Friday at Collinwood
Late afternoon comes to the great house of Collinwood. The shadow of the forest reaches for the manor, as the shadow of the great house itself reaches for the sea.

A white 1956 Cadillac Sedan de Ville 4-door hardtop [Cadillac's first 4-door hardtop] stops in the circular drive in front of the manor. Daniel and Alexandra Collins emerge from its front doors.

One of the front doors of the great house opens and Carolyn runs out. Her mother, right behind her, says "Carolyn! Don't run!"

Carolyn obeys, but walks as fast as she can to the car while crying, "Grandma! Grandpa!"

Daniel picks Carolyn up and kisses her. He says, "Carolyn! How's the world's best granddaughter?"

Suddenly, Carolyn begins to cry. "Daddy didn't come home! Daddy didn't come home!"

"What?!"

"I'll tell you all about it, Dad," Elizabeth says sadly.

Alexandra forces a smile onto her face, replacing the expression that Carolyn's crying produced. She kisses Carolyn, who is still in Daniel's arms, and hands her a teddy bear. "Here, Carolyn. We bought this for you in Boston."

The bear wears a sailor's uniform, including a "flat hat" with lettering around the sweat band.

In spite of her tears, Carolyn manages to smile and say, "Thank you, Grandma. Thank you, Grandpa. What do the letters say?"

"USS Constitution," Daniel replies.

"USS stands for 'United States Ship.' The same as your ships. Right, Grandpa?"

"That's right, Carolyn. What a smart girl you are! Except that Constitution is much older than any of my ships. Some day we will take you to Boston to see her."

"Thank you, Grandpa." Carolyn kisses her grandfather. Then she kisses the teddy bear and says, "She is a girl bear even though she is a sailor. Her name is Connie. I will take her to the tower with me to stand watch."

"To stand watch?"

"To look for Daddy!" Carolyn is crying again.

Elizabeth explains, "Carolyn and her dolls and her animals have been standing watch in the tower room since Wednesday, looking for her Daddy."

Carolyn says, "I will show you, Grandpa. Will you carry me to the tower room?"

"Of course, Honey. Let's go."

When they reach the second floor, Carolyn says, "Oh! We have to get Kathleen from my room."

"I'll get her, Carolyn," says Alexandra.

"Thank you, Grandma."

Kathleen is a doll with red hair. Carolyn named her after the red-haired actress Kathleen Nolan, after seeing a color photograph of Miss Nolan in a magazine. But the name is inappropriate for the doll, because Miss Nolan is beautiful and the doll is a troll. Ten years from now, Barnabas will be startled by the sight of the doll, and he will find himself unable to touch Kathleen.

Daniel carries Carolyn to the tower room. Alexandra and Elizabeth follow.

In the tower room, Carolyn puts her new bear on the window sill. She picks up the doll and the stuffed lamb already on the sill, and says, "Grandma, please put Kathleen next to Connie Bear."

"Like this?" Alexandra asks as she stands Kathleen on the window sill.

"Yes, Grandma. Thank you." She hands the lamb and doll to her grandmother and says, "These two are relieved. Would you please take them to my room for me? Connie Bear and Kathleen and I are on watch now."

"Of course, Carolyn," Alexandra says, as she hugs and kisses Carolyn. But she gives Elizabeth a perplexed look, over Carolyn's shoulder.

Elizabeth kneels to hug Carolyn. "I have to talk to Grandma and Grandpa now. We'll be in the drawing room if you need us."

"Yes, Mommy," Carolyn says. She is fighting not to cry anymore. She concentrates on the good news that Mommy told her on Tuesday: Mr. McGuire is dead. And there is good news today too: Grandma and Grandpa are home.

As Mommy and Grandma and Grandpa start down the stairs, Carolyn sits down at the window. She introduces Connie Bear to Kathleen. She explains to Connie Bear why they are on watch here.

In the drawing room, Daniel and Alexandra Collins sit on the sofa facing the fireplace.

Elizabeth remains on her feet to face her parents, and tell them what has happened at the great house since they left on Monday.

She tells them the same mixture of truth and lies that she told the lawmen, first Sheriff Malloy and Erskine, and then Erskine and Special Agent David Vincent. Then she gives them a true account of the visits by those lawmen, but not quite the whole truth. She does not tell them about SADV's Y Ching wands. He asked her to keep that between the three of them, and she replied, "Certainly, Mr. Vincent. And besides, if I did tell anyone about an FBI agent with Y Ching wands, who would believe it?"

Alexandra cries, "My God, Elizabeth! Carolyn will never be safe from this man! We can never let her leave the house! McGuire could snatch her off the lawn! He could walk into kindergarten, shoot the teacher, and grab Carolyn!"

Very calmly, Elizabeth says, "Mom, Dad, there is a thing called privileged communication."

Daniel and Alexandra exchange a look of astonishment and consternation. Carolyn is in danger, and Elizabeth is babbling about something she learned on Perry Mason.

Elizabeth notices the look, but continues with what she started.
"What I say to my doctor is privileged.
What I say to my lawyer is privileged.
What I say to my minister is privileged.
What I say to my husband is privileged."

Elizabeth puts more contempt into the word "husband" than her parents have ever heard her put into a word before.

"But there is no privilege between parent and child. If I tell the two of you something, a judge can order you to reveal it and throw you in jail for contempt if you refuse.

"There is also the principal of 'need to know.' Dad, you had a top secret clearance when you were in the Navy. Did that mean you had access to all of the Navy's secrets?"

"No," Daniel replies. "No matter how high your clearance, you are told only what you need to know to do your job."

"Exactly," Elizabeth says. "Mom ... Dad ... I am going to tell you only what you need to know. Jason McGuire will never hurt Carolyn. He will never hurt anyone ever again."

"Elizabeth," Alexandra says slowly, "the only way you could know that is if ... "

"Don't say it, Mom!" Elizabeth interrupts. "Please don't ever say it out loud! Not to me, not to Dad, not even to yourself. But please believe me, Jason McGuire will never hurt Carolyn."

Daniel Collins stands and proudly looks his daughter in the eye. He says, "Message received and understood, Madam. But may I ask a question?"

"Of course, Dad."

"Will the police or the FBI ever find McGuire?"

Elizabeth turns her head and looks out to sea for a moment. Then she looks her father in the eye and says, "It's possible, but not likely."

Alexandra Collins looks over her shoulder in the direction Elizabeth looked. Then she stands and proudly looks her daughter in the eye. "Message received and understood ... Madam." She feels a little strange addressing her daughter as "Madam," but it seems appropriate in this situation.

"Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Dad. Now, what about your trip?"

Daniel says, "I need a drink." He heads for the bar.

"Make me one too, dear," says Alexandra.

Elizabeth is shocked. When they have a cookout for lunch on summer Saturdays and the Fourth of July, her parents drink beer with it. Other than that, she has NEVER seen her parents touch alcohol before their pre-dinner cocktail, and it is a little too early for that.

Daniel pours Scotch for himself and his wife. He hands Alexandra her glass before sitting down again.

Daniel fights to keep the bitterness out of his voice as he tells his daughter what her husband has done to them. "Elizabeth, Paul's customers are divided into three groups. One will sign new contracts only if we give them a big discount, so big we will barely make a profit on them. The second will sign new contracts only if we give them an even bigger discount. We will barely break even on them. And the third never want to hear or see the name Collins Canning again."

Elizabeth does the rough math in her head ... and goes pale. "Dad, we can't keep the Cannery open like that."

"We can stay open until New Year's, get our people through Thanksgiving and Christmas." And now Daniel's voice does turn bitter. "The good news is AngelBay has almost completed its latest expansion. Maybe 'Angie,' as Angelique the Sixth calls herself, will hire our people when we shut down."

Daniel takes a big sip of his Scotch before adding, with even more bitterness, "And maybe Angie will buy the catch from our boats when we can no longer can it ourselves."