LOVETT
Hi, Dave? Barry? Look, it wasn't in the safe... no, look, don't worry about
it, there're still plenty of places it could be... in the floor debris in
the suite, in the mother's room, in the purser's safe on C deck...
(seeing something)
Hang on a second.
A tech coaxes some letters in the water tray to one side with a tong...
revealing a pencil (conte crayon) drawing of a woman.
Brock looks closely at the drawing, which is in excellent shape, though its
edges have partially disintegrated. The woman is beautiful, and beautifully
rendered. In her late teens or early twenties, she is nude, though posed
with a kind of casual modesty. She is on an Empire divan, in a pool of light
that seems to radiate outward from her eyes. Scrawled in the lower right
corner is the date: April 14 1912. And the initials JD.
The girl is not entirely nude. At her throat is a diamond necklace with one
large stone hanging in the center.
Lovett grabs a reference photo from the clutter on the lab table. It is a
period black-and-white photo of a diamond necklace on a black velvet
jeller's display stand. He holds it next to the drawing. It is clearly the
same piece... a complex setting with a massive central stone which is almost
heart-shaped.
LOVETT
I'll be God damned.
CUT TO:
16 INSERT
A CNN NEWS STORY: a live satellite feed from the deck of the Keldysh,
intercut with the CNN studio.
ANNOUNCER
Treasure hunter Brock Lovett is best known for finding Spanish gold in
sunken galleons in the Caribbean. Now he is using deep submergence
technology to work two and a half miles down at another famous wreck... the
Titanic. He is with us live via satellite from a Russian research ship in
the middle of the Atlantic... hello Brock?
LOVETT
Yes, hi, Tracy. You know, Titanic is not just A shipwreck, Titanic is THE
shipwreck. It's the Mount Everest of shipwrecks.
CUT TO:
17 INT. HOUSE / CERAMICS STUDIO
PULL BACK from the screen, showing the CNN report playing on a TV set in the
living room of a small rustic house. It is full of ceramics, figurines, folk
art, the walls crammed with drawings and paintings... things collected over
a lifetime.
PANNING to show a glassed-in studio attached to the house. Outside it is a
quiet morning in Ojai, California. In the studio, amid incredible clutter,
an ANCIENT WOMAN is throwing a pot on a potter's wheel. The liquid red clay
covers her hands... hands that are gnarled and age-spotted, but still
surprisingly strong and supple. A woman in her early forties assists her.
LOVETT (V.O.)
I've planned this expedition for three years, and we're out here recovering
some amazing things... things that will have enormous historical and