Men in Black Page #19

The Woman SCREAMS. Now other DINERS' attention is drawn to

Edgar's table, where two obviously dead men are being robbed

by a waiter. There are SHOUTS of outrage, a few MEN rise out

of their seats.

Edgar grabs the ornate box and tries to open it, but finds

it locked. With the furor rising around him, he shoves the

box under one arm and bolts for the door.

Rosenberg's cat leaps back onto the table and SNARLS at him

as he goes.

CUT TO:

EXT. LESHKO'S DINER - DAY

Later, and the Russian diner is now a crime scene, clustered

with COPS and flashing lights. THREE BODIES, now on stretchers

and covered with sheets, are being loaded into the back of

ambulances.

ROSENBERG'S CAT races out of a UNIFORMED COP's arms and leaps

onto one of the stretchers, MEOWING mournfully. The Uniformed

Cop turns to a POLICE INSPECTOR who is questioning the WOMAN

from the diner.

COP:

What am I supposed to do with the

cat?

INSPECTOR:

I don't know. Send it with the stiff.

Let family claim it.

The Cop nods and follows the stretcher with Rosenberg's body

into the back of one of the ambulances, allowing the cat to

ride on the chest of its dead owner for the time being.

The doors of the wagon SLAM shut.

CUT TO:

INT. MORGUE - CORRIDOR - DAY

The stretcher with the corpse on it is wheeled down a corridor

in police headquarters. ROSENBERG'S CAT, still on his chest,

MEOWS curiously as the stretcher approaches two doors with

"City Morgue" written across them. The words split in half

as the stretcher BANGS through the doors.

INT. MORGUE - DAY

The city morgue is a crowded, brightly-lit, tiled place with

corpses parked left and right. Busy day in the Apple. The

Cop wheeling the stretcher calls out to the CORONER, who's

hunched over another body.

COP:

Where do you want contestant number

three?

The coroner turns around. It's DR. LAUREL WEAVER, the woman

who tried to speak to Jay before. She sighs and waves a hand.

LAUREL:

By the wall, I guess.

(noticing)

What's with the cat?

COP:

Oh, the cat. There's a problem with

the cat. Sign here.

Laurel signs his clipboard.

LAUREL:

What's the problem with the cat?

COP:

Your problem.

Laurel gives him a dirty look, but he laughs and leaves. She

goes over to the stretcher and bends down, petting Rosenberg's

cat gently.

LAUREL:

Are you having a bad day, baby? Cheer

up.

(of Rosenberg)

His is worse.

She sets the cat aside and wheels the stretcher under the

lights.

LAUREL:

Okey-dokey. Shall we?

INT. MORGUE - LATER - DAY

Laurel is hunched over the corpse, the only light in the

room coming from the overhead spot that illuminates her work.

Fascinated by something, she digs deeper. And deeper. And

looks up, her face a mixture of alarm and excitement.

LAUREL:

Oh, my God.

CUT TO:

EXT. MORGUE - NIGHT

Kay's LTD pulls up in front of the morgue.

INT. MORGUE - CORRIDOR - NIGHT

Two men in black suits hurry down the stairs and into the

corridor outside the morgue. They hasten down the hallway,

their shoes CLICKING in perfect lockstep, headed for those

swinging doors at the other end.

JAY and KAY. Men in Black on a mission.

INT. MORGUE - NIGHT

In the morgue, LAUREL has fallen asleep on her desk, her

head in her arms.

ROSENBERG'S CAT sits on the desk next to her, licking its

paws. Suddenly, the cat looks up, MEOWING urgently.

Laurel looks up and, following the cat's gaze, turns around

slowly in her chair. JAY and KAY stand in the doorway, staring

at her. Kay steps forward, holding out that black card again.

It reforms into another kind of official ID, this time it

says "DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH"

LAUREL:

(into recorder)

...approximately 112 degrees at time

of autopsy, indicating, quite

impossibly, a post-mortem increase

in body temperature. Examiner

attempted to verify result rectally,

only to find subject was, uh, without

rectum. Which can only be described

as... well... as really...

KAY (O.S.)

Weird? Dr. Leo Menville, Department

of Public Health. This is Dr. White.

She looks up. Jay and Kay are standing there.

LAUREL:

Yeah, well whoever you are, I'm afraid

I'm going to need to see some ID.

He hands her his CARTE NOIR, which changes to read "Dr.

Menville, Department of Public Health." She hands it back.

LAUREL:

(checking her watch)

You boys must not have much of a

home life.

KAY:

We watch the morgues very carefully.

You've got something unusual?

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