end of the line

TED
You saw her after I left?

CAROL
Yes, I saw... her on a bus.  It was passing.  You...  It was, like...

                           She walks into the middle of the street, to demonstrate to him the exact spot where the bus was.

TED
Wait a minute.  Are you...  You're absolutely sure you saw her?  You saw her face?

CAROL
I'm positive I -- I saw her.

                        A car is honking the horn.  Carol moves out of its way.

CAROL
Whoo!...  Excuse me.  I -- I'm telling you, Ted.

                              Ted joins Carol in the middle of the street.

TED
What was the number of the bus?

CAROL
Uh, I don't know what the number of the bus was, but I know that it was heading west to east, so it was... it obviously was a cross-town bus.

TED
All right.  Okay, look, look.  It's a cross-town bus.

                             They walk to the sidewalk on the other side of the street, where the park is.

CAROL
Right.

TED
Okay, so look.  The end of the line is a few blocks down there.

CAROL
So, okay.  So, then, it's like...

TED
So, she...  She had to get off somewhere... somewhere.

CAROL
Then -- her destination was probably within the next five or six blocks.

                            They start walking on the sidewalk, going in the direction they first came from.

TED
Yeah, right.  So, let's, let's look around.  Let's, we, we'll see some, you know, uh, like a, like a, you know... clue, or something.  Or something.  Maybe we'll see her.  You're sure you saw her face?

CAROL
Don't, don't doubt me, okay?

TED
Okay, okay, okay.  No, no, no, no.

CAROL
I'm - I'm not kidding.  Look.

EXT.  A wide avenue - Day

This is not a nice area anymore.  It is a wide, dingy-looking avenue, with the nearest buildings very far away and a road bridge over the street.  Rain has begun.

LONG SHOT of the avenue, with Carol and Ted walking further away.

CAROL
Oh, God.  Well, I think -- you know -- I think we've reached the end of the line.

TED
I think this is it.

                             A bus is coming toward them.

CAROL
Look.  The bus.

                          The bus slows down.

TED
I don't think... there's nothing -- Watch out!  Watch out.

                           He pulls her, and guides her to the inside of the sidewalk, away from water the bus is driving through.

CAROL
Yeah, what?  Oh!

                      The bus makes a turn, off the avenue.

TED
Yeah, look.  See?  See, he's turning.  That's it.

CAROL
Yeah, I know.

TED
That's all there is, here.

CAROL
Well, what do you think?

TED
What?

CAROL
Do you think we should retrace our steps?


EXT.  Street in front of the lounge

FULL SHOT of the park across the street, seen across the thick vertical bars of surrounding railings.  Ted and Carol are walking through the park.

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{Manhattan Murder Mystery / Woody Allen}

-30-