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FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
FADE IN: EXT. SUBURBAN STREET - NIGHT A quiet upper-middle class neighborhood. The CAMERA is at the curb, looking down the street. There are no sidewalks. Trees arch overhead. CICADAS drone on the soundtrack. The OPENING TITLES briefly FADE IN and OUT, framed by the trees on either side of the street. Footsteps are heard approaching. As the picture TITLE FADES, out of the dark emerges a GIRL 17 years old, carrying schoolbooks. This is JILL. CAMERA PANS with her ninety degrees as she comes to the front of a house and stops. Lights are on in the bottom half of the house, and the curtains across the windows are open. A single light burns in the upper right side of the house, presumable in a bedroom, but the curtains in the room are drawn. A scene TITLE appears on the lower half of the screen: 8 pm Tuesday, March 23, 1971 The TITLE FADES, and Jill heads up the walk to the front door of the house. The light in the upper floor of the house is turned off. INT. HOUSE - FRONT HALL A middle-aged DOCTOR is standing at the foot of the stairs. His WIFE is descending the stairs, putting on her earrings. She is in an obvious hurry. WIFE Where's the girl? DOCTOR I only called her ten minutes ago -- WIFE (passing into living room) I made our reservation for 8:15. We're going to be late. The doorbell rings. DOCTOR Here she is now. He crosses to the front door and opens it. The girl smiles at him uncomfortably from outside. JILL Dr. Minakis? DOCTOR Mandrakis. It's okay. Everyone gets it wrong the first time. You're Jill? Come on in. JILL (entering) Thank you. The wife comes back into the front hall. WIFE I've written the number of the restaurant on the notepad by the phone. (to Doctor) Zip me up, will you please? (to Jill) If we aren't home in two hours, it means we've decided to go on to a movie and won't be back until after midnight. Is that all right? JILL Sure. DOCTOR (helping wife on with her coat) I've told my service to pick up any calls coming in to my office phone. WIFE The children are asleep upstairs -- first door on your left at the top of the landing. They're both just getting over a cold -- so try not to wake them. JILL Okay. WIFE Do you have any questions? Jill shakes her head. WIFE We have to go now. We're late. They cross to the front door and begin to exit. DOCTOR Make yourself at home. The refrigerator's loaded. WIFE (pulling doctor through the door) Goodbye. The doctor pokes his head back through the door. DOCTOR We even have some low-fat yogurt. WIFE (O.S.) Will you please come on! DOCTOR Bye. The doctor pulls the door shut behind him. Jill turns toward the living room. Pause. She walks into the living room and sets her books down on a table with the telephone on it. O.S. we hear the car doors close, the engine start up, then the car backing out the driveway and heading down the street. CUT TO: INT. DINING ROOM - LATER It is dark. O.S. we hear the phone in the living room being lifted off its receiver, a dial tone, then a number is dialed. Pause, then ringing. CAMERA SLOWLY DOLLIES from the dining room, across the front hall and into the living room where we see Jill talking over the phone to a girlfriend, NANCY. NANCY (O.S.) Hello? JILL Nancy? NANCY (O.S.) Hello, Jill? How's it going? (out of phone) I got it, Dad! (beat) Father! (into phone again) Jesus Christ! My father's in one of his moods again. Male menopause, you know. So how are you? JILL All right. NANCY (O.S.) Are you over at Dr. Mandrakis'? JILL Yeah, I've been here for about an hour already. NANCY (O.S.) Isn't it a neat house? JILL I guess... I haven't looked around very much. NANCY (O.S.) Did you see his kids? JILL No, they were asleep when I got here. NANCY (O.S.) They're really cute. So what can I do for you? JILL You didn't happen to talk to Billy today, did you? NANCY (O.S.) Yeah, I talked to him. JILL Did he say anything about me? Pause. NANCY (O.S.) I don't know what you did to him, or said to him, or what... but he's really pissed off at you! What did you do? JILL It's what I didn't do. NANCY (O.S.) (sarcastic) Yeah, I can imagine. JILL Do me a favor, Nance. NANCY (O.S.) What. JILL Do you think you'll be talking with Billy some time tonight? NANCY (O.S.) Prabably. I'm going to the library in a few minutes. I just have to get out of this house! (beat) Hey! Why don't Billy and I come over there? He'll come along if I tell him to. JILL That isn't what I had in mind. NANCY (O.S.) You'll be safe with Billy. I'll be there. Come on. JILL Nancy, all you want to do is come over here and get drunk. NANCY (O.S.) Who? Me? JILL (mimicking) Who? Me? NANCY (O.S.) You want to see Billy, don't you?! JILL I've got a lot of work to do. I don't want you coming over! Long pause. NANCY (O.S.) You know what your problem is, Jill, is you're so straight. I really mean that. You go to a private school, you wear a bra. No one can have a good time with you! (beat) You know, Billy asked me to go out with him this weekend, and I was really really tempted because I like Billy... a lot... as much as you do. But I told him I couldn't, that I didn't think it was right because you were my friend -- JILL You are my friend. Pause. NANCY (O.S.) Yeah. I guess so. JILL Listen, just give Billy the number here, but don't tell him I told you to. Okay? Pause. NANCY (O.S.) Okay. I've got to go now. JILL Okay, Nancy. Bye. And thank you. NANCY (O.S.) Yeah. Bye. Jill makes a face at the phone and hangs up. She tries to go back to her homework, but she cannot. CUT TO: INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER Jill is working now, diligently. The phone rings. She picks it up. JILL Hello? There is a brief pause; then the line goes dead and a dial tone cuts in. Jill hangs up and goes back to work. Pause. The phone rings again. Jill picks it up. JILL Billy?... A VOICE speaks on the other end of the phone. DUNCAN (O.S.) Have you checked the children? JILL What? The line goes dead. Dial tone. Jill hangs up and goes right back to work. CUT TO: INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER Jill sits at the table as before, doing her homework, smoking a cigarette. The phone rings. Jill picks it up. JILL Hello? DUNCAN (O.S.) Have you checked the children? JILL Mrs. Mandrakis? The line goes dead. Dial tone. Jill hangs up and looks off into space, thinking. O.S. we hear a faint rattling noise from somewhere in the house. Jill hears it too. She stubs out her cigarette, gets up from the table and walks out of the living room. INT. HALLWAY Jill enters the hallway and pauses. Then she starts walking slowly down the hall to the kitchen door. Again the rattling noise O.S., only louder this time. Jill stops dead, listens, then continues forward even more cautiously. INT. KITCHEN As Jill enters. She cannot find the lightswitch, so she stands in the darkness listening. Again the rattle, very close now. Jill turns her head sharply, then walks to the refrigerator and opens it. It is only the automatic icemaker creating the rattle. Jill takes a piece of cake from the refrigerator and leaves the kitchen. INT. LIVING ROOM Jill is sitting at the table, polishing off the cake. Then, the phone rings. Jill stands up quickly and picks up the phone. JILL Hello! Pause. DUNCAN (O.S.) Have you checked the children? JILL Billy! I don't think this is very funny! Pause. "Billy" doesn't answer. JILL ...Who is this? The line goes dead. Jill stands frozen beside the table with the phone in her hand as the dial tone gets louder and louder. CUT TO: INT. LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER Jill is standing at the wet bar in the corner, pouring herself a drink. She samples the alcohol, doesn't cough, and starts to pour a little more into the glass. The phone rings. Jill turns, then slowly walks to the table, kneels down and quietly picks up the phone and brings it to her ear. She waits and listens, a full three seconds. No sound comes to her. She quickly hangs up the phone before the silence can be broken by the voice she knows is waiting on the other end. Then, she shuffles through her books and papers on the table- top until she finds the notepad the doctor's wife has left for her with the name and phone number of the restaurant. Jill picks up the phone and dials. After several rings... MAITRE D' (O.S.) Golden Bull... JILL Hello, I'd like to speak to Dr. Mandrakis. This is his babysitter. MAITRE D' (O.S.) Hold on a minute. Jill waits for several seconds until the Maitre D' comes back on the line. MAITRE D' (O.S.) Hello? JILL Yes? MAITRE D' (O.S.) Dr. Mandrakis left the restaurant about forty minutes ago. JILL Forty minutes? MAITRE D' (O.S.) That's right. JILL (after a beat) Okay. Thank you. She hangs up, thinks for a moment, then picks up the phone again and dials "O"... OPERATOR (O.S.) Operator... JILL Hello, Operator? Can you get me the police? OPERATOR (O.S.) Is this an emergency? JILL Yes! (beat) No, not really. OPERATOR (O.S.) The number is 555-9431. Would you like me to connect you? JILL Please. Pause. MAN'S VOICE (O.S.) Seventh Precinct, Sergeant Sacker. JILL Hello, I've been getting phone calls, every fifteen minutes or so. I think it's a man. He's trying to scare me. SACKER (O.S.) An anonymous caller? JILL That's right. SACKER (O.S.) Has he threatened you? JILL No. SACKER (O.S.) Has he been using obscene language? JILL No. He just keeps calling me. Sometimes he doesn't say anything. SACKER (O.S.) There's really nothing we can do about it down here. Is the phone listed in your name? JILL No, I'm just the babysitter. SACKER (O.S.) It's probably just some weirdo. The city's full of them. Believe it or not, we get reports like this every night. It's nothing to worry about. JILL Oh... SACKER (O.S.) Have you tried whistling? JILL What? SACKER (O.S.) If you can find a good loud whistle somewhere in the house, blow it into the phone hard, next time he calls. Probably break his eardrum. He won't bother you after that. JILL No, I... You're probably right. It's nothing to worry about. SACKER (O.S.) Or you could just take your phone off the hook. JILL No, the people I'm babysitting for might try to reach me. SACKER (O.S.) Well, as I say, there's nothing we can really do to help you down here. JILL Okay. Thank you. SACKER (O.S.) You bet. Goodnight. JILL Goodnight. Jill hangs up. After thinking for a moment, she tries a couple of ways of whistling as loud as she can, but frustrated and feeling foolish, she soon gives up. CUT TO: INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER Jill is sitting in an armchair facing the TV set. The TV is on, but she is bored. She runs through several channels, then gets up and turns the TV off. She looks around and moves aimlessly back to the table, but O.S. a dog is barking and she is drawn to the window. A car passes outside, its lights reflecting off the window and Jill's face. Then the phone rings. Jill moves quickly from the window to the table and answers the phone. JILL Hello? Pause. DUNCAN (O.S.) Why haven't you checked the children? Stunned, Jill hangs up the phone. She turns and goes slowly back to the window. She pulls the shutters closed in front of the window. Then she walks out of the living room. INT. FRONT HALL Jill goes to the front door, turns the bolt and draws the chain across the door. Then she starts to go upstairs. The phone rings. She stops halfway up the stairs. She turns and comes back down the stairs to answer the phone, but then thinks better of it. She sits on the bottom step and lets the phone ring and ring... Finally, it stops. Jill gets up and heads into the living room. INT. LIVING ROOM Jill goes to the table, picks up the phone and dials... SACKER (O.S.) Seventh Precinct, Sergeant Sacker. JILL I called you before... about the man who keeps calling me? SACKER (O.S.) Oh, yeah. JILL He called me again. SACKER (O.S.) Did you try whistling? JILL No, he's out there somewhere. SACKER (O.S.) Out where? JILL In the neighborhood. He's been watching me... through the windows. SACKER (O.S.) Did you see him? JILL No. I know he's there. SACKER (O.S.) Is the house locked up? JILL Yes. SACKER (O.S.) And the windows? JILL Yes. Everything. SACKER (O.S.) Then you're safe. If he wanted to break in, he wouldn't be calling you. Pause. JILL Please, can't you help me? I'm all alone. SACKER (O.S.) Tell you what. If this guy calls you again -- JILL He will call again! I know he will! SACKER (O.S.) Okay, calm down now. I can alert the phone company so that if he calls again we can try to trace the call. What's your number there? JILL 555-0672. SACKER (O.S.) And the address? JILL 3317 Oakridge Drive. SACKER (O.S.) Oh, yeah, I know where that is. All right. If the guy calls again, try to keep him on the line for at least a minute so we can trace the call. JILL But he never stays on that long! Sometimes he hangs up after just a couple of seconds. SACKER (O.S.) It's the only way we can help you. (beat) By the way, what's your name? JILL Jill Johnson. SACKER (O.S.) Jill, the important thing is to relax. You're safe where you are. We've got patrolmen cruising the area all night long. Just stay calm. Will you do that for me? JILL Yes. SACKER (O.S.) In the meantime, we'll be watching your line. Okay, Jill? JILL Okay. SACKER (O.S.) Call again if there's any problem. JILL Thank you. SACKER (O.S.) Goodnight. Jill hangs up the phone and looks forlornly off into space. CUT TO: INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER Jill is sitting on the sofa, a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other. She is waiting. She sets her glass down, stubs out the cigarette, leans back and sighs. She is very tense. Then the phone rings. She rises from the sofa and slowly crosses to the table. She sits down and picks up the phone. During this conversation it becomes apparent that the VOICE has a slight English accent. JILL Hello? Pause. DUNCAN (O.S.) It's me. JILL I know. Who are you? Pause. No answer. JILL I won't be here much longer. The doctor and his wife are coming home soon. DUNCAN (O.S.) I know. JILL Can you see me? DUNCAN (O.S.) Yes. JILL (turning toward the window) I'm sorry I turned the lights down. It didn't work anyway. I can turn them back up if you like -- DUNCAN (O.S.) Don't. JILL Don't? (beat) You've really scared me. Is that what you wanted? (beat) Is that what you wanted? DUNCAN (O.S.) No. JILL What do you want? DUNCAN (O.S.) Your blood... all over me. Pause. Jill is terrified. JILL You don't know me. You don't know who I am or where I live. I'll get Dr. Mandrakis to drive me home. Him or the police. DUNCAN (O.S.) You've called the police? Pause. Jill searches for some way of answering him. JILL I want to talk to you. The line goes dead. Jill hangs up. She stands. She starts to shake. The phone rings and Jill snatches it up. JILL Leave me alone! SACKER (O.S.) Jill, this is Sergeant Sacker! Listen to me! (beat) We've traced the call. It's coming from within the house. A squad car's on its way over there now... just get out of that house! Jill hangs up. She stands frozen in shock. Several seconds go by. She doesn't move. Then the phone rings. She turns and tiptoes toward the front door. Halfway there, the phone stops ringing. She pauses for a second, then continues. INT. FRONT HALL Jill reaches the front door. Carefully, quietly, she turns the bolt. Then O.S. she hears a creak. She turns and looks up the staircase. At the top, a door is opening. Someone is coming out! A mumbling sound is heard on the sound track. Jill whirls around back to the door and yanks at it. It opens, but only an inch. The chain is still across it! She frantically works to get the chain free. After agonizing seconds, the chain falls clear and the door swings open. Standing there on the other side of the door, is a police Detective, JOHN CLIFFORD. (We have cut ahead in time some twenty or thirty minutes.) Behind him on the street, several patrol cars and an ambulance are pulled up at the curb, their domelights silently flashing. CLIFFORD Are the parents here yet? COP'S VOICE (O.S.) Yeah, they arrived about ten minutes ago. CLIFFORD Christ! (beat) What a homecoming! COP'S VOICE (O.S.) They wanted to talk to someone. I asked them to wait until you got here. Come on in. Clifford sighs and steps into the front hall. The door is closed by the uniformed COP with whom Clifford has been speaking. The cop is a man in his thirties. His name is CHARLES GARBER. Garber and Clifford stand in the front hall and talk as POLICEMEN and AMBULANCE ATTENDANTS move around them. In the living room beyond can be seen several other POLICEMEN, Dr. Mandrakis and his wife. GARBER We were only a block away when the call went out. When we got here, the guy was still waiting upstairs in the children's bedroom. He was covered with blood. CLIFFORD Blood? GARBER Not his own. The children had been dead for several hours. CLIFFORD Jesus... GARBER He'd been using an old phone in their bedroom that the parents had never had disconnected. CLIFFORD Who is he? GARBER We found a Merchant Seaman's card on him. He's English. Entered the country less than a week ago. CLIFFORD How about the babysitter? GARBER She's going to be all right. As Garber delivers his final line, we see ambulance attendants dressed in white, taking a sheet-covered stretcher out the front door. FADE OUT: FADE IN: EXT. STREET - LATER AFTERNOON An upper-class neighborhood. The CAMERA is facing down the street. A car approaches the intersection at the end of the block, turns and comes slowly up the street. Because it is not a new car or an expensive car, and because it is moving at a rate which suggests that its sole male occupant is looking for house numbers, we can assume that the DRIVER is a visitor to this neighborhood. The CAMERA PANS with the car ninety degrees as it turns into the semi-circular driveway of a mansion and rolls up to the front door. A TITLE appears across the bottom of the screen: 4:30 pm Thursday, April 20, 1978 As the TITLE FADES, the driver shuts off the car engine and opens the door to get out. CUT TO: INT. MANSION - DAY The doorbell rings. A HOUSEBOY comes into the front hall, goes to the door and opens it for the visitor. It is John Clifford, the detective from six years ago. He has aged noticeably over the years. His hair is grayer, his stance not so aggressive, but his eyes still smoulder with the accumulated frustration of having spent years in an uncertain, sometimes unsatisfying, and frequently unsafe occupation. No words are exchanged as the houseboy leads Clifford across the entrance hall and up an imposing flight of stairs. Still keen in his observation of things, Clifford quickly takes in this new atmosphere. The house is richly decorated but with an underlying theme of melancholy. There are no bright or cheerful furnishings, and the houseboy advances with guarded tread, his face steady and reverent. The houseboy stops before a door at the top of the staircase and raps lightly on it with his knuckles. Without waiting for an answer, he opens the door and steps aside for Clifford to enter. Clifford pauses briefly, then walks into what appears to be an upstairs study. INT. STUDY - DAY A MAN is sitting behind a desk which faces the door. Presumably he is the master of the house. Although his face is hidden in shadows, we can see from his hands that he is engaged in writing something down. Clifford quietly approaches the desk and takes a seat in front of it. Then, vaguely in keeping with the spirit of the house, he waits to be spoken to rather than interrupt the pervasive stillness. After a moment, the master of the house lays down his pen and leans back in his chair. Pause. MASTER So you're in business for yourself now. CLIFFORD (quietly) Yes, sir, for the past three and a half years. MASTER That's good. (beat) And you'd heard about Curt Duncan's escape? CLIFFORD Oh, yes. MASTER Do you think the police will... find him? Pause. CLIFFORD I know they haven't assigned anyone to it specifically. It's an old case. MASTER (a tinge of bitterness) An old case. (beat) Can you find him? CLIFFORD Yes. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not this week, but I'll find him. MASTER He could be anywhere by now. CLIFFORD I don't think so... because he's a foreigner. He'll come back to the city. After six years in confinement, it's the only place that's familiar to him. That's important. Pause. MASTER A man murders two children in cold blood. A jury declares him insane. How could such a person not be? Clifford lowers his eyes, doesn't answer. MASTER He is sent to a state mental institution where the security is... less than perfect. And he escapes. It... it isn't fair. The master of the house leans way forward over his desk, and his face comes out of the shadows and into the light. It is Dr. Mandrakis. He seems much older. His complexion is pallid. His eyes stare out from beneath his brow like a wounded animal hiding in a dark cave. MANDRAKIS A thing like that should never be allowed to happen again. CLIFFORD I couldn't agree with you more. They look at each other for a long moment of acknowledgment. Then Mandrakis stands up with a sigh. MANDRAKIS Go ahead then. My accountant will contact you. Clifford stands and they shake hands. CLIFFORD Thank you. (beat) How is Mrs. Mandrakis? MANDRAKIS She is... unable to have any more children. CLIFFORD I'm sorry. Please give her my best. MANDRAKIS Of course. Clifford turns to go. INT. MANSION - STAIRCASE & ENTRANCE HALL As Clifford finds his own way down the stairs and out the front door. A WOMAN watches Clifford leave from the back of the staircase. It is Mrs. Mandrakis. As with her husband, the change in her is remarkable. She is now a brooding, barren woman. O.S. the front door closes. Clifford is gone. Mrs. Mandrakis walks around the front of the stairs and begins slowly ascending them. The houseboy silently steps into the entrance hall from a side door and watches her. CUT TO: INT. A HALLWAY - MENTAL INSTITUTION - DAY A male PATIENT wearing green, institutional pajamas and slippers shuffles slowly up the hall. His movement is catatonic, unfocused. Canned Musak faintly underscores the scene. MAN'S VOICE (O.S.) Curt Duncan isn't going to run right out and kill more children. I'm not worried about that. ANGLE ON CLIFFORD Standing in the doorway of an office, facing into the hall, watching the patient. MAN'S VOICE (O.S.) We had him for six years... under continuous therapy, some of it rather forceful... ANGLE ON PATIENT Moving past CAMERA. He is really out of it. It is a depressing, vaguely unnerving sight. MAN'S VOICE (O.S.) ...and drugs... tranquilizers depressants, lithium... ANGLE ON CLIFFORD He turns and goes back into the office. INT. OFFICE - DAY We see now the MAN who's been talking -- the director of the State Hospital, DR. MONK. He is sitting comfortably behind his desk; his jacket off, his tie loosened, his feet up on the desk. He is very matter-of-fact. DR. MONK Eventually, anyone will respond to the treatment here. Clifford sits down in front of the desk, picks up a folder and leafs through it. CLIFFORD You gave him electric shock? DR. MONK Yeah, we zapped him a few times. It's fairly standard. CLIFFORD It says here thirty-eight... thirty- eight times. Monk shrugs, then yawns expansively. He needn't justify himself to the layman. CLIFFORD What will happen to him now, without the drugs he was on? DR. MONK'S SECRETARY enters the office and hands him a folder. Without interrupting the delivery of his lines, Monk takes the folder, opens it, initials something on the inside, closes the folder and hands it back to the secretary who turns and leaves the office without uttering a word. DR. MONK There'll be some deterioration. That's inevitable, but we can't say how much. Pause. Clifford looks at the doctor as if questioning his casual assessment of "some deterioration." CLIFFORD During the time that you had him here, did you discover any particular habits of his, peculiarities, quirks, anything that might help me find him? DR. MONK (shrugging again) It's all in the folder. CLIFFORD Any letters from people back in England? Family? DR. MONK That, too, is in the folder. Clifford directs a bleak look back down at the open folder, then looks up again, his eyes narrowing. CLIFFORD Let's get something straight here, Doctor. I've been 33 years in the business of tracking people down and putting them away. I spent almost a year on Curt Duncan alone, with the trial, the testimonies, the background investigations. I didn't come here today to look in your goddamn folders. In fact, I wouldn't have come here at all if you'd done your job right. Pause. DR. MONK Mr. Clifford, this is a hospital, not a penitentiary. Everything that pertains to one of our patients is meticulously recorded in that patient's folder... whether you can make sense of it or not. They glare at each other for several seconds. Monk is the first one to look away. DR. MONK Curt Duncan is a classic paranoid- schizophrenic. They see themselves as victims, and they always blame other people for the way they are. When Duncan killed the Mandrakis kids, it wasn't an act of hostility against the children but against their parents. He was getting back at his own parents for traumas he suffered in early childhood. The criminal side of Curt Duncan is one of terrible, symbolic vengeance. CLIFFORD (looking up) Assuming he isn't found right away... what will happen to him? Monk rises and walks to a window. DR. MONK I think you'll find him. Somebody will find him. He can't function out there. He'll make a mistake. (turning to face Clifford) This is where he belongs. After six years in here, he's suddenly gone out to confront the world again. I think he's in for a bit of a shock. Monk looks back out the window. CUT TO: EXT. CITY STREET - LATE AFTERNOON Not a terribly good section of town. We are looking at the nondescript exterior of a bar across the street. INT. BAR This is not a slum bar, but it's close. There are a few tables and chairs and a pool table in the back. The atmosphere is quiet, almost depressed, and the handful of REGULARS here are exercising their privacy without having to be alone. They include: HANK, the bartender, also the owner, who absently polishes things with his cloth; TRACY, an unemployed woman in her mid-forties who sits at the bar with a drink and a cigarette and silently rummages through her current feelings -- none of them new or particularly hopeful; a COUPLE, probably retired, sitting at the same table they come to every afternoon at this time -- him for his beer, her for a glass of sweet white wine; and BILL, at the pool table, a young man lithe and powerful, minding his own business and playing his game of pool with a steady, aggressive concentration. RETIRED MAN Rackin' 'em up today, Bill? Pause. BILL (over his shoulder) Doin' all right. The old man smiles stupidly around the room. He racked 'em up a little in his day, too. His smile fades as he looks at his wife. He takes a sip of beer and lapses into memories. Then the door opens to the outside and the yellow-orange light of late afternoon floods into the bar. The regulars turn to glimpse who's coming in. They see the figure of a MAN silhouetted in the doorway. He stands there for a long moment, not coming in. Finally even Bill interrupts his game to turn and look. HANK C'mon in and shut the door. The intruder enters, indecisively. The door swings shut behind him, plunging the room back into darkness. This man is "a little weird", and the regulars continue to stare at him until he makes his way to a table near the wall and sits down. Then everyone returns to his own thoughts. HANK (after a moment) What'll it be? (pause, no answer) Hey! What'll it be? CLOSEUP - INTRUDER A bit startled, a bit defensive toward the directness of this question. It is Curt Duncan. He looks understandably harried. He hasn't slept or shaved in at least a couple of days, and is wearing regular clothing. He clears his throat to answer... CLIFFORD (O.S.) What kind of clothes was he wearing... when he escaped? CUT TO: INT. DR. MONK'S OFFICE -DAY Clifford is looking through the folder again. DR. MONK Ordinary street clothes. Not all of our patients have to wear the green Gucci gowns. CLIFFORD Did he have any money with him? DR. MONK Probably. But not more than, say, fifty dollars. Some of the patients are given little jobs around the ward, for which they are paid. It's part of the rehabilitation. Looking down, Clifford pauses over a page in the folder. CLOSEUP - FACT SHEET IN FOLDER A page of legibly organized facts and statistics about Curt Duncan. One of the entries reads: Guy du Marraux. CLIFFORD (O.S.) (reading) What's Guy du Mar-- DR. MONK (O.S.) (pronouncing it correctly) Guy du Marraux syndrom. BACK TO SCENE DR. MONK It's a psycho-motor dysfunction. CLIFFORD Duncan had it? DR. MONK Only from time to time, which is unusual. CLIFFORD What is it? DR. MONK It attacks the nervous system. People suffering from it are irresistibly compelled to utter obscenities, sometimes one, sometimes a whole string of them. They can't control it. CLIFFORD (somewhat taken aback) Are you being serious? DR. MONK Yeah. Here, I'll give you an example. He opens a file cabinet drawer, finds a reel of quarter-inch magnetic tape and starts to thread it through a recorder on his desk. DR. MONK Duncan never had the twitch that sometimes goes with it. And with Duncan, as I said, the disease would only manifest itself in periods of extreme anxiety. When he was really flipping out, in other words. There is a pause as Monk fiddles with the tape recorder and Clifford looks back down at the folder. CLIFFORD Duncan was Catholic? DR. MONK Yeah. (beat) So am I. CLIFFORD (mildly surprised) That makes three of us. DR. MONK Is that right? So we all share the same guilt. Clifford smiles. Monk keeps fiddling. DR. MONK Here. This is Curt Duncan shortly after he was admitted here in 1972. Monk turns on the tape recorder as Clifford sits forward in his chair to listen. At first, nothing can be heard. Then there is a click as if the machine was turned on in the middle of a conversation: DR. MONK (O.S.) -- to put the situation right. The hypodermic needles are only used to give you medication that will calm you down. They make you feel good, relaxed. All right? (no answer) We're not putting anything in your food either. The food is just food. DUNCAN (O.S.) (extremely agitated) No. I don't eat the food. It doesn't taste right. DR. MONK (to Clifford) That's Duncan. Clifford nods and keeps listening: DR. MONK (O.S.) Curt, why are you fidgeting? Can't you get comfortable? DUNCAN (O.S.) No, I'm not comfortable! DR. MONK (O.S.) Wait a -- Hey! (to someone else) Hold him down there. Grab him! Never mind the chair! There are scuffling noises underneath which can be heard, heavy breathing and then, getting louder and more furious, Duncan falling into the throes of Guy du Marraux. DR. MONK (O.S.) (periodically interjecting) Pull him down... That's right... Just lay him out... Lay him right out... Steady... Pull out his knees... Finally Monk is heard no more and Duncan continues with the frightening verbal torrent of Guy du Marraux. DISSOLVE TO: INT. BAR - LATE AFTERNOON - CLOSEUP - DUNCAN Sitting at his table inside the bar. He takes a long, noisy drink from what looks like a bourbon on the rocks. It tastes good, being the first real drink he's had in over six years. But Duncan cannot relax enough to enjoy it fully. His eyes are ever restlessly, suspiciously moving about. ANGLE ON BAR As Bill walks up and stands next to Tracy. Hank moves off to get Bill another beer. Tracy looks up at Bill and smiles. As regulars at the same bar, they are loose and comfortable with each other. TRACY (sotto voce) A little action for your game? BILL (sotto voce) What, him? They both turn and look across the room at Duncan. POV - DUNCAN As Bill and Tracy look straight at him over their shoulders and then turn back. ANGLE ON BAR As they both smile at her joke. TRACY I wouldn't bet against you. BILL What's the matter? You don't like me playing with myself? Tracy grimaces as Hank comes back with Bill's beer. Bill picks up the bottle, nods his thanks to Hank and heads back to the pool table. CLOSEUP - DUNCAN As his eyes follow Bill to the pool table, then come back to Tracy at the bar. POV - DUNCAN Looking at the back of Tracy. She reaches into her purse. ON TRACY She takes her pack of cigarettes from the purse. She pulls out a cigarette, taps it lightly on the bar, puts it to her lips. O.S. we hear the sound of a match being struck. WIDER ANGLE Duncan is standing beside her holding a lit match. He shoves it forward at her. It goes out. Duncan fumbles for another match as Tracy regards him with undisguised repulsion. Duncan gets the second match lit and holds it out for her. She accepts the favor and lights her cigarette. Duncan smiles. Tracy nods and turns away. Duncan is still holding the burning match for her to blow out. As it doesn't look like she's going to, he lets it drop, still lit, to the floor. REACTION SHOT - BARTENDER He gives a look as if to say, "Jesus, what a fuckin' weirdo". TWO SHOT - DUNCAN AND TRACY Pause. Duncan is still smiling at her. DUNCAN Hi. No response. DUNCAN What you been up to? TRACY (looking at him) My own business. (beat) Thanks for the light. Okay? The Englishman sits down beside her, but doesn't look at her. Tracy looks away too, determined to ignore him, not to let him get into her space. Duncan coughs. After a long moment, he turns back to her. DUNCAN Next round's on me. Tracy keeps her eyes straight ahead, acknowledging nothing. Pause. Duncan takes some money from his pocket and lays it on the bar, staring at her. Tracy turns to him: TRACY (annoyed) Listen, mister, I've got my own money. So, if you don't mind... She looks away again. Pause. DUNCAN After what I been through, I don't mind anything. Longer pause. DUNCAN See, that's the whole point. My mind... Your mind... Where do they fit in? You know what I mean? Tracy abruptly picks up her purse and moves down the bar away from him one seat, then another seat. ANGLE ON ELDERLY COUPLE They are watching this little spectacle with growing curiosity. ANGLE ON DUNCAN Still looking at her. By pointing at what she has, he orders two more drinks from the Bartender. When they arrive, he takes a big swallow from one, picks up the other, stands, moves down the bar and sits beside Tracy again. DUNCAN (setting her drink before her) Do you live around here? TRACY Get offa me!! REACTION SHOTS Even Bill now looks up from the pool table. His expression darkens. ANGLE ON BAR Tracy has clammed up -- her elbows on the bar, head between her elbows, arms covering her ears, hands clasped behind her neck. Duncan looks at her nervously and starts to talk again: DUNCAN (rapidly) Listen, I didn't mean nothin'. I don't live around here. See -- ? BILL (O.S.) I think the lady wants to be left alone. Duncan looks up. Bill enters the frame and stands in front of Tracy, confronting Duncan. CLOSEUP - DUNCAN Looking up at Bill, his eyes red, his gaze unsteady. WIDER ANGLE The air is charged with tension. BILL I think an apology is in order. Duncan doesn't know how to handle this. He looks at Bill, half shrugs, half smiles. BILL That the best you can do? Duncan looks away. A long moment passes. BILL I think you'd better just move along, pal. Duncan doesn't move, says nothing. He swallows hard. HANK He'll be okay now, Bill. He just -- BILL No! I want him out of here! The bartender steps back, deciding to mind his own business. Tracy gets up from her seat and cautiously moves even further down the bar. BILL (to Duncan) Go on, beat it. They glare at each other. The longer Duncan sits there without moving, without saying anything, the angrier Bill gets. REACTION SHOTS As the tension builds. ANGLE ON BAR Duncan looks away. BILL I'm not going to say it again, mister. Duncan reaches for his drink, but Bill reacts quicker. With a swipe of his hand, he knocks the glass off the bar, and it shatters on the floor behind the bar. Duncan sits there, stunned, not looking up. After a long moment, Duncan coughs. Then he turns and looks at Bill. He purses his lips. It looks like a nervous facial movement. Then suddenly, Duncan spits at Bill, hitting him square in the face. Before anyone can register what's happened, Bill lunges at Duncan, knocking him clean off the barstool and onto the floor. The fight is fast, vicious and one-sided from the very start. Pinned to the floor on his back, Duncan flails his arms ineffectually like a panicked insect as Bill holds him in place with a left-handed grip on the collar while his powerful right arm, pumping up and down like a piston, pounds into Duncan's face time and time again. Duncan's screams diminish into pathetic, sickening groans and the others in the bar are compelled to avert their eyes from this brutal spectacle. Hank has picked up a phone from beneath the bar and is dialing a number. He turns away from the fight to talk. Then, as suddenly as Bill first sprang at Duncan, he leaps to his feet and turns to the bar. He reaches over and grabs the phone from Hank, slamming it down into the cradle. BILL Who're you calling? Bill takes the cloth from the bar and vigorously wipes his face off. He snaps his fingers and points to a row of bottles on a shelf behind the bar. Hank quickly hands him a bottle. Bill pours himself a shot and downs it, fast. He is still charged with adrenaline and he takes two more shots in rapid succession, spilling the alcohol on the bar and on himself. As Bill picks up the cloth to wipe himself off again, Tracy stands up and quickly walks out of the bar, slamming the door behind her. BILL (calling after her) You're welcome, baby! Then he throws down the cloth, picks up the bottle, turns and, standing over Duncan's inert form, empties half the bottle onto him. He sets the bottle back on the bar. He grabs Duncan and, half dragging, hurries him out the back door and throws him into the alley where Duncan falls in a heap. Bill storms back up to the bar and pours himself another drink. BILL (to Hank) Okay? Hank just looks at him, doesn't answer. At the wife's silent insistence, the elderly couple stand up to go. OLD MAN Good riddance to bad rubbish, eh, Bill? Bill doesn't answer and the couple quietly leave. HANK (apologetic) A fight breaks out, there's gonna be damages. Insurance company doesn't pay without a police report... BILL You see any damages? Hank lowers his gaze to the floor. Bill finishes his drink. He is still very hopped up. He pulls a few dollars from his wallet and drops them on the counter. BILL See ya 'round. He turns and strides out of the bar. CAMERA HOLDS for a beat on Hank alone now in his empty establishment. The phone starts to ring, presumably the police calling back. After several rings, Hank picks up the phone and listens. HANK (into phone) No, it's over now... DISSOLVE TO: INT. LT. GARBER'S HOUSE - NIGHT All the lights are out inside the house, but we should just be able to see that we are in the hall, looking at the front door. Footsteps approach on the walk outside. A key slips into the lock... Inside the house we can hear faint whispering. Someone is moving about in the darkness. Then the door swings open and the shadowy figure of a MAN crosses the threshold. He stops just inside. MAN (calling out) Donna. Donna! Hey! (under his breath) What the hell -- ! Suddenly the lights come on and a chorus of voices cry out, "SURPRISE!" A broad smile breaks across the man's face. We may recognize him as the cop from six years ago -- Charles Garber. Today he is a lieutenant on the force and dresses casually for work, usually in slacks, turtleneck and jacket. GARBER (genuinely surprised) What is all this?! SCATTERED VOICES Happy birthday, Charlie! Garber looks sheepishly at his hand holding the pistol he'd drawn just before the lights came up. WOMAN'S VOICE Look at him! MAN'S VOICE Don't shoot us, Charlie! GARBER (chagrined) How was I supposed to know? Everybody starts to laugh, including Garber as he returns the pistol to his shoulder holster. ANGLE ON DONNA Garber's wife. She comes out of the kitchen carrying a birthday cake with lit candles and makes her way through the crowd of GUESTS singing "Happy Birthday". Everyone joins in as Donna moves forward and stands beside her husband. Clifford is one of the guests. He has his arm around a young BLOND who is sort of pretty despite her tacky/plastic appearance. When the song is over, Garber blows out the candles and hugs and kisses his wife. Everybody cheers. CUT TO: INT. GARBER'S HOUSE - STAIRWAY - SEVERAL HOURS LATER The party is still in full swing. Garber is following Clifford up the stairs. They are both fairly loaded by now. Garber, in particular, has reached that stage of inebriation where standing still is pretty hard to do. GARBER Will you tell me what this is about, Cliff? CLIFFORD Yeah, in a minute. GARBER I don't think I can take any more of these surprises. INT. A BEDROOM As Clifford and Garber enter. Garber turns on a light as Clifford closes the door, shutting out the sounds of the party below. GARBER Okay now, what's the big deal? CLIFFORD Stand still. I want you to remember this in the morning. GARBER If you want me to remember something in the morning, then tell it to me in the morning. Garber half comically turns to go. Clifford stops him. CLIFFORD Charlie, come on. ANGLE ON CORNER OF BEDROOM A BABY between a year and two years old is lying in a crib. It opens its eyes and starts looking around. GARBER (O.S.) All right, all right. What is it? You're getting married. CLIFFORD No. I got a job today, tracking someone. TWO SHOT - CLIFFORD & GARBER Garber, still moving restlessly, pats his friend on the shoulder. GARBER That's great, Cliff; I'm sure you'll find your man. CLIFFORD It's Curt Duncan. Garber stops suddenly, stunned. In an instant, he has become stone sober. GARBER What? ANGLE ON BABY Kicking and wiggling about. CLIFFORD (O.S.) You didn't know he got out? The baby opens its mouth and starts to cry. TWO SHOT - CLIFFORD & GARBER Garber glances over his shoulder at the baby, then turns back to Clifford. CLIFFORD I need your cooperation on this one. GARBER Sure. Anything. CUT TO: EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT It is late. The block is virtually deserted. Across the street is the exterior of a bar -- the same bar Duncan was in earlier. Some PEOPLE are coming out of the bar. It must be near closing time. The people turn left and walk away down the sidewalk. Their voices diminish. Pause. A car passes. Then the door to the bar opens again and a woman comes out onto the sidewalk. It is Tracy. She turns to the right and starts to walk away. CLOSEUP - DUNCAN He is standing in shadows across the street, watching her. EXT. TRACY ON STREET - NIGHT A series of shots of Tracy walking home. The CAMERA remains consistently behind her or off to one side, sometimes DOLLYING with her behind a row of parked cars, sometimes picking up her passing reflection in a darkened store window. The impression this gives is unmistakable. Curt Duncan is following her. We do not see him, we do not hear him, yet we know he is there. Often we can sense that the very angle from which we see Tracy is his POV. But Tracy is aware of nothing. We know this when the CAMERA begins to move in front of her, once more becoming an impersonal observer of her walk homeward, to safety. Tension mounts as we start to expect that Duncan will jump out at her from every alley and recessed doorway she passes. But he doesn't. Finally, Tracy walks up to the CAMERA at the end of a block and turns a corner; but the CAMERA HOLDS on the dark street she has just come up. We hear a cough which confirms that Duncan is lurking somewhere in the shadows. EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT Tracy walks up the steps and enters the apartment. INT. APARTMENT BUILDING Tracy steps into the elevator. The doors close. CAMERA HOLDS on the elevator and watches the lights above it travel from one to six. O.S. we hear the door to the apartment building open and close. INT. SIXTH FLOOR Tracy steps out of the elevator and walks down the hall to her door. She fumbles through her purse for keys, then bends over the lock to let herself in. Behind her down the hall, Duncan appears. He watches her, starts to move silently forward. Tracy gets the door open, then turns and sees him. Duncan stops. TRACY Oh, it's you! (beat) What do you want? DUNCAN (moving forward) ...Came to apologize. I... TRACY Look, I'm the one who should be sorry. I didn't want that to happen. (she sees his face; shudders) Oh, God! Look at you. Are you all right. Duncan half shrugs, half smiles. Tracy edges into her door- way. Duncan stands opposite her. DUNCAN I'm new in town. Don't know anybody... TRACY (uncomfortable) Where're you from? DUNCAN (coughs) New York. Ever been there? TRACY Sure. Sure I've been there. They look at each other. Duncan coughs again. DUNCAN Kind of a mean place to be. Everyone cold, unfriendly... Inside Tracy's apartment, the telephone rings. Tracy turns vaguely, indecisively, and goes to answer it. TRACY (over her shoulder) Excuse me. She disappears into the apartment. O.S. she picks up the ringing phone. TRACY (O.S.) Hello?... INT. TRACY'S APARTMENT As she sits with the telephone. TRACY (nervous) ...No, I just got in... I don't know if I can... Listen, I can't talk now. Can I call you back?... Okay... Goodbye. She hangs up the phone, stands and turns back toward the door. Duncan is standing right behind her. DUNCAN I'm not from New York, actually. But I'm very, very far from home. He sits down. TRACY Look, you can't come in here. Duncan looks at her for a moment, then looks about the apartment. DUNCAN (mumbling) I thought we might get some coffee. Can I buy you -- ? TRACY I don't think so. DUNCAN Someplace nearby? TRACY Not tonight. You'd better go. DUNCAN I got no place to go. TRACY (anxious) You can't -- DUNCAN Just, just a little coffee? TRACY Maybe tomorrow. DUNCAN Okay, tomorrow. When? TRACY I said maybe. I don't know. (beat) Listen, I'm sorry about this afternoon. I really am. All right? That was my boyfriend on the phone. He's coming over. So please leave. Now. Duncan doesn't move. He smiles at her. DUNCAN I like you. TRACY (her voice rising) Look, do you want me to call the cops? DUNCAN (standing) It's okay. It's okay. He backs to the doorway and pauses. DUNCAN I'll see you later... sometime. I still want to buy you that drink. He steps into the hall. Tracy closes the front door and bolts it. She turns, leans against it and sighs. Outside the door, Duncan's footsteps move down the hall, pause, then come back to the door. A moment passes. Then there is a faint knocking on the door. Tracy doesn't move. The knocking comes again, a little louder this time. Tracy stands and waits, scarcely breathing. After another long moment, the footsteps finally move away. CUT TO: EXT. POLICE STATION - DAY A car pulls into the parking lot behind the station. Clifford and Garber get out and walk into the building. INT. POLICE STATION Clifford and Garber walk down a hallway. Uniformed POLICEMEN walk to and fro around them. CLIFFORD Jesus, I don't recognize anybody. GARBER Three years is a long time in a place like this. CLIFFORD Three and a half. Garber stops at the WATCH COMMANDER'S desk and picks up some paperwork. The WC looks up briefly and sees Clifford. WC Hiya, Cliff. Howya doin'? The WC looks down again. Three and a half years mean nothing to him. CLIFFORD (taken aback) Hi... He can't remember the man's name. Garber smiles at him and they continue walking. GARBER How long will you be here? CLIFFORD Depends on how lucky I get. (beat) I'll only be coming around once, maybe twice a week. GARBER You want to use your old desk? Someplace to sit down? CLIFFORD (surprised) Is it vacant? INT. OFFICE - POLICE STATION A. Clifford and Garber appear in the doorway. Clifford enters, walks up to his old desk, opens some of the drawers -- they are empty -- sits down in his old chair, smiles at Garber. B. We see Clifford opening a file cabinet and taking out a folder stuffed with notices and reports -- C. Clifford standing beside a Xerox machine running off a copy of something -- D. Clifford standing in a hallway talking to a PATROLMAN. Clifford has a legal pad with him and is jotting something down on it as the patrolman speaks -- E. Clifford at his desk, making notes on the legal pad -- F. Garber is at his desk, on the phone, Clifford appears in the doorway carrying his legal pad. He waves goodbye to Garber who nods in response. CUT TO: INT. LOBBY OF A FLOPHOUSE HOTEL Clifford questions the DESK CLERK. He shows the clerk a photo of Duncan taken some years ago in the mental institution. The clerk shakes his head and starts to hand the picture back when Clifford motions for him to keep it. As Clifford leaves, the clerk turns the picture over... CLOSEUP - BACK OF PICTURE Revealing Clifford's name and phone numbers, and a twenty dollar bill paperclipped to the back of the picture -- EXT. STREET As Clifford pulls his car up to the curb, then consults his legal pad -- CLOSEUP - LEGAL PAD The top three addresses are crossed out. Clifford underlines the fourth -- BACK TO SCENE Clifford looks up from the pad to a bar he has pulled up in front of -- the bar Duncan was in. It bears the address Clifford has just underlined. Clifford gets out of his car and walks up to the bar. A "Closed" sign is displayed in the window. Clifford knocks on the door. After a moment, Hank opens the door. CUT TO: INT. LAUNDROMAT - DAY There are only a few CUSTOMERS sitting around, waiting for their wash. A BUM is stretched out on his back across one of the tables like a corpse awaiting autopsy. This is CHEATER. A MAINTENANCE MAN in grey work clothes enters from the back. He opens a broom closet, takes out a bucket and mop and rolls them toward the front of the laundromat. He stops at Cheater's table and shakes him hard. MAINTENANCE MAN Okay, man, move it out. Let's go. CHEATER Wha -- ? Cheater sits up and starts to pull himself together. An OLD WOMAN sitting against the wall points down one of the aisles of washing machines and says to the maintenance man: OLD WOMAN There's another one down there. The maintenance man goes to the end of the aisle and looks down into the nook created by the absence of one of the washing machines. MAINTENANCE MAN Hey! He nudges at whatever's inside the nook with his foot. MAINTENANCE MAN (nudging again) Come on, bright eyes. Wake up. Wake -- Jesus Christ! What happened to you? ANGLE ON NOOK As Curt Duncan raises his head into the light and looks up at the maintenance man. Overnight, his face has swollen considerably and a bright yellow and purple discoloring around his bruises has emerged. MAINTENANCE MAN (O.S.) You get hit by a truck or what? He bends over and helps pull Duncan to his feet. WIDER ANGLE As the maintenance man guides Duncan to the door. MAINTENANCE MAN I'm sorry, man, but you can't stay in here. Go out to the park, lay in the sunshine. You'll feel better. Okay? Duncan goes out the door. The maintenance man turns and sees Cheater stretched out again on the table. MAINTENANCE MAN God bless it! Hey! He pulls Cheater off the table and pushes him to the door. MAINTENANCE MAN Out. Out. Out. Out. Out. EXT. LAUNDROMAT As Cheater is pushed out onto the sidewalk. CHEATER (angry) All right! All right! He straightens his rags indignantly, then looks at Duncan and grins. CHEATER Whaddya say, pardner. I'm dry as a bone. You got any money? Duncan looks at Cheater distrustfully and shakes his head. CHEATER You neither, huh? (with a laugh) My name is Morgan, but it ain't J.P. Guess I better go to work. Take 'er easy now, pardner. Cheater shuffles off in one direction. Duncan turns and goes in the other. CUT TO: INT. TRACY'S APARTMENT - DAY A knock at the front door. After a moment, Tracy comes into the front hallway and, crossing to the door, stubs her toe on the open closet door. She swears under her breath and angrily slams the closet door shut. Then, grabbing her injured toe, she hops to the front door. TRACY Who is it? CLIFFORD (O.S.) My name's John Clifford. I'm a private investigator. TRACY A what? CLIFFORD (O.S.) A private detective. Pause. TRACY What do you want with me? CLIFFORD (O.S.) I'd just like to talk, ask a few questions. TRACY I've got nothing to say about anything or anybody. Pause. CLIFFORD (O.S.) Listen, lady, I can be back in thirty minutes with a search warrant and a handful of cops, and I can probably have you arrested, whether or not the charges would stick. Now do you want to let me in and talk? TRACY Have you got a badge? CLIFFORD (O.S.) I'll show you a badge when you open the goddamn door! Tracy unbolts the door and opens it. Clifford walks right in and closes the door behind him. CLIFFORD I don't carry a badge. I'm issued a license, a piece of paper, and I left it at home. You're Tracy Fuller? Tracy nods. CLIFFORD Can we sit down? Tracy leads him into the living room. They sit. Clifford gives her a picture. CLIFFORD Do you recognize this man? TRACY Why? Clifford lets out a sigh of frustration, realizing that this woman will continue to be difficult. CLIFFORD He's escaped from the insane asylum. In 1972, he murdered two children... broke into a house and found them asleep in bed. It was a little boy, five an a half, and a little three- year-old girl. After the coroner's investigation, their bodies were taken to the mortuary, where the undertaker took one look at them and said he couldn't have their bodies reconstructed for the funeral without six days of steady work. Then he asked what had been the murder weapon, because looking at the mess in front of him, he couldn't imagine what had been used. The coroner told him there had been no murder weapon. The killer had used only his hands. (beat) The undertaker went to work and had them done in four. The picture falls out of Tracy's hands. She is stunned to the point of nausea. CLIFFORD What's the matter? TRACY (barely able to say it) He's been here. EXT. STREET Duncan is standing on the sidewalk huddled close to a wall. He is looking up at Tracy's apartment building across the street. POV - DUNCAN Traveling up the wall of the building to the open window of Tracy's apartment on the sixth floor. SLOW ZOOM IN: CLIFFORD (O.S.) Do you think he'll try to see you again? TRACY (O.S.) I don't know. He said he had no place else to go. INT. TRACY'S APARTMENT CLIFFORD Let's play it safe. Let's assume that he will. CLOSEUP - TRACY Reacting to this possibility. CLIFFORD (O.S.) Will you work with me? She nods, hesitantly. EXT. STREET Duncan turns up an alley across the street from Tracy's apartment building and disappears. Sound over: knocking on a door. CUT TO: EXT. BAR - DAY Clifford is standing at the door. The "Closed" sign still hangs in the window. The door opens, and Hank sticks his head out. HANK You again? CLIFFORD What are your hours tonight? HANK No hours. Bar's closed on Mondays. CLIFFORD I want you to be open if that's possible. HANK (closing the door) No way. Monday's my night off. Come back tomorr... Clifford violently pushes the door open. The bartender backs off, surprised. CLIFFORD (through clenched teeth) This is tomorrow! Now what are your hours? CUT TO: INT. LT. GARBER'S OFFICE - DAY Garber is sitting behind his desk as Clifford walks in. GARBER (looking up) Any luck? CLIFFORD I've come to say goodbye, and thank you. GARBER You found him? CLIFFORD I think so. GARBER Where? Pause. CLIFFORD From here on, I go it alone. GARBER What's the point of chancing it, Cliff? We'll let you take the credit. CLIFFORD No. Pause. Clifford sits down. CLIFFORD I'm going to kill him, Charlie. Garber leans forward in his chair and stares at Clifford. A long moment passes. A button on the lieutenant's phone lights up and the intercom buzzes. Garber doesn't even look down at it. The button flashes on and off, on and off. Finally it stops. CLIFFORD The closer I get to this guy, the more I... It gets to me. I don't know... GARBER I think you'd better go on home, Cliff. You've fallen in. CLIFFORD No. Not this time. This is the case that makes up for a whole career. If you can't understand it now, you will in a few years. Pause. Garber considers another tack and follows it. GARBER What part does money play in all this? Play straight with me. Clifford is stunned by the question, but he tries to be casual. CLIFFORD (shrugging) For what I'm being paid, it's not out of line. GARBER Who's hired you for this? Clifford glares at his friend and doesn't answer. GARBER (cynically) So you're a hitman now. CLIFFORD (passionately) He murdered two kids in cold blood. You were there, too. Garber doesn't have to be reminded of his own feelings. He doesn't pursue the argument. GARBER You could get busted. CLIFFORD I understand that. GARBER What are you going to use? CLIFFORD Jimmy needles. Garber nods slowly, considering it a good choice of weapons at least. GARBER You're stretching our friendship, Cliff. If you blow this at all -- CLIFFORD You'll never hear from me again. Garber looks away for a moment. When he looks back, he just shrugs his shoulders, "washes his hands". GARBER Take your time. Do it right. CLIFFORD Don't worry. GARBER Do you need any help preparing for this thing? CLIFFORD (standing up) I'm ready. I'm just trying to think where he could be in the meantime. CUT TO: INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY A few customers sit quietly minding their own business. A WAITRESS leans near the cash register at one end of the counter. A transistor radio plays country music blues. The waitress looks up as somebody enters. WAITRESS What happened to you? DUNCAN (O.S.) Coffee. It is Duncan. He moves to the counter and sits. WAITRESS You get mugged? DUNCAN Black. Snubbed, the waitress comes back and sets the cup in front of him. She looks down at the change on the counter. There isn't enough. WAITRESS Coffee's twenty-seven. Duncan looks up at her resentfully. WAITRESS (pulling away the cup) Coffee's twenty-seven cents. Ya got it or don't ya? Duncan glares at her. He doesn't have it. WAITRESS Okay, buster, one cup. On the house. She pushes the cup back to him. Some of the coffee spills onto the counter. WAITRESS Drink it and be on your way. Duncan slowly reaches for the cup, raises it to his lips. WAITRESS You're welcome. Duncan stops, sets the cup down, pushes it away from him and slowly rises from his seat. DUNCAN No, thank you. Duncan and the waitress stand face to face, shooting darts at each other. Then a MAN sitting two seats away reaches over and places a quarter on the counter between them. The waitress looks at the man irritatedly, then picks up the money and moves away. Duncan slowly sits down again. He pulls the cup back to himself, then turns and looks at the man for a long moment, unable to express his gratitude. CUT TO: EXT. CITY STREETS - DUSK A series of shots of BUMS, "homeless persons", hanging out, in alleys, in the doorways of old buildings, sitting on the sidewalk in front of liquor stores. Then we see Duncan, alone but looking no different from the others. He is panhandling PASSERSBY, without much success. We see him fall into a fit of coughing that incapacitates him for several seconds. He's obviously getting sicker. We lose sight of Duncan as our MONTAGE continues. We see Clifford talking to a BUM, then another. He is passing the time combing the streets in the neighborhood of the bar. PARK - DUSK A handful of BUMS are sitting together on the grass passing a bottle in a brown paper bag. Duncan is not among them, but Cheater is there, sitting at the end of the line. CAMERA PANS from one bum to the next as the bottle is passed. By the time it gets to Cheater, it is empty. Cheater looks as if he's about to cry like a baby when a hand enters the frame from the other side -- the hand holding out to Cheater a full bottle of wine. Cheater takes the bottle and looks up gratefully... to see John Clifford standing beside him. CHEATER Well! I can't say much for your protocol, but your timing's dead on. Here's to you, pardner. Cheater takes a long drink, then passes the bottle back down the line. CLIFFORD (to all the bums) I'm looking for an old buddy of mine, English fella. Name's Crazy Curt. Any of you guys seen him? Nobody responds. CLIFFORD I owe him some money. CHEATER Aaahh. Show me an honest man... CLIFFORD (gesturing) Stands about so. Brown hair. Face kind of banged up. Was in an accident. CHEATER Oh, yeah? I was just with that guy, not more'n an hour ago. Looked bad. Crazy Curt, huh? CLIFFORD Where? Cheater scratches his head, and glances anxiously down the line. CHEATER Hell, I can't remember. Prob'bly see him again though. Tell you what. You leave the money with me, I'll see he gets it... as a favor to you. Clifford shakes his head. CLIFFORD I have to talk to him. CHEATER Whatsa matter? You don't trust me? I'll have you know I used to be a college professor. We can work together. Clifford stands to go. The bottle comes back to Cheater, three-quarters down. CLIFFORD Sure. Keep the bottle. I'll be back. CHEATER "Long life to the grape! For when summer is flown, The age of our nectar Shall gladden our own." That's Shelley, you know. Clifford is gone. Cheater takes a long drink and almost forgets that Clifford was ever there. CUT TO: INT. CLIFFORD'S APARTMENT - NIGHT Clifford is "suiting up" for his night's work. He is dressed casually -- blue jeans, shirt open at the neck, sports jacket, Adidas running shoes. He looks at himself in the mirror, is satisfied. Then he picks up from the dresser two awl-like instruments with short handles and long, glistening tapered needlepoints -- his weapons. He slides them into a leather sheath inside his jacket and turns to go. CUT TO: EXT. BAR - NIGHT It is lit up inside. The bar is open for business. Across the street in a dark space between two buildings, Duncan is waiting, watching the front door of the bar to see who comes out. INT. BAR The place is empty but for Hank who half watches the television over the bar, and Tracy who sits alone in a corner. Several moments pass as both of them sit and wait. Then, the front door starts to swing open. Someone is coming in. Tracy and Hank both glance nervously toward the door. A MAN'S head peeks in. He is somewhere in his forties, a regular customer. CUSTOMER Hey, Hank, what're you doing open tonight? HANK (relaxing) Trying to make a buck. The customer walks up to the bar, sits down and talks quietly with Hank. Tracy looks nervously at her wristwatch. She stubs out her cigarette, takes one last gulp of her drink and stands up to go. She walks to the bar, opens her purse and reaches inside. HANK Keep it, honey. My treat. They exchange a meaningful look. Then she heads for the door. CUSTOMER (under his breath) That how you make a buck? EXT. BAR Tracy looks up and down the street, hoping to see Clifford somewhere, afraid of glimpsing Duncan instead. Then she starts walking quickly homeward. EXT. STREETS Following Tracy to her apartment. We pick up Clifford now, and we cut back and forth between the two of them -- her walking quickly, never looking back, and him sneaking along several hundred feet behind her, looking everywhere for Duncan, whom we never see. EXT. TRACY'S APARTMENT She walks up the steps and enters. INT. SIXTH FLOOR Tracy steps off the elevator and goes to her door. She fumbles through her purse for the key. Then she hears footsteps on the stairs. She turns. It's Clifford. CLIFFORD (coming forward: half- whispering) No luck. You see him? Tracy shakes her head. CLIFFORD He still could be out there, though. TRACY (softly) Oh, God... She is starting to come apart, and she suddenly leans on Clifford for support. CLIFFORD Are you all right? Tracy stands there for several seconds to regain control of herself. Then she steps away and turns back to the door. TRACY I'm okay. CLIFFORD I'm going to hang around outside for awhile. I'll be back on and off again all night. Tracy gets the door unlocked. She pushes it open. INT. TRACY'S APARTMENT - FRONT HALL Tracy steps in. Clifford stays in the doorway. They are still whispering. CLIFFORD Are you sure you're okay? TRACY I'm fine. CLIFFORD All right. Bolt your door. Don't let anybody in, no matter what. TRACY Okay. CLIFFORD I'll be seeing you. (starts to move off; comes back) Listen. Thanks. TRACY Sure. Tracy closes the door and throws the bolt. Then she walks into the apartment and out of frame. CAMERA STAYS in the hallway. We can hear Tracy moving about O.S. Then, as if on its own, the door to the hall closet slowly swings open... ...until we can see Duncan standing inside the closet. INT. KITCHEN Tracy is putting some coffee on. Then she removes her coat and walks out of the kitchen. INT. FRONT HALL Tracy goes up to the closet with her coat. The door is closed. She opens it. She hangs up her coat and closes the door again. Then she turns and starts walking out of the hallway to the living room. As she is rounding the corner into the living room, she walks right into Duncan. She barely has time to gasp before he clamps his hand over her mouth and pushes her against the wall. DUNCAN (urgent whisper) I just have to talk to you. (pathetically) I want you to be my friend. As she isn't struggling, he starts to loosen up on her. DUNCAN Please... He takes his hand away from her mouth, lets go of her, and slowly, cautiously steps back. Tracy looks at him for a breathless moment, her eyes wild with fear. Then she screams. Duncan jumps back, stunned, frightened and confused. Tracy doesn't move. She just keeps screaming hysterically. EXT. STREET Tracy's screams carry out into the night as Clifford races across the street and into the apartment building. INT. TRACY'S APARTMENT Duncan runs to a window, throws it open and climbs out onto the fire escape. INTERCUT - APARTMENT STAIRS AND FIRE ESCAPE As Clifford bounds up the stairs, flight after flight, and Duncan tears down the fire escape. INT. SIXTH FLOOR The screaming has stopped when Clifford reaches Tracy's door. He grabs the doorknob and heaves himself against the door. It's bolted shut. Clifford pulls one of the needles from his jacket and hammers it into the lock. The bolt springs and Clifford runs into the apartment. INT. TRACY'S APARTMENT As Clifford bursts in. Tracy gestures toward the window. Clifford runs to it and sticks his head out. POV - CLIFFORD Duncan is gone. BACK TO SCENE Clifford runs to a window on another wall and looks out onto the street. POV - CLIFFORD No sign of the Englishman. BACK TO SCENE Clifford runs out of the apartment, yanking his needle from the lock as he passes the door, and charges back down the stairs. Tracy moves to the door and closes it. She is breathing heavily. O.S. we hear the angry sizzle of coffee spilling onto the hot stove, as Tracy goes to get it. EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING Clifford comes out, looks around and moves rapidly up the street. EXT. A STREET Duncan is hurrying along, dodging in and out of people, trying to move quickly but not draw attention to himself... EXT. ANOTHER STREET Clifford is travelling along the sidewalk, crossing the street, looking everywhere... EXT. ALLEYWAY Duncan is running up the alley. He comes to a stop beside some piled up trash cans. He leans against the brick wall of the building, huffing and puffing. He is frightened, but he feels safe for now. He slowly slides down the wall to the ground... FLASH BACK TO: INT. MENTAL HOSPITAL - DAY Duncan is curled up in the corner of a bare cell with padded walls. He is in a strait-jacket. His head is shaved. We can't tell what he is thinking, except that he's obviously deeply frightened and cannot understand what's happening to him. CUT TO: INT. A ROOM - NIGHT This is the children's bedroom in Dr. Mandrakis' house of six years ago. It is dark. Two small beds occupy one corner of the room. We can see two small lumps on the beds, but no more. Duncan sits in the foreground with a telephone on his lap. He is dialing a number. The phone rings three times before it is answered -- or rather, picked up, because there is no voice on the other end. After several seconds the phone is hung up. Duncan hangs up and thinks for a moment. He picks up the phone and dials again. This time he gets a busy signal. He hangs up, stands and goes to the door. He opens it slowly, peers out. Jill's voice can be heard faintly talking to the operator, asking for the police. Duncan closes the door and comes back into the room, mumbling. He goes to the window, looks out. Then he goes to the children's beds. CLOSEUP - DUNCAN As he raises the covers and stares down into the CAMERA. CUT TO: EXT. DECK OF A SHIP - MORNING A freighter, broad and low, arduously cuts through the water. Early morning mist hangs over the deck which is empty but for a lone FIGURE standing on the prow. MIDDLE SHOT - LONE FIGURE It is Curt Duncan. He is looking out over the front of the ship. Another SEAMAN comes up behind him and claps him on the shoulder. SEAMAN So this will be your first time? (laughs) An old salt like you? Duncan moves away, wanting to be left alone. SEAMAN (still laughing; slightly punchy) You'll love it here. It's where they make the bombs. It's where they make the planes that carry the bombs; the planes we saw over Singapore and Manila. He walks away laughing. SEAMAN There she is. That's America. DUNCAN'S POV The coast of Southern California emerges through the mist. A foghorn blows somewhere in the distance. CLOSE-UP - DUNCAN As he peers ahead with inscrutable interest. CUT TO: INT. ANOTHER ROOM - NIGHT Dark. A little BOY is lying in bed, apparently asleep. This is Curt Duncan as a child. Some voices approach in the hallway outside the bedroom. They are gruff, with heavy English accents, but subdued; a MAN and a WOMAN, well into middle-age. The boy's eyes open as he listens: MAN (O.S.) What's the matter? WOMAN (O.S.) Save it for later. Let's go out and get some food. MAN (O.S.) What about the lad? You can't leave him. WOMAN (O.S.) Curt's asleep. He'll never know we're gone. From outside, a key enters the lock of the bedroom door and turns. The bolt slips and the door is securely shut. The boy sits up in bed, apprehensive. In TIGHT SHOTS of the floor we see a rat come out from under the bed, then another. They make "chit-chit" noises as they begin to explore. One of them maybe goes up on its hind legs and nibbles on the bedpost. Then we see two more rats appear. We go for a TIGHT SHOT of the boy on top of the bed. The "chit-chit" noises grow steadily louder as the boy's apprehension turns to fear, then to terror. The boy starts to whimper. Suddenly, we cut back to a WIDE SHOT of the room. The floor is crawling with rats, hundreds of them. The "chit-chit" rises to practically a roar as the boy, alone on top of the bed, begins to wail. The room seems to darken, and the boy becomes just a little white speck in it. The focus is turned. The picture becomes a black and white blur. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. ALLEYWAY - NIGHT - THE PRESENT At first all that can be seen is a white blur against a black screen. The previous sound of a boy crying increases. Then the blur grows larger, coming more into focus as the entire screen image moves toward normal definition. Finally, we know we are back in the alleyway, that it is night, and that the white blur is actually a little BOY lost, sobbing uncontrollably. CLOSEUP - DUNCAN Awakening to the scene, coming back to reality. He is confused. WIDER ANGLE ON DUNCAN AND BOY The boy continues sobbing, moving about in little circles. Duncan, amazed at what he sees, slowly crawls out from the wall on his hands and knees, crawls toward the weeping child, staring at it with a strange look on his face. Suddenly the boy stops crying and looks at Duncan quizzically, hesitantly. They are less than a foot apart, almost face to face. Together they form a kind of frozen tableau. Something close to sympathy crosses the killer's expression, and the boy, likewise, achieves a faint sense of recognition. Then, just as suddenly, the boy starts wailing again and he runs off down the alleyway. Duncan watches him disappear. Then he slowly pulls himself to his feet. EXT. STREET Clifford is coming up the sidewalk. As Clifford crosses the entrance to an alleyway, the boy comes running out and almost collides with him. Clifford grabs the boy and looks down at him. Then he passes the wailing child off on a nearby PEDESTRIAN and runs up into the alley. EXT. ANOTHER STREET Duncan is hurrying along the sidewalk. Something makes him look up. POV - DUNCAN He is looking at a neon "Jesus Saves" sign above the doorway to an inner city mission. BACK ON DUNCAN As he stares at the sign. DUNCAN (O.S.) Hey, Crazy Curt! Duncan turns to see Cheater elatedly hobbling up to him. CHEATER Hail fellow well met, and all that jazz. It's our lucky day! (taking Duncan by the arm) A friend of your's got money for you. We got to get back to the park and meet him. Duncan pulls his arm free. CHEATER C'mon. He'll be comin' for you, Crazy Curt. S'got some money. (reaching for Duncan's arm) We'll get us a little joy juice. Duncan pulls free again and heads toward the mission. CHEATER C'mon! Hey!! You really are crazy! C'mon! Duncan enters the mission and Cheater stands out on the sidewalk for a moment, bitterly frustrated. CHEATER "Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow, you cataracts and hurricanoes, spout till you have drench'd our steeples and drown'd the cocks!" Several PEDESTRIANS stop and gape at this sudden outburst. EXT. ANOTHER STREET Clifford comes out of a derelict hotel, looks up and down the street and hurries off, not giving up the chase. INT. MISSION - MOMENTS LATER A MAN is leading Duncan to the bathroom. Duncan enters slowly and goes to one of the wash basins where there is an old razor blade and a can of shaving cream. Duncan picks up the razor for a moment and looks at it. He is lost in thought. Then he sets it down and turns on the tap water. He glances at himself in the mirror and is suddenly transfixed by his own image. He looks deeply into the mirror for several seconds. Then he starts to cry, and having begun, a flood of emotions comes pouring out of him. He drops to his knees. The man comes running back into the bathroom. He holds Duncan and helps pull him back to his feet. CUT TO: EXT. STREET - NIGHT Cheater is trudging along the sidewalk, hands in pockets, head lowered. He looks up and sees something that brings him back to life. POV - CHEATER Clifford is standing on the corner up ahead, looking around. WIDE ANGLE ON STREET Cheater calls out and starts to run toward Clifford. Clifford turns, sees Cheater. CUT TO: INT. MISSION - NIGHT The "sleeping dorm". It is a large empty room. Thirty or so OUTCASTS are stretched out on the bare floor in the darkness. Their combined snoring/wheezing creates a steady, ghastly din. The door at the far end of the hall opens. A figure steps in and quietly closes the door behind him. He stands for a moment taking in the scene, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. Then he slowly creeps forward to the prone body of the nearest sleeper. CLOSEUP - FIGURE It is Clifford. He moves stealthily from one body to the next. In one hand he carries a small flashlight. He turns the bodies over just long enough to shine the light in their faces and identify who they are, or rather who they are not. Then he moves on. In his other hand he holds a small, gleaming Jimmy needle. CLOSEUP - DUNCAN He's sleeping, but his eyes suddenly open, sensing danger. He turns over and sees the dark figure of Clifford slowly advancing toward him. WIDER ANGLE Clifford keeps coming, closer and closer to where Duncan lies. He is but six or seven bodies away when Duncan jumps up suddenly and bolts for the door. Clifford looks up, sees the fleeing figure and charges after it. INT. CORRIDORS Racing through a maze of narrow hallways, Duncan can't stop to think where he's going. Clifford is barreling after him some forty yards behind. Duncan rounds a corner and ten yards up ahead, the hallway deadends in a set of double doors. Duncan has no choice but to hurl himself against the doors. They yield and he goes through them. Four seconds later, Clifford comes to the same doors and pushes through to the other side. INT. CHURCH As Clifford comes through the doors which are a side entrance into the chancel of this large, gothic-style church. Behind him now, is the altar. Before him stretches the nave of the edifice with its rows of pews, its dimly glowing stained glass windows, and way in the back, its choir loft. At regular intervals, tiny shafts of light pierce the darkness from on high. There is no sign of Duncan, but Clifford knows he must be in here, hiding somewhere. He slowly walks forward to the front of the chancel. CLIFFORD Duncan. Duncan. It's over now. Come on out. Pause. Duncan doesn't come out. Clifford holds very still. He hears nothing. He speaks again and his voice echoes through the large empty church. CLIFFORD My name's John Clifford. I'm a private detective. I've been hired by Alexander Mandrakis to take you back. I'm not going to hurt you. CLOSEUP - DUNCAN Hiding beneath a pew. He hears the name "Mandrakis" and it registers like a thunderbolt. He silently mouths the name "Mandrakis". Then he hears Clifford's footsteps approaching. ANGLE ON CLIFFORD Slowly moving up the center aisle, looking from side to side into the pews. CLIFFORD (gently; coaxing) I'm not going to hurt you... I'm not going to hurt you... There'll be no more pain... You're safe now... Clifford moves closer and closer to Duncan's row until finally, Duncan can bear it no longer. He jumps up from beneath the pew and runs. DUNCAN (hysterical) No! Mandrakis! No! Clifford chases him through the pews and up the aisles to the front of the church. He is clutching a needle in both hands, ready to strike. Duncan flees through a narrow door off to the side of the church. INT. BELL TOWER Duncan faces a spiraling stone staircase. He has no choice but to climb them, higher and higher, the sound of Clifford's angry footsteps always coming up behind him. Finally, Duncan can climb no higher. He is at the top of the bell tower. A lanceted opening in the stone wall ahead of him looks out over the narrow shaft of the tower. Above him are the huge iron bells. A rope hangs down from the bells, dangling all the way down the shaft, forty or fifty feet to the floor of the church. Clifford is bounding up the last flight of steps to get him. Duncan has little choice. He is trapped. Just before Clifford reaches him, Duncan leaps out into the shaft and catches the bell rope. The bell starts to clang as Duncan, hanging in mid air, swings back and forth within the narrow shaft. Clifford leans way out through the lancet window and takes a swipe at Duncan, but the madman is just beyond his reach and hurriedly climbing down the rope. Clifford reaches out and tries to grab at the rope. At last, he gets it, and he shakes it violently to get Duncan to lose his grip and be dashed against the stone floor below. But Duncan holds firm, climbing ever downward. The bell continues to clang, sending its alarm out into the night. Then Clifford braces himself and slowly, laboriously begins to haul up on the rope. Clifford gains momentum until Duncan is being pulled up faster than he is climbing down. Still twenty feet off the ground, Duncan lets go of the rope and plummets to the hard stone floor. Then PEOPLE come rushing into the church, awakened by the commotion of the bells. Duncan rolls into the shadows and drags himself out a side door, while Clifford plans his own escape from the bell tower. CUT TO: EXT. ALLEYWAY NEAR CHURCH - NIGHT Clifford runs up the alleyway, looks around and finally realizes he's lost his prey. CUT TO: EXT. ANOTHER ALLEYWAY Duncan is hidden deep in the shadows of a nook between two buildings, catching his breath. CAMERA MOVES IN on him, and we see him looking the craziest he's ever been. He shakes uncontrollably and begins to mumble, softly at first, then getting louder. He's falling back into the grips of Guy du Marraux. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. CITY - MORNING A. All is still and quiet as soft, warm sunlight pours into the dirty streets and alleyways. In the background, the bell tower of the church rises above the skyline. B. We see a SHOT of the park -- all the bums are asleep. C. Then a SHOT of the mission -- its front door open, the sidewalk empty. D. Then the bar, where the same peaceful mood prevails. E. Then the alleyway where we last saw Curt Duncan. Now he is gone. F. Then the exterior of Tracy's apartment building. Clifford's car is parked out front. TRACY (O.S.) I used to see my two kids every weekend. They lived in a nice house with their father, outside the city. CUT TO: INT. TRACY'S APARTMENT Tracy and Clifford are sitting at a small table in the kitchen, looking haggard, drinking coffee. TRACY Now... it's been years. They're grown up. They look at each other. Clifford is a sympathetic listener. TRACY I look at where I am now. I know I could've done better, but... it's too late for that. CLIFFORD (quietly) I know. Pause. TRACY Well, you've got to keep looking, I suppose. Taking his cue, Clifford slowly rises. CLIFFORD I don't think he'll come back here. Tracy looks up at him questioningly, wishing she could feel as sure about it as he does. CLIFFORD (extending his hand) Thanks... for all your help. Tracy takes his hand. They shake warmly. CLIFFORD I know it wasn't easy. (turning to go) Maybe, someday, I'll be able to... TRACY I wish you wouldn't leave me altogether... Clifford turns back to her. TRACY (with a laugh) I'm not a young woman anymore. I've given up all my dreams of the future. Now, I just want to make it to the end. You know what I mean. Clifford smiles at her gently. He knows exactly what she means. CLIFFORD I'll be around. TRACY Sure. Clifford takes a few steps, turns back, looks at her. CLIFFORD You like ice cream? TRACY Yes. CLIFFORD What flavor? TRACY Chocolate chip. Clifford nods his head slightly, as if registering this in his memory. CLIFFORD (quietly) Okay. They smile at each other for a second then Clifford leaves and Tracy sits alone in her kitchen, listening to him go, hearing the door close behind him. CUT TO: EXT. STREET - DAY CLOSE UP on a section of a newspaper lying in the gutter. A pair of feet enters the frame and stands beside the newspaper. We hear a familiar cough. Then a trembling hand reaches down and picks up the newspaper. Pause. Something in the newspaper has caught his eye. Then the feet shuffle out of frame. FADE OUT: FADE IN: EXT. STREET - AFTERNOON A modest middle-income neighborhood where young married couples buy their first home and start their family. CAMERA is facing down the quiet street. In the foreground, on the street, two small CHILDREN, a little boy and a little girl, are playing. They are adorable kids. CAMERA PANS ninety degrees with the children as they run out of the street and up the sidewalk to their house. A TITLE APPEARS across the bottom of the screen: 5 pm Friday, April 28, 1978 TITLE FADES as the children push open the front door and enter the house. CUT TO: INT. HOUSE - FOLLOWING CHILDREN They noisily and excitedly make their way to the kitchen. The children are four and two and a half years old, STEVIE and JUNE respectively. CUT TO: INT. KITCHEN As the kids enter, their MOTHER is working at the stove, her back to CAMERA. JUNE & STEVIE (together) Hi, Mommy! The mother turns around. It is Jill Johnson! JILL (smiling) Well, look what the wind blew in! CAMERA MOVES IN on her as she comes forward, bends down, kisses Stevie, and picks up June. Jill looks older, more mature, but still very pretty. She is Mrs. John Lockhart now, and has left her memories of the past behind her. STEVIE Mommy, what's for dinner? Could we have hamburgers? JILL (teasing) Is that all you ever want? A wall phone in the kitchen starts to ring. Stevie goes to answer it. STEVIE Hello? JOHN (O.S.) (surprised) Hey, how's my little tiger? It is JOHN LOCKHART on the phone. STEVIE Daddy, Junie threw my baseball down the street; and I can't find it! JOHN (O.S.) Well, we'll look for it real hard later. Let me talk to mommy. Jill, by this time, has come to the phone. She is still holding June. STEVIE Okay. Bye, daddy. Stevie hands the phone to Jill. JILL Hi. JOHN Hi, babe -- whaddya say you put on a sexy dress, and I take you out to dinner tonight? Jill is very happy about this. JILL Great... what's the occasion? JOHN (teasing) Just a little surprise. JILL What? JOHN I'm leaving here now; be home in half an hour. JILL Okay, see ya. JOHN Bye, babe. As Jill hangs up the phone, Stevie pipes up O.S. STEVIE (O.S.) Mommy, is Daddy gonna get me a new baseball? CUT TO: EXT. DR. MANDRAKIS' HOUSE - NIGHT Clifford's car is parked in the driveway, and we see him getting out. He goes to the front door -- the porch light is on and perhaps one other lamp somewhere inside the otherwise dark house. He rings the bell, waits, rings again... Finally the door is opened by the Houseboy. HOUSEBOY Dr. and Mrs. Mandrakis are out of town. CLIFFORD For how long? HOUSEBOY Three more weeks. Pause. CLIFFORD It's just as well. Will you be here? HOUSEBOY Yes. Clifford takes a business card from his pocket and gives it to the Houseboy. CLIFFORD Here. Call if you need me. The Houseboy reads the card as Clifford walks back to his car. Then the Houseboy closes the front door. Clifford pauses beside his car for a moment, looking back at the rich, dark home. CUT TO: INT. JILL'S HOUSE - CHILDREN'S BEDROOM - NIGHT The children are in bed. Jill is sitting next to Stevie. Only a nightlight is on. STEVIE ...I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. God bless Mommy and Daddy and... JUNE And me. STEVIE ...and Granmom and Aunt Lucy and Uncle George... JUNE And me! STEVIE (pausing) ...and her. Now will you tell us a story? JILL No, I will not tell you a story. You go to sleep now. And be good. Carol will be here while we're gone. STEVIE Goodnight. Jill kisses him. JUNE Mommy, will you come here a minute? I want to tell you something. Jill stands up and goes over to June's bed. JILL What is it? JUNE Come closer. Jill bends closer to her daughter. O.S. the doorbell rings. JUNE I love you. JILL I love you, too, Junebug. (kissing her) Goodnight. Sleep tight. Jill stands up and leaves. INT. FRONT HALL As Jill comes down the stairs. CAROL, the sitter, is at the foot of the stairs with John. Carol has an armful of schoolbooks. JILL Hi, Carol. CAROL Hello, Mrs. Lockhart. I saw your picture in the paper the other day. Congratulations. JILL Ugggh... wasn't it a dreadful picture? JOHN I thought it was nice. Jill crosses to a hall table, picks up a phone book, flips through it, then writes on a notepad beside the phone. Over this action... JOHN Are the kids asleep? JILL They will be soon. (to Carol) Give them about twenty minutes and then take a peek -- but if Stevie sees you, you'll have to tell him a story. (beat) Here's the number of the restaurant. Call us if you need us. For police, ambulance, any emergency like that, just dial 911. You know that, right? CAROL Nine-one-one? Oh, sure. JILL And just in case, I've written the number of the children's Uncle George and Aunt Lucy here, too. JOHN Honey, in ten seconds I eat the staircase. JILL Okay. Okay. She puts down the pad and crosses to a closet where she takes out a lightweight coat. JILL (handing the coat to John) Here. JOHN (not taking the coat) I'm not wearing that thing! Jill shoves the coat into his stomach. Smiling, he takes the coat and dutifully helps her on with it. CAROL Have a good time. JILL Thanks, Carol. JOHN (pulling her out the door) Bye, Carol. CAROL Goodbye. JILL Goodbye. CUT TO: EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT John and Jill walk to the station wagon in the driveway as Carol shuts the front door in the background. Just before Jill gets into the car, she takes a look back at the house -- there is a moment's hesitance, and then she gets in the car. INT. HOUSE - NIGHT Carol picks up the phone and carries it into the living room with her. As she does it, we see lying on the phone table, the newspaper clipping with Jill's picture, and headline: "Jill Lockhart Chairs Community UNICEF Drive." She puts the phone down, then her books, then herself. She dials a number. Her BOYFRIEND answers. BOYFRIEND (O.S.) Hello? CAROL Hi. It's me. BOYFRIEND (O.S.) Oh, hi. CAROL Can you come over? BOYFRIEND (O.S.) I can't. I really have a lot of work to do. CAROL (disappointed) Ohhh... CUT TO: INT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT An Italian Restaurant. Quiet music, soft lights, red and white checkered tablecloths, candles, a smokey and seductive atmosphere. DOLLY with a LATIN WAITER carrying a huge tray of food over- head. He passes right by the table where Jill and John are sitting. John watches him take the food to someone else. JOHN (reaching for a breadstick) I've eaten enough breadsticks to turn into a pretzel. JILL John, tell me about the surprise. JOHN Oh, yeah. Brace yourself. JILL I'm braced. JOHN Good. I got the sack today. JILL What sack? JOHN The can... I was fired! JILL Oh, sure. JOHN You don't believe me? JILL No, I don't believe you. JOHN Well, Wally did call me into his office today. And he did tell me I didn't have my old job anymore. JILL (getting excited) John, what did you get? JOHN Are you ready for this? JILL (guessing) District Sales Manager! JOHN Regional! JILL Regional?! JOHN Nah, District. JILL (beside herself) John, I don't believe it! District Sales Manager! The WAITER arrives with their food. JILL Well, it's about time! The waiter looks up, offended. JILL (to waiter) Not you. (back to John) It's about time they recognized you for what you are. WAITER Enjoy your dinner, folks. They ignore him. He moves away. John digs right in. JOHN (mouth full) I'll be the youngest District Manager in the company's history. God, am I hungry! JILL (not eating yet) Does this mean a raise? JOHN It sure does. John flags down a passing WAITER and signals that their wine glasses need filling. JILL How much? JOHN A lot. JILL How much? John leans forward and whispers in her ear. JILL You're kidding! And a car? JOHN And a car. JILL John, I'm so proud of you. John pauses, looks at her. JOHN What's the matter? You don't like your food? The MAITRE D' has come up to the table. John stops suddenly. They are both very chagrined. MAITRE D' Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart? JILL That's right. MAITRE D' There's a telephone call for you. John starts to get up. Jill grabs his arm. JILL Eat your dinner. It's probably Carol. I'll talk to her. Jill stands up and follows the Maitre D' through the other tables to the telephone. She picks up the receiver. CAMERA MOVES in on her. JILL Hello? Pause. DUNCAN (O.S.) Have you checked the children? Jill screams and falls to the floor. ANGLE ON JOHN Around him, other DINERS fall instantly silent and wonder what is going on. WAITERS stop dead in their tracks. John leaps up from his seat and dashes through the tables like a madman. Suddenly the restaurant comes alive with excitement and alarm. ANGLE ON JILL As John runs up and drops to his knees beside her. She is shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. JOHN Jill, what's happening? What's wrong? JILL It was him! Somebody call the police! Help me! Other PEOPLE have crowded around and are making urgent noises now about calling the police, an ambulance, etc. John tries to cut through the confusion and anxiety. JOHN Wait a minute! Just hold on! Sweetheart, what was him? What are you talking about? JILL That man... Curt Duncan... He's home again! He's got our children! JOHN He was on the phone? Jill nods. John grabs the telephone and quickly dials a number. The crowd tries to quiet down, as much to hear for themselves as to let John talk. The phone rings and rings. Finally... CAROL Hello? JOHN Hello, Carol, it's Mr. Lockhart. What's going on over there? CAROL Nothing's going on. JOHN Is everything all right? CAROL Yes, there's nothing -- JOHN Are you sure? Pause. CAROL Everything's fine. Why? What's --? JOHN Carol, listen to me very carefully. If there's a man in the house, if there's any reason why you can't talk to me right now, just answer yes to me over the phone. That's all. If there's any danger of any kind, just say yes. Long pause. They wait for her answer. Jill is listening into the receiver now, too. CAROL I don't understand what's happening. What man in the house? Jill is confused. John breathes a guarded sigh of relief. Jill takes the phone. JILL Carol, it's Mrs. Lockhart. Answer me truthfully. When was the last time you looked in on the children? CAROL About forty-five minutes ago. Everything's fine. They were fast asleep. Jill gives her husband a look. John takes the phone again. JOHN Carol, I'm sorry about all the hysterics. We're leaving the restaurant now. We'll explain everything when we get home. Before we hang up, could you do just one more thing for me, please? CAROL What? JOHN Would you go upstairs and, and check on the children for me? Jill is violently shaking her head. John silences her with a gesture. CAROL Sure. Hold on. Carol O.S. puts the phone down. Then there is silence on the other end. The crowd of people around Jill and John begin to shuffle and murmur. John tries to keep them quiet while listening into the phone. Then TWO POLICEMEN come forward through the crowd. One of them kneels down to John and Jill who are still on the floor. POLICEMAN #1 What seems to be the problem here, sir? JOHN (whispering) Officer, I'm John Lockhart. Just a second please, and I'll explain everything. JILL (whispering to Policeman) I'm Jill Johnson, the babysitter seven years ago with the child killer. This means nothing to Policeman #1. JOHN The babysitter. The guy got into the house and killed the two children upstairs. Policeman #2 kneels down now. POLICEMAN #2 (whispering) Oh, yeah, I remember something about that. A Greek doctor... JOHN That's right. That's the one. POLICEMAN #2 (to Policeman #1) It was in the seventh precinct... As the two policemen and John mumble between themselves, Jill takes the telephone. JILL (listening) Hello? She presses the receiver tighter to her ear. JILL Carol? John quiets down the policeman. Jill can now hear what she couldn't a second ago. JILL (growing hysterical) Carol? Carol?! ZOOM into the telephone until we can also hear what Jill is reacting to. It grows louder and louder... A dial tone. CUT TO: EXT. LOCKHART HOUSE - NIGHT John and Jill pull up in the station wagon followed by a squad car -- no sirens or lights. They all get out and rush for the front door. John pulls out his key to open the door... and discovers that it's unlocked. Cautiously, they step inside. INT. FRONT HALL They look into the living room. Carol isn't there. JOHN Carol? Carol? No answer. The policemen tentatively draw their guns. Jill bolts up the stairway. JOHN Jill! Policeman #2 runs up after her. INT. UPSTAIRS HALL As Jill runs down to the children's bedroom followed by Policeman #2. She opens the door and rushes inside. INT. CHILDREN'S BEDROOM The children are in bed, asleep. Policeman #2 stands in the doorway as Jill goes up to June and bends over her. JUNE (opening her eyes) Mommy? Jill kisses her gently on the forehead. JILL Sshhh... June closes her eyes and immediately falls back to sleep. Jill walks over to Stevie's bed and looks down at him. He turns slightly in his sleep. Satisfied that her children are safe, Jill pulls up the covers on Stevie and then walks slowly out of the bedroom. INT. UPSTAIRS HALL Jill quietly pulls the door shut, and Policeman #2 walks back up the hallway. Jill leans against the wall and buries her face in her hands. She is drained. She starts to cry. JOHN (O.S.) Nothing was wrong? CAROL (O.S.) When I got back to the phone, the line was dead. I figured we got cut off somehow. What's been going on? CUT TO: INT. BEDROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT Jill is sitting on a corner of the bed, looking at the floor. John sits on the other corner, facing away from her, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. After a long silence... JILL What are you thinking about? JOHN If I ever get my hands on the guy that made that call... JILL John, it wasn't a prank. I know that voice. JOHN He disguised it though, didn't he? Same as before? JILL I know that voice. Pause. JILL How can we just sit here? John turns and moves over beside her. JOHN Look, we promised never to talk about this. REACTION SHOT of Jill. She is shocked. JOHN What are we supposed to do? Leave town? Take the kids and lock ourselves up somewhere? Come on... Let's get a good night's sleep, and in the morning we can rethink this whole thing. JILL Nothing has to be rethought. And I'm not about to fall asleep. JOHN Try to relax, honey. I'm here. We're both here. The house is locked up. The cops'll be just outside all night long. We're safe now. JILL That's what they told me before. John stands up and goes to his dresser. JOHN Okay. Look. If it'll make you feel any better... He takes a revolver from the dresser drawer and emphatically checks the action. Then he walks to his side of the bed and sets the pistol on his bedside table. JOHN I'll keep it right here beside me all night. You know I'm a light sleeper and a damn good shot. Are you satisfied? Pause. Jill tries to smile. JILL John, I'm sorry to be putting you through all this. JOHN Hey, you're not putting me through anything that you don't have to go through yourself. I'm with you all the way. Trust me. Okay? Jill nods. John leans forward and kisses her. JOHN That's my girl. He gets up and walks out of the room talking. JOHN (O.S.) Now try to relax. We'll get some sleep. You'll be surprised how differently things will look in the morning. JILL (complaining) Honey... JOHN (O.S.) What? JILL Not so loud. You're going to wake the children. John comes back into the bedroom with a glass of water and a couple of pills in his hand. JOHN (smiling) Naw. Those kids'd sleep through an earthquake. They're good kids. (handing her the pills and water) Here, take a couple of these. They're just what the doctor ordered. CLOSEUP - JILL As she takes the pills and swallows them, one at a time. JOHN (O.S.) You know, I read somewhere about this psychological thing called hysterical delusion or hysterical recall or something. It had to do with how an event from your past can sneak up on you sometimes and fool you when it's only just a memory. I don't know. We'll talk about it in the morning. Maybe there's someone we can see about that... CUT TO: INT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT The lounge area in the back of the station. At one table, three OFFICERS are playing bridge. Garber with his back to CAMERA rounds out their game. At a nearby table closer to CAMERA, Policeman #1 is working on a crossword puzzle. POLICEMAN #3, sitting next to him, is reading a paperback novel. POLICEMAN #1 What's a word for "an outsider, of sorts"? POLICEMAN #3 Trespasser. POLICEMAN #1 Uh-uh. Eight letters. POLICEMAN #3 Stranger. POLICEMAN #1 Uh-uh. Starts with an "I". Policeman #3 thinks briefly, then goes back to his novel. Policeman #2 enters the room carrying a printout of some sort. POLICEMAN #2 Hey, Bert. A report just came in on that guy, Curt Duncan. ANGLE ON GARBER At the bridge table, perking up his ears, looking around. POLICEMAN #2 (O.S.) Broke outta the nuthouse two months ago. Garber is keeping only half an eye on the card game. He pulls a card from his hand and throws it down. POLICEMAN #1 (O.S.) Oh, yeah? You going to put that in our report? OFFICER #1 (O.S.) Diamonds, Charlie. Diamonds was led. Garber hastily picks up his card and throws down another. POLICEMAN #2 (O.S.) Course I'm going to put it in the report. Maybe this gal tonight really did get a call from him. Who knows? OFFICER #1 (O.S.) Your lead, Charlie. Garber throws down another card. OFFICER #1 (O.S.) What the hell are you doing? That's a trump. OFFICER #2 (O.S.) A card laid is a card played. POLICEMAN #1 (O.S.) Yeah, you're right. We'd better leave that on Ruznik's desk in the morning. OFFICER #2 (O.S.) Toss 'em in. I got the rest. OFFICER #1 (O.S.) Jesus Kay-Reist! Garber throws down his cards. He stands up and approaches Policeman #2. GARBER Hey, Tucker, lemme see that a minute. Policeman #2 hands the sheet of paper to Garber. Garber quickly scans the information. GARBER You guys have a stake on the house? POLICEMAN #2 Bernstein and Waller are checkin' it every twenty minutes or so. GARBER (handing back the sheet) Thanks. Garber exits to his office. Policeman #2 walks over to where Policeman #1 is still sitting, working the crossword. POLICEMAN #1 Hey, what's an eight letter word for "an outsider, of sorts"? Starts with an "I". POLICEMAN #2 Intruder! POLICEMAN #1 Right! Intruder! CUT TO: INT. GARBER'S OFFICE - NIGHT Garber sits thinking for a moment. He is trying to come to a decision. He reaches for the phone and dials. It rings and then is picked up. CLIFFORD (O.S.) Hello? GARBER Cliff?... I think I got something for you... CUT TO: INT. LOCKHART HOUSE - NIGHT A shot of the downstairs hall. All is dark and still, very still. INT. BEDROOM Jill is tossing in her sleep. John is fast asleep next to her, on his side facing away from her. Then, Jill wakes up. She is heavily sedated, groggy. She hardly knows where she is at first. She pulls herself up to a sitting position on the side of the bed. She tries to gather her wits. Then she gets up and walks slowly out of the room. FOLLOWING JILL Through the upstairs hallway, down the staircase and toward the kitchen. The darkness around her is ominous, threatening. She stops at the dining room window and looks out. On the street a patrol car slowly passes and disappears down the block. INT. KITCHEN Jill enters, turns on the light, opens a cupboard and takes out a glass. She goes to the refrigerator and opens it. Suddenly, the lights go out. Jill closes the refrigerator door and goes and turns on another light. Apparently, only a lightbulb has blown. Jill unscrews the burned-out bulb from its socket and throws it in the trash. She leaves the kitchen. INT. DOWNSTAIRS HALL Jill walks to a hall closet and opens it. A light comes on inside as she does so. A puzzled, half-startled expression comes onto her face. JILL'S POV Inside the closet, half the hangers with coats, etc., are on the floor. Sound over: A telephone being dialed. CUT TO: INT. CLIFFORD'S APARTMENT - NIGHT Clifford has just finished dialing the phone. He waits, nothing happens. Then a strange, siren-like noise comes out of the telephone. Clifford listens, then hangs up. He picks up the .38 he has lying on the desk and idly starts flipping the cartridge chamber with one of his jimmy needles. After a moment, he lays the gun down and picks up the phone again, this time calling the OPERATOR. OPERATOR (O.S.) Operator. CLIFFORD Can you dial a local number for me? OPERATOR (O.S.) What is the number, please? CLIFFORD 555-2183. The operator dials. There is a pause. Then the same strange noise cuts in. CLIFFORD Operator, what does that mean? OPERATOR (O.S.) I'm sorry, sir, that line seems to be disconnected. CLIFFORD Why don't I get a recording? OPERATOR (O.S.) I don't know, sir. Maybe the number was just recently disconnected. Maybe there's a temporary malfunction in the wiring. Why don't you try it again in the morning? CLIFFORD Yeah, okay. Thanks. CUT TO: INT. LOCKHART HOME - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT Jill is walking down the hall to the children's bedroom. She opens the door. INT. CHILDREN'S BEDROOM As Jill quietly enters. The children are asleep. Jill goes to June and tucks her in. Then she walks over to Stevie's bed. He is sleeping, but with a Sugar Daddy in his hand. Jill looks down at him, again puzzled. She leans over, takes the Sugar Daddy and gently wakes him. JILL Stevie... Stevie... STEVIE (stirring, but not fully awake) Yes? JILL Stevie, listen to me. Where did you get this candy? STEVIE What? JILL Where did you get this? STEVIE (very groggy) The man gave it to me... JILL What man? STEVIE (drifting off) I don't know... He was... Wings on a horse... He closes his eyes and is asleep. Jill stands up, turns and starts to walk out of the room. Halfway across the floor, Jill stops. She stands rigid as a thought penetrates her own drowsiness. She turns very slowly and moves to the closet in the children's bedroom. She stands before it a moment. Then she reaches her hand forward for the knob on the closet door. She very slowly pulls the door open. She looks inside. There is nothing. Jill quietly closes the closet door and leaves the room. INT. BEDROOM Jill enters. John is still asleep facing the wall. Jill gets into bed, sitting up. She is wide awake now. She sits for a moment in the darkness, thinking. Then she reaches for the princess phone on the bedside table. She doesn't get a dial tone. She quietly pushes the phone's disconnect button up and down several times. Still no dial tone. Jill hangs up and thinks for another moment, apprehension creeping over her face. Then, in the darkness of the bedroom, she begins to hear the muttering of a man's voice, low and deep. It is Duncan in the throes of Guy du Marraux. Jill freezes. As the voice gets steadily louder and more menacing, her attention focuses on the door to the bedroom closet which is a couple of inches ajar. JILL (urgently whispering) John?... John?... She reaches for the bedside lamp and turns it on, never taking her eyes away from the closet door. As soon as the light comes on, the voice stops. Her eyes still riveted to the door, Jill grabs her husband's shoulder and shakes him, her voice cracking with fear. JILL John!... John!... The body beside her stirs, rolls over, looks at her hideously. It is Duncan!! Jill shrieks, and makes a move to leap out of the bed. Duncan, the hideous and terrifying sound of his madness grumbling out of his throat, manages to grab the back of her nightgown. As Jill struggles to get off the bed, the gown rips slightly while she fights to get away. Duncan rolls to her side of the bed and manages to grab Jill's ankle while letting go of the gown. It causes Jill to lose her balance and tumble onto the floor just short of the doorway leading out of the room. Duncan is on her in a flash, clutching at her and moving his hands for her throat. Jill screams again. It is the desperate sound of a woman facing certain death. Suddenly, two quick shots ring out, overwhelming all other sound. Duncan falls back with a groan and a thud. Out of the darkness of the hallway steps Clifford, pistol in hand. He crosses to Duncan. He is dead. Then Clifford walks around the room to the far side of the bed and looks down. On the narrow strip of floor between the bed and the wall lies John. Clifford nudges the body with his foot. John stirs, as if he has been knocked unconscious, but it will be some time yet before he comes to. Clifford starts to walk out of the room, stepping over Duncan's body, edging past Jill who is propped up in the doorway, sobbing hysterically. CLIFFORD Your husband's okay. Then he is gone. As Jill sits there unable to rein in her emotions, June and Stevie toddle up to her groggily from the hallway. JUNE Mommy? Jill clutches her children to her heaving breast and buries her face between them. INT. DOWNSTAIRS HALL Looking through the open front doorway into the quiet night beyond. FADE OUT: THE END