Shallow Grave Page #4

JULIET:

Don't.

ALEX:

Don't look?

JULIET:

No.

ALEX:

Why not? What's wrong, Juliet? Aren't you curious? Don't you

wonder what he died from?

JULIET:

No.The guy's dead.What more do you need?

ALEX:

It's not every day I find a story in my own flat.

JULIET:

Thats not a story, Alex. It's a corpse.

ALEX:

Old newspaper proverb says dead human being is living story. Be

rational, please, and failing that be quiet.

In a drawer in a bedside cabinet, Alex finds needles, syringes

and a small bag of powder. Without comment, he holds it up and

throws it on the bed.

He reaches under the bed and pulls out a case, which he opens. It

is empty and he pushes it back under.

DAVID:

I've never seen a dead body before.

JULIET:

Alex, I think it's time for you to stop.

Alex continues to search. Juliet walks out.

INT. HALL. NIGHT

Juliet stands alone.

INT. HUGO'S ROOM. NIGHT

Alex continues his brisk search through Hugo's posesseions while

David looks on, appalled but speechless.

INT. HALL. NIGHT

Juliet listens to the sounds from the bedroom, then picks up the

telephone. She dials 999 and waits for a reply. It rings and

rings.

INT. HUGO'S ROOM. NIGHT

Alex has found and opened a large Gladstone bag. Neither David

norwe can see into it.

DAVID:

I saw my grandmother, of course, but I don't suppose that counts.

I mean, she was alive at the time.

ALEX:

Can I show you something?

INT. HALL. NIGHT

Juliet awaits an answer.

Alex approaches Juliet with the open bag. She turns around and

looks into it, then, seeing the contents, she replaces the

receiver. As she does so, the Operator's voice is audible for a

second.

OPERATOR:

Hello, emergency services.

The telephone hits the cradle.

INT. KITCHEN. NIGHT

David, Alex and Juliet are seated in silence around the tabel.

The bag, stacked with money, lies open on the table.

DAVID:

No.

ALEX:

Think about it.

DAVID:

No.

ALEX:

Come on, David.

DAVID:

No.

ALEX:

Juliet?

JULIET:

No, Alex. It's, it's --

ALEX:

What?

JULIET:

Unfeasible.

ALEX:

Is that all?

DAVID:

You mean immoral.

ALEX:

I'm only asking you both to think about it.

DAVID:

It's asick idea, Alex. It's sick.

ALEX:

But don't tell me that you're not tempted by it. Don't tell me

that you're not interested. I know you well enough.

DAVID:

You think so?

ALEX:

(amused)

All right, then, go ahead, telephone. Telephone the police. Try

again. No one's going to stand in your way. Go ahead. Tell them

there's a suitcase of money and you don't want it.

INT. HALL. MORNING

The flat is silent. Footsteps are heard outside the door and mail

falls through the letter box.

INT. LIVING ROOM. DAY

The living room, empty.

INT. KITCHEN. DAY

The kitchen, empty. The bag of money still sits on the table.

INT. HUGO'S BEDROOM. DAY

His corpse lies on the bed, covered as before, incompletely, by a

sheet, with parts of his body still showing (a foot, a hand, part

of his face or abdomen).

INT. NEWSPAPER OFFICE. DAY

The open-plan office of a busy newspaper. Alex sits at his desk.

He is talking on a telephone jammed against his shoulder and

while he does so he is casually acknowledging and waving at

colleagues.

ALEX:

Now, was there a pet in the house? Yes, a pet, like a dog or a

budgie or a gerbil. You see, what I need is PC Plod rescues Harry

the Hamster from House of Horror'. All right... well, that's a

pity, you see, no pets, no human angle.

Alex hangs up.

INT. HUGO'S ROOM. DAY

Another view of the body: for example, from above.

INT. HOSPITAL. DAY

In the accident and emeregency department of a busy hospital,

Juliet sifts through a setof casenotes. Another Doctor approaches

her.

DOCTOR:

Hi, there.

Juliet does not look up.

JULIET:

Hello.

DOCTOR:

What happened to that guy?

JULIET:

What guy?

DOCTOR:

That guy, the one that died.

Juliet looks up.

JULIET:

What guy that died?

DOCTOR:

That one, last week.

JULIET:

Here?.

DOCTOR:

Yeah, here, I mean, where else?

JULIET:

Oh, him. Well, he died.

DOCTOR:

(satisfied)

That's what I thought.

INT. HUGO'S ROOM. DAY

The body, stillpresent, exposed and motionless. The curtain

flutters by the open window.

INT. LUMSDEN'S OFFICE. DAY

Lumsden, a middle-aged chartered accountant, isseated in a

largechair behind a desk. He is talking to David,who appears

distracted.

LUMSDEN:

What do we do here, David?

DAVID:

Sorry?

LUMSDEN:

Here.

DAVID:

Right here?

LUMSDEN:

In this firm.

DAVID:

Well, it's a wide range of, eh --

LUMSDEN:

Accounting, David, chartered accounting --

DAVID:

Exactly what I was --

LUMSDEN:

-- is often sneered at. Are you aware of that?

DAVID:

Not any real sneering as such, no.

LUMSDEN:

There's a whole wide world out there, and it all needs to be

accounted for, doesn't it?

DAVID:

Eh --

LUMSDEN:

But they sneer, don't they?

DAVID:

I'm not sure --

LUMSDEN:

Oh, it's unfashionable, I know, but, yes, we're methodical, yes,

we're dilligent, yes, we're serious, and where's the crime in

that, and why not shout it from the rooftops, yes, maybe

sometimes we are a little bit boring, but by God, we get the job

done.

DAVID:

Yes, sir.

LUMSDEN:

And that's why I think you fit in here.

DAVID:

I'm boring?

LUMSDEN:

You get the job done.

DAVID:

Oh, I see, I thought you meant --

LUMSDEN:

Which is why I'm trusting you with this account.

Lumsden throws a heavy folder into David's lap.

INT. HUGO'S ROOM. EVENING

It is almost dark.Only the familiar contour is visible through

the gloom.

INT. STAIRWELL. EVENING

David ascends the stairs to the flat.

INT. LIVING ROOM. EVENING

Alex sits in an armchair facing out of the window. Juliet stands

facing into the room. David, the last home, appears in the

doorway.

DAVID:

He's still here.

ALEX:

He couldn't get his car started.

DAVID:

When are you going to let the police know?

ALEX:

You call them if you want.

DAVID:

(to Juliet)

And what about you?

JULIET:

Well, I'm getting used to having him around.

INT. HUGO'S ROOM. DAY

The corpse as before.

INT. ACCOUNTANT'S OFFICE. DAY

David sits at his desk, looking across the office.

Crouched over a large array of other desks, young men and women

in suits are pouring over folders and columned books. No one is

speaking except in muted tones on the telephones.

David watches them. He looks to his left and to his right: on

either side young men like him are toiling over accounts. He

turns and looks behind him, where another array of accountants

sit.

He turns back to his desk and opens the file he was previously

given. He looks at the columns of records of profit, with a large

total at the bottom.

When David looks up he sees Juliet seated beside his desk. She

smiles and directs his gaze, with her own, to the surrounding

scene.

INT. HUGO'S ROOM. EVENING

The body in silhouette.

DAVID:

(voice-over)

OK. Let's do it.

INT. DIY STORE. DAY

Inside a large, brightly lit DIY store with Muzak playing in the

background. We start with a tracking shot along an aisle stacked

with potentially vicious tools.

ALEX:

(voice-over)

All right, now listen. We have to dispose of the body in such a

way as to make it unidentifiable, so that even if it is found,

then it's never anything more than an unknown corpse. Burning,

dumping at sea, and straightforward burial are all flawed either

by fingerprints, or, more commonly, by dental records. This I

have learned. Now, what I suggest is that we bury him out in the

forest, but first of all we remove his hands and his feet, which

we incinerate. And his teeth, which we just remove. It's as

simple as that.

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