The Cell Page #5

TEDDY LEE (CONT'D)

Water in her lungs. Same brand of

bleach. Match on the semen. Lots of

hair.

RAMSEY:

(unenthused)

More hair. I could knit this guy a

toupee.

Novak finds something in the report that catches him by

surprise. He double-checks and shows the item to Teddy.

TEDDY LEE:

(reading)

So?

NOVAK:

Anne Vicksey didn't own a dog.

Ramsey checks his copy.

NOVAK (CONT'D)

I need it.

TEDDY LEE:

Now?

NOVAK:

Now.

INT. FORENSIC LABORATORY - DAY

A MONITOR shows a SINGLE HAIR under a video microscope.

Teddy Lee plays with the dials and gets a spectral view.

TEDDY LEE:

Complete absence of melanin.

Novak and Ramsey stand over his shoulder.

RAMSEY:

And that means?

Teddy moves aside and takes another bite of his lunch

(chicken fried steak now carry-out).

NOVAK:

The dog's an albino.

(pictures it)

He'd love an animal like that.

TEDDY LEE:

Gentlemen, I believe an albino dog is

rare indeed.

INT. PARKING GARAGE - NIGHT

Exiting an elevator, Julia heads for her little Toyota.

Smart girl that she is, her eyes scan the area and her

fingers hold a can of mace.

INT. TOYOTA - NIGHT

Julia climbs in, checks her mirror and backs up. WHAM! Did

she hit something?? She brakes, puts the car in park, and

checks her sideview mirror.

Reflected there is a WOUNDED DOG. A white German Shepherd.

She rolls down her window and can hear the poor thing

whimpering.

JULIA:

Oh no...

INT. PARKING GARAGE - NIGHT

Julia exits her car and kneels next to Valentine, who appears

to be in terrible pain.

JULIA:

God... I didn't see you.

STARGHER'S HANDS COME AT HER FROM BEHIND! One grabs her hair

and the other covers her face with a chloroform-soaked towel.

He presses so hard, she cannot scream, cannot move. After a

brief struggle, he SHOVES her into her car and holds her

until she passes out. Stargher pushes Julia into the

passenger seat and starts the car. Pulls a dog treat from

his pocket and WHISTLES. The Shepherd instantly perks up.

Perfectly healthy. And jumps into the car.

STARGHER:

(feeds him a treat)

Good boy.

INT. RIVERSIDE COUNTY SHERIFF'S STATION - DAY

In a BRIEFING ROOM we find Teddy Lee, Ramsey, Cole and local

cops. All in need of caffeine. They complain, gossip, and

shoot the sh*t. Resembling a demanding professor, Novak

enters and through presence alone, lacking any self

consciousness about his dishevelled appearance, takes control

of the room by holding up a PHOTOGRAPH of a young woman.

NOVAK:

Donna Krozin.

(a new picture every time)

Helen Francis, Teresa Manicki...

The chatter dies.

NOVAK (CONT'D)

Antoinette Simms, Natalie Pagels, Grace

Cassatt... Anne Vicksey.

Every person is solemn and focused.

NOVAK (CONT'D)

Smart, gentle, attractive young women.

Just starting out in life.

Embarking on careers, going to school,

getting married...

He's hooked them. The victims, these women, now mean

something to them. With great effect, he holds up grisly

post-mortem photos.

NOVAK (CONT'D)

They were killed. Kidnapped, tortured,

and murdered. By a white male. About

30-years old.

(significantly)

Who owns an albino dog./

Everyone knows this is a real clue and awareness is

heightened. Ramsey chimes in.

RAMSEY:

A purebred German Shepherd.

Novak shows them a picture of a WHITE GERMAN SHEPHERD taken

from a resource on the Internet.

RAMSEY (CONT'D)

Breeders typically destroy albino pups,

so this animal is truly unique.

NOVAK:

Nicole Labetzki. Victim seven.

Forensics found dog hair in her car, but

they had a K-9 unit at the scene and

never had it checked.

TEDDY LEE:

The Phoenix office tested that hair

thirty minutes ago. And we got the

match.

NOVAK:

It's his dog.

Ramsey holds up a thick list.

RAMSEY:

Registered breeders of German Shepherds.

The list is long and a few of the cops GROAN. Novak silences

them with a fierce look that says, "I will not rest until

this man is found and neither should you."

NOVAK:

Be thorough, but be fast. This guy's

accelerating.

He only waited six days this last time.

When he started, two months could pass.

A DESK SEARGENT enters the room and hands a FAX to Ramsey.

Novak is curious about it, but continues.

NOVAK (CONT'D)

This can mean different things. He

thinks we're stupid and can't catch him.

He's having fun and needs more. Or...

(thinking it through)

This dog hair thing is sloppy. The body

this morning was found in less than

three inches of water. He knew we'd

find her. He wants to be caught. But

if we can't stop him...

Gravely concerned, Ramsey moves across the room.

NOVAK (CONT'D)

(dreading what's on that fax)

...he can't stop himself.

INT. STARGHER HOUSE - BATHROOM - DAY

Stargher, the awful PAIN eating away at his skull. He

searches the medicine chest.

DISTORTED VOICE:

Me god feed on pain.

The VOICE echoing inside his skull.

DISTORTED VOICE (CONT'D)

Pain good. Cumm home to meee...

INT. STARGHER HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY

Struggling to stay on his feet, he moves to the KITCHEN.

Valentine paces nervously, whimpering concern. Stargher

reaches for a bottle of vodka but falls to the floor.

Valentine BARKS, but gets no reaction from master. We MOVE

IN on Stargher's unblinking eyes.

DISTORTED VOICE:

Go sleep Carl. Me god wake up now.

INT. THE CELL - DAY

Julia Hickson finds the snack foods, drinking spigot, toilet,

shower, and drain. Her bare feet try to adjust to the tile

floor, but it's f***ing cold. She glimpses herself in the

mirror and is startled by what she sees - a terrified girl.

INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - DAY

A TAN SEDAN sits in the driveway of this modest middle-class

home. A VENTURA COUNTY SHERIFF'S CAR sits nearby, a deputy

keeping watch.

INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - DAY

A distraught middle-aged couple, MR. AND MRS. HICKSON, sit on

the couch of their living room. FAMILY PHOTOS show them with

Julia, whose fiancee, John, does his best to comfort the

mother. Novak and Ramsey have the unfortunate task of

interviewing them about their daughter's disappearance.

RAMSEY:

She was still living at home?

MR. HICKSON

Yes, sir.

JOHN:

We were looking at apartments.

MR. HICKSON

(important they know)

But nobody was moving in together 'til

after the wedding.

Novak hasn't said much. Instead, he looks at something in

his hands - a plastic evidence bag containing the TOY DOLL.

RAMSEY:

John, you came to pick her up when?

JOHN:

Eight o'clock. We were going out for my

birthday.

MR. HICKSON

Maybe you made a mistake. Maybe she...

she...

Novak hides the doll.

RAMSEY:

No sir. I'm sorry.

Ramsey's cell-phone rings and he excuses himself to a corner

of the room, leaving Novak alone to deal with this

uncomfortable, sad situation, no one saying a word until an

emotionally shattered Mrs. Hickson, fingering a rosary, feels

compelled to tell him.

NOVAK:

After three years she remembers what the

guy drove?

RAMSEY:

She remembers because it was her "dream

truck." Wanted one just like it.

EXT. SMALL AIRPORT - DAY

Ramsey and Novak exit a small jet and are met by FBI Agent

STOCKWELL.

STOCKWELL:

Ramsey, Novak?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes