The world tilts and Lilly tries to steady herself.
She puts a hand against the wall for support.
Her stomach lurches and the taste of bile stings the back of her throat.
Why did her mother say that?
Her dad is on his hands and knees checking the body for a pulse.
The air in the basement is icy.
A whiff of steam rises from the puddle of thick, warm blood.
Lilly stumbles over to her dad.
She kneels next to the body and managers to whisper a question to her father.
Lilly
Are you sure this is Greta?
Lilly’s dad looks up at her.
Confusion contorts his features.
Lilly
She says this isn’t Greta. She says this isn’t Greta!
Ed
Why did you tell Lilly this wasn’t Greta?
Sue
You’re such a clever man…
Sue
A doctor. So very fancy.
Sue
I thought you’d never ask, Eddy.
Sue
There once was a doctor named Ed.
Sue
Who got in over his head.
Sue
But now the wrong woman is dead.
Ed
What are you talking about?
Ed
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?
Sue
Do you like riddles, Ed?
Ed
Sue…what’s wrong with you?
Sue
DO. YOU. LIKE. RIDDLES?
Sue
A woman is murdered in a basement…
Sue
Before she died, she wrote some numbers on the floor in her own blood.
Ed
What are you talking about?
Sue
The question is…Who is she?
Ed
She’s Greta. Your sister.
Ed
Your sister is dead on the basement floor.
Ed
You’re in shock, love. We all are.
Ed
But it’s her. Greta is dead.
Ed
This time she’s really, really dead. I checked.
Sue
Come on clever man, this is an easy one.
Ed
Okay. It’s numbers corresponding with the alphabet. Isn’t it?
Sue
Ooooh. Getting so warm…
Sue
And the prize goes to clever Eddy.
Sue
For a doctor, you’re really not that bright.
Sue
Shall I spell it out for you?
Sue
That dead woman in the basement, or should I say former torture chamber…
Sue
Is not Greta, it’s your precious wife Sue.
Ed
I’m talking to my wife on the phone. You!
Sue
You won’t believe how easy it is to drug someone and then steal their phone in this day and age.
Sue
My plan almost worked out perfectly, except for one tiny glitch…
Sue
YOU were meant to kill her.
Sue
I must say, I do feel a little bad for MY daughter.
Sue
I didn’t want her to kill the woman she thinks is her mother. Ooops!
Sue
Take me, for example.
Sue
I survived six stab wounds AND being dumped in a river.
Sue
You’re not a very good doctor you know. OR…
Sue
WAIT. You knew I was still alive when you tied rocks to my feet and threw me in a river.
Ed
OMG. It’s you? Is it really you?
Ed
I THOUGHT YOU WOULD DIE.
Sue
Sue would hate to hear you talking like that…
Sue
Luckily she’s dead!!!
Ed
This can’t be happening.
Sue
Jesus, are we back to square one again???
Sue
Let’s try again. From the very beginning.
Sue
Sue is lying dead in your basement.
Sue
Our mother always used to say — before the poor woman met her untimely demise…
Sue
Before she went up in a puff of smoke, so to speak ;)
Sue
She said you could tell us apart by the birthmark on Sue’s thigh.
Ed
It’s not you. It can’t be. NO.
Sue
Shall I give you a minute to go and check your pretty wife’s thigh?
Sue
Are you ready to talk yet?
Sue
Shame, are you and Lilly too busy weeping over your wife’s lifeless corpse?
Sue
I’ll give you a few more minutes, shall I?
Ed
I’LL KILL YOU. I’LL KILL YOU!
Greta
Yes, yes… you already said that.
Ed
YOU LET LILLY KILL HER!!!
Ed
What kind of evil bitch does that???
Ed
How is Lilly going to live with knowing that she killed her own mother?
Greta
I am! You stole her from me.
Ed
Because you’re sick. You’re a psycho. A murderer.
Greta
Hello! Pot, meet kettle!
Greta
You tried to kill me, remember?
Ed
No mother would let their child murder someone!!!!
Greta
I admit, that wasn’t part of my brilliant plan.
Greta
YOU were meant to kill her.
Greta
I was really looking forward to you living with that guilt for the rest of your life.
Greta
And so does Sue! She stabbed me six times.
Ed
What did you do to her?
Ed
Why was she acting so strangely today?
Greta
When I was “dead” I spent a little time with some very interesting people.
Greta
Some might call them hippies.
Greta
I call them “the enlightened.?
Greta
The point is, I learned all about LSD.
Greta
Not that crappy acid you get at clubs, or from that pimply boy at the skate park…
Greta
The kind of stuff that brings you face-to-face with your own personal truth and demons.
Ed
What are you talking about?
Greta
And it was so easy to give it to her.
Greta
She really shouldn’t have left her coffee unattended at the restaurant when she went to the bathroom.
Greta
It’s so easy for someone to slip something in, don’t you think?
Ed
I can’t…this is… what have you done?
Greta
I’m so glad you’re finally getting this, Ed.
Greta
Because I put a lot of work into this plan.
Greta
And it was almost perfect, right down to the Oscar-winning performance your wife gave.
Greta
I must say, she played the role of deranged, lunatic “sister” so much better than I ever imagined.
Greta
And you bought it hook, line and sinker.
Greta
I knew what would happen when I drugged her.
Greta
It was so obvious what her demons were, especially after what happened the other night.
Greta
When I saw poor Sue have that terrible nightmare.
Greta
I saw how she woke up crying and then threw herself on the carpet, on top of the basement door, clawing at it.
Greta
I knew what demons and truths the drugs would bring out.
Greta
And I knew you would think she was Greta for that. I did hope you would be the one to kill her though, but anyway…
Ed
You’re sick. You’re fucking sick.
Greta
I think I’m quite brilliant actually.
Greta
You have no idea how many weeks of preparation this has taken.
Ed
You’ve been spying on us???????
Greta
That old treehouse in the backyard is rather comfortable, really.
Ed
You’ve been here all along? Watching us???
Greta
Oh, yes. But I’ve also done so much more than just watch.
Ed
What have you done? Tell me!
Greta
Well, remember the other morning in the shower…?
Greta
Remember how you screamed and moaned like that?
Greta
How you dug your nails into my back?
Ed
No. NO!! NO. It wasn’t you.
Greta
Come on Ed, you know it was.
Greta
While Sue was busy riding the bike at the gym, well, let’s just say, I was riding you!
Ed
Jesus. What’s wrong with you???
Greta
YOU STOLE MY BABY AND TRIED TO KILL ME.
Greta
I thought it would be obvious by now.
Greta
And this is revenge! In case that part’s not clear either.
Greta
Anyway, you should thank me for the shower.
Greta
Now that we have that awkward first night over with…
Greta
We can live together as man and wife very comfortably.
Greta
Really? And when your perfect, popular wife goes missing, what will you say to everyone?
Greta
You don’t want the police crawling all over the place. Do you?
Ed
This is not happening. This is not happening. I don’t believe this.
Greta
Stop blabbering, Ed! It’s not attractive.
Greta
It’s not a quality I want in my husband.
Ed
I WILL NEVER BE YOUR HUSBAND!!!!
Greta
I don’t think you have a choice in the matter…
Greta
If Sue disappears, the police will come calling.
Greta
Like it or not, you and Lilly are stuck with me now.
Greta
We’ll all be one happy family.
