Burke aborts his first attempt on Ralph Fallon

Burke Devore aborts his first attempt to kill Ralph Fallon when Fallon brings Cindy home, turning an anticipated opportunity into a temporary retreat. Hidden inside Fallon’s house, Burke watches the arrival, listens to the pair move through the home, and quietly leaves; the interruption delays the murder but does not weaken his resolve to carry it out.

Waiting Inside the House

Burke is already concealed in the house, waiting for Fallon to come in and go to bed. He has positioned himself near an unused entrance and an unused room, with the television room and hall between his hiding place and the door he used to enter. The arrangement makes the house itself part of the operation: Burke can wait unseen, listen for Fallon’s movements, and retreat by a route he has already tested.

Fallon arrives slowly. After stopping the car, he turns off the lights, gets out, and walks around its front, leaning on the hood before opening the passenger door. Burke’s attention remains fixed on him, but the passenger door changes the scene: a woman gets out as well. The sequence stretches the moment before Burke understands that Fallon has not come home alone, and the unexpected arrival alters the conditions under which he had been waiting.

Cindy’s Arrival

The woman, whom Fallon calls Cindy, is large, unsteady, and holding on to the open door. She asks where she is; Fallon answers that she is at his place and that she knows it. He shuts the passenger door and follows her toward the house. Their loud, stumbling progress gives Burke no reason to think they are aware of him, but it makes clear that another person is now inside the home and moving through it with Fallon.

Burke decides not to act that night. He reasons that Fallon picked Cindy up at a bar and has done so before, while also recognizing that Fallon does not bring a woman home every night and sometimes sleeps alone. Those observations distinguish an interruption from a permanent obstacle: this particular evening is no longer suitable, but Burke sees no reason to abandon the plan. The account presents the judgment as Burke’s reading of Fallon’s habits, not as information independently verified by anyone else.

Quiet Withdrawal

As the pair’s stumbling sounds cross the kitchen, Burke backs away through the television room and hall to the door he used to enter. He pulls it open; this time it moves more easily and quietly. He doubts Fallon and Cindy would hear much even if it made more noise, but he still leaves without drawing attention to himself. The care in the exit contrasts with the violence he intends: for now, avoiding discovery matters more than forcing the opportunity.

More lights are on in the kitchen and bedroom. Outside, Burke skirts all three vehicles parked there, keeping out of the spill of light, and walks down the driveway. He is not discouraged. The retreat therefore changes the timing and location of his next move, not its purpose. He has seen enough to know that Fallon’s household is occupied, and he removes himself rather than risk acting in the presence of an unexpected companion.

Return and Renewed Resolve

Later that Thursday night, June 26, Burke parks where he had parked on Tuesday and walks back down the dark country road toward Fallon’s house. At nine-thirty, he states his purpose plainly: he has come to kill Fallon. Cindy’s presence no longer affects that decision; Burke thinks that Fallon could have an entire harem with him and still insists that Fallon will die that night. The return completes the meaning of the abortive first approach: Burke has postponed the attempt in response to circumstances, but the pause has not become hesitation or renunciation.

The scene makes the interruption legible through small changes in access and sound: the passenger door opens, voices carry through the house, footsteps cross the kitchen, and Burke’s own door opens more quietly on his way out. Its suspense comes from the difference between his careful concealment and the ordinary domestic movement he observes. The return down the road then reverses the apparent retreat. What first looked like an abandoned attempt becomes a tactical delay, with Burke’s explicit declaration of intent carrying the threat forward.