- —四川最大高校综合门户网
7.8 磅 0 2 Cell FADE IN: A SPECK OF DUST Grains of sand dance in the wind. As we glide over a VAST DESERT, the speck of dust becomes a HORSE AND RIDER. CATHERINE YOUNG straddles the beautiful black animal, her
INT. CATHERINE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAWN
IN HER OWN BED, Catherine's eyes are open. In sharp contrast
to a typical
reaction to a nightmare, she remains calm. No
sweaty face, no gasp, no reaction at all, really. She might
as well have been dreaming of puppy dogs. Wide awake, her
eyes return their gaze to the ceiling.
CATHERINE
Go. To. Sleep.
INT. STARGHER HOUSE - BASEMENT - NIGHT
CHAINS attached to bizarre HOOKS dangle from the ceiling.
Admiring Anne's body, Stargher links the hooks to the rings
in his back. He presses a
remote unit and up in the rafters,
a series of GEARS click into motion. The sound is torturous
as the mechanical hoist LIFTS Stargher off the ground,
pulling at
the rings, strips of flesh rising.
Stargher
grimaces, but clearly he wants the pain, needs it. As the
hoist clicks into another gear, it carries Stargher over the
table until his body is perfectly positioned above Anne's.
In the flickering weird light of the television screen,
Stargher resembles something from the twisted imagination of
William Blake - a levitating demon ready to debauch an
innocent angel. With his
free hand, he touches himself,
chains clinking and swaying.
EXT. RIVER BANK - DAY
A railroad bridge and highway span an almost-bone-dry creek
bed. Gathered beneath the
overpass are the POLICE, CORONER,
CRIMINIALISTS, AND A LOCAL FBI.
A SEDAN travels down a
service road and stops nearby.
TWO MEN exit, identify
themselves as FBI and move to the crime scene.
Special Agent GORDON RAMSEY is well-groomed, prides himself
on professionalism, and follows the Bureau party line.
Special Agent PETER NOVAK is rough around the edges,
introspective, and intense.
A loner who marches to the tune
of a peculiar
drummer, he's unconventionally handsome with
probing eyes. He moves
slowly, observing the scene - the
world, for that matter - from a unique perspective.
As Ramsey finds the FBI's local liaison - AGENT COLE - Novak
oblivious to the people around him, touches dirt, smells the
air, and examines road, river, bridge and sky.
RAMSEY
Who found her?
Cole nods at a visibly shaken WORKMAN seated in a patrol car.
COLE
Surveyor for the railroad... 'Bout six
this morning.
Novak sees a FEMALE BODY wrapped in plastic and bound by
wire. Supervising the
examination of the woman is FBI
PATHOLOGIST DR. THEODORE "TEDDY" LEE, a polite, dapper
southern gentleman.
NOVAK
Thanks for waiting, Teddy.
Teddy gives Novak a friendly, respectful salute - "My
pleasure." Novak dons
gloves, nods to an FBI PHOTOGRAPHER
and assists Teddy Lee in snipping wire and peeling back thick
clear plastic. As the
photographer reacts to a strong smell,
Teddy comments.
TEDDY LEE
Bleach.
As the man snaps pictures, Ramsey and Cole join them. Sadly,
Novak recognizes the face.
NOVAK
Anne Marie Vicksey.
We recognize her, too.
COLE
She the one from Santa Cruz?
NOVAK
Just graduated law school.
Single mom.
Had a two-year-old daughter.
He and Teddy expose the bleached flesh of her torso, neither
man surprised. Coldly
thorough, Novak finds another of the
killer's tell-tale signs.
NOVAK (CONT'D)
(instructing the photographer)
The semen on her legs and abdomen.
FLASH! Photos are taken.
TEDDY LEE
Someone looking after her little girl?
NOVAK
Grandparents. Live over in
Davis.
Novak looks into the dead white eyes of Anne Vicksey, trying
to imagine the horrors she beheld.
He moves to the creek and
sees only a few inches of water.
His eyes move from the drop
site to the highway above.
TEDDY
LEE
The poor thing.
FLASH! We're up there now,
ON THE OVERPASS, with the
photographer and Novak, examining TIRE TRACKS in the soft
shoulder. Novak peers over
the edge at the crime scene,
steps back, and focuses on the highway - imagining the
killer's truck as it disappeared into the night.
EXT.
OFFICE PLAZA - DAY
A PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN, JULIA HICKSON, shares lunch with her
fiancee, JOHN TRACY. They
talk, laugh and kiss, not a care
in the world.
INT. PICK-UP TRUCK - ACROSS THE STREET - DAY
As TALK RADIO plays, Carl Stargher watches them, specifically
Julia, his eyes never off her for too long as his hands work
on something banal but unseen.
TALK RADIO HOST
...complaining about government
subsidies for farmers...
The voice on the radio becomes DISTORTED as we hear it
through Stargher's ears...
TALK RADIO HOST (CONT'D)
...but without subsidies, families will
starve, and I'm nodd
exagggeerrrrr....ayding.
Iff id werrrr
up tooooo meeeee.....
The host's voice fades into a guttural, monstrous groan.
TALK RADIO HOST (CONT'D)
Meeeee gawwwwwdd Caaaarrrrlll.
Mee god
cum...
(returning to normal)
Meeeee....wwuuuuuddunnnnttttt... be
spending billions on other countries
when we've got problems right here.
He opens his eyes and watches John kiss Julia goodbye as she
returns to work. Stargher
looks down and we see what he's
been working on - A TOY DOLL.
Female. Stripped of its
clothes, a single metal ring stuck through its plastic neck.
INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY
His lunch finished, Ramsey is on a cell-phone talking to his
wife. Chain-drinking coffee,
Novak scrutinizes photos of the
tire tracks.
RAMSEY
Well, honey, what's worse?
Doing it
yourself or asking your mother for help?
(gets his answer)
Can it wait 'til I get back/
(listens, answers)
I have no idea, Jeannie.
Novak checks his watch and the street. Clearly waiting for
someone or something.
RAMSEY (CONT'D)
Well all right. Good luck
with the
Monster. I love you too. Bye-bye.
Ramsey snaps shut the cell-phone.
RAMSEY
(CONT'D)
We call Jeannie's mother "The Monster"
because, well... she just is.
Novak is oblivious, pouring over tire-related info.
RAMSEY (CONT'D)
I know you could care less about my
personal life, Peter, but I do
appreciate the occasional, "How's your
wife, Gordon?"
He waits. Novak obliges:
NOVAK
How is she?
RAMSEY
Pregnant. Thanks for
asking.
Novak is distracted by Teddy Lee entering the diner.
NOVAK
Here he is.
RAMSEY
Damn, man, I give up. Your
partner
tells you his wife's gonna have a baby,
and all you care about is a coroner's
report!
Ramsey assesses the exhausted, lonely, intense man sitting
across from him.
RAMSEY (CONT'D)
I feel for those girls too, Pete.
And
their families. But it's
just a job.
Someday it'll be over. And
then what'll
you have?
Much to Novak's appreciation, Teddy Lee's arrival provides an
escape from answering the question.
TEDDY LEE
Hot off the presses.
He gives them copies of the AUTOPSY REPORT and FORENSIC
ANALYSIS of Anne Marie Vicksey.
The WAITRESS sees Teddy,
approaches, and offers a menu.
TEDDY LEE (CONT'D)
(doesn't need it)
Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes,
garden salad
with Thousand Island
dressing and an iced-tea.
Thank you
darlin'.
She nods and moves to the kitchen.
Novak and Ramsey flip
through the documents.
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 shit. 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.
