Bunny Lake Is Missing Page #6

She was a great believer in the hereafter.

Do you believe in life on another planet?

Seems quite unbelievable enough

to me on this one, I think.

Anyhow, Mother used to spend

most of her time in church...

the Church of Christ the Spiritualist,

having long talks with my father.

It's funny, he never had much to say to her

while he was alive.

But once he was dead,

apparently he never shut up.

Anyway, I sort of got into the habit

of taking care of Ann.

She was my responsibility.

A bit of a burden, wasn't it, on a schoolboy?

- I didn't think of it that way.

- Your mother?

She died almost two years ago.

- Any communications with her since?

- Not a peep.

When you were at school,

wasn't Ann lonely?

No more so than any other child.

What did she do to fill in her days?

Reading, I suppose.

Books, dolls, that sort of thing.

- Alone?

- Most of the time. We lived in the country.

Look, wheres all this getting us?

Children, lonely children,

often make up imaginary playmates.

- Did your sister ever do anything like that?

- Not that I know of.

I'm terribly sorry

if weve inconvenienced you...

but we're just following our instructions.

You've made me miss my plane.

we'll book you on another plane as soon

as you've answered a few questions.

You mustnt be cross with me

because I betrayed your little secret.

After all, I didn't know it was a secret.

- Perhaps if you had told me...

- What precisely was it he did tell you?

He began by asking me if it were unusual

for a child to invent a playmate.

- And is it?

- Quite the contrary.

It's one of the most common

of childhood fantasies.

I recall one case, quite outr...

- but that's neither here nor there, is it?

- I'm afraid not.

Then he told me

his sister had made up a child.

He said when his sister was 5 years old...

she'd invented another little girl

who she named Bunny.

And that after a time, she began to think

of this Bunny as being her own child...

- not only a friend.

- Mr. Lake?

She has a good memory,

except for one detail.

- I wasn't talking about my sister.

- I never lie, Superintendent.

That makes you

a most unusual woman, Miss Ford.

- Did he say it was his sister?

- Not in so many words, perhaps...

but we'd been talking

about his sister earlier.

If it wasn't about Ann,

then why did you tell her...

that the name of the imaginary child

was Bunny?

I couldnt remember the real name,

so I used Bunny hypothetically.

That's reasonable.

It's not reasonable,

and Mr. Lake is a most frightful liar.

I give up.

What was your purpose

in paying Miss Ford a second visit?

- To soften her up, to get her talking.

- Why?

- I had a feeling that she knew something.

- What could I know?

This room, this flat,

have been my whole world for years now.

This room and this flat

are on top of this school.

What are you implying?

That she wants to prove an imaginary child

to get the school off the hook.

You would do anything, almost anything,

to protect your sister, wouldnt you?

What's that supposed to mean?

If Bunny were a phantom...

if your sister were delusionary,

would you admit it?

I've had it, Newhouse.

Just give me half an hour to square things

at the office, then I'll get busy.

I'll find Bunny without you.

You'll be lucky

if they still let you hand out parking tickets.

If you won't come to the party, duchess,

the party must come to you. Have a drink.

I give you golden whiskey, Scottish wine.

I give you a sight of some

very interesting African gentlemen...

whose heads shrunk in the wash.

I give you dark diamonds

of Elizabethan poetry...

set in the velvet of my melodious voice.

And all you do is sit

staring at that small mechanical instrument.

Please go away.

What is it, duchess? Are you cold?

Is that buttermilk flesh all frozen?

What, cold, my girl?

Some would be honored,

may I tell you that, by my touch?

There are those at the BBC who bear,

like medals...

bruises left by the love of Horatio Wilson.

Is that the patter of tiny feet...

or the great thumping boots of a constable?

Nothing yet, I'm afraid. Nothing definite.

- It will increase your melancholy...

- Who are you?

No autographs,

but you may touch my garment.

Andrews, take Mr. Wilson back to his flat,

will you?

Is this where we get police violence?

Go with Andrews, please.

I'm afraid you'll be disappointed.

All right. I was just about to go.

Good night, duchess.

Sorry that drunk pestered you.

Ever heard him read poetry?

It's like a Welsh parson

gargling in molasses.

Wheres Steven?

He had to get back to his office

for a little while. He won't be long.

- Looks as if you have a starved mouse.

- I tried to eat, but it made me sick.

If you don't eat, you'll just collapse.

That won't help Bunny, will it? Come along.

The poor nuns used to lash each other...

into positive frenzies of self-mortification.

For myself, I find the sensation

rather more titillating...

if you'd care to have a bash.

- No, thank you.

- No, I can't say I blame you.

Hardly what one would call

a proper whip, is it?

More like a plaything.

But this one...

You simply must try this one.

It's my particular pet.

It's reputed to have belonged

to the great one himself:

The Marquis de Sade.

I have his skull here.

At least, that's what they told me

in the Caledonian market.

But theres nothing like his very own whip.

So lovely. So very lovely.

One ham and one cheese sandwich,

and a large brandy and soda.

Yes, sir.

Couldnt see anything in his flat...

but he could have taken

the little girls things any time this morning.

- Why should he, I wonder?

- Bloody pervert, if you want my opinion.

Kept on asking Rogers to strike him.

Please, Andrews, he works for the BBC.

While we're here...

go through the Lake flat again, will you?

See if anythings changed

since this morning.

Several hundred American troops

in West Germany...

in full Battle kit,

moved up this morning to Helmstedt...

the control point of the autoBahn to Berlin.

- Youre trying to tell me something terrible?

- Why?

I don't know. Youre being so nice.

- I tried to make out that list.

- List?

- The people whod seen Bunny.

- Yes, the list.

There isn't anyone special.

Just the people on the bus this morning...

or at Southampton

when we got off the boat.

I see.

She had a cold. I kept her indoors.

I did find something

I bought for Bunny this morning.

- Did Steven give it to you?

- Yes, he showed me.

Why don't you do something?

Why don't you find her?

We repeat, and ask our viewers

to pay special attention...

No stone, as they say, unturned.

The search for the child who disappeared...

from a Hampstead nursery school

this morning continues.

The police say that the child

is fair-haired, aBout 3 feet high...

is wearing...

Ever been in a pub before?

No.

Here it is, the heart of merry old England.

Complete with dirty glasses, watery beer...

drafts under the doors,

and a 23-inch television.

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