The Ninth Gate Page #2

CORSO (grins to himself): He should be quicker off the mark.

The spiral staircase judders as BERNIE starts to descend.

CORSO goes over to a wall cupboard and opens it. An assortment of

bottles and glasses come to light.

CORSO (cont.):
May I?

BERNIE:
Your valuation was way over the odds it's brought those

people out In a rash. They're now asking twice what the books are

worth.

CORSO, still grinning, pours himself a slug of Scotch. BERNIE

reaches the ground.

BERNIE (cont.):
He's talking about suing you. Well, let's face

it:
you screwed him. That's what it's called.

CORSO:
I know what it's called.

BERNIE comes up close.

BERNIE:
He also says you snaffled the 'Don Qui ...

He breaks off as CORSO produces the four volumes of the

'Quixote', bends over to examine them, whistles appreciatively.

BERNIE:
(cont.): The Ybarra 'Don Quixote', 1780, four volumes.

Fantastic! (opens one) Sonofabitch, you're the best in the

business. Definitely.

CORSO:
And the most expensive. (smiles slyly) That client of

yours, the Swiss, is he still interested in this edition?

BERNIE smiles back, then redirects his attention to the books.

BERNIE:
Sure, but Witkin will blow a fuse. I told him I had

nothing to do with this operation.

CORSO knocks back his Scotch in one. Extracting a crumpled

cigarette from the pocket of his overcoat, he sticks it in his

mouth and lights it.

CORSO:
Nothing except your ten percent.

BERNIE:
: Twenty. The Swiss is my client, remember.

CORSO (shakes his head): No deal.

BERNIE:
Fifteen. (cynically) For my children's sake.

CORSO:
You don't have any.

BERNIE:
I'm still young. Give me time.

CORSO (expels a lungful of smoke, unmoved): Ten.

6. BALKAN BUILDING EXT/DUSK

A taxi pulls up outside an opulent building downtown. CORSO gets

out, dodges a persistent beggar, and enters. The sign above the

entrance reads:
'BALKAN PUBLICATIONS'.

7. BALKAN BUILDING: LOBBY INT/DUSK

CORSO nods to the SECURITY GUARD at the desk and makes hit way

across the lobby to a door at the back. Beside it stands an

easel-mounted announcement: 'Demons and Medieval Literature, by

Boris Balkan, Ph.D.' It's adorned with a medieval engraving

depicting an Inquisition torture scene.

8. BALKAN BUILDING: LECTURE ROOM INT/DUSK

BORIS BALKAN, standing at a state-of-the-art lecturer's desk, is

a bulky, imposing figure of a man around 50 years old. His thick

gray hair is slicked back to reveal a domed forehead. The eyes

beneath it radiate keen intelligence through a pair of heavy

hornrims. He speaks in a deep, slow, almost monotonous voice, but

with great authority.

BALKAN:
Relevant information may be found in Antoine Martin del

Rio's 'Disquisitionum Magicarum', Louvain 1599, and earlier, in

1580, in 'De la d‚monomanle des sorciers' by the Frenchman, Jean

Bodin...

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