2.02---Factory Girls---Available!

[cellogal]

April 5, 1943

Factory, where Four Vagabonds’ “Rosie the Riveter” plays. A Rosie poster even hangs proudly on the wall while women are hard at work all around it. A couple of women in non-factory clothes walk through, and the one in front explains that they never can get enough girls for all the shifts, reminding the woman behind her that they have to work 24 hours a day for victory. A closer look reveals that the woman in front is none other than Pam from The Office! Sweet! Pam reassures the other woman that the girls are a real nice bunch, then introduces the woman, Alice Miller, to Martha. Martha asks Alice if she’s joining the line; Alice supposes she is. Martha asks Alice if her husband’s overseas; Alice nods. Their smalltalk is interrupted by another one, who b*tches at them to watch it, then says they’d better get Alice a pair of slacks. “That’s Fannie,” Pam says by way of explanation.

The boss approaches them, asking Pam, whose real name is Dottie, if this is the new girl, and she confirms it, saying it’s her neighbor, Alice. The boss asks Alice if she knows how to work a vertical lathe; Alice replies that she’s never worked a day in her life. Martha encourages her, saying it’s no tougher than a sewing machine. They’re interrupted by sirens, and Dottie instructs Alice to get down. The others explain to the confused Alice that it’s an air raid siren; a guy tells her it’s just practice, and Fannie snarks that if it was real, they would have heard the bombs already. Alice looks around uncertainly.

As several women leave the shift, a whistle blows, and the camera then pans to a corner, where Alice’s body lies next to some of the machines.

In the evidence room, a detective puts her file on a shelf.

Present Day

Lilly walks into a Women of the Homefront reunion, where someone calls to her, and Lilly approaches, asking the young woman if these are the Rosie the Riveters. They are indeed. Lilly asks the other woman how her story’s going, and she replies that nobody else wanted it, but her great-aunt was one of the workers, so she took it on, and her digging has uncovered a bigger story. She then calls to Martha and tells her to come meet Lilly. “You’re the lady detective,” Martha says by way of greeting, and the reporter explains that Martha worked with her aunt Alice. Martha proclaims Alice a real nice gal: quiet as a mouse at first, but couldn’t have been sweeter, and that it’s terrible what happened. Lilly says that the official story was that she died in a fall, but Martha tells her that the night they say Alice fell was Martha’s last night on the job; before she left, she asked the owner where Alice was so she could say goodbye. The owner said Alice had quit, and the writer says that the body was found the next day, in her work clothes. Lilly asks Martha if her memory could be mistaken, and Martha smiles and explains that, when you get old, you start forgetting things, not making them up. Heh. Lilly nods and asks the owner’s name: Henry Walker, who was a drinker and mean as a snake, according to Martha. She says that she could smell liquor on Henry’s breath that night, and the writer thinks he was hiding something. “Like maybe Alice didn’t fall…maybe she was pushed,” Lilly guesses.

Credits.

Coffee place. Jeffries comments that a sixty-year-old case is ancient, and Stillman asks Lilly who brought it to her. Lilly explains that her source is Dana Hunter, whose great-aunt died in a factory accident in 1943. Vera asks if Dana is that pushy reporter, and Scotty confirms it, saying she’s the pretty one who covers court. Lilly explains that Dana’s doing a story on the factory girls, but Vera’s still fixated on Dana, whom he says he doesn’t like. Jeffries thinks this is because she covered the Chimayo job, and kept writing that Vera had no new leads. Stillman chuckles, and Scotty agrees that the truth hurts. Vera’s not amused, and Lilly steers the conversation back to the case, saying that Dana thinks her aunt’s death was homicide. Scotty argues that, even if that’s true, the doer’s probably dead, and the whole thing’s a formality. Lilly sees right through it, accusing Scotty of not wanting to drive out to Records and Storage. Vera says that a sixty-one year-old case should be skipped, since no one cares. “What’s with you?” Lilly asks, and Jeffries explains that Vera’s just happy because it’s his anniversary. Scotty asks Stillman if he wants to KO this one, since it’s too old to matter, but Stillman tells them to take a drive and see what’s there. Scotty sarcastically thanks him.

Records and Storage. Scotty, up on a ladder, asks Lilly if they really need this police telegraph. She tells him that they need everything they can get; Scotty gripes that it’s probably like, one page. Lilly sarcastically suggests that they blow it off, since a sixty-year-old case won’t need much help, and Scotty, properly chastened, asks her what the factory report says. Lilly reads that it was ruled an accidental death; the impact from the fall broke Alice’s neck, but then sees something interesting: Henry Walker found the body. “The mean drunk?” Scotty asks. “The mean drunk who told Martha that Alice didn’t work there anymore,” Lilly replies. Scotty finds a telegraph from the 39th District in September, 1943. “Oh, three pages!” Lilly says with a smile. Scotty ignores her, reading that 22-year-old Alice Miller was reported missing by her husband, Nelson, at 11:20 PM. Lilly reads another page, saying that Nelson came home to find two whiskey glasses on the table, but no Alice. Scotty thinks maybe she was partying with someone, and Lilly remembers Martha saying Henry had liquor on his breath that night. “Drinkin’ buddies,” Scotty guesses. “Or more,” Lilly adds, then discovers the problem: Walker died in 1988. Scotty asks if anyone’s alive, and Lilly says Alice’s husband is.

Nelson’s front yard. He explains that he never understood the whiskey glasses, since he and Alice were teetotalers. Lilly asks Nelson if he was out that evening, and he tells her he was trying to get his old job back, then came home to find those two glasses on the table. Scotty asks what time that was, and Nelson says it was eight or so, but by eleven, he was worried enough to notify the police. Lilly asks Nelson if he knew Alice had gone to the factory; Nelson insists that Alice quit that place the day he got back from the war. Lilly guesses the fact that her body was found at the factory must have surprised Nelson, and he says he figured they asked her back for one last shift. Scotty asks if Alice liked the job, and Nelson says she did: she was a “curtains girl.” Lilly surmises that, when the war ended, Alice went back to the kitchen, and Nelson says he knows it’s out of fashion now, but that’s all Alice wanted. He then says he blames himself for sending her to work; it was his idea.

Front yard. Accompanied by the Mills Brothers’ “Till Then,” Nelson sits on the curb awaiting the mail while Alice and Dottie tend a Victory Garden. Dottie explains that tomatoes and radishes do real well, and Alice laments that it’s difficult to prepare Nelson’s meals without the variety. Dottie patriotically explains that the boys need the fresh cuts more than they do. Their task finished, both girls smile at Nelson, and Alice asks him to take a look at their Victory Garden, but Nelson’s distracted by the mail that’s come. He hands it to Alice, and we learn that it’s an order for Nelson to report for service. Nelson tells her they knew it was coming, and Alice asks what she’ll do. “Write me every day; pray for victory,” Nelson says, and Dottie reminds Alice that it’s his duty. Alice knows. Nelson then reads another piece of paper, summoning women for “important war work.” Alice says she couldn’t possibly work, but Dottie chirps that lots of girls are working for victory. Alice protests that she’s too shy and not cut out for that kind of thing, but Nelson argues that it’ll help pass the time and get him home faster. Dottie says she’ll take Alice to the factory on Monday and introduce her to her boss, and Nelson encourages her to give it a try. “You might surprise yourself,” he says.

Nelson says he should have listened to Alice; she was too delicate for that kind of thing. Lilly asks Nelson if he ever met Alice’s boss, Henry Walker, and Nelson didn’t. Scotty asks about Alice’s factory friends, and the only one Nelson knew was their neighbor, Dottie, who got her the job, then points out her house. Lilly turns to see a woman watching from the curtains.

Dottie’s living room, where she explains that she was Mr. Walker’s secretary. Lilly asks if he was a good man; he was a Christian man, Dottie explains, but he was in a lot of pain, since he lost two sons to the war. Scotty asks if that’s why he drank, and Dottie says he wasn’t a saint. Scotty asks if he and Alice could have had a drink together before work that night. “Heavens, no,” Dottie replies, saying Henry was the boss, and Alice was just a factory girl. Scotty tells her that it’s probably been done before. Heh. Dottie surmises that it was probably one of Alice’s new friends, then explains that she’d started to run with a fast crowd, who was known to hit the sauce. “So was your boss,” Scotty replies, and Dottie angrily insists that Mr. Walker and Alice weren’t friendly. Scotty asks what the problem was, and Dottie protests that a secretary doesn’t tell secrets. Lilly reminds her that Mr. Walker is, in fact, dead, and she can’t hurt him. Dottie considers it for a moment, then says that Alice did come to her one day.

Factory. Fannie complains that it’s rotten that the girls are getting the lowest wages, and Dottie cattily suggests that Fannie write Mrs. Roosevelt about it, since she likes to meddle into unpopular causes. Alice comes in, and Fannie b*tches that Alice should be on a poster, with that perfect wave in her hair. Alice timidly asks if she’s intruding, and Dottie shakes her head. Fannie leaves, and Dottie warns Alice to stay away from that one, since she’s got a past, then asks Alice how she’s doing out on the floor. Alice says that she’s doubled her pace on the drill press, then tells Dottie she’s noticed that they’re missing boxes of rivets: every third day, they’re short one. Dottie confidently says that Alice must be counting wrong, but Alice is sure of it, and thought she’d tell Mr. Walker. “I wouldn’t,” Dottie says quickly. Alice argues that someone stealing materials is awfully unpatriotic, but Dottie orders Alice not to mention it to him.

Scotty guesses that this is something the boss would want to know. “Unless he was the one lifting the boxes,” Lilly finishes. Dottie merely repeats her insistence that Mr. Walker wasn’t a saint. Lilly asks her what she can remember from the night Alice died, and finally, she reluctantly recalls that Mr. Walker disappeared for quite a while that night, and that was unusual. Lilly asks Dottie if she was there when he found Alice; she says she wasn’t. They worked the night shift that evening, she adds, and he shouldn’t have been there in the morning.

Retirement home. The guy from earlier, pushing someone else in a wheelchair, explains that his father worked his tail off for Brill, saying that if he was there that morning, it was because he stayed all night doing the books. Jeffries asks if he pulled all-nighters a lot, and the guy replies that his dad did whatever it took. Vera asks if his dad’s drinking on the job was regular, too, and the younger Walker says that his dad was a drunk his whole life, and died of liver failure. Vera asks how Henry and Alice got along; the son says he was seventeen and was thinking about other things. Jeffries asks if he remembers her accusing him of stealing supplies, and he’s surprised that they know about that. The guy finally says that his older brothers died in the war, and Henry felt that he was owed some payback. “That justified the pilfering?” Jeffries asks, and the guy replies that Alice shouldn’t have brought that up to him. “So she did confront him with it,” Vera concludes, and Walker’s son nods.

Factory, where we hear Peggy Lee’s “Waiting for the Train to Come In.” The son asks Alice if she wants to go to the show tonight; there’s something new on, he says, and thinks it’s called “Caysablaynca.” Heh. Alice tells him to take someone his own age; someone from school, but the son, whose name is Buddy, proclaims that they’re all a bunch of dumb clucks. Henry approaches then, and Alice gives him the report of her day’s work. He says to keep ‘em coming, and then Alice asks if she can have a moment. They step to the side, and she tells him that the blind rivets disappear with regularity, and she knows he’s involved in side businesses. Henry asks her if she wants to be fired on the spot; she doesn’t, but she wants something else. She needs help, she says, then tells him about someone named Ivan.

Vera asks who Ivan was, and Buddy says Alice had secrets; all he knew is that she thanked Henry for his help, and hoped to Heaven her husband didn’t find out.

Break room. Stillman asks if Ivan was a boyfriend. Lilly’s curious about what kind of help Alice needed, and Jeffries surmises that, whatever it was, she didn’t want her husband knowing. “Sounds naughty,” Scotty comments. Stillman asks why Alice went to the factory owner for help, and Lilly says he was involved in something on the side, perhaps underground. Stillman asks if Henry’s still a suspect; he is, but the motive isn’t clear. Vera comes in then, triumphantly announcing that bank records always come through: Alice opened up her own bank account in May 1943 and made weekly deposits of $35. “Her factory salary,” Lilly concludes, and Stillman says this makes sense. Vera explains that it keeps making sense until July 1943, when $2000 shows up. Jeffries asks how a woman back then gets that kind of money. “Like I said,” Scotty reminds everyone. “Naughty.” Heh. “Your mind goes right to the gutter,” Lilly says with a smile, but Scotty asks who wants to bet him. “I do,” Jeffries agrees. “Twenty bucks.” They shake on it, and then Lilly tells Stillman she’s going to court: Dana dug through her attic last night and has something for her. “Send her my regards,” Vera grumbles.

Courthouse café, where Lilly’s talking to Dana and Nelson. They’ve neither one heard of Ivan, but Nelson thinks perhaps he was part of her new crowd at the factory. Dana then informs Lilly that Nelson told her Alice was wrote poems and short stories, and Nelson adds that she was too shy to let anyone read them, but she always said everyone had at least one story that could stop your heart. Lilly smiles and surmises that Dana takes after her. Nelson decides to let the ladies talk, then chides them both, saying that if they’d pack their lunch, they wouldn’t have to pay six dollars to eat. “Child of the Depression,” Dana explains, and Lilly surmises that this made him very frugal. Nelson says that Alice survived the Crash, too, and a lesser woman might have minded it, but not her. After he leaves, Dana tells Lilly that, for years after Alice’s death, people tried to set him up, but he always said, “I’ve had my wife.” Lilly asks Dana what she found in the attic, and Dana produces Alice’s diaries from the early 1940s. Lil hopes that perhaps she wrote about Ivan.

Squad room. The detectives are combing through the diaries, pointing out train trips to see Mother and badminton games. Lilly asks if they see anything about Henry Walker or Ivan, and Vera replies that they’re looking. Jeffries continues, reading that rations on beef sometimes meant horse meat for supper. “Horse meat?” Scotty repeats incredulously, then proclaims that a deal-breaker. Vera announces he’s hit pay dirt, having found something about Henry. He reads an entry from June 12, 1943, wherein Henry sent Alice to Smokey’s Dance Hall.

Smokey’s. Alice enters and looks around, then combs the room and approaches the bar, saying that she’s looking for the owner, Richard. “Not here,” the bartender says, but Fannie thinks she can help. Alice doubts it, but Fannie doesn’t let up, asking if Alice is looking for nylons or liquor. “Certainly not,” Alice protests, but Fannie proclaims the black market Richard’s specialty. Alice says that’s not what she’s after, and then Fannie offers to buy her a drink. Alice protests that she has to get home, but Fannie asks what for. “Not the husband or kids…Dr. I.Q. on the radio?” Alice relents and decides that maybe she will have a drink. The bartender gives her one on the house, and the ladies take their drinks to a table and lament how lonesome it is with the men overseas. Fannie asks Alice if they told her to steer clear of her, on account of her checkered past. “No details,” Alice replies. “Just keep your distance,” Fannie concludes. Alice asks Fannie what she did, and Fannie tells her that they say she shot her husband, and she did, too, but she had a reason. Alice looks shocked and asks Fannie if she killed him; she didn’t, just blew up his shoulder, but he ran off after that. Fannie then asks Alice why she came to Smokey’s; Alice says she came because she believed what Fannie said.

“End of entry,” Vera proclaims. The detectives puzzle over what Fannie might have said, and Vera’s interested in knowing whether Fannie really shot her husband. “Better find out,” Lilly says, and Jeffries volunteers to go with her. “I’d like to meet an eighty-year-old who shot a guy,” he remarks. Heh.

[cellogal]

Fannie’s place, where she’s working on a painting. She says that she and Alice started out kinda shaky, but then they got along. Lilly reminds Fannie of her arrest record from 1943, which Fannie proclaims wasn’t her best year. Hee. Jeffries reminds her that she shot her husband, Fannie says this wasn’t until he took a screwdriver to her head. Well, then, I’d say she had a reason. “That’s in there, too,” Jeffries tells her, then asks Fannie if she had any reason to hurt Alice. Fannie laughs and then vehemently denies it, saying she loved that girl. Lilly concludes that Alice and Fannie must have been quite the odd pair, but Fannie explains that wartime made for unusual companions; all the men were away, and you make friends where you could find them, and explains that making B-25s together kinda bonds you. I’m really starting to like Fannie. Lil asks if Alice ever talked about Ivan; she did. Fannie explains that Ivan was Alice’s cousin in Europe; Alice’s family was Jewish, and she hadn’t heard from Ivan in months. She was worried, Fannie says, and she had good reason.

Factory, where the Andrews Sisters’ “Rumors Are Flying” plays. Alice seems to have started smoking, and the girls gossip about the seaman Fannie met at Smokey’s. Dottie approaches with a box, asking if anyone brought stockings to donate. One of the girls tosses hers into the box, and Dottie chirps that penciling in your own seams looks just as nice as real nylons, then shows off her own carefully penciled seam. Buddy whistles, and Fannie proclaims this a matter of opinion. “Smoking now, are we?” Dottie haughtily asks Alice, and Alice says it’s just on breaks. Dottie huffs away, and Fannie picks up where she left off, explaining that the seaman just came back from Europe and told her about the real bad things happening over there. Buddy’s curious, and Fannie says that there’s these camps, for the Jews. Martha argues that the US is doing the same to the Japs, but Fannie shakes her head, saying they’re not just internment camps; they’re killing people there. Martha insists they’d be hearing that on Ed Murrow if it were true, and Buddy nods with less confidence, but Alice asks Fannie if she’s sure that they’re doing that to Jews. She is, saying they’re herding them up and taking them off to die. Martha and Buddy don’t believe it, but Alice clearly looks worried.

Fannie says it seems crazy now, but most people didn’t know the truth until the liberation. Lilly surmises that Alice was trying to help Ivan. Fannie explains that the owner of Smokey’s, Richard, was Portugese and had a contact in the consul who could be helpful to Alice. “For a fee,” Jeffries concludes, and Fannie confirms it, saying that, for $2000, Richard would smuggle Ivan into Lisbon. Jeffries recalls that this was the amount in the bank account. “So she got the money?” Fannie asks, and Lilly asks her if she has any idea how. “Well, no thanks to her husband,” Fannie gripes. Lilly concludes that Nelson did know Ivan, and Fannie confirms that, too, saying Alice begged him to help, but he wouldn’t budge.

Interview room. Lilly and Scotty ask Nelson if he forgot Ivan was his wife’s cousin; he didn’t, but says he wants to cooperate. Scotty proclaims lying a funny way of showing it, but Nelson produces his correspondence with Alice from the war. Lilly urges him to not lose focus, asking him why he lied about Ivan. Nelson says he didn’t believe Alice, he didn’t think Ivan was in danger, then produces a letter from June 1943 wherein Alice asked him for the money. He protests that he was in Europe and had never heard of such a thing, and thought it was just factory gossip. “And you’re a frugal man,” Lilly recalls, and Nelson says he wrote back and said no, and a few months later, Ivan was dead. Scotty asks how Alice came by that $2000, and Nelson doesn’t know how, but he knows when, then explains that she mentioned Ivan in every letter until July 11, and then she never wrote about him again. Scotty concludes that the problem was solved by then, and Lilly asks if they can hang onto the letters. Nelson agrees, then apologizes for lying, saying he’s been ashamed of this for sixty years.

Stillman’s office. Lilly explains that, between the diary and the letters, they know that Alice got the money July 10. “A month after she started trying to raise it,” Stillman realizes, and Lilly says it could be the month Ivan died. Stillman asks what happened July 10, and Lilly says Alice worked a day shift, and then there was a Swing for Victory dance at Smokey’s. Lilly figures something happened that night, and someone she met there gave her the money. “In exchange for what?” Stillman muses, then suggests recreating that night; taking Martha and Fannie to Smokey’s, which Lilly says is still around, but is an Italian restaurant now. Lilly adds that Scotty found Richard, who’s retired now, and Stillman tells her to bring him, too, and see if they can piece the evening together.

Smokey’s, which is now a sedate, classy Italian restaurant, but, as we see from a brief flashback, was hopping that night. Stillman walks in with Martha and Fannie. Fannie looks around and remembers the hours she spent there, then says it makes her feel twenty again. Turning to Stillman, she asks him if he swings. He’s puzzled, but Lil pipes up that she means dance. Heeee. Stillman says he doesn’t; he’s a two left feet guy. They see Richard sitting at a table then, and he greets them enthusiastically as the good time girls. They exchange hugs and kisses, and then Stillman introduces himself and Lilly. Martha asks Richard if he remembers Alice, and after a little encouragement from Fannie, he does. Lilly asks about the Swing for Victory dance, and Richard remembers doing big business that night; he worked the bar with Bruno. “And I met a real nice Marine,” Martha sighs happily. Fannie remembers that she and Alice were dancing, collecting a quarter a song.

Smokey’s, where everyone’s dancing to the Glenn Miller Orchestra’s “American Patrol.” The guy returns Alice to Fannie then, and Alice says she’s earned three dollars. Fannie retrieves Martha from her real nice Marine, asking her teasingly if he’s getting fresh with her. Martha grins and says he was, and it’s a lucky thing Fannie came by. The girls order drinks, and Richard jokingly tells Alice he saw her out there breaking hearts. “With that neckline, who could overlook her?” Fannie asks, and Alice immediately worries that it’s too low. Martha says that she’s just not the Alice they met a few months ago, and Alice says it’s just nice having some men their age around again. Martha laments that they’ll all be shipped off again soon, and Fannie echoes her sentiment, saying it’ll then be back to “us girls and the gimps with bad teeth.” Hee. Buddy then comes up behind Alice and offers her twenty dollars for every dance the rest of the night, starting right now. Alice insists that he’s got to stop this. Buddy argues that she’s selling her dances, and he’s buying them, but Alice says he can’t keep following her. Fannie orders Buddy to behave himself; he tells her not to treat him like a kid. “You are a kid,” Alice points out, but Buddy argues that he’s old enough to go out there and kill people, and he’s old enough to be with her. The girls comment that Buddy lays it right out, and Alice suggests that they go for a walk.

Stillman surmises that Henry’s son was there, and Lilly realizes that Alice left with him. The girls don’t remember seeing her the rest of the night, and Richard pipes up that the boy was pretty determined to get Alice alone. Fannie remembers that Buddy had it pretty bad for Alice; Martha’s still lost in memories of her Marine. “Look him up,” Fannie urges her. “Maybe he’ll get fresh with you again.” Heh.

Squad room. Scotty hits a few highlights of Richard’s colorful career, including horse bookie, graftman, and proprietor of a house of assignation. “House of what?” Vera asks, and Scotty explains that that’s polite for “lovely womanhouse.” Stillman comes in then, telling the guys that he’s calling it a night, and Vera realizes he’s got to get home and splits. Stillman asks Scotty if he wants to hit the Black Sheep and have a pint; Scotty says he’s good. Stillman then asks Scotty if he’s talking to Elisa at all, and Scotty explains that she’s back in the hospital. Stillman says he didn’t know, and Scotty says it’s a circle game: “She’s sick, then better, and for a while, you’re hopin’, and then…it starts again.” He then tells Stillman he just can’t go round and round with her anymore, and Stillman gives Scotty a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and departs.

Retirement home, where Buddy’s playing shuffleboard. He admits to being sweet on Alice, but “so what?” Lilly tells him that sweet can turn to sour on a dime, and Vera adds that, if it’s “so what,” why not tell them that in their first conversation? Buddy brushes it off as a kid’s crush, but Lilly tells him that $20 was a lot to throw down back in 1943, then asks where a 17-year-old gets cash like that. “My dad,” Buddy explains. Vera asks what happened when he and Alice went walking, and Buddy asks why it matters, since that wasn’t the night she died. “Then you don’t mind tellin’ us about it,” Lilly says. Buddy sighs, then says that they didn’t go walking, but driving.

Alice’s street, where we hear “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby” by Louis Jordan, and if I count up the grammatical errors in the title of that song, I believe my head will explode. Buddy pulls up in front of her house and kills the engine, then puts his arm around Alice. She asks him how he comes by gas in times like these, and Buddy says his dad has his ways. He apologizes to Alice for losing his cool, and she accepts it with a smile. He then asks her why she’s trying to make money, and she tells him it’s to help someone. He asks who, and she tells him it’s complicated. “You and your secrets,” Buddy says, then tells her he’s got a secret of his own: his dad’s got an account for him for when he gets called, so he can take it, run away, and wait out the war. Alice surmises that Henry doesn’t want to lose a third son, but Buddy argues that no amount of money’s going to make him run away. He insists that he wants to serve, and as soon as he turns eighteen, he’s going to do like his brothers did. He then tells Alice that he wants her to have the money. She protests that she couldn’t; Buddy argues that he knows he’s just a kid to her. Alice tries to let him down easy, saying he’s a swell kind of guy, and someday he’ll find a girl who’s just right for him. Buddy asks if she’ll wait for him; Alice smiles and says she can’t. Buddy insists that he’s not scared of dying, but he is afraid of going, never having kissed her. He kisses Alice then, just as Dottie walks up with her dog and proclaims this a dirty shame. Alice remarks that Dottie’s at that window day and night; Dottie insists she was simply walking Lady. “Weren’t spying at all,” Alice comments sarcastically. Dottie tells Buddy he should be ashamed of himself, but he’s a red-blooded youth, so it’s almost understandable. She then turns on Alice, reminding her that she has a good man overseas, and he deserves better. “Someone like you, you mean?” Alice replies. “Maybe so,” Dottie fires back. Alice knows Dottie would love that; Dottie calls Alice a five-cent tramp, and Alice calls Dottie a fussy old maid. Dottie has no reply to this, just storms off with Lady.

Vera concludes that Buddy gave Alice the money, and Lilly surmises that Alice’s “old maid” comment must have hit below the belt. Buddy confirms that, saying that a girl who wasn’t married was considered a real flop. Lil looks a wee bit uncomfortable for a second, and Buddy adds that Dottie was pretty in love with Alice’s husband. Vera concludes that that could make someone want to take a girl out.

Interview room. Lilly tells Dottie that they’ve been reading her wartime correspondence; Dottie plays dumb, but Lilly produces Dottie’s letters to Nelson, talking about how empty the neighborhood is without him, and Scotty reads another one, which refers to Nelson as “my brave soldier.” Lilly asks why Dottie’s calling someone else’s husband “her soldier,” and Dottie asks if they’re accusing her of having an affair with Nelson. Scotty says they’re not, and Dottie looks relieved. Lilly then starts talking about how Alice had everything; she was more popular at work than Dottie ever was. Dottie insists that she wasn’t interested in that. Scotty continues, saying Alice had new friends, was going out on the town, dancing, and Lilly picks it up, saying that teenage boys were falling for Alice, right there on the street for all to see. Scotty wonders aloud why some stuff like that couldn’t happen to Dottie, and Lilly asks the pertinent question: “Why were you an old maid when she was the girl of the hour?” Dottie concludes that they know about that night with Buddy, and Scotty says Alice had sweethearts to spare; why couldn’t Dottie? Lilly says that all Dottie wanted was Nelson, and Scotty adds that factory accidents did happen. Dottie, aghast, says that Alice was changing, straying, and she felt Nelson should know. Lilly theorizes that Dottie wrote to Nelson faithfully, hoping he’d get the drift that she’d make the better wife. Scotty asks how it went when Nelson got back; did she make her move? Dottie says that Nelson came home wounded, and it was plain as day that Alice didn’t know how to be a good wife anymore.

Millers’ kitchen. Nelson tells Dottie that he missed her pie, and Alice, who’s getting ready for work, drily observes that she made blueberry, Nelson’s favorite. Dottie asks Alice if she’s got any vanilla ice cream, so she can make it a la mode; Alice doesn’t. Nelson observes that the Victory Garden’s dead, and Alice says she didn’t keep it up. Dottie pipes up with her own observation that the house could use dusting, too. Alice, showing more restraint than I would, says she’s off to the night shift, so no pie for her. Dottie drops a hint that perhaps, now that Nelson’s home, Alice should quit the factory. She then serves Nelson pie and, in the process, bumps his injured arm. When he winces, Dottie apologies, and Alice suggests he try some whiskey. She grabs two glasses and hands him the bottle; he asks her why there’s whiskey in the house. Alice says he bought it for his pain, then pours him a glass. Dottie asks if Alice intends to keep her job; Alice says she likes it there. Nelson’s surprised, and Alice says that it’s nice feeling useful, then tells him that she helped build fourteen B-25 Mitchells, and she also loves having her own paycheck. Nelson protests that he gives her an allowance, but Alice says it’s different when you’ve earned it yourself. Dottie pipes up, saying she works because she’s a single gal, but if she were married, she’d be more than content to keep house, do the washing, bake pies. No, Dottie, that’s not obvious at all. Alice continues, saying she made some nice friends at the factory, too. Nelson’s heard about them, in particular one young teenage friend. Alice and Dottie glare at each other for a moment, and then Alice leaves. The moment she’s gone, Dottie lays it on thick, sweetly asking Nelson if he’d like more pie.

Scotty surmises that Nelson didn’t go for it, and Dottie agrees that he didn’t. She says it may seem foolish to them, but to this day, she’d jump for Nelson if he wanted her. “But he wanted Alice,” Lilly says, and Dottie confirms it. “Even after she changed so,” she says bitterly. Scotty asks if Nelson went to the factory that night, to try to find Alice and straightening things out. Dottie’s silent, and Lilly reminds her of how helpful she was giving them Mr. Walker, then asks if that was because she was protecting someone else. Dottie insists that Nelson is a good man, but Scotty gives her a reality check: “He ain’t gonna choose you.” Dottie admits to seeing Nelson with Mr. Walker that night; they went into his office and stayed about an hour. Scotty says seeing Nelson there must have surprised her; Dottie says it did, but a secretary doesn’t tell secrets. “Plus…all those feelings you had for him,” Scotty adds. Dottie says that Nelson just wanted the wife he had before he went away, then adds that the war changed everybody.

Miller home. Nelson, who’s making coffee, asks if there’s news on Alice. Lilly sits down and says she talked to Dottie. Dana, who seems to be helping with the interview for some reason, adds that Nelson knew Alice put out those whiskey glasses that night, and Lilly says that he also knew she went to the factory, because he went there, too. Nelson serves the coffee and sits down, asking if Dottie said that. Lilly asks him if it was the boy, or if it was because Alice didn’t need her allowance anymore and didn’t make him nice homemade pies. “You learned a lot,” Nelson comments. “That’s my job,” Lilly replies, and Nelson tells her she’s good at it. Lilly says she’s been reading Alice’s diaries, and Nelson reminds them that he told them she could write. Lilly asks Nelson if he knew she was so terrified her first morning at work that she got sick in the girls’ room. He didn’t. Lilly adds that she almost left at lunchtime because she felt her skills were so poor. Nelson didn’t know that, either. Lilly goes on, saying that Alice was so filthy at the end of her first day that she got looks from men on the bus who “surely took a dim view of working girls in grubby slacks.” Nelson says making that change wasn’t easy for her, and Lilly says it wasn’t, but she was brave, and cleared the way for the people coming behind her. Nelson gives Dana a significant glance, then bursts into tears and insists that he loved Alice. “Then honor her,” Lilly says, looking near tears herself. “Tell the rest of her story.” Nelson says he just went there to ask her to come home, then asks what’s so terrible about that. Um, probably the fact that you killed her once you got there. Lilly’s more diplomatic than I am, saying that nothing’s terrible about that. Dana surmises that the factory owner saw something, and Lilly asks how he kept him quiet. Nelson says he gave Henry his war bonds. He says he was only away six months, but he didn’t know the girl he came home to.

Factory. The shift has just ended, and Alice looks on as all the girls celebrate Martha’s last day at work. Henry comes up behind her, and she asks him what he’s doing there. Nelson says they need to talk; Alice tells him he should be home, since he’s injured. He apologizes to her, then says that she should stop all this foolishness and get on home. Alice protests that she’s not off until six. “Forget this place,” Nelson urges her, but Alice doesn’t think she can. She insists that she loves Nelson and still wants to have a life with him, but it has to be a different kind of life now, since she changed. Nelson’s confident that, in six months, she’ll change back, but Alice disagrees. She says she couldn’t bear to sit home, not making anything of the day, having no company, not now, not that she knows what she can do. She says there’s a whole rich life she can have besides being a wife, and Nelson’s heard enough. “It’s that or it’s nothing,” Alice says. Nelson rips off Alice’s bandanna, then grabs her. She orders him to let her go. “I’ll let you go,” he replies, and during the scuffle, Alice falls backwards over the railing to the floor below. Nelson looks at her fallen form, then flings the bandanna over after her, just in time to see Henry looking up at him.

As Bing Crosby’s “Don’t Fence Me In” starts up and Dottie maintains her vigilant watch out the window, Lilly escorts Nelson out of his house. Their eyes meet, and Dottie shakes her head sadly, then Lilly helps Nelson into the car, then Dottie finally leaves her window.

Martha, Fannie, and George are dining at an outdoor café when Buddy jogs up to them. They all greet him exuberantly, and then they sip wine and reminisce fondly.

Scotty, having lost their bet, tosses a twenty at Jeffries, who catches it and pockets it with a smile.

Lilly, back in Records and Storage, puts away the file, then turns to see Alice knotting her bandanna and smiling at Lilly. Lil smiles back, and then Alice turns and walks away.