Spotlight Page #9

Robby hangs up. Sacha sits there, spent, the day and the

story LANDING on her. Hard.

63 INT. GLOBE, BEN’S OFFICE - NIGHT 63

Ben packs up. A KNOCK. He turns, finds Robby with his bag.

ROBBY:

You wanted to chat?

BEN:

I’m late for a dinner. Walk me out.

64 INT. GLOBE, NEWSROOM - CONTINUOUS 64

Ben and Robby walk. Robby sees Marty in his office, working.

ROBBY:

Does he ever go home?

BEN:

Apparently not. I got guys who

won’t leave ‘til he does, he’s

wearing out the goddamn newsroom.

Robby smiles.

BEN (CONT’D)

Where are we on Geoghan?

ROBBY:

Following up with more victims. I

want to expand the investigation.

BEN:

Why?

11/26/14 54.

ROBBY:

We got a fourth priest. There might

be as many as thirteen.

BEN:

Thirteen? Who’s your source?

ROBBY:

Phil Saviano.

Ben stops.

BEN:

Christ, Robby, I told Mike --

ROBBY:

I know. I think Saviano might be

legit, Ben.

BEN:

You wanna elaborate on that?

ROBBY:

No. Not yet. Just feels like this

is stacking up. That’s my gut.

Robby doesn’t embellish. The case is turning.

BEN:

Okay.

ROBBY:

Good. Thanks.

Robby walks off. Ben watches him go... then heads out --

65 INT. MIKE’S APARTMENT, EAST BOSTON - NIGHT 65

Mike opens the fridge when his phone RINGS. He picks up.

MIKE (INTO PHONE)

Hello.

SIPE (OVER THE PHONE)

Mr. Rezendes?

MIKE (INTO PHONE)

Yeah. Who’s this?

SIPE (OVER THE PHONE)

It’s Richard Sipe.

11/26/14 55.

MIKE (INTO PHONE)

Oh, hey Richard, thanks for calling.

Phil Saviano gave me your name, can

I ask you a few questions?

SIPE (OVER THE PHONE)

Of course.

Mike reaches for his bag, pulls out his pad and a pen.

MIKE (INTO PHONE)

Great. So Phil said you worked at

one of the church’s treatment

centers in Baltimore...

SIPE (OVER THE PHONE)

Yes, that’s right. The Seton

Psychiatric Institute. It was run

by the Daughters of Charity.

MIKE:

And when was that, Richard?

SIPE (OVER THE PHONE)

Well, I started my psychotherapy

fellowship there in 1965 and I was

there for five years, but I spent

the next thirty studying abusive

priests and their victims.

MIKE:

Really? That’s been your sole

focus?

SIPE:

Look, Mike, the church wants us to

believe that it’s just a few bad

apples, but it’s a much bigger

problem than that.

MIKE:

How much bigger?

SIPE:

Well, based on the research, I would

classify it as a recognizable

psychiatric phenomenon.

As Mike starts scribbling, sucked back in...

MIKE:

That’s big.

11/26/14 56.

66 INT. GLOBE, CAFETERIA - LATE MORNING 66

Eileen reads the paper, drinks a diet coke. Kurkjian sits

nearby, working on a story and some eggs. Matt joins.

MATT:

Hey Mac, if I needed historical data

on a priest, parishes he’d been

assigned to, where would I find it?

EILEEN:

For Geoghan? It’s all in the clips.

Lisa has the source material.

MATT:

Yeah, what if it was another priest?

One that hadn’t been in the papers.

EILEEN:

You’re looking at another priest?

KURKJIAN:

Who’re you looking at?

Kurkjian looks over. Matt tries to focus on Eileen.

MATT:

Any ideas?

EILEEN:

Come on Matt, you’re not going to

tell me?

Matt stares at her. Then pulls back.

MATT:

I gotta get to a meeting. Thanks

Mac.

Matt beats a hasty retreat. Eileen and Kurkjian trade a

look. Huh.

67 INT. GLOBE, LIBRARY - LATER 67

A HAND pulls a BOOK off a reference shelf. FIND LISA TUITE,

handing Matt the 2001 CATHOLIC CHURCH DIRECTORY.

LISA TUITE:

The Archdiocese puts out an annual

directory, every priest and parish.

MATT:

This is great. Do these go back any

further than ‘98?

11/26/14 57.

LISA TUITE:

Oh yeah. They go back to the 80’s

in the Mez. Beyond that, you gotta

go to the BPL.

MATT:

In the Mez. Thanks, Lisa.

68 INT. GLOBE, LONG HALLWAY - DAY 68

Robby and Mike walk down the hall. Mike debriefs him, a

little manic, not unaffected by what he’s picked up.

MIKE:

He said they all target the same

kinda kid. Low income family,

absentee father, broken home...

They walk into --

69 INT. GLOBE, PRESSES - CONTINUOUS 69

It’s early. The presses are relatively quiet.

MIKE:

And guys like Geoghan go after boys

not cause they prefer them, but

cause they’re more ashamed, less

likely to talk. These guys are

predators, Robby. Sipe says he saw

dozens of them at Seton in the 60’s.

He called it a “a phenomenon.”

ROBBY:

Why didn’t he go public?

MIKE:

He did, but the church has made a

huge effort to discredit him. Smear

campaigns, public statements by

prominent bishops. It’s just like

Saviano said. And Garabedian.

ROBBY:

You getting anywhere with him?

MIKE:

More victims.

ROBBY:

You can’t empty his pockets?

11/26/14 58.

MIKE:

I’ll get him. I just need more

time.

ROBBY:

Come on, Mike, you gotta get him.

MIKE:

I’ll get him, I’ll get him.

They open a door, walk into --

70 INT. GLOBE, BASEMENT - CONTINUOUS 70

A dank basement, low fluorescents and rows of old books on

cheap tin bookshelves. Robby and Mike react to the smell.

MIKE:

Jeez, what the hell is that smell?

MATT (O.C.)

There’s a dead rat in the corner.

Mike and Robby find Matt beside a HUGE STACK OF BOOKS.

ROBBY:

What do we got?

MATT:

Church directories. It’s every

priest in Massachusetts, what parish

they’re assigned to...

MIKE:

These are official?

Mike and Robby grab directories, flipping through.

MATT:

Yeah. I figured they could help us

track down the priests Saviano

mentioned, maybe find more victims.

ROBBY:

(reads, squinting)

Can we turn on some more lights?

MATT:

I couldn’t find the switch. You

wanna borrow my glasses?

ROBBY:

No, I’m good.

11/26/14 59.

MIKE:

(off a directory)

1983, John Geoghan... St. Brendan’s

in Dorchester. So we can see where

any priest was in any given year.

MATT:

(flips through another)

Exactly. I got him here at... huh.

ROBBY:

What?

MATT:

1980, the year he was pulled from

JP. It says he’s on sick leave.

MIKE:

Come on. It actually says that?

Matt shows Mike. Robby urgently searches the directories.

ROBBY:

Where’s 1991?

Robby finds the 1991 Directory and opens it. He searches...

ROBBY (CONT’D)

Barrett... Barrett... Liam Barrett..

I can’t read this. Can you look up

Liam Barrett?

(handing it to Mike)

1991’s the year they pulled him out

of Charlestown.

MIKE:

(reading)

Barrett, Liam. Sick leave.

He shows them. We see the designation. SICK LEAVE.

MIKE (CONT’D)

It’s an official designation.

ROBBY:

Let’s get these upstairs. And Matt,

let’s check the priests Saviano gave

us.

They start to collect the directories. Robby’s cell RINGS.

ROBBY (INTO THE PHONE) (CONT’D)

Robby.

11/26/14 60.

SACHA (OVER THE PHONE)

Hey, I’m down at the courthouse.

71 INT. SUFFOLK COUNTY COURTHOUSE, RECORDS ROOM - DAY 71

Sacha makes notes on a pad, a couple of files to one side.

SACHA (INTO PHONE)

Something’s not right here.

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