Students Name Omitted

SCAM Assignment first draft

University of Notre Dame 2004

Truth

Characters:

Jay Gordon FBI Investigator

Reid Surveillance Specialist
Peter Hastings FBI Regional Director
Officer #1
Officer #2
Officer #3
S.W.A.T.
The janitor
Arab #1
Arab #2
VOICE

INT. FBI OFFICES CHICAGO, IL. LT. JAY GORDONS OFFICE PRESENT DAY

Jay Gordon, a man in his late 30s, is an on-site investigator for the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. He sits at his desk, which is extremely organized with files neatly stacked
and ordered. A stapler is obsessively positioned parallel with the edge of the desk. Pens
are color-coded. An eagle-shaped paper weight holds its eternal position at the front-
right corner of the desk. Gordon is reading the paper and drinking his morning coffee
(the first of seven per day). The front page headline of the newspaper reads, Evidence
Stacked Against Corporate Terrorists. The phone rings in the midst of his usual routine.

JAY
Alice will you get that?

The phone continues to ring.

JAY
Alice??

The phone rings once more. He looks puzzled and sighs, but answers the phone
anyway.

JAY
Lt. Jay Gordon speaking.

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A robotic female voice answers, much like the voice that a voice mail service uses.

VOICE
You need to find the truth.

JAY
Pardon? Youre speaking with an FBI investigator,
maam.

VOICE
The truth. You must find it.

Gordon realizes that the voice is not an everyday acquaintance and begins to seek for
more information.

JAY
The truth about what?

VOICE
The truth that will bring them freedom.

JAY
Who is not free? Who is this?

VOICE
Look more carefully. All of the evidence is
fabricated.

JAY
What case is the evidence for? I work a lot of
cases.

VOICE
You know which one. Didnt you notice
something a little strange?

FLASHBACK 14 months ago LT. GORDONS OFFICE NIGHT

Lt. Gordon sits reading his newspaper in a office that is not as clean as it has been. Files
and papers are scattered across his desk and are piled up as high as four feet from the
floor. The newspaper that his is reading has a headline that reads FBI Bust Is A Victory
Against Corporate Terror. Just as Jay is about to put down the paper, eight other FBI
investigators barge into his room, yelling and screaming with champagne in hand.

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 OFFICERS
(all)
Congratulations!!!

JAY
Jesus! You guys know better than to startle a guy
that just came from the field.

All the officers laugh and then begin to prod Gordon for the detail of his recent bust.

OFFICER #1
Come on, Gordon. You know you wanna tell us.

OFFICER #2
Youre not gettin outta here until you spill the
beans.

OFFICER #3
(parading the champagne)
Ya, and we brought a little truth serum to grease
up your jaw a bit.

JAY
OK. OK. OK.

FLASHBACK 14 months and one day ago INT. OFFICE BUILDING NIGHT

An man of Arab decent is dressed in a janitors uniform and is pushing a cleaning cart
down an office corridor. He seems hesitant as he pushes the cart further down the hall.
He stops at an office door. The name on the door reads Jim Getty. The janitor takes a
walkie talkie from his belt and begins to speak Arabic.

INT.- SURVEILLANCE VAN NIGHT

Lt. Gordon and a surveillance technician, REID, sit in the van monitoring the office
building. The communication in Arabic from the janitor can be heard through a speaker
in the van.

JAY
Are you getting that?

REID
Yep.

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 JAY
What is he saying?

REID
(translating)
Uh. He said that hes reached his destination.

JAY
What about the others? Where are they?

Two other voices come over the loudspeaker and

communicate with the janitor in Arabic.

JAY
Bingo.

REID
Lieutenant, the other perps seem to be down in
the basement.

JAY
What? Why are they outta position? Whatd the
report say, Reid?

REID
The report said theyd each be positioned outside
the three VPs offices, sir.

JAY
Then why arent the other two where theyre
supposed to be?

FLASHBACK 14 months ago LT. GORDONs OFFICE NIGHT

The eager officers are entranced by Gordons story.

OFFICER #2
So the report was false? Howd that happen?

JAY
I dont know, but we didnt have time to check
our sources.

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FLASHBACK 14 months and one day ago INT. SURVEILLANCE VAN NIGHT

A member of the S.W.A.T. team busts into the back of the van.

S.W.A.T.
We just found four Class A charges placed around
the base of the structure.

JAY
(urgent)
(to S.W.A.T. officer) Get em out of there.
S.W.A.T.s a go. Ground and roof. (into walkie
talkie) Snipers in position.

INT. BASEMENT OF OFFICE BUILDING NIGHT

Two men of Arab decent loiter near an elevator in the basement parking garage of the
office building. One is sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, while the other is
simply leaning against the wall. Theyre talking casually when a grenade rolls within five
feet of their position. They pause and look at the grenade for a second before a great
flash of light blinds them.

FLASHBACK 14 months ago LT. GORDONS OFFICE NIGHT

The eager officers are still intently listening to Lt. Gordons tale.

OFFICER #1
Jesus, Gordon. That seems like a pretty routine
bust.

JAY
Well, thats because we were lucky. We almost
lost one of the suspects.

FLASHBACK 14 months and one day ago JIM GETTYs OFFICE NIGHT

The janitor is circling Jim Gettys desk. He is picking up pieces of paper from the desk
and inspecting them but not as if hes looking for something. He seems curious and
doesnt really understand the papers that hes reading. A gun is resting on the cleaning
cart that the janitor has brought into the office. The janitor picks up the gun and inspect
that as he has the papers. Suddenly, five S.W.A.T. officers break down the door to the
office. In a panic, the janitor begins moving away from the officers, yells in Arabic, and
points the gun to his skull.

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 S.W.A.T.
Put down the gun! Put it down! Dont move any
further!

Some of the S.W.A.T. officers yell Arabic to the janitor while he yells right back. He
inches closer and closer to the window at the rear of the Gettys office.

INT. SURVEILLANCE VAN NIGHT

Lt. Gordon is monitoring the operation from microphones mounted on the officers.
There are night vision cameras on the officers as well, but the pace is frantic and Gordon
cant make out the scene.

JAY
I have no visual, shit! Do Not Shoot! I repeat, Do
Not Shoot! I want this guy alive!

INT. JIM GETTYS OFFICE NIGHT

The janitor has his back to the window at the rear of the office. He cocks the gun that is
pointed at his head. He gives one final scream before a S.W.A.T. officer swings in
through the window and tackles him to the ground. The gun goes flying across the
office floor.

INT. PRESENT DAY GORDONS OFFICE

The voice is continuing to unveil the truth to Jay.

JAY
Whered the gun come from?

VOICE
Bingo.

JAY
Who are you? Why are you telling me this?

VOICE
Im not telling you anything. Youre discovering it
for yourself. Next, you must discover where the
gun really came from. You must be thorough
with your police work, Jacob.

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After the voice is finished, a piercing high pitched tone comes through the receiver and
the phone dies. Jay throws the phone across the room.

INT. CAF NEXT DAY

Lt. Gordon is sitting at a booth, drinking his third coffee when Reid approaches the
booth.

REID
Gordon, I know you dont have any work for me.
Youre not working a case now, so whyre you
wasting my time?

JAY
Sit down and quit busting my balls, asshole.

Reid sits down and sneaks a smile.

REID
Sorry, Lt. You a little under the weather or
something?

JAY
I couldnt sleep at all last night.

REID
Whats on your mind?

JAY
Do you think the gun really belonged to the
janitor?

REID
Hold on is this about the Monolith case? You
should forget about that Lieutenant. The
prosecutors have it wrapped up.

JAY
Just answer me, kid.

REID
Of course I think that the gun belonged to the
janitor. If I didnt then I wouldve said something
while you were writing the arrest report.

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 JAY
But none of the surveillance cameras show him
holding it.

REID
The S.W.A.T. said that in their statements that
they clearly saw him holding the gun to his head.

JAY
But whered he get it from?

REID
We decided that hed concealed the weapon in
his cleaning cart and he took it out once he was
inside Gettys office.

JAY
But thats too easy. Why was there no
surveillance feed in Gettys office?

REID
Gettys a powerful man in the Monolith ranks. If
he wants his privacy, then he gets it. Besides, the
S.W.A.T. was equipped with night vision.

JAY
And you could actually make something of that
shaky shit?

REID
I could see that the perp was holding a gun to his
head.

JAY
But could you see him pull out the gun, Reid?

REID
I guess not, so whats your point?

JAY
Fuck. I dont know. It just never sat well with me.

REID

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 Who do you think the gun belonged to? Getty?

JAY
Maybe. Maybe not. I just wanna follow up on it.
REID
I can get you the tapes if thats what you want
from me.

JAY
If thats all you can do.

REID
My hands are kinda tied because of the court
order.

JAY
I know. Any help would be appreciated.

REID
Ill do what I can. I gotta get though. Thorntons
bitching about some glitch on the Constantine
program.

JAY
Good luck with that guy.

Reid gets up from the booth and leaves the caf.

EXT. CAF PARKING LOT DAY

As soon as Reid exits the caf, he reaches for his cell phone and dials a number while he
gets in his car.

INT. OFFICE OF REGIONAL DIRECTOR DAY

A fat, bald man in his late 40s is smoking a cigar in his office. On his desk, there is a sign
that reads Peter Hastings Regional Director. He answers his phone.

HASTINGS
Hastings speaking.

REID
(off screen)

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 Mr. Hastings. Its Reid from surveillance. Ive just
met with Lt. Gordon.

HASTINGS
And?

INT. REIDS CAR DAY

REID
Hes asking questions about the Monolith case.

HASTINGS
(off screen)
Has he found anything out yet?

REID
No, but he asked for the tapes from the bust.
Should I give them to him?

HASTINGS
(off screen)
Of course, we dont want to let him know that
somethings up. But keep your eye on him. And
let me know what he finds.

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