Hope new born one pleasant morn
Died at even;
Hope dead lives nevermore,
No, not in heaven.
- Dead Hope
[CLICK]
[EVERYTHING IS VAGUELY MUFFLED]
[CAR ENGINE RUMBLING, SLOWING DOWN, AND THEN SHUTTING OFF WITH A CLUNK]
GERRY
What the fuck…?
…Oh, God, no.
[CAR DOOR CREAKS OPEN, THEN SLAMS SHUT]
[VARIOUS CROWD SOUNDS, PUNCTUATED BY THE OCCASIONAL RADIO SQUEAK]
[FOOTSTEPS CRUNCHING ON GRAVEL]
GERRY
Excuse me! Hey, excuse me!
FEMALE VOICE
You need to back off. This is a restricted area right now.
GERRY
No, wait, look, I—I got a phone call, I’m—someone called Roy DeSoto called me? To…pick up my…partner…what the fuck is going on here?
FEMALE VOICE
Oh, yeah, he’s with the medics. Across the street over there. One of those two tents.
Should be good to go if they were calling you. Just don’t go in. And don’t get any closer.
GERRY
…Yeah. Sure.
Thanks, Officer…Hussein.
[FOOTSTEPS GO FROM GRAVEL TO PAVEMENT TO DRY GRASS, GETTING FASTER AS THEY GO]
MALE VOICE
Whoa, hey, sir—sir, you can’t be here—
GERRY
DeSoto—are you Roy DeSoto?
DESOTO
That’s me. Oh—wait, are you, uh, Delano? Jareth Delano? Tim Stoker’s point of contact?
GERRY
Yeah. He—h-how is he? What happened?
DESOTO
He’ll be fine. He’s doing good. Damn sight better than the other guy. (Grumbles) At least he’s not being too difficult.
He’s probably going to be sore for a while. Bandages need to stay on for at least the next twenty-four hours before changing them. We’ve called in a scrip for an antibiotic cream, but he might need help with that. We gave him some painkillers, too, and there’s a scrip in for that as well. Probably want to check in with his regular doctor to see how things are healing up.
Oh, and make sure he gets as much fresh air as possible for the next few days, too. Drinks a lot of water. And if you want to get some of those ice lollies for him to suck on, that might not be a bad thing, because he’s probably going to have a sore throat for a bit.
But he’s good to go. We don’t really have a reason to keep him anymore, and he says he doesn’t want to go to hospital, so you can take him home.
GERRY
…Thanks. Where is he?
DESOTO
Right in there. I—
DISTANT VOICE
Roy!
DESOTO
Coming!
Yeah, right in there, go ahead.
GERRY
Thanks.
[RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]
[SLIGHTLY MORE MEASURED FOOTSTEPS]
[DEEP BREATH]
[RATTLE OF PLASTIC]
TIM
(Tiredly) Hi, babe.
GERRY
(Horrified) Oh, Tim.
[FABRIC RUSTLES]
[STIFLED GROAN FROM TIM]
GERRY
Sorry, sorry!
Jesus. What happened?
Also, if you ever call me like that out of the clear blue sky again—
TIM
I know. I’m sorry.
Look, let’s…let’s get out of here. I can tell you everything when we get home.
GERRY
Okay, but one question before we leave.
TIM
Sure.
GERRY
Why is your belt around your head?
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
JON
Just have a seat, Tim, I—
Oh. Elias?
ELIAS
Yes. Tim has…left us, I’m afraid.
[CHAIR SCRAPES AND CLATTERS TO THE GROUND]
JON
What?!
ELIAS
I hadn’t seen him before I came down here. Not since he was taken into quarantine. But when you asked for him, of course, I went to find him, and when I couldn’t, I spoke to the paramedics.
They confirmed he was gone.
JON
(Voice tight) What happened?
ELIAS
Apparently they called his partner to come and get him. Once he was released from quarantine, there was no reason to keep him on the premises, and the police didn’t feel the need to speak to him. I believe they said he left an hour…ninety minutes ago.
[JON EXHALES HEAVILY, AND THERE IS A SOFT THUMP, LIKE HE’S SUDDENLY BRACING HIMSELF AGAINST A DESK]
Jon, are you all right?
JON
So he’s gone…home.
ELIAS
Yes, I—ah. I apologize, I didn’t think about how I was phrasing that.
Yes, Tim is alive and…about as well as you are, I suppose. Perhaps not. He did have to be in quarantine a fair bit longer than you were—I’m not certain as to why—but he’s been released.
JON
And he just left?
ELIAS
I’m sure he didn’t know you needed to speak with him. Why would he have run if he had?
[A FEW BEATS OF SILENCE]
JON
Does he know?
ELIAS
That Martin found…? I doubt it.
You can talk to him later, Jon. Not tonight. He’s likely as tired and sore as you are.
JON
I’m fine. And I don’t want this to wait.
ELIAS
Well, I suppose your choices are to call him—
JON
I need it on record.
ELIAS
—or to go and speak with him personally.
I gave you a copy of his CV, did I not? I believe it has his address at the top.
JON
(Unconvincingly) Yes. Yes, of—of course.
I’ll, I’ll do that. Thank you.
ELIAS
Right. In that case, are we done here?
JON
No. I still need to talk to the others.
Send Sasha in, then.
ELIAS
…Of course.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
TIM
Yeah, looks like it’s got something in it, all right.
GERRY
I don’t remember grabbing it. I don’t even remember having it.
TIM
It’s mine. I thought I brought it to work with me today, but…well, guess I was a bit distracted this morning. I must’ve dropped it in your coat pocket by mistake.
Good thing, too. With everything that happened, I’d probably have lost it.
GERRY
Let me go walk the dog while you relax and then you can tell me all about it.
TIM
When’s the last time he went out?
GERRY
Just before the paramedic called me. I couldn’t get hold of you and I was having trouble concentrating.
Figured going for a bit of a walk might keep me distracted enough that I didn’t storm the Institute looking for you.
TIM
Then he should be fine for a bit before he needs to go out again.
I know he’s back in the bedroom. I also know you’re worried about him jumping on the holes, but, honestly, I’m so doped up right now I wouldn’t feel it if you jabbed a sword into my chest.
GERRY
You mean like this?
[TIM GIVES OUT A YELL OF PAIN]
[BARKING FROM DOWN THE HALL]
TIM
(A bit breathlessly) Okay, I might have slightly overestimated the efficacy of medical-grade narcotics, but…
GERRY
Sorry.
[SOFT KISS]
I’ll let him out. He’ll probably be gentle with you. Then we can…talk.
TIM
Sounds good. Thanks, babe.
[FOOTSTEPS DOWN THE HALL]
[TIM SIGHS HEAVILY]
[TOENAILS CLICKING ON HARDWOOD GETTING GRADUALLY LOUDER, JINGLING OF TAGS]
[SQUEAK OF SOFA SPRINGS]
[ENTHUSIASTIC LICKING]
TIM
Hey, yeah, good to see you, too. Yeah, I’m okay, I’m okay. Ow—ow—easy there, boy—(laughing) Okay, okay, enough. Enough.
Rowlf, down.
[LICKING STOPS]
[SOFA SPRINGS SQUEAK AGAIN]
GERRY
Hey, budge over, mutt, I want to sit down, too.
Actually, don’t bother. Sit up, Tim.
[SOUNDS OF SHIFTING, MORE SOFA SPRINGS SQUEAKING]
[TWIN SIGHS]
GERRY
This okay?
TIM
Yeah. Yeah, this is good.
GERRY
What happened? You called me in the middle of the workday, yelled that you loved me, and immediately hung up. Tried calling you back and went from not getting an answer to the connection not even going through, and the next thing I hear is six hours later from a blocked number saying you’re fine, but they don’t trust you to leave on your own. And then I get to the Institute and…
I saw the EDC truck. I’m not stupid. The Corruption attacked, didn’t it?
TIM
Long story short, yeah.
GERRY
And…short story long?
TIM
Anything by Ernest Hemingway.
[GERRY GIVES A LONG, DRAWN OUT, EXASPERATED GROAN]
GERRY
I’m serious. If ‘the Corruption attacked’ is the—what’s it called? The Cliff’s Notes version—at least give me the Readers Digest Condensed Version.
TIM
…I think the Web pushed the Corruption to attack.
GERRY
…
…Okay, you’re going to have to give me the full novel here, Stoker.
TIM
(A bit teasingly) You want my statement?
GERRY
Do I look Eye-aligned to you?
TIM
Yes.
GERRY
(Brief chuckle) Fair enough.
TIM
(Seriously) It was around lunchtime. Sasha and Martin were both out, and I was just packing up to go myself. Lou—you remember Lou, my old boss from Velvet and Crow?
GERRY
The one you said went to school with Gertrude?
TIM
Yeah. She—fuck, I’m going to have to reach out to her, she probably thinks I blew her off. Today’s her birthday, so she asked if I’d meet her for lunch. I was just getting ready to tell Jon I was going when I heard this…thumping noise from the Archivist’s office. I went in, and there was Jon, standing by the wreckage of the shelves. He said he’d been trying to kill a spider and the whole thing just…collapsed.
GERRY
And that’s why you think the Web was involved? Hate to break it to you, Tim, but spiders do occasionally turn up for innocuous reasons. Maybe it was just lost.
TIM
Believe me, I thought the same thing. But he described it as a “nasty, bulbous thing”—and, okay, Jon super hates spiders, which makes sense since he’s definitely been marked pretty deeply by the Web—
GERRY
How do you know that?
TIM
Please. After almost three years, if I can’t pick out a mark that obvious, you and Gertrude did a shitty job of training me.
But yeah, I guess there was the possibility Jon was exaggerating, either because his fear made it seem bigger and nastier than it was or because he needed it to be big and nasty so I wouldn’t get mad at him for killing a harmless little lint speck. You know how it goes. Except when I got closer and looked, I realized the shelves had made a hole in the wall. And I could smell it—that dry, musty, earthy smell I last smelled, or at least last smelled that strongly, when I went to Martin’s place.
I’m sure I’ve been smelling it around the Institute, too, but it just faded into the background after a while. This was intense.
GERRY
Are you telling me there were worms in the walls? I thought the building was solid stone.
TIM
It was. It is.
We thought the wall he went through was an exterior wall. Nope. It was just plasterboard, and…behind it was a space. Not just a gap of a few inches to allow for wiring or whatever, but actual tunnels. Deep ones. I realized later it was probably the remains of the old Millbank Prison.
GERRY
(Surprised) There actually are tunnels under the Institute? Fuck me. I thought the old bat was joking.
TIM
What? When?
GERRY
Not long after she told me about the rituals, right around the time I thought I found Leitner. She caught me snooping through her papers—
TIM
Seems to be a habit with you.
GERRY
Shut up. She asked if I’d found anything interesting, and I said I was looking for her nefarious plans…she said she wouldn’t keep those with her papers, and I made a joke about hidden underground tunnels, and she said that oh, yes, there was a whole network of tunnels under the Institute that she’d conveniently forgotten to mention. Her tone of voice sounded like she was joking, but…
TIM
(Slowly) At the time, maybe she was. I think you maybe got her curious, and that’s how she found them.
She definitely knew about them. I’m sure of it. It’s why those shelves were where they were. That was where the plasterboard was thinnest, she must have known if anything broke in it would be there. Wanted an early detection system, I guess.
GERRY
So what happened after you smelled the Corruption in the tunnels? Please tell me you didn’t go down looking for it.
TIM
No, it came up looking for us. Jon poked at the hole and made it a bit bigger, and the next thing I knew the office was teeming with worms.
Martin was back by then. I managed to get him and Jon back into that secure Document Storage room, the climate-controlled one, you know? Not easily, mind you. Jon was insistent on bringing the recorders along, I’m still not sure what that was about. Not like the tape would have survived if he hadn’t. We made it, but he got bitten on the way, so I had to get that out…Sasha was still out there, though, and, well, I was worried about the worms. So I went out to fight them off. Got Sasha out of the Archives, told her to get help, and I wound up in the Archivist’s office.
I, uh…they were close. Really close. The worms, I mean. I wound up falling into some case boxes that turned out to have fire extinguishers in them, so I was attacking the worms, but…
GERRY
These would be the extinguishers that are useless for the kind of fire you expect at the Institute? The ones filled with carbon dioxide?
TIM
Yeah. They do work on the worms, though.
GERRY
Most things die when you suck the oxygen out of their lungs.
Speaking of, do you want some water or something? Medic said you’ll probably have a sore throat for a while, I assume because you were breathing carbon dioxide.
TIM
I’m okay for now, but…yeah. That’s what was going on. Got a little lightheaded, too. But I did realize I needed to get out of there somehow.
That’s when I called you.
GERRY
Oh, good. I’m so glad that was on your list of priorities.
TIM
Making sure you got to hear my voice one last time, just in case I didn’t make it out of there alive? Yeah, that was pretty much top of my list.
GERRY
Okay, now I have to kill you.
[TIM LAUGHS]
I’m not joking, Stoker. Do you have any idea what it would have done to me if that had been the last communication I ever had with you?
You didn’t even give me a chance to say it back.
TIM
…I know. I’m sorry.
I guess it was a little selfish. I was going to do something I knew was dangerous, and I wanted to hear your voice one last time, just in case I never heard another one.
Plus, you know, oxygen deprivation. Wasn’t exactly thinking the clearest.
GERRY
I’ll give you that one.
TIM
Anyway, I went down. God, it was like a maze down there. Down was up, up was down, left and right meant just about nothing…and I know what you’re thinking. I couldn’t sense the Spiral. Or the Buried, for that matter, so that was good. It was just…confusing.
If it’s the remains of Millbank Prison, that makes sense, really. Smirke designed it, and he obviously knew about the Fourteen, so he might have drawn on elements of the Spiral without actually…invoking it. Probably not to draw it. Probably just to make it confusing for any prisoners who managed to get out of their cells. The guards would have had maps and directions and all that sort of thing, but a convict making a break for freedom? They could wander for ages and not find the way out.
There weren’t as many worms down there, though. Not at first. Most of them must’ve been up in the Archives, which was not comforting, but I figured I’d worry about getting out and then I could worry about destroying Jane Prentiss and her filth. And then…I found a room full of them.
GERRY
(Quietly) Alive or dead?
TIM
Alive. Alive and building.
They were…Ger, I think I’m right, I think that was a Corruption ritual. Or at least it was meant to be one. The worms were stacking themselves together, kind of twisting around one another, and…it looked like they were making a doorway. I can only assume it was for the Creeping Rot to enter our world.
GERRY
You stopped it, though, right?
TIM
Oh, yeah. I pumped two and a half canisters of CO2 into that room. Nothing was getting out of there alive.
I wandered a bit after that and eventually came to a wall that looked different from the rest, like it was thinner. And I could hear voices on the other side—
GERRY
Voices?
TIM
—that I recognized as Jon and Martin’s. So I broke through the wall, and yeah, there was Document Storage. It’s on the same wall as the Archivist’s office.
The worms were getting pretty bad up there, so I figured my first priority was to get them out of there and somewhere safe. I reckoned if all the worms were in the Archives, they’d be all right in the tunnels. Jon was hurt, though, and his leg was slowing him down, and…there were enough worms in the tunnels. A wave of them came at us, and we lost—lost track of Martin.
I, I don’t know if he—I don’t know if he got out, Gerry. I don’t know if he found his way to the surface, or if he’s still trapped down there, or if something else got him or—
GERRY
Easy, babe. Easy.
[ROWLF WHINES SOFTLY]
TIM
Sorry. I’m good. I’m good.
[DEEP BREATH]
Anyway, we, um, turns out breaking through the walls isn’t the only way into the Archives from those tunnels. There’s a trapdoor. A big one. Jon and I found it and…I should have made him stay in the tunnels. I tried to make him stay in the tunnels, but Jesus Christ, we thought Gertrude was stubborn? Jon makes the Alps look easy to shift. So we went up together.
And Jane Prentiss was waiting for us.
GERRY
Shit. How’d you fight her off?
TIM
I didn’t. The fire suppressant system finally kicked in. Last thing I remember before I blacked out was the screaming.
GERRY
Jon?
TIM
The worms. I guess. Or maybe it was the dying scream of the ritual fizzling out, I dunno.
Just…that’s going to be haunting my dreams for a while, I think. Thousands of tiny things without mouths, screaming for a god that isn’t listening.
GERRY
And now that’s going to haunt my dreams, thanks.
TIM
You can’t imagine it unless you were there. Trust me. Whatever you’re thinking…it was a million times worse.
GERRY
I can imagine quite a lot.
TIM
I know.
[SEVERAL LONG MOMENTS OF SILENCE]
GERRY
You stopped her, Tim. Even if you’re not the one who kicked off the overhead system, you slowed her down enough that it could work, and you put Sasha in the position that she could do that.
You did good.
TIM
Yeah.
I’m just…I’m worried. About Martin. About Jon.
GERRY
Jon’s fine. Or at least fine enough to be a problem. When I picked you up, the paramedic was grumbling about “the other guy” being difficult, and I assume that was Jon.
TIM
That’s…good. I tried to take the brunt of it for him, but there’s only so much surface area to my body, you know?
GERRY
I am, in fact, quite aware of the surface area of your body.
[TIM LAUGHS]
You’re not worried about Sasha?
TIM
No. She got out. She’s probably fine.
And she’s short enough that the worms probably looked right over her.
[GERRY LAUGHS]
I mean, I am worried about her, but…less than the others.
GERRY
Gertrude’s going to be proud of you.
TIM
I hope so.
And I fucking hope she gets back soon, because if she doesn’t, I’m going to have to make a call myself.
GERRY
On whether to tell the others about…everything?
TIM
Yup.
I don’t think knowing would have kept them safe. Sure as fuck didn’t do jack shit for me. But going forward…God. Are they going to make smarter decisions if they know that stuff is literally trying to kill them?
GERRY/TIM (SIMULTANEOUSLY)
No.
[THEY BOTH LAUGH THIS TIME]
TIM
Really, I think…I think if I’m going to tell anyone, it would need to be Jon. I just…don’t know if I should.
GERRY
Why Jon? Why not Martin or Sasha?
TIM
Jon is…until Gertrude gets back, he’s the acting Archivist. I haven’t been calling him that, and I don’t think he’s noticed or really thought about it. But he’s still…
He’s at least nominally in charge. He’s the one calling the shots, or at least he should be. And I can’t help but wonder if he’d make different decisions if he knew everything.
GERRY
…I mean…
On the one hand, probably? If he knows about the Fourteen, if he knows Jane Prentiss wasn’t just an isolated thing, if he knows what’s going on behind everything, he might make different decisions. About research, about how to run the Archives, about what he should be doing. It’s highly likely.
On the other hand, I think the question you should actually be asking is if he’d make better decisions if he knew everything.
TIM
Yeah, that’s a good point.
He’s…curious. Too curious for his own damn good. And I know he makes bad decisions. He wouldn’t have got hurt today if he hadn’t gone back for the tape recorder—it slowed him getting out of the office, and then he dropped it on his way to Document Storage and that’s why he got bit. And he…focuses too much on the immediate problem and not long-term solutions.
Like the carbon dioxide system. I don’t know how he talked Elias into that. It doesn’t actually work on the kind of fires we’re likely to get in the Archives. I mean, it comes—came—out cold, and sinks to the bottom of the room, so that’s not the issue, but it doesn’t go deep enough to put out fires on, say, paper. And if it dissipates, but the actual source of the ignition isn’t removed, the fire’s quite likely to flare up again.
All of which he would have known if he’d done just a little bit of research, or put any thought into it. Collect the extinguishers, sure, but replacing the whole system? That was stupid. Now we’re safe from the Corruption—or specifically from the worms, which aren’t going to be a problem anymore—but we’re at risk from the Desolation.
GERRY
And if he’d known about both? Would he have done that? Got the extinguishers and not pushed about the overall system?
TIM
…No. No, I don’t think he would have. I think he’d have said to get the CO2 system and supplement with the ABC extinguishers rather than the other way around.
I’ll grant you that we probably wouldn’t have survived if he had done it the other way around, but…
GERRY
But Gertrude wouldn’t have.
TIM
Gertrude wouldn’t have involved Elias at all if she could help it. Also, I know she was trying to get the ABC system installed, because that’s what I gave her the recommendation for.
GERRY
Yeah, true.
So. What are you going to do about Jon?
TIM
Not sure yet. Luckily, I think I’ve got time to work that out.
GERRY
Did the paramedics tell you how long it’s going to be before you can go back to work?
TIM
Not their call. I’m going to have to go to a regular doc and get checked out. Probably tomorrow, but…fuck it, I might wait until Thursday or Friday and rest tomorrow.
I’m thinking probably a few weeks. Some of these holes are deep.
(Groans) Aaaaand the painkillers are starting to wear off.
GERRY
Hang on. I’ll go make tea and get the bottle out.
TIM
Thanks, Ger.
[FOOTSTEPS FADING INTO THE DISTANCE]
[FAINT SOUND OF RUNNING WATER]
[TIM SIGHS HEAVILY]
[SUDDEN JANGLE OF TAGS]
TIM
What? What is it, boy?
[KNOCKING AT THE DOOR]
[ROWLF BARKS EXCITEDLY]
[TOENAILS CLATTER ON FLOOR, TAGS JINGLING]
TIM
Ow! Christ—
GERRY
(From the other room) Tim, you stay right there. I’ll get it.
TIM
I’m—
GERRY
Don’t say you’re fine.
[FOOTSTEPS ALONG THE HALLWAY]
GERRY (DISTANTLY)
Get back, you menace. Rowlf, heel.
[DOOR CREAKS]
Can I help you? This is a private residence.
[FAINT, INDISTINCT VOICE]
Who’s asking?
[FAINT VOICE EVIDENTLY REPLIES]
Oh—yeah, yeah, come on in. Don’t mind the dog. Rowlf!
MARTIN (DISTANTLY)
It’s okay. I like dogs. And we’ve met before.
TIM
(Surprised) Martin?
GERRY
Timothy Rodolfo Anthony Stoker, you keep your ass on that sofa.
TIM
(Groans) Yes, Dad.
GERRY
Have a seat. I’m making tea.
MARTIN
No, no, it’s okay, it’s—I-I’m not staying long. I just…
I just wanted to make sure you were all right. Jon was, um, he said you left before he could get your statement.
TIM
He was—never mind.
I’m okay. Bit sore, but I’ll live, you know? Partner’s just a bit overprotective.
MARTIN
Right, right, yeah, that’s—you know, I don’t think you’ve, um, you haven’t mentioned his name before?
GERRY (CALLING FROM THE OTHER ROOM)
It’s Gerry.
MARTIN
Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah.
S-sorry, I—I shouldn’t have—I, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.
And…well, to say I was sorry. I—I didn’t mean to leave you behind, I—
TIM
What? No. No, no, no. Martin, it’s okay. It’s not your fault. I don’t blame you.
I should be the one apologizing. I—fuck it.
[SOFA SPRINGS SQUEAK OVER MILD SOUNDS OF PROTEST FROM MARTIN]
[FABRIC RUSTLES]
I’m sorry, kiddo. I shouldn’t have let you out of my sight. I was trying to get you both out safely, but…
MARTIN
You did, though. You—we’d both be dead if it weren’t for you.
Thank you. I, I don’t think I said that while we were in the tunnels, but…thank you. For looking out for us.
TIM
Hey, that’s what I’m here for.
You did good, too, Marto. You found your way out. You didn’t get bit, did you?
MARTIN
No, no, no. No, I—I didn’t see many worms. Actually, (nervous laugh) that worried me a bit, you know? Like if there weren’t any worms, I’d gone too far from the Institute. That’s what I told Jon.
I was just trying to find my way back, a-and then I heard the screams. And then I started finding all the withered worms in the tunnels, and that’s how I knew she—that Jane Prentiss was dead.
TIM
That’s…good to know, actually.
MARTIN
You didn’t know she was dead?
TIM
No, I did. She was looming right over me, and I sort of figured that was part of the screaming. I just didn’t think about the worms being…connected to her. Or part of her or whatever.
Anyway, I’m just glad you’re okay. What did you do, follow the worms out?
MARTIN
(Brief pause) Why didn’t I think of that? Stupid. Stupid. That would have been so much easier.
TIM
(Firmly) You’re not stupid.
MARTIN
Yeah, but I didn’t think to follow the obvious clue! I just, I just wandered, looking for a way out. I thought I found one—a-a door—but it turned out to just be a room.
TIM
Filled with dessicated worm corpses, right?
MARTIN
No. No, the worms didn’t…
Did, um—w-when did you leave?
TIM
Pretty much right after I got out of quarantine. I joked about itching a little with the paramedics and they kept me longer. Why?
MARTIN
Then you didn’t talk to anyone? Elias, maybe?
TIM
…About what?
MARTIN
O-oh. Um, um, you…you maybe want to sit down or—
TIM
Martin! Just say it, all right? What was in the room?
MARTIN
It—I-I found Gertrude Robinson.
TIM
(Exhales) So she was down there. I wondered…
MARTIN
Yeah. Sat on a wooden chair in the middle of the room. No worms. No cobwebs. Just…the dust and the cardboard boxes full of cassette tapes.
And an old corpse.
TIM
What?
MARTIN
I mean…it’s been more than a year, Tim. If it wasn’t so dry and dusty down there, I wouldn’t have recognized her, I don’t—
Tim? Tim, are you okay?
TIM
(Quietly) What happened to her?
MARTIN
…She was shot. Three times that I could see. In the chest.
TIM
…Jesus.
…
Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?
MARTIN
Yeah, I’m—I’m going back to my place.
I don’t know how long I’m going to stay there, honestly, but at least I know it’s safe now. And, um, Elias said we can take the rest of the week off.
I probably have to go back in tomorrow, though. The, the police want me to try and show them where her body is. I-I’m not sure I can find it again, but…
TIM
You’ve got my number. Call if you want company, okay?
MARTIN
I mean, I don’t think you’re in any fit state to go anywhere, but—sure, yeah, okay.
You’re sure you’re okay?
TIM
(Unconvincingly) Fit as a fiddle.
Go home and get some rest, okay, Marto? And…you did good today. Real good.
MARTIN
Thanks, Tim. You, too.
Bye, Rowlf.
[FOOTSTEPS ACROSS THE FLOOR, DOOR OPENING AND SHUTTING]
[SEVERAL SECONDS OF SILENCE]
GERRY
Tim?
TIM
“My heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend stopped running today.”
GERRY
What? Jon or Sasha?
TIM
…You didn’t hear any of that, did you?
GERRY
Just you asking Martin if—Tim. Tim, what’s wrong, what is it?
What happened?
TIM
…
…Gertrude’s dead.
GERRY
What?! Dead? Since when?
TIM
From what Martin said…Elias was right. She’s been dead this whole time. Someone shot her and left her in the tunnels under the Institute.
Along with—(Sudden realization) the tapes. Martin said she was surrounded by cardboard boxes full of tapes.
GERRY
(Softly) Oh, God.
[FABRIC RUSTLES]
[SQUEAK OF SOFA SPRINGS]
You are not going down there looking for them. Not in the shape you’re in. We’ll have to…we’ll figure out how to get them later.
TIM
They’re probably going to be in a police evidence locker for a while. Assuming they find her.
GERRY
Won’t be the first time I’ve broken into a police station. Probably won’t be the last.
[SEVERAL LONG MOMENTS OF SILENCE]
What are you thinking?
TIM
I’m thinking that answers the question of whether or not to say anything to Jon.
GERRY
…Okay, you’re going to have to run that one by me. How?
TIM
He must know more than he’s letting on. He’s got to have some idea about all this already.
Or maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he’s just a power hungry idiot. I dunno. Doesn’t matter. I’m still not going to talk to him about all this, not yet.
GERRY
Why not?
TIM
Because right now, the best conclusion I can come to is that Jonathan Sims is the one who murdered Gertrude Robinson.
[CLICK]