"You can't be serious, Nancy !" Philip exclaimed . "Eleanor couldn't have done those things ---- any of them . Just one look at her ought to tell you that ."

"Honestly," Karen agreed . "This whole thing is a farce . Eleanor, let me call Mr. Bishop . He'll straighten all this out ----"

"I'm going with Nancy," Eleanor calmly informed them . "This has gone on long enough, and it's got to stop . I don't want the police arresting the wrong person . You're innocent, all of you . I've got to take responsibility for what I've done ."

"But ---" Philip stopped in midsentence, speechless .

"Mother, no !" Cecilia screamed, tugging at her mother as Eleanor turned toward the door . "Why are you doing this ?"

"I'm sorry, darling," Eleanor told her, kissing Cecilia's forehead . "There's no other way out ."

"But, it's all a lie," Cecilia said, turning to Nancy . "She's innocent ! Innocent !" Cecilia dissolved into tears, her body wracked with wrenching sobs as her mother, slipping gently from her grasp, followed Nancy out...