PERMANENT INTERESTS - EPISODE 12
You need excuses for the late delivery? I got a million of ‘em - tossed and turned most of the night… slept in too late… had a morning medical appointment… running around like a chicken with its head cut off (I once actually saw that)… gotta run to the hospice.
But I do have time to entertain you all now.
Remember what Pierre said about the wolf…
INT. THEIR HOTEL SUITE - LATER
As the door opens...
ANNE (O.S.)
Harry didn't think it was bullshit!
David holds the door for her as she walks in...
DAVID
Fontaine's right! The Israelis would never allow the U.S. to give Syria any weapons - even a bunch of obsolete old Phantoms!
ANNE
Harry believed it, and Harry's dead. And Fontaine said there was nothing wrong with his car!
CLOSE - A NAGRA TAPE RECORDER
As it rolls on...
DAVID (V.O.)
So he said.
ANNE (V.O.)
What's that supposed to mean?
INT. HOTEL SUITE
David turns to her.
DAVID
You can step in a shadow and never even know it.
She takes Fontaine's package from her purse.
DAVID
What's that?
ANNE
Another shadow.
She tears open the wrapping to reveal a videocassette.
ANNE
Maybe this will tell us more.
David takes it from her, goes to the TV, turns it on and sticks the cassette in the VCR, then sits on the sofa arm.
ANNE'S POV
Harry Long is seated at Fontaine's table with a glass of the apple brandy before him. He takes a drink, then stares out.
HARRY
Well, David ol' buddy, if you've got this, you know they killed me...
David's eyes go hard.
HARRY (Cont)
... and you've tracked down Pierre. Anne, I'm gonna tell you the goddamndest craziest story you'll ever hear. Believe me, I thought this story was crazy for years 'til you asked me who would dare touch Charlie Sims. Ole Pierre has kept track of these people since the war...
Anne is intrigued.
CLOSE - THE NAGRA
A cloud of exhaled cigarette smoke billows over the machine.
HARRY (Cont) (V.O.)
... Pierre was part of a special French Army unit in 1945. Everyone was afraid Hitler would actually set up his National Redoubt in the Alps and continue the war...
ANNE
sits on the couch next to David.
HARRY (Cont)
... They found a wounded S.S. sergeant in the mountains of the Sudetenland. He told them about a cave full of Nazi gold.
He died before he could tell them where it was. He'd been shot by his own commander, to keep the secret...
David leans forward as...
HARRY (Cont)
... Pierre did find the unit commander, Helmut Lang, later that year, but couldn't prove anything and had to let him go.
Harry holds up a photograph of a distinguished-looking elderly gent and the CAMERA ZOOMS IN ON IT AS...
HARRY (V.O.)
This is Helmut Lang today. Don't let his age fool you. You see him, you know you're
in trouble.
CAMERA PULLS BACK and Harry CONTINUES...
HARRY
Nobody ever found the cave, 'cause the Sudetenland ended up behind the Iron Curtain...
Harry finishes his drink, refills the glass, then continues.
HARRY (Cont)
(sarcastic)
... Of course that was before we became such good friends again.
(serious again)
The people who know about that cave finance the weapons for the Fourth Reich movement. I can't give you proof, but where else are they gonna get that kind of money?
Anne nods to herself.
CLOSE - THE TAPE RECORDER
Rolls on, recording Harry's voice. More cigarette smoke blows across the machine.
HARRY (Cont) (V.O.)
... These people won't hesitate to kill anybody who crosses them. You must get to the people Charlie was with. Since you have this tape, Pierre's also given you the key. Sorry I can't be more help. Just remember what Sherlock Holmes said: "When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however implausible, must be the truth." Good luck.
A MAN'S HANDS stop the tape recorder and remove the tape.
INT. THEIR SUITE
David takes the tape out of the VCR and looks over at Anne. She says nothing, then leans over and looks under the sofa.
DAVID
What are you doing?
ANNE
Looking for Martin Bormann.
Next, you'll tell me the goddamn Nazis shot JFK.
DAVID
Jesus Christ, Anne! Harry died to get us this!
ANNE
Then he sold himself cheap. Your friend was a rum-soaked fruitcake.
He hurls the videocassette, and it bounces off the sofa an inch from her arm!
DAVID
Fuck you!
She stands and confronts him.
ANNE
Fuck you too! This is too far out for the "Weekly World News."
DAVID
Something, sure as hell, is going on!
ANNE
(calms down)
I'm sorry. He was your friend. But can't you see this is hopeless? Even if he had something solid with him, now we'll never know what it was.
He calms too, then goes to her and examines her arm.
DAVID
I didn't hurt you, did I?
ANNE
No. It's okay. Let's not fight.
DAVID
(suddenly brightens)
What about that "key" he said Fontaine gave you?
ANNE
There's a paper in my purse.
David gets Anne's purse, pulls out and looks at the piece of paper Fontaine gave her. He nods in thought.
DAVID
My turn.
INT. AVANT TRAVEL AGENCY - CANNES - DUSK
Alone with David, PAUL REYNAUD, the dapper owner, hands him a briefcase.
DAVID
What's this?
PAUL
Call it travel insurance.
David opens the case to reveal a 9mm Beretta and a .32 Beretta. David takes out the 9mm, checks it expertly, then slips it into his waistband under his jacket. Paul puts his hand on David's shoulder.
PAUL
Just remember, mon ami, this is France, not America.
David nods, closes the briefcase, and starts for the door.
PAUL
Au revoir. You will put in a word for my handling CNS' travel?
David taps over his inside breast pocket.
DAVID
If this is half what it appears, I'm sure they'll consider that a bargain, Paul.
David goes out the door.
EXT. AVANT TRAVEL AGENCY - CONTINUOUS
David walks up the street. A dark sedan with a dented front bumper glides to a stop ten yards behind him.
A HATTED FIGURE, wearing gloves, gets out of the sedan.
David looks back at the guy, sees a flash from a lighter. Dark eyes regard him.
David notices another flash from a lighter up the street.
Across the street, ANOTHER FIGURE steps into view from out of the shadows.
Trapped, David doesn't know what to do. He reaches for his gun, but remembers Paul's warning - this isn't high noon in Tombstone. Suddenly, he turns toward the nearer man and starts SINGING "Light My Fire" as he dances toward the man.
The Man stands there, confused by David's bizarre reaction.
David SINGS in his face, then simultaneously grabs the man's lighter and slams the briefcase into his groin....
The Man drops as...
David runs, flicks on the lighter, tosses it in the sedan...
THE SEDAN DRIVER fumbles for the lighter, a hawk-talon ring on his finger...
DAVID runs...FOOTSTEPS ECHO on the pavement behind him as...
The Second Man pursues him...
David runs into the intersection and waves his arms...
A CAB SCREECHES to a halt just short of David. He jumps in.
THE SECOND MAN, frustrated, watches the cab drive away.
CLOSE ON - THE NAGRA TAPE RECORDER - LATER
The running tape records SOUNDS OF: door opens, closes, then the mini-bar opens, bottles and glasses rattle.
ANNE (V.O.)
How'd it go?
DAVID (V.O.)
Put that out.
ANNE (V.O.)
You've spent too much time in L.A. I needed a smoke. I don't nag about your drinking.
INT. SURVEILLANCE ROOM - CARLETON HOTEL
The tape recorder runs while Vic listens on headphones as he rummages through prints of the telephoto shots of David and Anne. He takes another drag on his cigarette.
A TOILET FLUSHES (O.S.) and an ARAB MAN enters.
VIC
They're better than Punch and Judy!
INT. ANNE'S SUITE - CARLETON HOTEL - CONTINUOUS
ANNE
You okay?
David finishes his drink, then pulls a second small bottle of Jack Daniels from the mini-bar and refills his glass.
DAVID
They nearly got me.
ANNE
Who...What?
DAVID
They were waiting when I came out of Paul's. I don't know whose side they were on.
He downs the second drink, then pulls an envelope from his pocket, opens it and hands a sheet of paper to her.
DAVID
Fontaine told us the right place to look.
She reads it. Her eyes go wide, she looks at him. He nods.
DAVID
Right. When was the last time you flew into France from the Middle East and didn't have to go through customs inspection?
She looks at the paper again.
ANNE
And William Martin flew in direct from Beirut. Which would make sense if he was really involved with selling those planes...
CLOSE - THE RUNNING TAPE RECORDER
DAVID (V.O.)
And it would make sense if he was acting like he was, for the benefit of the other side.
INT. ANNE'S SUITE
Anne, paper in hand, follows David, drink in hand, into the bedroom. He continues into the bathroom. WATER RUNS (O.S.)
She reaches under the bed for a shoebox, then hides the paper in the packing tissue inside the shoebox.
DAVID (O.S.)
I still don't get why Charlie Sims would be so worried about a bunch of Nazi crazies that he'd be doing all this. It's not like they're a country.
Anne stashes the shoebox back under the bed and stands.
ANNE
That's the sixty-four dollar question, and I'm damn good at what I do.
David exhales loudly as he exits the bathroom and plops on the bed.
DAVID
I know...
Anne looks suddenly vulnerable as she sits beside him.
ANNE
I wanted this to be our time, away from the front lines.
He sets the drink aside and pulls her to him, their faces inches apart.
DAVID
You wouldn't know what to do with a normal life.
They kiss, and their bodies intertwine.
INT. SURVEILLANCE ROOM
Vic butts his cigarette with a look of real concern.
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No excuses needed. Hope tonight brings peaceful sleep.
Damn, you’re good at this stuff !
Nevahmind with the excuses. You're excused for anything no matter what... except totally disappearing on us of course!
So much tension - I want these people to stop meeting in public places and assuming their room is secure and so on. In their shoes I'd be so much more paranoid; talking in the corner of the lobby Once, then a park, etc. but I suppose that's the problem: So far they don't realize they're "in their shoes"!