The Manuscript
Thriller, chapter nine
- Thriller
- Two-hander
- 4 min
- Female role
- Adult
- Advanced
Casting
7 lines- L’ÉDITRICE Female role, Adult your role
- L’AUTEUR Male role, Adult
Full text
(A publishing office, late. The editor has the annotated manuscript before her.)
L’ÉDITRICE
It’s your best book. Precise, chilling. The murder in chapter nine, above all. You believe it a hundred per cent.
L’AUTEUR
Thank you. I researched heavily.
L’ÉDITRICE
That’s what troubles me. The detail of the missing button on the victim’s waistcoat. The ash in the sink. The watch stopped at 3:40.
L’AUTEUR
Invented details. That’s my job.
L’ÉDITRICE
Except those are exactly the elements of the Rivel case. Unsolved. Never published. I know because the victim was my sister.
(A very long silence. The author sets down his cup, too gently.)
L’AUTEUR
…You should publish this book, madam. Just as it is.
L’ÉDITRICE
I’ll publish something else first. A single chapter. And I know someone, at the police, who loves an exclusive.
What you can do with it
Original text written for Acto. Read it, print it, work on it in class, perform it at an audition or on a self-tape: that is what it is for, and you need no permission. For a public performance or any commercial use, write to us at contact@acto.re.
In these selections
The same text, elsewhere
Close to this one
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One Question Too Many
You haven’t asked why you’re here. In twenty years, everyone asks. Except the ones who know. You haven’t opened your file. People usually do. Except when it’s empty.
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The Hideout
The bag was full at two o’clock. There are three of us. Nobody left. Then it’s still here. Banknotes don’t evaporate.
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The Alibi
You both say you spent the evening here. Together. Watching a film. That’s right. The 8:50 film.