Character Relationship Map: Abandoned

Characters

• Mark Sitko (played by Dennis O'Keefe) — protagonist
• Paula Considine (played by Gale Storm) — supporting
• Kerric (played by Raymond Burr) — supporting
• Dottie Jensen (played by Meg Randall) — supporting
• Mrs. Donner (played by Marjorie Rambeau) — supporting
• Mrs. Spence (played by Ruth Sanderson) — minor

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Kerric → Dottie Jensen (Alliance Criminal Network Associate) — The plot connects both characters to the same threatened criminal operation.

  Dottie participates in the concealed placement operation, while Kerric acts to suppress danger to criminals connected with that scheme.

• Kerric → Mrs. Donner (Alliance Scheme Associate) — Both are associated with the criminal network threatened by police attention.

  Kerric is connected to the criminals protecting the baby-placement scheme, and Mrs. Donner is involved in arranging its contacts and transactions.

• Mrs. Donner → Mrs. Spence (Unknown Intermediary-Recipient Link) — The plot places them on different sides of the baby-placement transactions.

  Mrs. Donner arranges contacts and transactions in the operation, while Mrs. Spence has received a baby and fears losing it.

• Dottie Jensen → Mrs. Spence (Unknown Placement Network Link) — Their roles connect the recruitment side of the scheme with a receiving household.

  Dottie presents a child-placement organization as offering good homes, while Mrs. Spence is identified as having received a baby and fearing its loss.

• Dottie Jensen → Mrs. Donner (Alliance Operation Associate) — Both are connected to different functions of the concealed placement operation.

  Dottie recruits vulnerable women for purported child placements, while Mrs. Donner arranges contacts and transactions within the same concealed operat...

• Paula Considine → Kerric (Conflict Extortionist-Victim) — Kerric uses the endangered child to extort Paula.

  Kerric contacts Paula, demands her traveler's checks in return for the baby, and threatens the child if she attempts a trick.

• Paula Considine → Mrs. Donner (Conflict Investigator-Subject) — Paula investigates Mrs. Donner as part of the search for the baby.

  Kerric reveals that he knows Paula visited Mrs. Donner, confirming Paula's direct effort to investigate Donner's role in the operation.

• Paula Considine → Dottie Jensen (Conflict Investigative Target) — Paula's search brings her into the investigation of Dottie's recruitment activity.

  Paula and Mark trace people who might exploit women without money, employment, or support, including Dottie, who approaches vulnerable young women.

• Mark Sitko → Kerric (Conflict Adversary) — Mark's investigation threatens the criminal network connected to Kerric.

  Mark continues investigating despite pressure from criminals connected to the scheme, while Kerric offers to suppress police danger in exchange for mo...

• Mark Sitko → Mrs. Donner (Narrative Investigative Target) — Mrs. Donner is investigated as a participant in the placement network.

  Mark and Paula trace people involved in the operation, and Mrs. Donner is identified as someone arranging contacts and transactions.

• Mark Sitko → Dottie Jensen (Narrative Investigative Target) — Dottie becomes a subject of Mark's investigation into the concealed operation.

  Mark's investigation exposes a concealed baby-placement operation in which Dottie approaches vulnerable young women while claiming to represent a reli...

• Mark Sitko → Paula Considine (Alliance Co-investigator) — They cooperate to locate Paula's missing sister and the baby.

  Mark takes an immediate interest in Paula's search and continues investigating with her as they trace people connected to the baby-placement operation...

Story Analysis

A sister's search becomes an investigation into a concealed baby-placement operation, ending with the child still under threat.

Plot Progression

1. A Sister Vanishes — Paula seeks help finding her missing sister and the sister's baby. Mark becomes interested, but Paula resists turning private suffering into sensational news.
2. Records Challenge The Official Story — Mark searches newspaper and city records for evidence. The absence of a driver's license and the accounting of all recent stillbirths suggest that the missing woman and baby may still be alive.
3. The Hidden Placement Network — A Bimini hospital letter leads Mark and Paula toward a private childbirth arrangement. Their search exposes Dottie's recruitment activity and Mrs. Donner's role in arranging contacts and transactions.
4. Kerric's Threat — Mrs. Spence's fear reveals the human cost of the operation as police attention increases. Kerric then uses surveillance, money demands, and threats against the child to pressure Paula.