A Second Knock at the Door Page #2

no one's gonna believe you.

No, man.

He's just some conspiracy nut.

Oh, please tell me you're not

buying into this crap.

No, you know, it's just something

interesting for the show.

Besides, you know, if my body

ends up in a dumpster,

it would probably

be good for ratings.

Yeah, actually,

speaking of ratings,

I talked

to programming today.

And?

They said if our numbers

don't come up,

they're gonna start running reruns

of Raunchy Paul in our slot.

Raunchy Paul?

You gotta be kidding me.

I wish I was, man,

but that's what they said.

Son of a b*tch.

All right, we're on

in 10 seconds.

Now here he is,

the king of the late-night mic...

the one, the only

Charlie Crowe on your radio.

This is the tri-county

superstation KZTO,

and you're listening to

"The Night Shift" with Charlie Crowe.

Welcome, all you people

of the night,

all you maniacs, brainiacs,

and insomniacs who won't hit the sack.

Let's open up the phone lines

and hear what's on your mind.

First caller,

you're on the air.

Have you seen them yet,

Charlie?

Oh, it's Jeff.

I thought I might hear

from you again.

Did you get

the package I left you?

Mm-hmm, I did, Jeff.

That is some interesting stuff.

- What is it?

- I don't know.

I'm trying to figure that out,

but I'm afraid if I go to sleep,

I'll never wake up again.

Why exactly did you send me

that package, Jeff?

It's evidence.

I'm not crazy.

They come when you sleep.

Every night, I close my eyes

and they come.

And I'll wiggle my toe

or try and move my arms

just to wake myself up, but it's like

they don't want you to be awake.

Mm. Well, now you're starting

to worry me, Jeff.

How old are you?

- 17.

- 17, I see.

Are your parents around?

Can I talk to them?

My mom works nights.

I'm here alone.

Jeff, if you're afraid,

you should go to a friend's house

- or... I don't know.

- I have a gun.

Uh, what do you need

a gun for?

You can't get away

from them.

Do you understand me?

It's your thoughts.

When you think about them,

that's how they find you.

It's like sharks drawn

to blood in water.

The only question is,

how do you stop thinking

about something?

Uh, Jeff, are you still with us?

- They're here.

- Okay.

Now, uh, just...

just calm down, Jeff.

I want you to call someone.

Uh...

Uh, let's... let's just put

that gun down

and... so we can talk,

because, Jeff,

I know that you are not crazy.

Jeff?

Jeff? Hello?

Yeah, we're gonna go

to a commercial break now

to, uh, make sure

everything's okay.

Now nobody panic.

This could be a hoax.

We will find Jeff and, uh,

make sure that he is all right.

Tired of that slow computer,

those inevitable crashes?

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and downtime

with the best solution

to your problem...

And I've got a gun here.

Oh, listen, that's... you know,

that's not the answer.

Is there, like, a friend or...

They're in the room right now.

I see them in the room right now.

- What... who is in the room?

- Charlie...

Who's in the room?

Do you want me to call...

oh, my gosh.

Well, I'll tell you what.

Details are very sketchy at this point.

We arrived just about

a half hour ago

and we're told that

the radio host here

took a call from someone

right around 17 years old,

and that person through

the course of the conversation

is heard firing a weapon.

We don't know if that person

fired a weapon,

we don't know if somebody else

in the room fired a weapon,

but a weapon was fired

live on the air.

He didn't kill himself.

He shot the wall.

His parents checked him

into a hospital.

Man, that had me

freaked out.

Yeah, me, too.

He wants to take

your statement now.

Hi, Officer.

People are already speculating

that the call may have been a hoax

in an attempt to boost

the ratings of the show.

Now, if that's true, host Charlie Crowe

may be in a bit of hot water.

We tried to speak to Mr. Crowe

following the broadcast,

but take a look

at what happened.

I didn't call him.

He called me, all right?

I've never met him.

I'm just an entertainer.

Now, if you'll please excuse me,

that's all I have to say about that.

- It's been a long night.

- Sir?

Mr. Crowe, are you gonna be

on the air tomorrow?

Do you have anything

to say to the family?

- Yeah?

- Hey, listen, Charlie.

You know, that thing

last night with the kid,

um, I really think this might be

the break that we need.

Our numbers are up this week.

I think people really respond

to this kind of real-life drama.

No, people think it's a stunt.

I had a reporter at the station

last night asking me about it.

I'll tell you what it is,

it's an opportunity.

And it's got a lot of people

talking about it.

Programmers think it's a good idea

and, actually, I think so, too,

if you go down to the hospital

and you talk to this kid.

- You know, meet him.

- No, no.

Oh, don't make me do that.

I'm not good with kids.

L... I mean, come on,

especially if he's nuts.

No, no, listen. You go down

to the hospital, okay?

You meet with the kid, you show

that the station is sympathetic,

and it's good PR, right?

Yeah, all right.

Good PR.

Hi, I'm looking

for a patient... Jeff Pyatt.

He was admitted here.

Oh, I'm sorry.

He's not here anymore.

He was transferred?

- He passed away in his sleep.

- He's dead?

- How did...

- We don't know yet.

They'll contact family

with the results after the autopsy.

You don't know how he died?

- Yeah?

- Hey, Charlie. Are you there?

Yeah.

The kid's dead, Tom.

They said he didn't

kill himself, though.

He didn't.

He died in his sleep just like

he said he was going to.

You're shitting me.

Do you know where

Camden College is?

Yeah, it's just off 127.

Why?

Oh, no, don't tell me.

I thought you said

the kid was just nuts.

Well, then why did he die?

Please, Charlie.

You know what?

You're gonna end up

in the dumpster, man.

I'm tellin...

At the time that he actually...

when you... what you...

pronounced dead,

yes, there was lots of people.

But when you actually say

it went down...

it's what we call, you know...

what they call coded...

nobody was there

at that moment.

There was nothing out of the ordinary

at his residence.

He seemed to be a healthy kid.

There is times that...

truly you say we missed that.

You know, I could name several...

of course, I won't...

but you think,

you know, this is...

we truly missed something,

but this time we did not.

I mean, this was not...

it was truly a mystery.

Hi there.

Hi. Can I help you?

Yeah, I was wondering

if there's a teacher here

named Dr. Ravenscroft.

Never heard of him.

Oh, okay.

Um, can you tell me where I could

look up information on someone,

like, scientific papers he might

have published, that kind of thing?

Right there.

Science periodicals.

But you're not allowed

to check them out

unless you're faculty

or a student.

Yeah, but I can make copies.

Not unless you're faculty

or a student.

Yeah, well, I'm neither.

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