Episode 278, scene 5. Chris Webber is on the witness stand testifying for the prosecution. JF: Mr. Webber, what was your reaction when you realized that your brother had concealed his responsibility for causing your accident? CW: I was bitter. I thought of all the years he had gotten away with it. And I was bitter at first. JF: You say at first? CW: Well, I finally realized I wasn't the only one that had suffered. I had professionals to teach me how to live with my blindness. My brother had to learn to live with his guilt alone. JF: You speak of your brother's feelings of guilt. This is a natural assumption. CW: It is not an assumption, Mr. Fowler. CW: Your honor, you see, before my accident, Lee ignored me. But after the accident, he was different. He put me above everything, even his wife. He was always one step behind me, hovering, protecting me, fighting my battles for me. Even when there were none to fight. Our first real argument was when I wanted to go away to law school. Lee wanted me to stay here. He wanted me to hang around his neck like a living albatross, dependent on him for every need every decision. I had become his whole world, his life. All he wanted in return was that he should become my life. That's why I say that neither one of us escaped what happened on the bluff. JF: There were two tragic incidents on the bluff, Mr. Webber. Which one are you referring to now? CW: The first one. Ann Howard's death is another matter. JF: Do you separate these two incidents in your own mind? CW: Yes, I do. CW: Completely? JF: Completely. JF: Mr. Webber, on the morning of Ann Howard's death, when your brother struck you, was this a usual or an unusual occurrance. CW: It had never happened before. JF: Was anyone else present? CW: My sister-in-law. JF: The defendant's wife? CW: Yes, Sandra Webber. JF: Now, when your brother left the house, when was it that you encountered him again? CW: In front of the drug store on the square. JF: You stated that he said that he couldn't trust you. That he felt he had to protect himself. Do you recall your reply to this? CW: Yes, I told him he had to be stopped. Whether he liked it or not, I had to go to Steven Cord. JF: And did he make any further effort to detain you? CW: No. JF: How do you explain that? CW: Well, there were witnesses on the square that saw what was happening. Norman Harrington, Mrs. Elliot Carson. Others, I suppose. JF: Did either of them speak to you or to the defendant? CW: Not at that time. SC: Objection. The witness obviously can have only hearsay awareness of their presence. JF: Your honor, I have already indicated my intention to call Mrs. Carson to the stand. I expect to establish her presence there from her own testimony. JC: Objection over-ruled. Continue, Mr. Fowler. LW: [softly] You're letting this guy walk all over you. JF: What did you do next, Mr. Webber? CW: I stepped off the curb in front of a car. JF: Without any warning? CW: Maybe my brother was too excited to notice it. CW: Anyway I went over to the bank building to Mr. Cord's office. But he wasn't there, so I dictated my statement to his secretary and signed it. When I came outside Lee was waiting for me. And I told him it was done. JF: What was his reaction? CW: Angry. I could tell by his voice. He said, "You're coming with me." And that's when I knew that it wasn't the threat of public exposure or even punishment he was afraid of. He was afraid of losing the hold he had over me all those years. JF: And did you go with him? CS: No, Norman Harrington was suddenly there. And he told Lee that he and I were supposed to go sailing that afternoon. Later, Norman told me that Mrs. Carson had asked him to rescue me. I asked Norman then to drive me up to Dr. Rossi's cottage. JF: Why there? CW: I wanted to warn him. I wanted him to convince Ann Howard that the real danger wasn't over. It was just beginning. I even thought maybe Ann should leave Peyton Place because I knew as long as she was here, she wasn't safe. JF: Why Dr. Rossi? Why not miss Howard's own lawyer? CW: Because I wann't convinced that Mr. Cord was sufficiently involved to take the danger seriously. JF: Did you find Dr. Rossi at home? CW: No, he wasn't there. JF: Mr. Webber, the statement that you made on the day of miss Howard's death, you said that you left Dr. Rossi's cottage, and you walked three miles down the beach to the Stuyvesant caves, where you were trapped by the tide. If you were so anxious to see Dr. Rossi, I don't understand why you didn't wait for him. CW: I did wait. JF: At the caves? CW: No, not at the caves. JF: But. CW: I never went to the caves. I lied. I was trying to protect my brother. [Crowd rumble] JF: Are you saying that you waited at the cottage. No, I didn't wait at the cottage. I was afraid, afraid they would find me there. So I went down a trail that leads down below the bluff and I hid on a ledge. JF: How long were you there? CW: Long enough. I finally heard voices. JF: Whose voices? CW: Ann Howard's and my brother's. JF: What were they saying? CW: I couldn't make out much of what they said because of the wind and the tide. JF: If you couldn't hear them, how can you be sure you can you be sure you can identify them? Because my hearing is sharper than most people's. I use my ears like people use their sight. Go on. CW: I heard what sounded like a blow. SC: Objection. This is the witness's own conclusion. JC: Sustained. Proceed. CW: I heard Ann scream. I wanted to run to her. I stayed on the bluff, hiding. And I heard the rocks start to go above me rocks pouring past me down to the surf. I knew more than rocks went by. I knew she was down there, too. Episode 278, scene 5 HOME