Monday, March 9, 2015

# 4 ANGKOR

...continuing...

90 EXT. NICK’S APARTMENT. DUSK

NICK inserts a key into the front door to Nick’s apartment.

91 INT. NICK’S APARTMENT. DUSK

STAIR walks into Nick’s cluttered Living Room.

He explores the room for a few moments, looking at Nick’s desk: note-books, notes written on scraps of paper, magazines, newspapers with sections highlighted, the paper remnants of late night snacks etc.

His attention is caught by a book resting by the computer:

HEART OF DARKNESS, by Joseph Conrad.

He picks it up, flicks through the book, worn from many readings. Some passages have been highlighted.

Still holding the book he looks at Nick’s notice board for a moment, leaning close to look at the photo with Wing Chou’s face circled - a dart piercing one of his eyes.

STAIRS turns, walks towards the kitchen area. He opens the refrigerator, takes out a close-to empty bottle of wine; pours it into a glass.

As he walks back towards the notice board the wooden floorboards creak.

PATRICE (VOICE OFF)
Nick?

STAIR
It’s me. Stair.

PATRICE appears in the doorway to Nick’s bedroom, adjusting the sarong around her body.

92 EXT. STAIR’S HOME. PATIO OVERLOOKING SYDNEY HARBOUR. DAY

STAIR looks into the camera. His hair is longer. He is less well groomed than we have seen him before. Sydney harbour can be seen in the background.

Stair’s modern house, the view, the expanse of waterfront garden bespeak his wealth.

KATIE (VOICE OFF)
Did you have doubts? That first day? About how...?

STAIR
No. I knew that Nick hadn’t died in an accident.

KATIE sits alongside a camera on a tripod - on the other side of which sits TODD - late 20’s, handsome, his carefully styled hair streaked blonde.

TODD
You already suspected he was murdered?

STAIR (patronizing)
Listen to what I say, Todd. I am not going to repeat myself.

TODD bristles.

KATIE
Did you talk to Katie about...your doubts?

STAIR
Not that evening, no.

TODD
Why not?

STAIR shakes his head, sighs in exasperation.

KATIE
Can you tell us what you did talk about?

STAIR
Nick.

TODD
And? (A BEAT) Did you argue?

STAIR looks at KATIE, raises his eyebrows theatrically.

STAIR
Is that what she told you?

KATIE
It became quite physical....it seems.

STAIR (LAUGHS)
‘It seems’!? In what way?

TODD
Did she bite you?

STAIR
Does Katie bite you Todd?

TODD
What...!

KATIE
Not nearly often enough.

STAIR laughs. TODD stares at KATIE, mouth open.

TODD
Well, can you tell us...the camera...how it became ‘quite physical’?

STAIR
Todd, a word of advice. I don’t need to do this. I don’t need to be here talking to you. Stop acting like a police prosecutor.

KATIE
Sorry, but I don’t think he means...(She turns to TODD). Do you?

TODD
You don’t think I mean what?

Close on STAIR. He is not listening.

KATIE (V.O)
It’s just...the way you ask questions sometimes...

93 NICK’S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM. DUSK

2014

STAIR kneels astride PATRICE - his hands holding her wrists firmly against the floor; their heads close together.

PATRICE’S sarong is awry, her naked body partially exposed.

They stare into each others eyes - both breathing deeply, exhausted by their struggle.

She moves her head up towards STAIR’S, her mouth open - a wildness, madness, in her eyes.

STAIR breathes deeply, heavily, as she moves her mouth closer to his.
Their mouths are millimeters apart now. Natural sounds drain away.

Their lips meet.

94 INT/EXT VARIOUS LOCATIONS. PHNOM PENH. DAY/NIGHT

A montage, with music over:

- A BEGGAR WOMAN, sitting on a sidewalk, hand outstretched. The shot, seen through the legs of passers by, is wobbly, ‘out of focus’ and badly framed. Beside the BEGGAR WOMAN sits a 10 YEAR OLD GIRL, a BABY asleep in her lap, looking directly into the lens of the camera.
- An ‘almost-in-focus’ wobbly and tilted shot of the magnificent Royal Palace in downtown Phnom Penh.
- A crowded market. Live eels and fish squirm in a large plastic tray.
- A YOUNG GIRL leads a BLIND MUSICIAN by a rope as he plays a one stringed instrument.
- The amateurishly filmed street life images flow - as might be seen through the eyes of a child who has never been in Phnom Penh of used a camera before: First impressions.  

The images are mostly of poor, beggar and disabled people, but there are some of TOURISTS sitting in swish roadside restaurants drinking coloured cocktails and eating from  plates piled high with food.

- The ‘child’ filming has discovered the zoom function. A shot tightens on an EXTREMELY FAT CAUCASIAN MAN, eating alone, trying to wrap his mouth around a huge hamburger. The shot wobbles a little as the child’s giggling is heard.

- Walking through a dingy falling down building, its walls covered in green mould. The POV of the child filming. Water leaks from the roof onto hallway floors littered with rubbish. Pools of water have formed. Rats scurry. Turning a corner, a skinny dog appears, lapping a puddle of water. A shaft of light hits the ‘water’. It is red. Hold on the ‘puddle’ a moment. A wobbly tilt up reveals two feet hanging in mid air - one of them dripping blood.

95 EXT. STAIR’S HOME. PATIO OVERLOOKING SYDNEY HARBOUR. DAY

2015

KATIE and TODD sit on either side of the tripod - on top of which sits the camera pointed at STAIR. Tension between them.

KATIE
It’s just...the way you ask questions sometimes...

TODD
I just wanted...

KATIE
I know, but...

KATIE gestures to TODD to continue. They both look at STAIR - whose mind is elsewhere.

TODD 
Mr Morecombe?

STAIR seems not to have heard. TODD looks at notes written on the pad resting on his lap.

TODD
Mr Morecombe? (A BEAT) Did Patrice...? She told us...she tried to bite you!?

STAIR
Is that a question or a statement?

TODD seems not to understand. STAIR looks at KATIE, raises his eyebrows. He is not impressed by TODD.

KATIE
A question, I think!

STAIR
You’d have to ask Patrice. (A BEAT) You have, right?

TODD is reluctant to answer. KATIE nods.

STAIR
What does she say?

TODD
She tried to bite you?

STAIR 
True. (A BEAT) And not true.

TODD
How can it be true and not true?

STAIR
You’ll figure it out when you grow up! Maybe! Is it important?  Whether she tried to bite me or not?

STAIR’S eyes flick from TODD to KATIE.

TODD
If you’re trying to get to the truth, you have to get your facts straight.

STAIR (laughs)
Is that what you two are doing here? On a quest to find ‘the truth’?

KATIE
No, we’ve been commissioned to...

TODD
Yes, the truth.

STAIR (laughs)
“And nothing but the truth, so help me God.” (A BEAT) And you’ve got... what?, a TV hour to play with? (A BEAT) With or without commercial breaks? And in that hour you’ve got to pose the question, “Who killed all these people and why?” And then answer it. Right? And present the key characters in your doco as ‘three dimensional, complex, contradictory’ and so on, right?

TODD nods. 

STAIR
But its not that easy, Todd, as you’ll learn in due course. Maybe. Life doesn’t come all neatly wrapped in a package with the instructions written clearly on the side.

Inside the house we catch glimpses of Stair’s wife, TILDA and his two daughters - ROSIE (aged 8) and TINA (aged 10).

STAIR
Tell me one ‘truth’ about your life, Todd. One thing that you have found to be irrefutably ‘true’. Just one.

TODD
This is not about me. Its...

STAIR
What is the ‘it’ you are referring to? “It’s...”!?

TODD
I mean...

STAIR
You don’t know what you mean, Todd, do you? Not your fault that you don’t. You’re young. How old are you?

TODD is ready to explode but realizes that he can’t. His frustration is compounded by KATIE’S clear enjoyment in this joust between TODD and STAIR.

STAIR
If even you can’t understand your  life, and you’re the one living it, what chance is there that anyone else will understand it? Sure, they’ll come up with a story that suits their...their ends...to justify themselves to themselves but...

KATIE
That’s pretty cynical, Mr Morecombe. I mean, that no-one can really understand another person.

STAIR
Stair, Katie. (A BEAT) Do you understand Todd here?

TODD (bristles)
You agreed to let us interview you, not the other way around!

STAIR
Why not? Why don’t we just turn the camera around and I’ll interview you? OK?

TODD and KATIE stare at him in confusion.

STAIR
My relationship with Patrice...with Nick...they’re both going to be seen through the prism of your relationship with each other, right?

TODD and KATIE are dumbfounded

STAIR
I’m guessing you have a relationship with each other than ‘professional’, right? Do you share a bed? Fuck? You ever bitten Todd’s lip, Katie? Because you loved him, hated him? Both?

TODD
Fuck this.

TODD jumps to his feet, looks at KATIE, expecting her to follow suit. She doesn’t. She addresses STAIR apologetically.

KATIE
Sorry. (to Todd) Why do you let Stair push your buttons?

TODD
Why do you take his side?

KATIE
I’m, not taking ‘sides’. I’m just saying...

TODD
What are you saying, Kate?

KATIE
Sometimes I love you and sometimes... like now, I think...

TODD
You think? (A BEAT) What?

STAIR
You’re a pain in the arse!

TODD stares at KATIE, expecting her to disagree with STAIR.

TODD
I can’t believe this is happening.

STAIR
Sit down, Todd. Relax. I’ll give you some facts and leave it to you..the two of you...to figure out ‘the truth’...in the editing room.

He gestures to TODD to sit down. TODD complies reluctantly.

STAIR
And, hey, when you discover it, please share it with me. I’d be very interested to discover what the truth of my life is! 

KATIE laughs, despite herself. 

STAIR
I’m sorry, Todd! It’s just you remind me...forget it... Fire away, Todd. (A BEAT) “So, Mr Morecombe...Stair...tell us what happened after you and Patrice had the argument in which she may or may not have tried to bite you.” Certainly, Todd, I’m glad you asked.”

TODD smiles.

96 INT. LIVING ROOM. NICK’S APARTMENT. NIGHT

2014

BALIN MEAS, standing in the doorway, holds up the Glock.

BALIN MEAS
It was underneath the driver’s seat of Nick’s car.

PATRICE adjusts her sarong. STAIR rakes fingers through his dishevelled hair, runs his tongue over a small red bite mark on his lower lip.

PATRICE
Nick didn’t own a gun.

STAIR
He didn’t say it was Nick’s gun, Patrice.

PATRICE glares at him

STAIR
He said he found it under the seat.

PATRICE
Don’t fucking patronize me, Alistair.

STAIR holds up his hand (”OK”), raises his eyebrows for BALIN MEAS’ benefit: (”Women!). PATRICE is mad as a hornet.

BALIN MEAS
I thought you should see this and...

PATRICE
Nick didn’t own a gun.

She is quite drunk; slurs her words a little.

PATRICE
At least...that’s what he told me. And if he had one, and if...or if he got one but didn’t tell me...

STAIR’S mobile announces the arrival of a text message.

PATRICE
...because... because he didn’t want me to worry about him...its because he needed some protection from... whatever it was he was scared of?

STAIR reads the message. It is not good news! 

BALIN MEAS
What was he scared of?

PATRICE
You’re the cop, Meas. You fucking figure it out. He had more enemies than you could poke a stick at.

BALIN MEAS is confused. STAIR is more preoccupied with the ramifications of his text message than with the conversation.

PATRICE
A lot of enemies.

BALIN MEAS
Yes, I understand, Miss Patrice, but he also had plastic containers full of petrol in his car and...

PATRICE
And he was a fucking moron but...

She bursts into tears, stumbles out of the room.

BALIN MEAS indicates to STAIR that they should go outside, to a dimly lit tropical garden. STAIR nods; follows BALIN MEAS.

97 EXT. TROPICAL GARDEN. NIGHT

As STAIR and BALIN MEAS walk into the tropical garden.

BALIN MEAS 
I arrived at a difficult moment, no?

STAIR
We all grieve in our own way.

BALIN MEAS (smiles)
My friend, I do not want to contradict Miss Patrice, but it seems Mr Nicholas did own a gun.

STAIR nods, but seem disinterested.

BALIN MEAS
If he feared for his safety, as Miss Patrice says, if he was scared, I have to ask myself - of what or who was he scared? For his life?

STAIR
He’s dead, Meas. That’s all that counts.

BALIN MEAS
All?

STAIR
I don’t mean that. ( BEAT) I mean, Nick is my brother, but...Let’s just say he was murdered...

BALIN MEAS
So you think it is possible?

STAIR
He’s just as dead if he was murdered as if...

BALIN MEAS
It is my job to...(ask questions)

STAIR
Yes, I understand, but...

STAIR speaks fast; in something of a panic.

STAIR
Meas, have you ever been...in a situation that...you can’t escape. There is no way out and you panic and...then a way out appears...a light at the end of the tunnel and you have no choice but to run as fast as you can towards that light and... there is a chance...a slim chance that you can...save yourself. That’s me. Now. It would be too complicated to explain but...I have to get back to Sydney. If I don’t...

He makes an explosive gesture with his hands.

BALIN MEAS
I understand. You’re on the edge of a deep hole and if you are not careful you will fall into it. (A BEAT) I know this feeling. “At the end of your tether” I think it is called.

BALIN MEAS pats STAIR’S shoulder reassuringly.

BALIN MEAS
You need say no more, Mr Stair. I understand.

STAIR nods his thanks, composes himself.

98 INT. BATHROOM. NIGHT

PATRICE leans with both hands on the sink in front of the mirror, her head lowered, willing her head to stop spinning. She looks up into the mirror; does not like what she sees.

She turns on a tap, scoops water into her cupped hands and splashes it onto her face.

99 EXT. TROPICAL GARDEN. NICK’S APARTMENT. NIGHT

STAIR and BALIN MEAS sit at the table in the garden.

STAIR
I like to gamble. Too much. No, not ‘like’, but...I can’t... or I don’t want...(to stop myself).

BALIN MEAS (nods)
An addiction.

STAIR
I hate that word, but yes.... probably. (A BEAT) I owe a lot of money, Meas. A lot. And the person who I owe it to wants it back. Now. And I don’t have the money. Now. In a week, I should...have it, but I might not!

BALIN MEAS nods.

STAIR
And if I don’t, I lose... everything. More than everything.

BALIN MEAS
I understand what it is like to lose everything.

STAIR
I am this close...this close...

He holds his thumb and index finger close

STAIR
...but I have to be in Sydney to close the deal.

BALIN MEAS
If you worry about this problem tonight, will this change anything?

STAIR laughs, shakes his head.

100 INT. NICK’S BEDROOM. NIGHT

PATRICE, dressed in trousers and shirt now, does up the last of the shirt buttons, wills herself not to cry.

101 EXT. TROPICAL GARDEN. NIGHT

CLOSE ON:

Skeletal hands clutching the steering wheel.

STAIR (V.O.)
Nick’s hands are holding the steering wheel...

STAIR, holding his iPhone, on which the photo is displayed, looks at BALIN MEAS to see if any pennies drop for him.

STAIR
...as if he had no warning that he was about to be burned to death.

BALIN MEAS thinks about this, nods, but is clearly confused as to where STAIR is going with this.

STAIR
Let’s just say the fire started in the engine.

BALIN MEAS nods.

STAIR
There would have been a few seconds, at least, from when the fire broke out and the gas tank exploded, right?

The penny finally drops for BALIN MEAS. He smiles, gestures his understanding of what STAIR is suggesting.

STAIR
And a few seconds again before the petrol containers caught fire.

BALIN MEAS nods, would like to interrupt.

STAIR
Nick would have had a few seconds, at least, to get out of the car...

BALIN MEAS
...in which case his hands would not be clutching the steering wheel.

STAIR
Precisely.

BALIN MEAS
Your theory is an interesting one, Mr Stair, but...perhaps the fire started inside the car...If Mr Nick lit a cigarette and...

BALIN MEAS makes an explosive gesture with his hands. STAIR shakes his head.

STAIR
No, that doesn’t work, Meas. His hands wouldn’t be clutching the steering wheel if he’d just lit a cigarette. (A BEAT) And Nick didn’t smoke.

BALIN MEAS (laughs)
You have the makings of a good detective, my friend.

STAIR
I trained as a lawyer.

BALIN MEAS
I know. “The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.”

STAIR (laughs)
You read Shakespeare?

BALIN MEAS
In a past life.

STAIR
I must say, Meas, I never expected to meet a Cambodian policeman who could quote Shakespeare!

BALIN MEAS
Do not expect anything in my beautiful country, my friend. And expect anything.

STAIR
How do you know I am...was...a lawyer?

BALIN MEAS
It is my job to know things.

STAIR nods, smiles

BALIN MEAS
So you agree with Miss Patrice that your brother’s death may not have been an accident?

STAIR
No. But I don’t disagree. (A BEAT) I have a few... doubts.

BALIN MEAS
Without doubt we have no reason to look behind the appearance of things. We must keep an open mind.

STAIR
A policeman’s job.

BALIN MEAS
And a lawyer’s. (A BEAT) You are right, my friend, to doubt. In Cambodia nothing is ever quite as it seems to be.

STAIR (smiles)
In life.

BALIN MEAS (nods)
Indeed. My own doubts have to do with this.

He holds the Glock pistol up; points to the base of the grip.

BALIN MEAS
You see, here, the serial number? I have checked online...it was part of a batch of 200 guns bought by one buyer, but the name has been...how do you say...re-d...

STAIR
Redacted.

BALIN MEAS
Redacted, yes. What is interesting is the address of the supplier. Virginia.

STAIR doesn’t understand.

BALIN MEAS
Langley, Virginia. (A BEAT) Where the CIA has its headquarters.

STAIR holds his hands up in a familiar gesture.

STAIR
I can assure you, Meas, that there is no way, no way on earth, that my brother worked for the CIA.

BALIN MEAS
My friend, I am not saying that he did, but...I have a question. If you were the CIA and were recruiting spies what sort of people would you recruit?

STAIR (smiles)
The kinds of people whose friends... brothers...would say...’there’s no way he worked for the CIA.’

BALIN MEAS
Do you think that your brother would have backed up his photos in ‘the Cloud’?

STAIR gestures “I don’t know”. BALIN MEAS takes a plastic bag from his pocket. Inside are the melted blackened remnants of a mobile phone - one small part of which has melted but not burnt. It is yellow.

STAIR
Where did you find this?

BALIN MEAS
In the pocket of your brother’s trousers.

STAIR takes the plastic bag, stares at the melted yellow mobile for a long moment. When he sees PATRICE making her way across the room inside to the door leading to the garden he stuffs the bag in his pocket.

STAIR
Don’t mention this to Patrice.

BALIN MEAS, puzzled, nods.

STAIR
Or the CIA.

BALIN MEAS nods. PATRICE walks up; more sober now. She addresses both BALIN MEAS and STAIR.

PATRICE
OK, so Nick told me that he did not own a gun but let’s say he lied, right? Let’s say he didn’t want me to worry about him - which I would have if I knew he had a gun, because I would have asked him why he had a gun and he would not have....

STAIR is only half listening, which annoys PATRICE.

PATRICE
So Nick was scared...of something... when he left that morning. Really scared. Doesn’t the fact that he was scared, that he had a gun, if the gun was his, at least raise some doubt in your mind about his death being ‘accidental’?

STAIR’S face expresses nothing.

BALIN MEAS
I have an open mind, Miss Patrice. If there is a truth to be found, I will find it.

PATRICE looks to STAIR for a response. 

STAIR
I am sure Meas knows what he is doing.

PATRICE
OK, there is something I want to show you, Meas.

She turns to Stair.

PATRICE
And you too.

She turns to walk inside.

102 INT. NICK’S APARTMENT. NIGHT

CLOSE ON a photo of a group of Asian men posing in front of a banner that reads:

International Development Commission of South East Asia. Wing Chou’s head has been circled.

PATRICE (voice off)
These guys are all members of a cashed up consortium involved in illegal logging...

PATRICE stands in front of Nick’s notice board, pointing. STAIR and BALIN MEAS look and listen.

PATRICE
...buying land from the government... land the government doesn’t own, evicting the traditional owners, the indigenous peoples...the Jarai and others, dredging sand from the Mekong illegally...brothels, casinos...you name it. Crooks of the first order. And right in the centre is...

EXTREME CLOSE UP of:

Wing Chou, circled, smiling. 

PATRICE (VOICE OFF)
Mr Wing Chou.

PATRICE moves to sit at her laptop computer.

STAIR looks at BALIN MEAS for confirmation.

BALIN MEAS
He is a bad man.

PATRICE
No, not bad, Meas! Evil. Look at this.

CLOSE ON computer screen, grainy footage:

The white car with Kek in it pulls up outside Wing Chou’s palatial home.

PATRICE (voice over)
Wing Chou likes to...excuse me, Meas...to fuck little girls.

A GUARD opens the door for KEK outside Wing Chou’s palatial home. She gets out of the car, looks at the house; awestruck.

PATRICE
Virgins. Nick had another girl, 12 years old, who Wing Chou... ’deflowered’, but her mother wouldn’t let us tell her story unless we gave her money. Which Nick refused to do.

STAIR
Why?

PATRICE
Your brother has principles. (A BEAT) So, just a couple of minutes after Nick shot this, Wing Chou’s guards hassled us and...didn’t find our cameras thank God...but before they let us go one of them took a photo of us. Me and Nick. So, unless they are complete idiots they will have figured out that Nick is...was...a journalist and...

STAIR looks at BALIN MEAS questioningly.

BALIN MEAS
Mr Wing Chou is a powerful man. And ruthless. But if he had wanted to kill Mr Nicholas, he would not have done it this way. He would have...

PATRICE
So you don’t discount that Nick might have been murdered?

BALIN MEAS
I do not discount anything, Miss Patrice.

STAIR
Would have what?

BALIN MEAS
Two men on a motor bike. Black helmets. Full face. Mr Nick walking down the street. Motor bike...

He makes ‘motor bike moving fast’ gesture, raises his hand, makes a pistol of it; pulls the ‘trigger’.

STAIR
You have more?

PATRICE nods, presses ‘play’.

CLOSE ON computer screen. Grainy covertly shot footage:

Wing Chou sits at a roulette wheel in a plush casino, a beautiful young woman standing on either side of him.

PATRICE (V.O.)
This is Wing Chou’s casino. He’s a gambler.

Wing Chou places a large pile of chips number 8. A baby turtle crawls towards the pile of chips. Wing Chou laughs. The two young women giggle.

STAIR (V.O)
A turtle!

BALIN MEAS
Good luck.

STAIR raises his eyebrows questioningly. The sound of a mobile phone ringing.

BALIN MEAS
Same with the number 8. Good luck.

BALIN MEAS answers his phone; listens.

PATRICE (to Stair)
And having sex with virgins. ‘Want to stay youthful, cure sexually transmitted diseases... virgins are the way to go...’(A BEAT) But that’s not all...

BALIN MEAS has turned pale. He indicates his mobile.

BALIN MEAS
I must go. I am sorry...

PATRICE
No, Meas, you need to see this. It’s...

BALIN MEAS
Not now, Miss Patrice. I must be somewhere else with much urgency.

PATRICE
Another murder?

BALIN MEAS
Worse. (A BEAT) I cannot say more now until...

PATRICE (NODS)
I wanted to ask you, Meas...What about Nick’s mobile phone? He had it with him. Maybe...!

BALIN MEAS
There was no mobile phone, Miss Patrice. Not that we found. The heat...gasoline burns at more than 800 degrees centigrade...Now, if you will excuse me...

BALIN MEAS walks out. PATRICE turns to STAIR.

PATRICE
What can be worse than murder?

STAIR, lost in thought, seems not to have heard her.

STAIR
Back in a moment.

He moves fast towards the front door.

103 EXT. NICK’S APARTMENT. NIGHT

STAIR runs after BALIN MEAS, calls out:

STAIR
Meas!

BALIN MEAS turns.

STAIR
Can I ask you a quick question? About my brother?

BALIN MEAS nods.

STAIR
You know about his case?

BALIN MEAS
Yes. I was not involved but...I have looked at the file.

STAIR
Was Nick guilty? (A BEAT) Did he rape that girl?

BALIN MEAS
I believe you are a man who would prefer the truth to...

STAIR
Yes, the truth, Meas, please.

BALIN MEAS (nods)
The doctor’s report said ‘yes’, she had been raped.

STAIR
But later the girl denied ever having even met Nick.

BALIN MEAS
Perhaps she was paid to change her story. With the money you sent your brother.

STAIR
I didn’t...(A BEAT) Could someone have paid the girl to have the charges laid in the first place?

BALIN MEAS
This happens also. Welcome to Cambodia, Mr Stair. Kingdom of wonder, kingdom of lies. (A BEAT) Does it matter now?

STAIR
It matters to me if he was guilty or innocent.

BALIN MEAS
I understand.

PATRICE (voice off)
What will he understand, Meas?

PATRICE stands in the doorway.

PATRICE
What are you two talking about that you don’t want me to hear?

STAIR
Getting Nick back to Australia. Practical details...

BALIN MEAS
Tomorrow, I think. Yes, tomorrow. Now I must go.
(To STAIR)
I will speak with you in the morning.
(To PATRICE)
And I will keep you informed, Miss Patrice, of any new developments.

BALIN MEAS walks off.

STAIR
Me too. I’ll...come around in the morning, before I leave...

PATRICE
Leave!

STAIR
I’m flying out tomorrow.

PATRICE
Tomorrow! No! (A BEAT) You can’t. What...

STAIR
There you go! Calling me a cunt again! (He laughs. Patrice smiles)
I have to. No choice.

PATRICE
Why?

STAIR
Because it would give you one more reason to hate me.

PATRICE
I don’t hate you.

PATRICE looks at STAIR for a long moment. He holds her gaze.

PATRICE
When was the last time you spoke to Nick?

STAIR
A couple of days ago. Very Brief. Like...60 seconds. Less.

PATRICE
Why? (A beat) Did you call him or did he call you?

STAIR
He called me.

PATRICE
Why?

STAIR
I don’t know.

PATRICE
What did you talk about?

STAIR
Nothing.

PATRICE exhales in exasperation.

PATRICE
And the time before that?

STAIR
Three years.

PATRICE
Did you call him or did he call you?

STAIR
Neither. We spoke.

PATRICE
‘We spoke’! About what? Why?

STAIR is reluctant to answer.

PATRICE
You don’t speak for three years and then...a couple of days before he... dies...he calls you out of the blue and you talk about... nothing! (A BEAT) Was Nick in some kind of trouble? Three years ago?

STAIR
Not that I am aware of.

PATRICE
He was, wasn’t he?

STAIR
If he told you he was, I guess he was.

PATRICE
You are so fucking infuriating, Stair! (A BEAT) No, he didn’t tell me. He wouldn’t tell me. I picked up clues, asked him about... whatever it was. The police were involved. And a girl, I think. He said it was ‘nothing’. Now I am asking you. Was Nick’s ‘nothing’ the same as your ‘nothing’?

STAIR
Some sleeping dogs are best left to lie.

PATRICE 
Lie! That’s what he did. He lied.  He wasn’t a good liar, Nick. He was a fucking hopeless liar! 

STAIR
Or so good you never picked it!?

PATRICE
Cunt.

STAIR
Groundhog Day.

PATRICE
Groundhog Day.

STAIR
Do you have any photos of Nick at work?

PATRICE
What kind of work?

STAIR
At his computer, in the field, on his mobile.

PATRICE
Why?

STAIR
I’d love to give some to dad.

...to be continued...

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