Double Indemnity Page #12

and a jury and a father confessor,

all in one.

The telephone rings on Neff's desk. Automatically Keyes grabs

the phone and answers.

KEYES:

Who? Okay, hold the line.

He puts the phone down on the desk and continues to Neff:

KEYES:

And you want to tell me you're not

interested. You don't want to work

with your brains. All you want to

work with is your finger on a door-

bell. For a few bucks more a week.

There's a dame on your phone.

Neff picks the phone up and answers.

NEFF:

Walter Neff speaking.

B-17 INT. PHONE BOOTH - MARKET

Phyllis is on the phone.

PHYLLIS:

I had to call you, Walter. It's

terribly urgent. Are you with

somebody?

B-18 NEFF'S OFFICE

Neff on the phone. His eye catches Keyes', who is walking up

and down.

NEFF:

Of course I am. Can't I call you

back... Margie?

B-19 PHYLLIS - ON PHONE

PHYLLIS:

Walter, I've only got a minute. It

can't wait. Listen. He's going

tonight. On the train. Are you

listening, Walter? Walter!

B-20 NEFF - ON PHONE

His eyes are on Keyes. He speaks into the phone as calmly as

possible.

NEFF:

I'm listening. Only make it short...

Margie.

B-21 PHYLLIS - ON PHONE

PHYLLIS:

He's on crutches. The doctor says he

can go if he's careful. The change

will do him good. It's wonderful,

Walter. Just the way you wanted it.

Only with the crutches it's ever so

much better, isn't it?

B-22 NEFF'S OFFICE

Neff on phone.

NEFF:

One hundred percent better. Hold the

line a minute.

He covers the receiver with his hand and turns to Keyes, who

is now standing at the window.

NEFF:

Suppose I join you in your office,

Keyes --

He makes a gesture as if expecting Keyes to leave. Keyes

stays right where he is.

KEYES:

I'll wait. Only tell Margie not to

take all day.

Neff looks at Keyes' back with a strained expression, then

lifts the phone again.

NEFF:

Go ahead.

B-23 PHYLLIS, ON PHONE

PHYLLIS:

It's the ten-fifteen from Glendale.

I'm driving him. Is it still that

same dark street?

B-24 NEFF, ON PHONE

He is still watching Keyes cautiously.

NEFF:

Yeah -- sure.

B-24A CLOSEUP - PHYLLIS - ON PHONE

PHYLLIS:

The signal is three honks on the

horn. Is there anything else?

B-24B CLOSEUP NEFF, ON PHONE

NEFF:

What color did you pick out?

B-25 PHYLLIS, ON PHONE

PHYLLIS:

Color?

(She catches on)

Oh, sure. The blue suit, Walter.

Navy blue. And the cast on his left

leg.

B-26 NEFF, ON PHONE

NEFF:

Navy blue. I like that fine.

B-27 PHYLLIS, ON PHONE

PHYLLIS:

This is it, Walter. I'm shaking like

a leaf. But it's straight down the

line now for both of us. I love you,

Walter. Goodbye.

B-28 NEFF'S OFFICE

Neff on the phone.

NEFF:

So long, Margie.

He hangs up. His mouth is grim, but he forces a smile as

Keyes turns.

NEFF:

I'm sorry, Keyes.

KEYES:

What's the matter? The dames chasing

you again? Or still? Or is it none

of my business?

NEFF:

(With a sour smile)

If I told you it was a customer --

KEYES:

Margie! I bet she drinks from the

bottle. Why don't you settle down

and get married, Walter?

NEFF:

Why don't you, for instance?

KEYES:

I almost did, once. A long time ago.

Neff gets up from his desk.

NEFF:

Look, Keyes, I've got a prospect to

call on.

Keyes drives right ahead.

KEYES:

We even had the church all picked

out, the dame and I. She had a white

satin dress with flounces on it. And

I was on my way to the jewelry store

to buy the ring. Then suddenly that

little man in here started working

on me.

He punches his stomach with his fist.

NEFF:

So you went back and started

investigating her. That it?

Keyes nods slowly, a little sad and a little ashamed.

KEYES:

And the stuff that came out. She'd

been dyeing her hair ever since she

was sixteen. And there was a manic-

depressive in her family, on her

mother's side. And she already had

one husband, a professional pool

player in Baltimore. And as for her

brother --

NEFF:

I get the general idea. She was a

tramp from a long line of tramps.

He picks up some papers impatiently.

KEYES:

All right, I'm going. What am I to

say to Norton? How about that job I

want you for?

NEFF:

I don't think I want it. Thanks,

Keyes, just the same.

KEYES:

Fair enough. Just get this: I picked

you for the job, not because I think

you're so darn smart, but because I

thought maybe you were a shade less

dumb than the rest of the outfit. I

guess I was all wet. You're not

smarter, Walter. You're just a little

taller.

He goes out. Neff is alone. He watches the door close, then

turns and goes slowly to the water cooler. He fills a paper

cup and stands holding it. His thoughts are somewhere else.

After a moment he absently throws the cupful of water into

the receptacle under the cooler. He goes back to the desk.

He takes his rate book out of his brief case and puts it on

the desk. He buttons the top button of his shirt, and pulls

his tie right. He leaves the office, with his briefcase under

his arm.

NEFF'S VOICE

That was it, Keyes, and there was no

use kidding myself any more. Those

fates I was talking about had only

been stalling me off. Now they had

thrown the switch. The gears had

meshed. The machinery had started to

move and nothing could stop it. The

time for thinking had all run out.

From here on it was a question of

following the time table, move by

move, just as we had it rehearsed. I

wanted my time all accounted for for

the rest of the afternoon and up to

the last possible moment in the

evening. So I arranged to call on a

prospect in Pasadena about a public

liability bond. When I left the office

I put my rate book on the desk as if

I had forgotten it. That was part of

the alibi.

DISSOLVE TO:

B-29 EXT. NEFF'S APT. HOUSE DAY

Neff's coupe comes down the street and swings into the garage

and goes down the ramp into the basement.

NEFF'S VOICE

I got home about seven and drove

right into the garage. This was

another item to establish my alibi.

B-30 INT. GARAGE

There are about eight cars parked. A colored attendant in

coveralls and rubber boots is washing a car with a hose and

sponge. Neff's car comes into the shot and stops near the

attendant. Neff gets out with his briefcase under his arm.

ATTENDANT:

Hiya there, Mr. Neff.

NEFF:

How about a wash job on my heap,

Charlie?

ATTENDANT:

How soon you want it, Mr. Neff? I

got two cars ahead of you.

NEFF:

Anytime you get to it, Charlie. I'm

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