RALPHIE How much older do I have to be?
MOLLY
Ten how's that?
62
RALPHIE
Too long to wait. Ten's old.
The phone rings. MOLLY picks it up.
MOLLY
Hello?
94 INTERIOR: THE MARKET, WITH CAT WITHERS.
She's on the phone behind the counter. TESS MARCHANT is running the checkout operation by herself for the time being. There's still quite a line, although with the storm now on the rise, it's thinned a bit. Those people that are left BUZZ EXCITEDLY about the police call to the CLARENDON
house.
CAT
There you are, I've been trying to get you for almost ten minutes.
95 INTERIOR: THE ANDERSON HALL, WITH MOLLY AND RALPHIE.
[Through the rest of this conversation, the director will cut back and forth as he/she chooses, but we should see MOLLY almost unconsciously censoring her end, not asking all the questions she'd like to ask, because little pitchers have big ears.]
MOLLY
I've mostly been out on the porch, handing kids over to their parents. I sent them home early.
What's up, Katrina?
CAT
Well ... I don't want you to be scared or anything, but we got word that there's been a murder on the island. Old Martha Clarendon. Mike and Hatch have gone over there.
MOLLY What?! Are you sure?
CAT
I'm not sure of anything right now this place has been a madhouse all day except that they 63
went over there and Mike asked me to call you and say everything's under control.
MOLLY Is it?
CAT
How do I know? Yeah, probably . . . anyway, he wanted me to call before anyone else did it. If you see Melinda Hatcher
MOLLY
She just left here with Angie Carver. They're carpooling. You can get her at home in fifteen minutes or so.
Outside, the WIND RISES IN A SHRIEK. MOLLY looks toward the sound.
MOLLY Better give her twenty.
CAT
Okay.
MOLLY
There's no chance it's a ... I don't know, a joke? A prank?
CAT Robbie Beals called it in. He doesn't do humor, you know?
MOLLY Yeah. I know.
CAT
He said that the person who did it might still be there. I don't know if Mike would want me to tell you that or not, but I thought you had a right to know.
MOLLY closes her eyes for a moment, as if in pain. Probably she is in pain.
CAT Molly?
MOLLY
64
I'm coming down to the store. If Mike gets there before I do, tell him to stay put.
CAT
I'm not sure he'd want
MOLLY Thanks, Cat.
She hangs up before CAT can say any more. She turns to RALPHIE, who is still examining his birthmark in the mirror. He's so close to the glass that his eyes are rather charmingly crossed. She gives him a big smile that only a four-year-old could believe in; her eyes are clouded with worry.
MOLLY
Let's go down to the store and see your daddy, big boy . . . what do you say?
RALPHIE Daddy, yay!
He jumps down from his chair, then pauses, looking at her dubiously.
RALPHIE
What about the storm? We've only got the car. It slides around in the snow.
MOLLY grabs his coat off the tree by the door and starts getting him into it at superspeed. That big, false smile never leaves her face.
MOLLY
Hey, it's only a quarter of a mile. And we'll come back with Daddy in the truck, because I bet he's going to close the market early. How's that? Sound good?
RALPHIE Yeah, excellent!
She zips his jacket up. As she does, we see she is terribly worried.
96 EXTERIOR: IN FRONT OF MARTHA CLARENDON'S HOUSE.
The storm is still getting worse by degrees; people are now having some trouble standing their 65
ground against the wind-driven snow . . . but no one has left. ROBBIE BEALS has joined MIKE and HATCH. His gun is still in his hand, but with the prisoner cuffed, he looks a little more at ease and has pointed the little pistol at the ground.
MIKE has opened the back of the Island Services vehicle. It has been outfitted to transport stray and sick animals. The floor is bare steel. There's a mesh barrier between this storage compartment and the backseat. Mounted on the wall is a plastic water reservoir with a tube.
HATCH You going to put him in there?
MIKE
Unless you want to sit in the backseat with him and baby-sit.
HATCH
(takes the point) Get in.
LINOGE doesn't, at least not immediately. He looks around at ROBBIE, instead. ROBBIE doesn't care for that.
LINOGE Remember what I said, Robbie: hell is repetition.
He smiles at ROBBIE. A private smile, like the one he gave MIKE. Then he gets into the back of the Island Services vehicle.
ROBBIE
(nervous) He talks a lot of nonsense. I think he's crazy LINOGE has to sit with his legs crossed and his head ducked, but this really doesn't seem to put him out in the least. He is still smiling, his handcuffed hands clasped in his lap, as MIKE swings the doors shut.
MIKE How does he know your name? Did you tell him?
ROBBIE
(drops his eyes)
I don't know. All I do know is that no sane person would want to kill Martha Clarendon. I'll come down to the store with you. Help you clear this up. We'll have to get in touch with the state police 66
MIKE
Robbie, I know this goes against your grain, but you have to let me handle this.
ROBBIE
(bristles)
I'm the town manager here, in case you forgot. I have a responsibility MIKE
So do I, and our responsibilities are clearly divided in the town charter. Right now Ursula needs you over at the town hall a lot more than I need you at the constable's. Come on, Hatch.
MIKE turns away from the furious town manager.
ROBBIE Listen here !
He starts to chase them up the side the Island Services vehicle, then realizes
