Tales of Tomorrow

"Tales of Tomorrow."

Hathaway? Tim Hathaway?

What do you want?

I'd like to talk with you.

This hour of the night?

Mind if I close the door?

Jethroe. Will Jethroe, 24th Precinct.

You're a cop!

- There was some trouble a little while ago

over at the Clover Club.

Somebody shot a woman.

I was sent here to investigate.

- Investigate me? It's none of my business.

I think it is, Hathaway.

- What are you saying? What are you trying to tell me?

What's it got to do with me?

- We got a description of the man who did the shooting

from an eyewitness.

Fits you to a T.

Okay, Hathaway. You want to talk about it?

No.

I want a drink. Don't wanna talk about it.

- Look, I'm only trying to do my job. Don't make it tough.

Everybody's always trying to do a job.

- Why don't you start off by telling me who the woman was?

All right.

The woman I shot was my wife.

Sit down.

Okay.

- It's a long story. Starts five, six years ago.

You want a drink? - No thanks.

You'd better have one.

Because when you hear what I've got to say,

you're gonna need it.

Sure.

Sure, my wife was an angel.

That's why I had to kill her.

We've got the wrong idea of angels, my friend.

They're not good.

That's why I had to kill her, before she killed me.

Yes, we were married four years.

I was about 40, she was 35.

We were pretty happy, I always thought.

And then, one evening, something strange happened.

That's how it all started.

Tim?

Tim, darling?

- I'll be there in just a minute, dear.

- Come and help me with these buttons. I can't reach them.

Hang on. I'll be right there.

Oh darling.

Ah, Monsieur le Medecins,

he will certainly be happy

when he gets that Hathaway cocktail.

Back here, darling.

There we are.

You get it? Thank you, sweetie.

Anytime at all, pet, anytime.

Would you like to try a sample?

- No thank you. I don't want to be on my face before Jack.

- Well, he probably wouldn't notice it.

He would think he was in his office

and start taking pictures.

You feel all right? - Never better.

You sure there's no pain anywhere?

- Oh, I can't even feel anything. Don't worry, darling.

It couldn't have been a broken rib, it healed too fast.

- I know, but Jack told me the X-rays he took-

- Yes, I bet any money that he made a mistake.

That's probably why he wanted to bring over the new set,

the ones he took today.

He wants to apologize.

Oh, darling, did you feed Chap?

Oh, yes. Yes, I fed the puppy.

Now dear, hurry up, will you? - Oh yes, sweetheart.

I want you to sample this

and tell me if there's enough vodka.

Oh, there's Jack now, dear.

- Oh, Tim! You go, will you? - All right.

And here's the doctor! - Hello, Tim.

Well, how are you feeling, Jack?

Pretty good. And you?

Oh, tops. Say, let me have your coat.

- How 'bout a hat? - Here, take this, will you?

You'll get into that Hathaway Highball, huh?

- Say, what is this? It smells like an operating room.

- You're supposed to drink it, not sniff it.

Say! Old Sawbones is here, dear!

Say, I'll go and get some more ice. She'll be right out.

- Oh, hello Jack. How nice of you to come.

Hello, Joanne.

- Well, Doctor, what's the verdict? Shall we amputate?

Uh, we may have to amputate.

But it'll be the MD at the end of my name that's coming off.

- What? - Uh, Joanne,

you had yourself a very bad fall on the sidewalk Saturday

and you broke a rib.

I have X-rays to prove it.

And, uh...

You know, you don't argue with X-rays.

I'm not arguing, Jack.

Well, I am.

Yesterday was Monday and I took more X-rays, remember?

Yes.

No break, no fracture. Nothing.

So?

- Joanne, it just isn't possible for a normal human being

to sustain a broken rib on Saturday

and then find no evidence of that broken rib

on the following Monday.

Jack, is it possible for a doctor

to get hold of the wrong set of plates?

Oh, now Joanne, please.

I'm only asking, Jack.

Well, it's possible.

Here we are. Ready for the plunge?

Did you get enough ice, darling?

Oh, yes. Plenty, dear.

- Course, I have my doubts about this but...

Aw, it'll be all right.

If you gentlemen don't mind it,

I think I'll be turning in.

- Well, I have to be running along soon myself, so...

Oh, how 'bout a how about a nightcap?

All right, Jack, sure. All right, dear?

Oh, yes. Of course.

Good night. - Good night, Joanne.

Good night, sweetie.

Good night, darling.

- I wanted to wait until she'd gone to bed.

I know it's very late, but this is important, Tim.

This X-ray business with her broken ribs.

Well, what about it?

This is serious, Tim!

Let me get these plates. I'll show you what I mean.

Now, this is the this is the picture

that I took the day of the accident.

You see the break?

Sure.

- Well, now this is the print that I took yesterday.

Same Joanne, same position, same rib, two days later.

What do you see?

- Well, it's not broken. - Right!

It's completely healed! Not a scratch.

Not even any evidence of a fracture.

I tell you, Tim, that it's things like this

that makes a fellow study his pictures

more closely than ever.

And believe me, I've studied these very, very closely.

That's how I happen to discover these other things.

Oh? What other things?

Her heart, for instance.

You remember a year ago Joanne came to me for a checkup?

Yeah.

- I took an electrocardiograph and took some X-rays.

Her heart was perfectly normal.

Now look.

A heart only half the normal size.

That's unbelievable.

And her appendix. Look at it.

Well, I can't see it.

It isn't there, Tim.

You mean she has no appendix?

That's right.

But she had one a year ago and she's had no appendectomy.

No, she hasn't. She has no scar.

No appendix,

a heart half the normal size,

and a rib that knits in two days.

Tim, there's something medically strange about Joanne.

Very strange.

Oh, I thought you'd be asleep, dear.

- Is Jack gone? - Yes.

He tells me that your broken rib has mended perfectly.

Yes, he told me.

What else was he saying?

Oh, nothing. We just talked.

- Just talked? - Yes.

Well, it's not important, dear.

Just a lot of nonsense about your heart getting smaller,

your rib mending so fast, something about your appendix.

Tim, sit down. Sit down.

We've got to talk about something, Tim.

I didn't intend for you to find out so soon.

Find out what, dear?

Dear, how can I make you understand?

Tim.

I'm...

I'm changing.

I was afraid that Jack would notice something

when I went to him about the broken rib.

I sort of hoped he wouldn't.

But perhaps it's better that we talk about it now.

Now what are you trying to say, dear?

Tim, I'm changing.

I'm changing in many ways,

not just the size of my heart or appendix.

Other things that even Jack doesn't know about.

That's the part of it, but only a small part.

I've discovered things about myself.