Insomnia Page #6

Will looks over at her. Smiles.

WILL:

Don't give misdemeanors a bad rap.

ELLIE:

But they're so boring. All small stuff.

WILL:

It's all about the small stuff. Small

lies. Small mistakes. Small oversights.

People give themselves away in a traffic

violation just as much as they do in a

murder case. It's human nature.

He looks over. Ellie's listening intently.

WILL (cont'd)

Aren't you going to write that down?

Ellie, searching her pockets for something to write with...

ELLIE:

Let me just...

Stops. Looks over. Realises Will's teasing her.

EXT. CONNELL HOUSE - DAY

A small ranch house. Aluminum siding. FLOWERS piled up by

the front door. TEDDY BEARS. RIBBONS. Left by well-wishers.

MRS. CONNELL (O.S.)

I haven't tidied up, since Fred told me

not to touch anything.

INT. HALLWAY - CONNELL HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

MRS. CONNELL, a big woman with a thick grey braid down her

back, opens the door to her daughter's room. Looks at Will.

MRS. CONNELL

I don't believe in keeping a child's room

like a shrine.

Will heads into the room. Hap follows. A palpable

uneasiness between them. Fred and Ellie stand in the

doorway. Mrs. Connell turns to go.

INT. KAY CONNELL'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

A small bedroom. Pink shag carpeting and clouds painted on

the ceiling. Pictures cut from magazines pasted on the

walls. A stack of tapes and a boom box in the corner.

Will stands in the middle of the room. Taking it in.

WILL:

Typical seventeen year-old.

(beat)

She went to a party Friday night?

ELLIE:

Down at a local dive the kids like to

hang out in.

Fred throws Ellie a look. "Kids?" She's practically a kid

herself. Will opens the top drawer of the bureau. Roots

beneath the panties.

WILL:

No diary.

On top of the bureau, a stack of photos. A couple torn up.

Kay Connell and a GIRL with white-blonde hair. Laughing.

FRED:

She left the party early. Friends said

she had a fight with her boyfriend and

stormed out.

WILL:

What time was that?

FRED:

Around twelve-thirty.

Hap picks up a bear on Kay's bed. A bell JINGLES when he

shakes it. Will crosses to a closet in the corner.

WILL:

Who was the last one to see her alive?

FRED:

Randy Stetz. Her boyfriend. We've

questioned him, searched his place.

Didn't find anything.

Will pulls a dress out of the closet. Small, black, elegant.

The tag's been cut out. He pulls out another, then another.

Feels the fabric.

WILL:

These are designer. Expensive.

(looks up)

Could Randy Stetz afford these?

Fred and Ellie exchange a look.

ELLIE:

He fixes boat engines.

Will looks around. Cheap wallpaper, torn window screens.

WILL:

Well her mother didn't buy them for her.

HAP:

What are we thinking?

Will reaches over to a heart-shaped box on the bedside table.

Pulls out a pretty gold necklace. Holds it up.

WILL:

Kay Connell had an admirer.

He hands the dresses to Ellie. Heads out of the room.

WILL (cont'd)

I want to talk to the boyfriend.

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

CLOSE ON a hand squeezing a shoulder. Hard.

WILL:

You don't seem all that sad.

The shoulder jerks away. PULL BACK to reveal RANDY STETZ

sitting at a wooden table in an interrogation room. Longish

blond hair, wearing a Metallica t-shirt, trying like hell to

grow a moustache.

RANDY:

I haven't had a chance! You f***ers been

all over my back since Monday!

He takes out a cigarette. It's bent. He lights it. Hap

sits opposite.

HAP:

You know smoking stunts your growth.

Randy throws him a look.

RANDY:

Yeah, okay, fat-ass.

HAP:

(smiles at Will)

More Alaskan hospitality.

Will goes over to a coffee machine. Pours a cup.

WILL:

Did you love her?

RANDY:

Huh?

WILL:

Kay Connell. Did you love her?

Randy flicks his ash. Shrugs.

RANDY:

Sure. She was nice.

Will turns with his coffee.

WILL:

"She was nice." Wow. That makes me all

soft inside. Ever occur to you she

didn't love you back?

RANDY:

Huh?

WILL:

You heard me that time.

RANDY:

She loved me. She wanted to see me every

night.

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