Выбрать главу

TEN. That’s fine. If the speech is over, let’s go on.

(FOREMAN gets up, goes to the door, knocks, hands GUARD the tagged switch-knife and sits down again.)

THREE (to FIVE). Look, buddy, I was a little excited. Well, you know how it is. I … I didn’t mean to get nasty. Nothing personal. (FIVE looks at him.)

SEVEN (to EIGHT). Look, supposing you answer me this. If the kid didn’t kill him, who did?

EIGHT. As far as I know, we’re supposed to decide whether or not the boy on trial is guilty. We’re not concerned with anyone else’s motives here.

NINE. Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This is an important thing to remember.

THREE (to TEN). Everyone’s a lawyer. (To NINE) Supposing you explain what your reasonable doubts are.

NINE. This is not easy. So far, it’s only a feeling I have. A feeling. Perhaps you don’t understand.

TEN. A feeling! What are we gonna do, spend the night talking about your feelings? What about the facts?

THREE. You said a mouthful. (To NINE) Look, the old man heard the kid yell, “I’m gonna kill you.” A second later he heard the father’s body falling and he saw the boy running out of the house fifteen seconds after that.

TWELVE. That’s right. And let’s not forget the woman across the street. She looked into the open window and saw the boy stab his father. She saw it. Now if that’s not enough for you …

EIGHT. It’s not enough for me.

SEVEN. How do you like him? It’s like talking into a dead phone.

FOUR. The woman saw the killing through the window of a moving elevated train. The train had five cars, and she saw it through the windows of the last two. She remembers the most insignificant details.

(Cut to close shot of TWELVE who doodles a picture of an el train on a scrap of paper.)

THREE. Well, what have you got to say about that?

EIGHT. I don’t know. It doesn’t sound right to me.

THREE. Well, supposing you think about it. (To TWELVE) Lend me your pencil.

(TWELVE gives it to him. He draws a tick-tack-toe square on the same sheet of paper on which TWELVE has drawn the train. He fills in an X, hands the pencil to TWELVE.)

THREE. Your turn. We might as well pass the time.

(TWELVE takes the pencil. EIGHT stands up and snatches the paper away. THREE leaps up.)

THREE. Wait a minute!

EIGHT (hard). This isn’t a game.

THREE (angry). Who do you think you are?

SEVEN (rising). All right, let’s take it easy.

THREE. I’ve got a good mind to walk around this table and belt him one!

FOREMAN. Now, please. I don’t want any fights in here.

THREE. Did ya see him? The nerve! The absolute nerve!

TEN. All right. Forget it. It don’t mean anything.

SIX. How about sitting down.

THREE. This isn’t a game. Who does he think he is?

(He lets them sit him down. EIGHT remains standing, holding the scrap of paper. He looks at it closely now and seems to be suddenly interested in it. Then he throws it back toward THREE. It lands in center of table. THREE is angered again at this, but FOUR puts his hand on his arm. EIGHT speaks now and his voice is more intense.)