Double Indemnity Page #22

name. There's a family of Neffs in

Corvallis.

NEFF:

No relation.

JACKSON:

Let me see. This man's an automobile

dealer in Corvallis. Very reputable

man, too, I'm told.

Keyes rejoins them at this point.

KEYES:

All right, Mr. Jackson. Suppose you

go down to the cashier's office --

room twenty-seven on the eleventh

floor. They'll take care of your

expense account and your ticket for

the train tonight.

JACKSON:

Tonight? Tomorrow morning would suit

me better. There's a very good

osteopath down here I want to see

before I leave.

Keyes has opened the door for Jackson.

KEYES:

Okay, Mr. Jackson. Just don't put

her on the expense account.

Jackson doesn't get it.

JACKSON:

Goodbye, gentlemen. A pleasure.

He goes out.

KEYES:

There it is, Walter. It's beginning

to come apart at the seams already.

A murder's never perfect. It always

comes apart sooner or later. And

when two people are involved it's

usually sooner. We know the

Dietrichson dame is in it, and

somebody else. Pretty soon we're

going to know who that somebody else

is. He'll show. He's got to show.

Sometime, somewhere, they've got to

meet. Their emotions are all kicked

up. Whether it's love or hate doesn't

matter. They can't keep away from

each other. They think it's twice as

safe because there are two of them.

But it's not twice as safe. It's ten

times twice as dangerous. They've

committed a murder and that's not

like taking a trolley ride together

where each one can get off at a

different stop. They're stuck with

each other. They've got to ride all

the way to the end of the line. And

it's a one-way trip, and the last

stop is the cemetery.

He puts a cigar in his mouth and starts tapping his pockets

for matches.

KEYES:

(Continued)

She put in her claim and I'm going

to throw it right back at her.

(Pats his pockets

again)

Have you got one of those?

Neff strikes a match for him. Keyes takes the match out of

his hand and lights his cigar.

KEYES:

Let her sue us if she dares. I'll be

ready for her -- and that somebody

else. They'll be digging their own

graves.

DISSOLVE TO:

D-8 TELEPHONE BOOTH IN JERRY'S MARKET - DAY

Neff is in the booth dialing a number, and as she waits he

looks around to make sure he is not watched.

NEFF:

(Into phone)

Mrs. Dietrichson?... This is Jerry's

market. We just got in a shipment of

that English soap you were asking

about. Will you be coming by this

morning?... Thank you, Mrs.

Dietrichson.

Neff hangs up.

DISSOLVE TO:

D-9 EXT. JERRY'S MARKET - DAY

The LaSalle stops in front of the market. Phyllis steps out

and goes into the market, looking around.

D-10 SHELVES IN THE REAR OF MARKET

Neff is moving slowly along the shelves, outwardly calm but

with his nerves on edge. From beyond him Phyllis approaches.

She stops beside him, facing the same way, with a couple of

feet separating them.

PHYLLIS:

Hello, Walter.

NEFF:

(In a harsh whisper)

Come closer.

Phyllis moves close to him.

PHYLLIS:

What's the matter?

NEFF:

Everything's the matter. Keyes is

rejecting your claim. He's sitting

back with his mouth watering, waiting

for you to sue. He wants you to sue.

But you're not going to.

PHYLLIS:

What's he got to stop me?

NEFF:

He's got the goods. He's figured out

how it was worked. He knows it was

somebody else on the train. He's dug

up a witness he thinks will prove

it.

PHYLLIS:

Prove it how? Listen, if he rejects

that claim, I have to sue.

NEFF:

Yeah? And then you're in court and a

lot of other things are going to

come up. Like, for instance, about

you and the first Mrs. Dietrichson.

Phyllis looks at him sharply, sideways.

PHYLLIS:

What about me and the first Mrs.

Dietrichson?

NEFF:

The way she died. And about that

black hat you were trying on -- before

you needed a black hat.

A customer comes along the aisle toward them. They move apart.

The customer passes. Phyllis draws close again.

PHYLLIS:

Walter, Lola's been telling you some

of her cockeyed stories. She's been

seeing you.

NEFF:

I've been seeing her, if you want to

know. So she won't yell her head off

about what she knows.

PHYLLIS:

Yes, she's been putting on an act

for you, crying all over your

shoulder, that lying little --

NEFF:

Keep her out of it. All I'm telling

you is we're not going to sue.

PHYLLIS:

Because you don't want the money any

more, even if you could get it?

Because she's made you feel like a

heel all of sudden.

NEFF:

It isn't the money any more. It's

our necks now. We're pulling out,

understand.

PHYLLIS:

Because of what Keyes can do? You're

not fooling me, Walter. It's because

of Lola. What you did to her father.

You can't take it that she might

find out some day.

NEFF:

I said, leave her out of it.

PHYLLIS:

Walter, it's me I'm talking about. I

don't want to be left out of it.

NEFF:

Stop saying that. It's just that it

hasn't worked out the way we wanted.

We can't have the money. We can't go

through with it, that's all.

PHYLLIS:

We have gone through with it, Walter.

The tough part is all behind us. We

just have to hold on now and not go

soft inside, and stick together,

close, the way we started out.

Phyllis takes his arm, forgetting where she is. He pulls

away.

NEFF:

Watch it, will you. Someone's coming.

One of the market help, pushing a small hand-truck loaded

with packaged goods, comes along the aisle. He stops and

begins to restock a shelf very close to Neff and Phyllis.

They go off slowly in opposite directions. CAMERA PANS with

Neff as he walks toward another shelf, one that stands away

from the wall. Phyllis appears on the opposite side of the

shelf and stops, facing toward him. They now continue their

low-voiced dialogue through the piled-up merchandise.

PHYLLIS:

I loved you, Walter. And I hated

him. But I wasn't going to do anything

about it, not until I met you. It

was you had the plan. I only wanted

him dead.

NEFF:

Yeah, and I was the one that fixed

him so he was dead. Is that what

you're telling me?

Phyllis takes off her dark glasses for the first time and

looks at him with cold, hard eyes.

PHYLLIS:

Yes. And nobody's pulling out. We

went into it together, and we're

coming out at the end together. It's

straight down the line for both of

us, remember.

Phyllis puts the glasses on again and goes.

Over Neff's face, as he looks after her, comes the COMMENTARY.

NEFF'S VOICE

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