Summary
A man in a shabby apartment sits on a brass bed, with an open briefcase in his lap. Next to him are three sticks of dynamite, a lantern battery, and electrical wire.
There is a block of wood inside the briefcase, with a spring-operated clothespin attached to the wood. Two cotter pins with wires leading from each side are attached at the contact points of the clothespin. There is a plastic square held by the clothespin’s pincers, and a short length of string leading outside the briefcase near the briefcase handle. The man tugs on the string, and the plastic square pulls free of the clothespin, bringing the cotter pins in contact with each other and completing the wires’ electrical circuit.
The man places the lantern battery inside the briefcase, and tears a piece of electrical tape off the roll…
Time passes. The same man, dressed in a hat and coat, and carrying a suitcase, walks along a snowy street past brownstone buildings. He takes a short flight of stairs to a dimly-lit coffee shop, where a painted sign on the window says “OPEN 8AM to 10 PM” and “BREAKFAST LUNCH AND DINNER SERVED.”
Inside the coffee shop, a jukebox plays. The coffee shop cook / waitress settles a bill with a customer. Meanwhile the man with the briefcase takes a seat at the counter.
The woman, Inez Guerrero, talks to the man with the briefcase. “I thought you said you were leaving tomorrow?”
“No,” replies the man, “I said I have to start work tomorrow. I’ve got to be in Milwaukee tonight, remember?” Inez picks up a large tin of sugar and begins filling sugar dispensers for the coffee shop tables.
“This isn’t going to be one of those hello – ” begins Inez.
In This Minute
Van Heflin as D.O. Guerrero
Maureen Stapleton as Inez Guerrero
