The Early Ayn Rand

[During the last few speeches, INGALLS takes out his cigarette case, takes acigarette, takes a match folder from the table, strikes a match, lights the cigarette and tosses the lighted match into the fireplace. ADRIENNE, who has been looking at him, follows it with her eyes, screams suddenly, and dives for the fireplace to put out the fire set to the charred, rolled remnant of a newspaper]

ADRIENNE: Steve! Look! [Rises from her knees, with the rolled newspaper in her hand. HASTINGS seizes it from her. He unrolls it frantically, looks for the upper front page. Stands perfectly still and silent for a moment. Then raises his head to look at the others, and says quietly, almost wearily:]

HASTINGS: The early edition of yesterday's Courier.

[Silence. Then SERGE lunges for the paper]

SERGE: You're lying!

HASTINGS: [Pushing him aside] Oh no, you don't!

[DIXON steps to SERGE's side. HASTINGS extends the newspaper headline toward SERGE, but at a safe distance]

See for yourself But don't touch it.

SERGE: It's not the paper! It's not the same paper! It was the last edition! I know it was! I looked for the mark when I got it! It was the last edition that I specially wanted!

HASTINGS: [Shaking his head] And that, Serge, proves I'm right about people who have good alibis.

SERGE: Who put it in that fireplace? Who burned it like this? I didn't do that! [Whirls on

INGALLS] He did it! Of course! I gave it to him! When I arrived I gave the paper to him! He changed it for this one! He put it there in the fireplace and —

HASTINGS: — and almost burned the evidence, just now, that's going to save his life? Come on, Serge, how much do you expect me to believe?

SERGE: But I didn't -

HASTINGS: You did. But very badly. Like all the rest of it. You were in a hurry when you started burning that paper. You were interrupted. So you stuck it there, hoping to get it later. But you couldn't — not with my man here all night... Well, I'm almost as big a fool as you are. Do you know why I took that alibi of yours seriously? Because I didn't think you'd have the guts to pull what you pulled. You could shoot a man in the back all right. But to risk showing a paper to all those people — when your life depended on whether they'd notice the edition or not — that took the kind of courage you haven't got. Or so I thought. I owe you an apology there.

SERGE: But you can't prove I did it! You can't prove this is the paper I brought!

HASTINGS: All right, produce the other one.

SERGE: You can't convict me on that!

HASTINGS: I can have a pretty good try at it.

SERGE: [Real terror showing in his face for the first time] You're going to —

HASTINGS: I'm going to let you explain it all to a jury.

SERGE: [Screaming] But you can't! You can't! Listen! I'm innocent! But if you put me on trial, they'll kill me, don't you understand? Not your jury! My own chiefs! All right! I am a Soviet agent! And they don't forgive an agent who gets put on trial! They'll kill me — my own chiefs at home! Don't you understand? Even if I'm acquitted, it will be a death sentence for me just the same! [Pulls a gun out] Stand still, all of you!

[SERGE whirls around and rushes out through the French doors. DIXON flies after him, pulling out his gun. They disappear in the garden, as HASTINGS starts to follow them. There are two shots. After a moment, HASTINGS comes back slowly]

HASTINGS: That's that.

HELEN: Is he dead?

HASTINGS: Yes. [Then adds:] Perhaps it's best this way. It saves us from a long and painful trial. The case is closed. I'm glad — for all of you. [To HELEN] I hope, Mrs. Breckenridge, that when you've been a neighbor of ours longer, you will forgive us for giving you on your first day here —

HELEN: I shall be a neighbor of yours, Mr. Hastings — perhaps — later. Not this summer. I'm going to sell this house. Harvey and I are going to Montreal.

TONY: And I'm going to Gimbel's.