"The doorman of a nightclub can always pretend that it's lipstick and not blood on his hands." "But how did it get there?" "Let's be economical." "Nothing fancy." "If he'd smacked some dame across her shiny mouth, then he's got both answers in one." "Gawd bless you." "Gawd bless ya, guv!" "Gawd bless ya!" "Cockles of me..." "Real gent, y'are!" "Ah, thank you, sir." "Jolly well done, old fruit." "And so the man went down the hole like Alice." "But there were no bunny rabbits down there." "It wasn't that sort of hole." "It was a rat-hole." "I've got you under my skin" "I've got you..." "Into the rat-hole." "Down, down, down." "The one thing you don't do in one of those is to underestimate the rats in residence." "No, sir." "The way those creatures nibble and gnaw at your soft underbelly can do a lot of damage to your nerves." "Your tea, Mr Tomkey!" "Teatime!" "Come along." "Come along." "No more nodding off now." "Oh, dear." "Oh, dear." "Oh, dear." "You can't expect to sleep at night if you do so in the afternoon." "Let's try not to spill it today." "Ah-ah." "Now, now." "You're not helping, are you?" "Will you kindly take a look at that trolley?" "Just look at it, Reginald." "Stopped again." "It's worse than a No. 11 bus." "And why has it stopped?" "So that gaga old bugger can spill his tea down his pajamas." "The tea, Reginald, will be cold, my boy, won't it?" " Won't it?" " What's that, Mr Hall?" " The tea." " Oh, yeah." "It'll be cold." "No, sir." "The way those creatures gnaw and nibble can do a lot of damage to your nerves." "Full stop." "New paragraph." "But there's one thing you've got to admit." "Full stop." "A rat always knows where its tail is." "A rat always knows where its tail is, but when Mark Binney entered Skinskape's, he might as well never have learned the difference between his tail and his elbow." "Good evening, sir." "What's your poison?" "What'll it be?" "Oh!" "God!" "Concentrate." "Concentrate." "Evening, sir." "What's your poison?" " What'll it be?" " Well, company for a start." "It's early yet, sir." "But you're first, so you'll have the pick." " But of what?" " The apples on the bough, sir." " What do you drink, sir?" " Scotch and soda." "Just the stuff, eh?" "And for the young lady?" "What?" " Hello, sugar." " Oh, well, hello, yourself... sugar." " What would you like...?" " Champagne, toots." "Ah, yes." "Of course." "Sugar." "Toots." "Hey, back in time for the tea party." "Bed 11..." "Bed 11..." "Bed 11..." "Bed 11, it's a way up from heaven." "Here we go." "You reach?" " Stand up, hmm?" " Can't." " Bed 11." "You're home now." " Can't." "Can't get up." "OK." "Let's be locking these wheels, then, low-roller." "OK." " Let's get this nightie off." " Draw the curtains." " Ah-ah." "We're all boys together." " Draw the bloody curtains!" "Rass!" "Enough to put you off your bread and jam, if they gave you any." "Poor sod." "We all suffer, Reginald." "Some of us choose not to show it, that's all." "Teatime!" " That's why we're penalized." "You OK?" "You want any help?" "You OK?" "Enough to put you off your bread and jam if they gave you any." "Sugar." "Poor sod." "Toots." "Rass, man!" "I've got you under my skin" "Deep in the heart of me" "Bastards!" "I'll wipe you out!" "Don't you know who I am?" "I'm the..." "I'm the Singing Detective." "Right." "Come on..." "Come on." "Oh!" "Come on!" "Jesus." "Help me." " Tea, Ali." " Tea." "No bread." "No cake." "Tea." "Please." " Tea." "No bread." "No cake." "Tea." " Please." " What?" " Say "please", Ali." "Not "what"." " "Please", thank you very much." " Tea." "Thank you very much." " "Tea, PLEASE."" " Tea, please." "Thank you very much." "There's a good chap." "Tea." "No bloody bread." "No bloody cake." "Tea." "Mr...?" "Mr Marlow, what are we trying to do?" "We've got to stop doing this." "Why?" "Why is it that when you lose your health, the entire medical profession takes it as axiomatic you've also lost your mind?" "Now, now." "We'll have none of that." "Here we go." "Now, what were we trying to do, hmm?" " It was rather silly-billy." " I was trying to get my pajama top." " My sodding bloody buggering..." " Mr Marlow!" "My ickle jacket, please." "I want my closey-woseys." "Really." "Come along." "" "Come on." "You're not helping me." "Reginald, are we going to do anything or just accept it?" " What?" " What I'm talking about is justice." " Justice, Reginald." " Yeah." "Cold tea never did anybody any harm - at least, I don't suppose so - but injustice, that's another matter." " Injustice eats at your insides." " Teatime!" "She should turn right every other time, that ugly nurse." "God, she is ugly." "Don't you think she's one of the ugliest, meanest, nastiest bitches ever to walk the earth, eh?" " Eh?" " What?" "Why don't you move your bed?" " What for?" " Next to that bloody Paki." "Go on." " No, thanks." " Well, you're no company, are you?" "No bloody company!" "Always got your snout in a book." " Nose, Mr Hall." "This is a nose." " And it's always in a book!" "I might as well be stuck in the desert." "Living hell, that's what this is." "A living hell." "How are we, Mr Hall?" "Ready for tea?" "The would be very nice, Staff Nurse." "Thank you very much." "Oh, cakie!" "He thinks you should turn right sometimes." " What?" " No, no, no." "Just sharing a little repartee with my young friend." " He says something should be done." " Shut your mouth, Reginald." "By the time you get here, it's cold or stewed to buggery." " Language, Mr Dibbs." " Very welcome you are in this bed, whichever way you turn." "I'm not a tart." "A girl's got to live, ain't she?" "Hello, sugar." "Hello, yourself... sugar." " Would you like...?" " Champagne, toots." "Ah, yes." "Of course..." "Of course..." "Of course..." "Oh, God!" "Cigarette." "I want a cigarette." "Cigarette, sugar?" "Toots?" "Faggy-waggy, nursey." "Ali." "Ali!" " What do you want?" " Get my cigarettes for me, will you?" " Please." " What?" "Say "please", not "what", thank you very much." "Oh, for Christ's sake!" " No cigarettes." " All right, then - please." "Please... you bastard." "Doctor say if something wrong here and you bloody smoking cigarettes, there's something wrong here as well." " No cigarette." " That's you heart patients, nig-nog!" "I'm skin, Ali." "Skin." "How many more times?" "I must stay in bed." "Doctor say, "Stay in bed, nig-nog!"" "He said that?" "The doctor said that?" "Ah, I've seen you padding about half the night, you sly old sod." " Talking to Allah or somebody." " Oh, no." "Bloody God, no." "Look, Ali, don't be a hypocrite." "I'm dying for a cigarette." "Love your little brown chops." "OK, OK." "Bloody dog, me." "They keep putting them on my locker." ""Tidying my trolley."" "All morons with a mania for order put everything you want where you can't get it." "Do you know how many "O" levels you have to fail to be a nurse?" "Blessings on your head, old son." "No bloody flame." "Conviction." "Do it with conviction!" "Oh, my God." "Turn it down!" "The wheel!" "The little wheel, Ali." "Good." "I could see the headlines - "Another Asian Burnt to Death."" "No." "That wouldn't make the headlines anymore." "Not now the National Front are investing in tandoori ovens." " Good?" " Good?" "It's bloody marvelous!" "All my hopes and desires and fondest aspirations have finally been reduced to their true dimensions, my old son." "Yes." "Your lungs." "Look at that blue smoke, Ali." "See the way it coils and drifts..." "Just like every human hope." "Yes, yes." "Very bloody wise." "I used to think that all I wanted was the good opinion of honorable men and the ungrudging love of beautiful women." "Now I know that all I really want is a cigarette." " Just one more cigarette, Ali." " Poison." "It's poison." "One thing about this place, it strips away the unimportant stuff, like skin, like love, like loyalty, like passion and belief..." "Oh!" "Oi!" "I know I'm boring, but surely not that much!" "Were you out of bed?" "Excuse me." "I said, were you out of bed?" " No, Doctor Finlay, sir." "No." " Yes, you jolly well were!" " What is the point of my...?" " It's my fault." " Oh?" " I asked him to get me a cigarette." "You shouldn't." "And he shouldn't." "You're taking advantage of him." " In any case, you shouldn't smoke." " You're not MY doctor." "Thank God." "Whether I am or not, don't encourage this man to get out of bed." " You're being selfish." " Listen..." " You're putting his health at risk." " Look here..." " If he dies, you'll be responsible." " It'll be one less, then, won't it?" " What are you talking about?" " Immigrants, sunshine." " Are you having trouble with him?" " Yes, sir." "I am, Doctor." "Please." "Has he been making offensive remarks about your origins?" " Sorry." "Origins, please?" " Your, er... race or...?" " Sorry." "Race, please?" " Yes." "Your race." "Go on." "Tell him, you brown bugger!" "Jumped up little snot." "Go on." "You get out of bed, Ali, old pal." " No, no." " Well, why not?" "What's the point?" "Why endure one moment more than you have to?" "Go on, get of bed." "Jump up and down." "Then hold a pillow over my face, and we'll go together." "Come on." "At first, comma, the only sound is the slap hyphen slap of the water against the boat, comma, which has its engine switched off." "Double space." "The other, comma, natural noises increase as the naked, drowned body of a beautiful woman is slowly pulled..." "What, Mr Marlow?" "I had on my best pajamas, the ones with blue forget-me-nots." "I was all dressed up." "A million dollars was about to call." " I was ready for it." " High temperature again, have we?" "When she moved her lips like that," "I felt like a tulip when the first raindrop smacked into it." "I decided to open up." "Boy, was I green... or do I mean wet?" " Oh, I see." " Your eyes are not for seeing, they're for being looked at." "We're in a good mood." "We're actually talking today." "What do you mean?" "According to report, you didn't say one word yesterday." "Not for the first time." " Me?" " Yes, you." "They put that sort of thing on report?" "Oh, yes." "Everything." " Is that why they...?" " Go on, ask." "Is that why they think I'm a bit touched?" "Loopy?" " No!" " What, then?" " Depressed." " Tranquilizers." "No, worse - those antidepressants." "Brain-drainers." "Is that why they try to make me swallow them?" " If they help people..." " I'm not taking them!" "I've got thinking to do." "If I don't think, I'll never get out..." " Are you going to grease me?" " If you're ready." "Ready as a back-axle." " Nurse?" "Nurse?" " What is it, Mr Hall?" "Could you spare a moment, Nurse, here?" " No." "Tell me." " Nurse, please." "Could you come here, please?" "You're going to wear us out, aren't you?" "Now, what is it?" "Beg pardon, my dear." "I need the, er... you know... very badly." " The... contraption." "You know." " Contraption?" "What contraption?" "Tuppence." "I want to spend tuppence." "Reginald, would you get a bedpan for Mr Hall and close his curtains?" "Got the shits again, Pop?" "Bit like being in a tent in here, isn't it, with the curtains shut?" "Yeah." "And the desert all around." " Shall I do the top or bottom first?" " I don't mind." " Still can't get your pajamas off?" " No." "All right." "I'll start down below first." "Right, let's get these trousers off." "I'll try not to hurt." "Up you come." " Thanks." " All right." "Relax." "We can start now." "Oh, cock, do not crow." "Poor cock, do not stir." "I'll be as gentle as I can." "Think of something boring, for Christ's sake." "Think of something very, very boring." "A speech..." "A speech by Ted Heath." "A sentence, a long sentence, from Bernard Levin." "A quiz by Christopher Booker." "Oh!" "No, no." "Think." "Think." "Think." "Really boring." "A Welsh male-voice choir." "Everything in "Punch"..." " Oh!" " Oh, you poor thing." "Oh!" "Wage rates in Peru." "James Burke. "Finnegan's Wake"." "All the bloody Irish." "The dog in "Blue Peter"." "Brian Clough and especially James - Henry and Clive." "Australian barmen, ecologists, semiologists..." "Think!" "Think!" "The Guardian woman's page..." "Oh, dear Christ!" "The Bible..." "Oh, God..." "Reader's Digest Special Draw." "No, no, no..." "Think Bible..." "Bible Psalms." "Song of Solomon." ""Thy breasts are like..." No!" "No!" " Oh, I'm sorry." "Is that too hard?" " Too hard?" "Yes." "It's..." "It's like iodine in a cut." "I'm sorry, but it's worst of all inside your thighs." " I'm being as gentle as I can." " It's not your fault." "I have to lift your penis to grease around it." "My mama done told me" "When I was in pigtails" "My mama done told me how" "A man's gonna sweet talk" "And give you the big eye" "But when the sweet talking's done" "A man is a two-face, a worrisome thing..." "She's a real corker, ain't she" " Carlotta?" "I mean, genuinely artistic." " Top-hole." " And it's right, too." " What a girl should be told." " I'm sorry?" "Well, a guy can get excited, can't he?" " You're telling me." " It's all fizz." " He'll promise the earth..." " You're not eating, Amanda." "No." "Well, one can only consume so much, you know?" "Where do they get this meat?" "Real steak." "I haven't seen it since before the war." "Six long years of Spam." "Ask no questions, I'll tell no lies." "Still, is it legal?" "Or is it horse?" " What's up, sugar?" " I need the gents." " Oh, what?" "Now?" " She's nearly done." " And I've heard the song." " Know where it is, sugar?" "I'll find it... toots." "... in the night" "I have to lift your penis now to grease around it." "I'm sorry, Nurse." "I do beg your pardon." "It's the one part of me that still sort of functions." " I do beg your pardon." " It's all right." "I understand." " It has a will of its own." " We don't need to talk about it." "No." " How long have you had this?" " Twenty, thirty years." " As bad as this?" " No." "It's at its peak now, almost." "I'm losing control of my body temperature." " I keep going over the top." " Yes." "I think..." "I think I tend to hallucinate a bit." "That happens." "I thought there was a cat in the bed this morning - in it, not on it - meticulously chewing off my toes, one by one." "I'm trying not to hurt you." "Sometimes these hallucinations are better than the real thing." "People can sing in them or dance." "I don't mind." "I like pictures." "You write detective stories, don't you?" " Who told you that?" " Oh, a little bird." "Well, the little bird is wrong." "I used to." " Hey." " Got to work." " Sorry." " I've got to work." "A man's got to work." "Somehow, I've got to work." "Hey, now..." "You'd think my mother would have had more sense than to call me Philip with a name like Marlow." "Philip Marlow." "It hasn't got an "E" on the end, but it sounds the same." " Same as what?" " Philip Marlowe." "You've heard of him surely?" "Christ Almighty." "What else could I have done except write detective stories?" "She should have called me Christopher." "I don't suppose you've heard of him either." "This way?" "Thank you." "I'm so sorry, ladies." "Looking for the gents." "Gawd bless ya, guv." "Real gent, y'are." "Goodbye, old fruit." "Why is it so hot?" "On the..." "On the sunny..." "On the sunny side of the street" "Grab your coat and grab your hat..." "Find it all right?" " Er, yes." "I found it all right." " What's up, sugar?" "It's hot in here." "Baking." " I feel as if I'm burning up." " God." "You're dripping." "That shows a passionate nature, sugar." "And what about you?" "You seem very cool to me." "Only when I'm upright." "Not another bottle?" "!" "You have to keep coughing up if you want my company." "Ain't I worth it?" " No need to drink it, though." " What?" "At £21O/- a bottle?" " Mark..." "It is Mark?" " As in the second gospel." " What do you mean?" " Never mind." "Mark, this is my friend Sonia." "Hello." " Sonia likes a tip, Mark." " Oh." "Thank you." "Well..." "let's hope I get something back for all this." " That all depends, don't it?" " On what?" "On what you mean." "I'm sorry." "It's awfully hot in here." "Why am I so hot?" "Philip!" "Philip!" "Philip!" "Hot..." "Hot..." "Why is it so hot?" "Good morning." "Good morning." "Good morning." "Good morning to you." "Let me see." "You are Mr...?" " Marlow, sir." " Of course." "How are you feeling?" " Er..." "Not very..." " Very inflamed." "Extensive lesions." " Temperature still too high." " Marked arthrosis." "Difficult." "Difficult." "How long have you had this psoriatic arthropathy?" " Um, twenty..." " Twenty-five years." "How much movement in the joints?" "He's had hydrocortisone injections in all major joints, including toes." "Tootsie-wootsies, eh?" "Prednisone and then Prednisolone in bursts, then for longer periods, but with Betnovate and Dermovate under total occlusive dressings." "Well, you can see the damage." "Latterly, with such occlusions, one might have to describe it as..." "Iatrogenic." "Hmm..." "History?" "Um, prior to this, pretty usual sequence of events." "Precise." "Be precise!" "Initially, coal tar, but then injections " "Butazolidin, Indomethacin - not successful." "The short courses, Prednisone, Prednisolone, lengthening." "Then Methotrexate, after a positive liver biopsy..." " Vomiting." " Vomiting." " Finally withdrawn." " Ten years of occlusive dressings, corticosteroid ointments each night." " Razoxane." " Also cytotoxic." "Which induced neutropenia." "Wart-like lesions removed." "Withdrawn." "Hmm..." "I've seen cases as bad as this in Baltimore." "Not many." "Will you try one of the retinoids?" "Mmm..." " I would have said so." " Worth a try." " Hmm..." " Er..." "Excuse me." "This hyperventilation." "Any odd thoughts in the brain-box, old chap?" "On Tuesday, he insisted a cat was chewing at his feet." " Isn't that so?" " Yes." "Attacking his toes." "Tootsie-wootsies, hmm?" " We don't allow cats in the ward." " Quite so." "Quite so." "Well, now." "There's one other drug which might be some help, Mr, er..." " Marlow." " How do you feel about trying one of the new retinoids, hmm?" "Do you understand the question?" "Er, no." "I don't think so." "Would you like to try one of the new..." "I don't understand because I've regressed into a helpless and pathetic condition of total dependency of a kind normally associated with infancy." " What's he say?" " The last time I experienced this was in my bloody pram, being drooled over by slobbering cretins..." " Mr Marlow!" "...who'd escaped from the loony bin." "They thought they were doctors and nurses!" "Very good!" "Tell me, what do you do for a living, Mr, er...?" "Forgive me." "What USED you to do by way of earning a crust?" " I'm an author." " Oh." "I didn't realize." " Detective stories." " Oh." "How interesting." "Will you listen to me, please?" "Will you please, please, listen to me?" "Well, what is it?" "I can't talk to you lying flat out like this." "Can you prop me up a bit, please?" "Thank you." "What is it you wish to say?" "I just think that..." "Listen..." "Just listen to me..." "I..." "I've reached the end..." " Oh." "Of what?" " My tether." "Oh, hush now." "I'd like..." "Christ, I'd..." "I'd like to get out of it." "I can't stand..." "I..." "Truly, I cannot stand it." "I can't... get on top of it." "I can't see clear of it." "I can't... find my way through it." "And if I don't admit it, I'll never, never beat it," "I'll never, never..." "Oh, tears." "Even bloody tears..." "Oh, I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "The shame of this..." "Even tears, oozing bloody tears, hurt the skin on my face, and..." "Laugh?" "It hurts my jaw!" "God!" "Talk about the Book of Job!" "I'm a prisoner inside my own skin and bones." "Librium." " Valium." " Antidepressants." " And a barbiturate." " Barbiturate!" " Antidepressants!" " Valium!" " And Librium!" "Ezekiel cried, "Dem dry bones!"" "Ezekiel cried, "Dem dry bones!"" "Ezekiel cried, "Dem dry bones!"" "Now hear the word of the Lord!" "Ezekiel connected dem dry bones" "Ezekiel connected dem dry bones" "Ezekiel connected dem dry bones" "Now hear the word of the Lord" "And your toe bone connected to your foot bone" "Your foot bone connected to your heel bone" "Your heel bone connected to your ankle bone" "Your ankle bone connected to your leg bone" "Your leg bone connected to your knee bone" "Your knee bone connected to your thigh bone" "Your thigh bone connected to your hip bone" "Your hip bone connected to your back bone" "Your back bone connected to your shoulder bone" "Your shoulder bone connected to your neck bone" "Your neck bone connected to your head bone" "Now hear the word of the Lord!" "Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around" "Dem bones, dem bones gonna..." "Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around" "Now hear the word of the Lord!" "Disconnect dem bones, dem dry bones" "Disconnect dem bones, dem dry bones" "Disconnect dem bones, dem dry bones" "Now hear the word of the Lord!" "Your head bone connected from your neck bone" "Your neck bone connected from your shoulder bone" "Your shoulder bone connected from your back bone" "Your back bone connected from your hip bone" "Your hip bone connected from your thigh bone" "Your thigh bone connected from your knee bone" "Your knee bone connected from your leg bone" "Your leg bone connected from your ankle bone" "Your ankle bone connected from your heel bone..." "Philip!" "Philip, come back, Philip!" "Now hear the word of the Lord!" "Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones" "Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones" "Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones" " Now hear the word of the Lord!" " Oooh!" " Yes, Lord!" " Hallelujah!" "Amen!" "Now hear the word of the Lord!" "Would you like to see the padre?" "Would that help at all?" " Or a psychiatrist." " Looks like it to me." "Hmm..." "Good day to you." "Keep your pecker up, old chap." "Philip!" "Come on, old buddy." "Where bist, Philip?" "Philip?" "Come th'on, old buddy." "Philip?" "Hey?" "Hey?" "Hey?" "Hey?" " Sorry." "What?" " He say when you go?" " What?" " Go out." "Oh, for Christ's sake, Ali." " Out." "Out of this bloody place!" " Where to, old mate?" "There's no place else to go." "Besides, I like it here." "I'm gonna stay." " I'm never going to leave." " Oh, shut up." "You've forgotten what it's like in the real world, Ali." "Listen." "Listen to me." "It's not safe out there." "They chew each other up out there." "Get me one of my cigarettes, would you, Ali?" "There's a pal." "Ali!" "Ali!" "I want a cigarette." "There is nothing I can think of which I want more." "Ali!" "A smoke." "A length of ash slowly building." "A tube of delight." "Oh, blessed nicotine." "Hot." "Why is it so hot in here?" "Gawd." "You're drippin'." "That shows a passionate nature, sugar." "I'm not a tart." "But a girl's got to live, ain't she?" "Put a figure on it." " A round one?" " Around one what?" "A nice round figure." " Ten pounds." " Oh, odd ones is better, sugar." " Sorry?" " Fifteen, sugar." " This is a very expensive evening." " I'm not being greedy." " It's not for lickle me." " Who's it for?" "Your sick mother." "I thought you was a nice guy." "I thought this was going to be nice." " I'm used to pigs at the trough..." " All right, fifteen." "Let's hope you're worth it." "Oh, I'm good." "I'm very very wizard." "About the only thing I am good at - bed." "Mark, this is my friend Sonia." "Hello." "Well, let's hope I get..." " Let's hope I get..." " That you get something back?" " You know what I mean." " We can't leave with customers, can we?" " No." " Sonia don't talk much, do she?" " Why should she?" " She's from Russia." " She's only been here a few months." " Really?" "From where in Russia?" "Leningrad." "What are you two jabbering?" "Your Russian, it is not bad." "Not good." "Well, it's a long time since I've used it." "You can order champagne for Sonia, too." "They let you do that." " They?" " I get commission." "Ah, and what do I get?" "Guess." "Would you like to see the padre?" " Would that help at all?" " Or a psychiatrist?" "What do I get?" "Guess." "Would you like to see the padre?" "Would that help?" "Or a psychiatrist?" "Perhaps." "The captain is asleep." "We are drifting off unanchored into the dark." "We are lost." "All of us." "Lost." "Stop it." "Bloody rubbish." "Mabel." "What's going on?" "What are you...?" "What are you doing?" " Where you been, Mabel, eh?" " What are you doing?" "!" " What are you...?" "!" "Get off!" " Where you been, eh?" " Come on." "My God!" " Where've you been, Mabel, eh?" " Get off!" "Ah!" "God!" "Get off!" "What's going on?" "Stop that!" "Stay in your own beds!" " Nurse!" " Oh!" "You naughty boys!" "Help me!" "Help me!" "Get off!" "Get off, you silly sod!" " You dirty old devil!" " Nurse!" "Nurse!" "Oh, God!" "Nurse!" "Nurse!" "Get off!" "Bloody beds!" "It was cold waiting for Amanda to come out." "The air was like an Eskimo's mother-in-law - bitter and icy." "But not as icy as the heart which beat under his cashmere coat." "He intended to warm himself on her overpriced flesh." "Work and pleasure, and a kiss before dying." "Binney stared." "He did not expect to see the two of them together." "What was cooking?" "Hello, sugar." "Ain't you got a taxi yet?" "None around." "It is half past three in the morning." "There'll be one." "There's always a taxi." "My momma done told me." "I see." "Magician, are you?" " A wizard." "I told you." " Are you...?" "You don't mind if we give my friend a lift, do you?" "Well..." " Where to, guv?" " Shall we drop you off first, Sonia?" "He wondered whether Amanda was as dumb as she sounded." "You can't tell what a dame's up to when she flaps her eyelashes." " Good afternoon." "How are we today?" " I'm not very well." " I don't know about him." " Sorry?" " Or perhaps you mean you?" " I don't follow." "You said, "How are WE today?" I wondered who the others or other..." " Come, come." "A manner of speaking." " And a very tedious one, too." "Not feeling too great?" "Well, that's not surprising." "You're having a tough time." "I'm impressed by your astonishing powers of deduction, which surpass even those of the great Holmes himself..." " Now, now." "...but I am trying to work." " Work?" " Do you think writing isn't work?" " No." "Of course not." " Or do you labor under the delusion that it consists solely and entirely of putting words on a page without thought, without planning... as if I were a Sunday Times journalist." " Ah, I see what you mean." " Do you, now?" "It must be hellishly ticklish to work out a plot in a detective story." "I suppose you have to scatter clues all over the place." " Yeah." "Like throwing grit to hens." " I'd like to read one of your..." "Out of print, all of them." "And why not, I say?" "The hens wouldn't lay, the cock wouldn't crow." " I see." " For Christ's sake." "For Christ's sake!" "Mr Marlow, do you think you have the right attitude towards your illness?" "Do you?" "I mean, that's the really interesting question." "Your attitude." "Partly, yes." "But you should consider..." " Will I ever be free of it?" " Well, that's something..." "Will I ever be able to move properly?" "Will I ever be able to hold a pen again?" "Tell me that." "Come on." "Never mind the blather." "I can get that from a doctor, Doctor." "You ask as though someone else was responsible for your condition, but no one is, or at least, in the unlikely event that anyone is, then that someone cannot be anyone other than yourself, can it?" "Oh, what are you talking about?" "It's not your job to be cryptic." "I have occasionally seen patients who are just as bad, sometimes worse than you are, but it's fair to say that none of them reacts with such aggression..." " What do they do?" "Sing madrigals?" " They don't rail against the world or behave like they've fallen into a sewer." "Are you trying to say I should take the tranquilizers?" "Or is it a deodorant you've got in mind?" "I think you should take the tranquilizers for a while." " No!" "I won't!" " That's up to you, of course." "No one's going to ram them down your throat." "But where are you going to find any equanimity?" "What?" "It's an embarrassing question, even between husbands and wives, but what do you believe in?" " Malthusianism." " Come again?" "Malthus, but mandatorily." "Compulsory depopulation by infanticide, suicide, genocide or whatever other means suggest themselves." "AIDS." "That'll do." "Why should queers be so special?" " I see." " I also believe in cigarettes, cholesterol, alcohol, carbon monoxide, masturbation, the Arts Council, nuclear weapons, the Daily Telegraph and not properly labeling fatal poisons, but above all else, I believe in the one thing" "that can come out of people's mouths - vomit." "I want you to think carefully about what I'm going to say." "There's a very good man at the hospital." "Very alert and sympathetic." "I'd like you to talk to him." "What?" "Alert and what?" "What are you talking about?" " Who is he?" "He'll get struck off." " Dr Gibbon." "Doctor of what?" "Skin?" "Joints?" "Monkeys?" "The decline and fall of the Roman Empire?" "What's he got to be alert and sympathetic about?" "He's a..." "Well, he's a psychotherapist." " Very good man." "You'd get on with him." " Get stuffed!" "Y-You are out of order." " I won't be spoken to in this way." " Then F-U-C- off, sir." "We will speak again." "Good afternoon." "Good afternoon." "Hey." "Hey!" "Hey." "What do you want?" "How are things in Gloccamora?" " He say when you go?" " Christ Almighty." "Where?" "Handsworth?" "Didn't he say when?" "When you go out, hey?" "We're never getting out." "This is our home on the range, old pal." "Well, the hotplate, anyway." "Don't talk rubbish." "We are." "We are." "Any bloody time now." "Yeah, we will, one day." "Arm-in-arm, together, eh?" "Like Alcock and Brown." "You can be Brown." "We are never going to get out of this bloody place." " You're right." "Never!" " Yes, we are, Ali." "Come on." "We'll break a popadom together." "I promise you that, Ali." "I promise." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Christ." "What is it now?" "Call the Samaritans, would you?" " You want sweet?" " How about sour?" " That's more my line." " You want sweet?" "No, thanks, Ali." "My jaws hurt." "Thanks, Ali." "Thanks all the same." "Some other time, eh, sweetheart?" "You have sweet." "I have a lot of sweets." "You have sweet, I have sweet, and we say up the arse, eh?" "Yeah." "Up the arse." "Ali?" "Ali?" "Ali!" "Ali!" "Ali!" "God!" "Nurse!" "Nurse!" "Nurse?" "Ali?" "Ali?" "Call 199." "Hurry!" "Plug that in." "Get that headboard off." "I'll take over the breathing." "Put his arms down." "Thank you, Nurse." "Set up a drip." "What's the rhythm?" "Give me the paddles." "Set it for 2O." "Stand clear, everyone." "Give me 4O." "Stand clear, everyone." "Set up a drip." "Give me the adrenalin." "One last try." "Stand clear, everyone." "Fixed and dilated, I'm afraid." "OK." "That's it." " Time, Staff?" " 14.37." "Record that as time of death." " Oh, you are untidy!" "Who is?" "What?" "Dropping your sweeties all over the place." " Oh, they're not..." " Try and be more careful, shall we?" "Yeah, I'm sorry." " Shall I unwrap one for you?" " Rather have a cigarette." " I'm not giving you one of those..." " You shouldn't smoke." " I don't know why they allow it." " Yes." "Quite right." "They might make me ill." " Have you been greased yet?" " No." "You should have been." "Why tell us now?" "Did I say anything?" "Did I?" "Jesus Christ on a bike." "It's all right, Staff." "I'll do it before I go off." "It makes you a bit more comfortable, doesn't it... eventually?" "I'm..." "All right." "I will have a sweet now, Nurse, please." "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "Do you want something for the pain?" "They're very nice, these sweets, Nurse." "Very nice indeed." "I'll find out." "I'll find out." "I'll find out things." "I'll find out." "I'll find out who done it." "The thing about the moon is it gives you the creeps with a capital K." "Am I not right?" "It makes dirty water look like silver, turns flotsam into the Crown Jewels, and causes poor slobs in the cuckoo house to think they're Jesus Christ or FW Woolworth." "Am I not right?" "Also, it's cold." "The sort of dead of night when lonesome cats cry for empty hours on the broken slates." "But tonight, there isn't a pussy in sight... not even a four-legged one." "All good people have gone home." "And some bad ones, too." "This is a night to freeze a pawnbroker's balls." "But it'll soon get warm in here." "That's the thing about gas." "Eh, Sonia?" "I hate the cold... as much as I hate plots and schemes and mysteries." "I didn't know it would be you who came back with me." "What's going on, eh?" "Mind you, I'm not complaining." "Amanda's very pretty, but thick as shit in the neck of a bottle." "You're just as pretty, Sonia." "You don't talk much, though, do you?" "What are you trying to be?" "The Snow Queen?" "Go on." "Be the Snow Queen if you like." "Pretend not to know anything about anything, but I'll find out whether you do or not." "There's a cupboard in that club with room for more than one, Sonia." "Maybe you are just one of the whores." "Well, take your clothes off." "Give." "Well, maybe you are, at that." " Money." " Don't be so bloody Russian." " Ask with a touch more grace." " Money." "Oh, you bitch." "You greedy, suspicious, great big, beautiful bitch." "My arrangement was with Amanda." "I thought Amanda was going to warm my lonely little bed." " We agreed on a price." " £15." "Listen, you little tart, it would take a shop girl a month to earn that." "Ten." "I agreed ten." "And think yourself lucky." " £15." " I see." "Very polite, aren't we?" "Ask me nicely." "Go on, nicely." "Say please." "Say please to Daddy." "I see." "It's Stalingrad all over, is it?" "One for my baby..." "Two for my love..." "And three to come again." " Is shit." " What?" "Is shit." "Money is." "Christ!" "You stupid bitch!" "I ought to make you choke on it!" "Are you off your head?" "Are you totally insane?" "Money." "Are you trying to make me feel small?" "Are you trying to make me feel small?" "Are you trying to make me feel small?" " Are you trying make me feel small?" " What did you say?" " What?" " What did you say, man?" " Where is it?" " What?" " The nut-house door." "We're almost there, little squirrel." "We're almost there." " Wait for the man, right?" " Right." " The cuckoo man, right?" " Right." "Why?" "What's he got that for?" "Is this the British Museum?" "What's going on?" "Cruising down the river" "On a Sunday afternoon" "With one you love, the sun above" "Waiting for the moon" "The old accordion playing" "A sentimental tune" "Cruising down the river" "On a Sunday afternoon" "The birds above all sing of love" "A gentle sweet refrain" "The winds around all make a sound" "Like softly falling..." "OK, fellas, that'll do." "The words break my heart." "We won't say like softly falling what, though." "There's a frog spawning in this throat of mine." "I'll see you later." "Keep your whistles dry." "Mr Marlow?" "The one and only." "Are you the guy I've been waiting for" " since Sax found the phone?" " I'm sorry?" "The gent with the fat contract and piano-key smile." "The guy who loves the way I croon." " I'm sorry..." " You liked the song, right?" "A spider crawled up your throat, yeah?" " Yes." "Well, erm... sort of." " A tune for old ladies." "You agree?" " Mr Marlow..." " You weren't listening, were you?" "You didn't take it in." "Other things syncopating, huh?" "No." "Sorry." "Yellow mellow curls at the edges." "Breaks." "Goes rotten." " I don't understand." " You're in trouble, right?" " Yes, I am." " Dead trouble." "Look... um..." "I'm told that you can help me, if anyone can." " Who says so?" "Why believe him?" " John Bordington." "My solicitor." "If he recommended me, this must be a lulu." "That over-inflated toad!" "He hates my guts." "I tend to agree." "Does he still pick his teeth?" " He said you got results." " I get the jobs polite guys pass on, cases that guys who don't sing don't get." "I'm the piano-tuner who's heavy on the pedal." "OK, what's the story?" "Who's the dame?" " How do you know...?" " There's always a dame." " And where's the body?" " I'm sorry?" "There's always a body." "I know that, you know that." "You're looking a trifle pale, pal." "Like you've been eating fried eggs and green bananas." "Who's trying to swing you into this number?" "And are you as nervous as you seem?" "Yeah." "I am as nervous as I seem." ""Yellow mellow curling at the edges." ""Breaks." "Goes rotten. "" "Oh, very good." "Very funny." "I have a degree of fondness for easily disposable things " "Kleenex tissues, Bic pens, razor blades, cheap literature..." "Prescription forms." "Don't forget prescription forms." " And, of course, medical degrees." " He said out of the side of his mouth." " What?" " Gibbon." "How do you do, Mr Marlow?" " Can't shake." " Oh, of course not." "Sorry." "I wouldn't, anyway." "I wouldn't if I could." "I'm here under protest." "This is tantamount to a kidnap." "I see." "I see." "An abduction." "Little men shouldn't sit where their feet don't touch the floor." "It kind of demeans them." "Makes me think of nursery rhymes." "It must be very difficult for you." "More difficult than for you, that's for sure." "I can't creep up on people like I'm in a Marx Brothers film." " Where did you learn that trick?" " You don't want to talk to me?" "Christ!" "What sharpness!" "What perception!" "I've underestimated you." "And yet you came, not against your will." "Why?" "Why did you agree to be wheeled here?" " Gets me out of the ward." " What's that?" "I said it makes a change from bedpans and sick old farts talking in their sleep." "Lets me see the warp and woof of life in all its rich texture." "Crap like that." "Where the cuckoo drops its eggs." "Someone else's smelly little nest - yours." "This is an act, a desperate pastiche." "No." "I don't like Italian food." " You can't keep it up." " Oh, little do you know!" "I suppose you've noticed that I've obtained a copy of one of your..." "What do you call them?" "It's not a novel, is it, properly speaking?" "Not what Lawrence would call the one bright book of life?" " Quote me no quotes." " But you wouldn't call it a novel?" "Oh, no." "Of course not." "It's pages, that's all." "Where did you get it?" "Not a bookshop, that's for certain." "What did you get it for?" "What casual little cruelty do you have in mind?" " Not reading it, I hope?" " Clues." " What?" " It's a detective story." "That's what you're supposed to find." " Am I not right or am I right?" " Oh, my God!" "You can't do it!" "The clues are supposed to point in the direction of the murderer, but what if they also reveal the victim just a little more clearly?" "Are you going to keep on like this?" "Do you think it'll start me talking?" "Well, you're wrong." "If you think you're being friendly and reassur..." "Ah, I know what it is." "You think you're being interesting, eh?" "You think you're quite a character." "Well, let me tell you, you're barking up the wrong trouser leg." "So I see." "May I go back, please?" "I'm bored." "I wish to be returned to the ward." "It's vivid and exciting there." "It must seem like home." "How long have you been there now?" "Ten, eleven weeks." " Do you have visitors?" " Don't want any." "My day is too full." "How often have you been in hospital?" "You must have all this." "There's an army of you filling in cards, padding out files, poking, prying." " Why don't you look it up?" " Tell me." "How many times?" "Thirteen, fourteen, something like that." "Quite an old lag, then, aren't you?" " Does your wife visit?" " I'm not married." " Do you stop her coming?" " I'm not married." "I see." "Stop it!" "Stop staring!" "Put your piggy little eyes somewhere else!" "Now, now, now." "Call the porter." "I want to go back." "I'm not going to talk to you!" " You don't like women, do you?" " What sort do you mean?" "Young ones?" "Old ones?" "Faithful ones?" "Slags?" "Sluts?" "Try and be a bit more specific." "All right." "I'm reasonably sure that you think that you do like them, that you even think that they are capable of being idolized or..." "You don't like sex." "You probably think you do." " We think about it a lot, don't we?" " You do." "You dirty little sod." "Yes, I do." "But listen to yourself." "Isn't it clear that you regard sexual intercourse with considerable distaste, or, what is more to the point, with fear?" "Would you call that a fair statement?" "Am I totally wide of the mark, hmm?" "Isn't it the case that you regard sex with fear and distaste... even loathing?" "Oh, my God." "This is so sick." "This is SO sick." "Hmm..." "Here, for example." " I just can't believe this." " I'll read you a passage, if I may." "I'd rather you shoved it up your arse!" "Fine." " Jig." "Jig." " Yeah, jig bloody jig, and us stuck out here in the cold." "Shh!" "I don't wish to upset you." "More precisely, I don't wish to upset you unnecessarily." "I think you need help." "I think you know that you need help." "You're too intelligent or too aware of your own condition to deny it." "Most chronic dermatological patients are on tranquillizers or antidepressants, you know, almost as a matter of routine." "The skin is, after all, extremely personal, is it not?" "The temptation is to believe the sins and poisons of the mind or the personality have somehow erupted straight out onto the skin." ""Unclean!" "Unclean!" You shout, ringing your bell, warning us to keep off, to keep clear." "The leper in the Bible, yes?" "But that's nonsense, you know." "Do you know?" "Well, one part of you does, I'm sure." "You can be helped." "Moreover, Mr Marlow..." "Moreover, I think I can help." "You can." "Yes, you can." "Yes." "If you can give me a couple of hundred barbiturates, you can." "Otherwise, stop pissing into the wind." "Stop listening to your own voice." "Stop confusing wisdom with smugness, and send me back to my bed." ""Moreover. " Jesus! "Moreover"!" "I can't say I care for your manners." "Yeah, sorry." "I never went to Sunday School." "Thank your stars I don't crack my knuckles." "You didn't set out to mimic that sort of stuff, did you?" " What sort of stuff?" " "Not raining in the foothills. "" " "Down these mean streets. "" " What sort of stuff?" "OK, so you won't play ball." "Look." "You know, I'd heard that psychiatrists, psychoanalysts or whatever you are, are very peculiar people, but, really, I find it impossible to understand a single word you say!" "It is my contention, having read some of your prose, that you did not set out to write like that." "What things would you rather have written about?" "If I had the talent, you mean?" "Come on, be a critic." " You've got the face for it." " If you like." "If you had the talent." "Well, one-liners in Christmas crackers, speeches for Mrs Thatcher, obituaries..." "or is that the same thing?" "Ah, verses in birthday cards, captions for Prince Andrew..." "There's no telling." "It's just putting one word after another, that's all." " It won't be used as evidence." " What won't?" "You telling me what or how you wanted to write." "Forget it." "I have." "Long ago." "Tell me." "I'd like to have used my pen to praise a loving God and all his loving creation." " Really?" " Moreover..." "I'd like to have seen hosts of radiant and translucent angels spinning shafts of golden light deeper and deeper into the blue caverns of Heaven." "Yeah." "I'll tell you something even more unlikely." "I also wanted to play inside right for Fulham and England." " Fulham?" "Why Fulham?" " Be rude." "I don't care." "We're used to slander at Craven Cottage." "Goals are something else." " I'm not very interested in football." " You should be as a psychiatrist." "That's where the nutters are - on the terraces." "Except at Fulham." "You go there to be alone." "Now, there's a paragraph here that sits rather oddly on the page." "It doesn't belong in a detective story." "Not in my opinion." "Oh, I see." "So psychiatry is not nasty enough for you?" "You still want to get into literary criticism." "I should be careful, going down that slope." "Swine to the left of you, swine to the right of you." " Grunt, grunt!" " Listen to this." "A purple passage." "No, a blue one, I hope." ""Mouth sucking wet and slack at mouth," ""tongue chafing against tongue, limb thrusting upon limb," ""skin rubbing at skin... "" "Oink!" "Oink!" ""The faces contort and stretch into a helpless leer." ""Organs spurt out smelly stains and sticky betrayals... "" "Oink!" "Oink!" ""This is the sweaty farce out of which we are brought into being." ""We are implicated without choice in the slippery catastrophe" ""of the copulations which splatter us into existence." ""We are spat out of fevered loins." ""We are the by-blows of grunts and groans and pantings" ""in a rumpled and creaking bed." ""Welcome. "" "Yeah... the milk of Paradise." "Good." "Now we can talk." "What did Kipling say about women and cigars?" "Never mind." "How would you know?" "What do you know?" "How much do you know?" "I'm sorry." "I'm afraid this could make a very nasty burn." "And you've such lovely skin, Sonia." "It's like porcelain." "Do you know the origin of the word "porcelain"?" "No, of course not." "Why should you?" "Doesn't it disgust you, what you do?" "Being paid to stretch out and let a stranger enter you?" "They must have trained you well, the NKVD." "You think I don't know who you work for?" "Well, this is the dead time, isn't it?" "Dead time in a dead city." "You can feel the nothingness pressing down." "Pressing down on the whole dirty place." "It looks cold out there." "The river looks as though it's made of tar, sludging along, full of filth." " There's two men out there." " Are you sure?" "They're watching this house!" "Are they the same two as..." " They can't be there by accident." " Is there a back way, another way out?" "Just one of the girls, eh?" "Who are they?" "What do they want?" " Way out." "Quick!" " Are they after you or me?" " Let go." " Who are they?" " Let me go." " You're not going anywhere." "My nose started to bleed." "I... er..." "I wasn't fully dressed, you see." "I couldn't go after her." "I think she was not quite right in the head." " Who is?" " Well, there you are." "Who is?" "Who indeed?" "But why should she butt you like that?" " What did she say?" " She was too frightened to speak." "She gabbled something in Russian as she ran." " Where'd you pick up that lingo?" " Intelligence Corps." "I interviewed Red Army soldiers towards the end of the war." " You're not in the Army now." " No." "No." "So, six months ago you were interviewing the comrades, then a Russian girl goes missing after visiting your house." "Question." "Did this dame know something about you?" " I don't know." " You're holding out." "I don't know." "I really don't." "I swear before God that..." "Swear before something you believe in, good buddy." "I swear on my mother's grave that Sonia was alive and unharmed when she left my place." " So who says different?" " I think I'll be arrested." "The police are at me all the time." "They've told me not to leave town." "They don't believe that there were two men outside that night." "In fact, that made them even more suspicious." " Seems she never went to her flat." " Where's that?" "Queensway, apparently." "She lives with Amanda." " Who?" " The girl in the nightclub." " Another whore?" " If you want to put it like that." " How else would you put it?" " I wouldn't call them names..." "Dog shit by any other name smells as foul, and it sticks to your shoe whatever you call it." "Be mealy-mouthed if you like, but not around me." "You've stepped in something nasty and want me to clean it up." "I'm the scoop, the brush and the shovel." "Mr Marlow, I want somebody to find that girl or the men who were outside the house or to prove nothing nasty happened to her at my hands." " But it did." " What?" "Something nasty did happen to her at your hands." " I'm telling the truth!" " I didn't say you weren't." "All I'm saying was something nasty did happen to her with you." " Wouldn't her mother say that?" " Her mother?" "!" "Oh, for God's sake!" "You swore on your mother's grave." "Mr Marlow, aren't you being unduly censorious" " for this day and age?" " What day?" "What age?" " Money's no problem." "I'll pay well." " You don't know how much I want." " I'm not as cheap as I look." " I'll pay whatever you ask." "My good name is important, but I'm not paying you to make me feel small." "Oh, that's thrown in without charge." "Hey, man." "This is bad." "You have got this bad." "Ah, thank you." "Thank you very much." "So, what bring this on, then?" " Camay." " What?" "Camay." "That perfume worth a guinea an ounce." "Listen, I'll tell you something for free." "Like the health service used to be." "Hey, Jack, listen up." "This is serious business here." "Don't eat tomatoes." "Do you read me?" " I hears you." " You try it." "You'll see." " No tomatoes." "I'm telling you." " I'll try." " Do you ever shit?" " What?" "!" "Erm..." "Well, occasionally." "Yeah, well, you look back at it after tomatoes." "It's the pips." "Well, they're there, man." "Ready to grow." " The pips in your poop." " Waste not, want not." "Lay off them love apples, man." "That's the truth." " They are no good." "Do you register?" " Registered." " Yes, thanks very much." " Good." " Be seeing you." " Yeah." "Bye-bye." "Tomatoes!" "Yes, of course!" "Why didn't I think of that?" "Come on, George." "Come on." "Oh!" "Cor!" "Somebody must have poured boiling fat over that 'un." "Now, Mr Adams." "We don't make those sort of remarks here." "Shut your mouth." "Mind your Ps and Qs." " This will be your bed, Mr Adams." " Nice clean sheets, George." "Yeah, but I'm not staying." " Now, now, Mr Adams." " Best place, George." "I ain't never been ill and I'm not now." "You're not getting me in there, and that's that." "It's my life, innit?" "Nobody else's." "I'll just draw the curtains." "Then you can undress in privacy." " You what?" " In your new pajamas, Dad." "Pajamas!" "What are you talking about?" "Pajamas!" "I'm not wearing bleeding' pajamas." " I won't have it!" " Hot..." " Hot..." " You can't bloody wait, can you?" " George!" " You just can't bloody wait." "You'll be right behind the hearse, laughing your bleedin' head off." "George, stop it!" "Want to stop mucking me about!" "Gently does it, Mrs Adams." "I'll bloody haunt you, I will." "I'll be back, Mother." "I'll be back." " The heat..." " Christ!" " George!" " What sort of bloody pillow is this?" "Lie on that and you'll suffocate." "Leave me alone." " Get off." " George, if you don't stop..." "Come along, Mr Adams." "There's no need for all this fuss." "Get off of me, you bloody old cow." "Leave me alone..." " Mrs Adams!" "What on earth...?" " You bloody hurt me!" " You rotten bitch!" " It's the only way, Sister." "Give him one." "It's the only way." "I know." "I've had it for too long." "Years and years of it." "Give him one." "He's not strong enough to give you one back." "Not now, he ain't." "Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name." "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth, as it is in Heaven." "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them who trespass against us..." "Oh, give me land, lots of land" "Under starry skies above" "Don't fence me in" "Let me ride through the wide-open country that I love" "Don't fence me in" "Let me be by myself" "In the evening breeze" "And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees" "Send me off forever, but I ask you, please" "Don't fence me in..." "On my cayuse, let me wander over yonder" "Till I see the mountains rise" "I want to ride to the ridge" "Where the west commences..." "Put this racket off, eh?" "Aye, get on thy wick." "... and I can't stand fences" "Don't fence me in" "I like the Andrews Sisters." "I like Bing Crosby." "Aye, well... and I do." "Lovely bit o' plum." "Thou cosn't beat plum jam, whatever anybody do say." "Cosn't cook a plum." "A plum don't like cooking." "Him have too much skin." "Give I strawberry any day." "I'd rather have strawberry jam any day." "I'd rather have..." " God Almighty!" " What?" " What's the matter?" " What's the matter?" "!" "How can anybody eat with that going on?" " What's up wi' her now?" " Him can't help it, now, can he?" "Ain't no joke, mind, coal dust in the lungs." " What's our Dad supposed to do?" " What's that?" " He can go outside when we eat." " Oh?" "Whose house is it?" "Tell me." "Him has to go outside for a bit of a cough in his own home?" "A bit of a cough?" "!" "More like a bleedin' avalanche." "It turns me up." "I had food in my mouth." " I could hardly get it down." " Fuss, fuss, fuss!" "Where's thou been, our Philip?" "Tea's been ready half hour." "It's not fuss." "Not at all!" "It turns me up." "Then thou knows what thou can do." " Now, our Mam." " "Now, our Mam. "" ""Ooh, our Mam. " Why don't you stick up for me?" "Christ Almighty!" "Language!" "No animosity." "Whose house is it, I do want to know?" "Whose few sticks of furniture?" "Have we got to be told what to do at our time of life in our own place?" " Whose house?" "Tell me that." " Is that all you can say?" "Do you ever say anything else?" "Change the bloody tune!" " No cussing here." " Don't talk to me like that!" " Not in my own home!" " Mam." "We never wanted this to happen, to end up like this." "Oh, let's have our bit of tea." "Don't let's squabble." "I be sick at heart with it all." "Where have you been?" "Why are you always late for your tea?" " Where you been?" " I've been calling." "Didn't you hear?" " No." " You been in them woods on thy own?" " Stuck up top of a tree?" " It's unnatural." "I never know where you are." "Wanted you to go to the shop." "Calling..." " I've a good mind you get no tea." " Oh, him have got to have his tea." "'Course him have, a growing lad like Philip." "Got to put some gristle in them arms, old buddy." "Come th'on." "Sit up at table." "There's a good boy." " Make a soldier of thee, eh?" " I'll decide that." "He's my son!" "Philip." "No tea for you." "Oh, him's got to have his bit of tea." "You gutless bugger!" "I've never heard the like!" "Ted, bist thou going to put up with that?" " Oh, I'd smack her one!" " Oh, shut up!" "Keep your nose out of it, you interfering old cow!" "Get out!" "Get theeself out!" " Get out of this house." " Don't, Mam." "Hold on." "I would if your son was any sort of man!" " Betty..." " It's his job to find us a place, instead of being squashed up in this pokey hole!" "It's me." "My fault." "Mine." "It's me." "Me." "It's all my doing." "It's me." "My fault." "Mine." "It's me." "Me." "All my doing." "Hey?" "Hey, please?" "Please?" "Hey?" "Call the..." "Hey, please..." "I need... the nurse." "I'm as restless as a willow in a wind-storm" "I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string" "I'd say that I had spring fever" "But I know it isn't spring" "I'm starry-eyed and vaguely discontented" "Like a nightingale without a song to sing" "Oh, why should I have spring fever" "When it isn't even spring?" "I keep wishing" "I was somewhere else" "Walking down a strange new street" "Hearing words that I never heard" "From a girl I've yet to meet" "I'm as busy as a spider spinning daydreams" "I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing" "I haven't seen a crocus or a rosebud" "Or a robin on the wing" "But I feel so gay" "In a melancholy way" "That it might as well be spring" "It might as well be spring" "I'm as busy as a spider spinning daydreams" "I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing" "I haven't seen a crocus or a rosebud" "Or a robin on the wing" "But I feel so gay" "In a melancholy way" "That it might as well be spring" "It might as well be spring" "Nobody holds a candle to thee father as far as warbling is concerned." "Your dad's too good for the pit." "Him ought to be up in lights, see if I ben't right." " Bist thou all right, o'but?" " Aye." "Order!" "Order!" "Order!" "Come on, now." "Let's have a bit of order." "We've heard the husband, now for his missus." "Mrs Marlow will now play..." ""The Rustle of Spring"." "Chunt a cowboy song, mind!" "Pay attention." "Now, pay attention." "I want you to look at my finger." "Mr Adams, give me your attention." "Look at my finger." "Look at my finger." " What for?" " Well, it's just a routine test." "Follow my finger with your eyes." "Just your eyes." "That's it." "Up and down." "Down." "Time for your greasing, Mr Marlow." "Sorry to disturb you." "Up and down." "Up and down." "Just your eyes, Mr Adams." "Just your eyes." "Look at my finger." "Yes..." "What's all this, then, eh?" " What...?" " Now, relax your legs." " Oi!" "You bloody hit me!" " Of course I didn't." "You bloody did." "Ow!" "Hammers now." "Bleedin' hammers." "Right on my bloody knee!" " I am simply testing your reflexes." " I'll have the law on you." "We've got a right one here." "Your next-of-kin is your wife, presumably?" "Drink." "Drink." "Her name?" "Your wife's first name?" " Huh?" " Yes?" "What's her name?" " Her Christian name?" " I'm buggered if I know." "You..." "Surely you...?" "What do you call her?" " You must call her something?" " Yeah, and I'm not telling you." "It's just a small matter, then I'm done." " What?" "No tablets?" " Sorry?" "What sort of a doctor are you?" "Just tell me, if you'd be so kind, what name you give your wife." "Come on, now." "What do you call her?" "What about when you want her attention?" " What?" " Do you say, for instance," " "Mary, may I have some tea?"" " What?" "Her name." "What do you call her?" "Mum." "I call her Mum." "What the bleedin' hell else would I call her?" "Mum." "Life is a cabaret, old chum." "In here it is." " Drink." " Hang about." "Drink." "Are you in pain?" "Are you in much pain?" "Do you understand what I am saying?" "Mr Marlow?" "Here." "A drink." "Please, you must drink." "There's a good boy." " Playing, they are..." " Pain, do you say?" " On the piano." " Never mind the piano or whatever." "Drink this." "Philip, drink, then I'm going to fetch a doctor." "Come on." " Come along, now." " The spring..." " No, it's tap water." " The rustle of spring." "Rustle..." "Mr Marlow?" "Of spring..." "Yeah..." "Water." "Hello." "Guess." "Caught us, have you, Marlow?" "Philip?" "Hey, why don't you join us, then?" "Come on." "Hey, don't be a spoilsport!" "Philip!" "Hey, come back." "Don't be silly!" "Come back!" "Philip!" "Philip!" "Why is it only this boy who knows the answer?" "Why is it only Philip who has his hand up?" "Always Philip." "The capital of Iceland." " Reykjavík, Miss." " Correct." "Good boy." "You put the others to shame." "And who can tell me the name of the very good man who wrote "The Pilgrim's Progress"?" "Nicola?" " John Bunyan." " Correct." "Good girl." "Very good." "You put the others to shame." "The new president of the United States of America?" "Harry S Truman, Miss." "Clever Dick!" "Clever Dick!" "Makes me sick!" "Give her arse a lick!" "Clever Dick!" "Makes me sick!" "Clever Dick!" "Clever Dick!" "Give her arse a lick!" "Clever Dick!" "Clever Dick!" "Makes me sick!" "Clever Dick!" "Clever Dick!" "Give her arse a lick!" "When I grow up, I'll be the first man to live forever and ever." "In my opinion, you don't have to die, not unless you want to." "And I ben't never going to want to." "Not me." "When I grow up, I'll leave the light on all night, no matter bloody what." "I'm gonna have books - on shelves, mind." "Shelves just for books." "When I grow up, I'll have a whole tin of evaporated milk on a whole tin of peaches, I be." "I bloody be, mind." "I bloody damn buggering well be!" "Aye, and I shall cuss." "Do you know, I'll tell thou what, when I... when I grow up, everything... everything'll be all right..." "won't it?" "Won't it, God?" "Thou does like me a bit, doesn't God?" "When I grow up, I gonna be a detective." "I'll find out things." "I'll find out." "I'll find out who done it." "Cuckoo." "Cuckoo." "I can't..." "I can't seem to..." "I can't clap my hands, I can't." "Not even for my dear old dad." " Ah, but thou doesn't want to." " Don't want to?" "You ben't interested in clapping thee father, be you?" "Thou never gave the poor bugger credit when him were alive!" " Too big for thy boots." " Wh-What do you mean?" "Thou knows very well, you cocky bugger." "Are you trying to say..." "Listen, are you saying that my dad is dead?" "Dead?" "Aye. 'Course him is." "Dead and gone." "And nobody to care yuppence." "But, no." "I have so much to say to him." "I need to speak to him very badly." "Don't be stupid." " He can't be dead." "Not my dad." " Oh, him's dead." "Him's dead, all right." "Dead and buried long since." "Listen, you..." "That was him, wasn't it?" "That was my dad doing the birds." "That was my dad up on the platform." "Dad!" "Dad!" "Over here, old buddy!" "Come over here!" "Thou knowest how much I care about tha." "But he was here." "I saw him." "That was my lovely dear old dad." "That was him whistling." "I heard him." "I heard him." "All the birds in the trees." "All the love in the world." "I heard it." "I heard him." "What's that?" "What are you saying, old chap?" " What are you trying to say?" " I heard him." "I saw him." "All the love in the world." "All the birds..." "I saw..." "Nothing, just babble, but he's more or less asleep." "You were right to call me." "He'll sleep now for quite a while." " Forget supper." "Leave him be." " Shall I close the curtains?" "Yes, jolly good idea." "Cruising down the river" "On a Sunday afternoon" "With one you love, the sun above" "Waiting for the moon" "The old accordion playing" "A sentimental tune" "Cruising down the river" "On a Sunday afternoon" "The birds above all sing of love" "A gentle sweet refrain..." "I look around the hall when I'm crooning this stuff." "Study faces." "Watch the feet." "You can learn a lot about life from ballroom dancers." "It helps my think-box to send out sparks and I've gotta fizz on this case." "While cruising down the river" "On a Sunday afternoon." "This river I'm cruising down." "They'd fished out a body, and it wasn't a mermaid, but there was something fishy about it, that's for sure." "Yes, sir." "The Thames can be all sleaze and no flow." "And talking of flotsam and jetsam, who were those guys watching Binney?" "And is he playing his own game with me?" "What's this with the Russianski lingo?" "Is it "da" or is it "niet"?" "I had visiting to do - places where you don't leave a calling card." "All right, all right, all right." "Do you want to break the door down?" " Who are you?" "What do you want?" " The police found her this morning." " What?" " They found the poor little thing." " Your piece of fluff." " Your harmless bit of fun." " She's turned up." " I don't know what..." " In the river." " Naked." "Not even her knickers on." " Not a stitch." " What did you do with her clothes?" "Especially the fur coat." "Do you know how much sable is worth?" "Who are you?" "You look like strays from some bad film." "You make me laugh." "Clowns!" "I know who you are." "It's written all over you." "Don't keep us on the step." "I advise you strongly not to do that." " Now, now, now, Mr B." " That's not very friendly, is it?" "All right." "You'd better come in." "Thank you." "Thank you, sir." "Goodness me." "Look at this." "What would you call this?" "That is what I would call a provocative picture." "I'm provoked." "It tells us a great deal about the woman, does it not?" "A slut, I'd say." "It also tells us a great deal about the man who put it there, surely?" "A pimp would be my guess." "It's a painting, a decoration for the wall!" "A very attractive girl as a decoration for a wall." "Splendid breasts, though." "Yes... splendid." "He had a high temperature, but it's back under control now." "The skin, you see." "He's had to be sedated." "He's been asleep all day." "I'd rather you didn't wake him, if he needs to..." "Oh, my God." " I had no idea he looked so bad." " It's at its peak now." "It's 100%." "But I mean, surely something can be done." "I mean..." "Heavens above." "This is ghastly." "It looks as though he's been scalded." "They're trying him on one of the retinoids." " You'd know that, of course." " Of course." "Mr Marlow." "Mr Marlow." "A visitor." "I am not so sure that we should wake him, are you?" "He'll only give me a mouthful of abuse, anyway." "Look, they wanted to know if and when you came." "The doctors, I mean." "They're not here now, but Sister would like a word." "Well, I'm not so sure that I do want to get too... um..." "All right." "I've got to speak to somebody." " At least I won't get abuse." " Sorry?" "When he wakes up and sees me, you'll find out." "In fact..." "I can't face it, I don't want it." " Are you sure?" " I shouldn't have come." "Shouldn't even have tried." "Farewell, my lovely." "Nicola, come here." "Come back, you bitch." "Nicola." "Come here." "Come back, you bitch!" "Nicola!" "Come here, you filthy little slut!" "You disgusting tramp, Nicola!" "You two-bit, rutting whore, Nicola!" "Come here, you heartless bitch!" "Nicola!" "Who are you opening your legs for now, you rutting bitch?" "You filthy bag of filth, Nicola!" "You whore!" "Come here, you stinking, heartless, rutting piece of..." "Mr Marlow, what on earth do you think you are doing?" "Wash his mouth out with soap and water!" "Dirty bleeder!" " What's going on?" " You, that's what!" "What do you think you are doing?" "Where do you think you are?" "!" "Cruising down the river" "On a Sunday afternoon" "With one you love, the sun above" "Waiting for the moon" "That's all, folks." "I'm going to buy a paper doll" "That I can call my own" "A doll that other fellows cannot steal" "And then the flirty-flirty guys..." "There are songs to sing, feelings to feel, thoughts to think." "That's three things, and you can't do three things at the same time." "The singing is easy." "Syrup in my mouth." "The thinking comes with the tune." "So that leaves only the feelings." "Am I right or am I right?" "I can sing the singing, I can think the thinking, but you won't catch me feeling the feeling." "No, sir." "Mum, Dad was waving." "He was waving all the time." "All the time, mind, Mum." "Mum?" "Our Mum?" "That's old Hitler done for, then." "So everything'll be all right." "That's what 'em do say." "It'll be a lovely day tomorrow." "Whatsits..." "blue birds and that, over the..." "Everybody says when the war is over - lights, flowers, butter, eggs, the lot." "Comics, sweets, everything." "It'll be all right..." "All right..." "All right." "The war rushing to an end!" "Exclamation mark." "I do like me a good exclamation mark, mind." "The rooks gather in the lost trees, comma, like premonitions of the night." "Full stop." "Why do they cry?" "Question mark." "I'm going to buy a paper doll that I can call my own" "A doll that other fellows cannot steal" "And then the flirty-flirty guys" "With their flirty-flirty eyes" "Will have to flirt with dollies that are real" "When I come home at night, she will be waiting" "She'll be the truest doll in all this world" "I'd rather have a paper doll to call my own" "Than have a fickle-minded real live girl" "I guess I've had a million dolls or more" "I guess I've played the doll game o'er and o'er" "I just called Broadway Sue" "That's why I'm blue" "She's gone away and left me" "Just like all dolls do" "I tell you, boys, it's tough to be alone" "And it's tough to love a doll that's not your own" "I'm through with all of them..." "Mum?" "Mum?" "Why, Mum?" "Why can't our Dad come wi' us to London?" "Why do him have to stay back home?" "Eh?" "Questions." "Questions." "They won't let him out the pit." "Then why don't we stay?" "I wouldn't stay in that house for £100, not if you put it in my hand now." "I know." "I know." "I know." "I know." "Questions." "Questions." "Mein hat!" "Mein bloody hat!" "Englander pig-dogs!" "This is Biggles' doing!" "Bloody Biggles!" " Hip-hip!" "Hooray!" "Hip-hip!" "Hooray!" " Hip-hip!" " Hooray!" "Enough." "That will do." "Deeper and deeper." "Look at it now." "Deeper into the black heart of the evil land!" "Oh, boys and girls." "Oh, it will be a great day, the day that is coming." "Better by far than any you have ever known." "Better even than Christmas or your birthday." "It will be a wonderful day." " Yes, Rita?" " Will the bells ring, Miss?" "Oh, indeed, the bells." "The bells will ring out, yes." "All the church bells, starting with Westminster Abbey in London, then all across the country, everywhere, from John o'Groats to Land's End." " Yes, Brian?" " Will there be bonfires, Miss?" "Yes." "Indeed." "Indeed." "Oh, yes." "And on top of each one, not Guy Fawkes, not this time, but old Hitler himself!" "He can stick his arm out and shout "heil", but, whoosh!" "Makes no difference." "Crackle, crackle, up in flames he goes!" "Enough." "That will do!" "When darkness falls on that day, Victory Day, all the lights will begin to glow again, to beam and to twinkle again." "All the lights will go back on, boys and girls." "All the lamps in the street." "All the lights in the shop window." "Lights!" "Lights!" "Lights!" "Lights everywhere a-shining!" "Ah, but can you even begin to imagine what that will be like, boys and girls?" "Can you remember the lights?" "Can anyone here remember?" "No, of course not." "None of you can recall the days of peace." "But it won't be long, the way things are going." "Thanks to our brave soldiers and sailors and airmen," "God bless their hearts." "Oh, it certainly won't be long now." "The great day is coming!" "So..." "Chests out, shoulders back, eyes bright." "Shape each word loud and clear." "We are going to sing the song that is at long last going to come true." "One and two..." "It's a lovely day tomorrow" "Tomorrow is a lovely day" "Come and feast your tear-dimmed eyes" "On tomorrow's clear blue skies" "If today your heart is weary" "And every little thing looks gray" "Just forget your troubles and learn to say" "Tomorrow is a lovely day" "Stop it, Philip." " Mum?" "Our Mum?" " What now?" "Why won't they let him come?" "Why won't they let Dad out of the pit?" " Direction of labor." " What's that?" "Doing what we're told makes us free." "Just sit quiet." "Be a good boy." "You should have brought your "Hotspur"." "Look out of the window before it's too dark to see." "Ben't half a long way." "England ben't half a big country, mind." "Excuse me..." "Excuse me..." "would you like a cigarette?" " Don't smoke." " Oh, dear." "No vices, eh?" "I wouldn't bank on it." "Seeing things again?" "Summat's wrong." "This ben't right." "This ben't never right." "Where's our Dad, then?" "Do him know about the woods?" "What be thy looking at I for?" "Is it my fault?" "I gone and done it again." "Perhaps they be Germans in disguise, but... but I thought everything would be all right when we have beat them buggers." "But..." "But where are...?" "Where we going?" "Round and round, I reckon." "Round and bloody round." "The same bits all the time." "Summat's wrong." "Summat's bloody wrong, mind." "Is there anything we can do, love?" "It can't be that bad, can it?" "Mum!" "Dosn't!" "It's..." "I'm all right." "It's..." "Leave me alone." "I'll be all right in a minute." "Irreducibly beyond elucidation." "That wins a prize." "A year's subscription to the "Reader's Digest"." " Impossible to unravel, I mean." " You think so?" "Oh, yes." "There are always things that puzzle us as children." "Accept it." " Do you?" " I accept the sky, I accept the birds." "I accept bird shit." "The point is there are things from our childhood that we can never properly work out, surely?" "They are mysteries." "They remain so... even to a writer of detective stories." "Do you know something?" "You're not a character in "The Maltese Falcon"." " More like someone in "The Archers"." " Sorry?" "The way you pace up and down behind me, where I can't see you, on this bloody floor." "Are you pretending to be eccentric or are you genuinely cuckoo?" "Do you think it helps?" "If so, let me tell you it's simply very irritating!" "Mm-hmm..." "Mm-hmm..." "God in heaven!" "Has your wife been to see you yet?" "Oops!" "Sorry." "You said you were not married." "Ah!" "There you are!" " You're beginning to look better." " Am I?" "Your posture indicates that you are in less pain." "Is that so?" " It's not hurting so much, no." " Let go these neck muscles a little." " What?" " I wondered if you would look round." " How can I do that?" " Turn your head." " You'll get fewer headaches." " Who said I...?" "But you do, don't you?" "Severe ones." "I have little doubt that, partly as a result, your perceptions are a little distorted, hmm?" "Minute by minute, we make our own world." " The point is..." " That is the point." "The point is you are, perhaps without realizing it, beginning to use your body more freely." "Skin aside, I take it that the arthropathy is less pronounced?" "Maybe." "Wouldn't you be better off in a side ward, a room on your own?" " Why?" " It might be time to work again." " With more privacy, of a sort..." " How can I do that?" "I never write anything myself." "I dictate." "Ever tried it?" "Who to?" "To whom?" "Oh, there are people." "Agencies." " Has someone been getting at you?" " What do you mean?" "Has a certain high-class whore of my former acquaintance been thrusting her hard little nose into my affairs, eh?" "Perhaps I've misunderstood, but you do intend to get better?" " What?" " You do want to?" " What do you think?" " Chronic illness can be a shelter." "Ever seen it in those terms?" "A cave into which one can safely crawl." "A retreat, is it not?" "A cave in the rocks." "Not much of one, I can assure you." "A very poor bloody cave." "Oh, no, not very comfortable, of course." "There are bats in it, squeaking rodents with wings of skin and fur, and eyes that see in the darkness." "Creatures that hang upside down." "But, then, you know about bats." "What do you mean?" "You see?" "You turned!" "You turned." "Virtually all the way round." "Yes." "I did." "I mean, I am!" " What's the matter?" "What's going on?" " Progress, Mr Marlow." "Undoubted progress." "Who knows how far it'll go." "Tomorrow can be a much brighter day." "You know, I never went to see Billy Graham, but there is someone you remind me of." "It's a lovely day tomorrow" "Tomorrow is a lovely day" "Come and feast..." "Swing it." "Jazz it." "Drag it." "Howsoever the beat." "I know hoods when I see them." "And you don't play nursery tunes to pugs with marbles where their eyeballs should be." "I was ankle-deep in the mess." "Now I had to decide whether to let the ooze get up to my knees." "Something needed doing." "I had to do it, and I don't mean dropping the toast to see if it landed butter side up." "I don't get a kick out of it myself, but do you ever go to the zoo?" "Maybe the reptile house is more your line." " Ever watch a tiger in its cage?" " What are you talking about?" "Pad, pad, pad." "Looking for a way out." "Any way to get through those bars." "But do you know what it hasn't worked out?" " No." "What?" " There is no way out, not through the bars." "They never get out." "Period." "What else are you doing?" "Apart from making silly second-hand remarks?" "You wouldn't be meaning my unhelpful, paperback-soiled, little mid-Atlantic quips, would you?" " Precisely." " I'll have to change my toothpaste." " It's too late to change my style." " Well, change something." "So far, I've not got much." "What have you come up with?" "As yet, nothing." "Zero." "Nix..." "Nichevo." " What?" " Russian." "For the same big O." "I know it's Russian." "How...?" " I'm paying you good money." " Money." "You're paying money." "Who knows its virtue?" "Do you?" "Good money, bad money, I'm paying enough for sure, because I was told you were the best, so tell me what you're doing?" " Vamping." " What?" " Vamping till ready." " Can't you talk decent English?" "It's what the piano player does while he's waiting for the band." "Jesus!" "The standard of education today." "Next, you'll say you don't know Hoagy's surname." " Who?" " Carmichael." "It's Carmichael!" "For God's sake!" "Yellow mellow." "Not curling at the edges." "The intro doesn't tell us what song we'll hear, so we have to vamp until things unravel a bit." " We have to wait." " That may not be possible." "What if the police arrest me?" "Or those two creatures come after me?" "If the cops had enough, they'd have nabbed you." "They don't sit on their eggs." "Know what they do?" " What?" " Break the shells straight away and fry what's inside." " I was the last to see her alive." " Last but one." "Ah, yes, of course." "Last but one." "You've got some expensive things here." "Nice things, if that's what you mean." "No, it's not." "Nice, I did not say." "Expensive, I said." "Hideously expensive things." "Tastes differ." "You're more at home in dance halls, I dare say." "All the same, you're not groping for pennies, are you?" " I do all right." " I can see that." " But what do you do all right at?" " I buy." "I sell." "So does the rag-and-bone man." "What do you buy?" "What do you sell?" " That's my affair." " Sure." "But there may be a connection if you sell the wrong stuff to the wrong people." " Some trades are not healthy." " Really?" "Or maybe the gap is too big between what you pay and what you get." "There's a word for that." "It begins with T." " No." " No?" "No!" " Sprechen sie Deutsch?" " Why do you ask?" " How's your German, kamarad?" " I speak it a little." "How little?" "Can you say "Auf" but not "Wiedersehen"?" "A little." "Enough to find my way around the rubble." "Or to say "guten Tag" to some Nazi on the run?" " What are you getting at, Marlow?" " Well, am I right or am I right?" "You see, I'm a slow sort of guy." "Neon doesn't flash on my forehead." "I can't keep up with a retired tortoise." "But I do have funny little tunes that make me tap my toes." "And I get there." "I get there in the end." "I think..." "I think I've underestimated you." "That's no new experience." " Mr Marlow." " I'm listening." "Ears are swiveling." "I have slightly misled you." "I didn't go to that nightclub by accident." " I'm still listening." " A club like that, it's not just a high-class brothel." "It's an exchange for girls, yes," " but some are not what they seem." " Girls are never what they seem." "I wish I'd never got involved." "Murder's not my cup of tea." "But somebody or some organization is trying to pin this death on me." "I wouldn't be totally surprised if it was a counter-intelligence thing." " Do you understand?" " Go to the window." " What?" " Take a peep." "Pierce the gloom." "I'll bet there's one of those girls watching this place." "A girl?" "What sort of girl?" "Take a look." "I'm only guessing." "I might even be wrong." "Am I wrong or am I wrong?" "Underneath the lantern" "By the barrack gate" "Darling, I remember" "The way you used to wait..." "Why is she there?" "What does she want?" " I be the pickles." "You be the ham." " What are you getting at?" "I'm saying that you're not a good actor, Binney." "You know who it is out there with a pistol in her pocket." " You know what she is." " All right." "What is she?" "She's as red as a London bus." "She doesn't trade in Nazis," " and wonders why you do." " Me?" " Yes, you." " Get out, Marlow." "Get out, and don't let me see you again." " What about my fee?" " Fee?" "What fee?" "I sing for people who dance, Binney." "Let me know the tune you want." "I'll croon it for you when your feet go through the trap door." "I'll enjoy that." "Believe me." " You're cheap, Marlow." " Ten cents a dance, fella." "Where are we going?" "Round and round, I reckon." "Round and round and bloody round." "In early spring" "When birds all sing" "Then love was king of my heart" "And Marlene's" "Of my heart" "And Marlene's" "Time would come for roll-call" "Time for us to part" "Darling, I caress you" "And press you to my heart" "And 'neath the far off lantern's light" "I hold you tight" "That's our last night" "My Lili of the lamplight" "My own Lili Marlene..." "Philip!" "Philip!" "Now, that is German, Philip." "That is your actual bleeding' German that tart is singing." " Watch your language, please, Dad." " What?" "Don't say tart." "Don't you tell me what to say." "It is a tart singing, innit?" " It's not nice." " Come over posh now, Bett?" "He won't understand." "Philip doesn't understand words like that." "Better bloody well learn, then." "Gotcha." "Oi!" "Oi!" "Oh, bloody 'ell!" " Oi, Charlie?" " What?" "With us now, are you, mate?" " What?" " I thought you was dead!" "Like being in the bleedin' waxworks." " What is it?" " Bloody miles away, you was." "Well, it's better than being here." "A bit more private." "Oh!" "Be like that." "Yeah." "Sorry, mate." "I don't want to talk." "Christ all bloody mighty!" "It's the fag, see?" "It's the fag, innit?" " What?" " A fag." " You want one?" " I'm gasping for one." "I tell you." " I'm dying for one." " Probably more true than you know." "Ah, bloody old doc." "He's off his coconuts." "I smoked all my life." "Never done me no harm." " Give us one, eh?" " Look..." "Oh, go on." "Well, lend us one, then, eh?" "Give us a drag, for Gawd's sake." "It's bloody cruel, it is." "Look, I can't throw or get out of bed." "No, nor me." " Why's that, then?" " Me chest." " Your heart?" " No, me chest." "Got this bleedin' awful pain in me chest and all the way down me arm." "And you want a cigarette?" "!" "You must be mad." "Well, clear me chest, won't it?" "A fag clears your throat." "Come on." "Give us one." "There's a pal." "Look, I can't get out of bed." "No, nor me." "It's like being back in the war, innit, eh?" "Like gold, they was then, the fags was." "Like little bars of gold." "You could get anything with a fag." "You could hump a lovely young girl for a couple of fags." " What?" " Lovely bit of skirt, if you had 2O Players in your pocket." " Where?" "When?" " When we come into Hamburg. 1945." "Cor!" "The bloody place was flattened." "They'd come out of holes, Krauts." "Yeah." "Holes in the ground." "You know, in the rubble, know what I mean?" "Cor!" "Some of them women..." "Cor, bloody hell!" "You know, whatyoucallits?" "You know, frauleins." "Yeah." "Blonde, ain't they?" "But nice, I mean." "I'm not talking about no slag." "No!" "Lovely bits of stuff." "Good knockers on 'em, you know?" "Philip!" "Couple of fags, it was, for a shag." "Yeah." "Couple of fags and up with their dresses, down with their knickers..." "What's the matter?" "Chest..." " Hurts, does it?" "In pain, are you?" "Are they coming up out of their holes, George?" "All those helpless little blonde girls with frightened eyes." "Are they coming out of the rubble?" "Are you going to give them fags?" "Nurse!" "What would you do with a nurse, Georgie Porgy Pudding and Pie?" "Would you call her an angel, a saint?" ""Up with their dresses and down with their knickers."" "Time has come for roll-call." "You can't say you haven't asked for it, old son." "Time to part." "The old lamp is due to go out!" "Nurse!" "Nurse!" "Hide, mind, Betty." "Thee's never know who's about." "Christ, we've been walking for ages and we haven't seen a soul." "But thou b'isn't from round here." "You do not come from here, do'est?" "What's that got to do with it?" "Just that round here, there's eyes and ears everywhere." "Oh, I'd know, mind." "Cosn't be too careful." " I didn't know you were so nervous." " I ben't nervous." "Just careful." "There's nothing to worry about." "There's only trees." "Lots of bloody trees and brambles and God knows what..." "That laugh of thine." "No wonder's thou make I nervous." "I'll have to stop thy mouth, won't I?" " Oh, hang on, Raymond." " Hold on." "Let's get thee off." "No damage, as I can see." "Don't tear my dress." " Christ, this is sharp!" "Keep still." " Don't tear my dress!" " That's right." "Get an eyeful." " And lovely 'tis, too." "Oh, I could look at tha all the live-long day." " Hey." "Steady." " What's the matter?" "No marks, Raymond." "No bruises." "Hey." "Hey." "No sense in wasting time, chick." "This is what we came for." "I can't hold back no more." "Oh, God." "Don't!" "Don't touch me there." "Not yet." "I can't..." "Raymond." "Wait." "We can't lie down here." "Jesus Christ, Ray!" "There's a hollow up here a ways, Bett." "A sort of dingle dell." "Better'n a double bed, eh?" "You've been here before." "It's not the first time, is it?" " I ben't saying nothing." " Oh, you dirty devil, Ray." " You're no good." " Ah, but that's what you do like." " Thou doesn't want no angel." " Don't think so much of yourself." "There's always another apple in the barrel." "Come th'on, then." "Let's see the pips!" "Have you got the thing?" "'Course I have." "Doesn't start getting, you know..." " A bit of fun never hurt nobody." " I'm not so sure..." "Not if nobody find out." "You wouldn't say anything?" "You wouldn't breathe a word?" "What sort of bloke do you think I be?" "I can't abide things that creep and crawl." "They got to be got rid of, ben't 'em?" "I can't abide dirt." "Gets every-bloody-where, don't it?" "Ray!" "Lovely!" "Lovely!" "Ray!" " Ray!" "" "It's over." "Oh, stay in me." "Stay." "One more done, then." "Don't laugh like that!" " I ben't, not how thou's think." " Yes, you were!" " Hey." "Hey." "Hey." " You're heavy, Raymond." " Pressed thou into the ground, have I?" "Off." "Get off!" "Get off me, Raymond." "All right." "All right!" "Doesn't start getting funny now." "You liked it, didn't you?" "Got no complaints in that department, hast?" "Bett." "Thee's got lovely titties, mind." "Real beauties." "As good as I ever seed." " Don't say that." " No, mind." "The best!" " Don't make comparisons." " Well, they be." "You should be proud on 'em." "You go on about it as though..." "I ain't a sow, Raymond." " The way you go on about my..." " Ah, now!" "Who said sow?" "Hast thou ever seed one?" "Eh?" " I don't like crude talk." " Sorry." "Sorry." "I'll wash my mouth out, shall I?" "All the same..." "What?" "You still got lovely 'uns!" " Raymond..." " Oh, my babby." "My babby." " Do you mean it?" " My lovely soft babby." "Raymond..." "Raymond..." "No." "Listen." "Listen to me..." "Listen to me..." "No, listen..." "Listen..." "Listen..." "Listen..." "Raymond..." "No." "Listen..." "Thirty-five, forty-five, fifty..." "Sixty..." "Eight... £2.68." " £2.68, right." " And one packet of mints." " What?" " Packet of mints." "Not opened." "She's the type to ask, his wife." "No, listen." "No, Raymond, listen." "Oh, what are we doing?" "What do we think we're doing?" "I could bite a piece out of tha, and that's the truth, Bett." "Oh, Bett..." "I wish this was..." "Ah, thee's know." "Thee's know what I do wish." "I'd give half my life for it." " It can't be." "It will never happen." " Why?" "Oh, God." "Oh, Jesus." "I could, though." "I could." "You could what?" "Bite tha." "I could bite tha." "As sweet as an apple." "Sweet as a..." "No..." "Don't." "Please, don't..." "Ray..." "Raymond..." "What's him a-doin'?" "What's him a-doin' to our Mam?" "Mam!" "Shall I go and fetch our Dad?" "Mam!" "Don't..." "No..." "I can't stand what's going on." "I can't." "Hey, now." "Chunt nothing to cry about, now, is there?" "Hey, hey." "Stop it now." "Stop it." "It's only a bit of fun, innit?" " Is there anything we can do, love?" "" " It can't be that bad." " Mum." "Dosn't." "I'm all right." "It's..." "Leave me alone." "I'll be all right in a minute." " Move over." " What?" "Move over." "Come on." "Now, we can't have this." "Things can't be as bad as this." "You blow your nose in this hankie." "Come on, now." "It's clean." " Thanks." " Leave her alone!" " Now, now, Sonny Jim..." " Keep thee hands off our Mum!" " Philip?" "!" " Nobody's touching your mum, sonny." "I'll tell our Dad!" "Him'll kill you!" " Philip!" " I shall tell him!" "And the man in the woods!" "And the man!" "Do I worry" "'Cause you're stepping out?" "Do I worry" "'Cause you've got me in doubt?" "Though your kisses aren't right" "Do I give a bag of beans?" "Do I stay home every night" "And read my magazines?" "Am I frantic" "'Cause we've lost the spark?" "Is there panic" "When it starts turning dark?" "And when evening shadows creep" "Do I lose any sleep over you?" "Do I worry?" "You can bet your life I do" "Am I curious" "When the gossip flies?" "Am I furious" "About your little white lies?" "And when all our evenings end" "'Cause you got a sick friend that needs you" "Do I worry?" "Honey, you know doggone well I do..." "There." "You see?" "Do you see, old buddy?" "See where him have got his hand, eh?" "And that ben't the only place him have been, neither!" "Packet of mints." "That's it, then, more or less." " Can you carry on here?" " I suppose." "Why?" "Mr Marlow should have been greased an hour ago." " You're welcome." "He's complained?" " Well, no, not exactly." " Makes a change." "Yes, I can manage." " Thanks." "You going to the Italian later for a pasta?" "Yeah, I expect so." "I'll let you know." "Wondering when we'd get to you?" "I hope he's left more than that. £2.68." "I expect so." "It's only what's in the locker." "Anyway, stop listening to things that don't concern you." "Yes, I've done too much of that." "I need a Sony Walkman." " Anyway, I can do you now." " Anyway." " Sorry?" " Anyway." "Anyway." "Anyway." "What's the matter?" " There's a curse on that bed." " Don't be daft." "You think it'll be many things, our grim old friend." "It'll come in many guises." "Enemy." "Friend." "Terrorist." "Liberator." " Oh, goodness." " Never quite so matter of fact." "Never quite so insulting." "That's two people in the next bed." "Each time's been like waiting for a bus on a wet morning." " We don't think about it." "We can't." " No, of course not." " I'll draw your curtains." " Count my change." " Now, now." "Now, now." " You might get out a lot quicker if..." " Yes!" " I'll draw your curtains." " And count my change." " Which is the one?" " Old guy." "Ten." " This?" " That." "Where would you rather start?" "Legs up or neck down." " I find this a bit embarrassing." " Has to be done." " Does it?" " You'd soon know if it wasn't." " Count your blessings." " Oh, God." "This filthy stuff." "You'd think I was swimming the Channel." "Well, then, lie back and think of England." "Ha!" "I hope this stuff doesn't sting too much." "Now, I'm going to grease around your private parts first." "Think boring." "Really boring." "John and Yoko..." "Mark Thatcher in the desert..." "Dust to dust..." "Pyramids..." "Christ, no." "Not pyrami..." ""Gardeners' Question Time"..." "Plastic pitch at Queen's Park Rangers..." "An evening's viewing from the National Film School..." "No, something else..." "Quick!" "Quickly!" "What's boring...?" "The fifth Beatle..." "David Owen and Shirley Williams and..." "Oh!" "Oh!" "How we yomped across the Falklands..." "Oh!" "Ludovic Kennedy!" "Think Ludovic." "Oh!" "I'm being as gentle as I can." "This can't be done properly without lifting your..." "The court page..." "Jimmy Saville, OBE..." "Wimbledon fortnight..." "It's no good..." "Ludovic Kennedy..." "No, "Not a Penny More", whatshisname Archer..." "No, Geoffrey Howe..." "No, a flock of sheep..." "Color supplement special offer..." "Oh, no, no, no." "Work." "Think." "Think." "The story." "The story!" " You're cheap, Marlow." " Ten cents a dance, fella." "No!" "Don't think of the pistol!" "Not a..." "Oh!" "Oh!" "Who is this, Binney?" "Someone for real?" " Or just your dirty mind?" " That's art." "It's beyond you." " I'll tell you one thing..." " I'm all ears." " You use that gun, you're dead." " Gun?" "What gun?" "I think I know this dame." "Her name is E Lucy Dation." " What you talking about?" " Am I right or am I right?" "Really, Mr Marlow  You should have better control of yourself." "Wouldn't it be better to think of, well, something else?" "Yeah." "Something else." "Mr Marlow?" " That's my handle." " I want to talk..." "Not here." "Keep back." "Keep out of sight." "Meet me outside the Lagoon in half an hour." "Little fool!" "Damn!" "I tried to warn you." "I tried to tell you." "You silly..." "Skinscapes." "Skinscapes?" "What about Skinscapes?" "Skinscapes..." "A front..." "A front for what, Lili?" "The Nazis they haven't caught yet?" "The Nazis the British and Americans don't want to see caught." "Isn't that right?" "Just nod." " Rockets..." " Rockets?" "You mean V-2s?" "You mean the rocket scientists?" "You reds are trying to stop it." "Isn't that it?" "I'll get you, whoever you are." "Whatever you are..." "Wherever you are..." "I'll get you!" "Philip!" "Philip!" "Philip, come back, please." "Philip!" "Philip!" "Philip!" "And 'neath the far off lantern's light" "I hold you tight" "That's our last night" "My Lili of the lamplight" "My own Lili Marlene" "Bei mir bist du schön" "Please let me explain" "Bei mir bist du schön means that you're grand..." "Rungs!" "Bei mir bist du schön Again I'll explain..." "What do you think of it, Philip?" "Bit of all right!" "Let's hear it, Dad, let's hear it!" "Please!" "Mournful, I call it." "Open the lid." "Lift the lid up properly." "Blimey, you do keep on!" "Well, the nipper won't have seen it, will he?" "He won't have clapped eyes on nothing like that." " Not in them bleeding' trees, will he?" " Come on, Philip." "Look at this." "Well?" " Good, yunnit?" " Ooh arrr!" " John!" " Only pulling his leg!" "Eh, Sonny Jim?" " Look at the hole!" "Watch the hole!" " Always keep your eyes on the 'ole!" " John!" " It all depends whose, doesn't it?" "Stop that!" "Look, see the hole in the middle - round and round and round to the 'ole in the middle and - hey, presto..." "What do you think of the gramophone?" " It's good, yunnit?" " Yunnit?" "Yunnit?" "Don't come from 'Ammersmith, do you, by any chance?" " He's very broad sometimes." " We won't understand a word he says!" "I byunt gonna talk much, byunt gonna talk at all!" "Gonna keep my mouth shut!" " The things he comes out with!" " You won't get far pointing at things!" " Not in the dark!" " He didn't want to come." " Philip doesn't like the idea of London." " He'll change his tune." " It's the best place there is." " Not like whum, be it?" " What?" "What's he say?" " He says it's not like home." "There yunt no place like the forest." "Where cost thou go up yere?" "Where be the trees?" "The oaks, the elms and the beech?" "You tell I that!" "Ravenscourt Park." "Couple of trees there." " And Barnes Common!" " I can't understand a word he says." "Show him the gas taps!" "He won't have seen that!" "Want me to shove his head in the oven?" "Show him!" "It's new, all new!" "Open his eyes, that will!" " And the flush." "Out back." " No burying the shit in the garden here!" " John..." "language." "No garden!" " If he don't hear no worse than that..." " What about the trolley buses, eh?" "And the underground." "Trains running under the ground, Philip." "It's true." "Right under us!" "Right under your feet!" "The way that boy looks at you." "He doesn't blink." "Philip!" "It's rude to stare." "Stop it." "You'll be able to go to the pictures." "Now the V-2s have stopped coming over, it'll be nice again!" "You watch him." "He'll be a proper little Londoner by the time he's done." "Philip, do you like football?" "Eh?" " What, cat got your tongue?" " Philip, answer when you're spoken to." "When's our Dad coming?" "When?" "What are you going to say, Betty?" "What are you going to tell him?" "Soon." " Soon, Philip." " When?" "Soon!" "Sometime soon!" "I expect." "A good detective doesn't go by the book." "No, sir." "But he must have a few rules to help him chew the cupcake." "First off, never... never trust your client." "Listen, God." "I promise to be good if you let I off." "I'll be without nern a spot, without nern a sin!" "Please, God, I didn't mean to do it." "Honest!" "Honest!" "Honest!" "They come and go, they certainly come and go." " We don't talk about that, do we?" " Why not?" "Is the working assumption here that none of us is mortal?" "Nurse!" "Please." "A word, Nurse." "Listen, listen." "If that squad of people had got to him 3O seconds earlier - old George there - would it have made any difference?" " Who knows?" " Nurse!" "Oh, Nurse Mills... sweet Nurse Mills..." "I love..." "Oi!" "Oi!" "Oi!" "Charlie!" "A fag!" "'Ere, I'm dying for one, I tell you!" "Sorry about that, George." " Sorry, George." " Still talking to yourself, are you, Philip?" "Who's George?" "Of course I talk to myself." "More civilized than the conversations I used to have." " What are you doing here?" " What a disgusting disease!" " Thank you." " You look like some kind of scabby leper." " What's all that grease?" " It's from the garage!" " They said you were getting better!" " I am getting better." "What do you want?" "Why are you here?" "I'm not entirely sure." "Perhaps I have just come to gloat." " It's not the visiting hour." " I know." " I thought they were strict about that." " Well, they didn't seem to mind." "Mind you..." "I smile very sweetly." " As ever." " What do you mean?" "One patient's wife wanted to visit him after she had swallowed 364 aspirins." " This was at twenty past six." " What?" "They asked her to wait another 1O minutes." " What?" " Visiting time's at 6.3O." "Oh, I see." "A joke." "Oh, yes, sit down, by all means!" "Keep the laughs coming!" " I did come once before, you know." " Yes." " They told you?" " I wasn't asleep." "I wasn't really asleep." " I knew you were there." " I see." "You know, Nicola, you are without any shadow of a doubt, an exceptionally beautiful woman..." "at the very peak of her nubility." " That's sounds like a death sentence." " It IS a death sentence." " Philip..." " Know how long I've been in here?" "Three months!" "Do you know what you do over that period, lying flat on your back?" " Go off your head!" " You think!" " Yeah, but... about what?" " About everything." " Yes, but..." " Yes, but what?" " And do you think about us?" " Us?" " You and me." " Sex, do you mean?" "Amongst other things, yes, if you like." "Sex." "Well... it has been known to happen between us, yes." "And I miss it." "With you, I mean." " Nicola..." " Yes?" "The plain fact is that you are a filthy, predatory and totally wanton bitch who's always on heat." "I do not wish to see you now and not ever." " What if I said I loved you?" " Liar." " What if I said I wanted you back?" " Liar." " There are some things to discuss." " No." "You're hard-up, you haven't got a penny." "I know that." "You haven't put pen to paper for 15 months." "I know that for certain." " I don't need a pen or paper." " You write on water?" "Shut your mouth!" " God!" " Go, will you?" "Just bloody well go." "A production company, a film company, wants to take some sort of option on your first book..." "What?" "The one about the detective that sings in the dance band." "They want to set it in Hartlepool with Al Pacino and Max Bygraves, right?" " This is serious." " Options, options." "They offer you a pittance now for the right to rip you off later!" "An election manifesto!" "They are very keen, apparently." "What's this got to do with you?" "What business is it of yours?" "What do you know?" " I want you to support yourself." " You what?" " I'm worried about you." " Ah, I see." " You consider that I owe you money." " No, I don't." "I imagine it'd work out at £2OO a screw." "Top rate for hookers nowadays." "Oh, is it?" "I wouldn't know." "Tell me... who are you sleeping with at the moment?" " Myself... mostly." " Mostly." "Mostly, yes." "Mostly means not always." "If you want it to be that precise, yes, it does." "Nicola, please!" "No, don't." "Please..." "I was trying to say just go, will you?" "Just piss off!" "You bet!" "Bitch!" "You bitch!" "I have talked to the consultant and to the registrar." "They say you should do some work - no matter how little!" "And they say you could be moved to a side ward away from people, but only if you show signs of being a little less... introspective." "Philip... it's up to you now." " Look at me!" " What are you up to?" "What's your game?" " For goodness' sake!" " You're not a good actress on the box." " You're an even worse one in real life." " Thank you." " It's called "The Singing Detective"." " Yeah, that's the one!" " It has absolutely nothing to do with you." " I didn't say it had." "I have been working." "I've been turning it into something else." " How have you been working?" " In my head." "Your head... yeah!" " Sorry, time for your drug, Mr Marlow." " Good afternoon." "Hello." "Open." "There." "All gone." "Who's a good boy, then?" "One of you..." "One nasty, dirty, wicked little boy..." "I cannot believe it was one of the girls for a moment!" "One of you boys waited until after school waited, then sneaked back in and did this... horrible... horrible, filthy, disgusting thing right in the middle of this table!" "My table!" "And I will tell you this." "I will tell you this." "I will tell you here and now he won't get away with it!" "Whoever it is." "I'll make sure of that!" "Absolutely sure." "Who?" "Who is it?" "Who?" "Who... is... the nasty... dirty... shameless... little beast?" "!" "Harold?" "Was it you?" " No, Miss!" " You, was it?" " No, Miss!" " Did you come back yesterday?" " No, Miss." " Are you sure?" "Are you quite sure?" "I didn't, Miss." "I didn't." "Did you come back into this room and climb on my desk?" "Did you let down your trousers and do that... that disgusting thing?" "Chunt, me, Miss!" "Honest!" " Do you know who did?" " No, Miss." "Cows do it in the fields and know no better." "Dogs do it on the road and know no better." "Pigs do it in their sties and know no better." "They can't speak, they can't reason." "They know not the difference between right and wrong." "They are animals." "But..." "But we are not animals." "God has given us all a sense of good and of bad." "God has allowed us to tell the difference between the clean and the dirty." "And God is going to help me now find out who did this thing." "All of you, in a moment, you are going to close your eyes and place your hands together." "We are going to say a prayer." "We are going to ask Almighty God," "Almighty God Himself!" "We are going to beseech Almighty God Himself!" "He is going to point His Holy Finger!" "Almighty God will tell us who did this wicked deed and then we shall know." "Let us pray." "In my head." "Yes, in my head." "The worst thing about a detective story is the plot." "The best thing, too." "It's the ONLY thing." "You have to work it all out in your head." "That's what I'm doing - like a rat in a maze." "How can you work out what you already know is going to happen?" " Think I'm cuckoo, is that it?" " No, but..." " Bananas!" "You think I'm bananas!" " Well, it just seems..." " What happened to that screenplay?" " What screenplay?" "What do you mean, what screenplay?" "The one I put in the shoe box!" " Shoe box?" " Yes, the shoe box!" "Oh, Philip." "I know, I know." "You should write something new, Philip." "Write something else." " Like what?" " Like this." "What has happened to you." "Like real things." " Pooh!" " Use your talent, Philip." "Bugger that!" "Write about real things in a realistic way." "Real people, real joys, real pains." "Not these silly detective stories." "Something more relevant." " Solutions." " What?" "All solutions and no clues - that's what the dumb-heads want!" "As for the bloody novel - he said, she said, descriptions of the sky!" "I'd rather it was the other way." "All clues, no solutions." "That's the way things really are." "Plenty of clues, no solutions." " What about this option?" " Well, it's not grand or..." "But, Philip, it would be a way for you to earn money..." " How much?" " Well, it's no huge... er..." " I think it's about $2,OOO for 12 months." " 1O cents a dance." "Philip, if they took it on after that, if they actually made a film of it, you would get 2% of the budget." "So..." "What?" "A ten-million-dollar film..." "that'd be..." "Up to a ceiling of $1OO, OOO." "How come you know all this?" "How do you know the figures?" "What's it gotta do with you?" " The point is..." " The point is... you have all these details and I don't." "Either you've been reading my mail, getting into my flat..." "That stinking hole!" "Or you were party to the offer in the first place!" "What's going on?" "Still the same, aren't you?" "The same paranoid old Philip." " Do you want my help or don't you?" " Do I want YOU to help ME?" " Think about it." " Piss off!" "Philip... you are a barbarian." "You will always bite the hand that tries to feed you!" "Answer me!" "Answer the question, you interfering cow!" "The noise that fella makes, the shouting!" " Nicola!" " The total lack of consideration!" "It beggars description and I choose my words more carefully than most." "Nicola!" "Come here!" "I mean, listen to him!" " Reginald?" " What?" "Are you company, Reginald?" "Could you honestly say you were good company?" " Could you put your hand on..." " What?" " See what I mean?" " It's a good story, innit?" " Is it?" "What's it about?" " You already asked me that." " Well, I'm asking again." " I don't know yet, do I?" " You mean..." " I haven't finished it yet, have I?" "No luck." "Full stop." "No good." "Full stop." "Talk about difficult!" "Exclamation mark." "I had to give it up because he was getting very suspicious." "Full stop." "No luck." "No good." "Talk about difficult!" "I had to give it up - he was getting very suspicious." "Binney!" "That bastard!" "She says it to Binney!" "But you'll try again?" "I mean... he'll see you again?" " I don't know whether he will or not." " I can't wait for too long." " You have no idea how nasty he can be." " Oh, haven't I just?" "I don't want us to be..." "I mean, we could be sued for misrepresentation or..." "Don't worry, don't worry." "I'll think of something." " Jesus!" "I wish we'd just..." " Stop it." "I'll deliver." "I said I would and I will." "He looks terrible." "Don't start feeling sorry for him." "Just think about the half-million dollars." "Oh, I don't feel sorry for him." "I hope it gets right down into his bones!" "Wow!" "You look terrific when you're angry!" "Zzzz!" "Like a wasp caught in Tabasco!" "That is what Marlow used to say." "You sound just like Marlow, you know that?" "It's a lovely day tomorrow" "Tomorrow is a lovely day" "Come and feast your tear-dimmed eyes" "On tomorrow's clear blue skies" "If today your heart is weary" "If every little thing looks gray" "Just forget your troubles and learn to say" "Tomorrow is a lovely day" "The thing is, it's always the least likely character who turns out to be the killer." "I've got to obey the rules." "The least likely." "This must be him!" "This must be the one - old Noddy here." "Definitely!" "Noddy did it!" "You hear that, Nicola?" "You get that?" "Well, it can't be me, that's for sure." "It can't be me." "I didn't do it." "They won't find out who it was." "Nah, they'll never ever ever find out!" "Not if they give I the worst Chinese burn ever in the history of the world." "Or they can tie I down on a hill of cruel, poisonous black ants and they'll never find out, not ever!" "Not if I keep my mouth shut." "O Lord God, who loves and saves and watches... and admonishes all of us miserable and unworthy sinners." "O Lord God..." "look down on us now in Thy Awful Majesty!" "Search out our hearts, look into our heads, seize hold of our innermost thoughts." "Dear Lord, you can see!" "You know." "You are looking down now upon one boy." "One particular boy." "One boy in this room." "You are entering the bones." "You are peering into the space between the bones." "Dear God," "Almighty God, terrible in wrath, with the stars to guide, with the whole earth to turn, with the flowers to grow, with the rain to make fall, the sun to make shine, with all this, all of these things," "you stop... you look... you watch." "Because all of these things - the weight of the mountains, the deeps of the oceans, the day and the night, the cares and troubles of the whole slow spin of the whole big world!" "All, all of these things, you, O God, thee, O God, Almighty and Awful Creator, you leave for the moment to point down at the one!" "Who?" "Who?" "Which one?" "Who is it?" "Who?" "Which one?" "Who is it?" "That is the question." "Goodnight, Albert." "Achtung, Amanda!" " What was that?" " Some loony." "Come on." "Achtung, Amanda!" "You can throw a long shadow, you can cast a short one." "You know the mistake people make?" "They think the size has something to do with what's inside them." "Am I right or am I right?" "Shadows." "Doesn't it seem peculiar to you?" "No." "He gives me the creeps!" "I half expect him to be out there!" " Shadows." " I'll tell you something else." "He knows too much." "He's got hold of too many details." " Where's it from?" "What's his game?" " Parrot." " What?" "!" " I've just made a parrot." "Caw, caw!" "Are you listening to me?" "Am I talking to myself?" "I like moody men." "I simply adore moody men!" "Two years and more I had of that shit with Marlow." "Black looks, mysterious silences." "Sulks that came up out of nothing and do you know what else?" "Paranoia." " Think about it." " It's Marlow I'm thinking about!" " Then don't." " He's on to me." "He knows." " What do you mean?" "How can he?" " I feel it, OK?" "I sense it." "Not again!" "He's never actually set foot inside this house, has he?" " 'Course he hasn't." " Well, in that script of his..." " You mean that script of YOURS." " Let's be accurate!" "Let's be consistent!" "OK, as far as anybody in the outside world is concerned." "Half a million says you'd better believe it." "I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about this... dog-eared, messy, food-stained script we hope he's forgotten, right?" "It still stinks of tobacco and something that, well..." "smells to me like old cabbage stumps." " Smells of something worse than that." " Typical." "It smells of sulfur." "What...?" "Nicola, I know this sounds crazy, but I feel almost as though he's made all this up." "Oh, my God, I do pick them!" "Nicola, think about it, please!" "We're talking about the bloody script he wrote!" " Years ago!" " Yes, but..." " Before I even knew you!" " Yes, but..." "Well, true." "Well, then." "But..." "But... isn't that what makes it all so... creepy?" "Now, look, you are working yourself up because what we're doing" "is criminal, right?" "I mean, we are stealing his script and passing it off as yours." "Right?" " Right." " Right!" "Right!" "This is because I intercepted the offer to him." "They don't know him from Adam." "They don't know he's ill." " But you've got cold feet." " No!" "Then why are you jangling your nerves like this?" "You do know we're talking about coincidence, don't you?" "Mm?" "Mark?" "Don't you?" "I suppose so." "Come on, use your head." "If he didn't know of your existence when he wrote that book, if I didn't know you even..." "If he'd never been here, never seen you." "Come on." " What's the matter with you?" " THIS is the matter, actually!" "In here!" "Listen!" "In here, the story's the same, OK." " Better be!" "That's what is being sold!" " The settings are different!" " For Christ's sake!" " The names are different!" " He changed his mind!" "He gets bored!" " He's changed the setting of the client." "His house, I mean, from New Cavendish Street to this mall!" "He's even got the murder girl floating under bloody Hammersmith Bridge!" "It's public property." "He's changed the name of the client from Haynes to Binney." "One letter!" "It's all there is between trick and prick." "Binney to Finney is too close!" "If he'd changed it to anything else, anything!" "How about changing it to Wally?" " Mark Finney!" "Me, right?" " How do you do?" "Mark Binney!" "In this bloody script of his that we've purloined!" "Mark Finney and Mark Binney is as close as..." "I have this awful ...dash." "He stops himself, comma... and all but shudders." "Full stop." "Darling -?" "Dash, question mark." " I have this awful..." " Darling -?" "...premonition." "I have this awful premonition." "Nicola, why are you doing that?" " What?" " Nicola!" "Look... a rabbit." "Don't you think that looks like a rabbit, Mark?" "I thought I could only do parrots." "He followed the stupid cow!" "He bloody well followed her!" " Happens." " Called out some Kraut word, apparently." " Yeah?" " Yeah!" "And she had to go and react." "She's not even a bloody Hun to begin with!" " There you are." " These tarts!" "Brains in their bleeding' nipples!" "He's clever, though." "Once she'd shown herself like that, it was in the manual then, wasn't it?" "Easy as pie." "Watched her arse all the way home." "But he's clever." "Go on, admit it." "Yeah... well." "Who'd have thought it, eh?" "I mean, a warbler." "A bloody warbler!" " Thought they were all nancy boys." " There you are." " Shut up!" " Right you are." "We'll have to go in there... eventually." "But not together." "I don't wanna go to a dance with another bloke." " I mean, what would people say?" " No, no, no, no." "Nor me." " Have you got the gun?" " What do you think?" "I killed the tart with it, didn't I?" " Amanda." " Yeah." "Pity, that." "Pity, really." " Shut up!" " Right you are." "I get along without you very well" "Of course I do" "Except when soft rains fall And drip from leaves" "Then I recall" "The thrill of being sheltered In your arms" "What a guy" "What a fool am !" "To think my breaking heart Could kid the moon" "What's in store" "Should I fall once more?" "No, it's best that I stick to my tune" "I get along without you very well" "Of course I do" "Except perhaps in spring" "But I should never think of spring" "For that would surely Break my heart in two" "Grapes!" "Why people insist on bringing them into hospitals, I'll never know!" "The grape, Reginald, is a very irritating fruit." "Especially if you have the misfortune to wear dentures, my boy." "The skin - which, on the whole, is more bitter than it should be!" "The skin, the bloody skin, sticks on the teeth... or between the teeth." "And as for the pips..." "The pips, Reginald..." "You!" " That's what you do, do you know that?" " What?" "You give me the pip!" "That's what you do." "What's the matter now?" "What's wrong?" "What's wrong?" "What's wrong?" "That's what I said." " Sundays." " What?" "Sundays - that's what's wrong." "Oh, how I hate this... this day of rest, this Sabbath, this..." "Outside, Reginald, even outside at the best of times, but in here..." "It's like the two longest days of the week rolled into one." "Quieter, though." "A bit of peace." "Good morning!" "Hello!" " Good morning." " Good morning, Doctor!" "Hello." "Please take one." "You'll be able to follow the words." "Hello." "Please take one." "You'll be able to follow the words." "Good morning." "Hello." "Please take one." "You'll be able to follow the words." "Hello." "If I could have your kind attention, please, everyone." "Good morning." "My name is Dr Finlay." "May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you." "Oh, no!" "Let me introduce ourselves to you, if introductions are necessary..." "Hello." "Please take one." "You'll be able to follow the words." " Shall I open it for you?" " N-n-n-n-n-n..." "Oh." "Or perhaps you'd prefer just to listen." "F-f-f-f-f-fu..." "Yes... well..." "Jesus loves you!" "Fu... fu... fu..." "Please take one." "You'll be able to follow the words." " No." " It's a hymn sheet." "Stuff it!" "Look, stuff, it, will you?" "!" "...yes." "This morning, we go from ward to ward to invite you to share the infinite joy and comfort we have ourselves..." "Why don't you leave us alone, Finlay?" "Why don't you bugger off and leave us in peace?" " Nurse Godfrey..." " F-F-Fu...!" "G-G..." " If I could have your attention." " Fu... fu..." "Oh!" "We ask you to join us in fellowship and in the love of Jesus to celebrate what is good in our lives and to ask for help in alleviating what seems less than happy in the world and our place in it." "Now, you have been given, or should've been, a printed booklet with the words of the hymns we'll sing..." " Hey!" "Hey, you!" "Finlay!" "Hey!" " And we hope that you, too..." " Hey, you!" " What is it, my rather loud friend?" "What about us who don't feel able?" "You misunderstand our purpose." "If you will suspend your prejudice and join with us..." "No misunderstanding." "This is a principle, not a prejudice." " Spare a moment and listen..." " This is crap!" "Just leave us in peace!" "Shut your mouth!" "Those who don't wish to celebrate Jesus do not have to take part." "Those who are not with us are against us." "Those who lack the good manners, the grace, should remain quiet so others may partake in the peace which comes from the love" " of our Lord, Jesus Christ." " Amen." "And afterwards, we can all pick up our beds and walk out of here!" "Switch on the organ, Eric." "Let us begin." "My dear fellows, we ask you to spend these few moments in reflection, in praise and comfort." "Thank you." "On your sheets..." "I mean your word sheets, you'll find the words of the hymn "Be In Time" - good and urgent advice, expressing in honest, plain and direct terms our personal hope in Jesus and our wish to tell you the Good News." "Join with us!" "Do not hesitate." "Thank you, Eric." "Life at best is very brief Like the falling of a leaf" "Like the binding of a sheaf Be in time!" "Fleeting days are telling fast That the die will soon be cast" "And the fatal line be past Be in time!" " Be in time!" " Be in time!" "While the voice of Jesus calls you Be in time!" "Be in ti-i-i-i-me!" "If in sin you longer wait You may find no open gate" "And your cry be just too late Be in time!" "Fairest flowers soon decay Youth and beauty pass away" " You have not long to stay" " Fu..." "Be in time!" "While God's spirit bids you come" "Sinner, do not longer roam" "Lest you seal your hopeless doom Be in time!" "Be in time!" "Be in time!" "Be in time!" "While the voice of Jesus calls you" " Be in time!" " BE IN TIME!" "If in sin you longer wait" "You may find no open gate" "And your cry be just too late Be in time!" "Time is  and the deeps of the oceans, the day and the night, the cares and troubles of the whole slow spin of the whole big world!" "You, O God, Thee, O God," "Almighty and Awful Creator, you leave for the moment to point down at the one!" "Who?" "Which one?" "Who is it?" "Philip Marlow." "Yes, Miss?" "Come out to the front." "Come out to the front!" "Do you hear what I say?" "Come here!" " Philip..." " Miss?" "I want you to look at something, Philip." "Now do you see that?" "Do you see that THING in the middle of the table?" "Well?" "Do you see it?" "Yes, Miss." "Did you do it?" " You did it, didn't you?" "Didn't you?" " No!" "If you didn't do it, then you know more about it than is good for you!" " You didn't do it?" " No, Miss." "I would have been very surprised if a clever boy like you..." "So you know, do you?" "You know who did this filthy thing." " Yes, Miss." " Then you'd better tell me, my boy." "You'd better tell me, hadn't you?" "Don't like to." " What?" "Don't like to, Miss." "Oh, you don't like to." "What a pity!" "What a terrible shame!" "That means that, first of all, you will have to stand here for the rest of the day, absolutely still, not moving a single muscle, looking at that THING on the table until you decide to be sensible." "When the bell's rung at the end of the day and you still have not told me what I want to know, do you know what'll happen then?" "You don't want to know." "Very well..." "I'll tell you." "I shall take hold of your ear, little boy, and lead you through to Mr Hopper in the big room." "He'll take the big cane out of the cupboard and give you the biggest thrashing you or anyone else in the school has ever had!" "And he will keep on doing it, little boy, until you do decide to tell me what you know." "Understand?" "Do you understand?" " Yes, Miss." " Very well." "Now, think about all that I have said." "Think about the stick, my lad, and tell me... who did it, mm?" "Who?" "Don't like to say, Miss." "A duke with a name like a boot said "Never explain, never apologize"." "They should write that over the gates of Wormwood Scrubs." "Am I right?" "But the way things were looking for yours truly, me with the snappy hat, they were about to write it on my gravestone." "... to the affirmative" "Don't mess with Mr In-Between" "You got to spread joy Up to the maximum" "Bring gloom down to the minimum" "Have faith or pandemonium Liable to walk upon the scene" "To illustrate his last remark" "Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark" "What did they do Just when everything looked so dark?" "Man, they said we'd better Ac-cent-chu-ate the positive" "Eliminate the negative" "Latch on to the affirmative" "Don't mess with Mr In-Between" "You got to spread joy Up to the maximum" "Bring gloom down to the minimum" "Have faith or pandemonium Liable to walk upon the scene" "To illustrate his last remark" "Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark" "What did they do Just when everything looked so dark?" "Man, they said we'd better Ac-cent-chu-ate the positive" "Eliminate the negative" "Latch on to the affirmative" "Don't mess with Mr In-Between" "No, do not mess with Mr In-Between!" "Do you hear me?" "Hm?" "Oh, listen to me, chil'un and you will hear" "About the 'liminatin' of the negative The accent on the positive" "Gather round me, chil'un, If you're willin', and sit tight" "While I start reviewin' The attitude of doin' right" " You got to spread joy" " Up to the maximum" " Bring gloom" " Down to the minimum" "Otherwise pandemonium Liable to walk upon the scene" " To illustrate my last remark" " Well, illustrate" "Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark What did they say?" " What did they say?" " When everything looked so dark?" "Man, they said we'd better Ac-cent-chu-ate the positive" "Eliminate the negative" "Latch on to the affirmative" "Don't mess with Mr In-Between" "No, don't mess with Mr In-Between" "Good." "Let it come on." "Pandemonium!" "... be in time!" "If in sin you longer wait" "You may find no open gate" "Eliminate the negative" "Latch on to the affirmative" "Don't mess with Mr In-Between" "No, do not mess with Mr In-Between" "Do you hear me?" "Mm?" "Listen to me, chil'un And you will hear" "About the 'liminatin' of the negative And the accent on the positive" "Gather round me, chil'un, If you're willin', and sit tight..." "Gonna wait for the number to finish or what?" "That is so." "Only he's a good target now - a sitting duck." "My glass - look at it." "I'd say it was empty." " What would you say?" " The same." " What?" " I'd say it was empty, too!" "Bring gloom down to the minimum" "Otherwise pandemonium Liable to walk..." "All right... all right." "Same." "Same again, thank you." "We draw the same expenses, me and you." "Who's got the shooter?" "Who does the shootin'?" "That'd go down nicely, ta." "And you go and see what Marlow does when this bleedin' tune is over." "Then... he's... had it." "No, don't mess with Mr In-Between" "A..." "leaf... boys and girls." "A leaf may not seem all that much to you." "Just a leaf." "Only a leaf, you might say." "Green in the summer, then going brown and dry, falling off the tree and rotting away to nothing, that's all." "But look again and you will be surprised." "A leaf, like you, has a... rib." "A leaf, like you, has veins." "A leaf, like you... breathes." "If you hold the leaf up to the light, you will see the rib running right through the middle of it..." "like this." "From the bottom of the leaf at the stem right through to the tip of the leaf." "Keep still!" "Eyes front!" "Don't move an inch!" "And if you look even more closely, you will see that, coming out from this rib, there are veins." "You see?" "Like this." "Now... if you were to shine a very strong, a very powerful torch through this leaf, you would see that there is a very fine pattern in between these veins." "Some of this pattern shows up as green and some of this pattern shows up, under the bright light of the torch, as white." "The white stuff is tougher than the green." "It is like the bones of the leaf." " George." " Miss?" "I said there were two colors in the... what?" " Leaf, Miss." " Yes, but in what in the leaf?" "In the pattern of the leaf." "Two colors, I said, two." "What were they?" "George?" " Green, Miss." " Yes, green, I said." "And?" "No, thank you, Barry!" "Black, Miss." "Quiet!" "George, here!" "At once!" "I saw you picking at the wood on your desk." "I knew you were not paying attention." "Fetch me the stick." " Aw, Miss!" " Fetch me the stick!" "Yes, Miss." " Hold out your hand." " Yes, Miss." "Pay attention next time!" "Pay attention, all of you!" "Green, I said." "Green and white." "And count yourself lucky that you only had three strokes and only across your hand." "Let me see, in just over 1O minutes' time, all of you in Standard Three will join Standard One, Standard Two and Standard Four to see a caning that not one of you will ever forget." " Philip." " Yes, Miss?" "You do know you will have to have the big stick and across your behind and in front of the whole school?" " Yes, Miss." " Unless..." "You understand?" "Unless." "Miss." "The leaf." "When you are in the forest and the leaves have fallen from the trees, if you pick up a leaf from the ground, you will see it is the green pattern that is the first part that rots away, that dies." "But if you look closely at the leaf you have picked up from the soft floor of the forest, you will also see..." "There, there." "You've been very brave in sticking up for the wicked boy who did it." "I'm sorry you will have to be punished and punished so very, very hard." "Here, blow." "I think we've had enough of this, don't you?" "Yes, Miss." "I think the time has come to tell me what you know, hasn't it?" "Yes, Miss." "Now, stand up here." "Who did it?" "Tell me, there's a good boy." "Mark Binney, Miss." "It was Mark Binney." "Look at it!" "Just look at the bloody stuff!" "Rain, rain, rain!" "The old umbrella man" "Let's all join the old umbrella man and sing!" "Toodle-lum-a-lum-a Toodle-lum-a-lum-a" " Toora-ay-ayy" " Ohhhh" "Any umbrellas, any umbrellas" "To fix today?" "Bring your parasol" "It may be small, it may be big" "He repairs them all With what you call a thing... ma... jig." "You move your lips, do you know that?" "When you read, you move your lips." " What?" " That's a sign of a slow reader." "A backward reader." "You could go as far as to say that anyone who moves their lips when they read is mentally retarded." " What?" " Are you aware of that?" " What did you say?" " It's raining." "Look at the windows." "Yeah." "What's it about?" "Eh?" "Reginald!" "I said what's so special?" "What's it about?" " You've asked me hundreds of times." " Yes." "Well, I'm asking you again, ain't I?" "Well..." " My God!" " It's hard to say." " Well, if you don't know now..." " Murder." " Good." " Killing and that." " Let's bloody hope so!" " And women." "Loose women." " There you are." " Could do with a few in here!" "Now, now." " Except..." " Except, except, except what?" "Except they're not really." "Not all of 'em." "Some of them are spies, even though they sleep with the customers." " Is this a knocking shop?" " No, club." "Well, go on, I grasped that!" "Some of them are - whatchacallits?" " Nazis and some of them are..." "Well, I dunno... um..." " Footballers?" " Get off!" "Well, I think that's very clear!" "I think you've got the whole plot in a nutshell, my boy!" "Very succinct, totally understandable!" "You could get a job on Reader's Digest - with a mind like yours!" "Don't you need to do something?" "Shall I call for a bedpan?" " Hey, now..." " It's hours since you had a shit!" "Now, stop it, Reginald." "This is not a proper subject." "Here's the nurses." "Ask the pretty one for the bedpan." " Reginald!" " You gotta shit sometimes, ain't yer?" "Your arse ain't sewed up!" "Shall I call for you?" "Shut your chops, Reginald!" "This is uncalled for, this is very offensive!" " This is not chops, this is a mouth." " And a very dirty one!" " 'Scuse me!" " No more!" "Say no more!" "Carry on reading, then?" "Go back to my story, can I?" " You must be enjoying it." " When I get a chance." "It's busy in here." " Not the same book, surely?" " He's a slow reader." " I think Mr Hall wants..." " I keep interrupting him." "Only fair to say." " I do divert him, oh, yes." " What is it, Reginald?" "What's it called?" " "The Singing Detective"." " By PE Marlow?" " Yeah, that's the geezer." " Down the hatch." "You know he's in here?" "The man who wrote that book." " He's in this ward." " What?" "Who is?" "Mr Marlow." "Down there." " PE Marlow." "He wrote it, that book." " What, HIM?" "He's him?" "That poor old sod who can't stop nodding his bonce?" " That's not nice." " Next bed." "This side down." "Nobody there." "The Invisible Man - he write that?" "He's out of the ward having treatment, but that bed, yes." " Him?" "!" " The loudmouth with the skin?" "The very one." "You'll be able to ask him how it finishes..." "Thank you!" "...that story of yours." " He won't know, guarantee you that!" " I'd like to talk to him, though." "Fancy that, eh?" "What a turn-up!" "Toodle-lum-a-lum-a Toodle-lum-a-lum-a, toora-ay-ayy" "Any umbrellas, any umbrellas To fix today?" "Bring your parasol It may be small, it may be big" "He repairs them all With what you'd call a thingumy-jig" "Pitter patter patter, pitter patter patter It looks like rain" "Let it pitter patter, let it pitter patter Don't mind the rain" "Face the other way!" "Watch the bar, you fool!" "And you watch your tongue!" "Face the other way... please!" "Thank you." "He'll mend your umbrella..." "Those two up there - one facing in and one facing out." "Standard Intelligence tactics." "Any umbrellas to fix..." "Watch yourself." "Watch." "When there's a lull and things are dull He sharpens knives for all the wives..." "Come on, let him have it, will you?" "The barman is winking at me!" "He thinks I'm a nancy!" "Come on, let him have it!" "... he mends anything" "But he'd rather sing" " Ohhhh" " Toodle-lum-a-lum-a" " Toora-ay-ayy!" "Any umbrellas..." " Toodle-lum-a-lum-a!" "... to fix today?" "He'll patch up your troubles..." ""His fingers cl-clawed..." ""...stiffly... towards... his neck." ""Blood... jerked..." ""...and spurted..."" "Bloody hell!" "THOMAS!" "THOMAS!" " Too late." " No, no, on time." " What?" " Visitors, Reginald." "Visiting time, my boy." " Put that book away now." " They shoot the wrong one!" " What?" "Oh, in that bloody book!" " Yeah." "Put it away!" "Put it away!" "The hordes are upon us!" "Oh, you can smell the outside world on their shoes, eh?" "Eh, my boy?" " Hello." " I was beginning a dream." "I was drifting away... unanchored." " Where to?" " School." "Back to school." " Ooh, God, one of those!" " Yeah, one of those." "I hate those sorts of dreams." "Somebody asks me what the capital of Iceland is." " Of course, I never know." " Reykjavik." "Never know in the dream, I mean." "What are you doing here?" "Oh... punishing myself." " You look very... n-nice." " Don't say it like that." " Like what?" " Well..." "Like I'm your enemy or like something the cat brought in." " It's not my imagination." " What isn't?" "You are definitely up to something." "You're involved in some scheme." " Good old Philip." " It has something to do with money." "Go on, this is fascinating." " My money." " Come on, you haven't got any!" "Not in cash." "Not in your actual foldable, metal-strip portraits of Her Majesty, no." "Nor in coin, come to that." "But I do have assets." " Your flat." " My flat." "A damp basement." "Very fashionable nowadays." " And my work." " Yes, of course." " My four detective stories." " Yes." "Three of which are out of print." "And... the screenplay." " What screenplay?" " Bingo!" " What are you talking about?" " A dot on every I, a cross on every T!" "And a curl on each comma!" " Come again?" " With my own buckled hands!" " Philip!" " Think I could forget a thing like that?" "Ten years ago." "All right, it was ten years ago I wrote that screenplay." "When I was on holiday, when I felt..." "When I had cantilevered heels!" "Oh, well, I wouldn't know, would I?" "It was ages before you met me." "What screenplay was this?" ""The Singing Detective"." "That's it!" "All done!" "About time, too." ""The Singing Detective" - an original screenplay by Mark..." "Mark Finney!" "Ages since I did any typing!" "This gadget" " God, you'd think it could pour you a drink!" " Or answer back!" " Uh-huh." "That's my job." " Want a drink?" " Why not?" "Now we've got it safely on disk, we can shred that old shoebox." "Print off as many copies as we need." "Ice?" "Ice." " Now we deliver." " And collect!" "But you must, must get Marlow to sign the option with my company." "Absolute essential." "First things first." "One, he signs with me." "Two, I sell it on to Medro Films." "Three, net profit - half a million plus all the points." "Cheers." "Not bad, eh?" "Cheers." " He's got to sign, though." " I know, I know." "Nicola..." "Can't you be nicer to him?" "You know, sweeter." "Promise more." "All that stuff." " Hitch up my skirt, you mean." " Oh, Nicola." "All right, but you've no idea how difficult he can be." "See him this evening." "Be nice." "What are you talking about?" "What screenplay was this?" ""The Singing Detective"." "Really?" "Mm." "And I put it in a shoebox in the cupboard in the flat." "Oh, that!" "My God!" "Yes, that." "If it's the pages I think you mean, you threw them out." " I threw them out?" " Yeah!" "Well, I mean, if it's the one..." "Yes, the one in the shoebox." " The one in the shoebox?" " You know you did." "What is all this?" "Ah, well." "Easy come, easy go." " Was it the only copy?" " Of course." "Never mind, eh?" "Jesus!" " What?" " The way you sit." "The way you..." "No." "Those are the words of a song almost." " You and your songs." " Yeah, well... banality with a beat." "Will it hurt if I squeeze?" " Yeah, well." " Poor old sod." "But there's..." "You are improving." " In what, though?" " Your skin." "The way you move your head and arms, all that." "I can see a big improvement." " Except..." " Except what?" "I'm going mad." "Come on!" "What do you mean?" "I'm going off my head, round the bend, bonkers, losing my marbles, a candidate for the funny farm, cuckoo, nuts." "That's what I mean." "Bananas is what I mean." " Do you want to talk about it...?" " Sex." " What?" " That's what it's all about." "Sex." "Sex and lies." "You've been ill too long - stuck with your own thoughts too long." "I want to sleep with you again." " Philip..." " With a big mirror alongside." " Listen to me..." " I can turn my head and leer at myself." "So when it starts spurting out of me," "I can twist to one side, coming off your hot, sticky loins, and spit straight in my own face." "My God, Philip!" " Well, it's an improvement, innit?" " On what?" "Spitting at me." "At my own reflection." "Not long ago, my idea of happiness would be to spit into YOUR face." "Christ Almighty!" "Oh, yes, and him, too." "What are you going to do about these feelings?" "I dunno." "Write serious literature, I suppose." "Or piss into the wind like poets and priests do." "Who are those two?" "Who are they?" "I don't know!" "Are they anybody?" "Why do they bother you?" " Paranoia." " What?" " I'm totally paranoid." " You have everything going for you!" "People are beginning to notice us." " They are looking at us." " Let 'em." "They're all sick, anyway, ain't they?" " Do you reckon that's him?" " The nurse said so." " Gonna go up to him?" " What?" "When he's with her?" " You must be coco!" " We can't stand here!" "Why not?" "That's all we ever get to do!" "We're just asked to stand around like spare pricks!" " We've got to do something about it." " Tell me what!" "Just tell me what!" "Do you need any help?" " Do we?" " Thank you, Miss, no." "We've seen all we wish to see..." "for the moment." "Let's go." "We'd... er... better... go." "Oi!" " Nurse!" " Yes?" " Who were those two?" " No idea." "But they were peculiar." " In what way?" " You get strange people in hospitals." "They're usually after the drugs." "There was something weird about them." "Did you see the way they were dressed?" " Why were they so interested in me?" " They weren't, were they?" " They were staring at me." " Well... perhaps." " Don't humor me, please." " No." "All right." "I'll hold the beaker." "Just drink this down." "That's it." "No, don't spit it out." "That's it." " A drop more." " Nnnnn...!" "Mr Tomkey!" "It's a thrill a minute in here." "Can't we get you out?" "Now you've some money coming in." "Money?" "You were right, of course." "There was more to it than I... er... implied." "Sorry." " Go on." " Thought I'd go and clean your flat." "Well, you'd been in hospital so long, the plants were all dead." " Good." " There was mould on some of..." " God, Philip!" "The way you live!" " You opened my letters, right?" "Most were from Reader's Digest saying to open at once." "My prize numbers!" "Leave them alone!" "They're my assets!" "And, yes, there was this letter." "Sorry." " About "The Singing Detective"?" " From this production company." " A film company." " Who are they?" " New people." "Featherwheel." " Who runs it?" " Man called Finney." " Know him?" " Never heard of him." " You don't sound so sure." "In what context have you never heard of him?" "A money context." "My agent said..." "they're angels - theatre, you know." "But obviously moving into films or trying to, more fool them." "You have this letter?" "Yeah, I have it with me." " And it checks out?" " So it seems, for what it's worth." " And I'll get some money straight away?" " So it says." " Who'll do the screenplay?" " Finney himself." "God!" "They all think they can write, don't they?" "Every little bleeder who can hold a ballpoint pen the right way up!" "My advice is to take the money and run." " Yeah, maybe you're right." " I know I am." "I didn't expect to see you again." "Well, I..." "I don't want to leave." "No..." "I do and I don't." "Fidelity's not exactly your strong suit, is it?" "No, no, I'm not trying to be nasty." "I miss you... sort of." " What?" " No..." "I do!" "Much to my surprise." "Hey... come here." " What?" " Um..." " Could we close these curtains?" " What for?" "Guess." "They wouldn't let us close the curtains." "Well, then, get better!" "Quickly!" " Nicola, what's going on?" " Oh, what do you mean?" "Why are you being so nice?" "Oh...!" " Change of policy." " Yes, but why?" " Oh, don't start all that again." " No, all right." " You did it?" "Question mark." " I did it!" "Exclamation mark." " He signed?" "Question mark." " He signed!" "Exclamation mark." "Oh, comma, aren't you the clever one -!" "Dash, exclamation mark." "Oh, he's a morbid creature!" "Exclamation mark." "Oh, he's a morbid creature and he thinks I'm going back to him!" "What's him a-doin'?" "What's him a-doin' to our Mam?" "Mum!" "Mum!" "Mum!" "How long's it take?" "It was only a bit of fun, wan't it?" "The rain it falls, the sun it shines, the wind blows and that's what it's like." "We are buffeted by this and by that and it's got nothing to do with you." "Someone you love leaves or dies." "You get ill or you get better." "You grow old and you remember." "Or you forget." "And all the time, everywhere, there's this canopy stretching over you." " What canopy?" " Things as they are." "Fate." "Fate." "Impersonal, irrational, disinterested." "The rain falls, the sun shines, the wind blows." "A bus mounts a pavement and kills a little child and..." "I believe in no systems, no ideologies, no religion." "I simply think that..." "Oh, this is very, very boring." "I simply think, from time to time, completely at random, we are visited by what we cannot know, cannot predict, cannot control, cannot, cannot, cannot understand, cannot, cannot, cannot escape." "Fate." "Why not?" "It's a good old word." "Accident." " What?" " You say fate, I say accident." "You can call it what you like." "Either way, there's sod-all you can do about it, right?" "Progress." "Depends where you're standing when the bomb falls!" "No, you." "The way you move when you talk some particularly urgent gibberish." "Oh, ta!" "And the clear patches." "Your skin is genuinely responding." " Yes?" " Yes." "You see some biochemical or other." "Nothing to do with me." "Nothing to do with my mind." " Have you tried to stand?" " Who'd vote for me?" " Have you tried to stand up?" " Yes." " And?" " I fell down." " Tried to hold a pen?" " Yes." " And?" " I wrote a whole word!" "Oh, well done!" "A whole word!" "Four whole letters!" "That may not seem much - four lett..." "Oh, I see, yes." "A four-letter word." "Gotta be sharper!" "Had you down for a man who could strike a match on his thumbnail!" "Sorry to disappoint you." "I'd use a lighter." " Oh, look!" "Hurt, are we?" " You might conceivably have a point." " A very small one." " Don't be ashamed." "You're only human." "What interests me is the disproportionate pleasure that you'd get out of it." "Well, there you go." "Different strokes for different folks." " You're making physical progress." " Even a doctor can see that." "But are you still... disappointed in things as they are?" "Not a bit." "Things as they are are no concern of mine." "You object to the word "things"?" "There are lots of words I object to." " Such as?" " Such as..." "loitering." " Another." " What?" " Another word you dislike." " Ooh, goody!" "Games?" " If you like, Mr Marlow." " Word games." " If you like." " Like Scrabble?" "No, no." "I say a word, any word, and you..." " I say a word I associate with it." " Instantly." " Nescafé." " No, we haven't started yet!" " No, you have to respond instantly." " Ah, but I did." " Doctor..." " Charlatan." "If we're going to do this, we have to..." "We have to agree in advance that it's meaningless, has no diagnostic value." " Fine." " Judge." " Wall." " Blank." " Will." " Bard." " Black." " Magic." " Comb." " Honey." " Blonde." " Honey." " Money." " Shit." " Fish." " Jesus." " God." " Doctor." " Guardian." " Misprint." " Sun." " Trash." " You." " Me." " Me." " Tarzan!" " Legs." " Eleven." " Arms." " Bombs." " Hands." " Clap." " Clap." " Promiscuity." " Loose." " Tight." " Free." " Gift." " Fair." " Bus." " Train." " Puff." " Queen." " Poof." " King." " Check." " Young." " Green." " Old." " Cliff Richard." " Fly." " Crash." " Float." " Hook." " Dream." " Wake." " Sleep." " Lie." " Politician." " Lie." " Tale." " Lie." " Writer." " Liar." " Sentence." " Prison." " Cage." " School..." " Light." " Cigarette." "Lung." "Fish." " Evasion." " Tax." " Duty." " Humbug." " Cant." " Can." " Tin." " Tack." " Nail." " Cross." " Passion." " Pretence." " Woman." " Fuck." " Fuck." " Dirt." " Dirt." " Death!" "Start." "Stop." " A game." " Do you think so?" "That's what YOU called it." "And we agreed." "No diagnostic value." "None at all." "None whatsoever." "I mean, it's words, just words." "Just words." "I don't think I'll come here again." " No?" " No." "Why is that?" "Toodle-lum-a-lum-a Toodle-lum-a-lum-a" "Toora-ay-ayy" " Duty." " Humbug." " Cant." " Can." " Tin." " Tack." " Nail." " Cross." " Passion." " Pretence." " Woman." " Fuck." " Fuck!" " Dirt!" " Dirt." " Death!" " Still needing the assistance?" " 'Fraid so." "Ah-ha." "Tomatoes." " What?" " You're still eating the tomatoes." "Oh, no, no." "Stay off them, man." "It's the pips." "I hears you!" "He's back, then, Reginald." "The scribe." "He's returned to this little paradise and the oasis of his pit." "The loudmouth, your bloody so-called author, Reginald." "You'd never think it." "You'd never think it, not in a million years!" "There's lots of things I'd never think." "Like when will I ever again have an intelligent conversation!" " He don't look like he'd write a book like this." " No, he don't!" " Just shows." " What does it show?" "Shall I have a word?" "Talk to him!" "Like you do with me?" "Dazzling, do you mean?" "No, tell him how I like his book." "Ask him how it ends, for God's sake." "And how soon." " Cross." " Passion." " Pretence." " Woman." " Fuck." " Fuck." " Dirt." " Dirt." "Death." "Knock, knock, knock." ""Mouth sucking wet and slack at mouth," ""tongue chafing against tongue, limb thrusting upon limb," ""skin rubbing at skin." ""Faces contort and stretch into a helpless leer." ""Organs spurt out smelly stains and sticky betrayals." ""This is the sweaty farce out of which we are brought into being." ""Welcome."" "You rutting bitch!" "Doesn't it disgust you, being paid to stretch out and let a stranger enter you?" "You disgusting tramp!" "The river looks as though it's made of tar, sludging along - full of filth." "You filthy little slut!" "You disgusting tramp!" "You heartless, two-bit fucking whore, Nicola!" "I'm sorry." "It wasn't really me calling you names." "I don't mean them." "I don't want to do it, it's just that, afterwards, I always feel..." "Well, I almost always feel..." " It's nothing personal." " Takes all sorts." "Whatcha covered up for?" "Something wrong with you?" "The river looks as if..." " The river..." " What about it?" "The river looks as if it's full of tar." "Sludging along... full of filth." "What do you expect?" "Badedas?" "Doesn't it disgust you, what you do?" "Depends who I do it with." "Being paid to stretch yourself out and let a stranger enter you." " You expect me to do it for nothing?" " 'Course not." " I mean... how long's it take?" " Do you really believe that?" " Christ, that's what you wanted, isn't it?" " Yeah." "You always hurt" " The one you love" " Roll on, Pop, roll on." "The one you shouldn't hurt at all" "You always take" "The sweetest rose" "And crush it till the petals fall" "You always" "Break the kindest heart" " With a hasty word you can't recall" " Bom bom bom" "So if I broke" "Your heart last night" "It's because I love you most of all" "You always hurt" "The one you love" "The one" "You shouldn't hurt at all" "You always take" "The sweetest rose" "And crush it" "Till the petals fall" "You always break" "The kindest heart" "With a hasty word" "You can't recall" "So-o-o" "If I broke" "Your heart last night" "It's because I love you most of all" "You always hurt" "The one you love" "The one" "You shouldn't hurt at all" "You always take" "The sweetest rose" "Crush it" "Till the petals fall" "No, listen to me!" "Listen to me!" "The kindest heart" "With a hasty word" "You can't recall" "So-o-o" "If I broke" "Your heart last night" "It's because" "I love you most of all" " There's a good boy." " Mum?" " Looking after your mother, aren't you?" " Hasn't worked out, has it?" " What?" " Don't like it here, doost?" ""Do you", not "doost"." "But you don't like it, doost?" "You're a very stubborn boy." "Aye, I be." "Well, I don't know where you get it from." "Our Dad." " No." " Our Dad!" "I wish you did." "I wish he had it to give, but he's not made that way, Philip." "Don't you know that?" "When's him a-coming, Mum?" "When's our Dad gonna come?" "I don't know." "I'm not sure." "I wanna go whum." "Back to our Dad." "Back to them trees." "Oh, sod the trees!" "Oh, no!" "The oak and the elm and the beech and the ash!" " The oak and the elm and the beech..." " Philip!" " Oak and the elm and the beech..." " Do you want a smack?" "Stop it, I said!" " My arm do hurt." " Come on!" " You caught me on my sore." " Your what?" " Me arm, mind." " Let me see." " T'int nothing." " Let me see!" "When did this happen?" "Did you bump into something?" "Dunno." "I'll put some sambac on that when we get back." "Pull your sleeve down." "Better show our Dad, an' us?" "Better show this here arm to our Dad." " That's what we gotta do." " For God's sake, don't keep on!" "You'll drive me..." "Once and for all, shut up about it!" "Shut up!" " When's him a-coming, then?" " He's not!" "Mum... why?" "Why, Mum?" "Philip..." "listen to me." " Listen to me..." " Is it 'cause of what that bloke did to you?" " What?" " Doin' that stuff with Mr Binney." " Raymond Binney, Mark's dad." " What stuff?" "What do you mean?" "Rolling about on top of tha." " What?" " Shagging." " Oh, Philip!" " Shagging!" "Philip!" "Philip!" "Philip, come back!" "Please!" "Philip!" "Philip!" "Philip!" "Philip!" "Philip!" " Who killed her, then?" " What?" " Who?" " Her in the river." " That tart they dragged out the river." " What are you talking about?" " Your book!" " Christ!" "A reader!" "Yeah!" "You come under the Protection of Endangered Species Act!" " What's that, then?" "Wit, is it?" " Oh, no, not that." "No fear." "We're both in here - and you wrote it and I've been reading it!" "Funny, innit?" " Hilarious." " Good, though." "It's good." " Thanks." " Very good." "Thank you." " I can tell you're a writer." " How?" "All that effing and blinding!" "You don't half let rip!" ""Good writers who once knew far better words now only use four-letter words."" "Do they?" " The song." " Oh, yeah." " "Anything Goes"." " Not half!" "Yes, well, it's the day and the age." "You're not gonna tell me, are you?" " Tell you?" " Who killed her." " Who put her in the river." "That girl." " A swine." " But which?" "Lots of 'em in your book." " You'll find out, but only by reading it." "Yeah." " Well, all the best, then." " Same to you." "We'll have another chat sometime, eh?" "Yes, I like these literary discussions." " Right, then." " Thank you." "I bet you lie there all day long just thinking of murdering people, eh?" "Yes." "Yes, I do." "Who killed her, then?" "Her in the river." "That tart they dragged out the river." "Who did it, hm?" "Who?" "Who did it?" "Tell me, there's a good boy." " Mark Binney, Miss." "It was Mark Binney." " No, Miss, it wasn't!" " It was Mark." "I saw him." " No, Miss, it in't true!" "Chunt me!" " Are you sure you saw him?" " Yes, Miss." " No, him couldn't have!" " Quite, quite sure?" " I didn't!" " Yes, Miss." "How did you see him?" "What were YOU doing?" " Door." "Standing at the door." " Doing what?" " I came back, Miss." "After school." " What for?" " To put another flag in the big map." " To do what?" " Berlin, Miss." " What do you mean, boy?" "The Russians be there now." "They be smashing through." "Well, nearly there, yes." "I thought we ought to stick their flag up." "Hammer and sickle." "When I came back, there him was." "I saw him." "Him couldn't have!" "It wasn't me, Miss!" "What exactly did you see?" "What was he doing?" "Pooping, Miss." " I wasn't!" " Quiet!" "All of you!" "Philip, that is not the right word." "He was doing his No.2 on the table." "I didn't, I didn't!" "Mark Binney..." "Come here, boy." "Miss." "Philip, you may go back to your desk..." "for the while." "Yes, Miss." "Thank you, Philip." "Miss, it wasn't me, Miss." "Honest, Miss." "Honest!" "We'll see about that, won't we, my boy?" "We are going to find out, aren't we?" "We're going to find out even if it takes us the rest of the day." "Miss, it wasn't me, Miss!" "Honest, Miss!" "Honest!" "You see?" "Reginald?" "They always turn that way first." "Nine times out of ten." "Is it fair?" "Reginald." "Do you think it's fair?" "Tea, coffee or Ovaltine?" " Gone deaf, have we?" " Sorry." "What?" "Which is it?" "Tea, coffee or Ovaltine?" " Coffee." " Please!" "Coffee, please." " You'll soon use an ordinary cup." " Will I?" " If you try a bit harder." " Please!" " What?" " Say please!" " Tea, coffee or Ovaltine?" " C..." "C..." "C..." "C..." "C..." "C..." " We'll have Ovaltine, shall we?" " Ohh!" " Say please." " Ah... ah..." "Oh, never mind." "Ah... ah... arsehole!" " Amused, are we?" " It's funny!" " What is?" " This bit." "Tea, coffee or Ovaltine?" " I thought it was a thriller, your book." " It is." "Well, then!" " That tart in the river." " Who?" "In the book." " Yes?" " Well, it's not her at all!" "Say no more." "I've got the complete picture!" "It all makes sense!" "You think I fell for that?" "She thinks I fell - hook, line and sinker." "And look what'll happen." "Look what I'll do." "Rot her thieving, narrow, poisonous soul!" "Nurse!" "Nurse!" "Nurse!" "Nurse!" "Please!" "Nurse!" "You big, fat, dopey bitch!" "You stupid great cow!" "I shall mess myself!" "Gawd!" "Nurse!" "Wake up, please wake up, there's a darling, there's a love!" "You sodding bitch, you cow!" "You fat cow!" "NURSE!" "Here!" "Over here!" "Here!" " Why aren't you asleep?" " Bedpan, nurse." "I need the bedpan." " Can't you get it yourself?" " I mustn't get out of bed." "Cardiac." "Please!" "I need it!" "The contraption - I need it so badly!" " Something wrong with your heart?" " Yes!" " What's the matter?" " See what you done?" "You woke them up." "Tut!" "I'll get it." "You only had to ask." "No need to make a noise." "Well, I-I'm sorry, Nurse, but I..." " What the hell's going on, Mr Hall?" " It's you!" "You, my boy!" " What?" " You woke everybody up." "Grinding your teeth - like rocks being rubbed together." "Christ!" "Hurry up!" "Night nurse is very angry with you." "And I'll tell you something, Reginald, she's not one to make angry." "By God, she's not." "I tell you, she's completely off her rocker!" "She's round the bend - you've only got to look at her eyes to see that!" "Reginald?" "Reginald?" "All shall be well." "And all shall be well." "And all manner of things shall be well." "We..." "We should not have run!" "What else could we do?" "How have we..." "Why..." "Why here?" "What are we doing here?" "Perhaps we're..." "I mean..." " Perhaps we..." " The question is..." " The question is..." " Tell me." "Are we going to be able to see the wood for the trees?" " Here?" "I don't think so." "Philip!" "Listen!" "Where bist?" "Philip!" "Come on, old buddy!" "Everybody's looking for him!" "Everywhere!" "Philip!" " Oh, bugger!" " Philip!" " Oh... bugger!" "Philip?" "Why don't tha answer, Philip?" "What's the matter, old buddy?" "Philip!" "Where bist, Philip?" "Philip!" "I cannot now distinguish between the train that brought my mother and me to London and the one which took us back - which took me back, I mean." "But I tell you, there was something odd about that journey, something not right." "Something I still dream about." "Where is she, eh?" "Where's your mum, your lovely mum?" " In the ground." " Oh, yes?" "Yeah." " Covered in dirt?" " That were always on the cards." "Covered in the old dirt." "Her legs an' all, eh?" "You did it, didn't you?" "It's your doing, Sonny Jim." "It's all your doing." "After you've gone" "And left me crying" "After you've gone" "There's no denying" "You'll feel blue" "You'll feel sad" "You'll miss the bestest pal You've ever had" "There'll come a time" "Now, don't forget it" "There'll come a time" "When you'll regret it" "Some day" "When you grow lonely" "Your heart'll break like mad" "And you'll want me only" " After you've gone..." "Philip!" "Philip, come back!" "Please!" "Philip!" "After you've gone" "And left me crying" "After you've gone" "There's no denying" "You'll feel blue, you'll feel sad" "You'll miss the bestest pal You've ever had" "There was something odd about that journey." "Something... not quite right." "Something I still dream about." "I saw the scarecrow." " Scarecrow?" " Scarecrow." "I'm sorry, go on." "A scarecrow... in a field by the railway." "I dreamt about that thing last night." "It had got out of the field." "Uh-hm?" "Even at the time, from the train, I mean, going up to London, coming back again, looking out of the train window," "I had a strong feeling it was alive and watching." " Watching?" " Me." "Watching me." "So it has eyes." "Whose eyes?" " Whose face?" " This is a scarecrow, not a..." "But if it's watching you, hm?" "Why?" "What for?" "What does it think you've done?" " Look, this is a dream, right?" " Right." "The face, I know it!" "I just can't quite..." " Is it your mother?" " What?" " Is it her face?" " No!" "How did she die?" "She killed herself." "How?" " The river." "In the river." " Are you...?" "Is that really so?" "What do you mean?" "A young woman's fished out of the river in your detective story." " So?" "So?" " I'm just a little surprised." "Is it likely that you'd so exactly duplicate such a traumatic event in your own life..." "The face!" "I know who it is!" " I'm sorry?" " She used to frighten me, the bitch!" " Your mother?" " No." "The teacher in the village school." "Pointing that finger." "God rot her nasty old bones!" " Aren't you being a little..." " You just don't know writers." "They'll use anything, anybody, they'll eat their own young!" "So do rabbits when they're disturbed." "Once I did something bad." "I mean, nasty." "I mean, really disgusting - at school, at the primary school." "I was nearly caught." "I was in for it and bad." "But I blamed somebody else." "I pointed the finger elsewhere." "Long ago and far away." "I've never doubted since what people are really made of." "We all have blood on our teeth." "Tell me, there's a good boy." "Mark Binney, Miss." "It was Mark Binney." "Mark Binney." "No, Miss, it wasn't!" " Come out to the front." " No, Miss, no!" "Come here, boy." "Philip, you may go back to your desk..." "for the while." " Yes, Miss." " Thank you, Philip." "Miss, it wasn't me, Miss!" "Honest, Miss!" "Honest!" "We'll see about that, won't we, my boy?" "We are going to find out, aren't we?" "We are going to find out if it takes us the rest of the day." "Yes, Barbara?" " Him was a-lurking out by the big tree." " HE." "How many times?" " He was, Miss." " But Miss..." "Be quiet!" "Did you see him go back into the school?" "Yes, Miss!" "And, Miss..." " Go on." " Him told..." "He told I that..." "Me!" "How many times?" " He told me, Miss." " Told you?" "Told you what?" " He told me that he was gonna..." " Barbara!" "Him said that he was gonna..." "do his nasty on the table, Miss!" " I saw, Miss!" " And me!" "And me, Miss!" " I saw him!" " And me!" "I saw him, as well!" "Miss, it ain't true!" "Honest, Miss, it ain't true!" "I sat at my desk, perjurer, charlatan, and watched and listened, as one after another after another, they nailed that poor lad, hands and feet, to my story." "I've not seriously doubted since that afternoon that ANY lie will receive almost instant corroboration and almost instant collaboration if the maintenance of it results in the public enjoyment of someone else's pain, someone else's humiliation." "Oh, God, she beat him!" "That poor boy!" "She beat him!" "Vicious bitch!" "Interestingly..." "What is interesting is the..." "lad himself was completely overwhelmed by the evidence." "He was a backward boy, although we didn't think in those terms at the time, amongst ourselves." "I mean, I used to see him sometimes in the woods." "He'd be running." "He was almost always... running." ""What bist thou doin', Mark?" I'd say." ""Training," he'd answer." "Just that. "Training for what?"" "The poor little sod came in the end to believe that he HAD done it." ""Yes, Miss." "Yes, Miss."" "That he had done what?" "Shat on the teacher's table." "It has occurred to you that you yourself were in distress at this time?" "A few years ago, I told the story to a man who used to live in the same village." "We were laughing about it, you know." "Ho, ho, ho." ""I wonder..." "I wonder," I said," ""whatever became of Mark Binney."" "That was my victim." "Mark Binney." ""Don't you know?" he said, and he was looking at me with an odd sort of glint." "Nasty, you know." "The way you do." ""Mark's in the loony bin," he said." ""Been there for years." ""A complete nutter."" ""Yes, Miss?" "You did, didn't you?"" ""Yes, Miss." "You came back and you did this... filthy thing!"" ""Yes, Miss." "You're a filthy..." "wicked, horrible little..."" "I'm sorry." "Don't be." " Stand up." " What?" "You can." "You can do it." " You think so?" " Now or never." "Now or never?" "Wait, wait." "Just wanna make sure these wheels are safely locked." "Don't want you skeetering all over the floor." "It would be rather untidy." "Right... go ahead." "Into each life some rain must fall." " Metaphysics?" " Music." "That's it." "Into each life" "Some rain must fall" "But too much is falling in mine" "Into each heart, some tears must fall" "But some day, the sun will shine" "Some folks can lose the blues In their hearts" "But when I think of you" "Another shower starts" "Into each life some rain must fall" "But too much, too much Is falling in mine" "Morning!" " Into each heart" " Morning!" " Some tears must fall" " Morning." "But some day" "The sun will shine" "Some folks can lose The blues in their hearts..." "Ah-ah-ah-ah!" "But when I think of you" "Another shower starts" " What do you think, eh?" " You been off the love apples, man!" "Whoa!" "Whoa!" "No hang-gliding!" "Don't help me, don't help me." "I can do it myself." "Whopeeeeee!" "Geronimo!" "Turn it down." "Off!" "Off!" "Featherwheel." "Who's calling?" "Hi!" "How are things with you?" "Oh, around midnight." "No, no, that's OK." "What?" "Fantastic!" "Oh, obviously delighted!" "Yes!" "Thank you!" "No, no, that's no problem." "I can be out in LA at one day's notice." "Truly!" "Yeah... very exciting indeed!" "Uh-huh." "Ah... um... you mean the scene in the dance hall." "The bar and the balcony." "Er, no, no, I think you have a point." "Yeah, it's too... um... enigmatic." "Er... not clear." "Piss off!" "No, no, I can hear you fine." "Yes, it's just too, too..." "Exactly!" "Yeah." "No, I can put that right." "Patch and mend, you know." "Oh, sure, I've all the chain of title documents." "Now I know we've got a deal, I'll Skypack them out to you first thing." "Yeah, there's my title, the option on the book and my screenplay." "Er, Mervin, look, the other thing - the casting, you know." "Oh, sure!" "Well... um..." "I think it should be Nicola Marlow because..." "Nicola Marlow." "Well, she's... done quite a lot over here." "Well, because that's my understanding." "Who?" "Fabulous!" "She's fantastic!" "I mean, if we could get her!" "My God!" "That's wonderful!" "You've obviously got a great deal more experience in these things than I have." "It's basically your money, you know..." "control-wise." "Well, I'll see you very soon, then." "Fine, fine!" "Thank you." "Thank you!" "Bye." "You cheap little bastard." "You cheap little bastard." "Nicola, listen." "I have no power here." "Listen." "No." "You listen." "I brought Philip's script to you." "I conned him into signing away the rights for a tenth of what you're selling it for." "Oh, honey, you don't think I'm trying to cheat on you?" "I mean... you'll get what we agreed." " You'll get your share." " No, it's not for the money." "It's not for the money." "I play it." "It is my part." "Me." "We agreed, Mark." " We agreed." " You know we don't get casting control." "No, I don't bloody well know!" "Advice and consultation." "That's what we got." "That's what anybody gets." "What do you think I am" " Spielberg?" "Advice and consultation." "That wasn't our deal." "It is my part." "I play it." "We agreed." "It is my biggest chance!" "Honey... don't you think you're just a teeny bit too old now?" "Honey... don't you think you're just a teeny bit too old now?" "Perhaps." "A teeny bit." "Yes." "A teensy-weensy millimeter or so nearer the garbage heap." "Oh, yes." "There are a few inky-dinky lines here and there on this dried-up parchment rather badly stretched over my crumbling bones!" "See?" "And my eyes..." "Look!" "Bleared and bloodshot!" "And my mouth!" "See?" "Look how it drools!" " Nicola, stop it, now." " Oh, the sag of it, the creak of it!" " The used-upness of it!" " OK, OK, enough!" "I'm sorry." "First, you oh-so-casually throw away my one great chance!" "And then..." "And then you dig into my sense of my of my..." "You're a killer!" "My God, you're a killer!" "You smash up people's lives!" "You are rotten with your own bile!" "You think you're smart, but really you're very, very sad because you use your illness as a weapon against other people and as an excuse for not being properly human!" "You disgust me!" "You... sick little creep!" "You poisonous, malformed, cynical... oaf!" "You..." "I" "Having a good time, are we?" " 'Course I am." " You're not in bed." "How come?" "I'm not in bed 'cause I stood on my own two feet." " You didn't?" " I did." " Well done!" " You watch!" "I'll walk to that door by the end of the week." "Don't overdo it." "That's how people get disappointed." "That's really nice." "Nice?" "Nice is not the word!" "You should behave like the disciples when Our Lord walked on water!" "If you can stand up while I grease you, I might!" "I think I can stand up, but I'm not sure for how long." "My knees..." "I don't expect you to." "I'm just glad to see how much you're improving." "It's great." "You're by far the nicest person I've met in a long time." " You haven't been anywhere in a long time." " As well as the most beautiful." " Your eyes." " What about them?" " Your mouth." " Listen..." "The way your head joins your neck, as though... it were hesitating." "I've brought you a fresh tub of..." "Now, stop it!" "Please, don't be silly." "In fact, now I look at you properly, I can see what you are." " Oh, can you, now?" " You're the girl in all those songs." " De-dum." " What songs?" "The songs, the songs, the bloody, bloody songs." "Wish I knew what you were talking about." " The songs you hear coming up the stair." " Sorry?" "When you're a child, when you're supposed to be asleep." "Those songs." "S..." "S..." "S Songs!" "The very thought of you" "And I forget to do" "The little ordinary things" "That everyone ought to do" "I'm living in a kind of daydream" "I'm happy as a king" "And foolish though it may seem" "To me that's everything" "The mere idea of you" "The longing here for you..." " Grandad." " Christ!" "You made me jump!" " Sorry." " Don't do that, boy." "I see your face in every flower" "Your eyes in stars above" "It's just the thought of you" "The very thought of you" "My love" "It's just the thought of you" "The very thought of you" "My love" " Hello, Philip." " Hello, Dad." "Haven't enough for the bus, old buddy." "Sorry." "Pay day tomorrow." " Don't mind walking." " 'Bout another five mile, I reckon." "Seven." "Aye, seven." " Did you see her?" " Yeah." "After, I meant." "After the... accident." "Yeah." " Lovely, was her?" " Yeah." " Peaceful, like?" " Yeah." " Tired, bist?" " No." "I love you, Philip." "I love you with all my heart." " Shhh!" " What?" " Somebody might hear us." " What?" "Some bugger might be listening, Dad." "Keep tha quiet." "What do you mean, my lad?" "Yunt no one around and even if there was..." "Shhht!" "It's only an old scarecrow." "Him can't hurt tha." "Ding dong dell" "Pussy's in the well" "Ding dong dell" "Pussy's in the well" "Who pushed him in?" "Who pushed him in?" "Ding dong dell..." "You'll hurt yourself." " I said you'll bloody hurt yourself!" " What?" " I said..." " I know what you said." " I said you'll hurt yourself." " I heard." " All this activity." " What activity?" " Whistling." " Yeah." "Talk, why don't you?" "Just a word, the odd nod now and again." " You'll be discharged in a day or two." " Tomorrow." " Who said so?" " Tomorrow." "I'm going tomorrow." " That's definite, is it?" " Definite." " But who shall I talk to?" " You can have this." "I prefer human intercourse, thank you very much!" " You dirty old devil!" " Reginald." "If you let me get on with it, I might finish, then you can have it." " I wandered lonely as a cloud..." " If you stop nattering!" "Poetry!" "That's more my style!" "I don't want corpses all over the place, not in here, not in this place, thank you!" " Wonder who'll go next, eh?" " Out, do you mean?" " Dead, I mean!" " Don't... don't!" "It's not very legible and it hurts..." "but I tell you one thing." "For the first time in my life," "I'm going to have to think about the value of every word." " Now, that's dangerous, isn't it?" " That rules out the newspapers, anyway!" "Except the "Sun" and the "Star"." "They don't have words at all!" "Maybe I could work for Mr Murdoch." "Can I have a peep?" "Can you read it?" ""Upward strokes and... down..."" "What's this?" ""...downward slopes... and a comma curls, making me hold..."" "Yes, I can read it!" ""Making me hold..." what?" "My breath." "Words." "Words make me hold my breath." " I see." " Who knows what you'll say?" " Who knows where they've been?" " Keep at it." "You're doing very well." "Suppose they ganged up on us when we weren't looking!" " Who?" " Words!" "Little devils!" "Words!" "Well" " I'll pop in and see you tomorrow afternoon." " What made you say that?" " What?" "Suppose we wrote that down?" ""Well - dash," ""I'll pop in and see you again tomorrow afternoon."" "Oh, it doesn't matter, doesn't matter." " Well, keep practicing, that's the thing." " Yes, that's the thing." "Keep practicing, comma, that's the thing." "Full stop." "Jolly good!" "I presume you made your call, Mr Binney." "I hope you did." "If it was long distance, don't worry about the bill." "So now we wait." "We wait... and we see." "Mr Binney?" "Are you here, sir?" " At home, are you?" " Put on the light, why don't we?" " Blood." " What?" " Shh!" "...Sorry." " Shhh!" " Shhh your bloody self!" "All right, all right." " Where's the switch?" " It's usually on the wall." " Clever dick!" " You find it, then!" "God, the people I have to work with!" "I don't know why you always say that." "The poor bugger!" "I thought his voice sounded funny." " What?" " On the phone, when he rang." "'Course it sounded funny!" "What would you sound like with a knife in your throat?" "!" "All right, all right." " What are all these papers?" " Perhaps it's..." "I don't know what to do." "I don't have the faintest idea." " Well, it's just..." " Yeah?" "I don't know." "I mean, who do we go to?" " The top." " What?" "Go straight to the top." "Whitehall." "It'll have to be." "We're supposed to be in Intelligence." " Yeah." " That's what we're supposed to use!" "This up here!" "The old gray mare!" "Hello?" " What's it say on the bits of paper?" " That's a point." "Well, what does it say?" "God Almighty!" "Well, what is it?" "It'd take a more cleverer man than me to make sense of it." "And one with a better grasp of grammar." " What?" " A more better grasp, you would say." "Look here, you smart-arse, you little shit!" "Nit-picking at a time like this - in the middle of this bloody peril!" " So I spoke out of turn." " I probably went to a better school than you!" "Oh, yeah?" " Where was that, then?" " Don't you...!" "That's it!" "That's the point." "You've put your finger right on it." "Have I?" "How do you mean?" "We don't know a bloody thing about our..." "Who?" "Or why?" "What?" "I mean, it's all a blank, innit?" " Not filled in, do you mean?" " Padding!" " Still..." " No "still" about it!" "It's a fact!" "A hard and fast fact!" "And you can't argue about it!" "We're padding!" "Like a couple of bleeding' sofas!" " You never use my name, do you?" " Do you ever use mine?" "Oh, God, we're completely..." "Completely..." "There's blood on this paper." "All over it." "What does it say?" "It says..." "It says "Who killed Roger Ackroyd?"" " Who?" " Christ knows!" " Is he a foreigner?" " Do we know him?" "Is he on our list?" " I don't know him from Adam." " No." "But it's a clue!" "Everything..." "All things mean something." "All things point." "Weren't we taught that at the Depot?" "Absorb, ponder, act." " One, two, three." "...three." "That singer!" "Perhaps he done it!" "The crooner!" " I wouldn't be totally surprised!" " We lost him, didn't we?" "The bugger!" "We lost him, but has he found us?" "Search the place." " Every room." " Every cupboard." "Every nook, every cranny." "If he's here... we'll find the bugger!" "Philip!" "Philip!" "Where be you, Philip?" "Philip!" "Where bist?" "Philip?" "Come on, old buddy!" "Philip!" "Where bist?" "Philip!" "Doesn't trust anybody again." "Doesn't give thy love." "Hide in theeself, else they'll die." "They'll die... and they'll hurt you." " Where bist, Philip?" " Hide, hide." "Dad..." "Dad." "Oh, there thou bist." "Aye... here I be." "Doesn't give thy love." "Hide in theeself, else they'll die." "They'll die... and they'll hurt you." "Hide, hide." "Oh, Philip!" "PHILIP!" "Philip!" "Come back, please!" "Philip!" "Philip!" "Philip!" "What's the loveliest word in the English language, Officer?" "In the sound it makes in your mouth?" "In the shape it makes on the page?" " What do you think?" " Er... fit-up?" "Come on, that's two words!" "Forget your hobbies for a minute!" "Now, think of the loveliest word." "That's not my... bag, sir, is it?" "Well, now, I'll tell you." "E-L-B-O-W." "Elbow." " That's very useful, an elbow." " What?" " In my line of work." " All right, what have I done?" " Sorry, sir, I have bad news." " Riot shields to be banned?" " Your wife." " I'm not married." " But I thought..." " What's happened?" "What's she done?" "I'm referring to... a Mrs Nicola Marlow." " My ex-wife." " I thought..." "All right, all right, my wife." " Get on with it, man!" " I don't know whether you..." "She has been living with, our enquiries so far indicate, sir, a Mr Mark Finney, sir." " Binney, did you say?" "Binney?" " Finney, sir." "F for Freddie." " A film producer, it seems." " Go on." "Early this morning, the Hammersmith station received a distraught call from Mrs Marlow." "She said she had..." "Well, sir, I'm sorry, sir." "She said she had... stuck a knife in the throat of this Mr Finney and that this Mr Finney, F for Freddie, was dead, sir." " Dead?" " Dead." "With a D?" "Go on, go on." "We went round straight away." " Where is this?" " The Mall by the bridge." "Hammersmith." "Mrs Marlow was sitting on the stairs, sir, in a state of what we call "extreme distress"." "Blood all over her." "In the room upstairs, it was very much as she had described, sir." "Stabbed with a large kitchen knife." "A 'Abitat knife, sir." " 'Abitat?" " Tottenham Court Road." " Where?" " Tottenham Court..." "Oh... yes." "In the throat, sir." "In... his throat." "Sticking out of..." "Jesus!" "But... but..." "We read her her rights and she was taken into custody where she was described as docile and cooperative, sir." "The arresting officer had no reason to suspect, but when she was taken to the patrol car, she... suddenly made a run for it, taking the arresting officer very much by what YOU might call surprise, sir." "Particularly as she was in a state of... near undress." "What do you..." "What are you saying?" "Half naked." "Oh, God!" "I've got to wake up!" "I've got to wake up!" "She managed to get on to the bridge itself whereupon she threw herself in the bleedin' river." "Maximum embarrassment all round." "Yes." " Wake up." " What?" " Wake your bloody self up." " Yes." "What's the matter?" "What's all this noise?" " I'm sorry?" " You go back to sleep." " Sorry." " Go on, back to sleep." "You all right, Pop?" "Oh, good." "What's the loveliest word in the English language, Nurse?" "In its sound, I mean." "The sound it makes in your mouth." "In the shape it makes on the page." "What do you think?" " Or have I asked you this before?" " The loveliest?" "Rose." " No, primrose." " No, no." "E-L-B-O-W." "Come on, drink." "What's the matter?" "I didn't mean it." "I didn't." "I always thought they knew their way around." " What did he want?" " The women's ward." " What?" " His mother was brought in yesterday." " But..." " Quite lucky, him walking in here." "He recognized a friend." " What's the matter?" " Oh, nothing." "Come on." "Ahem!" " 'Ere!" " Well, well, well." " Oh, hello." " Hello, Officer." " Yeah... well." " Hadn't got you down as a reader." " Yeah, well..." " What's this?" " "Janet and John"?" " Who?" ""He did not believe the human body could be so crimsonly liquid." ""Blood gashed through the severed vein as though it'd been longing to escape..."" " Gawd!" " It's good!" "Straight up!" " They say this stuff doesn't corrupt." " There you are." "What's there to say?" "There you are, Officer." " It's good!" " He reads this, then he pinches a VCR." " Who does?" " You does!" "I've paid my debt to society." "What you think and what I think are different things." " Keep your nose clean or I'll nip it off." " Gawd Almighty!" "What are you in for?" " Heart." " You got no bleedin' heart!" " Aw, come on!" " I'll be watching you." "We can fit you up with a pacemaker, Reggie." "Berk!" "Who have I been next to all this time?" "What sort of person?" "A human person!" "Well, what have you done?" "Why are the police so interested in you, my boy?" "Mind your own business." "Keep your long nose out of it." "Good..." "Good heavens, Reginald, is that the way to speak to me?" "Good heavens above!" "Reginald!" "Reginald!" "You're hot, Mr Marlow." "Don't you go and get any complications or anything silly like that." "Drink plenty of water, you hear?" "Now, let's see what's going on here." "I think you've been overdoing it again." "Hey... where are you?" "Too many people were asking the same question and it wasn't because they wanted to polish my shoes for me, no, sir." "If you go down in the woods today You're sure of a big surprise" "If you go down in the woods today You'd better go in disguise" "For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain because" "Today's the day the teddy bears Have their picnic" "Beneath the trees where nobody sees They'll hide and seek" "As long as they please - that's the way The teddy bears have their picnic" "Picnic time for teddy bears" "The little teddy bears Are having a lovely time today" "Watch them, catch them unawares" "And see them picnic" "On their holiday" "See them gaily gad about" "They love to play and shout They never have any cares" "At six o'clock, Their mummies and daddies" "Will take them home to bed 'Cause they're tired little teddy bears" "If you go down in the woods today You'd better not go alone" "It's lovely down in the woods today But safer to stay at home" "For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain because" "Today's the day the teddy bears Have their picnic" "Look!" "I did it!" "I walked!" "I can walk!" "Look at me, everybody!" " Look!" " He's bellowing again." "Listen to him." "It's nice to be able to walk, Mr Hall." "Yes, but you don't have to make a song and dance about it, do you?" "Philip, what are you doing?" "What do you think you're..." " Walking." " Good heavens, supposing you fall over?" "Hold on to me." "You're not ready for this." "Hold on to YOU?" "There are not many others about any more, Philip." "Be-bop-a-lu-la" "Yes... but isn't it about time you climbed down out of your tree?" "Well, one thing's for sure," "I'm gonna..." "I'm gonna walk right out of this place." " I'm not gonna stay here." " But will you stay in this condition?" " No." " I don't just mean your skin and joints." " No!" " You nasty old sod!" "Mr Marlow!" "What are you doing?" " What do you think you're doing?" " Walking." "What if you fell?" "You can't do this on your own." "Take it in stages." " No!" " Steady." " By tomorrow..." "By tomorrow..." " What about tomorrow?" "I'll walk out of this place on my own two feet!" " Oh, will you, now?" " Hey!" "Nicola isn't in the river!" "What?" "I told you, didn't I?" "I told you!" "Can I have some help here?" "You're too heavy." "Can I have some help here?" "All right, Nurse." "All right." "He's too heavy for you, Nurse." "Gently!" "Sorry, sorry." "Take him back to his bed." "It's that one over there." "Gently does it, sunshine." "A small step for a man, but a giant leap for a cripple!" "This is not the time for..." "Sit him on his bed." "Gently!" " Thanks." "Thank you." " Yes, thank you very much." " It's a good job we came, eh?" " You're telling me!" " And this is the one we came to see." " You're telling me." " These are not visiting hours." " They are now, sweetie." "Bugger the rules." " And bugger the regulations." " It's because I'm hot." "I don't know you." "I've no idea who or what you are." " I see." "Disowning us now, are you?" " Bloody orphans, are we?" "I'm sorry, but I must ask you to leave." " Leave?" " Leave?" "We're fed-up, lady!" "We get all the shit!" "And one shooter between us!" " What?" " Bang, bang!" " And why?" " And what for?" " Never told!" " Our roles are unclear!" " No names even!" "No bloody handles!" " Nurse!" "Nurse!" "NURSE!" " Where are you going?" " Home." " But that's off the page, isn't it?" " You're going nowhere, sunshine." "Not until we settle this." "Settle what?" " Who we are!" "What we are!" " That's right." " That's absolutely right." " No, no!" " Come on." " No!" "Please don't!" " Tell us." " I beg you, don't do that!" "Please!" "Don't!" "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" "No!" " Come on... own up." " Please don't!" "Own up!" " Come on." " We'll tear you apart." "Limb from limb." " No, please..." " Speak English." "Come on." "Come on, tell us!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help me!" "Somebody, help me!" "Help me!" "Help me!" "Don't, please!" "Stop!" "Please don't!" "Ahhh!" "Somebody, help me!" "Please!" "Ahhhh!" "Ahhhh!" "Ahhh!" "Ahhhh!" "Help me!" "Help me!" "Help me!" "Personally, I don't wanna walk down the mean streets." "But there's no money in picking bluebells." "Am I right or am I right?" "Will you listen to that?" "Can you hear that guy?" "Anybody would think somebody was twisting his arm." "What I say is, when you're dealing with the Devil, then praise the Lord and pass the ammunition." "Am I not wrong?" "Neither am I wrong." " Christ!" "The warbler!" " Quick!" "Use the shooter!" "Jesus!" "Jesus!" "Jesus!" "Nurse!" "Mr Marlow...!" "Really!" "No..." "Please..." "No, you can't!" "No!" " Please, wait!" " Don't shoot!" " Please don't!" " That's murder!" "No, no!" "Please don't!" "Will you listen to that?" "Murder, he says." "I call it pruning." "Only one of us is gonna walk out of here sweeter than the roses." "Please!" "Please don't!" "Don't shoot!" "I suppose you could say we'd been partners." "Like Laurel and Hardy or Fortnum and Mason." "But, hell, this was one sick fellow from way back when." "And I reckon I'm man enough to tie my own shoelaces now." "Open." "Haven't you finished that silly old book yet?" "Last page, innit?" "Huh!" "Giant leap for mankind, my boy." "Oh, thank you, Nurse!" "Got my 'at?" "No, no, no, no, no." "Cheers, Pop." "B..." "Bye." " Bye, everybody." " See ya." "Bye." " Cheerio." " Bye." "Good luck." "Keep your noses clean." ""And... her... soft... red..." "lips..." ""...clam... clamp..." ""...clamped..." ""...themselves... on... his." ""The end."" "Lucky devil!" "We'll meet again" "Don't know where" "Don't know when" "But I know we'll meet again" "Some sunny day" "Keep smiling through" "Just like you always do" "Till the blue skies chase those dark clouds" "Far away" "And I will just say hello" "To the folks that you know Tell them you won't be long" "They'll be happy to know That as I saw you go" "You were singing this song" "We'll meet again" "Don't know where" "Don't know when" "When I grow up," "I be gonna be a detective!" "But I know we'll meet again" "Some sunny day"