Copycat Page #3

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M.J.

I just got here. Talk to you

later...

M.J.

(as they escape behind the

barrier tape)

What the hell does she want to do,

scare everybody to death?

RUBEN:

That's her job... Jesus, Quinn is

here already.

QUINN, a splenetic Irishman, a politician, Chief of Homicide

stands at the top of the steps leading to the front door.

As they climb up toward him...

QUINN:

I been waiting... I have to do

everything myself. Photo, crime

tech, the Coroner are already

inside. The Landlady calls it in;

tenant is not answering when

called, she sticks her head in,

sees the body, uses the deceased's

telephone to call 911. Otherwise

nothing disturbed. It's all yours,

kid. I'll take care of the Mouth

and the Haircut.

M.J. and Ruben enter...

INT. APARTMENT HOUSE - HALL - DAY

Four uniformed cops stand in the hall securing the premises;

at the back one cop stands by a stunned and tearful woman

chain-smoking (the Landlady).

M.J.

(to cop)

That the Landlady?

(to Ruben)

You wanna talk to her, Ruben?

(back to cops)

Who was first on the scene?

Mike answers her question by answering to Ruben!

MIKE:

I was.

M.J.

(forcefully)

I'm over here? What's your name,

Officer?

MIKE:

Michael Johnson.

M.J.

You touch anything, Mike? Pick up

anything? Use the doorknob? I

don't want to find your prints on

anything later and you tell me you

forgot to tell me.

MIKE:

No. I didn't.

She glances at him, at the SLIGHTLY OLD INFLECTION ON THE "I

DIDN'T." But moves on, as Ruben goes to the Landlady...

INT. BATHROOM - DAY

The same YOUNG WOMAN we saw jogging, is now dead. Hair

still in a long braid. She wears only a blouse, open and

pushed back. She is on her back in the bathtub, with one

leg dangling over the side of the tub. The effect is

slightly posed, but casual, relaxed.

Bending over her is DOC, the Coroner, WITHDRAWING A HUGE

MEAT THERMOMETER FROM HER SIDE.

M.J. APPEARS IN THE BACK OF THE SHOT taking in the scene.

Foreground, Doc reads the thermometer. The photographer is

finishing up his shots. The room is crowded. Two Coroner's

men wait in the doorway, a stretcher standing on end between

them; M.J. has to pass between them to come down to the

body. THROUGHOUT WE FOCUS ON M.J.'S FACE; HER REACTION TO

THE SCENE, RATHER THAN DWELLING ON THE SCENE ITSELF.

ON M.J.:

DOC (V.O.)

Liver and rigor are telling me

about eight hours. I'm gonna take

her out now if it's alright.

M.J.

I'm seeing ligature marks on her

neck here, petechial hemorrhages in

her eyes. Strangled.

DOC:

You got it. Same as the other two.

THE TELEPHONE RINGS.

COP (V.O.)

Tell whoever she can't come to the

phone, she's all tied up.

Nobody laughs...

M.J.

That's real old material, get a new

writer...

She picks up the phone after the second ring, holding

it in tissue someone hands her...

M.J.

Hello?

PHONE VOICE:

(extremely cheerful)

Hello! This is Geena Martinez, how

are you this morning?

M.J.

What is this about, Ms Martinez?

PHONE VOICE:

I'm conducting a telephone survey

to determine whether you're

satisfied with your insurance on

your personal valuables...

M.J. gently hangs up the phone. She has been looking at the

Dead Woman... They pick up where they left off.

DOC:

He used something soft, like a

stocking or a bathrobe tie.

M.J.

Anybody find it?

No answer as the Coroner's men crowd in beside M.J. to begin

lifting the body out of the tub. M.J. takes one last look

into the dead woman's eyes...

M.J.

Cover her up, please.

INT. HALLWAY - DAY

Ruben still talking to the Landlady and taking notes. M.J.

approaches Mike... takes him aside...

M.J.

Mike. Why don't you tell me what's

bothering you?

Mike is acutely uncomfortable.

M.J.

Whatever it is, I'm gonna find out

and sooner is a hell of lot better

than later.

MIKE:

Well, there's something missing in

there. There was something around

her neck when I came in there, but

it's gone now.

M.J.

Who came in after you?

MIKE:

Lieutenant Quinn.

She seems relieved. Brightly:

M.J.

Well, it's all right, then, Mike.

Thanks.

EXT. CRIME SCENE - DAY

In the door, M.J. appears, looking out thoughtfully over the

scene; Ruben appears behind her. The photographer is coming

out...

M.J.

(to Photographer)

Get me good faces on the crowd

here. Get a couple of harness bulls

to grab anybody who starts to

run...

PHOTOGRAPHER:

Don't tell your Grandmother how to

suck eggs. I only been doing this

work since your junior prom,

darling...

But M.J. is already on to other things.

CUT TO:

INT. HELEN'S OUTSIDE HALLWAY - DAY

CLOSE ON A FOLDED NEWSPAPER THAT LIES ON THE FLOOR FIVE OR

FIX FEET FROM THE DOOR TO HELEN'S APARTMENT. HOLD DOOR IN

B.G.

The door opens and Helen looks out, wasted from cognac and

Xanax. She looks for the newspaper and sees it with a look

of despair.

HELEN'S POV

The newspaper lies there, out of reach.

HELEN:

As she stretches out her foot toward the paper, can't reach

it.

POV. As she moves out into the hall her agoraphobia

manifests itself: DISTORTED VISION THAT MAKES THE HALL

STRETCH AND THE WALLS TAKE ON EXAGGERATED PERSPECTIVE;

SICKENING -- VERTIGO! The newspaper seems further away.

HELEN She drops to her knees and tries to lean out further

into the hall...

POV. The floor seems to melt and roll in waves toward her.

The newspaper melts like a Dali watch.

HELEN sweats. She lies flat on her stomach and crawls toward

the newspaper... and with a supreme effort grabs it and

squirms back inside.

INT. APARTMENT - DAY

As she slams the door shut on the hall, and sits gasping for

breath. After a moment she can bring herself to look at the

newspaper... INSERT:

POLICE BAFFLED IN DEATHS OF THE WOMEN

HELEN (V.O.)

Damn fools!

CUT TO:

INT. QUINN'S OFFICE - DAY

QUINN is watching a portable TV screen with profound distrust.

Onscreen is SUSAN SCHIFFER.

SUSAN:

... continues to stonewall the

public. Now...

There is a knock, but before QUINN can respond, M.J. enters.

M.J.

You messed with the scene.

QUINN:

Shut up.

He and M.J. both listen to SUSAN.

SUSAN:

... third Bay Area woman has been

strangled, but the police continue

to deny that this is the work of

one killer. Lt. Thomas Quinn

declares that the murders will be

treated as unrelated crimes, unless

new evidence...

M.J. TURNS OFF THE TV, FACES QUINN...

M.J.

You messed with the evidence.

QUINN:

I tagged the goddamned stocking.

It ain't lost. We're sequestering

that evidence. That's the trap some

son of a b*tch is going to fall

into...

M.J.

Am I in charge of this thing? Or

not.

QUINN:

I said you were...

NH:

Then I decided what evidence we

choose to sequester.

QUINN:

(a beat here)

Okay. What do you want to

sequester?

M.J.

The stocking around the neck.

A long moment of looking at each other. Then...

QUINN:

You didn't say serial killer and I

didn't say serial killer.

M.J.

Right.

QUINN:

(not satisfied she

really means it)

This is the anniversary of the

summer of love and your city

fathers have declared a Festival of

Love. The Mayor and Chamber of

Commerce don't want TV announcing

killers on the loose.

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