the richard montgomery matter

SS Richard Montgomery Matter

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The SS Richard Montgomery is a time-bomb waiting for a terrorist to give Britain its first real tsunami and,
maybe, worse. This film shows what can happen when a government conceals something very dangerous from
its own people.

Fact: The US explosives carrier Richard Montgomery sank in the Thames Estuary in August 1944. It was
loaded with 1500 tons of explosive munitions. The Admiralty decided to leave the wreck and its dangerous
cargo undisturbed. The wreck lies just a few hundred yards offshore between an oil refinery and the several
towns. Southend on Sea is just a couple of miles away on the other side of the Thames estuary. Rumours
about the ship and its cargo have circulated in these towns ever since. Denials have been issued by ministers in
the House of Commons in response to MPs questions about the presence on board of biological, chemical and
gas warheads. Nevertheless, rumours persist that the real reason the wreck was not made safe was because of
the existence of ‘dirty weapons’ on board.

A British intelligence officer with heavy gambling debts knows there are dozens of drums of mustard
gas as well as high explosives on the Richard Montgomery. He recruits two ex-special services and one ex-IRA
member to mine the sunken cargo with an electronic detonator operated by mobile phone. They pretend to be
an al-Qaeda group and demand a pay-off from the British government of fifty million in uncut diamonds to
defuse the bomb. They are obliged to kill a man and his mother who accidentally dial the mobile phone number.
An American trio of navy men are sent by the Americans to help with the problem. The conspirators have a
suicide bomber waiting to collect the pay-off. He is a leukaemia sufferer and agrees to collect the diamonds
with a bomb attached to his body.
The conspirators kill the ex-IRA man when he reveals that he did not really set the bomb fuse. They
are obliged to return to the wreck but encounter the Americans inspecting the wreck There is an underwater
fight in which one American and one conspirator are killed.
The suicide bomber collects the ransom in a public place and passes the diamonds to his
accomplices. He then accidentally blows himself up in Hyde Park.
The American navy man becomes suspicious of the principal conspirator and follows him to a
meeting with the last remaining ex-special services man. A fight in a department store in which the American
kills the ex-service man and pursues the principal to the top of centre point overlooking Oxford Street. A
shoot-out results in the principal conspirator falling to his death on top of a lamp-post with diamonds
showering down around him. Ironically, a passing tramp, unaware of the body above him, picks up diamonds
and shards of glass but discards the diamonds in favour of a long glistening shard of glass.

© 2000-2008 Ron Angel & Tom Deegan all rights reserved

Fact: Nightmare in Bari: The World War II Liberty Ship Poison Gas..

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The Richard Montgomery Matter.pdf ( 42kb) ( 12 pages)

The Richard Montgomery Matter.doc ( 87kb) (12 pages)

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Parts of the script have been revised to the present time, Involving Al-Quada
The gulf, and other conflicts. These are not displayed for reasons of copyright. Sep/2009

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To read script scroll down page, or copy from above links & read off line. (recommended).

The Richard Montgomery Matter

(A film script)

The Players

1. The Good Guys

Daniel Haggar: U S Naval Intelligence officer

Mike Langley: U S Navy SEAL

Tony Rapello: U S Navy SEAL

Det. Insp. Tim Sewell Scotland Yard Special Branch officer

Lady Majorie Davenport: Director of MI5

Sir Walter Arrowsmith: Permanent Undersecretary to HM Treasury

Rear Admiral Gordon: Chief of British Naval Intelligence

Vice Admiral Newman: Chief of US Naval Intelligence

2. The Bad Guys

George Audrey Fitzsimmons MI5 Deputy Director

Harry Shears: ex-SAS and mercenary

Kenny Adamson: ex-Royal Marine Commando and mercenery

Thomas (Turf) McLafferty: ex-IRA assassin and bomb maker

Ronnie Swan: ex-convict and terminally ill cancer patient

3. Other Interested Parties.

Strawberry Stern (Mrs Whippy): Brothel owner and procuress

Stella: A young prostitute

Gloria: A young prostitute

4. Incidental Characters

Clarence Dodds A retired bank manager

Mrs Eunice Dodds Clarence's mother

Terence Smith An MI5 communications officer

Uniformed Kent policemen

Kent CID officers

US navy personnel

Royal Navy personnel

Prostitutes

British Treasury officials

Civilians

The Richard Montgomery Matter

A Film Script

Tom Deegan (writer) and Ronald Angel (story/author )

The Richard Montgomery Matter

Synopsis

The script is intended to present a violent action and conspiracy film

set in the present day. It is based upon a real historical incident

and a genuine perennial threat to life and property in the Medway towns

of Kent in England.

The US explosives carrier Richard Montgomery sank in the Thames Estuary

in August 1944. It was loaded with explosives and the British Admiralty

decided to leave the wreck and its dangerous cargo undisturbed. The

wreck lies just a few hundred yards offshore between the Isle of Grain

oil refinery and the town of Sheerness and about three miles from the

Medway towns of Gillingham, Rochester and Chatham. Rumours about the

ship and its cargo have circulated in these towns ever since.

* * *

George Audrey Fitsimmons is a, corrupt, high ranking member of the

British secret service (Deputy Director, MI5). He indulges his passion

for masochistic sex with prostitutes and he is a gambler who has suffered

heavy losses. He has recruited a gang of disaffected ex-servicemen:

Harry Shears, ex- SAS; Kenny Adamson, ex-Royal Marine commando and

Thomas (Turf) McLafferty, ex-IRA assassin and bomb maker, to carry out

an extortion plot against the British government. He knows that the

real reason the wreck of the Richard Montgomery was left undisturbed

by the Admiralty was because it had a cargo of American made chemical

and poison gas warheads on board as well as high explosives.

* * *

The first act opens with a daylight scene of McLafferty purchasing a

mobile telephone in a shop in Herne Bay, Kent. As he leaves, Clarence

Dodds arrives and also buys a mobile telephone. McLafferty drives back

to a house nearby and enters. Inside are the other two conspirators,

Shears and Adamson. McLafferty places the mobile phone inside a conical

shaped bomb and connects it to apparatus within. He then asks one of

the others to select a five digit detonation code. Shears selects 01232

(dialling code for Belfast) stating that; that whole fucking city should

be blown up.

The following scene is at night and shows the same three men approaching

the wreck of the Richard Montgomery using underwater chariots. They

are towing the bomb behind them on a line. While McLafferty and Shears

manhandle the bomb on to one of the decks, Adamson runs an aerial lead

up to the mast just above the high-water mark. He then returns to join

the others on the submerged deck. McLafferty sets the bomb and indicates

to the other two that it is active and ready to detonate on their signal.

The conspirators depart.

* * *

The following act introduces the Ameriacn bomb disposal and underwater

warfare expert, Commander Daniel Haggar, who is a specialist teacher

at the US Navy SEALS training establishment in ???

He is seen instructing SEALS on various types of underwater mines and

methods of defusing them underwater around a large pool. During the

lesson he receives a telephone summons to Washington.

The following scene sees Haggar arriving at the office of an Admiral

of naval intelligence in the Pentagon who explains to him that the British

government have a major problem concerning American property left over

from WWII. The details of the sinking of the Richard Montgomery is explained.

He is told about the cargo of high explosives and the presence on the

ship of early experimental chemical/gas warheads. He is told that the

Allied powers had obtained intelligence that Hitler intended to disregard

the Geneva convention prohibiting the use of gas and chemical weapons

in a last desperate attempt to turn the tide of the war in Germany's

favour. As a response to the perceived threat, the Americans had deployed

chemical weapons in Britain for retaliatory purposes if American troops

fighting in France came under gas attack. After the war, all of these

warheads were recovered and returned to the US, but not those on board

the Richard Montgomery as that wreck was too dangerous to approach safely.

The British Admiralty and the US Navy Department agreed to leave the

chemical weapons undisturbed. The Americans had discovered subsequently

that the chemical weapons were much more dangerous than they had first

believed and could distribute lethal airborne gases over hundreds of

square miles before dissipating sufficiently to become harmless.

The admiral tells Haggar of the extortion demand made against the British

government. He is assigned to travel to England to assess the danger

and to do whatever he can to avoid a catastrophe. Very few people on

either side of the Atlantic knew about the chemical weapons during the

war, and even fewer knew about them as time had passed. Haggar is warned

that the British believe somebody with high security clearance in the

British intelligence or naval establishments was probably part of the

conspiracy. For that reason he is to work undercover with two US navy

SEALS of his own choosing. Only four people of undoubted integrity in

Britain would know of his involvement.

Haggar returns to the SEALS base at ??? and selects two officer candidates,

Tony Rapello and Mike Langley, to travel to England with him. He then

returns home to his wife and children to tell them he is going to England

on naval training business for a couple of weeks.

* * *

Eunice Dodds lives with her bachelor son in Herne Bay. She is constantly

ailing . She is concerned that she will take a bad turn while he is

away from home for more than a few minutes. Clarence is a retired branch

bank manager and has recently bought a mobile telephone so that his

mother can reach him if she does take a turn. Clarence's mobile phone

number is the same as the bomb's number apart from the

last four digits (0451) and (0541). Mrs Dodds

frequently dials the bomb's number in error.

* * *

Haggar, Langley and Rapello, now in civilian clothing, are met at London's

Heathrow Airport by Detective Inspector Tin Sewell of Scotland Yard's

Special Branch. He drives them to a London hotel and drops Langley and

Rapello.

He then takes Haggar to the Admiralty in Trafalgar Square and leads

him to the office of Rear Admiral Gordon, Chief of Naval Intelligence.

Sir Walter Arrowsmith, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury and Lady

Marjorie Davenport, Director of MI5 are present.

Lady Marjorie plays the conspirators' tape to Haggar. The £50 million

demand is made in the name of the IRA. McLafferty's accent is clearly

Irish in origin and a recognised IRA code is used. Details about the

chemical weapons cargo on board the Richard Montgomery are given on

the tape as well as the bomb's non-interference capabilities. Lady Marjorie

tells Haggar they believe the conspiracy must involve some person or

persons of high rank inside the British secret services because of the

detailed information known to the conspirators.

Sir Walter explains to Haggar that the government have resolved to

pay the ransom as demanded, £50 in uncut diamonds each of at least 4

carats in weight, but that they will play for time to allow Haggar to

examine the device and see if it can be neutralised.

Lady Marjorie tells Haggar the Prime Minister who has authorised the

American mission. He will have complete co-operation and security clearance

with British secret services, police and naval authorities to carry

out his mission. Det. Insp. Sewell is assigned to assist in any way

required and only those present in the office know of his and his colleagues

identities and involvement, apart from .

When the meeting is over, Haggar returns to the hotel with Sewell who

issues the three with firearms and special licences. The four men then

depart to a safe house in Chatham, Kent, near the Royal Naval dockyard.

* * *

Harry Shears and Turf McLafferty arrive at a Mayfair brothel used by

George Audrey Fitzsimmons. Several scantily clad prostitutes are seen

with bondage and masochistic sex apparatus visible in one of the rooms.

The three men enter a private room and reveal to Fitzsimmons that somebody

is dialling the bomb, sometimes several times daily. After some discussion

of the possibilities during which McLafferty points out the co-incidental

code numbering system used which would increase the chances of the bomb

being triggered accidentally, Fitzsimmons tells them he will have to

trace the caller using one of his staff at MI5. He tells Shears that

the man he uses to trace the call must be eliminated immediately afterwards

in a way that will not arouse any suspicions. McLafferty is flippant

about the whole matter and suggests they simply ignore the threat of

accidental triggering of the bomb but Fitzsimmons becomes angry a and

insists that they cannot take chances. If the bomb explodes prematurely,

they will not be able to collect the £50 million.

Shears and McLafferty depart and Fitzsimmons returns to the pleasures

of the brothel.

* * *

Fitzsimmons is in his office in the headquarters of MI5 on Friday afternoon.

One of his staff, Terence Smith (Smithy) is a fifty year old career

man who is retiring early on medical grounds. He is clearing out his

desk and saying goodbye to friends and colleagues. He approaches Lady

Majorie's office, enters knocks and enters.

Lady Majorie greets him warmly and tells him how sorry she is to see

him retire afetr many years valuable service. She wishes him luck.

Smithy then approaches Fitzsimmons' office, knocks and enters. Fitzsimmons

also greets him warmly and shakes hands wishing him luck. As he is leaving,

Fitzsimmons asks him do make a discretionary check on the sources of

calls to some telephone numbers, telling him it is an inter-departmental

affair that could be ambarrassing. Smithy goes back to his office and

checks out the numbers on his computer. After fifteen minutes wait,

he gets the answers and returns to Fitzsimmons' office and gives him

the sources of the calls. Fitzsimmons thanks him and wishes him good

luck again.

Fitzsimmons then leaves the MI5 offices and uses a street telephone

to call Shears. He gives Shears an address. He then returns to his office.

* * *

Haggar, Langley, Rapello and Sewell enter the Royal Navy dockyard at

Chatham at dusk. They are met by a young WREN lieutenant who leads them

to a small submersible vessel in the dock. She thinks they are doing

some sort of research and instructs the American on the details of the

craft. Then she leads them to a changing room where the three Americans

don their Scuba outfits. Sewell is to stay behind to await their return.

* * *

Shears, Adamson and McLafferty arrive back at their rented house in

Herne Bay in daylight. They are waiting for night to eliminate the Dodds

whose address they have received from Fitzsimmons. Mc Lafferty argues

against killing innocent people and tells Shears and Adamson that the

bomb cannot explode anyway. He produces a computer card and explains

that he never had any intention of killing thousands of people and had

substituted a dummy card in place of the real one. Shears and Adamson

pretend to agree with him that the British government will pay the ransom

anyway, rather than take a chance. They agree not to bother with the

Dodds and to lie to Fitzsimmons.

Shears, however, telephones Fitzsimmons and gives him this new information.

Fitzsimmons tells Shears to kill McLafferty and to replace the dummy

card in the bomb with the real one. However, before they kill McLafferty

they must get him to make a tape explaining how the £50 million in diamonds

is to be handed over.

Shears produces a cassette recorder and McLafferty makes the recording.

While McLafferty makes the tape Adamson prepares to kill McLafferty

after a signal from Shears. He leaves the room to get his knife and

returns after McLafferty has finished the tape. He then and stabs McLafferty

in the back. The two then enter the garage of the house where there is a trailer with

Scuba gear and chariots. They load McLafferty's body on to the trailer.

* * *

Shears and Adamson again approach the wreck of the Richard Montgomery

at night with their chariots and underwater lamps. They go to the bomb

and open a port in the casing to expose the electronic meters inside.

Shears then produces the new computer card but Adamson sees the Royal

Navy submersible approaching from another direction. The two men swim

away quickly to hide in the superstructure. They watch.

* * *

Haggar and Langley leave the submersible wearing their Scuba gear and

approach the wreck. They see the bomb on an open deck and approach it

cautiously. Haggar indicates to Langley that the open port in the casing

means that bomb can be dealt with. He is puzzled at the carelessness

of the conspirators. He motions to Langley to remain with the bomb while

he returns to the submersible to acquire tools. He then swims back to

the submersible and enters.

* * *

Adamson and Shears seize the opportunity to attack one man alone. They

swim out and surprise Langley. They both stab him several times. Shears

then replaces the computer card in the device and locks the port shut

again. They then turn to swim away with Shears leading.

* * *

Haggar returns to the bomb and sees Langley's body floating past him.

He sees Adamson ahead of him and pursues. He catches Adamson just as

he and Shears reach their chariots. Haggar fights with Adamson and stabs

him. Shears sees the fight and makes to return to help Adamson but sees

it is too late. Haggar sees Shears face with his lamp through Shears'

diving mask as he turns to face back but Adamson is already dead and

Shears uses his chariot to escape as Haggar swims to pursue him. Haggar

gives up the pursuit and return to collect the body of Langley. Rapello

is waiting in the submersible unaware of the activity outside.

* * *

Shears, is in the back garden of the Dodds home. He looks through the

window and sees Clarence sitting before a bureau with his stamp collection

while his mother is watching television in a different room.

Shears comes up behind Clarence as his mother calls for him to make

a cup of tea. He is nakeda 1 |?K and wields a kitchen knife. He stabs

Clarence in the side, wounding him badly but not killing him immediately.

He then enters the living room and approachs the startled mother. He

stabs her through the heart. He then returns to Clarence dragging him

back as he tries to crawl to safety, and demands to know where he keeps

money. Clarence denies there being any money and Shears stabs him again.

Clarenece confesses to some money in a box in his mother's room. Shears

then asks where the mobile phone is and Clarence shows him its location.

Shears then stabs Clarence fatally. He recovers the mobile phone and

smashes it on a wall. He opens drawers and cabinets and spills their

contents on the floor to make the event look like a psychpathological

burglary. He then goes upstairs and repeats the exercise. He finds the

money in the mother's bedroom and then goes to the bathroom to shower.

* * *

Haggar is reporting to Lady Margaret, Sir Walter and Rear Adm Gordon

in the admiralty. He tells them the bomb cannot be defused or moved.

His examination showed it is a very sophisticated device and any attempt

to interfere with it could be highly dangerous.

Lady then tells Haggar that two bodies were recovered in the Thames

estuary that morning. Both had died from stab wounds. Both bodies had

already been identified. One was Adamson, former Royal Marine and mercenary,

the other was Thomas McLafferty, known as Turf , an IRA bomber who had

not previously been arrested but who had been known to the RUC

and anti-terrorist forces by his nickname.

MI5 had come close to arresting him two years

forces by his nickname. MI5 had come close to arresting him two years

earlier but he disappeared, possibly because of a tip-off. Intelligence

now suggested he had parted company with the IRA and was working free-lance.

He was believed to have gone soft after a horrific bombing he had perpetrated

that had killed and maimed dozens of civilians and children three years

earlier. Unfortunately, the discovery and identification of these bodies

did not advance the investigation immediately but efforts would continue

to trace all known associates of both men for the past several years.

Lady Majorie then thanks Haggar for his help and tells him that the

British government will pay the ransom and keep the affair quiet. She

sees no point in Haggar remaing in Britain. However, Haggar insists

that he should be allowed to stay as he wants to get the other man responsible

for the murder of Mike Langley. Lady Majorie reluctantly agrees to allow

Haggar and Rapello to stay until the ransom is paid.

As they are leaving the Admiralty, Sewell mentions to Haggar that Kent

police are investigating an appalling burglary and murder in Herne Bay.

Haggar is interested and asks for details. After enquiries with Kent

police, the two men decide to travel to the murder scene.

* * *

Shears arrives at Ronnie Swan's council flat in East London. He greets

Swan as an old friend. Swan sends his wife and two children out of the

room while he talks to Shears. Swan is an ex-serviceman turned thief

who served with Shears in Northern Ireland. He is dying of cancer and

has less than six months to live. He confirms his willingness to collect

the diamonds in return for Shears promise that his wife will recieve

one million pounds if he is caught and goes to prison, or dies, afterwards.

Shears gives Swan some money and departs.

* * *

Haggar and Sewell arrive at the Dodds' house in Herne Bay. They survey

the scene. Kent CID officers tell Sewell and Haggar they are looking

for a psychopath. All the evidence indicates torture and robbery. Money

is missing along with other small items of jewellery. The stamp collection

is still in the bureau. Haggar wonders why the mobile phone is deliberately

broken. As they leave, he sees a telephone bill unopened on the hall

table. He opens it and looks at the numbers. He sees that the mobile

number is dialled frequently, and also that a similar number is also

dialled. He asks Sewell to check out both numbers.

* * *

Smithy is finishing a pint in his local public house late in the evening.

He says goodnight to the landlord and walks home. He is followed by

Shears who carries a rolled-up newspaper. As Smithy turns into his own

quiet street Shears calls out and asks for directions to another street

nearby. Smithy helpfully turns and points. Shears sprays Smithy in the

face with a lethal gas and turns away quickly. Smithy staggers a few

yards before collapsing dead on the pavement.

* * *

Haggar and Sewell arrive at MI5 headquarters and go straight to Lady

Marjorie's office. She meets them and takes them to the communications

department which is overseen by Fitzsimmons. Fitzsimmons sees them enter

the communications room and approaches them to enquire if he can help.

Lady Marjorie introduces Sewell as Special Branch and Haggar as special

operative with ministerial authority to find a mole in the department.

She tells Fitzsimmons they want to know who traced the source of certain

telephone calls the previous Friday. Fitzsimmons denies knowing but

offers to help in any way he can and leads them to a computer console

to check files. They retrieve the name of Smith. Lady Majorie tells

Haggar and Sewell that Smith retired on Friday, a few days earlier and

that his wife had telephoned that very morning with the sad news that

her husband had collapsed and died in the street the previous evening.

Everybody in the department was shocked and saddened by the news.

Haggar and Sewell are suspicious of the co-incidence of Smith's death

and decide to visit his widow. When they arrive at the Smith house there

are neigbours consoling Mrs Smith. Haggar offers his condolences and

discovers that neighbours of the Smith's, a husband and wife returning

home, had actually discovered Smith dead on the pavement and called

for an ambulance. On questioning the neighbour, he learns that the wife,

a trained nurse, had attempted vainly to use mouth to mouth resusitation

and had detected a strange smell from the dead man's throat.

Haggar believes an untraceable cyanide compound has been used on Smith

and that he was in fact murdered to conceal the identity of whoever

had asked him to check the source of the telephone numbers. He returns

to MI5 headquarters and tells Lady Majorie his suspicions. She agrees

to give him special stastus as an outside mole hunter ansd allow him

to question staff in the department. Haggar then talks to various people

who had contact with Smith before he left the previous Friday. As this

involved almost everybody in the department, including Lady Marjorie,

he is unable to gain much but, as he leaves, he discovers that Smith

said goodbye to Fitzsimmons twice.

* * *

Haggar and Sewell are in the Admiralty with Lady Majorie, Sir Walter

and Rear Admiral Gordon. They are listening to the new tape made by

McLafferty explaining how the diamonds are to be passed over. The plan

is for them to be brought to a public place, a restaurant in a shopping

precinct. One of the conspirators, not yet seen or heard, will collect

the diamonds. They are told the collector is a sick man who has not

long to live and who is experienced with precious gems. The diamonds

will be checked for radiation and other devices to trace them later.

They are warned against any attempt to follow the collector after the

hand-over.

Lady marjorie tells Haggar the British government has decided to pay

the arnsom and try to trach down the conspirators later. Haggar aks

that he be allowed to be present when the diamonds are delivered. This

is agreed. He then tells the others that he will not rest until they

catch the other man who killed Mike Langley.

* * *

Ronnie Swan arrives at the hand-over point where Sir Walter Arrowsmith,

Haggar and Sewell wait with a briefcase containing the diamonds. Swan

wears a crash helmet but takes it off in the restaurant. He introduces

himself and shows the three of them a waistcoat with primed explosives

in the pockets. He then proceeds to spill the diamonds on to the table.

He spends several minutes examining each stone and passing a gieger-counter

over them. Sir Walter offers Swan a deal, freedom and money, in return

for help to catch the other conspiratos but Swan is unmoved. He puts

the diamonds into his own bag and departs. Other undercover Special

Branch men are observing and sureptitiously taking pictures. Swan leaves

the restaurant and the precinct and mounts a motorcycle. He speeds off.

He is not followed.

Swan drives to Hyde Park and into the underground car park. He quickly

passes the diamonds to Shears who waits in a car. Shears and Swan then

leave the car park by different entrances.

Swan drives around the Bayswater Road parkway. He accidentally collides

with awoman driver. He falls from the motorcycle. A uniformed policeman

approachs him. Shears tries to remount the bike but accidentally detonates

the explosives he has on his body.

* * *

The trail has gone cold and Haggar waits with Lady Marjorie to hear

from the conspirators about the codes to disarm the bomb. No messages

are received. Haggar offers to try to defuse the bomb alone but is over-ruled.

As he leaves the MI5 headquarters, he sees Fitzsimmons and decides

to follow him, playing a hunch.

Fitzsimmons drives to Oxford Street. Haggar loses his quarry outside

Selfridges but enters the store and walks through the store looking

to pick him up again. After some fruitless searching, Haggar turns to

leave but walks through the restaurant. He then sees Fitzsimmons from

the back apparently leaving the company of another man who is facing

him. Fitzsimmons is carrying a bag similar to the one used by Swan to

collect the diamonds. As Haggar walks after Fitzsimmons he recognises

Shears' face from their underwater encounter. Haggar challenges Shears

and points a gun at him. One of the store staff panics and knocks the

gun from Haggar's hand. Shears reacts quickly and runs through the store,

pursued by Haggar. Haggar catches Shears at the top of an escalator

and the two fight to the death. Shears produces a knife but Haggar kills

him with it. Shears' body lies on an ascending escalator. Haggar retrieves

his gun and shows his special licence to member of the store staff.

* * *

Haggar leaves the store looking for Fitzsimmons. He looks around neighbouring

street and sees a car similar to Fitzsimmons' leaving the store car-park.

Haggar runs across the road and stops a motorist. He pulls the driver

out and pursues the suspect car. He gets close enough to see the suspect

car parking near Centre Point (New Oxford Street). He drives into the

forecourt in time to see Fitzsimmons entering the building. Haggar parks

and runs into the lobby of the building. There is no sign of Fitzsimmons

but Haggar sees an company notice board and sees the name of ( associate

this name with Fitzsimmons earlier) a safety deposit box company on

the penultimate top floor. He goes to the lifts and travels up. When

the doors open he sees Fitzsimmons entering a secure area with the bag

of diamonds in his hand. Haggar shouts. Fitzsimmons turns, sees Haggar,

panics and runs through a door into the emergency stairsace. Hagar pursues.

Fitzsimmons produces a gun and begins to shoot back up the stairs at

the pursuing Haggar. Haggar shoots back and one of his shots shatters

a large glass window on the next landing below Fitzsimmons. Glass falls

inside and outside. Fitzsimmons runs down to the next landing, again

with Haggar in pursuit, both men firing their guns. Fitzsimmons slips

on a piece of broken glass on the landing and drops the bag of diamonds.

Diamonds are scattered. Fitzsimmons scrambles to pick up the bag of

diamonds as Haggar leaps down stairs. As Fitzsimmons stands up again,

Haggar arrives on the stairs above him. Fitzsimmons raises his gun but

Haggar shoots him in the stomach. Fitzsimmons staggers back and falls

out through the broken window. He screams as he falls and the diamonds

begin to scatter in the air. Haggar walks to the window and looks down.

Fitzsimmon's crashes on to the top of a lamp-post over which he stays

hanging in the air at the side of Centre Point. There is a scattering

of broken glass on the ground already, and a shower of diamonds falls

amongst the broken glass. A tramp in a walks over from a nearby doorway,

unaware of the body above, and picks up a diamond which he then discards

it in favour of a sliver of of glass which he uses to penetrate a (garment

or such). The tramp then throws the galss away and walks off.

End.

except for the purposes of review, without prior

written permission from the copyright

owners or their appointed agents.

Performance rights may be obtained from the author,

the publisher or their appointed agents.

The Richard Montgomery Matter (Alternative title)

Prologue:

Fact

(Text on screen)

In August 1944 the US explosives carrier vessel Richard Montgomery sank

in the Thames Estuary close to the Medway channel. Location: Sheerness

Middle Sand 51: 28' 00'' N 00: 47' 02'' E. The carrier was loaded with

high explosives and other perilous cargo. The sinking was kept secret

for the duration and immediately after the war the British Admiralty

announced their decision to leave the wreck alone as it was said to

be too dangerous to empty her of cargo.

If the cargo exploded the blast would destroy the town of Sheerness

and the oil refinery on the Isle of Grain. The tidal wave created by

the blast would affect populated areas on both sides of the Thames Estuary

including Southend-on-Sea and the Medway towns of Chatham, Gillingham

and Rochester. Destruction or collateral damage would occur over a ten

mile radius.

That is the official British Admiralty line about the wreck. The masts

of the Richard Montgomery are visible at all times. The wreck is enclosed

by a cordon sanitaire. It is marked with a wreck buoy and diving on

or near the sunken vessel is prohibited under the Protection of Wrecks

Act. It is kept under 24 hour observation by units of the Royal Navy.

* * *

Speculation about the Richard Montgomery has persisted among local

people since its sinking. The Admiralty's explanation that the cargo

was too dangerous to evacuate was not believed by everybody. Too many

other dangerous cargoes had been safely dealt with for this explanation

to be truly credible.

The Richard Montgomery is rumoured to have experimental warfare bombs

on board. Until recently, only a select number of British and American

military personnel and government agents knew the truth about the wreck

of the Richard Montgomery.

George Audrey Fitzsimmons knew the truth ...

Map of area around wreck (mapquest)

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