Green River KIiller Page #8

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42.

SHERIFF REICHERT (CONT'D)

That’s what it’s all about. How are

you going to control someone else,

if you can’t control yourself?

EXT. JENSEN HOUSE, FRONT PORCH (2003) - EVENING

CHARLAINE stands on the front stoop, gardening gloves on, and

meets TOM as he gets home, briefcase and a bag of fast food

in his hands. She hugs him. JOEY, now quite elderly, next to

her.

CHARLAINE (O.S.)

So, how was your first day?

TOM (O.S.)

Yeah, pretty good.

INT. JENSEN HOUSE, KITCHEN - NIGHT

TOM sits at the kitchen table eating his burger and fries out

of the bag in front of him. CHARLAINE brings him a plate,

knife and fork. JOEY waits patiently, eyeing the food.

CHARLAINE:

The work you’ve done in the

bathroom so far looks great. How

much longer ‘til you’re done in

there, y’think?

TOM:

I was hoping to spend some time

this weekend, but...

CHARLAINE:

Oh, Mike called. He asked if we

could have the kids Sunday?

TOM:

Well, I... uh, might be tied up

over the weekend... with the case.

So...

CHARLAINE:

Shall I say you might be working

and leave it at that?

TOM:

Sure... Whatever you say, just

don’t mention Gary. To anyone.

43.

CHARLAINE:

I know, I know...

TOM:

If the press finds out we have him

living in our office, negotiating a

plea deal...

CHARLAINE:

It won’t be good, I know. Don’t

worry. I will try to curb my

natural tendency to gossip when I

meet the other washer-women at the

water-pump. Ketchup?

Mouth full he shakes his head. Gives JOEY a fry.

CHARLAINE (CONT'D)

So..? What’s he like?

TOM thinks.

TOM:

I don’t know. Bland. Just... bland.

Him and his wife, they go to swap

meets. Love their poodles. Go

camping in an RV. He’s the last

person you’d think was a serial

killer.

CHARLAINE:

I guess that’s how he got away with

it. No-one expected the Green River

Killer could be so normal.

TOM:

We still don’t know that he is.

“The Green River Killer”. Not for

sure.

CHARLAINE:

You don’t know? You’re the one who

caught him! If you don’t know, who

does?

TOM:

The DNA says he probably killed

seven of the women. Right now,

that’s all we know. We just have

his word for the rest of it.

CHARLAINE:

I’m no expert but isn’t that called

a confession?

(MORE)

44.

CHARLAINE (CONT'D)

You know, bad guys make them when

they’ve been caught and they know

the game is up?

TOM:

I don’t... It just...

CHARLAINE:

What?

TOM:

(after a few beats)

He says he started killing in ‘82,

and stopped after he met Judith,

his third wife, in ‘85. Just like

everyone has always said.

CHARLAINE:

1985? I guess she saved a lot of

women’s lives then, huh? Over 15

years worth...

TOM:

So, Mr. Totally-Normal-Average-Guy

goes on a killing rampage for three

years, kills more women than anyone

before, and then just stops. Loses

the taste for it. Decides he likes

poodles more than killing

prostitutes. He was so dumb as a

kid he was going to be put in the

special needs school. At his work

they call him “Wrong-Way Ridgway”,

he messes up so much. The guy’s an

idiot. But he somehow manages to

avoid getting caught by every major

police force in the area, plus the

FBI. Then, after twenty years, when

he is caught, he just can’t do

enough to help us. Falling over

himself. It just doesn’t add up.

CHARLAINE:

At this point, after everything

you’ve been through, I don’t think

you’d be satisfied unless he sat

there in front of you with horns

and a tail. Give yourself a break,

honey. You caught him, and now he

just wants to come clean.

TOM:

Then why is he lying?

45.

CHARLAINE:

...what?

TOM:

One of the undiscovered bodies he

gave us today? I already found her,

back in ‘93, out at Seattle

International Raceway. But he

doesn’t know that, because she was

never on the list. They wouldn’t

let me put her on there.

INT. THE BUNKER, MAIN ROOM (2003) - NIGHT

MULLINAX crossing the MAIN ROOM with a bag of fast-food,

heading for GARY, who sits at the desk that blocks his room.

MULLINAX passes one of the GUARDS.

GUARD 1

Well, look at that. Room service

for our guest?

MULLINAX:

(as he passes)

Yup.

GUARD 1

Nice. What’d you get for me?

MULLINAX:

(looks back)

How many you kill?

INT. JENSEN HOUSE, KITCHEN (2003) - NIGHT

CHARLAINE leans across for one of TOM’s fries.

CHARLAINE:

But, that proves he’s telling the

truth, not that he’s lying. He gave

you one you already found.

TOM:

Patricia Barczak disappeared in

October of ‘86. A year and a half

after he swears he stopped killing.

INT. THE BUNKER, GARY’S ROOM (2003) - NIGHT

MULLINAX takes the food out for GARY.

46.

MULLINAX:

Got you something from Joanne’s.

Ever been there?

GARY:

Sure. Used to take Judith there

when we first started dating.

Pretty good.

GARY starts eating the food.

MULLINAX:

Get some rest, okay? Field trip

starts early tomorrow. Let the

guards know if you need that heated

up.

GARY:

Thanks. I appreciate it.

INT. JENSEN HOUSE, KITCHEN (2003) - NIGHT

CHARLAINE:

So... what are you thinking?

TOM:

I don’t know.

INT. THE BUNKER, GARY’S BATHROOM (2003) - NIGHT

GARY stands at the sink, brushing his teeth. We see the

GUARDS in the mirror waiting at the door.

TOM (O.S.)

The more I think about it, the more

I don’t know what to think about

this guy.

GARY looking at himself in the mirror.

INT. JENSEN HOUSE, KITCHEN (2003) - NIGHT

TOM:

But there’s so much pressure to

wrap this up, get it over with.

I’ve spent the best part of my

career looking for Gary Ridgway.

It’s not enough for me to see him

put away. I need answers.

47.

INT. THE BUNKER, GARY’S ROOM (2003) - NIGHT

GARY lays on his bed. He’s holding up a creased photograph of

him and JUDITH on holiday together, looking at it.

GUARD 1 (O.S.)

Lights out. Goodnight.

GARY:

Goodnight.

As GARY lowers the photograph, there is someone standing

there before him, in his room. A WOMAN with a paper bag over

her head, her arms crossed over her chest, holding a live

fish in each hand. Red wine spreads across the floor towards

him, from the green bottle at her feet.

TOM (O.S.)

And he’s the only one who has them.

GARY is plunged into the dark.

EXT. ‘THE STRIP’, PACIFIC HIGHWAY SOUTH (1984) - NIGHT

We’re now entering the amphetamine, neon-glamour of the

stretch of road serving the round-the-clock needs of Sea-Tac

airport’s human traffic - ‘The Strip’. In all its desperate

glory.

TITLE over black - “FEBRUARY, 1984 - ‘THE STRIP’.”

The strange alien light, neither day nor night, washes over

us at last, and we feel our heart-beat quicken. Motels, honkytonk

saloons, fast-food joints, used-car lots, junk stores,

gas stations, billboards, gem shops and truck garages, all

battling each other to take whatever they can from whoever

will part with it. It’s like a drug-fuelled ‘pioneer town’.

And women everywhere. Girls really. Children. Offering the

temporary use of their bodies to us.

We watch them as we pass, slowly. We miss nothing. Cruising.

‘PATROLLING’. Their faces. Their movements. Looking for the

signs. The ‘tells’. Like a shark moving through an ocean

teeming with prey. “Like candy in a dish.”

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