Story Code '#8X09'
by Greg Walker
|
'Surekill' Story Code '#8X09' by Greg Walker |
|
SCENE 1 - WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, 8:34 PM
(Empty city street at night. A man, CARLTON CHASE, runs to a payphone. He's watching his back and out of breath)
CHASE:
Pick up. Pick up the phone. Look, I don't know what that bitch told you but I'm solid. She's lying to you. Check her right-hand desk drawer. It's all there, the whole story. Pick up, man. Call him off. Hey, let's talk about this, alright. Give me a chance to explain.
(CHASE sees shadow of person around the corner, heading his way. He panics and drops the phone and runs off. A man walks around the corner. CHASE is still running. He trips and falls and is hurt. He sees a police station across the road and runs to it)
SCENE 2 - POLICE STATION
(There are two officers sitting at the desk. CHASE enters)
CHASE:
Help me. Somebody wants to kill me.
OFFICER:
Who wants to kill you?
CHASE:
Please help me.
(CHASE starts bolting the door)
OFFICER:
Hold on, don't do that, guy. Now, you calm down.
(Officer grapples with CHASE)
CHASE:
Please, you've got to stop him. He's out there. We have to get him before he gets me.
(CHASE sees other Officer's gun and grabs for it. Both Officers grab him)
OFFICER 1:
Hey, get off.
OFFICER 2:
Take him down! Take him down!
(They wrestle CHASE to the floor)
CHASE:
Let me go. (Shouting) He's going to kill me!
(They take CHASE to a cell. CHASE feels the walls, goes to the door where OFFICER #1 is standing looking in through the cell window)
OFFICER 1:
Take it easy. Relax, now. Settle down.
CHASE:
No. This isn't enough. I'm not safe in here.
OFFICER 1:
Hey, buddy, you've never been safer in your life, OK? Just relax.
CHASE:
He can get me in here.
OFFICER 2:
I'll go call Social Services.
OFFICER 1:
Right.
CHASE:
It's not enough. He can get to me.
(There's a splat and the cell window is suddenly covered in blood. Close up on OFFICER #1 who looks very shocked. He sees CHASE'S head slide down through blood to the floor)
OPENING TITLES
SCENE 3 - POLICE STATION
(Later. SCULLY is holding up a lateral-view skull x-ray, obviously from CARLTON CHASE)
SCULLY:
They've identified it as 9mm pistol ammunition, Teflon-coated armour-piercing. Single round. He was shot, there's no doubt about that.
DOGGETT:
Well, I assume the million dollar question is how.
(DOGGETT opens the cell door and enters the scene of the crime)
SCULLY:
Yeah. Well, what do we know about the victim?
DOGGETT:
(Looks down at his notepad) Carlton Chase. Aged thirty-nine. Well-to-do realtor. Single. Lived in the area all his life. Nothing but parking tickets on his record. Came tearing in here last night saying someone was going to kill him.
SCULLY:
He was right.
DOGGETT:
Except I don't see any bullet holes in the walls.
SCULLY:
Looks to have entered through the top of his head.
(SCULLY is looking at the X-ray in the light. An officer approach down the hallway)
OFFICER:
Agents, thanks for coming down so quick. Al Trugero.
(The officer introduces himself. He is carrying a stepladder)
DOGGETT:
John Doggett.
OFFICER:
Nice to met you.
DOGGETT:
Agent Scully.
OFFICER:
Agent.
SCULLY:
Hi.
OFFICER:
I'd appreciate any help you can give us. We've got this much figured out so far.
DOGGETT:
The bullet came through the air vent.
(The Officer is climbing the stepladder)
OFFICER:
Yeah, that's how it's lookin'. There's a little burr on this louver right here where the bullet passed through. You can barely see it, but it's there. So, I'm thinking this is where the killer hid. He somehow crawled into this ventilation system and from here he had a clear line of sight to shoot Chase below.
DOGGETT:
Did anyone hear a gun shot? Seems pretty likely you'd hear one even with a silencer - it's going to echo through the duct-work.
SCULLY:
What's directly above this?
(Cut to: Inside the ventilation system. DOGGETT and SCULLY are looking around with flashlights)
OFFICER:
I don't understand. How could someone make that shot from here?
(SCULLY looks up and sees a hole. We see a fine beam of light coming through the hole)
SCULLY:
He didn't make it from here. Can I use your pencil?
OFFICER:
Sure.
(SCULLY pokes the pencil up through hole)
SCENE 4 - POLICE STATION ROOFTOP
( SCULLY climbs a ladder onto the rooftop, followed by DOGGETT. She walks over to the pencil which is sticking up through the roof. The Cop appears at the top of the ladder)
SCULLY:
Captain! (Holding up the pencil) We're going to need your crime scene investigators up here.
OFFICER:
You got it.
DOGGETT:
So, lucky shot?
SCULLY:
Very. But this victim here stated that he was going to be killed just moments before he was shot, which doesn't sound lucky at all.
DOGGETT:
Guess I can't argue with that.
(DOGGETT notices something, and bends down)
SCULLY:
What have you got there?
DOGGETT:
(Using his pencil to collect a piece of fabric into an evidence bag) An old ‘Godfather’ trick. Wrap a towel around a pistol, muffle the sound. The killer was up here all right. So how in hell did he make that shot?
SCULLY:
Well, there's thermal imaging technology which can pick up body heat through walls. Maybe that's what allowed him to aim.
DOGGETT:
We field-tested that in the Marines. Weighs close to ninety pounds. Has to be cooled with liquid nitrogen. I can't quite see somebody lugging it up that ladder we just climbed. Either way, the rooftop of a police station? It's a pretty ballsy place for a hit.
SCENE 5 - WAREHOUSE
(A station wagon drives up to a warehouse building. A young woman gets out. Camera pans up to show the building's sign: ‘AAA-1 Surekill Exterminators’. It also has a comic-effect rat and mousetrap logo. Cut to: inside the warehouse. The room is filled with drums, spray canisters and tubing. The woman goes into an office and sits at a desk. She's looking at today's newspaper, the headline reads ‘Local Realtor Murdered: Mysterious Death While in Custody of Police’. She clicks on the answering machine and hears the message left by CARLTON CHASE when we saw him in the pre-title sequence)
CHASE O.O.V.:
(On answering machine) Pick up. Pick up the phone. Look, I don't know what that bitch told you but I'm solid. She's lying to you. Check her right hand desk drawer, it's all there. The whole story...
(She looks very concerned. She presses the erase button on the machine, and gets up and unlocks the desk drawer and pulls out a cashbox, which she unlocks. She opens it and finds it empty. As she locks and replaces it she is startled by DWIGHT)
DWIGHT:
(Standing in the doorway) What are you doing.
TAMMI:
My, um, printer cable was loose.
DWIGHT:
And that's more important than coffee?
(She looks away)
DWIGHT:
Any messages?
TAMMI:
No.
DWIGHT:
Well, the light's blinking. Looks like a message to me. (Long pause) You gonna play it or what? Stupid ain't cute damn you, I don't care what your momma says.
(TAMMI reluctantly presses the play button on the machine)
ANSWERPHONE MESSAGE:
Yeah, I got like rats, again. I need you to get them all this time. 1806 Brook Valley Turnpike. Last name Allesandre. You've been here before.
TAMMI:
DWIGHT.
DWIGHT:
Yeah, I got it.
(DWIGHT goes towards his office and TAMMI follows him)
TAMMI:
No. Look. Did you hear the news this morning? About Carlton Chase? (Pause) I thought it was pretty scary.
DWIGHT:
Try and get Randall on the phone.
(DWIGHT goes into his office and shuts the door. TAMMI goes back to her office, picks up the phone and dials while looking at the photo of CHASE in the paper. Then she sees someone outside the office door. It's the mystery man from the teaser)
TAMMI:
Randall. Your brother wants to see you.
(RANDALL leaves. TAMMI sinks down into her chair and puts her face in her hands)
(Cut to: Outside, RANDALL is emptying a bin into a dumpster. He looks into the dumpster at dead rats. He picks up a fence post and pauses. We see a rat moving amongst the bodies. RANDALL strikes down with the post)
DWIGHT:
RANDALL! You avoiding me? Tammi told you I wanted to talk to you, right? You wanna tell me what happened last night?
(RANDALL is uncommunicative. His mouth is moving as though he is muttering something)
DWIGHT:
Look, Randall, I'm not mad at you necessarily. But I need to know exactly what happened. Any time you decide to do something without telling me first, you could get us both into trouble.
RANDALL:
I saw him stealing.
DWIGHT:
Carlton stealing from me?
RANDALL:
Yeah.
DWIGHT:
He was skimming. So, where's the money that he was skimming?
(RANDALL doesn't reply)
DWIGHT:
You see, the thing of it is, Randall - you get the money, then you do your thing. It's a simple equation. That's what I'm talking about when I say you need to talk to me first. It'll probably be OK but in the future let's keep the communication lines open. One hand talks to the other, right?
(RANDALL smiles gratefully. He nods to DWIGHT)
DWIGHT:
I brought you a sandwich. Meat loaf the way you like it. Go on, take it, it's got ketchup.
(DWIGHT gives the sandwich to RANDALL. RANDALL looks at DWIGHT)
RANDALL:
Going out tonight?
(DWIGHT smiles and nods)
SCENE 6 - CHASE REAL ESTATE - 9:17 AM
(SCULLY and DOGGETT enter CHASE's office)
DOGGETT:
The police station's less than a mile from here.
SCULLY:
Chase ran it on foot. He said that somebody was after him. This is probably where it all started.
(They look around. SCULLY looks through papers on a desk)
SCULLY:
Oh.
DOGGETT:
What's that?
SCULLY:
CHASE did a lot of business with an exterminating company called Triple-A-1 Surekill. Six jobs in one month.
DOGGETT:
I didn't know that was a requirement of selling a house.
(DOGGETT goes into an inner office. The lights are still on. He sees a gun and bullet casings on the floor. He picks one up using a pencil)
DOGGETT:
Agent!
(SCULLY comes in)
DOGGETT:
It's a Forty-Five. The bullet that killed Chase at the police station was a 9mm.
(DOGGETT switches off the lights. Sunlight streams in through many bullet holes in the walls)
DOGGETT:
You know, Elvis used to do this to his hotel rooms.
SCULLY:
(Looking around) I think Carlton Chase did this.
DOGGETT:
So who was he shooting at? If it was someone in this room, he damned sure would have hit 'em.
SCULLY:
Unless it was someone outside.
SCENE 7 - 1310 SOUTH MAIN STREET - 11.32 PM
(Night. We can see a street of warehouses, with jets of steam billowing from the ground. Cut to: inside warehouse - we see a group of men. DWIGHT enters. Men point guns at him)
DWIGHT:
Evening.
MAN 1:
What? You lost?
DWIGHT:
Nope. I think this must be the place.
MAN 1:
You a cop?
DWIGHT:
Hell, no. No, your secret's safe with me fellas. But I will be taking that money off your hands, and the dope.
MAN 1:
Oh, you're funny. Now, you know what? Chris Rock is funny. And you? You're just dead.
(DWIGHT puts his hands up as the men holds their guns on him)
MAN 2:
Nah, cap his ass.
(DWIGHT points his right index finger at one of them)
DWIGHT:
Bang.
(We hear a silenced gunshot and the man falls)
DWIGHT:
(He turns) Bang.
(Another gunshot. Another man falls)
DWIGHT:
(He turns again) Bang.
(Another gunshot. A third man falls. The door opens. RANDALL enters with a gun wrapped in cloth which is burning. He starts to unwind the cloth ..)
SCENE 8 - 1310 SOUTH MAIN STREET - 8:07 AM
(Crime scene, with lots of police officers. SCULLY is looking through holes in the wall. DOGGETT is on his cell phone)
DOGGETT:
Thanks.
(DOGGETT ends his call and walks up to SCULLY)
DOGGETT:
So which kind of shooting was this? Lucky, coincidental, or some third alternative?
SCULLY:
Well, it's precision marksmanship, that's for sure. These holes line up perfectly with the three victims behind there, which tells me that the shooter was standing right here behind this wall.
DOGGETT:
Consequently he wouldn't be able to see what the hell he was aiming at.
SCULLY:
Unless he could see. The light our eyes can register is only one small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Other wavelengths from infra-red to gamma have other properties. X-rays, for instance, can pass through solid objects.
DOGGETT:
Walls, for example. So, you saying this guy used some kind of X-ray machine.
(SCULLY looks at DOGGETT)
DOGGETT:
Wait, you, you're not saying this guy has X-ray vision?
SCULLY:
I am remarking that these wavelengths exist and the only thing that is stopping us from seeing them, if you will, is the biochemical structure of our eyes. I am conjecturing that if this structure was somehow different we'd have the ability to see things that we don't.
DOGGETT:
(Leans in towards SCULLY and whispers) Call in Clark Kent.
SCULLY:
OK, so you explain it.
DOGGETT:
Well I can't so I'm sticking to what I do know.
SCULLY:
Which is?
DOGGETT:
This was a drug rip-off. Furthermore, it's the fifth drug rip-off in this area for the past two months. This guy's making a living capping local drug dealers.
SCULLY:
And how does a dead real estate agent figure into that?
DOGGETT:
Now, that I don't know - yet, but I did find out one more thing. Sulphuryl fluoride.
(SCULLY stares at DOGGETT)
SCENE 9 - TAMMI'S OFFICE
(A money counting machine is counting bills. DWIGHT enters and leans on the desk. There's a long pause)
DWIGHT:
Got a moment to see me in my office?
TAMMI:
Dwight. I need to get this to the bank.
DWIGHT:
That can wait.
(RANDALL, under the hood of a car, watches DWIGHT and TAMMI go into DWIGHT's office. In the office, TAMMI starts undressing. We see RANDALL staring towards the office)
TAMMI:
Can't you tell your brother to get some lunch or something at least? He's practically right outside the door.
DWIGHT:
I'll keep the noise level down if you will.
(RANDALL is staring at the office door)
TAMMI:
I always feel like he's watching me.
DWIGHT:
How's he watching you now?
(Close up on RANDALL's face. He hears something outside and starts to walk away. SCULLY and DOGGETT enter the warehouse)
SCULLY:
Hello?
DOGGETT:
Anybody here?
(Office door opens. DWIGHT comes out)
DWIGHT:
Yeah.
DOGGETT:
Agents Doggett and Scully. FBI.
DWIGHT:
Dwight Cooper. What can I do for you?
(DOGGETT takes out some papers and shows them to DWIGHT)
DOGGETT:
Mr. Cooper, do you recognise these?
DWIGHT:
Well I don't recognise much anything except shapes. Tammi! Tammi! Come look at these for me.
(TAMMI comes out of office, tucking in her blouse. SCULLY notices this)
DWIGHT:
I got bad peepers. Legally blind since birth. (To TAMMI) These look familiar?
TAMMI:
These are ours. Last month's billings for Mr. Chase.
DWIGHT:
Oh. Carlton. He was one of my best clients. I sent him a ham every Christmas till he finally told me he was a Jew. (Laughs out loud) He was a nice guy.
DOGGETT:
We found some evidence at a crime scene. A piece of fabric on which we found traces of a chemical - sulphuryl fluoride.
SCULLY:
It's an insecticide used only by licensed exterminators.
DWIGHT:
Yeah, it's good stuff. We use it. Along with about two-hundred other outfits in Central Mass.
DOGGETT:
You've done time, haven't you?
DWIGHT:
Yeah, a long time ago. Now my brother and I are actually members of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, if you can believe that one. (Laughs again) Anything else?
DOGGETT:
Yeah, why did Carlton Chase call this office fourteen minutes before he was murdered?
(DWIGHT looks puzzled. He looks at TAMMI)
SCULLY:
8:34p.m. We found a call to your office billed on Mr. Chase's calling card. It was made from a payphone not far from where he was murdered.
DWIGHT:
Wow. I don't know what to tell you. We are all gone home by that time and there wasn't any message on our machine.
DOGGETT:
All right. We'll be in touch if we have any further questions.
(DOGGETT and SCULLY leave. TAMMI starts walking back to her office)
DWIGHT:
Tammi. What do you know about that? About Carlton calling here.
TAMMI:
He, I guess he must have left a message.
DWIGHT:
Well, what did it say?
TAMMI:
I didn't hear it. I was reaching for the play button and I hit the erase button by mistake. I should have told you. I was just afraid that I lost us some business maybe.
(DWIGHT flicks on a cigarette lighter about 6 inches from TAMMI's face)
DWIGHT:
Come here, baby.
(He pulls TAMMI towards him and holds the lighter close to her face, peering at her eyes)
DWIGHT:
You know I can't see worth a damn. That's when I have a look at your eyes. The eyes are the windows of the soul. They tell you everything you need to know about a person. So tell me, are you lying?
(DWIGHT is staring straight at TAMMI. TAMMI is staring at the flame)
TAMMI:
I'm not, Dwight.
(DWIGHT stares closely at TAMMI's eyes, holding the lighter very close to her face. TAMMI is very uncomfortable. Then he flicks the lighter off)
DWIGHT:
That's all I needed to know.
SCENE 10 - OFFICE
(A computer monitor is showing the police record for DWIGHT. We see he is about 5'10’)
DOGGETT:
Dwight Cooper. Arrested in 1986.
(DOGGETT is sat in front of the computer; SCULLY is standing behind him)
SCULLY:
For Grand Theft Auto.
DOGGETT:
Right. How does a legally blind guy steal a car?
(DOGGETT looks quizzically at SCULLY)
SCULLY:
I assume he had a partner doing the driving.
DOGGETT:
The brother he mentioned - Randall Cooper.
(DOGGETT types on the keyboard. Monitor shows another police record, this time for RANDALL)
DOGGETT:
They were arrested together. Although Randall apparently didn't serve much time.
SCULLY:
They share the same birthday. (Beat) They're twins.
DOGGETT:
They ain't twins. Twins never rat each other out.
SCULLY:
Well, maybe there's someone in that office who will.
SCENE 11 - EXT. TAMMI’S APARTMENT BLOCK
(Night. Cut to: inside TAMMI's apartment. She looks out the window and sees a shadow of a man projected onto the opposite wall. She closes the window and drops the blind)
(Camera pans right, across outside of the building to the next door apartment. Through the window we see RANDALL looking left in the direction of TAMMI's apartment. Cut to: close up on RANDALL's face. Cut to: RANDALL's POV through the intervening walls and rooms into TAMMI's bathroom where she takes off her bathrobe. Cut to: RANDALL's face, reacting when he sees TAMMI's naked back. Cut to: TAMMI who half turns, seeming to feel she's being watched. Cut to: RANDALL's face, then fade to black)
SCENE 12 - SUREKILL OFFICE, 7.44 AM
(Outside ‘AAA-1 Surekill’ Office. TAMMI drives up, gets out and hurries in to her office. Unlocks desk drawer and takes out cashbox. Suddenly there's DWIGHT in the doorway with RANDALL behind him)
DWIGHT:
Hey, Tammi, you're in early.
(DWIGHT comes in and holds up keys)
DWIGHT:
Know you accidentally left your car running? You must have been in a real hurry to get in here to make the coffee. (Looks at cashbox) What you got there? Can I see? (Grabs cashbox)
DOGGETT Dwight Cooper? FBI!
(SCULLY and a police officer pass by the office door. DOGGETT enters)
DOGGETT:
Dwight Cooper. Warrant to search. Have someone read it to you.
DWIGHT:
What the hell are you looking for?
DOGGETT:
Evidence relating to the murder of Carlton Chase, at all. (Notices the cashbox) What's in the box?
DWIGHT:
You got me.
(DOGGETT takes the box)
DOGGETT:
What's the combination?
TAMMI:
I don't remember.
DOGGETT:
So much for the easy way.
(DOGGETT picks up a screwdriver and levers the box open. TAMMI looks scared, but it's empty - she looks shocked)
DWIGHT:
You owe me for that. You know, I run a clean business here. You're not going to find anything that's going to say otherwise.
(SCULLY enters office)
SCULLY:
I wouldn't be so sure. Can you explain these, Mr. Cooper?
(SCULLY is holding a pile of folders - they have ‘Chase Building’ written on them)
SCENE 13 - POLICE INTERVIEW ROOM
(DOGGETT is interviewing DWIGHT)
DOGGETT:
You want to tell me about these invoices?
(Cut to: SCULLY outside in the corridor looking through the window at them. Then she walks into the next interview room where RANDALL is seating)
SCULLY:
OK Randall? Let's talk about your exterminating company. There's just the three of you, right? You and your brother and Tammi Peyton?
(RANDALL just stares ahead)
SCULLY:
So, how is it that your little company billed over $700,000 to Chase Realty last year?
(RANDALL continues to stare)
SCULLY:
Seven hundred thousand. That's a lot of dead rats. I think that you and your brother and Carlton Chase were in a whole other business together.
(RANDALL shakes his head. SCULLY looks from RANDALL to the wall between this room and the one DWIGHT and DOGGETT are in. Cut to: other interview room)
DOGGETT:
You know, I gotta get into the bug business. I had no idea you could make so much dough killing things that creep around behind walls.
(DWIGHT glares at DOGGETT)
DOGGETT:
You are quite the entrepreneur.
DWIGHT:
I'm just a regular Joe. Providing a public service.
(DOGGETT smiles, DWIGHT smiles. Camera pulls back to RANDALL - showing what he sees - DWIGHT facing him, mouthing words)
SCULLY:
Randall?
RANDALL:
(Somewhat robotic) I'm just a regular Joe. Providing a public service.
(SCULLY looks at RANDALL then at the wall then back at RANDALL)
SCULLY:
Is that what your brother just said to Agent Doggett?
(SCULLY moves in front of RANDALL and looks closely at him)
SCULLY:
(Quietly, whispering at times) You know why I said that, don't you? Because somehow you can see through that wall. You can see your brother behind me and you can read his lips. I don't know what gives you the ability but I know how you use it. You shoot drug dealers from places where they can't see you and then you and Dwight rob them. That's how you make all that money, isn't it?
RANDALL:
No. We're exterminators.
SCULLY:
Yeah. You certainly are. And talking to you now, I think that the whole thing is Dwight's idea. It's time to be your own man, Randall. It's time to think for yourself.
(RANDALL reacts slightly to this. Cut to: Outer office. TAMMI, SCULLY and DOGGETT go into interview room 1. Cut to: outside. DWIGHT sits down next to RANDALL)
DWIGHT:
You tell them anything?
RANDALL:
No, I said what you said.
DWIGHT:
Well, we got a problem. It needs to be taken care of.
(Cut to: interview room with SCULLY, DOGGETT and TAMMI)
TAMMI:
I just keep the books.
DOGGETT:
You keep the books and a whole lot of blood money going through that office. Now, come on - we're supposed to believe you didn't know what was going on - the drug rip-offs, the murders?
TAMMI:
(Upset) I don't know about anything of that. DWIGHT doesn't tell me anything. I just book the cash receipts. I don't ask where they're from. I know not to ask.
SCULLY:
Look. Here's where I get confused and I am hoping that you can help me out. Carlton Chase.
DOGGETT:
We think Chase was Dwight's fence. He sold the drugs your boss stole. Together they had a good thing going, so why was CHASE killed? Seems like bad business.
SCULLY:
Unless the reason wasn't business.
(TAMMI looks at SCULLY)
SCULLY:
Unless it was personal.
TAMMI:
Am I under arrest?
(DOGGETT sighs, looks at SCULLY who shakes her head)
SCENE 14 - TAMMI'S APARTMENT
(Night. TAMMI returns and sees the shadow outside her window as before)
SCENE 15 - POLICE STATION
(SCULLY is sitting at a desk. DOGGETT enters and shows SCULLY a piece of paper)
DOGGETT:
Tammi Peyton's phone records. Found something interesting.
(SCULLY looks at the paper)
SCULLY:
Calls to Carlton Chase.
DOGGETT:
All of 'em late night. What you want to bet they weren't discussing escrow accounts.
SCENE 16 - TAMMI'S APARTMENT
(Corridor outside TAMMI's apartment - she goes into the next apartment door and sees RANDALL standing looking out the window. Cut t)
SCENE 17 - POLICE STATION
SCULLY:
So Dwight Cooper learns that something's going on between his girl friend and Carlton Chase.
DOGGETT:
And he kills him, or he orders him killed assuming Randall's the trigger man.
(SCULLY's and DOGGETT's dialogue continues over scene of RANDALL's apartment. TAMMI approaches him)
SCULLY:
Maybe not.
DOGGETT:
What do you mean?
SCULLY:
Maybe Dwight's not the one who's jealous.
(Cut to: TAMMI and RANDALL. RANDALL turns to look at TAMMI)
TAMMI:
I know it was you. You still need help Randall.
SCENE 18 - WORCESTER BUS STATION - 2:23 PM
(TAMMI's station wagon pulls up outside the bus station. TAMMI and RANDALL are sitting inside)
TAMMI:
Well I made a reservation for the three o'clock bus. You gonna wait for me? It's right over there: ‘The Big Sky Express’. Be back right after I get the money. I know you took that book to protect me from Dwight. (Pause) I need my book, Randall. I can't get my money without it.
(RANDALL draws book out from inside his jacket and gives it to TAMMI. TAMMI looks through it - it's a cash book with various sums, plus a key on string)
TAMMI:
I'll be back in half an hour, OK? I'll meet you by the bus.
(RANDALL looks uncertain)
TAMMI:
Randall, you know I'm coming back, you saved me from Carlton. I owe you.
(RANDALL starts to get out the car)
TAMMI:
Randall? I'll meet you by the bus.
(RANDALL gets out the car and TAMMI drives off. RANDALL wanders over to the bus)
SCENE 19 - TAMMI'S APARTMENT
(DOGGETT and SCULLY enter. )
SCULLY:
Clothes are gone. Tammi left in a hurry. Maybe she thought someone was after her.
DOGGETT:
If someone's after you, you don't pack, you leave with what you're wearing.
SCULLY:
You think she planned to go?
DOGGETT:
I do. The question is where.
(DOGGETT picks up TAMMI's phone)
SCULLY:
Who are you calling?
DOGGETT:
Whoever Tammi called last.
(DOGGETT picks up and ‘69’s the phone to get the last number dialled. It's an automated voice system for a bus company)
AUTOMATED MESSAGE:
Welcome to Concordia Bus Lines. Our menu options have changed. For Reservations, Press 1
SCENE 20 - CRADDOCK MARINE BANK
(Outside a branch of the ‘Craddock Marine Bank’. TAMMI leaves the bank carrying a large holdall. She gets in her car and is then surprised by DWIGHT in the back seat. He holds gun to her head)
DWIGHT:
Tammi.
TAMMI:
Dwight!
DWIGHT:
Is this what you had in your secret box? A safety deposit key. You certainly got a lot of my money in there.
TAMMI:
Dwight.
DWIGHT:
Shut up and drive! Drive!
SCENE 21 - BUS STATION
(The ‘Big Sky Express Bus’ leaves. RANDALL watches it from a distance then turns to leave. As he does so, 3 police cars arrive)
SCENE 22 - SUREKILL OFFICE
(Inside the ‘AAA-1 Surekill’ Office. DWIGHT is looking at TAMMI's cash book through a magnifying glass)
DWIGHT:
This is how you did it. You kept two sets of books. You've been ripping me off for months. There's $100,000 difference here. Explains why you were in such a hurry the other morning.
TAMMI:
Dwight!
DWIGHT:
Shut up! Randall should have killed you, not Chase. Or maybe you and Carlton were working together.
TAMMI:
It wasn't like that. When Carlton found out about the money he blackmailed me. He made me (Pause) do things.
DWIGHT:
Aww. I bet you put up a big fight. Now, wait a minute, if Carlton wasn't stealing from me then why did Randall kill him?
TAMMI:
Dwight. You don't understand.
DWIGHT:
No, no, no. I do understand. My brother was sweet on you. He killed Carlton because he knew what was going on between the two of you.
(DWIGHT grabs TAMMI and pushes her towards the door)
TAMMI:
No! No!
(RANDALL enters)
DWIGHT:
(To RANDALL) Where the hell you been? Mmm? I got something for you to do.
(DWIGHT drags TAMMI away)
DWIGHT:
Randall, get over here.
(DWIGHT pushes TAMMI into her office. He takes out a gun)
TAMMI:
Dwight, no!
DWIGHT:
(To RANDALL) Take it.
(DWIGHT puts the gun into RANDALL's hand)
DWIGHT:
She ripped us off, Randall, and you knew it.
TAMMI:
No, Randall.
DWIGHT:
What did you think? That the two of you were going to run off into the sunset together? She used you. Look at me, Randall. (He grabs RANDALL's face with his hand) I am the one who loves you. Not her. Not anybody else, because we're blood, that's thicker than anything. (He lets go of RANDALL) I'm going to walk away now. I'm going to think hard about how I can forgive you. (DWIGHT lights a cigarette) You know what you gotta do.
(DWIGHT walks out of the office)
TAMMI:
Randall. You're not going to do this.
(RANDALL winds cloth around gun)
TAMMI:
Randall. Please.
(RANDALL and TAMMI move around the office so RANDALL is now opposite the door)
TAMMI:
I was coming back for you.
(He continues wrapping the gun in the cloth)
RANDALL:
No, you weren't.
(RANDALL takes aim towards TAMMI)
TAMMI:
Randall! No!
(RANDALL fires. The camera follows the trajectory of bullet, through walls, outside, straight into DWIGHT's forehead. Cut to: RANDALL. He drops the gun. Fade to black)
SCENE 23 - POLICE STATION
(SCULLY looks through a window into the interview room where RANDALL is sitting)
DOGGETT:
(Standing with SCULLY) Agent, has he said anything?
SCULLY:
No. A County DA came in and he declined representation. Aside from that, he's been uncommunicative.
DOGGETT:
The A.P.B. on Tammi Peyton is a wash so far. The Bureau in Montana is on alert.
SCULLY:
(Contemplatively) He watched her every day. Wherever she was. A man who could look at anything in the world and he chooses her. He must have seen something in her that she could not see herself.
DOGGETT:
Well if you're suggesting he could see into her heart, Agent…
(SCULLY looks at DOGGETT)
DOGGETT:
…you are out of FBI territory on this one. (Pause) I'll be out front.
(Cut to: Interview room. The camera closes in on RANDALL. It then moves through the walls and any intervening objects to show what he's really looking at, in another room - a computer screen displaying TAMMI's photo and police record…)
[THE END]
Gillian Anderson (Special Agent Dana Scully), Robert Patrick (Special Agent John Doggett),
Mitch Pileggi (AD Skinner), Greg Boniface (Second Gangbanger), Michael Bowen (Dwight Cooper), James Franco (Second Officer), Noel Guglielmi (First Gangbanger), Tom Jourden (Carlton Chase), Patrick Kilpatrick (Randall Cooper), Joe Sabatino (Captain Al Tiguero), Ty Upshaw (First Officer), Kellie Waymire (Tammi Peyton)
Directed by Terrence O'Hara
TX:
US TX - 15th January 2001
Notes:
*Featuring Special Agent Dana Scully, Special Agent John Doggett and A.D. Walter Skinner
*’Surekill’ is the name of the extermination company featured in this episode.