The Man Who Wasn't There Page #15

Ed nods.

After an uncomfortable beat, through which she continues to

stare:

ED:

...I'm so sorry about your loss.

ANN:

Yes. Thank you.

ED:

Of course, you know, Doris had nothing

to do with it. Nothing at all.

She lays a black-gloved hand on his arm.

ANN:

Oh, I know. Don't worry, Ed. I came

to tell you...

ED:

Yes, Ann?

ANN:

And you should tell Doris...

She falls silent. The trees behind her rustle.

She gives a wary look back. Then, confidingly, to Ed:

ANN:

...You know how Big Dave loved

camping. And the out-of-doors.

Ed is puzzled:

ED:

Yes?

ANN:

We went camping last summer. In

Eugene, Oregon. *Outside* of Eugene,

Ed.

She gives him a searching look, hoping, it seems, that he

will find this significant.

ED:

...Yes?

ANN:

At night, there were lights--we both

saw them. We never told anyone,

outside of our official report.

ED:

Ann--

ANN:

A spacecraft. I saw the creatures.

They led Big Dave onto the craft. He

never told anyone what they did,

outside of his report. Of course he

told *me*. No one else.

ED:

Ann--

ANN:

The government knows. I cannot repeat

it to you. But this thing goes deep,

Ed. This was not your wife. I goes

deep, and involves the government.

There is a great deal of fear. You

know how certain circles would find

it--the knowledge--a threat. They

try to limit it, and--

ED:

Ann, will you come in, sit down,

maybe have a drink?

ANN:

Sometimes knowledge is a curse, Ed.

After this happened, things changed.

Big Dave... he never touched me again.

Ed says nothing.

She touches his arm.

ANN:

...Tell Doris not to worry. I know

it wasn't her. Perhaps this will

bring it out, finally. Perhaps now

it will all come out.

She turns and heads down the walk.

Her high-heeled footsteps echo on the walk, then the sidewalk,

then are lost in the rustle of leaves.

Ed watches her go: a small black figure, growing smaller.

PRISON MEETING ROOM

It is an unadorned room with a simple wooden table and chairs.

One high window lets in a shaft of sunlight.

Ed and Doris sit at the table; Freddy Riedenschneider stands

to one side staring up at the high window, hands dug into

his pockets.

All three are motionless for a long beat. Finally:

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

...It stinks.

DORIS:

But it's true.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

I don't care it's true, it's not

true; it stinks. You say he was being

blackmailed; by who? You don't know.

For having an affair; with who? You

don't know. Did anyone else know

about it? Probably not; you don't

know.

ED:

I knew about it. Big Dave told me

about it, and the spot he was putting

himself in by getting the money.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

Terrific. Your husband backs you up.

That's terrific.

He starts pacing.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

...You've gotta give me something to

work with. Freddy Riedenschneider is

good, but he's not a magician. He

can't just wave his little wand in

the air and make a plausible defense

materialize. Look. Look at what the

other side is gonna run at us. They

got the company books, prepared by

you--*cooked* by you--that's Motive.

They got a murder scene *you* had

access to. That's Opportunity. They

got that little trimmer thing he was

stabbed in the throat with--a *dame's*

weapon--

ED:

It was Big Dave's.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

--don't interrupt me--that's Means.

They got a fine upstanding pillar of

the business community as a victim,

and then they got *you*, a disgruntled

number-juggling underling who on the

day in question was drunk as a skunk

and whose alibi for the time in

question is being passed out at home,

alone.

ED:

*I* was with her.

Riedenschneider gives him a hard look.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

...Like I say, it stinks.

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