Double Indemnity Page #26

pocket. Zachetti knocks his hand away.

ZACHETTI:

Keep your nickel and buy yourself an

ice cream cone.

NEFF:

The number is Granite 0386. Ask for

Miss Dietrichson. The first name is

Lola.

ZACHETTI:

Lola? She isn't worth a nickel. And

if I ever talk to her, it's not going

to be over any telephone.

NEFF:

Tough, aren't you? Take the nickel.

Take it and call her. She wants you

to.

ZACHETTI:

Yeah? She doesn't want any part of

me.

NEFF:

I know who told you that, and it's

not true. She's in love with you.

Always has been. Don't ask me why. I

couldn't even guess.

Zachetti just stares at him. Neff moves again to put the

nickel into Zachetti's pocket. This time Zachetti allows him

to do it.

NEFF:

Now beat it. Granite 0386, I told

you.

He motions toward the street below.

NEFF:

That way.

Zachetti goes slowly past him. Neff grabs him and pushes him

almost violently down the walk. Zachetti goes out of shot.

The sound of his steps dies away as Neff looks after him.

Then, far off in the distance, the SIREN OF A POLICE CAR is

heard.

Neff moves off through the shrubbery toward the side of the

house where he parked his car.

DISSOLVE TO:

D-22 NEFF'S OFFICE - (NIGHT)

The desk lamp is still lighted. Outside the windows, the

dawn is slowly breaking.

Neff is still clutching the horn of the dictaphone. There

are eight or nine used cylinders on the desk beside him. A

widening stain of blood shows on the left shoulder of his

gray jacket. He is very weak by now, and his voice holds a

note of utter exhaustion.

NEFF:

It's almost four-thirty now, Keyes.

It's cold. I wonder if she's still

lying there alone in that house, or

whether they've found her by now. I

wonder a lot of things, but they

don't matter any more, except I want

to ask you to do me a favor. I want

you to be the one to tell Lola, kind

of gently, before it breaks wide

open... Yes, and I'd like you to

look after her and that guy Zachetti,

so he doesn't get pushed around too

much. Because...

Suddenly he stops his dictation with an instinctive feeling

that he is not alone in the room.

As he turns in his chair the CAMERA PULLS BACK slowly. The

office door is wide open. Keyes is standing a few steps inside

it. Behind him, on the balcony outside, stands the night

watchman and the colored janitor, peering curiously into the

room over Keyes' shoulder.

Slowly, and without taking his eyes off Neff's face, Keyes

reaches back and pushes the door shut.

Neff hangs up the dictaphone horn. He looks at Keyes with a

faint, tired grin and speaks very slowly.

NEFF:

Hello, Keyes.

Keyes moves towards him a few steps and stands without

answering.

NEFF:

Up pretty early, aren't you? I always

wondered what time you got down to

work.

Keyes, staring at him, still does not answer.

NEFF:

Or did your little man pull you out

of bed?

KEYES:

The janitor did. Seems you leaked a

little blood on the way in here.

NEFF:

Wouldn't be surprised.

Neff makes a motion indicating the used cylinders standing

on the desk.

NEFF:

I wanted to straighten out that

Dietrichson story for you.

KEYES:

So I gather.

NEFF:

How long have you been standing there?

KEYES:

Long enough.

NEFF:

Kind of a crazy story with a crazy

twist to it. One you didn't quite

figure out.

KEYES:

You can't figure them all, Walter.

NEFF:

That's right. You can't, can you?

And now I suppose I get the big

speech, the one with all the two-

dollar words in it. Let's have it,

Keyes.

KEYES:

You're all washed up, Walter.

NEFF:

Thanks, Keyes. That was short anyway.

They stare at each other for a long moment, then, with intense

effort Neff gets up on his feet and stands there swaying a

little. His face is covered with sweat. His shoulder is

bleeding. He is on the verge of collapse.

KEYES:

Walter, I'm going to call a doctor.

NEFF:

(Bitterly)

What for? So they can patch me up?

So they can nurse me along till I'm

back on my feet? So I can walk under

my own power into that gas chamber

up in San Quentin? Is that it, Keyes?

KEYES:

Something like that, Walter.

NEFF:

Well, I've got a different idea.

Look here. Suppose you went back to

bed and didn't find these cylinders

till tomorrow morning, when the office

opens. From then on you can play it

any way you like. Would you do that

much for me, Keyes?

KEYES:

Give me one good reason.

NEFF:

I need four hours to get where I'm

going.

KEYES:

You're not going anywhere, Walter.

NEFF:

You bet I am. I'm going across the

border.

KEYES:

You haven't got a chance.

NEFF:

Good enough to try for.

KEYES:

You'll never make the border.

NEFF:

That's what you think. Watch me.

Neff starts to move towards the door, staggering a little,

holding himself upright with great effort.

KEYES:

(In a voice of stony

calm)

You'll never even make the elevator.

Neff has reached the door. He twists the knob and drags the

door open. He turns in it to look back at Keyes' implacable

face.

NEFF:

So long, Keyes.

Neff goes out, leaving the door wide open. THE CAMERA FOLLOWS

his staggering walk along the BALCONY TOWARDS THE ELEVATOR

LOBBY. The sound of his breathing is so harsh and loud that

for a moment it dominates the scene. Finally he reaches the

swing doors leading into the lobby and starts to push them

open. At this moment he collapses. He clutches the edge of

the door and as it swings around with him he falls to the

floor. He tries to struggle up but cannot rise.

In background comes the sound of a telephone being dialed.

KEYES' VOICE

Hello... Send an ambulance to the

Pacific Building on Olive Street...

Yeah... It's a police job.

There is the sound of the phone being replaced in its cradle.

Then there are footsteps growing louder along the balcony

and Keyes walks slowly into the shot. He kneels down beside

Neff.

KEYES:

How you doing, Walter?

Neff manages a faint smile.

NEFF:

I'm fine. Only somebody moved the

elevator a couple of miles away.

KEYES:

They're on the way.

NEFF:

(Slowly and with great

difficulty)

You know why you didn't figure this

one, Keyes? Let me tell you. The guy

you were looking for was too close.

He was right across the desk from

you.

KEYES:

Closer than that, Walter.

The eyes of the two men meet in a moment of silence.

NEFF:

I love you too.

Neff fumbles for the handkerchief in Keyes' pocket, pulls it

out and clumsily wipes his face with it. The handkerchief

drops from his hand. He gets a loose cigarette out of his

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