1  INT. CARL'S BASEMENT - EVENING
  2  ==============================
  3  
  4  Carl is sitting on a sturdy metal stool. His hands are tied behind him,
  5  and his feet are tied to the stool's legs. A bright lamp shines on his
  6  face. Vera is sitting opposite to him, resting her arms on the back of
  7  her chair, looking at Carl and holding the kitchen knife in her hand.
  8  
  9  > VERA
 10  >> I know what is going on. Someone is framing me for the attack. I know
 11  >> I didn't do it, and my best guess is that it was you. I'm going to
 12  >> make you confess.
 13  >>
 14  >> When I was thirteen, I was beaten up and raped by a drunk on my way
 15  >> home from school. When I was fifteen, I was gang raped by the high
 16  >> school football team. I know about pain.
 17  
 18  > CARL
 19  >> You're crazy.
 20  
 21  Vera slaps Carl on the face.
 22  
 23  > VERA
 24  >> You don't want to make me any more angry.
 25  
 26  > CARL
 27  >> You don't really think you can torture me here without getting caught?
 28  
 29  > VERA
 30  >> Sure I can. Nobody knows I'm here. Even your father hasn't seen me.
 31  >> Everybody knows you never go out in the evening. I'm safe here until
 32  >> you're late for work tomorrow. We have all night.
 33  >> 
 34  >> So, coming back why you are framing me. Start speaking.
 35  
 36  > CARL
 37  >> If you didn't do, you should give yourself up to the police. That's
 38  >> the right thing to do.
 39  
 40  > VERA
 41  >> Don't be stupid.
 42  
 43  > CARL
 44  >> No, I mean it.
 45  
 46  > VERA
 47  >> You really do, don't you? You always do things by the book. Exactly
 48  >> by the book.
 49  
 50  > CARL
 51  >> Of course. It is the right thing.
 52  
 53  > VERA
 54  >> Wake up and smell the coffee, you prick. Do you have any idea what
 55  >> the police will do if they lay their hands on me?
 56  
 57  > CARL
 58  >> Yes. They'll interrogate you and if there's any evidence on your side
 59  >> they'll...
 60  
 61  > VERA
 62  >> No, that's not it.
 63  
 64  > CARL
 65  >> Of course it is. That's regulations.
 66  
 67  > VERA
 68  >> You're the one who follows regulations. Nobody else does. What the
 69  >> feds will do to me is to beat me up, lock me up, and shut me up.
 70  
 71  > CARL
 72  >> Still, you'll get a chance to prove your innocence in court.
 73  
 74  > VERA
 75  >> Who'd believe me? Anyway, the real bad guys would run free for weeks
 76  >> or months. Speaking of the bad guys, that's you.
 77  
 78  > CARL
 79  >> I'm not.
 80  
 81  > VERA
 82  >> Even if I wanted to believe you, which I don't, you'll have to come
 83  >> up with something to convince me.
 84  
 85  > CARL
 86  >> And you'll have to convince me that you didn't do it.
 87  
 88  > VERA
 89  >> What an interesting impasse. I feel like hurting someone.
 90  
 91  > CARL
 92  >> I helped the FBI access the logs to our distribution server. The code
 93  >> was modified using your account.
 94  
 95  > VERA
 96  >> That doesn't prove it was me.
 97  
 98  > CARL
 99  >> It's a pretty strong indication, if you ask me. Those logs can't
100  >> easily be faked. I set them up myself.
101  
102  > VERA
103  >> That just proves you could have faked them yourself.
104  
105  > CARL
106  >> I have a suggestion. If you can prove where you were when the code
107  >> was modified, you can convince me that it wasn't you. Then we can
108  >> discuss whether it was me.
109  
110  > VERA
111  >> OK.
112  
113  > CARL
114  >> Where were between midnight and noon? I'm not saying the exact time.
115  
116  > VERA
117  >> Let's see. I was in bed until 3 AM, then visited the Big Orange
118  >> warehouse, they'd screwed up a box installation again. It took about
119  >> half an hour. I gave the guy good scare, he'll certainly remember I
120  >> was there.
121  
122  > CARL
123  >> And afterwards?
124  
125  > VERA
126  >> I went to my lover's lovenest, and slept there. It was nearer, I
127  >> didn't feel like driving back across town.
128  
129  > CARL
130  >> Not much of an alibi, but you're in luck. The modification was done
131  >> at 03:37 AM. I guess it wasn't you.
132  
133  > VERA
134  >> If you aren't bluffing, I guess it wasn't you either, or you wouldn't
135  >> provide me with my proof of innocence. I have no way of checking what
136  >> you said, though.