Lady in the Lake Page #8

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And that we're bringing in a Mr. Marlowe.

Car 71. Calling headquarters.

Come in, please.

What was that?

Number, please.

Drexel.

3-3-3-9-1.

Your number, please.

- Thank you.

Deposit 15 cents for five minutes, please.

When you've finished your call...

Shut up and get me my number.

Hello.

This is Marlowe.

- So you've changed your mind.|- I told you I'd call you if I needed you.

I'm in a phone booth at a gas station.

On the South Road. About two miles out.

Left side of the road. Come and get me.

Come and get...

What's the matter, Marlowe?

I'll be right there as fast as I can make it.

Hello?

Christmas morning.

time on any Christmas Eve in years...

death has taken a holiday.

of traffic accidents reported...

but none which have ended in a fatality.

- You woke up.|- Yeah. I wish I hadn't.

You're in terrible shape.|Take a look at yourself.

Oh, brother.

- "'Twas the night before Christmas"|- I'm going to fix you.

"And all through the house"

- It's going to sting terribly. Hold still.|- All right.

"Not a creature was stirring"

- Not even Marlowe.|- Hurt much?

No.

Not much. How did I get here?

Did you ever try to pull anybody|out of a telephone booth?

Luckily, a sailor came along|and helped me.

He thought he was going to have a date|with me later, but... What's the matter?

Don't get any cute ideas.

The doorman brought you up.|He undressed you.

Was he a nice doorman?

Yes, he was quite tender with you|as doormen go.

Doesn't he think anything|of dragging bruised, unconscious men...

up here at this time of the night?

Don't you know better|than to drive after drinking?

You reeked of whiskey.

I told him you were drunk|and had fallen down.

Why? Afraid he'll call the police?

No. I love policemen.

I love a policeman named DeGarmot.

- Does he love you, too?|- Like a brother.

If he catches me, I'll go to the clink.|He's a fine young man, this DeGarmot.

- What's he got to do with this?|- That's what I keep asking myself.

How did he know I was going to visit|Florence Almore's folks?

He was there before me.

And he was there waiting|when I came out.

Why?

Florence Almore?

Female who committed suicide|a year and a half ago.

- I wonder if Kane...|- Quit wondering, Marlowe.

Get out of it.

Why work for Derry or anybody else?

It's none of your affair. Stop getting|involved in other people's murders.

Why be a private detective at all?

Why eat? You only get hungry again.

You don't have to make a living that way.

If I Should Die Before I Live?

That wasn't for nothing.

No. That was for $500, and you got|part of my soul with it, and my services.

I wish you'd make up your mind|what you want me to be.

I have made up my mind.|I could help you write.

I know all the little tricks.

We'd be fine together.|In everything, we'd be fine together...

if only you just...

Just what?

I don't know.

You don't think I'm honest.

I want you to know that I am.

It's that, well...

I've been a long time wanting things...

thinking I wanted things.

What do you think you want now?

It's not a matter of just thinking I want it.

I want to take care of you.|Maybe it isn't glamorous. I don't know...

but I want to be your girl.

That's what I want for Christmas.

- Don't laugh at me.|- I'm not laughing.

No, you're not, are you?

You close your eyes, too,|don't you, darling?

It's just like you said that day.

We're both alike. In everything we're alike.

We'll be fine together. We will, won't we?

This is what the world is really like,|isn't it?

Yeah.

Why are you frowning?

Did you bump that guy off?

How can you say that?|Why are you so suspicious?

- I got to try and think of everything.|- Don't. Think of me.

Everything is going to be different now.|I'm wiping the slate clean.

- Nobody ever wiped murder clean.|- Who's trying? I'm not guilty of anything.

- Quit being a detective.|- I can't till this is over.

- I thought...|- Sure.

You're my girl.|What's that got to do with it?

You're in love with me.

I might have killed someone, but it doesn't|matter, it has nothing to do with it.

Ever since I was a little girl, I've been|reading in books about love like this...

but I never believed it.

Two people, who in spite of everything...

I was going to be the bright girl|with big-league boots...

and a glass heart, stepping over people.

It must have been somebody else.

I'm gonna start all over again.

Fromsett, crying?

I always do on Christmas Eve, and each|time I fall in love. It's a Fromsett tradition.

Where do you usually|spend Christmas Eve?

In a bar. Where do you?

In a nightclub. Here we are.

- Better for both of us.|- Yeah.

Darling, you're tired.|You've got to get some sleep.

I wish I could tell you how I feel.

You mean you've got that|"I'm scared, but it's wonderful" feeling?

Yes.

- Scared, but...|- Yeah, scared.

- You're not scared of me?|- I don't know.

I'm glad. It proves how you feel.

You see? I'm glad about everything.|I've never felt this way before.

You go to sleep now.

- Good night.|- Good night.

Do you like it?

Yeah, it's beautiful.

It's your Christmas present, darling.|Be right with you.

It really looks very good on you.|Awfully glad you like it.

- I feel kind of silly.|- Why?

Well, I didn't get you anything.

The truth is|I didn't get you anything, either.

I bought it for Kingsby.

Well, why don't you say something?

I don't know what to say,|except you didn't have to tell me that.

I know I didn't.|But I didn't want to start out with any lies.

I hate liars. That's the reason|I left the tag in the pocket.

If we do start this new thing together, this|life, what are we going to use for money?

Well, we can start with the story|you wrote and go on from there.

- We'll make lots of money.|- You mean from what I write?

Why not?|Together, we could own the world.

There you go again,|wanting to own the world.

No. All I really want to own is you.

That's better. At least it's simpler.

May I own you?

Sure, and if you're the guilty girl,|where does that leave me?

Besides,|I've got another worry this morning.

What other worry, darling?

They'll discover in Bay City about now...

that that drunk they found|in my car last night isn't me...

and DeGarmot will go crazy.

He'll start on the prowl, looking for me|with a cold howling heart of hate...

and a gun full of bullets to try and stop me|from talking about what I don't know.

Don't frighten me, darling.|Not on Christmas morning.

I don't want to think about it, not today.

Let's give ourselves today.

And by the way, Marlowe...

- Yeah?|- Merry Christmas.

"'Merry Christmas, Bob Cratchit.

than I've given you in many a year.

and buy another coal scuttle...

"'before you dot another "I, "Bob Cratchit. '

He did it all and infinitely more.

he was a second father.

as good a master, and as good a man...

And it was always said of him...

how to keep Christmas well...

the knowledge.

"May that be truly said of us, and all of us.

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