Luther Page #5

Season #1 Episode #1

---

RIPLEY:

This kind of scenario, an offender

typically tries to stage the scene -

make it look like murder/suicide,

burglary gone wrong. She did none of

that.

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 23.

LUTHER:

Exactly.

TELLER:

Exactly how?

LUTHER:

She’s proud of this! Why let someone

else take the credit?

TELLER:

To alibi herself?

LUTHER:

She doesn’t care about alibis. She’s a

malignant narcissist; this is all

about power, self-affirmation,

prestige.

TELLER:

The timeline doesn’t work. There’s not

enough time.

LUTHER:

There’s not enough anything. Absence

is the point - it’s her way of saying

“look at me”.

TELLER:

So where is the gun? It’s got to be

somewhere. Everything’s somewhere.

LUTHER:

I don’t know.

TELLER:

Say that again. That was special.

LUTHER:

I don’t know.

Beat.

Considers Alice on the monitor.

TELLER:

She doesn’t look the type.

LUTHER:

Well, that’s the thing about people -

they always manage to surprise you.

43 INT. FORD AND VARGAS, OFFICE FLOOR - DAY 3 - 16.37 43

Zoe walks through the corporate office.

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 24.

She stop outside her office. MARK NORTH is waiting. Handsome,

tousled, dishevelled. Frayed corduroy jacket, jeans. He stands,

grinning. And everyone in a fifty foot radius falls in love

with him.

MARK:

Ms. Luther. I’m Mark North, from

ZOE:

(shaking his hand)

I remember, yes.

She ushers him into her office, closes the door.

44 INT. FORD AND VARGAS, ZOE’S OFFICE - DAY 3 - 16.38

Zoe stands there. Facing Mark North. He stands, facing her. And

before you know it, they’re kissing.

Until Zoe breaks away.

MARK:

Did you tell him?

Her silence says it all.

MARK:

Zoe, he needs to know. All this

sneaking around, it’s mad. You’ve beenseparated for months! He’s the onlyone who doesn’t seem to know it.

ZOE:

I know, I know. But I just couldn’ttell him while he was - y’know.

Getting better. And now I wake up, Ifeel sick. I’ve got this permanentknot in my stomach. It’s going to killhim.

MARK:

You can’t keep lying. It’s cruel.

Her eyes soften, grow sad. Because she knows he’s right.

45 SCENE 45 OMITTED 45

46 INT. SCU, INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY 3 - 16.39 46

Luther enters awkwardly. He’s carrying two mugs of tea. Hepasses one to Alice. She sips.

LUTHER:

Your chair okay? Comfy?

ALICE:

It’s fine, thank you

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 25.

LUTHER:

Because sometimes we like to shorten

one of the legs. It means a suspectcan’t get comfortable, can’t relax.

They’re always unbalanced. Too hot?

Eye contact. Alice noting the implied shift in her status.

ALICE:

Really. I’m fine.

A connection between them. A knowledge. Almost flirtatious.

47 INT. SCU, LUTHER AND REED'S OFFICE - DAY 3 - 16.42 47

Reed and Ripley enter. Ripley busies himself, types in

password, turns up the volume on the audio feed. Then takes aseat. They watch.

48 INT. SCU, INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT 3 - 18.33 48

Luther glances at his notes.

LUTHER:

I see you got your Ph.D. at eighteenastrophysics, was it?

-

ALICE:

“Dark Matter Distribution in Disc

Galaxies.”

LUTHER:

Dark Matter. That’s the stuff that -

makes up the universe. Except we can’tsee it. It doesn’t interact with the

stuff we know about in the way we’d

expect.

ALICE:

No, but its presence can be inferredfrom gravitational effects on visiblematter. We know it’s there. We justcan’t see it. Would many policeofficers be able to gain my trust byhaving this conversation?

LUTHER:

Well, I just like to read books.

ALICE:

It beats burning them.

LUTHER:

You, though - you’re the one who’spractically a genius.

ALICE:

Practically?

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 26.

She raises a feline eyebrow. And Luther grins - satisfied and

predatory. Two people - sizing each other up. Knowing each

other for what they are...and liking each other.

LUTHER:

So you went up to Oxford at -?

ALICE:

Thirteen.

LUTHER:

Wow. I mean, that’s very young. It’s

bad enough, just being the clever one

in the family - these kids, prodigies,

they have it really tough. They’re not

one thing, they’re not another.

Freaks, really. But I expect your

parents were proud.

ALICE:

Very. There were newspaper articles -

pictures of mum, dad and me, smiling

in the library. When I was nine, I

proved tan-1X (tangent minus one -x).

They bought me a dress. Got me on the

news.

LUTHER:

But still. What must it have been

like? You’re thirteen, your classmates

are - what? - twenty, twenty-two? No

friends your own age. No boyfriends.

ALICE:

That’s quite a presumption. Actually,

I matured very early - sexually.

He meets that challenge with unwavering eye.

LUTHER:

You familiar with Ockham’s Razor?

ALICE:

“All things being equal, the simplest

solution is the best solution.”

LUTHER:

Well, what this principle tells me is,

the only other person we know to have

been in your parents’ house this

morning - it was you.

ALICE:

I don’t see how it’s possible to

arrive at that conclusion.

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 27.

LUTHER:

There’s no evidence of an intruder.

ALICE:

But absence of evidence isn’t evidence

of absence.

LUTHER:

Okay, fine. I’m making a leap - but

it’s a tiny leap. More of a hop,

really.

ALICE:

(celestial smile)

Is this where you ask if I hated my

parents?

LUTHER:

It’s about that time, yeah.

ALICE:

Did they make me a freak? Yes. Did I

hate them? Absolutely. Did I kill

them? No.

LUTHER:

Can you prove that?

ALICE:

I can’t prove a negative. It can’t be

done.

LUTHER:

Well, innocence is a negative. It’s

the absence of guilt.

ALICE:

Meaning the burden of proof is

entirely yours. If you think I did

this, then you need to demonstrate how

and when.

He sits back. Gazing at her in frank admiration.

LUTHER:

And I won’t be able to do that, will

I?

ALICE:

Well, you can certainly try.

LUTHER:

Because there’s nothing. You don’t

interact with the stuff we know about

in the way we’d expect. Your presence,

your actions, they can only be

inferred by - a certain absence.

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 28.

ALICE:

Is that a compliment?

LUTHER:

Absolutely.

ALICE:

I hope you’re not trying to beguile

me.

LUTHER:

I wouldn’t be so foolish. But here’s

the thing, Alice. Right now, you can

revel in your brilliance. But people

slip up. Every single time.

ALICE:

Well, that’s just faulty logic

postulated on imperfect data

collection. For instance, what if you

only catch people who make mistakes?

That would skew the figures, wouldn’t

it?

LUTHER:

Wouldn’t it just. But really, that’s

the thing. Most criminals, they’re

just not as clever as they think they

are.

ALICE:

Well. That must get monotonous. For

someone as brilliant as you.

Again, they share a knowing smile. Then Luther stands. Picks up

his paperwork. Exits.

49 INT. SCU, LUTHER AND REED'S OFFICE - NIGHT 3 - 18.40

Luther enters, joins Reed and Ripley. On the monitors are

MULTIPLE IMAGES OF ALICE.

Rate this script:3.0 / 2 votes