Who Framed the Painter?

Scene 1

INT. LATE AT NIGHT-PAINTER'S HOUSE- BEDROOM

It's dark at night and the painter is sleeping. All over his bedroom there are paints and drawings scattered amongst many other objects hoarded together on the floor. We see each of the rooms in his house. They are similar to his bedroom but there is nobody else there.

Suddenly there is a loud crash and a scream, causing the painter to wake up and almost fall out of bed. Slowly he creeps down the stairs, everything is silent. He gets to the kitchen and hears another crash coming from the living room. He grabs a knife off the desk and barges in. He finds a man dead on the floor.

TITLE (in the style of old detective films): WHO FRAMED THE PAINTER?

CUT TO.

INT. CAFÉ- EARLY MORNING

We cut to the two protagonists John and Alex who are in a cafe drinking tea. John is wearing a classic detectives get up as is Alex. They are both sitting opposite each other.

JOHN

So... You have the house of a famous painter, empty except for him asleep in his bed. He hears a noise goes downstairs and finds a dead man in his living room. No man came or left during the night. How did it happen?

ALEX

Why is it you insist on giving me riddles? You aren't even good at them yourself!

JOHN

I'll have you know that I am fantastic at riddles but the ones that you give me are little more than bad puns. I give you these riddles to help quicken the way your mind thinks, we're detectives, if we can't solve a simple riddle there's not much hope!

Alex pulls a face at him as if she knows that's not the whole story.

ALEX

...And?

JOHN

that and the fact that we haven't had a case in months that hasn't involved finding missing pets. For some reason the crime rate has been excruciatingly low in Little Reeding. I'm bored, Alex, and watching you try and be intelligent is hilarious.

ALEX

haha very funny. Fine let's look at your riddle.

CUT TO.

Scene 2

INT. THE PAINTER'S HOUSE-MORNING

ALEX V.O

By the end of the riddle there were only two people in the house but we don't know from which point the first man entered.

It's early Morning and Elliot comes up to the house with a very obvious sack and balaclava and climbs in through the window. He looks around and then starts looking through the paintings, as he moves from room to room. Whenever the painter comes in he hides but it's really obvious to the audience as he's hiding. Eventually at night he finds the painting he was after and tries to run but the painter catches him with his prize painting and they start fighting in self defence the painter kills him.