The Postman Always Rings Twice Page #3

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just once to fix it.

- They hang you for that.

- Not if we do it right.

You're smart, Frank.

You'll think of a way.

Plenty of men have.

He never did anything to me.

But, darling, can't you see how happy

we would be together here?

Without him?

Do you love me, Cora?

That's why you've got to help me.

It's because I do love you.

I guess you do.

You couldn't get me to say yes

to a thing like this if you didn't.

I guess I worked out the details...

...but the original plan was hers.

She got it from an article in a magazine

saying most serious accidents...

...happen right in people's homes.

Mostly right in their own bathtubs.

Will you be able to hear the bathtub

water running from down here?

Can't help hearing it.

He always starts to sing

when he turns the water on.

We'll sink or swim

on how that story's told.

Well, I won't miss.

Nick was taking a bath.

You were outside wiping off the car.

I was ironing in the kitchen.

All of a sudden I noticed

some water dripping from the ceiling.

Maybe we'd better say--

Don't change a word of it.

I know it backwards!

All right, all right. Make sure

he's in the tub when you go in.

Just say you came in

to get some clean towels.

And then...

...when he's not looking, you--

Then what do you do?

Then I lock the door...

...and make sure the water

is still running.

I step out the window,

down the stepladder--

Put the stepladder in the shed.

If anybody sees it, we're sunk.

Don't move away from that car

in case anyone comes along.

Don't worry. If I give you the signal

on the horn, you call everything off.

Nobody stops here

when the lights are out in front.

Cora...

Maybe it would be better if I did it.

We settled that a dozen times. If I go in

there, he won't pay any attention to me.

That your car?

It belongs to the fellow

I work for.

Oh, hello. Yeah, yeah.

So it does. So it does.

Okay, just checking up.

- What's that?

- What's what?

Well...

- Look at that.

- What is it?

Oh, that doggone cat

climbing up that stepladder.

I like cats. Always up to something.

- Frank!

- Shut up! Shut up!

Are you crazy, screaming like that?

Did you do it?

- What happened? All the lights went out.

- A fool cat jumped on a wire.

- Did you do it?

- Yes, I did.

But before I could do anything else,

the lights went out.

He's unconscious,

but he's still breathing.

- Did he see you do it?

- I don't know!

- We got to bring him to.

- No!

Listen, there was a state cop outside

and he saw the stepladder.

- But he mustn't come to!

- He's got to. If he dies, we're sunk.

The cop saw that stepladder.

If he dies, they'll know and get us.

- I'll get him. You phone a doctor.

- Suppose he saw me. What will he say?

Get on that phone and call a doctor!

Operator. Operator, this is Twin Oaks.

I want a doctor.

Any doctor. Quick.

There's been an accident.

But I don't want an ambulance!

I want a doctor!

Frank, will you please stop-- ?

- Oh, so it's you.

- Hello.

- The boss, Mr. Smith, he had an accident.

- So I heard.

- This is Mrs. Smith, isn't it?

- Yes.

This is the district attorney, Mrs. Smith.

He lives near you.

My name's Sackett.

- How do you do, Mr. Sackett?

What happened?

Well, I went in there...

...to the bathroom, I mean,

to get some towels.

He was in there?

Yes, just standing up in the tub.

Suddenly there was a big flash

of fire, a terrible noise...

...and the lights went out

all over the house.

I heard him fall,

but it was so dark, so I...

- The doctor thinks you'd better come in.

- Thank you.

He seems to be coming back

into consciousness now.

Doctor, is he going to...?

I'm afraid I can't make any promises.

That's why I called you in.

Nick.

Nick.

Nick, it's me. Cora.

Nick, don't you even know

your own wife?

And aren't you ashamed of yourself?

Falling down in the bathtub

like a little boy...

...just because the lights went out.

Nick, aren't you going to speak to me?

Everything...

...went dark.

What happened?

- Quick. What happened?

- I stuck to my story.

Same thing here.

What are we going to do? They know

something's wrong. Suppose Nick dies.

That's what we've got to figure

on right now.

I thought so. There's that cop.

I'll lay you 10-to-1 it's the DA's car too.

Watch your step now.

Business as usual, and don't weaken.

Yeah.

- It's me, laddie.

- Oh. Hello, Mr. Sackett.

I'd better look at that fuse box

just for the record.

I was just gonna try to find

some new fuses.

- Right there at the top of the stepladder.

- What's the ladder doing here?

I noticed some insulation

worn off the feed wire...

...but I didn't get around to fixing it.

Well, I'll be doggoned. Look at that!

Yeah, there's your cat.

Deader than a doornail.

- That's right. Remember?

- Sure.

We were looking at her.

She must have walked off

right onto the bare wire.

Boy, those fuses blew out

like a cannon!

- Cats are poor, dumb things.

- Yeah.

- They don't know a thing about electricity.

- Killed her deader than a doornail.

Yes, the cat's dead, all right.

Well, accidents can happen

in the weirdest sort of ways.

So long, laddie.

I never saw a prettier cat.

Killed her deader than a doornail.

- Oh, Frank.

- Easy, Cora. Easy.

- It was all my fault.

- Mine too.

No, it was all my fault.

I was the one that thought it up,

but you didn't want to.

- But next time I'll listen to you.

- Except there won't be any next time.

- Oh, never. Never.

- Listen, baby.

If Nick should die, they'll know.

They always find out.

They guess it right just from habit.

I guess I'm not any braver

than I thought I was...

...or else I wouldn't have been so scared.

I'm plenty scared too.

When all the lights went out...

... I was just a little girl again...

...afraid of the dark.

But from now on you'll be

the brains of this outfit...

...and I'll work so hard for this place.

We can't make any plans

until we find out about Nick.

Yeah, I know.

Answer it.

Hello?

This is Mrs. Nicholas Smith.

What?

Yes.

Yes.

Oh, well...

...thank you so much

for letting me know.

Goodbye.

He's all right. They wanna keep

him for a week, but he'll be okay.

- Now we can breathe again for a minute.

- Just think.

A week. A whole week

to work things out.

You give me a big kiss

before I sock you.

You know, it's after 7:00. We've got

to get this place going for business.

That was the happiest week

I'd ever spent in my life.

I wouldn't let myself think.

And Cora wouldn't even discuss what

was gonna happen when Nick came home.

All I cared about was her being happy.

And as for me,

I felt as if I was riding on a cloud.

Look at that, a battery

and a whole set of plugs.

I'll say everything's fine around here.

One sale.

Will Mrs. Smith be tickled pink! Say, how

about a nice cold drink on the house?

No. Nope, I've got to hurry.

- So your boss is coming home?

- Any day now.

Today, you mean. Sure, I just passed

the car coming from town.

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