The Relic Page #7

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PENDERGAST:

The body?

D'AGOSTA

What's left of it.

PENDERGAST:

Mind if I have a look?

D'Agosta calls to A POLICE PHOTOGRAPHER who comes down the staircase

carrying lights, a donut stuffed in his mouth.

D'AGOSTA

We need light in here, stat.

PENDERGAST:

Where's the head?

D'Agosta points to a lump the size of a bowling ball that's in the

corner.

D'AGOSTA

Careful. That mess on the ground is

brains.

PENDERGAST:

Whose footprints?

D'AGOSTA

Night watchman who found the body.

Sweet old man. Been tossing his

cookies for over an hour. Not a

likely suspect.

The photographer is finally ready and he floods the dark room with

light. And now everyone (but not us) gets a very clear look at the

body.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER... spits out his donut. His eyes roll up and he drops

in a dead faint. Just like that. D'Agosta swallows hard.

D'AGOSTA

Woof.

Pendergast looks down, utterly impassive.

PENDERGAST:

Yes, I'd say we're definitely

working on the same case.

INT. IMAX ROOM - DAY

An old 19th century theater. Balconies. Heavy curtains. It looks like

the theater where Lincoln was shot, with the exception of the most

recent addition, an IMAX SCREEN five stories high. The room is filling

with museum employees, all murmuring anxiously. Margo sits down next

to Frock's wheelchair. Her face is ashen.

MARGO:

Dr. Frock, I just saw a man back

there who'd been wading in blood.

As Greg Kawakita sits in the chair next to Margo...

MARGO (CON'T)

For once I'm glad you're rumor

central. What in the world is going

on?

KAWAKITA:

Someone's been murdered. Not shot,

strangled or stabbed, either. Torn

limb from limb. There's talk of a

psychotic killer or even an animal.

FROCK:

For heaven's sake, Greg, someone's

been killed. Look, it's Cuthbert.

Let's hear what really happened.

At this everyone falls silent and IAN CUTHBERT steps forward to

address the crowd. He appears drawn and grey.

CUTHBERT:

This has been a tragic and upsetting

morning. I have terrible news for us

all. A member of our security force

has been found murdered. The police

have just informed me it was Daniel

Beauregard.

(murmuring fills the room)

Quiet. Please. With the help of our

head of security, Mr. Ippolito... the

museum has been secured.

IPPOLITO... rises in the back and nods to the crowd... He's an imperious

looking, pompous man with shifty eyes. Right now he's defensive.

Overnight, his job is on the line...

CUTHBERT:

The police are satisfied we're in no

danger, that we're all perfectly

safe. We've been asked to remain in

the Gem Room and be available for

questioning for the rest of the day.

Obviously, we will all do everything

we can to cooperate. Are there any

questions?

Ippolito raises a hand.

IPPOLITO:

The party for the opening of the

Superstition Exhibit... I imagine in

the light of what's happened it will

be pushed back.

CUTHBERT:

No action has been taken yet. The

opening of the exhibit is crucial to

the financial health of this museum.

So for now, we expect that the

Superstition Exhibit will open on

schedule, tomorrow night.

Ippolito registers surprise. The audience buzzes again.

INT. GEM ROOM - DAY

Margo, Dr. Frock and Greg Kawakita enter. The room is full of

spectacular displays of gemstones of every type. Greg drapes himself

over a grey sofa. Margo leans on a giant geode.

MARGO:

That Cuthbert. What a piece of work.

Someone's dead and all he cares

about is his Superstition Exhibit.

FROCK:

Cuthbert's counting on the

exhibition's success. The museum is

in debt. Contributions and public

funding have dried up. Admissions no

longer cover overhead. The last big

infusion of cash we had was the King

Tut exhibit. Cuthbert was hired to

get us out of the red. If the

Superstition Exhibit isn't

lucrative, he'll have to start

auctioning off some of these gems.

KAWAKITA:

With all this bad publicity, it's no

wonder he looks like that.

They glance over and see Cuthbert in the corner. He appears ill, is

compulsively fingering his watch chain from which hangs a RABBIT'S

FOOT. Frock goes over to speak to him, followed by Margo and Greg.

FROCK:

Ian. Are you okay?

CUTHBERT:

(shakes his head)

Beauregard. I can't believe it. I

may have been the last one to see

him alive. He was with me just

yesterday, when I got out the statue

of Mbwun.

MARGO:

(taken aback)

Mbwun.

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