The Night Manager Page #3

DROMGOOLE:

Very nice to see you Joel.

STEADMAN:

Always a pleasure Geoffrey.

DROMGOOLE:

How’s life and love?

STEADMAN:

Life’s good. Love was never my

specialty.

DROMGOOLE laughs. BURR smiles. Just.

DROMGOOLE:

Angela.

He shakes her hand.

DROMGOOLE (CONT’D)

You remember Raymond Galt, Harry

Palfrey.

BURR:

How could I forget?

PALFREY:

Nice to see you Angela.

Congratulations.

BURR:

Thank you Harry.

He means the baby. She smiles sweetly.

Later:
They are sitting. Coffee and biscuits.

DROMGOOLE:

So tell me about Limpet.

STEADMAN:

Limpet’s an ongoing anti-arms

Operation based in Washington.

Standard tracer op. About a year

old.

The Night Manager ep 3 final

DROMGOOLE:

Who you going after?

STEADMAN:

Richard Onslow Roper. Director of

Ironlast. And we think a lot more

on the side.

DROMGOOLE:

That wouldn’t surprise me.

STEADMAN:

I came here to see if there are

opportunities for mutual

collaboration and intelligence-

sharing. Angela is happy to sign

up. I wanted to see if you will do

the same.

DROMGOOLE:

Where are you at the moment?

STEADMAN looks oddly unconfident here.

STEADMAN:

Well it’s going pretty well.

Wouldn’t you say Angela?

He looks at BURR. BURR nods apologetically.

STEADMAN (CONT’D)

We have photographs of a lunch that

took in place in Madrid one month

ago between Roper’s money-man

Alexander Langbourne and a Spanish

lawyer called Juan Apostol. It’s

possible that they were discussing

an arms deal in the near future.

Photos of the lunch between Langbourne and Apostol are

distributed.

GALT:

You get any audio on that?

STEADMAN:

Unfortunately not.

GALT:

So they could have been discussing

their children’s Christmas party.

Embarrassed smile.

DROMGOOLE:

And that’s it?

The Night Manager ep 3 final

PALFREY:

What about on the ground? Got

anyone close to Roper?

Beat. BURR and STEADMAN do a carefully rehearsed embarrassed

look. It’s very convincing.

STEADMAN:

Not yet.

PALFREY:

In development?

STEADMAN:

Not at the moment. But getting an

agent on the inside Harry - that’s

a long game. What I need now...

DROMGOOLE:

Let me stop you right there Joel.

Angela runs her own modest

enforcement agency, she can do what

she likes. Roper is an obsession of

hers, he was when she was here at

The River. I suspect he always will

be. But I can’t waste the nation’s

intelligence budget on an operation

whose current status appears to be

somewhat catatonic.

STEADMAN:

Well that’s disappointing.

DROMGOOLE:

Life’s disappointing Joel, just ask

Angela. Come back when you’ve got

more, our door is always open. All

right?

12 EXT. LONDON. EMBANKMENT. DAY. 12

BURR and STEADMAN leave a secret exit of the River House.

They walk along the street.

STEADMAN:

That dull enough for you?

BURR:

You kidding me? I never knew an

American could sound so much like a

total bloody loser.

STEADMAN:

How do you stand it, Angie?

“Modest enforcement agency.”

The Night Manager ep 3 final

BURR:

Well he’s not wrong is he?

Beat.

BURR (CONT’D)

They mustn’t know about our boy

Joel. No mention of him in comms.

Nothing written. Nothing at all.

All right?

He nods. BURR checks her watch.

BURR (CONT’D)

Flight’s in less than two hours.

Let’s get a cab.

STEADMAN:

You know you’re supposed to slow

down during pregnancy?

BURR:

Second trimester. Piece of cake.

She smiles.

13 OMITTED 13

13a EXT. MALLORCA. PENINSULAR. FISHERMAN’S COTTAGE. NIGHT. 13a

PINE stands in his fisherman’s cottage. He opens the

shutters. Closes them again. Opens them again. Beat. Closes

them again.

13b EXT. MALLORCA. SURVEILLANCE VILLA. NIGHT. 13b

Across the bay, JIMENEZ, on lookout, sees the signal.

14 OMITTED 14

15 EXT. MALLORCA. ROPER’S VILLA. SWIMMING POOL. DAY. 15

CORKORAN, drink in hand, is taking PINE through the house. A

strange kind of guided tour. PINE looks through windows to

see GUARDS at every gate, CCTV, FRISKY armed, watching him.

He’s a prisoner.

CORKORAN:

The Chief bought the place in 2006

after a terrific success investing

in African coltan.

The Night Manager ep 3 final

He pauses by a panelled window showing a trophy and

photographs of a cricket team. Sports photos of batsmen in

the modern-style coloured kit, batting and bowling.

CORKORAN (CONT’D)

That’s the IPL team, he has a 30%

stake. Hates it when they lose.

PINE:

Which isn’t often.

PINE stares at the trophies.

CORKORAN:

What about you. Do you bat or bowl?

PINE:

Neither.

CORKORAN:

Hmmn. Nor sure you’re worth having

in the team.

They walk on, another room.

CORKORAN (CONT’D)

And this is the pride and joy.

PINE stares at the cabinet. It’s a ceremonial gun collection.

PINE:

Do any of them work?

CORKORAN:

Oh yes. We use them to shoot

infiltrators. We set them running

along the beach and pick them off

like rabbits. It’s fabulously

Iberian.

He stares at him.

And onward:
They walk in to the swimming pool area. PINE

stops dead.

JED is at the pool, and she is alone, stretched out on the

recliner.

CORKORAN comes alongside.

CORKORAN (CONT’D)

Of every tree you may freely eat.

Maids, serving wenches, cooks,

typists, masseuses, nannies, even

the lady who comes to clip the

canary’s claws. But if you lay one

hand on that precious fruit....

(MORE)

The Night Manager ep 3 final

CORKORAN (CONT’D)

then like the Belgians in the

Congo, we’ll chop it off. And I

don’t mean the hand.

He stares at him.

PINE:

I have the feeling that you don’t

like me being here, Corky.

CORKORAN:

Me? I don’t mind a bit. Because I

know you’re going to trip up, see?

And when you do, I’ll be there to

catch you.

(beat)

Danny wants to go into town.

You’ll be accompanied of course.

Take good care of him, won’t you?

He’s a nice kid, if a trifle frit.

PINE:

I can’t imagine why.

Another stare from CORKORAN.

CORKORAN:

Cheeky.

EXT. SURVEILLANCE VILLA. MALLORCA.

JIMENEZ is watching through binoculars. He sees PINE and

DANNY getting into a gleaming SUV. The cars are driving out

of the compound.

JIMENEZ calls on his phone.

JIMENEZ:

He’s moving.

19 EXT. MALLORCA. SEASIDE TOWN. DAY. 19

The gleaming SUV draws up in the small fishing town. PINE and

DANIEL get out and walk into the sea-front area. TABBY and

FRISKY draw back but watch them. PINE eyes them as DANNY

plays on his phone.

PINE:

You always have this much company

Danny?

DANNY:

Since the restaurant.

The Night Manager ep 3 final

PINE:

Put that bloody phone away. I’ll

buy you an ice cream.

DANNY’s face lights up.

19a EXT. MALLORCA. SEASIDE TOWN. DAY. 19a

PINE and DANNY are walking through the town. They have bought

an ice cream and are moving through the market. FRISKY and

TABBY are still close.

PINE:

How often do you come to the

island?

DANIEL:

Only in the summer.

PINE:

Nice to see dad?

DANIEL:

He’s not here much.

PINE:

I expect he works hard.

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