When a neurodivergent art historian discovers a hoard of looted Nazi art locked away in the Zürich Freeport, she must navigate a dangerous game of wits against an unscrupulous art dealer determined to either sell or destroy the priceless collection, setting off a high-stakes battle for preservation and justice.
PART FOUR
INT. GOLD SMELTING WORKS (BERLIN 1940) - DAY
BEGIN FLASHBACK
BEGIN MONTAGE:
... A metal scoop digs into a bucket of gold teeth.
... Teeth tumble from the scoop into a smelting bucket.
... Tongs grab the glowing bucket from a red-hot smelter.
... Liquid gold flows into rows of rectangular molds.
... The lid closes on a chest full of newly minted gold bars.
END MONTAGE
EXT. BERLIN - TRAIN YARD - DAY
The chest is loaded onto a train car along with hundreds of identical chests, all filled with Nazi gold. The car door is pulled shut.
EXT. SWISS ALPS - TRAIN - NIGHT
The train snakes its way around a high alpine pass. A traditional Swiss chalet perched goat-like on the steep mountainside is visible in the moonlight.
EXT. ZURICH - SWISS NATIONAL BANK - DAY
Gray and imposing, the grand facade of the bank dominates the street. High up the side of the building writ large: Schweizerische Nationalbank.
A BANKER, hair oiled, suit pressed, oversees the unloading of chest after chest out of a truck and into the bank.
END FLASHBACK
INT. ZURICH AIRPORT - PASSPORT CONTROL - DAY
Sara and Jade wait to clear Swiss customs. Sara wears big pink noise-cancelling headphones and a furry neck pillow.
Jade gives Sara the side-eye: have a little dignity, woman.
JADE (about the neck pillow): Do you still need that thing?
SARA: WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU.
Okay then, moving on:
JADE (mouths to Sara): Nothing. Forget it.
Mercifully, Jade’s up next. She slides her passport over to a silent female Swiss BORDER GUARD with her dark blue uniform buttoned to the top. The guard scans the passport.
Jade yawns and looks behind her. She’s surprised to see two male POLICE OFFICERS talking to Sara. One examines her passport while the other removes her headphones.
BORDER GUARD (slides passport back to Jade): Next.
Alarmed, Jade watches the cops hustle a confused Sara away.
JADE: Hey! What’s going on?
BORDER GUARD: Next.
Jade grabs her passport.
JADE: Bitch.
BORDER GUARD: Hey!
But Jade is already gone.
INT. AIRPORT - POLICE INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY
Italicized dialogue in Swiss German.
In an overly bright room, the two cops interview Sara. The lights, tight space, and questions are too much for her. She’s drowning in a sea of input overload, but if the police notice, they don’t care.
Under the table, Sara raises and lowers her heels to soothe herself. She presses the pillow to her stomach and rolls the fuzzy fabric between her fingers. She looks around the room, unable to make eye contact with her interrogators.
COP I: Hey! Look at me! What’s wrong with you?
Cop II: I think she’s on drugs. (speaks into his shoulder microphone). We need a female officer for a body search.
SARA: No! Please! I’m not on drugs. I have ASD I. Asperger’s?
The cops wouldn’t care if she was having a stroke. They are bullies getting a thrill out of stepping on a baby bird.
COP I: What are you doing in Zurich?
SARA: I’m here for work.
COP I: What kind of work?
SARA: I’m an art historian. I’m here to look at a painting.
COP I: Why? Which painting?
SARA: It’s for a client.
COP I: Who is the client?
SARA: It’s, it’s confidential.
COP II: Is that right?
The cops take her by either arm, lifting her out of the chair; the pillow falls to the floor.
SARA: I’m sorry! I can’t tell you!
They drag her towards the door.
COP I: Move!
SARA: Please, please Stop.
INT. AIRPORT - EXAM ROOM - DAY
Italicized dialogue in Swiss German.
The two male cops stand guard while a FEMALE COP does a full cavity search of Sara: naked, legs spread, arms up against the wall. Her body shakes violently.
FEMALE COP: The more you keep moving, the longer this will take.
Sara bites down hard on her lip and squeezes her tear-filled eyes shut, willing her body to be still.
The female cop inserts two blue-gloved fingers into Sara’s vagina. Using her full body weight, the cop jams her hand deeper.
Sara sobs in pain.
Unfazed, the female cop pushes Sara’s legs further apart.
FEMALE COP: Wider.
The cop pulls her fingers out and spreads Sara’s bottom apart, poking up inside her anus.
Sara groans. It’s a long, flat sound.
Finished with her assault, the female cop stands and pulls off her gloves.
Sara moans again and presses her face against the cold tile as she slides to the floor in a crumple, too broken and disoriented even to ball herself up.
FEMALE COP (to the male cops): She’s clean. But crazy.
COP I: A 48-hour hold?
SARA: No...
FEMALE COP: It’s for your own protection.
Sara raises her eyes and looks up at her tormentors. She’s fragile, but she’s not weak.
SARA (sotto): Nazi lovers.
EXT. AIRPORT - HALLWAY - NIGHT
Jade sits and waits, legs crossed, her foot violently tapping out time to her rage.
An unmarked door opens, and junior detective OSKAR FREY, 27, comes out: bland as raw pretzel dough; he’s never met a rule he didn’t like.
As soon as Jade sees him, she jumps up.
JADE: So?
OSKAR: I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. If you were family...
JADE: What’s the charge?
OSKAR: I can’t discuss the specifics. Unless, of course, you’re family or her lawyer.
JADE: Dude, are you fucking kidding me? She doesn’t have any family!
OSKAR: Please, stop swearing, or I’ll --
JADE: Or you’ll what? Is swearing a crime now? I thought the Swiss were all for law and order. Don’t your rules even have rules?
OSKAR: Maybe the British authorities do things differently.
As Jade talks, she gets increasingly worked up and backs Oskar up against the wall.
JADE: Yeah, we have something called the rule of law. You can’t just haul someone away for the fuck of it, or maybe you can, but it’s frowned upon, unlike here, where you do whatever the hell you like! You took her. Now tell me, where the hell is Sara?!
Nose to nose. It’s uncomfortable for Oskar, not because Jade is in his personal space, but because he’s never met a woman like her before, and he kind of likes it.
OSKAR: M-m-maybe you should contact your embassy.
Jade knows men, and she can feel the power she has over Oskar in this moment.
JADE: What’s your name again?
His throat dry, Oskar swallows hard before speaking.
OSKAR: Junior Detective, Oskar Frey, Zurich police.
JADE: Well, Junior Detective Oskar Frey, you might want to ask yourself, why did a mild-mannered art historian get yanked out of the security line? Doesn’t that seem kind of strange to you?
Oskar thinks about it for a moment, and it is odd, but he quickly resolves his dissonance by pushing away doubt.
OSKAR: I’m sure there’s an explanation.
JADE: How about you go find out what that is? Hmm?
Jade steps back from Oskar. He’s flustered, but he does his best to pull himself together.
OSKAR: I’ll see what I can do.
Jade gives him a flirty smile.
JADE: Good. Cause if you don’t, I’m gonna bring down an army of lawyers on this place, so you best be ready, Junior.
OSKAR: Junior detective.
JADE: Sure. Now get going.
Simultaneously turned on and frightened, Oskar darts back through the door.
Alone, Jade pulls out her phone and punches in a text to Max.
INT. MAX’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
A phone buzzes and lights up. A hand reaches over and feels around the nightstand. Still half asleep, Max pulls the phone to his face and reads.
JADE (TEXT): Swiss police have Sara.
A MALE voice in the darkness.
MAN (O.S.): Everything okay, sweetie?
MAX: Yeah. Go back to sleep.
The phone pings again:
JADE (TEXT): Send lawyers guns and money.
Max clicks off his phone and looks into the darkness. He’s worried, but about what, exactly, we aren’t sure.
INT. HOSPITAL - NURSING STATION - DAY
Italicized dialogue in Swiss German.
Oskar waits for the DOCTOR, 40s, handsome, behind the desk to acknowledge him.
OSKAR: Ahem...
When the doctor looks up from the computer monitor, Oskar shows his badge.
OSKAR: I’m here about a woman brought in last night. Sara Odegi.
Now, Oskar has the doctor’s full attention, but he might not want it.
DOCTOR: Since when is it a crime to be on the spectrum?
OSKAR: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: It's disgusting the way you police abuse your power.
OSKAR: She was a problem, violent.
DOCTOR: She was traumatized. She really should file a lawsuit. But she won’t. They never do.
Oskar is not getting it.
OSKAR: I don’t?
The doctor, disgusted at what he reads as feigned stupidity — but in Oskar’s case, is genuine naiveté — grabs a clipboard and hands it to Oskar.
DOCTOR: Here. Her release papers.
OSKAR: Oh, I’m not here to...
DOCTOR: She shouldn’t be here. Just sign it, and she’s free to go.
Oskar is stuck fast between a rock and his unyielding devotion to the rules.
OSKAR: I, uh.
The doctor glares at him, pulls a pen from his coat pocket, clicks it, and gives it to Oskar.
Poor Oskar.
EXT. HOSPITAL - DAY
Sara stands, blinking in the morning light. Oskar looks up at her, curious. He knows zero Black people.
OSKAR: So, you are an art historian?
SARA: Yes.
OSKAR: Your colleague was worried about you.
SARA: Is she in police custody?
OSKAR: Oh, no, of course not!
Sara can’t do irony, but his shock is uncalled for, given what just happened to her.
SARA: Good.
OSKAR: What, ah, hotel are you...?
SARA: Hotel Seegarten.
OSKAR: Can I, drop you...?
SARA: No, thanks.
OSKAR: ... Well...
SARA: The nearest tram stop?
Oskar points down the street.
OSKAR: Just there.
Off Sara goes, the wheels of her suitcase rumbling across the sidewalk, leaving Oskar to wonder what just happened and how much trouble he’s in.