In front of him is the antique boarding school trunk. Filled with books. Far advanced for his age.
FLASH BACK TO:
INT. MANSION. KITCHEN. NIGHT (PRESENT)
Frances finishes the story.
FRANCES
I opened up a world that would’ve been closed to him.
DANNY
He didn’t belong there. He wasn’t you. He wasn’t like you.
FRANCES
A few years, that’s all I asked. And then he was free to do whatever he wanted.
DANNY
Such as end all lies?
FRANCES
(angry)
A sentimental, ridiculous notion.
(sad)
I warned him...
Frances almost talking to herself again. A touch of madness returning to her speech.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
I tried to save him...
She appears quite sick with grief at the memory.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
I tried...
FLASH TO:
INT/EXT. CAR / ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances in the back of a car, watching as --
EXT. ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. NIGHT (PAST)
Danny rings the doorbell one final time. The night Alex disappeared. No answer.
INT/EXT. CAR / ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances in the back of a car, watching. Now we reveal in the front car are two intelligence officers with her.
EXT. ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. NIGHT (PAST)
Outside, Danny on the steps. Grim-faced. He walks into the street and looks up at the flat window.
The terrace. The bedroom. No lights. Silent.
He glances around. At the car where Frances is sitting. The windscreen is tinted. He can’t see in.
INT/EXT. CAR / ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances sees Danny. He does not see her. She watches as he walks away. The intelligence officers turn to Frances.
EXT. ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances walks towards the building. Flanked by two intelligence officers. She reaches the front door.
It opens. An intelligence officer inside.
She enters --
INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. STAIRWAY. NIGHT (PAST)
The door closes behind her.
The building is dark. Silent. And ordinary. No sign of anything unusual.
Frances follows the agents up to the first floor landing. The door to the apartment opens.
She enters --
INT. SECURITY SERVICE APARTMENT. NIGHT (PAST)
Bustling activity. A room filled with agents. Diverse - international. Saudi. American. Israeli.
A bank of video screens showing live footage from Alex’s apartment and attic.
This is the equipment that created the outlines we saw in the surveillance apartment in the opening scenes.
Frances is directed to the bedroom.
INT. SECURITY SERVICE APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT (PAST)
A female intelligence agent stands guard as Frances gets changed. She takes off her shoes.
In front of her are crime-scene-style forensic plastic over-suits. Gloves. A surgical face mask.
INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. STAIRWAY. NIGHT (PAST)
Wearing the plastic overalls, the gloves, the face mask, Frances climbs the final set of stairs.
The door to Alex’s apartment opens. She enters --
INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. HALLWAY. NIGHT (PAST)
The agents inside Alex’s apartment are wearing forensic overalls just like Frances.
The atmosphere, unlike downstairs, is hushed and precise.
They indicate the ladder up to the attic.
Frances climbs up --
INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
The attic has not yet been staged.
But we see some of the ‘props’ - the old televisions, the furniture, the sex toys - in a corner, waiting.
The attic is a raw empty space. Not gloomy and dark. Brightly lit. Stark-white-lights.
The boarding school trunk is flat, not on its side. A different position to how Danny discovered it.
Frances walks towards it.
At the trunk, she crouches down, placing her plastic covered hands on the top. About to speak --
The agent overseeing the attic moves forward, showing Frances a stop watch, counting down.
Five minutes left.
Frances waits with her sleeping child.
INT. BOARDING SCHOOL TRUNK. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Alex folded up inside the trunk, limbs compressed.
The sedatives are wearing off. He opens his eyes.
He’s dripping in sweat. The oxygen levels are already low. His breath is shallow.
He has no idea where he is. He explores the texture of the trunk with his fingers.
From confusion to panic.
He attempts to kick but his legs can’t stretch out. He tries to punch but his arms can’t extend.
He rocks back and forth, turning the trunk on its side, upside down. Nightmarish rotations.
But the case is sturdy. Unbreakable.
He hears --
FRANCES (V.O.)
Alistair!
Alex stops moving, panting with exertion. He listens.
FRANCES (V.O.)
Alistair?
He’s relieved.
ALEX
Frances?
INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances places her plastic-gloved-hands on the trunk at the place where she can see the curve of Alex’s body.
FRANCES
Alistair.
INT. BOARDING SCHOOL TRUNK. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Alex sees her hand through the material. He touches it. Their hands together yet separated by the trunk.
INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances touching the trunk.
The agent stands over her, watching carefully.
FRANCES
Listen to me carefully. We don’t have much time. You’re in a great deal of trouble. But there’s a way out. Do you understand?
She waits, nervously.
INT. BOARDING SCHOOL TRUNK. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Alex dripping in sweat. He realizes Frances is working with the agencies. Sadness comes over him.
FRANCES (V.O.)
Alistair!
ALEX
I understand.
INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances trying to sound calm and collected, but in reality frantic and fearful.
FRANCES
It’s all been arranged. This is a warning.
(voice breaks)
You’ll go to America, to work, for a few years. A new identity. A new name. A new life. But you must leave everything behind. This project...
A flash of frustration and anger.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
What were you thinking?
She quickly adjusts, back to the solution.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
All you have to do is say yes. You’ll be flown tonight. No bags. No belongings. All you have to do is agree, Alistair. All you have to do is agree.
INT. BOARDING SCHOOL TRUNK. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Alex listens. He considers.
ALEX
I agree.
FRANCES (V.O.)
Will you go to America?
ALEX
I’ll go.
FRANCES (V.O.)
You have to say it clearly.
ALEX
I’ll go to America.
FRANCES (V.O.)
Will you destroy your research?
ALEX
I’ll destroy it.
FRANCES (V.O.)
And never work on it again?
ALEX
And never work on it again.
FRANCES (V.O.)
You’ll leave it all behind?
Alex pauses, realizing what she is referring to.
EXT. VAUXHALL BRIDGE. DAWN (PAST)
The moment on the bridge. From Alex’s point of view.
Handsome, forlorn, lost, Danny, absorbed in the pantomime of his thoughts.
Alex watching, a few metres away.
Danny eventually realizing he’s being watched.
He turns. That first look.
INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances nervous, her face close to the trunk.
FRANCES
(desperate)
Alistair, you must never make contact with anyone from this life again?
INT. BOARDING SCHOOL TRUNK. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Alex contemplates.
ALEX
(a whisper)
His name is Danny.
FRANCES (V.O.)
Alistair?
ALEX
I’ll never speak to him again.
INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances, by the trunk, crying with relief. About to unlock the trunk when the agent stops her.
He gestures that he’ll deal with it. She needs to go downstairs. She nods.
But before Frances goes, she returns to the trunk, and pulls down her surgical mask.
FRANCES
It will be a new start for us too. You’ll hate me. For a while. But I love you very much.
INT. BOARDING SCHOOL TRUNK. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Alex hears those words.
ALEX
I love you too.
INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. ATTIC. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances, at the stairs, glances back --
She descends.
INT. ALEX’S APARMTENT. HALLWAY. NIGHT (PAST)
The waiting agent gestures for Frances to go to the door.
INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. STAIRWAY. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances descends to the first floor apartment. Feeling overwhelming relief. She enters --
INT. SECURITY SERVICE APARTMENT. NIGHT (PAST)
All the equipment has been set up to decipher Alex’s responses. They’re playing back the exchange.
The computer is analyzing his voice. Tone. Stress.
There’s a buttonhole camera inside the trunk: focused on Alex’s facial expressions.
It maps the lines in his skin. The direction of his eyes. Pupil dilation. The flutter of his eyelids.
Frances is puzzled by the process, as she watches.
ALEX (ON SCREEN)
I’ll go to America.
FRANCES (ON SCREEN)
Will you destroy your research?
ALEX (ON SCREEN)
I’ll destroy it.
FRANCES (ON SCREEN)
And never work on it again?
ALEX (ON SCREEN)
And never work on it again.
FRANCES (ON SCREEN)
You’ll leave it all behind?
On screen we see Alex pausing, realizing what she’s euphemistically referring to.
On screen we see Frances nervous, her face by the trunk, waiting for the answer she desperately wants.
FRANCES (ON SCREEN) (CONT’D)
(desperate)
Alistair, you must never make contact with anyone from this life again?
ALEX (ON SCREEN)
(a whisper)
His name is Danny.
FRANCES (ON SCREEN)
Alistair?
ALEX (ON SCREEN)
I’ll never speak to him again.
FRANCES (ON SCREEN)
It will be a new start for us too. You’ll hate me. For a while. But I love you very much.
ALEX (ON SCREEN)
I love you too.
The computer continues to process the information. Running Alex’s own programme on his responses.
Fear creeps into Frances’s expression.
The computer returns a verdict - statement by statement.
Never work on research again. A lie.
Leave it all behind. A lie.
Never make contact with Danny. A lie.
And finally, whether he loves Frances. A lie.
FRANCES
It’s wrong.
The agents simply look at her. Inscrutable.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
It’s wrong!
Making no progress. She changes tack.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
I’ll go back up. I’ll talk to him.
I’ll explain it. He’ll listen.
An agent moves behind her, blocking the door.
There are no second chances.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
He didn’t understand, that’s all. I can persuade him. He’ll listen to me. He’ll listen to me!
Becoming agitated, she turns, to force her way out.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
Let me speak to him!
The agent doesn’t move.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
Let me speak to my son!
Another agent secures her.
Frances fights. She fights as if her own life depends on it. She’s strong. And it’s hard to contain her.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
My son!
Several agents overwhelm her. One agent readies a needle.
INT/EXT. OFFICIAL CAR / MOTORWAY. NIGHT (PAST)
Frances is on the back seat. She opens her eyes, groggy, barely able to move. Two agents are driving her home.
EXT. MANSION. GROUNDS. DAWN (PAST)
Frances steps out of the car. Woozy with the journey and the drugs and grief. She drops to her knees.
Charles is waiting on the steps. He does not comfort her. He does not speak.
The car drives off.
The groundsman stands watch.
Frances, wretched, left on the ground, on her knees, before the mansion, not staring at Charles.
Staring at the Nanny, in one of the windows.
FLASH BACK TO:
INT. MANSION. SECRET STUDY. NIGHT (PRESENT)
Frances has finished her story. With emotion and grief.
Danny has listened. With emotion and grief.
The nanny, subservient. With emotion and grief.
Frances is expecting fury and anger and outrage from Danny. But he has another idea.
DANNY
I know a police officer.
Frances is dismissive in a weary kind of way.
FRANCES
You fail to grasp what has been done to you. The fact you know the truth is irrelevant. No one will publish anything you say. No one will investigate your claims.
(fundamentally)
No one will believe you.
DANNY
But they’ll believe you.
The idea that she could go to the police has never even crossed Frances’s mind.
DANNY (CONT’D)
You’re his mother.
Danny says that to both of them.
The Nanny looks up, seduced by the idea. She looks at the back of Frances’s head, waiting for her decision.
DANNY (CONT’D)
What do you owe them?
Frances toys with the notion.
DANNY (CONT’D)
You gave them your son?
The prospect flutters through Frances’s thoughts with redemptive energy.
FRANCES
(intrigued)
Tell me... Were I to agree... What would we do?
DANNY
We’d tell the truth.
Frances is tempted. Desperately so. Behind her, the nanny is also desperate for her to say yes.
But it is as though this oppressive mansion speaks to her, reminding her of her place. Frances shakes her head.
FRANCES
I can’t.
Danny directs his attention to the Nanny. It infuriates Frances. She doesn’t turn around, speaking for the Nanny.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
She can’t.
DANNY
(to the nanny)
I want to hear
it from you.
FRANCES
You’ve heard it from me.
Danny doesn’t give up, addressing the Nanny.
DANNY
His name was Alex. His real name. The name you gave him.
FRANCES
She won’t help you.
DANNY
(referring to Frances)
She renamed him. But you let it slip, didn’t you? Deliberately?
FRANCES
She can’t help you.
Wracked with grief and powerlessness, tormented, the nanny can’t take any more.
She hurries out, through the door, into the grounds - outside - into the darkness of the night.
The door remains open, wind gusts through the kitchen, rattling plates and pots, extinguishing the blue flame.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
It’s time you left.
Danny goes to the door, looking after the Nanny.
FRANCES (CONT’D)
She’s gone.
INT. MANSION. STAIRWAY. NIGHT
Danny sadly follows Frances up the stairs. He has everything. He has nothing.
INT. MANSION. CORRIDOR. NIGHT
A dark corridor. Danny follows Frances, trying to think of what he can say, to snatch victory from defeat.
But she flows through this mansion, decision fixed, rigid in her determination. And Danny can only follow.
INT/EXT. MANSION. HALLWAY / GARDEN NIGHT
Danny and Frances turn into a corridor and both come to an immediate stop.
Unlike the previous corridor, which was dark and gloomy, this corridor is bright, with a fierce orange light.
Danny and Frances, surprised, move to the window --
EXT. MANSION. MAZE. NIGHT
From the centre of the maze, geometrically precise lines of fire forming. It’s the route out of the maze.
There’s a delay. And then a new line of fire is lit.
London Spy Page 23