Victim Page #5

Tell them there's no

magic cure for how we are.

Certainly not behind prison bars.

I've come to feel like

a criminal, an outlaw.

Do you know what I think, Mr. Farr?

I think boy Barrett's well out of it.

We've never met, Henry,

but we know each other.

You might say that we're pen pals.

Now, they say that you're going

away without paying your debts.

Bad show, Henry. You can expect

to fourish like the green bay tree.

- I-I-I - -

Don't interrupt.

You've been talking to Mr. Melville

Farr. What did you tell him? Hmm?

- I didn't tell him anything. -

Well, now - Now - Now think, Henry.

What did you tell that

fine, upstanding barrister?

I didn't tell him anything.

You ridiculous old sordid,you.

If you could only see yourself.

You look your age tonight, Henry.

What a funny color you've gone.

I think we'll have a little privacy.

You know, I could do

a lot of damage here.

Five, 10 minutes.

And you wouldn't have much to sell.

Lease stop gaping.

There's nothing a little

chat won't put right.

All I want is the answer

to a simple question-

What did you tell Mr. Melville Farr?

- Oh, hello, doctor.

- Evening, Mrs. Farr.

- You should be off home.

- I just wanted to see him finish this.

Mmm. Doesn't seem to be

much wrong with it now.

No, he's been working

happily all afternoon.

Perhaps this'll help him

sort it out for himself.

- Anyway, let me know how he gets on.

- I'll just give him another five minutes.

Well, he was all right

when I left the place.

Making a funny noise in his throat.

But it looks like we have

lost a good subscriber.

No. No, I don't think

he told Farr anything.

Yeah. Yes, you're right. Farr

is showing a lot of interest.

I think we ought to

find out what he's up to.

A cop doing his rounds

found the back door unlocked.

Henry was lying there with

the telephone in his hand.

Shop smashed to blazes.

Henry had a weak heart.

Did you say...

He had the telephone in his hand?

Yes, that's right.

Stone, do you know anybody

called troy Carraway?

No, I've never heard of him. Is

that something to do with Henry?

I don't know whether

it's got to do with Henry.

But there was rather a curious

message at the house tonight.

My housekeeper couldn't quite understand

it. She said the caller sounded drunk or ill.

But apparently he said...

"Troy" or "try Carraway. "

Could that have been Henry?

- Carraway?

- Does it ring a bell?

Carr

- No, wait a minute.

I know a chap who gets his hair cut at Henry's

- He did.

- But i-It's not Carraway,

but it's - - Well, what is it?

Well, it's like it. He's a famous

bloke. Look, you'll know him, I bet.

He's a gallery girl's delight -

Look, Calloway-

Yeah?

There's a Mr. Melville

Farr to see you, sir.

Ah, show him in.

- Mr. Farr, sir.

- Here.

Well, how nice to see you. I

didn't know you were in front.

I wasn't. I was too late for the play.

- Well, never mind. Take a pew.

- Thank you.

I've enjoyed your

performances several times.

I saw you and Lee Hunter

defend dr. Porchester.

- He should have hung, you know.

- There was a moment when we thought he would.

- We were all very relieved.

- Well, what can I do for you?

I've come round to

see if you can help me.

Not another charity matinee.

I've done two this month already.

No, this is something rather

more serious, I'm afraid.

Oh?

This is impertinent...

And I may be mistaken, but...

Did you ever receive an

envelope... like that...

Containing a demand for money?

Is this some sort of a joke?

- Would you tell me how you pay it?

- I don't know what you're talking about.

I think you do.

I have a

- A client...

In the same situation.

I thought you might cooperate

and help me to put an end to it.

Hmph.

- Albert?

- Sir.

Mr. Farr is leaving.

Thank you.

I can find my own way out.

- Can you rustle me up an Evening Standard?

- Certainly, sir.

Right away. Right away.

Hello, teddy? This is tiny.

Thank God you're at home.

I'll be round in 20 minutes.

All right?

Sir, there's been a hairdresser

found dead in Harbourne Street.

Just came through on the teleprinter.

Shop was broken up.

Looks like a murder case.

Harbourne Street.

That's west End Central.

Haven't we enough crime in

this division for you, bridie?

He was a convicted homosexual, sir.

I see.

There might be a tie-Up

with the Barrett case.

If this hairdresser was

paying blackmail too -

I'm quite as good as

guessing as you are, Sergeant.

- Just get me the facts, will you?

- Yes, sir.

If just one of them would

come forward. Just one.

They're afraid of this

sort of violence, sir.

Yes, of course. They're

only little people.

I thought we might have

heard from Mr. Farr though.

Mel.

The boy in the paper

- Barrett.

The one that hanged himself

in Fulham Police Station.

Is that the same boy that phoned here?

Yes. Yes, it is.

You were there yesterday.

Did the police send for you?

- Yes.

- Why?

Apparently they found a book.

He'd kept a

- A scrapbook.

Press cuttings about me.

Pictures.

Why?

Hero worship.

Who was this boy Barrett?

I gave him a lift occasionally.

You never told me.

No.

Papers say he was a wages clerk.

He'd been stealing from his firm.

How did you come to

meet a boy like that?

Back in the spring.

After a late session, he

- When the last buses had gone.

That's only once. You said occasionally.

I know. I know what I said.

Can't we discuss this without turning

the whole place into a battleground?

You stopped seeing him

and he killed himself.

It's Phil Stainer all over again.

No.

It wasn't the same with Stainer.

- Barrett - Barrett was

- - What was Barrett?

When we were married, we had

no secrets from each other.

I made you a promise then. I haven't broken

that promise, if that's what you mean.

Why did you stop seeing him?

He was getting too fond of me.

Are you sure you weren't

getting too fond of him?

Answer me.

I want to know the truth.

I want to know why he hanged himself.

He was being blackmailed.

- That's why he stole?

- Yes.

Someone found out he was a

homosexual and blackmailed him?

That's it.

Takes two to make a

reason for blackmail.

Were you the other man?

Were you?

Tell me everything. I want to know.

I don't want you to.

I'd rather know than guess.

He'd been paying for months...

To stop copies of this...

Going round the temple.

Why is he crying?

I'd just told him I

couldn't see him anymore.

So he knew it was the end?

So did you.

Look at the picture.

There's as much pain in

your face as there is in his.

You haven't changed.

In spite of our marriage, in your

inmost feelings you're still the same.

That's why you stopped seeing him.

- You felt for him what you felt for Stainer.

- That's not true!

You were attracted to that boy

as a man would be to a girl.

Laura, Laura. Don't go on.

For God's sake, stop! Stop now!

I can't stop. I love

you too much to stop.

I thought you loved me.

If you do, what did you feel

for him? I have a right to know.

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