Cold Blood A BRIEF SKETCH FOR THE STAGE TO LAST APPROXIMATELY FIFTEEN MINUTES. The curtain opens and the stage is in complete darkness. Two gunshots are heard in rapid succession. The lights go on and we see the unoccupied scene. It is a nondescript room with a small table, two chairs and a small cupboard that contains some bottles. SARAH walks on, backwards, trembling and clutching a smoking gun. SARAH God, I… I didn’t mean it… (She sits on one of the chairs and places the gun on the table.) What have I done? What have I done? SARAH sinks her head into her hands and begins to sob, as there is a loud noise, offstage. She looks up quickly and wipes her eyes. The noise is repeated and we realise that someone is knocking at the door. SARAH looks towards the noise in a state of confusion. SARAH What the…? No… I don’t… But I… (Calling:) Just a minute! TOM (Offstage) It’s alright, Sarah, I can wait. SARAH Tom! Oh, Tom! Thank God! (She runs off, we hear her fumbling with the door handle, and she comes back on again with TOM behind her.) Mind the body, Tom. TOM So you did it, then? I had a feeling you might have done it. That’s why I came. SARAH (Resuming her seat) I just shot him. He told me to get him a glass of water so I shot him. TOM A glass of water, eh? I see, difficult not to shoot. SARAH Tom… TOM (Sitting on the unoccupied chair) No, no, Sarah, I’m sure every member of the jury will sympathise with you… Because anyone would shoot a man who asked for a glass of water. SARAH You’re not being funny, Tom, and you never will be. TOM I’m not trying to be funny. SARAH Come on, darling, you and I both know this has been on the cards for months. TOM Of course I do. That’s why I helped you plan it. The fact remains that we’ve got a body on the kitchen floor and about twenty minutes to disposer of it. SARAH Twenty minutes? TOM Twenty minutes. George is due back at five, isn’t he? SARAH But Tom… TOM Don’t worry about me, Sarah, I can hide the corpse if you just keep the good husband occupied for a few minutes. First of all, we need to think of a decent hiding place. SARAH But Tom… TOM What about…? No… How about… No, it’s too small… I know. The bookcase. SARAH The what? TOM You know, Sarah, behind the bookcase. You’ve got that secret thing. SARAH The secret panel, but Tom… TOM How very Edgar Wallace. SARAH Edgar who? TOM Never mind. Then we’ll need something to get rid of the blood. How are we going to stop George from noticing it? SARAH Tom, I shot George. It’s George’s blood. TOM (Rising) What?! SARAH It was George who asked me for the water. It was George I killed. TOM (Angry) Why the hell did you do that? SARAH (Scared) Well, who did you think I’d killed? TOM Philip. SARAH Why should I kill Philip? TOM Why should you kill George? SARAH It’s what we’d planned. We’ve been planning this for months. For months so we can be together always. TOM smacks his head with his hand. TOM We’d been planning to kill my brother so we could be together always. SARAH But that doesn’t make any sense, Tom. George is my husband… TOM … And Philip is my brother… it only took you twenty years to work that one out. SARAH Why should I kill your brother? TOM (Shouting very loudly) Because I told you to! SARAH You’re scaring me. TOM I hope I bloody am! Do you realise what you’ve done, Woman?! SARAH I’ve never known you like this before… TOM Why did you think we were killing George? SARAH So we could get married… TOM We didn’t need to be married to have a relationship, Sarah. This is 2005. There is a long, awkward silence. TOM sits back down. SARAH rises, paces, looks towards the body (offstage) and reseats herself. They both speak at the same time. TOM So where’s Philip? SARAH Do you want some coffee? TOM What? SARAH I asked if you’d like some coffee. TOM I wouldn’t. Where’s Philip? SARAH How should I know? TOM But didn’t he come here this morning? SARAH No. Should he have? TOM I sent him a note in your name. “Come to my house, it’s urgent. From Sarah.” Philip can’t resist a cry for help, especially from a young lady. SARAH I thought I was “Woman”. TOM You’re a lady really, Sarah. Sorry if I got a bit angry, but I’d always assumed we were plotting to kill my brother. (He laughs.) SARAH (Laughing) You have to see the funny side! We were thinking of different people! TOM We can still kill Philip, though? SARAH Oh, of course. But I haven’t seen him today. TOM He got the note three hours ago. I saw him read it. He’s always been super prompt. SARAH Then he’ll be here any minute. I’ll go and hide the body. TOM You need any help? SARAH I’ll be fine. Be a dear and mix up so disinfectant, Tom. TOM Why? SARAH The blood, my dear, the blood. They both laugh and kiss very briefly. SARAH frolics off. TOM goes to the cupboard and pulls out two bottles and a bucket. TOM Damn her! Stupid bloody woman! She’s ruined everything! My perfect plan! As if I care a damn about her! (He empties the bottles into the bucket and swishes it about.) Well, there’s her disinfectant. And we might as well have a nice cup of coffee. (He crosses over to the desk and picks up a teacup, which is lying on it, full of coffee. He pours a whole bottle of pills, from his pocket, into it, with a grimace.) Rest in peace, darling. SARAH (Entering) I beg your pardon? TOM Nothing. There’s your disinfectant, Sarah. SARAH Splendid. I hid the body. There’s not actually that much blood. I got him in the back, so most of it’s soaked into his clothes. I’m sure nobody’ll notice the odd stain or two. This house is filthy as it is. TOM Alright then. Forget the stains. Let’s have a chat. Let’s sit down and have a nice little chat. SARAH Fair enough. I’ll go first. Why do you want your brother dead? What have you got against dear, sweet Philip? TOM Drink your coffee and I’ll tell you. SARAH Oh! I forgot I even had it. (She takes sips of from the teacup throughout the following.) TOM (Confidentially) You promise not to tell anyone? SARAH nods. TOM Good. Are you aware of how Philip earns his money? He does the same as me. We smuggle precious stones into America. We then get huge amounts of money. If you know the right stones to deal with, it can be bigger than drugs. I’ll show you the right sort of stone. (He produces a gigantic ruby from his pocket) This is the right sort of stone. Isn’t it a beauty? It’s worth millions. That’s not just potentially; I’ve been offered £4,000,000 outright for it. So has Philip. SARAH I see. He wants it too? TOM That’s it. He wants it badly. He’d kill for it. It’s always been inevitable that one of us should die. The only question was… him or me? SARAH Naturally, it had to be him. (She has now finished her coffee.) TOM All done? Good. Yes, naturally, it had to be him. I’m special. I have a life worth living and at least I’m intelligent enough to conjure up a plan. Poor Philip’s probably still at the drawing board stage in his murder of me scheme. SARAH That’s all I was? Just a part of you plan? A way of killing your brother? TOM Uh huh. I knew you’d kill him because you love me. You loved me then, you love me now. You’ll never stop loving me. SARAH (With a glint in her eye) I wouldn’t be so sure of that… TOM I would. Where is Philip? He should be here by now? SARAH He is. From this point on, SARAH continues to twitch and cough at odd intervals. TOM Have you killed him too? That’s great, Sarah! SARAH No, Tom. I haven’t killed him. You see, I’m not quite as stupid as you think I am. Do you honestly think that I haven’t known what’s been going on all this time? Did you really think I loved you? My husband’s old. I married him for the money. I was going to kill him anyway. We started this long before you came along. TOM We? SARAH Me and Philip. Philip and I. However you like to put it, the point’s still the same. I don’t love you, Tom. I love your Philip. TOM You two are in it against me? SARAH That’s right, Tom, we’re in it against you. You’re not the only one who’d kill for a ruby like that. Nor is Philip. Think about it, I could be a millionaire four times over. Money’s all that matters, Tom. You should know that. (She picks up the gun.) That’s why I’m going to kill you. For myself, for Philip, but more importantly for money! TOM (Moving forward) This isn’t a desperate bid for a few last moments of life, Sarah, I’m telling the gospel truth. You’ll never be a millionaire. I’ve put something in your precious coffee. Want to know what it is? It’s something very nasty. I don’t reckon you’ll last another (He looks at his watch.) Another twenty seconds. (He grabs the ruby from the table.) Ha! Sometimes it’s just too easy! SARAH shoots. TOM falls back and drops the ruby to the floor. Very weakly, SARAH picks up the ruby, just as Philip runs on. SARAH Philip! PHILIP Sarah! Darling! It’s gone like a dream! You’ve got the ruby? SARAH (Holding up the stone) Yes. Sometimes it’s just too easy! She chokes, gurgles, and falls to the floor, dying a slow and evidently painful death. PHILIP looks down at her, rather amused, a sadistic smile spreading across his face. After movement has ceased, he picks up the ruby and casually throws and catches it a few times. PHILIP Sometimes it’s just too easy. (He exits.) The stage fades to black. The siren of a police car can be heard, offstage. Curtain.
Copyright © 2005 James C Bernthal |