Suspect Zero Page #8

That registered.

34 INT. HOPE HOUSE - BASEMENT - RESUMING 34

Beneath this newspaper article are OTHER ARTICLES, all

concerning Starkey: his crimes, his capture, all of it.

Mackelway's memory just got stoked again:

35 INT. COURTHOUSE - HALLWAY - RESUMING FLASHBACK 35

Mackelway emerges from that courthouse anteroom, whipped.

The hall's busy with MEDIA and other traffic. First face he

sees is Fran, who sits on a bench, (wedding ring ON). Her eyes

say how lousy she feels for him. It almost helps.

36 INT. COURTHOUSE BATHROOM - CONTINUING FLASHBACK 36

The door bursts open and Mackelway storms in. No need to look

composed now; he's alone in here. He crosses to a paper-towel

dispenser, SLUGS IT. Stares in the mirror.

He's livid, embarrassed, frustrated - can barely look at his

own reflection.

Then he hears LAUGHTER, behind him. He turns.

Out of the darkness of a badly-lit STALL, Virgil Starkey

emerges, coming into view under a single light.

Beside him is a GRIM COP, his chaperone. Starkey passes by

Mackelway, almost snickering. Then he's gone. Mackelway shuts

his eyes tight. His head is pounding. END FLASHBACK.

37 INT. HOPE HOUSE - BASEMENT - RESUMING 37

Mackelway stares... at a record of his deepest wound. But what

the hell is it doing in the locker of a transient?

CUT TO:

38 INT. HOPE HOUSE - "O'RYAN'S ROOM" - MOMENTS LATER 38

Mackelway leans in, looking around. A bed. A small end-table.

Bathroom. A window without bars.

From down the hall we hear the sound of a PHONE RINGING, then

a FAX transmission. An old fax machine begins to whine

noisily, creaking. It's a distraction.

But Mackelway's focus is in this room. The walls have been newly

painted. But there's a hint of barely-perceptible color

beneath one of them. Rain from a LEAKY ROOF is causing some of

the new paint to peel a bit.

A BUCKET collects drops in the center of the room. The feeling

in here is damp, mildewy, creepy. Mackelway remains in the

doorway... then backs out.

DYSON (O.S.)

I guess you fellas're never unaccounted

for, huh?

39 INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUING 39

Mackelway turns, a bit startled. Dyson is approaching, FAX in

hand.

MACKELWAY:

Huh?

Dyson extends six pages. On the TOP-SHEET, written by hand,

are the words:
"Agent Thomas Mackelway, C/O Mr. David Dyson,

Hope House" with a street address.

And under that top sheet? Five more pages.

Mackelway sighs, takes them from Dyson. Sure enough, he's

staring at five more faces, five more fact sheets. Five more

HAVE YOU SEEN ME's.

But how would anyone know to send them here?

DYSON:

Anything urgent?

MACKELWAY:

(doesn't look up)

No.

Dyson is glad to hear it.

CUT TO:

40 INT. HOPE HOUSE - FOYER - MOMENTS LATER 40

Mackelway descends, having had quite enough of this place.

Piper is where we left him, watching VH1 in the TV Room.

Mackelway passes, eyeing those newly-faxed pages: five more

HAVE YOU SEEN ME'S... He reaches the door.

PIPER:

Ever seen a fifty-foot shark?

Mackelway stops, turns.

MACKELWAY:

I'm sorry?

PIPER:

Fifty-foot shark. Ever seen one?

MACKELWAY:

No.

PIPER:

Doesn't mean there aren't any.

Great. Mackelway reaches for the front door again. Then he

halts. Maybe this guy can be helpful. Mackelway turns:

MACKELWAY:

Did you know him?

(Piper's silent)

The guy who used to stay upstairs.

"O'Ryan." Did you know him?

PIPER:

Why? Is he dead?

MACKELWAY:

I don't...

PIPER:

You said "Did." Is he dead?

MACKELWAY:

Oh. I mis-spoke. No, he's not dead...

(a beat)

You know him?

Piper nods.

Mackelway eyes him, then approaches, holding up a copy of that

image:
the circle-with-slash-through-it.

MACKELWAY (CONT'D)

He ever talk about this? A circle with a

slash through it?

Piper rises, crosses to us... leaning in unnecessarily close.

It's unsettling.

PIPER:

That's not a circle. It's a zero.

MACKELWAY:

Oh. How do you know?

Piper doesn't answer. Instead he simply starts whistling.

But it's not a tune coming out of his mouth. It's that same

sound that O'Ryan made: A WHISTLING WIND, blowing through a

ghost town... Building, then falling again.

Piper smiles, backing away, enjoying the theatricality of it,

stifling a giggle...

Then, suddenly, everything turns GRAINY, CHOPPY...

We've jumped into a distorted, REMOTE POV of this same scene -

as if watching it through a crystal ball, or a broken lens, or

a distance of time and space...

We see images, fragments: Piper, the tv, the sofa, Mackelway's

face. Then all sound breaks up, and we are...

41 INT. MOTEL ROOM - SLEEPER, MISSOURI - CONTINUING 41

Start on O'Ryan's EYES. Then a pad of paper. The spasm of a

pen, scrawling a LIST on to it: "Piper. TV. Whistling." We're

in another non-descript MOTEL ROOM. $29 a night.

He holds down the point of his pen on a wavy line beside that

list of words, keeping it there for a few seconds, as if

expecting to receive some kind of pulse from it.

No more pulse. He has lost the "connection" that had somehow

transported him. He notes his watch. Jots down the exact time.

Slips the pad into that FOLDER: "Mackelway."

Then he starts to DRAW - a hurried but accurate sketch of

Mackelway and Piper, just as they stood during that

conversation. The geography is fairly accurate.

O'Ryan continues to draw. We CRANE OUT of this motel room, to

find, on the street below:

42 EXT. A BAR - SLEEPER, MISSOURI - CONTINUING 42

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes