The Making of 'The Number 23' Page #3

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Takes him for everything he's got.

He's out there right now

At this very moment...

still looking for the woman in red.

Figures he just got the wrong one.

And this is supposed to

make me feel better how?

You look smarter than my uncle charlie.

"She has

a face meant to smile.

And as I exit the building,

I figure it's another job well done.

The next day I traced the ex-Boyfriend

Suicide blonde mentioned.

Burning coffee grounds is an old trick

Cops use to take away the

smell of death at a crime scene.

But somebody had used all the coffee.

When I tell Fabrizia

about the suicide blonde,

She begs me to take

her to the apartment.

Her reaction is pure Fabrizia.

Death

and sex--

What a turn-On.

As the pages fell from the walls,

The scope of the suicide

blonde's obsession became clear.

She had reduced everything to 23."

It's

everywhere-- Dates, times,

License plate numbers, pages of books,

Even elevator floor lights.

Soon I found it was in my name.

It was in the words I spoke.

It was in my name. It was in my name.

It was in the words I spoke.

"When I

found out what her name was,

That added up too.

Maybe it was just a coincidence.

I mean, a name is just a name.

And a number is just a number.

Isn't it?"

It's self-Printed,

Self-Published,

And it's by an author I never heard of.

Looks like old topsy here

hasn't written anything

Before or after since.

Walter, what are you doing?

Check this out.

Walter sparrow doesn't work.

But if I use my middle name...

- Walter.

- 5-1-1-9-7.

- Isn't that amazing?

- What?

It's all 23. My

birthday-- 2/3,

Driver's license, social

security number-- Everything.

I was born at 11:12 PM. 11 plus 12.

It's like it's imitating my life.

You can't be serious.

The author knows so much about me.

It's as if he chose me.

Is this what you've been doing all day?

- Have you finished the book?

- Not yet.

You've concerned yourself with minutia

And you've drawn wild

conclusions from them.

What about the fact that

fingerling becomes a killer?

- A killer?

- And just how many people have you killed?

Wait, who gets killed?

Ask mr. Fingerling.

I'm sorry, honey.

Why this color?

Why did you choose this color?

I don't know, you tell me.

Red number five--

R-E-D is 27,

Plus five is

You're reaching now.

Sure, there are differences.

Fingerling's a detective,

I'm a dog catcher;

He met Fabrizia when he was 32,

Whereas I met

you when I was--

- 23.

- And the day we met was?

- September 14th.

- 9/14.

- 14 plus 9 is?

- 23!

We married

october 13th--

Suicide blonde said it ruled her world.

She killed because of it. Then

she handed it on to fingerling

On his 32nd

birthday-- 23 reversed.

Fingerling called it fate.

Do you know what fate is?

I rest my case, your honor.

- Honey, I think you're taking this too seriously.

- Wait wait wait

Wait wait wait. We live at 1814.

I mean, 18 is one plus

eight which equals nine.

And nine plus 14 is also 23.

14 is one plus four which equals five.

And five plus 18 is 23 too.

- Oh my god.

- All right, Robin,

Please don't you start this nonsense.

This is not nonsense! I-I

mean, five plus 18 is 23.

Well, if the book were 27 or 150,

You could do the same thing.

Spooky, huh?

"Chapter 7:

The suicide blonde had given

Fabrizia a taste for new thrills.

I played along,

But all I could think

about was the number."

Thanks.

"I didn't tell her

That the clock behind

the desk read 9:
14.

Just rip it open. Just rip it off.

Pretend you have a knife.

Pretend you have a knife.

Come on.

I know you're gonna hurt me.

You shut up, b*tch,

Or you die.

"Of course I

would never really harm Fabrizia.

I loved her. And I

thought she loved me."

"But I started

having terrible nightmares."

Eight,

nine, 10, 11, 12, 13--

What are you doing?

Reading.

You're insane.

- Isaac?

- Simply put,

It's a box that collects

Orgone energy.

We'll talk about wilhelm reich

next week. Thank you for coming.

Well, it sounds like a fascinating read.

Of course there exist far too few books

Where the main character

plays the saxophone.

I wasn't aware you also played.

I don't. That's just

it, it doesn't all match.

It's the number. I'm

seeing it everywhere.

Well, conspiracy buffs

would say, "of course.

After all, the world

spins in an axis of 23."

When you tell them it's

actually 23.5, they say

Five is simply two plus three.

good at this particular game.

- Game?

- Yeah, paranoia.

- There's a fair bit of literature on the 23 enigma.

- There is?

There are 23 axioms

to euclid's geometry.

The human body consists

of 46 chromosomes--

Blood takes 23 seconds to circulate.

The mayans believed the end of the world

Would occur december 12th, 2012.

Or 20 plus one plus two.

So what is this?

What is 23?

Is it...

god?

Two

divided by three--

.666.

666, the number of the devil.

There are only 22 chapters

in the book of revelations.

We all know how that ends.

So is 23 a blessing or a curse?

What's true is that there's

a select group of people

That take delight in

perpetuating the number's infamy.

Lucky seven, unlucky 13,

Ballplayers, lucky shoes.

People only pray because they believe

that god will help them if they do.

This is magical thinking,

Non-Scientific causal

reasoning. Now you're--

You're looking for 23

so you're finding it.

Agatha thinks I'm nuts.

Finish the book.

And if after reading it in its entirety,

You still believe the subject to be you,

Then whoever wrote it

knows you very well.

And only they can give you your answer.

- That's a good idea.

- And in the meantime

I can speak to Agatha, if you like.

Hmm.

The

number was everywhere.

You have 23 pairs of shoes.

You're counting my shoes?

- What are you doing?

- Reading.

You're insane.

"Night after night

I killed Fabrizia in my dreams.

I explained to the department shrink

what her full name added up to."

- 23.

- What do you think that means?

I don't know, miles.

Maybe I should be a f***ing accountant.

"The wise dr.

Phoenix recommends I take a break."

Maybe you should take a break.

"Like

time is gonna heal me."

Time is a--

A gentle man.

"Time is

just a counting system,

Numbers with meaning attached to them.

Still, a break is what he

prescribes. He called it--"

Emotional leave.

So you're not a detective anymore.

"Fabrizia

was not impressed."

I'm a detective on vacation.

- And you don't have a gun?

I still have these.

Maybe you should just

get some sleep tonight.

"The

number was everywhere.

At this point,

I don't need to tell you

How many pairs of shoes she had.

What are these shoes doing in the trash?

Did you know you had 23 pair?

Oh!

You're insane!

The Hiroshima bomb was dropped at 8:15.

Eight plus 15 is 23.

Waco, Texas, and the

Oklahoma city bombing

Both happened on april 19th.

Four plus 19 is 23.

Tropic of Cancer, 23.5 north;

Capricorn 23.5 south.

On his uniform in prison.

Ted bundy was executed

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