75 EXT.
SANDECKER’S GEORGETOWN HOME – DAY 75
PITT (V.O.)
The Hobart file was a waste
of time. At least I thought
it was.
76 EXT.
GARDEN IN REAR 76
Pitt, Sandecker and Seagram. Pitt holding forth.
PITT
Then I stumbled on the name
Arthur Brewster. And that
was the clincher. Brewster
turned out to be the key that
unlocked the box.
SANDECKER
Who was he?
PITT
He was a con man. A real
hustler. Arthur Brewster would
take a crack at anything if he
thought he could make a profit.
But mining was what he knew best.
He traveled all over the world.
Followed his nose. Looking for
rare minerals. In 1910 he found
byzanium on the island of Novaya
Zemlya and he went straight to
the United States Army. He told
them what he’d found but not
where he’d found it.
SEAGRAM
Why the Army?
PITT
He had some cronies in Army
Intelligence. He’d work with
them before.
SANDECKER
Why did he think they’d be
interested in byzanium?
PITT
They weren’t. Not at first. But
Brewster sold them on it. Told
them it was a thousand times more
potent then radium. Even then they
could see it had military possibilities.
So they gave Brewster the money he
needed. And they assigned people to
help him. Some Army mining engineers.
SEAGRAM
Like Jake Hobart?
PITT
That’s right.
SANDECKER
And nobody knew he was going into
Russian territory?
PITT
Nobody but Brewster. That was his
little secret. He just said the country
he was talking about had internal
political problems and if news of the
arrangement got out, the whole deal
would blow sky high.
SEAGRAM
How did he manage it with the
Russians?
PITT
Pay-off. He made a deal with some
big shot in the Czar’s government.
Gave him half the money the Army
had given him. And he was home
free. At least that’s what he
thought. He made a deal with a
Norwegian whaler. The ship delivered
Brewster, Jake Hobart, and the rest
of those Colorado miners to the
island and made a date to pick them
up again three months later. After
they’d mined the byzanium.
SANDECKER
What happened?
PITT
Smooth as silk. The whaler picked
up the men and the byzanium on
schedule. Only one problem.
Brewster’s Russian friend double-
crossed him. Two days out from
Novaya Zemlya the whaler spotted
a Russian cruiser tailing it. But
Brewster and his men stuck to their
plan. The whaler put them ashore
on the Scottish coast north of
Aberdeen and they started overland.
The idea was to get to Southampton
and ship the ore to New York by
commercial ship.
76A INT.
SANDECKER’S LIBRARY 76A
SANDECKER
Did they make it?
PITT
They gave it a good shot. But
they had Russian agents coming
out of their ears. They fought
a running battle all the way
south from Aberdeen to Southampton.
But somehow Brewster made it.
And he had the byzanium with him.
SEAGRAM
What about the other men?
PITT
All dead. Except for one. He
mentioned Southby. Matter of
fact the last line he wrote in
his journal was ‘Thank God
for Southby.’
SANDECKER
All right. We’ve got Brewster in
Southampton with the ore. Now
what?
PITT
He bought a big cast-iron vault.
Eight feet high. The walk-in
kind they used to have in country
banks. He loaded the ore into
the vault and saw it lowered into
the hold of a ship. In Southampton.
And on April 10, 1912, the ship
sailed.
SEAGRAM
Sailed to where?
PITT
SANDECKER
Wait a minute. April 10, 1912 . . .
Southampton . . . New York . . .
PITT
(low key, matter-of-fact)
That’s right. Brewster started
home on the Titanic.
77 EXTREME
CLOSEUP – SEAGRAM’S FACE 77
No big reaction. But it’s sinking in. The party’s over.
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