Decoy Page #2

Well, what would be the best time?

I couldn't sleep...

- I'm sorry.

- This is Miss...

Shelby, Margot Shelby.

How do you do, Miss Shelby?

Miss Shelby's been waiting to see you.

Won't you come in?

- What seems to be the trouble?

- It's my shoulder, doctor.

It aches a little.

I thought Lloyd Craig

would be easy,

but only part of him reached out to me.

The other part clung desperately

to the ideals that

have driven him all his life.

Ideals that have sent him into the slums

to heal the poor.

Ideals so strong they've become

a shield against his poverty,

his bitter loneliness.

I had to smash that shield.

I had to. I had to. I had to.

Darling?

What's the matter? You look so unhappy.

Oh, that. Don't think about it now.

I can't think of anything else.

Day and night I...

Give me a cigarette.

Please.

Look, Margot. No, don't interrupt me.

I've got to talk about it now.

- I can't go through with it.

- You don't have to, dear.

- But I thought you said...

- I've been thinking about it, too.

I can't stand watching you

fight yourself this way.

I don't want to hurt you.

I don't want to do anything

that's going to make you unhappy.

And us?

- What about us?

- What can there be about us?

What do you mean?

- What about all our plans?

- Our plans?

Why do you think

I want you to save Frankie?

Do you think

I'd care whether he's alive or dead?

Not a bit. It meant money for us.

It meant being together, you and I.

- That's what I cared about.

- We can still be married.

I have my practice, I have my prison work.

- We can start together and...

- No, I couldn't, Lloyd.

- I just couldn't.

- You said you loved me.

Do you remember the first time

I came to see you in your office?

Your dingy, gloomy office

in that dingy, dirty street,

the rotten smell

from the factory chimneys

pressing down on

the shabby little houses?

The slovenly old women,

the gray-faced, dirty little children,

starting out with

everything against them?

I remember that street.

- Do you love me?

- Yes.

But I can't forget your street.

I remember every little thing about it.

And if I had never seen it,

I still could have described it

because that street

runs all over the world.

I know because

that's the street I came from,

6,000 miles from here

in a little English mill town.

But it's the same rotten street,

the same factories, the same people,

and the same

dirty little gray-faced children.

I need you.

Oh, it's no use, Lloyd.

I can't go back to that

sick, unhealthy street,

the street I came from.

I can't go back to it. I can't, Lloyd, I won't.

And I can't leave it. I'm a doctor.

I've been trained to face things

that are sick and unhealthy,

to make them better,

not to run away from them.

And that's what you're trying to do,

run away, run away from reality.

Reality? What do you know about reality?

You like the clothes I wear, don't you?

You like to smell the perfume I use.

You like that, don't you?

That perfume costs $75 a bottle.

Seventy-five dollars.

That's as much as you earn in a week

of sopping up running noses.

A bottle of perfume, that's our reality.

I can't do it your way.

That's what I said.

Doctor Craig's office.

No, he hasn't come in yet.

I couldn't say, he's usually in before this.

Yes, I'll have him call you. Yes. Goodbye.

Here, blow. Blow hard.

What did you say

your address was, Mrs. Noonan?

Three hundred...

- Oh, good morning, Doctor.

- Good morning, Doctor.

Excuse me a moment, Mrs. Noonan.

Mr. Pelletti's been waiting since 8:00.

He thinks his arm is worse.

I don't know who the girl is.

Mrs. Noonan,

the lady with the boy, is new, too.

And Dr. Jones at the clinic

has been calling

and wants you to phone him.

- Here's your call list.

- Save it for later.

Send Pelletti in first.

Lloyd, what's troubling you?

You look as if you hadn't slept for days.

Why don't you talk to me anymore?

- Aren't you listening?

- What?

What did you say?

Nothing.

Mr. Pelletti, the doctor will see you now.

Now, Mrs. Noonan,

what did you say your address was?

- But, Doctor...

- I don't care.

Let someone else deliver his papers.

He's got to stay in bed at least a week.

All right, Doctor. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Do you want your call list now?

- Tear it up.

- What?

You heard what I said.

If any more patients come in,

tell them I've gone away for the weekend.

But, Lloyd, you can't.

Darling, what's happened to you?

You've never acted like this before.

What do you mean,

what's happened to me?

Nothing's happened to me.

I'm tired, that's all.

Tired of patients, tired of my work,

tired of this shabby neighborhood.

And are you tired of...

No, I won't give you a chance to say it.

Good night, Lloyd.

Darling?

That's why I asked to have

you brought here first, Miss Shelby.

Guard.

He won't speak to me,

refuses even to see me,

and there are so few precious hours left.

If you could only make him realize...

Here we are.

Hello, Frankie.

Margot.

- What time is it?

- 5:
00.

Three more hours.

Come here, baby. I want to look at you.

New dress you got, isn't it?

And the gloves and the shoes.

And that silly little hat.

Oh, you're beautiful, Margot. So beautiful.

You're the only thing I hate to leave.

Maybe you won't have to, Frankie.

What do you mean?

Listen, and don't interrupt.

And I don't understand.

What is it that makes them

willing to die without...

Yes, sir.

Yes? Yes, what?

Oh, well... That is...

So, see the Chaplain, Frankie.

Father, you can go in now. He'll see you.

D- I, di.

C- H-O-T, shot.

O- M-Y. Dishotomy.

Ain't that a lulu?

And get this one, didactic.

Hey, why don't you stop reading that junk?

What's the matter with the dictionary?

There ain't enough story to it.

All right, boys, bring him in.

- Anything else, Doc?

- That's all, thanks.

- Okay, wrap him up.

- Hey, Doc, what about the autopsy?

- What have I done now?

- You would have to bring that up.

We can skip it tonight, boys.

There's somebody waiting for me

and it's kind of late.

Okay, Doc.

Come on and help me with the box, Benny.

- Who, me?

- Yeah, you.

Oh.

No, not like that.

How many times do I have to tell you?

Fold it like this.

Now, what's wrong

with the way I'm doing it?

Benny, don't be obfuscatory.

- Call Pete.

- Who, me?

- Yeah, you.

- Oh.

- Nice and tidy, Doc.

- Hey, Pete!

Okay for the pick up.

Here's the order for cremation.

- All right, Pete.

- That'll be all for tonight, Doc?

That's all, boys, thank you. Good night.

- Good night.

- Good night, Doc.

Dishotomy, what a beautiful word.

Dishotomy.

Chotomy.

Hi. Got another oven job.

All right, Pete.

Okay, open them up.

- Everything okay?

- Perfect.

They're gonna put him in the oven.

I've got the orders in my pocket.

Good. Get moving, quick.

- Here's your dough.

- Yeah, thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Vincent.

- Now beat it and keep your mouth shut.

- Hey, wait a minute!

Where's the body

you was gonna switch for Olins?

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