Wait Until Dark Page #6

My lawyer has advised me...

...that if your father makes any more

accusations against my husband...

...he will have to take immediate action.

Do you understand that, Mr. Roat?

Yes. Yes. Right.

Thank you, Mrs. Hendrix.

Thank you.

That lawyer friend of yours isn't

going to stop me, Mrs. Hendrix.

Be right back. With a search warrant.

Must be the wrong number.

Like l said, l'll be right back.

And don't forget...

...don't leave this house.

-Hello?

-Mike, is that you?

-Yes, Susy. ls something the matter?

-I've got it. I've got the doll.

Great.

Where was it?

I'll tell you when you get here.

Can you come right over?

-l'll run all the way.

-Okay.

Oh, and, Mike? Everything's gonna

be all right now, isn't it?

Yes, Susy. Everything will be all right.

Mike?

No!

No.

No.

No.

Carlino? No.

-Operator.

-Operator, the police. Emergency--

-Susy, it's me, Mike.

-You must have the wrong number.

Who was that? Who are you talking to?

Some children. They call sometimes

and say cruel things.

l don't suppose they mean it.

The doll, Susy, where is it?

Where did you find it?

That's the silly part. l don't know

why l didn't think of it.

-l should have remembered ages ago.

-That doesn't matter. Where is it?

-You'll think l'm such a fool.

-Susy, don't complicate things.

-Give me the doll, then Sam will be safe.

-That's what's important.

-lf anything happened to Sam--

-Susy, where's the doll?

l'll get it for you. Would you give me the

key ring that's on the nail by the icebox?

Are these the ones?

Yes.

-You wait here, Mike. l'll be right back.

-Wait a minute. Where are you going?

To the studio. To Sam's studio.

That's where it is.

How do you know the doll's

at his studio?

Gloria just told me.

The little girl with the groceries.

She went over there to do an errand

for Sam, and she saw it.

-And heard it. lt played a little tune.

-Are you sure about this?

Yes, positive. lf it hadn't been for

Sgt. Carlino hounding me...

...l could have told you earlier.

Okay, Susy, fine. l'll go get it.

Where is the studio?

Just two blocks away, 78 West Eighth St.

lt's on the top floor.

And the desk is in the far corner,

away from the window.

lt's a big old thing with a roller top.

You know the kind l mean, with

cubbyholes and pigeonholes and--

-Yeah, l know the kind you mean.

-lt's in the left-hand drawer, the doll.

Gloria said so.

Susy, l'm gonna ask you once more.

This is no time for mistakes.

Are you sure the little girl saw the doll?

Are you sure this is all true?

l'm saving my husband's

life, aren't l, Mike?

l'll be right back. You stay put.

-Make a cup of hot coffee or something.

-Whatever you say, Mike.

Susy! Susy, it's me.

Those men who just went out,

who are they?

-Where are they now?

-Careful. Two of them went up the street.

-The one that looked in the window--

-Carlino. Yes?

Well, he's outside.

Guarding or something.

Now...

...the first thing we have to do

is stay calm.

l'm calm, Susy.

Yes, l know you are. l really know.

lt's the best thing l ever heard.

-Are they detectives?

-No, they're not detectives.

They're sure not detectives.

The one out on the street,

can l get by him?

-Not without his seeing you.

-Then l have to stay here.

-You've never really met him, have you?

-No.

Good.

You know the Port

Authority Bus Terminal?

lt's near 42nd Street. Take a taxi.

The driver will know where it is.

-42nd Street.

-Here. You'll need this.

What should l do?

Ask if the bus has arrived from

Asbury Park.

-Asbury Park. Say it.

-Asbury Park.

Meet every bus from Asbury Park.

Stay all night if you have to.

Sam will be on one of them.

Can you do that?

Of course. What shall l tell him?

Everything. All about the three men.

Sam will know what to do.

-As soon as you're safe, l'll call the police.

-Okay.

l wish something like this

would happen every day.

Oh, l'm a Girl Scout.

Wanna buy some cookies?

Sure you don't wanna buy

a few boxes? l get points.

Buzz off, kid.

Well, okay. Guess l better try to make

points with someone else.

Operator.

No. No.

Oh, no. No. No.

They can't. They can't.

They can't do this. Please, Sam! Sam!

Oh, God.

All right, all right,

l'll meet you in the parking lot.

Okay, bad man.

Susy?

Susy. lt's me, Mike.

How long have you known?

You've been to the studio, Mike.

-Oh, that's right.

-And there was no doll.

More fun still, there wasn't even a desk.

Poor Sam. He really ought

to have a desk.

But you don't know Sam

and about him needing a desk.

-Mrs. Hendrix--

-Susy. We're not strangers.

All right, Susy. Game time's over.

l want the doll.

No.

-l'm afraid you don't have any choice.

-Oh, but l do.

-l do have a choice.

-No, you don't.

Damn it, you act as if

you're in kindergarten.

This is the big, bad world full of mean

people, where nasty things happen.

Now you tell me.

Look, Susy, you listen to me,

and you listen to me good!

l'm through playing around.

You give me that doll,

and you give it to me fast!

Give it to me!

Okay, Susy.

You win.

Sam didn't kill that woman, did he,

Mike? He didn't even know her.

He met her at the airport,

just exactly like he told you.

Did you kill her, Mike?

-No.

-Mr. Roat?

That isn't important.

lt hasn't got anything to do with you

or with Sam. lt never did.

lt was a whole separate thing

for me and Carlino and Roat.

-You don't belong to any of it.

-lt's different with Mr. Roat, isn't it?

l think it's more than the doll with him.

He said he wants to do evil things.

You don't have to worry about Roat.

Roat's dead.

He didn't like us, you know. Any of us.

So we had to get rid of him.

We flipped a coin. Carlino won.

Anyway, it doesn't matter.

What are you gonna do now, Mike?

Disappear. Like magic.

You're a good, strong lady...

-...Susy Hendrix.

-World's champion blind lady.

Oh, yeah.

You're all of that.

-And, Susy?

-Yes?

l want you to know--

What is it?

Mike?

Mike!

What are you doing, Mr. Roat?

Gasoline!

Well, Susy--

Now all the children have gone

to bed, and we can talk.

-What are you gonna do with gasoline?

-Well, you just guess.

Now guess.

No!

Please, no!

-All right!

-l thought that would save time.

l'll get you the doll.

Oh, that's a good girl.

Go to the head of the class.

Mike.

lt's just a chair, Susy,

so you can sit down.

Did you know they wanted to kill me?

l did. l knew it even before they did.

They were awful amateurs, and that's

why you saw through them.

-l saw through you too.

-No, not all the way, Susy.

Even now, not all the way.

The lovely thing was the way

l let them set it all up.

All that silliness of meeting

in the parking lot, the whole thing.

They had comic-book minds, so we did

it their way, right until the end.

And then topsy-turvy.

Me topsy and them turvy.

-Where's Sam? Where did you send him?

-Clever, Susy.

-Where is he?

-He's on his way to Bellevue Hospital.

There was a message for him

when he got to Asbury Park.

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