The following passage is from the radio adaptation of a novel called Dark side of the street which takes place in Los Angeles.
[Now, what is amazing indeed is that Harry Patterson, the writer, is a prolific author of some sixty best-selling thrillers published under pseudonyms like Martin Fallon, Hugh Marlowe, James Graham, Jack Higgins, and himself. Dark side of the street belongs to the Paul Chavasse series in his Jack Higgins authorship].
The
Woman without a Name
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A man and a woman are sitting in an expensive restaurant in Beverly Hills, not far from Hollywood.They are looking at a photograph of two people, which the woman has brought with her.
A: You know
who she is, I suppose.
B: Of
course. And the man? Who's he?
A: Carl
Earlham. Ever heard of him?
B: No, I'm
afraid not.
A: He was
one of her favourite photographers. He was her friend...he spent a lot of time with
her just before she died, in '62.
B: Where is
he now? What's he doing?
A: He's
dead. He died last year. I knew him well. Very well. Do you understand?
B: I think
so.
A: Well? Are
you interested?
B: In what?
A: In using
the information in the book you’re writing about her, of course. You are doing
some research into her death, aren't you?
B: Yes, but
. . . I'm not sure. How did you know I was writing such a book?
A: Someone
told me.
B: Who?
A: Just a
friend. I have a lot of friends.
B: What's
the name of your friend?
A: That
doesn't matter! The only thing that matters is whether you want the information
or not.
B: What
information?
A: It's all
in the letters.
B: Letters?
What are you talking about?
A: She wrote
Earlham several letters before she died. She told him all about things like her
relationship with someone very . . .
B: Look. A
lot of people say they've got letters like that. And just about everyone in
Hollywood can tell stories about what happened just before she died.
A: What I've
got isn't a story. I'm not making it up! It's the truth. In her own
handwriting. I can prove she wrote the letters. And what's in them is dynamite.
Pure dynamite.
B: Are you
sure? It isn't exactly news any more, is it? It happened more than 25 years ago.
A: It's
still dynamite.
B: How did
you get hold of these letters?
A: I told
you. I was Earlham's friend. We were . . . very close. He gave me the letters
before he died. Well? Do you want to see the letters?
B: That
depends.
A: On what?
B: On what
you want in return.
A: Money, of
course.
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A: $100,000.
B: That's a
lot of money.
A: Yes, and
it's worth it! Every penny. Look, I hope you understand what I'm offering you.
Letters. Her letters. Some of which she wrote only a few days before she
died.
B: Yes.
A: Yes? Yes,
what?
B: Yes, I
understand.
'A: You had
better decide quickly...........(1) you want the letters or not,' she said. I
took another...........(2) of my champagne, and said nothing.
'$100,000 is
nothing to pay for them. They're Marilyn's letters! Marilyn Monroe's letters! I
can...........(3) that she wrote them!' Her voice was...........(4) louder and
louder. She seemed to have forgotten her...........(5) that someone might be
listening to us. I thought about...........(6) she had said. If the letters really
were Monroe's, they could be...........(7) that much money or even more. It
all............(8) on what was in them, of course.
I told her
I...........(9) have to see the letters first and that I wanted a handwriting
expert to examine them as well.
'All right,'
she answered. I...........(10) for her to continue. She did.
'But only on
one...........(11).'
'What's
that?' I asked.
'I want
$10,000 in...........(12), before anyone sees the letters!'
'I'll...........(13)
to think about that,' I said.
She got up
to go. She had taken only a few...........(14) of the salmon she had ordered.
'All right.
I'll get in...........(15) with you tomorrow at your hotel. If you haven't...........(16)
up your mind by then, the letters go to someone else!'
...........(17)
she had left, I asked the waiter if he knew her name.
'Didn't
she...........(18) you?' he asked.
'I wouldn't
be asking if she...........(19),' I answered.
'Really?
Then obviously she didn't want you to know, did she?' he said, casually...........(20)
the bill in front of me.
***
A: Well,
have you made up your mind?
B: Yes, I
have.
A: Well?
B: You'll
have the $10,000 in advance.
A: In cash.
I don't want cheques or anything like that.
B: That can
be arranged.
A: There's
one more condition. Are you listening?
B: Go on.
A: You can't
keep the letters. Not until you've paid the rest of the $100,000.
B: But
that's impossible. How can the handwriting expert examine the letters unless we
keep them?
A: I'll
bring them to your hotel the day after tomorrow. Make sure your expert is there
... in your room . . . you'll have an hour to examine them. And I'll be in the
room with both of you all the time!
B: That
isn't long enough to prove they're really her letters.
A: Yes, it
is! Your expert can bring copies of Monroe's handwriting with him. If he can't
decide in an hour, he isn't an expert.
B: I ... I
don't know . . . how c . . .
A: That's my
offer. Take it or leave it! Decide now. Well?
B: All
right. A: Good.
B: But I
have a condition, too.
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B: I need at
least two hours to make sure I can find a handwriting expert who's willing to
do the tests the day after tomorrow.
A: Oh no!
B: Oh, yes!
That's my condition. Now you can take it or leave it! And you'd
better make up your mind now.
A: All
right. I'll phone back in exactly two hours!
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