- Andy Marshak: How do I know you?
- Pop Marshak: How do you know me? A son should know his father. What kind of game are you playing, Andy?
- Andy Marshak: I'm your son?
- Pop Marshak: You were. You were before you ran out. You were before you broke your mother's heart. Before you did dirt to a sweet decent little girl who would've cut off an arm for you. But now you ain't my son. Now you ain't nothin' to me. You're nothin'. I hate your guts. Do you hear me? I hate your guts.
- Maggie: [she had been mourning for Johnny Foster, whom she thought was dead] Well, are you satisfied with the reaction?
- Johnny Foster: Mourning becomes you, Mag.
- Maggie: Me and Electra.
- Ramon: [answers the door] Excuse me, sir, Mr. Penell is not at home this evening.
- [Sterig pushes Ramon out of the way]
- Penell: Who is it, Ramon?
- Virge Sterig: It's *me*, Mr. Penell.
- [Penell, in shock, drops his beer and smashes the television]
- Virge Sterig: Picture tubes are expensive, but you can always get yourself another beer. Imported, isn't it? I always liked your taste, Mr. Penell.
- Rod Serling - Narrator: [opening narration] His name is Arch Hammer, he's 36 years old. He's been a salesman, a dispatcher, a truck driver, a con man, a bookie, and a part-time bartender. This is a cheap man, a nickel-and-dime man, with a cheapness that goes past the suit and the shirt; a cheapness of mind, a cheapness of taste, a tawdry little shine on the seat of his conscience, and a dark-room squint at a world whose sunlight has never gotten through to him. But Mr. Hammer has a talent, discovered at a very early age. This much he does have. He can make his face change. He can twitch a muscle, move a jaw, concentrate on the cast of his eyes, and he can change his face. He can change it into anything he wants. Mr. Archie Hammer, jack-of-all-trades, has just checked in at three-eighty a night, with two bags, some newspaper clippings, a most odd talent, and a master plan to destroy some lives.
- Rod Serling - Narrator: [closing narration] He was Arch Hammer, a cheap little man who just checked in. He was Johnny Foster, who played a trumpet and was loved beyond words. He was Virgil Sterig, with money in his pocket. He was Andy Marshak, who got some of his agony back on a sidewalk in front of a cheap hotel. Hammer, Foster, Sterig, Marshak-and all four of them were dying.
- Andy Marshak: [encountering Pop on the street] Hey, old man.
- Pop Marshak: You got such a debt, Andy. You owe for so many years. You owe for so many things. And now, you pay off, son.
- [pulls up a revolver]
- Andy Marshak: Hey! Now, wait a minute! Now, wait a minute. You - you got the wrong guy. I swear to you, you got the wrong guy!
- Pop Marshak: [icily] I got the right guy.
- Andy Marshak: Now, please. Please wait. Put... put the gun down now. I'll show you. I'll show you, honest! But I got to think! I got to concentrate! Just put the gun down. You'll see. I GOT TO CONCENTRATE!
- [Pop fires his gun on him]
- Penell: Virge, this is the happiest day of my life!
- Virge Sterig: [laughs] If this is the happiest day of your life, how come you look like somebody just stuck lemon juice in your beer, huh?
- [laughs]
- Virge Sterig: No, Mr. Penell, you're not so happy. You got no reason to be happy. Believe me, Mr. Penell, I know. You got no reason to be happy. No reason at all. Now if you could've kept me in the river, a cold clammy little item without a voice,
- [poking Penell]
- Virge Sterig: Then you could've been happy. But this is one double-cross, Mr Penell, that came back to bite you.
- Penell: [nervous] Virge, you got me wrong, Virge.
- Virge Sterig: I held up my end of the bargain and instead of the payoff, all I got was the river. And that river was cold, Mr. Penell. Far too cold for this time of the year. Lousy swimming, Mr. Penell! Especially when you're almost out of blood.
- Penell: Virge! Virge!
- Virge Sterig: I brought back a satchel for you, Mr. Penell. There was a lot of money in it. It was a real risky job. Now, I figure my cut is more than a cold swim!