Copycat Page #12

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M.J.

We've got another one.

HELEN:

That's no surprise.

M.J.

But it's a different m.o.

HELEN:

Then what do you need me for?

M.J.

She was killed somewhere else and

dumped outdoors in an empty lot.

Where it says "no dumping." Her

legs pulled apart in a kind of

sexual pose. It's all different

but it seems so -- the same.

Artificial and posed... Something's

wrong with it.

HELEN:

You're saying it's the same man,

but he's changed his style? That

doesn't happen. These men are

robotic; the murder is like a

ritual. The method itself is part

of the pleasure...

They've turned into the office. Something is wrong...

M.J.

Who turned off the Internet

computer...

HELEN:

I turned it off. It's like an open

window he can climb right in...

M.J.

He comes in the window, we maybe

grab him. Where's the on-switch?

HELEN:

Have you got a warrant? Get the

hell out o here! This is the

only space I have left in the

world! Why can't you leave me out

of it?

M.J.

Helen -- the killer directly

contacted you. His interest in you

is intense. I'm worried about you.

I don't want to lose you. I know

this stirs up every monster under

the bed, but this is the only

direct contact we have with him.

The only chance we have to trap

him.

(beat)

So, you can turn Internet back on,

or I do, and we put somebody here

on a 24 hour shift and you can

kick, scream and hyperventilate.

HELEN:

That little Winona Ryder manner...

you're more convincing as Clint

Eastwood.

M.J.

Clint is putting a guard on you.

But if you swear to leave the

computer on, Winona will assign him

to the hall outside.

HELEN has to laugh. The laugh turns to a hacking cough.

ANDY:

She's smoking again.

Andy leaves. Helen sits, and with the care of someone

handling a rattlesnake, turns the computer on. Meanwhile...

THE PHONE RINGS.

HELEN:

Hello?... Oh...

(a beat)

...yes, she's right here.

HELEN hangs the phone to M.J. The air is a little more

charged... Helen goes back to the computer.

HELEN:

Ruben.

M.J.

Hello, Ruben...

(listens, nods)

So that's that...

HELEN:

Please thank Inspector Goetz for

taking care of me last night.

M.J. delivers the message straight-faced.

M.J.

Ruben, Dr. Hudson wants me to

thank you for taking care of her

last night.

(hangs up)

Lab report on the new one. At

least two guys penetrated her.

There were two kinds of sperm. The

poor thing. What it must have been

like.

Helen has come alert...

HELEN:

She was near a sign that said "No

Dumping?" Two kinds of sperm --

the lab said one was a secretor and

the other was not?

M.J. mumbles a surprised yes. Helen is at computer.

HELEN:

There were needle marks. But no

drugs in her blood.

M.J.

So far nothing they test for comes

up positive.

Helen has a Window type screen: she clicks icons...

HELEN:

Is that it?

M.J.

(stunned)

That's exactly... I could have

taken that same picture, this

morning.

A RATHER GRAINY PICTURE OF A DEAD GIRL SPREAD OUT IN A

SUGGESTIVE POSE IN AN EMPTY FIELD. A SIGN RIGHT BY HER SAYS

"NO DUMPING."

HELEN:

He's switched from DeSalvo to the

Hillside Strangler. The Strangler

was two men, that's why there are

two kinds of sperm. His idea of a

joke, very witty our boy.

M.J.

That's not consistent... You said

they never changed their style,

they're robots...

HELEN:

Consistency is the hobgoblin of

little minds. Tell them to test

for the chemicals found in Windex.

That's a product for cleaning

with...

M.J.

I know Windex, for God's sake, I

clean my own windows...

HELEN:

It's what Bianchi and Buono

injected into one of their victims.

M.J.

(sensing something

appalling)

Injected Windex! Why would he

switch to a new m.o.?

HELEN:

Ah, if you knew that, you'd be half

way to nailing him. Serial killing

is irrational and rigid and

compulsive. This guy has a plan

all thought out, flexible and

complex. He's playing a game with

us. Who will he imitate next?

Maybe he's doing all the serial

killers in history, the great

innovators, the murderers' hall of

fame. Just to prove he's better

than all of them. They got caught;

he didn't.

M.J.

He'll get caught. If he has a plan

that'll be what trips him up...

HELEN:

Who's going to catch him? You?

(beat)

And if you do, there'll be another

one. And one after that.

M.J.

(gently, surprised)

You're afraid of him.

HELEN:

This one, yes. I was always

curious about these twisted little

souls, but this is the first one

I've felt personally terrified of.

He's something new and unheard of.

I don't know what he wants.

M.J.

(beat)

I'm giving you Clint outside.

CUT TO:

INT. PETER'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

The room is empty, the messy unmade bed has covers thrown

back. Nasty Little Dog is sprawled asleep on it. The TV is

on:
SUSAN SCHIFFER'S broadcast... Over SUSAN'S shoulder, big

and bold, the legend:

'KOPYCAT KILLER?'

SUSAN:

...to mimic the M.O. of the Boston

Strangler. The police here are

rumored to be consulting Dr. Helen

Hudson.

O.S. A TOILET FLUSHES, and Peter's WIFE emerges wearing a

nightgown. She shuffles back to the bed, and as she sits

picks up the remote...

SUSAN (ON TV)

It was backstage at the McClusky

Auditorium on the Berkeley campus

that Dr. Hudson's police bodyguard

was killed. Daryll Lee Cullum,

that...

She zaps the remote and a program hyping the Summer of Love

comes on...

INT. PETER'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

We see on HIS computer screen a picture of HELEN scanned

from some newspaper or magazine. PETER is building a morph:

beside Helen on screen is another image -- of the RED-HEADED

woman. He is placing marks on one picture, on the exact

corner of Helen's left eyes. As he does so, a red dot

appears near the corner of the left eye of the Red-headed

woman. Both pictures are dappled with similar dots. It

looks very odd, as though someone had stuck Post-its all

over the images. Around him, as he works are other pictures:

ASPHYXIATED GIRL taken while she was strapped to the table.

Of the sign "NO DUMPING." M.J. leaving Helen's! HE ALSO HAS

A TINY TV ON, AND TURNS TO SEE AS:

SUSAN (ON TV)

... convicted serial killer had

escaped police custody during a

court hearing, in a scandal that

rocked the police and forced the

resignation of four State

Correction officers...

INT. DEATH ROW CELL - NIGHT

DARYLL LEE lies smoking and watching a tiny TV of his own.

SUSAN (ON TV)

...Cullum attacked Doctor Hudson in

apparent revenge for her testimony

against him. Doctor Hudson did not

return our phone calls, today. Our

sources tell us that if police

homicide detectives fail to move

faster in their investigation the

FBI will be called...

INT. TASK FORCE ROOM - NIGHT

M.J. striding, tight-lipped through the room to her

workstation where she takes the phone from Ruben...

M.J.

Halloran.

INTERCUT:

HELEN:

You betrayed me! Now every

psychopath in the city knows I'm

back in business... You lied to me!

M.J.

I did not; the Mouth -- that's what

we call Susan Schiffer -- got it on

her own.

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