LORD OF ILLUSION

CHAPTER 13

INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT :

Harry lies on his bed, dozing. The CAMERA CREEPS IN on him. DOROTHEA (V.O.) ... I want somebody who can find out what Philip saw in those damn cards... Harry frowns in his semi-doze. DISSOLVE TO:

FLASHBACK - QUAID'S ROOM BUTTERFIELD:

Ever watched a man die? The image darkens, and fades up a beat later on Quaid. QUAID Please... I wasn't there... Ask Pimm. BUTTERFIELD Pimm's dead. Jennifer Desiderio's disappeared...

(: BACK TO: )

INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT:

Harry is still asleep. CUT TO: FLASHBACK - QUAID'S ROOM QUAID I'm not afraid to die. There's something terrible... coming home... A long silence. SUDDENLY, a telephone RINGS. BACK TO:

INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT :

HARRY sits up, shocked awake. HARRY Shit! He picks up the receiver. HARRY This is D'Amour. CUT TO:

INT. SWANN'S MANSION - DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT :

She sits up on her bed, dressed in a silk robe, and nothing else, drinking a SCOTCH, talking on the phone. The primary source of illumination is the massive T.V. set in the wall opposite the bed. DOROTHEA Harry... I know it's late.

INTERCUT PHONE CONVERSATION There should be a subtle eroticism pervading this exchange. Both of them on beds, in different bedrooms. Each aroused by the other's voice, and frustrated not to be able to see and touch them. HARRY That's okay.

As he speaks, Harry scrawls Jennifer Desiderio on the title page of the Gideon's Bible beside the bed. DOROTHEA How did it go today? HARRY I went up to the Magic Castle. You were right. He didn't have a lot of fans up there. CUT TO:

INT. SWANN'S MANSION - KITCHEN - NIGHT:

Valentin, on the kitchen PHONE, is listening in. DOROTHEA (V.O.) They were jealous of him. HARRY (V.O.) Why? Because he had you? ( BACK TO: )

INTERCUTTING: HARRY - DOROTHEA - VALENTIN DOROTHEA He... didn't have me.. I told you- HARRY You didn't marry him for love.

DOROTHEA'S BEDROOM She's a little uncomfortable now. HARRY So why did you marry him? DOROTHEA That's my business. Harry. HARRY Just curious. (a beat) Back to business. Ever heard of a man called Nix? (silence) Dorothea? DOROTHEA Yes... I'm here. And no. I don't know the name.

HARRY What about Jennifer Desiderio? DOROTHEA It doesn't ring a bell. I have to go. HARRY Okay. I'll keep digging. DOROTHEA (uneasy) Yes. You do that. She puts down the phone, and swallows a mouthful of scotch. She's shaking. She gets up. Paces the room. Then she picks up the phone again.

INT. HARRY'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT:

On the pad beside the bed, Jennifer's name, surrounded by Harry's doodles. The phone RINGS. CUT WIDE: The room is empty.

EXT./INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - STAIRWELL - NIGHT :

The Tarot Card and Crystal Readings sign is dark now. Harry heads up the stairs, past the PHOTOGRAPHS, to the door of Quaid's Waiting Room. It has been locked and taped by the police. Harry has come prepared. He takes out a small crowbar and levers off the locks.

INT. QUAID'S OFFICES - WAITING/FORTUNE TELLING ROOMS - NIGHT :Harry enters, FLASHLIGHT on. He crosses the Waiting Room and Harry enters, FLASHLIGHT on. He crosses the Waiting Room and enters the Fortune-Telling Room where Quaid died. On the TRACK -- a remote, eerie presence -- we hear Quaid's SOBS, Miller's SHOUTS, and, as Harry's flashlight illuminates the blood-spattered table:

BUTTERFIELD (V.O.) If you watch very closely, you can sometimes see the soul escaping. Harry is spooked. He starts to search the room, opening cabinets and drawers. Quaid's hordes of mystical bric-a-brac are stashed everywhere. Boxes of crystals, religious statues, elaborate cards, incense, etc.

He pulls open a drawer, and notices that a rosary is wedged in a niche at the base of the drawer. He pulls the drawer out, empties its contents on the table, and examines it. Using the crowbar, he forces the drawer apart. It has a false bottom. HARRY (smiles) Yes... In the secret compartment, some papers and an address book. He flicks to "D."

HARRY (CONT'D) Desiderio... There it is. Jennifer Desiderio, and an address. He pockets the book. Then, sensing a presence behind him, he pulls out his gun and whirls around, his flashlight beam revealing -- -- Valentin! HARRY (CONT'D) What the fuck are you doing here? VALENTIN Looking for you. I tried the hotel.

HARRY Why'd you come here? VALENTIN You're a detective, with no clues. Where else are you going to look? I'm going to keep this brief. (he takes out an envelope) Here's thirty thousand dollars. HARRY What for? VALENTIN A ticket home, HARRY You didn't hire me. She did.