Luther Page #8

Season #1 Episode #1

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ZOE:

He’s not boring.

LUTHER:

Are you living with him?

ZOE:

For the moment.

LUTHER:

Is the sex good?

ZOE:

It’s not about the sex.

LUTHER:

It’s always about the sex. You enjoy

sex with him. You must. And the

pictures of that go round and round my

head like a train.

ZOE:

Your trouble is, the train in your

head never stops. You really

frightened me last night.

LUTHER:

You know I’d never hurt you.

ZOE:

Why are you here, John?

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 41.

LUTHER:

I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps

you might like to come home and be

married to me.

ZOE:

Some men bring flowers -

LUTHER:

Yes, but this was a grand gesture.

ZOE:

This is professional ruination, is

what this is. Next time, think

flowers.

LUTHER:

Next time?

ZOE:

You know what I mean.

Luther wearies. Searching her gaze for some vestige of hope.

LUTHER:

I just - I need to know why.

ZOE:

You always do. But not everything has

a motive. Sometimes things just

happen.

LUTHER:

Nothing just happens. There are laws.

Physical laws, I mean - not

(Beat)

How did we get here? Yesterday I’m in

one place. Suddenly I’m fifteen

thousand miles away. I know I’ve

travelled, because I’m dizzy and I

want to throw up. But I don’t remember

crossing the bits in between.

She meets his eyes. Locks on.

ZOE:

You tell me. How do you think we got

here? What happened?

She’s offering him an opening, a chance to say something that’s

been left unspoken. There’s a certain hunger in her expression.

But whatever it is, Luther can’t face it. He looks away

-to Zoe’s disappointment. Again. She sighs, silently.

ZOE:

Okay. You’re the reason. You are. You

left.

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 42.

LUTHER:

I’m here. Right now. Look at me. I’m

here.

ZOE:

Part of you. But never all. Because

you care more about the dead than the

living. That’s where your heart is.

LUTHER:

That’s not true.

ZOE:

All those years spent up to your neck

in malignancy. All those months

looking for Henry Madsen. All those

months that came after. You were just -

gone. And you weren’t coming back. Not

my you. Not my John.

LUTHER:

And him - ?

ZOE:

When he’s with me, he’s with me.

LUTHER:

Is that all it takes?

Painful beat. She doesn’t rise to it.

LUTHER:

Do you love him?

ZOE:

Yes. I’m sorry.

LUTHER:

And me?

ZOE:

Always. But not like that. Not any

more. I know it’s a cruel thing to

hear - but you need to accept this,

John. If you love me, you need to

accept it.

LUTHER:

I don’t know how to do that.

Before she can answer, the door breaks open - and TWO SECURITY

GUARDS spill in - Luther stands, backing away, badging them.

LUTHER:

Police! Police!

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 43.

68 EXT. FORD AND VARGAS - DAY 4 - 09.58 68

Luther is ejected onto the street - almost into the arms of

Ripley - who graciously pretends not to notice anything amiss.

Luther takes a moment to straighten himself. Then they walk.

LUTHER:

How’d you know I’d be here?

RIPLEY:

Your phone was off. DI Reed said: “try

the wife.”

LUTHER:

So is it good news? Good news wins a

prize.

RIPLEY:

I don’t know if it’s good news.

LUTHER:

See, that was a test. News is neither

good nor bad. So

RIPLEY:

So, the morally neutral news is -

ballistics came back on the bullets

fired at the Morgan house.

LUTHER:

And?

RIPLEY:

They were 9mm Parabellum. Designed for

ultra-compact weapons.

LUTHER:

Excellent work, Sergeant Ripley!

They head for Ripley's car.

69 INT. FORD AND VARGAS, ZOE’S OFFICE - DAY 4 - 09.59 69

Rattled, Zoe opens a drawer. Hesitates. Finds a LEATHER TOBACCO

POUCH and a LIGHTER. Struggles with herself.

ZOE:

Sod it.

She takes the pouch and lighter. Exits.

70 EXT. FORD AND VARGAS, SMOKING AREA - DAY 4 - 10.02 70

Zoe, flustered, walks along the building, pouch and lighter in

hand.

ZOE:

Raus, Raus. Mother of God.

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 44.

Alice is waiting in a recess, out of view. As Zoe passes, Alice

steps up behind her. Tucks an elbow round her NECK. Presses a

HAT-PIN into her ear.

ALICE:

Don’t look at me.

Her voice is low, almost sexy. Lips very close to Zoe’s ear.

ZOE:

Okay! Okay!

ALICE:

Shhhhh.

ZOE:

(low)

Okay. Okay.

ALICE:

Your husband assaulted me.

ZOE:

What?

ALICE:

He touched me. Intimately. He made me

do things. He hurt me. Because of you.

ZOE:

What do you mean?

ALICE:

As he touched me, he talked about you.

He told me you were dead.

Zoe frozen - as Alice caresses her cheek with a fingernail.

ALICE:

That you’d been very badly burned.

Your skin was gone. Your face was

gone. You’d been abducted. Right off

the street. By a man, a very sick man.

He kept you alive for days. He used

knives. A blowtorch. He kept pieces of

you for souvenirs.

(very close)

I’m worried someone might want to hurt

you like that.

ZOE:

Don’t. Please don’t. Please.

ALICE:

Shhhh. Shhhhh. Don’t turn around.

And Alice slips away. Leaving Zoe in horror-struck silence.

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 45.

71 INT. SCU, TELLER’S OFFICE - DAY 4 - 10.33 71

Teller and a pacing, tormented Luther.

LUTHER:

You should have let me hold her.

TELLER:

You didn’t give me enough to hold her.

And you can’t prove it was her thisafternoon. Zoe didn’t see her face. No

CCTV. No eyewitnesses. No nothing.

LUTHER:

You do know, this makes me Alice

Morgan’s next project? I offended her,

I questioned her brilliance. Do youknow what she could do? To me? To Zoe?

TELLER:

I know what you say she can do. I also

know we can’t prove what she alreadydid - and we can’t detain people onsuspicion of crimes yet to becommitted. Be nice if we could.

LUTHER:

So how do I stop her?

TELLER:

Bring her in the right way.

A moment of angry silence. Then Luther exits.

72 INT. SCU, BULLPEN - DAY 4 - CONTINUOUS 72

Luther and Ripley, walking fast.

RIPLEY:

Give me your wife’s address.

Why?

LUTHER:

RIPLEY:

I’ll stay on her. Make sure she’sokay.

Luther stops. Stands there, blinking. Taken aback.

RIPLEY:

You take down Alice Morgan.

73 INT. SCU, LUTHER AND REED'S OFFICE - DAY 4 - 10.36 73

Luther arranges MORGAN HOUSE CRIME SCENE PHOTOS like playingcards. Or Tarot. Moves them round - making new pictures, newcombinations, new patterns. Seeing Laura. Douglas. The dog.

LUTHER by NEIL CROSS Episode 1 Page 46.

His head SNAPS UP as Reed enters - sanguine but a little wry.

He’s taking a break from his own case-load.

LUTHER:

Mate - I appreciate this.

Shows him a MOUSE GUN, a GLOCK 26. Luther takes it - examines

it with a lepidopterist’s eye.

REED:

Yeah, well. Its only a gun.

LUTHER:

(with distaste)

What do I need to know?

REED:

So what you’ve got, this is a Glock

26, light weight compact pistol.

Weighs less than 16 ounces. Carbon

steel barrel and springs, Polymer

frame and components.

LUTHER:

Polymer frame. Show me that.

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