February 1967

Episode 158
Tape Date: January 25, 1967 (ABC #23-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 1, 1967 Wednesday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: Lela Swift

The doctor is called again to examine Elizabeth. He is with Roger
in her room, examining her. He goes to Roger and tells him, “This
is the strangest case I’ve ever seen. Never seen anything like it.”
Roger asks, “What is it?” The doctor replies, “Let’s talk about it
outside.” Roger and the doctor go downstairs. In the foyer, the
doctor tells Roger, “I can’t find anything physically wrong with
her. Every test I’ve done comes out OK. But there are tests I can’t
do here.” He suggests that Elizabeth be taken to a hospital in Boston
for further tests and asks, “Do I have your permission to do this?.”
Roger replies, “You have my permission, but that’s not the problem.
The problem will be getting hers. It’ll take a stick of dynamite
to get her out of this house.” The doctor replies, “It’ll have to
be done.”
Carolyn and Vicky are inside the drawing room. Roger comes in and
tells them what the doctor said. Carolyn tells him, “It’ll be hard
to convince her to leave the house.” Roger replies, “We’ll have to
try.”
Roger goes upstairs and tells Elizabeth the doctor wants her to
go to a hospital in Boston. Elizabeth exclaims, “That’s inpossible!
I won’t leave this house. It’s just fatigue, that’s all, nothing
more. A few days rest and I’ll be fine.” Roger tries to convince her
she needs to go to Boston, but she refuses. She asks to speak to
Carolyn. Roger brings Carolyn, who’s just outside, in. Elizabeth
tells Carolyn, “You’re my daughter and they can’t do anything to
me without your permission.” She asks her to promise not to let them
take her to the hospital. Carolyn replies, “I can’t do that, Mother.”
Elizabeth asks to speak to her lawyer. Carolyn leaves.
Elizabeth asks to speak to Vicky. Roger gets Vicky. Elizabeth
tells him she’d like to speak to Vicky alone. Roger leaves. Elizabeth
tells Vicky, “Laura is going to try to take every advantage of my
absence to see David. Make sure she doesn’t! You’ve got to keep
David away from his mother!” Vicky asks, “But what if his father
wants him to see her?” Elizabeth moans, “Nobody can help me…”
Vicky leaves. A few seconds later, Elizabeth turns and is surprised
to see Laura standing in her room. She asks, “What are you doing
here?” Laura replies, “I came to pay you a visit.” Elizabeth asks,
“Why did they let you up here?” Laura replies, “They don’t know I’m
up here.” Elizabeth asks, “What do you want?” Laura answers, “Only
what’s mine. My son.” Elizabeth exclaims, “NO!”. Laura calmly
replies, “You can’t stop me. I told you, you can’t stand in my way!”
She tells her, “Rest. You’re going to have a nice long rest.”
Elizabeth replies, “I won’t! I won’t let you have Davied! There’s
something about you. But I can’t quite remember what…” Laura
tells her, “And you won’t. Your memories are disappearing into the
fog. Time is stopping for you, coming to a halt. No past, no future,
only the nothingness of limbo…”
Downstairs, Carolyn and Roger argue about sending Elizabeth to
the hospital. A voice asks, “What’s all the excitement?” Roget turns
and is surprised to see Laura standing in the doorway. He remarks,
“Oh. I didn’t hear you come in” and tells her about Elizabeth, how
she’s sick and will have to go to a hospital in Boston. Laura
remarks, “How awful. I’m terribly sorry.” Carolyn asks, in a very
sarcastic voice, “Are you really?” Laura replies, “Yes. Yes I am.”
Carolyn tells her, “You probably think this is very convenient for
you. Well, it won’t be so easy!” and leaves. Roger tells Laura,
“Elizabeth was really adamant about you not getting David.” Laura
asks,”But how will she be able to stop me when she’s in the
hospital?” Roger replies, “Don’t underestimate her. As long as she
can talk, she can give orders to Carolyn or her lawyer to stop you.”
Laura mutters, “That may not be a problem.” Suddenly, Carolyn,
upstairs, screams. Roger and Vicky rush into Elizabeth’s room.
Elizabeth is lying in bed, catatonic, unable to move or speak.
==============================================================================
July 19, 1995 – II
——————
Episode 159
Tape Date: January 27, 1967 (ABC #24-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 2, 1967 Thursday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: Lela Swift

Vicky is downstairs alone. There’s a knock at the door. She
answers. It’s Frank Garner. He asks, “What happened? You message
said it was urgent!” Vicky tells him about Elizabeth and says, “I
think Laura Collins had something to do with her illness!” Frank
asks, “How?” Vicky replies, “I don’t know. It’s just a strong
feeling I have.” She explains, “Mrs. Stoddard wanted to see you,
but it’s too late now.” Vicky remarks on all the strange things
that have been happening. Frank replies, “Well, I can’t help you
with that. I deal in facts, not the supernatural.” He thinks for a
moment then says, “But I think I know someone who can. There’s
a professor at Dartmouth who specializes in the study of the
supernatural. A Professor Guthrie. I think we should call him.”
Laura is indeed taking advantage of Elizabeth’s illness to see
David. After a day of fun, they race to the cottage. David wins.
Laura tells him, “We used to do that all the time when you were
little. Only, then, I used to let you win. Now you win all by
yourself.” They sit down by the fire to warm themselves. David
asks, “Can I tend the fire?” Laura replies, “Sure.” David takes
a poker and starts poking in the fire. Laura tells him, “You can
put another log on it if you want.” David does. The fire burns
high. Laura tells him, “You can come here and take care of the
fire anytime you want. It’s burning hight now, but it’ll be almost
out tomorrow morning. Come here tomorrow morning, have breakfast
with me and put another log on the fire. It would be nice if you
could come over and spend the night sometime. No one will ever come
between us, David!” David asks, “Who would want to?” Laura replies,
“There was someone, but that won’t happen now…”
The clock strikes 9:00 PM at Collinwood. Vicky is pacing around
nervously. David comes in through the front doors. Vicky asks,
“Where have you been?” David replies, “Out.” Vicky asks, “Out
where?” David replies, “With my mother at the cottage. I’m going
to be spending a lot of time with my mother.” Vicky tells him, “I
want to talk to you” and takes him into the drawing room. She tells
him, “You Aunt Elizabeth is in the hospital. She left me some orders.
She told me she’s concerned about the amount of studying you’ve been
doing. You’re going to have to spend more time at your lessons. We’re
going to start right after breakfast tomorrow.” David protests, “But
I’m going to have breakfast with my mother tomorrow! Then she’s going
to let me tend the fire!” Vicky, shocked, gasps, “She lets you play
with the fire?!” She tells him, “Well, she can come over here and
have breakfast, but you’re going to have stay here and start your
lessons right afterward.” David shouts, “You’re just trying to keep
me from my mother!” Laura, who’s just come in, tells David, “David,
Miss Winters would never do that, I’m sure.” David runs to her. Laura
tells him to apoligize to Vicky. David tells Laura, “She’s just
trying to give me all this work to keep me away from you!” Laura
asks Vicky, “Are you?” Vicky lies, “No, of course not. He’s just
behind in his studies, that’s all.” Laura remarks, “I had no idea
he was behind in his studies!” She tells David, “Maybe you should
stay in all day tomorrow and catch up with your lessons. Then we can
go out the next day.” Vicky interrupts, “He’s pretty far behind. I
don’t think he’ll be able to catch up in a day.” Laura asks, “How
long, then?” Vicky replies “I’m not sure.” Laura tells David to go
to bed so he can be up “bright and early” tomorrow morning to start
on his lessons. David leaves.
Laura tells Vicky, “You used to be so helpful to me, Vicky.
What’s happened? Does Mrs. Stoddard have anything to do wit this?”
Vicky denies that anything’s happened, saying she’s just carrying out
her responsiblities. Laura tells her, “No matter what, I WILL get
David!”
=============================================================================
Episode 160
Tape Date: January 26, 1967 (ABC #25-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 3, 1967 Friday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: Lela Swift

Carolyn is sitting in Elizabeth’s room watching over her. Vicky
comes in and asks how Elizabeth is. Carolyn replies, “No change.
Not a movement, not a blink, nothing.” Vicky asks, “Carolyn, why
don’t you go downstairs and get something to eat. I’ll watch over
her while you’re away.” Carolyn refuses to leave her mother, saying,
“I have the feeling she’s trying to tell me something.” She turns
to Elizabeth and asks, “Mother, try to talk to me! What are you
trying to tell me?” But Elizabeth does not answer. Vicky tells her,
“Carolyn, you know, your mother should really be in a hospital.
That’s what the doctor recommended.” But Carolyn replies, “No. It was
her last wish to me that she not be taken from the house. I’m not
going to go against her wishes just because of the word of one doctor.
I’m going to call specialists to see what they say.” Vicky tells her,
“Oh, yes. There is a specialist coming. A Dr. Peter Guthrie. Frank
Garner called him.” After Vicky leaves the room, Roger comes in.
He asks Carolyn how Elizabeth is. Carolyhn replies, “The same.”
Roger tells her, “She should really be in a hospital”, but Carolyn
insists that she be kept at Collinwood, saying, “That’s what she
wanted and that’s the way it’s going to be!”
There’s a knock at the front door. Vicky answers. It’s Dr. Peter
Guthrie. They go into the drawing room to talk. Dr. Guthrie tells
Vicky his speciality is parapsychology. Vicky asks, “You mean ESP?”
Guthrie replies, “Yes, but much more than that. I investigate all
other sorts of psychic phenomena too.” He tells her she should
present him as a psychologist to the family, though. He asks to
see Elizabeth. As they exit the drawing room, they run into Roger
coming down the stairs into the foyer. Vicky introduces him and
Guthrie to one another. Roger tells Guthrie, “I hopw you can convince
my niece to have my sister moved to a hospital.” Guthrie replies,
“Mr. Collins, if what I suspect is true, Mrs. Stoddard won’t spend
another minute in this house!”
Vicky takes Guthrie to Elizabeth’s room. Carolyn is in there with
Elizabeth. Guthrie tells Carolyn he’s a psycholigist, saying he
thinks Elizabeth has a psychsomatic illness. Carolyn asks, “You
mean you think it’s mental?” Guthrie replies, “Yes. I talked to her
doctor and what he told me leads me to believe so.” He asks some
questions about Elizabeth. He asks about what she was doing just
before her illness. Carolyn tells him about how she kept talking
about forgetting something, about how she said she remembers going
out the front door, then remember coming back in but not remember
where she went or what she did. Guthrie remarks that it sounds like
Elizabeth has been the victim of some sort of mental trauma, that
memory loss of this sort seems to indicate this. He examines her.
He tries to talk to her, but she doesn’t reply. He claps loudly
next to her ear. No response. He hits her elbow with a reflex-testing
mallet. No movement. He shines a pen flashlight into her eyes.
No response. He tells Carolyn, “Mrs. Stoddard. Your mother is in
a trance!” Carolyn asks, “A trance?” Guthrie replies, “Yes, a trance.
It’s as if she’d been put under a hypnotic spell. Vicky asks, “How
can that be?” Guthrie replies, “I don’t know, but she’ll have to be
taken to a hospital.” Carolyn tells him, “No, we can’t. It was her
wish that she be kept here.” But Guthrie tells her, “Miss Stoddard,
it’s essential that she be taken from here. The influenced that
caused her condition could still be in this house.” Carolyn asks,
“What influence?” Guthrie replies, “I don’t know. But this condition
might be permanent.” Carolyn gasps, “Oh, no!” Guthrie continues,
“Moving her out of this house will give her the best chance of
recovery. Do I have your permission to move her?” Carolyn replies,
“Yes.” Guthrie tells Carolyn and Vicky that he’ll have to stay at
Collinwood for awhile to try to find out the cause of Elizabeth’s
illness, but that they should keep his real motive for being here
as secret as possible. Carolyn looks at her mother and asks Guthrie,
“Can she see us?” Guthrie replies, “Her eyes can only see the
nameless terror that put her in this condition.”
============================================================================
Episode 161
Tape Date: January 30, 1967 (ABC #26-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 6, 1967 Monday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: John Sedwick

Elizabeth has been moved to a hospital*. Vicky and Carolyn are
having breakfast in the kitchen. Carolyn is very depressed and
isn’t eating. Vicky tells her, “You’ve got to eat something.” Carolyn
moans, “It was her last wish that she not be taken from this house,
and I’ve broken my promise not to.” Vicky tells her, “You had no
choice. The doctor said you had to.” Carolyn remarks, “I have the
feeling I’m never going to see my mother again.” Vicky tells her,
“She’s not going to die. Physically, she’s in perfect condition.”
Carolyn says, “But if she does die, I’ll never forgive myself for
ignoring her last wish.” Guthrie comes down to breakfasst. They
ask him if he’s discovered anything. He replies, “Not yet. These
things take time.” He tells them, “I believe there’s some sort of
psychic condittion around here. That’s why we needed to move her.”
Carolyn asks, “But what would want to harm my mother?” Guthrie
replies, “That’s what I hope to find out.”
Carolyn leaves the kitchen. She runs into Roger in the foyer.
He tells her, “I have something I want to talk to you about.” They
go into the drawing room. Roger asks, “What’s going on around here?
Why’s this Dr. Guthrie still here?” Carolyn replies, “To help
mother.” Roger asks, “But how can he help here? She’s no longer
here.” Carolyn evades the question, saying, “I’m in charge here
and as long as I want him here, he’ll stay.”
Guthrie questions Vicky in the kitchen about things around
Collinwood. Vicky tells him about Laura wanting to take David and
Elizabeth not wanting her to. Guthrie asks about David. Vicky tells
him, “He’s an unusual boy.” She tells him about his going to the
old house to see ghosts. She tells him that the ghost of Josette
Collins haunts the place. Guthrie remarks, “Maybe he just has a
lively imagination.” Vicky replies, “No. I’ve seen her myself!”
Guthrie exits the kitchen. He runs into Roger in the foyer
and tells him he’d like to ask him a few questions. Roger is
very cold to Guthrie. He tells him, “Sorry, I haven’t got the
time” and goes into the drawing room. Guthrie follows him in
there and tells him, “I’m trying to help your sister.” Roger
remarks, “You should be at the hospital, then.” Guthrie tells
him, “I’m trying to establish the cause of her condition.” He
asks about the relationship between Elizabeth and Laura, but
Roger refuses to talk to him. Vicky comes into the room. She
asks, “Am I interrupting anything?” Roger replies, “No, I was
just leaving” and leaves. Vicky asks Guthrie, “Not much luck
talking to Roger, huh?” Guthrie replies, “No indeed.” Vicky asks,
“What’s your next move?” Guthrie replies, “I think I’ll get to
know young David. I think I’ll get him to go down to the old
house with me. I’d like to see what happens…”

* Joan Bennett, the actress who played Elizabeth Collins Stoddard,
was a famous movie actress in her youth. She accepted the part
because he career had faded. Nonetheless, she was still a fairly
well known name in the ’60’s and the Dark Shadows producers hired
her for that reason, giving her a special contract that gave her
some time off every year. So every year during Dark Shadow’s five
year run, the writers would have something happen to her and she
would be shuffled off to the hospital, not to be seen for several
weeks. This is the first time.
============================================================================
Episode 162
Tape Date: February 2, 1967 (ABC #27-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 7, 1967 Tuesday
Writer: Ron Sproat
Director: John Sedwick

It is the next day. All the tests on Elizabeth at the hospital
have come back negative. Vicky asks, “Could Mrs. Collins be behind
this?” Guthrie replies, “That’s a possibility”. Vicky tells him,
“I need to know because Mrs. Stoddard wanted me to keep her from
David, and I want to know whether I should do so or not.” Guthrie
replies, “If I were you, I’d do everything in my power to keep
that boy from Mrs. Collins.” Vicky asks, “So you do suspect her?”
Guthrie replies, “I wouldn’t go that far, but I will say this.
There is a force here strong enough to put Mrs. Stoddard in the
hospital, and it appears that the greatest amount of friction here
is between Mrs. Collins and Mrs. Stoddard.” Guthrie tells Vicky,
“I have a few more questions to ask you. Frank Garner told me
a little about your compulsion to go to the crypt and what happened
there. Can you tell me a little more about that?” Vicky tells him
about it. Guthrie asks, “And you feel Josette Collins had something
to do with this?” Vicky replies, “Yes. I smelled jasmine perfume
there.” She explains how she also smelled jasmine perfume when she
saw Josette at the old house. He asks, “Did you really see her?”
Vicky replies, “Yes.” Guthrie asks, “Has anyone else seen her?”
Vicky tells him, “Yes, David has.” She tells him, “I think
Josette is trying to tell me something about Mrs. Collins.”
David is with Laura at the cottage. They talk about him staying
over for the night. David tells Laura that Vicky probably won’t want
to let him. Laura asks David if he’s given any more thought to
leaving with her. He tells her, “Yes, I’ve thought about it. I’m
not sure I want to leave Collinwood.” She tells him, “You’ll
like it where I’m going to take you. I’m not going to force you to
make a decision now, but you’ll have to sooner or later. We don’t
have that much time.”
David returns to Collinwood. He calls, “Vicky!”, but there’s no
answer. He goes into the drawing room and runs into Guthrie there.
Guthrie tells him Vicky isn’t there. Guthrie remarks, “I understand
you’ve seen some ghosts.” David replies that he has. Guthrie asks
him to tell him about them. David, surprised that Guthrie is
interested, tells him about Bill Malloy’s ghost, then about Josette
Collin’s ghost. He suggests to Guthrie, “Let’s go to the old house.
That’s where she usually appears.” Vicky, who’s been out looking
for David, comes into the room and tells him he has some lessons to
do. David replies, “I can’t right now. I’m going to the old house
with Mr. Guthrie. And afterwards, I’m going to see my mother.”
Vicky tells him, “No you aren’t. You have a lot of work to do.”
David retorts, “Yes I am. And I’m going to stay with her tonight
and there’s nothing you can do about it!” Vicky replies, “We’ll
see.”
David takes Guthrie to the old house and shows him the portrait
of Josette. Guthrie asks David to describe Josette’s ghost. David
tells him, “She’s always wearing a long white dress, and there’s
this sweet perfume smell everytime she appears.” Guthrie asks,
“Does it smell like jasmine?” David replies, “Yes, I think so.”
Guthrie asks, “Why does she haunt the old house?” David replies,
“Because she killed herself by jumping off Widow’s Hill.” Guthrie
asks, “Why?” David replies, “Nobody knows. I wish she’d appear now.
I need to ask her a question. I need to know whether I should stay
at Collinwood or go with my mother.”
Vicky goes to the cottage to talk to Laura. She tells her, “David
is falling behind in his schoolwork again. He told me he’s planning
to spend the night here. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
Laura replies, “I’m sure I can have him do his schoolwork while
he’s here.” Vicky objects, “But he’ll have to wake up very early
to catch up on his work…” Laura interjects, “What’s wrong? I’ve
already told you I’ll see to it that he does his work. Tell me
the truth. You want to keep him away from me, don’t you?” She
warns Vicky, “Don’t try to get between me and David. It wouldn’t
be wise. In fact, it would be very unwise.”
Guthrie remarks to David, “It looks to me like Josette Collins
isn’t going to appear.” David replies, “She can’t. She only appears
to one person at a time.” Guthrie tells him, “In that case, I guess
I’ll go look around” and goes upstairs. David talks to Josette’s
portrait, saying, “Josette, please appear. I need to ask you a
question. I need to know whether to go with mother or not.”
Suddenly, he exclaims, “I smell your perfume! You’re here!”
The portrait of Josette starts to glow. David exclaims, “You’ve
got to tell me what to do!” Suddenly, the picture changes. It is
no longer a portrait of Josette, but the picture of Laura standing
in fire, the one that Roger destroyed, with David’s face painted in.
David shouts, “THAT’S MY PICTURE!!!”
=============================================================================
Episode 163
Tape Date: February 1, 1967 (ABC #28-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 8, 1967 Wednesday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: John Sedwick

Guthrie, hearing David shout, shouts, “David! What’s the matter?”
from upstairs. The picture fades away, becoming the portrait of
Josette again. Guthrie comes running downstairs. He asks, “What’s
the matter, David?” David sees that the picture is gone and shouts,
“My picture! What happened to it? It’s gone!” Guthrie, puzzled,
remarks, “But it’s hanging right there.” David tells him, “No, not
that one. MY picture, the one of my mother. It was there where the
painting of Josette was.” Guthrie asks about the picture. David
describes it to him. He tells him about how the giant Laura head
materialized out of it one time and scared him. He adds, “But it
was different this time. There used to be a blank space in it,
but this time it was filled in. With me!”
Roger goes to the cottage to talk to Laura about taking David.
She tells him, “I’ve got to get around Liz’s wishes. She’s got
Vicky and Carolyn carrying out her orders. I’ve got to spend more
time with David to win him over. I’ve got to stop Vicky from
interfering. I need just one night. One night and he’ll be mine
completely! ” Roger tells her, “I’ll take care of Vicky.” Laura
asks, “and Elizabeth?” Roger replies, “By the time she gets out
of the hospital, it’ll be all over except for the shouting.”
David comes running in. He exclaims, “Mother! Mother! I’ve got
something trememdous to tell you! I saw my picture!” Roger
exclaims, “That’s impossible!” David replies, “I saw it at the old
house. I took Mr.Guthrie there. He wanted to see Josette Collin’s
ghost.” He recounts what happened there. Roger angrily says, “I’m
going to tave a talk with the good Dr. Guthrie!” and stomps off.
David tells Laura, “This time, the painting was different. Instead
of the blank space, I was in it with you. What do you think that
means?” Laura replies, “Maybe that you should leave with me and be
with me forever.” She asks, “You do want to spend the night here
with me, don’t you?” David replies, “Yes, but what about my father?”
Laura tells him, “I’ve already talked to your father and got his
permission.” She asks, “And how about not just tonight, but forever?”
David replies, “I don’t know. I’d miss my Aunt Elizabeth and Miss
Winters.” She asks him about Guthrie. He tells her Guthrie’s been
asking a lot of questions about everything.
Roger goes to the old house and tells Guthrie, “I don’t want you
around my son. He has all sorts of fantasies about ghosts and
such. We try to discourage him, and you’re encouraging him!”
Guthrie goes to the cottage to question Laura. As a pretext, he
tells her, “I came to see if David’s here.” She tells him he isn’t.
Guthrie tries to question Laura, without being obvious about it.
To see her reaction, he mentions how strange Elizabeth’s illness is,
saying, “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s like nothing from
this world. It’s almost like it’s from another world.” He asks,
“Do you believe in other world’s, Mrs. Collins?” Laura replies,
“I don’t know. Why should it concern me when there are so many
infinite possiblities in this one?”
==============================================================================
Episode 164
Tape Date: January 31, 1967 (ABC #29-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 9, 1967 Thursday
Writer: Ron Sproat
Director: John Sedwick

In the drawing room at Collinwood, Guthrie asks Vicky, “You’re
sure David never saw the painting after it was filled in?” Vicky
replies that she is. Guthrie asks, “And you’re sure no one could have
told him about it?” She tells him, “No. I’m sure no one would have.
If only Mrs. Stoddard could talk and tells us who was behind all
this.” Guthrie tells her, “Well, remember she could talk briefly
before she got sick. She said that she had suffered a memory
lapse of some sort, that she remembers going out to see someone
but couldn’t rememeber who it was or what happened. Now whoever
that was must have had reason to think it important that she forget.”
Vicky tell him, “It must have been a stranger. Everyone on the
estate says it wasn’t them she saw.” Guthrie asks, “Now about the
artist you said painted that picture. A Samuel Evans, wasn’t it?”
Vicky replies, “Yes. But he didn’t paint just one picture of Laura,
he painted several. It was strange. He said he felt as though he
had been compelled to do those paintings by some force against
his will.” Guthrie tells Vicky he’d like to talk to Sam. Vicky
tells him, “We’d better check with his daughter first to avoid
embarassament. When things are not going well for Sam, he tends to
drink.” She tells him about Sam’s injury to his hands.
At the Evan’s cottage, Sam, who is still unable to paint because
of his burned hands, still bandaged, complains to Maggie, “I don’t
know if I can make it through another day. A man who has nothing
to do gets mighty thirsty.” Maggie asks him to try and suggests a
nice walk. Sam replies, “And go past the Blue Whale? I don’t think I
could stand the temptation.” Maggie tells, “Well, go the other way,
to the beach.” Sam tells her, “I can’t. Everything I go past the
beach, I see a painting, a seascape in my head. It’ll only make
me think of painting.”
Vicky and Guthrie go to the Collinsport Inn. Vicky lies to Maggie
that Guthrie is someone interested in her father’s work and asks if
it would be OK for him to drop by and the cottage and see her father.
Maggie replies, “Sure! He’ll be happy to see someone interested in
his work!” Burke comes into the diner. He sees Vicky and tells her
he’d like to talk to her. He sees Guthrie and adds, “If I’m not
interrupting.” Guthrie tells him, “Oh, no.” He tells Vicky, “I can
go myself. You showed me where to turn off.”
Sam is pacing around the cottage, bored and irritated. There’s
a knock at the door. Sam grumbles, “Go away!”, but Guthrie comes in
anyway, pretending he didn’t hear clearly, saying, “Did you say come
in?” He asks, “You ARE Samuel Evans, aren’t you?” Sam replies, “SAM
Evans. I haven’t been Samuel since I was 7 years old.” Guthrie lies
that he’s an admirer of his work and would like to browse around.
Sam replies, “Go ahead” and waves him toward the stack of paintings
leaning against the window. Guthrie goes through them and, not
finding any of Laura among them, remarks, “These seem to be mostly
landscapes, but I see that you do portraiture too. I’m more
interested in the portraiture. Do you have more?” Sam replies, “No.
I only do those by commision”, but by this time Guthrie has already
started to go through some painting stored under a table. Sam, in a
very uneasy voice, tries to get him to stop, telling him, “No! Those
are all rejects, canvasses I plan to paint over.” But Guthrie
replies, “I find that an artist is not always the best judge of his
own work. Some of these might turn out to be quite good” and
continues to go through the paintings. He pulls out the one burned
through the center and asks, “What happened to this one? This was
of Mrs. Laura Collins, wasn’t it?” Sam lies, “No.” Guthrie remarks,
“But I heard you painted several.” Sam tell him, “No. I didn’t, and
I didn’t paint this. WHO ARE YOU? GET OUT!” Guthrie tells him, “You
say you didn’t paint this portrait of Mrs. Collins? I believe you.”
Sam, startled, remarks, “You do? Why? Who are you?” Guthrie replies,
“Someone who might be able to find out who did paint this picture.”
Guthrie tells Sam he’s a psychologist who’s trying to get to the
bottom of everything that’s been happening, that he was told about
him and the paintings by Vicky.
At the diner, Burke tells Vicky, “The last time we met, things
got a little heated. I don’t think our difference of opinion about
Laura should get between us.” They both apoligize to each other
about getting angry last time. But alas, they get into another
argument about Laura. They finish arguing and go into the lobby.
Burke tells Vicky that he wishes a speedy recovery for Elizabeth.
Seeing the dubious look on Vicky’s face, he says, “No. Really. I
wouldn’t want to see her out of the game before I’ve had my innings.
She’s a tough fighter. I saw her on the night she got sick. You
would’ve thought the thunder and lightning came from her, not the
storm.” Vicky asks, “You saw her that night? Where?” Burke replies,
“Yes. At the cottage. I only saw her briefly. She came, and I left.
It looked like she was really about to have a go at Laura.” Guthrie
returns. Burke and Guthrie have a brief “fight” about who’s going to
drive Vicky home. Burke “loses” and leaves. Vicky tells Guthrie
what she learned from Burke about Elizabeth’s whereabouts during
her memory lapse.
=============================================================================
Episode 165
Tape Date: February 3, 1967 (ABC #30-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 10, 1967 Friday
Writer: Ron Sproat
Director: John Sedwick

It is now night. At Collinwood, Vicky walks into the foyer and
finds David coming down the stairs carrying what looks like a child’s
toy suitcase. He heads for the door. Vicky asks, “David! Where are
you going?” David replies, “To see my mother at the cottage.” Vicky
tells him, “No. It’s too late.” She grabs the suitcase and tries to
take it from him. He refuses to let her have it. They struggle.
The suitcase opens, and the contents fall out. Vicky sees them
and exclaims, “David! Your pyjamas!” David tells her, “I’m going
to spend the night with my mother!” Vicky tells him, “Look, David,
we’re not going to argue about this again.” A male voice announces,
“No. Indeed we’re not.” It is Roger, who’s just walked into the
foyer. He tells Vicky, “I’ve given him my permission to stay over.”
Vicky asks, “Could I talk to you?” Roger replies, “OK.” David shouts,
“You’re going to let her talk you out of it!” and runs upstairs,
upset. Vicky and Roger go into the drawing room to talk. Vicky
tells Roger she thinks it would be unwise to let David spend the
night with his mother. But she does not tells him about what she
learned from Burke, saying only, “I think she has a bad effect on
him.” Carolyn comes into the room and asks, “What’s wrong with
David? He’s sitting in the hallway outside his room with his toy
suitcase looking very depressed.” Roger explains, “Vicky doesn’t
want him to spend the night with his mother.” Carolyn remarks,
“Vicky doesn’t want David to spend the night with his mother?
That settles it, then. He’s not going to spend the night with his
mother. Mother left me in charge of the house, and I’ll take
Vicky’s recommendation about what’s good for David.” Roger angrily
tells them, “I think you have both exceeded your authority. He’s MY
son and I’m not going to let you two tell me what I can or cannot
do with my own son! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take
David to his mother!” and leaves.
Carolyn tells Vicky, “I don’t like the idea of David spending the
night with his mother either. I have a feeling she’s somehow
responsible for what’s happened to Mother, but I have no proof. It’s
just a feeling. I can tell you feel the same way.” Vicky replies
that she does and tells her, “I think I may have found some proof.”
Guthrie comes in. Vicky tells Carolyn what she learned from Burke.
Roger takes David to the Cottage. Laura remarks, “You’re late.
I thought you’d changed you mind and wasn’t coming.” David explains,
“Miss Winters tried to stop me.”
Carolyn exclaims, “I’m going to march right down to the cottage
and find out what this is all about!” Guthrie tells her, “Don’t.
We have no real proof she did anything. It would be best if she
didn’t know we suspect her. I have something in mind. You both
know the meaning of the word ‘seance’, don’t you?” They reply
that the do. Guthrie tells them he’s thinking of having one.
Carolyn asks Vicky, “Vicky, don’t you thing you should tell Dr.
Guthrie about David?” Vicky tells Guthrie that David is spending the
night with his mother. Guthrie remarks, “I thought Mrs. Stoddard was
against that.” Vicky tells him, “Roger insisted, and there was no
way we could stop him.” Carolyn remarks, “Well, we can now. We’ve
got to tell him about what Vicky found out.” Guthrie tells her, “No,
if we do, he’ll probably go down there and confront her. I think the
boy’s safe enough with her, for tonight, at least. From what I hear,
she’s trying to win him over. She won’t do anything to harm him.
We can’t have her knowing we suspect her. If she did, she wouldn’t
agree to take part in the seance, and we need her cooperation.”
In the cottage, David falls asleep in Laura’s arms. Laura is
sitting on the sofa, holding him contentedly. Suddenly, she gives
a start and exclaims, “I know you’re here! You’re here, Josette!
You’re here in this room!” The ghost of Josette appears and starts
to reach out toward David with her arms and starts to walk toward
them slowly. Laura tells her, “What do you want? Leave me alone,
Josette! He’s mine, and as long as I hold him in my arms, you have
no power over him! Stay away, Josette!” Josette stops. Laura tells
her, “Now go away and never bother us again!” Josette disappears.
David awakens and asks Laura, “Mother, who was here just right now?
I have a feeling someone was.” Laura lies, “No one was, dear. Go
back to sleep.”
=============================================================================
Episode 166
Tape Date: February 6, 1967 (ABC #31-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 13, 1967 Monday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: Lela Swift

It is the next morning. The clock in the foyer at Collinwood
shows 11:20. In the drawing room, Vicky is playing a game of
solitaire. Carolyn is pacing about nervously. She asks, “Where
could he be? He should be back by now! We shouldn’t have let
him stay there! Something could’ve happened to him! I feel that
every minute David is out of this house he’s in terrible danger.”
Vicky tells her, “We can’t put David under lock and key. THere’s
nothing we can do about it if your Uncle Roger wants to let him
see his mother.” Carolyn replies, “There is someting I can do. I
can make Laura leave!” Vicky warns against it, saying, “But what
if she takes him with her? What will you mother think then when
she comes back? Besides, we need her here for what Dr. Guthrie
has in mind.” David returns. Carolyn hugs him, shouting, “Thank
God you’re back!” David remarks, “You would’ve thought I’d been
away for 100 years, not just overnight.” Carolyn asks him, “Did
you enjoy yourself?” David replies, “Yes. I’m going to do it
again tonight!” Carolyn, her expression suddenly turning stern,
tells him, “David, I think we should talk about this first…”
David shouts, “I will and you can’t stop me!” Asked if anything
happened last night, David replies, “No. Nothing could have. Josette
was watching over me. I know because I could smell her perfume.
Josette was watching over my mother’s house.” There’s a knock at
the door. Carolyn goes to answer. It’s Joe Haskell. He tells
Carolyn, “The accountant sent me to get a ledger your mother has
here.” Carolyn remarks nervously, “It’s been a long time.” Joe
replies, “Yes it has.” He gives her his sympathy for her mother.
They talk about Elizabeth for awhile, and the town’s gossip about
it. Carolyn broaches the subject of getting back together, saying
“I’m free again, Joe”, but Joe replies, “I’m not.” Carolyn,
disappointed, turns to go upstairs, saying, “I’ll get you the
ledger.” Joe asks, “Carolyn. We’re still friends, right?” Carolyn
replies, “Sure.”
Vicky asks David, “And you wern’t scared?” David replies, “No.
It was a nice dream. Mother held me in her arms all night long.
I can’t believe I used to be afraid of her. How silly!”
Sam is at the bar of the Blue Whale, drinking and laughing with
the other bar patrons. Maggie is sitting at a table with Joe, looking
worried. Joe tells her, “Come on, Maggie, you’re here with ME. Let
you father have his fun. With you two, sometimes you can’t tell the
difference between parent and child.” He jokes, “You’d better take
some care of ME or I’ll go fishing. There’s plenty of fish in the
sea, and I’m getting bites every day.” Maggie remarks, “I get a
feeling the fish you’re talking about aren’t in the ocean.” Joe tells
her, “I had to go to Collinwood today. Guess who I saw there.” Maggie
remarks, “So you were doing some fishing there, eh? Well, you won’t
find any fish up there. Just a big stone crab. Joe, if you want to
get your head bitten off again, don’t let ME stop you.” Joe tells
Maggie he told Carolyn no. At the bar, Sam laughs uproariously
again. Maggie goes to check on him. Sam tells Maggie about Guthrie.
Maggie tells Sam, “You’ve had enough”. Sam replies, “They don’t MAKE
enough!”
Burke comes into the Blue Whale. Seeing Joe, he sits down at
Joe’s table and asks, “Joe, how about a truce?” Joe replies, “Sure,
why not? The object of our affections is no longer the object of
mine.” Burke tells him, “I was about to tell you the same thing…”
Maggie returns to the table. She remarks on how strange Guthrie is.
She tells them that although he’s supposed to be at Collinwood to
help Elizabeth, he’s been asking Sam questions that have nothing
to do with her Elizabeth, questions about those paintings of Laura
Collins, and about Laura Collins herself. Burke excuses himself,
saying, “Maggie, I think I’ll go buy your father a drink.”
Burke goes to the bar and says, “Hello, Evans. What’s this about
this Guthrie fellow?” Sam replies, “He said he was interested in my
work. He was especially interested in those paintings of Laura being
consumed by fire…”
=============================================================================
Episode 167
Tape Date: February 7, 1967 (ABC #32-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 14, 1967 Tuesday
Writer: Ron Sproat
Director: Lela Swift

Vicky is talking with Dr. Guthrie. She tells him, “He said that
it was dark and he couldn’t see where he was, but that his mother
was holding his hand, and from the sound, he thought he was near
the sea. He said he had the strange feeling they were the only two
people in an infinite world, that they were going toward a distant
light, that as they went toward the light, there was a roaring that
got louder and louder. He said they kept going toward the light,
and the closer they got, the louder the roaring sound got. Finally,
they got to the light and were about to fling themselves into it,
but then he woke up. That was David’s dream.” Guthrie remarks, “Maybe
it wasn’t a dream.” Vicky asks, “What do you mean?” Guthrie replies,
“Maybe it was a vision. What disturbs me the most is the fact that
David said he wasn’t scared by this vision.” Vicky asks, “What could
be responsible for it?” Guthrie replies, “That’s what I intend to
find out.”
At the cottage, Laura is arguing with Roger. She tells him, “I
want David NOW.” Roger replies, “That’s impossible. What’s the
hurry?” Laura is evasive on this. She begs him to let her have
David now. Roger replies, “I’m sorry, Laura. I can’t.” Laura
asks him, “What would you say if I went to Burke Devlin and said
the word ‘manslaughter’ to him?” Roger tells her, “Go ahead!”
Laura threatens to testify against him. Roger tells her, “You can’t.
If you do, you’ll be found guilty of perjury and you’ll never get
custody of David.” Laura dejectedly says, “Ok. You win for now.”
Roger replies, “For good, Laura.”
Vicky asks Guthrie, “How will we find out?” Guthrie replies,
“By contacting someone who can help us. You’ve said you’ve felt
that Josette Collins has been giving you clues. That’s probably all
she has in her powers to give up. With the seance, we’ll be giving
her more power to communicate.” He tells her, “But everyone will
have to be there.” Vicky tells him she doesn’t think it would be
wise to have David there. At first, Guthrie is disagrees, saying
he thinks it would be best if David were at the seance, but Vicky
manages to argue him out of it.
Later, Vicky, Guthrie, Carolyn and Roger are in the drawing room.
Guthrie tells Roger about the seance and asks him to participate.
Roger flatly refuses, saying, “It’s nothing but superstitious
nonsense! Is THIS how you’re helping Liz? It’s noting but quackery!”,
implying that Guthrie is a quack. He turns to leave. Guthrie tells
him, “Wait. You want me to leave this house, don’t you? There’s
a way to hasten that.” Roger turns back and sarcastically asks,
“A simple request?” Guthrie replies, “No. But if we have this
seance and it fails, then there’s really no reason for me to stay
because there’s nothing more I’d be able to do.” Roger tells him,
“Then by all means, let’s start then!” Guthrie tells him, “Not right
now. I’ll tell you the time later.” Guthrie leaves. Roger leaves.
Carolyn remarks, “It’ll be even harder to convince Laura to
participate. You know, maybe I’ll go down and let her know we know
she lied about not seeing Mother that night. I’d like to see the
look on her face when I tell her!” Vicky reminds her, “Dr. Guthrie
told us it was important she not know we suspect her.” Carolyn
replies, “I’m not going to tell her we suspect her, just that we
know she lied about not seeing Mother.” Vicky warns her, “But what
about what happened to your mother. It could happen to you…”
But Carolyn, determined, replies, “I’m not afraid of her!”
Carolyn goes down to the cottage. She lies, “I was taking a walk
and the weather turned cold all of a sudden. I was near here so I
dropped in to see if you had a scarf I could borrow.” Laura replies,
“Sure. I’ll get you one.” Carolyn looks out the window and remarks,
“Nice view. Too bad you weren’t looking out on the night of the
storm. Maybe you could’ve seen what happened to Mother. You know,
I’ve been wondering about something. Why didn’t my mother come here
when the storm started? I have a feeling she was nearer here than
the house when it did. In fact I get the feeling she DID come here,
that she was here in this very room.” Laura replies, “All right,
Carolyn, what are you getting at? If you have something to say,
say it!” Carolyn replies, “All right. Why did you lie? Vicky learned
from Burke that Mother came here that night. Why did you lie?”
Laura replies, “Oh, I just thought it wasn’t worth mentioning.
She was only here for a moment. She said she was taking a walk and
the storm started. She said she was close to here so she dropped
by to see if I might not be more comfortable in the main house
during the storm. I said no and she left. That’s all. Do you
still want this scarf?” Carolyn replies, coldly, “No. It’s not
necessary now. Amazing how fast the weather changes around here,
isn’t it?” and leaves.
=============================================================================
Episode 168
Tape Date: February 8, 1967 (ABC #33-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 15, 1967 Wednesday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: Lela Swift

It is a little later. Laura is sitting in the cottage, thinking.
There’s a knock at the door. Laura shouts, “Who is it?” A voice
replies, “It’s Burke. Let me in!” Laura refuses, saying, “No. I
don’t want any more trouble.” But Burke tells her, “I have something
urgent to tell you. Something that effects what you’re trying to do!”
Laura lets him in. Burke tells Laura that there’s a man in town named
Guthrie. Laura replies, “Yes, I know. He’s just a doctor. He’s here
to study the psychological aspects of Mrs. Stoddard’s collapse.”
Burke replies, “So why’s he asking so many questions about you?”
Laura tells him, “He knows about the conflict between me and Mrs.
Stoddard. He probably just wants to know what effect it had on
Elizabeth.” Burke tells her, “Did you know he’s been talking to
Sam Evans? He asked him about those painting and about you, not
Liz. From what I’ve been able to find out, all he seems to be
interested in is YOU. Now why is this? I don’t think he’s a doctor.
He doesn’t ask the questions you’d expect a doctor to ask. Everyone
says this, not just me. I think he’s a detective.” Laura asks,
“Why would a detective want to know about me?” Burke replies, “That
body in Phoenix…”
Sam is still at the Blue Whale, drinking. Guthrie comes in, sees
him and exclaims, “Hello!” Sam jokes, “I’m just here indulging in
my favorite hobby. Would you like to give it a try?” Guthrie
declines, saying, “No, I’m here to meet Burke Devlin. He called
and left me a message asking me to meet him here.” He remarks, “You
never did tell me how you burned your hands.” Sam replies, “I didn’t
burn my hands. Laura Collins did.” Guthrie asks, “What do you mean?”
Sam replies, “You’d never believe me” and declines to tell him.
Guthrie promises, “Yes I will” and presses him on it. Finally Sam
tells him, “Laura Collins told me she’d stop me from making any more
paintings of her.” Guthrie asks, “She threatened you?” Sam replies,
“Yes”, and tells him what happened. He recounts, “I had been
indulging in my favorite hobby. Now, my favorite hobby has caused
many things, but sleepiness has never been one of them. This time it
did. I fell asleep and had a strange dream in which I saw Laura
Collins, surrounded by fire. When I woke up, I saw real fire. I had
dropped my cigarette onto a pile of newspapers on the floor. Now I
don’t know why I did this – I know better than to touch fire with
my bare hands – but I did and burned them. I felt as if something
COMPELLED me to do it!” Guthrie tells him, “Thank you. You’ve helped
me a great deal. The pieces are starting to fit together.” Burke
shows up. He and Guthrie go to a table.
Burke demands, “Who are you?” Guthrie replies, “Who do you think
I am?” Burke answers, “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out!”
Guthrie remarks, “You seem suspicious.” Burke replies, “Your
questions are strange for a doctor.” Guthrie asks Burke, “You
saw Mrs. Stoddard when she went to the cottage on the night of
the storm. What happened between Mrs. Stoddard and Mrs. Collins?”
Burke replies, “I wouldn’t know. I left right after she arrived.”
Guthrie goes to the cottage. He tells Laura, “I’d like to ask
you a few questions. I understand you saw Mrs. Stoddard the day
she collapsed. Why did she come to see you about?” Laura replies,
“Just to see if I were comfortable here.” Guthrie asks, “That’s
all?” Laura answers, “Yes. That’s all. Sorry I can’t be of any more
help.” Guthrie replies, “Maybe you have. I guess I’d better be
leaving before the rain starts.” He turns to leave, but turns back
and tells Laura, “Oh, Mrs. Collins. One more thing. Would you
accept an invitation to a seance.” Laura asks, “A seance?” Guthrie
asks, “You know what a seance, don’t you. It’s a meeting to contact
the dead. It’s going to be up at Collinwood.” Laura asks, “Who do
you want to contact?” Guthrie answers, “Josette Collins. Some of us
think she might be able to tell us something about what’s happening.”
Laura declines, saying, “I don’t think so.” Guthrie tells her, “Well,
think about it.” Laura asks, “Who’ll be there?” Guthrie replies
cryptically, “There’ll be those of us who are invited, and those who
are uninvited…”
=============================================================================
Episode 169
Tape Date: February 9, 1967 (ABC #34-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 16, 1967 Thursday
Writer: Ron Sproat
Director: Lela Swift

Guthrie returns to Collinwood. Carolyn opens the door for him.
Guthrie tells Carolyn, “I’ve just been to the cottage to invite
Mrs. Collins to the seance.” Carolyn asks, “What did she say?”
Guthrie replies, “She declined.” Carolyn asks, “Are you still
planning to have the seance?” Guthrie tells her, “Yes. In fact,
I believe it might have better results without Mrs. Collins. She’s
hostile to what we have to do and might hinder communication.”
Vicky comes down into the drawing room. She finds Carolyn in
there with Guthrie. Carolyn asks, “David asleep?” Vicky replies,
“No. The storm’s keeping him awake. Vicky asks Guthrie, “When’s the
seance?” Guthrie replies, “In an in an hour or so, or when David’s
asleep.” Vicky asks, “Who’s going to be there?” Guthrie tells her,
“Oh, just me, you, Carolyn and Roger.” Vicky remarks, “What about
Mrs. Collins? I thought she was going to be there.” Guthrie replies,
“No, she won’t be coming.” There’s a knock at the door. Vicky
answers. It’s Frank Garner. Vicky asks, “What are you doing here?”
Garner replies, “Roger called me and asked me to come. He said it was
an emergency. Do you know what he was talking about?” Vicky replies,
“No.” Roger comes into the foyer and tells Garner, “You’re here.
Good.” Garnar asks,”What’s so urgent?” Roger tells him, “Let’s go
into the study to talk.”
In the study, Roger tells Garner why he called him. Garner
exclaims, “That’s the only reason you called me? I’d hardly call
that an emergency!” Roger tells him, “I’m not satisfied with how
you’re handling on my divorce case. It’s taking far too long.”
Garner replies, “That can’t be helped. These things take time.”
Roger tells him, “Well, do your best to expedite things. My wife’s
been pressing me to give her custody of David.” Garner asks, “Is that
all?” Roger replies, “No. There’s one more thing. I want to ask you
about my legal rights to the house and cannery while Elizabeth is
in the hospital.” Garner tells him, “Well, legally control of the
house and cannery are in the hands of the closest next of kin, and
by law that’s Carolyn.” Roger protests, “But’s she’s little more
than a child! She’s not mature enough. I’ve disagreed with some of
the decisions she’s made recently. Isn’t there something you can
do?” Garner replies, “Legally, she’s an adult. There’s nothing I can
do for you here.”
Carolyn is pacing around in the drawing room nervously. Vicky
comes downstairs and into the drawing room. She tells Carolyn,
“David’s asleep. Where’s Dr. Guthrie?” Carolyn replies, “In the
study making some notes.” Carolyn tells Vicky, “I’m really worried
about my mother. What if she NEVER recovers?” Vicky tries to assure
her, “I’m sure she’ll get better”. Frank, having finished with Roger,
comes into the drawing room. Carolyn asks him, “Please take me to
see my mother!”, but Frank replies, “No. I saw your mother this
morning. The doctors feel it would be better for her if she didn’t
receive any visits from family members.” Carolyn starts to get
hysterical and shouts, “NO! I know you’re lying to me! They told
you she was never going to recover, that she was going to die!
Nobody can help. The doctors don’t know what to do and Guthrie’s
nothing but a quack. All he’s going to do is hold this stupid seance!”
Guthrie, who’s been in the foyer, comes in and tells Carolyn, “I’m
sorry you think that way, Miss Stoddard. Should we call it off, then?”
Carolyn cries, “Yes! I know I’m never going to see my mother again!”
and runs upstairs.
Vicky asks Frank, “Frank, what DID the doctors say, really?”
Frank replies, “It isn’t good.” Vicky asks, “They don’t hold much
hope for her?” Frank answers, “At this point, practically none.
They’ve had absolutely no success in finding out what’s wrong with
her.” Vicky asks Guthrie, “There’s nothing you can do? You’re
not going to go on with the seance?” Guthrie replies, “Not if Miss
Stoddard is is against it.” Vicky begs him to reconsider, saying,
“She just got hysterical. I’m sure she’s for anything that will
help her mother.” Carolyn, who’s come downstairs and been in the
foyer, comes into the room and says, “Vicky is right.” She apoligizes
to Guthrie for calling him a quack and asks him to go on with the
seance. He accepts her apology and tells her the seance will be in
a few minutes. Frank asks, “Do you want me to stay?” Guthrie replies,
“No. Just family members.” He takes Frank over to the side of the
room and tells him quietly, “I wish I were really as confident about
what I’m about to do as I pretend to be with the two girls. To be
honest, I’m terrified .” Frank asks, “Terrified of what? Of failure?”
Guthrie replies, “Yes. Of failure. And of success.” Frank, puzzled,
asks, “Of success?” Guthrie replies, “Yes. We may call up something
so strong, so strange, so impossible for the human mind to comprehend,
that we may not be able to control it…”
=============================================================================
Episode 170
Tape Date: February 10, 1967 (ABC #35-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 17, 1967 Friday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: Lela Swift

Vicky tells Carolyn she’s got a bad feeling about the seance,
that she’s convince something terrible is going to happen to her.
Mrs. Johnson sets the furniture up as requested. She remarks that
she is very dubious about all this. Guthrie sets up a small tape
recorder (reel-to-reel. No casettes in 1967…). He turns it on and
asks, “Mrs. Jonhson, would you like to say anything?” Mrs. Jonsnson
replies, “No, thank you, I don’t.” Guthrie replays the tape: “Mrs.
Johnson, would you like to say anything?…No, thank you, I don’t!”
He remarks, “You have a fine voice, Mrs. Johnson.” Mrs. Johnson, who
looks like she’s never seen a tape recorder before, gasps, “Why,
that doesn’t sound anything at all like me!”*
Everyone gathers in the drawing room. Guthrie has them all sit
at the table. Guthrie announces, “The object here is to contact the
ghost of Josette Collins. Now, we’re pretty sure she’s been trying
to contact us and tell us something. She will either appear to us
or speak to one of us.” Guthrie tells everyone to put their hands
flat on the table, fingers spread and touching those of their
neighbor to either side, forming a circle which, he tells them,
“you must keep this circle unbroken at all times!” The seance
starts. Guthrie calls out,”Josette Collins, Josette Collins, I’m
calling you, Josette Collins.” He keeps repeating this. Vicky face
starts to contort in a strange expression. Carolyn, concerned,
asks, “Vicky?” Guthrie warns her, “No, leave her alone! Contact is
being made!” Vicky starts to moan softly. Guthrie exclaims,
“Something’s here!” Vicky’s moans start to get louder. Guthrie
announces, “It’s getting closer!” Vicky continues to moan louder
and louder. Suddenly, the drawing room doors open. Standing in the
doorway is a cloaked figure!
A bright flash of lightning reveals the cloaked figure go be…
Laura Collins. Guthrie exclaims, “Mrs. Collins!” Vicky, who’s fallen
out of the trance, gasps, “What is it?” Laura apoligizes, “Sorry
to interrupt.” Roger asks, “Laura, I thought you weren’t going to
come to the seance.” Laura replies, “I changed my mind.” Guthrie
asks Vicky, “What happened, Miss Winters?” Vicky replies, “I felt
I was in this long corridor. I felt the presence of Josette. I heard
all you voices, but it seemed like you were all very far away.”
Guthrie remarks, “Excellent! That means Josette is eager to
communicate with us. Would you like to try again, Miss Winters?”
Vicky pauses for a moment, as if reluctant, but then annouces,
“All right!” like a trooper. They start the seance again, this time
with Laura present. Guthrie calls out to Josette just as he did the
first time. As he calls, the portrait of Josette at the old house
starts to glow. Josette appears and comes down from the portrait on
her invisible stairs.
At Collinwood, Laura suddenly seems to give a start, as if she
senses something. Vicky starts moaning again like she did the first
time. Guthrie continues to call out to Josette. Vicky starts to moan
louder and louder. Guthrie commands, “Speak to us, speak to us,
Josette!” Carolyn starts to smell Jasmine and exclaims, “She’s here!
Josette! I smell Jasmine, her perfume!” Vicky starts to speak.
Roger gasps, “She’s speaking in French!” Carolyn protests, “But Vicky
doesn’t speak French!” Vicky continues to speak in French. “…Le
petit garcon…Le feu…le presence du mal… cette personne
s’appelle… cette personne s’appelle…AHHHHHHH!”** She screams and
faints without finishing her last sentence.

* Mrs. Johnson acts as if she never saw a tape recorder before.
In 1967, this was possible.

** Having only a smattering of French, I only got these few words.
They mean, “The little boy! The fire! The presence of the
evil! That person is named… That person is named…
AHHHHHHH!” (Note that in French nouns and demonstratives
have genders. Here, “Cette personne” is feminine and
therefore refers to a woman.
==============================================================================
Episode 171
Tape Date: February 13, 1967 (ABC #36-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 20, 1967 Monday
Writer: Ron Sproat
Director: John Sedwick

The lights are turned on. Guthrie tells everyone, “Miss Winters
is all right. She’s just fainted.” Vicky regains conciousness and
asks, “What happened?” Guthrie tells her, “You fainted.” Vicky asks,
“Did anything happen this time?” Carolyn tells her, “You spoke. In
French.” Vicky exclaims, “But I don’t speak French!” Carolyn tells
her, “It was Josette.” Vicky asks, “What did she say?” Carolyn
replies, “I don’t know. I don’t know any French.” Roger turns to
Laura and says, “Laura, you do. What did she say?” Laura replies,
“She wasn’t very coherent. I didn’t pay much attention to what she
said.” Guthrie announces, “But I did. She spoke of someone who
sleeps without sleeping and dreams without dreaming. She mentioned
a little boy who she said was in great danger. She spole of fires
that have occured throughout the centuries. She said that there
would be another one soon. She said there was an evil presence
in this house and started to name it but screamed and fainted.”
He tells Vicky, “I think some hostile force prevented you from
saying more.” He asks her, “Do you remember what you were about
to say?” Vicky replies, “Sorry. I don’t remember saying anything
at all.” Guthrie asks, “Could you tell us what you DO remember?
It may be of help.” Vickly tells them, “I was out of this room,
somewhere else. There was fire everywhere, all around me, falling
from the sky, and I started to burn alive!” She gets quite distraught
remembering this. Carolyn takes her up to her room. Roger tells
Guthrie, “I’m going to take my wife back to the cottage. I want to
have a word with you when I return.” Guthrie rewinds the tape a bit
and replays Vicky saying, “Cette personne s’appelle…Cette personne
s’appelle AHHHHH!”
At the cottage, Roger tells Laura, “Well, we don’t have to worry
about Dr. Guthrie anymore. He promised to leave after the seance.”
He asks, “Don’t laugh, but do you suppose there could be anything
to this?” Laura asks, “You’re not starting to believe in this
supernatural nonsense, are you?” Roger replies, “Of course not.”
Laura tells her, “Vicky was just babbling, hallucinating.” Roger
reminds her, “But in French! How do you expain that? Vicky doesn’t
speak French.” Laura replies, “There must be a logical explanation.”*
In Vicky’s room, Vicky tells Carolyn, “I can’t stop thinking about
those words I said!” Carolyn muses, “The little boy who’s in danger.
That must be David. Josette must be trying to protect him.” Vicky
wonders, “It must be those fires I was talking about. Maybe she’s
trying to warn us David is in danger of dying in a fire. But when
and where?” Guthrie comes up and tells Vicky, “I just came up to see
if you were all right. Are you?” Vicky replies that she is. Carolyn
asks, “What stopped Vicky?” Guthrie replies, “Another force. Another
force at least as powerful as Josette.” Carolyn remarks, “You mean
my Aunt Laura.” Guthrie carefully replies, “We have no proof of
that. All we know is that it is a powerful, hostile force. I think
it might be a good idea for us to try again. At the old house, where
Josette powers are the strongest.” Vicky asks, “Will I have to
participate again?” Guthrie replies, “Yes. Josette seems to like to
speak through you.” Vicky moans, “No…” Guthrie assures her, “I
didn’t say we would do it again. It was just a suggestion. We won’t
hold another seance except as a last resort. I don’t want to put
you through this again unless it’s absolutely neccessary” He tells
her, “Good night, Miss Winters” and leaves.
Roger is in the drawing room. Carolyn and Guthrie come down.
Roger tells Guthrie, “I have only one word to say to you. Goodbye.”
Guthrie replies, “But I’m not leaving, Mr. Collins.” Roger angrily
protests, “But you said you were leaving after the seance!” Guthrie
replies, “I said I’d leave if the seance failed. It did not. It
succeeded. Sorry if you misunderstood, Mr. Collins.” They get into
an argument. Carolyn interrupts, saying, “It’s not your house, Uncle
Roger, it’s mine and you can’t prevent me from letting whoever I
want to come here come here, and If I say Dr. Guthrie can stay,
he can stay and I do!” Roger protests, “Something’s strange about
him! What kind of psychologist holds seances ?!” Carolyn replies,
“Dr. Guthrie is my only hope, the only hope I have of of ever
seeing my mother again! Goodnight!”
It is now 2:15. Vicky suddenly awakens and demands, “Who is it?
Who’s in the room? I know you’re here!” Laura steps out of the
shadows and apoligizes, “Oh, I startled you, Vicky. I’m sorry”.
Vicky asks, “What do you want?” Laura replies, “i just wanted to
see if you wer all right. Are you?” Vicky tells her that she is.
Laura tells her, “I was worried about you. That was a terrible
experience you had tonight. I hope it never happens again.” Vicky
tells her, “Me too!” Laura tells her, “You know what? I have a
feeling that it’s not good for you being in this house. I think
it would be best for you to leave Collinwood.” Vicky asks, “Why?”
Laura replies, “I don’t really know. It’s just a feeling I have.
Anyway, David’ll be leaving with me soon and you’re going to have
to find another family to work with anyway. Think about it.” Vicky
replies, “All right, Mrs. Collins.” Suddenly, she notices that Laura
is no longer there and exclaims, “Mrs. Collins! Mrs. Collins!”
==============================================================================
Episode 172
Tape Date: February 14, 1967 (ABC #37-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 21, 1967 Tuesday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: John Sedwick

Mrs. Johnson is at the cottage doing some dusting. Laura tells her,
“Be careful! Those things are fragile!” Mrs. Johnson replies, “So
am I!” Laura asks, “What do you mean?” Mrs. Johnson explains, “It’s
my nerves. What was Miss Winters screaming about last night?” Laura
lies, “I don’t know.” Mrs. Johnson remarks, “That Dr. Guthrie, I’d
like to know what he’s doctoring. If he’s working on Mrs. Stoddard,
then what’s he doing here when she’s lying in Boston? And what kind
of psychology was he practicing last night? I smell someting fishy
and it’s not the wind off the bay!” Mrs. Johnson starts to poke at
the fire. Laura shouts, “Mrs. Johnson! What are you doing?” Mrs.
Johnson replies, “Putting out the fire so I can clean the hearth.”
Laura tells her, “NO! Don’t touch that fire. It’s cold in here!”
Mrs. Johnson protests, “But it’ll only take a few minutes.” But
Laura insists, “NO! Don’t touch that fire! I want it burning all
the time!” Mrs. Johnson replies, “Yes, Mrs. Collins” and leaves.
Mrs. Johnson goes to the Collinsport Inn and goes to Burke’s room.
She tells him that a seance was held at Collinwood last night with
the objective of helping Elizabeth. Burke remarks, “A seance. That’s
something to contact ghosts, isn’t it? I’d think a doctor would be
able to do more for Liz than a ghost.” Mrs. Johnson tells him, “It
was Dr. Guthrie who held the seance!” Burke asks Mrs. Johnson,
“Could you do me a favor? Could you keep Dr. Guthrie away from
Vicky?” Mrs. Johnson replies that she will.
After Mrs. Johnson leaves, Burke makes a telephone call. He tells
the person on the other side, “Grant? I want you to run a check on
a Dr. Peter Guthrie….No, you won’t get on it tomorrow, you’ll
get on it NOW. I want to know everything about him IMMEDIATELY!”
Dr. Guthrie tries to go upstairs to see Vicky, bur Mrs. Johnson
refuses to let him, saying “I’ve been given instructions not to let
you.”
Later, Laura tries to go upstairs to see Vicky. Mrs. Johnson
refuses to let her up either. Laura tells her, “All right. I’ll
go up and see David, then.” Mrs. Johnson tells her, “He’s not up
there. He’s out with Miss Carolyn. She thought it would be better
if he were out of the house with Miss Winters like this.” Laura
hears Carolyn say, “Jasmine” and asks, “What’s that?” Mrs. Johnson
replies, “Oh, that’s Dr. Guthrie doing his homework.”
Laura goes into the drawing room and finds Dr. Guthrie listening
to a tape of the seance, making notes as he listens. Guthrie sees
her, stops the tape and says, “Good afternood, Mrs. Collins.” They
discuss the seance briefly. Laura tells him she thinks it was a
failure because Vicky fainted before she could say much. Guthrie
replies, “On the contrary, I learned many things from it.” Laura
asks, “Like what?” Guthrie declines to tell her, saying, “I haven’t
reached any definite conclusions yet.” He gestures toward the
tape recorder and tells her, “I’m using modern methods of research.
I taped the seance.” Laura remarks, “Oh, I didn’t know.”
Burke barges into the cottage. Laura complains, “It’s considered
good manners to knock before coming in.” Burke demands, “I’d like
to know what’s going on here!” She tells him she doesn’t know. He
asks about Guthrie. She tells him, “I have a feeling he’s trying to
block us. He’s going to have to be stopped.” Burke replies, “Yes. But
how?” Laura replies, “By any means necessary.”
At Collinwood, Guthrie suddenly starts shouting, “Mrs. Johnson!
Mrs. Johnson! Would you please come here quickly?” Mrs. Johnson
comes into the drawing room. Guthrie asks her, “Mrs. Johnson, did you
touch anything on this table while you were dusting in here?” She
replies that she didn’t. He asks, “You didn’t touch the tape
recorder?” She replies, “No. I wouldn’t touch that thing with a ten
foot pole!” He asks her, “Did you see anyone coming in or out of this
room?” She replies, “No. Why?” He tells her, “Listen to this” and
starts to tape recorder. But instead of the seance, there is only a
strange crackling sound. Mrs. Johnson remarks, “Sounds like a fire
crackling.” Guthrie replies, “Yes. The sound of fire…”
=============================================================================
Episode 173
Tape Date: February 15, 1967 (ABC #38-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 22, 1967 Wednesday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: John Sedwick

Laura begs Burke to convince David to go away with her, saying
“You have a lot of influence with him”.
Vicky is in the drawing room putting some roses into a vase.
David comes into the room and demands, “I want to talk to you!”
Vicky remarks, “Aren’t these roses nice? Dr. Guthrie sent them
to me because I wasn’t feeling well.” David replies, “I don’t
care. I have something I want to talk to you about! I heard you
had a seance last night!” Vicky asks, “How did you find out?”
David tells her, “Mrs. Johnson told me.” Vicky tells him, “Well,
she shouldn’t have. I’ll have to talk to her about that.” David
tells Vicky he’s upset he wasn’t invited, saying, “Josette’s MY
friend! I should’ve been there!” Vicky puts her hand on David’s
shoulder and tries to calm him down. David pulls away, shouts,
“Don’t touch me! You can’t make up!” and runs off.
Laura tells Burke, “Now is the time for me to act with David.”
Burke replies, “I’ll help”. Laura tells him, “I’ve got to hurry.”
Burke asks, “Why?” Laura replies, “We’ve got to act while Liz is
in the hospital. That was hard to arrange.” Burke, puzzled, asks,
“Arrange? What do you mean?” Laura, realizing her faux pas, replies,
“Nothing. Just that it was hard to convince Roger and Carolyn to
move her out of the house into the hospital.” Burke tells her,
“Well, I can’t just march up to Collinwood and ask for David.”
Laura suggests, “Why don’t you try old house or the old fishing
shack? If you want me to help you, you’ve got to help me – to get
David.”
Burke goes down to the fishing shack and finds David there
trying to untangle a coil of rope. He takes the rope from him
and starts to help him untangle it and suggests, “Why don’t we rent
a boat, go out into the bay and go fishing one of these days? It’s
been some time since I had a rod and reel in my hands.” David asks,
“Isn’t it a little cold out in the bay this time of year?” Burke
replies, “I have an old fishing jacket you can borrow. It should
reach just to about your knees.” David is ecstatic. Burke remarks,
“You don’t have much fun around here, do you?” David replies,
“No.” Burke asks, “How do you like your mother?” David replies,
“I don’t really know. Before she came back, I always thought about
her, but when she came back, I was afraid of her for some reason.
Now, I don’t really know.” Burke suggests, “Maybe it would be a good
idea if you went away with her.” David replies, “I don’t mind going
with her for a little while, but forever? I don’t know.” Vicky
comes into the shack and exclaims, “David! That’s where you’ve been!
I’ve been looking all over for you! Don’t EVER run off like that
again!” David excitedly asks Burke, “Burke! Tell her about the
fishing trip!” Burke tells Vicky he wants to take David fishing out
on the bay. Vicky replies, “No, not now. It’s too cold. Ask me again
in the spring.” David, upset, screams, “I’m going to go see my
mother. You can’t stop me! My father gave me permission!” and runs
off. Burke asks Vicky how she is, telling her, “I know about what
happened last night.” Vicky replies, “Fine. Word travels fast
around here, doesn’t it?” They discuss the seance. Burke asks,
“What’s all this opposition to Laura?” Vicky replies, “A lot of
strange things have happened since she came back.” She enumerates
them. She adds, “And she was the last person to see Mrs. Stoddard
before she got sick, and lied about it.”
David goes to the cabin. He tells Laura Burke invited him to go on
a fishing trip, but Vicky wouldn’t let him. Laura tells him, “If you
went away with me, I’d have let you go.” David tells her, “Burke
tells me I should go away with you.” Laura asks, “And?” David replies,
“I’ll have to think about it.” He asks her, “Mother, what’s a
seance?” She lies that she doesn’t know. David asks, “Why’d you go,
then?” Laura lies, “I didn’t go. I just happened to be there, that’s
all.” He asks her to tell him about it. She lies, “There’s nothing
to tell. Vicky got upset and fainted, that’s all. She’s the high-
strung, hysterical type.” She adds, “David, never listen to such
people. If she ever says anything bad about me, don’t listen.”
Burke comes in and tells David, “It’s starting to get dark outside.
I think you should be going back home, David.” David leaves. Burke
tells Laura, “I want to talk to you!” He tells her, “I’ve just
talked to Vicky about you and there’s a few things I’d like you
to explain.” He enumerates the mysterious things Vicky mentioned,
the paintings, Sam’s accident, etc. Laura replies, “How could I
have been responsible for all those things? It would take a
supernatural being to do all that! Touch me! I’m nothing but
flesh and blood.” She takes his hand and puts it on her cheek.
He leaves it there for a moment then pulls his hand back and says,
“Laura, don’t work on me.” She tells him, “Please, think of the
future. Think of you and me…”
============================================================================
Episode 174
Tape Date: February 16, 1967 (ABC #39-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 23, 1967 Thursday
Writer: Ron Sproat
Director: John Sedwick

Frank Garner comes to Collinwood, having been called earlier
by Guthrie and told about the seance and the tape he had made of
it. Guthrie tells him, “Something’s happened to the tape since I
talked to you. The seance is no longer on it.” Frank asks, “You
mean you accidently erased it?” Guthrie replies, “No, that’s what
I thought at first.” He plays the tape and remarks, “At first I
thought it was static, but it isn’t. Listen closely. The sound
is unmistakable.” Frank listens and asks, “Fire?” Guthrie replies,
“Yes. Fire. If only I could fit the pieces together.” Frank asks,
“You think you’d get a life sized portrait of Laura Collins, don’t
you?” Guthrie replies, “I wouldn’t be surprised.” Frank tells Garner,
“By the way, they’re going to close the case in Phoenix. Reilly’s
brought them a mountain of physical tests indicating that Laura
Collins is alive and well and staying here. They’re stumped and don’t
know what to do next. How’s Mrs. Stoddard doing?” Guthrie replies,
“I’ve spoken to Dr. Landis and he tells me she’s doing better.”
Carolyn, who’s just walked in and heard this, demands, “She’s
better? Tell me!” Guthrie replies, “Yes. She’s better.” Carolyn
asks, “Can I see her?” Guthrie reconsiders his words, “Well, perhaps
better is not the word I should have used. Let’s say she’s slightly
improved. Her pulse and temperature are much closer to normal now.
But she still can’t talk or move and Dr. Landis still doesn’t think
family members should visit her yet.” He adds, “But we have learned
one thing. Distance seems to be helping her. Distance from Collinwood
and whatever hostile force is here…”
Joe Haskell comes to Collinwood with some papers for Guthrie to
sign. Carolyn tells Joe that Guthrie and Garner have gone somewhere
but will be back soon. They talk. Joe asks, “How’s your mother?”
Carolyn replies, “Improving. A little. They still won’t let us see
her.” She tells him, “I feel alone, so alone.” He reminds her,
“We’re still friends.” She hugs him.
In Arizona, at a Phoenix Police Department office, Lt. Dan Reilly
and a Lt. Costa are signing some papers. They finish, and both give
out sighs of relief. Lt. Reilly remarks, “Glad to see this case
closed. I’m not a drinking man, but this case almost drove me to it.”
Lt. Costa replies, “I know what you mean.” Lt. Reilly tells Lt. Costa,
“Well, now that this is all over, I guess I’ll be taking the fastest
jet I can find home.” Lt. Costa tells him, “Finished? Sorry, not yet.
The body hasn’t been released for burial yet. You’ve finished signing
the police department forms, but as the person who identified Laura
Collins as being alive in Maine, you’ve got to sign the morgue’s
interminable set of forms too.”
Joe tells Carolyn, “There are some rumors around town about this
Dr. Guthrie. People are saying he’s not a doctor at all. They’re
saying he’s a cop. A cop from Phoenix investigating Laura’s
implication in that fire there.” Carolyn assures Joe that Guthrie
is indeed a doctor.
Lt. Costa and Lt. Reilly are at the Phoenix morgue. Having
finished signing the morgue’s forms, Lt. Reilly calls Frank Garner
at Collinwood and tells him, “I was told by your office that I could
find you here. I just called to tell you the case in Phoenix is
now officially closed.” Garner thanks him for calling and telling
him and hangs up. He tells the rest of the people in the drawing
room, Guthrie, Joe and Carolyn. Carolyn is disappointed that the case
has been closed, saying, “I hoped that they could learn something
that could help Mother.”
In Phoenix, Lt. Costa goes over to the drawer holding the
mysterious body. He looks at the sticker and remarks to Lt. Reilly,
“Look. It still says, ‘Laura Murdoch Collins’. They still haven’t
changed it back to ‘body unidentified’.” Reilly replies, “They’re
probably as confused as the rest of us.” Costa opens the drawer
to take a last look. He exclaims, “It can’t be!” Reilly looks and
suggests, “Maybe this is the wrong drawer.” Costa replies, “No, this
is the right drawer.” He pulls the slab out. It is empty…
==============================================================================
Episode 175
Tape Date: February 17, 1967 (ABC #40-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 24, 1967 Friday
Writer: Ron Sproat
Director: John Sedwick

At Collinwood, Guthrie tells Vicky about the body in Phoenix
being missing. Vicky asks, “How is that possible? They must’ve made
a mistake!” Guthrie replies, “No, they’ve checked it over and over
again.” He adds, “I can’t wait to talk to Mrs. Collins about this!”
Vicky remarks to Guthrie how there seems to one common denominator
in all the strange things that have happened: fire.
At the cottage, Burke tells Laura, “I’ve had Dr. Guthrie
investigated. He’s no ordinary psychologist. He’s a parapsychologist.
That means he studies the supernatural. Now what I want to know is,
Why did they bring in such a man, and why is he so interested in YOU?”
Laura replies that she doesn’t know.
Guthrie tells Vicky, “I can’t wait to talk to Mrs. Collins about
the body. I’m anxious to see her reaction!” There’s a knock at the
door. Vicky tells Guthrie, “Oh, that’s probably Mrs. Johnson.”
Guthrie tells her, “Can you do me one thing, Miss Winters? If that’s
Mrs. Collins, would you mind not telling her about the body?” Vicky
replies, “Of course.” Guthrie tells her he’ll be going for a walk
but will be back soon. Vicky goes to open the door. It’s Burke
Devlin. Vicky tells him, “I can’t let you in.” Guthrie comes by on
his way out, tells Vicky he’ll be back later and leaves. Burke
asks, “Exactly why is he so interested in Laura?” Vicky, seemingly
upset by the question, walks inside. Burke follows her into the
drawing room. Vicky tells him, “He’s just trying to do everything
he can to help Mrs. Stoddard.” Burke remarks, “He suspects Laura,
doesn’t he?” Vicky doesn’t answer. Burke asks, “Let me put it this
way, then. Why don’t YOU trust Laura? I know you suspect her of
having something to do with all this. Tell me.” Vicky replies,
“I can’t.” Burke pressures her to tell him and she replies, “All
right. But you probably won’t believe me.” Vicky tells him, “I think
Josette Collins has been trying to tell me something.” She tells him
about the crypt Josette lead her to, about all the apparent ancestors
of Laura Murdoch Collins, all the the same name, Laura Murdoch
followed by a married surname, about how they all died by fire,
about the body in Phoenix begin gone, etc. She tells him, “Then
there’s the fact that she lied about seeing Mrs. Stoddard just before
she got sick.” She asks, “Am I wrong to not trust her?”
Guthrie goes to the cottage and asks Laura, “Mind if I speak to
you for a moment?” Laura replies, “Sorry, not now. I’m tired and
would like to rest awhile.” But Guthrie continues, “I got some news
just a few minutes ago from Phoenix.” Laura replies, “That could
have nothing to do with me and doesn’t interest me.” Guthrie
continues, “They decided to bury the body, but found that it had
disappeared.” Laura exclaims, “Gone?! But that’s impossible! They
must be mistaken!” She starts to rail against the stupidity of the
Phoenix police, saying she’d expect such a thing from them. Guthrie
tells her, “What does this mean, the fact that the body’s
disappeared? I saw that expression on your face. I know you know
something you’re not telling me.” Laura denies this and tells Guthrie,
“Now go away and leave me alone. I’m not going to warn you again!”
Guthrie asks, “That sounds like a threat. Is it?” Laura replies,
“You’ll find out. Now go back to Collinwood!” Guthrie asks, “And if
I refuse?” Before Laura can answer, the front door opens and Burke
Devlin comes in. Laura tells him, “Burke! Do something! This man is
bothering me and refuses to leave!” Guthrie remarks, “That won’t
be necessary. Goodbye” and leaves.
Burke asks Laura, “Why did you lie about seeing Mrs. Stoddard on
the night she got sick?” Laura replies, “Please, Burke. I can’t
talk about that right now.” Burke replies, “OK. But I’ll be back.
In the meantime, you’d better come up with some straightfoward
answers” and leaves.
Peter Guthries returns to Collinwood. He calls out, “Vicky?” and
goes into the drawing room.
At the cottage, Laura goes and sits by the fire and stares into
it strangely.
At Collinwood, Dr. Guthrie takes off his glasses and rubs his
eyes with his hand, as if he’s feeling strangely. He calls out,
“Vicky! Vicky!” a few more times and starts to stumble around then
falls to the floor next to the fireplace, unconscious.
=============================================================================

Episode 176
Tape Date: February 19, 1967 (ABC #41-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 27, 1967 Monday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: Lela Swift

Vicky comes into the drawing room and finds Guthrie stumbling
around. Vicky tries to steady him and asks, “What’s wrong?”
Guthrie continues to stumble around and replies, “I don’t know.”
David walks into the cottage and finds Laura sitting by the
fire, staring into it. He calls out, “Mother?”, but Laura appears
to be in some sort of trance and doesn’t seem to hear him. He goes
up to her and asks, “Mother, what’s the matter?”, but still gets
no response from her. Finally, he shouts, “Mother, Mother!”, grabs
her shoulder and shakes her. She snaps out of it.
At Collinwood, Guthrie suddenly recovers.
David asks Laura, “What’s the matter, Mother? I’ve never seen
anyone stare into a fire like that before.” Laura replies that she
was just daydreaming. She tells him she’d like to be alone. David
gets very angry at this and starts to stomp out. Laura reconsiders
what she’s just said and calls out, “Wait, David. I didn’t mean
that.” David comes back. Laura apoligizes for snapping at him,
saying, “I was daydreaming. You startled me.” David remarks,
“I never saw anyone dream with their eyes open before.” Laura
tells him, “Here. Let me teach you.” She tells him to stare into
the fire. He does, but after awhile tells her, “I don’t see
anything.” She tells him, “Soon you will; I’ll teach you.”
At Collinwood, Vicky tells Guthrie, “You gave me quite a
fright there. What happened?” Guthrie replies, “I don’t know.
What did it look like?” Vicky replies, “You reminded me of
Mrs. Stoddard when she got sick. Can you describe what it felt
like?” Guthrie replies, “Not really, but I have a feeling of
time being all mixed up.” Vicky exclaims, “Just like Mrs. Stoddard!
She lost several hours too.” Guthrie, now recovered, tells her,
“But that’s where the similarities end. I can remembere where I
was just before this happened. I remember visiting Laura Collins.”
Vicky exclaims, “Mrs. Stoddard also paid a visit to Laura Collins!”
David comes in through the front doors. Vicky scolds him, “Where
have you been? You should’ve been home hours ago!” David replies,
“I’ve been out playing. I just visited my mother.” Guthrie asks,
“When?” David replies, “I just left a few minutes ago.” Guthrie
asks, “Did anything unusual happen while you were there?” David
replies, “Funny you should ask.” He recounts what happened at
the cottage.
After David leaves, Guthrie tells Vicky, “It’s clear the David
interrupted his mother at the exact time I came out of the daze!”
Vicky remarks, “That does it! I’m keeping David from his mother
from now on!” Guthrie suggests, “And I think you should stay
away from her as well. Whatever power Laura has must be destroyed!”
At that exact moment, the front doors open. Standing there is
Laura…
Laura holds up a scarf and tells Vicky, “David left this scarf
at the cottage.” Vicky tells her, “That’s impossible. I dressed
him to go out earlier, and I didn’t put a scarf on him.” Laura
replies, “Well, then maybe he left it when he stayed over. Here.”
Vicky takes the scarf and leaves.
Guthrie bluntly asks Laura, “Aren’t you surprised to see me up
and around? That’s what you came here to see, isn’t it?” Laura
pretends not to know what he’s talking about. Guthrie tells her,
“I think I’m starting to know all about you. You possess some sort
of power stronger than anyting I’ve ever seen, and when I find out
what it is, I’ll tell everyone.” Laura says, “Will you really?”,
laughs, and leaves.
=============================================================================
Episode 177
Tape Date: February 20, 1967 (ABC #42-DRK-67)
Air Date: February 28, 1967 Tuesday
Writer: Malcolm Marmorstein
Director: Lela Swift

Guthrie, holding a notepad, is pacing around the drawing room,
thinking. Carolyn comes in and says, “Good morning. Vicky told
me you wanted to talk to me.” Guthrie replies that he does.
He tells her, “Someone else experienced what happened to your
mother.” Carolyn asks, “Who?” Guthrie replies, “Me.” Carolyn
exclaims, “But that’s impossible! You’re standing right here,
fine.” Guthrie explains, “Something interrupted what was causing
it. I also remember where I was just before it happened. I had
just made a call to Laura Collins.” Carolyn remarks, “I knew it!
I knew she was behind all this!” Guthrie tells her, “I think I
know what this is all about; unfortunately, I have nothing but
circumstantial evidence, no real proof.” He opens his notebook
and tells Carolyn about Laura Murdoch Stockbridge, died by fire
1767 and Laura Murdoch Radcliffe, died by fire 1867.” He asks
her, “You can probably guess the next year in the sequence.”
Carolyn replies, “1967!” Guthrie continues, “Yes. This year.
And in Phoenix, a woman identified as Laura Murdoch Collins
is burned to death. The answer has been staring us right in our
face. The name of the city where the latest death occured.
Phoenix.” He tells Carolyn the story of the Phoenix bird and
tells her he thinks Laura is some kind of Phoenix, burning up
at intervals and reincarnating. Carolyn thinks this is far-fetched.
He tells her, “Wait. I told you earlier I had no proof. I think
there’s a way I can get proof. I’ll need help though. A strong
young man who knows the area. Someone who will be discreet” Carolyn
suggests, “There’s a young man I used to go with. I think he’ll
help. His name is Joe Haskell.” Guthrie warns, “What I have in mind
might not be considered strictly legal, but it must be done.”
Joe and Maggie are talking at the diner. Carolyn comes in and
asks to speak to Joe alone. They go to a table. Carolyn asks Joe,
“When you were at the house last time, you offered to help my
mother any way you can, didn’t you?” Joe replies that he did.
Carolyn tells him, “There may be a way you can help now.” She
tells him Dr. Guthrie needs his help. She tells him, “I’d better
tell you about Dr. Guthrie first, though. He isn’t the kind of
doctor we’ve been telling everyone he is. He’s not a psychologist;
he’s a parapsycholgist.” Joe asks, “You mean he studies spooks
and stuff?!” Carolyn replies, “Yes.” She tells him, “Mother’s
not in a coma; she’s in some sort of psychic trance.” Joe,
incredulous, exclaims, “You mean you think someone put a hex
on her?!” They discuss the field of parapsychology. Carolyn
thinks there’s something to it. Joe is dubious, but agrees to
help anyway. He asks what Guthrie wants him to do. Carolyn replies
the she doesn’t know. She asks, “Can you come right now?” Joe
replies, “No, I can’t just walk out on Maggie. I’ll drop by
tonight.”
At Collinwood, Dr. Guthrie is in the drawing room. Carolyn comes
in bearing a tray of coffee. Guthrie asks, “Vicky’s upstairs with
David?” Carolyn replies that she is. Guthrie asks, “And Roger?”
Carolyn tells him, “Down at the Blue Whale playing Lord of the
Manor.” Guthrie tells her, “Good. We’re alone then. I’ve been
waiting to talk to you all night.” Carolyn remarks, “I thought
dinner would never end! It’s funny how everything seems to take so
long when you’re waiting!” Guthrie asks, “Have you talked to
Haskell?” Carolyn replies, “Yes. He’s agreed to help. He’s coming
tonight.” Guthrie remarks, “I hope he doesn’t back out when I tell
him what I want him to do.” Carolyn remarks, “What DO you want to
do? You haven’t told ME yet.” Guthrie tells her, “I think I’d
rather wait until Joe gets here and tell you both together.”
There’s a knock at the door. Carolyn answers. It’s Joe.
Guthrie tells Joe, “I’m glad you agreed to help.” Joe replies,
“I’ll do anything to help Carolyn’s mother.” Guthrie warns him,
“Maybe this will be more than you bargained for. Do you believe
in reincarnation?” Joe replies that he doesn’t. Guthrie remarks,
“Too bad. You might be less reluctant to do what I want you to
do if you did. I want you to help me open a grave.”
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