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13INT. HOTEL ROOM. DAY.

Royal’s suite at the Lindbergh Palace Hotel. There are shelves full of law books and hundreds of spy novels in stacks on the floor. There is a set of Encyclopedia Britannica, an exercise bicycle and a Xerox machine.

Royal lies on his stomach on a massage table getting a massage from a young Asian woman. The manager of the hotel stands in front of Royal with a piece of paper in his hand.

MANAGER

I’ve been instructed to refuse any

further charges on your room account and

to direct you in writing to please

vacate the premises by the end of the

month.

The manager hands Royal the piece of paper. Royal points to the masseuse.

ROYAL

What about Sing-Sang? I owe her a

hundred.

The manager looks to the masseuse.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

Royal had lived in the Lindbergh Palace

Hotel for twenty-two years.

INSERT:

A letter typed on Lindbergh Palace Hotel stationary. It begins:

Dear Mr. Tenenbaum,

In light of your continuing failure to remit any form of payment, we have no --

CUT TO:

The masseuse. She does not appear to understand English.

MANAGER

Can you pay her in cash?

Royal shakes his head. The manager hesitates.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

He was a prominent litigator until the

mid-eighties, when he was disbarred and

briefly imprisoned.

CUT TO:

Royal standing in the window looking out at the falling snow as Sing-Sang folds up the massage table behind him. He lights a cigarette.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)