SCENE 5
Dawn had broken over Collinwood more peacefully than the day had started. Laura had left the house several hours ago, deflated from David's rejection. Maggie and Sheriff Patterson left a short while after, once explanations (or what they had of them) were given. Neither Maggie nor George seemed satisfied, but there had been little they could do. Roger had gone to bed once they had left, though Vicki stayed up a bit longer to calm David down.
But Elizabeth hadn't been able to sleep at all. Too many disturbing things had happened, finishing up with David's odd reaction to his mother. It bothered her. Why would he say Laura wasn't his mother? No one wanted Laura here less than she did, but even she knew that Laura was the woman her brother had married. Liz tried to puzzle everything out, but none of it made sense.
Sitting in the drawing room, she saw her daughter pass by the doorway. "Carolyn," she called to her. Elizabeth stood up and went to the hall. Carolyn was just getting to the foyer. "Carolyn!" she called down the hall.
Carolyn stopped, and Liz went to her. "Good morning, mother," she said pleasantly.
"Good morning. Have you talked to Vicki or Roger today?"
Carolyn shook her head. "Nope. Haven't seen anyone else yet. Seems like everyone decided to sleep in today."
"After last night, that's not surprising." At Carolyn's puzzled look, she began to explain. "I need to tell you about that, Carolyn. Something happened last night that affects all of us."
A knock came on the door. Carolyn looked behind her. "I'll get it." She went to the door and opened it. There stood Laura Collins.
She asked, "Is Mrs. Stoddard in, please?"
Carolyn recognized her immediately. She smiled, "Laura."
Laura focused on the young woman for the first time. "Yes?"
"Aunt Laura. I can't believe it's actually you." There was pleasant surprise in her voice.
Laura looked perplexed. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?" She examined her for a moment. "Wait a minute. 'Aunt Laura?' Why, you can't be Elizabeth's little Carolyn," she said disbelievingly.
"That's me."
Laura stepped inside to get a look at her. "My goodness, the last time I saw you, you were ten years old, a gawky little girl in pigtails. Now look at you, you've grown into a beautiful woman."
Carolyn grinned. "I remember when I went to visit you in England the last time. You had these long dangling earrings I used to love to play with."
"If I still had those earrings, I would give them to you," Laura took her arm in a friendly gesture. "They would look great with your face."
Liz stepped up to them. "What do you want, Laura?" She asked testily.
"I told you last night I would stop by today to see the cottage."
Mrs. Stoddard put a hand to her forehead. "I'm sorry, of course, I should've known. I apologize. I didn't get much sleep last night."
"What's this about a cottage?" Carolyn asked curiously.
"Laura may move into the old caretaker's cottage temporarily, so she can get reacquainted with David," Liz explained to her daughter.
"You mean Matthew Morgan's place?" She wrinkled her nose. "That place must be in horrible shape."
"Well, that's why I want to look at it. But I hardly need much; I'm not very picky. I bet it will suit me just fine."
Carolyn got an idea. "Mother, why don't you stay here and rest. I'll show Aunt Laura the cottage." She turned to Laura. "That will give us a chance to catch up."
Elizabeth felt uneasy with Carolyn's suggestion, but unable to put her feelings into words, she agreed. "You know where the keys are, don't you, Carolyn?" She nodded. "Well, then, unless Laura has any objections…"
"None at all. I think it's a marvelous idea."
"Then I think I will go lie down." Elizabeth gave Laura a pointed look. "It was a rather surprising evening last night."
Laura's gaze never wavered from Mrs. Stoddard's eyes. "For everyone." Without another word, Liz headed toward the stairs. As Carolyn and Laura went out the front door, she overheard Laura saying, "I still can't believe how you've grown…" Then the door closed, cutting off the sound of their voices. Troubled by something she couldn't explain, Liz looked after them, concerned.
SCENE 6
That morning, Vicki had breakfast in a small coffee shop in Collinsport. Usually she ate at Collinwood, but today she had felt the need to get out of the great house. She was actually enjoying watching the people heading out to start their day. Shopkeepers and secretaries came in to get their morning cup of coffee before heading to work. Notably absent from the view were the fishermen, who had left in their boats hours before this.
Vicki recognized most of the people who came into the shop (Collinsport wasn't a large town after all), at least by sight, but there was one person she had never seen before. He was a rather attractive young man, blond with boyish face, but that was the least of what drew her attention. He had been sitting at table since before she came in, poring over a stack of files. Whatever he was working on consumed his complete attention, and he barely looked up to tell the waitress he wanted more coffee. Vicki enjoyed watching his diligence.
But another face walked in and distracted her. It was someone she had planned to go see after breakfast. She caught his eye and waved him over. "Morning, Miss Winters," the sheriff said when he got to her table. "Just coffee, Susie," he told the waitress as she approached him. She went quickly to get it. "Didn't expect to see you here this morning," he said to Vicki, placing his hat on the table and taking a seat.
"Actually, I was coming to see you later today." She sipped her own coffee. "I had some questions I wanted to ask you about some things you said last night."
The waitress set George's coffee in front of him. "Thank you, Susie," he acknowledged her before she walked away. Turning back to Vicki, he asked, "What did you want to know?"
"I want to know more about Laura Collins. Too many strange things have been happening involving her. You said you had known her before she and Roger went to England. What was she like?"
George thought back ten years. "Laura Murdoch seemed to be a girl men dreamed about. Beautiful, smart, pleasant. But -" he stopped short.
"But what?" Vicki prompted him.
He shook his said. "I don't know. There was something about her. I'm not even sure what. Something cold." He glanced at Vicki. "I mean, she laughed, talked pleasantly, seemed to be a friendly person. But it never seemed to reach her eyes." He leaned back in his chair. "Of course, I didn't know her well. I only dealt with her in an official capacity."
"You mentioned that," Vicki said. "A case you worked on as a deputy, right?" George nodded. "What was that about?"
"Nothing very complicated. Roger, Laura and a friend of theirs had been out drinking one night about ten years ago. The friend was driving them home, and there was an accident. A pedestrian was killed, and the car left the seen. Hit and run. Laura and Roger were just passengers, but they had to testify against their friend, who went to jail for manslaughter. He got out a few years ago I heard, but never came back to Collinsport."
"Sounds like they had a rough time of it."
"I suppose they did. The three of them had been real close once. Roger and Laura married soon after the trial, then moved to England right after the wedding." He put his hand through his hair. "That was the last I saw of Laura Murdoch Collins until last night. You're right, though, been some mighty strange things going on involving her. Maggie's vision, Roger's painting -"
"And don't forget David's dream. Those would have been odd enough. But finding out that she was supposed to have been dead, then appearing at the door last night was just too much." Vicki tried to puzzle it all out.
"Well, I don't know if I've been any help to ya, but I've got to get back to the station." He finished the last of his coffee and stood up.
Vicki looked at her watch. "I should be getting back to Collinwood myself." She also stood up. It was then that she noticed the young man she had seen before the sheriff came had left. "Oh, he's gone," she said, primarily to herself.
"Who's gone, Vicki?"
"The man who was working at the table behind you. I had been watching him before you came in."
"Who was he?"
"I don't know. I hadn't seen him before, which was another reason he caught my eye." She glanced over at where he had been sitting and noticed something. She walked over and picked a file folder off the table. "He must have forgotten this; he had so many of them. I'll give it to the waitress in case he comes back." Vicki started toward the counter, then stopped. "Sheriff, take a look at this."
George took the file as she handed it to him. He noticed right away why Vicki was concerned. The label on the file said "Collins Enterprises." Concerned himself, he did what Vicki hadn't done, and opened the file. "Miss Winters, I think you'd better take this to Mrs. Stoddard."
"Why? What is it?"
He closed the folder and gave it back to Vicki. "I'm no expert, but it seems to me to be a file on the financial interests and holdings of the Collins family."
SCENE 7
The man was getting angry as he listened to the person on the other end of the phone. Finally his temper broke. "Look, I don't want any more excuses. I paid you to do a job, and I expect you to do it." He was quiet again as the person on the other end tried to explain. It wasn't long before the man cut him off. "I don't care what it takes, or how much it costs. I want you to get me the information I need to destroy the Collins family once and for all."
