Box 13

• Box 13 •

Box 13

INT. OFFICE OF THE STAR TIMES - AFTERNOON

SFX - door opens, footsteps. General office noises.

DAN
Hello, Suzie.

SUZIE
Oh, Mr. Holiday, there's -

DAN
Any messages for Box Thirteen?

SUZIE
No, but there's -

DAN
Any packages?

SUZIE
No, but a man -

DAN
All right - well, if you see any packages, I'm expecting something, so go ahead and call me
at home. But for now, I'm going to go enjoy a nice three day weekend far away from the
glamour of all this.

SUZIE
But Mr. Holiday - there's a man to see you!

DAN
A man?

SUZIE
Uh-huh.

DAN
To see me?

SUZIE
Uh-huh.

DAN
Here?

SUZIE
That's right, Mr. Holiday.

DAN
Now, Suzie, you knew that I wasn't planning on coming in today.

SUZIE
Yes, Mr. Holiday.

DAN
So then why would he be waiting for me?

SUZIE
I don't know - you'll have to ask him. I told him that you wouldn't be here, but he
insisted. He's just inside.

DAN
Suzie... well, did he say what it's about?

SUZIE
No - he just said that he had to see you, even if he had to wait the entire weekend.

DAN
Well, with such dedication it hardly seems fair to leave without finding out who he is...

SUZIE
It would be nice of you.

DAN
I'm going to regret this, aren't I?

SUZIE
You usually do, Mr. Holiday.

INT. INNER OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

MAN
Oh! Mr. Holiday! I am so glad that you've arrived! You have no idea how long I've been
a fan of your adventure stores. Box Thirteen - will go anywhere, will do anything!

DAN
That's very flattering, Mr...

MAN
Mr. Veritus. Mr. Charles Veritus.

DAN
Mr. Veritus. Have a seat. How did you get this address?

MAN
Oh, that is a rather long story that I don't want to bore you with - suffice it to say, I
came about your address after much personal inconvenience.

DAN
And what, may I ask, is the reason for this great personal inconvenience?

MAN
Well you see, I have been reading of your adventures for some time now, and I feel that
you are the only person that I can turn to in order to solve a rather difficult mystery. A
murder mystery, which I believe would run right up your alley.

DAN
A murder mystery, huh? Well, Mr...

MAN
Veritus.

DAN
Right. I'm sorry, but Box 13 is closed for business until I return from vacation, so if this

can wait,

MAN
I'm afraid, Mr. Holiday, that it cannot. I've brought along a file here of all of the details
that you will need to know in order to solve the case - here's a photograph of the victim,
along with his vital statistics, a series of photographs of his apartment building, a list of
his neighbors and owners of adjascent buildings.

DAN
Why are you bringing this to me? The police investigation didn't turn out the way you
wanted?

MAN
Oh, there's been no investigation, because as of now there has been no murder.

DAN
Come again?

MAN
I say, the murder is yet to be comitted.

DAN
In that case, how do you have so many details?

MAN
Because, Mr. Holiday, I will be the one to kill him.

THEME SONG

DAN (V.O.)
And this is how I became aquainted with Mr. Charles Veritus. And boy was I right when
I said i would regret it.
He refused to answer any more questions, saying that all the information I needed to
prevent the murder was right there in that envelope. So, I took the envelope down to my
old friend Lieutenant Kling, passed it off to him and told him it was his problem - I was
on vacation.
But unfortunately for me, it wasn't so easy to shake off Mr. Charles Veritus, as I found
out that night. When I got back to my room, I had two messages on the machine.

Answering machine beeps.

VERITUS
Mr. Holiday. I put my trust in you, and you go to the police? You disapoint me -
especially after your piece on how the terribly the police bungled the Koppenhauer case.
It appears that you did not take me seriously, Mr. Box 13. Perhaps next time you will
not make the same mistake.

Machine beeps again.

KLING
Holiday - it's Kling. Call me back as soon as you get this. We have a problem.

DAN (V.O.)
This series of messages did not bode well for my vacation. I was reaching for the phone
to return Kling's call when the phone rang.

Phone rings.

DAN
Holiday.

KLING
Not anymore, buddy.

DAN
Who is this?

KLING
It's Kling. I know you're on vacation, but you've gotta come down here.

DAN
What's going on?

KLING
Trouble. You know Envelope Guy? The one with the picture and that?

DAN
Yeah?

KLING
Well we send around a guy to check on him - see if he can give us any clues here.

DAN
And did he?

KLING
He had a little trouble talking on account of his being dead.

DAN
Dead!

KLING
Dead, Holiday.

DAN
So Veritus wasn't kidding. Did you find anything at the scene that'd help find him?

KLING
Well that's a funny thing about it - there was plenty of evidence. Fingerprints
everywhere, and we were able to match the prints to the ones left on that envelope you
gave us.

DAN
Well great, -

KLING
Not so great, Dan. The thing is - they were your fingerprints.

DAN
Say that again?

KLING
We ran the prints through the system, and you came up as a positive match.

DAN
Now that's just - what about the envelope? His prints would be on there.

KLING
Only two sets of prints on the envelope, Holiday - yours and mine.

DAN
So he framed me.

KLING
When can you come down to the station? We have a lot of questions to ask.

DAN
So have I. Can I call you back, Kling?

KLING
Listen, Holiday, as of right now you're the main suspect in a murder investigation. I
believe you, but we can't give you any special treatment. How soon can you get here?

DAN
I'll be there.

DAN (V.O.)
Of all the ways to end a vacation, being framed for murder is one of the worst. Add that
to the thinly veiled threat left by Charles Varitus, and I had two ingredients for what
would become one of least enjoyable weekends of my life.
As soon as I got off the phone with Kling, I picked up the hat and coat I had just
removed moments before, and headed to the police station.

KLING
Holiday!

DAN
Listen - I got a message from Veritus. I think he's going to try something again.

KLING
He is. Come on back to my office.

DAN
What's going on?

KLING
We got a message about an hour ago from Veritus - he's offering a deal. He says he'll turn
himself in and confess to the murder.

DAN
If...?

KLING
He wants you to meet him at Kernel Klucks Chicken tomorrow morning.

DAN
Chicken for breakfast?

KLING
Oh no - for breakfast they have these great omelette sandwhiches. You haven't tried
them?

DAN
No - I'm trying to watch my figure. So what did he say he wants exactly?

KLING
He didn't. All he said was that he would meet you at the chicken place tomorrow
morning with instructions. If you follow those instructions, he'll turn himself in.

DAN
And if I don't?

KLING
Then you'll be arrested for the murder of Michael Packer.

MUSIC

DAN
I spend the next day going over the situation. I searched all my files for any reference to
either Charles Veritus, or the guy he had killed. No luck.
Next morning I show up at Kernel Kluck's. I'm early - so I bite my tongue and order
Kernel Kluck's World Famous Breakfast Basket - over three thousand calories of
breakfast goodness, which I proceed to eat as I wait for Veritus to arrive. After forty five
minutes, he does not. I look out the window and shrug at Klink, who is sitting in his
squad car across the street.
I order another coffee and continue to wait. And then another. By the time I get the call,
I've had enough caffeine to keep me up for a week.

MAN
Holiday? Dan Holiday?

DAN
Yeah?

MAN
Phone call.

DAN
Thanks. Veritus?

VERITUS
That wasn't very nice of you, Mr. Holiday.

DAN
Neither was framing me for murder.

VERITUS
I had no choice - it was the only way to get your attention.

DAN
I can think of a few ways that I prefer.

VERITUS
It's obvious you don't take me seriously - the police? Honestly, I expect more of you
than that

DAN
Listen, Veritus, you come into my office and tell me you're going to commit a murder. So
I assume you're a nutcase, and I turn your file over to the police. What did you expect?

VERITUS
I expected you to save his life.

DAN
And I tried, by going to the authorities. I'm not a body guard. Where are you?

VERITUS
I'm nearby. I would have been there in person, but you had to bring your friend in the cop
car with you. That wasn't a smart move, Mr. Holiday.

DAN
Listen, I don't have time for games. What do you want to turn yourself in?

VERITUS
The same thing I wanted the first time - I want you to prevent a murder.

DAN
Who this time?

VERITUS
Well, since you did not take the first one seriously, I'm targeting someone that you will
actually work to save.

DAN
Who?

VERITUS
You, Mr. Holiday. I'll give you twenty-four hours. During that time, I will attempt to
murder you. If you can prevent it, I will turn myself in to the police. If you fail, you will
be dead. And if you refuse my terms, you will go to the chair for the murder of Michael
Packer.

DAN
You won't get away with this.

VERITUS
That's the entire point, Mr. Holiday. Goodbye.

DAN
Hello? Veritus?

DAN (V.O.)
He was gone. And I had twenty four hours to find him, or die trying. In the meantime, I
headed back to the station.

KLING
Well?

DAN
Not particularly. For whatever reason, Veritus has deemed me worthy of matching wits
with him, and whether or not I play his game, there's death at the end of it.

KLING
What do you mean? What did he say?

DAN
Your guys didn't listen in?

KLING
No - I realized that they should have been, but I didn't think of it till afterwards. And hey
- if we had been recording the conversation, it would have probably been enough to get
you cleared of all the charges.

DAN
You didn't think of that before?

KLING
Well, don't worry about that now - let bygones be bygones. What did the man say?

DAN
He said he's going to murder me in the next twenty four hours, unless I stop him.

KLING
So what are you going to do?

DAN
I'm going to stop him. Or, I'll be murdered. I think those are the two most likely
scenarios at this point.

2009 - Nathaniel Jones