CARD OVER FOOTAGE: New York, 1928

THE TRIAL OF WILLIAM FEE

by Alexander Julien 2

FADE IN: CARD OVER FOOTAGE: New York, 1928 EXT.STREETS OF NEW YORK – DAY

It’s a cloudy Fall afternoon as we follow a young man riding his bike. He sways in between cars that are either stopped, or moving very slowly in the busy midday traffic. The young man carries a canvas bag around his shoulder and continuously rings the bell on his handle bars, to clear a path for himself.

Several cars nearly hit the young man but, he turns onto the sidewalk and continues on his way. People scramble to get out of his way. The young man finally stops at the front door of the HOTEL PROVENANCE. The bell hop, greets him.

BELL HOP One day, smack! The peanut butter and jam sandwich you ate for lunch is going to be all that’s left of you.

The young man jumps off the bike and places it against a light pole. He walks past the bell hop.

YOUNG MAN I don’t like peanut butter.

The young man hands the bell hop a dollar 3 coin.

YOUNG MAN Is he in there?

The bell hop flips the coin and places it in his pocket.

BELL HOP Is he in there? He never leaves his room let alone the hotel. Been here thirty years or so.

The young man looks up at the building.

YOUNG MAN (to himself) Long time.

CUT TO: INT. LOBBY, HOTEL PROVENANCE – DAY

The young man makes his way through the busy lobby and walks up the curved staircase. The steps of the staircase are covered in a rose coloured carpet.

CUT TO: INT. HALLWAY, HOTEL PROVENANCE – DAY

The young man stops at one of the rooms. He looks at the brass number plate on the door. It reads : 186 CUT TO: 4

INT.ROOM 186, HOTEL PROVENANCE – NIGHT

The rooms’ lights are switched off with just a glimmer of the sunset, dissipating with the coming of night.

A very old man sits in a wooden chair. He stares at the peeling wallpaper while his glasses lie on the table next to him. His tea, cooling in the prevailing, evening chill.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

The old man turns to the door.

OLD MAN Come in.

The door to the room slowly opens and a young man pokes his head in. He is wearing a wool cap and reading glasses.

YOUNG MAN Mr. Macafee?

MACAFEE Yes, that’s me.

The young man enters the room and shuts the door. The old door fails to close completely and gradually creaks open once again. The young man is carrying what looks like a large note pad and some hard cover books. The 5 young man walks towards MACAFEE with his hand out, in greeting.

YOUNG MAN My name is David Wallace. I’m a writer with the Daily Herald. I called you earlier about possibly hearing your account of events that took place here in 1860.

MACAFEE ignores the outstretched hand and turns back to the wallpaper.

MACAFEE So tell me, why would anybody care about what took place sixty years ago?

WALLACE pulls back a chair at the table and removes a scarf that was wrapped around his neck.

WALLACE May I?

MACAFEE says nothing. WALLACE sits anyway.

WALLACE (cont’d) Well Mr. Macafee, it seems that you were witness to an extra- ordinary event. I have to admit, you were a hard man to track down. MACAFEE looks at WALLACE.

MACAFEE 6

You don’t look like a journalist.

WALLACE smiles and opens one of his books onto the table.

WALLACE I’ve recently come to that conclusion myself.

MACAFEE turns away.

WALLACE (cont’d) I’m actually a student journalist. This story has fascinated me ever since I was little boy.

WALLACE turns to a page with a black and white pencil drawn historical depiction. He turns the book and places it in front of MACAFEE.

WALLACE (cont’d) The historical record shows that this man, William Fee, was the only man ever to be hung in the state of New York. But he didn’t hang, did he? Something happened that day that isn’t in the history books. Something, that no one but you, is left to talk about.

MACAFEE leans his head slightly downward and looks into the drawing. It is of a man being hung from the neck with several people gathered around, looking on. 7

WALLACE (cont’d) Mr. Macafee? Can you tell me what happened that day? It’s of great importance to my work. It could be important to a lot of people.

MACAFEE lifts his hand and delicately places it on the picture. He gently brushes over the figure of the hanging man.

FADE TO: EXT. 1860, DUSTY FIELD - DAY

The wind blows harshly through the dusty field. A lone horse, tied to a tree, grazes peacefully. People from all over have gathered around an old oak timber scaffold that has nothing particularly special about it except that there is a noose hanging from the center of it. A young man is standing, motionless atop the scaffolding waiting for the noose to be placed around his neck.

MACAFEE (V.O.)(softly) Before this hotel was built, the land it’s on was owned by the government. They in turn leased it to the Federal Marshall, and he used it for hanging criminals. So on March 23rd, 1860, with they’re dry hair plastered against their foreheads. Farmers from all the 8

way over in Wayne county, came to watch the only hanging ever to be recorded in these parts up until that time. It was like, waiting to get into a ball game. Everybody calm and peaceful. With death, lurking only a few feet away.

A elderly couple walk slowly up to the scaffolding and stare up at the young man.

Tears run from the woman’s eyes as her husband struggles to hold her. The young man proceeds to walk off the scaffolding as the town folk look on.

MACAFEE (V.O.) (cont’d) But after William Fee would take a step off the oak timber scaffold and offer everyone deliverance from having to bestow mercy upon him for the murder of “an unknown woman” by strangulation. Something happened that can only be described as “unnatural” The rope, that had been fashioned to be the instrument of fate, snapped, like a dry twig. Nobody was more surprised than William Fee himself. The young man sits on the dusty field. The rope, still clinging around his neck. He looks up at the scaffolding and sees the rest of the rope swinging there, frayed at the end. People begin to look around at each other and at the frayed rope. They can’t believe their eyes. 9

MACAFEE Most folks thought it was an act of God or something but, they knew better. You see, justice can only be properly handed out when the accused has some understanding of what they’ve done. I do believe in those, unforgettable moments, that every person present to witness this, classification of “justice”, were all whispering to themselves, “His time will come.” Maybe, then again maybe not. My Grand daddy told me that, “Every man must look into the abyss, whether or not he believes what he sees is irrelevant. It’s the choice he made to look in the first place that matters.”

The crowd dissipates after watching the failed hanging. A lone man walks up and examines the frayed noose as WILLIAM FEE gets taken away from the scaffolding. He is in shock and weeping.

MACAFEE (V.O.) (cont’d) Today, there is nothing more than a yellow faded document stating “That on this day, the 23rd of March, 1860, that one William Fee was sentenced by the court for the crime and was there by executed by hanging from the neck until dead.” The scaffolding was chopped up and used for kin ling and fire wood. 10

The great stone that was used to hoist William Fee into the air, was rolled back into the creek bed and forgotten. Such was the trial of William Fee.

The frayed noose hangs from the scaffolding, swinging back and forth in the dusty wind.

FADE TO: INT.HOTEL PROVENANCE, ROOM 186- NIGHT

MACAFEE is still touching the picture when he stops remembering. WALLACE sits quietly until...

WALLACE What happened to William Fee? There’s no record of any kind concerning where he ended up.

MACAFEE leans in and grabs his tea cup. He lifts it to his mouth and gingerly sips from the lip.

MACAFEE Who knows, law says they couldn’t hang him twice for the same crime.

WALLACE Sounds like fate.

MACAFEE Fate, Mr. Wallace, is not the ruler, but the servant of 11

providence.

WALLACE Who said that?

MACAFEE looks up at WALLACE.

MACAFEE I did.

WALLACE leans in and moves the book over to the side.

WALLACE Why do you live in this hotel Mr. Macafee? It was you, wasn`t it? You were the one. That’s why you come back here. Mr.Maca... fee?

MACAFEE looks back down to his tea.

MACAFEE You’re wrong Mr. Wallace. I don’t come back here, I never left. This was where I was supposed to die. It seems only right for me to be here.

WALLACE leans in.

WALLACE What are you waiting for Mr. Macafee? 12

MACAFEE Dignity.

WALLACE reaches into one of the books and pulls out four very old letters. He places them on the table.

WALLACE These were sent to me, anony- mously. They were written by you, weren’t they?

MACAFEE reaches for the letters. He smells one of them and slowly closes his eyes.

WALLACE (cont’d) Why would you write letters to a woman you allegedly murdered?

MACAFEE places the letters back on the table and then looks over to WALLACE.

MACAFEE I’m not the man you’re looking For Mr. Wallace. He died a long time ago. You’re chasing ghosts, and that can be a long, lonely journey.

WALLACE Did you love her?

MACAFEE looks up.

MACAFEE 13

If I did, I kept it to myself.

MACAFEE stands.

MACAFEE Would you care for some tea?

WALLACE thinks for a moment.

WALLACE Yes, thank-you.

MACAFEE stands and walks over to where he has a single plug in burner with a cast iron kettle. MACAFEE pours another cup of tea and then walks back to the table.

He places the tea in front of WALLACE. WALLACE takes a sip as MACAFEE sits back down. MACAFEE grabs the letters again.

MACAFEE Who did you say you were writing for again?

WALLACE looks over to MACAFEE.

WALLACE The Daily Herald.

WALLACE looks down into his tea.

WALLACE(cont’d) Do you have any sugar? 14

WALLACE stands, he then grabs his scarf and walks over to the collection of condiments that sit on top of the little hotel room fridge.

MACAFEE looks down at the pad of paper that WALLACE brought with him. There is nothing written down.

MACAFEE Funny, I thought the Daily Herald closed down last year.

WALLACE The pain we bring upon ourselves is not the weight we carry. It’s the bitterness of letting down the ones we love, that burden us till the day we die.

MACAFEE turns his head slightly to the side.

MACAFEE Who said that? WALLACE I did.

Suddenly WALLACE wraps his scarf around MACAFEE’s throat and begins to strangle him.

WALLACE Sixty years ago you murdered an innocent young woman, my grand- mother. You got away with it then. You won’t get away with it today. 15

MACAFEE struggles to get free but his attempts are fruitless. WALLACE tightens the scarf until MACAFEE’S face turns blue. WALLACE releases MACAFEE. MACAFEE drops to the floor.

WALLACE kneels beside MACAFEE and checks his pulse. WALLACE then stands and collects his things from the table. He leans down and rips one of the letters from MACAFEE’s dead hand.

WALLACE walks to the door and leaves the room. The door opens slightly once again.

FADE TO: INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT – DAY

Morning creeps into the apartment as someone stirs amongst the sheets. WALLACE rises from the bed and clumsily walks to the kitchen. He opens the fridge and takes a sip from a glass milk bottle.

CUT TO: EXT.STREET – DAY

WALLACE walks down the street with his canvas bag wrapped around his shoulder. He passes by a street newspaper vendor and freezes in his tracks.

WALLACE just stares through the crowds of people as they walk past him. He slowly walks up to the newspaper vendor and places a nickel down on the 16 pile of newspapers. The vendor collects the nickel as WALLACE lifts the paper further up.

On the front page of the NEW YORK NEWS is a picture of him with the caption reading: WANTED

WALLACE slowly looks up at the vendor and then looks around at all the people. He tucks the paper under his arm and walks away. The newspaper vendor watches him.

CUT TO: INT.LIVING ROOM, APARTMENT – DAY

WALLACE enters the apartment and slams the door behind him. He slaps the news paper on the coffee table, sits down on the couch, and stares out into space.

LOUD SCREECH!

WALLACE leaps from the couch and walks to the front window of his fourth floor apartment. He sees several black and white police cars screeching to a halt in front of his apartment building. WALLACE turns around and looks around the room. He sees his scarf hanging from a chair.

CUT TO: INT.FRONT FOYA, APARTMENT BUILDING – DAY 17

Several uniformed police men run into the building and head up the stairs.

CUT TO: INT.STAIRCASE, APARTMENT BUILDING – DAY

The police officers make their way up several flights of stairs in positions of cover.

CUT TO: INT.HALLWAY, APARTMENT BUILDING – DAY

The police officers reach an apartment door that reads: 409

The officers prepare themselves in positions of cover. One of the officers, a sergeant, knocks on the door. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

SERGEANT David Wallace! This is the police! Open the door now!

The officer motions to one of the other officers and he steps up with a solid lead bar. The officers slams the bar into the lock of the door and the door splits open. The other officer kicks in the door and it shatters into many smaller pieces.

CUT TO: INT.APARTMENT – DAY 18

The police enter the apartment and fan out across the room. One of the officers enters the bedroom.

OFFICER #2 Sergeant! Over here!

The sergeant walks down the hallway towards the bedroom.

CUT TO INT. BEDROOM – DAY

The sergeant enters the bedroom. Hanging from a ceiling fan is DAVID WALLACE. He has hung himself with the scarf he used to kill MACAFEE. The sergeant looks up at WALLACE.

SERGEANT Cut him down.

The sergeant leaves the room as other officers enter the room.

FADE OUT

THE END 19