Whirlpool Page #6

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ever since you married me.

I had to pretend I was healthy and

happy when I was sick and miserable.

Headaches, I couldn't sleep.

Afraid to tell you.

Afraid to lose your wonderful love.

Locked away in the characterisation

of a serene and devoted wife.

- Mr Korvo's diagnosis, I imagine?

- Yes, and he helped me sleep.

- By making love to you.

- I was never alone with him!

- You didn't visit his apartment?

- No, I refused, I didn't trust him.

Why do you stick to this story?

Ann, for your own sake, stop lying.

- I'm telling the truth!

- No, you're not.

I've been to his apartment.

You were there. There's proof.

You can't sit there and deny a love

affair that's known to everyone,

to the police, to me,

to a hundred witnesses.

You've made your choice,

you don't want my help.

I can't be of any more use here,

Lieutenant.

I'm sorry, Ann.

He'll be back.

No. He's gone.

He hates me now.

He doesn't hate you,

he's exhausted and miserable.

He was right.

I've been lying to him.

I can say it now

because it doesn't matter.

- I'll never see him again.

- Care to make a new statement?

- I'm entitled to hear it privately.

- That's up to her.

Privately?

It doesn't matter.

I've brought him

such horrible troubles,

and I only wanted to love him.

My husband's a very nice man.

I don't think

there are any nicer or kinder.

It wasn't his fault.

It's the way I am.

I'm telling you all this

because it has something to do

with what happened to me.

I'm a thief.

What?

I stole.

What did you steal, Mrs Sutton?

I stole.

It will be better if he divorces me.

He must. For his sake.

He can't be married to a thief!

I did it before, stole.

In school, when my father

wouldn't let me spend money.

And even after he'd died,

he'd tied it all up in a trust fund.

Thousands and thousands of dollars

but I could never have a new dress,

or have anything I wanted.

That's how I fooled my father,

by stealing.

He didn't love me.

He thought he did but he didn't.

Nobody ever caught me.

I thought it was over

when I left school and met Bill.

I wanted to tell him.

But I was afraid he couldn't

love anybody who'd done that.

I didn't tell him.

It came back!

Because he was like my father!

He treated me like my father did.

And I had to do it again.

I tried not to.

I couldn't sleep and got a pain

and had to do it again.

I stole a pin from a store.

The Wilshire Department Store.

- He saw me.

- Who?

Korvo.

He helped me get away

after they caught me.

And that began your relation

with Korvo?

I've told it!

Is there anything you wish to add,

Mrs Sutton?

Take her back now.

Well, Doc?

I don't know.

She may be telling the truth,

or laying the foundations

for an insanity plea.

She's telling the truth.

That gives us our first link

in Korvo's hold over her. Blackmail.

Quite a peculiar customer,

this Korvo.

(Door opens)

I'm Lieutenant Colton,

Homicide Bureau.

I saw you.

This morning, I think.

Feel like talking?

Not much.

I won't bother you too long, then.

How did you meet Mrs Sutton?

- I imagine she's told you.

- You tell me.

We're checking with

the Wiltshire Department Store,

so if it's true,

you might as well tell me.

It's true.

You saw her steal a pin

and helped her out?

That's right, Lieutenant.

I understand you had quite a talk

with her husband this morning.

Yes.

Difficult conversation but civilised.

No blows struck.

Told all, eh?

Kind of let her down in a hurry.

I'm too adult to cover up

for that kind of woman.

What kind is that, Mr Korvo?

The disloyal wife.

Personally, I have nothing against

women betraying their husbands.

Even our government

is against monopoly.

Oh.

I seem to have offended you.

I take it from your unpolicemanlike

blushes that you're...

a happily married man?

I was.

She died last month.

- Sorry.

- Call bladder operation like yours.

Only it didn't turn out so well.

From a lot of angles.

That operation of yours

saved you a lot of trouble.

- In what way, Lieutenant?

- You'd have made a good suspect.

Better than poor Ann?

Much!

I'll talk it over with you sometime

when you're feeling better.

Just a minute.

You made a startling accusation,

Lieutenant.

It's not fair to leave on that.

We hear you extorted $60,000

from Mrs Randolph.

She was threatening to pull you

into court to get it back.

You beat up Mrs Randolph,

threatened to kill her

if she exposed you as a trimmer.

She died just in time

for you to miss that.

May I ask who's responsible

for these rather stupid rumours?

Dr Sutton.

The husband of a woman

who seems to be guilty of murder?

- At least according to the police.

- Maybe he has evidence.

The recordings of Mrs Randolph's

analysis by Dr Sutton?

You know about that?

It's one of the latest wrinkles

in psychiatry,

wiretapping the subconscious.

The babblings of an elderly siren

being treated for mental disorders

are hardly evidence.

Even for a third degree, Lieutenant.

That's why you're here!

You've been listening to Mrs Randolph

accusing me from beyond the grave.

Why not let me hear the recordings?

I think I'm entitled to know

what else is in them, Lieutenant.

I have a certain standing

that might be ruined by...

What else is in them, Lieutenant?

I'll tell you some other time.

I don't want to tire you now.

Cood night, Mr Korvo.

I had to see you, Lieutenant.

They told me you'd gone home.

I was going to turn in. I'd advise

you to go home and do the same.

No, but this is important.

All right, come on in.

Kind of empty in here.

I usually go in the kitchen.

This afternoon,

after I walked out on Ann,

I began to think.

You know, it's curious when a husband

can ignore eight years of devotion

when a tiny suspicion

flies into his heart.

- It's tough when it happens, Doc.

- But it didn't happen, Lieutenant.

It's the first sane thought that's

come to me since this thing started.

A woman like Ann

doesn't change suddenly.

Some fingerprints

and a few odd circumstances

can't wipe out a woman's heart and

character as if they'd never existed.

It's hard for a man

to believe his wife...

But I'm not believing it.

I've got the key to it and I want you

to listen with an open mind.

All right.

We'll talk it over if you insist.

I'll make some coffee.

You saw me behave like a blind idiot

this afternoon.

I'm supposed to have a brain,

a training,

a science for helping people.

I was sounding off,

attacking a woman that's consciously

never done a wrong thing.

- You've got to believe me.

- I'm listening.

When we found the recordings gone

from my office,

I knew who had taken them.

I couldn't bear to tell you.

Ann. No-one else

could have taken them.

I didn't tell you because it meant

she had stolen them to protect Korvo.

Consciously stolen them for him.

That's what I thought.

All the more reason for thinking

so now. She admits being a thief.

That's the point.

Avery told me what she said

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