The Relic Page #9

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LARRY:

Big as a house.

HENRY:

Not that big.

LARRY:

Well almost. Depends which house. It

smelled like old hamburger, and it

made this weird noise.

Henry makes a low GROWL in his throat. D'Agosta suppresses a smile,

shoots Pendergast a look. But Pendergast watches the kids intently.

LARRY:

And it snuffled the ground like a

dog.

HENRY:

Like this.

He goes on hands and knees, sniffs the ground.

LARRY:

It had a long tongue, teeth this big

and yellow eyes.

HENRY:

They were green eyes and they were

slit like a lizard's.

LARRY:

They were yellow!

HENRY:

You're color blind.

BEASLEY:

Boys, please!

(to D'Agosta)

These two get in a lot of mischief

and they tell some amazing whoppers.

D'AGOSTA

I can see that.

HENRY:

This isn't a whopper! It's the

truth.

Pendergast now moves forward, pulls up a chair as if deeply

interested.

PENDERGAST:

How did you get away?

HENRY:

We ran and screamed and stuff. And

we got through a little door just in

time. There was a guard there and he

went back to check.

PENDERGAST:

A guard? Do you remember his name?

LARRY:

He was wearing one of those I.D.

badges. His name was Bo... something.

D'AGOSTA

Beauregard?

LARRY:

Yeah.

EXT. MUSEUM - DAY

An ambulance pulls away, lights flashing. Pendergast and D'Agosta walk

to a squad car.

D'AGOSTA

I've got to admit, that was a damn

sight better than "the dog ate my

homework".

PENDERGAST:

How do you explain the part about

Beauregard?

D'AGOSTA

They heard the victim's name and

wove him into their story. Nice

touch.

PENDERGAST:

I believed them.

D'Agosta stops, stunned.

D'AGOSTA

You think what we've got here is a

monster as big as a house that

smells... like hamburger?

PENDERGAST:

No. I think what we've got here is a

psychotic killer wielding some kind

of unusual weapon... who wants us to

believe he's a monster.

D'AGOSTA

(totally confused)

Oh.

INT. NEW YORK CITY MORGUE - EVENING

D'Agosta and Pendergast thread their way down a hall lined with bodies

on gurneys. It's dark and quiet. They go into the autopsy room.

INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - AFTERNOON

A large gurney, currently empty, sits like an uninvited guest under

the bright lights of the autopsy suite. Beside it is a tall, imposing

doctor in her late 50's, with intense eyes. This is DR. ZIEWZIC. With

her are the PHOTOGRAPHER seen passing out at the museum, and a young

intern, DOCTOR GROSS.

DR. ZIEWZIC

You're late, Vince.

D'AGOSTA

Sorry Dr. Ziewzic. This is Special

Agent Pendergast. Pendergast, Dr.

Ziewzic. She runs the best chop shop

in New York.

PENDERGAST:

We've met. The Hacksaw Murders. '89.

DR. ZIEWZIC

Oh yes! Who could forget. Afterwards

you sent me that amazing case of

Chateau Lafitte.

PENDERGAST:

I hope you liked it.

DR. ZIEWZIC

Lovely bouquet. After our last case,

Vince took me out for a draft beer.

As I recall we split the check.

D'AGOSTA

(grumbles)

It's been one of those days.

DR. ZIEWZIC

(she snaps her rubber glove)

Shall we get down to it, then?

Dr. Gross wheels the gurney over to the morgue bank and slides open a

drawer. The shape under the plastic seems too small to be human. To

the side of it is a large bump, presumably the head. The two pieces of

cadaver are slid onto the gurney and wheeled under the lights. A

stainless steel bucket is placed under the gurney's outlet pipe. Dr.

Ziewzic fiddles with a microphone hanging above the body, she taps it

and it gives off the proper static.

DR. ZIEWZIC

(for the microphone)

This is Dr. Matilda Ziewzic,

assisted by Dr. Frederick Gross.

It's Oct. 28, six fifteen p.m. We

are joined by Lieutenant Vincent

D'Agosta of the NYPD, Special Agent

Pendergast of the FBI and a police

photographer. Let's see what we've

got.

They pull off the sheet and D'AGOSTA swallows hard, closes his eyes to

keep his stomach in check. The photographer goes green, but is

determined not to clutch this time. PENDERGAST leans closer, totally

impassive. He puts on a small pair of wire rim glasses, assumes an

expression much like a man reading a menu in a restaurant.

DR. ZIEWZIC

Caucasian male. Age about 27. Blond.

Height well I can't give a height

because Mr. Beauregard has been

decapitated. The state of the body

is such that other identifying marks

are out of the question. There are

numerous lacerations proceeding from

the left anterior pectoral downwards

through the sternum and terminating

in the abdomen. This is a massive

wound, two feet long and a foot

wide. The head has suffered severe

trauma and the occipital portion of

the calavarium has been crushed and

removed. It almost looks like...

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