Bunny Lake Is Missing Page #4

- Never.

No. She caught a cold

on the boat coming over.

Today was the first day that I let her go out.

You were right here this morning

at about what time?

10:
15, 10:30.

10:
15. Now, did the movers...

They left a few minutes after?

I started to unpack.

Then a man came in.

- The door was unlocked?

- What man?

- Mr. Wilson. He had a key.

- Who is this Wilson?

Our landlord, but that doesn't give him

the right to come barging in here.

So I went to buy some groceries.

- Did you leave Mr. Wilson alone here?

- No.

He left when I did.

How long were you here

after you had come back from marketing?

Just long enough to unload the groceries.

I had to go get Bunny.

Yes, very well.

Mr. Lake, do you have personal possessions

of any value?

Very few, and nothings missing.

Wait a minute.

- No, it's all here.

- Excuse me.

A little over $500 in Swiss Francs

and travelers checks.

Bunny isn't on your passport?

No, she has her own.

Why do you leave so much money

lying around?

I was supposed to go

to Switzerland tomorrow...

to cover

the International Monetary Conference...

- You work for an American newspaper?

- No, magazines.

he's in charge of the London office.

What's this got to do with Bunny?

- I'm temporarily in charge.

- What did you do this morning, Mr. Lake?

- After I left with Bunny?

- Yes, what did you do? Everything, please.

Lets see.

I waited at Frogmore End

for the moving men.

- Where?

- Frogmore End.

It's a house where my boss lives.

he's on a leave of absence right now

doing a job for the U.S. Information Agency.

I used to live with them as a paying guest,

and then when Ann and Bunny came...

- we stayed there till we could move here.

- Five nights, I think.

Four nights. Then we moved in here.

- Why not move here right away?

- The flat wasn't ready until today.

So I waited at Frogmore End

for the moving men.

Then I went to the airport

to cover the arrival of...

- How is all this helping Bunny?

- I don't know yet. Go on, Mr. Lake.

- Then I went back to the office.

- Where?

Grosvenor St. I stayed there

until my sister called me from the school.

Very well. I'll telephone you

the moment we have anything to report.

- Superintendent.

- Andrews knows what I want.

You won't mind

if they take some pictures, fingerprints?

I don't understand.

I don't see how a child can just disappear.

Either you've been the victim

of a very eccentric burglar...

- or...

- Or what?

...the childs things never were here.

- I unpacked them myself.

I remember.

Now I want you to try and remember...

who else saw the child

since you came to England...

apart from you and your brother?

Just try to think of anyone else

who saw her.

- Who saw Bunny?

- Will you think hard about that, please?

Let me have a list.

we'll find her, sir.

Yes, and the bloke, too. Degenerate.

What do you mean?

Hangings a courtesy to that type.

Hangings a kindness.

he's got two girls of his own, sir.

That kid we found up Old Oak Common.

The way we found her, I could have strung

that bloke up personally.

Theyll probably just hit him

with a bloody psychiatrists report...

Come on, Charles. We have work to do.

He takes it all personally.

Good day, sir. we'll be letting you know.

Don't let it be that. Please, God, don't.

Don't let them hurt her like that.

I'd rather she be dead.

Don't. They always exaggerate.

It's the only way

they can make their job seem important.

I never dreamed

it could be anything like that.

It isn't.

That mans a policeman.

He knows about these things.

he's a dumb bastard.

If you'll just listen to me, I'll show you

how it couldnt be anything like that.

- How?

- Because all of her things are gone.

But that doesn't prove anything.

Of course it does.

If youre going to kill a child...

you don't go to the trouble

of getting toys and clothes for it, do you?

And a bib? And a mug?

- No. That's true.

- They went farther than that.

They came here

and got her own clothes and toys.

Why?

Because these people, whoever they are,

want Bunny to be happy and comfortable.

Yes, I can see that.

And if they want her to be happy,

that means they won't hurt her.

Exactly.

But who?

That's what weve got to find out.

But youre not going to be much help

if you go all to pieces like this.

Sorry.

- That superintendent...

- Newhouse?

He asked me for a list.

A list of all the people who

have seen Bunny since we got to England.

Now, what does he need that for?

- Suspects, I suppose.

- No.

Steven...

he sounded like...

he wanted to make sure

there really was a Bunny.

- Come on. Get a hold...

- lf he doesn't believe...

that Bunny was real,

maybe theyll just stop looking for her.

They wouldnt, honey.

They couldnt take that risk.

There is something.

Something I bet the thief missed.

Here it is. Right where I hid it.

What is it?

I bought it for Bunny. It has candy inside.

I hid it there,

so we could play Hot and Cold.

I'll take it to him.

And I want somebody to look at the house.

It's empty, locked.

You'll have to get in somehow.

Number 30 Frogmore End.

Have you got that?

- Yes, sir, 30 Frogmore End.

- Okay.

Steven, I just remembered.

Tell him at least 30 people saw her.

Maybe more.

- What do you mean?

- Everybody on the bus we took to school.

Of course. I'll tell him.

Of course I've seen children disappear

from this school.

I've known children come for one day

and never return again.

It's perfectly feasible, Superintendent.

Children are at the mercy of their parents.

And, for the most part,

parents are a very bad lot.

In some instances,

even undeserving of their children.

- Wouldnt you say?

- But I wouldnt say.

That would make me a suspect,

don't you see?

Queer old party

saves child from undeserving parent.

Now, coming back to Bunny Lake.

That's not her real name, you know.

Not Bunny at all, but Felicia.

Isn't it delicious?

A little affected for an American child...

but I think it shows

a strong imagination at work.

The brother told me quite a lot.

Theres something unusual

about that young man.

Something very unusual.

What exactly did Mr. Lake say to you?

Apparently, she had

this completely imaginary companion.

- Who, Bunny?

- No, the mother, when she was a child.

And she called her Bunny.

It's terribly common among children...

Ionely children, that is.

Why do you think Steven Lake

told you all this?

Lets say we took a fancy to each other.

The whole place was full of

those great men of yours in boots.

I think we both knew

that was no way to find Bunny.

- Why do you say that?

- Perhaps I'm wrong.

I'm alone a great deal, Superintendent.

But that young man is worried

about his sister. Desperately worried.

- Isn't that natural?

- Is it? Natural, I mean?

I should have thought the natural thing

was to worry about the child.

Johnson and Bates, take a look upstairs.

How long do they go back, these records?

I've kept them ever since I came.

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