Copycat Page #11

---

Down below, Susan and the Haircut are interviewing Festival-

of-Lovers.

M.J.

Niccoletti, they're on the wrong

side of the tape, you want to push

them back? Now.

Nikko trots off to Susan and the Haircut. M.J. gestures for

RUBEN, now on his feet and dabbing at a split lip, to follow

her back to the cars. As they move more slowly down the

hillside to their cars...

M.J.

Ruben, my God, I ought to put you

on report.

RUBEN:

You're right. I can't stand that

bastard. Sorry.

(getting back to

work)

This is something new. Not the

same guy, that's for sure.

M.J.

Yeah, everything's different.

But she seems unhappy... to techs standing by:

M.J.

Get the pictures, and casts of

footprints.

RUBEN:

Look at him, grandstanding...

Nikko is talking to Susan Schiff...

M.J.

That's all we need...

She strides toward them...

M.J.

Detective Niccoletti?

SUSAN:

What's this about the Boston

Strangler, M.J.?

M.J. looks at Nikko. He should know better. She's also

thinking:
is this a good thing to have the media announce at

this point -- or not?

M.J.

Hey, Susan -- I'm sorry, you're on

the wrong side of the tape. We're

still trying to find any footprints

or tire marks and we don't want to

chew up the ground, okay? I'll

talk to you later.

(to Nikko)

You, too.

She's got Susan outside the tape...

SUSAN:

Inspector, will you confirm

somebody is copying the Boston

Strangler? This is the fourth, is

that correct?

M.J.

We're going to review all the

evidence carefully before making

any statement...

She is getting into her car; Ruben jumps in on the other

side. Susan races for her silver Audi...

M.J.

Ruben, put the light on...

From outside the car as they drive away we see Ruben's arm

clap the magnetic flasher on the top of their unmarked car.

M.J. switches it on... A CHASE ENSUES. SUSAN has a faster

car, but M.J. is a better driver. Stomach dropping hills,

trolley cars, the corkscrew turns of Lombard Street, all the

familiar San Francisco chase scenes.

M.J.

Now listen up, Ruben. You never,

never, never mess with somebody

inside the case!

RUBEN:

Excuse me? Excuse me?! What do

you...

M.J.

You damn well better start working

on that impulse control. A woman

who is implicated in this case?

Someone who's practically a piece

of evidence?

RUBEN:

It's against your rules that I try

to help a witness who's scared

shitless? Who's...

M.J.

The woman's unstable. You could

wind up with a harassment charge.

Anything. You're like some horny

little teenager.

M.J. takes another two-wheel corner. In the rear view

mirror, M.J. watches SUSAN lose control of her car as she

tries to make a tight turn, M.J. smiles in contempt.

M.J.

Anybody who's ever watched TV knows

about that corner.

Having lost SUSAN, M.J. slows down to a normal speed.

M.J.

Everybody could see you -- unshaved,

same clothes from yesterday,

reeking of sex.

RUBEN'S eye-brows lift. She peels into the HQ parking lot

and jumps out.

M.J.

(going away)

Park the car. Call the lab. Get

Doc to lean on the coroner for a

really fast prelim on the sperm.

RUBEN gets out of the car to cross to the driver's side...

M.J. (O.S.)

When you get it, call me.

RUBEN look after her, a smile of delight on his face.

RUBEN:

She loves me.

CUT TO:

INT. QUINN'S OFFICE - DAY

QUINN, NICCOLETTI.

QUINN:

I know; the kid hit you first. He

already told me.

NIKKO:

He's not treating her right...

QUINN:

She left you, Nikko. She's not

your responsibility. She takes

very good care of herself. If she

wants to romance the kid, it ain't

your business. Your business is to

snap out of it.

NIKKO:

We were together six years, sir!

QUINN:

Don't give me six years! You never

divorced Patty, did you? So what'd

you expect from M.J.?

NIKKO:

She knows I'm Catholic! She never

mentioned divorce! Not once!

QUINN:

Then you shoulda known she wasn't

buying. She was just long-term

leasing' you.

(beat)

Ah, Nickie. Except for that rare

twenty-second twitch, there ain't

nothin' about sex I don't hate.

But of course, I'm Irish.

(beat)

Plus I got real problems. I'm

worried I might have to put you in

over M.J. There's something going on

here, the Commissioner is targeting

her now, I can't leave a woman in

that position. But the thing is,

how can I move you in, if you go on

acting like a teenage a**hole?

NIKKO:

I don't want the job. Don't do

that to her. She's worked too

damned hard for it.

QUINN:

What's going down with the sting in

Chinatown? That gonna be off your

plate in a week or what?

CUT TO:

INT. TASK FORCE ROOM - DAY

A ROOM IN THE BASEMENT OF THE POLICE HQ IS BEING SET UP TO

HOUSE A NEW TASK FORCE, WITH CATERER'S TABLE FOR TEMP

DESKS. Bulletin boards with notices and pictures; telephone

techs are still installing phones, cops are learning

unfamiliar computer menus, etc. M.J. IS EXAMINING HUGE

BLOWUPS OF ONLOOKERS AT CRIME SCENES PINNED UP ON A WALL,

WITH A MAGNIFYING LENS.

QUINN (V.O.)

Sergeant...

She walks away BECKONS, BECKONS, COME ON, WALK AFTER ME! He

walks out of a door and they stand on the steps...

EXT. STEPS POLICE HQ - DAY

A couple of Cops, maybe male and female, are smoking there.

Quinn gives them a look that sends them scuttling inside,

flipping their butts into the shrubbery. Quinn sighs and

digs out a cigarette. The looks between them tell the story

of his trying to give it up and not being able to, etc.

QUINN:

So what have we got?

M.J.

It's not the same guy. It should be

a self-solver. No bow around the

neck, left and body outdoors,

completely different. The others

were housewives, secretaries, he

talked his way inside, killed them

in their own living room or bed- or

bathroom. This one didn't have a

husband or a boyfriend, no family,

temp waitress, 3 arrests for

misdemeanor dope offenses, DUI,

asphyxiation probably from a

plastic bag over her head. Sexually

assaulted. The others weren't

molested that way. We're waiting

for the sperm tests...

QUINN:

Christ. How old are you? You sure

you want to be in this line of

work?

M.J.

You're damn right I do.

QUINN:

Okay, now what about your sidekick

punching my favorite detective?

What the hell is going on? You got

no discipline in your operation.

M.J.

I'm sorry it had to come to your

attention. I am dealing with it.

She starts to go...

QUINN:

Where you going?

M.J.

Helen Hudson...

QUINN:

What the hell you need her for?

M.J.

Because I think I'm wrong.

CUT TO:

INT. HELEN'S APARTMENT - DAY

CLOSE:
XANAX BOTTLE. SHAKING HANDS DUMP OUT PILLS. FOUR.

SIX. TWO, PUT BACK. ONE MORE, PUT BACK.

HELEN:
RAVAGED. WATCHING HERSELF IN MIRROR AS SHE GULPS THE

REMAINING PILLS.

DOOR BELL RINGS O.S.

HELEN:

I'm not seeing anybody.

We HEAR muffled voices -- ANDY and M.J. HELEN, as she

realizes Andy is letting M.J. in, goes to the bathroom door

and tries to slam and lock it: Andy beats her to it,

blocking with his foot in the door.

HELEN:

You're fired.

ANDY:

I know. Do come and meet your

guest.

M.J. appears. Taking in Helen's condition -- due to a wild

night with Ruben? Helen moves from the bathroom down the

hall to her office, as...

Rate this script:3.7 / 3 votes