Party of Five (TV Series)

Where There's Smoke (1995)

Paula Devicq: Kirsten Bennett

Quotes 

• [Kirsten enters the restaurant and sees Charlie carrying stuff] 

  Charlie Salinger : Sorry, we're closed.

  Kirsten Bennett : Too bad. I hear you're famous for your coffee.

  [she sees a piece of paper on the table] 

  Kirsten Bennett : You got a check?

  Charlie Salinger : Yeah. But only because they can't prove anything. It's half of what I should get, but it'll cover the repairs, so I guess I got away with it. Charlie Salinger, professional arsonist.

  Kirsten Bennett : I bought you a little present. I thought it might come in handy for your new line of work.

  [she shows him a bottle of gasoline] 

  Kirsten Bennett : I mean, I don't know what it means or what it says about me, or you, or us. But I had this revelation, in three parts.

  Charlie Salinger : Three parts?

  Kirsten Bennett : Bear with me. A. Okay, a part of me, I admit it, thought for a minute you might have done it, even though I know you didn't, and... and I know that that's absurd, but it didn't take long for me to get to B, which is, I realized I didn't care. It just... It didn't matter to me. And that's great. That's probably the way it should be.

  Charlie Salinger : [smiling]  You're not gonna start singing "Stand By Your Man," I hope.

  Kirsten Bennett : No

  [both chuckle] 

  Kirsten Bennett : But if you wanna rob a liquor store or something and you need somebody to keep the car running, now's your chance.

  Charlie Salinger : So, what happened to C?

  Kirsten Bennett : Well, C is just... I never knew being crazy about somebody means exactly that. It means you're crazy.

  [they lean on across the table and kiss] 

  Kirsten Bennett : I've never done it in a burned-out restaurant before. Have you?

  Charlie Salinger : [smiling]  Once, actually, but that was a long time ago.

  [both laugh, and they kiss again] 

• [Charlie, Kirsten and Claudia are waiting in the restaurant for Mr. Arbogast to finish the investigation of the cause of the fire] 

  Kirsten Bennett : What are they doing in there, anyway?

  Charlie Salinger : Planting evidence, with my luck.

  [he sees Mr. Arbogast approaching] 

  Charlie Salinger : Finally.

  Sam Arbogast : Mr. Salinger.

  Charlie Salinger : Yeah. Can we please get on with this now?

  Sam Arbogast : I'm afraid not. The fire marshal was wrong. It wasn't a short in the outlet.

  Charlie Salinger : Well, what was it?

  Sam Arbogast : Somebody left your coffee machine on. And, um, you were the last one here.

  Charlie Salinger : Well, it was, uh... It was 3 o'clock in the morning. I mean, I guess I just forgot.

  Kirsten Bennett : But that proves it was an accident. You don't intentionally burn down a building by leaving a coffeepot on.

  Sam Arbogast : Well, you do if you shove a box of paper up next to the heating element.

  Charlie Salinger : Paper? That was a box of menus. That does not prove anything.

  Sam Arbogast : Except... you shut off the water valve.

  Charlie Salinger : What?

  Sam Arbogast : You didn't shut off the machine, but you shut off the water valve so that there was no water in the urn to absorb the heat when you left the burner on.

  Charlie Salinger : No, I can explain that. That

  Kirsten Bennett : That's my fault.

  [Charlie looks at her, surprised] 

  Kirsten Bennett : I helped Charlie close up. And he showed me how to clean the coffee urn. But I... I guess I must have forgot to turn the water back on. And then I... I went home before Charlie did, so he didn't know. I feel so stupid!

  Charlie Salinger : [to Kirsten]  Hey. I mean. You didn't know. You didn't know.

• [Kirsten and Claudia are rearranging some paperwork in the backyard, and Charlie approaches them] 

  Charlie Salinger : You're not gonna believe this. Crack of dawn, I'm sitting there, right? And I should be getting a check. And that bastard Arbogast practically accused me of setting the fire. Me!

  Kirsten Bennett : What? Wait a minute. He said that?

  Charlie Salinger : Get this. He's been digging through my finances. And he found out about that loan I applied for after I took over

  Kirsten Bennett : Wait? What loan? You applied for a loan?

  Charlie Salinger : Yeah. Yeah. I told you that. We were tight making payroll. But I got turned down, and he said that was suspicious.

  Claudia Salinger : But I don't get it. What does that have to do with the fire?

  Charlie Salinger : Nothing. And then he starts going on about how I upped the insurance, which is totally ridiculous because we were under-insured in the first place.

  Kirsten Bennett : You upped the insurance? You didn't tell me about that.

  Charlie Salinger : I didn't tell you I bought new napkins either. It was no big deal. Only he tried to make it out like I set the fire so that I could collect the insurance. He's just stalling because he doesn't want to pay me what he owes me. Well, I set him straight. Man, can you believe that guy?

  [he leaves, and Kirsten stays thinking]