"CHARADE" Screenplay by Peter Stone Based on a story by Peter Stone and Marc Behm 1 October, 1962 FADE IN (BEFORE TITLES) EXT. FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE -- DUSK Silence -- complete silence for the urbanite, though the oncoming darkness is punctuated by the sounds of farm country -- a few birds, a distant rumble of thunder from some heavy clouds on the horizon, a dog's barking. CAMERA PANS the green, squared-off flatland, lit only by a fine sunset in its final throes. Then, gradually, starting from nothing, a rumble is heard, quickly growing louder and louder until the sound of a train can be recognized. CAMERA PANS quickly, discovering the railroad line atop a man-made rise of land, and the speeding passenger train is upon us, flashing by with a roar. Then, as if from nowhere, the figure of a man hits the embankment and rolls crazily down to the bottom into the thick underbrush alongside the tracks. CLOSE SHOT -- BODY It lies in the bushes, still, unmoving -- dead. CAMERA PANS AWAY to the quiet peaceful countryside as the sound of the train fades off until there is silence once more. TITLE MUSIC begins with a crash. (MAIN TITLES) DELETED FADE IN: EXT. MEGEVE -- DAY A handsome and elegant hotel perched on the mountain-side overlooking the French resort town. A large, open sun deck -- tables, gaily colored parasols, sun bathers. One of the latter is REGINA LAMPERT, a lovely young girl. She is, besides taking in the sun, involved in her favorite activity -- eating. Then -- a dark, ominous shape intrudes in the f.g. FOCUS CHANGES to bring into sharp relief a revolver -- shining, black and ugly in the sunlight. REGGIE, unaware of her danger, continues to eat. The finger tightens around the trigger and finally the gun shoots -- a stream of water arcs, with unerring aim, straight into REGGIE's face. ANOTHER ANGLE Including JEAN-LOUIS, a French boy of six or so. REGGIE looks at him sternly. JEAN-LOUIS (in for trouble) Oh, la. REGGIE Don't tell me you didn't know it was loaded. (calling) Sylvie! WIDER ANGLE SYLVIE GAUDET, French, attractive, blonde, in her early thirties, comes from the railing of the sun deck to join REGGIE and JEAN-LOUIS. REGGIE Isn't there something constructive he can do -- like start an avalanche? SYLVIE (to JEAN-LOUIS) Va jouer, mon ange. JEAN-LOUIS scampers off, content to have gotten off so lightly. SYLVIE notices REGGIE's lunch which consists of cold chicken, potato salad, rolls and butter, wine and coffee. SYLVIE When you start to eat like this something is the matter. No answer from REGGIE. SYLVIE begins reading a magazine as REGGIE continues eating. REGGIE Sylvie -- I'm getting a divorce. SYLVIE Ça alors! From Charles? REGGIE He's the only husband I've got. I tried to make it work, I really have -- but -- SYLVIE But what? REGGIE I don't know how to explain it. I'm just too miserable. REGGIE picks up a chicken leg and starts off. SYLVIE regards the devastated table before following. SYLVIE It is infuriating that your unhappiness does not turn to fat! INT. SWIMMING POOL -- DAY A magnificent indoor, glass-enclosed pool, the vista of snow- covered mountains seen through the ceiling-high windows beyond. REGGIE and SYLVIE are passing through, their conversation continuing. SYLVIE But why do you want a divorce? REGGIE Because I don't love him. SYLVIE But that is no reason to get a divorce! EXT. HOTEL TERRACE -- DAY An open balcony running around two sides of the pool, sun- worshippers lying in deck-chairs. REGGIE and SYLVIE appear, their conversation continuing. SYLVIE With a rich husband and this year's clothes you will not find it difficult to make some new friends. REGGIE (sitting) I admit I moved to Paris because I was tired of American Provincial, but that doesn't mean I'm ready for French Traditional. I loathe the idea of divorce, Sylvie, but -- if only Charles had been honest with me -- that's all I ask of anybody -- the simple truth. But with him, everything is secrecy and lies. He's hiding something -- something frightening -- something terrible -- and evil. She stops as she is aware of a weird figure hovering over her. She wheels, terrified. CLOSE SHOT -- PERUVIAN SNOW-MASK A strange, grotesque knitted mask that completely covers the face except for eyes, nose and mouth. The eyes inside this particular mask stare down at REGGIE. MAN Does this belong to you? CAMERA PANS down to include JEAN-LOUIS, his hand held firmly by the man in the mask. WIDER ANGLE Including REGGIE, MAN, SYLVIE and JEAN-LOUIS. REGGIE is too terrified to answer. Realizing this, the man, PETER JOSHUA, takes off the snow-mask to reveal a handsome, tanned face. PETER Oh, forgive me. (indicating JEAN-LOUIS) Is this yours? REGGIE (indicating SYLVIE) It's hers. Where'd you find him, robbing a bank? PETER He was throwing snowballs at Baron Rothschild. (a pause) We don't know each other, do we? REGGIE Why, do you think we're going to? PETER I don't know -- how would I know? REGGIE I'm afraid I already know a great many people. Until one of them dies I couldn't possibly meet anyone else. PETER (smiling) Yes, of course. But you will let me know if anyone goes on the critical list (he starts off) REGGIE Quitter. PETER (turning) How's that? REGGIE You give up awfully easy, don't you? Eyeing one, then the other, SYLVIE sizes up the situation and rises. SYLVIE Viens, Jean-Louis, let us take a walk. I have never seen a Rothschild before. SYLVIE and JEAN-LOUIS start off, but not before the boy squirts PETER with his pistol. PETER (drying) Clever fellow -- almost missed me. REGGIE I'm afraid you're blocking my view. PETER (moving) Sorry. Which view would you like? REGGIE The one you're blocking. This is the last chance I have -- I'm flying back to Paris this afternoon. What's your name? PETER Peter Joshua. REGGIE I'm Regina Lampert. PETER Is there a Mr. Lampert? REGGIE Yes. PETER Good for you. REGGIE No, it isn't. I'm getting a divorce. PETER Please, not on my account. REGGIE No, you see, I don't really love him. PETER Well, you're honest, anyway. REGGIE Yes, I am -- I'm compulsive about it -- dishonesty infuriates me. Like when you go into a drugstore. PETER I'm not sure I -- REGGIE Well, you go in and you ask for some toothpaste -- the small size -- and the man brings you the large size. You tell him you wanted the small size but he says the large size is the small size. I always thought the large size was the largest size, but he says that the family size, the economy size and the giant size are all larger than the large size -- that the large size is the smallest size there is. PETER Oh. I guess. REGGIE Is there a Mrs. Joshua? PETER Yes, but we're divorced. REGGIE That wasn't a proposal -- I was just curious. PETER Is your husband with you? REGGIE Oh, Charles is hardly ever with me. First it was separate rooms -- now we're trying it with cities. What do people call you -- Pete? PETER Mr. Joshua. (turning to go) Well, I've enjoyed talking with you. REGGIE Now you're angry. PETER No, I'm not -- I've got some packing to do. I'm also going back to Paris today. REGGIE Oh. Well, wasn't it Shakespeare who said: "When strangers do meet they should erelong see one another again"? PETER Shakespeare never said that. REGGIE How do you know? PETER It's terrible -- you just made it up. REGGIE Well, the idea's right, anyway. Are you going to call me? PETER Are you in the book? REGGIE Charles is. PETER Is there only one Charles Lampert? DELETED CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE Her face clouding. REGGIE Lord, I hope so. EXT. AVENUE FOCH -- LAMPERT APARTMENT HOUSE -- DAY The Arc de Triomphe at the far end of the Avenue. CAMERA PANS to pick up a TAXI as it pulls up before the handsome building. Inside are REGGIE, SYLVIE and JEAN-LOUIS. MED. SHOT -- TAXI -- LAMPERT APARTMENT HOUSE As REGGIE climbs out and the DRIVER begins unloading her suitcases. REGGIE Goodbye, Sylvie, and thanks. (She turns toward the house) JEAN-LOUIS sticks his head out of the taxi window. JEAN-LOUIS When you get your divorce will you be going back to America? MED. SHOT -- THE TAXI REGGIE looks at SYLVIE, surprised. SYLVIE He knows everything. REGGIE (to JEAN-LOUIS) Don't you want me to stay? JEAN-LOUIS Yes, of course -- but if you went back and wrote me a letter -- REGGIE -- you could have the stamps. I'll get you some here, okay? JEAN-LOUIS Okay. REGGIE walks toward the house with the driver, who carries her cases. She presses the button that electrically opens the front door. DELETED INT. APARTMENT LANDING -- DAY As the elevator rises REGGIE gets out, followed by the driver. He puts down the bags in front of the apartment door. REGGIE (handing him a tip) Merci. The driver leaves. She goes to the door and presses the minuterie, the button that turns on the time-light, and the lights come on. Then she rings the doorbell. There is no answer. She rings again. Still nothing. Sighing, she digs out her keys and starts to fit it into the lock. At this moment the minuterie expires, plunging the scene into darkness. REGGIE'S VOICE Wonderful. She finds the button and the light goes on again. She inserts the key and turns it. INT. LAMPERT APARTMENT -- ENTRANCE HALL -- DAY CLOSE SHOT -- DOOR as it opens and REGGIE steps into the CLOSE SHOT. She stops, her expression changing. REVERSE SHOT From REGGIE's p.o.v. as CAMERA PANS the entrance hall. It is bare -- no furniture, no rug, no pictures, no nothing. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE She stares for a moment, then goes back out into the landing. INT. APARTMENT LANDING -- DAY As REGGIE steps back outside. She looks at the nameplate beside the door. INSERT NAMEPLATE It reads "MR. AND MRS. CHARLES LAMPERT." INT. APARTMENT LANDING -- DAY REGGIE looks at the plate in disbelief, then turns and hurries back into the apartment. INT. LAMPERT APARTMENT -- DAY As REGGIE hurries into the entrance hall. REGGIE Honorine -- ! No answer. Now, CAMERA FOLLOWING, she goes into the Salon. It is also empty -- stripped bare. There are squares of the wall's original color where paintings used to hang, the hooks still in the wall. She rushes now, going into the bedroom, CAMERA FOLLOWING crazily, lurching and careening behind her. The bedroom, too, is empty. She goes to the built-in wardrobe closets and throws open all the doors. Only some hangers remain. She pulls open the drawers -- nothing! REGGIE Charles -- ! She turns, and running now, goes through another door to the library, CAMERA FOLLOWING. The rows of shelves are as empty as the rest of the apartment. She begins to turn in a circle, looking for something, anything. In a panic she turns and runs out, colliding suddenly with a MAN whom she (and we) have not noticed until the moment of impact. REGGIE screams. CLOSE SHOT -- INSPECTOR GRANDPIERRE A heavy-set man of no particular age with tobacco-colored hair, and thick glasses. GRANDPIERRE Madame Charles Lampert? WIDER ANGLE Including REGGIE, in a state of near-shock. REGGIE Yes. GRANDPIERRE I am Inspector Edouard Grandpierre of the Police Judiciaire. Would you be so kind as to come with me, please? INT. MORGUE -- DAY We see a large metal drawer being opened and an all-too- familiar shape outlined under a damp sheet of muslin. ANOTHER ANGLE -- OVERHEAD Looking straight down at the tops of REGGIE's, GRANDPIERRE's and an ATTENDANT's head and smack into the open drawer. GRANDPIERRE lifts a corner of the sheet at the bottom and reveals a bare foot with a ticket tied to its big toe. He stoops to read it. Satisfied, he recovers the foot, then moves to the other end to uncover the head. As the sheet starts to lift: REVERSE SHOT REGGIE as she looks down into the CAMERA. She closes her eyes for a moment, then looks again. GRANDPIERRE'S VOICE (O.S.) Well, Madame -- ? She nods. GRANDPIERRE'S VOICE (O.S.) You are positive? She nods again. GRANDPIERRE moves into the SHOT. GRANDPIERRE You loved him? REGGIE I'm very cold. GRANDPIERRE nods as he turns to the unseen ATTENDANT. CAMERA suddenly moves as the 'drawer' is slid back into the wall. BLACKNESS comes with a loud clang and continues while the echo dies. INT. GRANDPIERRE'S OFFICE -- DAY CLOSE SHOT -- DESK DRAWER (FROM ABOVE) as it is pulled open. A photograph of Charles Lampert lies face up in the drawer. A hand reaches in and pulls it out. WIDER ANGLE Including GRANDPIERRE sitting behind his desk, and REGGIE, sitting across from him. The office is as bare as most policemen's offices. GRANDPIERRE studies the photo. GRANDPIERRE We discovered your husband's body lying next to the tracks of the Paris- Bourdeaux railroad line. He was dressed only in his pajamas. Do you know of any reason why he might have wished to leave France? REGGIE Leave? GRANDPIERRE Your husband possessed a ticket of passage on the 'Maranguape.' It sailed from Bordeaux for Maracaibo this morning at seven. REGGIE (a pause) I'm very confused. She starts to rummage through her bag. GRANDPIERRE shoves a package of French cigarettes across the desk to her. But she pulls a package of nuts out of her bag. She begins separating the shells with her thumb nail and eating the nuts, depositing the shells in the ashtray. GRANDPIERRE watches this for an instant. GRANDPIERRE He was American? REGGIE Swiss. GRANDPIERRE Oh. Swiss. His profession? REGGIE He didn't have one. GRANDPIERRE He was a wealthy man? REGGIE I don't know. I suppose so. GRANDPIERRE About how wealthy would you say? REGGIE I don't know. GRANDPIERRE Where did he keep his money? REGGIE I don't know. GRANDPIERRE Besides yourself, who is his nearest relation? REGGIE I don't know. GRANDPIERRE (exploding) C'est absurde, Madame. To-tale-ment absurde! REGGIE I know. (pause) I'm sorry. GRANDPIERRE It is all right. GRANDPIERRE sighs, puts down his pencil and pushes a button on the desk. He removes a cigar from his desk and inserts it into his mouth. GRANDPIERRE Is it all right? REGGIE I wish you wouldn't. He rips the cigar out of his mouth and slams it back into the drawer, closing it fiercely. A UNIFORMED POLICEMAN sticks his head in the door. GRANDPIERRE Les effets de Lampert. The POLICEMAN leaves and closes the door. GRANDPIERRE On Wednesday last your husband sold the entire contents of the apartment at public auction. Furniture, clothing, kitchenware -- everything. The gallery, in complying with his wishes, paid him in cash. One million two hundred and fifty thousand New Francs. In dollars, a quarter of a million. The authorities in Bordeaux have searched his compartment on the train. They have searched it thoroughly. They did not find $250,000, Madame. He opens the desk drawer, puts the cigar back in his mouth and lights a match by scratching it against the glass desk- top before he remembers REGGIE's request. He puts it back in the drawer again. The door opens and the POLICEMAN enters again, this time carrying a wicker basket which he deposits on GRANDPIERRE's desk, and leaves. GRANDPIERRE peers into the basket. GRANDPIERRE These few things are all that was found in the train compartment. There was no other baggage. Your husband must have been in a great hurry. He begins to take them out, placing them on the desk, identifying each item as he does. GRANDPIERRE One wallet containing four thousand francs -- one agenda -- (pausing, he opens the notebook) -- his last notation was made yesterday -- Thursday -- (reading) "Five p.m. -- Jardin des Champs- Elysées" (looking up) Why there? REGGIE I don't know. Perhaps he met somebody. GRANDPIERRE (dryly) Obviously. (returning to the items in the basket) One ticket of passage to South America -- one letter, stamped but unsealed, addressed to you -- REGGIE (lighting up) A letter? May I see it? GRANDPIERRE hands her the letter and watches her closely as she reads it. REGGIE (reading) "My dear Regina: I hope you are enjoying your holiday. Megeve can be so lovely this time of year. The days pass very slowly and I hope to see you soon. As always, Charles. P.S. Your dentist called yesterday. Your appointment has been changed." (she looks up, puzzled) Not very much, is it? GRANDPIERRE We took the liberty of calling your dentist -- we thought, perhaps, we would learn something. REGGIE Did you? GRANDPIERRE Yes. Your appointment has been changed. (he smiles at his little joke, then returns to the basket) One key to your apartment -- one comb -- one fountain pen -- one toothbrush -- one tin of tooth powder (he looks up) -- that is all. He slides a sheet of paper and pen across to her, then starts to put the things back into the basket while he speaks: GRANDPIERRE If you will sign this list you may take the things with you. REGGIE (sighing) Is that all? Can I go now? GRANDPIERRE One more question. Is this your husband's passport? He reaches into the desk drawer and pulls out a passport which he hands to her. INSERT -- PASSPORT The cover indicates that it is Swiss. REGGIE's hand opens it to a picture of a man -- the man we saw in GRANDPIERRE's photo. Under it is the name: "CHARLES LAMPERT." MED. SHOT -- REGGIE AND GRANDPIERRE REGGIE Of course it is. GRANDPIERRE And this? He hands her another passport. INSERT -- SECOND PASSPORT The cover is American. When it is opened, we see the identical picture, but the name under it reads: "CHARLES VOSS." MED. SHOT -- REGGIE AND GRANDPIERRE REGGIE I don't understand. GRANDPIERRE And this? And this? He hands her, one at a time, two more passports. INSERT -- THIRD AND FOURTH PASSPORTS One is Italian which, when opened, shows the same photo with the name "CARLO FABRI." The other is Venezuelan, the same photo, and the name "CARLOS MORENO." MED. SHOT -- REGGIE AND GRANDPIERRE GRANDPIERRE Have you nothing to say, Madame? REGGIE looks down at the four passports, then back to GRANDPIERRE. REGGIE (hopefully) It's all right if you want to smoke your cigar now. INT. LAMPERT APARTMENT -- DUSK The house is empty as before. Now it is silent, the late afternoon light coming from outside. REGGIE stands by a window. A canvas airline bag rests on the floor nearby. Suddenly there is the noise of a DOOR OPENING. CLOSER SHOT -- REGGIE As her head turns, in alarm, toward the noise. There is a moment of silence, then FOOTSTEPS are heard, coming closer. ANOTHER ANGLE As PETER enters. REGGIE (surprised) What are you doing here? PETER I phoned but nobody answered. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am -- and to find out if there was anything I could do. REGGIE How did you find out? PETER It's in all the afternoon papers. I'm very sorry. REGGIE Thank you. A silence. PETER I rang the bell but I don't think it's working. REGGIE Yes it is -- I heard it this morning. He looks around for the light switch, then goes to it and flicks it on -- nothing happens. He flicks it a few more times. REGGIE They must have turned off the electricity. She shakes her head. PETER looks around. PETER Where did everything go? REGGIE Charles sold it all -- at auction. PETER Do you know what you're going to do? REGGIE Try and get my old job back at UNESCO, I suppose. PETER Doing what? REGGIE I'm a simultaneous translator -- like Sylvie, only she's English to French -- I'm French to English. That's what I did before I married Charles. The police probably think I killed him. PETER Instant divorce you mean? REGGIE Something like that. But I'm sorry it ended like this -- tossed off a train like a sack of third-class mail. PETER (Taking her hand) Come on. You can't stay here. REGGIE I don't know where to go. PETER We'll find you a hotel. REGGIE Not too expensive -- I'm not a lady of leisure anymore. PETER Something modest but clean -- and near enough to UNESCO so you can take a cab when it rains -- okay? She nods. He picks up the airlines bag and they start out. REGGIE stops at the door and looks back. REGGIE I loved this room -- but Charles never saw it -- only what was in it. All those exquisite things -- (looking around) I think I prefer it like this. INT. FUNERAL CHAPEL -- DAY CLOSE SHOT of a phonograph. A hand appears, starts the record on it spinning, then places the arm at the beginning. An instant later ORGAN MUSIC starts with a roar. INT. FUNERAL CHAPEL -- DAY CLOSE SHOT of the coffin. It rests on a low platform, with a bouquet or two of flowers near the head, the lid open. Inside, the face made up to look lifelike (but failing), lie the remnants of Charles Lampert. CLOSE SHOT -- GRANDPIERRE The INSPECTOR sits quietly, eyes downcast, staring at his hands in a prayer-like attitude. CAMERA PULLS BACK, revealing row after row of empty wooden bench-like seats in the large, dimly-lit, high-ceilinged room. Finally, in the first row, REGGIE and SYLVIE are discovered. Besides GRANDPIERRE, they are the only ones present. REGGIE turns around to look at the empty room. They speak in whispers. REGGIE It's not exactly what I'd call a large turn-out. SYLVIE Didn't Charles have any friends? REGGIE Don't ask me -- I'm only the widow. (indicating GRANDPIERRE) If Charles had died in bed we wouldn't even have him. SYLVIE At least he knows how to behave at funerals. CLOSE SHOT -- GRANDPIERRE His eyes still lowered. CAMERA PANS DOWN to feature his hands -- he is methodically trimming his nails with a small clipper. TWO SHOT -- SYLVIE AND REGGIE SYLVIE Have you no idea who could have done it? REGGIE Until two days ago all I really knew about Charles was his name -- now it turns out I didn't even know that. The front DOOR of the Chapel is heard opening and a shaft of daylight streams in. The WOMEN turn. MED. SHOT -- CHAPEL DOOR The short, heavy-set figure of a MAN is outlined against the bright outdoor light. He stands for a moment, then closes the door after him. LEOPOLD GIDEON, short-sighted, bald, in his middle forties, glances around nervously, like a barnyard bird. Then he walks down one of the side aisles of the Chapel. CLOSE SHOT -- GRANDPIERRE As he watches GIDEON. CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE As she watches him. MED. SHOT -- THE BIER GIDEON arrives at the coffin. He stops, looks down at LAMPERT's body for a moment. Then, suddenly, in rapid succession, he sneezes six times. He takes a small bottle from his pocket, shakes a pill from it and swallows it dry. He turns and walks back up the aisle, looking for a place to sit. He comes face to face with GRANDPIERRE, stops, turns to sit somewhere else. TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND SYLVIE SYLVIE Do you know him? REGGIE I've never seen him before. SYLVIE He must have known Charles pretty well. REGGIE How can you tell? SYLVIE He's allergic to him. SYLVIE turns and glances at GIDEON. Again, the sound of the DOOR opening interrupts them. They turn to look. MED. SHOT -- CHAPEL DOOR Again the figure of a MAN is outlined in silhouette against the outside brightness. When he closes the door we can see "TEX" PENTHOLLOW, a slim, rangy man with sandy-colored hair, a weatherbeaten face, washed-out blue-eyes -- also in his forties. He wears a velvet-corduroy suit, string tie and a bright yellow flower in his lapel. A bulldurham tag hangs from his outside breast pocket, dangling from its string. He starts down the aisle toward the bier, CAMERA LEADING him, and we notice his unsteady gait. He turns to look at the others present. TRAVELING SHOT -- TEX'S P.O.V. MOVING down the aisle. GRANDPIERRE's face, then GIDEON's, then REGGIE's and SYLVIE's -- all staring at CAMERA. MED. SHOT -- THE BIER As TEX arrives. He stands staring at LAMPERT's body, swaying on his feet until he reaches out and grabs the side of the coffin to steady himself. Then he takes the flower from his lapel and throws it into the open box. CLOSE SHOT -- TEX TEX (heavy Texas accent) Ariva durchy, Charlie. WIDER ANGLE As TEX turns away from the coffin and approaches REGGIE and SYLVIE, addressing the latter -- after having first reached for his hat which he discovers he isn't wearing. TEX Miz Lampert, ma'am... SYLVIE points to REGGIE. Unruffled, TEX starts over. addressing REGGIE this time. TEX Miz Lampert, ma'am... REGGIE Yes? TEX Charlie had no call to handling it this-a-way. He sure didn't. No siree. REGGIE I don't understa-- But TEX has nodded his head and moved off to find a seat. When he spots GIDEON, the two men stare at each other. Finally, TEX chooses a seat away from him and sits. MED. SHOT -- CHAPEL DOOR It flies open, this time with a bang, and the large MAN who appears almost fills the frame. CLOSER SHOT -- TEX As the loud noise awakens him with a snort, mid-snore. MED. SHOT -- THE DOOR Closing the door, we see HERMAN SCOBIE, a heavy-weight -- tall and wide, but not fat -- with black hair combed straight back and heavy bushy eyebrows of a matching color, which meet over his nose and join up. About the same age as the first two men, SCOBIE is dressed in a battered raincoat, his hands thrust deep in the pockets. He marches down the aisle. Looking straight ahead, CAMERA PANNING with him. He stops before the coffin and stares into it. CLOSE SHOT -- SCOBIE As he stares down into the coffin, his tongue trying to dislodge a bit of food caught in his teeth. He stares hard at the body, squinting his eyes. Then he removes one hand from his pocket, removes a pin from the inside of his lapel, picks his teeth with it, then slowly lets the hand down, into the coffin. CLOSE SHOT -- SCOBIE'S HAND The pin held between thumb and forefinger, he jabs it slowly but positively deep into the back of one of the dead man's hands. There is no reaction. CLOSE SHOT -- SCOBIE He watches the dead man carefully, still squinting. Then finally satisfied, he returns the pin to his lapel and walks back up the aisle and out of the door, slamming it after him. CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE Having watched SCOBIE exit. Suddenly a hand falls on her shoulder. She jumps in alarm and utters a little cry of fright. ANOTHER ANGLE Featuring a funeral ATTENDANT, a cadaverous type (aren't they all) with a black cut-away coat and an over-solicitous, unctuous manner. He is eternally bent at the waist, in a sort of half bow. He offers REGGIE a letter which she takes. REGGIE Merci, Monsieur. ATTENDANT Pas du tout, madame, pardon -- pardon -- pardon. He backs off and is gone. REGGIE looks at the letter, back and front, then starts to open it. SYLVIE Who is it from? REGGIE The American Embassy. She pulls out the letter and starts to read it. INSERT -- THE LETTER It bears the Great Seal as a letterhead and the typed message reads: "Dear Mrs. Lampert: Please drop by my office tomorrow at noon-thirty. I am anxious to discuss the matter of your late husband's death. Sincerely, (signed) H. Bartholomew." TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND SYLVIE SYLVIE has been reading over REGGIE's shoulder. SYLVIE What is it about? REGGIE I don't know. But if this is a sample of American diplomacy I'm buying a fallout shelter. EXT. THE AMERICAN EMBASSY -- ESTABLISHING -- DAY The fine old building in the Rue Gabriel. DELETED INT. EMBASSY CORRIDOR -- DAY As REGGIE leaves the elevator two young DIPLOMATIC TYPES step in, immersed in conversation. 1ST DIPLOMATIC TYPE I bluffed the Old Man out of the last pot -- with a pair of deuces. 2ND DIPLOMATIC TYPE What's so depressing about that? 1ST DIPLOMATIC TYPE If I can do it, what are the Russians doing to him? The elevator door closes on them. REGGIE reacts to this and starts down the hall, finally stopping at the door. MED. SHOT -- DOOR It is marked "307-A H. BARTHOLOMEW." REGGIE checks the letter, then opens the door. INT. BARTHOLOMEW'S OUTER OFFICE -- DAY The office is empty, the typewriter on the secretary's desk is covered with its plastic shroud. REGGIE enters, looks for somebody, notices that the door to the private office is slightly ajar. REGGIE (tentatively) Hello -- ? (there is no answer) Hello? BARTHOLOMEW'S VOICE (O.S.) (from the private office) Is there anything wrong, Miss Tompkins? REGGIE Uh -- Miss Tompkins isn't here. BARTHOLOMEW comes to the door and looks in. He is a pale grey-haired man who looks, on first examination, older than his forty-odd years. Sickly would be the word that describes him best -- pallid, consumptive-looking. He wears heavy tortoise-framed glasses which fall down his nose and cause him to push them back in place every so often with a quick automatic motion. BARTHOLOMEW I'm sorry -- my secretary must have gone to lunch. You are -- ? REGGIE Mrs. Lampert -- Mrs. Charles Lampert. BARTHOLOMEW (looking at his watch) Come in, Mrs. Lampert. You're quite late. He motions for her to enter, standing aside to let her do so. INT. BARTHOLOMEW'S PRIVATE OFFICE -- DAY A small cubicle -- there is a silver-framed photo of three kids on the desk. BARTHOLOMEW indicates a chair, then goes behind his desk and sits. A can of lighter fluid stands open on the desk and a crumpled hankie beside it. BARTHOLOMEW Excuse me for a moment, Mrs. Lampert -- it's a stubborn little devil. He works at a stain on his necktie with lighter fluid and hankie. BARTHOLOMEW Dry-cleaningwise, things are all fouled up. I had a good man -- an excellent man on the Rue Ponthieu, but H.Q. asked us to use the plant here in the building -- to ease the gold outflow. REGGIE Mr. Bartholomew -- are you sure you know who I am? BARTHOLOMEW (looking up) Charles Lampert's widow -- yes? (going back to the tie) Last time I sent out a tie only the spot came back. He looks up at her, laughs silently, then goes back to his tie. BARTHOLOMEW Voilà! As they say. He puts away the lighter fluid in a desk drawer, smells the hankie, passes on it, then sticks it in his pocket. He opens another drawer and pulls out various sandwiches wrapped in waxpaper, a salt and pepper shaker, a tube of mustard, a bottle of red wine and two Dixie cups. BARTHOLOMEW Have some, please. I've got... (checking) ...liverwurst -- liverwurst -- chicken and -- liverwurst. REGGIE No thanks. He uncorks the wine, fills a cup and begins eating. BARTHOLOMEW Do you know what C.I.A. is, Mrs. Lampert? REGGIE I don't suppose it's an airline, is it? BARTHOLOMEW Central Intelligence Agency -- C.I.A. REGGIE You mean spies and things like that? BARTHOLOMEW Only we call them agents. REGGIE We? You mean you're --? BARTHOLOMEW Someone has to do it, Mrs. Lampert -- REGGIE I'm sorry, it's just that I didn't think that you people were supposed to admit -- BARTHOLOMEW I'm not an agent, Mrs. Lampert -- I'm an administrator -- a desk jockey -- trying to run a bureau of overworked men with under-allocated funds. Congress seems to think that all a spy needs -- REGGIE Agent. BARTHOLOMEW Yes -- That all he needs is a code book and a cyanide pill and he's in business. REGGIE What's all this got to do with me, Mr. Bartholomew? BARTHOLOMEW (his mouth full) Your husband was wanted by the U. S. government. REGGIE May I have a sandwich, please? He hands her a sandwich and fills a wine-cup for her. BARTHOLOMEW To be more specific, he was wanted by this agency. REGGIE (eating) So that was it. BARTHOLOMEW Yes. We knew him, of course, by his real name. REGGIE (almost choking) His -- real -- ? BARTHOLOMEW Voss -- Charles Voss. All right, Mrs. Voss -- (taking a photo from his desk) -- I'd like you to look at this photograph, please -- by the way, you saw this one, didn't you? (indicating the kids on the desk) Scott, Cathy, and Ham, Jr. REGGIE Very sweet. BARTHOLOMEW Aren't they? Now look at this one, Mrs. Voss, and -- REGGIE Stop calling me that! Lampert's the name on the marriage license. BARTHOLOMEW Yes -- and tell me if you recognize anyone. Just a moment. Have a good look. He reaches back into the drawer and pulls out a glass which he gives her. CLOSE SHOT -- PHOTO FOUR MEN, all in army uniform, sitting behind a table. The glass is held over the first, magnifying the face. CLOSER SHOT -- PHOTO It's a photo of a young CHARLES LAMPERT. REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) It's Charles! BARTHOLOMEW'S VOICE (O.S.) Very good. REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) He looks so young -- when was this taken? BARTHOLOMEW'S VOICE (O.S.) 1944. The next face, please. The glass and CAMERA move to the next man -- a young TEX. REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) It's the man who came to the funeral yesterday -- I'm sure of it -- a tall man in a corduroy suit and string tie. BARTHOLOMEW'S VOICE (O.S.) Does the name Tex Penthollow mean anything to you? REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) No. BARTHOLOMEW'S VOICE (O.S.) Next, please. The glass and CAMERA move to the third face -- a young GIDEON. REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) Yes -- and he was there, too -- a little fatter now -- and less hair -- but it's the same one. BARTHOLOMEW'S VOICE (O.S.) Do you know him, Mrs. Vo -- Mrs. Lampert? Leopold W. Gideon? REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) No. BARTHOLOMEW'S VOICE (O.S.) The last one, please. The glass and CAMERA move to the fourth face -- a young SCOBIE. REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) That's a face you don't forget -- he was there too -- BARTHOLOMEW'S VOICE (O.S.) Herman Scobie. And you've never seen him before, either? REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) No, thank heaven. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE AND BARTHOLOMEW BARTHOLOMEW (a pause, regarding her) Mrs. Lampert, I'm afraid you're in a great deal of danger. REGGIE Danger? Why should I be in any danger? BARTHOLOMEW You're Charles Voss's wife -- now that he's dead you're their only lead. REGGIE Mr. Bartholomew -- if you're trying to frighten me you're doing a really first-rate job! (she takes another sandwich) BARTHOLOMEW Please, do what we ask, Mrs. Lampert -- it's your only chance. REGGIE Gladly, only I don't know what you want! You haven't told me. BARTHOLOMEW Oh, haven't I? The money -- Mrs. Lampert -- the money. The $250,000 Charles Voss received from the auction. Those three men want it, too -- they want it very badly. REGGIE But it's Charles's money, not theirs. BARTHOLOMEW (laughing) Oh, Mrs. Lampert! I'd love to see you try and convince them of that! (drying his eyes) Oh, dear. REGGIE Then whose is it? His or theirs? BARTHOLOMEW Ours. REGGIE (she looks at him for a moment) Oh, I see. BARTHOLOMEW And I'm afraid we want it back. REGGIE But I don't have it. BARTHOLOMEW That's impossible. You're the only one who could have it. REGGIE I'm sorry it's impossible. It's the truth. BARTHOLOMEW is silent for a moment, thinking. BARTHOLOMEW I believe you. REGGIE Thanks very much. BARTHOLOMEW Oh, you've got the money all right -- you just don't know you've got it. REGGIE Mr. Bartholomew -- if I had a quarter of a million dollars, believe me, I'd know it. BARTHOLOMEW Nevertheless, Mrs Lampert -- you've got it. REGGIE You mean it's just lying around someplace -- all that cash? BARTHOLOMEW Or a safe deposit key, a certified check, a baggage claim -- you look for it, Mrs. Lampert -- I'm quite sure you'll find it. REGGIE But -- BARTHOLOMEW Look for it, Mrs. Lampert -- look just as hard and as fast as you can. You may not have a great deal of time. Those men know you have it just as surely as we do. You won't be safe until the money's in our hands. Is that clear? REGGIE nods. He writes something on a pad of paper and tears it off, handing it to her. BARTHOLOMEW Here's where you're to call me -- day or night. It's a direct line to both my office and my apartment. Don't lose it, Mrs. Lampert -- and please don't tell anyone about coming to see me. It could prove fatal for them as well as yourself. REGGIE Wait a minute -- you think those three men killed Charles, don't you? BARTHOLOMEW We've no proof, of course, but we rather think so, yes. REGGIE Well, there you are! Charles had the money with him -- so whoever killed him has it -- they have it! BARTHOLOMEW shakes his head. REGGIE Why not? BARTHOLOMEW (grimly) Because they're still here. REGGIE Oh. BARTHOLOMEW Like I said, Mrs Lampert -- I'm afraid you're in a great deal of danger. Remember what happened to Charles. REGGIE takes the last sandwich and begins eating furiously. DELETED EXT. ESPLANADE DES CHAMPS-ELYÉES -- DAY MED. SHOT -- GUIGNOL. One of the French Punch and Judy shows set up on certain days in the small park alongside the broad avenue between the Rond Point and the Place de la Concorde. At the moment, Judy, as always, is beating Punch with a bat. The sound of CHILDREN laughing and screaming can be heard. VARIOUS CLOSE SHOTS -- THE CHILDREN Sitting on small benches lined up to face the stage. Their attention is fixed on the show, their belief totally suspended by the play as only children's can be -- laughing at the slapstick, booing the villain, frightened by the perils. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE Sitting on the last bench, next to some CHILDREN. They are laughing but she isn't -- she just watches, her attention caught up but her face void of emotion. The bench is too low for her, forcing her knees up almost under her chin. After a moment, PETER comes up behind her and, stepping over the benches, sits beside her. She doesn't seem to notice. [Throughout the following scene the CHILDREN and the ACTORS can be heard in the b.g.] PETER Reggie -- ? She turns and looks at him for a moment. REGGIE (vaguely) Hallo, Peter. PETER You telephoned me to meet you. I've been standing on the corner back there -- waiting for you. REGGIE I'm sorry -- I heard the children laughing. A ROAR from the CHILDREN. REGGIE and PETER turn toward the stage. MED. SHOT -- GUIGNOL PUNCH and JUDY are arguing loudly. TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND PETER PETER What's going on? REGGIE Don't you understand French? PETER I'm still having trouble with English. REGGIE The man and the woman are married -- CLOSE SHOT -- GUIGNOL STAGE PUNCH and JUDY are batting each other on the head. PETER'S VOICE (O.S.) Yes, I can see that -- they're batting each other over the head with clubs. Finally, JUDY knocks Punch out of sight and a PUPPET wearing a three-cornered hat appears. PETER'S VOICE (O.S.) Who's that with the hat? MED SHOT -- GRANDPIERRE Wearing a hat, he stands off in the background, watching. REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) That's the policeman -- he wants to arrest Judy for killing Punch. CLOSE SHOT -- GUIGNOL STAGE JUDY and the POLICEMAN are batting one another. PETER'S VOICE (O.S.) What's she saying now? REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) That she's innocent -- she didn't do it. PETER'S VOICE (O.S.) She did it, all right -- take it from me. REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) I believe her. PUNCH's head appears on the other side of the stage, says something, then ducks out. PETER'S VOICE (O.S.) Who was that? REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) Punch, of course. TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND PETER PETER Of course? I thought he was dead. REGGIE He's only pretending, to teach her a lesson -- only -- (her face clouding) only he is dead, Peter -- I saw him -- he's not pretending. Somebody threw him off a train. What am I going to do? Charles was mixed up in something terrible. PETER I wish you'd let me help you. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound like the sort of thing that a woman can handle all by herself. CLOSE SHOT -- GUIGNOL STAGE JUDY has gotten the upper hand is now batting the POLICEMAN's brains out. CLOSE SHOT -- GRANDPIERRE as he winces. TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND PETER PETER Have you got a mirror? (she nods) Give it to me. She hands it to him and he holds it in front of her face. PETER Right there, between your eyes -- see? Worry lines. You're much too young and too pretty to have anything like that. How about making me vice- president in charge of cheering you up? REGGIE (jumping at the suggesting) Starting tonight? INT. NIGHTCLUB -- NIGHT MED. SHOT -- EMCEE. He stands on the dance floor in front of a five piece Latin dance band, a spotlight on him, wearing his professional smile as he speaks into a mike. EMCEE Bonsoir mesdames et messieurs, good evening ladies and gentlemen, guten Abend, meine Damen und Herren -- ce soir, comme tous les soirs, l'attraction ici, au Black Sheep Club, c'est vous! Venez, mesdames et messieurs, step right up, ladies and gentlemen, kommen Sie her, meine Damen en Herren, avanti, signore e signori -- avanti! MED. SHOT -- REGGIE AND PETER At their table. REGGIE is dressed in a lovely Givenchy dress. PETER What was all that? REGGIE Fun and games. Evidently we're the floorshow. PETER You mean you and me? REGGIE No, everyone. Come on -- avanti, avanti! She rises and pulls him along. WIDE ANGLE Including the dance floor as most of the patrons go to it, laughing self-consciously and looking around. EMCEE Écoutez bien -- les règles sont tres simples -- the rules are very easy -- deux équipes -- two teams -- each with one orange -- une orange -- eine apfelsine -- un' arrancia -- held under the chin, like so -- (does it) comme ça -- and passed to the player behind you -- sans vous servir de vos mains -- using nothing but the chin -- no hands -- and keeping the orange at all costs from touching the floor. Commencez, Mesdames et Messieurs -- begin, ladies and gentlemen -- signore e signori, comminciate! The EMCEE now circulates, forming teams, telling the patrons to line up, making sure there is a woman next to every man. REGGIE and PETER are the second couple in their line. Then the EMCEE picks up a basket of oranges and places one under the chin, held securely against the chest, of each man at the head of the line. Blowing a whistle, a signal for the game to begin and the band to play, the men turn to the women behind them and attempt to transfer the oranges from under their chins to under the chins of the women -- without using their hands. (This maneuver can only be accomplished by embracing one's partner passionately and firmly pressing the orange against the partner's throat until he or she can grip it tightly enough with the chin to turn and offer it to the person next in line, where the process begins anew. However, the slightest miscalculation, which can be brought about by any number of human frailties -- haste, modesty, inhibition or lack of co- ordination -- will surely result in losing control of the orange so that it either falls to the floor [where it can only be picked up by the chin] or it starts to roll and slide from its proper place to some other, less proper, spot on the human anatomy, forcing the man or the woman to retrieve it -- again, with the chin only. This latter is an activity which can prove extremely satisfying to old friends, or even new friends who wish to become old friends, but can only be a torment for total strangers and/or the English). VARIOUS SHOTS -- ORANGE GAME Some of the couples in various states of confusion, entanglement and intimacy -- all of them, naturally, hilarious. TWO SHOT -- PETER AND GIRL It is his turn to take the orange from a very short, but quite shapely young girl in a strapless dress (held up by an abundance of cantilever). PETER 'takes' when he sees the twin obstacles which might -- and probably will -- encumber the game but increase his worldly experience. The contest begins: because of her stature he is forced to move in low, making the ordinary embrace needed for success difficult, if not impossible. Then, inexorably, the orange starts to slip down the GIRL's front. Manfully he goes after it. CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE She is enjoying it thoroughly. TWO SHOT -- PETER AND GIRL Bending over backwards, in a sort of frontal half-nelson, PETER makes a last valiant effort and voilà, grips the orange under his chin -- amid much cheering and congratulations from members of his TEAM. Now he turns to REGGIE and they face one another for a moment. PETER En garde. REGGIE Lay on, MacDuff. They go at it, working their bodies together to make it all possible. Then, for a moment, the game and the onlookers seem less important than their proximity. But, alas, they are too good despite themselves and the transfer is accomplished -- again with appreciative cheers from the TEAM. REGGIE, with the orange now tucked firmly under her chin, turns to the next team-member in line and is locked in an embrace before she realizes her partner is LEOPOLD GIDEON, the short, fat, balding man seen at the funeral and later in BARTHOLOMEW's photo. REGGIE starts to draw back but GIDEON holds her tightly. Putting his chin around the orange he is able to speak quietly in REGGIE's ear. CLOSE TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND GIDEON Her eyes show her fright as he whispers: GIDEON Mrs. Lampert -- REGGIE What do you want? GIDEON Didn't Charles tell you, Mrs. Lampert? REGGIE Tell me what? GIDEON It doesn't belong to you, Mrs. Lampert -- you do know that, don't you? REGGIE I don't know anything. GIDEON Mrs. Lampert, any morning now you could wake up dead. REGGIE Leave me alone -- ! GIDEON Dead, Mrs. Lampert -- like last week's news -- like Charles, Mrs. Lampert -- REGGIE (SHOUTING) Stop it! CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE'S AND GIDEON'S FEET As REGGIE hauls off and kicks GIDEON full in the shin. CLOSE SHOT -- GIDEON He stiffens as the pain registers. Instead of shouting he merely closes his eyes. WIDER ANGLE Including REGGIE and GIDEON and PETER standing by, as well as some spectators. PETER comes quickly forward. PETER Reggie -- what's the trouble? REGGIE realizes that GIDEON no longer offers any resistance. She steps back, leaving GIDEON holding the orange, foolishly, under his chin, his eyes still closed. REGGIE stares at him for a moment. REGGIE He -- he was stepping on my foot. CLOSE SHOT -- GIDEON Slowly, his eyes open and tears stream from them, rolling down his cheeks. He speaks while holding the orange. GIDEON Forgive me -- it was quite unintentional, I'm sure. WIDER ANGLE GIDEON turns to the woman behind him and the game resumes. REGGIE (starting off) Wait for me -- I won't be long. She goes off toward the rear of the club and starts down a flight of stairs. CLOSE SHOT -- PETER Watching her go, a concerned look on his face. INT. NIGHTCLUB LOUNGE -- NIGHT A small, dimly lit area with a door to the combination men's- women's room and a 'phone cabin with a solid door. The music and shouting from upstairs float down. REGGIE comes down the stairs and goes to the 'phone, flicking on the light and closing the door after her. INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT REGGIE takes a jeton ('phone token) from her bag and drops it in the slot. Then she takes out a slip of paper (the one given her by BARTHOLOMEW) and dials the number written on it. She listens to it ring, then evidently he answers. REGGIE (into 'phone) Mr. Bartholomew -- it's me, Reggie Lampert -- listen Mr. Bartholomew: I've seen one of the (she stops) Mr. Bartholomew? Can you hear me? She realizes she has not pushed the button which takes her coin and allows the party at the other end to hear her voice. REGGIE Hello -- Mr. Bartholomew -- it's me, Regina Lam... Suddenly the door of the booth opens and REGGIE wheels to look, slamming the receiver down as she does. REVERSE SHOT -- 'PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT TEX PENTHOLLOW, the second man from the funeral (and photo), the man in the corduroy suit and string tie, stands in the doorway, his face calm, a hand-rolled but unlit cigarette in his mouth. He has put one foot up against the side of the door so she can't leave. REGGIE stares at him, terrified. TEX Howdy, Miz Lampert. REGGIE Wha -- what do you want? TEX takes a book of matches from his pocket. TEX You know what I want, Miz Lampert... REGGIE No -- no, I'm don't. TEX Come on now -- sure you do. An' you'd better give it to me, Miz Lampert -- cuz I ain't foolin'. No sireebob! He strikes a match and lights his cigarette, holding the burning match in his hand afterward. REGGIE I don't know what -- TEX, without a word, throws the still-lit match into the booth, onto REGGIE's lap. She beats it out frantically. REGGIE What are you doing? TEX lights another match and throws it into her lap. She beats this one out too. REGGIE Stop that! TEX Don't make too much noise, Miz Lampert -- He lights another match and reaches out toward her hair with it. She shrinks back. TEX It could get a whole lot worse. Then he throws it into her lap. As he continues to speak he punctuates each phrase or so with another lit match. REGGIE is too busy beating them out to do anything else. TEX It belongs to me, Miz Lampert -- an' if you don't give it to me your life ain't gonna be worth the paper it's printed on. You savvy what I'm sayin', Miz Lampert? REGGIE Please stop -- please! TEX You think on it real careful-like, Miz Lampert -- y'hear? CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE As she frantically beats out the matches, her eyes on her work. REGGIE You're insane, absolutely insane! She looks up, then blinks her eyes. INT. 'PHONE BOOTH OVER REGGIE'S SHOULDER There is no one there. REGGIE rises and steps out of the booth. INT. NIGHTCLUB LOUNGE -- NIGHT As REGGIE looks around. There is no one there. INT. PHONE BOOTH As REGGIE returns, sits and starts to put another jeton into the slot. She notices her hand is shaking. She reaches back into her bag, removes a piece of candy, puts it into her mouth and leans her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. Suddenly the door opens and REGGIE shrieks -- but this time it is PETER. PETER What are you doing in here? REGGIE (a sigh of relief) Having a nervous breakdown. INT. HOTEL LOBBY -- NIGHT REGGIE and PETER enter the deserted lobby. PETER You haven't said a word since we left the club -- what happened back there? REGGIE I -- I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you or not. PETER I don't think I follow you. REGGIE He said if I told anybody it could prove fatal for them as well as me. PETER Who said? REGGIE That's what I'm not supposed to say. PETER Stop this nonsense! If you're in some sort of trouble I want to know about it. REGGIE Stop bullying me. Everybody's bullying me. PETER I wasn't -- REGGIE Yes, you were -- you called it nonsense. Being murdered in cold blood isn't nonsense. Wait until it happens to you sometime. She goes to the desk, followed by PETER, where the NIGHT CLERK greets them sleepily. NIGHT CLERK Bonsoir. REGGIE Bonsoir. Quarante-deux, s'il vous plait. The NIGHT CLERK gets the key off a hook and hands it to REGGIE. NIGHT CLERK Bonne nuit. REGGIE (to PETER) Would you mind seeing me to the door? PETER Of course not. They go to the elevator where he opens the door for her. INT. ELEVATOR -- NIGHT As REGGIE and PETER enter the small cage. It is somewhat cramped, forcing them to stand close together. REGGIE This is quite a place for making friends, isn't it? He presses the button and the elevator starts to rise. PETER You said this afternoon that your husband was mixed up in something. REGGIE (busy examining the cleft in his chin) How do you shave in there? PETER What was it? REGGIE What was what? PETER What your husband was mixed up in. REGGIE Look, I know it's asking you to stretch your imagination, but can't you pretend for a moment that I'm a woman and that you're a -- PETER Don't you know I could already be arrested for transporting a minor above the first floor? The elevator stops. PETER We're here. REGGIE Where? PETER On the street where you live. REGGIE How about once more around the park? He reaches across her and opens the door. PETER Out. INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR THIRD LANDING -- NIGHT As REGGIE leaves the elevator, followed by PETER. They walk to her door. There is a moment of silence as she looks at him. REGGIE (imitating PETER) Him: 'Do you mind if I come in for a nightcap, Reggie?' Her: 'Well -- it is awfully late.' Him: 'Just one, all right?' Her: 'Promise you'll behave yourself.' Him: 'Sorry, baby, I never make promises I can't keep.' PETER How would you like a spanking? REGGIE How would you like a punch in the nose? Stop treating me like a child. PETER Then stop acting like one. If you're really in some kind of trouble, I'd like to hear about it. Otherwise, it's late, I'm tired and I'm going home to bed. REGGIE Do you know what's wrong with you? PETER What? REGGIE Nothing. Good night. PETER Good night. He turns and leaves. She smiles slightly, then turns and puts the key into the door and opens it. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT Featuring the door. REGGIE enters, then stops abruptly, the doorknob still in her hand. ANOTHER ANGLE The room has been torn apart. And standing in the center is HERMAN SCOBIE, the large man in the battered raincoat. He starts slowly advancing toward REGGIE. SCOBIE Where is it, lady -- where've you got it? CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE REGGIE (terrified) I don't know -- I don't know! I don't -- She stops as she sees something. CLOSE SHOT -- SCOBIE'S HAND Instead of a human hand there is a twin-pronged metal one. WIDER ANGLE SCOBIE sees where REGGIE is staring; looks down at it himself, then lunges at her, raising the hand to strike. SCOBIE I want it -- give it to me -- it's mine! The hand is starting to come down. REGGIE, moving quickly, turns and flies out. REGGIE (screaming) Peter -- ! Peter -- ! INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR THIRD LANDING -- NIGHT As REGGIE runs out, slamming the door after her, the metal hand crashes against the wooden panel inside the door and splinters through it, visible on this side now. Petrified with fear, REGGIE can only stare dumbly at the protruding claw. ANOTHER ANGLE As PETER comes running up to her. He sees the metal hand. REGGIE A man -- he tried to kill me! Pulling her aside, PETER takes hold of the key (still in the outside lock) and turns it slowly and quietly. Then, using all his weight, he slams the door open as far as it will go, making sure to hold it that way as he steps in. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT Inside, PETER pulls back the door and slugs the startled SCOBIE full on the jaw. His head bangs against the wall but he manages to raise a foot and push PETER violently away, sending him sprawling back, toppling across the bed and over, head first, onto the floor on the other side, where he disappears. Hurrying, SCOBIE puts his foot against the door and pushes it away, ripping his metal hand free. He then rushes to the open window and climbs out. INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR THIRD LANDING -- NIGHT REGGIE waits anxiously. When she hears nothing, she gingerly looks into the room. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE (entering cautiously) Peter -- ? (alarmed) Peter! Where are you? ANOTHER ANGLE Showing the disarranged room, empty of people. Then, slowly PETER's hand appears from behind the bed, shaking groggily. REGGIE rushes to him and helps him sit on the bed. REGGIE Peter -- are you all right? PETER I think I sprained my pride. (He looks around) Where'd he go? REGGIE Out of the window, I guess -- I didn't see him. PETER goes, unsteady on his feet, to the window and looks out. He then turns back. PETER Lock the door and the window -- and don't let anyone in except me. I'll be back in a minute. REGGIE Be careful, Peter. PETER (one leg over the sill) You took the words right out of my mouth. He climbs out. EXT. HOTEL WINDOW THIRD FLOOR -- NIGHT Outside the window to REGGIE's room is a small, false balcony, consisting mostly of railing, with barely enough room between it and the building's facade for a man to stand. PETER appears and looks down over the railing. EXT. HOTEL SIDEWALK (FROM ABOVE) -- NIGHT SHOOTING STRAIGHT DOWN; there is no one on the street and it is too far to jump. MED. SHOT -- PETER -- BALCONY He now looks around. REGGIE's is the last such balcony on one side, but there are two or three on the other. PETER climbs over the railing and, holding on to it with one hand, reaches for the railing on the next balcony. CLOSE SHOT -- PETER'S HAND As it stretches for the railing; it is several inches short of touching it. MED. SHOT -- PETER As he straightens up and prepares to jump. EXT. HOTEL FACADE -- NIGHT From the GROUND. PETER, high above, jumps to the next balcony. MED. SHOT -- PETER As he climbs over the railing of the second balcony. He sees a light coming through the window and looks in. WOMAN'S VOICE (O.S.) Oh! PETER leaves the window quickly, climbing over the railing on his way to the next balcony. As he does, the following exchange is heard (in British English). MAN'S VOICE (O.S.) What is it now, Pamela? WOMAN'S VOICE (O.S.) It happened again, Henry -- another strange man peered in the window at me and then went away. MAN'S VOICE (O.S.) Bad luck, Pamela. EXT. HOTEL FACADE -- NIGHT From the GROUND as PETER jumps to the next balcony. MED. SHOT -- PETER As he climbs over the rail to the third balcony. There is a light coming from this window, too. PETER looks in. MED. SHOT -- WINDOW -- OVER PETER'S SHOULDER Inside the room are GIDEON, TEX, and SCOBIE in the midst of a heated discussion. GIDEON That was a dumb move, Herman -- a dumb move. TEX And then some. If you'd only told us you was goin' to her room we could've kept 'em busy -- INT. GIDEON'S HOTEL ROOM -- NIGHT TEX -- but sneakin' in there on your own that-a-way, why, man, you was bound to get yore tokus kicked. I mean, what'd you think he'd do -- walk up 'n' shake you by that hand o' yores? PETER'S VOICE (O.S.) That's right, Herman -- you didn't leave me much choice. They all turn toward the window. WIDER ANGLE As PETER climbs in through the window and joins them. PETER (to SCOBIE) I didn't hurt you, did I? SCOBIE shakes his head and turns away. GIDEON (eagerly) Never mind that -- did you get the money? PETER How could I with the three Marx Brothers breathing down my neck? You said you'd let me handle it alone -- ! The girl trusts me. If she's got it, I'll find out about it. But you've got to leave me alone. SCOBIE (to GIDEON and TEX) We took all the chances. The money belongs to us, not him! TEX Don't be un-neighborly-like, Herman -- don't forget he done us a little ol' favor. SCOBIE Yeah? What's that? TEX He took care of Charlie for us. GIDEON (to PETER) We appreciate it, really we do. SCOBIE But who asked him? Three shares are enough -- I'd say he's out! PETER A third of nothing is nothing, Herman. Make up your minds -- she's waiting for me. GIDEON (thoughtfully) I don't see how another twenty-four hours could hurt. TEX Shoot no, not after all these years. SCOBIE Then he gets it out of your share, not mine! Not mine! SCOBIE turns and storms out of the door, slamming it. GIDEON begins sneezing, takes a bottle of pills from his pocket and swallows two white tablets. GIDEON I suggest you get about your business -- nothing soothes Herman like success. TEX (chuckling) That's right -- it's like ticklin' a alligator's belly. PETER Who's got the room next to hers? TEX Me. How come? PETER Get another one, will you? I'm going to need it. PETER starts for the door. TEX If you do find the money -- you won't forget t' tell us about it, will you, fella? PETER (turning at the door) Don't worry. TEX Oh, I ain't worryin' -- but see this pudgy little fella here? (indicating GIDEON) He worries -- an' he's even meaner'n I am. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT As she waits anxiously, smoking a cigarette. There is a KNOCK at the door. REGGIE Who is it? PETER'S VOICE (O.S.) It's me. Peter. REGGIE unlocks the door and opens it. PETER enters and she closes the door again -- PETER There was no trace of him. All right, Reggie -- suppose you tell me what this is all about. REGGIE There are three men -- he's one of them -- they think I have something that belongs to them. PETER What? REGGIE A quarter of a million dollars. PETER is silent for a moment. PETER Go on. REGGIE That's all. PETER No, it isn't -- where's the money? REGGIE I don't know. Those men killed Charles to get it. But he must not have had it with him on the train. PETER So they think he left it with you. REGGIE But he didn't! I've looked everywhere -- (tears welling) And if I don't find it -- (wailing) Those men going to kill me. She falls in his arms to be comforted. PETER No, they won't -- I won't let them. REGGIE (sobbing) Please help me, Peter -- you're the only one I can trust. PETER Of course I'll help -- I told you I would, didn't I? Come on now -- He takes out his handkerchief and dries her eyes. REGGIE I'm so hungry I could faint. (trying to smile) I've -- I've gotten your suit all wet. PETER That's all right -- it's a drip-dry. REGGIE Peter, you've got to promise me something. Promise you'll never lie the way Charles did. Why do people have to tell lies? PETER Usually it's because they want something -- and they're afraid the truth won't get it for them. REGGIE Do you tell lies? A pause. The phone rings. REGGIE answers it. REGGIE (into the phone) Hello? INT. OUTDOOR 'PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT SCOBIE holds the receiver in his metal hand. SCOBIE Mrs. Lampert? -- it's me -- the man who was in your room a few minutes ago -- INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE (on the phone) What do you want? PETER (whispering) Who is it? REGGIE (covering the receiver) The man you had the fight with. INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT SCOBIE (on the phone) Is Dyle with you? INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE REGGIE Who? INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT SCOBIE (on the phone) The man who hit me, lady -- Dyle -- that's his name. What's wrong -- is he still there? INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE's back is turned to PETER so he can't see her face. He watches her. REGGIE (on the phone) Yes -- that's right. PETER What is it, Reggie -- what's he saying? She shakes her head. INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT SCOBIE (on the phone) Don't trust him -- don't tell him anything. He's after the money. He hangs up. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT Slowly, REGGIE lowers the 'phone from her ear and hangs it up. She hesitates a moment. PETER What'd he say? REGGIE He -- he said if I didn't give the money, he'll kill me. PETER I wouldn't take that too seriously. REGGIE I believe what he said. PETER They're only trying to scare you, that's all. REGGIE How do you know what they're doing? PETER I don't -- but as long as they think you have the money, or know where it is, or have it without knowing where it is, or don't even know you have it -- REGGIE What are you talking about? PETER You mustn't let what he said bother you. It was only words. REGGIE (softly) Words can hurt very much. PETER (a pause) Go to sleep -- I'll see you in the morning. REGGIE Don't put yourself out. PETER Hey -- I'm on your side. Remember that. REGGIE Yes, I'll remember. Good night. PETER Good night. He starts out, pausing by the door and examining the hole SCOBIE made in it. PETER But if you'll take my advice -- (smiling) You'll undress in the closet. Oh, and if you need me, just bang on the wall. I'll be next door. INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- THIRD LANDING -- NIGHT As PETER (now called DYLE) leaves REGGIE's room and closes the door. He pauses for a moment, listening, hears nothing, then bends down and starts pulling at a loose thread in one of his socks. As usual, the thread unravels -- and unravels -- and unravels some more until it seems that the entire sock has come unknit. Now, taking the long thread, he bends down near the door and, taking his tie-pin, attaches one end of the thread to the bottom of REGGIE's door. He then runs the thread along the floor to his door (next door) and works it underneath. INT. DYLE'S ROOM -- NIGHT As DYLE enters, the thread in his hand. He goes to a nearby table where he attaches the thread to the heavy room key, which he then balances on the extreme edge of the table. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE is on the phone. REGGIE (excited) -- But I am calm, Mr. Bartholomew -- what I called to tell you was there's someone else -- someone who wasn't in that photograph you showed me. He says his name is Peter Joshua -- but it isn't -- it's Dyle. (a pause) Mr. Bartholomew? -- are you still there? INT. BARTHOLOMEW'S APARTMENT -- NIGHT BARTHOLOMEW on the phone. He is silent for a moment, his face troubled. BARTHOLOMEW I don't know who this Mr. Dyle is, but it's just possible we were wrong about who killed your husband. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE (on the phone) You mean he might have -- Mr. Bartholomew, I'm catching the next plane out of here -- I'm not going to sit here and wait for someone to make chopped liver out of me! DELETED INT. BARTHOLOMEW'S APARTMENT -- NIGHT BARTHOLOMEW (on the phone) Where are you now -- can you meet me? Do you know Les Halles? INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE (on the phone) Yes, where? (a pause) -- in fifteen minutes. I'll be there. DELETED INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE hangs up the phone, picks up her bag, checks her hair in the mirror, then starts for the door. She stops as she notices the connecting door leading to the room next door, DYLE's room. She goes to it, silently slips out the key and bends to peer through the keyhole. INT. DYLE'S ROOM -- NIGHT (THROUGH KEYHOLE) DYLE is removing his coat. Before he lays it over a chair, he takes a gun from the inside pocket, checks it, and tucks it into his belt. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE reacts in surprise and fright, jumps quickly away from the door. She hurries to the door leading to the hall and reaches for the knob. INT. DYLE'S ROOM -- NIGHT CLOSE SHOT -- ROOM KEY. The thread attached to it is pulled (by the action of REGGIE's door opening) and the key falls to the floor with a clatter. WIDE ANGLE Including DYLE as he reacts, his head wheeling to look at the key. Snatching his coat, he runs for the door. INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- THIRD LANDING -- NIGHT As REGGIE sneaks past DYLE's door. When she has passed, the door opens and DYLE appears. REGGIE takes off on the run, turning the corner and starting down the stairs. DYLE Reggie -- ! He starts after her. INT. HOTEL LOBBY -- NIGHT It is deserted, except for the sleeping NIGHT PORTER, as REGGIE comes running down the stairs. DYLE'S VOICE (O.S.) Reggie... ! She turns, looking back towards the sound of his voice, but does not slacken her speed. She runs out the front door. EXT. HOTEL ENTRANCE -- NIGHT As REGGIE runs out. She looks up the street, sees a TAXI and hails it. REGGIE Taxi -- ! It pulls over to the curb. Looking once more over her shoulder she takes a bill out of her pocket, opens the cab door, slams it loudly without getting in and hands the bill to the driver. REGGIE N'importe où -- vite! Allez-y! She jumps back into the shadows of a nearby doorway as the TAXI pulls away. At the same time DYLE runs out of the hotel. Another TAXI is coming down the street. DYLE hails it frantically. DYLE Taxi -- ! Taxi -- ! It pulls up and DYLE opens the door. DYLE (pointing) Follow that taxi. DRIVER Comment? DYLE Taxi! Follow! DRIVER Je ne comprends rien. Desperately, DYLE reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a small dictionary and begins flipping through the pages. CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE In the shadows. She lifts her eyes in annoyance. MED. SHOT -- TAXI DYLE (finding the word) Suivre -- el taxi! DRIVER Ah! Oui, Monsieur. ANOTHER ANGLE REGGIE comes out of the shadows, looks after DYLE's taxi, then hails another one which pulls up. REGGIE (to DRIVER) Aux Halles -- vite! DELETED EXT. LES HALLES -- NIGHT REGGIE and BARTHOLOMEW walking. The Central Market is teeming with activity -- trucks creeping around other trucks, cases of fruit and vegetables stacked on every inch of sidewalk, WORKERS of all types milling around, unloading trucks and stacking crates, little electric carts scooting in and out -- and nearby, one of the huge, high-roofed sheds where the butchers work. TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND BARTHOLOMEW CAMERA LEADING them as they walk. BARTHOLOMEW (looking around) Incredible, isn't it? Zola called it 'le ventre de Paris' -- the womb of Paris, the belly. She takes a banana from a nearby stall. REGGIE (peeling it) What did you want to see me about, Mr. Bartholomew? BARTHOLOMEW (leaves a coin on the crate) Were you followed? REGGIE Yes, but I lost him. I really did it quite brilliantly. I'm beginning to think women make the best spies. BARTHOLOMEW Agents. REGGIE He has a gun, Mr. Bartholomew -- I saw it. BARTHOLOMEW Who? REGGIE Dyle, or whatever his name is. BARTHOLOMEW What does your Mr. Dyle look like, Mrs. Lampert? REGGIE He's hardly my Mr. Dyle. BARTHOLOMEW Describe him. REGGIE Well -- he's tall -- over six feet -- rather thin -- in good physical shape, I'd say -- dark eyes -- quite handsome, really. BARTHOLOMEW (shaking his head) No. REGGIE No, what? BARTHOLOMEW That's not Carson Dyle. REGGIE (stopping) Carson? BARTHOLOMEW There's only one Dyle connected with this affair, Mrs. Lampert -- that's Carson. REGGIE You mean you've known about him all along? Why didn't you tell me? BARTHOLOMEW looks at her for a moment, then glances around; his attention is drawn inside the doorway. BARTHOLOMEW It's enough to make you a vegetarian, isn't it? INT. LES HALLES BUTCHERS' SHED -- NIGHT Almost as far as the eye can see, row upon row of beef sides, hung on hooks. TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND BARTHOLOMEW (TRAVELING) As REGGIE looks at the hanging beef. REGGIE It's just lucky that I'm not hanging next to one of those things right now. She shudders, throws away her banana and turns back to BARTHOLOMEW. REGGIE Mr. Bartholomew -- why didn't you tell me you knew about Dyle? BARTHOLOMEW I didn't see any point. Dyle's dead. REGGIE Dead? Mr. Bartholomew -- maybe you'd better tell me what this thing's all about. DELETED INT. LES HALLES BISTRO -- NIGHT Lined up at a zinc bar are several BUTCHERS, their white smocks stained with blood. REGGIE and BARTHOLOMEW sit at the table. BARTHOLOMEW I suppose you're old enough to have heard of World War Two? REGGIE Barely, yes. BARTHOLOMEW In 1944, five members of the O.S.S. -- the military espionage unit -- were ordered behind the German lines for the purpose of delivering $250,000 in gold to the French Underground. The five men -- A WAITER arrives. WAITER Vous désirez? REGGIE (smiling) They always do that. BARTHOLOMEW (to the WAITER) Café. REGGIE Gratinée, choucroute garnie, salade de pommes -- et un ballon de rouge. BARTHOLOMEW Mrs. Lampert, I really hadn't planned on spending the entire night here. REGGIE Can I at least keep the onion soup? BARTHOLOMEW shrugs. REGGIE (to the WAITER) La soupe tout simplement. The WAITER nods and goes. REGGIE (anxiously) Go on, please -- five men -- $250,000 -- the French Underground -- BARTHOLOMEW Yes. The five men. They were, of course, your husband, Charles, the three men who showed up at his funeral yesterday, and Carson Dyle. But something went wrong and they were unable to locate their contact. It must have been at that point that they decided to steal the money. REGGIE Steal it how? BARTHOLOMEW By burying it, and then reporting that the Germans had captured it. All they had to do was come back after the war, dig it up and split it five ways -- a quarter of a million dollars with no questions asked. REGGIE (fascinated) May I have a cigarette, please? BARTHOLOMEW pulls out a package and she takes one, looks at it and rips off the filter tip. He winces. REGGIE I hate these things -- it's like drinking coffee through a veil. She puts the other end in her mouth, then picks up the matches and lights it. BARTHOLOMEW Everything went smoothly enough until after the gold was buried -- then, before they could get out, they were ambushed by a German patrol. A machine gun separated Scobie from his right hand -- and caught Carson Dyle full in the stomach. REGGIE takes another cigarette from his pack, rips off the filter (he winces again) and puts it into her mouth. BARTHOLOMEW What's wrong with that one? He points to the cigarette she just lit, still practically brand-new in the ashtray. REGGIE Oh. Nothing, I guess. What happened then? She hands over the newer one to BARTHOLOMEW, who sadly examines its mutilated end while REGGIE returns to the first cigarette. BARTHOLOMEW Have you any idea what these things cost over here? REGGIE Please go on, Mr. Bartholomew -- what happened then? BARTHOLOMEW Scobie was able to travel, but Carson Dyle was clearly dying, so they -- The WAITER returns with the coffee and onion soup. WAITER La soupe, c'est pour qui? REGGIE Pour moi. Go on, Mr. Bartholomew. The WAITER puts down the cup and bowl and leaves. BARTHOLOMEW Carson was dying so they were forced to leave him. They finally got back to the base, made their report, and waited for the war to end. Only Charles couldn't wait quite as long as the others. He beat them back to the gold, took everything for himself and disappeared. It's taken Gideon, Tex and Scobie all this time to catch up with him again. REGGIE But if they stole all that money -- why can't you arrest them? BARTHOLOMEW We know what happened from the bits and pieces we were able to paste together -- but we still have no proof. REGGIE But what has all this got to do with the C.I.O.? BARTHOLOMEW C.I.A., Mrs. Lampert. We're an extension of the wartime O.S.S. It was our money and we want it back. REGGIE I'm sorry, Mr. Bartholomew, but nothing you've told me has changed my mind. I still intend leaving Paris -- tonight. BARTHOLOMEW I wouldn't advise that, Mrs. Lampert. You'd better consider what happened to your husband when he tried to leave. Those men won't be very far away -- no matter where you go. In fact, I don't even see any point in your changing hotels. Please help us, Mrs. Lampert. Your government is counting on you. REGGIE Well, if I'm going to die, I might as well do it for my country. BARTHOLOMEW That's the spirit. REGGIE Oh, stop it. What do you want me to do? BARTHOLOMEW We're anxious to know who this man is -- the one calling himself Dyle. REGGIE Maybe he really is Dyle. He could still be alive. BARTHOLOMEW No, Mrs. Lampert. REGGIE But no one actually saw him die. BARTHOLOMEW No, Mrs. Lampert. His death is registered with the War Department in Washington. REGGIE Oh. Then who's this one? BARTHOLOMEW I don't know -- but I think you'd better find out, don't you? REGGIE Me? Why me? BARTHOLOMEW You're in an ideal position -- he trusts you. (grinning) Besides, you said yourself, women make the best spies. REGGIE (resigned) Agents. EXT. HOTEL (PLACE ST. ANDRÉ DES ARTS) -- LATE AFTERNOON DYLE leaves the hotel and turns into the Place. A moment later, REGGIE comes cautiously from the hotel. As she watches DYLE, a SANDWICH-MAN advertising a driving school passes the hotel. REGGIE falls in behind him, his tall placard hiding her from view. EXT. PLACE ST. ANDRÉ DES ARTS -- LATE AFTERNOON First comes DYLE, passing a sidewalk cafe on the corner, then the SANDWICH-MAN and REGGIE. The SANDWICH-MAN turns off, leaving REGGIE out in the open. A moment later, DYLE passes a GIRL painting a canvas, her easel set up in the middle of the sidewalk. He stops when he has passed her and turns to look at her work. REGGIE, not knowing what to do, and afraid she will be seen by DYLE, who is now looking her way, spins and sits at the sidewalk cafe's nearest table, her back to DYLE. It is already occupied by a middle-aged TOURIST. TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND TOURIST The TOURIST, complete with camera, beret and guide book, looks up from his coffee, surprised. He stares at REGGIE and she stares back. Finally, not knowing what else to do, she smiles, then takes a portion of his brioche and eats it. He smiles back emptily, not knowing what to make of her. REGGIE turns to look at DYLE. MED. SHOT -- DYLE He has made his judgment of the painting and now moves on. TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND TOURIST The TOURIST has finally found the courage to speak. As he opens his mouth to make a sound, REGGIE, her eyes on DYLE, rises quickly from the table and goes, leaving a very confused TOURIST with his mouth open. He blinks, then leaves some money on the table and starts after her. EXT. PLACE ST. ANDRÉ DES ARTS -- LATE AFTERNOON REGGIE following DYLE. As she passes the GIRL painting, she cannot resist turning to see the work. CLOSE SHOT -- PAINTING An abstract jumble, nothing recognizable. CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE As she looks from the painting to reality. EXT. PLACE ST. ANDRÉ DES ARTS -- LATE AFTERNOON As the scene really looks. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE She shrugs, continues after DYLE. Now we see that the TOURIST, in turn, is following her. TOURIST (calling) Fraulein -- REGGIE doesn't stop. TOURIST Fraulein -- REGGIE (turning but continuing) What are you doing, following me? Stop it -- we're going to look like a parade. She continues after DYLE. The TOURIST hesitates, then continues after her. MED. SHOT -- DYLE He goes to the curb and starts to step off, attempting to cross the Rue Danton, but finds the light against him. He turns back in REGGIE's direction. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE Realizing she has to do something before DYLE spots her, she turns and takes the TOURIST's arm and starts walking with him back toward the cafe. REGGIE (smiling and rattling on) How are you? When did you arrive in town? Are you enjoying Paris? It's lovely, isn't it? So many wonderful things to see and do, it makes one's head spin to think of it. She looks back over her shoulder and sees that DYLE is now crossing the Rue Danton, heading for the platform of a bus now stopped at the curb. TOURIST (smiling) Fraulein -- REGGIE pulls away from him. REGGIE If you don't stop following me I'll call the police. She leaves him standing there, more confused than ever, as she starts after DYLE again. DYLE has hopped on the back of the bus as it pulls away. REGGIE hurries across the street, hailing a taxi. REGGIE Taxi -- ! INT. AMERICAN EXPRESS -- LATE AFTERNOON DYLE enters. CAMERA PANNING with him to the head of a stairway leading downstairs, a sign indicating that it leads to the "MAIL ROOM & TELEPHONES." CAMERA PANS back to the door as REGGIE enters. DELETED INT. AMERICAN EXPRESS MAIL ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON DYLE walks to one of several windows. A sign over it reading: "A - D." MED. SHOT -- STAIRS REGGIE comes down the stairs. Suddenly she stops. MED. SHOT -- DYLE CAMERA ZOOMS in to sign on "D." CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE A confused look on her face. MED. SHOT -- DYLE As his turn comes, he addresses the CLERK DYLE Dyle, please... D - Y - L - E. CLERK Yes, Mr. Dyle. I remember. CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE Watching. MED. SHOT -- MAIL WINDOW The CLERK takes out a bundle of letters and quickly sorts through it. CLERK I'm sorry, Mr. Dyle -- nothing today. DYLE Thanks -- see you soon. He turns and heads out, starting up the stairs where REGGIE was but is no longer. As he reaches the fourth or fifth step, a VOICE is heard over the loudspeaker. VOICE (O.S.) Mr. Dyle, please -- you're wanted on the telephone -- Mr. Dyle. Cabin 4. DYLE stops in his tracks, pondering what to do. VOICE (O.S.) Mr. Dyle. Cabin 4, please. He stops and comes down the stairs, going to the back of the room and into the cabin marked "4." DYLE (picking up the phone) Yes? CAMERA DOLLIES across an empty cabin to discover REGGIE in the third one, on the phone. INT. REGGIE'S CABIN REGGIE on the phone. INT. DYLE'S CABIN DYLE on the phone. REGGIE Good morning, Mr. Dyle. DYLE Reggie? REGGIE It's the only name I've got. How about you? DYLE No cat and mouse -- you've got me. What do you want to know? REGGIE Why you lied to me. DYLE I had to -- for all I knew you could have been in on the whole thing. REGGIE Well, you know now, so please tell me who you are. DYLE But you know my name -- it's Dyle. REGGIE Carson Dyle is dead. DYLE Yes, he is. He was my brother. REGGIE Your -- DYLE The army thinks he was killed in action by the Germans, but I think they did it -- Tex, Gideon and Scobie -- and your husband -- because he wouldn't go along with their scheme to steal the gold. I think he threatened to turn them in and they killed him. I'm trying to prove it. They think I'm working with them. But I'm not, and that's the truth. I'm on your side, Reggie -- please believe that. REGGIE How can I? You lied to me -- the way Charles did -- and after promising you wouldn't. Oh, I want to believe you, Peter... oh, but I can't call you that anymore, can I? It will take me a while to get used to your new name -- which I don't even know yet. What is it? (pause) Aren't you going to tell me? (pause) Hello -- ? She opens the door of the cabin and starts out. MED. SHOT -- PHONE CABINS As REGGIE steps out of her cabin and starts looking in the others. They are all occupied except one and she looks inside it. CLOSE SHOT -- EMPTY CABIN The receiver hangs by its cord, swinging back and forth. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE As she looks at it, confused. INT. AMERICAN EXPRESS -- DAY DYLE and SCOBIE stand together, waiting for the elevator, SCOBIE clearly holding a gun in the pocket of his raincoat. SCOBIE (quietly) If you do anything funny, or try to talk to anyone, I'll kill you, Dyle -- here and now. Okay? DYLE You'll wreck your raincoat. The self-service elevator doors open, one or two PASSENGERS come out and DYLE and SCOBIE enter. A young GIRL starts in after them. SCOBIE Next car, please. He reaches out and presses the top button with his metal hand. The doors close. DELETED INT. TOP FLOOR LANDING -- LATE AFTERNOON As SCOBIE follows DYLE out of the elevator. SCOBIE looks around -- there is an open door at the end of a short hall. He and DYLE go to it, CAMERA FOLLOWING. Through the door, which SCOBIE closes behind them, is a flight of stairs, leading up to a second floor. SCOBIE Okay -- turn around. DYLE turns to find SCOBIE's gun out of the pocket and pointing at him. SCOBIE now transfers it to his metal hand and goes to DYLE, where he proceeds to frisk him. Finding the gun DYLE carries in his inside coat pocket, SCOBIE removes it. During the following conversation he will shake open the revolving magazine and let the bullets fall out onto the floor before handing back the emptied gun to DYLE. Then he will transfer his own gun back to his good hand. SCOBIE Sit down. Shrugging, DYLE sits on the third step. DYLE What now? SCOBIE We wait -- with our mouths shut. INT. AMERICAN EXPRESS -- NIGHT The last EMPLOYEES leave the building as the WATCHMAN locks the front door after them. INT. TOP FLOOR LANDING -- NIGHT In the semi-darkness, DYLE is still sitting on the third step, SCOBIE still facing him with a gun. DYLE How long do you intend -- ? SCOBIE I said with the mouth shut. DYLE yawns wide. DYLE Sorry about that. SCOBIE Okay -- up there. DYLE gets to his feet and starts up the stairs, followed by SCOBIE. DYLE stops at the door. DYLE Do I knock or something? SCOBIE Open it. DYLE opens the door. The stairs continue up. SCOBIE Keep going. DYLE The view had better be worth it. EXT. AMERICAN EXPRESS -- ROOFTOP -- NIGHT A spectacular view of the Paris rooftops and the city lights beyond. DYLE and SCOBIE come out onto a level portion of roof. On the street side, the roof angles down abruptly into a steep, slate-covered pitch, broken only by two widely separated oval-shaped dormer windows. Below these is a rain gutter, then nothing -- for seven stories. DYLE Very pretty. Now what? SCOBIE I'll give you a chance, Dyle -- which is more than you'd give me. Where's the money? DYLE Is that why you dragged me all the way up here -- to ask me that? She has it -- you know that. SCOBIE And I say maybe you both have it! One more time, Dyle -- where is it? DYLE Supposing I did have it -- which I don't -- do you really think I'd hand it over? SCOBIE You're out, Dyle -- right now! SCOBIE aims the gun and starts advancing toward DYLE. SCOBIE Step back. DYLE turns and looks -- there is nothing behind him but a sheer drop to the street. DYLE Back where? SCOBIE That's the idea. Moving quickly, DYLE lashes out and hacks SCOBIE's gun hand with the side of his palm and the gun falls to the roof. Following through, DYLE punches the large man full in the jaw, but instead of falling, SCOBIE wraps his arm around DYLE, holding on tightly until his head clears. Then, to his amazement, DYLE is lifted into the air and, unable to break the bear-hold, carried toward the edge of the roof. Working his arms between their two bodies, DYLE suddenly flails them out with all his strength and the hold is broken, but at the price of his coat and the flesh on his back as SCOBIE's metal claw rips through both, a wound extending from the center of DYLE's back to his shoulder. Both men look around for the gun, spot it simultaneously and leap for it, both landing short of the mark. Now they grapple with one another, each trying to break free and reach for the gun. CLOSE SHOT -- THEIR HANDS Two hands, one real, one metal, inch toward the gun. MED. SHOT -- DYLE AND SCOBIE The battle is going to SCOBIE whose weight and strength are beginning to tire DYLE, who is now on his back, trying to stop SCOBIE from crawling over him. He has the large man by both lapels of the raincoat in a last-ditch effort to hold him. But SCOBIE, his face horribly distorted from the strain, continues to inch forward toward the gun. Suddenly, DYLE releases his hold. With nothing restraining him, SCOBIE lurches forward, tumbling past the gun, his momentum carrying him onto the sloping part of the roof, where he begins sliding down. SCOBIE beats wildly at the the slate with his claw, trying to gouge a grip. CLOSE SHOT -- SCOBIE'S CLAW As it slides across the slate, making a hideous scratching sound and causing sparks to fly. MED. SHOT -- SCOBIE As he slides over the edge and disappears. CLOSE SHOT -- DYLE As he watches, hypnotized. CLOSE SHOT -- ROOF EDGE There appears to be no sign of SCOBIE. Then CAMERA ZOOMS IN FOR A TIGHT CLOSE SHOT OF SCOBIE'S metal hand, gripping the rain gutter at the very edge. MED. SHOT -- DYLE Having seen the claw, he rises and walks to the very edge of the level part of the roof. DYLE Herman? MED. SHOT -- SCOBIE As he hangs, seven stories over the street, by his metal hand. SCOBIE Yeah? MED. SHOT -- DYLE He finds it hard to believe. DYLE How are you doing? SCOBIE'S VOICE (O.S.) How do you think? DYLE If you get bored, try writing 'Love thy neighbor' a hundred times on the side of the building. DYLE turns and leaves going down the stairs. INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- THIRD LANDING -- NIGHT The HOTEL MANAGER is busy taping a piece of cardboard over the hole ripped in REGGIE's door by SCOBIE's metal hand the night before. DYLE leaves the elevator and goes to his own door. The MANAGER eyes him coldly. DYLE "takes" the look. DYLE I didn't do it. MANAGER The next time madame forgets her key, there is another one at the desk. DYLE smiles, then enters his room. INT. DYLE'S ROOM -- NIGHT He closes the door and starts to remove his torn coat, wincing. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE, smoking on the bed, sits up when she hears DYLE moving about in his room. She goes to the connecting door, unlocks her side, tries the knob, finds it still bolted from his side and knocks. REGGIE Is that you? INT. DYLE'S ROOM -- NIGHT DYLE goes to the door, throws back the bolt and opens the door. REGGIE enters. REGGIE Didn't anyone ever tell you it's impolite to -- (seeing his injured back) What happened? DYLE I met a man with sharp nails. REGGIE Scobie? DYLE I left him hanging around the American Express. REGGIE Come on -- I've got something that stings like crazy. She leads him into her room. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT As REGGIE and DYLE enter from his room. She leads him to the bed. REGGIE Take off your shirt and lie down. As REGGIE goes to the bathroom, DYLE takes off his torn shirt, revealing a torn and bloody T-shirt. He lies face downwards on the bed. REGGIE returns, carrying cotton, gauze, tape, scissors, and disinfectant. She sits next to him and lifts up his T-shirt to examine the wound. DYLE (wincing) Listen -- all I really want is an estimate. REGGIE It's not so bad. You may not be able to lie on your back for a few days -- but, then, you can lie from any position, can't you? She wets the cotton with disinfectant and begins cleaning the wound. He winces. REGGIE Does it hurt? DYLE Haven't you got a bullet I can bite? She continues working on his back, cleaning it, then bandaging it while they talk. REGGIE Are you really Carson Dyle's brother? DYLE Would you like to see my passport? REGGIE Your passport! What kind of a proof is that? DYLE Would you like to see where I was tattooed? REGGIE Sure. DYLE Okay, I'll drive you around there some day. (his back stinging) Ouch! REGGIE Ha ha. You could at least tell me what your first name is these days. DYLE Alexander. REGGIE Is there a Mrs. Dyle? DYLE Yes, but we're divorced. REGGIE I thought that was Peter Joshua. DYLE (smiling) I'm no easier to live with than he was. REGGIE (finishing the bandage) There -- you're a new man. As they continue talking, he rises from the bed and goes into his own room. REGGIE remains on the bed, watching him through the open door as he puts on a fresh T-shirt and shirt. DYLE I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the truth, but I had to find out your part in all this. REGGIE Alex -- how can you tell if someone is lying or not? DYLE You can't. REGGIE There must be some way. DYLE There's an old riddle about two tribes of Indians -- the Whitefeet always tell the truth and the Blackfeet always lie. So one day you meet an Indian, you ask him if he's a truthful Whitefoot or a lying Blackfoot? He tells you he's a truthful Whitefoot, but which one is he? REGGIE Why couldn't you just look at his feet? DYLE Because he's wearing moccasins. REGGIE Oh. Well, then he's a truthful Whitefoot, of course. DYLE Why not a lying Blackfoot? REGGIE (confused) Which one are you? DYLE (entering, smiling) Whitefoot, of course. REGGIE Come here. He goes to the bed. REGGIE Sit down. He sits. REGGIE I hope it turns out you're a Whitefoot, Alex -- I could be very happy hanging around the tepee. DYLE Reggie -- listen to me -- REGGIE Oh-oh -- here it comes. The fatherly talk. You forget I'm already a widow. DYLE So was Juliet -- at fifteen. REGGIE I'm not fifteen. DYLE Well, there's your trouble right there -- you're too old for me. REGGIE Why can't you be serious? DYLE There, you said it. REGGIE Said what? DYLE Serious. When a man gets to be my age that's the last word he ever wants to hear. I don't want to be serious -- and I especially don't want you to be. REGGIE Okay -- I'll tell you what -- we'll just sit around all day long being frivolous -- how about that? She starts kissing him on the neck, on the chin, on the cheek. DYLE Now please, Reggie -- cut it out. REGGIE (pulling back) Okay. DYLE What are you doing? REGGIE Cutting it out. DYLE Who told you to do that? REGGIE You did. DYLE But I'm not through complaining yet. REGGIE Oh. (She starts kissing him again) DYLE Now please, Reggie -- cut it out. REGGIE I think I love you, Alex -- She kisses him on the mouth. The phone rings. He tries to talk as she continues kissing him. DYLE (mumbling) The phone's ringing -- REGGIE Whoever it is won't give up -- and neither will I. The phone continues to ring and she continues to kiss him. Finally, REGGIE reaches out to the bedstand and takes the phone off the hook. She brings the receiver up to their mouths and mumbles into it. REGGIE (on phone) Sorry -- I was just -- uh -- nibbling on something. INT. TEX'S ROOM -- NIGHT TEX speaks into the phone. TEX Miz Lampert, my buddies 'n me, we'd oblige it mighty highly if you could mosey on across the hall 'n chew the fat with us for a spell. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT DYLE is watching her. REGGIE (on the phone) Can you give me one good reason why I should? INT. TEX'S ROOM -- NIGHT TEX (on the phone) Yes, ma'am. A little one -- 'bout seven or eight years old. Th' little tyke keeps callin' you his Aunt Reggie -- ain't that cute? INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT She covers the phone and turns to DYLE in alarm. REGGIE They've got Jean-Louis! DYLE That sounds like their problem. REGGIE (into the phone) I'll be right there. INT. TEX'S ROOM -- NIGHT TEX (on the phone) We'll be waitin' in room forty-seven, Miz Lampert -- so you just wiggle on over. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT As REGGIE hangs up. REGGIE What day is it? DYLE Tuesday. REGGIE Lord, I forgot all about it -- Sylvie works late Tuesday nights -- she always leaves him with me. They wouldn't do anything to a little boy, would they? DYLE I don't know -- it depends on whether or not they've already eaten. INT. TEX'S ROOM -- NIGHT CLOSE SHOT -- JEAN-LOUIS. He looks around, uncertainly, first one way, then the other. CAMERA PULLS BACK to show him sitting on SCOBIE's knee, the large man holding him with his good hand, the metal one in his pocket. TEX sits next to them while GIDEON nervously paces the floor. When GIDEON begins sneezing he takes the small bottle of pills from his pocket and downs one or two, swallowing some water. SCOBIE Hey, Tex -- move the kid to the other knee or something, will you? My leg's going to sleep. TEX lifts JEAN-LOUIS and puts him down on SCOBIE's other knee. TEX Upsy-daisy. JEAN-LOUIS Are you a real cowboy? TEX Sure am. JEAN-LOUIS Then where is your gun? TEX (taking out his gun) Right here -- see? GIDEON Will you put that thing away! A KNOCK at the door. GIDEON goes to open it. REGGIE and DYLE enter. She sees JEAN-LOUIS and TEX's gun. REGGIE Jean-Louis! She snatches him off SCOBIE's lap. TEX Howdy, Miz Lampert. SCOBIE (glaring at DYLE) Who invited you? DYLE Hello, Herman, it was a happy landing, I see. REGGIE I'd better call Sylvie -- she must be frantic. She starts for the door with JEAN-LOUIS. GIDEON blocks her way. GIDEON I'm afraid that will have to wait, Mrs. Lampert. REGGIE But his mother -- GIDEON She isn't going to be anybody's mother unless you answer some questions. TEX This ain't no game, Miz Lampert. SCOBIE We want that money -- now! DYLE (forcefully) Be quiet, all of you! The THREE MEN look at him, surprised by his tone. DYLE And stop threatening that boy. He doesn't have the money. Mrs. Lampert doesn't either. SCOBIE Then who does? DYLE I don't know, Herman -- maybe you do. SCOBIE Me? DYLE (to TEX) Or you -- (to GIDEON) Or you -- GIDEON, TEX & SCOBIE (together) That's the most ridiculous -- ! You gone loco? Listen to the man! DYLE Slowly. Suppose one of you found Charles here in Paris, followed him, cornered him on the train, threw him out the window and took the money. SCOBIE (after a pause) That's a crock! If one of us did that he wouldn't hang around here waiting for the other two to wise up. DYLE But he'd have to. If he left he'd be admitting his guilt -- and the others would know what happened. Whoever it is has to wait here, pretending to look for the money, waiting for the rest of us to give up and go home. That's when he'll be safe and not a minute before. A pause as the THREE MEN look at one another. GIDEON Up till now we always figured she had the money -- but you know so much about it, maybe you've got it. DYLE Then what am I doing here? You didn't know anything about me -- I'm the only one who could have taken it and kept right on going. SCOBIE He's just tryin' to throw us off! They've got it, I tell you! Why don't we search their rooms? DYLE (exchanging looks with REGGIE) It's all right with us -- TEX (rising) What are we wastin' time for? Let's go. DYLE And while we're waiting, we might as well go through yours. SCOBIE (stopping) Not my room! DYLE What's wrong, Herman -- have you got something to hide? (a pause, then smiling) Then I take it there are no objections. The THREE MEN look at one another unhappily. DYLE We'd better exchange keys. Here's mine. SCOBIE I'll take that. He takes DYLE's key and gives DYLE his. GIDEON goes to REGGIE, takes her key and gives her his own. TEX Mine's in the door. Ariva durchy, y'all. The THREE MEN file out. DYLE and REGGIE exchange looks. DYLE Come on -- let's get busy. Who gets your vote? REGGIE Scobie -- he's the one that objected. DYLE (handing her the boy) He's all yours. I'll do Tex and Gideon. Take Jean-Louis with you -- and make sure you bolt the door from inside. REGGIE Viens, Jean-Louis -- we're going to have a treasure hunt. JEAN-LOUIS (joining them) Oh, la! If I find the treasure, will I win a prize? REGGIE (to DYLE) What should we give him? DYLE How about $25,000? Or do you think it would spoil him? She smiles, takes JEAN-LOUIS' hand and leaves. DYLE turns to survey TEX's room. He goes first to the drawer in the night table -- empty; and the bed, looking in it and under it. Then he goes to the desk and opens the drawers -- also empty. The bureau is next -- he opens all three double drawers and they, too, are completely empty. Frowning, he goes to the armoire and opens it -- shelves and hanging bar are likewise bare. Then, CAMERA PANNING DOWN, he sees the only thing he's found so far in the room -- a pair of fine cowboy boots. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT CLOSE SHOT -- AIRLINES BAG. CAMERA PULLS BACK to include GIDEON, staring down at it as it lies on the table in the center of the room. GIDEON (eyes on the bag) Tex? ANOTHER ANGLE Including TEX, busy going through the bureau. He looks up, then joins GIDEON. TEX What's that? GIDEON empties the contents of the bag on the table, then starts examining the various items. He opens the wallet. INSERT - WALLET Inside, the initials "C.L." are printed in gold. TEX'S VOICE (O.S.) Charlie's stuff? GIDEON'S VOICE (O.S.) Looks like it. MED. SHOT -- TEX & GIDEON TEX Mebbe we'd better call Herman. GIDEON has put the wallet aside and now picks up the letter, removing it from the envelope and reading it. GIDEON What for? If it's not here, why bother him? TEX And if it is? GIDEON (a pause) Why bother him? A broad grin from TEX. They continue going through the items from the bag. TEX You sure nuthin's missin'? GIDEON No. The police have kindly provided us with a list. TEX takes the list, examines it, then folds it and puts it in his pocket. They finish with the items from the bag. TEX There sure ain't nothin' here worth no quarter of a million. GIDEON Not unless we're blind. TEX (staring at GIDEON) You think that mebbe we're fishin' the wrong stream? GIDEON Meaning what? TEX You don't s'pose one o' us has it, like the man said -- I mean, that'd be pretty distasteful -- us bein' vet'rans o' the same war 'n' all. GIDEON (very sincerely) You know I'd tell you if I had it. TEX Nachurly. Jus' like I'd tell you. GIDEON Nachurly. And that goes for Herman, too. TEX & GIDEON (together) Nachurly! The TWO MEN look at one another, then smile -- then laugh. DELETED INT. SCOBIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE on the phone, JEAN-LOUIS standing by. REGGIE -- He's all right, Sylvie, honestly. Just hurry up and get here. She hangs up and turns to JEAN-LOUIS. REGGIE Come on, now -- if you wanted to hide something, where would you put it? JEAN-LOUIS I know. I would bury it in the garden. REGGIE Swell -- only this man doesn't have a garden. JEAN-LOUIS Oh. (Afterthought) Neither do I. (Seeing something) Voilà! REGGIE Voilà what? JEAN-LOUIS (pointing) Up there! I would put it up there! REGGIE looks to where JEAN-LOUIS is pointing -- to the top of the high armoire. REGGIE You know something, cookie? Why not? Taking one of the straight chairs to the armoire, she stands on it. Although she is still not high enough to see anything, by standing on tip-toes she is able to reach with her hand over the top and grope around blindly. REGGIE I hope I don't find any little hairy things living up here -- wait! There is something! If I can just -- yes, I'm getting it -- a case of some sort -- it's heavy. JEAN-LOUIS (jumping up and down) I found it! I found it! REGGIE If you think you're getting credit for this, you're crazy. JEAN-LOUIS (ecstatic) We won! We won! REGGIE has finally managed to pull down the case -- a rectangular black bag about the size and shape of a trombone case. As he climbs off the chair, JEAN-LOUIS suddenly runs to the door, unbolts it and runs into the hall, CAMERA PANNING with him. INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR - THIRD LANDING - NIGHT As JEAN-LOUIS runs out into the hall, shouting. JEAN-LOUIS We found it! We found it! DYLE is the first one to appear, coming out of GIDEON's room. TEX has also appeared from REGGIE's room, followed by GIDEON. JEAN-LOUIS We found it! The THREE MEN rush by JEAN-LOUIS and squeeze simultaneously into SCOBIE's room. INT. SCOBIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT As DYLE, TEX and GIDEON enter, REGGIE is placing the little straight black chair to its original position. There is no sign of the black case. DYLE Reggie -- ? Did you find it? REGGIE No. GIDEON What do you mean, no? TEX The kid said -- JEAN-LOUIS (pointing atop the armoire) Up there! It is up there! REGGIE No, Jean-Louis. TEX grabs the chair and moves it to the armoire, climbing up on it and grabbing the bag. REGGIE It's nothing, I tell you! He brings it to the table as DYLE and GIDEON crowd around him, anxious to see. CLOSE SHOTS (PANNING) The ring of faces, one at a time. TEX, his jaw muscles working feverishly; DYLE, his eyes unblinking, a slight smile on his lips; GIDEON, his mouth open greedily. GROUP SHOT As TEX finally springs the latches and opens the lid. CLOSE SHOT -- CASE Inside, neatly packed in velvet fittings, like the parts of a musical instrument, are various portions of and attachments for a metal artificial hand. TEX'S VOICE (O.S.) Jumpin' frejoles -- it's Herman's spare. GROUP SHOT -- THE THREE MEN As they stare at the case, surprised and just a little embarrassed. Slowly TEX lowers the lid. The MEN avoid looking at one another. WIDER ANGLE Including REGGIE and JEAN-LOUIS by the door. REGGIE Where is he? The MEN look at one another. TEX Hey, that's right! DYLE (already running) He's in my room. The THREE MEN hurry past REGGIE and JEAN-LOUIS and out of the door. JEAN-LOUIS What is the matter? INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- THIRD LANDING -- NIGHT DYLE, TEX, and GIDEON, followed by REGGIE and JEAN-LOUIS cross the hall to DYLE's room. DYLE turns the key which is still in the door. He enters, followed by the others. INT. DYLE'S ROOM -- NIGHT DYLE, TEX and GIDEON stand in the center of the room, looking around. REGGIE and JEAN-LOUIS wait in the open doorway. The room looks like a cyclone hit the place, but there is no sign of SCOBIE. The sound of running water can be heard coming from behind the closed door to the bathroom and DYLE is the first to notice the water beginning to leak out from under the door. DYLE Reggie -- you and the boy better wait here. INT. BATH -- NIGHT SCOBIE, still dressed in his raincoat, lies face up, his head submerged in the filled tub, the water now pouring over the edge. His face is distorted. DYLE's hand appears and turns off the water. DELETED REVERSE SHOT DYLE, TEX and GIDEON staring at CAMERA. TEX Now who'da done a mean thing like that? DYLE (looking carefully at both) I'm not quite sure. TEX This ain't my room. GIDEON Mine, either. DYLE (considering the situation) The police aren't going to like this one bit. GIDEON (helpful) We could dry him off and take him down the hall to his own room. (looking at the body) He really doesn't look so bad. TEX We could put him to bed 'n let one o' them fem-de-chambers find him in the mornin'. DYLE and GIDEON look at one another. TEX Poor ol' Herman -- him 'n good luck always was strangers. Maybe now he'll meet up with his other hand someplace -- but I sure hope it ain't waitin' for him in Heaven. INT. SCOBIE'S ROOM -- DAY CLOSE SHOT -- SCOBIE. The dead man's eyes are open, his jaw hanging, his head lying crazily on the pillow. CAMERA PULLS BACK to show him lying in bed, dressed in his pajamas. CAMERA WHIRLS for a TIGHT CLOSE SHOT of a MAID, her eyes widening as the realization that the man is dead strikes her. Then she screams. INT. GRANDPIERRE'S OFFICE -- LATE AFTERNOON CLOSE SHOT -- GRANDPIERRE. The policeman is apoplectic. GRANDPIERRE No! No! No! No! CAMERA PULLS BACK to include, REGGIE, DYLE, TEX and GIDEON, all sitting silently in the INSPECTOR's office. GRANDPIERRE A man drowned in his bed -- impossible! And in his pajamas -- the second one in his pajamas -- c'est trop bête! Stop lying to me -- (Tapping the side of his nose) this nose tells me when you are lying -- it is never mistaken, not in twenty- three years -- this nose will make me commissaire of police. (Tapping his fingers on his desk) Mr. Dyle or Mr. Joshua -- which is it? DYLE Dyle. GRANDPIERRE And yet you registered in Megeve as Mr. Joshua. Do you know it is against the law to register under an assumed name? DYLE No, I didn't. REGGIE It's done in America all the time. GRANDPIERRE raps for silence on his desk. During the pause, he looks into each face in turn. GRANDPIERRE None of you will be permitted to leave Paris -- until this matter is cleared up. Only I warn you -- I will be watching. We use the guillotine in this country -- I have always suspected that the blade coming down causes no more than a slight tickling sensation on the back of the neck. It is only a guess, of course -- I hope none of you ever finds out for certain. DELETED EXT. QUAI MONTEBELLO -- LATE AFTERNOON (TRAVELING) REGGIE and DYLE walking along the quai, next to the Seine, CAMERA LEADING. REGGIE Who do you think did it -- Gideon? DYLE Maybe. REGGIE Or Tex? DYLE Maybe. REGGIE You're a big help. Can I have one of those? They have passed an ice-cream wagon on the corner of the Pont au Double. DYLE shrugs. REGGIE (to the VENDOR) Vanille-chocolat. During the following, the VENDOR makes a double-decker cone and hands it to REGGIE. DYLE pays and they resume their walk -- all with no break in the dialogue. REGGIE I think Tex did it. DYLE Why? REGGIE Because I really suspect Gideon -- and it is always the person you don't suspect. DYLE Do women think it's feminine to be so illogical -- or can't they help it? REGGIE What's so illogical about that? DYLE A) It's always the person you don't suspect; B) that means you think it's Tex because you really suspect Gideon; therefore C) if you think it's Tex, it has to be someone else -- Gideon. REGGIE Oh. I guess they just can't help it. DYLE Who? REGGIE Women. You know, I can't help feeling rather sorry for Scobie. (a pause) Wouldn't it be nice if we were like that? DYLE What -- like Scobie? REGGIE No -- Gene Kelly. Remember the way he danced down there next to the river in 'American in Paris' -- without a care in the world? This is good, want some? She offers him her cone, thrusting it forward with enough force to dislodge the ice-cream. It lands right next to his lapel, over his outside breast pocket. DYLE (frowning) I'd love some, thanks. REGGIE I'm sorry. He pulls open the pocket with two sticky fingers and looks inside, then shakes his head sadly at what he sees. REGGIE still holds the empty cone, not knowing what to do with it. Seeing this, he takes it and sticks it into his pocket. DYLE No sense messing up the streets. REGGIE Alex -- DYLE Hm? REGGIE I'm scared. DYLE Don't worry, I'm not going to hit you. REGGIE No, about Scobie, I mean. I can't think of any reason why he was killed. They resume walking. DYLE Maybe somebody felt that four shares were too many -- REGGIE What makes you think that this somebody will be satisfied with three? He wants it all, Alex -- that means we're in his way, too. DYLE Yes, I know. REGGIE First your brother, then Charles, now Scobie -- we've got to do something! Any minute now we could be assassinated! Would you do anything like that? DYLE (surprised) What? Assassinate somebody? REGGIE No -- ANOTHER ANGLE Including the Cathedral of NOTRE DAME in the background. REGGIE -- swing down from there on a rope to save the woman you love -- like Charles Laughton in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'? INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- THIRD LANDING -- LATE AFTERNOON As REGGIE and DYLE step from the elevator. REGGIE Hurry up and change -- I'm starved. DYLE Let me know what you want -- I'll pick a suit that matches. He goes into his room and she goes into hers. DELETED INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON She enters, fixes her hair in the mirror, then goes to the door connecting her room with DYLE's. She unlocks it, tries to open it, but finds it locked. Disappointed, she knocks. DYLE'S VOICE (O.S.) What do you want? REGGIE It's the house detective -- why haven't you got a girl in there? INT. DYLE'S ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON He calls to her through the closed door as he empties his pockets. DYLE Lord, you're a pest. REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) Can I come in? DYLE I'd like to take a bath. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON REGGIE Wouldn't it be better if you did it in my room? DYLE'S VOICE (O.S.) What for? REGGIE I wouldn't want to use that tub. Besides, I don't want to be alone. I'm afraid. INT. DYLE'S ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON DYLE I'm only next door -- if anything happens, holler. He sits down to take off his shoes, but is interrupted by the sound of REGGIE screaming. He races for the connecting door, pulls back the bolt and rushes in. DELETED INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON As DYLE enters. DYLE Reggie! He wheels as the door is slammed and REGGIE, who had been standing behind it, locks it and pockets the key. REGGIE Got you. DYLE Did you ever hear the story of the boy who cried wolf? REGGIE The shower's in there. He goes to the door leading to the hall and finds that locked as well. She smiles at him. DYLE (warning) Reggie -- open the door. REGGIE This is a ludicrous situation. There must be dozens of men dying to use my shower. DYLE Then I suggest you call one of them. REGGIE I dare you. DYLE looks at her, then sits down and starts to remove his shoes. REGGIE (has she gone too far?) What are you doing? DYLE Have you ever heard of anyone taking a shower with his shoes on? (to himself) What a nut. Shoes off, DYLE starts for the bathroom, humming. DYLE I usually sing a medley of old favorites when I bathe -- any requests? REGGIE Shut the door! DYLE I don't think I know that one. Testing the water with his hand, he now steps in fully dressed. REGGIE can't believe her eyes. She goes to the open door for a closer look. REGGIE What on earth are you doing? INT. BATHROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON MED. SHOT -- DYLE In the shower, making sure his suit gets uniformly soaked. DYLE (explaining pleasantly) Drip-dry! He takes the soap and begins washing as if he were washing himself without the suit. DYLE The suit needs it more than I do, anyway. REGGIE How often do you go through this little ritual? As he takes out his handkerchief and rinses it. DYLE Every day. The manufacturer recommends it. REGGIE I don't believe it. He opens his coat and reads a label inside. DYLE "Wearing this suit during washing will help protect its shape." He flicks a little water in her face, then takes the nail- brush and scrubs his watch and watch-band. He holds up his wrist so she can see the watch. DYLE Waterproof. He begins unbuttoning his suit. She turns and leaves, slamming the door after her. DELETED INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON As REGGIE goes to the armoire to select a dress. The PHONE rings and she answers it. REGGIE (into phone) Yes -- ? INT. BARTHOLOMEW'S APARTMENT -- LATE AFTERNOON CLOSE SHOT -- BARTHOLOMEW BARTHOLOMEW (on the phone) Mrs. Lampert? -- Bartholomew. I've spoken to Washington, Mrs. Lampert -- INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON REGGIE (on the phone) Go ahead, Mr. Bartholomew -- I'm listening. INT. BARTHOLOMEW'S APARTMENT -- LATE AFTERNOON BARTHOLOMEW (on the phone) I told them what you said -- about this man being Carson Dyle's brother. I asked them what they knew about it and they told me -- you're not gonna like this, Mrs. Lampert -- they told me Carson Dyle has no brother. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE on the phone, looking like the rug has been pulled out from under her. REGGIE (pause, quietly) Are you sure there's no mistake? INT. BARTHOLOMEW'S APARTMENT -- LATE AFTERNOON BARTHOLOMEW (on the phone) None whatsoever. Please, Mrs. Lampert -- be careful. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON REGGIE slowly lowers the phone to its cradle, a worried expression on her face. Then the bathroom door opens and DYLE appears dressed in a large bath towel. Her back is to him. DYLE I left all my drip-dry dripping -- is it all right? She doesn't answer. DYLE Reggie -- is something wrong? She shakes her head. DYLE You're probably weak from hunger. You've only had five meals today. Hurry up and we'll go out. She turns and looks at him. REGGIE Do you mind if we go someplace crowded? I -- I feel like lots of people tonight. EXT. SEINE - BÂTEAU MOUCHE -- DUSK The large motor launch, moving along the river, gaily ablaze with lights. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE AND DYLE (PROCESS) At a table for two by the rail, the city slowly passing in the b.g. DYLE Reggie -- you haven't spoken a word in twenty minutes. REGGIE I keep thinking about Charles and Scobie -- and the one who's going to be next -- me? DYLE Nothing's going to happen to you while I'm around -- I want you to believe that. REGGIE How can I believe it when you don't even know who the killer is? I've got that right, haven't I? You don't know who did it. DYLE No -- not yet. REGGIE But then if we sit back and wait, the field should start narrowing down, shouldn't it? Whoever's left alive at the end will pretty well have sewn up the nomination, wouldn't you say so? DYLE Are you trying to say that I might have killed Charles and Scobie? She doesn't answer. DYLE What do I have to do to satisfy you -- become the next victim? REGGIE It's a start, anyway. DYLE I don't understand you at all -- one minute you're chasing me around the shower room and the next you're accusing me of murder. REGGIE Carson Dyle didn't have a brother. WIDER ANGLE She rises from the table and walks away. DYLE hesitates a moment, then follows. DYLE I can explain if you'll just listen. Will you listen? REGGIE (looking at the river) I can't very well leave without a pair of water wings. DYLE Okay. Then get set for the story of my life -- not that it would ever make the best-seller list. REGGIE Fiction or non-fiction? DYLE Why don't you shut up! REGGIE Well! DYLE Are you going to listen? REGGIE Go on. DYLE After I graduated college I was all set to go into my father business. Umbrella frames -- that's what he made. It was a sensible business, I suppose, but I didn't have the sense to be interested in anything sensible. REGGIE I suppose all this is leading somewhere? DYLE It led me away from umbrella frames, for one thing. But that left me without any honest means of support. REGGIE What do you mean? DYLE When a man has no profession except the one he loathes, what's left? I began looking for people with more money than they'd ever need -- including some they'd barely miss. REGGIE (astonished) You mean, you're a thief? DYLE Well, it isn't exactly the term I'd have chosen, but I suppose it captures the spirit of the thing. REGGIE I don't believe it. DYLE Well, I can't really blame you -- not now. REGGIE But I do believe it -- that's what I don't believe. So it's goodbye Alexander Dyle -- Welcome home Peter Joshua. DYLE Sorry, the name's Adam Canfield. REGGIE Adam Canfield. Wonderful. Do you realize you've had three names in the past two days? I don't even know who I'm talking to any more. DYLE (now called ADAM) The man's the same, even if the name isn't. REGGIE No -- he's not the same. Alexander Dyle was interested in clearing up his brother's death. Adam Canfield is a crook. And with all the advantages you've got -- brains, charm, education, a handsome face -- ADAM Oh, come on! REGGIE -- there has to be a darn good reason for living the way you do. I want to know what it is. ADAM It's simple. I like what I do -- I enjoy doing it. There aren't many men who love their work as much as I do. Look around some time. REGGIE Is there a Mrs. Canfield? ADAM Yes, but -- ADAM AND REGGIE (together) -- we're divorced. ADAM Right. Now go eat your dinner. ANOTHER ANGLE They walk back to the table, where a WAITER is busy putting food on it, mostly on REGGIE's side. REGGIE (miserably) I could eat a horse. ADAM (looking at all the food) I think that's what you ordered. REGGIE Don't you dare to be civil with me! All this time you were leading me on -- ADAM How was I leading you on? REGGIE All that marvelous rejection -- you knew I couldn't resist it. Now it turns out you were only interested in the money. ADAM That's right. REGGIE (HURT) Oh! ADAM What would you like me to say -- that a pretty girl with an outrageous manner means more to an old pro like me than a quarter of a million dollars? REGGIE No -- I guess not. ADAM It's a toss-up, I can tell you that. REGGIE What? ADAM Don't you know I'm having a tough time keeping my eyes off of you? REGGIE reacts in surprise. ADAM Oh, you should see your face. REGGIE What about it? ADAM (taking her hand, nicely) It's lovely. She looks at him with happy amazement, then pushes her plate away. ADAM What's the matter? REGGIE I'm not hungry -- isn't it glorious? The lights go out. REGGIE (alarmed) Adam! ADAM It's all right -- look. EXT. SEINE BÂTEAU MOUCHE -- NIGHT A searchlight near the boat's bridge has gone on and now begins sweeping the river banks. On benches by the water's edge, lovers are surprised by the bright light which suddenly and without warning discovers them in various attitudes of mutual affection. Some are embarrassed, some are amused and some (the most intimate) damn annoyed. One even shakes his fist at the light. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE AND ADAM Who, like everyone else, leave the table and stand together at the rail watching. REGGIE You don't look so bad in this light. ADAM Why do you think I brought you here? REGGIE (indicating the lovers) I thought maybe you wanted me to see the kind of work the competition was turning out. ADAM Pretty good, huh? I taught them everything they do. REGGIE Oh? Did they do that sort of thing way back in your day? ADAM How do you think I got here? She rises on tip-toes and kisses him gently; his only reaction is to look at her. REGGIE Aren't you allowed to kiss back? ADAM No. The doctor said it would be bad for my -- thermostat. She kisses him again. He responds a little better. ADAM When you come on, you really come on. REGGIE Well -- come on. She starts to kiss him again, but he stops her. REGGIE I know why you're not taken -- no one can catch up with you. ADAM Relax -- you're gaining. DELETED INT. GIDEON'S ROOM -- NIGHT MED. SHOT -- GIDEON. As he sits bolt upright in bed, startled. The room is dark and the phone is ringing. He switches on the lamp, looks at the clock (it reads 3:30) and shakes his head before picking up the receiver. GIDEON Huh? You must be crazy -- it's three- thirty in the morning -- you mean now? -- all right -- I'll be down in a minute. He hangs up, swings his feet out of bed and spears his slippers, reaching for his robe at the same time. Then he shuffles sleepily to the door. INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- THIRD FLOOR LANDING -- NIGHT As GIDEON comes out of his room and goes to the elevator. The cage is there. He opens the door and enters. INT. ELEVATOR -- NIGHT GIDEON closes the sliding grill and presses a button. The cage starts down. GIDEON begins sneezing. Suddenly the elevator stops between floors and the lights go out. GIDEON Hey! Turn on the lights! Just as suddenly the lights go back on and the elevator starts moving down again. GIDEON shakes his head and leans back, whistling again. The cage comes to his floor and starts past it. Seeing this, GIDEON looks confused. INT. HOTEL LOBBY -- NIGHT The NIGHT PORTER is asleep behind the desk. The elevator, GIDEON inside, keeps coming down. It passes the lobby level and keeps right on going, toward the basement. GIDEON Hey! How do you stop this thing? The elevator passes out of sight, still going down. There is a silence as the motor stops, and then a series of sneezes that ends with a terrifying shriek. The NIGHT PORTER, rudely awakened, runs to the elevator shaft, his shoes squeaking horribly. He looks up, sees nothing, then looks down. He presses the call button and the motor starts. An instant later the cage appears and stops. The NIGHT PORTER opens the gate, pulls back the grill and the CAMERA RUSHES PAST him to pick up GIDEON. His body is sitting on the floor of the cage, its grotesque sprawling attitude resembling a puppet's with its strings cut. Except that GIDEON has no strings to cut -- only a throat. From ear to ear. INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- NIGHT CLOSE SHOT -- GRANDPIERRE. He is now doubly apoplectic. GRANDPIERRE Three of them -- all in their pajamas! C'est ridicule! What is it, some new American fad? CAMERA PULLS BACK to reveal REGGIE and ADAM, in their bathrobes. GRANDPIERRE And now your friend -- the one from Texas -- he has disappeared -- checked out -- pouf! into thin air! Where is he? ADAM I don't know. GRANDPIERRE Madame? REGGIE shrugs. GRANDPIERRE Tell me, Mr. Dyle -- where were you at three-thirty? ADAM In my room, asleep. GRANDPIERRE And you, Mrs. Lampert? REGGIE I was, too. GRANDPIERRE In Mr. Dyle's room? REGGIE (bitterly) No -- in my room. GRANDPIERRE (pause, lighting cigar) It stands to reason you are telling the truth -- for why would you invent such a ridiculous story? REGGIE and ADAM exchange looks. GRANDPIERRE And if I were you, I would not stay in my pajamas. Good night. GRANDPIERRE turns and leaves. REGGIE and ADAM start down the hall toward their own rooms. ADAM That wraps it up -- Tex has the money. Go back to bed -- I'll let you know when I've found him. REGGIE You're going to look for him -- now? ADAM If the police find him first they're not very likely to turn over a quarter of a million dollars to us, are they? REGGIE Adam -- ADAM There's no time -- I'll call you in the morning. ADAM disappears into his own room. INT. ADAM'S ROOM -- NIGHT As ADAM enters, going to the closet to remove his suit. The phone rings. He answers it. ADAM Yes? INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT CLOSE SHOT -- TEX. As he speaks on the phone. TEX Now Dyle, you listen to me -- my mama didn't raise no stupid children. I know who's got the money 'n I ain't disappearing till I got my share -- 'n' my share's growin' a whole lot bigger ev'ry day. INT. ADAM'S ROOM -- NIGHT ADAM (on the phone) Where are you, ol' buddy? INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT TEX (on the phone) (laughs) I'll tell you what, fella -- you want t' find me, you jus' turn 'round -- from now on I'll be right behind you. (hangs up) INT. ADAM'S ROOM -- NIGHT ADAM, before hanging up, reflects on TEX's words, then looks behind him. Smiling softly, he hangs up the phone and starts for REGGIE's door. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE slips back into her robe and goes to the connecting door. REGGIE What is it? ADAM Open up. She undoes the bolt and opens the door. ADAM enters. ADAM I think we were wrong about Tex having the money. REGGIE Why? ADAM I just heard from him -- he's still hungry. That means killing Gideon didn't get it for him -- so he's narrowed it down to us. You've got it. REGGIE I've looked, Adam -- you know I have -- ADAM Where's that airlines bag? REGGIE Lord, you're stubborn. ADAM I sure am. Get it. She goes to the closet and gets the bag. ADAM Charles must have had the money with him on the train, and Tex missed it. He takes the bag to the bed where he dumps out the contents. REGGIE But everyone and his Aunt Lilian's been through that bag. Somebody would have seen it. ADAM Let's look anyway. REGGIE Lord, you're stubborn. ADAM I mean, it's there, Reggie. If only we could see it. We're looking at it right now. CLOSE SHOT -- BED WITH CHARLES' BELONGINGS ADAM'S VOICE (O.S.) Something on that bed is worth a quarter of a million dollars. REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) Yes, but what? ADAM'S VOICE (O.S.) I don't know -- I just don't know. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE AND ADAM As ADAM begins to examine the items one by one. ADAM Electric razor -- comb -- steamship ticket -- fountain pen -- four passports -- toothbrush -- wallet -- (He goes through the wallet, finds nothing) key -- what about that? REGGIE To the apartment -- it matches mine perfectly. ADAM The letter -- He takes it out of the envelope and takes out his glasses before reading it. REGGIE I'll bet you don't really need those. He hands her the glasses and she looks through them. REGGIE You need them. (She hands them back) ADAM (reading the letter) It still doesn't make sense, but it isn't worth any quarter of a million either. Have we forgotten anything? REGGIE The tooth powder. Wait a minute -- could you recognize heroin just by tasting it? He shakes some powder into his hand and tastes it. REGGIE watches expectantly. ADAM Heroin -- peppermint-flavored heroin. REGGIE Well, I guess that's it -- dead end. ADAM Go to bed. You've got to be at work in the morning. There's nothing more we can do tonight. REGGIE (pause) I love you, Adam. ADAM Yes, you told me. REGGIE No -- last time I said "I love you, Alex." EXT. UNESCO BUILDING -- ESTABLISHING -- DAY The ultra-modern glass and concrete structure behind the Ecole Militaire. INT. UNESCO CONFERENCE ROOM -- DAY SEVERAL DELEGATES identified by little plaques in front of them listing their respective nations, and their AIDES, sit around the large table. They are all wearing earphones. The ITALIAN DELEGATE is speaking. ITALIAN DELEGATE -- di conseguenza, il Governo Italiano è decisamente a favore per l'incoraggiamento, in accordo con le tradizioni etniche rispettive delle culture basilari dei passi in via di sviluppo. Per esempio, pregare i Vietnamiti di aggiungere alle loro risaie ed ai loro campi di soja tradizionali una raccolta di semola, non solo sconvolgerebbe le loro secolari tradizioni ma, oltre tutto, e questo è molto importante per il Governo che io ho l'onore di rappresentare disturberebbe l'esportazione delle derrate farinose italiane in questa parte del mondo. Signori Delegati vi ringrazio della vostra attenzione. INT. REGGIE'S BOOTH -- DAY REGGIE, wearing her headset, is talking with SYLVIE. REGGIE I hope Jean-Louis understands about last night -- it's just not safe for him to be around me right now. SYLVIE Don't be silly -- he would not do anything. He is not yet old enough to be interested in girls. He says collecting stamps is much more satisfying to a man of his age. REGGIE Hold it -- Italy just finished. They're recognizing Great Britain. SYLVIE Oh la vache! SYLVIE jumps up and rushes next door into her booth, shutting the door after her. INT. CONFERENCE ROOM -- DAY The BRITISH DELEGATE rises to speak, continuing through the next scene. BRITISH DELEGATE Mr. Chairman, fellow delegates -- my distinguished colleague from Italy. Her Majesty's delegation has listened with great patience to the Southern European position on this problem, and while we find it charmingly stated, we cannot possibly agree with its content. In 1937, in the British colonies of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika -- and, if I'm not mistaken, more or less in Somaliland -- a programme of crop rotation was instituted vis-à-vis arable land which had never before known the plough, beginning before the soil was able to know the sort of fatigue now plaguing most of Western Europe. In 1937, therefore, Her Majesty's Government -- at that time His Majesty's Government -- was able to properly assay the situation. We therefore oppose the resolution. INT. REGGIE'S BOOTH -- DAY The door from the hall opens and ADAM enters. ADAM Reggie -- I think I've found -- (stopping) are you on? REGGIE No, it's all right. What's wrong, Adam? ADAM Nothing's wrong. I think I found something. I was snooping around Tex's room and I found this in the waste basket. I've stuck it back together. He hands her a paper. INSERT -- POLICE RECEIPT The one GRANDPIERRE gave REGGIE. It has been torn in half and scotch-taped back together. REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) It's the receipt Inspector Grandpierre gave me -- for Charles's things. I don't see how that's going to -- MED. SHOT -- REGGIE AND ADAM ADAM You didn't look. Last night, when we went through the airlines bag, something was missing. See -- ? (showing her the list) "One agenda." It wasn't there. REGGIE You're right. I remember Grandpierre looking through it. But there was nothing in it -- at least, nothing that the police thought was very important. ADAM Can you remember anything at all? REGGIE Grandpierre asked me about an appointment Charles had -- on the day he was killed. ADAM With whom? Where? REGGIE I think it only said where -- but I can't -- ADAM Think, Reggie, you've got to think -- it may be what we're looking for. REGGIE That money's not ours, Adam -- if we keep it, we'll be breaking the law. ADAM Nonsense. We didn't steal it. There's no law against stealing stolen money. REGGIE Of course there is! ADAM There is? Well, I can't say I think very much of a silly law like that. Think, Reggie -- please think -- what was written in Charles' notebook? REGGIE Well -- it was a place -- a street corner, I think. But I don't -- (hearing something through her earpiece) Hold it. I'm on. She turns back to the conference, flips a switch and starts speaking into her headset. REGGIE (translating) Mr. Chairman, fellow delegates -- my distinguished colleague from Great Britain -- INT. CONFERENCE ROOM -- DAY The FRENCH DELEGATE is speaking. FRENCH DELEGATE Monsieur le Président, Messieurs les délégués -- mon distingué collègue de la Grande Bretagne -- le problème vu par mon Gouvernement n'est pas aussi simple que nos amis les Anglais voudraient nous le faire croire. Mais leur pays n'est pas, après tout, un pays agricole, n'est-ce pas? La position française, ainsi que nous l'avons soulignée dans le rapport numéro trente-neuf bar oblique cinquante-deux de la Conférence de l'hémisphère occidental qui a eu lieu le 22 mars -- INT. REGGIE'S BOOTH -- DAY REGGIE is busy translating. REGGIE as outlined in report number three- nine-stroke-five-two of the Western Hemisphere Conference held on March 22 -- (she stops) no wait! It was last Thursday, five o'clock at the Jardin des Champs- Élysées! Adam -- that was it! The garden! ADAM It's Thursday today -- and it's almost five -- come on! MED. SHOT -- CONFERENCE TABLE From REGGIE'S and ADAM'S ANGLE. All the DELEGATES and their AIDES suddenly turn, surprised, and look at CAMERA. REVERSE SHOT -- WINDOW From the DELEGATE'S ANGLE. Inside the booth, REGGIE and ADAM can be seen heading for the door in a hurry. MED. SHOT -- CONFERENCE TABLE As the DELEGATES look at one another, confused. EXT. GUIGNOL -- LATE AFTERNOON TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND ADAM By the locked gate. REGGIE Now what? ADAM Five o'clock -- Thursday -- the Garden -- it's got to be something around here. REGGIE But Charles' appointment was last week, not -- ADAM I know, but this is all we've got left. REGGIE Well, you're right there. Ten minutes ago I had a job. ADAM Stop grousing. If we find the money I'll buy you an international conference all your own. Now start looking. You take this side and I'll poke around over there. VARIOUS SHOTS -- WHAT THEY SEE A quick succession of shots showing: 1. Children's Merry-go-round 2. Rond Point de Champs-Elysées with fountains playing 3. Children's swings 4. Restaurant Laurent 5. Balloon salesman EXT. FOUNTAIN -- LATE AFTERNOON ADAM stands by the large fountain, staring off at something as REGGIE joins him. REGGIE It's hopeless -- I don't even know what we're looking for. ADAM It's all right -- I don't think Tex does, either. REGGIE Tex? You mean he's here, too? ADAM Look. MED. SHOT -- TEX He stands near the merry-go-round, looking at something in his hand: Charles' agenda. Now he closes it and moves off, disappearing behind a hedge. TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND ADAM ADAM I'd better see what he's up to. Stay here -- I won't be long. ADAM starts off. REGGIE (concerned) Be careful, Adam -- please. He's already killed three men. DELETED EXT. RUE GABRIEL -- LATE AFTERNOON Between the curb and the Jardin, several temporary wooden booths have been set up. They have collected quite a CROWD. Into this area comes TEX, followed at a safe distance by ADAM. Suddenly TEX stops. DELETED CLOSE SHOT -- TEX As he stares wide-eyed at something. CLOSE SHOT -- STAMPS Neatly displayed on a counter of one of the booths. CLOSE SHOT -- TEX As he wheels to look at another booth. CLOSE SHOT -- MORE STAMPS In another arrangement. CLOSE SHOT -- TEX He turns crazily to look at another booth, then another. CLOSE SHOT -- EVEN MORE STAMPS Various FLASH SHOTS of stamps of all sizes, shapes and colors. MED. SHOT -- TEX As he understands. He turns to rush off and bumps smack into ADAM. TEX is startled. TEX Sorry, fella -- He rushes off past ADAM, who watches him for a moment, confused, then turns toward the booth, not yet having seen the stamps. MED. SHOT -- BOOTH From ADAM's angle. There are one or two persons standing at the booth. CAMERA ZOOMS in on the display of stamps. CLOSE SHOT -- ADAM ADAM (amazed) The letter. He quickly turns to find TEX. MED. SHOT -- TEX As he hops into the back of a TAXI and it pulls away from the curb. ADAM runs toward another TAXI. ADAM Taxi! -- Taxi! DELETED INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- THIRD FLOOR LANDING -- LATE AFTERNOON As ADAM comes up the stairs and goes to REGGIE's door. Whipping out his gun, he flings open the door. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON From ADAM's angle. TEX sits in the armchair, staring at CAMERA. Next to him is the airlines bag, its contents dumped on the floor. ANOTHER ANGLE Including ADAM as he enters, his gun trained on TEX. Without speaking he goes to the airlines bag, then stoops down to go through the spilled contents, keeping one eye all the time on TEX. But he can't find what he's looking for. ADAM (quietly) All right -- where's the letter? TEX The letter? The letter ain't worth nuthin'. ADAM You know what I mean -- the envelope with the stamps. I want it. TEX (a pause, then beginning to laugh) You greenhorn -- you half-witted, thick-skulled, hare-brained, greenhorn! They wuz both too smart for us! ADAM What are you talking about? TEX First her husband, now her -- she hoodwinked you! She batted all them big eyes and you went 'n fell for it - like a egg from a tall chicken! Here! (holding out the envelope) You want? Here -- it's yours! ADAM takes it and looks at it. INSERT -- ENVELOPE The corner containing the stamps is missing, torn off. MED. SHOT -- ADAM AND TEX TEX sees the expression on ADAM's face and begins laughing, hysterically. TEX Look at you! Horn-swoggled by a purty face 'n all them sweet words! You killed all three of 'em for nothin'! You greenhorn! You block-headed jackass! You clod -- you booby -- you nincompoop -- ! EXT. ROND POINT -- LATE AFTERNOON REGGIE is looking around for ADAM. She sees something across the street. CAMERA SPINS AROUND to discover SYLVIE, sitting alone on a bench near the stamp market, reading a newspaper. MED. SHOT -- SYLVIE As REGGIE approaches her. REGGIE Sylvie -- ? What are you doing here? SYLVIE (looking up) Hello, Reggie -- I am waiting for Jean-Louis. REGGIE (looking around) What's he up to? SYLVIE He was so excited -- when he got the stamps you gave him this morning. He said he had never seen any like them. REGGIE I'm glad. But what's all this? SYLVIE The stamp market, of course -- it is here every Thursday afternoon. This is where Jean-Louis trades his -- REGGIE (as it dawns) Good Lord! The stamps! Where is he? Sylvie -- we've got to find him! SYLVIE What's the matter, chérie? REGGIE Those stamps -- they're worth a fortune! SYLVIE (jumping up) What? REGGIE A fortune! Hurry -- we've got to find him! They rush off into the market. TWO SHOT -- REGGIE AND SYLVIE As they stop among the booths, looking around. REGGIE I don't see him. SYLVIE We will separate -- you look over there. They go off in opposite directions. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE As she hurries along a row of stalls, weaving around small groups of MEN standing together, showing each other stamps. MED. SHOT -- SYLVIE Searching in another section of the market. SYLVIE (calling) Jean-Louis -- ? MED. SHOT -- REGGIE Spotting a BOY, she runs to him and spins him around. REGGIE Jean-Louis! But it isn't. MED. SHOT -- SYLVIE Looking everywhere. Suddenly she sees something. CLOSE SHOT -- GROUP OF MEN -- THEIR LEGS Only a small boy's elbow and part of his arm show, the rest hidden by all the legs. MED. SHOT -- SYLVIE She recognizes him from these fragments. SYLVIE Jean-Louis! She rushes to him, CAMERA PANNING WITH HER. JEAN-LOUIS stands looking at some stamps. SYLVIE grabs him. SYLVIE Jean-Louis -- les timbrés -- où sont- ils? Smiling, JEAN-LOUIS holds up an enormous sack of assorted stamps -- hundreds of them. SYLVIE Oh, zut! (calling) Reggie -- Reggie -- ! REGGIE runs up and joins them. REGGIE Jean-Louis -- thank heavens! Do you have -- ! (spotting the sack of stamps) What's that? JEAN-LOUIS A man traded with me -- all those for only four. REGGIE Oh no! What man, Jean-Louis -- where? JEAN-LOUIS looks in one direction, then in the other, trying to remember. SYLVIE Vite, mon ange -- vite! JEAN-LOUIS Là bas -- Monsieur Félix. They all run off down the line of booths. JEAN-LOUIS stops and points off. JEAN-LOUIS Il est là! MED. SHOT -- STAMP BOOTH Closed, deserted, empty. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE, SYLVIE AND JEAN-LOUIS JEAN-LOUIS But he is gone. REGGIE I don't blame him. Jean-Louis -- do you know where this Monsieur Félix lives? JEAN-LOUIS No -- but I will ask. He goes to the closest booth and shakes the coat sleeve of the proprietor. JEAN-LOUIS Monsieur Théophile -- THÉOPHILE Oui, jeune homme? JEAN-LOUIS Monsieur Félix, où habite-il? THÉOPHILE A Montmartre -- demande à Monsieur August au Bar des Artistes -- Place Blanche. JEAN-LOUIS Merci, Monsieur Théophile. (returning to REGGIE and SYLVIE) He says to ask Monsieur August at the -- Before he can finish, SYLVIE, who has heard THÉOPHILE, has JEAN-LOUIS by the hand, dragging him off at full speed, REGGIE right alongside. DELETED INT. FÉLIX'S ROOM -- DUSK A bare, unkempt little room. FÉLIX, a man in his sixties, sits at a table, smoking a pipe. There are stamps and albums everywhere. He holds a magnifying glass in his hand, busy studying something on the table. There is a KNOCK. He looks up. Another KNOCK. FÉLIX Entrez. The door opens and REGGIE, followed by SYLVIE and JEAN-LOUIS, enters. REGGIE Monsieur Félix -- ? FÉLIX (without looking up) I was expecting you. You are American too, of course. REGGIE (looking at SYLVIE) Yes. FÉLIX The man who bought them last week was American. I did not see him but I heard. I knew you would come. He gestures for REGGIE to come closer. Together with SYLVIE and JEAN-LOUIS, she goes to the table and looks at the stamps. FÉLIX Look at them, Madame. INSERT -- STAMPS Four of them -- a red, a yellow, a blue, and a green, still attached to the portion of the torn envelope. FÉLIX (O.S.) Have you ever, in your entire life, seen anything so beautiful? MED. SHOT -- REGGIE, FÉLIX, SYLVIE AND JEAN-LOUIS REGGIE I'm -- I'm sorry -- I don't know anything about stamps. FÉLIX I know them as one knows his own face, even though I have never seen them. This yellow one -- a Swedish four shilling -- called 'De Gula Fyraskillingen' -- issued in 1854. REGGIE How much is it worth? FÉLIX The money is unimportant. REGGIE I'm afraid it is important. FÉLIX (shrugging) In your money, perhaps $65,000. REGGIE Do you mind if I sit down? (she sits) What about the blue one? FÉLIX It is called 'The Hawaiian Blue' and there are only seven left. In 1894 the owner of one was murdered by a rival collector who was obsessed to own it. REGGIE What's its value today? FÉLIX In human life? In greed? In suffering? REGGIE In money. FÉLIX Forty-five thousand. REGGIE (to SYLVIE) Do you have anything to eat? (to FÉLIX) And the orange one -- what about the orange one? FÉLIX A two-penny Mauritius -- issued in 1856. Not so rare as the others -- $30,000 perhaps. REGGIE And the last one? FÉLIX The best for the last -- le chef- d'oeuvre de la collection. The masterpiece. It is the most valuable stamp in the world. It is called 'The Gazette Guyanne.' It was printed by hand on colored paper in 1852 and marked with the initials of the printer. (looking at it through the glass) Today it has a value of $100,000. (a pause) Eh, bien -- I am not a thief. I knew there was some mistake. Take them. REGGIE (hesitating) You gave the boy quite a lot of stamps in return, Monsieur Félix -- are they for sale now? FÉLIX (looking at the large bag) Let me see. There are 350 European, 200 Asian, 175 American, 100 African and twelve Princess Grace commemorative -- which comes to nine francs fifty. REGGIE (fishing money from her purse) Here's ten. FÉLIX goes to his wallet for the change. REGGIE Please keep it. FÉLIX I am a tradesman, Madame, not a doorman. And don't forget these. He hands her the four stamps and her change. REGGIE I'm -- I'm sorry. CLOSE SHOT -- FÉLIX FÉLIX No. For a few minutes they were mine -- that is enough. INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- THIRD FLOOR LANDING -- NIGHT As REGGIE comes hurrying up the stairs. She goes first to ADAM's room and knocks. REGGIE Adam? Adam? It's me, Reggie -- ! There is no answer. She goes to her own door and, to her surprise, finds it an inch or two ajar. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT As REGGIE enters. She freezes, having seen something on the floor. MED. SHOT -- TEX His dead body lies on the floor, the wrists of his extended arms tied to the leg of the bed, his ankles to the steam radiator. And tied around his head is a plastic, transparent bag, inside of which the suffocated man's face, the eyes bulging against the plastic clinging tight to his features, can be seen all too clearly. REGGIE enters the shot, bending down to see if he's alive. Then she sees something beside his hands near the leg of the bed. CLOSE SHOT -- CARPET With his dying effort, TEX has traced a name against the grain of the maroon carpet -- 'DYLE.' CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE Astonished and horrified. REGGIE (gasping) Dyle -- WIDER ANGLE As she gets to her feet and hurries to the phone. REGGIE (on the phone) Hello -- Balzac 30-04, s'il vous plait -- (waiting) Mr. Bartholomew! Thank God you're there! Tex is dead, Mr. Bartholomew -- smothered -- and Adam did it -- he killed them all! INT. BARTHOLOMEW'S APARTMENT -- NIGHT BARTHOLOMEW, his face lathered for a shaving, is on the phone. BARTHOLOMEW Just a minute, Mrs. Lampert -- you'd better give that to me slowly. Who's Adam? INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE (on the phone) The one who said he was Dyle's brother -- of course I'm sure -- Tex wrote the word 'Dyle' before he died. He's the murderer I tell you -- he's the only one left! You've got to do something! INT. BARTHOLOMEW'S APARTMENT -- NIGHT BARTHOLOMEW (on the phone) Calm down, Mrs. Lampert -- please. Does he have the money? INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE (on the phone) No, I do -- it was the stamps on that letter Charles had with him on the train. They were in plain sight all the time, but no one ever bothered looking at the envelope. INT. BARTHOLOMEW'S APARTMENT -- NIGHT BARTHOLOMEW (on the phone) The envelope -- imagine that. Mrs. Lampert, listen to me -- you're not safe as long as you've got these stamps. Go to the Embassy right away -- wait, I'd better meet you halfway -- it's quicker. Now, let's see -- do you know the center garden at the Palais Royal? -- yes, by the colonnade -- as soon as you can get there. Hurry, Mrs. Lampert. INT. REGGIE'S ROOM -- NIGHT REGGIE (on the phone) Yes, I'm leaving now -- goodbye. She hangs up, looks briefly at TEX's body, shudders, then hurries to the door. INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- THIRD LANDING -- NIGHT As REGGIE leaves her room and goes to the elevator. She presses the button, then notices it is in use. She goes to the stairs and starts down. INT. HOTEL STAIRCASE -- NIGHT Between the landings. The stairs curve around the open elevator shaft. As REGGIE comes down the stairs, the cage rises into view. Inside is ADAM. For a moment, she stops and their eyes meet. ADAM Reggie -- the stamps -- what've you done with --? REGGIE starts running downstairs. ADAM Where are you going? Wait! ADAM pushes the emergency stop button and then starts the cage down. ADAM Reggie! INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- SECOND LANDING -- NIGHT As REGGIE comes off the stairs, passes the elevator gate and starts down toward the lobby, the cage a few feet behind her. ADAM Reggie! INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR -- FIRST LANDING -- NIGHT As REGGIE continues to run. INT. HOTEL STAIRWAY -- NIGHT Between the first landing and the lobby. REGGIE running, the elevator following. ADAM Reggie -- stop! REGGIE Why? So you can kill me too? Tex is dead, I've seen him! He said Dyle did it! ADAM I'm not Dyle -- you know that! REGGIE But Tex didn't -- he still thought -- ! ADAM Don't be an idiot! INT. HOTEL LOBBY -- NIGHT REGGIE reaches the lobby first and, without hesitation, races toward the front door and out. The confused hotel MANAGER behind the desk can only stare in surprise. The elevator, ADAM inside, has not yet reached the bottom. ADAM Reggie -- ! I want those stamps! EXT. HOTEL LOBBY -- NIGHT A taxi stands by the curb. REGGIE leaves the hotel and runs to it. REGGIE (indicating the direction) Palais Royal -- vite! Calmly, the DRIVER points to the little printed sign on his windshield reading "ITALIE." DRIVER (pointing the other way) Porte d'Italie, moi. REGGIE Mais c'est très vite! On veut me teur! DRIVER (shaking his head) Italie. She looks around and sees ADAM come out of the hotel and straight toward her. She turns and runs off toward the Place St. Michel. EXT. PLACE ST. MICHEL -- NIGHT As REGGIE comes to the corner. She stops, sees the Métro station ("St. Michel") and rushes to it, scampering down the stairs. ADAM is behind her. INT. ST. MICHEL MÉTRO STATION -- NIGHT REGGIE comes flying down the stairs and runs past the ticket booth, fishing in her bag for her carnet (booklet of tickets), casting a quick look behind her. CAMERA PANS QUICKLY TO ADAM just coming off the stairs, who runs after her. DELETED INT. MÉTRO TICKET GATE -- NIGHT REGGIE gets to the gate ahead of ADAM and manages to crowd in front of some OTHERS about to pass through. Barely stopping, she holds out her ticket to the GUARD to be punched, then heads down the platform, still running. ADAM gets to the gate but the GUARD stops him as he tries to pass through. GUARD Billet, Monsieur. ADAM (breathless) I don't want to go anywhere -- I'm only trying -- GUARD (pointing off) Billet, Monsieur. ADAM tries to look past him, to see REGGIE, but gives it up and goes back toward the ticket booth, on the run. INT. MÉTRO PASSAGEWAY -- NIGHT CAMERA LEADING REGGIE as she runs -- the passageway is nearly empty. Her footsteps echo against the tile and concrete walls. CLOSE SHOT -- PASSAGEWAY WALL (TRAVELING) The jumble of advertising posters as it passes rapidly, forming a moving band of letters, women, cartoons and colors. INT. MÉTRO PASSAGEWAY -- NIGHT REGGIE stops and pauses for a moment at a sign indicating two different directions, an arrow for each. "DIRECTION: Pte D'ORLÉANS Pte DE CLIGNANCOURT-------" Choosing "Clignancourt," she runs off. CAMERA PANS SHARPLY, 180 degrees, to pick up ADAM rounding the corner in hot pursuit. INT. MÉTRO PLATFORM -- NIGHT REGGIE starts down the platform, looking behind her every few steps. Suddenly she looks up in surprise -- there, across the tracks on the opposite platform is ADAM. He has evidently made the wrong turn back in the passageway. They stare at each other for a moment. Then the bell rings, announcing the arrival of a train. ADAM turns, running back through the exit behind him. Not knowing what to do, REGGIE looks into the darkness of the tunnel. The approaching train can be heard. REGGIE (to herself) Come on -- please -- She turns to look at the gate -- slowly, the pneumatic door starts to close. As it does, the train roars into the station. INT. MÉTRO PASSAGEWAY -- NIGHT The gate can be seen slowly closing. ADAM runs to it, tries to force it back but cannot. Finally, he jumps up and, commando style, vaults over it. INT. MÉTRO PLATFORM -- NIGHT REGGIE is just entering the red center car (the two on either side are dark green). ADAM runs for the red car and just manages to make it as the doors shut in unison, the latches falling with a concerted click and the little whistle blowing to inform the motor-man to depart. The train starts to move. INT. MÉTRO CAR -- NIGHT The entire length of the car separates ADAM and REGGIE. For a moment, their eyes meet, then ADAM starts to weave his way past the other PASSENGERS, on his way to her. Suddenly, he is stopped. ADAM turns to see a TRAIN GUARD. TRAIN GUARD Billet, Monsieur. ADAM shows him his yellow ticket and starts past him, but again the TRAIN GUARD stops him. TRAIN GUARD Vous êtes dans le premier classe, Monsieur. ADAM What? TRAIN GUARD (heavy accent) This car is for first class only -- you have a second-class ticket. ADAM But that's what they gave me. He tries to pull away from the TRAIN GUARD and finds himself staring into the serious face of a GENDARME. GENDARME Monsieur -- ? ADAM looks at the GENDARME, then at REGGIE. INT. "PALAIS-ROYAL" MÉTRO PLATFORM -- NIGHT As the TRAIN pulls in and comes to a stop. INT. MÉTRO CAR -- NIGHT The GENDARME opens the door for ADAM and escorts him out. ADAM turns once more to look at REGGIE as he goes. She remains in the car. INT. MÉTRO PLATFORM -- NIGHT The GENDARME gestures for ADAM to enter the green, second- class car behind the red, first-class one. Reluctantly, ADAM does. INT. MÉTRO CAR -- NIGHT As ADAM enters and goes to the door through which he can see REGGIE in the car ahead. She is gone. Moving quickly, he returns to the exit door and looks at the platform. INT. MÉTRO PLATFORM -- NIGHT From ADAM'S P.O.V. She is hurrying toward an exit marked "SORTIE." ANOTHER ANGLE Featuring ADAM as he hurries from the car. He finds his way blocked by FIVE NUNS in large, white butterfly hats. It takes him a few precious seconds to work his way around them. DELETED INT. MÉTRO SORTIE -- NIGHT REGGIE has entered an area leading to the exit. But as she reaches the stairway leading up to the street level, she is confronted with an iron grill barring her way. She tries to open it, but it is firmly padlocked. A sign hung on it reads "FERMÉ LES WEEKENDS." She turns, desperately looking for some way out. INT. MÉTRO PLATFORM -- NIGHT ADAM is off the train. He stands on the platform as the train doors slam shut, the latches click, the whistle blows and the train pulls out. He looks around in all directions, looking for some sign of REGGIE. He spots the exit marked "SORTIE" (the same one used by REGGIE) and starts toward it. INT. MÉTRO SORTIE -- NIGHT As ADAM enters the deserted area. There is, miraculously, no sign of REGGIE. He goes to the locked grill and tries it, testing the padlock. CAMERA PANS to a phone booth (solid door with a window in the upper half) and we see REGGIE's hand reaching up to dial a number. INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT REGGIE sits on the floor of the booth, dialing. REGGIE (to herself, as she dials) Balzac 3 - 0 - 0 - 4. She holds the receiver to her ear. The number can be heard ringing but no one answers. She hangs up and reaches for the phone book, leafing through its pages. REGGIE Embassies -- embassies -- INT. MÉTRO SORTIE -- NIGHT ADAM stands for a minute, looking around, not knowing what to do. INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT REGGIE has finished dialing her number and now pushes the button. It clicks loudly. REGGIE Shh. (into the phone, whispering) American Embassy? Mr. Bartholomew's office, please -- Mr. Bartholomew's office -- INT. EMBASSY SWITCHBOARD -- NIGHT An OPERATOR speaking into a headset. OPERATOR Could you speak out, please? I can't quite hear you. INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT REGGIE (on the phone) No, I can't speak any louder -- Hamilton Bartholomew -- B as in -- uh -- Bartholomew -- that's right, and the rest as in Bartholomew! INT. EMBASSY SWITCHBOARD -- NIGHT OPERATOR (on the phone) I'm sorry, but Mr. Bartholomew has left for the day. INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT REGGIE (on the phone) But someone's trying to kill me -- you've got to send word to him -- in the center garden of the Palais Royal, by the colonnade -- tell him I'm trapped in a phone booth, below him in the Métro station. And my name's Lampert. INT. EMBASSY SWITCHBOARD -- NIGHT OPERATOR (on the phone) All right, Mrs. Lampert -- I'll see what I can do. Goodbye. She unplugs the call, plugs in another one and dials quickly. OPERATOR Hello, Mr. Bartholomew? -- there was a call for you just now, Mr. Bartholomew -- it sounded quite urgent -- a Mrs. Lampert. INT. BARTHOLOMEW'S STUDY -- NIGHT It is a man we've never seen before, the physical opposite of the old BARTHOLOMEW. REAL BARTHOLOMEW Lampert? I don't know any Mrs. Lampert -- trapped in a Métro station? Who does she think I am, the C.I.A.? All right, you'd better call the French police. INT. MÉTRO SORTIE -- NIGHT MED. SHOT -- PHONE BOOTH. As REGGIE's head appears, peeking cautiously over the bottom of the window. REVERSE SHOT From inside the phone booth. Through the glass ADAM can be seen, leaving the Sortie area. MED. SHOT -- PHONE BOOTH Carefully, REGGIE opens the door and comes out. She goes to the corner and looks around it. INT. MÉTRO PLATFORM -- NIGHT From REGGIE'S P.O.V. as ADAM walks away from CAMERA, down the platform. CAMERA PANS TO REGGIE, peeking around the corner. She looks the opposite way, sees another exit at the other end of the platform (also marked "SORTIE"). She looks back once more at ADAM, then makes up her mind and starts running towards the exit. MED. SHOT -- ADAM As the bell rings announcing the next train. He turns to look and sees REGGIE. ADAM (calling) Reggie -- ! He takes off, running after her. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE As she runs, ADAM several yards behind her. ADAM (in b.g., calling) Reggie -- wait! She turns into the exit. INT. MÉTRO STAIRWAY -- NIGHT As REGGIE starts up the long, steep flight of stone steps leading to the street level. ADAM appears behind her, climbing two at a time and gaining. ADAM Reggie -- why won't you listen? REGGIE I'm through listening to you! He is rapidly closing the gap between them. It is clear that REGGIE is tiring. ADAM But I didn't kill anybody. REGGIE Then who did? You're the only one left. PASSERSBY, descending the stairs, stand aside to let the two strange Americans pass, watching in wonderment. ADAM is only a few steps behind now. ADAM Reggie -- please believe me! REGGIE No! As REGGIE wearily gains the top, ADAM lunges for her. He manages to grab her foot as he falls forward, but all he winds up with is a shoe which has come loose in his hand. REGGIE shrieks, then regaining her balance, continues running, limping in her one shoe. ADAM scrambles to his feet and starts after her again. INT. MÉTRO TICKET BOOTH AREA -- NIGHT As REGGIE, still hobbling, runs through and toward the stairs, leading to the street. CAMERA PANS TO ADAM, as he, too, runs through. He is again several yards behind her. EXT. PLACE PALAIS ROYAL -- NIGHT As REGGIE comes up the stairs from the Métro. She stops long enough to kick off her other shoe, then runs across the street, ignoring the traffic, toward the Rue de Valois (which forms one side of the Palais Royal). ADAM is gaining on her again. EXT. PALAIS ROYAL COURTYARD -- COLONNADE -- NIGHT The smaller court at the Comédie-Française end of the Palais gardens, separated from the larger garden by a double peristyle consisting of two twin rows (these separated from each other by a small marble court) of twenty columns each -- in all, eighty columns. The only person in sight is the man we have known as BARTHOLOMEW, waiting at the far end of the columns, looking at his watch impatiently. Then, from the Rue de Valois side of the Palais, REGGIE runs into the court. She spots "BARTHOLOMEW" and fishes in her bag for the stamps as she runs, taking them out and waving them. REGGIE Mr. Bartholomew -- he's chasing me! ADAM has run into the court and now skids to a stop at the near end of the colonnade as he spots "BARTHOLOMEW." REGGIE, still running, is halfway between the two men. "BARTHOLOMEW" draws his gun but can't get a shot at ADAM, who has ducked in among the columns. ADAM Reggie -- stop! That's Carson Dyle! This news hits REGGIE hard and she stops, in alarm. REGGIE (breathless) Carson -- ? She looks at "BARTHOLOMEW," then back at ADAM, who has drawn his own gun. (NOTE: Both "BARTHOLOMEW" and ADAM are in among the stone columns at opposite ends of the colonnade, keeping out of each other's sight. REGGIE stands out in the open, the stamps in her hand, confused as to which man she should go to). "BARTHOLOMEW" (calmly) We all know Carson Dyle is dead, Mrs. Lampert. ADAM It's Carson Dyle, I tell you! "BARTHOLOMEW" You're not going to believe him, Mrs. Lampert -- it's too fantastic. He's trying to trick you again. REGGIE looks at one, then the other, not knowing what to do. ADAM Tex recognized him -- that's why he said Dyle. If you give him those stamps, he'll kill you too! REGGIE takes a step toward ADAM. "BARTHOLOMEW" Mrs. Lampert -- if I'm who he said, what's preventing me from killing you right now? REGGIE stops, turns back to "BARTHOLOMEW." ADAM Because he'd have to come out to get the stamps -- he knows he'd never make it. "BARTHOLOMEW" What's the matter with you, Mrs. Lampert? Are you going to believe every lie he tells you? He wants the money for himself -- that's all he's ever wanted. REGGIE (to ADAM, explaining) He's -- with the C.I.A. -- I've seen him at the Embassy. ADAM Don't be a fool! He's Carson Dyle! "BARTHOLOMEW" That's right, Mrs. Lampert -- I'm a dead man -- look at me. REGGIE I don't know who anybody is any more! ADAM Reggie -- listen to me! REGGIE You lied to me so many times -- ADAM (gently) Reggie -- trust me once more -- please. REGGIE Can I really believe you this time, Adam? ADAM (a pause) There's not a reason on earth why you should. She looks toward ADAM for a moment, then back to "BARTHOLOMEW", then slowly starts toward ADAM. REGGIE All right, Adam. "BARTHOLOMEW" Stop right now, Mrs. Lampert, or I'll kill you. REGGIE stops in alarm. ADAM It won't get you the stamps, Dyle -- You'll have to come out to get them, and I'm not likely to miss at this range. "BARTHOLOMEW" (now called CARSON) Maybe not -- but it takes a lot of bullets to kill me. They left me there with five of them in my legs and my stomach -- they knew I was still alive but they left me. I spent ten months in a German camp -- with nothing to stop the pain and no food -- they were willing to take all these chances for the money, but not for me. They deserved to die! MED. SHOT -- ADAM During the following, he looks around, looking for some way out. REGGIE'S VOICE (O.S.) But I didn't have anything to do with -- CARSON'S VOICE (O.S.) You've got the money. It belongs to me now! Please believe me, Mrs. Lampert -- I'll kill you -- a little more blood won't matter. During this ADAM has moved out from behind the columns, creeping cautiously across the open space between the two colonnades and finally, behind the second. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE AND CARSON CARSON I'll give you five to make up your mind, Mrs. Lampert. She has seen ADAM's move from her angle, but doesn't know quite what to do. REGGIE Wait, please! I need some time to think! CARSON One -- MED. SHOT -- ADAM As he slowly moves along behind the second colonnade, his gun ready, trying to get an angle on CARSON. CARSON'S VOICE (O.S.) -- two -- Suddenly ADAM stops -- he has caught sight of CARSON through the columns. But he will have a difficult shot. CARSON'S VOICE (O.S.) -- three -- CLOSE SHOT -- CARSON CARSON -- four -- CAMERA PANS DOWN to his gun. As his finger tightens on the trigger and the hammer moves slowly back. CLOSE SHOT -- REGGIE REGGIE Adam -- please! MED. SHOT -- ADAM As he aims carefully and fires. CLOSE SHOT -- COLUMN As the bullet creases it. CLOSE SHOT -- CARSON As the deflected bullet rips the shoulder of his coat, leaving him unharmed. He wheels. MED. SHOT -- ADAM With CARSON in the b.g., who fires at him. ADAM ducks behind the column as the bullet hits it and screams off. Quickly, he peers back out and throws another shot. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE Seeing CARSON otherwise occupied, she turns and runs toward the open stage door of the Comédie Française behind her. (Beside the door is a poster announcing the forthcoming schedule of presentations.) ANOTHER ANGLE Including CARSON who, seeing REGGIE running to the door, turns and fires at her. But he is too late -- she is safely inside. CARSON looks quickly back toward ADAM, then takes off after REGGIE. MED. SHOT -- ADAM Over his shoulder we see a broken picture of CARSON running toward the theatre door, flashing by the near and far columns. ADAM tries to get a shot at him, but can't. Finally he runs after him. INT. COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE -- BACKSTAGE -- NIGHT As CARSON enters and slams the door behind him, locking it. INT. COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE -- STAGE DOOR -- NIGHT ADAM arriving at the door, bangs on it, then looks around, frustrated. Several yards away he sees a short stairway leading down to a door below the street level. He runs to it, tries the door and enters. INT. COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE -- ORCHESTRA -- NIGHT As CARSON enters the auditorium and looks around. CARSON'S P.O.V. As the CAMERA SWEEPS the magnificent old theatre -- boxes, seats, stage, but there is no sign of REGGIE. ANOTHER ANGLE As CARSON walks up the aisle checking between the rows of seats. INT. COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE -- TRAPROOM -- NIGHT A large room, lit by a single bare bulb, under the stage. ADAM appears, moving cautiously, gun ready. He creeps along next to the wall, looking around at all the various scenic pieces which fill the room. INT. COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE -- STAGE -- NIGHT As CARSON moves carefully across the darkened stage near the footlights, looking for REGGIE. At mid-stage, CAMERA PANS DOWN to his feet, only a few inches from the prompter's box. Inside, huddling down, is a terrified REGGIE, holding her breath as she watches him. ANOTHER ANGLE As CARSON moves into the opposite wings, sees the light board and throws on all the switches. The stage is bathed in light. He returns to the stage. INT. TRAPROOM -- NIGHT ADAM is looking up, having heard the footsteps on the stage over his head -- and hearing them now. He looks around and sees a narrow, curving staircase leading up. He goes to it, and, starting up, finds a door. He tries the knob -- the door is locked. INT. PROMPTER'S BOX -- NIGHT REGGIE, cringing back from the bright light, notices the doorknob turning. It makes a slight clicking sound. INT. COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE -- STAGE -- NIGHT CARSON, upstage, looking behind a piece of classic scenery, hears the doorknob and turns suddenly. CARSON'S P.O.V. We catch a quick glimpse of REGGIE as she ducks down out of sight. Too late. CLOSE SHOT -- CARSON CARSON All right, Mrs. Lampert. The game's over. Come out of there. WIDER ANGLE REGGIE does not appear. CARSON I don't want to kill you, Mrs. Lampert -- but I will -- INT. TRAPROOM -- NIGHT ADAM comes down the stairs from the prompter's box and looks up at the ceiling. MED. SHOT -- CEILING It is divided into thirty-six square sections, each numbered and lettered -- from 1A to 6F. They are trapdoors. MED. SHOT -- ADAM He looks from the ceiling to a row of levers on one wall. CLOSE SHOT -- LEVERS Thirty-six of them, numbered and lettered to correspond to the traps. INT. COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE -- STAGE -- NIGHT As CARSON takes a few steps towards the prompter's box, his gun ready. CARSON Did you hear me, Mrs. Lampert -- ? INT. PROMPTER'S BOX -- NIGHT REGGIE huddled inside. INT. TRAPROOM -- NIGHT ADAM is listening carefully, trying to figure out where CARSON is standing, watching the ceiling. CLOSE SHOT -- TRAP It is marked C-4. CARSON'S VOICE (O.S.) I won't wait much longer, Mrs. Lampert MED. SHOT -- ADAM As he turns to the levers and reaches for the one marked C- 4. He is about to pull it. INT. COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE -- STAGE -- NIGHT CARSON takes a few more steps forward. INT. TRAPROOM -- NIGHT ADAM stops himself from pulling the lever just in time. He lets his held breath escape. He looks back at the ceiling. CLOSE SHOT -- TRAP The one marked C-4. As CARSON's voice is heard, CAMERA MOVES to the next trap, marked D-4. CARSON'S VOICE (O.S.) I know you're in there, Mrs. Lampert -- MED. SHOT -- ADAM He looks at the lever marked D-4. He is perspiring heavily. Now he slowly reaches for the lever. INT. COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE -- STAGE -- NIGHT CARSON is about to move closer to the prompter's box when suddenly the stage under him opens and he plummets through out of sight. At the same time we hear a shot. CLOSE SHOT -- PROMPTER'S BOX As REGGIE slowly peers out. REGGIE'S P.O.V. The empty stage, without being able to see the open trap from this low angle. MED. SHOT -- REGGIE As she climbs out of the booth and, seeing the open trap now, runs to it, looking down through it. MED. SHOT -- OPEN TRAP FROM ABOVE, over REGGIE's head. She can see CARSON sprawled on the floor below, face down and dead. ADAM stands beside the body, looking up at REGGIE and smiling. ANOTHER ANGLE As GRANDPIERRE and his TWO ASSISTANTS, guns drawn, walk onto the stage from the wings. They go to the open trap and look down at ADAM. GRANDPIERRE Mr. Dyle -- you are under arrest for the murders of Charles Lampert, Herman Scobie, Joseph Penthollow, Leopold Gideon, and whoever that is down there. ADAM is surprised, then shakes his head. ADAM Reggie -- you'd better tell him. He wouldn't dare hit a girl. EXT. RUE DE RIVOLI -- NIGHT As a TAXI rolls by the arcades, CAMERA PANNING with it. INT. TAXI -- NIGHT (PROCESS) REGGIE and ADAM in the rear of the cab. REGGIE has one of her feet in her hand, shoe off, rubbing it. REGGIE You didn't have to chase me so hard -- ADAM Here, give it to me. He starts to take the foot but she pulls it back and offers him the other one. REGGIE That one's done -- start on this one. He takes the foot and begins rubbing it. REGGIE I'm sorry I thought you were the murderer, Adam -- how did I know that he was as big a liar as you are? ADAM And that's all the gratitude I get for saving your hide. REGGIE The truth, now -- was it my hide -- or the stamps? ADAM What a terrible thing to say. How could you even think that? REGGIE All right, prove it to me -- tell me to go to the Embassy first thing in the morning and turn in those stamps. ADAM says nothing. REGGIE I said, tell me to go to the -- ADAM I heard you, I heard you. REGGIE Then say it. ADAM Reggie -- listen to me -- REGGIE Never mind -- I'll go by myself. ADAM What makes you think they're even interested? It's only a quarter of a million -- it'll cost more than that to fix up their bookkeeping. As a taxpayer -- EXT. AMERICAN EMBASSY -- MAIN ENTRANCE -- DAY As REGGIE and ADAM approach the MARINE in full-dress uniform always on guard at the Embassy. REGGIE (to ADAM) Who's a taxpayer? Crooks don't pay taxes. Excuse me, soldier -- MARINE Marine, ma'am. REGGIE Forgive me. Whom would I see regarding the return of stolen Government money? MARINE You might try the Treasury Department, ma'am -- Room 216, second floor, Mr. Cruikshank. REGGIE Cruikshank, 216. Thank you, Marine. INT. EMBASSY CORRIDOR -- DAY Featuring a door marked "216." REGGIE and ADAM appear. ADAM Do you mind if I wait out here? The sight of all that money being given away might make me break out. INT. EMBASSY TREASURY OFFICE -- DAY A SECRETARY sits behind a desk. She looks up as REGGIE enters. REGGIE Mr. Cruikshank, please -- my name is Lampert. The SECRETARY picks up her phone and presses a button. SECRETARY Mr. Cruikshank, a Miss -- REGGIE Mrs. SECRETARY -- a Mrs. Lampert to see you -- yes sir. (to REGGIE) Go right in. REGGIE goes to the door leading to the private office. INT. CRUIKSHANK'S OFFICE -- DAY Featuring the door as REGGIE enters. She stops suddenly. ANOTHER ANGLE Featuring the desk. Behind it sits ADAM (now CRUIKSHANK). REGGIE stares at him, unbelievingly, then looks around, confused. By way of explanation he indicates the door to the hall. REGGIE (blowing up) Well, of all the mean, rotten, contemptible, crooked -- CRUIKSHANK Crooked? I should think you'd be glad to find out I wasn't crooked. REGGIE You couldn't even be honest about being dishonest. Why didn't you say something? CRUIKSHANK We're not allowed to tell. May I have the stamps, please? REGGIE (reaching into her bag) Here -- (hesitating) Wait a minute -- how did Carson Dyle get an office in here, anyway? CRUIKSHANK When did you see him -- what time, I mean? REGGIE Around one. CRUIKSHANK The lunch hour. He probably worked it out in advance. He found an office that was usually left open and just moved in for the time you were here. REGGIE Then how do I know this is your office? CRUIKSHANK (picking up the phone) Mrs. Foster -- send a memo to Bartholomew at Security recommending that -- REGGIE Bartholomew? CRUIKSHANK -- recommending that all Embassy offices be locked during the lunch hour. REGGIE Starting with his own. CRUIKSHANK (hanging up) Okay, now -- hand over those stamps. REGGIE What's your first name today? CRUIKSHANK Brian. REGGIE Brian Cruikshank -- it would serve me right if I got stuck with that one. CRUIKSHANK Who asked you to get stuck with any of them? REGGIE Is there a Mrs. Cruikshank? CRUIKSHANK Yes. REGGIE But you're -- divorced? CRUIKSHANK No. REGGIE (crestfallen) Oh. CRUIKSHANK My mother -- she lives in Detroit. Come on now -- give me those stamps. REGGIE Only if you can prove to me that you're really Brian Cruikshank. CRUIKSHANK How about if next week some time I put it on a marriage license -- that ought to -- REGGIE Quit stalling -- I want to see some identification -- now! CRUIKSHANK I wouldn't lie on a thing like that -- I could go to jail. REGGIE You'd lie about anything. CRUIKSHANK Well, maybe we'd better forget about it, then. REGGIE You can't prove it, can you? You're still trying to -- (the coin drops into the slot) marriage license! Did you say -- ? CRUIKSHANK I didn't say anything. Will you give me those stamps? REGGIE You did too say it -- I heard you. Oh, I love you Adam -- I mean Alex -- er, Peter -- Brian. I hope we have lots of boys -- we can name them all after you. CRUIKSHANK Before we start on that, do you mind handing over the stamps? FADE OUT: THE END BONUS ITEM -- Lyrics to the theme song of the film: CHARADE Music by Henry Mancini, Words by Johnny Mercer When we played our Charade we were like children posing, Playing at games, acting out names, guessing the parts we played. Oh, what a hit we made. We came on next to closing Best on the bill, lovers until love left the masquerade. Fate seemed to pull the strings, I turned and you were gone. While from the darkened wings the music box played on. Sad little serenade, song of my heart's composing, I hear it still, I always will, best on the bill Charade.