nothing strange can happen

In the movie Body Heat, Edmund Walker's career is --
"Oh -- various things; this and that; here and there."

That's his job.
(Oohhhh - kay. ...)

("They want to get rich...but they're not willing to do -- what's necessary. ...")

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[from the screenplay]


EXT.  "THE BREAKERS" - NIGHT

Middle of the night.  No one in sight.  Now comes the only movement -- a Miranda Beach Police Patrol Car drives slowly up the street next to the old hotel and turns south on Ocean Avenue.  When it is gone, all is dead again.

EXT.  THE BEACH - NIGHT

Racine has watched the patrol car from the darkness of the beach.  Now he sits in the sand again, his back against the raised bank of sand on which he goes running, mornings.  He lights a flashlight and makes a notation in a small notepad.

INT.  "THE BREAKERS" - NIGHT

Racine's footsteps creak through the blackness.  [Background MUSIC--mysterious, tentative, and tense].  Then his flashlight reveals a corridor in the crumbling basement of the old hotel.  Racine is not the first to have violated the premises -- scattered about are beer cans, whiskey bottles, beds made of newspapers, the remains of food.  Rats CHITTER and scamper in the shadows.  A lizard scoots over the pipes.

Racine goes through a doorway and is in what used to be a supply area at the bottom of a stairway.  Scattered about are empty wooden food crates.  The walls are lined with tall wooden shelves; one of these units is tipped over across the room, Racine shines his light in that direction and sees what caused the shelves to fall.  One of the beams which cross the ceiling has rotted loose and dropped one end to the floor.

Racine has found what he wanted.
[The MUSIC ends on a high-note crescendo.]

INT.  ENCLOSED SIDE VERANDAH - WALKER HOUSE - NIGHT

Racine sits smoking, watching Matty fill their tall highball glasses with ice at the bar.

MATTY
Her mother works plenty hard to keep Heather on Edmund's mind.  Always bringing her around, always reporting on everything she does in school.  That Roz is a smart one. 

She brings his drink over to him.

MATTY
And anything Heather inherits goes straight to Roz.  Heather won't even get a look at it.  That's the part I can't stand.  That's what seems so wrong, that half of it should go to her!

RACINE
(his customary low-key, off-hand, indolent manner)
That's the way it is.  There's nothing we can do about it.

Matty turns away from his chair and moves back over toward the bar.

MATTY
Are you sure?  Because I was thinking -- that maybe there is.  The will is with Edmund's lawyer in Miami, I know that.  What if I could get him to bring it home?  Couldn't we re-write it?  Change it?  Every little change would mean a lot for us, Ned. 
(she's kneeling, now, on the floor in front of his chair)
And -- you're a lawyer.  You know how to write it! It wouldn't seem so odd...I could say he brought it home, and we talked about it, and decided to make some changes up here.  And I knew you already --

[During this speech, Ned has been looking disconsolate -- up at her, then down, then staring moodily mid-distance, eyebrows first up, in surprise, then down in a slight frown.]

RACINE
No.  Forget it.

MATTY
I don't see why Heather should take half! --

Racine puts down his drink and turns to look down at her.

RACINE
Listen to me, Matty.  Nothing strange can happen in his life right now, not one thing out of the ordinary.  That's vital, that's the most important part.  'Cause if it does, the chances double that we get caught.  You'll get half of everything he owns, and it'll be plenty.  No matter what it is, we're gonna be satisfied.  We're not going to get greedy.  If we do, we'll get burned.

She studies his face, her eyes wide, her facial expression nearly vibrating with energy.

MATTY
(in her smoky Voice of passion and mystery)
You're right, darling.  I'm sorry.  I know you're right.

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[Excerpts from the screenplay for Body Heat, written by Lawrence Kasdan.]

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