Song of the Thin Man Page #5

- What time is it?

- 4:
00.

- In the morning?

- Yep.

- Same morning?

- Same morning.

What are you getting dressed for?

- I'm gonna run over and visit the Thayars.

- At 4:
00 in the morning?

That's the best possible time

to ask questions.

People aren't such artful dodgers

at 4:
00 in the morning.

- I'm going with you.

- You're going right back to bed.

We're in this together. I'm going with you.

If I can ever get into my shoes again.

- Yes, what is it?

- Mr. And Mrs. Charles to see Ms. Thayar.

I'm sorry, sir. Ms. Thayar's asleep.

It's very important. You'd better wake her.

- I'm afraid I can't.

- John, what is it?

Ms. Thayar, this is an unusual time

to come visiting but I've got to talk to you.

You've done enough talking already.

Janet, I tried to get in touch with you.

Mr. Charles had to do what he did.

- It was for Brant's own good.

- That's a neat switch.

- So now you're his benefactor.

- And yours, too.

Unless you'd enjoy being a widow.

Very well.

- Won't you sit down?

- Thank you.

Ms. Thayar, I... Well.

- Would you like a drink?

- Well, this is my brandy hour.

- Mrs. Charles, would you like a drink?

- I could stand some sherry.

The weapon that killed Tommy Drake...

seems to have the ballistics experts

rather neatly stumped.

That leads to one of two

possible conclusions:

Either the gun was handmade,

or it was a pre-ballistics antique.

Probably very early 18th century.

Perhaps the property of some collector.

Dear me, I'm terribly sorry.

- Here, use this.

- Quite all right. Thank you.

Well, that's very interesting,

but not interesting enough...

to come breaking down doors

at this hour of the morning.

My husband is neither a gunsmith

nor an antique collector.

No, but wasn't the City Museum...

given a million-dollar art collection

by your father?

Yes, Father gave the museum his...

Elizabethan and Chippendale pieces.

His...

Georgian silver...

and yes, his Flemish paintings,

his Reynolds, and his Rembrandt.

Well, that was very generous

of him, indeed.

Your father was a collector

of many things, wasn't he?

Coral, coins, jade, and, I believe, quite

an assortment of 18th-century firearms.

All the weapons my father had,

pistols or guns, went to the museum.

Just a minute, Mr. Charles. Just a minute.

Your father seems

to have overlooked a few.

Am I to understand that the gun that

hung here was given to the museum?

No, Mr. Charles.

I didn't give that gun to the museum.

It was my favorite.

Originally owned

by an 18th-century nobleman.

He used it only once, to destroy

a brigand who had certain aspirations...

toward the gentleman's daughter.

You had that gun with you

the night Drake was murdered.

Well...

Were you perhaps intending to use

it on a brigand...

who had certain aspirations

toward your daughter?

Perhaps, but he wasn't the man

who was killed.

But he and Drake were just about

the same height and build.

In the darkness of a below-decks office,

there could have been a mistake.

True, but before Mr. Drake was killed

I was relieved of that gun...

by my son-in-law.

That's a fine wedding present for you.

Throwing the whole mess

right into Phil's lap.

Here, I want you to feel secure

for the rest of your life.

You won't have anything to worry about

until they throw the switch.

You're lying and you know it. And you...

Yes? This is she.

I see. Yes, of course. Just a minute.

All right.

I see. Of course.

I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me.

- Well, do you wish to arrest me?

- Mr. Thayar, I am not a policeman.

If the police want my testimony,

I'll be glad to oblige.

That'll make the police happy.

Now if you don't mind,

I'd like to go back to bed.

Darling? Mr. Thayar would like

to go to bed.

It's nice to know people still go to bed.

Mr. Charles and I used to go to bed once.

Park Towers.

Apartment F, first bedroom to the right.

Driver, hold it.

I should have worn a sleeping bag.

"125 Prospect Terrace.

"Apartment 3A." Look at that.

We're going home. And I'm not tucking

you in bed. I'm tying you in.

If you'll just put your blurry blue eyes

a little closer, you'll see it.

It's the impression left

by the pressure of a pencil.

Oh, yes.

"125 Prospect Terrace."

A phone call at 4:30 in the morning

must be pretty urgent.

I have a hunch our headstrong heroine

will be along soon.

Sometimes I even amaze myself.

- Follow that car?

- Movie fan.

Yes. Follow it.

That jail doesn't look like

125 Prospect Terrace.

She's probably going to tip Brant off

to her father's story.

Your father started threatening me

and I took the gun away from him.

- What did you do with it?

- I put it on a cabinet in my office.

Never saw it again.

You don't believe me, do you?

- Of course I do.

- You'll have to step on it.

- I told you, this is against the rules.

- Just a moment, please.

- Honey, what'll I do about this call?

- I don't know.

But I guess it's worth a chance. Be careful.

All right, driver. Keep right on her.

Keep going. You're losing her.

Look, the city shelled out over $10 million

to install that traffic system.

I don't think they'd have given the job

to a guy that spells "go," capital S-T-O-P.

He's right, it's spelled with a small "S."

- That sounds like it. Come on.

- No more jam sessions for me.

But that's our clarinet.

Fran Page.

Turn it off, dear, will you?

It must've just happened. That record

would've played for about three minutes.

You don't think that Janet...

- How did this happen?

- I thought perhaps you could tell us.

She phoned me less than a half-hour ago.

Offered to sell me some information

that would help Phil.

Sell or withhold information?

About an antique gun, for instance?

It's true, Phil got that gun from Father.

But he didn't use it.

He put it on a cabinet in his office

and never saw it again.

I see.

We followed you until you left the jail

and then we lost you. What delayed you?

The money. She wanted $2,500.

I had to go to Phil's place to get it.

Ms. Page didn't strike me

as a blackmailing type.

I don't think she was.

She said she needed the money

for somebody out of town.

Had to have it in a hurry. She seemed

quite upset and nervous about it.

Hollis doesn't seem

to be anywhere in town.

- Hello? Hotel Vesta.

- Yes, Ms. Page stopped here several times.

- Was she alone?

- Now, we don't go snooping on our guests.

Their comings and goings

are their own business...

and that applies to your Ms. Page.

She just stayed in her room

and kept to herself.

Except about 1:
50 she'd go out and

get back about 3:10, that's all.

Outside of after dinner, when she did

the same thing, only then she'd leave...

about 7:
50 and get back about 9:10.

That's all I know about her because

we don't go snooping on our guests.

I don't suppose you'd remember

whether she ever had any visitors?

No question of not remembering. Just a

question of not snooping on our guests.

No concern of ours if some Al Amboy and

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes