The Man Who Wasn't There Page #16

Another long pause.

ED:

...I killed him.

Riedenschneider eyes him. Wheels start turning.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

OK, we forget the blackmail. *You*

killed him. How come?

ED:

He and Doris... were having an affair.

Doris eyes him. His manner does not reveal anything.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

OK, how did you know?

ED:

I... just knew. A husband knows.

Riedenschneider rolls his eyes.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

Will anyone else say they knew?

ED:

I don't know. I don't think so.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

How did you get into the store?

ED:

I took Doris's keys.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

Will anyone say they saw you there?

On your way there? In there? On your

was back?

ED:

...I don't think so.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

Will anyone corroborate and goddamn

part of your story at all?

Ed returns Riedenschneider's stare. Riedenschneider resumes

pacing.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

...Come on, people. You can't help

each other like that. Let's be

realistic now. Let's look at our

options. Well, frankly, I don't *see*

any options.

A nod of the head indicates Doris:

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

...I cannot present Story A.

Another nod indicates Ed:

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

...I cannot present Story B. I could

plead you for a nutcase but you look

too composed. I could offer a guilty

plea and in return they don't give

you the juice, but I don't think you

want to spend the rest of your life

in Chino and I know you didn't hire

Freddy Riedenschneider to hold your

hand at a sentencing hearing. Hell,

you could've gotten Lloyd Garroway

for that. No, we're not giving up

yet; you hired Freddy Riedenschneider,

it means you're *not* throwing in

the towel. I litigate, I don't

capitulate. All right, no options,

we gotta think. All right, we go

back to the blackmail thing. It

titillates, it's open ended...

His pacing becomes more animated.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

...And it makes *him* the bad guy--

ya dig around, ya never know,

something unsavory from his past, he

approaches you to help with the money,

it's too late, his past comes back

to haunt him, who's to say...

He is heading for the door.

RIEDENSCHNEIDER:

...Yeah. OK. Forget the jealous

husband thing, that's silly; we're

going with the blackmail. I'll be in

touch.

The door slams.

HOTEL LOBBY:

The camera drifts in toward the reception desk. Ed talks to

the clerk behind the desk, but the scene plays silently; we

hear only Ed's narration.

ED (V.O.)

Of course, there was *one* person

who could confirm Doris's story, or

plenty of it:
the dry-cleaning

pansy...

The desk clerk is shaking his head.

ED (V.O.)

...But he'd left the hotel, skipped

out on his bill...

HALLWAY:

It is a rooming-house hallway. A stern middle-aged woman is

on the hall telephone. This too plays silently under the

narration.

ED (V.O.)

He'd also disappeared from the

residence he gave me...

ED'S LIVING ROOM

We are drifting in toward Ed, who nods at the telephone and

then cradles it. He stares down at the business card he holds.

ED (V.O.)

...owing two month's rent. How could

I have been so stupid. Handing over

$10,000. For a piece of paper. And

the man gone... like a ghost...

PULLING BACK FROM ED

In a different living room. He sits on a sofa, hands clasped

behind his head, listening. For the first time, as the voice-

over continues, we hear atmosphere from the scene: piano

music.

ED (V.O.)

...disappeared into thin air,

vaporized, like the Nips at Nagasaki.

Gone now. All gone. The money gone.

Big Dave gone. Doris going. How could

I have been so stupid?

The continuing pull-back reveals Walter Abundas on a nearby

chair, also listening as Birdy plays.

Walter holds a drink in one hand; he is nodding; his eyelids

droop. As the piano piece reaches its mournful conclusion

his chin alights on his chest, his eyelids tremble closed,

and he starts lightly to snore.

BARBERSHOP:

The distinctive buzz of electric hairclippers bangs in at

the cut. Ed and Frank stand behind their respective chairs,

administering haircuts.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes