The Night Manager Page #4

DANIEL:

That’s why he has such a big house.

This said with a strange sad loneliness.

PINE turns and sees a car draw up across the harbour. One

headlight on. He barely reacts but we know he’s seen it.

PINE:

Have you counted the rooms?

DANNY smiles.

DANIEL:

Seventeen. That’s not counting

dad’s private study in his bedroom

but no one’s allowed in there.

PINE:

You must be allowed in. Special

guest.

DANIEL:

I’m not. There’s a key and only

Roper knows where it is. And

there’s an alarm. They test it

every Tuesday.

The Night Manager ep 3 final

PINE sees a tourist bus arrive, TOURISTS come off the bus,

PINE sees the opportunity.

PINE:

Let’s go see the rabbits.

They walk across the street, past the parked car, into the

small market area where there are more people, it’s crowded.

DANNY runs towards the rabbits.

PINE watches the car across the street. Sees a WOMAN get out.

BURR.

He looks behind him at TABBY.

He heads into the market, the TOURISTS are coming the other

way.

Change of rhythm. PINE uses the TOURISTS, he walks fast,

deliberately getting separated from DANIEL.

He uses a passing van as cover.

And standing looking in a window is ANGELA BURR. PINE passes

her. Bumps into her.

PINE (CONT’D)

Sorry.

Their hands meet. A piece of paper passes.

He walks away. She watches him go. Opens the paper.

It says simply:
“Corkoran. Problem.”

20 OMITTED 20

21 INT. MALLORCA. ROPER’S VILLA. MAIN ROOM. DAY 21

CORKY:

You lost the boy.

CORKY and FRISKY are in PINE’s face, ROPER stands there

calmly.

PINE:

Just for a moment. It was crowded.

They were watching him.

CORKORAN:

They were watching you. Search him.

FRISKY grabs him. Pushes him hard against the wall. FRISKY

suddenly spreads his legs, searches him. PINE stays calm.

CORKY right in his face.

The Night Manager ep 3 final

CORKY:

Now you listen to me my sweet. You

don’t ever do that again. Or I’ll

hook you and cure you like a

Serrano ham. You hear me?!

PINE:

I’d find it hard not to with your

lips inside my ear.

CORKY stares at him, turns, walks away across the room. ROPER

smiles calmly. Lights a cigarette. Offers one to PINE.

ROPER:

He’s a good man. Loves to serve.

Walk?

EXT. ROPER VILLA. MALLORCA. DAY.

PINE and ROPER amble through the surf, barefoot.

ROPER:

You pink?

PINE momentarily confused by the question. If it is one.

ROPER (CONT’D)

Socialist. Left wing. March of

history.

PINE:

No.

ROPER:

Didn’t think so. Wouldn’t mind if

you were, but it’s another of

Corky’s bugbears. Why don’t you

like Corky?

PINE:

He drinks at eleven in the morning.

ROPER:

What business is it of yours when

he drinks?

PINE:

A sergeant in my father’s platoon

got pissed in a Belfast pub. Told a

local girl what the next day’s

operation was. The man I loved most

in the world dead for five pints of

lager and the promise of a quickie.

Forgive me for not being a

hedonist.

The Night Manager ep 3 final

ROPER:

(beat)

So if you’re not pink, and you’re

not a hedonist, what are you?

PINE:

That’s not a question I ask myself

very often.

ROPER:

Well maybe it’s time. Me? I’m a

free man. Free to think, not think,

work, not work, free to climb

mountains or lie in bed eating

peppermint creams. Any damned

thing I want, without people

telling me how.

PINE:

Well then, I’d say I’m a free man

too.

ROPER:

No, that’s just the free part. The

man part is different. Children

grow up thinking the adult world is

ordered, rational, fit for purpose.

Becoming a man, that’s when you

realise none of it is true. Whole

thing is Father Christmas. We want

to believe in the old and trusted

ways. But everywhere we go, they’re

rotten. The free man sees the world

is rotten. And celebrates. To the

core.

A beat. PINE measures his response.

PINE:

Then I’ll say it again. I’m a free

man.

ROPER studies PINE’s face. PINE is strangely attracted to

this man.

ROPER:

Are you though?

He smiles.

And a jovial slap on the shoulder finishes the conversation.

For now.

22 OMITTED 22

The Night Manager ep 3 final

23 EXT. MADRID STREET. DAY. 23

A humble church. The SUV is parked at the curbside. BURR

and STEADMAN sit in front, affecting to study a map by

torchlight. The church door opens. A distraught JUAN

APOSTOL and a young priest emerge. The priest is worried.

He lays a restraining hand on APOSTOL'S shoulder. Would

Apostol like to spend the night in the church? But APOSTOL

is inconsolable. STEADMAN reads from his cellphone.

STEADMAN:

Eleven twenty pm, calls the hotline

at the Madrid public prosecutor's

office, says he has information

regarding a world-class illegal

arms deal. The operator asks him

his name. He hangs up.

Assumption:
a priest's advice only

goes so far. Twelve fifteen am,

calls his ex-wife, mother of his

dead daughter. She tells him to go

screw himself.

Through the windscreen, they see APOSTOL stand up and resume

his tortured roaming.

BURR:

Assumption:
he needs another

confessor.

24 INT. MADRID. CHURCH. DAY. 24

Inside the church WOMEN and MEN kneel and remember, kneel and

pray. APOSTOL lights a candle. He places it in the place of

remembrance. His eyes glisten with the seeds of tears.

He sits and prays. Then sees a figure approaching him.

APOSTOL:

Who are you?

BURR:

I’m your guardian angel Mr Apostol.

She lights a candle too. He stares at her.

25 INT. MADRID. CHURCH. PRIEST’S CHAMBER. DAY. 25

BURR and APOSTOL sit side by side. APOSTOL in despair.

APOSTOL:

I can’t sleep. Every night I think

of her. What I could have done.

The Night Manager ep 3 final

BURR:

Of course you do.

APOSTOL:

You’re having a child. You

understand how I feel.

BURR smiles.

BURR:

Of course I do.

APOSTOL:

I am not a bad man!

He beseeches her to believe him.

BURR:

I know you’re not. And I swear to

you I have no interest in taking

you down. Do you believe me?

Beat. She takes his hand. He nods.

BURR (CONT’D)

But you called that office in

Madrid because you have blood on

your hands. I’m here to wash it

off.

APOSTOL:

How?

BURR:

You know Richard Roper.

APOSTOL:

Yes of course. He’s a friend.

BURR:

He’s not a friend Juan. He dragged

you down, and your daughter with

you. Without Roper, that girl

would be alive tonight. God only

knows how you bear it. I couldn't.

Beat. He starts to cry. She holds him.

BURR (CONT’D)

I’m on the side of the angels Juan.

We're good people, we play

straight, we keep our promises. I

need you to help me. When it’s

done, I'll give you all the

protection that's in my power.

There's a fellow called Lance

Corkoran. D'you happen to know him?

The Night Manager ep 3 final

APOSTOL:

Of course. Roper’s closest

confidant.

BURR:

Yes well. That’s what needs to

change.

26 OMITTED 26

27 INT. MALLORCA. ROPER’S VILLA. DRIVE/CORRIDOR. DAY. 27

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