Section 3
A.Burglary.
Areyousurethisistherighthouse?
CourseI'msure. Iusedtolivenextdoor, didn'tI? It'seasyandsafe. She'snotbeenoutfortwentyyears. Frightenedtogooutincasesomeonepincheshermoney.
That'sjustwhatwe'regoingtodo, isn'tit? Exceptshe'sin. Whatifshehearsus? Harry: Shewon't. Deafasapost. Probablyhalfblind, too. Livinginthedarkallthoseyears. Comeon, getinthiswindow. Standonmybackandgivemeahandup. Right, nowcomeon. Let'shavealookaround.
Ah, goodevening, you'vecomeatlast.
Blimey!
Oh. ... er ... goodevening. Yeah ... er ... sorrytobelate.
Late! Oh, youarenaughty. Keepingmewaitingheretwentyyears. Andthentryingtosurprisemebycominginthewindow. Andyou'vebroughtafriend, Isee. Goodevening. Ihopeyoudidn'tdamageyourclothescominginthewindowlikethat. Harry'ssuchasillyboy. Stilluptohistricks.
Dotakeachair. AndyouHarry, sitdownandwecanallhaveanicecupoftea. You'dlikethat, wouldn'tyou?
Oh ... er ... yeah, er ... thanksverymuch. Er ... thankyou.
Lovely. Now, won'tbeaminute. Harry, entertainyourfriend, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
Arightmessthisis. Quick, backoutofthewindow.
No. Calmdown. Can'tyousee? It'seveneasier. ShethinksI'mheroldboyfriend. Must'vebeenwaitingforhimfortwentyyears. AllIhavetodoisaskherforthemoneyandshe'llgiveittome. She'soffherhead.
Doyouthinkso? Reckonit'llbeaseasyasthat?
Courseitwill. Nowshutup. She'scomingback.
Shedidn'tevennoticeourmasks.
Oh, shutup.
Hereweare. Anicecupofteaandabun. Now, Harry, youhaven'tintroducedyourfriend.
Oh, no. Sorry. Er ... thisisFred. Yeah ... 'Fred'. Fred, thisis ...
Hello, Fred. Sopleasedtomeetyou. I'mWendy. WendyHartfelt.
Oh, verypleased, I'msure.
Wendy, Iwantedtotalktoyouaboutmoney.
Ahyes, Harry. Iwondered. Iwasn'tgoingtomentionitquitesosoon, butthattenthousandpoundsIlentyoumusthaveacquiredquitealotofinterestbynow, andtimesareratherhard. Now, drinkyourtealikeagoodboyandwe'lldiscusshowyoucanpayitback.
Twentyyearsisalongtimetowait, afterall. Harry? Harry, whatareyoudoing? Comebackinhereatonce. Ohdear. Heisanaughtyboy. ButIknowhe'llcomeback. Alwaysdid. ButI'mafraidhisteawillbecold. Ah ...
B.TheEmptyChair.
Afriendofmine, RobJenkins, almosthadanervousbreakdownlastyear. Itoldhimtogotothedoctor.
Hello, Mr. Jenkins. WhatcanIdoforyou?
Well, doctor... I'mverytenseandnervous. Ihaven'tbeenabletosleepforseveraldays.
Hmm ... haveyoubeenworkinghard?
Oh, yes. I'vebeenverybusy. I'vebeenworkingtwelvehoursaday.
Haveyoubeentakinganypills?
No, butI'vebeensmokingtoomuch, andI'vebeendrinkingalotofcoffee.
Well, youshouldtakeaholiday. Youshouldgosomewherequietandpeaceful, likeCornwall. Whydon'tyougothere?
RobdecidedtogotoCornwallthenextweekend. PenquaywasaverysmallfishingvillageonthenorthcoastofCornwall. TherewerenotrainsorbusestoPenquay, sohehadtodrive. Itwasalongjourney, andRobarrivedlateonFridayevening.
Thelandladyoftheguesthouse, Mrs. Doone, answeredthedoorandshowedhimtohisroom. Robwasverytiredandwentstraighttobed. Hesleptwellanddidn'twakeupuntilnineo'clockthenextmorning.
Robwentdownstairsforbreakfast. Becausetherewerenootherguests, Mrs. Dooneinvitedhimtohavebreakfastwithherandherdaughter, Catherine. Catherinewasalreadysittinginthediningroom. Shewasaboutthirteenyearsold, withlong, blackhairandclear, greyeyes.
Mrs. Doonewenttothekitchentopreparebreakfast. RobandCatherinelookedateachothernervouslyforafewseconds.
Therearefourplacesatthetable. Isthereanotherguest?
Oh, no ... wenevertalkabouttheemptyplace.
Theemptyplace? Whatdoyoumean?
Well, thatusedtobemyfather'splace.
'Usedtobe?'Idon'tunderstand.
Myfatherwasafisherman. Threeyearsagohewentoutinhisboat, andheneverreturned.
Whathappenedtohim?
Nobodyknows. Theysearchedeverywhere, buttheyfoundnothing. Mymotheralwayskeepsthatplaceforhim,andshemakeshisbreakfasteverymorning. Shethinkshe'llcomeback. That'saphotographofhim ... overthere, onthewall. Mymother'sbeenwaitingforhimforthreeyears.
Robsaidnothing, buthelookedveryworried. AtthatmomentMrs. Doonereturned. Shepouredfourcupsoftea, andputonecupintheemptyplace. Roblookedmoreworriedandhestaredattheemptychair. Suddenly, heheardfootstepsoutsidethedoorandatallman, withablackbeard, walkedintotheroom.
Roblookedterrified. Itwasthemaninthephotograph! Hejumpedupandranoutoftheroom.
Whowasthat? What'sthematter?
Idon'tknow. Idon'tunderstand. He'saguestfromLondon. Hearrivedlastnightwhileyouwereasleep.
Catherine! Doyouknowanythingaboutthis?
No, Idon't, father. Buthe'sherebecausehe'sverynervous. Hesayshe'shidingherebecauseatallmanwithablackbeardistryingtokillhim.
Catherine, haveyoubeentellingstoriesagain?
Stories, father? Me? (laughing)