COLLEGE COMPLEX – HA ROOM – 12:25
Part way through a High Achievers lesson, ROXIE is sat two
down from ARTHUR. ARTHUR is hurriedly scribbling down notes, while ROXIE is
staring absent-mindedly out of the window. MR STEEPLE is talking at the front.
ARTHUR’s eyes flick to ROXIE momentarily,
watching her hands as she flicks a pen. Her fingers make very controlled,
precise movements.
MR STEEPLE
As you show know by
now, we are going on a trip…
ROXIE perks up a little, eyes moving to the front. ARTHUR rolls
his eyes as he completes his notes.
MR STEEPLE
We’ll be going to the museum-
ROXIE rolls her eyes, ARTHUR perks up.
MR STEEPLE (CONT’D)
-which houses some
very valuable jewels we will be allowed to handle.
ROXIE and ARTHUR now attentive.
MR STEEPLE (CONT’D)
Only the very best of
the High Achievers students will be allowed to come-
ROXIE sighs as she
realises she probably can’t go. ARTHUR’s smile twitches upward slightly. MR
STEEPLE now looks directly at ROXIE.
MR STEEPLE (CONT’D)
But I’m sure if you work extra hard, everyone can
come.
EXT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE HA ROOM – 10:31
ARTHUR is reluctantly followed by ROXIE, though he tries to
remain pleasant, he’s nearly at his wits end with her.
ROXIE
Arthu-u-u-ur…
ARTHUR
(exasperated)
Yes?
ROXIE clings to ARTHURs arm. ARTHUR is none too pleased.
ROXIE
Is there any chance
you could possibly…
ROXIE gets distracted by a person passing by and ARTHUR
takes the opportunity to escape from her grip and walk swiftly away. He looks
overly relieved.
EXT. COLLEGE COURTYARD – 12:34
SEBASTIAN is waiting for ARTHUR, tapping his foot but
otherwise patient. ARTHUR bursts through the doors, composing himself as he
walks, and lets his eyes roll to SEBASTIAN as he draws near.
SEBASTIAN
Arthur!
ARTHUR walks over to SEBASTIAN and sighs. SEBASTIAN glances
at ARTHUR's face before opening his mouth to say something, thinking better of
it, and shutting it again.
ARTHUR
What, Sebastian?
SEBASTIAN
We haven't had a
single clue as to who is really behind this...
ARTHUR stays silent,
watching SEBASTIAN.
SEBASTIAN
What if we never
catch them, Arthur? What if they're too clever for us? Don't look at me like
that, it's possible!
ARTHUR shakes his head disapprovingly as ROXIE walks in,
abnormally pleased to see them, as always.
ROXIE
Seb! Arthur!
ARTHUR again rolls his eyes. SEBASTIAN looks genuinely
pleased.
SEBASTIAN
Roxie!
ROXIE enthusiastically sits down next to them, even more so
than before. She's being overly nice, obviously so.
SEBASTIAN
You alright, Roxie?
ROXIE
Yep! Perfectly fine,
thank you! How're you, Seb?
SEBASTIAN
Oh, I'm-
ARTHUR
Busy. We're busy. We
have a thief to catch.
ARTHUR gets up and leaves, SEBASTIAN shrugs at ROXIE then
leaves as well. ROXIE lingers for a moment before following herself.
EXT. LARGE CLASSROOM - 12:40
LARGE CLASSROOM with
computers around the edge, horse-shoe arranged desks. ARTHUR has pictures set
out to one end; he's standing over them, looking determined. SEBASTIAN is stood
nearby, looking vaguely confused. ROXIE
leans by the door, checking her phone and occasionally glancing at SEBASTIAN.
ARTHUR sighs loudly
and looks up at SEBASTIAN. You can’t see ARTHUR’s face, but you can hear him muttering
something to SEBASTIAN. SEBASTIAN looks shocked, disbelieved, and glances slightly
at ROXIE. ROXIE looks up, confused.
ROXIE starts walking
toward ARTHUR and SEBASTIAN. Hearing snippets of the conversation, ROXIE is
looking more and more worried about what they’re talking about. The conversation
suddenly ends just as she comes into earshot, but she still hears
SEBASTIAN
No,
it couldn’t be! They wouldn’t!
They-
ARTHUR
spins around and shuffles his papers away behind his back. He stands up and
leaves, hitting ROXIE with his shoulder as he passes.
ARTHUR
(half-hearted)
Sorry
ARTHUR
leaves the room but SEBASTIAN stays.
ROXIE
Seb?
What was that all about?
SEBASTIAN
Don’t worry about it, Roxie. It’s
just a lead.
SEBASTIAN
leaves, ROXIE sits on the desk and sighs audibly.
EXT. BUSY CORRIDOR – 13:14
Sounds
from any students bustling about, each on with a destination in mind except
one. MRS BEED is standing in the crowd, unmoving. She glances at the clock.
Clock
shows time of 1:15 pm
MRS
BEED stands back to her original position, staring fixatedly at the door. No
one comes through the door until the clock ticks over 1:15 pm.
Suddenly,
ARTHUR and SEBASTIAN burst through the door, SEBASTIAN laughing at something
ARTHUR has said while ARTHUR’s mouth is curling upward more than usual.
MRS
BEEN
Arthur!
Sebastian! A word, if you please!
SEBASTIAN
looks apprehensively at ARTHUR but ARTHUR just sets his features then walks up
to MRS BEEN.
ARTHUR
Yes?
MRS
BEEN peers at ARTHUR and SEBASTIAN for a moment, as if trying to read their
minds.
MRS
BEEN
You
haven’t been…
up to anything since I’ve
given you free-rule of the classrooms, have you?
SEBASTIAN
blushes but the comment doesn’t
seem to faze ARTHUR
ARTHUR
Nothing
other than what you authorized me to do, Mrs Been, I assure you.
(pause)
ARTHUR
(CONT’D)
Speaking
of which, we’ve made an interesting development since I last updated you.
All
three lean in together to allow ARTHUR to speak with some privacy.
At
that very moment ROXIE bursts through a gang of students and almost sends
ARTHUR flying in her haste to get in on the action.
ARTHUR
I
shall tell you later.
ARTHUR
leaves with his usual extravagance and SEBASTIAN trails behind, followed by
ROXIE who is frustrated at not being able to speak.
EXT. EMPTY CORRIDOR – 14:58
THIEF
rushes around a corner. They are dressed all in black, hood up, running at full
pelt. You can’t see their face in the short time you can see them on
screen. ARTHUR rushes around the corner in obvious pursuit. His coat is
splaying out behind him.
The
THEIF has a wallet clasped in their hand, and as they go through a doorway,
attempts to slam a door in ARTHUR’s
face. ARTHUR pushes through regardless, concentration showing on his face.
The
THIEF slams into a student, pushing him into ARTHUR’s
way as they continue to run down the corridors.
A
rumbling is heard from the classrooms and ARTHUR quickly checks his watch;
class was about to end. This only increases ARTHUR’s
determination to catch the THIEF and he shows no signs of slowing down.
Suddenly,
students burst from the classrooms around them, blocking the THIEF temporarily
from sight. ARTHUR pushes students out of the way as he narrows the THIEF’s lead, and shouts of discontent follow them down the
corridor. The THIEF becomes more frantic as they realize ARTHUR is catching up.
SEBASTIAN
leaves his History class and is nearly knocked down by the THIEF
SEBASTIAN
[shocked]
What?
SEBASTIAN
is then pushed out of the way by ARTHUR
SEBASTIAN
[shocked,
flustered]
Arthur,
what?
SEBASTIAN
then joins the chase, thought he is obviously confused. He trails somewhat behind
ARTHUR and apologizes to the students being pushed out of the way.
The
chase continues toward the staircase. Teachers and students alike are now
following in tow, though there is obvious confusion as to what is going on.
SEBASTIAN is behi9nd, attempting to explain that he has no idea what is going
on to some teacher, but is trying harder to keep up with ARTHUR.
Sweat
trickles down ARTHUR’s face as the THIEF crashes through the
door to the stairwell.
EXT. STAIRWELL – 15:01
As
soon as the door to the stairwell swings shut, ARTHUR bursts through, closely
followed by SEBASTIAN and a group of teachers and students.
The
THIEF is running erratically and stumbles, falling down the stairs. The THIEF
shouts out in pain, and the shout is definitely female. ARTHUR stops at the top
of the stairs, soon joined by SEBASTIAN, and waits as the THIEF finishes
tumbling.
There
is a moment of silence as the THIEF lies on the landing. ARTHUR skips down the
stairs and carefully removes the wallet from their hand. He throws it up to
SEBASTIAN who clumsily catches it. ARTHUR reaches into an inside pocket of the
hoody and pulls out the concert tickets. He pockets them before pausing, as if
thinking about what to do.
ARTHUR
begins making his way up the stairs, but as he leaves quickly pulls the hood of
the THEIF down. Under the hood is ROXIE, trying to hide her face.
ARTHUR
continues up the stairs, steely determination on his face. SEBASTIAN looks
shocked and disgusted.
EXT. CLASSROOM – 16:08
ROXIE
is sat there, there is a TEACHER by the door.
ROXIE
I
want to talk to Arthur and Sebastian! Please! I need to explain!
TEACHER
You
are in no place to be making demands!
ARTHUR
and SEBASTIAN enter, ARTHUR is, as usual, devoid of much emotion. SEBASTIAN
looks betrayed.
ROXIE
Look,
Seb, let me explain!
SEBASTIAN
You
don’t need to. Arthur already has.
ROXIE
looks disgruntled upon hearing this.
ARTHUR
Yes,
Roxie. I explained to Sebastian that you did this because you never got the
attention you wanted. Not from your parents, not from your teachers and
especially not from your peers. You saw me, the genius that I am, getting
recognition and attention, and you were jealous. You are far more perfect than
me. Not just clever, but also charismatic, witty and likeable. So you latched
onto me, thinking if you could outsmart me, maybe you’d
get the credit you deserve. But there is one thing I don’t understand…
you knew that to outsmart me was not to get caught, yet you still expected
credit? You’re a smart girl, Roxie…
ROXIE
looks at ARTHUR in disbelief then sighs.
ROXIE
You
wouldn’t understand, Arthur. I did it for a reason I’ve come to think beyond your scope of knowledge. I didn’t do it for your attention, or the attention of my friends,
or teachers, or parents. I don’t
care about them! I only care about…
ROXIE
looks at SEBASTIAN. ARTHUR looks shocked, SEBASTIAN just looks at his feet.
ROXIE
Seb,
listen to me, please, Sebastian!
SEBASTIAN
refuses to look at ROXIE, but she goes on anyway.
ROXIE
Sebastian,
just listen to me. I thought that, if I outsmarted Arthur, maybe you wouldn’t think he was so invincible…
so amazing, and maybe you’d
pay attention to me. He can be outsmarted, I know he can. Look, Seb, please, I
did it for you!
SEBASTIAN
just looks at the ground. ARTHUR is a little dumbfounded.
SEBASTIAN
[quietly]
Did
you really think that would work, Rox? Really?
ARTHUR
You… You did it for him? But, I don’t
understand…
ROXIE
You
never do, Arthur! You don’t
understand emotion - that much I’ve
gathered. Do you even feel real emotions, Arthur? Truly? Or are you just… just all logic, like…
like what? A machine? You certainly don’t
act with any compassion. Did you never question the motives of the people I
hired? Did you?
ARTHUR
is a little dumbfounded, shocked into silence by her words.
ROXIE
Helen,
for example! I promised her that I would see to it she would get the attention
of her crush if she did what I asked!
The
TEACHER pays closer attention to this.
ROXIE
Lara,
another fine example! She didn’t
do it for her own personal gain, not at all! She did it because her brother
desperately needed pain relief –
strong pain relief – that the doctors couldn’t give him because they didn’t
know the cause. I promised her that if she did what she did for me, I could
provide that. If she didn’t
get caught, that is.
ROXIE
(CONT’D)
Liam
did it because I promised him that I could convince his parents that he could
have a dog, Charlie so that her sister could go to a concert he wanted to see
more than anything, Amy so that I would withdraw my copy of her work so her
work wouldn’t be disqualified…
All of these people, all of them, their motive was something quite different to
what you thought, Arthur!
ROXIE
(CONT’D)
But
you don’t care about that, do you? You just care about getting your
man, sealing your victory, catching the bad guy…
ARTHUR
stays silent. He seems to have lost his steam. SEBASTIAN is looking from one to
the other, assessing the situation.
ROXIE
You
know what, Arthur? You really aren’t
that good at this detective rubbish you pretend to be an expert at. Without me,
without Seb, you would be nothing. Nothing at all. You realize that… don’t
you?
ARTHUR
is silent, examining his feet. ROXIE laughs to herself, hysterical.
ROXIE
You
do! You realize all this! You’ve
known for a while… Not from the start, that’s for sure, but for a while. Then…
why haven’t you tried to prove yourself wrong? Come on, Arthur. Every
time you find a limit, you push it until it breaks. It’s
how you live. I think it gives you a buzz, to push yourself until you break. So… why not now?
ARTHUR
glances slightly up at SEBASTIAN. When this happens, ROXIE laughs but SEBASTIAN
smiles, just a little.
ROXIE
Haha,
no, Arthur. Just no. You don’t
understand emotion! You’ll
never get anywhere!
ARTHUR
You
don’t understand me.
ARTHUR
leaves in a huff, SEBASTIAN stays for just a moment.
SEBASTIAN
I’m disappointed in you, Rox. I had such high hopes.
SEBASTIAN
turns to leave.
ROXIE
Seb,
Seb no! Sebastian!
SEBASTIAN
leaves and ROXIE rests her head on the table in despair.
EXT. CORRDIDOR – 16:29
SEBASTIAN
waits outside ARTHUR’s maths class patiently. ARTHUR comes
out and they begin walking down the corridor. They walk in silence, neither
looking at the other until they are nearly at the door.
SEBASTIAN
Arthur?
ARTHUR
Yes?
SEBASTIAN
Can
we ever trust her again? Roxie? After…
after this?
ARTHUR
I
never trusted her to begin with. She’s
not the sort of person you can trust. She’s
too attention seeking.
ARTHUR
starts to ramble on. SEBASTIAN is obviously trying to work up the courage to
say something.
SEBASTIAN
[blurts
out]
I
don’t agree with what she said!
ARTHUR
and SEBASTIAN stop walking and there is a stunned silence for a moment.
SEBASTIAN
[fumbling]
I
mean, about you not understanding emotion! I don’t
mean about you being right or something! I meant that I think you do understand
it, you do, you just don’t
like it or something like that! I’m
sorry Arthur I didn’t mean to cause offence I mean I was
just trying to say…
ARTHUR
sighs and continues walking, a smile slowly creeping onto his face. SEBASTIAN
follows. As they walk through the door into the outside world, ARTHUR slips his
hand into SEBASTIANS.
Fade
to black.
END
