The Crook Page #7

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Yes, Mr. Mayor.

"Article 212:

Man and wife must render unto each other...

"fidelity, succor, and assistance.

"Article 213:

The husband shall be head of the family.

"He is responsible for the mutual welfare

and well-being of the home and children.

"Article 215:

The family's place of residence...

"shall be determined by the husband.

"The wife shall be obliged to live with him,

and he shall be obliged to support her."

Do you, Mr. Aldo Ferrari,

take as your lawfully wedded wife...

Miss Maria Castillo, here present?

Yes.

Do you, Miss Maria Castillo,

take as your lawfully wedded husband...

Mr. Aldo Ferrari, here present?

Then, in accordance

with the law of the land...

you are hereby united in marriage.

Finally, I must ask you to sign the registry,

if you would.

Thank you very much.

And now you, sir. Below, there.

Sign here.

Very good. Thank you very much.

Let me read it to you.

On the sixth day of May, 1970, at 3:30 p. M...

in the presence of...

Make the slightest move and I shoot!

All of you, stand over there.

I said, stand over there!

Aldo!

Maria, the door!

Tell them to open the door, Warden.

I'll count up to three.

One, two...

Open it.

Now, get going.

After you, Warden.

One, two...

Move!

- Anything I can do for you, Warden?

- No, nothing.

Come on. Quickly. Let's go.

Simon the Swiss is back in the news again.

He has staged a sensational jailbreak...

taking as a hostage the warden

of the prison himself.

The daring escape was carried out

with the help...

of fellow inmate Aldo Ferrari...

who was convicted on a charge

of armed robbery three years ago.

Naturally, during our next news bulletin,

at 6:
00 p. M...

we will keep you informed...

of further developments

in the situation as they occur.

Thank you, and please stay tuned

for our 6:
00 bulletin.

Tickets, money, instructions, all in the pot.

- Is our marriage valid?

- Come on!

- Then why did you send for me?

- Why do you think?

He engineered this, he's the brain.

Okay, it's valid, get in.

It's 6:
00, and now for the news.

The spectacular escape

of Simon the Swiss...

is now reluctantly acknowledged

by police to have succeeded.

All attempts to track them down have failed.

Although the area has been sealed off...

there has been no sign

of either of the two convicts.

They seem to have vanished into thin air.

However, their hostage has materialized.

The warden was picked up

safe and sound, though visibly shaken...

on a country road, where he was

trying to hitchhike back to town.

Is it usually on time?

It was on time for four days straight.

Why would you dress up like that?

Sporty.

The arrest warrant issued

for Simon the Swiss...

therefore officially confirms

his escape from prison.

Ports, airports, highways, and railway

stations are now under surveillance...

and it appears impossible

that Simon the Swiss...

will be able to escape police.

Oddly enough, prison authorities

rated Simon a model prisoner.

He was even being considered

for parole at the time of his breakout.

Evidently, he felt the wheels

of justice were turning too slowly...

and took matters into his own hands.

Originally sentenced to 20 years

for the kidnapping of Daniel Gallois...

Simon Duroc, alias Simon the Swiss...

was the only member

of the gang ever apprehended.

The identity of his accomplices

was never discovered.

However, the police are confident

that his daring escape...

will eventually lead them

to the arrest of the entire gang.

Far from being disheartened...

it seems law enforcement officials

are in high spirits.

At 6:
35 p.m., just moments ago,

we received word...

that Simon the Swiss was spotted

at Montparnasse station...

getting off a train which had just pulled in.

He managed to shake off his pursuers...

who chased him into the streets.

They lost him in a crowd

just outside two movie theaters.

He is believed to have slipped

into one of them.

If so, Simon the Swiss has

an ironic choice of films:

The Confession and The Gangster.

Simon would be true to form

if he were to have chosen The Gangster...

the new musical based on the high jinks

of a small-time gangster.

I hope he saw The Confession,

but I am being partial.

And to capture Simon the Swiss...

police must follow better clues

than my own personal taste in movies.

Orchestra.

THE GANGSTER - ORCHESTRA - BALCONY

Thank you.

All the evil I'm doing

Police. Has anyone out of breath

come in in a hurry?

- Wearing a dark coat?

- We better have a look.

This way, please.

Though my people destroy me

My fame will grow

The world will know

Of Le Voyou

What's the problem?

No problem.

What time is it?

Tell me, Charlie.

You're sure about the place?

Quiet. Isolated. Just great.

Your toothbrush is to the right of the sink.

- Did you sleep well?

- Very well.

- Want some coffee?

- Yes.

Charles, tea or coffee?

Tea.

- Lemon?

- Please.

What are you doing here?

I sure was glad when I heard you escaped.

I figured I'd get my share of the money.

Funny, you didn't sound glad a minute ago.

Yeah, not at all.

That's because I didn't expect this.

Where are we going?

This is as far as we go.

Well, what are you going to do?

We thought we'd have some fun.

Flip a coin.

If it's heads, I'll pull the trigger.

If it's tails, he will.

And if it lands on the edge, we'll let you go.

- Oh? And why is that?

- Like I said, just to have some fun.

Better luck next time.

It's stupid to kill him.

He's already dead.

If he's already dead,

we ought to publish his memoirs.

Sit down.

Sit down, Gallois.

Do you know how to write?

I'll dictate.

"I, the undersigned...

"Charles Gallois...

"head of the investment division...

"of the European Bank of Credit...

"hereby declare

that I alone was the instigator...

"of the kidnapping of my son..."

Write, Gallois.

"...that I alone was the instigator

of the kidnapping of my own son...

"perpetrated on May 22, 1965, in Paris..."

You're going too fast.

It's too fast.

"...that I alone was the instigator

of the kidnapping of my own son...

"perpetrated on May 22, 1965, in Paris...

"and for which...

"Simon Duroc, alias the Swiss...

"was unjustly imprisoned."

Underline the word "unjustly."

Good, yeah, great.

"The idea was mine...

"and mine alone..."

"...mine and mine alone...

"to kidnap my son in order to obtain...

"from the bank where I'm employed..."

I said write!

Write, Gallois, and write fast.

"The idea was mine and mine alone...

"to kidnap my son...

"in order to obtain

from the bank where I am employed...

"the sum of $1 million."

Period. New paragraph.

"I swear...

"to have acted...

"without the knowledge of my wife...

"and furthermore...

"that this letter...

"was written under no threat whatsoever."

No.

Write it, I say!

Because, in any case, I didn't have a chance.

No matter how the coin landed, I'd be killed.

Well, it's obvious.

They made it obvious.

- They did?

- It was damn clear.

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