Crooked Panacea : Scene 3 : Conclusion

CROOKED PANACEA 3

SCENE 3

(Petra and Gordon Havisham’s lounge in their Italian house. It is well-furnished and very comfortable. There are French doors out onto a beautiful, sunny garden)

PETRA : Do you think she’s taken the bait?

GORDON : No doubt about it, Petra. The girl’s a fool, she’s messing with something she does not understand.

PETRA : She should be here soon.

GORDON : I wonder how long they have known.

PETRA : Well, our sources said her family has been onto Fisals for some time and then when Opex killed her mother that was it.

GORDON : She has no idea we are involved in the management of Fisals, Petra.

PETRA : No, I think she will get a shock.

GORDON : When we picked her up in the Villa Medici she thought you were a virtual cripple, Petra.

PETRA : Mmm, she was obviously interested in anything to do with Fisals; she didn’t hide it very well.

GORDON : No, I think she’s a bit incompetent.

PETRA : Who is this Zena?

GORDON  : She is her cousin, who lives here in Italy. They both want revenge. You know what they say blood is thicker than water.

PETRA : What are we going to do with them?

GORDON : Well, they are going to have an accident, aren’t they, Petra? We can’t afford for her to say anything to anybody back in England. She will not leave Rome alive.

PETRA : Such a pretty girl too, Gordon. It seems a pity really.

GORDON : Well I won’t lose any sleep over it. Think of the profit, Petra. We’ll be able to buy all of that real estate in the Via del Corso.

PETRA : Oh I am looking forward to that, Gordon. We can do so much with those properties. We could even end up billionaires.

GORDON : No doubt about it, Petra. Fisals has been good to us. I’ll defend them with my life.

PETRA : Poor sap. She was so gullible. She took in all that stuff and guff about me being in pain.

GORDON : Yes, by telling her the truth about the spa water she was convinced we were innocent victims.

PETRA : There’s someone coming up the path now, Gordon. I can hear her.

(Juliana comes through the french windows)

JULIANA : Oh your garden, it is wonderful, the scents and the colours. It is truly a garden of the senses.

PETRA : Oh I’m so glad you like it, Juliana, and I’m so glad you could find time to come and visit.

GORDON : Yes, come and sit down here, Juliana. I’ll tell you a bit about the plants in the garden. We have a lot of mediterranean plants, especially herbs. There’s lemons too, capsicums and chillies and tomatoes. And I must show you my Bermuda Buttercup, the pepper trees, the persian lilac and the mimosas.

JULIANA : It is lovely. I have an aunt back home in England would love the garden.

PETRA : It is our hobby, Juliana, we love gardening.

JULIANA : But what about you, Petra? How is your arthritis? Those drugs must be to blame – that damned company Fisals. I think somebody should sue them.

PETRA : Oh do you, and what makes you come to that conclusion?

JULIANA : Sorry, I don’t understand.

PETRA : Oh let’s cut the crap, little miss goody-two-shoes. That’s you, Juliana, isn’t it, more like Pollyanna?

JULIANA : There must be some mistake.

(At this point Gianni comes through the french windows)

GIANNI : I followed you here, Juliana. I must see you. I love you. I want you to be my wife.

(Gordon produces a gun)

JULIANA : Help, Gianni, these people are false, I think they are criminals.

GIANNI : What is going on? Who are they?

(Gordon rushes over to Gianni and cuffs him with the gun)

GORDON : That’s him dealt with.

PETRA : Was that necessary, Gordon? You’ll upset Juliana.

JULIANA : I’m already upset. You are involved with Fisals, aren’t you? I never thought it was you. There was nothing to suggest it.

PETRA : You might not know us but we know you. We know your mother died and we knew you’d be sniffing around eventually. We’ve been tracking you, not the other way around.

JULIANA : Oh I see, what are you going to do with me and what about poor Gianni? Is he alright?

GORDON : He’s unconscious that’s all.

JULIANA : Let him go, he has nothing to do with this.

GORDON : All in good time. Maybe you would like a tour of the garden. Saunter through the salvias.

PETRA : Don’t worry my dear, we’ll take care of you.

JULIANA : Is that someone coming?

GORDON : Don’t worry your pretty, little head. We know who our next guest is.

(Zena enters)

JULIANA : Zena, it’s a trick, quick, get out.

(Gordon grabs her and drags her into the room)

GORDON : Just sit down here with Juliana, like a good girl.

(Gordon begins to bind their hands and feet)

We don’t want you escaping my dears, do we?

ZENA : So, it wasn’t what we thought after all. We thought it was Simon who was involved at first, but when we got to know him decided he was relatively innocuous. We might have known it was faceless manipulators behind Fisals.

GORDON : Yes, my dear, I like it –faceless manipulators. We are going to be rich, really rich, rich beyond our wildest dreams.

PETRA : Don’t struggle girls, it isn’t worth it. What we really don’t like is a snitch, and that’s what both of you are. Gathering information so you can go to the police. You suckers, you are pathetic.

JULIANA : Simon was innocent wasn’t he? How did you dupe him for so long?

PETRA : No idea, just shut up.

ZENA : This is sick. You must let us go. If you harm us our families will go to the police.

GORDON : What do we care for your families? We hate them. We left the British behind when we came to Rome. We have a new life here; nothing is going to stop us now.

JULIANA : You are ill. I really believed in you, Petra. I even felt sorry for you.

PETRA : Well there was no need, was there? You are a fool, Juliana.

(Gianni comes round)

(Gordon goes over to him and binds him up)

GIANNI : What has happened? Where am I?

JULIANA : Don’t worry, Gianni, it is all my fault. I led you into this.

GIANNI : Please, Juliana, I love you. Why are you in trouble?

JULIANA : It’s too complicated, Gianni, just don’t panic, we’ll get out of this somehow.

GIANNI : Do you love me?

JULIANA : Yes I do.

GIANNI : That’s all I wanted to hear.

PETRA : This is so touching – a real love story in the twenty first century. Who would have thought it? Romance is not dead.

JULIANA : You are worthless, Petra. You’ll be put away for a long time.

PETRA : I don’t think so. Ah, I hear someone coming now, and if I’m not mistaken this is the person who will deal with you two, engineer a little accident.

(Simon Palmer comes through the french windows)

JULIANA : What – Simon? What are you doing here?

SIMON : Oh my pretty one, so naive but oh so charming. We are leaving tonight now we know you are snooping and what you are really doing in Rome.

JULIANA : So, you are involved in a bad way too.

SIMON : Afraid so my petite.

GORDON : We’ve got to get rid of them. There’s three of them now when we only expected two.

SIMON : Who’s he?

GORDON : It’s her boyfriend.

SIMON : Double dating Juliana, you do surprise me and you such a good little girl.

JULIANA : Ooh, you are all so evil. I hate you all.

SIMON : I just happened to leave a little listening device under your sofa, Juliana. It told me everything when this Zena arrived and spilt the beans. How two lovely cousins turned investigator.

JULIANA : You are trash, Simon. I trusted you.

SIMON : Please don’t take it personally, Juliana. You shouldn’t be involved in this stupid lark. It can all go very pear-shaped.

GIANNI : If you harm her I will kill you.

SIMON : Shut up.

JULIANA : Don’t worry, Gianni, everything will be okay, just remain silent, please. How did they get you here though, Zena ,I don’t understand.

ZENA : I got a text from you supposedly, saying to meet you at this address. That bastard Simon must have sent it.

SIMON : So perceptive, Zena. I got your mobile number from the listening device.

ZENA : You’ve got it all sussed, haven’t you?

SIMON : Yeh, we are pretty clever.

(The police barge in through the french windows – a detective and three policemen)

INSPECTOR VOCETTI : Not clever enough. Surround them, lads.

SIMON : What, what’s going on? Our plan, it was foolproof.

INSPECTOR VOCETTI : Not so I’m afraid. We can use listening devices too and Zena here is wearing one and apart from anything else she started to tell us where she was going once she got involved with you lot. Nice garden you’ve got there, Gordon, isn’t it? Pity you’ll be leaving it all behind. They say Italian prisons can be rather grim, don’t know myself, never been in one. Arrest them, lads, read them their rights.

PETRA : Oh it’s my arthritis. It’s playing up, I can feel it coming on. I feel very bad, I need an ambulance.

INSPECTOR VOCETTI : Will it look better to the neighbours, love, if you leave by sitting case car? You’ll be a sitting case alright, you’ll be sat in prison for the next twenty years. Those counterfeit drugs have caused a lot of grief. Some people have died because they weren’t getting genuine drugs. You are evil criminals, all of you. I’d like to see you rot.

JULIANA : Please, Inspector, can you help Gianni? He’s my boyfriend, they knocked him out.

INSPECTOR VOCETTI : Don’t worry, love, we’ll fix him up in no time. I’ll ring his mother and say he’s just been in a bit of a scrape with a beautiful, young girl. I’m sure she’ll understand.

JULIANA : Thanks, Inspector.

GIANNI : Me and Juliana, or even Juliana and I, to be the most correct, are going to have the most wonderful holiday in Rome anyone ever had, I promise you, Juliana. You will see all the fountains of Rome tonight. We will bathe in them, drink from them, even make love in them if you are willing.

JULIANA : For you, Gianni, my love, anything.

THE END