237 - May 23, 1967

[bunniefuu]

[narrating]
- My name is Victoria Winters.

The mysterious disappearance of a girl

has baffled everyone at Collinwood

and those who are close to her.

The girl, seemingly dead, has left no traces.

A desperate search is underway

to find her before a horrible fate

destroys her forever.


- Of course, Mr. Evans.

Please don't feel too discouraged.

I'm sure they'll find her.

I'm going out myself in a little while

to look for her.

Is there anything I can do for you?

All right. Then you'll let me know

if she turns up?

Well, I'll come by the cottage.

Goodbye.


- Good morning, Vicki.
- Good morning.


- Well, the phone has been ringing with

a very persistent jingle all morning.

What's going on?


- Maggie Evans just disappeared.


- Disappeared?

Now what does that mean?


- It means that she was taken to the hospital

in very critical condition last night.

The nurse left her alone in the room for a minute,

and when she came back, Maggie was gone.


- Do you mean to say that she had...

gotten up out of her sickbed and then just walked out?


- No one knows.

There is a possibility that someone took her out.


- Oh, well now, you had better check your facts

before you go around making accusations, you know.

Well, it's quite possible that she just walked out.


- I don't think so.

The reason that the nurse left the room

was to call the doctor,

because Maggie Evans seemed to be dead.

♪♪

♪♪


- Dead? Now, what does that mean?


- The nurse looked at Maggie

and saw that she wasn't breathing

and that she had all the outward appearances of death.

So she ran out to get the doctor and...

and when they returned, Maggie was gone.


- Well, now, I find that hard to believe.


- It's true!


- Well, I certainly wouldn't want to be

confined in that hospital.

[knocking on door]


- Burke, Sheriff.
- Hi, Vicki.


- Have you found Maggie?


- Not yet, I'm sorry to say.


- Please, come in.


- Burke and I have been discussing, uh,

certain aspects of the case,

and I was hoping that I could ask you

a few questions, if you don't mind.


- Oh, of course. Let's go inside.


- Hello, Jason.
- Hello, Burke.


- Sheriff, this is Jason McGuire.


- Mr. McGuire, hello.


- How do you do, Sheriff?
- I've seen you around town.

I have been meaning to have a little chat with you.


- Have you now? Well, I look forward to that.


- Shall we go inside?


- Excuse me.


- Mr. McGuire, would you, uh,

be good enough to join us?


- Well now, I was actually on my way to work.


- I think it might be a good idea if you heard this.


- Well, of course.

Naturally, I'm concerned about Maggie Evans.

Poor thing.


- Please, sit down.


- Thank you.


- You look very tired, Burke.


- Yeah, we searched all night.

I've only had about two hours sleep.


- Burke and I ran into each other this morning.

We had breakfast together and discussed the case.


- Have you any idea where she could be?


- No. My men have combed the area,

we've looked everywhere.

So far there is not a single clue.

She either got out of that bed

or was taken out with great speed,

because she was left alone for less than a minute.


- I understand that her window was open.


- Yes, and that's

one of the most discouraging aspects of this case.

Naturally, we thought there would be

a
-
- a trail leading from that window,

so we got the bloodhounds to come over,

and, well, they sniffed and sniffed,

but they couldn't seem to pick up any scent at all.

They just ran in circles.

One of the men who was handling the dogs said he'd...

Well, he had never seen them act quite like that before.

They just... some of them were even shaking

as though they were afraid of something.

Well, I've called the county and state police,

and they are going to help us.

We're going to find her, but meanwhile,

I've still got to continue investigating

the possibility that

some person or persons unknown

had something to do with her disappearance.


- I told the Sheriff about the phone call,

telling that Maggie was out at the cemetery.


- Yes.
- I understand you couldn't recognize the voice.


- It was muffled.


- Well...

Maybe that's a very good indication

that the voice belonged to someone that you knew.

Someone who couldn't risk being identified by you.

What did the person say?


- He said that Maggie was in a cemetery

and to hurry.

I had the feeling, though, that he did

want to say something more, but he hung up.


- Were there any other unusual occurrences,

either before or after the phone call?


- Well, we left for the cemetery

immediately after the phone call,

and I can't think of anything unusual

that happened before.


- Did you have any conversations at all

with anyone before it?


- Yes, I did.

Willie Loomis came by the cottage.


- Oh, yes, Burke told me.

Well, was his behavior unusual in any way?


- Well, he's always a little bit odd.

He came by with a message for Mr. Evans,

and when I told him that Maggie had disappeared,

he did become very disturbed.


- Tell me...

How long after Loomis left did you get the call?


- About ten minutes.


- Now think carefully, Vicki.

Could the voice on that phone

have possibly been that of Willie Loomis?


- I couldn't say one way or the other.


- I see.

I think it just may be time to have

a little heart to heart with Willie Loomis.


- You coming, Burke?
- No, I'm going to have

a few words with Vicki.


- Sheriff, I'll see you to the door.

Excuse me, Vicki. Burke.


- Sure.


- Sheriff,

I realize this is a very unusual

and serious case.

But do you think you should really be going around

accusing a man like Willie Loomis?


- There is a difference between accusing and questioning,

Mr. McGuire.


- Yes, well, then, since you don't know him,

perhaps I should tell you that

he is the kind of a man

that's very easily misunderstood.


- Well, I'm afraid I'll have to be the judge of that.

He's been involved in several incidents in town.

Were they also misunderstandings?


- Most of them, I'm sure.


- You... brought him to town, didn't you?


- Yes, well, we just happened to be

traveling together.


- He has a police record.


- Oh, yes.

Well, he spent a little time in jail,

but it wasn't for anything very criminal, you know.

It was a...


- A misunderstanding.


- That's it. Exactly.


- Tell me, Mr. McGuire, do you...

do you also have a police record?


- Oh, well.

I'm sure you checked me out

at the same time as Willie Loomis.


- Just the routine, you know,

strangers in town kind of thing, that's all.


- And? Did you find anything?


- No, you seem to be clean.


- Oh, I am, Sheriff.

That I am.


- Just a routine question, Mr. McGuire.

Do you have any information

that might be helpful in this case?


- I wish I did, Sheriff.

I really wish I did.


- I don't have much patience with people

who withhold information.


- Oh, now, neither do I.


- Well, it's been nice talking to you.


- Yes. It has been pleasant, hasn't it?


- Well, let's hope it stays that way.

I'm going to go down to the old house now

and introduce myself to your friend Willie.


- Well, I hope you two get along as well as we have.


- I hope so.


- Where could she be?


- We'll find her, Vicki.


- I don't think it's gonna be as simple

as just searching for her.


- What do you mean?


- Well, everything that's happened to Maggie lately

has been unusual and strange.

There's one thing that disturbs me

more than anything else.


- What's that?


- It's what the nurse said...

That Maggie was dead.


- Vicki... Don't jump to conclusions.

Now, I'm gonna go talk to that doctor right now.

Do you want to come along?
- Yes, I would like that.


- He can clear it up for us.

In all probability, the nurse made a mistake.


- Did she?

Did she really?


- Hello?

Anybody here?

Loomis?


- You're Willie Loomis, aren't you?


- Yeah, I am.


- What's the matter?


- I didn't expect to see anyone.

You took me by surprise.


- Well, I knocked, the door was open.

No one answered. Is Mr. Collins here?


- No, he isn't.


- When do you expect him back?


- Tonight sometime.


- I see
-
- well, actually it was you

that I wanted to talk to.


- Me? But what about?


- I am investigating the disappearance of Maggie Evans.

You know her, don't you?


- I know her.


- Can you account for your time

between : last night and : a.m. this morning?


- Yes, sir. I was in Bangor.


- All night?
- Yes, sir.


- Got back this morning.


- Is there anyone who can testify to that?


- Well, yes, sir. Mr. Collins can.

Is that all?
- No, it isn't.

This is the second time that Miss Evans has disappeared.

I want to ask you a few questions

about the first occurrence.


- Well, I can tell you right now,

I don't know anything about it, sir.


- Were you anywhere near the cemetery on Eagle Hill?


- No.


- That night, you went over to the Evans house,

you had a conversation with Miss Winters

in which she told you that Miss Evans was missing.


- Yeah, that's right.


- Yes, and she said that you seemed

very disturbed when she told you that.


- Well, yeah. I mean, I was worried about her.

I mean, she's a nice girl,

and I hope she was all right.


- What did you do when you left the Evans house?


- Well, I came back up here, now
-
-

Mr. Evans will tell you that.


- Did you make any phone calls?


- Uh... there's no phone here.


- I asked you if you made any phone calls at all.


- No.


- You didn't call the Evans house again

and have another conversation with Miss Winters?


- No.
- You didn't tell her

that Miss Evans was in the cemetery?


- Did she tell you I did?


- I'm asking you!


- Well... I didn't, honest.


- Loomis, you listen to me. If you have any information

about this case, you had better come out with it right now.


- I don't. Now, I swear I don't.


- Your police record is sitting on my desk, Loomis.

A lot of strange things

have happened in this town since you came into it.

Now, I am warning you.

I'm going to watch you like a hawk,

and if you step out of line,

I'm going to send you back to prison

to do hard time.

Is that clear?


- Yes, sir.


- And if that girl turns up dead,

I'm going to book you on suspicion.


- How could the nurse say that Maggie was dead?


- Because the poor girl, after cursory examination,

appeared to be dead, Vicki.


- From your own examination before that,

what was her condition?


- The last time I examined her,

she did seem to be putting up a fight.

You gotta remember, though,

that she was perilously close to death

several times before.


- Well, Dave, can't we just assume the nurse made a mistake?


- Well, you can assume whatever you like.

But, well,

it was the first question I asked the nurse,

and she was pretty insulted by it.

Remember now,

this is an experienced professional.

She is a nurse that I trust and I depend on.

She states emphatically that,

as far as she could tell, Maggie Evans was dead.


- Doctor, if Maggie Evans was dead,

that means someone took her body.

I think that's unlikely.


- So do I.


- Well, then what do you believe?


- Well, Vicki, at my most optimistic,

I can hope that the nurse was wrong.

Either of you care for a cup of coffee?


- No, thank you.
- Black, please.


- It's possible, you see, that,

after such a severe loss of blood,

Maggie went into shock,

and after that she went into what we would call a...

a catatonic seizure,

which would have produced

all of the external appearances of death.

Now, you put that together

with Maggie's recent history of sleepwalking,

and it is quite possible to hope that she is still alive

and operating under her own power,

if not completely under her own control.

Now, if that's true,

she's got to be found before she comes to more harm.


- Dave, have you ever had a case like this before

or heard of a case?
- No, I have not.

I've never even heard of one.


- What next, then?


- Well, I'm expecting the lab reports

on those blood tests I took the other night.

They ought to tell us something.

And I've contacted some of my associates

to see if any of them

have ever had any experience with this sort of case.


- Well, there is a case very much like this

right here in town, Willie Loomis.


- Well...

His condition did vaguely resemble this, Vicki,

but it was never,

by any means, as far advanced.

As a matter of fact, it seems to me he recovered.

Well, anyway, I never got a chance to follow up on it.

You know, Burke, it might not be a bad idea

to get him in here and let me have a look at him.

It might be helpful.


- Well, you let me know when you want him.

I'll make sure that he gets here.


- There's still one aspect of this business though

that has me completely baffled,

and I have a feeling it's a key

to the whole affair.

So far, though, I haven't been able to...

find a trace of anything like it in my research.

[Burke]
- What is it?


- Those puncture wounds on Maggie's throat.

What do they mean?


- [knocking on door]


- Jason!


- Well, you remember me, huh?

I want to have a little chat with you, Willie.


- Well, I can't.
- What do you mean, you can't?


- I'm busy, I got a lot of things to do.


- Are you closing the door on me, Willie?


- I can't talk to you now, I can't.


- What are you trying to pull?


- I'm just busy, that's all.


- Well, I'm going to have a few words with you, Willie,

whether you want them or not!


- Where's his nibs?


- He'll be here anytime now.


- All right, then. I'll make this fast.

The Sheriff questioned you today.


- Yeah.


- What did you tell him?
- Nothing, not a thing.


- He is trying to pin the disappearance of that
-
-

that girl on you, isn't he?


- He can't, he got no evidence.


- Oh, but can he get evidence, Willie?


- No.
- Are you sure?

You had nothing to do with it?


- Jason, I got a lot to do.


- Oh, no, don't you try to give me the bum's rush, Willie.

The Sheriff and everybody else is putting his finger

right on you.

Because of that, they're looking very closely at me.

They're checking me out very carefully,

and so far I am very clean,

and I intend to stay that way.

I have a great deal at stake here,

and I'm not going to let you ruin it for me.

Now, I want you to quit your job and move on.


- I can't.
- Oh, yes you can, Willie,

and you will, I'll see to it.


- Look, Jason...

I want you to get out of here now.

I don't wanna talk to you or see you anymore.


- Well, I feel exactly the same way about you, Willie,

but we have some unfinished business

to take care of.


- Come on now, get going.


- Willie, don't get pushy with me.


- Come on!


- You know, I have a good mind to fix you good.


- I told you to get out!


- Are you raising that hammer at me?


- Jason, you get out of here and never come back!


- [Jason chuckling]


- [Willie screams]

[Willie grunts]


- Now...

That's just a start, Willie.

just a sample of what you're going to get

if you don't clear out of here.

Now you are going to do exactly as I tell you,

because, if you don't,

I am prepared to go all the way, Willie.

I'll go all the way, my boy.

And you know that I will.

[dog howling]

[howling continues]

[dog snarling]

[howling]

[louder howling, snarling]

♪♪

[announcer]
- "Dark Shadows" is a Dan Curtis production.