by: Anson Fehross | October 23, 2001
An inky blackness fills the screen. Moments pass.
Eventually, a voice penetrates the darkness:
FEMALE VOICE
...Frantz Fuchs was found dead in the shower of the Thermal Bath hotel.
He was shot multiple times at close range in the head, chest and limbs...
Another voice permeates:
MALE VOICE
...the Hong Kong community was rocked today when the commissioner of police
was gunned down in the Cheung Chau Fish Restaurant...
A LOW ROAR is heard, slowly getting louder as we hear:
FEMALE VOICE
...Pablo Belisario Ochoa, notorious drug runner, was found dead in his
Brazilian Manor after having being mutilated by multiple gun shot wounds...
MALE VOICE
A doctor Ort-Meyer was found dead at his research facility earlier today.
His neck appears to have been broken by an unknown assailant. Ort-Meyer was heading up
the research of human cloning for a department of the CIA...
The ROAR grows until it is almost deafening before we hear blissful silence.
A GENTLE BREEZE is heard.
FADE IN:
EXT. THE OFFICE- DAY
A MAN stands at an open window in a high-rise office building, breathing deeply, his
arms folded.
After a few moments, he SIGHS and closes the window. He turns, stretching while
yawning, and checks his watch.
He picks up his jacket and puts it on as he heads out the door.
INT. RECEPTION- DAY
The Man walks along, straightening his jacket.
RECEPTIONIST
See you tomorrow, Mr. Simms.
SIMMS (as he now is) dismisses the receptionist with a raised hand as he continues
walking without even looking in her direction.
INT. HALL- DAY
Simms presses the elevator call button and stands, arms folded once again.
Eventually, we hear the reassuring DING of an elevator and Simms enters the open doors.
INT. INSIDE THE ELEATOR- DAY
Simms stands, presses the button for the lobby and YAWNS again. We hear PIPED IN ELEVATOR music. Simms is unimpressed. He SIGHS again as the doors close.
INT. THE ELEVATOR SHAFT- DAY
The CAMERA follows the elevator down into the darkness.
INT. INSIDE THE ELEVATOR- DAY
Simms stands in the center of the elevator as it moves down the shaft. Moments pass...
In one unsettlingly fast motion, the trapdoor of the elevator bursts open and a garrote
wire is slipped neatly around Simms's neck before he is hoisted up into the air, his head
sticking out the trapdoor, out of view.
As the MUSAK continues, we hear SIMMS' labored GARGLES as his hands grip the wire that
chokes him, legs kicking franticly. After a while, the kicks become less frequent,
the GARGLE less loud. Finally, they stop altogether.
From a WORMS EYE VIEW, we see Simms hit the ground, dead. A red ring of dead muscle
tissue is visible around Simms' neck. Seconds later, someone lands next to Simms, legs
clad in trousers, feet in well-polished shoes. The MUSAK is a thing of the past as
RATM'S 'BULLS ON PARADE' blares.
The CAMERA pans slowly up to allow us to see whom the mystery man is-
It is the Hitman, as stoic as ever. He straightens his tie as the elevator continues
down to the lobby.
