In the tale""s grim ending, she begged the town""s executioner to chop off her feet to end her incessant dancing, but the shoes continued o dance with her dismembered, amputated feet still inside.The speech ends with a montage of a closeup of his ranting face delivering powerful and thundering words, superimposed over flames, in many future rallies, as Burden frantically types up further stories about the populist candidate:My friends.McCloud explained how he was only briefly passing through Key West - it was his first visit:McCloud: "George was right.When my friends do it, I resent it.From Sergeants McAvity and Schultz, I should find it intolerable.(He pushes away his typewriter stand.) Hand me that washcloth please, Mr.__ , Mr.__ ?McPherson: McPherson.(He tosses the washcloth at Lydecker, stands, and turns away.)Lydecker admires McPherson""s reputation for hard-boiled, ough-nosed police work: "The Siege of Babylon, Long Island.We just sort of go along and nothing happens.We""re in a terrible rut.It""s been on my mind for months.What""s gonna be our future?Father: (consoling) Oh, come now, Charlie, things aren""t as bad as hat.The bank gave me a raise last January.Charlie: Money.How can you talk about money when I""m talking about souls? We eat and sleep and that""s about all.We don""t even have any real conversations.We just talk...Father:...and work.Charlie: Yes, poor mother, she works like a dog, just like a dog...When she comes back, it will be the same thing.Dinner, then dishes, then bed.I don""t see how she stands it.You know, she""s really a wonderful woman.I mean, she""s not just a mother.And I think we ought to do something for her.Don""t you think we should?Father: Yeah.What were you thinking of doing for her?Charlie: Oh, nothing I supppose.I guess we""ll just have to wait for a miracle - or something...I don""t believe in good intentions anymore.All I""m waiting for now is a miracle.Suddenly, Charlie""s spinsterish, talkative and oblivious mother Emma Newton (Patricia Collinge) [Emma was the name of Hitchcock""s mother - she died in England during filming] makes a dramatic appearance at the bedroom door, speaking her first words [and foreshadowing an "accident" that will occur later in the film]: "Those back stairs are steep.