had hired a bodyguard." "Can you think of anyone else who knew he was coming here to the house last night?" "No, but he had no reason to keep it a secret." "He came to pick up my proxy for the meeting." "Yes, I know." "We found it in his pocket." "Peter, darling, I told you..." "Really, you shouldn't be here." "Gee, Mom." "Will you please do as I ask and go outside and play?" "Okay." "Say, do you know Peter Gunn?" "I'm afraid not, sonny." "Some detective." "Doesn't know Peter Gunn." "Even Cobb knows him, he says." "But I've given you all I can right now." "You have to give me a little more time." "Hey, Cobb." "Hold on a second." "You mind, Petey-boy?" "Important business." "I can wait." "There's something I gotta ask you." "Well, later." "Okay?" "Okay." "I'll get the money in a day or two." "Give me a break, will you?" "What time did Mr. Mason leave here, do you remember?" "Yes, 8:15." "Any particular reason why you should notice the time, Mrs. Cabot?" "Well, he looked at his watch and said that he had to give himself 15 minutes to get downtown." "To the Shipping Association?" "Yes." "But Sheila..." "Yes, Miss Cabot?" "It was later than that when I spoke to him." "You spoke to him here?" "Yes, on the phone." "What time?" "I don't know exactly." "I know it was a little later because I was expecting a call from Blake..." "Blake Richards?" "Yes." "Yes, he was busy last night, I believe." "I'm sorry, Lieutenant." "I forgot Cathy's call." "Was it important?" "Well, five or 10 minutes wouldn't have made much difference, except to the man who was waiting for him." "You got time now, Cathy?" "No." "I'm sorry, Peter." "All right." "What's on your mind?" "Can dreams ever really happen?" "I mean, if they're real bad, can you wake up and find they're true?" "No, darling." "A dream's gone the minute you open your eyes." "Boy, that's a relief." "Why, did you have a nightmare?" "Last night." "It was about Mommy and Mr. Mason who got himself killed." "He was yelling at her downstairs." "It woke me up." "What was he saying?" "I couldn't tell." "But then I heard a shot." "Boy, was it loud." "After you woke up?" "I thought so." "But then I called Mommy, and she came upstairs and said it was only a dream." "I got to sleep in her room." "Boy, was I scared." "I still am." "There's nothing to be afraid of, Peter." "Dreams can't hurt you." "I guess not." "Hey, Rajah!" "Come back here!" "Tawny." "Did you hear anything unusual last night?" "Unusual?" "Like a loud noise, for example, that might have awakened Peter." "No." "I wasn't here last night." "Weren't you off the day before?" "Yes." "But Mrs. Cabot was kind enough to suggest I take last night, too." "Then there was no one in the house?" "Only Mrs. Cabot and Peter." "I see." "Why do you ask?" "It's nothing." "Doctor Rivera..." "Oh, David." "David, this is Cathy." "Yes." "May I come to see you now?" "Yes, it's terribly important." "Well, now, Cathy, just what is it that's so important?" "David, I need your help." "There was no one else that I could turn to." "Don't worry." "I'll do anything I can." "I know who killed Howard Mason." "You what?" "What should I do?" "Who do you think it is?" "It's Sheila." "Sheila?" "Cathy..." "Cathy, do you realize what you're saying?" "It's true." "I'm sure of it." "Well, how do you know?" "Well, everything, it all adds up." "Sheila arranged for all the servants to be off last night." "That's never happened before." "Cathy, now surely..." "Wait, David!" "That isn't all." "I spoke to Howard myself on the phone at the house after Sheila told the police that he'd left." "For heaven's sake, Cathy." "If that's all there is to it..." "David, wait." "Listen to me." "Peter was awakened by a shot." "A shot, David." "Sheila told him it was a bad dream." "It wasn't a dream." "David, it was a shot that he heard." "Cathy, there was a bullet hole in the window of Mason's car." "How can you believe they killed him in the house?" "They?" "You said "They," David." "What difference does it make?" "She, they, whoever it was." "Why did you say "They," David?" "Just to try to make sense out of what you're saying." "Now, how could a woman by herself drag a body from the house to the car and dispose of it and the car without help?" "She couldn't." "Now you're accusing two people." "Who do you suppose the other person was?" "Cobb?" "Tawny?" "Peter in a dream." "I know who it was." "You do?" "It was her lover." "Sheila?" "Sheila with a lover?" "Oh, Cathy." "It must have been!" "David, I've suspected it for months." "All those shopping trips with no packages brought home, nothing delivered!" "She was meeting someone." "He must have been the one who helped her." "For heaven's sake." "What reason could she possibly have for wanting to kill Mason?" "She hated him." "It was almost as though she were afraid of him." "Afraid of what?" "He must have found out about the other man." "Howard was like that." "Well, he found out about Blake and me." "These wild, fantastic guesses!" "Cathy!" "Cathy!" "It's insane!" "Oh, no, David, it isn't." "Please, help me." "Help you what?" "Spin a few scraps of unrelated nonsense into a web to implicate your mother in a murder?" "She's not my mother." "No, no, no, of course she's not!" "She's the woman who replaced your mother, and that's something you've never forgiven her for, isn't it, Cathy?" "That's why you're so eager to believe she's guilty of adultery, murder, anything." "No." "No." "You're trying to protect the person who deep down you're afraid did kill Mason." "No, David." "You'll twist the facts." "You'll believe anything to convince yourself that Sheila is guilty, because that'll prove that Blake Richards isn't." "And that's what you really want to believe, isn't it?" "Blake couldn't have done it!" "Why..." "The police are still holding him." "He threatened Mason." "Even he doesn't deny that." "I don't care!" "I know Blake didn't do it!" "You know!" "Just as you know that Sheila and some unknown lover did!" "But it all seemed to fit together." "No, no, no, not all!" "You still haven't told me how they took the body from the house to Half Moon Bay." "Did they go together in one car?" "How did they get back?" "Did they hitchhike, or hail a taxi?" "Maybe they had two cars." "Of course." "There had to be two cars." "Even you can see that." "Two cars traveling together 25 miles over a treacherous road." "Maybe that's what they did." "Cathy, Sheila doesn't drive." "Come on." "Go home, Cathy." "You see?" "Peter isn't the only one who had a bad dream." "David." "What?" "Cathy!" "I swear by Apollo, the physician, by Hygeia, Panacea, and all the gods and goddesses, that according to my ability and judgment," "I will keep this oath and stipulation to reckon him who teaches me this art equally dear with my parents." "I will follow that system of regimen which I consider best for my patients and abstain from whatever is injurious with purity and holiness while I pass my life and practice my art." "Into whatever houses I enter," "I will go for the advantage of the sick, and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief and corruption." "I swear I will give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest such counsel." "While I continue to keep this oath inviolate, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of my art, respected always by all men, but should I break and violate this oath, may the opposite be my lot." "You can't go away, not now." "It's the only thing I can do." "But on the phone you said that you had convinced Cathy that she was wrong." "Yes, but look at us right now." "Every minute we're together we start to..." "Sheila, our nerves are in shreds." "It can only get worse." "We're bound to give ourselves away." "Where will you go?" "Zurich?" "No, not anymore." "I resigned from the hospital." "I'm giving up my practice." "David, you can't." "Look, it's done." "Let's not talk about it." "Well, what will you do?" "I don't know." "Go somewhere and try to put the pieces back together." "Sheila..." "Sheila, we'll find each other again." "As soon as this has died down..." "Darling..." "Darling, I'll send for you." "But you see, right now..." "All right, David." "Whatever you say." "Stop running!" "Mommy." "Cobb just drove back from Seal Rock in 12-and-a-half minutes!" "Boy, I bet that's a world's record!" "I'm sure it is." "Peter, you mustn't disturb your mother and Dr. Rivera." "I'm not disturbing them." "I'm just talking to them." "You're right, Peter." "When Cobb breaks a record, people should hear about it." "Don't you have something for your mother?" "Oh, yeah." "It was in the mail box." "I must have missed it this morning." "I'll read it to you, Mommy." "Well..." "Please?" "This one's easy." "It's printed." ""Dear Mrs. Cabot," ""my congratulations on the success of your second venture."" "Thank you, darling." "What does "venture" mean, Mommy?" "Come along, Peter." "Well, what does it mean, Tawny?" "I am sorry that I had to break in on your evening, Mr. Corbin." "I'm glad to be of service, Miss Cabot." "Shall I drive you home?" "No, we'll be all right." "But thank you." "It's a pleasure." "Good luck, Mr. Richards." "Thank you, sir." "Good night." "Good night." "Free air." "I never knew you could actually taste it." "Drink in all you can." "It's the end of the supply." "That sounds like a threat." "It is." "You're getting married." "Anybody I know?" "Funny." "When's all this supposed to happen?" "As soon as the law allows." "Let's go in and ask them." "That's why we're getting married, mister." "So I can keep you out of places like this." "Okay." "Come on home, and I'll get cleaned up and then I'll take you out for a wedding breakfast, champagne and all." "Breakfast?" "We're not married yet." "Now, look, honey, if you're gonna stand on ceremony, then the whole deal's off." "Have some coffee, darling." "I can't." "Well, you really should have something." "Stop pretending we're normal people." "In front of others we have to, but when we're alone let's not kid each other." "Look at that letter." "No stamp, no postmark." "Whoever wrote it is close enough to drop it in your mailbox in broad daylight." "Sheila." "What is it?" "Have you fired Cobb?" "No." "Why?" "Look." "Get him up here." "No, David." "No, we can't." "Do as I say." "Tell him you want him." "Don't let him know he was seen." "Yes?" "Of course, ma'am." "I'll just pop into my jacket and I'll be up in ajiffy." "David, we can't get involved in any more killing." "We have to find out." "What else can we do?" "We've gone too far to turn back now." "Listen to me, darling." "If he were going to expose us, he would have gone to the police already." "So it could only be money that he's after." "As long as we satisfy him, he'll be quiet." "Do you know what it means to sit and wait for a blackmailer?" "We'd be together." "Sure, sure." "One day at a time." "That's more than we've ever had." "Then one day he writes his final letter, to the police." "Here he comes." "Darling, promise me you won't do anything until we're certain." "Until we've decided together." "Good evening, ma'am." "Doctor." "No sickness in the house, I hope." "Nothing serious, Cobb." "Cobb, were you leaving just now?" "Leaving, ma'am?" "Why would I do that?" "Weren't you putting some suitcases in the car?" "Oh, yes, the suitcases." "And that usually does indicate a trip, doesn't it?" "Were you intending to take the car as well?" "No, ma'am, only as far as the bus station." "Then you were leaving." "Mrs. Cabot, I'm going to throw myself on your mercy." "The truth of the matter is that the money you gave me to pay the Central Garage last month went to pay my bookmaker." "It's fearful how many horses lately have proved unreliable." "You should be getting a hot letter from the garage about the money any day." "So, I figured I'd better skip and save you the embarrassment." "There's no reason for that, Cobb." "I'm sure Mrs. Cabot could arrange for you to work off the amount." "Maybe she still can." "I'm afraid that's no longer possible, Doctor." "Why not?" "Well, you see, besides the money I owe Mrs. Cabot, which I intend to pay back, there's still quite a bundle I owe the bookmakers." "And if I stayed, I might be picked up in a dark alley one night." "It's a prospect that's been disturbing my slumber." "All things considered, ma'am," "I'd appreciate it if you would regard this as my resignation." "Oh, Cobb..." "Yes, Doctor?" "On the 21st, the night of Mr. Cabofs funeral, did you happen to use the car?" "Well, I..." "Without Mrs. Cabot's permission?" "No indeed, sir." "Where were you that night?" "Do you remember?" "Yes, sir." "In my room." "Couple of hours of TV, then to bed." "I see." "And tonight, where were you heading?" "South." "That's still my plan, Doctor." "I feel I could do well in Los Angeles." "I suppose it would be a bit unrealistic to hope that you would write me a reference?" "Well, I really don't see how I..." "Emphasizing my skill at the wheel and skimming lightly over my moral character?" "I think Cobb has learned his lesson, Mrs. Cabot." "You have my word on it, ma'am." "Very well." "Mighty decent of you to help, Doctor." "Thank you." "It's all right, it's all right." "Look, I have some friends in Los Angeles." "One of them might be looking for a good driver." "Would you be interested?" "Indeed I would." "Fine." "Well..." "Here, write your name and where you'll be staying." "I'll let you know." "Thank you, Doctor." "I won't forget you for this." "All right." "Just to make sure it's legible, maybe you'd better print it." "Print it?" "Surely." "It..." "It just occurs to me, Doctor, I have no place to call my own." "I'll send it along later, if that's all right with you?" "Fine, fine." "I'm sure an expert driver like yourself won't have any trouble finding a job." "Tell your friends, never an accident in 12 years at the wheel." "And not just loafing along, mind you." "Wasn't a car on the road could pass me if I didn't want him to." "So I've heard from Peter." "Well, that's youngsters for you." "The faster I went, the better Petey liked it." "I remember he said you made it from the cemetery to the garage, that's the day of the funeral, in 20 minutes?" "Being a boy, he's inclined to exaggerate." "Twenty-two minutes." "Well, that's good enough." "Fair." "And that night, two hours and 10 minutes, back from Carmel?" "Two hours even." "You lied about that night." "I was only..." "You were in Carmel." "Yes, but..." "You mailed a letter!" "No." "You're lying!" "No, I'm not lying!" "I want the truth!" "That is the truth!" "You did mail a letter, didn't you?" "No, sir!" "David, don't." "What were you doing there?" "My regular job, chauffeuring!" "Then you drove someone, huh?" "Yes!" "But..." "Who was it?" "I promised..." "Who was it?" "For God's sake, Doctor." "David!" "Who did you drive to Carmel?" "It was..." "It was Mrs. Cabot!" "Sheila..." "It's impossible." "I'm sorry, Mrs. Cabot." "Get out, Cobb." "He forced it out of me." "David, I wrote those letters, but because I..." "Sheila..." "It isn't possible." "I wanted to tell you a thousand times." "And I was going to as soon as we..." "David, look at me." "In God's name, what possessed you?" "I felt I was losing you, and I had to find some way to keep you with me." "Losing me?" "After the way Matt died?" "But you had changed." "You avoided me." "You kept making excuses." "Poor Howard Mason." "An innocent round of golf at Pebble Beach." "No." "No, he knew about us." "He practically said so." "David, I tried to stop it!" "Honest, ltried, but..." "He would've destroyed us." "You didn't know him." "But this last letter." "But you were going away." "Last night when you phoned about Cathy," "I could hear it in your voice." "I wouldn't have let Peter open that letter if I could have made you stay." "I'd have torn it up, I swear it." "All I wanted was to be with you." "But I told you I'd send for you." "No, David." "No, you wouldn't." "You'd have forgotten about everything, everything except Matt." "A car going over a cliff..." "And everything that's happened to you from the day you met me." "David, don't go away from me." "Don't hate me." "Hate you?" "How can I?" "You're all I have left." "I've killed twice," "I'd kill again." "God help me." "My darling!" "My darling!" "It's all right, darling." "It's all right." "It's all behind us now." "We'll go away." "That's what we'll do." "We'll make a new life together, somewhere, somehow." "If only we could!" "We can, darling." "We can." "Nobody knows about Mason, or about Matt." "Or about us." "We're free, Sheila." "We're free." "Nobody knows." "Nobody." "Cathy." "David!" "Cathy, put down the phone." "Don't call anybody." "Cathy." "Cathy, wait." "Please, just listen to me." "Please!" "Don't run away." "Please, Cathy." "Oh, Cathy, I'm not gonna hurt you." "Oh, Cathy." "Cathy, you're my friend." "You've got to understand." "You see..." "You see, Mason had to be killed." "Cathy!" "Wait, Cathy!" "Cathy, you're so young." "You don't realize what love is." "You see..." "You see, Sheila and I..." "Well, we love each other." "Some day you'll know what that means." "Please." "We had to do what we did." "David!" "It's no use." "I've got to make her understand." "Cathy!" "Cathy!" "Cathy!" "Cathy!" "Cathy!" "Cathy!" "Blake!" "Blake!" "Blake!" "Cathy, don't!" "Cathy!" "Cathy." "Cathy, please." "Please come back." "Cathy." "Cathy, please." "Cathy." "Give me your hand." "Cathy." "Please." "Blake!" "Please come back!" "Cathy!" "Blake!" "Please, I'm not gonna hurt you." "Cathy." "Cathy." "Cathy!" "Cathy..." "David!" "David, don't!" "No!" "Oh, Sheila!"