The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) s01e03 Episode Script
Night of the Owl
1
Good evening television consumers,
you will be very much interested in these
latest products of
the scientific mind.
They will be placed on
street corners, drug stores,
hotel lobbies, etc.
These are not telephone
booths, television booths.
No matter where you are,
you can slip into one of
these and by depositing
a dime can view three minutes
of this wondrous art form.
How often have you had to go to the corner
drug store on an errand and then never
learned how a play ended?
Now you need no longer
be chained to your home
set. In one city where
the television booth was
introduced, a gentleman
ventured from his home
for the first time since 1947.
His wife reports that he walked out
of the house with $50 worth of dimes
and has not been seen
since. Because so many people
are used to seeing
television from a horizontal
position, either slumped
down feet on the coffee
table or while lying in
bed, every other booth
is constructed with a
TV screen in the floor so
you can look at the
picture through your feet.
But we must begin our
show. If you have paid a
dime and one of your
three minutes turns out to
be this next one, you have my sympathy.
But we shall keep the dime.
Oh, darling, that will
be enough of that, dear.
Good morning. It is Mrs. Mallory,
isn't it? I'm afraid you don't know me.
I'm the speak to your
husband. Well, I'm expecting him
back any moment. Won't
you come in? Thank you.
Dear, that will be enough now, please.
You have a guest.
Won't you sit down, Reverend?
This, uh, this isn't Anne, is it? No,
this is our younger
daughter, Barbara.
Barbie, this is Reverend Locke.
Pleased to meet you, Reverend.
Delighted. Now, why don't you go
upstairs and put your dress on, dear,
because Daddy's gonna
be home in a minute.
Come here. Yes, ma'am.
No, no, how stupid of me.
Anne, Anne would be almost
14 by now, wouldn't she? Is
that why you're here,
Reverend? Is it about Anne?
As a matter of fact, it is. Is there some
problem? No, no, it's purely a personal
matter which, if you don't mind, I should
prefer to discuss with your husband.
Yes, of course. You
see, I was chaplain at
the Seabrook State
Prison in the Smokies many
years ago, and I had occasion to
know your adopted daughter's real father
before that wretched man's unhappy death.
Anne, you're late.
You know the stores close
early on Saturday, dear.
I'm sorry. Your
dress is on your bed.
Oh, why can't I go like this? Anne. All
right, Mother. And don't shout. Your father
has a visitor in his office. Who is it?
No one you know. Go ahead, hurry up.
What, what, my office? Your
visitor is a Reverend Locke.
Reverend, what did I do
now? Reverend Locke.
Sharming family, Ranger Mallory.
Oh, thank you. Sharming, yes.
I cannot tell you how
pleased I am, both to
meet you and to find
out that the daughter of.
unfortunate man is in such loving hands.
Oh, excuse me.
She's upstairs right
now, and she's going out
in a few minutes. I
think my wife explained
Yes, yes, yes. And
since the child remembers
nothing of the past, I
can see how important it
is to both of you that
she continue to believe
your little fabrication,
that she was adopted
by you at the age of
three after the peaceful
and entirely normal demise
of her mother and her father.
I tell you, it's
remarkable that a child
of such a tragedy should
be so happy and so normal.
Why? Well, your wife did
mention a few visits to a Dr. Holt.
Well, that had to do
with her schoolwork.
My wife explained that
too. Yes, but a psychiatrist?
Just because of some
minor anxiety or a future
scholarship? Or perhaps
there was something more?
Look, Reverend, this is a
kind of a personal matter.
Oh, is it mine, mine,
mine? No, Anne is a
perfectly normal child. She
has a brilliant mind, very brilliant.
She has a desire to excel in
everything she does, but she blames herself
if she's not 100% perfect in everything.
Yes. She demands
too much of herself, but
Dr. Holt says that these
are symptoms of things
that are essentially
good. Your vehemence in
her defense is very
touching, Mr. Mallory.
Still, it must be a source of great
worry to you, the thought that this child
might turn out to
be like her father.
Well, it's a stupid thing
to say. Perhaps, but then,
you see, I happen to know a good deal about
psychiatry. It's very useful in my work,
and I'm sure Dr. Holt must have warned
you of the extreme danger to a child,
especially such an
emotional child, if she
were to learn the truth
about her real parents,
and how they died. Well, Reverend, I don't
like your manner for a clergyman, you
Ah, but then, you see, I
am not really a clergyman.
No, actually, I am a businessman,
and I am here on a matter of business.
What business? Blackmail.
I don't know what stupid
idea you've got in your head.
I think the state police will
know what to do with you.
Please, don't make the mistake
of thinking I am stupid, Mr. Mallory.
Blackmail is my profession.
You surely don't think I would
have come here like
this unless I'd taken some
precautions first. I
think perhaps I'd better
introduce you to my
associate before you do
anything rash or associate.
There is, as you know,
a telephone booth in
the picnic area at Lookout
Point, which is visible
from this window.
I shall now dial that booth. When
it rings, then my associate, Mr.
Parker, will emerge from
the booth, signal twice
toward us, and then
disappear into the forest.
There.
You see? You haven't the faintest idea
what he looks like or where to find him,
and he has his instructions.
Now, if anything should happen to me, then.
he will do very quietly and anonymously. He
will do what I shall be forced to do unless
you and I can come to an understanding.
Now, shall we have our little chat?
What do you want?
Six thousand dollars by Monday night.
Six thousand.
Oh, I realize you're a little shocked, but.
it's really not so
terrible as all that.
See, I happen to know
that you have a savings
account for the children,
and any small difference
in the amount can be
made up with a bank loan.
using this house as security. What
can you do? You can either call the police
or you could kill me,
but either way, you will
utterly destroy your
precious little Anne,
because there's always Mr. Parker. He's
an unhappy young man. He's almost vicious.
I'm afraid he might take a certain
pleasure in telling the child that
her real father bludgeoned
her mother to death
in a drunken rage and
then hanged himself.
I can hear him now. Little girl, your
father was a murderer and a suicide.
To me, it is some of him in you.
All her life, she'll wonder, am I
insane like my real son?
Can I come in?
What do you want? I'm sorry, Daddy.
I thought No, I'm still here, my dear,
but I very much wanted to meet you.
Now, this is Anne, isn't it?
Yes. Your father and I have been
having a little chat about old times.
I didn't mean to barge in, Daddy,
but I'm looking for my tray of test tubes.
You didn't see them all around, did he?
I haven't seen them, no, no, no.
Anne, we're late.
Go on, baby, your mother's waiting. Hurry.
Next time, when you're not in such a hurry,
perhaps we can have a little talk about,
what, about science.
I hear you're a very brilliant student.
Goodbye, Daddy. Goodbye, baby.
Goodbye, Reverend. Goodbye, my dear.
Charming. She adores you,
and you quite obviously adore her.
You'd move heaven and
earth to save her from pain.
Surely $6,000 is a very small
amount to pay for her future happiness.
Surely. But it wouldn't stop there, would
it? You'd beat us again year after year.
No, no, no, that kind of blackmailer
invariably winds up in prison.
It's against my principles, Mr. Mallory.
Once I receive the money,
Mr. Parker and I will move on to
Fresher Fields out of your life forever.
I see. And I take your word for that, huh?
Unfortunately.
Well, I'm not going to. I'm not
going to take your word for anything,
and I'm going to see she's protected
from you and your associate forever.
Don't be naive,
Mr. Mallory. What about her
school friends, her
playmates, her neighbors?
You know, it doesn't
take very much.
Just one or two anonymous
telephone calls or letters.
You know what gossips
these small-town people are.
How long do you think it'd be before the
poor child knew the whole morbid story?
Now, Monday night,
8 o'clock, you will walk
slowly from this house
to the picnic ground.
You will wait there by the telephone booth.
When it rings,
a voice will tell you exactly
where in the forest to meet me.
Now, you'll have the money in $10
and $20 bills wrapped in brown paper.
Now, no marked bills and no
futile efforts to contact the police.
I worked this out very
carefully, Mr. Mallory.
And if you deviate from my instructions
in any way, I shall know it immediately.
I won't be there.
You'll be there with the money.
Good day, Mr. Mallory.
Oh, dear.
Darling.
Oh, a great deal. We're gonna
have Daddy let the chickens burn.
Mother, if you'd let me fix the tower on
the oven, it never would have happened.
Miss Know-It-All, where's my
tray of test tubes, you little thief?
Jim, you let the chickens burn.
What happened? Did you fall asleep?
No.
It went off. Did you even hear it?
Guess this just isn't my day.
Oh, well, I'll take some steaks
out of the freezer. That'll solve it.
Hey, hey, is something wrong?
You tell me where they are.
Mommy, mommy, she twisted my arm.
She hid my test tubes.
Ann, I told you not to touch her.
If you think she's done
something wrong to you,
you're supposed to
come to me or your father.
You understand? Yes, mother.
Barbie, did you take her test tubes?
She can't take a joke.
What did you do with them, Barbie?
They're in the freezer.
The freezer?
Oh, it's ruined now.
The whole experiment is ruined.
You dumb little
Ann, don't talk to your sister like that.
Now, I want you to
apologize to her right now.
I'm sorry.
My arm still hurts.
Will you stop it, all of you?
Please, just stop it.
Now, you see, you've upset
your father with your fighting.
I want you to apologize to each other.
I'm sorry, Barbie.
I'm sorry, mother.
I'm sorry, daddy.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Ann, baby.
Barbie, go put some baked potatoes
in the oven for mommy, please.
Yes, mommy.
Go to a gym.
You're the only one she'll
talk to when she gets like this.
Right. Linda.
Yes?
I have to talk to her.
Talk to you when we can.
I'll tell you when dinner's ready.
Hydrogen plus water react to yield
sodium hydroxide plus hydrogen gas.
I looked at it for the first time
just now and I already know it.
Just like that.
Aren't you proud of me?
I know all that and I don't know anything.
I don't know how to be good or
kind or how to make people happy.
I don't want to hurt Barbie ever.
I love her and mother, but something
inside of me just, I don't know.
And, and I made you angry too, daddy.
Yes, yes, yes.
This afternoon when you were talking to
the reverend, I didn't mean to, but I did.
It just seems that nothing
I do or I don't know.
It's just not simple like, like this.
I love you, daddy.
I love you too.
Right now I'm starving to death too.
Let's go help your
mother, huh? Come on.
Six thousand dollars.
That's the most ridiculous
thing I ever heard.
Do you mean he actually
sat there and said this to you?
What did you do?
I didn't do anything.
It's the horrible part of it.
Well, it seems so weird that he
just sat there calm and smiling.
Jim, Jim, you don't, you don't
really think he'd tell Ann, do you?
I think he would, I'm sure of it.
Did you call her, please?
How could I have to
what he tried to do to Ann?
But Jim, we have to.
We can't cope with this ourselves.
I've been hammering at this
thing in my mind for hours.
Of course, I want to go
to the police, but we can't.
They can help us.
They can, they can tell us what to do.
Jim, they handle hundreds of
these blackmail cases every year.
Not like this one.
Jim, I know how you feel about Ann.
They have never handled anybody like Locke.
He's thought of everything.
They can at least advise us
it can't do any harm, can it?
Once we tell anybody about
Ann, who knows where it'll end.
Police gossip, a tip to the newspapers.
But we wouldn't have to
tell them about Ann's father.
We could just say that
some stranger named
Locke is blackmailing
us, and leave it at that.
You can't just, I don't know,
maybe you're right, Amy.
That's all we can do.
Not right now, tomorrow in the morning.
Jim, he said Monday night
we don't have that much time.
I know that, I've got to think.
Look Jim, don't take it out on me.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
You're right about the police.
I don't want to be right or wrong, Jim.
I just want us to find some
way out of this nightmare.
No, that's as close as
I can come to Locke's
appearance, but he's
got a long thin face.
I'm sorry to bore you with all
this identification routine, Jim.
At least you know our man has no
previous arrest for blackmail in this area.
You have no idea what his
accomplice Parker looks like.
You know, there's a
chance if we pick Locke up,
that Parker will give it up as a bad
job and hightail it out of the state.
Chance, Hank, I can't take any chances.
Well, then we'll have to
pick them both up together.
Be kind of tough.
This guy's smart, he's clever.
Jim, money's involved.
They'll have a rendezvous set up somewhere
for tomorrow night or soon afterwards.
Now, if you're willing to
keep that appointment,
give him a packet of counterfeit bills,
I'm sure that we can zero in on Locke.
Follow him until he joins Parker
and pick them both up together.
Well, sure, I'm willing
to do anything, but
Well, what if he suspects
he's being followed?
We're not exactly amateurs at this job.
I know that, Hank, but have you
ever tried to track anybody in a forest?
We have quite an effective
field communication system.
Similar to your walkie-talkie,
but less conspicuous.
Our men will move into
your forest area early in
the afternoon, as if they're
one of your fire crews.
They'll fade off into the brush
one at a time and wait for night.
When one of them spots
Locke, he'll radio the others.
Each one will pick him up and turn.
Buy radio without moving
until he leaves the forest.
Then he'll put a normal tail on him.
It's awful complicated.
It'd be so easy for something to go wrong.
Look, Jim, we've taken your story in faith.
You won't even tell us why
you're being blackmailed.
We've accepted that up until now.
Now, the least you can do in return
is let us handle our job our way.
But how can you be sure?
We can't be sure about anything.
We'll do our best,
that's all I can promise.
Keep looking back toward the phone booth.
You sure you didn't make
a mistake in the time?
Eight o'clock sharp.
Hank, I couldn't forget that.
It's 8 25 now.
Any other outdoor phone booth in this area?
No, mile and a half from here,
Long Creek Camping Area.
This is the one he meant.
You're sure? Yeah, I'm sure.
Look how much it meant.
Maybe he could have spotted one of them.
Take it easy, Jim.
Give him a few more minutes.
Hello.
Mallory, you're a fool.
Get rid of your state police, friend.
Go home, wait there.
You'll hear from me.
This is your last chance, Mr. Mallory.
Wait a minute, look.
Was it him? He hung up.
Jim, how did it go?
Mommy, I want you.
He didn't show.
I saw her right through the police trap.
Mommy.
Oh, Barbie has an earache.
I'll be right there, dear.
Where's Anne?
She's reading to Barbie.
I'm gonna pay him off.
Police can't protect us.
Jim, the $6,000 won't be the end of it.
There isn't any other way.
Without even consulting me?
Without consulting you now.
I'm so confused.
You make me feel so guilty.
I'm sorry.
If there was just some other way.
Jim, why don't we tell her ourselves?
No.
Then it wouldn't matter what Locke did.
And we destroy her.
Can't you see that?
Look, Jim, I love Anne
too, but will destroy
us as a family if we
pay that terrible man.
Jim, why don't we try the police just once
more and tell them about Anne's father.
It will at least give them a
lead on Parker and Locke.
We've been all through that.
We can protect her.
How?
Lock her in her room?
She has to live, doesn't she?
Go to school, see the other kids.
You know how cruel children can be.
I know, I know, Jim.
Remember what Dr. Holt said.
This is a particularly
vulnerable time for her.
Now, maybe if she was a little bit
older, we could risk it, but not now.
Stop hammering at me.
Can't you understand what a
thing like this would do to her?
Why do you always
put her first? Hello.
Valerie, did you
enjoy your little wait?
You're very silent tonight.
Is that because you finally learned
the state police can't help you? All right.
Tell me where and when
to meet you at the money.
You're late.
Where's the package?
The bank won't let me have
the money until tomorrow.
You're lying.
I'm not lying, I just
don't hand you $6,000.
I've got more time.
I want the money now.
I'll have it for you in the morning.
I promise you now, it's the best I can do.
Every extra second
means more danger for me.
I ought to tell that stupid gawky
little brat of yours just out of spite.
Much to do.
Now, now, now, now.
One more chance.
I'll have phone instructions.
And, Mallory, we got an agreement.
Tomorrow morning, then
I'll be out of your life forever.
You say one word to her, I'll kill you.
Yeah.
I'll kill you.
When you jump, boy, you think
somebody's fixing to kill you.
Oh, you're drinking again, you fool.
I told you to stay at the motel.
What if the police were to find out?
You know something, boy, I don't
give a soft yawn about no police.
You're my man.
And I ain't about to let
you skip out of me now.
Where is it?
Can't get the money out of
the bank till tomorrow morning.
Boy, you ain't a very good liar.
Now, where you hiding it?
I'm not hiding it.
All right, just for that.
Old Odie's liable to keep all the money.
I mean, after all, I'm the one to stick
John to Mallory and that little anagirl.
You fool.
I tell you, he didn't bring the money.
You know something, boy?
I'm getting mighty tired of you, Colby.
Where is it, boy?
Boy, where is it?
I'm waiting, boy.
I'm waiting.
Huh?
Boy, where is it?
Boy.
Wake up, boy.
Our story will continue in a few moments.
Just now, we must observe the
quasi-folk ritual of the station break.
Actually, the station break was
designed for a very useful purpose.
It keeps the two halves of a show
from bumping into one another.
I hate to break this to you, but
the opinions expressed during
the past two minutes do not
represent those of our sponsor.
We have yet to hear from him.
However, following that, we shall
have the second half of Night of the Owl.
I won't need the smoke jumpers.
You better leave Timmons up there.
Bomb that crown fire south of the tower.
Here comes Jim now.
I'll get back to you.
Gotta raise you down
below, you old smoke eater.
Backfire's got it wicked up north.
How's it here?
Well, we got a line hacked
out southwest of the cliff.
She ought to hold her.
The air control's got the whole fur slope.
The wind's just, we're in trouble.
How long we wet down the south break, huh?
I'm going back in with these fellows
as soon as they get their breath.
I'll be right with you.
Well, this is where she started, and
there's the poor devil that started her.
Burned himself up, most likely.
Lord, preserve us from careless people.
Yeah.
What's the matter, Jim?
You know him? Yeah.
Yeah, I know him.
You must be dog-tired,
went with no sleep all night.
Then I guess you fellows
are used to it, this fire weather.
Yeah.
Have a tough time getting this
one under control? Nah, I'm not.
Better eat it first.
Mind if I ask you a few more questions?
Mallory was nice enough
to come down here
and give us a complete
statement right away.
I don't think we should keep
him from his bed any longer.
All right.
I just talked to the coroner, Captain.
You were right in
assuming it was murder, Jim.
Locke was strangled.
The concussions, evidence of a struggle,
all point to an act born of great anger.
Must have been quite a shock to you,
and a relief when you saw that body.
What makes you think
that Parker killed Locke?
Who else?
Too bad you don't know more about him.
I told you all I could, Hank.
Not much to go on, is it?
You say that you saw him on Saturday.
You say that Locke talked about him.
This seems to be about
all we know about the man.
So far, he's just a name,
sort of will-of-the-wisp.
It might help if you told us now
why you're being blackmailed.
Hank, I told you I can't.
I'm sorry.
Jim, a man's been murdered.
You're withholding relevant information.
I think we've had enough
for one night, Lieutenant.
Now look, let's just get
it over with now, huh?
This eight o'clock meeting you
had, how long were you with Locke?
Couple of minutes, that's all.
Where'd you go after
leaving him, straight home?
No, I was upset.
I wanted to think.
Where'd you go?
Set up in the hill in back of the house.
And after that, I went inside
and the phone rang about the fire.
What time was that?
Well, you know what time I was.
It was around nine.
What were you so upset about?
Look, what do you want me to say?
I was upset because I killed Locke, huh?
Did you kill him?
Yes, in my mind.
A hundred times, I wanted to.
But I didn't.
Are you trying to tell me
this is what disturbs you?
The thought that you might
have been a murderer?
That's all, Mallory.
Sorry, we've cried your Patience.
You've been very cooperative.
Still, after we've done a little looking
around, we may want to talk to you again.
Sinus.
No, I don't.
Annie!
Annie!
You had a nightmare.
Why aren't you in school?
I'm home already.
You slept all day.
Want me to rub your
forehead with witch Hazel?
No.
You take care of me
when I have a bad dream.
Now I can take care of you.
I'm fine now.
You're worried.
It has something to do with me, hasn't it?
Oh, it doesn't have
anything to do with you.
Ann, did you wake your father up?
I was awake already.
Darling, why don't you go finish
your homework? I'm finished.
Hello?
Yes, but daddy wants some privacy.
Go on, dear.
Oh, sorry.
Who? It's O.
D. Parker, boy, that's who.
Now listen, boy, and listen good.
I need a thousand quick.
That's also going to cost you
now one thousand green ones,
and I'm going to keep
my big mouth shut, yeah?
What do you want me to do?
Put the money in an envelope.
As soon as it gets dark, bring
it around to the picnic ground.
Big old trash can chained to a tree.
And stash the cash under
the trash, huh? And then get.
All right.
And no hijinks, boy.
I'm picking it up in my own sweet time.
If I smell a cop, that's it.
I mean your little Annie girl's
going to wish she'd never been born.
Yeah?
Yes.
Parker?
He cut the price to a thousand.
He wants it tonight.
Well, all we'll have
to do is tell the police,
and they'll set a trap for him.
He's not that much of a fool.
He's not telling anyone
he can pick up the money.
It might be days.
Well, they can't.
They can wait him out.
They don't even think there is a Parker.
I've got to prove him wrong.
He'll go right on thinking I killed Locke.
I'll have to do it myself.
Go it alone.
Wait him out and bring him in.
But Jim, you can't.
He's desperate.
He's killed a man already.
Oh, Jim, there must be some other way.
There isn't any other way, Linda.
Whoo!
Whoo!
Whoo!
Whoo!
Whoo!
Whoo!
Come on, drop it.
I'm pointing a .38 right at you.
I'll climb down here.
Come on.
Hey, what you gonna do
if I don't come down, huh?
You gonna shoot me
out of this tree? Huh, huh.
Might just call
that murder, boy.
Hey, I know you're gonna
come up here after me, huh?
Yeah, just me and you all by our
own selves in this big bad forest.
You better get along home,
Ranger boy, before it's too late.
All right, down.
Make me, Ranger boy.
Just try and make me.
Gonna be a long wait.
Hey, how long you figure that
flashlight's gonna hold out, huh?
Daddy?
Stay back there, honey.
Stay there.
Don't move.
Daddy, I tried to follow you.
Don't move, you.
Honey, you run home, tell your
mother to call the state police.
Have her say I'm up here with Parker.
You understand? Yes, Daddy.
Annie girl, you make one little move.
I'm gonna kill your daddy.
Don't believe him, honey.
I'm pointing a gun right at him.
Now run.
She don't want to
see her little old daddy
laying dead on the ground,
do you, Annie girl? Shut up.
Go on, Annie.
Don't you see she
can't move, boy?
She's too scared of what
her old cousin Odie might do.
That's right.
I'm your second cousin,
twice removed, Annie girl.
Daddy, what's he Honey,
will you get out of here, please?
Yeah, I was just a little
old teenager in the Smokies
when that terrible thing
happened to your real pawn mom.
Shut up, shut up.
You won't kill you.
You ain't gonna kill
me in front of her, boy.
I mean, that poor old gal's
got enough to live down.
Daddy, what's he talking about?
Annie, I told you to get out of here.
Now go on.
Daddy?
Your real papa killed your real mama.
He killed her dead with a kindling axe.
Then he hung himself in prison.
Daddy! Honey.
Annie!
Daddy!
Jim, I couldn't get Lieutenant
Ames, but I did speak to the sergeant.
Jim, what happened?
I killed him.
They'll think I killed both of them.
I'll lock Ann Parker.
Jim, what are we gonna do?
Nothing to do but wait.
Where's Ann? She's upstairs.
She knows, doesn't she?
I tried to explain to her about the
blackmail and those two awful men.
She didn't even cry.
And she finally told me
about calling the state police.
But I
You go up to her, I can't talk to her now.
Please.
She needs you more now than
she ever needed you before.
If I were 13, and this had happened
to me, I'd want you to be with me.
Because you're the
gentlest man in the world.
Oh, no.
Oh, oh, oh, Daddy, you're all right.
Oh, Daddy, I was so afraid.
Oh, Daddy.
Listen, I don't know
what happened out there.
I don't want to talk about it.
You have to.
Come on, come on.
You got away from that terrible
man, and that's all that matters.
Well, honey, what he said about
your real mother and father, that
I'm sorry, Daddy.
I, I just feel so sad for them.
I wish they could have
had a happy life like us.
And I've been thinking, Daddy,
about how much you and Mother must
love me, and how much you loved me then.
I mean, to want to
take into your home a
little girl whose parents
died, like he said.
When you first told me I was adopted,
you said how special I was.
Because you and Mother chose me.
I never felt special.
Until now, Daddy.
Jim.
Lieutenant Ames is downstairs.
Tom Parker, where you left him, Jim?
Had a man watch in your
house that ordered us to phone
in for help rather than
follow you into the forest.
Got there as soon as we could,
but I'm afraid we were a little bit late.
Yeah.
Yeah, I killed him, Hank, and I killed him.
A man like Parker
takes a lot of killing, Jim.
He was a little of the
worst beware when he
found him, but right now
he's alive and kicking.
He knows he's going to
have to stand trial for murder.
Wasn't too hard to get a confession once
we found Locke's cigarette case on him.
So, about all we need from you is a statement
about what went on out there tonight.
He just stopped by the office sometime.
Hank.
Thanks.
I knew it would have
been easier for you if
I'd have thought you're
away from the start.
Linda?
I, I, I have to tell my wife.
Linda! Linda!
You remember my mentioning the gentleman
who disappeared with 50 dollars in dimes.
It saddens me to relate
that he became stuck in
a television booth where
he eventually succumbed.
Fortunately, he had
deposited all his money so
that the set will be on
for the next 24 hours.
I know he would have wanted it that way.
Next week I shall return
with another story, scenes
of which will be visible
after the following.
Good evening television consumers,
you will be very much interested in these
latest products of
the scientific mind.
They will be placed on
street corners, drug stores,
hotel lobbies, etc.
These are not telephone
booths, television booths.
No matter where you are,
you can slip into one of
these and by depositing
a dime can view three minutes
of this wondrous art form.
How often have you had to go to the corner
drug store on an errand and then never
learned how a play ended?
Now you need no longer
be chained to your home
set. In one city where
the television booth was
introduced, a gentleman
ventured from his home
for the first time since 1947.
His wife reports that he walked out
of the house with $50 worth of dimes
and has not been seen
since. Because so many people
are used to seeing
television from a horizontal
position, either slumped
down feet on the coffee
table or while lying in
bed, every other booth
is constructed with a
TV screen in the floor so
you can look at the
picture through your feet.
But we must begin our
show. If you have paid a
dime and one of your
three minutes turns out to
be this next one, you have my sympathy.
But we shall keep the dime.
Oh, darling, that will
be enough of that, dear.
Good morning. It is Mrs. Mallory,
isn't it? I'm afraid you don't know me.
I'm the speak to your
husband. Well, I'm expecting him
back any moment. Won't
you come in? Thank you.
Dear, that will be enough now, please.
You have a guest.
Won't you sit down, Reverend?
This, uh, this isn't Anne, is it? No,
this is our younger
daughter, Barbara.
Barbie, this is Reverend Locke.
Pleased to meet you, Reverend.
Delighted. Now, why don't you go
upstairs and put your dress on, dear,
because Daddy's gonna
be home in a minute.
Come here. Yes, ma'am.
No, no, how stupid of me.
Anne, Anne would be almost
14 by now, wouldn't she? Is
that why you're here,
Reverend? Is it about Anne?
As a matter of fact, it is. Is there some
problem? No, no, it's purely a personal
matter which, if you don't mind, I should
prefer to discuss with your husband.
Yes, of course. You
see, I was chaplain at
the Seabrook State
Prison in the Smokies many
years ago, and I had occasion to
know your adopted daughter's real father
before that wretched man's unhappy death.
Anne, you're late.
You know the stores close
early on Saturday, dear.
I'm sorry. Your
dress is on your bed.
Oh, why can't I go like this? Anne. All
right, Mother. And don't shout. Your father
has a visitor in his office. Who is it?
No one you know. Go ahead, hurry up.
What, what, my office? Your
visitor is a Reverend Locke.
Reverend, what did I do
now? Reverend Locke.
Sharming family, Ranger Mallory.
Oh, thank you. Sharming, yes.
I cannot tell you how
pleased I am, both to
meet you and to find
out that the daughter of.
unfortunate man is in such loving hands.
Oh, excuse me.
She's upstairs right
now, and she's going out
in a few minutes. I
think my wife explained
Yes, yes, yes. And
since the child remembers
nothing of the past, I
can see how important it
is to both of you that
she continue to believe
your little fabrication,
that she was adopted
by you at the age of
three after the peaceful
and entirely normal demise
of her mother and her father.
I tell you, it's
remarkable that a child
of such a tragedy should
be so happy and so normal.
Why? Well, your wife did
mention a few visits to a Dr. Holt.
Well, that had to do
with her schoolwork.
My wife explained that
too. Yes, but a psychiatrist?
Just because of some
minor anxiety or a future
scholarship? Or perhaps
there was something more?
Look, Reverend, this is a
kind of a personal matter.
Oh, is it mine, mine,
mine? No, Anne is a
perfectly normal child. She
has a brilliant mind, very brilliant.
She has a desire to excel in
everything she does, but she blames herself
if she's not 100% perfect in everything.
Yes. She demands
too much of herself, but
Dr. Holt says that these
are symptoms of things
that are essentially
good. Your vehemence in
her defense is very
touching, Mr. Mallory.
Still, it must be a source of great
worry to you, the thought that this child
might turn out to
be like her father.
Well, it's a stupid thing
to say. Perhaps, but then,
you see, I happen to know a good deal about
psychiatry. It's very useful in my work,
and I'm sure Dr. Holt must have warned
you of the extreme danger to a child,
especially such an
emotional child, if she
were to learn the truth
about her real parents,
and how they died. Well, Reverend, I don't
like your manner for a clergyman, you
Ah, but then, you see, I
am not really a clergyman.
No, actually, I am a businessman,
and I am here on a matter of business.
What business? Blackmail.
I don't know what stupid
idea you've got in your head.
I think the state police will
know what to do with you.
Please, don't make the mistake
of thinking I am stupid, Mr. Mallory.
Blackmail is my profession.
You surely don't think I would
have come here like
this unless I'd taken some
precautions first. I
think perhaps I'd better
introduce you to my
associate before you do
anything rash or associate.
There is, as you know,
a telephone booth in
the picnic area at Lookout
Point, which is visible
from this window.
I shall now dial that booth. When
it rings, then my associate, Mr.
Parker, will emerge from
the booth, signal twice
toward us, and then
disappear into the forest.
There.
You see? You haven't the faintest idea
what he looks like or where to find him,
and he has his instructions.
Now, if anything should happen to me, then.
he will do very quietly and anonymously. He
will do what I shall be forced to do unless
you and I can come to an understanding.
Now, shall we have our little chat?
What do you want?
Six thousand dollars by Monday night.
Six thousand.
Oh, I realize you're a little shocked, but.
it's really not so
terrible as all that.
See, I happen to know
that you have a savings
account for the children,
and any small difference
in the amount can be
made up with a bank loan.
using this house as security. What
can you do? You can either call the police
or you could kill me,
but either way, you will
utterly destroy your
precious little Anne,
because there's always Mr. Parker. He's
an unhappy young man. He's almost vicious.
I'm afraid he might take a certain
pleasure in telling the child that
her real father bludgeoned
her mother to death
in a drunken rage and
then hanged himself.
I can hear him now. Little girl, your
father was a murderer and a suicide.
To me, it is some of him in you.
All her life, she'll wonder, am I
insane like my real son?
Can I come in?
What do you want? I'm sorry, Daddy.
I thought No, I'm still here, my dear,
but I very much wanted to meet you.
Now, this is Anne, isn't it?
Yes. Your father and I have been
having a little chat about old times.
I didn't mean to barge in, Daddy,
but I'm looking for my tray of test tubes.
You didn't see them all around, did he?
I haven't seen them, no, no, no.
Anne, we're late.
Go on, baby, your mother's waiting. Hurry.
Next time, when you're not in such a hurry,
perhaps we can have a little talk about,
what, about science.
I hear you're a very brilliant student.
Goodbye, Daddy. Goodbye, baby.
Goodbye, Reverend. Goodbye, my dear.
Charming. She adores you,
and you quite obviously adore her.
You'd move heaven and
earth to save her from pain.
Surely $6,000 is a very small
amount to pay for her future happiness.
Surely. But it wouldn't stop there, would
it? You'd beat us again year after year.
No, no, no, that kind of blackmailer
invariably winds up in prison.
It's against my principles, Mr. Mallory.
Once I receive the money,
Mr. Parker and I will move on to
Fresher Fields out of your life forever.
I see. And I take your word for that, huh?
Unfortunately.
Well, I'm not going to. I'm not
going to take your word for anything,
and I'm going to see she's protected
from you and your associate forever.
Don't be naive,
Mr. Mallory. What about her
school friends, her
playmates, her neighbors?
You know, it doesn't
take very much.
Just one or two anonymous
telephone calls or letters.
You know what gossips
these small-town people are.
How long do you think it'd be before the
poor child knew the whole morbid story?
Now, Monday night,
8 o'clock, you will walk
slowly from this house
to the picnic ground.
You will wait there by the telephone booth.
When it rings,
a voice will tell you exactly
where in the forest to meet me.
Now, you'll have the money in $10
and $20 bills wrapped in brown paper.
Now, no marked bills and no
futile efforts to contact the police.
I worked this out very
carefully, Mr. Mallory.
And if you deviate from my instructions
in any way, I shall know it immediately.
I won't be there.
You'll be there with the money.
Good day, Mr. Mallory.
Oh, dear.
Darling.
Oh, a great deal. We're gonna
have Daddy let the chickens burn.
Mother, if you'd let me fix the tower on
the oven, it never would have happened.
Miss Know-It-All, where's my
tray of test tubes, you little thief?
Jim, you let the chickens burn.
What happened? Did you fall asleep?
No.
It went off. Did you even hear it?
Guess this just isn't my day.
Oh, well, I'll take some steaks
out of the freezer. That'll solve it.
Hey, hey, is something wrong?
You tell me where they are.
Mommy, mommy, she twisted my arm.
She hid my test tubes.
Ann, I told you not to touch her.
If you think she's done
something wrong to you,
you're supposed to
come to me or your father.
You understand? Yes, mother.
Barbie, did you take her test tubes?
She can't take a joke.
What did you do with them, Barbie?
They're in the freezer.
The freezer?
Oh, it's ruined now.
The whole experiment is ruined.
You dumb little
Ann, don't talk to your sister like that.
Now, I want you to
apologize to her right now.
I'm sorry.
My arm still hurts.
Will you stop it, all of you?
Please, just stop it.
Now, you see, you've upset
your father with your fighting.
I want you to apologize to each other.
I'm sorry, Barbie.
I'm sorry, mother.
I'm sorry, daddy.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Ann, baby.
Barbie, go put some baked potatoes
in the oven for mommy, please.
Yes, mommy.
Go to a gym.
You're the only one she'll
talk to when she gets like this.
Right. Linda.
Yes?
I have to talk to her.
Talk to you when we can.
I'll tell you when dinner's ready.
Hydrogen plus water react to yield
sodium hydroxide plus hydrogen gas.
I looked at it for the first time
just now and I already know it.
Just like that.
Aren't you proud of me?
I know all that and I don't know anything.
I don't know how to be good or
kind or how to make people happy.
I don't want to hurt Barbie ever.
I love her and mother, but something
inside of me just, I don't know.
And, and I made you angry too, daddy.
Yes, yes, yes.
This afternoon when you were talking to
the reverend, I didn't mean to, but I did.
It just seems that nothing
I do or I don't know.
It's just not simple like, like this.
I love you, daddy.
I love you too.
Right now I'm starving to death too.
Let's go help your
mother, huh? Come on.
Six thousand dollars.
That's the most ridiculous
thing I ever heard.
Do you mean he actually
sat there and said this to you?
What did you do?
I didn't do anything.
It's the horrible part of it.
Well, it seems so weird that he
just sat there calm and smiling.
Jim, Jim, you don't, you don't
really think he'd tell Ann, do you?
I think he would, I'm sure of it.
Did you call her, please?
How could I have to
what he tried to do to Ann?
But Jim, we have to.
We can't cope with this ourselves.
I've been hammering at this
thing in my mind for hours.
Of course, I want to go
to the police, but we can't.
They can help us.
They can, they can tell us what to do.
Jim, they handle hundreds of
these blackmail cases every year.
Not like this one.
Jim, I know how you feel about Ann.
They have never handled anybody like Locke.
He's thought of everything.
They can at least advise us
it can't do any harm, can it?
Once we tell anybody about
Ann, who knows where it'll end.
Police gossip, a tip to the newspapers.
But we wouldn't have to
tell them about Ann's father.
We could just say that
some stranger named
Locke is blackmailing
us, and leave it at that.
You can't just, I don't know,
maybe you're right, Amy.
That's all we can do.
Not right now, tomorrow in the morning.
Jim, he said Monday night
we don't have that much time.
I know that, I've got to think.
Look Jim, don't take it out on me.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
You're right about the police.
I don't want to be right or wrong, Jim.
I just want us to find some
way out of this nightmare.
No, that's as close as
I can come to Locke's
appearance, but he's
got a long thin face.
I'm sorry to bore you with all
this identification routine, Jim.
At least you know our man has no
previous arrest for blackmail in this area.
You have no idea what his
accomplice Parker looks like.
You know, there's a
chance if we pick Locke up,
that Parker will give it up as a bad
job and hightail it out of the state.
Chance, Hank, I can't take any chances.
Well, then we'll have to
pick them both up together.
Be kind of tough.
This guy's smart, he's clever.
Jim, money's involved.
They'll have a rendezvous set up somewhere
for tomorrow night or soon afterwards.
Now, if you're willing to
keep that appointment,
give him a packet of counterfeit bills,
I'm sure that we can zero in on Locke.
Follow him until he joins Parker
and pick them both up together.
Well, sure, I'm willing
to do anything, but
Well, what if he suspects
he's being followed?
We're not exactly amateurs at this job.
I know that, Hank, but have you
ever tried to track anybody in a forest?
We have quite an effective
field communication system.
Similar to your walkie-talkie,
but less conspicuous.
Our men will move into
your forest area early in
the afternoon, as if they're
one of your fire crews.
They'll fade off into the brush
one at a time and wait for night.
When one of them spots
Locke, he'll radio the others.
Each one will pick him up and turn.
Buy radio without moving
until he leaves the forest.
Then he'll put a normal tail on him.
It's awful complicated.
It'd be so easy for something to go wrong.
Look, Jim, we've taken your story in faith.
You won't even tell us why
you're being blackmailed.
We've accepted that up until now.
Now, the least you can do in return
is let us handle our job our way.
But how can you be sure?
We can't be sure about anything.
We'll do our best,
that's all I can promise.
Keep looking back toward the phone booth.
You sure you didn't make
a mistake in the time?
Eight o'clock sharp.
Hank, I couldn't forget that.
It's 8 25 now.
Any other outdoor phone booth in this area?
No, mile and a half from here,
Long Creek Camping Area.
This is the one he meant.
You're sure? Yeah, I'm sure.
Look how much it meant.
Maybe he could have spotted one of them.
Take it easy, Jim.
Give him a few more minutes.
Hello.
Mallory, you're a fool.
Get rid of your state police, friend.
Go home, wait there.
You'll hear from me.
This is your last chance, Mr. Mallory.
Wait a minute, look.
Was it him? He hung up.
Jim, how did it go?
Mommy, I want you.
He didn't show.
I saw her right through the police trap.
Mommy.
Oh, Barbie has an earache.
I'll be right there, dear.
Where's Anne?
She's reading to Barbie.
I'm gonna pay him off.
Police can't protect us.
Jim, the $6,000 won't be the end of it.
There isn't any other way.
Without even consulting me?
Without consulting you now.
I'm so confused.
You make me feel so guilty.
I'm sorry.
If there was just some other way.
Jim, why don't we tell her ourselves?
No.
Then it wouldn't matter what Locke did.
And we destroy her.
Can't you see that?
Look, Jim, I love Anne
too, but will destroy
us as a family if we
pay that terrible man.
Jim, why don't we try the police just once
more and tell them about Anne's father.
It will at least give them a
lead on Parker and Locke.
We've been all through that.
We can protect her.
How?
Lock her in her room?
She has to live, doesn't she?
Go to school, see the other kids.
You know how cruel children can be.
I know, I know, Jim.
Remember what Dr. Holt said.
This is a particularly
vulnerable time for her.
Now, maybe if she was a little bit
older, we could risk it, but not now.
Stop hammering at me.
Can't you understand what a
thing like this would do to her?
Why do you always
put her first? Hello.
Valerie, did you
enjoy your little wait?
You're very silent tonight.
Is that because you finally learned
the state police can't help you? All right.
Tell me where and when
to meet you at the money.
You're late.
Where's the package?
The bank won't let me have
the money until tomorrow.
You're lying.
I'm not lying, I just
don't hand you $6,000.
I've got more time.
I want the money now.
I'll have it for you in the morning.
I promise you now, it's the best I can do.
Every extra second
means more danger for me.
I ought to tell that stupid gawky
little brat of yours just out of spite.
Much to do.
Now, now, now, now.
One more chance.
I'll have phone instructions.
And, Mallory, we got an agreement.
Tomorrow morning, then
I'll be out of your life forever.
You say one word to her, I'll kill you.
Yeah.
I'll kill you.
When you jump, boy, you think
somebody's fixing to kill you.
Oh, you're drinking again, you fool.
I told you to stay at the motel.
What if the police were to find out?
You know something, boy, I don't
give a soft yawn about no police.
You're my man.
And I ain't about to let
you skip out of me now.
Where is it?
Can't get the money out of
the bank till tomorrow morning.
Boy, you ain't a very good liar.
Now, where you hiding it?
I'm not hiding it.
All right, just for that.
Old Odie's liable to keep all the money.
I mean, after all, I'm the one to stick
John to Mallory and that little anagirl.
You fool.
I tell you, he didn't bring the money.
You know something, boy?
I'm getting mighty tired of you, Colby.
Where is it, boy?
Boy, where is it?
I'm waiting, boy.
I'm waiting.
Huh?
Boy, where is it?
Boy.
Wake up, boy.
Our story will continue in a few moments.
Just now, we must observe the
quasi-folk ritual of the station break.
Actually, the station break was
designed for a very useful purpose.
It keeps the two halves of a show
from bumping into one another.
I hate to break this to you, but
the opinions expressed during
the past two minutes do not
represent those of our sponsor.
We have yet to hear from him.
However, following that, we shall
have the second half of Night of the Owl.
I won't need the smoke jumpers.
You better leave Timmons up there.
Bomb that crown fire south of the tower.
Here comes Jim now.
I'll get back to you.
Gotta raise you down
below, you old smoke eater.
Backfire's got it wicked up north.
How's it here?
Well, we got a line hacked
out southwest of the cliff.
She ought to hold her.
The air control's got the whole fur slope.
The wind's just, we're in trouble.
How long we wet down the south break, huh?
I'm going back in with these fellows
as soon as they get their breath.
I'll be right with you.
Well, this is where she started, and
there's the poor devil that started her.
Burned himself up, most likely.
Lord, preserve us from careless people.
Yeah.
What's the matter, Jim?
You know him? Yeah.
Yeah, I know him.
You must be dog-tired,
went with no sleep all night.
Then I guess you fellows
are used to it, this fire weather.
Yeah.
Have a tough time getting this
one under control? Nah, I'm not.
Better eat it first.
Mind if I ask you a few more questions?
Mallory was nice enough
to come down here
and give us a complete
statement right away.
I don't think we should keep
him from his bed any longer.
All right.
I just talked to the coroner, Captain.
You were right in
assuming it was murder, Jim.
Locke was strangled.
The concussions, evidence of a struggle,
all point to an act born of great anger.
Must have been quite a shock to you,
and a relief when you saw that body.
What makes you think
that Parker killed Locke?
Who else?
Too bad you don't know more about him.
I told you all I could, Hank.
Not much to go on, is it?
You say that you saw him on Saturday.
You say that Locke talked about him.
This seems to be about
all we know about the man.
So far, he's just a name,
sort of will-of-the-wisp.
It might help if you told us now
why you're being blackmailed.
Hank, I told you I can't.
I'm sorry.
Jim, a man's been murdered.
You're withholding relevant information.
I think we've had enough
for one night, Lieutenant.
Now look, let's just get
it over with now, huh?
This eight o'clock meeting you
had, how long were you with Locke?
Couple of minutes, that's all.
Where'd you go after
leaving him, straight home?
No, I was upset.
I wanted to think.
Where'd you go?
Set up in the hill in back of the house.
And after that, I went inside
and the phone rang about the fire.
What time was that?
Well, you know what time I was.
It was around nine.
What were you so upset about?
Look, what do you want me to say?
I was upset because I killed Locke, huh?
Did you kill him?
Yes, in my mind.
A hundred times, I wanted to.
But I didn't.
Are you trying to tell me
this is what disturbs you?
The thought that you might
have been a murderer?
That's all, Mallory.
Sorry, we've cried your Patience.
You've been very cooperative.
Still, after we've done a little looking
around, we may want to talk to you again.
Sinus.
No, I don't.
Annie!
Annie!
You had a nightmare.
Why aren't you in school?
I'm home already.
You slept all day.
Want me to rub your
forehead with witch Hazel?
No.
You take care of me
when I have a bad dream.
Now I can take care of you.
I'm fine now.
You're worried.
It has something to do with me, hasn't it?
Oh, it doesn't have
anything to do with you.
Ann, did you wake your father up?
I was awake already.
Darling, why don't you go finish
your homework? I'm finished.
Hello?
Yes, but daddy wants some privacy.
Go on, dear.
Oh, sorry.
Who? It's O.
D. Parker, boy, that's who.
Now listen, boy, and listen good.
I need a thousand quick.
That's also going to cost you
now one thousand green ones,
and I'm going to keep
my big mouth shut, yeah?
What do you want me to do?
Put the money in an envelope.
As soon as it gets dark, bring
it around to the picnic ground.
Big old trash can chained to a tree.
And stash the cash under
the trash, huh? And then get.
All right.
And no hijinks, boy.
I'm picking it up in my own sweet time.
If I smell a cop, that's it.
I mean your little Annie girl's
going to wish she'd never been born.
Yeah?
Yes.
Parker?
He cut the price to a thousand.
He wants it tonight.
Well, all we'll have
to do is tell the police,
and they'll set a trap for him.
He's not that much of a fool.
He's not telling anyone
he can pick up the money.
It might be days.
Well, they can't.
They can wait him out.
They don't even think there is a Parker.
I've got to prove him wrong.
He'll go right on thinking I killed Locke.
I'll have to do it myself.
Go it alone.
Wait him out and bring him in.
But Jim, you can't.
He's desperate.
He's killed a man already.
Oh, Jim, there must be some other way.
There isn't any other way, Linda.
Whoo!
Whoo!
Whoo!
Whoo!
Whoo!
Whoo!
Come on, drop it.
I'm pointing a .38 right at you.
I'll climb down here.
Come on.
Hey, what you gonna do
if I don't come down, huh?
You gonna shoot me
out of this tree? Huh, huh.
Might just call
that murder, boy.
Hey, I know you're gonna
come up here after me, huh?
Yeah, just me and you all by our
own selves in this big bad forest.
You better get along home,
Ranger boy, before it's too late.
All right, down.
Make me, Ranger boy.
Just try and make me.
Gonna be a long wait.
Hey, how long you figure that
flashlight's gonna hold out, huh?
Daddy?
Stay back there, honey.
Stay there.
Don't move.
Daddy, I tried to follow you.
Don't move, you.
Honey, you run home, tell your
mother to call the state police.
Have her say I'm up here with Parker.
You understand? Yes, Daddy.
Annie girl, you make one little move.
I'm gonna kill your daddy.
Don't believe him, honey.
I'm pointing a gun right at him.
Now run.
She don't want to
see her little old daddy
laying dead on the ground,
do you, Annie girl? Shut up.
Go on, Annie.
Don't you see she
can't move, boy?
She's too scared of what
her old cousin Odie might do.
That's right.
I'm your second cousin,
twice removed, Annie girl.
Daddy, what's he Honey,
will you get out of here, please?
Yeah, I was just a little
old teenager in the Smokies
when that terrible thing
happened to your real pawn mom.
Shut up, shut up.
You won't kill you.
You ain't gonna kill
me in front of her, boy.
I mean, that poor old gal's
got enough to live down.
Daddy, what's he talking about?
Annie, I told you to get out of here.
Now go on.
Daddy?
Your real papa killed your real mama.
He killed her dead with a kindling axe.
Then he hung himself in prison.
Daddy! Honey.
Annie!
Daddy!
Jim, I couldn't get Lieutenant
Ames, but I did speak to the sergeant.
Jim, what happened?
I killed him.
They'll think I killed both of them.
I'll lock Ann Parker.
Jim, what are we gonna do?
Nothing to do but wait.
Where's Ann? She's upstairs.
She knows, doesn't she?
I tried to explain to her about the
blackmail and those two awful men.
She didn't even cry.
And she finally told me
about calling the state police.
But I
You go up to her, I can't talk to her now.
Please.
She needs you more now than
she ever needed you before.
If I were 13, and this had happened
to me, I'd want you to be with me.
Because you're the
gentlest man in the world.
Oh, no.
Oh, oh, oh, Daddy, you're all right.
Oh, Daddy, I was so afraid.
Oh, Daddy.
Listen, I don't know
what happened out there.
I don't want to talk about it.
You have to.
Come on, come on.
You got away from that terrible
man, and that's all that matters.
Well, honey, what he said about
your real mother and father, that
I'm sorry, Daddy.
I, I just feel so sad for them.
I wish they could have
had a happy life like us.
And I've been thinking, Daddy,
about how much you and Mother must
love me, and how much you loved me then.
I mean, to want to
take into your home a
little girl whose parents
died, like he said.
When you first told me I was adopted,
you said how special I was.
Because you and Mother chose me.
I never felt special.
Until now, Daddy.
Jim.
Lieutenant Ames is downstairs.
Tom Parker, where you left him, Jim?
Had a man watch in your
house that ordered us to phone
in for help rather than
follow you into the forest.
Got there as soon as we could,
but I'm afraid we were a little bit late.
Yeah.
Yeah, I killed him, Hank, and I killed him.
A man like Parker
takes a lot of killing, Jim.
He was a little of the
worst beware when he
found him, but right now
he's alive and kicking.
He knows he's going to
have to stand trial for murder.
Wasn't too hard to get a confession once
we found Locke's cigarette case on him.
So, about all we need from you is a statement
about what went on out there tonight.
He just stopped by the office sometime.
Hank.
Thanks.
I knew it would have
been easier for you if
I'd have thought you're
away from the start.
Linda?
I, I, I have to tell my wife.
Linda! Linda!
You remember my mentioning the gentleman
who disappeared with 50 dollars in dimes.
It saddens me to relate
that he became stuck in
a television booth where
he eventually succumbed.
Fortunately, he had
deposited all his money so
that the set will be on
for the next 24 hours.
I know he would have wanted it that way.
Next week I shall return
with another story, scenes
of which will be visible
after the following.