Manhunter Page #13

GRAHAM (O.S.)

Ninhydran? Boosted with heat?

PRICE (O.S.)

No. We couldn't wash it after. I

can't get a print off this, Will.

There isn't one.

CRAWPDRD (O.S.)

Dammit.

CUT TO:

INT. DOCUMENTS - LLOYD BOWMAN - NIGHT

is underlit by his translucent light box. The note is on

it.

55.

BOWMAN:

(without looking up)

How long do I have?

CRAWFORD:

Twenty minutes max.

GRAHAM:

The main thing is: how was Lecktor

to reply.

BOWMAN:

That's probably in the part Lecktor

tore out.

(beat)

At the top it says: 'I hope we can

correspond.' And then the hole

begins .

(beat)

It looks like Lecktor went over it

with a felt tip pen and then folded

it and pinched most of it away.

GRAHAM (O.S.)

He doesn't have anything to cut with.

BOWMAN:

moves under a rostrum camera setup. There are lights mounted

on a 360-degree rim even with the base of the rostrum Bowman

hits a switch. The top lights go out. The side lights are

very oblique.

MACRO CLOSEUP:
NOTE

Under the oblique light the tooth impressions stand out.

We hear a SHUTTER CLICK as they are photographed.

BOWMAN (O.S.)

Now we can mash it a little.

A pane of glass descends on the note and flattens the jagged

edges of the hole.

EVEN CLOSER:
THE EDGES

are tattered and smeared with vermillion ink.

LIGHTING PANEL:

Bowman's fingers hit it. The room is darkened, except for a

dull glow from the infrared source..

56.

BOWMAN:

(chants under

his breath)

You're so sly, but so am I...

ROSTRUM:

Bowman switches to a closed-circuit TV camera.

MONITOR:

The image focuses as Bowman focuses the lens. Then:

The ink smear is gone. Fragments of writing appear.

BOWMAN (O.S.)

Aniline dyes in the inks in felt-tip

pens -- which is what Lecktor has

-- are transparent to infrared. The

Tooth Fairy's ballpoint isn't...

CRAWFORD (O.S.)

That could be the tip of a 't.

Here and here. And here.

BOWMAN (O.S.)

At the end is the tail of what

could be an 'r.

GBAHAM, CRAWFORD + BOWMAN

at the monitor lit by the infrared glow.

GRAHAM:

We know the Tooth Fairy reads the

Tattler. The stuff about me and

Lector? I don't know any other

paper that carried it...

CRAWFORD:

...there's three 't's' and an 'r'

in Tattler.

GRAHAM:

Personal ads?

As they run out of the room:

CUT TO:

INT. FBI CONFERENCE ROOM - WIDE SHOT - NIGHT

Everyone we've seen is assembled: Graham, Crawford, Beverly

Katz, Jimmie Price and Bowman.

57.

CRAWFORD:

The Chicago office is running through

all the personal ads in the Tattler

right now.

BOWMAN:

When do they go to press?

GRAHAM:

In thirty-five minutes.

BOWMAN:

Christ!

CRAWFORD:

After we find Lecktor's response,

we substitute our own. Somewhere

tomorrow night the Tooth Fairy will

actually buy Tattler, looking for

Lecktor's message. Here's

what he'll find, Bill.

BILL:

(reads )

'Dear Avid Fan:
inherit my mantle

and surpass my achievements.

Mementoes for you at Baltimore

Central. Left luggage 72683.

CRAWFORD:

It's a Secret Service letter drop

and stakeout. He shows: we take

him.

(beat)

Anything from Chicago?

SARAH:

Not yet.

CRAWFORD:

Let's get to the physical.

PRICE:

There was no print. I'm here for

kicks .

BEVERLY KATZ:

One whisker. Scale counts and core

size match Hannibal Lecktor's. So

does color. The color's different

than the Tooth Fairy's taken in

Birmingham and Atlanta. Three blue

grains and some dark flecks went to

Brian's end.

58.

BRIAN ZELLAR:

The grains are commercial granulated

cleanser with chlorine. Must be from

the cleaning man. There are several

particles of dried blood. Not enough

to type.

GRAHAM:

Bowman?

BOWMAN:

It's Snow White toilet paper.

National distribution.

Bowman sets up his photographs on an easel.

BOWMAN:

(beat)

If there's any doubt, we matched the

indents of the bitemark on the note

against the Smithsonian teeth. This

is your boy...

(beat)

He folded the bottom part, including

what Lecktor tore out. In this

enlargement of the back side,

oblique light revealed impressions.

We can make out:
'six-six-six'.

(beat)

I didn't spot it until I had this

high-contrast print. I advised

Chicago as soon as I saw it.

CRAWFORD:

Issue the toilet paper tear as a...

The phone RINGS. Graham punches the speaker.

CHESTER (V.O.)

This is Chester here. Who am I

talking to?

GRAHAM:

Will Graham, Jack Crawford...

CHESTER (V.O.)

We got an ad order in tonight's

"Tattler" with 'six-six-six' in it.

It's being Telexed to you right now.

GRAHAM:

Read it.

CHESTER (V.O.)

(reads)

'Dear Pilgrim, you honor me.'

59.

GRAHAM:

That's it. Lecktor called him a

Pilgrim when he was talking to me...

CHESTER (V.O.)

'You're very beautiful.

CBAWFORD:

Christ...

CHESTER (V.O.)

'I offer one hundred prayers for

your safety. Find help in john

6:
22, 8:16 9:1;Luke l:7, 3:1;

Galatians 6:
11. 15:2; Acts 3:3;

Revelations 18:
i; Jonah 6:8...

(beat)

It's signed:
'Bless you, 6:6:6'

Bowman is already running through the onion-skinned pages of

a Bible he took from a shelf. Nobody talks to him.

CRAWFORD:

(checks watch)

... twenty-eight minutes.

(low to Sarah)

Cryptography at Langley?

SARAH:

They got shot a Telex. They're on

if now...

Everybody exhibits disciplined surface calm. The tension is

screaming underneath.

BOWMAN:

furiously looking through pages of the Bible, suddenly stops.

BOWMAN:

(to Graham)

No.

(beat)

The numbers aren't right for a

jailhouse alphabet code. It's a

book code.

(beat)

And your message has to go out in it,

or he'll know it's not Lecktor talking

to him.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes