What Lies Beneath Page #20

MRS. TEMPLETON

The wives.

Beat.

CLAIRE:

Right.

Mrs. Templeton leaves. Claire looks into the mirror.

CLAIRE (V.O.)

What was it about?

EXT. TEMPLETON'S HOUSE - NIGHT

Claire and Norman walk toward the car.

NORMAN:

You don't remember?

CLAIRE:

When she said it, there was something

familiar... but no.

He looks at her for a moment.

NORMAN:

You dropped a glass.

CLAIRE:

I...

NORMAN:

A cheap wine glass from the caterers.

You started crying. I tried to comfort

you...

CLAIRE:

(something's triggered)

In the living room...

NORMAN:

You shoved me away and ran out to

the patio. I took you home.

CLAIRE:

But why? I can't understand how I

could just completely --

NORMAN:

It was maybe a week after the

accident. We were moving. It was a

hard time.

CLAIRE:

But I don't remember.

NORMAN:

Sweetheart, it was over a year ago.

CLAIRE:

What's wrong with me?

He stops, takes her shoulders gently.

NORMAN:

(reassuring)

Nothing. Nothing at all. It's been a

hard year. But you're better now.

And things are really looking up for

us. So let's try to enjoy that.

(gently)

Please?

She thinks for a beat.

CLAIRE:

Yes. Yes. That's what I want.

She takes his hand and kisses it.

EXT. CLAIRE'S HOUSE - DAY

Claire walks up to the door. When she touches the knob she

hears... the WHISPERING. She opens the door and moves into:

INT. FOYER - DAY

The same intense whispered exchange. She glances into the

mirror and sees... SHAPES MOVING, BODIES, A FLASH OF SILVER.

She turns the corner and again... NO ONE'S THERE.

INT. NORMAN'S STUDY - DAY

She walks in and stands before:

The repaired photograph of herself and Norman... at the party

for the DUPONT CHAIR.

She takes it from the wall, stares at it for a moment, then

SMASHES IT ON THE EDGE OF THE DESK. She extricates the picture

from the broken glass. The caption reads:

"Dr. Norman Spencer being awarded the distinguished Dupont

Chair in Genetics by Dean of Sciences Torvald Ackerman."

She stares at the picture for a moment, then flips it over

and scans the stories on the back. One tells of a hotly

contested city council race, another contains details of a

large alumni donation to the university.

She notices the bottom corner of another story she hadn't

noticed before. It's only a small portion of one column, but

it seems to detail the search for A MISSING GIRL.

INT. WORK ROOM - DAY

Claire, online, logs onto a missing persons website. She

narrows her search to NEW ENGLAND. A screen pops up with a

list of names. She scrolls down the list until she finds...

FRANK, MADISON ELIZABETH.

CLAIRE:

M-E-F...

Claire double clicks on it, then waits breathlessly as a

blurry cyber photo fills the screen. Slowly, higher resolution

moves down the image.

IT'S THE GHOST.

Under the photo is the legend:

"DISAPPEARED - OCTOBER 22, 1998"

Claire stares at the familiar face, then shakily hits PRINT.

LATER:

Claire is staring down at the girl's face on the print out.

VOICE:

(on phone)

...she was practically a townie.

Grew up in Bradford.

CLAIRE:

And she was never found?

VOICE:

(on phone)

Nah. She was a live wire. Had this

old Mustang Fastback. It's gone too.

Most of her friends think she's

tooling around Mexico somewhere.

Police downgraded her to a runaway.

CLAIRE:

Thank you, Mr...

She glances at the byline on the back of the newspaper photo.

INSERT:

"by Neil McCann"

CLAIRE:

...McCann.

She hangs up.

INT. NORMAN'S STUDY - NIGHT

Norman is unpacking NOTES and CHEMICALS from his LEATHER

BAG.

Claire walks in.

CLAIRE:

Remember this?

She places the printout on his desk. He takes a long look at

it.

NORMAN:

Is this that girl from last year?

Claire nods.

CLAIRE:

Did you know her?

Norman looks again.

NORMAN:

I may have seen her on campus.

CLAIRE:

Not personally.

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