The Saint Page #7

INT. MANHATTAN - LE CIRQUE

-- Jillian and Templar at a corner table in Le Cirque. The meal is over. They're drinking coffee, laughing, at ease. The "date" is going well.

TEMPLAR:

I am not eccentric.

JILLIAN:

No? You live in the biggest house in America but do your own shopping, you talk to strange women about the history of apples, and you give a first-time date.. . shoes? Isn't the tradition flowers?

TEMPLAR:

You said you liked them.

JILLIAN:

I do. I'm joking. They're beautiful. Thank-you.

They smile at each other. A WAITER brings more coffee. There's a sudden commotion. Jillian and Templar look --

ACROSS THE ROOM - a group of WAITERS are clapping their hands for a YOUNG COUPLE seated at a table.

JILLIAN:

(to the waiter)

What happened?

WAITER:

(smiles)

He just asked her to marry him. Anything else?

JILLIAN looks at the radiant young couple. Smiles.

TEMPLAR:

Just the check please.

(the waiter exits; Jillian looks at him)

You didn't answer my question. Maybe it made you uncomfortable. Maybe I should just shut up...

JILLIAN:

No, it's all right. Okay: "Why Jillian never got married, chapter One:" I don't know where you're from. . .

TEMPLAR:

Canada.

JILLIAN:

I don't know what it's like there, but here, if a teenage girl doesn't want to be a cheerleader, or drink 'till she pukes every weekend, or talk endlessly on the phone every night about absolutely nothing, then she doesn't win many popularity contests, know what I mean? That pretty much took care of highschool.

TEMPLAR:

College?

JILLIAN:

Try earning double p.h.d.'s from Harvard before you turn twenty-three and having a social life.

TEMPLAR:

Can I ask a personal question?

(she nods)

What's your I.Q.?

JILLIAN:

(laughs)

That's personal? My I.Q.? Let's just say it's high.

TEMPLAR:

Very high.

JILLIAN:

Yes, very high. As high as yours.

TEMPLAR:

You don't honestly mean that.

JILLIAN:

Oh, you're a smart one, shoemaker. It's in the eyes. I can always tell.

They stare at each other. Neither averts eyes.

JILLIAN:

I just don't often get the opportunity. It feels nice.

TEMPLAR:

For me, too.

(and he means this:)

You're very pretty.

JILLIAN:

Stop it. Flattery will get you... someplace. I don't know where yet.

She smiles. The waiter arrives with the check; gives it to Templar. Jillian picks up her purse and takes her wallet out. Templar sees her doing this...

TEMPLAR:

No no no, absolutely not. Put that away.

JILLIAN:

It's not for us. It's for the couple over there.

(points at the couple across the room)

Waiter, put their bill on my card please.

WAITER:

Maam? Are you sure?

Jillian nods. The waiter takes Jillian's card, exits. Jillian smiles at Templar. [Due to his mean origins and evolution, Templar has witnessed approximately three charitable acts in his whole life, and this was the third.] Thus does Simon Templar smile uneasily back.

CUT TO:

INT. WESTCHESTER COUNTY - JILLIAN'S HOUSE - NIGHT

Neat, modest, non-descript. Jillian and Templar enter. Jillian walks across the living room into a bar alcove off the living room.

JILLIAN:

I'll make the booze. Turn on the news. I want to catch up on that Russia thing.

Templar turns on the T.V. His eyes rove around, casing the place.

JILLIAN (o.s.)

What do you want, Michael? I've got everything.

TEMPLAR:

Scotch please. No ice.

CNN EVENING NEWS with anchor BERNARD SHAW comes on.

BERNARD SHAW (on T.V.)

.. ..of the steadily growing NeoCzarist Party, leveled more allegations against President Victor Karpov. According to Romanov, two men, Gregor Tretiak...

Templar looks at the T.V. and double takes. A PHOTO OF GREGOR TRETIAK has appeared on the screen.

BERNARD SHAW (o.s.)

.. . and Ivan Gracha...

A PHOTO OF IVAN GRACHA, 50's, short, beady-eyed, sinister, appears on the screen.

JILLIAN pokes her head out of the bar.

JILLIAN:

What brand?

BERNARD SHAW (o.s.)

...allegedly the most powerful of Russia's underworld bosses, are linked to President Karpov in illegal enterprises...

JILLIAN walks over to Templar. They watch together.

JILLIAN:

That country's going to explode.

TEMPLAR:

It very well might. Oban.

JILLIAN:

What? .

TEMPLAR:

My brand of scotch. Oban. Have any?

JILLIAN:

No, but there's a liquor store five minutes away.

She grabs her coat, heads for the door.

TEMPLAR:

Wait. Don't be ridiculous.

She stops. Looks at him.

JILLIAN:

I want to be ridiculous.

(pause)

Michael, I haven't had anybody over in...a long time. And I happen to like you. I want to do this right. Okay?

(he smiles; nods)

I'll be back in ten minutes.

(points at fireplace)

Build a fire.

She winks at him and exits. Templar walks to the window and stands there, waiting. We hear Jillian's car start, see the headlights.

TEMPLAR:

You're making this too easy, dear.

He pulls from his pocket a BLACK CASE, flips it open, turns it on. On a miniature computer screen is a detailed map of WESTCHESTER COUNTY. Two locations are pulsing: 1) Jillian's house and 2) a moving object, transmitted from a homing device, which we now see –

INT. JILLIAN' S CAR - DRIVING

-- it's in JILLIAN'S SHOE as she stamps on the brake at a stoplight and waits and we CUT BACK to the house...

INT. JILLIAN' SHOUSE - BACK HALLWAY

TEMPLAR moves down the hall opening doors, looking for Jillian's lab. He moves quickly, ruthlessly.

He comes to a heavily locked FIRE DOOR. He unpockets a set of burglar's tools. For Templar, these locks are a joke. He opens them with alarming speed. He pushes open the door, revealing a DESCENDING STAIRCASE. He descends.

INT. JILLIAN'S HOUSE - BASMENT

Templar finds a lightswitch and flips it on. His eyes widen. Here we find --

JILLIAN'S LABORATORY. A POOL OF WATER (the size of a small swimming pool) is surrounded by HUNDREDS OF TEST TUBES of various shapes and sizes containing chemicals. Templar moves through, eyes scanning everything. He sees JILLIAN'S COMPUTER. Walks over to it.

He unpockets the HOMING SYSTEM and sets it on the desk. The PULSING LIGHT is still moving; Jillian hasn't yet reached the liquor store. He turns on Jillian's monitor and hard drive. The COMPUTER SCREEN blinks on. We see a MENU:

A.) Personal finances

B.) Income tax

C.) Things to do

D.) Addresses

E.) Research

Templar positions the cursor on "E.) Research" and hits "enter." The modem engages; this appears:

******* WELCOME TO THE INTERNET *******

PLEASE WAIT:

Then this appears: RETRIEVAL CODE: _____________________

TEMPLAR:

Smart girl. Send your data into cyberspace and only you can retrieve it. Because only you have the code.

He unpockets the 3 1/4 disk containing the data from Jillian's life and pushes it into the disk drive. He types a command; a new screen appears:

DATA ENTRY SYSTEM

Press any key to begin

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