The Cat and the Canary Page #6

The poor child's gone stark staring mad.

Shut up.

Every one of you thinks

just the same as I do,

that Joyce has

lost her mind.

But I haven't.

You must believe me.

How can we, Joyce?

After all, when someone starts concocting

a story about a hand

coming out of a wall...

You can't...

You don't really

think that I...

Susan's right.

Every one of you feels exactly

as she feels about me, only...

Only they haven't got

the courage to say it.

I don't.

I know you

don't, Wally.

I've been through enough

tonight to drive anyone mad.

But I'm not.

Now listen.

Wally and I found the necklace

that Cyrus left me in the garden.

Then he said good night to

me and I got ready for bed.

Someone was watching me. I know that now.

Someone who was trying to frighten me.

Then...

Just as I was

falling asleep,

I felt somebody

in the room.

I opened

my eyes,

a long claw-like hand

came out of the wall!

And it came nearer and nearer to me...

I couldn't move

and it touched me.

Very sad.

You'd all like to prove that

Joyce is crazy, wouldn't you?

Because that would give you another

chance at old Norman's dough.

That's pretty rotten talk, Wally.

Well, that's the way I feel.

Personally,

I believe Joyce.

You believe that

fantastic story?

Haven't you clucks ever heard

of secret passageways and panels?

Panels.

Well, how else could

the hand that Joyce saw

come through

the wall?

Let's see this.

It came from

right there, Wally.

Well, there's

nothing here.

Wait a minute.

This is loose.

Hey, what's this?

Listen, baby,

don't be surprised

if we discover an

old skeleton in here.

Crosby.

He's dead.

What a terrible thing.

Poor Mr. Crosby.

It might just as well

have been any one of us.

Can you imagine

being in bed

with a hand reaching for your throat?

Quiet! Where's Joyce?

Miss Lu and Wally took

her into the dining room.

The poor kid. What she's been through.

Isn't anybody going to do something?

Well, if you mean isn't anybody

going into that dark passage

to argue with a maniac, the answer is no.

You know, I doubt very

much that it was a maniac.

Whoever it was in that secret

passage acted quite sanely.

That's right.

What would a lunatic

want with a necklace?

Don't ask me.

You've got to be loony

to answer that question.

Just what's in

your mind, Fred?

Well, I...

Wait a minute.

If somebody's trying to

drive Joyce out of her mind,

it's no

impromptu affair.

Well, one of our little family

party has called the turn

on everything that's happened here tonight.

Uh-huh,

Wally Campbell.

That's a lot

of hooey.

Yeah? Don't

you remember

he wanted to bet you that

Joyce would be the heir?

Yeah.

Well, he was with Joyce when

she located the necklace.

But he wasn't with her when it was taken.

And he knew

where to find

that secret panel

in the wall, too.

If you're hinting that Wally

Campbell murdered Mr. Crosby,

I don't

believe it!

Neither do I.

Oh, darling,

are you better?

Yes, I'm all right but

what were you saying?

Go on. I want

to hear it.

Well, I was just...

Go ahead, Fred.

I'm just saying,

suppose Wally knew

that his name was in that second

envelope. As the alternate heir?

Well, that's ridiculous. How could he know?

How could anyone?

Someone knew.

Both envelopes

had been opened

before Lawyer Crosby

got here tonight.

Now I know what happened to Crosby.

There must be

an entrance

to that secret passageway from this room.

What?

Yeah.

Crosby knew the danger Joyce was in,

and while he was

warning her...

Somebody pulled him in behind

the panel and strangled him.

The explanation

is so obvious

to anyone with

an ounce of brains.

You don't have to get insulting about it.

It was a

pleasure.

Maybe you and I had better

finish this conversation outside.

All right. Fine.

Hey, now. Cut it.

Listen, you gave Wally plenty of reason

for any crack he could

think of. Now cool off!

A fight won't prove who killed Crosby.

That's the important

thing right now.

There's that clock.

It isn't

the clock.

Oh.

Five.

Six.

The warning

has come again.

Oh.

Nothing can

stop it.

Oh.

Last time that gong rang, Mr. Crosby...

All right, take

it easy, Cicily.

I'm going

to my room.

If Charlie will walk

upstairs with me.

Certainly.

And we'll be glad to have you,

Joyce, if you care to join us.

Thanks.

Listen, everybody, until

we can notify the police,

nobody, under

any circumstances,

is to go into that room

where Mr. Crosby is.

Who wants to?

Whether you want to or not, that's the law.

Meanwhile, I'll try to find Hendricks

and send him

for the police.

You know this whole thing

has a phony ring to me.

A killer who thinks he's a cat.

Have you ever seen a man who

looked and acted like a cat?

A woman, yes.

But a man...

Anyway, how do we know a

lunatic escaped from an asylum?

Well, the guard,

Hendricks.

Yeah, but how do you know he is a guard?

Just because he wears a cap and a badge?

You can rent them

at any costumers.

All right. But why?

To frighten you out of

your beautiful wits, baby.

Yes. But why

should he?

Why should he?

I don't know.

I wish I knew who

that next heir is.

Maybe it's a woman.

Let's see. What

women have we?

There's Miss Lu.

Miss Lu,

how about her?

She must know a lot

about that secret panel.

Why has she lived here all these years

if she didn't

expect to...

What's the matter?

I'm going into

that bedroom

and get that envelope

out of Crosby's pocket.

The name of the second

heir is in that envelope,

and the name of the second heir

is the name of the murderer.

Oh, if it turns out to be

my name, I'm only kidding.

Wally, please

don't go in there.

Suppose we've

been overheard?

Suppose the murderer knows

you're on the right track?

What good would

an empty gun be?

But it isn't empty now.

I found the bullets.

Where?

In Miss Lu's

room. Here.

You keep it. Well...

Well, legs,

let's get going.

Oh, Wally, how

can you joke?

I always joke

when I'm scared.

I kind of kid myself

into being brave.

Ain't that silly?

Uh-huh.

Oh, easy,

baby, easy.

I remember a situation

almost like this

in an old play

called The Fatal Hour,

or She Should've

Known Better.

At the end of

the second act,

the leading man takes

the heroine in his arms

and kisses her.

Then, filled

with new courage,

he starts out

after the villain.

And of course, he comes

back in the third act?

Oh, sure.

No, in the third act he's

found dead in the bathtub.

Oh, well, that

was just a play.

I'll leave

the door open.

Say, if anybody comes down, don't

let them know what I'm doing.

Wally!

Wally, what

is it? Wally!

Somebody please! Wally.

What's happened now?

I don't know.

I don't know. Look, is he badly hurt?

He's got a

swell bump.

It's hard to say whether somebody hit him

or whether it

came from a fall.

What was he

doing in here?

He came to get the... To get my jacket.

Charlie?

Hmm?

It's gone.

What?

Crosby's gone.

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