Scarecrow and Mrs. King
The Artful Dodger

(I am missing the first bit, but what I have starts with four men in a garage: Lee, Billy, looking strict and businesslike, Colonel Sykes, and General Morgan. I'm starting in the middle of Morgan's line.)
Morgan: If the man's name's Sykes, these men'll want to talk to him. (?)
Lee: Yes, why don't you do that, Sykes?
Sykes: Yes, sir, General. Right away.
(He stares hard at Lee, then walks away. Morgan looks at Billy.)
Morgan: All right, Melrose. Conduct your investigation, but get into it and get it done. I want answers.
Billy: We'll do our best.
Morgan: I've seen your best. This time I want to see results.
(He walks past them and away. Lee looks after him, then at Billy. Billy shrugs.)

(The Triangle, a nice restaurant where Amanda and her date, Alan Squires, are having dinner. Squires is pulling out all the stops in trying to flatter her, but failing.)
Squires: Where have I gone wrong? I've been trying all evening to dazzle you and you simply refuse to be dazzled.
Amanda: Oh, no, I don't mean to -- You know, I just. . . . This is a lovely restaurant. You know, it was written up in the food section of the paper last week. They even had some recipes --
Squires: Amanda, changing the subject's not going to help, I'm a very persistent man. Now, who is he?
Amanda Who is who?
Squires: The man. There must be a man. There must be somebody who's, uh, more attentive than I am, who's better-looking and who has a deadlier aftershave. (Amanda laughs.) What's his name?
Amanda: No, there isn't anybody. No, there really isn't. There's nobody special in my life, I see, you know, a few people and that's. . . .
(She trails off.)
Squires: Here. Maybe this will help improve my rating.
(He reaches across the table and hands her a wad of tissue paper concealing something inside. Amanda takes it and smiles.)
Amanda: What is it?
Squires: Open it. (Amanda unwraps the paper and holds up a large, beautiful, expensive-looking ring. Her jaw drops. She looks from the ring to Squires, then back to the ring.) Impressed?
Amanda (speechless): Oh, well --
Squires: Moderately impressed?
Amanda: No, no, very impressed, very impressed.
Squires: I had that made for you.
Amanda: For me?
Squires: Mm-hmm.
Amanda: Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. No. I couldn't take that. That's too much --
Squires: Amanda, it's only a copy. In the clothing trade, they call that a knockoff. The original is in the Topkapi Museum. (He motions to the ring.) Do you know what that is?
(Amanda chuckles.)
Amanda: It's a ring.
(Squires chuckles, too.)
Squires: No, it's a very special ring, Amanda. Some people call it a harem ring, others call it a Concubine ring.
Amanda: A Concubine ring?
Squires: Amanda, don't -- don't read anything into it.
(Amanda admires the ring.)
Amanda: Oh, no, I wouldn't read anything into it, I mean, boy scouts wear boy scout rings and graduates wear graduate rings, so --
Squires: It's beautiful, Amanda. I deal in beauty, remember? Now, how long have we known each other? Two weeks? Two, two weeks.
Amanda: Yeah.
Squires: Okay, in all that time, you've allowed me some companionable handholding, uh, one very noncommittal kiss at the front door. Can you for any earthly reason think that I would consider you in the Concubine department? (Amanda laughs.) Amanda, I want you to wear that ring. Now, you said I'm nice. I'm not nice. I am devious. I want you to wear that ring because it's beautiful, so you wear it. And when you're wearing it, you're going to think of me and -- and I really want you to think of me. (Amanda looks up at him, smiling.) Look at it this way. We're friends, right?
Amanda: Yes.
Squires: Good. (They both laugh.) Now, because we're friends, and I'd like to be a lot more. (Amanda's smile fades and she raises her eyebrows.) Accept it for what it is. It's a gesture of friendship. It's a -- it's a -- it's a friendship ring.
(Amanda nods, considering.)
Amanda: A friendship ring.
Squires: Mm-hmm. That's it.
Amanda: Sure.
Squires: Nothing more than that, no strings.
Amanda: No strings.
Squires: Zero. Zero strings.
Amanda: Well, I'll, um, just . . . see if it fits.
Squires: Try it on.
(Amanda slips the ring onto her finger. A perfect fit. She chuckles uneasily.)
Amanda: It fits.
Squires: It's supposed to.
Amanda: It's beautiful. Well, uh . . . I'll wear it on one condition.
Squires: What? What's that?
Amanda: You have to explain it to my mother.
(Squires grins, stifling a laugh.)

(IFF, Billy's office. Billy, Francine, and Lee are discussing something spread out on Billy's desk while a man, George, sweeps the office for listening devices.)
Lee: It just doesn't figure out. Perimeter sentries are in fifty-yard turnarounds, there are sixteen TV scanners on overlap rotation, we've got coded key boxes on every -- (He stops when Georgeleans over the paper, scanning.) George, do you mind?
George: Nope. You're not bothering me, Lee.
Lee: When was the last time you found a bug in a blueprint?
(George straightens and walks away, still searching.)
Billy: Scarecrow, go ahead. What's your point?
(Lee sighs.)
Lee: My point is nothing. Nobody could get past that system. It has to be an inside number, not a security breakdown. The army is trying to dump it on us, Billy.
Billy: Tell that to Colonel Sykes.
Lee: Maybe I can do better than that. Maybe I can prove it. Now, tonight Francine and I --
Francine: No, I'm on the Korinsky thing tonight.
Lee: All right, then, let me have Jenny Chang. Or Al Leftwich, anybody, it doesn't matter, I just need somebody with some smarts that can run a stopwatch and a microfilm machine.
(George walks up.)
George: You're all clear, Mr. Melrose.
Billy: Thank you, George. (to Lee:) Listen, you can forget Chang, forget Morell. Are you sure you don't want Fred Fielder?
(George walks out of the office. We see Amanda standing behind the window, signaling.)
Lee: Are you sure you want me to answer that with a lady present?
(Francine smiles. Billy sighs, then spots Amanda and looks up at her.)
Billy: You said somebody with smarts, right?
Lee: W-- (He looks to where Billy is looking and sees Amanda. She waves. Lee looks back at Billy.) No, no, no, I am -- I am talking about agents, not civilians.
Billy: You do need somebody to run security backgrounds on civilian employees, right? Isn't that why we're talking microfilm machine?
Francine: I hear Fred runs a dynamite microfilm machine, Lee.
(Lee chuckles sarcastically. Billy looks up and motions for Amanda to enter. She does.)
Amanda: Hello, everybody.
(Lee is still wearing the big fake smile.)
Lee: Hi.
(Francine looks away, grinning. Amanda's smile fades. She closes the door.)
Amanda: Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting right in the middle of some, uh, secret mission or something, um, but I have, uh, I have this.
(She olds up a piece of paper with typing on it. Lee crinkles up his forehead.)
Lee: What is that?
Amanda: Oh, well, it's from Payroll, my hours last week, it needs your signature, sir, so it can go to General Accounting, then from General Accounting it goes on up to Accounting, then after that I think it goes to --
Billy: Amanda. Just bring it here.
(Amanda brings the paper over to the desk and lays it on top of the blueprint. She leans over it to point to the spot.)
Amanda: Y-- yes, sir, thank you very much, sir, right there, that bottom is. . . . (Billy signs. Amanda picks up the paper.) Thank you. I think it's, uh, eleven hours and maybe fifteen minutes --
Billy: Fine, fine. Whatever. Now, Lee has something I think you can help him with this evening.
Lee: Well, uh --
(He stops when he sees Amanda's face looking at him, disappointed.)
Amanda: Oh, well, um, I -- I -- I'm afraid I can't tonight, I'm --
Lee: No, no, look, you're busy --
(Francine spots the large ring on Amanda's finger.)
Francine: Ooh, Amanda, dear, is that why you're busy tonight? (Amanda blushes. She fingers the ring.) Very busy, apparently, hmm?
Lee: Amanda, do you know what that is?
(Amanda nods.)
Amanda: Yes, it's a, um, it's a friendship ring.
Lee: No, it's a Concubine ring.
Amanda: No, it isn't, it's a friendship ring.
Lee: It's a Concubine ring, there's a whole collection of them in the Topkapi Museum, I know that for a fact.
Amanda: Yes, I know that, I know that. I know that. It's a friendship ring. It was given to me by a friend, and therefore it is . . . simply . . . a friendship ring.
Francine: Okay. Sure. Friendship.
(She shoots Amanda one last knowing smirk and trots out of the room. Amanda turns to Billy.)
Amanda: Sir, I could, uh, rearrange my schedule and change my plans if you -- if you need me.
(Billy nods.)
Lee: No, no, no, hey. You've got a heavy date, forget it.
Amanda: I don't have a heavy date.
Lee: No, really.
Amanda: This is -- I don't have a heavy date --
Lee: Who gave you that ring?
(Amanda stares at him silently for a moment.)
Amanda: Oh, I don't think you should ask me a personal question like that.
Lee: Personal? I wasn't being personal.
Amanda: Especially here.
Lee: I'm just asking a simple question.
(They both argue at the same time until finally Billy stops it.)
Billy: Amanda. Scarecrow. (They both keep babbling.) Scarecrow! Amanda! (Still no response.) Listen!
Amanda: -- Sir, I'm sorry.
Billy: Scarecrow, I've got just two words for you. Fred Fielder.
(Lee looks at Amanda.)
Lee: How about seven-thirty?
Amanda: I'll help you.
Billy: Good. Now, if you'll just stop blindsighting each other and go out and get some concrete evidence that this P-WAC thing isn't our fault.
Amanda: Excuse me, sir, what is a peewack?
Lee: P-WAC. Potomac Weapons and Armament Center. P-WAC, okay?
Amanda: Okay.
Lee: Don't worry about it, Billy. I've got a few ideas already.
Billy: You'd better have some ideas, because if this business turns out to be our mess-up and it gets kicked upstairs, you know what that means.
Lee: Iceland?
Billy: Iceland if we're lucky! And national security goes down the drain.
(Lee sighs. He looks over at Amanda. She solemnly looks ahead.)

(Park in Washington. A man jogs by. At a chess table, Squires and Claude, his boss, are playing chess. Squires is black and it looks as if he is winning.)
Claude: No trouble, then?
Squires: None at all.
(Claude looks up from the board.)
Claude: This Mrs. King. I don't quite understand how you came upon her. Why she's so valuable to you.
Squires: We're curious about Mrs. King, are we?
Claude: No. Interested.
Squires: Well, actually, you're responsible. Your people gave me the agent responsible for security at P-WAC. Lee Stetson. I did a little surveillance. I found out that Mrs. King is seen with him quite often. She seemed to be my best link to him, so I, uh . . . I arranged things.
Claude: She's not an agent.
Squires: She's an innocent.
Claude: Then what possible use can she be to you?
Squires: You hired me for my expertise, Claude, why don't you depend on it?
Claude: Because I don't quite understand.
Squires: You don't have to understand. (They both look down at the board. Squires moves his bishop, removing one of Claude's pieces blocking his king.) Don't clutter up your mind, Claude. It's bad for the concentration. As you can see, it's four moves to mate.
(He leans back. Claude takes off his glasses and wipes them clean, standing up. Squires stands up too. Claude faces him.)
Claude: What about the other pliofilms? One is of very little use, we must have all three.
Squires: You'll have them. You'll have all three. With Mrs. King's help, if it makes you feel any better.
Claude: Mrs. King is helping you?
Squires: I couldn't do it without her.
(He walks away, leaving Claude staring after him. Claude tucks his glasses into his pocket.)

(Later, Squires exits from Amanda's house, followed closely by Amanda herself. They are walking down to the road.)
Amanda: Well, I think it's really exciting, Alan, but I wish you'd told me you were going to Rome.
Squires: Well, sorry, I didn't know there was another authentic diverdi (?) in all of Italy until I got the phone call.
Amanda: Well, I'm sorry I have to break our date for tonight.
Squires: It's him, isn't it, this, uh, this seven-thirty appointment?
Amanda: "Him"?
Squires: This man, this man that, uh, you won't tell me about?
(They stop on the sidewalk beside Squires's car.)
Amanda: No, the seven-thirty is a man, but it's, uh, it's just -- it's business!
Squires: Just business, huh?
Amanda: Yes, it's just business.
Squires: I'm sorry, it's none of my business.
Amanda: Uh, I really should give you back your ring if you're going away.
Squires: Amanda, are you saying you don't want my friendship?
Amanda: Oh, no! No, I'm not saying that at all, you've been --
Squires: You're very nice. Keep it, will you? It's very important to me that I know that you're wearing it. (Amanda grins and shrugs.) I'm almost sorry that my business in Washington is going so well, I'd like to spend more time with you.
Amanda: I like to spend time with you, too, Alan.
Squires: Will you do something for me while I'm away?
Amanda: Mm-hmm, what?
Squires: Will you wear that ring and -- and think of me every now and then? (Amanda nods.) Another thing, too. This seven-thirty appointment tonight. Keep it business.
(Amanda nods.)
Amanda: Business.
(She smiles and laughs.)

(That night, a little after seven-thirty. Lee's Porsche is driving down a dark Washington road. Lee is driving and Amanda is beside him in the passenger seat.)
Amanda: Well, you haven't told me if I'm dressed properly for the job.
(Lee answers without even glancing her way.)
Lee: Yeah, you're fine.
Amanda: I mean, you said warm and comfortable and something I could move in and I'm very warm and comfortable and I can move in this, it's a down jacket, and you haven't told me what the job is yet.
Lee: Exactly what I say.
Amanda: Exactly what you say.
Lee: Right.
Amanda: Do you think you could be a little more specific? I mean, I don't want you to, you know, to tell me anything that's top secret or -- or to tell me anything that I'm not cleared to know, but I can probably be a little more helpful if --
Lee: Amanda, do you know how to run a stopwatch?
Amanda: Yes!
Lee: Do you know how to count?
Amanda: I can count.
Lee: All right. That's what you do. You run a stopwatch and you count.
Amanda: I run a stopwatch and I count. I'm not disappointed, if the Agency thinks it's important that I run a stopwatch and I count, then I'll run a stopwatch and I'll count. I --
Lee: Amanda, believe me. This is important.
Amanda (skeptically): It is?
(Lee sighs.)
Lee: Yes. I'm going to try to prove that the Agency didn't set up a faulty security system at P-WAC, all right?
Amanda: Oh, hah! Well, of course, they didn't! I mean, that's your job! You set up security systems, you catch spies, you protect the country. And nobody does it better. Nobody. And I'd like to see somebody prove that they could.
(Lee smiles.)
Lee: Well, thank you. It's, uh, it's kind of nice to have a vote of confidence now and then.
Amanda: I mean it. And you're right, it is important, it's very important.
Lee: Ah, it's more than just clearing our name in this. Somebody got through that system. Somehow. We've got to find him before he causes any more damage than he already has.
(Amanda nods.)
Amanda: We have to stop him.
(Lee stares at Amanda. She meets his gaze, then turns away.)

(The car drives on down the street past neon signs and dark buildings.)

(Outside the P-WAC army base. Lee leaps out from some bushes behind the gate, completely swathed in black. He looks around, then walks casually across the ground, breaking into a run at a sign that reads "U.S. Army Potomac Weapons & Aramament Center; Positively No Admittance." After Lee is out of sight, a guard walks up and takes his post at the sign. Meanwhile, Lee is creeping among the shadows until he gets to Amanda, hidden behind a bush. Lee crouches down and briefs her on what he's learned.)
Lee: Okay. Two sentries crossing, the scanner has to already be past this hedge.
(He points.)
Amanda: Right.
(She stares up at a high video scanner slowing going back and forth.)
Lee: Give me a count.
Amanda: Okay . . . get ready . . . go! Go!
(Lee runs into the almost empty parking garage and into a door.)

(Inside the base, the scanner monitor goes past some rocks and trees, missing Lee.)

(Outside, two guards with rifles show up and patrol the parkng garage.)

(Inside, the monitor shows Amanda running after Lee. The camera backs up to show two men watching it. One of them, Colonel Sykes, laughs.)
Sykes: We see the woman, but we don't see Stetson. It's marvellous.

(In a hallway, an officer stops by a door and slides in his security badge. The door buzzes loudly. He opens the door and walks through it, letting the door shut behind him. Lee comes running from around the corner, pulling Amanda by one hand. He uses his foot to stop the door just before it closes. He and Amanda walk through it, closing it securely behind them.)

(Down the hall, the officer stops at a desk. The sergeant behind the desk looks up at him. Sykes is also beside him. They are the two men who were watching the monitor.)
Sergeant: Okay, Wally.
(The officer walks off down the hall. Around the corner, Amanda and Lee are standing squashed up against the wall. Lee is holding his arm outstretched and they are both staring at the little mirror in his hand.)
Lee: Yeah, the guard's desk is right next to the vault door. They can see any move I make.
(Amanda looks at him. Lee relaxes his arm.)
Amanda: You were right. Nobody can do it.
Lee: Yeah, unless. . . . Listen, Amanda, there's something I want you to do.
(At the desk, the sergeant is checking another man's ID.)
Sergeant: Okay, Newton.
(The man closes his briefcase and continues along down the hall.)
Newton: Good night.
(Amanda runs up to the desk. The sergeant looks up, startled.)
Amanda: Uh, hello, excuse me. I was wondering if I could just ask you a question.
(Sykes answers her.)
Sykes: Of course, Mrs. King.
Amanda: Is there a drinking fountain around here anywhere?
(Sykes laughs. The sergeant nods and points.)
Sergeant: Yes, ma'am. Uh, you go right down this corridor --
Sykes: Sergeant, the, uh, the question was addressed to me. You go down this corridor to the first intersecting hallway, it's about halfway down.
(While Amanda has the full attention of both men, Lee creeps up behind them.)
Amanda: Uh, excuse me, but when I get down to that hallway, do I turn right or do I turn left and which way . . . ?
(Both men point to the right.)
Sykes: You turn right.
Amanda: I go right and follow the corridor --
Sykes: Right. Right, right, right, right. (Amanda turns around and sees Lee standing across the room.) And Mr. Stetson, is he inside the building as well?
Lee: Uh, right here, Colonel. (Both men look up and laugh. Lee walks up, holding a roll of plans of some sort.) I, uh, I got this in the vault. Slot thirty-six if you want to put it back in.
(He hands it to Amanda, who gives it to Sykes.)
Amanda: Here.
Sykes: Then you did get in.
Lee: Oh, yeah. I got in.
Amanda: Yeah, he was really good, like a cat burglar.
(Lee chuckles.)
Sykes: Sounds very much like you've just proved your own lovely theory, Stetson.
(Lee unfolds a piece of paper and hands it to Sykes.)
Lee: I got in on this. Security plan for the entire complex. (Sykes looks up, speechless and gaping.) Now, did our night visitor have the same thing, and if he did, where did he get it?
(Sykes speaks rapidly and nervously, like he's hiding something.)
Sykes: How would I know? You're the expert.
Lee: Well, maybe you can answer this, it's a lot easier. Where's your microfilm room?

(The microfilm room. Amanda is bent over, reading small print on the screen, scrolling down with her finger, searching for something.)
Amanda: Finnigan, Gorlet, Gorson, Granger, J. C., there he is.
(She straightens. Lee is leaning over her, reading.)
Lee: Good. Let's see, uh, prior occupations, U.S. navy.
(Amanda starts reading with him.)
Both: Crypto clearance, P-WAC sixty-six, machine operator.
Lee: Everything checks.
Amanda: If everything checks, why are we checking him? I mean, you said that he seemed to have the perfect alibi for not having a badge that night.
(Lee turns and sits on the desk.)
Lee: Well, "seemed." That is the word, "seemed." (Amanda leans back and looks up at him.) The truth is, when I talked to him, he had too slick an alibi, too many cover stories. You know, his parking place, his car, his wife, personal problems. (He pauses, realizing.) How do you check personal problems?
(Amanda shrugs.)
Amanda: I don't know, you could check his employment history and work record. (She sits up and works the microfilm machine.) Um, let's see . . . "see file one-six-six-seven-B."
(While Amanda switches files, Lee stands up and paces, thinking aloud.)
Lee: Yeah, well, there's nothing in his . . . his background history that looks cakey. Uh, let's see, uh . . . dishonorable discharge, computer certification . . . ah, I don't know. Zero. (He sighs and walks back to the desk and sits on it.) But how did somebody get by the guard's desk without the sergeant being distracted? I couldn't. No, Granger had to be part of the operation, I know it was a tap dance, but . . . well, how do you prove it?
(Amanda points to the screen.)
Amanda: Here you go. Granger, J. C.
(Lee leans over and reads.)
Lee: It's one of the same thing. Depart mental citation October twenty-seventh, 1980.
Amanda: Medical leaves in '67, '71, '74, and '79, heart condition. (Suddenly she stops. She looks up at Lee and repeats what she just said.) Heart condition.
Lee: Ah, forget that. Find something really interesting like spy school, Moscow, '79 and '80.
Amanda: Wait a minute. If he had a heart condition, isn't that kind of a clue?
(Lee thinks for a moment, then shakes his head.)
Lee: No.
Amanda: Uh, my father -- my ex-father-in-law -- had a heart condition. And they told him to exercise. You know, they said, "Walk briskly, Jack, walk briskly, exercise, exercise," that was the exercise --
Lee: Thanks for the family medical history, but I really don't --
Amanda: Let me finish. Don't you see what I'm saying? Didn't he become angry because he had to park so far?
Lee: Yeah.
Amanda: All right. Then if he did, why did he request they change his parking space to lot S from lot C, which is a lot closer, you see that?
(Lee finally understands. He leans in to the screen closer.)
Lee: Yes, I did.
Amanda: Request granted, in '79, it coincides with his medical leave. (She shrugs.) I don't know what it means.
Lee: I'll tell you what it means. It means he blew his little alibi. (Lee picks up a phone and dials a number. Amanda watches.) Yeah, Sergeant, this is Stetson. Would you have Mr. J. C. Granger step in here for a minute? . . . All right, I'll hold. (He lowers the phone and looks at Amanda.) He's calling Granger's department. (Amanda nods and starts picking up the film. Lee speaks into the phone.) Yeah. . . . He isn't? . . . He didn't? . . . Okay, thank you.
(Frustrated and angry, Lee hangs up the phone.)
Amanda: What?
Lee: He didn't show tonight. (Amanda makes a face as if to say, "Oh, well, we'll get him next time." But Lee points to the rolled-up microfilm in her hands that she just finished wrapping.) Grab an address off of one of those things, huh? (Amanda groans and reloads the film. Lee goes back to pacing. Amanda tediously rolls the film around the mechanisms. Lee walks over. He looks at his watch.) Come on, come on.
(Amanda stops.)
Amanda: Lee?
Lee: What?
(Slowly, she looks up at him.)
Amanda: Rushing me will make me nervous. (Lee nods. He impatiently starts to whistle a tune. Amanda still watches him.) Whistling is rushing.
(Lee sighs, but stays silent.)

(Granger's apartment building, later. In the hall outside of Granger's apartment, Amanda and Lee walk up. Lee knocks on the door. No answer. Amanda and Lee exchange glances. Amanda shrugs. Lee knocks again. Amanda shakes her head.)
Amanda: Not home.
Lee: Right.
(He takes out his lock pick kit and begins to search through it.)
Amanda: Oh, Lee, do you really think you ought to break into Mr. Granger's apartment?
Lee: Sure, I can break in. Just watch me. (Amanda sighs. Lee looks through the various picks.) Let's see, that one. . . .
(Wordlessly, Amanda reaches out and grasps the doorknob. She twists it and it opens easily, creaking. Amanda straightens up. Lee stares from the door to her.)
Amanda: I had a feeling.
Lee: Yeah.
(He starts to put away his picks, but Amanda grabs his arm.)
Amanda: You know, this is really pretty spooky. In the movies, when you do this, somebody jumps out of the closet, actually there's a dead body hanging from the rafters of the --
Lee: Oh, Amanda.
Amanda: Besides that, I think it's breaking and entering.
Lee: It's not breaking. Just entering. Come on. (He walks inside the apartment, with Amanda following cautiously behind.) Besides, the guy's probably not even here, he's probably in Rio with a suitcase full of cash. (He stops suddenly and looks at the couch. On it, Granger is lying there with headphones on his ears and his eyes closed.) So much for the movies. (Amanda doesn't look away from the body. Lee looks up.) Uh, Mr. Granger. (The body doesn't move.) Mr. Granger?
(Lee and Amanda exchange glances. Lee walks closer and slowly removes the headphones. Granger's head limply slumps to one side. Amanda eys dart back and forth nervously.)
Amanda: He's not asleep, is he? (Silently, Lee leans forward and places his two fingers on Granger's neck to feel for a pulse. After a moment, he straightens and looks back at Amanda.) He's dead.
Lee: Yeah. And so is the one lead we had as to who's ripping off our entire missile defense system. (Lee walks back to Amanda, setting the headphones on the table.) Well, how do you like the idea of America as a sitting duck?
Amanda: Is it that bad?
(Lee turns and looks at her for a moment, then turns back to the front. He nods.)
Lee: It's that bad.
(They both stare at the lifeless body on the couch.)

(IFF, debriefing room. Amanda and Billy are sitting at a table, facing General Morgan while Lee paces behind them. Amanda is bent over some papers on the table.)
Billy: How long had he been dead?
Lee: The coroner said about ten. Am I right, Amanda?
(Amanda checks the papers.)
Amanda: Um, between nine and ten-thirty. He said that from the degree of rigidity of the bo-- Ooh.
(She shudders. Lee stops her.)
Lee: No, no, that's enough, Amanda. Forget the rest, huh?
Amanda: Thank you.
Lee: You see where this is pointing, don't you, Billy?
Billy: The Dodger.
Lee: You got it.
Amanda: The Dodger? What --
(Sykes, who has been hanging back, steps up to Lee.)
Sykes: Dodger?
Lee: Used to be a cat burglar working Monaco, Costa del Sol, places like that. Now, when the rich switched to paste jewelry, he switched to military secrets.
Billy: The murder fits his MO. He uses informants, offers them a ton of money,and then kills them.
(Morgan on the other side of the table replies.)
Morgan: Well, then, if it was this "Dodger" --
Amanda: Excuse me, sir, um, but, is that his name? Dodger?
(Billy sighs and massages his temples. Lee answers Amanda's question.)
Lee: No, Dodger. That's how Interpol catalogs him, okay?
(Amanda nods, then goes back to her papers..)
Amanda: Oh. Sorry.
Billy: Colonel, you called the CO's at Belvedere and --
Morgan: And Morrison. Sykes spoke with both men, right, Sykes?
Sykes: Yes, sir. I told them about our theft and about your suggestion that they change our security setup.
Billy: To what?
Sykes: To Alpha System.
Lee: Change it again.
(Sykes marches over to look Lee in the eye.)
Sykes: I will not. Alpha is a perfectly good system.
Lee: Yes, it's a perfectly good system and a day old. Look, if the Dodger had Granger at P-WAC, he's got people at Belvedere and Morrison.
Sykes: One day, one day is hardly enough time for anyone --
Morgan: Colonel Sykes! (Sykes stops shouting and looks up. Morgan gives him an authoritative look that says simply, "Stop." Then he glances apologetically at Billy and sighs. With one final glare at Lee, Sykes retires back to his perch behind the colonel.) What do you say, Melrose?
Billy: Scarecrow's right. If it's Dodger, he would have people in both places.
(Morgan sighs and holds out his hands, palm up.)
Morgan: Well, do we have a secure telephone line?
(Billy points to one sitting on the table.)
Billy: The gray one.
(Amanda reaches over and slides the phone to the colonel. We see that she is wearing Squires's ring on her hand.)
Amanda: Here you are.
(Morgan picks up the phone.)
Morgan: Yes, General Morgan, P-WAC, put me through to General Dierdoff.

(In a Washington apartment building, someone is listening to a recording of Morgan's voice on the telephone. A hand reaches into view and picks up a cup of coffee. The hand lifts it to a face and mouth. The man listening is Alan Squires. Morgan's voice continues.)
Morgan: Phil, Titus Morgan here. I'm at the Agency with Melrose and Stetson. We're concerned about your security at Belvedere. (Still listening, Squires puts down his cup and looks through some photographs of Lee and Amanda.) Sure, I know it's only been a day, Phil, but, well, it's shaping up that our thief had an inside man. (Smiling to himself, Squires puts down the pictures.) And Melrose feels if we did, then you could too. . . . Right, right, yes. (Squires picks up a little black notebook and ruffles through it.) Well, if I were you, I'd go to code Whisky Zebra pronto. I doubled my security shifts as of, uh, eight hundred. (Frustrated, Squires puts down the notebook and picks up the photos, tearing them in half.) Good, it sounds good to me, too. Now, I'll call Red over at Morrison and tell him the same thing, same code. (Solemnly, Squires sets the pictures aflame and watches them burn.) Right. . . . Okay, bye.
(The tape ends. Squires puts the flaming pictures into an ashtray, stands up, and walks away.)

(Later, in the park. Squires is walking by with Claude, doing the crossword in the newspaper.)
Claude: I must say, your performance so far has been remarkable.
(Squires lowers the newspaper.)
Squires: You say that rather grudgingly, Claude. Do you have a complaint?
Claude: No complaint, no, but very deep concern. The two parts almost are valueless without the third. We shall break in at Fort Belvedere, I don't see how you're going to secure it.
Squires: Well, you're paying me a great deal of money to insure that it is possible, aren't you?
Claude: A very great deal.
Squires: Claude, compromising the security of a nation as powerful and as technologically advanced as this should be considered a bargain at any price.
Claude: You have no loyalties, have you?
Squires: On the contrary, I have very strong and specific loyalties. (He stops and faces Claude.) To myself. Now, national boundaries, ideoligies, they change of political climate. I'm a practical man, Claude. I like security, and I happened to find it, in a numbered Swiss bank account. Now, you're free to feel as morally superior to me as it pleases you, just as long as you pay me in cash.
Claude: On delivery.
Squires: On delivery, yes, of course. As we agreed. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a little eavesdropping to do.
(He walks past Claude, who watches him go.)

(IFF. Francine is typing a report onto her computer. George, the bug detector, sidles over, a smile on his face, and leans beside her. He waves his device around the computer screen.)
Francine: George, would you please get that thing out of my face?
(George never takes his eyes off Francine.)
George: Just your friendly neighborhood exterminator, doing my job.
Francine: Well, some of us don't have bugs, dear. (Getting the hint, George leaves. Just then, Amanda and Lee come through the doors. Francine looks up.) Lee? Lee, the latest intel has the Artful Dodger in Cairo, or maybe Iran.
(Lee and Amanda stop outside Billy's door.)
Lee: Then your latest intel doesn't know what he's talking about.
(He knocks.)
Billy: Come in! (Lee opens the door and he and Amanda step into Billy's office. Billy is on the phone. Lee and Amanda wait patiently.) No, sir, I agree. If he had P-WAC and Belvedere, we've got to come up with something else. . . . Right, General. . . . I'll talk to you later. (He hangs up and shuffles to his desk. He sits on the edge of it.) That was Dierdoff. Before that was Morgan. The whole army's gone on alert. You didn't happen to see tanks in the street, did you?
(Lee chuckles.)
Lee: No. But we did check out Belvedere.
(Amanda nods.)
Billy: Same deal?
Lee: It's close enough. It's our old friend, Billy.
Amanda: Only this time he hadn't killed anybody.
Lee (sarcastically): Yeah, not for a whole day. What do you know?
(Billy stands up and walks around behind the desk.)
Billy: Okay. Here's the plan. As of five minutes ago, cover three is being moved.
(George enters the office.)
Lee: Good. To where?
Billy: Fort Keneally. They've got a twenty-truck convoy moving out -- (he checks he papers on his desk) -- right about now. To Fredericsburg.
Amanda: Won't the Dodger just follow it?
Billy: Good! That's what we want him to do.
Lee: Then cover three won't be in the convoy.
Billy: It will be going out the back gate in a mail truck.

(Squires's apartment. He is listening to their conversation going on right now.)
Amanda: A what?
Billy: A regular, ordinary mail truck.
Amanda: With letters and postcards?
(Squires reaches over and picks up a scorched picture of Amanda and stares at it while he listens.)
Billy: And two paratroopers armed to the teeth dressed in post office issue clothes.

(Back in his office, George is scanning for bugs and Billy keeps talking.)
Billy: They'll have two jeeps, full rangers, on parallel streets, and they'll be monitored all the way on army tack three frequency. Pretty tight operation.
(Lee grins.)
Lee: All right. Just let our boy try to figure that one out.

(Squires has heard the whole thing.)
Billy: Now, they'll be taking regular streets, probably 16th. And traveling on a normal --
(Squires shuts his recorder off.)

(IFF. George is stretched over Billy's desk, scanning.)
Lee: Uh-huh. And while it's heading to Keneally, the convoy will be heading out into the Tulles (?) somewhere, that's great.
(George's device clicks louder and louder as it gets close to Amanda. He points to it.)
George: Look. We're getting something here.
(He waves the device up and down Amanda, with it clicking and clicking. Lee stares at her.)
Lee: Amanda, what have you got on you?
Amanda: Nothing! (Suddenly she gulps and smiles weakly. She holds up her hand.) Just my . . . friendship ring.
(Lee glares at her as if to say sarcastically, "Now you tell us." Amanda looks down, embarrassed, then looks up and back and forth.)

(Later, IFF. The ring has been removed from Amanda's finger and encased in glass sitting on Billy's desk. Amanda is sitting and staring at it. She shakes her head.)
Amanda: I'm sorry, I had no idea.
(Billy walks around to the other end of his desk. Lee is sitting on the end near Amanda.)
Billy: Well, it's worse than we thought. The mail truck's already on the road. Morgan said he'd hop on the radio and try to reel them in.
Lee (angrily): An army tack three? An army tack three? Good luck. (He stands up and walks over to the window.) Man, it is unreal, it is absolutely unreal. The guy uses a civilian to get our info. He knows everything that we know, Billy.
Amanda: Lee, I'm really sorry --
Lee: Sorry?! Sorry, sorry, sorry, what good does that do us, huh?
(He walks over to Billy.)
Billy: All right, stow it, Scarecrow.
(Lee relaxes a bit. He looks over at Amanda, who does not look back.)
Lee: I, uh. . . . (Amanda sighs and lowers her head.) I am sorry.
(Amanda looks up.)
Amanda: That's all right.
(She shrugs.)
Billy: Amanda, do you have a location on this Alan Squires? You got a phone number?
(Amanda leans forward.)
Amanda: Shouldn't we turn a radio on or something, sir?
(Billy points to the ring.)
Billy: No, no, no, this is called "white noise," it blocks out any signal, nobody can hear us now. Where can we find this guy?
Lee: I'll tell you where you're going to find this guy. You're going to find him on the roof of that phony mail truck, walking off with the third sheet of the pliofilm, now he is going to have the whole ball of wax, Billy, unless we stop him right now.
Billy: All right. I'll put an APB out on that Rolls-Royce, and then we'll hit the streets. All right, let's move.
(He takes his coat and walks to the door. Amanda starts to stand, but Lee waves his finger at her.)
Lee: And you are staying here.
(Amanda pays no attention. She gathers up her coat and joins Billy.)
Amanda: No, I'm not. I'm the only one who knows what Alan looks like.
Billy: She's right.
Amanda: I'm right.
(She and Billy rush out the door. Lee sighs, then follows.)

(On a street, an ordinary-looking mail truck drives by. But of course, it is really the truck hiding the P-WAC papers. Inside are two soldiers dressed as mailmen. The passenger soldier picks up two walkie-talkies and switches them to play music. He arranges them perfectly and sits back.)

(At P-WAC, Morgan is sitting at a table with a radio transmitter sitting there. Sykes is leaning over him. Morgan speaks into the transmitter.)
Morgan: Top Dog for Pony Express, listen up. This is a recall. Repeat, this is a recall. (He lets go of the button. The only reply that comes in is the music from the mail truck. Morgan and Sykes stare at each other. Morgan bangs the radio.) Why are we getting music?

(Meanwhile, in the truck, the men are listening to the music. The driver speaks up.)
Driver: Terrific. We're on this top-drawer mission and we get elevator music.
(The passenger fiddles with the antenna.)

(At the same moment, Lee and Billy are riding in the front seat of a car, Lee driving, trying to catch up with the mail truck.)
Lee: I'm going to try Vermont. Cut across to 16th. What did the general say?
Billy: They're setting up road blocks at the bridge and Agency vehicles are running parallels.
(Suddenly Amanda speaks up from the back, still reprimanding herself.)
Amanda: I can't believe I jeopardized the security of the entire United States, it just doesn't seem possible.
Billy: Nobody's blaming you, Amanda. The Dodger's a very sharp operator. How did he arrange to meet you?
Amanda: He didn't. I mean, I don't think he did. His car stalled behind mine when I was shopping --
Lee: I don't believe this. I don't believe it.
Amanda: Well, anyway, so we got out and we were talking while we waited for the car club and he seemed nice and friendly and --
Lee: Oh, yeah, and he picked you up.
Amanda: He did not pick me up!
Billy: He did not give you a phone number.
Amanda: No, he didn't give me a phone number, he always called me.
Lee: And that didn't tip you off? Oh, come on, Amanda, married guys and weirdos. They don't give you phone numbers.
Amanda: He is not married! At least, I don't think he is. And he didn't seem like a weirdo! He seemed nice, and he had a Rolls-Royce with French license plates on it and impeccable manners! (Lee and Billy exchange glances.) I mean, he had the most impeccable manners --
Lee: Ah, a slick guy in a Rolls convertible gives you a ring and a great line and you go for it! Just terrific!
(Amanda sighs and looks away.)

(Meanwhile, the soldier/mailmen have reached the road block, designed to look like road construction.)
Driver: Must be some kind of work going on up there. Think they'll ever finish this town? (They laugh and drive up with the line of traffic. Over in an intersecting side street, Squires is waiting in a big maroon forklift. He drives into the side of the mail truck.) Hey, that sucker thinks -- Whoa!
(After pushing the truck into the middle of the street, Squires hits the brake and works the device to control the forklift. He lifts the mail truck and drives right off the road. Once he is on the dirt, he drops the mail truck onto its side. Then he pulls on a gas mask and shoots at the back of the truck. Poisonous smoke fills the truck. Squires throws open the back doors and retrives his canister of film. Then he runs. The two soldiers emerge from the overturned truck, coughing.)

(Meanwhile, Billy is trying his radio.)
Billy: Home Plate, this is Lancer. Do you have any traffic for me on that mail delivery?
(Francine's voice is heard answering.)
Francine: Negative, Lancer, this is Home Plate, no additional --
(Suddenly Amanda cries out as she sees a figure walking down a side street.)
Amanda: Hold it! Wait! There's Alan!
(Lee hits the brakes. Squires hears the screeching and looks up. He breaks into a run. Lee goes after him. Squires stops by a dumpster to throw his gas mask in. He unscrews the cap to the canister. Lee stops at the dumpster and jumps out, Billy on the other side. Squires ducks into an old warehouse, holding a pistol. Lee and Billy follow him, Lee pausing first to look in at Amanda still in the backseat.)
Lee: All right, now you stay here.
Amanda: I will.
(With that, Lee and Billy head into the warehouse, holding their own guns. Lee peeks inside and sees Squires go running up a staircase. Lee glances at Billy and creeps inside. Billy waits by the door. Inside, Lee ducks behind a wall and looks at the staircase to make sure it's safe. He motions for Billy to come. Billy lightly runs into the warehouse, his footsteps echoing loudly. Something clatters. Billy darts behind another wall. Slowly, he and Lee go over to the stairs and crouch down. Lee points his gun up to the top of the staircase. When no sound is heard, the two agents quietly make their way up the stairs. But Squires, ready at the top, kicks down a bunch of barrels. Lee dodges them. But when Squires starts firing, Lee runs back down to their hiding place. Billy fires up at Squires, who runs. Kicking aside barrels, Lee and Billy run up the stairs after him. Squires, anticipating this, runs up another flight of stairs. When Lee and Billy reach the top, they cautiously tiptoe around to the other stairs. Lee kicks over a cardboard box. It lands with a crash. Nothing happens. Lee leads Billy over to the second flight of stairs, where they crouch down again. Lee peeks over the edge. Squires fires at him. Lee ducks down, then fires back. Nothing. Lee looks at Billy.)
Lee: Reload. (While Lee reloads and recocks his gun, Billy guards with the pistol. When Lee is done, he pushes away some things on the floor. Billy ducks back down.) All right, ready?
Billy: Ready.
(Carefully, they make their way up the stairs. At the top, Squires is listening for them, crouched down by a third flight of stairs. When Lee's head appears at the top, Squires fires. When Lee ducks out of the way, Squires runs up the stairs. After a few moments, Lee jumps out from the staircase, his gun ready. He and Billy creep over to the third flight and listen to Squires's footsteps running across the floor. He stops running and hides behind a pole. Lee and Billy nod to each other, then make their way up the stairs. When they reach the top, they walk a few steps, then Squires jumps out and fires at them. They drop and roll behind another pole. Then they fire. Squires fires back, then tucks his gun into his belt and runs for the open window. While he's busy, Lee and Billy take the chance to run closer. When Squires climbs out onto the fire escape, Lee and Billy run over to the window. While Squires just keeps dropping down to lower levels, Lee tries to aim. Finally he gives up and comes back inside.)
Lee: I can't get a clean shot.
(He gets an idea. He runs over to a fire hose on the wall and starts to take it off the hook.)
Billy: You've got to be kidding, Scarecrow.
Lee: Come on, it's the quickest way down, Billy.
(Billy gives up. Lee throws the fire hose out a window. The glass shatters and the hose hangs alongside the wall.)

(Meanwhile, Squires is getting further and further away. He reaches the ladder and begins to descend it, which slows him down.)

(Lee grabs the fire hose and starts to climb down.)

(Squires reaches the end of the ladder and drops. He lands on the ground and, glancing up, makes a run for it.)

(Lee makes it to the ground. He runs after Squires.)

(At Squires's Rolls-Royce, we see Amanda letting the air out of his tires. She hears running footsteps and looks up. Squires runs up and stops when he sees her. She looks up at him, a little startled and a lot afraid. He starts to take his pistol out of his jacket, but Lee shows up.)
Lee: All right, hold it! (Squires slowly raises his arms.) And drop the piece right there.
(The pistol clatters to the ground. Squires stares at Amanda, then suddenly whips around and knocks the gun out of Lee's hand. He punches Lee in the jaw. Lee staggers backwards. Squires punches him again. Amanda stands up and cringes.)
Amanda: Oh.
(Lee blocks a punch and belts Squires in the stomach. Squires doubles over. Lee punches him in the jaw and grabs his collar. He throws Squires into a pile of crates. Billy runs out of the building [the long way] and places his gun on Squires.)
Billy: Up it slowly. Up it slow.
(He leads Squires away. Lee shakes his sore hand up and down. Amanda walks over with a tissue.)
Amanda: Oh. Oh, my gosh. (She dabs the tissue on a cut on Lee's lip and he cries in pain.) Oh. Oh.
Lee: Oh, watch it! Watch it!
Amanda: Oh.
(She keeps dabbing at it, more carefully this time.)
Lee: Do I have any teeth left?
(Amanda examines his mouth. She nods, then looks away, wincing.)
Amanda: Ooh.

(Later that night, the Triangle, that fancy restaurant. Lee is treating Amanda.)
Amanda: Your poor jaw. I feel really terrible. You didn't have to take me out tonight. And especially, we didn't have to come here. This is very expensive.
(Now we see Lee. His bottom lip is all puffed out.)
Lee: Expense. That's the least of my problems.
(He motions to the swelled lip. Then he clears his throat and slowly lifts his soup spoon, wondering to himself how to drink it.)
Amanda: Would you like a straw?
(Lee lowers the spoon.)
Lee: Uh, no. No, a straw wouldn't look right with soup.
Amanda: You know, I -- I mean, I can't sit here and eat a steak and watch you while you're in such pain.
Lee: I feel fine, Amanda. Really. I do. No pain.
Amanda: Okay.
Lee: All right?
Amanda: Yeah. (She watches while Lee attempts the spoon again. He manages a tiny sip.) Lee?
(Lee looks up.)
Lee: Mm?
(He smiles, hiding the obvious pain.)
Amanda: Is, um, is this sort of, you know . . . an apology?
Lee: An apology?
Amanda: Well, for, you know, anything that you might have said, sort of, in the heat of the moment, and so you invited me to dinner to --
Lee: Wait, wait, wait. What are you talking about? I eat here all the time.
Amanda: The maître d' called you Mr. Schusen.
Lee: Well . . . okay, so he's new.
Amanda: I'm only trying to say that if it is an apology, it isn't necessary. I mean, I know that I almost got you and the -- and the -- and the whole army in a lot of trouble and you have . . . a right to be angry.
Lee: No, I wasn't angry.
Amanda: Well, if you had been and if you had said a few things that you didn't mean and then if you thought that maybe you'd like to, sort of, you know, apologize, and so you invited me to dinner, I just want you to know that I understand and I would think that would be . . . really nice.
(Lee grins.)
Lee: Good.
Amanda: Does that mean it is?
Lee: Is what?
Amanda: An apology.
(Lee sighs.)
Lee: Okay, if you want to put it like that, yes. It was an apology.
Amanda: Thank you.
(Lee chuckles and shakes his head. He attempts another sip of his soup. Our tape cuts off here.)