STEVENS: Can you tell us the extent of Mr. Faulkner’s personal fortune at the height of his success?
KAREN: No, and he couldn’t tell you himself: he had no personal fortune. He took what he wanted. When he owed money to one of his companies — it was crossed off the books and debited to the accounts of several other concerns. It was very simple. We prepared all the balance sheets ourselves.
STEVENS: Why did a man of Mr. Faulkner’s genius resort to such methods?
KAREN: He wanted to build a gigantic net and to build it fast; a net over the world, held in his own hand. He had to draw unlimited sums of money; he had to establish his credit. So he paid dividends out of his capital, dividends much higher than we actually earned.
STEVENS: When did Mr. Faulkner’s business difficulties start?
KAREN: Over a year ago.
STEVENS: What brought Mr. Faulkner to America, this time?
KAREN: A short term loan of ten million dollars from the Whitfield National Bank was due and we could not meet it. We had to have an extension. Whitfield refused it. Until his daughter came into the question.
STEVENS: How did that happen?
KAREN: Bjorn met her at a party. She made it obvious that she was greatly interested in him . . . Then, one day, he came to me and said: “Karen, we have only one piece of collateral left and you’re holding it. You’ll have to let me borrow it for a while.” I said: “Certainly. What is it?” He said it was himself. I asked: “Nancy Whitfield?” and he nodded. I didn’t answer at once — it wasn’t very easy to say — then, I said: “All right, Bjorn.” He asked: “Will that change things between us?” I said: “No.”
STEVENS: Had Mr. Faulkner proposed to Miss Whitfield?
KAREN: No. She had proposed to him.
STEVENS: How did that happen?
KAREN: He told me about it. She took him for a drive and stopped on a lonely road. She said that they were lost, that she had kidnapped him and wouldn’t release him. He answered that the ransom she wanted was not in circulation. Then she turned to him pointblank and said: “What’s the use of pretending? I want you and you know it. You don’t want me and I know that. But I pay for what I want, and I have the price.” He asked: “And what is the price?” She said: “The extension of a certain ten million dollar loan which you’ll need to save your business. If you stay out of jail as a swindler, it can be only in the custody of Mrs. Bjorn Faulkner!”
[NANCY LEE jumps up, trembling with indignation]
NANCY LEE: It’s a lie! It’s a shameless lie! How can you —
JUDGE HEATH: [Striking his gavel] Quiet, please! Anyone disturbing the proceedings will be asked to leave the courtroom!
[WHITFIELD whispers to NANCY LEE and forces her to sit down, patting her hand}
STEVENS: What was Mr. Faulkner’s answer to that, Miss Andre?
KAREN: He said: “It will cost you an awful lot of money.” She answered: “Money has never meant anything to me.” Then he said: “Will you always remember that it’s a business deal? You’re not buying any feeling; you’re not to expect any.” And she answered: “I don’t need any. You’ll have your money and I’ll have you.” Such was the bargain.
STEVENS: Was Mr. Whitfield eager to accept that bargain?
KAREN: Bjorn said he thought Mr. Whitfield would have a stroke when his daughter’s decision was announced to him. But Miss Whitfield insisted. She always had her way. It was agreed that the loan would be extended and that Whitfield would give Bjorn unlimited credit.
STEVENS: In other words, Faulkner sold himself as his last security?
KAREN: Yes. And like the others, it meant nothing to him.
STEVENS: Did you resent that marriage?
KAREN: No. I didn’t. We had always faced our business as a war. We both looked at this as our hardest campaign.
STEVENS: Why did Mr. Faulkner dismiss you two weeks after his wedding?
KAREN: He was forced to do that. Whitfield refused to advance the money he had promised.
STEVENS: What reason did he offer for that refusal?
KAREN: The reason that Bjorn was keeping a mistress. It was Miss Whitfield’s ultimatum: I had to be dismissed.
STEVENS: And did Mr. Whitfield grant the loan after you were dismissed?
KAREN: No. He refused it again. He attached what he called “a slight condition” to it.
STEVENS: What was that condition?
KAREN: He wanted the controlling interest in Bjorn’s enterprises.
STEVENS: Did Faulkner agree to that?
KAREN: Bjorn said that he’d rather gather all his stock certificates into one pile — and strike a match.
STEVENS: And did Mr. Whitfield grant the loan?
KAREN: No, he didn’t grant it. Bjorn took it.
STEVENS: How did he do that?
KAREN: By forging Mr. Whitfield’s signature on twenty-five million dollars’ worth of securities.
STEVENS: How do you know that?
KAREN: [Calmly] I helped him to do it.
[Reaction in the courtroom. STEVENS is taken aback; FLINT chuckles]
STEVENS: Did this help Mr. Faulkner?
KAREN: Only temporarily. Certain dividend payments were coming due. We couldn’t meet them. Bjorn had stretched his credit to the utmost — and there was no more to be had.
STEVENS: How did Mr. Faulkner take this situation?
KAREN: He knew it was the end.
STEVENS: What were his plans?
KAREN: You don’t find men like Bjorn Faulkner cringing before a bankruptcy commission. And you don’t find them locked in jail.
STEVENS: And the alternative?
KAREN: He was not afraid of the world. He had defied its every law. He was going to leave it when and how he pleased. He was —
[The spectators’ door at left flies open. A tall, slender, light-eyed young man in traveling clothes rushes in]
REGAN: I told you to wait for me!
[KAREN leaps to her feet with a startled cry. FLINT, WHITFIELD, and several OTHERS jump up. Startled voices exclaim]
VOICES: Regan! “Guts” Regan!
KAREN: [Desperately] Larry! Keep quiet! Please! Oh, please, keep quiet! You promised to stay away!
[JUDGE HEATH raps his gavel — to no avail]
REGAN: Karen, you don’t understand, you don’t —
KAREN: [Whirling toward JUDGE HEATH] Your Honor! I demand that this man not be allowed to testify!
FLINT: Why not, Miss Andre?
STEVENS: [Rushing to KAREN] Wait! Don’t say a word!
KAREN: [Ignoring him, shouting desperately over the noise] Your Honor . . . !
REGAN: Karen!
[To STEVENS]
Stop her! For God’s sake, stop her!
JUDGE HEATH: Silence!
KAREN: Your Honor! This man loves me! Hell do anything to save me! He’ll lie! Don’t believe a word he says!
[She breaks off abruptly, looks at REGAN defiantly]
REGAN: [Slowly] Karen, your sacrifice is useless: Bjorn Faulkner is dead.
KAREN: [It is a wild, incredulous cry] He’s . . . dead?
REGAN: Yes.
KAREN: Bjorn . . . dead?
FLINT: Didn’t you know it, Miss Andre?
[KAREN does not answer. She sways and falls, unconscious, on the steps of the witness stand. Pandemonium in the courtroom]
CURTAIN
Act Three
Scene: Same scene as at the opening of Acts I and II. Court session ready to open. NANCY LEE, WHITFIELD, and JUNGQUIST occupy the spectators’ seats. KAREN sits at the defense table, her head bowed, her arms hanging limply. Her clothes are black. She is calm — a dead, indifferent calm. When she moves and speaks, her manner is still composed; but it is a broken person that faces us now. The BAILIFF raps.
BAILIFF: Court attention!
[JUDGE HEATH enters. EVERYONE rises]
Superior Court Number Eleven of the State of New York. The Honorable Judge William Heath presiding.
[JUDGE HEATH sits down. BAILIFF raps and EVERYONE resumes his seat]
JUDGE HEATH: The people of the State of New York versus Karen Andre.
STEVENS: Ready, your Honor.
FLINT: If your Honor please, I want to report that I have issued a warrant for Regan’s arrest, as he is obviously an accomplice in this murder. But he has disappeared. He was last seen with the defense counsel and I would like to —
REGAN: [Entering] Keep your shirt on!
[He walks toward FLINT calmly]
Who’s disappeared? What do you suppose I appeared for, just to give you guys a thrill? You don’t have to issue any warrants. I’ll stay here. If she’s guilty, I’m guilty. [He sits down at the defense table]
JUDGE HEATH: The defense may proceed.
STEVENS: Karen Andre.
[KAREN walks to the witness stand. Her grace and poise are gone; she moves with effort]
Miss Andre, when you took the stand yesterday, did you know the whole truth about this case?
KAREN: [Faintly] No.
STEVENS: Do you wish to retract any of your testimony?
KAREN: No.
STEVENS: When you first took the stand, did you intend to shield anyone?
KAREN: Yes.
STEVENS: Whom?
KAREN: Bjorn Faulkner.
STEVENS: Do you still find it necessary to shield him?