they enter a large hallway. the liveried man closes the door. standing in a nearby doorway is a group of people listening to the music of a string quartet playing in the room beyond. included in the group is the personal aide of the prime minister. he sees jo and ben enter, hurries over to them, smiling and eager. the piece that the string quartet is playing ends amid a round of polite applause. there are people rising from their chairs and a general movement out into the hallway.
the aide leads ben and jo through the main room, the camera dollies them. as they move through the room people begin to notice them, first of all because they are not dressed for the occasion -- but then the looks seem to be admiring ones, and there is a smattering of applause at their passage. apparently people recognize them. the aide takes them to the prime minister, who is just getting up from his seat of honor in the first row.
the prime minister recognizes them immediately, and comes forward quickly to meet them.
discreetly, ben moves away from the group, and over toward a side wall, the camera panning him. all eyes are on jo.
jo adjusts herself at the piano. her face seems serious. she looks up briefly with her eyes to check where ben is.
a tries out the keys of the piano.
ben watches jo, and at the same time seems to be looking around the room, particularly toward the various exits.
a second floor corridor, deserted. jo's voice fading.
a door at the end of the corridor. we now hear the song floating up clearly, but much diminished.
in a room on the other side of the door, hank mckenna is listening to the music. hank seems a little puzzled. then, his face lights up and he jumps suddenly to his feet. he runs towards the door and begins trying to open it.
hank turns around at the doorway, to look at mrs. drayton.
mrs drayton's face, still awed by what she has heard.
hank, a little mystified, has no answer. he walks slowly back into the room, towards mrs. drayton, listening and thinking about what he hears.
he looks at her and nods abstractedly.
watching her, ben understands. he gives her the slightest sign of agreement.
jo continues her song with almost excitement in her singing voice. the camera passes around her as it follows ben as he walks along the wall slowly.
ben makes his way along the wall toward the far doorway, which leads to the grand staircase everyone is so intent on listening to jo, that his movement attracts no attention.
at the bottom of the service stairs in the back of the embassy, drayton is standing with two men who came with him in the car. one of them holds a short length of rope in his hand.
ben mounts two stairs leading up to the grand staircase. he looks about him cautiously.
at the service stairs, drayton goes up two stairs and turns back to the men. he looks at his watch.
up in the room, hank is bent in a chair, sobbing, mrs. drayton is kneeling by him, trying to reassure him. she stops suddenly as she hears footsteps in the distance. she rises to her feet, and as the footsteps grow and grow, she looks at the boy desperately, she goes to the door, hears the steps coming nearer and nearer. she looks across at the window.
she looks down at hank almost protectively, as the footsteps get still nearer. she goes to hank, kneels down again and clutches the boy to her as the footsteps stop outside the door. she looks at the door, with horror.
mrs. drayton lets out a piercing scream. hank's head jerks up. the door is heard bursting open.
ban stands in the doorway. he instantly rushes toward hank, the camera panning him. hank leaps to his feet, and the two of them come together. no clear words are spoken, just muffled sounds of words as they hug each other. then they release each other, and turn to look at mrs. drayton. she is standing, staring at the door with horror. ben turns quickly to look.
framed in the doorway is drayton. deftly he reaches into his pocket and produces a small automatic.
drayton's intentions are unmistakable. ben looks down at him with a hatred that is almost ready to explode, but he has sense enough to understand drayton's meaning. drayton straightens up, a slight smile on his face. he slips the gun into his pocket, but still holds it.
a closer view shows the terrified, tear-stained face of hank, and the tense features of ben. drayton seems carefully alert. the camera moves downward in front of them as they descend. the music coming from the ballroom ceases, as jo finishes her second song. there is the sound of great applause. the three are about a dozen steps from the bottom, when suddenly ben shoots out a hard and pushes drayton forward. taken by surprise, he stumbles, and falls down the stairs clumsily. clutching for support with his hands, the gun goes off in his pocket, and he remains in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs.
as people crowd excitedly around the body, ben is hurrying hank away from the scene, the camera pans them.
inside the ballroom, which is emptying due to the rush of people to the corridor, jo has risen from the piano and is almost afraid to go out and see what has happened. in a moment, ben and the boy appear in the doorway. hank rushes across the ballroom to his mother, who moves quickly when she sees him.