Blood Rush

BLOOD RUSH
(third draft)
by
Michel J. DUTHIN
phone: 33 623233561
FADE IN:
EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT
A long and desert dock. TOM O’BRIEN, 45, is snappily dressed

with a long coat, his hair styled, and his nails manicured.
Here is a man who clearly takes excellent care of himself.
He walks down under the pouring rain, crosses a small bridge,

passes a grate, and stops in front of a warehouse open door.
He puts a hand up his ear.
TOM
The door is open. I stop for a
while to check around.
He scans around, takes a gun out, and cocks it.
INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT
Tom silhouettes at the door.
TOM
God, it’s so dark in there.
(a beat)
I’m in--
He enters the warehouse.
TOM (cont’d)
My eyes are getting used of the
darkness.
Rain pours into the warehouse through several holes in the

roof.
CLOSEUP ON TOM
He has a tiny earphone from where a FILTERED VOICE can be

heard.
EARPHONE VOICE (V.O.)

(filtered)
O’Brien, could you repeat?
(static)
O’Brien--
2.
EXT. DOCKS - INT. POLICE CAR - NIGHT
INSPECTOR PHILIP SANDERSON, 54, a fat man wearing mustache,

is seated at the back of a police car, a young woman by his
sides. She is LIEUTENANT BETSY KOVAKS, 26, a thin blonde and
curly hair, girl-next-door style.
They both wear bulletproof jackets.
Sanderson is speaking on a microphone.
On the radio, just static.
SANDERSON
O’Brien! Come in!
(to Betsy)
Hell, walls are too thick. We lost
contact!
(on the microphone)
Tom! Come in!
Tom keeps walking in the darkness, and then stops. He is

taking a small box from his coat pocket, pours some pills in
his hand, and swallows them.
TOM
(calling)
Mrs. Smith!!
As a response, a FLASHLIGHT blinks three times upstairs.
TOM (cont’d)
(whispering)
I see the signal. I’m coming up.
He gets along.
TOM (cont’d)
I’m at the foot of a large metallic
stairway. Do you copy?
No response.
He taps on the earphone with his finger.
TOM (cont’d)
Do you copy?
Just static.
3.
TOM (cont’d)
(to himself)
Just what I needed.
Suddenly, a WOMAN’S VOICE ECHOES in the warehouse.
WOMAN (V.O.)
Come up!
Tom starts to climb the stairs to the flashlight. His feet

RESOUND on the metallic steps.
A big steel pulley-block is hanging with a heavy chain in the

dark part of the ceiling above the stairway.
WOMAN (V.O.) (cont’d)

I’m here, waiting for you!
A hand holds the chain.
Reaching the upper floor, Tom walks on a narrow catwalk

towards the light, getting closer of the steel pulley-block.
Above him, in the glass roof, a large hole lets the rain
pouring in.
EARPHONE VOICE (V.O.)

(filtered)
--O’Brien, what the fuck are you
doing?!
Sanderson’s filtered voice seems to tear Tom’s ear out. In a

flash, he notices that the flashlight is simply placed on a
wooden case. Instinctively, he rises his eyes, just at the
moment the pulley-block is about to fall and crash him.
The heavy pulley-block smashes on the catwalk with an

incredible metallic noise that echoes throughout the
warehouse.
A WOMAN, wearing a bulletproof jacket and holding a gun,

springs out from the dark, fifty feet from Tom. She looks
like a fury.
WOMAN
(shouting)
I’ll kill you!!
She is about to shoot, but Tom, quicker, draws his gun first,
jumps in a dive, and shoots twice. The bullets miss her as
she climbs up a beam.
4.
EXT. DOCKS - INT. POLICE CAR - NIGHT
The TWO SHOTS are heard inside the police car.
SANDERSON
Action!
Everyone rushes out of the police car.
EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT
About twenty armed POLICE OFFICERS are ready to assault the

warehouse, rushing to the door.
The police officers, followed by Sanderson and Betsy, enter

and spray in the warehouse.
SANDERSON
(shouting)
O’Brien! Where are you?!
Tom’s voice ECHOES.
TOM (V.O.)
(shouting)
Up here!!
The police officers take their flashlights out. Light beams

circumambulate through the darkness. One of them spots the
woman climbing to the roof.
A POLICE OFFICER
There!!
But Tom is already chasing her, following her trail.
INT. WAREHOUSE ROOF - NIGHT
The woman reaches a hole in the roof and pulls herself up

outside.
Sanderson turns to Betsy.

5.
SANDERSON
Outside.
Betsy just nods and rushes out.
INT. WAREHOUSE ROOF - NIGHT
Tom hoists himself up and disappears through the hole.
EXT. WAREHOUSE ROOF - DOCKS - NIGHT
Under the pouring rain, his face beaten by the wind, Tom
stands on the slippy roof. The woman is running to the next
warehouse. She turns back and shoots at Tom, missing him.
Then, she jumps and lands on the next roof. Although the
slippy roof, Tom chases her.
Behind him, police officers appear through the hole. Reaching

the edge of the warehouse, Tom jumps at his turn.
EXT. WAREHOUSE #2 ROOF - DOCKS - NIGHT
Tom makes the same leap, but almost slips in landing and is
thrown off balance. He tries to recover, closely grabs a
pipe, and manages to stand up. Seeing the woman still
running, he shoots at her.
Hit at her bulletproof jacket strap, she is thrown on her

right and tumbles on the roof. Tom resumes his chase.
But the woman is already up, holding her shoulder, and she
shoots at Tom who ducks to avoid the bullet. She reaches the
edge of the second roof and manages to jump on a large rusty
pipe that relies the warehouse to another. Under her weight,
the pipe breaks and she falls to the ground, sixty feet
under.
She disappears from Tom’s sight. He runs to the edge and

looks down.
EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT
Soaking, the woman is hanging to steel cables relying two

cranes. With an incredible agility, she manages to pulls
herself up to the cables, and walks like a tightrope walker
to one of the cranes.
ON THE ROOF
6.
Tom aims at her, but the rain is getting harder. He cannot

see much. Noticing a metallic ladder, he hurries down.
ON THE DOCKS
Down on the dock, Betsy watches every move the woman makes,
trying to anticipate her next. She waves her wet hair back
and runs to the crane foot.
ON THE CRANE
The woman disappears into the crane. From the second roof,
police officers start to shoot at her.
On the ladder, Tom raises his head.
TOM
(shouting at the police
officers)
Aim at her head!! She’s got a
bulletproof jacket!!
ON THE DOCKS
Betsy hides behind a container.
Tom reaches the ground and nervously scans around.
No trace of the woman.
Tom starts to run to the foot of the crane, expecting to see

the woman looming from anywhere. Suddenly, someone moves in
his back. With no second thought, Tom turns back and shoots
twice.
Betsy’s head explodes.
When he realizes what he has just done, Tom is devastated. He

stares at Betsy’s dislocated body on the soppy ground and
drops his gun, unable to move.
A shot resounds behind him.
Tom looks ahead at the crane ladder and sees the woman’s body
petrified, aiming at him. Surprise is read on her frozen
face. Then, slowly, she drops her gun, and falls on the
ground.
Sanderson has just killed her.

7.
Tom has not moved, panting, still staring at Betsy, his face
beaten by the rain.
FADE TO BLACK:
WRITTEN: TWELVE YEARS LATER
INT. ORSINI’S VILLA - NIGHT
CLOSE ON a TV screen with an Italian spoken show hosted by a

foxy woman.
WRITTEN: CALCATA, ITALY
An old man (GIORGIO ORSINI) in his eighties, wearing a silky

dressing gown, is sleeping in a deep armchair in front of the
TV. The room is sumptuously decorated with many church and
piety objects: icons, candelabrums, furniture, and a large
library with old books.
A CRACKING
Slowly, Orsini’s hand moves to a bureau drawer by the

armchair while he keeps his eyes shut. Without a noise, he
opens the drawer and slips his hand inside to take a gun.
The drawer is violently shut on his hand. Orsini moans.
The old man manages to take his hand out of the drawer, still
moaning, and holds it with pain. A TALL MAN, his head covered
by a Balaclava helmet, is standing in front of him, hiding
the TV screen, shaking his head.
TALL MAN
Tss, tss. Bad boy.
Orsini stops moaning, still holding his hand, and looks up at

the tall man.
ORSINI
(in Italian)
What do you want?
TALL MAN
Where is it, old man?
Orsini beckons him he does not understand.

8.
TALL MAN (cont’d)

Where is it? You perfectly know
what I’m talking about.
Anger grows on Orsini’s face.
ORSINI
(in Italian)
Fuck you!
The tall man shrugs, takes a large knife out and signs
himself.
TALL MAN
As you wish, old man.
Suddenly, a gloved hand grabs Orsini’s throat from behind and

crushes his Adam’s apple. The old man collapses on the
carpet.
On the TV screen, the show happily goes on.
FADE TO BLACK:
9.
EXT. CHURCH - NIGHT
WRITTEN: PUY-EN-VELAY, FRANCE
A church in fire in the middle of the night. French

FIREFIGHTERS are busy around the building, handling water
hoses to extinguish giant flames.
The local priest (PERE MORISI) and an OLD WOMAN are staring
with sadness at the church destroyed by the fire.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. CHURCH - DAWN
In the mist of the dawn, as firefighters are leaving with

their trucks, Père Morisi stares with no comprehension at the
smoking ruins.
Suddenly, through the smoke, on a wall, he notices a reversed

cross sketched in black and the word: SATAN with a reverted
“S”.
EXT. RINCON CHURCH - DAY
WRITTEN: RINCON, NM
A Mexican-style church crushed by the sun. Everything is

quiet in the area. Some kids are playing around, speaking
Spanish.
INT. RINCON CHURCH - TOM’S BEDROOM - DAY
CLOSE ON TOM’S FACE
His look has changed. He is badly shaved, sweaty, marked by

life, and his eyes are wide open like he was scared.
Dressed as a priest, he is seated at the head of a bed under

the stress of violent emotion. On a bedside table, an empty
bottle of tequila.
Facing him, rats, spiders, snakes, and insects are crawling

on the bed sheet to him, to his feet.
He screams and fails.
FADE TO BLACK:
10.
EXT. RINCON CHURCH - DUSK
A black limo with tainted glasses stops in front of the

church. Two young men in their thirties (BROOKS and DAVIS),
dressed in black, are stepping out of the car and paces to
the church main door. One of them is carrying a briefcase.
The front door being closed, they walk around the building.
INT. RINCON CHURCH - TOM’S BEDROOM - DUSK
Brooks and Davis are standing at the foot of the bed where
Tom is laid. They notice the empty bottle of tequila. Davis,
an Afro-American, leans over Tom and slaps him to wake him
up. After two slaps, Tom opens his eyes.
TOM
(woozy)
Who are you?
BROOKS
I don’t think our names would tell
you something.
DAVIS
Archbishop Risi sent us.
Tom sits on the bed.
TOM
Never heard of him.
DAVIS
He needs you.
Tom checks the bottle of tequila and notices it is empty.
TOM
(chuckling)
Who could remember me in this USA
asshole?
Brooks opens his briefcase and takes two files out he hands
to Tom.
BROOKS
We have to let you know that if you
cooperate, your help could lead you
to be transferred to another
church.
11.
Tom looks up at the two men with hatred.
TOM
Get out. I’ve got a parish to run.
DAVIS
(nodding to the bottle of
tequila)
Funny way to run it.
TOM
It’s none of your goddamn business.
Get out!
Brooks puts the files on the bed.
BROOKS
(handing Tom a card)
We stay at the Holiday Inn in Las
Cruces.
TOM
(sarcastic)
Okay. If I need you, I’ll whistle.
BROOKS
Good night Father.
Brooks and Davis step out, leaving Tom by himself. He sits on

the edge of the bed and sighs, scratching his cheek.
TOM
(towards the door)
Go to Hell.
His eyes meet the files on the bed. Tom opens the first one.
There are photos and typed sheets.
TOM (cont’d)
(to himself)
What’s that?
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. RINCON CHURCH - LIBRARY - NIGHT
Tom is leaned over the first file. On different pictures,

Orsini’s dead body sliced at the throat and the police
report. Tom looks captivated by what he reads. He opens the
second file. Pictures of the French burned down church with
the graffiti on the walls.
12.
Reading the reports, something holds his attention.
TOM
(to himself)
Puy-le-Velay?
He gets up and looks for a book in the library, finds it, and
opens it. He comes back to sit and reads. He takes the first
file back.
TOM (cont’d)
(to himself)
Calcata.
He pages through the book and finds a picture.
TOM (cont’d)
(to himself)
Of course.
FADE TO BLACK:
INT. HOLIDAY INN - HALLWAY - DAY
Down an hotel hallway, Tom knocks on a door. He is closely

shaved, his hair combed back. The door opens and Brooks
appears.
BROOKS
We were waiting for you.
TOM
Where’s Risi?
BROOKS
Archbishop Risi is waiting for us
in his New York office.
INT. HOLIDAY INN - BROOKS AND DAVIS ROOM - DAY
Tom enters the room where Davis is packing.
TOM
Why? He didn’t want to get dirty
coming in the boondocks?
DAVIS
Archbishop Risi is the personal
representative of the Holy Father
in the United States.
13.
TOM
(impressed)
That would be pretty serious!
CUT TO:
EXT. LAS CRUCES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DAY
The black limo parks by a private jet on Las Cruces

International Airport tarmac.
Tom, black glasses on the nose, gets off the car, followed by
Brooks and Davis. Wordless, he climbs the bridge and enters
the jet.
FLASHBACK - COURT - DAY
SILENT AND SLOW MOTION SEQUENCE
A judge hammer hits a table.
Tom is seated on the accused place. In the court audience, a

woman (SHEILA, 32) and a little girl (EMMA, 9) are looking at
him. While Sheila stares at him with anger, Emma starts to
cry.
FLASHBACK - PRISON CELL - DAY
SILENT AND SLOW MOTION SEQUENCE
Tom is reading a letter in a squalid prison cell.
CLOSE ON a divorce settlement with his name on.
END OF THE
FLASHBACK:
INT. RISI’S OFFICE - DAY
Risi’s office is a large room, bathed with sun rays, with

high crimson velvet wall covering, thick carpets, and high
quality furniture. A dim environment. Behind his desk,
ARCHBISHOP RISI (55) is signing papers presented by FATHER
CAMPAGNARI (30).
Risi is a tall thin man, his face bearded. A bold cross

necklace hangs from his neck. Father Campagnari is one of
those young priests, glasses on the nose, looking more like a
Wall Street yuppie than a priest.
14.
Someone KNOCKS on the door.
RISI
Come in!
Door opens and Brooks, Davis, and Tom enter the office. Risi
raises his keen eyes to them, while Father Campagnari stands
nearby, watching everything in silence.
RISI (cont’d)
Father O’Brien. I’ve heard so much
about you!
He stands up and walks to Tom who kneels as Risi presents him

his ring he kisses.
RISI (cont’d)
I guess my emissaries have been
quite persuasive.
TOM
Not as much as the files they
brought me.
With a wave of the hand, Risi gets rid of Brooks and Davis
who pace out of the office, nearly bowing.
RISI
Please, sit down.
Risi steps back behind his desk while Tom sits down in front
of him.
RISI (cont’d)
You just said my files were
persuasive. How much persuasive?
TOM
Let’s say what I read was rather
interesting.
RISI
And what was so interesting about
the two cases I sent you?
TOM
(frowning)
Forgive my curiosity, but who are
you?
Risi bursts out into laughter.

15.
RISI
I can see the ex-cop through the
priest. I’m the one to be forgiven.
I am Archbishop Risi, special
representative of our Holy Father
in the United States, and more
especially concerned about the
preservation of the Vatican
interests through the world.
(a beat)
I have read your memoir.
TOM
(puzzled)
Did you? How did--
RISI
Someone put it on Internet. It was
really interesting. I should say
impressive.
He opens a file and reads.
RISI (cont’d)
“History of relics symbolism” by
Father O’Brien, Ph.D. in Religion
and Psychological studies.
(to Tom)
I should say a rare combination
between a police officer’s report
and a priest’s inspiration.
(with a keen smile)
Now, tell me, what was so
interesting about those two cases?
TOM
Well, first. The locations: Calcata
and Puy-en-Velay. Calcata church
was known as the reliquary
containing the Holy Foreskin, the
one they took from Jesus Christ
(MORE)
after his circumcision. They used
to parade it through the streets.
The practice ended, when thieves
stole the jewel-encrusted case,
contents and all. Oddly, in France,
they claimed to detain the same
relic. That’s what we could call
linking evidences in the police.
Furthermore, it says that the man
killed in Italy was known for being
a Mafioso.
16.
I wouldn’t TOM(cont'd)
be surprised he was
keeping the relic in his house.
Secondly, did you take a look at
the graffiti on the French church?
I didn’t notice it at first, but
something bothered me. Look at the
picture number two.
Risi takes the picture in question.
TOM (cont’d)
Satan has a reverted “S”. He does
mean something. Through my studies,
I never heard of any Gothic sect
spelling Satan this way. And, as a
coincidence, the fire started in
the part of the church where the
relic was kept.
Risi stares at him with malicious eyes.
RISI
So, what is your conclusion?
TOM
I would say that the two cases are
related.
(a beat)
I’ve never believed in
coincidences.
Risi happily claps his hands.
RISI
Well done, Father. We both drew the
same conclusion. I was right.
You’re the perfect man for this
situation. Would you like something
to drink?
TOM
(serious)
No, thanks.
RISI
(to Father Campagnari)
I’ll have a sherry.
Father Campagnari nods and pours Risi a glass of sherry he

hands him.
17.
RISI (cont’d)
(to Tom)
Tell me Father, what brought you
here? Your wish to be transferred
to another parish or just
curiosity?
TOM
Frankly? I don’t know. Maybe was I
tempted by an old hunter’s reflex?
RISI
I have an offer to make. Help me to
resolve that case and you’ll be
highly rewarded.
TOM
You know, I’ve been already
rewarded enough because of what
happened in my last case in the
police. I don’t want those-- demons
to visit me anymore. I like my
parish and--
RISI
(interrupting)
Come on Father. You perfectly know
you’ve been relegate there by your
hierarchy because of your past.
But, to be transferred is only one
part of my offer.
He sips his sherry.
RISI (cont’d)
If you help me, I will help you.
TOM
Nobody can-- anymore.
RISI
Do you really think so? Did you
(MORE)
forget your daughter? Don’t you
want to find her?
Tom is about to speak back.
RISI (cont’d)
(interrupting)
I know everything about you. Why
you’ve been to jail. Why your wife
left you, taking away your only
child.
18.
RISI(cont'd)
I know everyone of your-- demons. I
give you a hand to get a second
chance.
TOM
I must think about it.
RISI
Sorry. You have no choice. You just
proved you didn’t lose your talent
of investigator. Think about your
daughter.
He takes a look in his file.
RISI
Emma? That’s it?
Tom nods.
RISI (cont’d)
I promise to do my best to help you
to find her.
TOM
The last time I saw her, she was
only nine.
Risi presses a button.
RISI
By the way, I’ll introduce you your
partner you will work with.
The door opens and a young woman enters. LAURA (21) is dark-
haired, her hair coiled up and glasses. She looks very strict
and stylish. She walks to Tom.
RISI (cont’d)
Father, this is Laura.
(to Laura)
This is Father O’Brien I told you
about. (MORE)
Tom stands up and they shake hands.
LAURA
Please to meet you Father.
RISI
(to Tom)
Laura is like my own daughter. I
took care of her when her parents
died.
19.
She is likeRISI(cont'd)
my personal secretary
now. You’ll both leave tomorrow for
Italy and she’ll keep in touch with
me.
Tom cannot help staring at Laura, sizing her up, “studying”

her.
TOM
(to Risi)
If you know everything about me,
you’re certainly aware of what
happened to my last partner, do
you?
RISI
This time, you won’t have a gun.
And you definitely look wiser to
me. Laura has settled everything up
for your journey. Take a good night
of sleep.
He drinks his sherry up.
RISI (cont’d)
I think we’ve finished.
He turns to Father Campagnari who gives him papers to sign.
LAURA
(to Tom)
Please, come with me Father. I’ll
show your bedroom.
They step out of the office with no notice from Risi or

Father Campagnari.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. PLANE - DAY
Tom and Laura are seated, side by side, in a crowded 747. Tom
looks nervous. He stares at his trembling hand and clutches
it on his seat arm.
LAURA
Fear of flying?
Tom turns to her with a smile.
TOM
Just trying to get over an old
friend of mine.
20.
LAURA
I have pills to relax. Do you want
some?
TOM
No, thanks.
LAURA
I took three before we left. I must
admit hearing all those news about
planes crashes get me a bit
nervous.
TOM
Statistically, there are more dead
on road crashes than in plane.
LAURA
I hate car too.
TOM
(with a smile)
Sorry.
A FLIGHT ATTENDANT with a trolley stops by them.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Anything to drink?
LAURA
I’ll have a diet Coke, please.
She hands a Coke to Laura.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
(to Tom)
Sir?
(noticing his white
collar)
Sorry. Father?
TOM
Still water, please.
She gives Tom a bottle of water and leaves them. Laura turns
to Tom with a shy smile.
LAURA
To our team, Father.
TOM
To our team.
21.
They toast.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. PLANE - DAY (LATER)
Tom is studying over and over the files. Laura turns to him.
LAURA
May I ask you a personal question?
Tom raises puzzled eyes to her.
LAURA (cont’d)
What happened to your partner?
TOM
I killed her. It was all my fault.
That night, I was under medication.
Near the overdose. I thought I
could keep my right reflexes, but I
didn’t. I mistook her for the woman
we were chasing. It wasn’t an
accident. I could avoid it. So, I
quit and pleaded guilty. I’ve got
ten years. I sure deserved it.
LAURA
Then you wife left you?
TOM
Yeah.
(bitterly)
While I was doing my time.
Seeing his melancholic eyes, Laura does not insist.
LAURA
I’m sorry. I shouldn’t--
TOM
(interrupting)
That’s okay.
(chuckling)
That’s life.
FADE TO BLACK:
22.
EXT. ROME AIRPORT - DAY
Outside the Rome Airport, a black limo with Vatican flags is

parked. Laura and Tom step out of the building and enter the
limo.
EXT. ROME SUBURB - INT. LIMO - DAY
While the CHAUFFEUR is driving, Laura and Tom are seated at

the back.
LAURA
Calcata is only one hour from Rome.
We should arrive shortly.
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DUSK
The limo speeds on a little road surrounded by small

mountains.
LAURA (V.O.)
Here we are.
Pan back to reveal:
THE TOWN OF CALCATA
The little town sits on the top of a small rocky mountain

emerging from the trees.
EXT. CALCATA POLICE STATION - DUSK
The limo parks in front of the local police station guarded

by two carabinieri. As soon as Laura and Tom get off the car,
an officer comes to them. CALVINO is the local police
inspector.
CALVINO
(in Italian, subtitled)
Good evening. You should be Mrs.
Morris. I was waiting for you. I
had orders from Rome to be at your
entire disposal.
LAURA
This is Father O’Brien.
23.
Calvino salutes Tom who nods to him.
CALVINO
I lead you at once at Orsini’s
villa.
They start to walk down through the tiny streets.
CALVINO (cont’d)
I’ve been very surprised to get
that request from the Church.
What’s the point between Orsini and
you?
LAURA
That’s why we’re here.
INT. ORSINI’S VILLA - DUSK
Laura, Tom and Calvino enter the room where Orsini has been
killed. In front of the TV set, blood has made a large dried
spot on the carpet.
CALVINO
Almost nothing has been touched
since the murder. The whole villa
was sealed off.
TOM
(to Laura)
Can you ask him to leave us alone?
Laura nods and turns to Calvino.
LAURA
(in Italian)
We’d like to be alone, please.
CALVINO
(in Italian)
Well, well.
He looks quite upset while he steps out of the room. Tom

takes rubber gloves from his pocket and hands a pair to
Laura. They both wear them.
TOM
Another old habit.
24.
LAURA
What are we looking for?
TOM
I don’t know. Do you?
Laura shakes her head.
TOM (cont’d)
In the plane, something
conspicuously bothers me. Orsini
has been emasculated after being
killed. At first, I didn’t know
why. Then, I concluded it could be
some kind of punishment for the one
who has stolen the Holy Foreskin.
He scans the room.
LAURA
So, what do you suggest?
Tom brushes his finger on each edge book of the library.
TOM
If the relic was kept here, there
should be some evidence.
LAURA
As?
Tom takes an old book out from the library and reads the
title.
TOM
(reading)
“Celebrazione Ecumenica per la
consegna delle Reliquie di Cristo”.
This kind of book?
Laura joins him and searches through the other part of the
library.
LAURA
(reading)
“History of the Holy Relics”, “The
Holy Prepuce”.
(she opens one book)
Local newspapers clippings. And
guess about what?
TOM
Foreskin robbery?
25.
LAURA
Bingo.
TOM
I’m sure there should be some
hidden safe around. I can almost
feel it.
He inspects the paintings on the walls, checking their back,

while Laura keeps on looking through the books. Tom notices
scratches on the hardwood floor coming from under a lowboy,
just as if the furniture has been pulled and put back. He
squats by, checks the back, and pulls the lowboy to him.
LAURA
You’ve got something?
TOM
I think so.
Laura approaches and sees now a built-in safe in the wall

behind the lowboy. The safe is half open. Inside, Tom finds
gold bars, different files, and international bills wads.
TOM (cont’d)
Signor Orsini was a wise saver.
On the left side inside the safe, in the bottom, a square

mark in the dust as if some kind of box was missing.
LAURA
Something has been taken out
recently.
Tom stands up.
TOM
Yeah. We have presumptions, but
nothing concrete. This mark could
be anything.
LAURA
Well, we’re sure now that money
wasn’t the murderer’s purpose.
TOM
You can call him back. Looks like
his job is not finished yet.
Laura steps out and comes back with Calvino. When he sees the
safe and its content, he looks quite floored and angry at the
same time.
26.
CALVINO
Santa Madonna!
FADE TO BLACK:
INT. ROME PIZZERIA - NIGHT
Tom and Laura are having dinner in a restaurant, eating huge

pizzas. Laura is drinking Chianti wine and Tom is having
water.
LAURA
I guess we had a good start today.
Your supposition looks founded.
TOM
Anyway, there’s still a missing
link.
LAURA
What do you mean?
TOM
I remember the relic was kept in a
large valuable jewel-encrusted
case. Why didn’t they take the gold
and the money too?
LAURA
Some mystical fanatics?
TOM
Maybe. Nevertheless, why this
emasculating set-up?
LAURA
You said it yourself. A punishment.
TOM
That’s weird. Maybe it was some
kind of message.
He shakes his head and swallows his mouthful.
TOM (cont’d)
Anyway, that’s the best pizza I
ever tasted.
LAURA
I used to come here every time I’m
in Rome.
27.
TOM
Are you coming often?
LAURA
Just when Archbishop Risi needs me
to.
TOM
How long do you know him?
LAURA
Since I was a child, I guess. He’s
always been in my memories. He
raised me like he could do with his
own daughter--
(smiling)
--if he could have one.
TOM
Does his hierarchy have any
objection with that?
LAURA
I don’t think they know. He keeps
me as his personal collaborator to
have me by his sides.
A FLOWERS SELLER approaches them. Laura turns to him and

speaks Italian. The boy walks away.
TOM
You impress me with your ability to
speak Italian.
LAURA
(embarrassed)
Thanks to Archbishop Risi too. He
wanted me to learn Italian, French,
Latin, and Hebrew.
(a beat)
Every language of the Church.
Tom has suddenly a kind of malaise.
LAURA (cont’d)
Are you alright?
TOM
Must be the jet lag--
He slowly fails and falls from his chair.
FADE TO BLACK:
28.
INT. HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
In a hotel room towering the Coliseum, Laura leans over Tom

who wakes up.
LAURA
How are you feeling?
TOM
(woozy)
As back from the dead.
LAURA
I wasn’t able to tell paramedics
what was wrong with you. I thought
the best was to carry you here.
TOM
You’ve been right.
(a beat)
My child, I’m just a drunkard.
That’s all. A sinful drunkard.
Though I decided to stop drinking,
my body still needs it. But, I’m
alright now.
Laura stands up.
LAURA
Have a good night. We leave at ten
tomorrow.
(she walks to the door)
Good night Father.
TOM
Good night.
Laura steps out. Tom deeply sighs.
FADE TO BLACK:
EXT. FRENCH LANDSCAPE - DAY
A high-speed train crosses the French countryside in front of

black and white cows.
INT. TRAIN - DAY
Surrounded by French speaking people, Tom and Laura are

seated in a train. TWO MEN are noisily arguing behind them.
29.
LAURA
We’re expected by Father Morisi,
the priest who discovered the
graffiti after the burning of his
church.
TOM
French police record wasn’t quite
eloquent. Just three lines. By
chance, the pictures were talking
for them.
LAURA
You know, French people are very
peculiar. They pace forward two
steps and three backward at once.
And they suppose to be the cradle
of Liberty, the land of the Human
Rights. Food and wine save them.
TOM
(nodding to the two men
behind)
Anyway, they’re quite noisy.
LAURA
We’re lucky trains are not on
strike today.
EXT. PUY-EN-VELAY CHURCH - DAY
The church ruins look sadder under the gray sky. Black soot
walls are half crumbled. Stain glass windows are mostly
melted, most of the furniture reduced to ashes. Tom, Laura,
and Father Morisi are standing in front of the ruins.
FATHER MORISI
(in French, subtitled)
I never received any threat. It’s
really vandalism. I don’t
understand.
TOM
(to Laura)
Ask him where did he find the
graffiti.
Laura turns to Father Morisi.
LAURA
Where did you find those graffiti?
30.
FATHER MORISI
Up there.
They advance to a wall indicated by Father Morisi. Large

letters are drawn with black paint, saying: SATAN NOTRE
METRE, SATAN VIE TOUJOURS. The “S” of the words SATAN are
reverted. Several cabalistic symbols and upside down crosses
are drawn too.
TOM
I can’t believe it. Most of these
symbols are missing in the local
police record. You’ve got a camera?
LAURA
No, but--
(she takes a phone cell
out her bag)
It takes pictures.
She shoots every symbol and the writing.
TOM
You’ve got them all?
LAURA
Yes, but-- either people who wrote
this are illiterate or they’re not
French.
TOM
Why?
She speaks French to Father Morisi and then turns to Tom.
LAURA
That’s what I thought. Two words
are misspelled. In the first
writing, you should read: “Satan,
our master”. But spelled that way,
it says: “Satan, our meter”. And
then, in the second, instead of
“Satan still alive”, it’s written:
“Satan still life”.
Tom inspects now the ground.
TOM
No more tracks after the
firefighters trucks passage.
31.
Father Morisi tells something in French to Laura who then

translates to Tom.
LAURA
He says that fire started precisely
in the room where the relic was
kept.
TOM
(chuckling)
So, we’ll never know now if the
relic was destroyed or stolen. Ask
him if he’s heard of any act of
Gothic sect in the area.
LAURA
(to Father Morisi)
Avez-vous entendu parler d’une
secte Gothique dans la région?
Father Morisi shakes his head.
LAURA (cont’d)
Thanks a lot, Father.
They shake hands.
Tom and Laura walk back to a car.
EXT. PUY-EN-VELAY CHURCH - INT. CAR - DAY
Laura seats behind the steering wheel.
LAURA
I increasingly believe that the two
cases are related.
TOM
The benefit of being on the field.
FADE TO BLACK:
INT. HOTEL - LAURA’S ROOM - NIGHT
Laura is seated at a table in her small hotel room, rapidly

typing on a laptop, connected to Internet. The screen
reflects in her glasses. Her cell phone is connected to the
laptop and she transfers the pictures of the church to the
machine.
32.
A THUD resounds from the next room and muffled GROANS.
Laura stands up and rushes out of her room.
INT. HOTEL - TOM’S ROOM - NIGHT
Laura enters Tom’s room and sees him on the bed. He is stiff,
convulsing and struggling like if he has a tetany crisis. On
the bedside table, in a flash, she notices a Holy Bible.
Laura rushes to it and forces Tom to bite it, avoiding this
way to bite his own tongue.
Tom is sweating and shivering. The crisis recedes and Tom

becomes stiller. Laura takes the Bible out from his mouth and
caresses his sweaty forefront, concerned.
LAURA
(reassuring)
It’s alright now.
Tom hardly smiles to her.
LAURA (cont’d)
Lucky your door was open.
Exhausted, Tom rolls on his side, and closes his eyes. Laura
stays leaned over him, watching him sleeping.
FADE TO BLACK:
INT. HOTEL - LAURA’S ROOM - NIGHT
Laura is sleeping, her face lighted by a moonbeam. Everything

is quiet. Her cell phone BUZZES. Woozy, she wakes up,
switches the light on, and unfolds her phone.
LAURA
(woozy)
Yes? Archbishop
(MORE)Risi, good even--
Good--
(a beat)
I’m alright, thank you. Did you
receive my mail?
(a beat)
Where?
(a beat)
Bruges in Belgium? Okay. We’ll be
there tomorrow.
(a beat)
He’s fine. He does a great job.
33.
LAURA(cont'd)
(a beat)
We’ll keep in touch. Good night.
She folds her cell phone and switches the light out.
BLACK SCREEN:
INT. TRAIN - DAY
Tom and Laura are having breakfast in a train speeding

through the French countryside. Tom looks exhausted.
LAURA
So, Archbishop Risi had a call last
night from Bruges, in Belgium. This
time, we will be first. He sent a
message to every place keeping a
Holy Relic to not call the police
but him first.
TOM
Bruges. The Holy Sponge.
LAURA
(impressed)
Yes! You’re a real living
encyclopedia!
TOM
All those robberies are starting to
worry me. No doubt now they’re all
related. But for what purpose?
LAURA
I’m sure we’ll find out.
TOM
Don’t have too much confidence in
me. You could be disappointed.
(bashful)
By the way, I’m really sorry about
last night. I’ll do my best to not
let it happen again.
LAURA
(benevolent)
I know you will.
They keep on eating. Tom sips his coffee.

34.
TOM
I don’t know much about French
people but I sure love their
coffee.
LAURA
You didn’t have time to taste one
in Rome.
TOM
This one satisfies my body. Do not
forget that I’m just a priest. I
don’t need much.
They stay silent for a while, not daring to talk.
LAURA
Tell me, how long have you been a
priest?
TOM
I thought you knew everything about
me?
LAURA
Not me. I like to discern people by
myself.
TOM
I became a priest three years ago.
In prison, I’ve been touched by a
kind of mystical revelation.
Certainly oppressed by guilt, I
decided to give up my life to my
fellowman. When I’ve been ordained,
I realized that God would punished
me more than men did, sending me in
that lost town in New Mexico.
LAURA
But, you never tried to find your
wife again? Your child?
TOM
What for? I knew that after years
of indoctrination by her mother,
she wouldn’t wish to see me again.
LAURA
You’re her father.
35.
TOM
I’m the father of everyone now.
I’ve got children everywhere. I’m
not a simple man anymore. I’ve
taken a vow to God.
LAURA
(sharply)
Why do you drink then?
Tom lows his head.
TOM
Touché.
(a beat)
Let’s say, I’m trying to run away
from my past. You remember my old
demons?
LAURA
I thought faith was enough to fight
the demons.
TOM
Love is the greatest of them.
EXT. BRUGES STREETS - INT. TAXI - DAY
Laura and Tom are seated at the back of a taxi driving

through the streets of Bruges, along the “Little Venice”
canals.
EXT. CHAPEL OF THE HOLY BLOOD - DAY
The taxi parks in front of a large square surrounded by high

buildings. Tucked away in the corner of the square, next to
the town hall, is the Basilius church and the Chapel of the
Holy Blood.
Tom and Laura get off the taxi and pace to the chapel. The
door is closed. They walk then around to a smaller door.
Laura rings. A little man opens. He is BROTHER SIMONS.
LAURA
You should be Brother Simons. I’m
Laura Morris and this is Father
O’Brien. You called Archbishop
Risi.
They shake hands.

36.
BROTHER SIMONS
Oh yes. Be welcome in this chapel.
I do speak English. Please, come
in.
Laura and Tom enter the church.
INT. CHAPEL OF THE HOLY BLOOD - SACRISTY - DAY
Tom and Laura sit down, facing Brother Simons in the sacristy
of the chapel. Brother Simons fixes a tea for himself and his
guests.
BROTHER SIMONS
Last night, I was ready to go home,
when I heard a noise. When I
entered the chapel, everything was
quiet. Nevertheless, I decided to
check around to reassure myself
after the warning message from
Archbishop Risi.
FLASHBACK - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY BLOOD - NIGHT
Brother Simons stands in front of the room where the relic is

kept and enters.
BROTHER SIMONS (V.O.)

When I entered, I noticed that the
case containing the Holy Sponge on
the silver altar was closed, but
something held my attention.
CLOSE ON A PIECE OF PAPER ON THE TILED FLOOR
BROTHER SIMONS (V.O.) (cont’d)

I found a card lay on the floor.
Brother Simons picks up the card.

There were just two letters on it.
SR.
CLOSE ON THE CARD WITH THE LETTERS “SR”

Intrigued, I opened the case but
the bottle of the relic was
missing.
37.
HIS P.O.V.
THE EMPTY RELIC CASKET
END OF THE
FLASHBACK:
INT. CHAPEL OF THE HOLY BLOOD - SACRISTY - DAY
Laura and Tom are sipping their tea. Laura notices that Tom
has a trembling hand.
BROTHER SIMONS
The relic was stolen and I finally
called Archbishop Risi.
TOM
You still have that card, don’t
you?
Brother Simons opens a drawer, takes the card out, and hands
it to Tom who wears a rubber glove and takes a look at the
card.
TOM (cont’d)
“SR”.
(to Laura)
Does it mean something to you?
LAURA
No. Never heard of it.
TOM
Do you have an envelope?
Laura takes an envelope out her briefcase and Tom inserts the
card in it.
TOM (cont’d)
(to Brother Simons)
Do you mind leading us to the
silver altar?
BROTHER SIMONS
No problem.
They all get up.
FADE TO BLACK:
38.
INT. BRUSSELS AIRPORT - BAR - DAY
Laura and Tom are waiting for their plane in one of the
Brussels Airport bars.
TOM
I can’t believe it. Those guys are
really pros. No breaking. A neat
job. And, every time, they leave a
clue behind.
LAURA
(reading her notes)
Emasculation in Italy, a reverted
“S” in France and here, that card
with “SR”.
TOM
We still have a large panel of
possibilities. If only we knew what
they were after, we could
anticipate their next move.
(a beat)
Did you call Risi?
LAURA
He asked me to send him the card by
FedEx to further analysis and wait
for his orders in Paris.
TOM
Does he have something up in mind?
I thought we were coming back home.
LAURA
I don’t know. After what’d happened
in Bruges, he has assigned a
Vatican agent in each place keeping
a relic.
TOM
Then, why do we have to wait in
Paris?
LAURA
He certainly thinks there will be
more robberies and we’d better stay
in the geographical center of their
locations.
39.
TOM
Good deduction. You know, you could
be a better cop than I was.
Touched, Laura simply lows her chin.
INT. PARIS HOTEL - LAURA’S ROOM - NIGHT
Laura is seated in her hotel room with view on the Eiffel

Tower, in front of her laptop, rapidly typing on the
keyboard. On Google, she is looking for any information about
“SR” but there is nothing conclusive.
EXT. PARIS STREETS - NIGHT
Tom walks alone in Paris streets. He crosses people who do

not pay attention to him.
Tom stops in front of a small church. He hesitates for a

short while, then enters.
INT. CHURCH - NIGHT
The entire church is almost lighted by candles, giving the

place a surreal look.
Tom plunges his finger in the holy water basin and crosses
himself, facing the altar. He slides himself between the rows
of benches and kneels to pray.
INT. PARIS HOTEL - LAURA’S ROOM - NIGHT
Tired, Laura switches her computer off, takes her glasses

out, and yawns, pinching the top of her nose.
INT. CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST - NIGHT
In a large church, just lighted by the candles, TWO MEN are

chatting in Italian by the main altar. They are dressed like
Brooks and Davis. Behind them, a heavy velvet curtain is
hanged on the wall.
Suddenly, a SHRIEKING BUZZ.
One of the two men puts a hand on his neck, shaken, and
collapses on the tiled floor. The second man has not the time
to take his gun out than a dart is stuck into his chest with
the same noise as before. He falls over his colleague’s body.
40.
FOUR MEN, dressed in commando style, wearing Balaclava

helmets, loom from the shadow. One of them carries a heavy
military bag (MAN WITH THE BAG). The four men pace to the
curtain and lift it.
A strong door appears.
A second man opens a laptop (SECOND MAN). The tall man seen
in Orsini’s villa takes a small tube out his jacket and
switches it on. A blue laser beam rises from the tube. The
tall man focuses the beam on the door lock. The metal starts
to melt around the lock.
The second man keeps typing on his keyboard.
The lock falls on the floor. The tall man kicks the door and
opens it to discover a long passage with multitude of
infrared beams. The tall man turns to the second man who
finishes typing.
SECOND MAN
(finally)
And-- Enter--
He presses the Enter key. As by magic, every red beam

disappears.
SECOND MAN (cont’d)

Et voilà. Thank you Mister Wi-Fi.
He folds his laptop. The man with the bag opens his bag and
takes three night vision goggles. He hands one to the tall
man, one to the second man and wears the last one. The fourth
man stays on the threshold, while the other three enter the
dark passage.
INT. CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST - UNDERGROUND PASSAGE -

NIGHT
P.O.V. SEQUENCE
Seen through the night vision goggles, everything appears in

green light. The corridor leads to a spiral stone stairway.
INT. CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST - UNDERGROUND STAIRWAY

- NIGHT
P.O.V. SEQUENCE
We step down the stairs.

41.
INT. CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST - UNDERGROUND HALLWAY -

NIGHT
The three men arrive in front of a large vault door.
SECOND MAN
Fuck! I thought it would be open.
They must have changed the code.
TALL MAN
(with authority)
Language!
(a beat)
How long?
SECOND MAN
Hey! Don’t you know to whom you’re
talking about? Gimme one minute!
He reopens his laptop and frantically types on the keyboard.

A list of numbers and letters scrolls on the screen. The
computer selects two letters and two numbers, but the last
one is still unbroken. The tall man is about to speak.

(holding his hand)
Let me think! Let me think!
He types again and snaps his fingers.

Clever guys! They’ve inserted Greek
alphabet in the code. So, ladies
and gentlemen--
The laptop BEEPS, selecting the last sign: the Omega.
A light CLICK and the vault door slowly opens. As soon as the
door is open, the white walls room behind lights up,
revealing its content. The three men take their goggles off.
INT. CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST - UNDERGROUND ROOM -

NIGHT
The entire room is empty but a large table in its center. The
table is about 15 feet long and 4 feet wide. The upper part
is made of glass and reflects the lights. The four arms have
wheels and two pipes penetrate the table with faucets.
The tall man enters first.

42.
P.O.V.: as he advances, we see what is under the glass:
THE HOLY SHROUD
THE BURIAL CLOTHE OF JESUS CHRIST
A kind of unreal light emanates from the cloth showing the

imprint of a full body in faint sepia colored image.
Almost religiously, the tall man advances and admires the

clothe for a couple of seconds. Then, the two other men join
him. Like a rehearsed action, they surround the table and
start to rotate the upper part to a half vertical position.
The two men put air valves on the glass, while the tall man
takes his blue laser again, and starts to pierce the glass at
its edges. Slowly, the glass melts and the delicate cutting
continues.
When the entire glass is cut, the two men lift the upper
part, take it out, and put it on the floor.
While the tall man starts to roll the shroud up, the man with
the bag takes a telescoping document tube out and they insert
the rolled clothe in it. After having closed the tube, they
put it back into the bag.
They are now ready to leave.
TALL MAN
No funny game this time. I hope
they’ve got our previous messages.
If not, never mind for them.
The three men step out of the underground room.
FADE TO BLACK:
EXT. TURIN AIRPORT - DAY
The hurried figure of Risi steps out of the Turin Airport and
rushes into a black limo. The car speeds away.
EXT. TURIN SUBURB - INT. LIMO - DAY
Laura and Tom are seated in the limo, facing Risi. He looks
extremely worried.
LAURA
You didn’t tell me why we had to
meet you here.
43.
TOM
Is it about the Holy Shroud?
Risi does not answer.
TOM (cont’d)
I thought every relic was
protected.
RISI
My two agents have been killed.
Someone broke the code, forced the
vault, and stole the cloth.
TOM
How come they--
RISI
(firmly interrupting)
We’ll see that without delay.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. VIA SAN DOMENICO - DAY
The limo drives into a small street and parks in front of a

cathedral. Tom, Laura, and Risi get off the car. The entrance
is protected by TWO POLICE OFFICERS.
RISI
By chance, the next ostentation is
planned for 2025.
They enter the cathedral.
INT. CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST - UNDERGROUND ROOM -

DAY
Risi, Tom, and Laura are standing inside the underground room
along with an Italian police lieutenant, INSPECTORE
BORTOLUZZI. He speaks English with a thick Italian accent.
BORTOLUZZI
(to Risi)
Nothing has been touched as you
have asked.
Tom scans the room and advances to the glass panel where he
squats. He touches the melted edge.
44.
TOM
Laser.
BORTOLUZZI
Are you sure?
TOM
Yeah. Already seen that.
(he stands up)
And, naturally, no fingerprints?
BORTOLUZZI
Not one.
Tom thinks for a while.
TOM
How the guards have been killed?
BORTOLUZZI
Apparently, overloaded electric
stun guns.
TOM
They had no issues. Poor guys.
BORTOLUZZI
The burglars disconnected the
alarm, the sensors, even the
cameras.
RISI
(to Bortoluzzi)
Thank you Lieutenant.
A bit upset, Bortoluzzi leaves them.
RISI (cont’d)
This time, this is a very serious
situation. My hierarchy manages to
hold the press. But for how long?
At least, we could replace the
Shroud by one of the many copies we
have.
Tom looks suddenly uneasy.
TOM
Two innocent men are dead.
RISI
I know. What do you suggest?
45.
TOM
Can’t we talk in some other place?
I’m a little bit claustrophobic
since my time in prison.
Risi grins a smile.
RISI
Of course. I know where we’ll be
alone.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST - BELLTOWER - DAY
Risi, Tom, and Laura are talking on the top of the cathedral
belltower over Turin.
LAURA
Did they ask for a ransom?
TOM
Money is not their purpose. It’s
the fourth relic they steal and
they never asked for a ransom
before. No. It rather looks like a
game to me. Like hide and seek.
They gave us three indications. Not
today. Why? Or, is the loot itself
a clue? All this is too vague.
(a beat)
Anyway, I’m quite impressed by the
huge logistic support they had.
They’re more than simple robbers.
RISI
I had orders to urge you to solve
all this. They’re a bit jittery in
Rome.
Suddenly, Tom seems abraded.
TOM
(chuckling)
Or what? Or I’ll be
excommunicated?!
LAURA
But, Father, we cannot let the Holy
Shroud being soiled or even
destroyed!
46.
TOM
You so naive, my child. You should
perfectly knew that this shroud
it’s a fake, certainly made by
Leonardo da Vinci and--
RISI
(interrupting, furious)
I will not tolerate this kind of
blasphemy!
TOM
(abraded)
What about the free will?
RISI
You’re a priest now!
TOM
Alright! I quit! I don’t mind
rotting under the sun if it’s God’s
will.
He is about to step out of the tower.
RISI
(sharply)
Father O’Brien! You want to quit?
Fine with me. We’d always find
someone else to replace you. But
let me remind you something:
considering your poor health, and
jobless, you will rapidly be
reduced to some human rag. And you
would never get a single chance
anymore to see your daughter again.
I told you. I can help you to find
her. I promised it before God.
Laura sadly smiles at Tom. He looks jammed.
LAURA
Give a second thought about it
Father. Please.
Tom surrenders.
TOM
(sighing)
Alright. I’m sorry. I’m a bit
disconnected these days.
47.
LAURA
Tell him what you’ve stated to me
this morning.
Tom hesitates for a short while and sees Laura’s begging

eyes.
TOM
(to Risi)
They don’t seem to have any
pattern. The first steal was in
Italy, then France, Belgium and
Italy again. They goal looks like
leading us astray. That’s their
only pattern. As I told you, they
play with us. But, logically, I
think their next stealing would
take place in France.
RISI
France?
TOM
Paris, precisely. I know Notre-Dame
keeps two relics: the Crown of
Thorns and a piece of the Holy
Cross. Stealing those two relics
after the greatest of them would be
another challenge for them.
RISI
(stammering)
I’m not sure that--
LAURA
(sharply interrupting)
Do you have another suggestion?
RISI
I-- don’t know.
(to Tom)
You’re maybe right.
(a beat)
I hope you are. Definitely.
FADE TO BLACK:
EXT. NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL - DAY
Tom, Laura, and Risi are walking on the Notre-Dame parvis.

48.
TOM
(with nostalgia)
When she was pregnant, my ex-wife
wished to come here. I never had
time.
LAURA
(to Risi)
Are we not going to the Sainte
Chapelle?
TOM
The relics are not kept anymore in
it. I’m not even sure they’re still
are in Notre-Dame.
RISI
We do have an appointment with
Monseigneur Rocca. He’s in charge
of the relics in Paris.
EXT. PARIS STREET - BUILDING - DAY
Tom, Laura, and Risi are stopping in front a small casual

building in a tiny street.
RISI
Here we are.
As he enters the building, Laura and Tom exchange a puzzled

look, and follow him.
INT. VATICAN BANK - DAY
Risi, Tom, and Laura are in fact entering a bank.
THE VATICAN BANK
Risi talks to a CLERK(MORE)

who just nods. A few instants later, a
tall man (MONSEIGNEUR ROCCA), built like a football player
and dressed like a priest, steps to them. Risi and him warmly
hug.
ROCCA
Andrew. I’m so glad to see you
again. How long has it been?
RISI
About four years.
(turning to Tom and Laura)
49.
You alreadyRISI(cont'd)
met my secretary Laura.
This Father O’Brien.
They salute.
ROCCA
(to Risi)
I have settled everything as you
asked me on the phone.
(to Laura and Tom)
Please, follow me.
INT. VATICAN BANK - UNDERGROUND VAULT ROOM - DAY
Rocca, Risi, Tom, and Laura stand inside a huge underground

vault with a multitude of small safes. One of them is open.
Carefully, Rocca takes its content out. He puts a strong box

on a table, and steps aside. Risi takes a small key out his
pocket, opens the box to discover a circular glass containing
a braided piece of wood. Risi crosses himself while Tom and
Laura approach. Tom signs himself at his turn.
LAURA
(innocently)
If it’s the Crown of Thorns, where
are the thorns?
ROCCA
Most of them were detached through
the ages and presented to the
Eastern emperors.
LAURA
You mean that’s all it remains?
Rocca does not have the time to answer.
RISI
(to Rocca)
Is the copy ready?
ROCCA
As you’ve ordered.
RISI
Perfect. So, we’re ready for
tomorrow night ostentation.
He closes the strong box.
FADE TO BLACK:
50.
INT. NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL - NIGHT
Notre-Dame nave is crowded with Catholics. At the back of the

cathedral, Tom and Laura are with Risi, dressed in civilian.
They three look aware of what could happen at any minutes.
From the altar, a chanting PRIEST, to everyone’s sight,

carries around the circular glass containing the fake Crowns
of Thorns.
Each person signs himself at its passage.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL - NIGHT (LATER)
The ostentation is over. Wordless and annoyed, Tom leaves the

cathedral, watched by Laura.
EXT. NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL PARVIS - NIGHT
It is raining over Paris.
Tom stands in front of Notre-Dame large wooden doors. Laura

joins him.
TOM
(shaking his head)
I cannot get their pattern. There’s
definitely no logic in their
acting.
LAURA
You perfectly know there’s always a
pattern. Maybe they weren’t after
that relic? Perhaps they knew it
was a fake?
TOM
You think there’d be a mole planted
in the Church?
LAURA
How would you explain the
meticulous robbery in Turin? How
could they have access to the
security program? Did it ring your
mind?
51.
At this moment, Risi steps out of the cathedral, his cell

phone on the ear. He looks worried.
RISI
(on the phone)
Are you sure? Inform Rome. Thank
you.
(he hangs up.
To Tom and Laura)
Another relic. In Spain. Oviedo
Cathedral.
LAURA
We are defenseless.
RISI
The best for us now is to go back
in New York and study all the clues
we have.
(to Tom)
What do you think Father?
TOM
(elusive)
Maybe. I’m fed up of that hide-and-
seek game.
RISI
(to Laura)
Get us three tickets on the
earliest flight tomorrow, would
you?
LAURA
Of course Archbishop.
FADE TO BLACK:
TOM’S DREAM - SUBURBAN STREETS - INT. TAXI - DAY
Tom, stuck in an old suit, is seated at the back of a taxi,

in the street of a suburban community. He looks very nervous.
He has a teddy bear in his arms.
The taxi pulls in front of a house. The place looks

uninhabited. Tom pays for his ride and gets off the taxi. On
the mailbox of the house, the name O’BRIEN is half erased.
52.
TOM’S DREAM - SUBURBAN HOUSE - DAY
While Tom steps to the house main door, he notices that a

window glass is broken. Surprised, he peeps inside. The whole
house is deserted.
Suddenly sad, Tom lets himself sit in front of the door, not
knowing what to do with his teddy bear.
As coming from nowhere, he hears a little girl SHOUT.
EMMA (V.O.)
(shouting with a slight
echo)
Daddy!! DADDY!!
CUT TO:
INT. PLANE - DAY
Tom wakes up in a jump. He is seated by the window, by Laura

in a crowded 747.
STEWARDESS (V.O.)
Ladies and gentlemen, we are going
to land on John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Airport--
Laura turns to Tom.
LAURA
You slept all the flight long.
TOM
(surprised)
Did I?
LAURA
While you were sleeping, I think I
made a parallel between all the
robberies. My work helped me to get
over my plane phobia.
She hands him her notes. Tom reads them with interest, when
his face lights up.
TOM
Of course! It never crossed my
mind. Laura, you’re a genius!
He looks overexcited.
53.
LAURA
(humbly)
It’s just a theory.
TOM
It’s more than a theory. Everything
becomes clearer now. You’ve found
the pattern.
(he turns his head)
Where’s Risi?
LAURA
He spent most of his time on the
phone. He should be back. We‘re
going to land shortly. Do you want
me to tell him about my theory?
TOM
Later. Let’s dig it together. Do
not worry, you’ll get all the
credit.
LAURA
I do not worry.
(a beat)
Who’s Emma?
Tom stares at her with surprise.
LAURA (cont’d)
You kept whispering that name in
your sleep. Is she your ex-wife?
TOM
No, my daughter. That’s her who
made me holding on in prison. Her
and my studies.
LAURA
Was it easy to study there?
TOM
(MORE)
Well, I had the chance to get a
total access to the library with a
help of a cell mate who helped me
to get every book I needed.
(with a smile)
A funny guy. Always asking me about
my work. Like he was studying
through me. I remember he was
belonging to some Christian
fraternity before he killed his
wife’s lover.
54.
TOM(cont'd)
This fraternity wanted, through
their prayers, to bring Jesus
Christ back on Earth.
Suddenly, he freezes.
LAURA
What?!
TOM
How stupid I am! All the time, I
had the answer. This fraternity was
called-- Second Raising.
LAURA
(aghast)
SR?
Tom simply nods, furious against himself.
LAURA (cont’d)
What was his name?
TOM
Cook. Sam Cook.
FADE TO BLACK:
INT. RISI’S OFFICE - DAY
Tom and Laura are facing Risi and Father Campagnari.
TOM
Laura submitted me a theory that
should interest you. She found the
similarity between all those
robberies. The Holy Foreskin, the
Sponge, the Shroud, and, finally,
in Spain, the linen clothe placed
on the Christ’s face after his
death. This clothe is supposed to
have blood spots on it, as are the
shroud and the sponge. All those
relics are Jesus’ blood and flesh.
That’s why the Crown, deprived of
its thorns, had no interest for
them.
Risi listens to him with interest.

55.
TOM (cont’d)
To my request, Laura has made some
inquiries about a minor fraternity
called Second Raising. SR. I don’t
really think that’s a coincidence.
They are settled in Atlanta area.
We are waiting for your green light
to investigate there.
RISI
(firmly)
I might have a better idea.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - FARM - DAY
P.O.V.: a farm lost in the countryside seen through

binoculars. Everything looks quiet.
An important security force is set around the farm. SWAT

OFFICERS in protective gear are spread, riot guns in hands.
The SWAT TEAM LEADER moves in SOP style to the door, scans it
carefully, and beckons to his men to move closer. Two by two,
they advance.
CUT TO:
INT. FARM - DAY
The door is burst open. TWO MEN jump by surprise and freeze.
They are busy behind a small old printer.
SWAT OFFICER
Move, move, move! Get down on the
ground! We have warrants to search
the possession of illegal firearms,
and for murder and robbery!
While SWAT officers enter, leaflets are swept by a draft and

fall on the dusty floor.
Close on one of the leaflet:
“SECOND RAISING
TIME WILL SOON COME WHEN JESUS IS BACK TO SAVE US
LET US PRAY”
56.
The two frightened men raise their hands to surrender under

the guns threat.
CUT TO:
INT. BARN - DAY
In a barn, about TWENTY PEOPLE of all ages are praying on

their knees. A thin tall man, HARRY WHITE (54), the leader of
the fraternity, is chanting when the doors open. Daylight
enters the barn and blinds him.
SWAT team swarms in, guns in hand.
BACK TO:
INT. FARM - DAY
Harry White is firmly standing in the farm living room,

facing Tom and Laura. SWAT team is searching for clues all
over the house.
WHITE
(sharply)
Can you tell me what it’s all
about?!
LAURA
Second Raising is suspected in
several robberies and killings
around the world.
WHITE
You must be joking! We’re simply
peaceful prayers. Most of the
people you will find there never
even left their birth town. They’re
just poor farmers and workers.
INT. FARM - BEDROOM - DAY
TWO SWAT OFFICERS are searching through a bedroom. They hear

a NOISE coming from an old closet. By signs, they decide to
carefully open it. Ready to any attack and cocking his gun,
one of them bursts open the closet door to find--
TWO FRIGHTENED CHILDREN HIDING
BACK TO:
57.
INT. FARM - DAY
Still facing White, Laura is reading a sheet of paper.
WHITE
(sharply)
As you can read, our fraternity is
perfectly legal.
TOM
In this case, you must have your
members’ list somewhere.
WHITE
Of course. But, first of all, tell
me, who are you people?
LAURA
We’re agents delegated by the
Vatican following several robberies
of Holy Relics in Europe.
White is chuckling while he takes an old biscuit box out from

a sideboard.
WHITE
I wish I could personally afford
traveling in Europe.
He hands the box to Tom.
LAURA
We’ll soon know.
Tom checks every record card when he stops and victoriously

takes one out.
TOM
Sam Cook! (MORE)
WHITE
What about him?! I personally cast
him out from our fraternity.
TOM
What do you mean?
WHITE
He had too extremist ideas. A real
fanatic.
58.
WHITE(cont'd)
While our goal was to bring Our
Lord Jesus Christ back on Earth,
Sam had an obsession: cloning Him.
LAURA
(floored)
What!!?
WHITE
He said he had more chances to
bring Him back by cloning, than
through our prayers. When I
realized his madness was about to
be accepted by other brothers, I
decided to exclude him from our
fraternity.
LAURA
What happened to him then?
WHITE
He simply left, claiming our
prayers were thereafter useless,
that Our Almighty Lord will be
among us soon. I never heard of
that crazy soul anymore.
TOM
(showing the record card)
Don’t you mind if I keep this?
WHITE
(keenly)
What can I say?
FADE TO BLACK:
INT. BAR - NIGHT
Laura and Tom are dining in a Country bar. Smooth Country

music is playing in the room.
TOM
Could you do me a favor?
LAURA
I’ll see what I can do.
59.
TOM
Could you get me the Madrid Airport
departures security videos on every
flight to the USA the day after the
Oviedo robbery and the passengers’
list ?
LAURA
To locate Cook?
As an answer, Tom smiles at her.
TOM
Just to check if he is involved in
all this.
LAURA
It can be done. Not easily, but I
can do it.
Tom drinks a glass of water.
LAURA (cont’d)
You alright?
TOM
Like a drunkard could be after a
week without his booze.
LAURA
(benevolent)
You’re doing fine.
TOM
That’s sweet of you.
She puts her hand on his.
LAURA
Tom. You’re a good man.
Tom takes his hand out.
TOM
I only wish my wife and my daughter
would think the same.
LAURA
(with a smile)
I’m sure they know down deep
inside.
FADE TO BLACK:
60.
INT. NEW YORK OFFICES - TOM’S BEDROOM - DAY
Tom is resting in his bedroom, half-naked on his bed. On the

top of his right chest, a tattoo with a name: EMMA. The eyes
closed, Tom is deeply breathing, clutching his fists.
He opens his eyes and sits on the bed. He turns his head to
his travel bag. Slowly, Tom gets up and walks to it. He takes
a small bottle of tequila out and stares at it, thoughtful.
In a deep sight, he uncorks it.
He is about to drink when the telephone RINGS.
Tom corks the bottle back, puts it back in his bag, and hangs
up.
LAURA (V.O.)
(on the phone)
Father? I have everything you’ve
asked for. The passengers’ list was
rather easy. But I had to call the
Spain Embassy to get the security
tapes. Meet me in thirty minutes in
the conference room.
She had hang up. Tom stares at the receiver for a short
while, then to his bag. He rises his eyes to the ceiling.
TOM
Thank you, Lord.
He hangs up the phone.
INT. NEW YORK OFFICES - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
The conference room is a large room with mirror walls and a

circular table.
While Laura is browsing the passengers’ lists seated at a

table, her laptop by her, Tom is watching Madrid Airport
departures security time-coded videos on a TV set in fast
forward. On the TV screen, people looks like moving in an old
silent movie.
LAURA
(not raising her head)
Maybe he took an alias.
TOM
That’s why I needed the videos.
61.
LAURA
Most of the names on that list
sound Spanish.
TOM
He has to be somewhere.
Suddenly, he freezes the frame. Though the image is not

perfect, we discern a TALL BLACK MAN among the passengers. He
is in the late 40’s, about six feet tall, his head shaved,
and is in company with three other men.
Laura rises her eyes and sees the frozen frame. She gets up
and joins Tom.
LAURA
That’s him?
TOM
(showing the screen)
I introduce you Sam Cook.
Laura notes the time on the image.
LAURA
5:53.
She comes back to the table and consults the passengers’

list.
LAURA (cont’d)
It might be the flight leaving
Madrid at 6:38.
(she reads the list)
I have four American male names
that follow each other.
(she keeps reading)
Rusty Martin, Charles Fansworth,
Elmo Mancini, and--
TOM
(interrupting)
Lucky Jackson. Those names are
definitely aliases.
LAURA
How do you know?
TOM
As a kid, I was a true King’s fan.
They are the four characters in
Elvis’ movie “Viva Las Vegas”.
62.
LAURA
(still reading)
They transited to Vancouver.
TOM
Vancouver. We have to check if any
local company or laboratory could
be able to do cloning around.
Laura starts typing on her laptop keyboard. Tom keeps looking

at Cook’s image on the TV.
Someone KNOCKS on the conference room door. Brooks enters, a

large envelope in hand and paces to Laura.
BROOKS
The results of the card found in
Belgium.
He hands the envelope to Laura and steps out. Laura opens it

and takes the card in a small plastic bag out, along with
several sheets of paper she starts to read.
LAURA
Nothing very conclusive. No
fingerprint, no DNA.
As she starts to put the papers back into the envelope, her
elbow touches the small plastic bag containing the card that
falls on the carpet by the mirror wall. She freezes.
LAURA (cont’d)
Father, would you mind coming to
have a look?
Tom approaches. They squat by the card.
LAURA (cont’d)
We were wrong from the start. Look.
This is not SR we should read, but
2R.
(MORE)
Close on the card reflect. In fact, the “S” becomes a perfect
reverted “2”.
LAURA (cont’d)
I know it does not make a big
difference.
TOM
Cook has surely created his own
dissident branch after having left
the fraternity.
63.
That’s why TOM(cont'd)
the “S” were reverted on
the French church. In fact, there
were “2”. All his messages make
sense now.
LAURA
(coming back behind her
laptop)
I better keep looking for those
companies around Vancouver.
She types on the keyboard.
LAURA (cont’d)
Apparently, there are three labs
able to clone in Vancouver area.
(she fingers the screen to Tom)
Nayashi Incorporated in Pitt
Meadows, Meyer in Belcarra, and
Link-Jordan in Cloverdal.
TOM
Let’s start with Nayashi.
LAURA
Why? Do you know them?
TOM
Why not?
(a beat)
I’m sorry my child, but, you and me
are going to lie. I know it’s a
sin, but it’s requisite.
Laura interrogates him with her eyes.
TOM (cont’d)
(smiling)
I think that Nayashi Incorporated
is going to need its security
system being checked by two State
agents.
LAURA
(amused)
And what their names will be?
Tom thinks for a short while.
TOM
Vince Everett and Peggy Van Alden.
LAURA
Another Elvis’ movie?
64.
TOM
(winking)
The best: Jailhouse Rock.
FADE TO BLACK:
EXT. NAYASHI INC. LABORATORY - DAY
Nayashi Inc. building is ultra-modern with large glass

windowpanes, surrounded by a high security grate.
INT. NAYASHI INC. LABORATORY - WAITING ROOM - DAY
Laura and Tom are seated in a waiting room. Tom is exactly

smartly dressed up as in the first sequence. He looks
metamorphosed. He has nothing to compare with the priest he
was till now.
The door opens and an oriental man in his fifties enters. He

is HITOMI KATANO, the lab executive. Tom and Laura get up.
KATANO
(bowing)
Forgive me for the waiting, but we
only received the mail announcing
your coming this morning.
TOM
I’m Vince Everett and this is Peggy
Van Alden, my secretary. I guess my
office messed up and I’m the one to
deeply apologize.
They step out of the waiting room.
INT. NAYASHI INC. LABORATORY - HALLWAYS - DAY
Katano and his two guests are walking down highly lighted
hallways. Everything seems immaculate.
KATANO
You should be here because of what
happened last week.
TOM
(half confused)
Yes. Yes, of course. Remind me the
problem please.
65.
They walk along closed doors. Behind windowpanes, MEN and

WOMEN in white coat are busy on sophisticated equipment.
Green posters of human cells adorn the walls. A WOMAN is
working on a blue incubator.
KATANO
We had a broke up in our biomedical
department. We had a blackout in
the middle of the night for thirty
minutes, as if everything was
neutralized. The generators were
useless too. Then, power came back.
It’s the day after we realized that
equipment was missing.
TOM
What kind of equipment?
KATANO
Some expensive electrofusion
machine. Though our policy will
cover it, we desperately miss it
for our researches. Nevertheless,
this is why you came.
TOM
Of course, yes.
LAURA
We’re here, commissioned by you
insurance, to check if every
protection is set back after that
robbery.
KATANO
I understand. Where do you want to
start?
TOM
The room where your equipment was
stolen.
KATANO
Second floor.
They stop in front of an elevator. Doors slide open. Katano

let them enter first.
KATANO (cont’d)
(politely)
Please.
66.
INT. NAYASHI INC. LABORATORY - SECOND FLOOR - DAY
Katano, Tom, and Laura step out of the elevator.
KATANO
We are in the biomedical
department.
They step to a door.
KATANO (cont’d)
Here we are.
Katano takes a magnetic pass out and slides it into a lock.

The door opens and lights automatically switch on.
LAURA
This department is closed?
KATANO
Yes. And, unfortunately, Professor
Truman who was working here quit
us. He said it was unacceptable
that a laboratory like us could be
robbed and he got scared.
INT. NAYASHI INC. LABORATORY - BIOMEDICAL ROOM - DAY
They enter the empty room.
TOM
Professor Truman?
KATANO
Keith Truman.
LAURA
You never thought he could be--
KATANO
(interrupting)
--involved? Oh, no. Not him. He is
the kind of scientist obsessed by
his work and who could be
frightened at the simple sight of a
tiny spider.
TOM
What is his field?
67.
KATANO
Therapeutic cloning.
While Laura indites everything on a notebook, she cannot help

exchanging a smile with Tom.
TOM
(to Katano)
Moreover, you said it was a sudden
blackout?
KATANO
As if lightning had struck our
whole system. But there was no
storm that night.
TOM
Do you think that someone could
have hijacked your security system?
KATANO
Impossible.
TOM
Nothing’s impossible with computer
whizzes. Or-- with an insider
associate.
KATANO
We figured that out. But, no one
was present that night except for
the entrusted three security
guards. And they didn’t notice
anything special. I watched myself
the security videos. Except for the
thirty minutes of black screen,
there was nothing particular.
TOM
Could we have access to the
security room and meet these
guards?
KATANO
No problem, Mister Everett.
FADE TO BLACK:
EXT. VANCOUVER SUBURB - INT. CAR - DAY
Tom is driving on a highway. Laura is reading her notes on

her laptop.
68.
TOM
Katano is clean. But my instincts
tell me to look after that Truman.
LAURA
He sounded innoxious to me.
TOM
I never trusted that kind of
scientist. They always have some
kind of hidden vice. And the fact
he quit the day after that incident
doesn’t quite please me.
She connects her computer on Internet and types KEITH TRUMAN.
LAURA
Impressive resume. Harvard, Yale.
Then, Paris, Bombay, Beijing. And,
Nayashi for the past two years.
TOM
Quite a traveler for a fraidy cat.
How many years in China?
LAURA
Five. Why?
TOM
China voted against the United
Nations’ non-binding statement
condemning all forms of human
cloning. And--
LAURA
(interrupting)
You don’t believe in coincidences.
TOM
Am I a good teacher or are you a
good pupil?
LAURA
(blushing)
I don’t know.
Suddenly, Tom stiffens and clenches his hands on the wheel.
ANOTHER CRISIS
Losing control of the car, he swerves to the side of the

highway.
69.
Laura fights to get control of the car, restoring the
direction, avoiding the cars, but Tom’s foot is stuck,
flooring the accelerator pedal.
All around them, cars careen and stop, SCREECHING their tires
on the road and BLARING.
Laura succeeds in avoiding several cars, but they keep on

their course and plow into big yellow water-filled collision
barrels at an off-ramp. The car is stopped and they are both
shaken, slammed back into their seats. Tom is groaning,
slobbering, his eyes rolled upwards. Then, he collapses over
the wheel.
LAURA (cont’d)
Tom!! Are you okay?!!
Tom des not answer, neither reacts. Laura sits him back on
his seat.
LAURA (cont’d)
Tom!!
BLACK:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
Tom wakes up in a hospital room dimly lighted above the bed.

He scans the room. He is alone. He tries to get up but his
weak legs are unable to support him. He sits back on the bed,
sighing. He presses the button over the bed to call.
A few seconds later, a huge BLACK NURSE enters the room.
TOM
(woozy)
Where am I?
BLACK NURSE
(joking)
Finally awake? If you thought you
were dead, you’re wrong Mister.
TOM
(losing temper)
Where the fuck am I?!!
BLACK NURSE
Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt
you. You’re in Saint Christopher’s
Hospital in Vancouver suburb.
She helps him to lie down.

70.
TOM
Where the woman who was with me in
the car?
BLACK NURSE
She left five minutes ago to get
herself a coffee. She’ll be back
fast.
TOM
Is-- she-- alright?
BLACK NURSE
(smiling)
Don’t worry Mister.
Laura enters.
LAURA
(to Tom)
Father. Are you alright?
BLACK NURSE
(floored)
Father?
TOM
I’m sorry my child. I shouldn’t
have drove.
LAURA
That’s okay. We’re both safe. I
talked to the doctor who took care
of you and he’s agreed to treat you
for your-- demons.
TOM
Thank you, but--
LAURA
(embarrassed)
Archbishop Risi is here too. He
wants to talk to you. I have to
leave you both alone.
(to the black nurse)
Nurse, please.
She invites her to steps out with her.
BLACK NURSE
(floored)
Father?
71.
They both step out and Risi enters. He closes back the room
door and stands at the foot of the bed.
RISI
Father, we cannot go on this way.
You nearly killed yourself and
Laura today. I never thought
working with you could be that
dangerous. I know you stopped
drinking, but you still need help.
And, in the meanwhile, you can’t go
on working with us.
TOM
You’re wrong. I’m perfectly okay.
RISI
Are you kidding?! I don’t want to
risk Laura’s life again.
(a beat)
As agreed, you’ll be transferred in
Boston. Concerning your daughter,
I’ll let you know later where to
find her.
TOM
(storming)
No! It would be too easy. You used
me and now throw me away. You gave
me back my cop’s hunger. I want to
get that case through now. No way,
I quit. With all due respect, your
Eminence, I won’t let me being
rejected. I still know people who
could be interested by the whole
story. I’m not sure you’d want any
publicity on what happened till
today. Would you?!
Rage starts to grow up in Risi.
RISI
I could crush you like--
TOM
(interrupting)
But you won’t. You still need me.
Otherwise, you wouldn’t get me out
from Tequilaville.
Risi does its best to regain control.

72.
RISI
Laura suggested a treatment to help
you. I want to be sure you will
take it.
TOM
I will. I sure want to get through.
RISI
Let me warn you a last time. The
first faux pas you make and you’re
sure to go back to-- Tequilaville.
One single faux pas.
Furious, he steps out of the room. Laura reenters at once.
LAURA
What have you told him? I never saw
him like that. I didn’t recognize
him.
TOM
He wanted to sack me.
LAURA
(puzzled)
I-- don’t understand. We need you.
TOM
His point of view is different.
Apparently, I’m disturbing him.
I know, I messed up, but there’s
something weird about his attitude.
You’re right. He looks changed. As
if his motivation was transformed.
LAURA
Anyway, for the good news, you’ll
be out tomorrow.
TOM
Perfect. Try to get everything you
can about Truman and if the two
other labs had equipment missing or-
- some of their staff.
EXT. VANCOUVER STREET - DAY
An everyday traffic jam in Vancouver. Cars are stuck, bumpers

to bumpers, some HONKING. People in their cars are nervous.
Somehow, some of them read papers, shave, and business women
finish their make up.
73.
In his sedan, BILLY MONTY, mid-fifties, the average guy with

thick glasses, is listening to the morning news. He drives
carefully, inch after inch, when a PICKUP TRUCK looms up from
his left hand, trying to make its way, BLARING.
But Billy stands up to it. He keeps driving although the

pickup BLARING. He firmly grabs his steering wheel, decided
to not concede.
Suddenly, his sedan is shaken. The pickup bumps into his car.
Billy lows his left window.
BILLY
(shouting)
Are you out of your mind?!
The pickup driver does not reply. But, he bumps again into
the sedan.
BILLY (cont’d)
(shouting)
Stop it, shithead! Can’t you see
we’re stuck?!
ANOTHER BUMP
Mad, Billy gets off his car, watches his dented left wing,
and paces to the pickup truck with tainted glasses.
BILLY (cont’d)
(shouting)
This time is enough! Get off for
the accident report before I call
the police!
But the driver keeps pressing on the accelerator pedal,

making his engine ROARING. Once again, he bumps into the
sedan. Pushed over the limit, Billy tries to open the pickup
truck driver door but it seems locked up.
BILLY (cont’d)
(shouting)
Okay! I call the police!
He takes his cell phone out and starts to dial when the
pickup door opens.
SAM COOK GETS OFF THE CAR
Seeing the expressionless giant emerging from the pickup

truck, Billy freezes for a short while, and keeps on dialing.
Cook deeps his hand into his jacket and takes a gun out.
74.
Coldly, he SHOOTS twice.
Billy is violently pushed back against his sedan. His white

shirt explodes, spattered with blood.
PEOPLE around start to SCREAM, trying to hide.
Cook signs himself and puts the gun back into his jacket.
Calmly, he climbs back into the pickup truck, closes the
door, and accelerates. Once again, the car hurls onto the
sedan, pushing it aside.
Now Cook’s bumper is entangled in the sedan one and cannot go

further. Hedged, Cook gets off the pickup truck, an Uzi in
hand, and starts to SHOOT up.
Everyone tries to stash in the street and inside the cars,

SHOUTING and SCREAMING.
Cook makes quickly his way to the nearest subway station.
INT. CLARK STATION - DAY
As soon as he enters the SkyTrain station, Cook hides the Uzi

in his jacket. As a simple traveler, he buys a ticket.
EXT. CLARK STATION - PLATFORM - DAY
Cook is standing on the SkyTrain platform, glancing towards

the tracks. We can hear the RUMBLE of a train in the
distance.
The train pulls in. Cook quietly gets on the train. As soon
as the doors slide close, he notices a POLICE OFFICER rushing
to the platform.
EXT. SKYTRAIN TRACKS - DAY
The “outside subway” makes its way over the city and stops.
INT. SKYTRAIN - DAY
People start to wonder why the train has stopped. Cook knows
it. He takes his Uzi out and shoots at the glass window. The
glass shatters.
PANIC IN THE TRAIN
Cook climbs out through the window.

75.
EXT. SKYTRAIN TRACKS - DAY
Cook walks on the tracks over Vancouver. He looks down to the

people who look at him. A MAN WITH A CAMERA shoots him.
Cook notices a small security cabin where he paces.
EXT. SKYTRAIN TRACKS - CABIN - DAY
Cook shoots at the cabin lock. The door opens. He steps in.
INT. CABIN - DAY
Cook notices a trapdoor opening on a metallic ladder. He

opens the door and starts to climb down.
EXT. LADDER - DAY
Cook climbs down.
EXT. VANCOUVER STREET - DAY
When Cook touches the ground, he hears POLICE SIRENS in the

distance. In front of floored people, he opens a sewer drain
manhole and disappears into.
Police cars arrive on the scene and police officers start to

settle a security perimeter, pushing people back.
FADE TO BLACK:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
Tom finishes dressing up as a priest. Laura enters the room

like a fury, holding a paper.
TOM
What’s wrong?
LAURA
That!
She throws the paper on the bed. The bold headline reads:
SHOOTING IN TRAFFIC JAM

76.
Just under the main title, an out of focus enlarged

photograph where Tom recognizes Sam Cook.
Tom takes the paper and starts to read.
LAURA (cont’d)
He killed a man downtown this
morning with no reason. According
the witnesses, he shot him only
because he was on his way. He’s not
ours anymore. Local police and FBI
are looking for him now.
TOM
We’ll find him first, that’s it.
LAURA
That’s not that simple. They have a
killing and a face. His name will
follow soon.
TOM
Can you get me the police report?
LAURA
(smiling)
You’re lucky. A good friend of mine
who was in Yale with me is a local
reporter. I think I’ll make it.
TOM
Great. If only I could have a
partner like you when I was a cop.
LAURA
Apparently, you still are.
TOM
I’ll get you later at Risi’s.
LAURA
No. Seeing the fresh turn of
events, he removed the case from
us.
TOM
He’s finally got what he wanted,
but he looks like forgetting all
about the missing relics.
(a beat)
Then, why are you here?
77.
LAURA
Because I’m like you. I don’t want
to give up neither. I feel we’re
onto something huge.
(a beat)
And we’re a good match. Meet me on
the sixteenth street in the French
café. I’ll be there at five.
TOM
I’ll be there too.
FADE TO BLACK:
INT. FRENCH CAFE - DUSK
Tom is seated at a table in a café. He looks eager. He raises

his eyes to the café clock:
6:15
He scans the place. At the back of the room, a FATHER and his
DAUGHTER are having tea. The little girl sips her tea like a
lady would do it. Tom cannot help smiling.
A WAITRESS comes to Tom with a coffee pot.
WAITRESS
Another coffee, Father?
TOM
Yes, please.
She pours him a cup of coffee.
TOM (cont’d)
Thanks.
Laura enters the café. She looks desperate, at the verge of

the nervous breakdown. She sits, facing Tom.
(MORE)
TOM (cont’d)
You alright?
LAURA
I just had a fight with Risi. He
forbad me to see you anymore.
That’s the story was over and that
I had to go back to New York. He
treated me like a little girl. He
went mad when I told him I was
going to meet you. He blew a fuse.
78.
LAURA(cont'd)
The last thing he said was if I
were crossing his office door, I
would never come back.
TOM
Then?
LAURA
(proudly)
I slammed the door and here I am.
TOM
You shouldn’t have done this, my
child.
LAURA
I can live, I can think, by myself.
I’m not his little girl anymore.
He’s not my father.
TOM
He raised you.
LAURA
It doesn’t give him the right to
rule my life.
(she puts a file on the
table)
I’ve got everything you asked.
Tom opens the file and flips through it.
TOM
He finally escaped through the
sewer system.
Without a word, Laura takes her laptop from her briefcase,

puts it on the table, and switches it on.
LAURA
I’ve already downloaded the sewer
system. It’ll give you perhaps an
idea where Cook could have gone.
On the laptop screen, the sewer system map appears.
LAURA (cont’d)
(fingering the screen)
He’s disappeared right here.
TOM
He should have a good reason to
escape this way.
79.
LAURA
(like a child)
I’m sure you want us to have a
closer look on a ground.
TOM
Laura, that’s not a game. We’re
dealing with a murderer. God only
knows how many people he’s already
and will kill. Anyway, we won’t go
down there.
LAURA
Why?
TOM
Don’t you remember my
claustrophobia?
LAURA
Sorry, Father. I forgot.
TOM
Let’s have a better look at this
system.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. FRENCH CAFE - NIGHT
Night has fallen.
TOM
If he had get out somewhere, people
should have noticed him and
reported to the police. I still
can’t get why he killed that man.
That’s nonsense. Everything he has
done till now seemed so planned.
Who was the guy he killed?
LAURA
A father of two who was working in
a bulb factory. An everyday average
man. Maybe was he at the wrong
place at the wrong moment?
(looking at the sewer
system on the screen)
Where’s the place you could get out
without be noticed?
80.
TOM
If I were Cook, it would be the
docks.
LAURA
Precisely. At the sewer end of
line.
TOM
Of course! The docks! It’ll be a
real fine place to safely settle a
lab. There should be so many
unoccupied warehouses. So many
places to hide and, for us, to
search. But, now, we’re all alone.
If only--
(he thinks for a short
while)
That reporter, is she really a good
friend of yours? Is she reliable?
LAURA
Her name is Chely Paisley. She’s a
reporter, but I trust her. Would
you me calling her?
TOM
(nodding)
Please.
Laura takes her cell phone out and dials a number.
LAURA
(on the phone)
Chely? This is Laura again. I’d
like to introduce you someone--
FADE TO BLACK:
INT. CHELY’S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Chely Paisley is the same age than Laura. She’s as red-haired

as Laura is dark-haired. She smokes long cigarettes and
continuously chews gum. She walks back and forth in her
living-room. Tom and Laura are seated on a large sofa, facing
her.
CHELY
And you promise me the exclusivity
of the whole story if we close the
case before the cops?
81.
TOM
Yes. The exclusivity.
CHELY
You don’t tell me everything, do
you?
TOM
Let’s say we have-- private matters
in this story. But don’t be
overzealous. You’ll get the whole
story at the end of it. Not a
single line in the meanwhile.
Chely thinks out and sighs.
CHELY
Okay. I only do it for Laura.
She ambiguously smiles at her.
LAURA
I’m sure it’ll boost your career.
CHELY
What do you need?
TOM
A free access to the docks.
CHELY
You think the killer could hide
there?
LAURA
Probably.
TOM
Which part would be the most safe
to settle a clandestine lab?
CHELY
I’d rather say Deep Cove, inside
the Indian Arm, the upper part of
the docks. Smugglers used to land
there during the last century. Most
of the warehouses and houseboats
are in ruins. I know the place. I
used to play around with my
brothers when I was a kid. What
kind of lab?
82.
LAURA
We just have presumptions. Some
biomedical lab.
CHELY
I cannot help you if you don’t tell
ma what it’s all about.
Laura gives Chely her most beautiful smile.
LAURA
Please, Chely.
CHELY
Don’t do that to me. You know I
can’t resist.
(to Tom)
Anything else?
TOM
(nodding)
A gun?
Without a word, Chely opens a drawer and takes a small

shining gun out. She hands it to Tom.
CHELY
My best friend.
(a beat)
I never saw a priest with a gun.
Tom pockets the gun.
TOM
Amen.
FADE TO BLACK:
EXT. VANCOUVER STREETS - INT. TAXI - NIGHT
Tom and Laura are seated at the back of a taxi speeding

through the streets.
TOM
Where’s Risi now?
LAURA
I don’t know.
83.
TOM
I thought again and again about his
comportment. Like he was trying to
get all the honors for himself.
LAURA
I must admit I saw a change in him
lately. The last three months, he
was easily cranky. Visibly
something was bothering him. Often,
when I entered his office, he was
speaking with Campagnari and they
suddenly kept quiet. Once, I asked
him about it. He answered me to not
worry, he was fussed about his
health. He thinks I’m naive. He
still sees me as a little girl.
Moreover, I never liked Campagnari.
He’s too shady and devoted. He‘s
the smarmy guy who’d give his life
up to Risi. A real apple-polisher.
Sometimes, the way he looked at me,
I could see jealousy in his eyes.
Jealousy about love and care Risi
gives me. I fear he has more than
respect for him.
TOM
Just like Chely for you?
Laura blushes.
LAURA
Just like Chely for me. You see
everything, don’t you?
TOM
I always loved to observe people,
read their mind, reach their inner
one.
LAURA
What did you see through me?
Tom looks embarrassed.
LAURA (cont’d)
Come on, Tom. You have to answer.
I’ve been true with you.
TOM
What I saw is-- bad. I cannot--
84.
LAURA
(interrupting)
What?
Tom sighs.
TOM
I saw in you the daughter I never
knew. The one I’d wished to have.
But I’m unfair with her. I don’t
even know her. She perfectly could
be as nice as you are. Even
prettier, if it’s possible.
LAURA
You shouldn’t say that.
TOM
You forced me to.
LAURA
You’re right. I’m sorry.
(a beat)
You guess that if you disobey to
Risi, your chances to be
transferred to Boston are doggoned.
TOM
I don’t give a damn. I know deep
inside that God will forgive all my
sins if I help Him to get the
relics back.
LAURA
You said that most of them are
fake.
TOM
(chuckling)
Even maybe all of them. But, never
mind. They’re a part of the
Christians’ belief. Of what Church
is built with. There’s always some
kind of Saint Thomas in everyone.
They want to see to believe. That’s
what the relics are made for.
That’s why we have to find them. By
the way, did you get information
about the two other labs?
85.
LAURA
Oh, yes. Nothing has been stolen in
both cases, but, Professor Nikos
Paros, a fertility expert, is
missing at Meyer’s. But the most
interesting, he quit his job--
TOM
(resuming)
--the same day than Truman.
LAURA
And the same company in China
employed them both.
TOM
I see.
(a beat)
Well, my child, we still have a lot
to do.
FADE TO BLACK:
EXT. DEEP COVE DOCKS - DAY
A white Civic is slowly driving through warehouses on the

paved docks. The whole area looks deserted. Some of the
warehouses are still exploited, but most of all are closed or
abandoned.
Inside the Civic, we discern Tom, Laura, and Chely who

drives.
EXT. DEEP COVE DOCKS - INT. CIVIC - DAY
As Chely is slowly driving, Tom and Laura are scanning the

surroundings.
LAURA
Everything looks so quiet.
Chely keeps driving, when the car is shaken as if something

was rolling under the tires. She stops the car.
CHELY
What’s that?
She gets off the Civic and looks at her back tires. A few
inches behind the car, a long mound of small rocks runs along
the dock from one of the warehouses to the pier edge.
86.
EXT. DEEP COVE DOCKS - DAY
Tom gets off the Civic at his turn, and comes to squat by the
mound. He takes some rocks out and finds several buried
cables.
BLACK RECENT ELECTRICAL CABLES
They lead to the abandoned warehouse #149SH.
Tom beckons to Chely and Laura to stay where they are.
EXT. DEEP COVE DOCKS - WAREHOUSE #149SH - DAY
Cautiously, Tom steps to the warehouse and notices a broken

window. He sneaks a glance inside.
The building is empty and half in shambles. However, the

cables are still running inside to a closed trapdoor in the
ground. Tom turns back and scans the background. A small hill
towers the docks.
He comes back to the Civic and steps into the car, followed
by Chely. The Civic speeds away.
EXT. DEEP COVE DOCKS - INT. CIVIC - DAY
Laura turns to Tom.
LAURA
What did you see?
TOM
Nothing special, but the cables are
running right into the basement.
(to Chely)
Can you drive us to that hill over
the docks?
CHELY
There’s no road up there, but I can
park the car somewhere discreetly
and lead you there.
TOM
Perfect.
87.
EXT. DEEP COVE HILL - DAY
Tom, Laura, and Chely are seated in the grass, watching down
the warehouse. Chely, still chewing her gum, has a digital
camera with a large zoom lens around her neck.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. DEEP COVE HILL - DUSK
Tom is resting, seated against a tree, when Laura turns to

him.
LAURA
(whispering)
A car.
Tom joins Laura and Chely, and observes a small car driving
down the docks to the warehouse.
The car pulls up and parks behind the building, hidden from
the pier. A MAN, dressed in black, gets off the car.
Tom turns to Chely.
TOM
(whispering)
Hand me that, please.
Chely gives him the camera.
TOM’S P.O.V.: TOM ZOOMS UP AND NOW DISCERNS THE MAN’S FACE
He is Father Campagnari
Tom hands the camera to Laura who looks at her turn.
LAURA
(whispering)
What the Hell he’s doing here?
She shoots him.
CLICK CLICK
Father Campagnari enters the warehouse.
Laura cannot believe what she had just seen.

88.
LAURA (cont’d)
You think he’s related with all
this?
TOM
What would he do here otherwise?
LAURA
This is crazy. We must warn Risi.
Tom stands up.
TOM
I’m gonna have a closer look. I
can’t stand staying here, waiting
for something to happen.
LAURA
(standing up)
I’m going with you. You can’t go
alone.
TOM
I’m not alone.
He shows the gun on his belt.
TOM
I have Chely’s best friend with me--
(pointing at the sky)
--and God.
Chely takes Laura’s hand and forces her to squat back.
CHELY
He looks like he knows what he’s
doing.
Tom nods and starts to walk down the hill, when he ducks.
EXT. DEEP COVE DOCKS - WAREHOUSE #149SH - DUSK
The warehouse door has just open and Father Campagnari

appears. He looks furious. He paces to his car when the door
reopens. Cook steps out and joins him. They start to argue.
From where he is, Tom cannot hear what they say, only bursts
of voices.
FATHER CAMPAGNARI
Who do you think you are?! God
Himself?!
89.
Father Campagnari is about to enter his car, when Cook grabs

his arm. Father Campagnari struggles to free himself, but
Cook does not let him go. In a flash, Father Campagnari takes
a gun with silencer from his coat, and shoots at Cook’s chest
twice. However, Cook is still holding him.
Father Campagnari shoots him again between the eyes. Cook

finally lets him, heavily collapsing on the cobblestone with
a thud.
Father Campagnari looks around, puts the gun back into his
coat, and leans over Cook to search his jacket. He takes some
papers out he pockets and hardly rolls the corpse to the
pier.
Finally reaching the edge, he pushes Cook’s body in the docks

dark waters. The body floats on the surface for a while, and
sinks.
As if nothing had happened, Father Campagnari comes back to

his car, starts the engine, and speeds up.
EXT. DEEP COVE HILL - DUSK
Tom is already climbing up the hill, joining Laura and Chely.
TOM
(nodding to the camera)
I hope you did get all.
LAURA
That’s a wrap.
TOM
It’s now time to call Risi and tell
him he’s in danger.
Laura stands up, takes her cell phone, and steps back.
CHELY
(to Tom)
(MORE)
That-- tall guy-- was the murderer?
TOM
Yes. He won’t do harm anymore.
CHELY
Who was the other one?
TOM
It’s a long story, but not finished
yet. I’ll tell you all later.
90.
It’d be tooTOM(cont'd)
complicated. You should
thank us. You just had a scoop. A
live killing.
Laura comes back.
LAURA
Risi didn’t believe me. He’s still
in Vancouver and asks us to meet
him at his hotel.
TOM
(standing up)
Alright, let’s go. The photos will
convince him.
FADE TO BLACK:
EXT. FAIRMONT HOTEL - INT. CIVIC - NIGHT
Chely’s Civic pulls in front of the Fairmont Hotel.
TOM
Chely. Wait for us at your
apartment. If Laura hasn’t called
you tomorrow morning, go to the
police and lead them to the
warehouse.
Chely nods and lights a cigarette.
CHELY
Tomorrow morning.
TOM
Don’t be afraid to call the whole
cavalry.
(to Laura)
One last thing. Take this.
He hands her the gun.
TOM
We never know what would happen.
Laura slips the small gun into her high boot.
Tom and Laura get off the car and enter the hotel.
91.
INT. FAIRMONT HOTEL - FLOOR - NIGHT
Tom and Laura are walking down the hotel luxurious floor,
looking for Risi’s room.
LAURA
That’s it. Room seven one zero.
They stop in front of the door and Laura knocks.
RISI (V.O.)
Come in.
Laura opens the door and enters the room along with Tom.
INT. FAIRMONT HOTEL - ROOM - NIGHT
Tom and Laura enter the room. Risi is seated in a deep

armchair, staring at them, a glass of sherry in hand.
RISI
What is that fairy tale you told me
about on the phone? I thought you
were both back in New York.
LAURA
(sharply)
Cook was Father Campagnari’s
partner. That’s why it’d been so
easy for him to hijack the security
system and rob the Shroud.
RISI
This is nonsense. I just talked to
him on the phone. He’s still in my
office in New York.
TOM
We have pictures of him killing
Cook.
RISI
Do you? This is different then. You
do have them here, don’t you?
LAURA
Yes.
She hands him the camera.

92.
RISI
Thank you.
Risi puts the camera on the carpet.
LAURA
Don’t you look at them?
RISI
No use. I believe you now. You’re
so convincing.
LAURA
The relics should be in that
warehouse I told you about. We have
to get them back before they use
them.
RISI
Use them? What do you mean?
TOM
For some mysterious reasons,
Campagnari asked Cook to steal the
relics to help him to clone the
Christ.
Risi listens to him, emotionless.
TOM (cont’d)
Laura put the finger on it. In
fact, the relics had a common
point. They all contained Jesus
Christ’s DNA through his flesh and
blood.
LAURA
Father Campagnari seems to be
related with two scientists who
spent several years to learn their
job in China and he even has stolen
some equipment.
TOM
He has settled a clandestine lab in
a desert part of Vancouver docks.
RISI
Did you visit that laboratory?
TOM
Not yet. It’s settled in the
basement.
93.
Risi stands up.
RISI
Don’t you think it’s time to see
what’s inside?
LAURA
At this time?
RISI
Don’t you want to get the relics
back?
TOM
(to Risi)
Do you?
RISI
Of course, I do. You’re going to
show me where that warehouse is
located and I’ll see what I could
do.
LAURA
And what about Father Campagnari?
RISI
I’ll personally take care of him.
They three step out of the room.
EXT. FAIRMONT HOTEL - NIGHT
Risi, Tom, and Laura step out of the hotel. A black car with
tainted windows is waiting for them.
RISI
Maybe we’re going to need a guide
to visit that lab.
TOM
A guide?
They get into the car.
EXT. FAIRMONT HOTEL - INT. BLACK CAR - NIGHT
As they sit in the car, Tom sees that someone is already

there:
FATHER CAMPAGNARI
94.
He’s holding his gun with silencer.
RISI
(nodding to Father
Campagnari)
Please, meet our guide.
Tom is ready to rush out of the car, but Father Campagnari

discourages him.
FATHER CAMPAGNARI
Father O’Brien, please, stay sit
down. Do not give me the pleasure
to kill you.
LAURA
(puzzled)
You--
While the car speeds up, Father Campagnari searches Tom for a
weapon.
RISI
I told you to keep away from all
this. You didn’t listen to me.
LAURA
(disgusted)
You used us.
RISI
Yes. I used both of you. But,
Laura, I had to. Cook tried to
double cross me. I had to find him
before he’d start. That’s what you
did, with a real talent I must say.
TOM
That’s why you wanted to ax me? You
didn’t need me anymore.
RISI
Father. You’ve always been and will
be a pawn. In the police, in your
church, even between my hands. I
almost could anticipate every move
you made. But I have to applaud you
about your last one. You’re a
better cop than I thought.
95.
TOM
(with hatred)
And you’re a more fallacious man
than I thought.
RISI
(chuckling)
Still that same brashness.
LAURA
(with irony)
So, you want to clone Jesus Christ?
RISI
I was fed up to wait around
futilely, relying on hope and
prayer, for Him to return. I have
now the technology to bring Him
back. I can’t see any reason,
legal, moral, or even biblical, to
not using it. I want to save the
world from sin and the devil.
TOM
Even if you have the technology,
don’t you know how many trials it
took to produce the first clone
sheep? It’ll be a real carnage with
human cells.
RISI
I know. That’s what I said to Cook,
when he came to see me two years
ago. But, he told me one thing:
cloning is the key of eternal life
and Jesus Christ Himself is eternal
life. Day after day, that idea made
its way in my mind and everything
became clear to me. I was born to
be Jesus’ representative on Earth.
No more need of a go-between.
Through Cook, the Lord had chose
me.
LAURA
You’re brainsick.
RISI
Think about it. Everyone has his
mission in this dog-eat-dog world.
You have yours too.
Laura stares at him as if he was some kind of lunatic.

96.
RISI (cont’d)
To fulfil this New Coming, the New
One has to born from a virgin.
(a beat)
You’re the Chosen One, Laura. The
new Mother Mary.
LAURA
(stunned)
What?!
RISI
You’ll be worshiped by millions of
Christians. You’ll be in each
prayer. Don’t you realize the
chance I offer you. You’ll become
immortal. I know now why fate put
you on my way.
LAURA
You’re definitely crazy!
RISI
We’ll see. Cloning is already in
progress. My two scientists are
making wonderful improvements.
(to Laura)
After seeing all this, you’ll join
me. I have no doubt about it.
The car stops.
RISI (cont’d)
Here we are.
Tom observes Father Campagnari’s gun.
FATHER CAMPAGNARI
Do not do anything stupid.
With his gun, he beckons him to get off the car. Tom sighs
and obeys.
Tom opens the door and realizes that the CHAUFFEUR is waiting
outside with a gun. Risi politely smiles to Laura.
RISI
Please.
He lets her getting off.

97.
INT. WAREHOUSE #149SH - NIGHT
Under the chauffeur and Father Campagnari’s guns threat,

Laura and Tom enter the warehouse along with Risi. After a
few steps, Risi raises his eyes to a small camera stuck in a
corner of the walls.
RISI
Say “Hi” to the camera.
Tom notices the camera.
Immediately, the trapdoor in the floor slowly opens. Father

Campagnari steps down.
RISI (cont’d)
(to tom and Laura)
Be my guests.
He lets them down.
INT. WAREHOUSE #149SH - LABORATORY - NIGHT
In the basement, Tom and Laura are thunderstruck. An entire

hi-tech laboratory has been re-created in a large high-
lighted room. The place buzzes with activity.
Behind a large glass wall, about a DOZEN OF SCIENTISTS in

white coats are busy, working methodically on different
instruments, including huge computers. In the back of the
room is a section entirely lit by blue ultraviolet light with
bizarre apparatus. TECHNICIANS, wearing masks, work at
microscopes.
TWO MIDDLE-AGED SCIENTISTS are talking loud in a corner,

obviously disagreeing. The first wears a large bear and thick
glasses. He’s PROFESSOR TRUMAN. The second one, bald and dark
skin, is PROFESSOR PAROS.
(MORE)
As soon as they notice Risi’s presence, they keep quiet.
Truman takes his gloves off, crosses the revolving airlock
door, and steps to Risi with an obsequious smile, though he
looks clearly furious.
TRUMAN
(to Risi)
We need more equipment and staff.
You’re asking too much. That Greek
monopolizes the automatic
sequencer.
98.
TRUMAN(cont'd)
I can’t work on the exact size of
PCR generated DNA samples you gave
me yesterday.
RISI
Listen, Professor. I don’t give a
damn of your-- internal problems.
All I want are immediate results. I
already told you, you won’t have
more equipment. So, do what you can
and settle with Professor Paros.
What about the accelerated growth
process?
TRUMAN
We’re working on it.
(noticing Tom and Laura’s
presence)
Who are those people?
RISI
(nodding to Laura)
Please, welcome our surrogate
mother.
Truman reaches out his hand to Laura, almost bowing.
TRUMAN
Welcome amid us, young lady. You
should be very proud--
Truman stops, noticing Laura’s impassive face.
RISI
She’s a bit-- reticent. Allow her
to realize the chance she has.
TRUMAN
I’d better leave you and go back to
work.
(to Laura)
I’ll be delighted to work with a
such beautiful collaborator.
(MORE)
He crosses back the airlock door, back to work.
RISI
(to Laura)
We have set up a nice room for you
to rest until the final stage.
(to Tom)
As for you, Father O’Brien, if you
don’t want to become the next
Judas, please, join our cause.
99.
I’m asking RISI(cont'd)
you for the last time.
We need men like you to persuade
the world of the second raising.
TOM
Go to Hell! I never--
100.
LAURA
(interrupting)
Tom, he’s right. After all, what do
we venture? If the process
succeeds, it’d be a great honor for
you to stand by the New Savior.
Tom cannot get it. He stares at Laura with incomprehension.
LAURA (cont’d)
Tom, please. Do it for me. You know
what they say. If you can’t beat
them, join them. We’re in a dead-
end street. What else could we do?
Trust me.
TOM
Never!
LAURA
As you will.
(to Risi)
Where’s my room?
RISI
Father Campagnari will have the
pleasure to lead you.
With no looking back to Tom, Laura steps with Father

Campagnari to a small door where they disappear. Tom stays
under the chauffeur’s surveillance.
TOM
I don’t care to die. But I’ll be
the first one to stand before your
madness. Others will come. You make
think of that abbot, during the
Middle-Age, who condemned 100,000
people to death in the south of
France and declared "Kill them all,
let God sort them out".
(MORE)
RISI
(to Tom)
Life’s so strange, Father. Looks
like God forsook you once again.
While we’re in the sayings, listen
to this one: “Nulla salus extra
ecclesium”. Tomorrow, Church will
take back its primeval role and
will rule the world again. You
could had a seat at His right, but
He let you down first.
101.
RISI(cont'd)
Father, I guess this is where our
paths divide. Anyway, before I’m
gonna tell you a story. Thirteen
years ago, I was driving in New
Jersey, when the car in front of me
skidded on the rainy road and
hurled onto a tree. I just had the
time to take out from the car wreck
a little girl before the car
exploded. She was in a complete
shock and I took her away with me.
The day after, I read in the local
newspaper that a woman has died in
that accident, but no one talked
about the little girl. Everything
had burned in the car, so they
could never guess she was not
alone. Well, I took it as a sign
from God. She was going to be the
daughter I could never have. She
was so shocked that she had forgot
everything about her name or her
past. I decided to call her Laura.
TOM
Why did you tell me all this?
RISI
You once told me you never believed
in coincidences. However. Her
mother was called Sheila.
(a beat)
Sheila O’Brien. After some
researches, I found out that her
husband was in jail. He was a
former cop.
Tom gets pale.
RISI (cont’d)
In fact, Laura’s
(MORE) real name is Emma.
(a beat)
She is your daughter, Father.
TOM
I don’t believe you!
RISI
It’s up to you. The first time I
saw you side by side, I couldn’t
help to find similitudes between
you two. You were so alike.
102.
RISI(cont'd)
Not physically, but the same way of
thinking, the same way of talking,
of reacting. I’m sure you felt it
down inside.
TOM
And-- did-- she know it?
RISI
Laura? I mean, Emma? Of course.
From the start. She knew
everything. I told her what you did
and what’d happened to her mother
because of you. She learned how to
hate you and how to lie to you.
TOM
(bitterly)
She’s a good actress.
RISI
Isn’t she? Let’s say, I’m rather
proud of her.
TOM
Can you do me a last favor? It’ll
be like my last cigarette.
RISI
(amused)
Or your last glass of brandy? Tell
me.
TOM
What happened to the relics? Were
they authentic?
RISI
You’ll stay a cop till the end,
isn’t it? They had to be sacrificed
for the cause. According to
Professor Truman, only two of them
stocked the same complete DNA. The
Holy Shroud and the Oviedo linen.
The others were too much altered or
unspecific.
TOM
Even if you succeed in cloning the
Christ, all you will have will just
be a replica of His physical body,
but not Jesus the Christ! What
about His way of thinking? His
wisdom?
103.
RISI
We’ll teach him how to think, how
to act. Whatever He’ll do, people
will follow Him.
TOM
And will follow YOU! Who do you
think you are?! The new fucking
Saint Peter?!
RISI
(fulminating)
You will swallow that insolence!
The chauffeur strikes Tom a blow with his gun on his head.
Inanimate, Tom falls on the ground.
FADE TO BLACK:
INT. WAREHOUSE #149SH - LABORATORY - NIGHT (LATER)
THE FRAME IS BLACK
LAURA (V.O.)
Tom. Tom!
THOMAS’ P.O.V.:
He opens his eyes. Laura is leaned over him, a mug in hand.
LAURA (cont’d)
Are you okay?
TOM
Get away. Leave me alone!
Tom is handcuffed to some heating pipe, seated on the floor.
LAURA
I came to bring you some water.
Behind Laura, Father Campagnari is waiting, staring at them.
TOM
You’re a liar. I never thought you--
LAURA
What are you talking about?
TOM
Please, stop playing that game with
me. Risi told me everything.
104.
LAURA
Told you what?
He looks into her eyes. She looks sincere. She squats in

front of him.
TOM
That you’re--
He stops. As she faces him, she looks down. He follows her

eyes.
THE SMALL GUN BUTT EMERGES FROM THE TOP OF HER BOOT
LAURA
Drink some.
Laura puts the mug to his lips. While he is drinking, Tom

takes the small gun out her boot.
TOM
Thank you.
Laura gets up and, hiding Tom, turns to Father Campagnari

with a ravishing smile.
LAURA
Could give me your gun, please?
FATHER CAMPAGNARI
(surprised)
I beg your pardon?
TOM (V.O.)
Give her your gun.
Father Campagnari looks at him. Tom is aiming at him with

Chely’s small gun.
FATHER CAMPAGNARI
You think scaring me with that toy?
You won’t dare to shoot--
In a flash, Father Campagnari grabs Laura and uses her as a

shield.
FATHER CAMPAGNARI (cont’d)

I wonder how a boozer still can
shoot--
A PISTOL SHOT RESOUNDS

105.
Father Campagnari’s face freezes. A bloody spot appears

between his eyes. He lets Laura go and stumbles on the floor.
He is dead.
TOM
(to Laura)
Search for the handcuffs key.
Laura leans over Father Campagnari’s body, pushes his gun to

Tom, and starts to search him.
The shot has been heard all over the laboratory. The
technicians and scientists look panicked.
Laura finds the handcuffs key and begins to unlock Tom, when
someone SHOOTS at them. The chauffeur by the ladder leading
to the trapdoor is aiming at them. Tom responds with his gun.
Risi looms from anywhere, gesticulating, and interposes

himself between the chauffeur and Tom.
RISI
(shouting)
Stop shooting! Stop shooting!!
The chauffeur ceased fire. So does Tom.
RISI (cont’d)
(shouting)
Are you two out of your mind?!
Laura finishes unlock the handcuffs. Tom stands up, gun in

hand.
RISI (cont’d)
(to Tom)
Where Campagnari?
TOM
Down in Hell!
RISI
What do you want?
TOM
Getting out of here.
RISI
(chuckling)
I hope you’re joking. You have no
other way out.
106.
TOM
Is it your last word?
RISI
Definitely.
TOM
Okay.
Tom aims at the glass wall protecting the biomedical section

and starts to SHOOT. The bulletproof glass does not explode.
RISI
You have no way to destroy my work!
You can keep the girl with you. I
don’t mind. I can have any girl
I’ll want just to be the New
Christ’s Mother!
(to the chauffeur)
Kill them both.
SUDDENLY, A SHRIEKING ALARM RESOUNDS THROUGHOUT THE

LABORATORY
The chauffeur looks at the camera monitor by him.
CHAUFFEUR
Police!!
All the staff freezes.
Taking advantage of the panic, Risi disappears through the

small door where Laura had earlier entered.
TOM HAS SEEN HIM
TOM
(to Laura)
Follow him! I cover you!
Laura starts to run to the small door. The chauffeur fires at

her. But Tom is quicker. Hit at the shoulder, the chauffeur
steps back and stumbles. Tom rushes to him and presses the
button opening the trapdoor. Then, he kicks the gun out of
his reach.
He follows Laura by the small door.
INT. WAREHOUSE #149SH - LABORATORY - ROOM - NIGHT
When he enters the room, Tom finds Laura by herself, lost.

The room, settled as a bedroom, is empty.
107.
LAURA
He’s disappeared.
TOM
There should be a way out
somewhere.
They start to look all over the room.
LAURA
What was that alarm?
TOM
I think Chely brought back the
cavalry as planned.
LAURA
This is why I played with Risi. I
tried to gain time. I knew she was
coming to rescue us.
Tom inspects a large mirror on the wall. He passes both hands

on each side and stops. A light CLICK and he pulls the
mirror, which opens like a door.
Behind, a strong door opens on a metallic staircase.
TOM
Stay here with Chely.
He puts Chely’s small gun in the palm of her hand.
LAURA
But--
TOM
Take care of you.
Tom rushes up the staircase, Father Campagnari’s gun in hand.
EXT. WAREHOUSE #149SH - DAWN
When Tom emerges from a door at the back of the warehouse,

the day is dawning and rain starts to fall.
In the black car, Tom sees Risi speeding to the docks,

towards the mouth of the Deep Cove. Tom adjusts his aim,
tries to fight the slight shivering of his hand, and FIRES.
One of the car tires EXPLODES. The car skids on the wet
cobblestones, to finally stop against a warehouse wall.
108.
Tom starts to sprint. Risi gets off the car and runs away.
EXT. SECOND NARROWS DOCKS - DAWN
The rain hard falls. Tom is getting soaked. When he arrives

on the main docks, no trace of Risi. He scans the place when
he notices a hangar with a open door.
WAREHOUSE SN98
Gun in hand, he runs to it.
Back on the warehouse wall, he slips his head through the

door.
INT. SECOND NARROWS DOCKS - WAREHOUSE SN98 - DAWN
In the desert warehouse, no sign of Risi. Tom is about to

check further, when, on a metallic catwalk, something falls
and bounces in an ECHOED METALLIC NOISE.
Immediately, Tom rushes in and tries to discern if Risi is

upstairs.
NOT A SOUND
JUST TOM’S HEAVY BREATH
TOM
(echoed voice)
Risi! I know you’re here!
NO ANSWER
Without a noise, he slowly steps to the nearest metallic

stairway and starts to climb up.
FLASHBACK - WAREHOUSE - NIGHT
Tom starts to climb the stairs to the flashlight. His feet

RESOUND on the metallic steps.
BACK TO:
109.
Always attentive to any sound, Tom reaches the upper floor

and steps on a narrow catwalk.
BACK TO:
Above Tom, a large hole in the roof lets the rain pouring in.
BACK TO:
The rain THUMPS on the glass roof.
Suddenly, fifty feet away from him, Tom sees Risi climbing up
a beam to a trapdoor to the roof. Tom aims at him.
TOM
(shouting)
Risi! Stop or I’ll shoot!
Risi turns to him.
RISI
You wouldn’t kill a man who has no
gun. Not you, a priest!
Risi resumes climbing up and pulls himself up outside.
Tom lows his gun and sighs, letting him disappear through the
trapdoor. He rushes down the stairs. Reaching the hangar
door, he paces out.
EXT. SECOND NARROWS DOCKS - WAREHOUSE SN98 - DAWN
Tom steps outside and turns around the warehouse. Raising his
head, he notices an old crane connected to the warehouse.
Blinded by the rain falling harder, he has to sweep his face
off.
In the raising day, Risi’s silhouette now looms inside the

crane cabin.
In SOP style, Tom rushes to hide behind a container in sight

of the crane foot, waiting for Risi.
110.
But the Archbishop is nowhere to be seen, as if he has
disappeared. Tom keeps scanning through the rain, out of
breath.
Suddenly, he feels something moving behind him.
Tom turns back and shoots twice.
BETSY’S HEAD EXPLODES
BACK TO:
EXT. SECOND NARROWS DOCKS - DAWN
Tom turns back and is ready to fire when he realizes that

Laura is there. He holds his gun up.
He paces to her, when he sees her face freezing. He turns

back when a SHOT EXPLODES in the rain. Hit at the shoulder,
Tom is hurled onto Laura.
With no second though, Tom SHOOTS several times in front of

him, emptying his chamber, in the direction where he thought
the shot came from.
LAURA SCREAMS
Facing Tom, at the foot of the crane, Risi, a gun in hand, is

holding his throat. He stays immobile for a while. Blood
mixed with rain, runs through his fingers.
Tom groans with pain, holding his shoulder.
Risi is ready to shoot again, when--
OTHER GUNSHOTS
Like a disarticulated marionette, Risi is shaken through his

body. Then, dropping his gun, he collapses on the
cobblestones, his face in a rain puddle.
He is dead.
Tom turns to Laura. She is still holding her smoking small

gun in Risi’s direction, trembling. She bursts out in tears.
In spite of his wounding, Tom takes her in his arms and hugs
her. She lets herself go.
POLICE OFFICERS, led by Chely, are rushing to them.

111.
CAMERA keeps slowly rising above the docks, while rain keeps
falling on the scene.
FADE TO BLACK:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
Tom is resting on a hospital bed, his shoulder bandaged. He

looks tired. The black nurse enters with a large smile to
readjust the pillows under his back.
BLACK NURSE
Well, Father, you missed us? You’re
going to become a good client. Do
you want me to book you a permanent
room?
TOM
(stolid)
I don’t think so. I’d sure miss the
sun.
BLACK NURSE
You’d better come back to see us in
July then.
She bursts into laughter. A BIG LOUD LAUGHTER
As she is on her way out, door opens and Laura appears, a big
bunch of flowers in her arms.
LAURA
Feel better?
Tom now stares at her now with different eyes. Laura figures
it out.
LAURA (cont’d)
(uneasy)
What?
TOM
Nothing. Just glad you’re here.
(a beat)
What about the relics?
LAURA
Most of them have been destroyed,
but the Vatican has sent his best
experts to restore the Shroud and
the linen.
112.
TOM
Good. At least, we didn’t do all
this for nothing.
(chuckling)
God owes us this one.
Laura disposes the flowers in a vase and puts them on the

bedside.
LAURA
Are you going back to Rincon, Father?
TOM
I don’t think so. In a way, Risi
helped me to open my eyes and show
me I was made to help my brother in
a different way. The Vatican
offered me a good situation in
Rome, but I think I’m going to
decline it. What about you?
LAURA
I don’t know yet. I’m an orphan for the
second time. Chely proposed me to stay
here to work with her. I have to think
about it.
Tom smiles at her.
TOM
We made a good team, didn’t we?
He reaches his hand out to her.
LAURA
Yes. I’m gonna miss it.
A long beat.
He takes her hand.

(MORE)
TOM
I thought about something lately.
If you really want to carry on our
team, why could we both be involved
in humanitarian aid? So many people
would need us around the world.
LAURA
(lighthearted)
Okay. Fine to me. You’re really a
good man, Tom.
113.
LAURA(cont'd)
I’m sure the day you will find your
daughter, she’ll be proud of you.
TOM
I know she will now.
FADE OUT:
The end

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BLOOD RUSH

EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT

A long and desert dock. TOM O’BRIEN, 45, is snappily dressed

He walks down under the pouring rain, crosses a small bridge,

He scans around, takes a gun out, and cocks it.

INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

Tom silhouettes at the door.

He enters the warehouse.

Rain pours into the warehouse through several holes in the

He has a tiny earphone from where a FILTERED VOICE can be

EARPHONE VOICE (V.O.)

EXT. DOCKS - INT. POLICE CAR - NIGHT

INSPECTOR PHILIP SANDERSON, 54, a fat man wearing mustache,

They both wear bulletproof jackets.

Sanderson is speaking on a microphone.

On the radio, just static.

INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

Tom keeps walking in the darkness, and then stops. He is

As a response, a FLASHLIGHT blinks three times upstairs.

He taps on the earphone with his finger.

Suddenly, a WOMAN’S VOICE ECHOES in the warehouse.

Tom starts to climb the stairs to the flashlight. His feet

A big steel pulley-block is hanging with a heavy chain in the

WOMAN (V.O.) (cont’d)

A hand holds the chain.

Reaching the upper floor, Tom walks on a narrow catwalk

EARPHONE VOICE (V.O.)

Sanderson’s filtered voice seems to tear Tom’s ear out. In a

The heavy pulley-block smashes on the catwalk with an

A WOMAN, wearing a bulletproof jacket and holding a gun,

EXT. DOCKS - INT. POLICE CAR - NIGHT

The TWO SHOTS are heard inside the police car.

Everyone rushes out of the police car.

EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT

About twenty armed POLICE OFFICERS are ready to assault the

INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

The police officers, followed by Sanderson and Betsy, enter

Tom’s voice ECHOES.

The police officers take their flashlights out. Light beams

But Tom is already chasing her, following her trail.

INT. WAREHOUSE ROOF - NIGHT

The woman reaches a hole in the roof and pulls herself up

INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

Sanderson turns to Betsy.

Betsy just nods and rushes out.

INT. WAREHOUSE ROOF - NIGHT

Tom hoists himself up and disappears through the hole.

EXT. WAREHOUSE ROOF - DOCKS - NIGHT

Behind him, police officers appear through the hole. Reaching

EXT. WAREHOUSE #2 ROOF - DOCKS - NIGHT

Hit at her bulletproof jacket strap, she is thrown on her

She disappears from Tom’s sight. He runs to the edge and

EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT

Soaking, the woman is hanging to steel cables relying two

Tom aims at her, but the rain is getting harder. He cannot

On the ladder, Tom raises his head.

Betsy hides behind a container.

Tom reaches the ground and nervously scans around.