Episode 1408

Aired: Wednesday November 17, 1971

After a replay of Tuesday's close, Gladstone is examining the body in the woods. He says it's "some old man... looks to be dead of natural causes. I see no wounds or signs of a struggle." Benjamin says that it gave his cousin an "awful fright." Gladstone says he can understand that, but most likely "it's an old drifter who got lost and became exposed to the elements. Look at those clothes, you can tell this man has traveled a great deal in them from their extended wear. Poor devil." Benjamin asks Gladstone who the man was, and Gladstone says that there was no identification on him, so he'll have to take him down to the morgue and conduct an investigation. Benjamin adds "At least you know it's not another murder." Gladstone says "Yes... although there's a side of me that wants that killer to show himself again...just so I can finally catch him." Back at Collinwood, Quentin is having a drink in his room, listening to a song on the gramophone, when there is a knock at the door. It's Charity, who invites herself in and tells Quentin what a "lovely tune" he's listening to. He remarks that he hardly ever listens to music, but for some reason he felt like it tonight. She says she needs to talk with him, and he turns off the music. "And what must you talk to me about, Charity?" He says with a smile. "How proper is it for a beautiful young lady to come to a man's room?" Charity pulls away from him and says "That's not why I'm here." Quentin asks her what's wrong and she says "I have to talk to you about my brother and what I think he's planning." Quentin raises an eyebrow.

Quentin asks Charity what she means, and Charity tells Quentin about Gregory's overtures towards Valery. "She's been going on and on about him, wondering why he's never married and so forth. I followed them last night when they went out walking." Quentin wants to know why she was "spying" but Charity says "I'm worried about Valery, Quentin. I know my brother, and I know he's never given her a second thought until...." Quentin finishes the idea "...until he met with my grandmother the other day." Charity says "Exactly. I think it has something to do with that will." Quentin says he always thought Trask was a "trustworthy" person, and Charity says she's sure he is, but "that amount of money can make people change, Quentin. And change for the worse." Quentin humphs and takes another drink. "Don't I know that. I can look to my brother Edward to see how the lust for that money can corrupt an entire personality. Sometimes I'm sorry our grandfather was so successful." Charity tells Quentin that she told him so that he can talk to Valery, and that she was also "worried" that everything happening might hurt him as well. Quentin says "Are you concerned for me, or for my share of that money?" Charity tells Quentin he's not being fair, that she was simply being honest, and that "maybe that money is changing you too. Look how you suspect me when I'm trying to help you." Quentin thinks this over.

Valery enters the drawing room and finds Benjamin there, so she turns to leave. But on the way out, she runs into Quentin coming down the stairs. Quentin tells her he wants to talk to her, and Valery says "I'm sure I know about what." Quentin tells her "I'm not accusing you of anything, Valery. You know me better than that. It's just that I'm concerned about this sudden romance you're having with Gregory Trask." Benjamin, who had been listening, enters the foyer, and adds "I'm concerned as well, Valery. I know your feelings for me are not exactly warm, but I don't want to see you fall prey to a fortune hunter." Valery insists that "Gregory is no fortune hunter! He has a thriving legal practice!" Quentin says "His own sister wonders about his motives, Valery!" Valery, surprised, says "Charity talked to you?" Quentin says "Yes. She's worried about you. And she would know her brother better than anyone. She'd know him better than someone who took a long walk with him while he said whatever he did." Benjamin says that "getting involved with Trask may cut you off from the rest of the family." Valery snaps "And you and Edward would just be all broken hearted over that, wouldn't you?" Quentin tells her that "it won't come to that," adding "I promise you," while looking at Benjamin. Valery says "I can make my own decisions about people. And I shall!" She storms upstairs, and Benjamin remarks "Always so headstrong, that one." Quentin says "I think I'll have a talk with Trask. She may be headstrong, but she's also very vulnerable. I don't want to see her getting hurt." Benjamin says "You know, there's always the possibility that she is well aware of Trask's motives." Quentin asks "What do you mean?" Benjamin asks "I hate to think it, but what if she and Trask are both plotting together? You may want to consider that before speaking to him." Quentin is getting more confused.

At the morgue, the coroner is looking over the body of the dead old man as Gladstone watches. Gladstone asks the Coroner to look "very carefully" at the neck and wrists. "Perhaps our killer tried to murder this man, but he was so old that he died of shock." The coroner tells Gladstone that he found no such marks, but that the man "definitely died of shock." Gladstone says "I thought robbery might be a possibile motive since we fond no money on this man, but he has two gold teeth still intact." Suddenly, the Coroner says "Wait a minute..." and gets a magnifying glass. He starts examining the neck of the corpse, and Gladstone excitedly says "Well? Is there the beginnings of a knife wound?" The coroner says "No, but there are impressions here....like fingermarks." Gladstone asks "Was he strangled? Is that what you're saying?" The coroner says "No, the windpipe isn't crushed and there's no bruising. But there are fingermarks around the neck for some reason. It probably has nothing to do with the cause of death. I would estimate this man to be more than 80. Anything could have killed him." Gladstone says "We found no identification in any of those pockets, only some change, and this." Gladstone takes out a small whale's tooth keychain with some scrimshaw on it. The coroner looks it over and says "Hardly an identification...but there are initials on the artwork..." He looks at it under the magnifying glass and says "It reads E.D., 1891." He hands it back to Gladstone and says "Can you get anything from that?" Gladstone thinks a moment and says "It's my only clue to who this man was. A whale's tooth means he must have been seen around the docks. I suppose I can start there." The coroner says "If he was some drifter down at the docks, why was he found up in the woods near Collinwood?" Gladstone studies the whale's tooth and says "That's a question I'd like to know the answer to."