Who Framed Roger Rabbit Page #9

We FOLLOW Dolores as she leads Valiant and Roger across the

hall. She stops at a door, unlocks it, and leads them in.

INT. BACK ROOM

It's a tiny storage room/office with an institutional metal

desk, a cot, and assorted janitorial supplies stacked around.

Dolores shuts and locks the door behind her. Valiant goes to

a metal locker and digs through some tools, coming out with a

hacksaw. He sits on the cot and starts working on the cuffs.

DOLORES:

So you decided to help him after all?

VALIANT:

I oughta have my head examined.

(to Roger)

Will you hold still?

Roger quiets like a child for a moment as Valiant saws

feverishly. Then Roger slips his hand out of the cuff and

holds his side while Eddie keeps sawing.

ROGER RABBIT:

Does this help?

VALIANT:

Yeah, that's better.

Valiant saws a couple more strokes before the realization of

what Roger's done hits him. His face darkens. Roger sees

the look and sheepishly tries to recover by sticking his hand

back in the cuff.

VALIANT:

You mean to tell me you coulda taken

your hand outta that cuff at any time?

ROGER RABBIT:

Well, no, not any time. Only when it

was funny.

Valiant looks at Roger like he's about to brain him. Roger

pulls his hand free again, and cowers out of range. Valiant

just rubs his forehead.

VALIANT:

Are you always this funny, or only on

days when you're wanted for murder?

ROGER RABBIT:

My philosophy is if you don't have a

sense of humor, you're better off dead.

VALIANT:

Yeah... well you just might get your

wish.

DOLORES:

Can you get him out of it, Eddie?

VALIANT:

If I can find whoever wanted to kill

Acme bad enough to get this.

Valiant throws the pattycake picture down on the table.

Dolores and Roger both examine it closely.

DOLORES:

Acme's will.

ROGER RABBIT:

So that's what this little drama is all

about.

VALIANT:

Yeah. I think Maroon plays the part of

the sound mind, your wife the sound

body.

ROGER RABBIT:

I resent that innuendo! My wife is

completely innocent.

VALIANT:

Your wife may be a lot of things, pal,

but innocent isn't one of them.

DOLORES:

So what's the scam, Eddie?

VALIANT:

Maybe Baby Herman was right. Somebody

wants Acme's property. Cack the old

man, pin it on Roger, and destroy the

will.

ROGER RABBIT:

The habeus corpus is thickening.

VALIANT:

Yeah. Except they screwed up. I don't

think they got the will.

ROGER RABBIT:

How do you know that?

VALIANT:

Well, Acme had the will in his pocket

that night at the club. It was gone in

the morning when the cops found the

body.

DOLORES:

Maybe they just took it out of his

pocket.

VALIANT:

Then why'd they bother to crack the

safe? You can drop a Mosler 90 from

Mount Baldy and it won't open.

ROGER RABBIT:

Well, Mr. Smarty-Pants Detective, your

logic is specious. What prevented Mr.

Acme from putting the will back in the

safe before they killed him?

VALIANT:

Because he's not forty feet tall. The

safe was up on the ceiling, remember?

Dolores whistles over his deductions.

DOLORES:

Eddie, you still got it. Hey, tomorrow

maybe I'll go down to probate court and

see who's sniffin' around Acme's

estate?

VALIANT:

Yeah, do that. I'm gonna go rattle

Maroon's cage.

Valiant finishes sawing the cuffs. He stands and throws the

cuffs aside. Valiant and Dolores go to the door. Roger

follows them eagerly.

ROGER RABBIT:

What should I do? Who should I see?

Where should I go?

Valiant turns.

VALIANT:

Nothin', no one, nowhere,

He slams the door.

INT. POLO LOUNGE - CLOSE - MAROON

He's in a booth in the middle of a business lunch.

MAROON:

Maybe money grows on trees in Toontown,

but not at the Maroon Studio.

WIDEN THE SHOT to REVEAL that Maroon's sharing a booth with

BUGS BUNNY and his AGENT. Bugs is chewing on a carrot.

BUGS BUNNY:

Look, Doc, fiduciary considerations

aside, Roger Rabbit may have been

willing to play second banana to an

ankle-biter, but I ain't.

ACROSS THE ROOM:

A MAITRE D' is leading Valiant and Augie, the deaf-mute to a

table by the door.

VALIANT:

This'll be fine, huh, Augie?

Augie nods his head. They sit and pick up the menus. Augie

takes one peek and looks at Valiant, alarmed. He scribbles a

note. Valiant reads it.

VALIANT:

Forget about the prices, pal. If you

want the shrimp cocktail, you have a

shrimp cocktail.

(puts menu

down)

Excuse me, Augie, I've got a little

table-hopping to do.

Valiant gets up from the table and starts across the room.

AT MAROON'S BOOTH

AGENT:

I think you should know, R.K., we're in

negotiations for Bugs to star in his

own series at Warner Brothers.

MAROON:

Trying to scare up a bidding war

between me and Jack Warner, eh? Well,

it won't work. I'll call William

Morris and I'll have 'em put out a

rabbit call the likes of which this

town's never seen!

BUGS BUNNY:

It's your dime, Doc.

MAROON:

And stop callin' me Doc!

BUGS BUNNY:

Eh, sure, Doc.

Now Valiant arrives, pulls up a chair from next table and

sits down.

VALIANT:

Hi, Mr. Maroon. Remember me?

MAROON:

Valiant? What're you doin' here?

VALIANT:

I Just thought I'd drop by and show you

a photograph.

MAROON:

I've already seen your photographs.

VALIANT:

Yeah, but I enlarged this one. Thought

you might be interested.

Valiant takes an enlargement of the pattycake shot and puts

it on the table in front of Maroon. We can clearly see the

will sticking out of Acme's pocket.

VALIANT:

Anyway... enjoy your lunch.

Valiant stands and departs. But his visit has done it's

trick. Maroon looks l'ike he's seen a ghost. We FOLLOW

Valiant across the room to his table where Augie is

blissfully attacking a shrimp cocktail.

VALIANT:

How is that, Augie, pretty good?

Augie nods enthusiastically. Valiant keeps an eye on

Maroon's booth. Now he nudges Augie as Maroon excuses

himself and goes into the phone booth just outside the door.

Augie puts his shrimp fork down and picks up his pencil.

AUGIE'S POV

We see Maroon talk on the phone MOS. As his lips move,

Valiant supplies his words.

VALIANT (V.O.)

It's me. Valiant says there's a will.

I don't know what he's trying to

pull...

BACK TO SCENE:

Valiant is reading of Augie's pad as Augie reads Maroon's

lips, and scribbles down what he says.

VALIANT:

(reading)

Somebody's gonna have to take care of

him.

Augie looks up from his scribbling to exchange an eyebrow

raising glance with Valiant. Then he turns back to Maroon

again.

VALIANT:

(reading)

The old man had it at the club that

night. That's right. Yeah, I'm sure.

I'll be there.

Augie stops writing as Maroon hangs up the phone.

VALIANT:

(continuing; to

Augie)

Where?

Augie shrugs his shoulders. Disappointed, Valiant lights a

cigarette. Now Augie elbows him and gestures across at

Maroon, who's making another call. Augie starts writing

again.

VALIANT:

(continuing;

reading)

Iris... cancel my appointments this

afternoon. I'll be at Forest Lawn.

Maroon hangs up the phone and comes out of the phone booth.

He hustles out of the room. Valiant stands.

VALIANT:

You did great, Augie. Have another

shrimp cocktail.

Valiant drops a twenty on the table and pats Augie on the

back.

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