BLOOD TIES

by

Aaron Katz

Based on the New Yorker article by Nathan Heller

Automatik
June, 2020
SUPER OVER BLACK: 1984

INT. CROWN THEATER - NIGHT

Stop Making Sense, the Talking Heads concert film, flickers on the
screen.

University of Virginia STUDENTS watch from threadbare seats as

David Byrne dances around in his big suit.

LIZZY HAYSOM (20), sits alone. Wrapped in an oversized London Fog

trench coat, she’s mesmerized by the music’s inscrutable mix of
melancholy and fun.

JENS SOERING (19), black jeans and a baggy black sweater hanging
on his thin frame, slouches in the back row. He brushes back his
untidy hair and adjusts his glasses.

Jens gets up and moves down the aisle, wanting to get closer. He
finds a seat near the screen and settles in.

He glances over at Lizzy, her dirty blonde hair dimly radiant in

reflected light from the screen.

EXT. CROWN THEATER - NIGHT

It’s pouring rain.

Sheltering under the theater’s glowing marquee, Lizzy lights a

cigarette to delay the soaking she’s in for.

She takes a long drag, feeling the smoke counteract the cold
shiver that wants to run through her body.

She looks over at the other side of the entryway, where Jens
smokes a cigarette.

Jens feels Lizzy watching him.

They make eye contact for the first time.

EXT. THE VIRGINIAN - NIGHT

Rain comes down on the brick buildings of Charlottesville’s

University Ave. Inviting light spills out from the windows of The
Virginian, an old diner with wooden booths.

Inside, over cups of coffee and a big plate of fries, Lizzy and
Jens smoke cigarettes. Deep in conversation, their bodies lean
towards each other, drawn together as if by magnetic force.

We can’t hear them because we’re still outside in the rain.

 2.

INT. JENS’ DORM ROOM - DAY

Lizzy and Jens have sex on the top bunk.

She’s on top, contorting her body to fit in the cramped space

between the bed and the ceiling. It could be awkward, but instead
it crushes them together, intensifying their physical connection.

INT. JENS’ DORM ROOM - MINUTES LATER

Lizzy and Jens are naked in bed.

LIZZY
I’m really good at something. Want
to know what?

JENS
Okay. What?

He has just a hint of an unplaceable European accent.

LIZZY
I’m really good at making men fall
in love with me.

JENS
You’re really good at talking about
your other boyfriends.

LIZZY
They weren’t boys. They were men.

JENS
I see. Men.

LIZZY
And I wasn’t in love with them. I
cast my spell and made them love
me. So I could humiliate them.
Fucking men. All fucking men.

JENS
All fucking men?

LIZZY
You’re not included. You don’t feel
like a man.

JENS
Oh, thank you.

LIZZY
I mean that in a good way. You feel
like you. You’re not a man or a
woman or anything. You just...
 3.

JENS
No, I think you’re right. I’m
turning into something else. I feel
like I could be... Like a different
shape or a different... I’m using
all these parts of my brain that I
didn’t know were there, you know?

LIZZY
I totally know. I feel it too.

JENS
It’s like I’m really becoming
myself. Like I wasn’t who I should
be before and now I am. God, I feel
bad for the me before I knew you.
And for everyone else. I don’t
think normal people feel like this.

This makes sense to Lizzy like nothing ever has before.

LIZZY
You’re so fucking right.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, DINING ROOM - NIGHT

An electric carving knife slices through juicy turkey flesh.

It’s Thanksgiving at Loose Chippings, the suburban, colonial-

revival home of Lizzy’s parents. It’s the kind of place with
carpet vacuumed so recently you can see lines in it.

DEREK HAYSOM (early 60s) presides over the turkey on the

sideboard. He’s a sturdy, balding South African expatriate with
penetrating eyes.

NANCY HAYSOM (early 60s), buzzes out of the kitchen with the
mashed potatoes. In a crisp dress, it’s like the 1950s never ended
for her.

Lizzy carries in a basket of dinner rolls. With short hair and a

huge oxford shirt, she’s trying a new wave look.

Jens sets the table. Nancy notices how he’s placing the knives.

NANCY
This way, please.

Nancy turns a knife so it faces in the opposite direction. Derek

unplugs his carving knife and looks over at Lizzy.

DEREK
You’re wearing that for dinner?
 4.

LIZZY
Uh huh.

Nancy reaches out to feel Lizzy’s hips.

NANCY
You’re thin. Too thin.

Lizzy writhes away from Nancy, intercepting Derek’s platter of

turkey as he moves it to the table. She sets the platter on the
table, stealing a slice to chomp on.

NANCY (CONT’D)
(to Derek)
Isn’t she thin?

LIZZY
I’m eating right now. Look at me.
Jens, tell her I eat all the time.

JENS
She eats all the time.

DEREK
Young man, I can’t quite place your
accent.

JENS
I’m from Austria. Originally. But
I’ve moved around a lot. We had to
because of my father’s job.

DEREK
My father moved us around too.
What’s your father’s job?

JENS
I’m sorry, but I can’t say.
Honestly, I shouldn’t even be
telling you that his job is secret.

LIZZY
I think you’re supposed to say that
he “works in energy.”

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, LIZZY’S ROOM - NIGHT

The room is girlish, with a pink bedspread and ballet slippers

hanging on the wall.

Lizzy and Jens sit on her childhood desk passing a cigarette and
blowing the smoke out of the window.
 5.

LIZZY
You know, I don’t know what your
father actually does.

JENS
He’s a diplomat.

Lizzy gives him a look like, “Liar.”

JENS (CONT’D)
No, I’m being serious now. A low-
level diplomat at the German
consulate in Detroit.

LIZZY
What about Austria?

JENS
Sometimes I say Austria because it
sounds wealthier or something.

LIZZY
What about your mom?

JENS
She died of cancer. Long time ago.

LIZZY
God, I didn’t know. I’m sorry.

Jens shrugs. He notices little bruises on Lizzy’s arm.

JENS
(taking up her arm)
What’s this?

A knock comes at the door.

NANCY (O.S.)
Time to go to your own room, Jens.

LIZZY
(whispering in Jens’ ear)
She’s afraid we might fuck if you
stay in here.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, GUEST ROOM - MORNING

Morning sun streaks in. Jens is curled up in bed.

He would still be asleep, but coming from somewhere is a faint,

nerve-jangling sound of hammering.
 6.

I/E. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, GARAGE/DRIVEWAY - MORNING

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Lizzy hammers a nail into the desk she’s
building.

WHACK! WHACK! Her hammering is violent, angry.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! It feels like she might hurt herself.

Jens walks through the garage to where Lizzy is working in the

driveway. She doesn’t look up.

LIZZY
My father needs a desk for his
computer.

JENS
Can I help?

Lizzy gets a nail lined up. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

LIZZY
He says the juniper extract they
use in gin is a poison. It’s like
speed.

Jens doesn’t know what to make of this.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! She drives in another nail. Jens decides to

leave her alone.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Nancy, a tumbler of something that looks like gin in her hand,

tends the fireplace with a poker.

Jens walks in, exchanging a guarded, fleeting look with her.

Nancy knocks back a gulp from whatever is in her glass as she

watches Jens leave the room.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

A door stands slightly ajar.

Jens looks down the hall towards the living room. No sign of Nancy
or anyone else heading in this direction.

He pushes the door open.

Inside is a kind of artist’s studio. There are paints and brushes

and painted canvases leaning against the wall.
 7.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, ART STUDIO - MOMENTS LATER

Jens examines the amateurish paintings, all signed by Nancy

Haysom.

A forest.

A foot in a ballet slipper.

A nude woman’s torso. Or is it a girl’s torso?

A stack of Polaroids catches Jens’ attention. He picks it up.

He flips through flowers and landscapes.

Then: a fifteen-year-old Lizzy sitting nude on a stool.

What the fuck?

A dull thud, like something heavy dropping, comes from somewhere

in the house.

I/E. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, GARAGE/DRIVEWAY - SAME TIME

Lizzy sucks at her bleeding finger.

Looking around the garage for something to stop the flow, she
opens the bottom drawer of an old armoire. She finds some cut up
bits of t-shirts.

As she wraps a strip around her finger, she notices something at

the bottom of the drawer.

She clears away the t-shirt scraps and finds an old Frederick’s of
Hollywood box. On it, there’s an illustration of an alluring woman
from the 1960s.

EXT. KEMPER STREET STATION - NIGHT

Fog hangs in the air. Yellow haloes ooze from streetlights.

Derek pulls his Buick into the parking lot.

Jens and Lizzy rush to grab their luggage from the trunk.

Nancy hovers nearby.

NANCY
Before you go, I want to tell you
how much we love you. I don’t know
if we say that as much we should.

LIZZY
We have to go.
 8.

Nancy kisses Lizzy on the cheek.

Derek presses a twenty dollar bill into her hand. Lizzy kisses him
on the cheek and drags Jens away.

They trudge through the fog together, approaching the old brick
station.

Jens looks behind him, but Lizzy’s parents have already been
swallowed up by the fog.

SUPER OVER BLACK: 1985

EXT. SUBURBAN STREET - DAY

A bright spring day. Tulips in bloom. Birds chirping.

MABEL, CAROL, and LOUISE (all 60s), walk down the street towards
Loose Chippings.

Derek’s Buick is in the driveway.

The porch light is on.

EXT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS - MOMENTS LATER

Mabel presses the doorbell.

CAROL
They never do leave the porch light
on during the day unless they’re
not coming home until after dark.
But that doesn’t make sense because
this is our day for bridge. They
never forget about bridge.

LOUISE
And their car is here.

Mabel presses the doorbell again.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS - SAME TIME

The doorbell rings.

Everything is vacuumed and scrubbed and in its place.

Except for a splatter of blood on the living room carpet.

 9.

EXT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS - SAME TIME

Carol rifles through her purse.

CAROL
He gave it to me for emergencies
and I put it in the little zipper
pocket. Unless that was my other
purse...

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS - SAME TIME

The voices coming from outside sound distant.

Derek Haysom lies in a pool of blood on the dining room floor.

He’s been stabbed dozens of times.

In the kitchen, Nancy Haysom is sprawled out in a glistening red

slick of gore. Her throat has been slashed.

The violence done here is overwhelming, sickening.

The sound of a key turning intrudes on the silence.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, KITCHEN - DAY

The bodies have been taken away. Everything else remains.

REESE REZEK (30s) crouches on the periphery, pulling on white

gloves. Though dressed in an unassuming blazer and jeans, she has
an unnerving edge. Like there’s a spring coiled up inside her.

She gets up and looks around the kitchen.

There’s a cake on the counter. And a bowl of lumpy white liquid.

Maybe whipped cream that was left out.

Reese pulls a couple knives out of the knife block. They’re

spotless.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, ART STUDIO - DAY

Reese takes in Nancy’s bland, badly done forests and innocuous

ballet slippers. Do they have a menacing energy? Why should they?

Reese notices a cluster of Polaroids, facedown on the floor.

Crouching, Reese is about to flip them over when she hears voices
coming from the front of the house.
 10.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, DINING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

DANTE HERNÁNDEZ (early 30s), Reese’s partner, wears a suit, but no

tie. In contrast to Reese, he’s at ease in his body.

DAVE MCLEOD (50s) is an easygoing Bedford County sheriff.

Reese walks in.

DANTE
My colleague, Detective Rezek.

Reese takes one glove off to shake hands with McLeod.

MCLEOD
Dave McLeod. I was just telling
your partner how glad we are to
have some city cops up here with
real experience. I mean, we’ve had
a couple homicides in the county
before, but nothing like this.

REESE
Hm. Hey, what’s this place called?

MCLEOD
Called?

REESE
I saw a name outside. Like it was
an English country manor.

MCLEOD
Oh, yeah. Loose Chippings.

REESE
Loose Chippings. What’s that mean,
you think?

DANTE
I was about to ask if the family’s
been informed.

MCLEOD
Right. Okay. We’ve been in touch
with the daughter...

He takes out a notepad and consults it.

MCLEOD (CONT’D)
Elizabeth. She’s up at UVA. I
talked to her myself. I mean, over
the phone. That was the hardest
part of the whole thing.
 11.

As they talk, Reese looks at the sticky, half-dried blood where

Derek’s body used to be. In the blood is a partial tennis shoe
print and a smeared sockprint.

DANTE
Other family?

MCLEOD
Nobody close.

REESE
When is she coming up here?

MCLEOD
Who? Oh, the daughter? Well, I
didn’t ask her that. I guess I
didn’t think it was the right
moment, if you know what I mean. I
mean, the neighbors ID’d the bodies
so, in the circumstances, I didn’t
think we needed her right now.

REESE
In the circumstances, we need her
as soon as possible.

McLeod writes this down, nodding as if to say, “See, this is why

you guys are here.”

REESE (CONT’D)
And see if she has a boyfriend.

MCLEOD
Boyfriend?

REESE
Or girlfriend. Anyone like that.

INT. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY

Sounds of children at recess drift in from outside.

Reese, Dante, and McLeod clear away child-sized desks,

consolidating them into one corner.

SIERRA (19) knocks on the glass of the classroom door. You can
tell she usually has a goth look, but she’s awkwardly trying to
appear strait-laced for her police interview.

Reese gives her a sign like, “Wait just a minute.”

REESE
(to McLeod)
Who’s that?
 12.

MCLEOD
That’ll be the girl who called us
up. Far as I understand, she’s a
friend of Lizzy Haysom. Anyway,
seems she’s eager to tell us a
story. Something about Christmas.

INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - NIGHT

[We’ve gone back a few months in the past. It’s December, 1985.]

A Christmas party is in progress. Teenagers smoke joints and dance

to “Sensation” by Bryan Ferry.

Sierra has black lipstick and a Cocteau Twins shirt. She’s waiting
for the bathroom.

The bathroom door opens and Lizzy steps out, but freezes when she
spots Sierra.

Before Sierra knows what’s happening, Lizzy pulls her into the
bathroom.

INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE, BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS

Lizzy locks the door behind them.

SIERRA
I can’t do anything. My boyfriend’s
here.

LIZZY
Look. Look, look, look.

Lizzy wraps her arm around Sierra’s waist and directs her
attention to the mirror, where they make eye contact.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
What do you see?

Sierra is stumped by this question.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
I’m the devil. You’re the one with
black fucking lipstick, but I’m the
devil. And that makes you...
(dramatically whispering)
The sacrificial lamb.

Lizzy breaks eye contact in the mirror and looks to real-life

Sierra.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
Boo!!!
 13.

INT. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY

[We’re back in the present.]

Dante has a video camera going. He and McLeod interview Sierra.

Reese sits off to the side, listening intently.

DANTE
So you did have... relations with
Miss Haysom?

SIERRA
It was just the one time. I mean, I
hardly knew her. But I just thought
when I heard about, you know, that
I should tell you about what she
said to me.

REESE
Sorry to jump in here, but I’m kind
of a music fan. “Sensation” is a
great song, but I don’t think it
was out yet last Christmas.

SIERRA
Maybe it wasn’t “Sensation” then.
Maybe it was something else. But I
really thought I remembered it. I
mean, it’s a big part of the
memory. But it’s not important, is
it?

INT. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY, LATER

Dante puts a new tape in the video camera.

The classroom door is open like someone is expected to arrive at

any moment.

Reese catches Dante’s eye as McLeod leads Jens into the room.

Jens looks around. He has a bandage wrapped around his hand.

JENS
Should I sit?

No waver in his voice. For someone about to talk to the police,

he’s very confident. Almost weirdly so.

MCLEOD
Right here.

McLeod indicates a child’s desk/chair. Jens sits.

 14.

MCLEOD (CONT’D)
These are detectives Hernández and
Rezek. They’re up from Roanoke to
give us a hand. They’ll be asking
most of the questions.

JENS
Oh. Well, I have to tell you, I’m
happy to answer anything you want,
but I don’t know how I can help. I
mean, I want to help, but the main
thing I’m worried about is Lizzy.

DANTE
How’s she doing?

JENS
Honestly... She’s in bad shape.
Critical condition, emotionally.

DANTE
That’s why we’re glad you’re here.
Maybe you can just lay everything
out for us.

JENS
Everything what?

DANTE
About last weekend. It’s like this:
Something you don’t even know you
know could be important. So all you
need to do is take us through and
let us do the work.

Jens knows this friendly attitude is bullshit. Reese glances at

his bandaged hand.

REESE
Just start at the beginning. Start
with renting the car.

EXT. HERTZ LOT - DAY

[We’ve moved back in time to see events of the previous weekend

play out according to Jens.]

A hail storm is in progress. The sky is so dark that the yellow

Hertz sign glows like it’s twilight.

Jens and Lizzy dash through the onslaught towards a gray Chevette.
They pile in and slam the doors behind them.
 15.

INT. CHEVETTE - DAY

They inch along in excruciating Washington, D.C. traffic.

Suddenly, Jens peels out of traffic, onto the shoulder.

LIZZY
(shouting with joy)
Oh my god, what are you doing?

He zooms past all the suckers and swerves onto an exit ramp.

He slams on the brakes as they come up behind a truck.

JENS
I’m getting us out of traffic.

INT. MACARTHUR THEATER - NIGHT

The opening credits of Porky’s Revenge! play over a bawdy

graduation scene.

Lizzy sits down next to Jens with a pack of Red Vines.

Onscreen, a guy gets a boner under his graduation robe.

LIZZY
Look at this fucking guy. This guy
is every piece of shit I’ve ever
dated.

A MAN IN A BLUE SUIT turns around to shush them. As soon as he

turns back, Jens gives him the finger.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
(whispering)
That was Bush!

JENS
What?

LIZZY
George Bush! I’m telling you.

INT. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY

[We’re back in the present.]

Reese watches Jens closely, looking for signs of stress, but his
body is at ease.

DANTE
Hang on, what time was the movie?
 16.

JENS
I don’t know. Pretty late. But I
know it was over before midnight
because we stuck around for Rocky
Horror after that.

DANTE
What’d you do between getting to
D.C. and going to the movies?

JENS
Yeah, the thing is, it’s kind of
personal.

FLASH: Lizzy sticks her tongue in Jens’ mouth.

Jens recrosses his legs, resting his bandaged hand in plain view.

REESE
Hey, what happened to your hand?

Jens looks at his hand like he didn’t remember anything happened

to it.

He turns to Reese, making real eye contact with her.

JENS
I hurt it yesterday. I’m auditing
this machine tech class and...
Well, I guess that’s why I’m not
going to be a machinist.

INT. BLUE RIDGE ARMS, REESE’S ROOM - NIGHT

Reese kicks the door closed behind her.

She turns on the lamp and opens her suitcase.

She takes out a small framed picture and sets it up on the bedside
table.

The picture is of a man in a police lieutenant’s uniform. It’s in

black and white and looks pretty old.

Next, she gets out a little tape player. She sets it next to the
picture and presses play.

Sade’s Promise comes on.

Reese slips her shoes off and collapses on the bed.

She lets her head sink into the pillows and closes her eyes for
just a second.
 17.

INT. BLUE RIDGE ARMS, REESE’S ROOM - NIGHT, LATER

KNOCK! KNOCK! Someone’s at the door.

Reese wakes up, but takes a second to remember where she is.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Reese gets up and staggers to the door. She looks through the
peephole and then opens up.

Standing on the other side, Dante holds up a folder.

DANTE
Forensics.

Reese makes way to let him in. Dante hands her the folder.

Reese sits on the bed and opens the folder. Dante pulls a chair
over so he can see what she’s looking at.

REESE
(scanning over the pages)
Three blood types.

She flips through a few pages. Dante notices the little framed
photo on the bedside table.

DANTE
Who’s this guy?

REESE
My dad.

DANTE
You bring this everywhere?

REESE
Jesus.

DANTE
What?

REESE
Look at this blood alcohol on the
Haysoms. You see this?

She hands him the page.

REESE (CONT’D)
See that? What’s that tell us?

DANTE
They had a hell of a party.
 18.

REESE
Yeah...

DANTE
Okay. What do you think?

REESE
I think... I think regardless of a
“critical emotional condition,” we
need to talk to Elizabeth Haysom.

I/E. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PARKING LOT/CLASSROOM - DAY

A cab pulls up and drops Lizzy off.

She walks towards the front doors of the school, but stops,
looking unsure.

In the classroom, Reese knocks on the window to catch her

attention.

Through wavy glass, Reese and Lizzy make eye contact for the first
time.

Reese makes a hand gesture like, “Come inside and go around to the
right to find us.”

Lizzy nods and disappears into the building.

INT. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Reese looks down the empty corridor.

She hears footsteps approaching before she sees Lizzy come around
the corner and walk towards her.

REESE
You’re late.

Lizzy comes to a stop in front of Reese. They’re near the open

classroom door, but it feels like they’re alone.

REESE (CONT’D)
I’m Detective Rezek. You’ll meet my
colleagues in second.

LIZZY
Okay.

REESE
How are you holding up?

Lizzy shrugs.
 19.

INT. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY

We see Lizzy from the perspective of Dante’s video camera. The low
quality sound and image is unsettling, ghostly.

DANTE (O.S.)
Tell us about your weekend in D.C.

Lizzy shifts in her seat.

LIZZY
Didn’t Jens tell you?

REESE (O.S.)
We want to hear it from you.

LIZZY
I’m sorry... I’m just still... This
is really hard for me.

REESE (O.S.)
If it wasn’t important, we wouldn’t
put you through this.

Lizzy chews on that, trying to steady herself.

LIZZY
Well, okay... We just drove up and
goofed off. Fooled around in a
hotel room and...

REESE (O.S.)
Tell us about the hotel room.

Lizzy crinkles her nose.

LIZZY
Do you guys get off on hearing that
kind of stuff?

REESE (O.S.)
We’re not looking for details. Just
how long you were there. Anything
unusual you might remember.

Lizzy thinks about it. Is she deciding on details of a story?

Wondering what Jens said?

FLASH: The bristles of a Wite-Out brush streak along the surface

of a blurry Polaroid.

LIZZY
Well, first we went to this
restaurant.
 20.

INT. THE BRANCH LINE - NIGHT

[It’s the previous weekend. We’re seeing events according to

Lizzy.]

The place is jam-packed with train memorabilia. The centerpiece is

a real caboose.

Lizzy and Jens are in a booth.

The cover of the menus features an absurdly phallic train rushing

into a comically vaginal tunnel.

JENS
(holding up his menu)
Remind you of anything?

INT. GEORGETOWN MARRIOTT, ROOM 1017 - NIGHT

Jens flips cable channels. Lizzy peeks out from the bathroom.

LIZZY
Ready?

JENS
I still don’t know what I’m
supposed to be ready for.

Lizzy steps out of the bathroom. She’s wearing a 1960s Frederick’s

of Hollywood lingerie set in sheer blue and lace.

JENS (CONT’D)
What is it?

LIZZY
I think it was my mother’s from the
‘60s. Or it could have been my
father’s. I mean, isn’t it fucking
funny? Funny, but also strangely
making you want to fuck?

INT. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY

[We’re back in the present.]

LIZZY
After that we went to see a movie.
Police Academy. The second one.

REESE
You’re sure it wasn’t Porky’s?
 21.

LIZZY
You mean Porky’s Revenge? Is that
was Jens said?

Lizzy looks around for confirmation. Nobody gives her anything.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
No, you’re right. It was Porky’s.
We saw Police Academy in
Charlottesville. I mean, we see a
lot of movies. So anyway, after
Porky’s we saw Rocky Horror. At
midnight.

Dante let’s it hang for a second before moving on.

DANTE
What’d you do the rest of the
weekend?

FLASH: Lizzy wraps her wet hair in a towel.

LIZZY
I remember I took a bath. I love
taking baths in hotel rooms. And
then we drove back Sunday morning.

DANTE
That’s it?

LIZZY
(sarcastically)
Oh wait. This is important. As we
were leaving, we stopped at Beenie
Weenie. I had a hot dog. No chili.

Silence. Then rustling of papers.

REESE
So we’ve actually been in touch
with Hertz. And according to them
the car... Gray Chevette, right?

LIZZY
I guess so. I don’t really remember
what car it was.

REESE
Well, that’s what I have here. Gray
Chevette. Anyway, according to
them, it was driven 669 miles.
That’s about four hundred miles
more than a trip to D.C. would
take.

Reese pauses, but Lizzy doesn’t jump in with a response.

 22.

REESE(CONT’D)
Actually though, 669 miles is just
about right for Charlottesville to
D.C. to your folks place and back.

LIZZY
(after a moment)
I mean, they could be wrong about
those kind of things. Rental car
companies are a total scam, right?

REESE
Right...

LIZZY
We did get lost. I remember that.
But not four hundred miles lost.
You should talk to Jens about it.

INT. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WOMEN’S RESTROOM - DAY

Reese finishes washing her hands, but leaves the water running.

A stall door opens and Lizzy steps out. Reese turns the water off
as if she just finished with it.

REESE
I could give you a ride back to
Charlottesville.

LIZZY
I’ll take a cab.

REESE
That’s a pretty expensive ride.
Come on, I’ll take you back.

LIZZY
Is that allowed?

REESE
Sure. Why not?

INT. PLYMOUTH - DAY

Reese drives a police-issue Plymouth.

Lizzy pointedly stares away from Reese.

LIZZY
So I know you coppers don’t drive
your real cars. What do you really
drive? Can I guess?
 23.

Reese glances over at her.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
Shitty little Volkswagen Rabbit,
I’ll bet you anything.

REESE
So Jens... He’s been helping you
through all this?

LIZZY
Is this still part of the official
interview? I mean, whatever I say
can and will be used against me,
right?

REESE
Only if you have something to hide.

Lizzy smirks. Reese ignores it.

REESE (CONT’D)
So, let’s see, if you and Jens have
been together since October, that
makes it... six months more or
less. That’s a long time at your
age.

LIZZY
I’m not young. I mean, I don’t care
about age. Like, how about how long
have you and your partner been
together? I guess a year maybe
because you like each other, but
you haven’t... Have you?

Lizzy rests her chin on her hand, making a show of leering

interest. Glancing over, Reese notices Wite-Out painted on one
fingernail.

REESE
Run out of nail polish?

It takes Lizzy a second to figure out what Reese is talking about.

Then she looks at her nail.

LIZZY
Oh, it’s my brand. It’s called Wite-
Out. W-I-T-E-O-U-T. Madonna does
it. I do it. You should try it.

REESE
If you’re trying to make me sorry I
offered you a ride...
 24.

LIZZY
Is it working?

INT. UVA MACHINE SHOP - DAY

A saw blade rips through a piece of wood. STUDENTS work at various

machines.

The professor, MR. DOUGDALE, leads Reese towards a band saw that
looks like it’s from the WPA era.

DOUGDALE
(yelling over the noise)
Happened at this machine.

REESE
It doesn’t have an automatic shut
off or--

DOUGDALE
No, no, these are your basic good
old dangerous type machines. But I
still don’t know how he did it.

REESE
When he came in on Monday, could
his hand have already been injured?

DOUGDALE
You mean, somehow that’s what
caused the accident?

Reese steers Dougdale away from his students.

REESE
Could Jens have done it on purpose?

Dougdale shakes his head like, “No way.”

REESE (CONT’D)
I know you can’t really believe it,
but--

DOUGDALE
Honestly, I have no idea what any
of these kids have going on in
their heads. So...

He shrugs.

INT. CAPTAIN ELLIS’ OFFICE - DAY

Lizzy’s interview plays on a television.

 25.

LIZZY
We did get lost. I remember that.
But not four hundred miles lost.
You should talk to Jens about it.

Dante pauses the tape. Lizzy’s frozen image jitters on the screen.

Reese turns to CAPTAIN ELLIS, an avuncular man with graying hair.

REESE
We’re talking to the boyfriend
again tomorrow. And I want to have
his hand examined.

ELLIS
Where’s that put us? Is he your
suspect? You’re not telling me the
daughter’s a suspect, are you?

DANTE
We’re also looking into some other
stabbings along the 81 corridor.
Seeing if there could be a
connection, but...

REESE
Derek Haysom was stabbed to death.
When he died, his attacker kept
stabbing him. More than thirty
times in all. Nancy Haysom was
stabbed at least six times. Her
throat was cut. We have no forced
entry. No robbery.

ELLIS
So.

REESE
So we’re looking for someone close
to the Haysoms. And as far as we
can tell there’s aren’t a hell of a
lot of options. Now, do I think a
suburban, all-American girl like
Elizabeth Haysom could do something
like that? Do I think he boyfriend
might have done it? Well, it
doesn’t sound very likely, but--

ELLIS
You sold me, it doesn’t sound very
likely.

But hearing Ellis say it, Reese knows he’s wrong.

REESE
They’re going to bolt.
 26.

ELLIS
What?

REESE
I’m telling you, they’re--

EXT. UVA DORMS - DAY

Three cars pull up in front of the dorms: a CAMPUS POLICEMAN in

his cruiser, McLeod in his Sheriff’s Department SUV, Reese and
Dante in their police-issue Plymouth.

INT. JENS’ DORM ROOM - DAY

McLeod opens dresser drawers. Dante checks the wastebasket.

MCLEOD
Clothes are gone.

Reese picks up a note on the desk.

DANTE
(to Reese)
What is that?

REESE
He left us a note. Shit. Wait, pick
up the phone. Hit redial.

Dante picks up the phone and presses the redial button. After a
ring, someone picks up.

AMTRAK AGENT (V.O.)

(over the phone)
Tracks are back. This is Amtrak,
how can I help you?

INT. AMTRAK TRAIN - DAY

The train is stopped at Charlottesville’s Union Station.

PASSENGERS check their watches, waiting for the train to close its
doors and get going.

Reese gets on at the back, a walkie-talkie in hand.

REESE
(into the walkie)
I’m on.

DANTE (V.O.)
(over the walkie)
Me too. See anything?
 27.

Reese looks out the window into a train on the opposite track
where she sees Dante searching for Lizzy and Jens.

REESE
Nothing yet.

MCLEOD (V.O.)
(over the walkie)
Nothing in the station.

Reese makes her way through the coach car, looking at faces.

She gets to the end of the car and goes through the door.

She checks the bathroom. Nothing.

She leans out the open door to the platform, looking along the
side of the train. The STATION DISPATCHER blows his whistle.

Reese ducks back into the train.

STATION DISPATCHER (O.S.)

All aboard, all aboard!

Reese moves to the next car. She looks at faces, quickly and
methodically.

She freezes.

She’s right behind Lizzy and Jens. They’re in a seat facing away
from her.

They haven’t seen her.

Reese slides into the empty seat behind them.

The train lurches and begins to move.

Reese looks to the other train, where Dante brings his walkie to
his mouth. Moving fast, she turns hers off before Dante’s voice
comes through.

LIZZY (O.S.)
I feel like I should be nervous.
Like in a movie waiting for a plane
to take off and the Nazis are after
you.

Just inches behind them, Reese listens.

JENS (O.S.)
Don’t be nervous.
 28.

LIZZY (O.S.)
I’m not. It’s like I know this path
and it’s dark, but I’m so sure
where I’m going, it doesn’t matter.

JENS (O.S.)
Like our brains are ready for it.

LIZZY (O.S.)
Yes. Oh my god, It’s sick how much
I love you.

GERALD, the ticket collector, steps onto the back of the car.

GERALD
Tickets, please! Tickets out!

Reese hears the clicks of Gerald punching tickets behind her. She
pulls out a notepad and scrawls something down.

As Gerald approaches, she gets out her badge and puts a finger
over her mouth. He’s puzzled, but understands that he’s supposed
to keep quiet.

Reese shows him the note. It says, “Where are they going?” An
arrow points at the seat in front of her.

Gerlald nods. Moving on, he takes tickets from Lizzy and punches
them.

GERALD (CONT’D)
Alexandria. You kids going to the
Washington Memorial?

EXT. ALEXANDRIA UNION STATION, PLATFORM - DAY

Lizzy and Jens disembark from the train with dozens of other
passengers.

Reese slips off behind them. She spots LIEUTENANT HARDING, a

uniformed Alexandria policeman. She jogs up to him holding her
badge.

LIEUTENANT HARDING
Lieutenant Harding. You’re Rezek?

REESE
That’s me. Come on. Let’s pick
these guys up. You got the doors
covered?

LIEUTENANT HARDING
Just like you said.
 29.

They weave through knots of slow-moving travelers, losing sight of

Lizzy and Jens as they duck inside.

The walkie on Harding’s belt crackles.

ALEXANDRIA POLICEMAN (V.O.)

(over the walkie)
Nothing at south door, over.

INT. ALEXANDRIA UNION STATION - MOMENTS LATER

It’s very busy. Jens hustles Lizzy around a luggage cart.

JENS
Don’t look behind you.

LIZZY
What?

Jens yanks them into a luggage room off to the side.

Across the lobby, Reese hasn’t spotted them.

REESE
(into her walkie)
Does someone have them?

ALEXANDRIA POLICEMAN (V.O.)

Still nothing here, over.

Reese picks an exit door and heads for it.

CAPTAIN KNOX (V.O.)

(over the walkie)
This is Captain Knox, Alexandria
Transit PD. Everyone stand down.
Repeat, stand down.

Reese spots CAPTAIN KNOX near the door with two OFFICERS.

REESE
Hey! I’ve got fugitives here.

CAPTAIN KNOX
Okay, listen up sweetie, this is my
jurisdiction. A busy transit hub.
Now, I don’t know who you are, but
I certainly can’t have you running
all over my--

REESE
I radioed from the train. I spoke
with--
 30.

LIEUTENANT HARDING
Sir, she spoke with me.

CAPTAIN KNOX
That’s nice, but we’ve got a
process here. Last time I checked,
you’re city, I’m transit so--

Reese turns away from Knox. She looks around the station is
desperation. Could they still be here? Where the fuck are they?

CAPTAIN KNOX (CONT’D)

Don’t you walk away from me. Hey!

Jens and Elizabeth risk a peek out from the luggage room. Seeing
Reese distracted by Captain Knox, they make a dash for a side
door.

EXT. ALEXANDRIA UNION STATION - MOMENTS LATER

Jens and Elizabeth pile into a taxi.

JENS
Dulles.

The DRIVER nods. The taxi pulls away.

DANTE (V.O.)
(reading from Jens’ note)
“Dear Officers Rezek and
Hernández...”

BEGIN MONTAGE:

- Reese unlocks the door of the police evidence warehouse.

DANTE (V.O.)
“I assume you will be very excited
by now and get all the wrong
ideas.”

- Reese and Dante file evidence boxes in rolling stacks.

DANTE (V.O.)
“My advice is to continue your
investigation as before;
undoubtedly you will find whom you
are looking for.”

- Reese parks her Volkswagen Rabbit in her driveway. She turns the
engine off, but doesn’t get out.
 31.

DANTE (V.O.)
“As for me? From what Liz has told
me of what you discovered at her
parents’ house, I can only say that
I am incapable of such a thing.”

END MONTAGE.

INT. REESE’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Really, it’s a converted garage. A kitchenette/living/dining room

all in one.

Two framed boxing posters lean against the wall.

Dante sits at the table reading aloud from Jens’ note (which is
sealed in a Ziploc evidence bag).

DANTE
“You will have to take my word for
it. We are not coming back. Jens.”

He puts down the note. Reese brings over a pizza box and gets
beers out of the fridge.

REESE
You believe him that time?

DANTE
This is a twenty-year-old kid we’re
talking about. He’s just trying to
fuck with us.

Dante holds his beer up to “cheers.”

DANTE (CONT’D)
To getting fucked with.

Reese clinks, but she’s not happy.

DANTE (CONT’D)
Nobody thinks this is our fault.

Dante opens the pizza box and takes a slice.

DANTE (CONT’D)
And you get to say, I told you so.

INT. ROANOKE POLICE DEPARTMENT, DETECTIVES BULLPEN - DAY

FIELDING, a brash detective with a full head of hair, pours

himself a cup of coffee. Reese waits for her turn.
 32.

Fielding reaches out and touches Reese’s arm.

FIELDING
How do you take it?

REESE
Thanks Fielding, I’ll get my own.

Fielding watches Reese pour herself a cup.

FIELDING
I don’t think it would set the
women’s movement back too far if
you let me pour you--

REESE
I just like to get my own.

Fielding leans in, confidentially.

FIELDING
Just to let you know, that shirt
shows a lot.

She involuntarily glances at her shirt. Can he see my bra? Or--

FIELDING (CONT’D)
I just thought you should know. So,
you know, just in case you care.

Turning away, he makes a face like, “Sorry to break it to you.”

Reese goes to her paper strewn desk. It’s a normal shirt. Why
would he say that?

She sets down the coffee next to the picture of her father. Before
she can do anything else, Captain Ellis spots her through his
office window.

He motions her over.

Reese grabs her blazer from the back of her desk chair.

INT. CAPTAIN ELLIS’ OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER

Reese steps in, still getting her blazer situated.

REESE
I’ll have our report on your desk
by the end of the day.

ELLIS
That’s not what I wanted to talk
about.
 33.

Now Reese is worried. She sits down.

ELLIS (CONT’D)
You know we’re taking some heat on
this. In the press. From the higher-
ups.

Ellis studies her. Reese starts wondering if she’s supposed to say

something.

ELLIS (CONT’D)
Have you heard about this joint
task force we’re putting together
with the DEA?

Reese isn’t following.

ELLIS (CONT’D)
I’m getting ahead of myself. What
I’m saying is, I’m transferring you
to that task force. You’ll be in
the field and you’ll serve as my
liaison officer.

It takes her a second to realize, but this is a demotion. Bullshit

work.

REESE
To get me out of sight.

ELLIS
Yes, if you want the truth.

REESE
As punishment for being right.

ELLIS
No, not as punishment. Don’t think
of it like that. They bolted and
you warned me. And those transit
cops fucked us.

REESE
Right. They fucked us. If they had
cooperated--

ELLIS
Okay. We both know that. But how it
looks... Part of my job is to
manage that.

REESE
Just tell the truth.
 34.

ELLIS
They wanted me to let you go, okay?
I told them the truth, but the way
they see it is you fucked this up.

That hits Reese hard.

ELLIS (CONT’D)
So this DEA thing was my last
option. I know you’re pissed, but
please just keep your head down.

INT. EUROPCAR OFFICE (CHARLES DE GAULLE LOCATION) - DAY

Jens and Lizzy stand at the counter. CEDRIC, the Europcar manager,
tries to explain something.

CEDRIC
Yes, but there is a problem. Even
if you pay cash, we need a credit
card on file.

Jens digs in his wallet and comes up with a credit card.

JENS
How’s this? This is my mother’s
card, but I’m able to sign for it.

EXT. EUROPCAR LOT - DAY

Lizzy watches a jet fly directly overhead.

Jens opens the trunk of a yellow Saab and throws in their luggage.

LIZZY
Isn’t your mother dead? You told me
she died of cancer.

Jens looks over at her guiltily.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
She’s not dead?

BEGIN MONTAGE:

- Reese puts on bright red lipstick and thick black eyeliner.

- A DEA AGENT tapes a wire and microphone to Reese’s chest. He

runs the wire up and over her shoulder.

- DEA AGENTS in a van listen to Reese in conversation with a SMALL-

TIME COKE DEALER.
 35.

- Reese (surprisingly believable as a hardcore punk girl in ripped

tights and an oversized Bad Brains shirt) scores coke in the
graffitied bathroom of a bar.

- In a strip mall parking lot, Reese scores coke from an

INTIMIDATING DEALER in a run-down tour van.

- Reese, in her punk getup, rides up in a rickety, caged elevator.

It jolts to a stop on the third floor of an apartment building.

END MONTAGE.

INT. APARTMENT BUILDING 3RD FLOOR - MOMENTS LATER

Thumping sounds of an obscure hardcore band come from apartment

3C.

Reese takes a focusing breath and bangs on the door.

She cocks her ear as she waits for an answer, but can’t hear
anything except music.

She bangs on the door again.

LANCE SLOANE (19) unlocks the door and opens it. He’s wearing a
cutoff Ford/Dole ‘76 shirt.

With no greeting, he leads her inside.

INT. APARTMENT 3C - CONTINUOUS

Reese follows Lance into the living room. The black-painted walls
are covered with hardcore posters and snapshots. The music is
deafening.

LANCE
(yelling)
Wait here!

Lance disappears down a hallway.

Reese looks over at OSCAR DOYLE (early 20s), a longhaired kid

smoking a joint on the couch.

DOYLE
You a narc?

REESE
Oh, fuck yes! Are you?

Doyle takes a long hit of his joint, bobbing his head along with a
relentless drum solo. He holds the joint out to Reese.
 36.

She hesitates a fraction of a second, probably not enough for

Doyle to notice, before accepting it.

She takes a casual hit.

DOYLE
(indicating the music)
This is my shit!

REESE
This is you?

DOYLE
Fuck yeah, fuck yeah, fuck yeah!
You like it?

Reese exhales and hands the joint back to Doyle.

REESE
Maybe.

Doyle leaps up from the couch. He points out pictures of his band
on the wall.

DOYLE
Here’s me. And that’s everyone.
We’re called All Against One.

Reese goes cold as she notices another picture.

It’s Lizzy.

She’s standing next to Doyle, stuffing a 7-Eleven employee of the

month plaque into her jacket. She’s looks different. Like a
teenage delinquent. Maybe a junkie.

REESE
Who’s this?

DOYLE
Oh, fuck her. Some junkie. Owes me
a hundred dollars.

REESE
Why don’t you collect?

DOYLE
You really want to know?

Underplay it. You don’t give a shit. Reese shrugs. Doyle turns
down the music.

DOYLE (CONT’D)
She and her little German numbnuts
boyfriend chopped up her parents.
(MORE)
 37.
DOYLE (CONT’D)
And the pigs were too stupid to nab
them before they skipped town.

REESE
Bullshit.

DOYLE
No, serious. Those people up in
wherever the fuck. Chopped up. That
was her and the German fucker who
did it. And what I heard was--

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, GARAGE - NIGHT

[It’s the night of the murders, as Doyle imagines it.]

Lizzy and Jens crawl in through a window. They each have a knife.

They steal across the garage to the kitchen door.

Lizzy cracks it. Nobody there. Voices come from some other room.

Jens is nervous. Ready to call the whole thing off.

Lizzy kisses him deeply. Sexually. Pleadingly. She pulls back and
looks into his eyes.

LIZZY
For me, Jens. Listen to me. For us.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Derek and Nancy are dead on the floor.

Jens clutches a bloody knife. He can’t catch his breath.

Lizzy looms over her mother. She’s holding her knife, but it’s
clean.

She takes a deep breath and then sticks her knife in between her
mother’s ribs.

INT. APARTMENT 3C - DAY

[We’re back in the present.]

DOYLE
She didn’t do shit until they were
dead. That way, see, listen to
this: Her boyfriend did the murders
and all she did was stick some dead
people. I fucking swear you
couldn’t make this shit up.
 38.

INT. ROANOKE POLICE DEPARTMENT, DETECTIVES BULLPEN - DAY

At her desk, Reese waits on the phone. Incongruously, she’s still

in her punk outfit.

Fielding walks by with a cup of coffee in hand.

FIELDING
I like the look.

Reese flips him off.

FIELDING (CONT’D)
Oh good. Very authentic. You know,
I heard punk chicks’ll suck dick
for a gram of coke. What do you
think?

A SLOVENIAN OFFICIAL comes on the line.

SLOVENIAN OFFICIAL (V.O.)

(over the phone)
Dober dan.

Fielding rolls his eyes and drifts away.

REESE
Dober dan, hello. I’m hoping for
someone who can speak English.

Across the bullpen, Dante spots Reese on the phone. He approaches

her just as she’s wrapping up her call.

Reese hangs up the phone and looks up at Dante.

DANTE
What was that?

Reese shrugs like, “Nothing.” Dante takes a seat.

REESE
I’m putting irons in the fire.

Dante scoots in for a clandestine talk. Reese thinks about

pretending she doesn’t care that much. But she can’t do it.

REESE (CONT’D)
Soering used his mother’s credit
card once. To rent a car near
Charles de Gaulle. Yellow Saab. As
far as I can tell, they never
returned it.

DANTE
Plates?
 39.

REESE
I’ve got them, but the only thing
I’ve been able to pick up is they
left France two weeks ago. Heading
into Italy. After that, nothing.

Dante notices a motley pile of correspondence on her desk.

DANTE
What’s all this?

REESE
“Tips.”

She picks up an envelope and hands it to Dante.

REESE (CONT’D)
(sarcastically)
This one has a picture of the guy
who really did it.

Dante pulls a newspaper clipping out of the envelope. It’s a

picture of Jens, his features crudely altered with a Sharpie to
make his hair longer.

EXT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS - DAY

Reese parks her VW across the road from the house. She’s dressed
like herself again.

She opens her glove compartment and takes out a pocket-sized lock-
picking kit.

EXT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS - A MINUTE LATER

A sign on the front door reads:

DO NOT ENTER
By Order of
Bedford County Sheriff

Reese uses tools from her kit to pick the lock. She glances over
her shoulder, but nobody’s watching her.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, DINING ROOM - DAY

The place is frozen in time.

Reese looks at the same blood stains she’s seen before. The same
smeared sockprint.
 40.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, KITCHEN - DAY

A terrible smell hangs over the room. It’s from rotting whipped
cream in the bowl on the counter.

Reese covers her nose and mouth with her hand. Why am I here?

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, ART STUDIO - DAY

The art studio is the same too. Nothing touched for weeks.

The jumble of Polaroids is still facedown on the floor.

Crouching, she flips the helter-skelter pile.

Just some snapshots of flowers and landscapes.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, ELIZABETH’S ROOM - DAY

Reese takes in the thick atmosphere of the room. She opens the
window. In the process, she knocks over a cup of pens on the desk.

A few pens roll off and go behind the desk.

Reese reaches into the gap between the desk and the wall. She
pulls out the pens and then feels something else.

Sensing it could be important, Reese uses a pen rather than her

fingers to coax it out.

It’s a blurry Polaroid, half obscured by Wite-Out. The half you

can see is a naked woman’s chest and hips. Is it Lizzy?

INT. DEA HEADQUARTERS, SHARON HUGHES’ OFFICE - DAY

In the colorless government office, Reese sits across a desk from

SHARON HUGHES (40s). Raspy voice, salty vernacular, crisp
pantsuit, Dolly Parton hair. You don’t want to fuck with this
woman.

They each have copies of the same report in their hands.

REESE
Turn to page eight. You’ll have
read the report, of course. But I
wanted to direct your attention
to... to...

Reese scans page eight. What was I trying to...?

HUGHES
You got a hot date or something?
 41.

REESE
No, I--

HUGHES
Where’s your head at?

REESE
Here.

HUGHES
Fuck wrong.

Hughes looks Reese over for an uncomfortably long time.

HUGHES (CONT’D)
Play along with me for a second,
okay? Where are you from, Rezek?
What kind of background? What kind
of family?

Reese would rather not get into this personal stuff, but...

REESE
My dad was a cop. He died before I
was born.

HUGHES
My dad was a cop too. Pretty much
every man I knew was in law
enforcement somehow. But I’m the
first woman in my family to do it.

REESE
Yeah. Me too.

HUGHES
Okay. Good. So take a squint around
when you leave. I’m deadly fucking
serious. Go ahead and count how
many women you see. And I’m not
talking secretaries. I’m talking
people with offices.

REESE
I know.

HUGHES
I’ll give you a hint. You’ll only
need one hand. You can do whatever
you want with the other one.

REESE
No, I mean, I really know. I do.
I’m not here to fuck up or waste
your time.
(MORE)
 42.
REESE (CONT'D)
But if you want to know the truth I
can’t get my mind off a case. A
homicide case.

HUGHES
I need you here. Brain, brawn, tits
and all. Now are you here for me?

INT. GEORGETOWN MARRIOTT, ROOM 1017 - NIGHT

Reese surveys the room where Lizzy and Jens stayed the weekend of
the murders.

Impersonal furniture. Hotel art. Nothing to reveal anything about

past occupants.

She opens her suitcase, pulls out the picture of her dad, and sets
it on the bedside table.

She pulls out her tape player and puts on Grace Jones.

INT. GEORGETOWN MARRIOTT, ROOM 1017 - NIGHT, LATER

In the bathroom, paper-wrapped soaps are in place. The towels are

folded just so.

Grace Jones is still going.

Reese reaches into the shower and turns on the water.

She broods, feeling just short of connecting across the chasm of

time to the night when Lizzy and Jens were here.

RING! The tension snaps. It’s the phone in the other room.

RING! Reese shuts off the shower.

RING! She moves to the other room and turns off Grace Jones.

REESE
(picking up the phone)
Hello?

ELLIS (V.O.)
(over the phone)
You’ve been making some interesting
calls on the department’s dime.
Quite an international list you’ve
got going. Italy, Hungary,
Yugoslavia... shall I go on?
 43.

REESE
It’s our only shot at Soering and
Haysom. I know I should have gotten
it approved.

ELLIS (V.O.)
Hernández approved it. I’m calling
because it looks like you hit
something.

REESE
Hit something?

ELLIS (V.O.)
Yellow Saab, French plates. Sound
familiar?

EXT. TRIESTE BACK ALLEY - NIGHT

Posters in Italian are plastered on the alley’s stucco walls.

A yellow Saab is parked halfway on the narrow sidewalk.

Around a bend, the opposite end of the alley emerges onto a busy
thoroughfare.

EXT. TRIESTE THOROUGHFARE - CONTINUOUS

A garish neon sign over the doorway to a club reads, “Pianeta

Obscuro.”

INT. PIANETA OBSCURO - NIGHT

Mai Tai’s buoyant, disco-inflected club hit “History” booms out

onto the dance floor.

DANCERS and DRINKERS, all young and mostly high, are packed into
the neon-lit, mirror-walled space.

Jens stands at the bar. In jeans and a geometrically-patterned

shirt, he’s got something approaching swagger.

The BARTENDER slides two vodka sodas across to him.

Jens picks them up and turns to force his way through the sweating
crowd on the dance floor.

He gets to where he expects to find Lizzy, but she isn’t there. He

peers around, trying not to spill the drinks.

The song ends and the dancing slackens.

Lizzy parts ways with a MOD GIRL.

 44.

Lizzy has bright red hair and a shimmery top. She’s confident,
invigorated by the club and being on the run.

JENS
I was looking for you!

Startled, Lizzy turns to him.

ELIZABETH JENS (CONT'D)

Well, here I am! We can’t do that.

LIZZY
What?

JENS
We can’t lose each other and you
can’t dance with other people. Even
girls.

INT. PIANETA OBSCURO, FRONT VESTIBULE - SAME TIME

ENZO ALFONSI (30s), a local police detective, shows the BOUNCER

his badge.

The bouncer glances at Reese and Dante before waving them all
through.

INT. PIANETA OBSCURO - MOMENTS LATER

Overwhelmed by the flashing lights and silhouetted knots of

bodies, Reese loses track of Dante and Alfonsi.

It’s hard to imagine finding anybody in here.

ALFONSI
(handing Reese a beer)
This way, you blend in, yes?

Reese glances at Dante, who also has a beer.

ALFONSI (CONT’D)
Come on.

Alfonsi leads them through the crowd. They inch past the bar and
along the back wall.

They go up a set of steps to a low platform, where the DJ presides

over turntables.

Alfonsi leans over to the DJ, whom he seems to know, and whispers
in his ear.

Turning back to Reese and Dante, Alfonsi guides them to the other
side of the platform.
 45.

They have a perfect view of the crowd.

Reese scans the sea of faces, drenched in sweat and flashing

lights.

Deep in the crowd, Lizzy dances with Jens like nothing else
matters. For an instant, for no reason at all, she opens her eyes
and glances up at the DJ.

Her overheated body goes ice cold, as pink light flashes on

Reese’s face.

Drawn by her eyes, Reese spots Lizzy. They hold eye contact. It
only lasts a second or two, but it feels longer.

LIZZY
(shouting at Jens)
We have to go!

Lizzy yanks his arm, dragging him into the crowd.

Up on the DJ platform, Reese grabs Dante’s arm and points to where

Lizzy was a moment before.

REESE
There!

Reese leads the way down the stairs.

She pushes into the crowd on the dance floor, her sense of
direction thrown off by the lights and noise.

Moving by instinct, she forces her way past a group of BODY-

PAINTED MEN AND WOMEN.

Emerging from the thickest snarl of the crowd, Reese steals a look
behind her.

Dante and Alfonsi aren’t there.

No time to think about that. Which way did Lizzy and Jens go?

Past the bathrooms, a closing service door catches Reese’s eye.

She sprints down the hallway, past a WOMAN VOMITING ON THE FLOOR,
and rips open the service door.

INT. ANCIENT PASSAGEWAY - CONTINUOUS

Disorienting aftereffects of the music ring in Reese’s ears.

At the end of the cave-like passageway, Lizzy and Jens disappear

up a set of stone steps.
 46.

Reese flies down the corridor, past crates of alcohol and San
Pellegrino.

She climbs the steps and finds a closed metal hatch directly above
her. She heaves it open and springs through it.

EXT. TRIESTE BACK ALLEY - CONTINUOUS

Reese has no clue which way to go. It’s happening again. She’s
losing them.

She chooses a direction at random.

She comes around a corner and finds POLICE IMPOUND OFFICERS

hitching the yellow Saab to a tow-truck.

Making the snap decision to double back, Reese retraces her steps
and emerges on the other end of the alley.

EXT. TRIESTE THOROUGHFARE - CONTINUOUS

PEDESTRIANS crowd the sidewalks.

Reese looks around. Pick a direction.

She glances behind her, hoping to see Dante or Alfonsi, but she’s
alone.

Reese looks down the street, towards a busy square.

A block ahead, a couple walks casually away. It’s them. It has to

be.

Reese dodges around a group of SMOKING TEENAGERS.

The couple steps into the square. For a second, Reese loses them.

She picks up the pace as she catches sight of the couple again. It
has to be them, right?

The couple turns and Reese sees their faces.

Fuck. It’s not them.

EXT. TRIESTE PUBLIC STAIRWAY - SAME TIME

The stairway cuts between an old building and a walled graveyard,

leading down a hill to the road below.

Lizzy and Jens crouch in the shadows, catching their breath.

They’re looking up at Reese, who stands on the street above

looking in the direction of the other couple.
 47.

Reese turns around, ready to give up. Then she looks down the
stairs.

She spots Lizzy and Jens. They take off down the stairs.

Reese follows, taking the stairs two at a time.

She’s not gaining.

She comes to the bottom of the steps at full-tilt, taking a sharp

left into the street.

EXT. TRIESTE BACK STREET - CONTINUOUS

Reese spots Lizzy and Jens, who are giving it everything they’ve
got.

She follows them down the street, which slopes towards the
waterfront.

EXT. TRIESTE WATERFRONT - CONTINUOUS

Lizzy and Jens emerge onto the industrial waterfront.

They head towards the lonely shipping depots.

Is Reese gaining?

Up ahead, a curving ramp leads to an elevated street.

Jens peels off and runs for it. Lizzy follows.

Reese gets closer every second.

The ramp gets steeper and steeper. Each of them fight through the
pain to run as fast as they can.

Reese gains, yard by excruciating yard.

As the ramp levels off into and elevated street, she’s getting
close to her physical limits.

Jens trips and falls.

He’s up again in a second, but it’s enough for Reese to catch up

and whip out her .38.

Nobody has the energy to say anything.

They all just stand there, catching their breath and listening to
the rhythmic sound of a nearby train.

JENS
Are you going to shoot us?
 48.

Cla-clack, cla-clack, cla-clack, cla-clack. The sounds of the

train continue.

LIZZY
We didn’t do anything. We don’t
know anything about it.

REESE
So come back and prove it.

Jens has realized they’re standing on an overpass. The train is

passing just a few feet below. Its last few cars are open hoppers
filled with garlic.

He grabs Lizzy’s arm and yanks her to the railing.

Lizzy understands what they have to do.

They jump.

Reese hesitates for a fraction of a second. Then it’s too late.

The train has passed.

REESE (CONT’D)
FUCK!

INT. TRIESTE HOTEL, REESE’S ROOM - NIGHT

A fake-gilded bedroom set is crammed into the microscopic room.

Reese tries to sleep in the ornate bed. First she tries her back
and then she tries her side, wriggling around to get the covers
how she wants them.

After a long while, she turns on the lamp.

She picks up the picture of her dad from the bedside table.

She turns on her tape player. It’s a Grace Jones again.

INT. TRIESTE HOTEL, DANTE’S ROOM - SAME TIME

Dante can’t sleep either. He smiles at Reese’s music, which he can

hear through the paper-in walls.

He knocks on the wall. Reese turns the music off.

DANTE
For some reason, there’s a bottle
of rum in my room.
 49.

INT. TRIESTE HOTEL, DANTE’S ROOM - NIGHT, LATER

Dante pours rum into glasses. Reese sits on the bed.

They “cheers.”

REESE
My aunt always said my dad drank
rum. When he got back from the war.
He liked to go to Trader Vic’s.
He’d get the what’s that drink
called?

DANTE
Mai tai.

REESE
No.

DANTE
Zombie.

REESE
No. The one Nixon drank.

DANTE
Navy grog.

REESE
Yeah. She said he always drank navy
grog at Trader Vic’s. Just one.

DANTE
You ever had one?

REESE
No. What is it exactly?

DANTE
I never had it either. I think it’s
strong.

REESE
Right. That’s why he just had the
one. After his shift, she said.

Reese looks at her rum.

DANTE
You grew up with your aunt, right?

REESE
My mom died when I was little and
my dad died before I was born so...
So I grew up with my aunt. My dad’s
sister.
 50.

DANTE
And your dad was a cop?

REESE
Yeah. I guess he was a brave guy. I
like to think he’s watching out for
me. I mean, I don’t believe in
anything like that so I don’t even
know what I’m talking about.

She knocks back the rest of the rum and lies down with her feet
hanging off the side of the bed.

REESE (CONT’D)
What am I talking about?

DANTE
I don’t know.

REESE
If my dad really is looking out for
me he’s probably slapping his
forehead and wondering how his kid
could be so dumb. He’s probably
saying, “Two times you had them and
two times you let them get away.
What a fucking idiot.”

DANTE
You did what you could.

REESE
“Here lies Reese Rezek. She did
what she could.”

DANTE
That’s on your tombstone?

REESE
No, pepperoni and cheese.

DANTE
What?

REESE
It’s a frozen pizza slogan.

They’re looking at each other. Without either of them having

moved, the space between them seems to have shrunk. When did that
happen?

Reese sits up.

REESE (CONT’D)
I should go.
 51.

She’s not actually going.

REESE (CONT’D)
You have a boner.

DANTE
Fuck. Come on.

He covers his crotch with his hands.

REESE
No, I’m sorry. It’s okay.

Reese pulls his hands away to get a look at his boner. It isn’t
weird. It’s kind of sweet.

She pulls his hands to her breasts.

She touches his crotch and kisses him.

Then they’re making out like teenagers.

DANTE REESE (CONT'D)

I’m sorry I had a boner. I-- I’m sorry I noticed, but...

She breaks away from their embrace. She flops down on the bed and
starts taking her clothes off.

REESE (CONT’D)
Take your clothes off. Take your
clothes off and... Shit.

DANTE
What?

REESE
Bad underwear.

Dante shrugs. He doesn’t care.

She takes her pajama bottoms off. Underneath she has dingy
underwear that might have been white to start with.

DANTE
I like seeing all of you. Bad
underwear and--

REESE
Good, because I want you to see my
bad underwear. And I want to shut
up and stop talking.

They’ve been so focused on her bad underwear that Dante hasn’t

taken anything off yet.
 52.

She grabs him and kisses him more. She reaches into his pants and
gets them halfway off as he grabs her butt.

Everything else bad that has happened or will happen doesn’t exist
in this moment.

INT. TRIESTE CENTRALE TRAIN STATION, WOMEN’S RESTROOM - DAY

A white-tiled, marble-countered room.

Lizzy scrubs her hair over a sink, trying to get the red dye out.
But her hair has a red glow that won’t go away.

INT. TRIESTE CENTRALE TRAIN STATION, PUBLIC LOCKERS - DAY

Lizzy uses a key to open a locker.

She pulls out and unzips a gym bag.

Inside, she finds an envelope with some money. There’s also a note
from Jens, which begins, “Don’t worry, we’ll be laughing about
this one day.”

EXT. ITALIAN RURAL CROSSROADS - DAY

Surrounded by almond orchards, POLICEMEN have a checkpoint set up.

They wave through a camper van.

A bus approaches. The police stop it and two of them get on.

Another policeman waves through a pickup filled with DAY LABORERS.

EXT. PICKUP - SAME TIME

In the bed of the truck, Lizzy peeps out from under a pile of
burlap sacks. The young men sitting around her seem pleased at
having got one over on the police.

EXT. ALMOND ORCHARD - DAY

The pickup bumps along the dirt road that slices through the
trees. It comes to a stop and Lizzy hops out.

The truck pulls away, leaving Lizzy alone with the hum of insects
and the chirping of birds.
 53.

EXT. ITALIAN RURAL ROAD - DAY

At the edge of the orchard, Lizzy stands beside a lonely stretch

of road.

An old Peugeot approaches. Lizzy puts her thumb out, but it zooms
by.

She feels invisible.

The sound of another motor grows and a white Fiat convertible

comes into view. Lizzy puts her thumb out.

This time the car stops.

The driver is GIADA (20s), an Italian woman with an Hermès scarf

around her head.

INT. HOTEL BAR - EVENING

The look is black and pink deco revival.

Lizzy and Giada are ensconced at the far end of the bar, with icy,
fizzy, red Americanos in front of them.

GIADA
Go on, try it.

Lizzy examines the drink.

GIADA (CONT’D)
You can’t tell me you’ve never had
Campari before.

Lizzy shakes her head.

GIADA (CONT’D)
What have you been doing in Italy
then?

Lizzy shrugs and takes a sip.

GIADA (CONT’D)
You like it?

LIZZY
I like it.

GIADA
I don’t know what to think of you.

LIZZY
You should think that I grew up in
a boring place with boring people.
(MORE)
 54.
LIZZY (CONT'D)
That I myself was boring until
quite recently.

GIADA
I’ve made up so many stories in my
mind leading up to meeting you on
the side of the road.

LIZZY
You’d never guess the real story.

GIADA
You’re a wealthy heiress, on the
run from your parents.

Lizzy shakes her head and takes a sip.

GIADA (CONT’D)
You’re an orphan with no parents.
Or so you thought. You’ve just
found out that your parents are...

LIZZY
My boyfriend killed my parents and
an American police detective is on
our trail. That’s why we’ve
separated, you see.

GIADA
I see. Imaginary boyfriend. So the
truth probably is something boring.

They take sips of their drinks, the cool beads of condensation

from the glasses making their hands damp.

GIADA (CONT’D)
Do you want to go dancing with me
tonight?

Lizzy takes a sip to give herself time to think.

LIZZY
I can’t. There’s a night bus to
Locarno. Switzerland. My boyfriend--

GIADA
The one who’s not real.

LIZZY
The one who’s not real. But he is
real and he’ll be waiting for me.
And he wouldn’t like it if I went
out dancing with you.

GIADA
He doesn’t have to know.
 55.

LIZZY
No. I’d tell him. I’d tell him
because I needed forgiveness. Or to
hurt him. Or for some reason. I
know I’d tell him and I don’t want
to do that.

GIADA
So I don’t have a chance?

LIZZY
Maybe in another life.

SUPER OVER BLACK: 1986

INT. COUNTRY CLUB BALLROOM - NIGHT

Above a big picture of Captain Ellis, multicolor letters spell

out, “FINALLY OFF THE CLOCK!”

Tons of COPS are here to celebrate. It’s crowded and rowdy.

Reese, in a black dress and blazer, stands in the back.

Fielding appears beside her with two glasses of Champagne.

FIELDING
Try it. You might like it.

Reese eyes him and takes a glass.

FIELDING (CONT’D)
So this DEA thing is kind of
permanent, huh?

REESE
Yeah.

FIELDING
At least you get to do the cool
outfits. I love the punk ones. It’s
like a whole other side of you.
Like a bad side. I mean, how much
do you get into the part?

Reese looks around the room for someone, anyone else to talk to.

FIELDING (CONT’D)
You know, I like punk chicks. Like
Debbie Harry.

REESE
She’s not punk. And I’m not working
in the field anymore.
 56.

FIELDING
Hey, how come you don’t like me?
I’m always kidding around, but
you’re not into it.

REESE
I just want to do my job. I don’t
want to do whatever this is.

She looks him in the eye. I’m not interested.

FIELDING
Don’t flatter yourself.

Reese spots Dante through the crowd. She hands Fielding her empty
Champagne glass.

Reese weaves past knots of people to find Dante.

REESE
Jesus, that guy’s such a limp dick
little shit.

DANTE
Yeah...

Dante realizes that he knows something Reese doesn’t.

DANTE (CONT’D)
You know he’s taking over Ellis’
job, right?

REESE
Fuck me. You’re kidding.

He’s not kidding.

A waiter passes with glasses of Champagne. Dante snags two of

them.

For a while they just drink.

DANTE
You know the thing that happened
when we were in Italy? What’d you
think of that?

Reese takes a moment to answer. Not because it’s awkward, but

because it’s important.

REESE
I liked it. But.

She looks him right in the eyes. There’s no shame here for either
of them.
 57.

REESE (CONT’D)
I think we’re supposed to be
something else. What do you think?

DANTE
Yeah. Same.

INT. MARKS & SPENCER (HAMPSTEAD LOCATION) - DAY

A pen moves along the signature line of a check, elegantly forming

the name Julia Holte.

Lizzy clicks the pen closed.

We’re in a cheerful English department store.

Lizzy confidently pushes the check across to MAGGIE, a timid clerk

at the front counter. Maggie looks at the name on the check.

MAGGIE
Thank you, Ms. Holte.

Maggie slips a leather jacket into an M&S bag.

LIZZY
Thanks. I like your necklace.

Maggie touches her necklace, which is ordinary in every way.

MAGGIE
Oh, thank you.

Lizzy smiles, heads for the door, and exits.

Life in the store goes on.

An ELDERLY WOMAN compares blends of tea.

A YOUNG BOY sneaks sweets into his PARENTS’ shopping basket.

A TEENAGE COUPLE argues in low voices.

Jens walks in, carrying the M&S bag, now artfully rumpled.

He makes his way to the customer service counter where an

OFFICIOUS MANAGER comes to attention.

JENS
I was hoping to return this jacket.
I bought it for my girlfriend, but
she doesn’t like it.
 58.

EXT. HAMPSTEAD SIDE STREET - DAY

Lizzy stands in place bobbing around. She rubs her hands and acts
all nervous and excited and weird.

She keeps glancing up the street.

Finally, Jens comes around the corner. He doesn’t have the bag
anymore, but he doesn’t look happy.

In fact, he looks panicked.

He shakes his head like, “Be cool, act cool, we need to move fast
and get out of here.”

Then suddenly, he smiles and whips out a handful of cash.

EXT. HAMPSTEAD HEATH - DAY

In a shadowy grove of bushes, Lizzy and Jens are half undressed

and having sex on the ground. It’s really dirty and leafy and
damp. And joyful.

EXT. HAMPSTEAD HEATH - DAY, LATER

Now they’re lying flat on the ground catching their breath. Lizzy
notices her underwear half buried in a drift of leaves.

LIZZY
My underwear has leaves in it.

JENS
It’s good luck. Ancient German
saying.

Lizzy rolls around a little just to feel the dirt and the leaves
and the damp under her body.

LIZZY
I’m so fucking happy. It’s like I’m
on drugs, but really on drugs and
the real drugs are us and fucking
and stealing money and writing
books about it later but I don’t
want to think about that right now
because we’re here.

Lizzy grabs him and licks his face.

INT. REESE’S APARTMENT - DAY

Reese uses an X-Acto knife to slice out a color photocopy of

Lizzy’s Virginia driver’s license.
 59.

She’s sitting on the floor at the coffee table, which is covered

with bits of information about Lizzy and Jens.

The mail slot opens and mail comes shooting through.

Reese leans back to grab it, tossing aside the junk and opening a
letter postmarked from Germany.

As she scans the letter, a few phrases stand out like,

“Unfortunately, we have no records of...” and “...best of our
knowledge, Mr. Soering has never gone under any other names.”

INT. GROUND FLOOR FLAT - DAY

The place is tiny and barely furnished.

Lizzy sits in bed (really, a mattress on the floor) paging through

the Next catalogue.

Jens comes in from the bathroom. He’s just showered.

Lizzy holds up the catalogue.

LIZZY
Julia Holte’s first catalogue.

She points out that it’s addressed to Julia Holte.

JENS
Why does it say £3 on it?

LIZZY
Because it cost £3.

Jens can’t believe it. Lizzy turns to men’s suiting.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
There’s fabric samples. And it’s
hardbound like a book and it knows
what we want.

JENS
We have to be smart with our money.

LIZZY
I know that. I know. But look.

She turns to lingerie. Jens nods, unenthusiastically.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
Ooh la la.
 60.

EXT. SHOPPING PLAZA - NIGHT

A copy shop has a neon sign in the window that reads,

“International Fax Services.”

Reese pays a CLERK and heads for the door.

Outside, Reese fumbles as she unlocks her car door, dropping a

folder and its contents all over.

Dante jogs over and scoops it up for her.

REESE
Oh, hi. Thanks.

Dante has just come out of an Italian restaurant. He isn’t alone.

PATRICIA (30s), an elegant, cheerful woman is with him.

DANTE
You ever been to that place? It’s a
good place for going out.

REESE
I’ve never been.

DANTE
This is Patricia. My fiancé. We
just got engaged.

REESE
Oh. Good to meet you. He’s a real
catch.

PATRICIA
Oh, definitely.

Patricia and Reese shake hands.

DANTE
Reese and I used to be partners.
She’s one of the good ones.

Nobody knows what to say next, so there’s awkward silence.

REESE
Anyway, I’ll get going and leave
you to it.

Dante realizes he’s still holding Reese’s folder. He can’t help

noticing it’s profiles of Lizzy and Jens.

He hands it to her.

REESE (CONT’D)
(to Patricia)
Good meeting you.
 61.

Reese gets into her car and closes the door.

INT. UNDERGROUND CARRIAGE - NIGHT

Lizzy’s hair is bright green now, but the glow of being on the run
has faded. She’s drunk and leaning on Jens’ shoulder.

LIZZY
What are we going to do?

JENS
We’re going to go home and go to
sleep.

LIZZY
Remember how we were becoming the
people we were meant to be?
Remember when we said that?

UNDERGROUND CONDUCTOR (V.O.)

Maida Vale. This is Maida Vale.

The trains slows down as it pulls into the station.

LIZZY
Remember?

JENS
(getting up)
This is our stop.

LIZZY
But you remember, right?

The doors open. Passengers exit as Jens tries to get Lizzy out of
her seat.

UNDERGROUND CONDUCTOR (V.O.)

Maida Vale. This is a Bakerloo line
train to Queen’s Park.

JENS
Come on.

LIZZY
I’m not coming. You don’t remember.

JENS
I do remember. Come on.

LIZZY
No, fuck you. You don’t.

Jens pulls her up and towards the exit. She lets him.
 62.

At the door, she pushes him away.

The doors close with her on the train and him off.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
I don’t remember either, so fuck
you. Cunt.

But she does remember. She only wanted to hurt Jens, but he didn’t
even hear her.

INT. MARKS & SPENCER (AYLESBURY LOCATION) - DAY

The store is decked out for Christmas. HOLIDAY SHOPPERS crowd

around stacks of chocolates and cakes.

Lizzy signs another check as Julia Holte. Her green hair is faded
and dull.

EXT. AYLESBURY HIGH STREET - SAME TIME

Jens leans on the wall of a cinema near a poster for Robocop.

He watches the CROWD OF SHOPPERS going by, tapping his foot

impatiently until he sees Lizzy approaching with an M&S bag.

Jens snatches the bag, rumples it, and heads to the store.

A few yards from the door, Jens notices a SUSPICIOUS MANAGER

peeking his head out.

His flight instinct kicks in, but he hesitates, not wanting to

attract attention.

The manager takes a step towards him.

Jens turns, running headlong into a POLICEMAN.

INT. ROANOKE POLICE DEPARTMENT, DETECTIVES BULLPEN - DAY

The room is trimmed with drooping lengths of fake garland.

Reese pours herself a coffee and heads towards her desk.

As she passes an artificial Christmas tree, Fielding calls out

from the doorway to his office.

FIELDING
Hey, Rezek. You in on Secret Santa?

REESE
Sure.
 63.

GOFFMAN (20s), balding young detective, looks up from his desk.

GOFFMAN
Whoever gets her, she wants a
dildo. That’s the only fucking
thing she wants.

REESE
You’re thinking of yourself again,
Goffman.

This garners a smattering of laughs.

FIELDING
Hey, I’ve got the real thing if you
ever get sick of Goffman’s dildo.

Reese, hearing the phone ringing on her desk, jogs the last few
yards.

REESE
(answering the phone)
Narcotics. This is Rezek.

KIMMEL (V.O.)
(over the phone)
This is Kimmel of Scotland Yard. I
hope I’ve got the right person.

She sets her coffee down. He heart is racing.

REESE
This is Rezek. Detective Rezek.

KIMMEL (V.O.)
I’ve got two faxed documents in
front of me. Profiles of Jens
Soering and Elizabeth Haysom. Do
you know who I mean?

INT. ROANOKE POLICE DEPARTMENT, FIELDING’S OFFICE - DAY

Reese comes in an closes the door behind her. She looks warily at
Fielding.

FIELDING
Show me your tits and I might let
you go.

He lets it hang just a second.

FIELDING (CONT’D)
No, god, please. I’m just kidding.
Don’t show me your tits. Is this
really that important to you?
 64.

Reese is trying to figure out how to get what she wants without
showing vulnerability.

FIELDING (CONT’D)
Sit down.

REESE
That’s okay.

FIELDING
You think you can get what we need?

REESE
I’ll get the truth.

FIELDING
Ask me nicely. Come on, just this
once, ask me without the attitude.

REESE
I’ve said what I have to say.

Fielding thinks it over. Reese lets him.

FIELDING
This is a one-off. It doesn’t mean
you’re back on homicide. I want you
back here and back on your real job
in 72 hours. And don’t say I never
did anything for you.

INT. SCOTLAND YARD INTERROGATION ROOM #1 - DAY

Lizzy sits alone at a table. She looks edgy and unhappy. She’s
waiting for something and can’t understand what’s taking so long.

The door to the room opens and Reese steps in.

She takes a seat across from Lizzy.

She sets a tape recorder on the table between them and presses the
record button.

LIZZY
You look older than I remember.

REESE
You look like you have regrets.

LIZZY
No regrets.

REESE
You’re here. Whatever happened
before led you here.
 65.

LIZZY
Same goes for you too.

Reese watches Lizzy for a while. Play it slow. Wait for tension to
build. Wait for the right moment.

Now.

REESE
Do you miss your parents?

LIZZY
This is a bullshit thing, right?
Like a tactic. You trip me up. Try
to spook me.

REESE
No. I really want to know. Do you
miss them?

FLASH: Paint, the color of skin, brushed onto a canvas in a

curving stroke.

LIZZY
Well, since you really want to
know, I’ll tell you. I don’t miss
them. I don’t give a shit that
they’re dead. I honestly like it
this way, but do you want to know
the really fucked up part?

REESE
Yeah.

LIZZY
I can’t even enjoy it, because you
guys have the wrong idea.

REESE
So who killed them?

Lizzy shakes her head. She doesn’t know. Or doesn’t want to know.

REESE (CONT’D)
You want to know what I think?

Lizzy shrugs.

REESE (CONT’D)
How about this? I’ll say what I
think and you tell me to fuck off
if I’m wrong.

LIZZY
And what happens then?
 66.

REESE
I fuck off. You deal with your
local fraud charges.

LIZZY
So I tell you to fuck off and you
fuck off?

Reese waits for the tension to build. Lizzy tries not to look
nervous. She’s nervous.

REESE
I think Jens loves you. A hell of a
lot. I think that he saw how you
felt about your parents and decided
to do something about it. I think
you didn’t know what he would do.
And I think you want to tell me
what really happened, but you feel
like shit because Jens did this
thing, this crazy thing, for you.
Or that’s what he thinks. That’s
what he’s got you thinking too.

Lizzy takes all of this in.

FLASH: Another curving stroke in skin colored paint.

LIZZY
Fuck off.

INT. SCOTLAND YARD INTERROGATION ROOM #2 - DAY

Reese steps in with the tape recorder in hand. Jens looks up at

her very calmly.

JENS
Don’t turn that thing on.

Reese sits down, setting the recorder on the table and turning it
on.

JENS (CONT’D)
I won’t talk with it on. I just
want to talk like people.

REESE
Elizabeth spoke with it on.

Jens reaches forward and shuts off the tape recorder.

JENS
What did she say?
 67.

REESE
I want to know what you have to
say. I’m here to find out the
truth. That’s all. That’s why I
wanted the tape recorder going.

JENS
Did she say she did something?

REESE
Tell me about that weekend again.
Just take me through it in your own
words.

JENS
Do you think I could get some
coffee? And a chocolate bar?

Reese gives it a moment before responding.

REESE
Yeah. What kind of chocolate bar?
Don’t they have different ones
here?

JENS
I want the one with the coconut.

Reese gets up and exits the room.

Jens waits. He takes another sip of water.

He tries out clasping his hands together on the table. He doesn’t

like how it feels so he puts his hands in his lap.

Reese comes back in and sits down.

She watches Jens trying to stay calm.

He feels her watching him. It’s not comfortable.

REESE
I’ll tell you one thing Elizabeth
said. She said she hated her
parents. I mean, really hated them.

The door opens and a UNIFORMED OFFICER brings in a paper cup of

coffee and a Bounty bar. He sets them down on the table and exits.

Reese waits for Jens to say something. The seconds tick by. He’s
going to say something.

JENS
She didn’t do anything. She didn’t
know anything about it.
 68.

Jens unwraps the Bounty bar. He takes a bite.

Reese turns on the recorder.

Don’t scare him off. Let him take his time.

JENS (CONT’D)
I want you to see something.

He holds his hand up for Reese to see.

JENS (CONT’D)
Look here.

Jens points out pale, shiny scars on his fingers.

REESE
From your accident. In the machine
shop?

JENS
That’s here.

He points to a scar running down his middle finger.

JENS (CONT’D)
It wasn’t an accident. I did it to
hide the others. That shows you the
kind of will I had.

Reese keeps looking at the scars. It’s hard interpret them with
certainty.

REESE
The will for what, Jens?

INT. CHEVETTE - DAY

[It’s 1985. The weekend of the murders.]

Jens is at the wheel. Lizzy has her feet up on the dashboard.

They’re somewhere between Charlottesville and D.C.

LIZZY
My mother’s probably having her
sixth gin about this time. Maybe
she’ll get drunk enough to use that
fire poker on my father. That would
be something wouldn’t it?

Lizzy looks over at Jens, but he’s focused on the road.

 69.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
They told me to break up with you.
My mother told me you didn’t have
the right kind of standing for a
girl like me. That’s exactly how
she said it. “He doesn’t have the
right kind of...” She pauses there
and then she finds this word,
“Standing.” “Standing,” she says.
“The right kind of standing.”

She waits for Jens to react, but he’s giving her nothing. She
takes her feet off the dashboard.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
Hello? Earth to Jens, are you
there?

JENS
When we visited at Thanksgiving, I
saw something. In your mother’s
studio. Pictures of you...

FLASH: A Polaroid flashes and spits out a picture.

LIZZY
I may take up black magic. Then
maybe I’d get somewhere with my
mother.

JENS
Are you listening to me? I said, I
saw pictures of you in your
mother’s studio. Nude pictures.

FLASH: A partly developed Polaroid. A ghostly, naked torso.

LIZZY
You’d help me with my black magic,
wouldn’t you?

JENS
You don’t need black magic.

EXT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS - NIGHT

Jens pounds on the door.

Derek answers. He’s a few drinks in and pissed about the rude
pounding.

DEREK
Jesus, you’re drunk. How did you
get here?
 70.

JENS
I’m the voice of god. I appear. It
doesn’t matter my Mr. Haysom. Let
me in, let me in or I’ll blow your
house down.

NANCY (O.S.)
Who is it?

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, DINING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Jens follows Derek into the living room.

DEREK
He says he’s the voice of god.

Jens spots Nancy, who stands there whisking a bowl of cream.

JENS
I’ve come to invade your minds and
see if you’re worthy. I’m serious.

Jens scans the room taking in the remains of dinner: dirty plates,
glasses of vodka, a carved ham and knife.

NANCY
What’s he talking about, dear?

JENS
I’m taking very serious measures
here because I know how you work. I
know how you flip switches. Little
wires trip in Lizzy’s head and she
can’t help it.

NANCY
What is he talking about?

JENS
Sir, Mr. Haysom, I’m sure you know
and maybe you’ve done some things
yourself. Maybe so, but I don’t
know about that. But I do know
about your wife and how she loves
your daughter in ways she ought
not. So that’s why I’m here.

DEREK
I’m too astounded to speak. If I
haven’t been speaking, that’s why.

JENS
You haven’t been speaking because I
don’t want you to speak.
(MORE)
 71.
JENS (CONT'D)
I’m already in your brain and I’m
powerful. Now listen to me--

DEREK
Boy, I used to stick little fuckers
like you for nothing.

JENS
Little fuckers like me have
demands. Number one, you will
acknowledge your sins.

NANCY
I’ll get the cake.

Nancy buzzes out, pretending nothing’s wrong.

JENS
Number two, money.

Derek rushes Jens and slams him against the wall. He squeezes
Jens’ throat like he’s going to kill him.

DEREK
Get the fuck out of my house. Get
out and if I ever see you again...

Derek squeezes Jens’ neck tighter and then lets go.

DEREK (CONT’D)
I won’t let go.

Jens catches himself on the sideboard. His hand is an inch from

the ham and the knife.

Jens wraps his fingers around the knife handle and clutches it
tight.

Derek looks at him like, “You don’t have the guts.”

But he does.

Jens plunges the knife into Derek’s neck.

There’s blood everywhere.

Nancy comes at Jens with another knife.

Jens puts up a hand in defense, his flesh slicing open as he

catches the blade between his fingers.

Jens wrenches the knife away.

He lashes out at Nancy, stabbing the knife into her shoulder.

 72.

INT. SCOTLAND YARD INTERROGATION ROOM #2 - DAY

[We’re back in the present.]

We’re intent on Reese as she watches Jens. She’s steady. Careful

not to give him anything.

JENS
So what happens now?

SUPER OVER BLACK: 1988

INT. HOTEL ROANOKE, LIZZY’S ROOM - DAY

We’re intent on Lizzy. She’s wearing a chic orange blouse with a

belt. She’s not defiant anymore. She’s an upstanding girl from a
good family.

LIZZY
With Jens it was different. I
thought he was my soulmate. My life
partner. My creative partner. My...

She pauses to take a sip of water. She’s alone in the room,

sitting on the edge of her bed.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
With Jens it was different. I
thought he was my soulmate. My life
partner. He opened a door for me.

INT. ROANOKE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, ROOM 102 - DAY

Lizzy is on the stand. She’s wearing the orange blouse.

The proceeding is closed, so the benches are empty.

LIZZY
With Jens it was different. I
thought he was my soulmate. My life
partner. But, because of him, I’m
pleading guilty today as an
accessory to murder in the first
degree. Because of him--

INT. ROANOKE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, ROOM 102 - DAY

Reese is near the courtroom’s main exit. She’s waiting, watching.

Closer to the doors, SANDY DAVIS, an attorney, has her hand

protectively on Lizzy’s back.
 73.

DAVIS
Are you ready?

Lizzy glances back at Reese.

DAVIS (CONT’D)
Are you ready?

INT. ROANOKE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

A MOB OF REPORTERS descends on Lizzy as a BAILIFF opens the

courtroom door. Davis tries to protect her.

REPORTER #1 REPORTER #2
How do you feel after today’s Was it your idea for Jens to
hearing? confront your parents?

COURTHOUSE POLICE OFFICERS jump in to carve a path for Lizzy.

Reese slips out of the courtroom unaccosted.

She heads away from the fray, towards a door at the other end of
the hall.

REESE GOODCHILD (late 20s), a reporter with a pixie cut, catches

up with her.

GOODCHILD
Reese Goodchild, Roanoke Times.
I’ve never met another Reese
before.

Reese glances over at her, but does not reply.

GOODCHILD (CONT’D)
Those guys are chasing the wrong
story. I want to know about you.

Reese keeps walking. She’s just a few feet from the door.

GOODCHILD (CONT’D)
Come on. Give me something. How’d
you get that confession out of
Jens?

Reese won’t bite.

GOODCHILD (CONT’D)
Elizabeth Haysom pleaded guilty as
an accessory to murder. Do you
think that’s the right charge?

They reach the door, but Goodchild gets in front of it.

 74.

GOODCHILD (CONT’D)
One thing I’m particularly
interested in. You’re not a
homicide detective anymore, are
you? But you’re still involved in
this case. How does that work? Is
that like an official unofficial
thing?

REESE
Are you going to follow me to the
parking garage?

GOODCHILD
She speaks.

REESE
You didn’t answer my question.

Goodchild takes out her card.

GOODCHILD
Give me a call if you want to talk.

Reese does not take the card. Instead, she opens the door and
slips through.

INT. ROANOKE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, PARKING GARAGE - DAY

The only sounds are the fluorescent hum of overhead lights and
Reese’s footsteps.

Or is there another sound?

Reese glances over her shoulder. WALT, a tall man in a faded army
jacket, heads in her direction. Probably just going to his car.

Reese keeps walking.

Walt gains on her. Maybe he’s not just going to his car.

Reese increases her pace, but she can’t put any more distance
between them without breaking into a jog.

She turns to confront the guy.

REESE
Can I help you?

WALT
I’ve been trying to help you. Did
you get what I sent you?

What the hell is this guy talking about?

 75.

WALT (CONT’D)
I drew a picture for you. The guy
you’re looking for.

Reese turns and starts walking towards her car again.

WALT (CONT’D)
He looks a lot like that kid you
popped, but with long hair.

REESE
(getting her keys out)
For one thing, today’s hearing
wasn’t about Soering. It was about
Haysom, who’s already pleaded
guilty. For another thing, Jens
Soering is still in England.

WALT
I’m not talking about Jens! I’m
talking about the guy you should be
looking for! The guy who’s still
running around laughing at you!

Finally, Reese gets to her car. Walt grabs her arm.

Reese twists out of his grip and pulls out her gun.

Somehow Walt has whipped out a gun too. A big gun, like a .44
Magnum. In the scuffle, he pulls the trigger.

The shot echoes in the closed space. The bullet glances Reese’s
arm, tearing away a hunk of flesh.

She hits the ground, her gun skittering away.

Blood spreads across the sleeve of Reese’s jacket.

Walt bolts.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT

On television, a LOCAL REPORTER stands in front of the courthouse

interviewing an OPINIONATED CITIZEN.

OPINIONATED CITIZEN
I say accessory? Accessory? Are you
kidding me? She planned the whole--

Dante switches it off. He looks to Reese, who’s in a hospital bed,

recovering.

DANTE
I brought your things.
 76.

Dante holds up the picture of her father, the tape player, and
some tapes.

REESE
Thanks.

DANTE
How are you feeling?

Reese shrugs. It hurts.

REESE
Ow. Fine.

Dante sets her things down on the bedside table. He pulls up a

chair and sits down.

REESE (CONT’D)
Put one on one of the tapes. You
pick.

He looks through the tapes and puts on Enya by Enya.

After some tape hiss, the floating, wistful notes of the opening
track come out of the tinny speaker.

DANTE
When they first told me you were
shot, I didn’t know how bad it was.

REESE
It’s okay. I’m okay.

Reese pushes herself up in bed. Dante takes her hand and squeezes
it. Then he remembers something.

REESE (CONT’D)
What?

Dante lets her hand go.

DANTE
Look, there’s something I have to
get out of the way. Something I
have to tell you.

Reese waits for him to go on, but Dante doesn’t quite know where
to start.

DANTE (CONT’D)
Soering’s going to be extradited.

REESE
I know.
 77.

DANTE
But he recanted his confession. He
said he only confessed because he
believed Haysom did it. He thought
he was protecting her.

REESE
That’s bullshit.

DANTE
The DA’s worried about the
circumstances of the confession.
He’s keeping you out of their case.

REESE
But I am the case.

DANTE
I know.

REESE
I need to be a part of it. I need
to--

INT. ROANOKE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, ROOM 106 - DAY

JUDGE WILLIAM W. SWEENEY presides over a jam-packed courtroom.

Three television cameras and their OPERATORS loom in the back. The
whole thing is a zoo.

Situated between his attorneys, Jens watches Lizzy on the stand.

LIZZY
He had a choice. He had a four hour
drive.

Lizzy pauses. The magnetic force between her and Jens makes her
look over at him. For a moment, they make eye contact.

She rips herself away.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
No matter what I had said to him
before that, he had a choice
whether he killed my parents or
not.

Reese watches from the last row in the gallery. She can sense the
energy in the room. Jens doesn’t have a chance.

INT. ROANOKE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, PARKING GARAGE - DAY

Reese unlocks her car. An old Honda pulls up nearby and Goodchild
rolls down the window.
 78.

GOODCHILD
Detective Rezek. Reese Goodchild--

REESE
Roanoke Times. “Never met another
Reese before.” I remember.

GOODCHILD
Just a spectator for this one, huh?

Reese shrugs. Goodchild holds out her card, but Reese doesn’t
reach for it.

GOODCHILD (CONT’D)
Maybe you’ll want to talk sometime.

She keeps holding the card out.

GOODCHILD (CONT’D)
Come on. It won’t bite.

Mostly to get her to go away, Reese takes the card.

INT. WOMEN’S PRISON, VISITING ROOM - DAY

Live coverage of Jens’ trial is on a wall-mounted TV, but the

sound is off.

At a dozen tables, FRIENDS and FAMILY visit with PRISONERS.

A TOUGH GUARD brings Lizzy to a table where Reese is waiting.

TOUGH GUARD
One hour.

Lizzy notices Jens on TV as she sits down.

LIZZY
He looks terrible up there.

Reese looks to the TV. Even without sound, Jens looks self-
satisfied and obnoxious.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
Nodding along, looking sarcastic.
If I were his lawyer, I’d tell him
to cut it out.

REESE
You think he’d listen?

Lizzy shrugs.
 79.

LIZZY
Why are you here? They told me
you’re not a part of this anymore.

REESE
I’m here as a regular visitor.

LIZZY
I doubt that.

REESE
I’ve got this picture I carry
around with me. A framed picture.
It’s of my dad. He was a cop. He
liked boxing. He liked drinking
navy grogs at Trader Vic’s after
his shift. Just one, because one
was enough.

Lizzy can’t figure what Reese is getting at.

REESE (CONT’D)
That’s what I tell people. But do
you want to know the truth?

LIZZY
Sure.

REESE
Everything I just said is what my
aunt told me. Later on, she told me
none of it was true. She got the
picture from a yard sale and made
all that stuff up.

LIZZY
She should have just left it alone.
I mean, why spoil it?

REESE
I started asking too many
questions. I tried to find my dad
in old newspapers. He was killed in
the line of duty. That’s what she
said. So I tried to find him, but
he wasn’t there. So she had to tell
me.

LIZZY
So who was your dad really?

REESE
He was a drunk. He drank himself to
death before I was born.
 80.

LIZZY
But you still carry the picture?

REESE
I wanted to be a detective because
of him. I thought I had this link
to him. Even though we never knew
each other.

LIZZY
So you must have been pissed,
right? I mean, when you found out.

REESE
For me, everything I knew before
was true and this new thing, the
actual truth was the lie.

LIZZY
That’s bullshit.

REESE
Which part?

LIZZY
Do you just do this for fun?

REESE
Which part is bullshit?

LIZZY
The whole thing. This is just
another tactic, right? But I don’t
even know what you want with me
anymore.

REESE
How sure are you about what
happened that weekend?

Lizzy gets up.

LIZZY
Don’t try to see me again. Ever.
You understand me? I’m sick of your
face and I’m sick of your tactics
and your little tricks. So fuck you
and fuck off.

INT. ROANOKE POLICE DEPARTMENT, DETECTIVES BULLPEN - DAY

Reese takes a sip of coffee and sits down at her desk.

She tries to refocus, to forget Jens and Lizzy.

 81.

She picks up a stack of papers from her in-box.

She jumps as Dante taps her on the arm. Looking at him, she can
tell he has important news.

DANTE
Soering was found guilty.

Reese doesn’t reply. She opens a Manila envelope marked, “Det.

Rezek - Urgent!”

DANTE (CONT’D)
I know you were in the courtroom.
Watching I mean, so I thought...

Reese looks up from the envelope before seeing what’s inside.

REESE
He looked like a little shit on the
stand. The jury hated him. He never
had a chance.

She finally sees what’s in the envelope. It’s a VHS tape of a

movie called Stripped to Kill. On the cover, a stripper clasps a
giant knife in place of a pole.

It dawns on Reese that this is supposed to be a joke. Dante can

tell she’s about to snap.

DANTE
Let it go.

She should definitely let it go. Not give them the satisfaction.
But she holds up the tape for everyone to see.

REESE
(standing up)
What the fuck is this?

Everyone looks up from their desks. We don’t know anything about

it.

REESE (CONT’D)
Who put this on my desk?

Fielding appears in his office door to see what the commotion is

all about.

REESE (CONT’D)
Who the fuck did it?

GOFFMAN
Jesus Rezek, if you’re PMSing just
take a Midol.
 82.

For another second, nobody says anything. Then Fielding can’t

resist anymore.

FIELDING
You know, that’s a great movie.
This sexy police lady goes
undercover as a stripper. Maybe,
you should check it out. See if it
inspires you.

Oh. He put the tape in my box.

She hurls the tape at Fielding’s head.

TWHACK! The tape hits him square on the forehead and he goes down.

Dante touches Reese’s arm, but she pulls away.

REESE
Don’t touch me.

Fielding picks himself up and wipes the blood off his forehead
with a handkerchief.

Reese is deadly calm.

REESE (CONT’D)
I get it. You’re right. I don’t
belong here. I’m leaving now and
I’m not coming back.

Everyone watches as Reese pulls on her jacket.

She takes a sip of tepid coffee.

She pulls her badge out and puts it on her desk.

She picks up the picture of the man who’s not her father.

She looks around to see if she forgot anything. No.

She makes eye contact with Dante. There’s nothing either of them
can say surrounded by these people.

Reese turns and walks out the door.

SUPER OVER BLACK: 1991

INT. STRIP MALL MARTIAL ARTS STUDIO - NIGHT

TEENAGE GIRLS in t-shirts and sweatpants stand in pairs on a big

blue mat.

Reese watches over them.

 83.

She looks different now. For one thing, her hair is short. But
it’s more than that. All of the tension wound up inside her has
gone slack. It’s hard to tell if she’s happy or numb.

REESE
Now, grab.

One girl in each pair grabs the other’s arm.

REESE (CONT’D)
And break.

The second girl in each pair tries to break the hold.

REESE (CONT’D)
Good. Again.

INT. REESE’S VW RABBIT - NIGHT

The car is parked in the strip mall lot. Reese starts it up and
the radio comes on.

RADIO ANNOUNCER (V.O.)

...story in The Roanoke Times. Mr.
Soering declined to comment, but--

Reese switches the radio off.

EXT. SUBURBAN CUL DE SAC - NIGHT

Reese pulls her VW into an open spot. A muffled cheer comes from
one of the houses. She’s in the right place.

INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE, LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Reese walks in.

The place is stuffed with CO-WORKERS and their FAMILIES. Holyfield

vs. Foreman is on a huge TV.

Kids run around. People not interested in the fight chat in the
kitchen. There’s a huge spread of food.

PAUL (60s), a spectacled man in a checked shirt, spots her.

PAUL
Hey, you made it.

INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE, KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER

Perfect Strangers is on a small TV on the counter. Some people are

watching, but most are chatting or preparing more food.
 84.

Reese opens the fridge and grabs a beer.

Perfect Strangers goes to commercial. It’s a spot for the 11

o’clock news.

LOCAL NEWS ANCHOR

Shoddy police work and a forced
confession in the infamous case of
Jens Soering. Our top story tonight
is a blistering report in The
Roanoke Times.

Reese feels a prickle of the old tension.

LOCAL NEWS ANCHOR (CONT’D)

Former Roanoke PD Detective Reese
Rezek was...

INT. REESE’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Reese sleeps on her pullout couch. Or tries too.

She can’t get the covers right. Or the pillow.

She turns on a lamp to check the time: Just past 3 in the morning.

Why can’t I shut off my brain?

INT. VIRGINIA UNITED INSURANCE - DAY

INSURANCE MEN AND WOMEN work in cubicles.

Pages of a complicated insurance form appear in the tray of a copy

machine.

Reese grabs them and navigates back to her desk.

She sits down and checks some figures on her computer.

The phone rings.

REESE
(answering the phone)
Claims. This is Rezek.

GRAVELLY VOICE (V.O.)

(over the phone)
I saw the news last night.

A tingle of dread.

REESE
Who is this?
 85.

There’s a long silence. Did he hang up?

GRAVELLY VOICE (V.O.)

The man who shot you. I’ll tell you
my name. It’s Walt Whitman. Like
the poet. I own a German car
specialist shop outside Lynchburg.
And, what I was trying to tell you
that day, was I wrote you a letter
where I laid it all out. But--

She hangs up.

INT. REESE’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

A light blinks on the answering machine.

Reese presses play. It rewinds. For a while.

It clicks, beeps, and begins to play.

WALT (V.O.)
(on the answering machine)
Since you won’t talk to me, just
listen. I wrote you a letter, back,
oh, four, five years ago. I guess
you read it, thought I was a crank.

Walt pauses to clear his throat. Reese’s heart races.

WALT (V.O.)
Or maybe you never got the letter
and that’s why Soering got nailed
the way he did. See, in my letter,
I laid it all out. With a drawing I
made and everything. And the point
is just this: I saw the man who did
the Loose Chippings job and it
wasn’t Soering. Now, how come you
should believe me? I’ll tell you
how come. You should believe me
because I’m calling and putting
myself out there. Hell, you could
probably get me sent up to the can.
But I don’t think you’re going to
do that. Call me at the shop if you
want to talk. Whitman’s. I’m--

EXT. WHITMAN’S GERMAN AUTOMOTIVE - DAY

Reese pulls her VW off of a rural road, into the cracked, weedy
lot of Whitman’s.
 86.

She turns the car off, looking out at the forlorn garage and the
scrapyard.

EXT. WHITMAN’S GERMAN AUTOMOTIVE - MOMENTS LATER

Nobody’s in sight.

REESE
(calling out)
Mr. Whitman?

She moves towards the scrapyard. Peeking down a pathway, she sees
a tangle of German cars in various states of deconstruction, but
no sign of Walt Whitman.

REESE (CONT’D)
Mr. Whitman?

WALT (O.S.)
Over here!

Reese moves into the maze. She finds Walt. He looks up from a
rusted Mercedes.

WALT (CONT’D) REESE

Detective Rezek. I was really I came here to tell you stop
hoping you’d-- calling me, stop bothering me.

WALT
You came all the way out here to
tell me that?

REESE
Don’t call me again.

Reese turns and begins to walk away.

WALT
Elizabeth Haysom was here,
detective. She was with someone.

Reese stops and looks back at him.

REESE
Mr. Whitman, I lead a normal life
now. I’m not a detective.

WALT
What the hell good is a normal life
to you? You don’t want that, girl.
In two seconds, I can tell you’re
not that type.

REESE
I am that type.
 87.

WALT
Why are you here then?

Good question.

WALT (CONT’D)
Now that you’re here, just listen
to what I have to say.

INT. WHITMAN’S GERMAN AUTOMOTIVE, OFFICE - A MINUTE LATER

Walt cracks two beers and hands one to Reese.

WALT
You got a notebook? Pen or pencil?

Reese shakes her head. He grabs a sheet of paper and a pen.

WALT (CONT’D)
There we go. You ready?

Reese takes a sip of beer. What am I doing?

INT. WHITMAN’S GERMAN AUTOMOTIVE, OFFICE - DAY

[It’s 1985.]

A hand whacks the bell for service. It’s Lizzy.

After a moment, Walt appears.

WALT
How can I help you?

EXT. WHITMAN’S GERMAN AUTOMOTIVE - MOMENTS LATER

Putting sunglasses on, Lizzy leads Walt out to a Green Mercedes

convertible with the front grill smashed.

In the far corner of the parking lot, Walt notices a YOUNG MAN
smoking a cigarette. He’s about the same age and build as Jens.
But this guy has long, curly hair.

WALT
This your car?

Lizzy involuntarily glances at the young man.

LIZZY
Yeah.
 88.

INT. WHITMAN’S GERMAN AUTOMOTIVE, GARAGE - DAY

Walt drives the convertible onto the lift.

As he gets out of the car, something behind the driver’s seat

catches his eye.

He puts the seat forward.

On the floor is a hunting knife. With just enough spots of blood

to be unsettling.

EXT. WHITMAN’S GERMAN AUTOMOTIVE, OFFICE - DAY

[We’re back in present.]

Walt takes a sip of beer. Reese sets down the pen.

WALT
I’m telling you, that little S.O.B.
with the girl in my shop was not
the Soering kid. And guess what day
it was? I checked my books on this
one. It was three days after Loose
Chippings.

INT. TEXAS TAVERN - NIGHT

Texas Tavern is not a tavern, but an old-time diner.

The COOK attends to burgers sizzling on the flat top.

Reese sits at the counter sipping a coke.

Dante comes in and takes the stool next to her. There’s a cup of
coffee waiting for him.

REESE
I need two things from you.

DANTE
Hello to you too.

REESE
Hello.

DANTE
How about how’s life going? How’s
work? Are you seeing anyone? My
wife and kids are fine, thank you.

REESE
I ordered you two cheesy westerns
with. And coffee.
 89.

Dante picks up the coffee and takes a sip.

REESE (CONT’D)
I’ve been reading about DNA.

DANTE
Reese, you have to stop.

REESE
I haven’t even said what this is
about.

The cook slides plates onto the counter. Dante has two small
burgers with egg and cheese. Reese has chili with onions.

REESE (CONT’D)
In the paper, they say I’m
negligent. They say I coerced Jens’
confession.

Dante takes a big bite of his first burger.

REESE (CONT’D)
What if we have the wrong guy?

DANTE
This guy was convicted by a jury of
his peers. You know what it takes
to reopen something like that?

REESE DANTE (CONT'D)

Did you hear what I said about-- I’ll tell you what it takes. You
not only have to prove the
convicted guy didn’t do it, you
more or less need to prove who
did.

REESE
What if people’s lives are wasting
away in prison because I fucked up?
This isn’t some theoretical thing.
This is real.

Dante focuses on finishing off his first burger. After he does, he

turns to Reese.

DANTE
You’ll go crazy if you think like
that.

Reese shrugs.

DANTE (CONT’D)
We can’t run DNA locally. We’d have
to send it to D.C.
 90.

He glances at Reese’s untouched bowl of chili.

DANTE (CONT’D)
Eat your chili. Come on. Before it
gets cold.

Reese eyes him. Then she picks up her spoon and takes a bite of
chili.

DANTE (CONT’D)
What’s the other thing? You said
there were two things.

REESE
I want to look at the evidence
files again.

DANTE
I don’t think I can help you with
that.

Reese eats her chili. After a while, she stops, staring into her
bowl.

She leans her head on Dante’s shoulder. For a moment, he lets her
stay there.

DANTE (CONT’D)
You can’t do that.

But neither of them moves right away.

Then Reese takes her head off his shoulder and goes back to eating
chili.

EXT. PRISON YARD - DAY

Distant mountains tower over the bleak, asphalt prison yard.

The place is entirely deserted except for Reese and Jens, who sit
across from each other at a round metal picnic table.

JENS
Whatever you think you’re doing,
you’re about five years too late.

REESE
I know that.

JENS
Have you seen Lizzy?

REESE
She won’t see me.
 91.

JENS
So now what? Now that you’re not a
cop, you don’t think I did it?

REESE
I came you hear what you have to
say. If you’re not interested, then
we have nothing to talk about and I
can get on with my life.

JENS
I’ve got lawyers. Sometimes they
come to tell me about the appeal.

REESE
And how’s that going?

JENS
Just tell me you’re not here to
fuck with me.

REESE
I’m not here to fuck with you.

Jens wants to believe her.

REESE (CONT’D)
Tell me about the day you drove to
D.C. What was the first time you
knew something was wrong?

Jens thinks this over for a long time.

JENS
I didn’t know until later. I mean,
I didn’t know it was serious. I
should have, but I didn’t.

REESE
Okay, when should you have known?
Hang on...

Reese pulls out a tape recorder. She meets Jens eyes for a moment.
It’s okay.

She hits the record button.

INT. THE BRANCH LINE - NIGHT

[It’s 1985. The night of the murders.]

Lizzy devours a burger while Jens pokes at a plate of spaghetti

and meatballs.
 92.

JENS
You’re freaking me out. Tell me
whatever it is you have to tell me.

Lizzy scarfs down the rest of her burger.

LIZZY
I owe someone a favor. Kind of a
dealer guy. Not like a--

JENS
What kind of dealer?

LIZZY
He does all kinds of stuff. Coke
and crystal and whatever else. I
tried a few things because I wanted
to... Like, it wasn’t bullshit,
fucking around. I wanted to know
how to be more like me. Like we’re
always talking about. But I’m done
with it and I just need to do this
guy a favor and I’ll be totally
done. I need the car and I’ll meet
you later.

JENS
What kind of favor?

LIZZY
Actually, I need you to do me a
favor too. I need you to buy movie
tickets for both of us. And while
I’m gone, you go to the movies and--

EXT. PRISON YARD - DAY

REESE
Who was she going to meet?

JENS
I don’t know.

REESE JENS (CONT'D)

Even a guess-- She wouldn’t tell me. It was
like... I didn’t want to believe
it, but it was like maybe she
had a whole other life without
me.

REESE
Okay. So you go to the movies.
 93.

JENS
Right. But she doesn’t show up at
the end. And she wasn’t in the room
either. So it’s gets later and
later. And I’m having all kinds of
ideas. Like she’s dead. Like she
killed someone. I’m going crazy
thinking about it.

INT. GEORGETOWN MARRIOTT, ROOM 1017 - NIGHT

The clock on the nightstand says it’s 3:59.

Jens sits on the edge of the bed watching MTV. The video for
“China in Your Hand” by T’Pau is on.

Jens watches as the lead singer lies down in a stream, her red
hair flowing in the rushing water.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Someone’s banging at the door. Jens springs up and tears it open.

Lizzy stands there, wrapped in a sheet. Jens pulls her in.

LIZZY
God. We did it.

JENS
Who’s we?

EXT. PRISON YARD - DAY

REESE
She said we? You’re sure?

JENS
I’m positive. Because next she
said...

INT. GEORGETOWN MARRIOTT, ROOM 1017 - NIGHT

The pop-mystical sounds of “China in Your Hand” continue blaring

from the television.

LIZZY
I did it. I meant I did it.

JENS
Did what? Lizzy, what did you do?

Lizzy lets the sheet drop to the floor.

 94.

Her clothes are covered in blood.

She reaches into her back pocket, pulls out a stack of Polaroids,
and hands them to Jens.

They’re nude photos of fifteen-year-old Lizzy and they’re covered

with her bloody fingerprints.

JENS (CONT’D)
Tell me what you did. I can’t help
you unless you tell me.

Lizzy sees how much he loves her. How much he wants to help her.
She has to tell him.

LIZZY
I--

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, DINING ROOM - NIGHT

[It’s a few hours earlier.]

Nancy whisks a bowl of cream. Derek sits at the table.

Lizzy is at the table too, slapping her fingertips against the

palm of her hand. Her energy is weird. Like she’s thinking twice
as fast and deep as normal.

LIZZY
Go to the kitchen, Mother. I have
something I need to say to dad.

NANCY LIZZY (CONT'D)

You can say anything with-- (to Derek)
Tell her to listen to me.

DEREK
Listen to her.

Nancy hates being left out. She leaves anyway.

DEREK (CONT’D)
So what is it?

Lizzy gets up.

LIZZY
Don’t look at me, Dad. What I’ve
got to say, I’d like to say it
while you can’t see me.

Lizzy moves around the table so she’s behind him.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
It’s about Mother.
 95.

There’s a carved ham on the sideboard. And a knife. Lizzy wraps

her fingers around the handle.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
Do you know what she’s done to me?

Derek takes too long to answer. Lizzy is right behind him. She’s
got the knife in her hand.

DEREK
No. I don’t know what you mean.

Lizzy puts a hand on Derek’s shoulder. He looks up at her.

She slices through his neck like butter.

He’s too surprised to resist. Blood cascades everywhere.

Lizzy calmly stabs him once, twice, three times.

He falls out of his chair as Nancy comes in. Before she can
scream, Lizzy pushes her against the wall.

LIZZY
Don’t scream Mother, don’t scream.

Lizzy looks Nancy in the eyes. She wants Nancy to see her.

Nancy’s going to scream, but Lizzy stabs her in the throat.

EXT. PRISON YARD - DAY

JENS
Anyway, that’s what she said. I
wanted to believe her. I didn’t
want to think there was someone
else. But later I started thinking
about little things. Little things
wrong with the story.

REESE
Like?

JENS
Like she didn’t have the knife. She
said she didn’t know what happened
to it. But someone got rid of it.
And a lot later I started to
think... I mean, it wasn’t like
reality. It was like a fantasy.
What she wanted to do.

Reese takes her time absorbing all this. She lets her mind wander
over the possibilities.
 96.

REESE
Okay. What happened next? After she
told you what she did?

INT. GEORGETOWN MARRIOTT, ROOM 1017 - NIGHT

In the bathroom, Jens has managed to get Lizzy into the tub.

The shower is on, but she won’t stand up.

She lies on her side, watching pink streams come off her body and
swirl down the drain.

Jens sits on the floor next to her. As blood comes off her arm, he
sees track marks on it.

JENS
Listen to me. Are you listening?

LIZZY
I’m listening, Jens. I’m listening.

JENS
You were with me. At the movies.
And if you weren’t... I was the one
who did it.

She reaches up and clutches his hand in hers.

EXT. PRISON YARD - DAY

[We’re back in the present.]

REESE
And the Polaroids? What happened to
them?

JENS
We put them in a trash bag. Along
with her clothes. We threw the
whole thing in a dumpster the next
day.

REESE
Where?

JENS
A parking lot. Behind that place
with the funny name. I remember
because Lizzy got a hot dog there.
Weenie Beenie.

FLASH: A trash bag goes into a dumpster behind Weenie Beenie.

 97.

It feels true. The whole thing feels true, but--

REESE
I’ve been to the room, Jens. Your
room at the Marriott.

It takes Jens a second to switch from thinking about the dumpster

to thinking about the Marriott.

REESE (CONT’D)
The shower’s tiny. Elizabeth
couldn’t have been lying down like
you said.

FLASH: Pink water swirling down the drain.

JENS
Maybe she was curled up or sitting
down. I don’t know. Forget the
shower. I’m telling you: Lizzy
killed them and she had someone’s
help.

EXT. POLICE EVIDENCE WAREHOUSE - MOMENTS LATER

Confidently and methodically, Reese picks the lock.

INT. POLICE EVIDENCE WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

Evidence boxes are packed into rolling metal shelves, the kind
mounted on tracks to collapse like library stacks.

Lit by her flashlight, Reese turns a crank on the end of a shelf.

It creaks and moves, opening up a narrow aisle.

She searches the shelves for the boxes she wants.

Her flashlight lands on “Soering, Jens.”

She pulls down a box and opens it. Crime scene photographs. A
transcript of Jens’ confession. Not what I’m looking for.

She replaces the box to its shelf and pulls down another.

First thing she finds is footprint analysis. Could be something.

Reese turns on a camcorder and presses the record button.

She shines her flashlight onto the document and tilts the camera
from top to bottom.

She hears a door opening. Oh no.

The lights come on.

 98.

Voices. Two FORENSIC TECHS. Her heart races.

She turns off her flashlight.

She presses the button the stop the camcorder, which makes a tiny
beep. Shit. How loud was it?

The techs pass her aisle without a glance. Okay. Just wait it out.

Then she hears a crank turning.

Her aisle begins to close up.

She shoves files into the box and gets it on the shelf.

She finds an empty space in the shelves big enough to cram herself
into.

She gets in place just as the shelves clang together, sealing her
in.

She catches her breath. Well, this is great.

She sees a sliver of overhead lights through the gap at top of the
shelves. It’s a strange perspective. Claustrophobic and
uncomfortable, but oddly peaceful.

Muffled voices. Sounds like the techs found what they were looking
for.

Footsteps.

The lights go off.

The door closes.

Reese switches on her flashlight. The beam lands on the shelf

directly facing her. Right on a box marked Haysom, Lizzy.

Reese contorts herself to get leverage with her legs against the
opposite shelf.

CLANG! She kicks at the shelf.

CLANG! The shelf gives a little.

CLANG! She opens up a gap.

CLANG! Another couple inches.

CLANG! Finally, enough space to roll off of the shelf into a pile
on the floor.

She gives it a second to catch her breath.

 99.

Uncoiling herself, she sits up and pulls out the box of Haysom
material.

She flips through a few folders.

Nothing too exciting.

Wait. What’s this?

A transcript of a witness statement. From Bedford County Sheriff

Dave McLeod. Something about a traffic stop. Something about two
men with a rented van. Why is this here?

INT. REESE’S APARTMENT - DAY

The camcorder is hooked up to the TV.

Reese watches footage she recorded of McLeod’s statement.

She presses the pause button.

She leans close to the TV to study a line of text that ends,

“...gave false names.”

The phone rings. Reese picks it up.

REESE
Hello?

DANTE (V.O.)
(over the phone)
I tried you at work.

REESE
Hm...

DANTE (V.O.)
I ran the DNA. A lot of it’s no
good anymore. But they think
there’s blood from four different
people.

REESE
Four?

DANTE (V.O.)
That’s what they think. And listen.
With the condition of the DNA they
can’t be positive, but what they
think is none of the four are a
match for Soering or Elizabeth
Haysom.

Holy shit. Okay. What does it mean? Reese looks to the paused
image of the document on her TV.
 100.

REESE
Do you remember McLeod? Bedford
County Sheriff McLeod. He worked
with us on Loose Chippings.

DANTE (V.O.)
Yeah...

REESE
Later on, you took a statement from
him. A month after Loose Chippings
he pulled these two guys over.
Remember that?

DANTE (V.O.)
Maybe.

REESE
They were driving a rented van. The
guys got taken in and released the
same night, but their van was
impounded because they didn’t have
paperwork on it. And remember what
the impound guy found in the van
later on?

DANTE (V.O.)
Yeah, a knife. I remember.

REESE
A knife with traces of blood. How
come I never heard about this?

DANTE (V.O.)
You were probably on the DEA thing
by then.

REESE
There was a stabbing just one week
after Loose Chippings in Buchanan.
What if these guys did both?

DANTE (V.O.)
This was someone close to the
Haysoms. It had to be. You know who
said that? Right from the beginning
of this whole thing?

REESE
Maybe someone we didn’t know about
had a connection with Elizabeth.

Dante doesn’t reply. Could this make sense?

 101.

REESE (CONT’D)
You said we have DNA from four
people, right? Not Soering, not
Elizabeth Haysom. Then I’ve got an
auto shop guy who saw Haysom three
days after Loose Chippings. She was
with a young man who had long,
curly hair. Not Soering. And
finally, we’ve got Sheriff McLeod
telling us... wait a second.

Reese rewinds the tape and pauses it on a section of text.

REESE (CONT’D)
This is his description of one of
the guys he pulled over. He says,
“One of them had kind of long hair,
you know, with curls, all crazy.”

Reese waits for Dante’s excited response, but none comes.

REESE (CONT’D)
You there?

DANTE
Yeah.

REESE
Nothing on this has ever made
sense, but this is it. This makes
sense.

EXT. SHOOTING RANGE - DAY

The range is up in the mountains. Sheriff McLeod reloads his Glock

as Reese approaches.

MCLEOD
Look at this, it’s Detective Reese
Rezek.

REESE
Former Detective Reese Rezek.

MCLEOD
You look good. You want to try my
Glock?

Reese takes out her .38 to show him.

MCLEOD (CONT’D)
You know, revolvers went out with
Columbo.
 102.

Reese steps up to the line and takes two shots, blowing away each
knee of the target.

INT. SHOOTING RANGE CLUBHOUSE - DAY

Among the SHOOTERS taking a break and chatting over beers are
Reese and McLeod.

MCLEOD
So I guess you want to know if I
got what you wanted.

REESE
You found a match?

MCLEOD
Last year the guy served thirty
days for carrying.

McLeod slides an envelope across to Reese. She opens it and takes

out a dossier.

REESE
Carrying what?

MCLEOD
Meth. They couldn’t get him on more
than that, but word is he’s a
heavy. Maybe the heavy in the
county.

Reese flips to a page with a mugshot paperclipped to it. It’s

Oscar Doyle.

REESE
I know this guy. From my stint with
the DEA. He was just some small-
time kid with a hardcore band back
then.

MCLEOD
What’s a hardcore band?

REESE
It’s like punk rock, but less
tuneful.

MCLEOD
Less tuneful?

REESE
You really think this was one of
the guys you pulled over? The guys
with the knife in the van?
 103.

MCLEOD
Hell, I don’t know. That was years
ago.

EXT. DOYLE’S COMPOUND - DAY

Camcorder slung around her shoulder, Reese fights her way up

wooded hillside, stepping over ferns and fallen logs.

She comes to a chain-link fence surrounding a dirt lot.

In the lot, Reese sees a couple partly-restored muscle cars, a

busted tour van, and half a dozen motorcycles.

Beyond the lot is a misshapen building. What might have started as

a farmhouse has been built out with concrete blocks, plywood, and
corrugated metal. Surrounded by barbed wire fencing, the place
calls to mind a half-baked survivalist compound.

It’s dead quiet as Reese settles in to watch from the tangle of

undergrowth near the fence.

EXT. DOYLE’S COMPOUND - DAY, LATER

Reese squats to pee.

As she finishes, she hears the sound of a car approaching. She

pulls up her pants and gets back into position near the fence.

She turns on her camcorder as Lance Sloane, opens the gate to let
in a green Mercedes convertible. Oscar Doyle gets out of the car.

TRASK and STAMBLER, two men who look like they could have played
in Doyle’s hardcore band, unload big plastic jugs from the trunk
of the Mercedes.

INT. REESE’S APARTMENT - DAY

Reese has the camcorder hooked up to the TV.

She plays back footage of the men unloading the Mercedes.

The footage jumps to another day from a slightly different

perspective.

Sloane and Doyle talk with an AGING PUNK WOMAN. Money changes
hands. Reese holds down the fast-forward button.

The phone rings. Reese looks at it, but doesn’t answer.

Reese’s answering machine clicks and her own voice comes on.
 104.

REESE (V.O.)
(on the answering machine)
It’s Reese. Sorry, I’m not here
right now. Leave a message and I’ll
call you back.

The machine beeps.

PAUL (V.O.)
(on the answering machine)
Reese, this is Paul. From Virginia
United Insurance. I know you’ve
been sick and... Well, I just hope
you’re--

EXT. DOYLE’S COMPOUND - DAY

In her usual spot, Reese turns the camcorder on as a beat-up Mazda

stops at the gate.

The driver honks.

Doyle and Sloane come out of the house. Doyle unlocks the gate and
walks it open. The Mazda drives through.

Doyle pulls a gun as a TEENAGE SKATER gets out of the car.

BANG! Doyle shoots him in the shoulder.

The skater hits the ground. Holy shit.

Doyle yells something, but Reese can’t make it out. The skater
hauls himself back into the car.

Doyle and Sloane watch as the skater backs up his car, turns
around, and drives away.

INT. DEA HEADQUARTERS, SHARON HUGHES’ OFFICE - DAY

Reese plunks a fat envelope down on the desk and slides it across
to Hughes.

REESE
You told me to get in touch again
if I ever had anything.

Hughes glances at the envelope, but doesn’t touch it.

HUGHES
It wasn’t supposed to be like a
lifetime invitation.

Reese shrugs. Hughes opens the envelope and dumps out a dozen Hi8
tapes.
 105.

HUGHES (CONT’D)
I heard you weren’t a cop anymore.

REESE
We’ll have to talk about that.
Because I’m not doing this just for
fun. There’s something I want from
you too.

HUGHES
Oh yeah, I bet there is. What is
it? Or should I be afraid to ask?

INT. DEA SUV - DAY

DEA AGENTS are in gear for a raid.

Reese sits in the back wearing a bulletproof vest. She watches out
the rain-lashed window as they charge up a steep, muddy incline.

At the top, they bust through the gate of Doyle’s compound.

Reese steadies herself as they squelch to a halt. DEMARCO, the

driver, turns to her.

DEMARCO
You’re not here, remember?

REESE
I remember.

The agents get out of the SUV, joining three others getting out of
another SUV behind them.

Reese watches as they approach the compound, becoming dim shapes

as they move away in the downpour.

She wipes fog off the window to try for a better look, but all she
sees is the last agent disappearing around a corner.

She settles in to wait, listening to the rain on the roof.

The seconds tick by.

Reese hears something. So faint she can’t be sure she heard it.
What was it? She opens the door a crack to listen.

A gunshot.

Two more shots.

Reese closes the door. She’s not even here.

Ten seconds go by.

 106.

Twenty.

The rain comes down harder than ever.

Reese opens the door and gets out of the SUV.

EXT. DOYLE’S COMPOUND - MOMENTS LATER

Reese moves through ankle-deep mud towards the compound.

Rain soaks her to the bone. Water runs down her face as she comes
around the corner of the building and draws her gun.

Ahead, she sees a porch covered by a sheet of metal. She hurries

up the steps, passing through a cascade of water running off the
roof.

The door in front of her stands open. Beyond it, a bare bulb
shines light on what looks like a laundry room.

She steps through the door.

INT. DOYLE’S COMPOUND - CONTINUOUS

Unmarked jugs line the walls. On the far side of the room are two
closed doors. To the left, a screen door leads to a passageway.

Reese listens for gunshots or any sign of life.

She can’t hear a thing.

A flash of lightning. A clap of thunder. The light bulb flickers,

comes back on, and then dies.

The power is out.

On instinct, Reese goes through the screen door.

She finds herself in a dirt-floored corridor running around the

edge of the building.

Thick drops of water fall on her face. Looking up, she realizes
that the roof is made up of metal sheets.

Two gunshots tell her she’s on the right track.

Heart racing, she moves down the corridor, emerging at a junction

that looks like metal sheds patched together with junkyard parts.

She chooses a direction and comes to the head of a steep

staircase. Hurrying down the steps, she descends into the darkness
of a concrete tunnel.
 107.

There’s a splash of light on the wall. It’s a flashlight someone

must have dropped.

She picks it up and shines it down the tunnel.

Directly overhead, there’s a flurry of gunshots.

She moves to a set of stairs at the end of the tunnel. She

switches the flashlight off.

Looking up the stairs, she sees a nebulous square of light.

More gunshots ring out as Reese eases up the stairs.

She emerges through an open trapdoor and finds herself at the back
of a large storage room.

With a feeling like hot ice in her veins, she realizes that she’s
come out behind the men defending the compound.

Against the far wall, taking shelter behind piles of scrap metal,
are the DEA agents.

Nobody notices Reese.

She’s frozen in place, caught between wanting to take action and

wanting to delay the moment when people notice her.

With a sputtering buzz, the power comes back on.

There aren’t any overhead lights, but points of white-purple

appear. It’s the lights in dozens of homemade reptile terrariums.

Nearest to Reese, a spiky lizard looks up at her from its desert

habitat.

Still, nobody has seen Reese, but some sixth sense tells Sloane to
turn around.

BANG! Reese squeezes the trigger of her .38 and Sloane goes down.

Doyle shoots back, missing Reese by an inch and shattering the

desert terrarium in an explosion of glass.

Reese ducks behind a gigantic, glass-encased swamp habitat as more

shots ring out.

A few yards away, another terrarium shatters, spewing glass across

the floor.

Trask and Stambler keep taking shots at the DEA agents, while
Doyle creeps around to get a better shot at Reese.

Reese takes a peek out from behind the swamp habitat. She catches
sight of Doyle as he edges into a patch of darkness.
 108.

Reese glances down at her foot as an errant lizard skitters across

it. When she looks back up, she sees Doyle getting into position
to take a shot at her.

BANG! Reese shoots first.

She misses.

Doyle returns fire.

He misses too.

Doyle ducks behind what looks like a rusted-out concrete mixer.

Reese notices that she’s face to face with a baby crocodile, some
three feet long, on the other side of the swamp habitat’s glass.

She shuffles sideways, peeking out to check her flank.

She can’t see much. Wasn’t there one other--

Trask rushes her.

BANG! She shoots Trask down, scrambling backwards.

Now she’s in Doyle’s line of fire.

Doyle pulls the trigger, hitting Reese in the shoulder.

But she finally has a clear shot at Doyle.

BANG!

Doyle goes down.

BANG! CRASH! A DEA agent’s stray bullet blasts away the glass of
the swamp habitat. Murkey water cascades out, flinging the baby
crocodile across the floor.

The DEA agents swarm around, tackling Doyle’s men.

It’s over.

Rain pounds on the roof. Reese catches her breath.

She looks at the slug lodged in her bullet-proof vest.

The scene around her is surreal. The DEA agents hold men down in a
standard tableau, but with a disoriented baby crocodile staggering
towards them.

DEMARCO
Rezek, is that you?

REESE
Yeah.
 109.

Demarco appears from behind the wreckage of the swamp habitat. He

helps Reese up.

DEMARCO
(smiling)
I told you to stay in the car.

EXT. DOYLE’S COMPOUND - DAY

The place is a chaos of flashing emergency lights.

Taking shelter from the rain under an overhang, Reese watches EMTs
move Doyle towards the back of an ambulance.

He’s conscious. Just as the EMTs get him in the ambulance, he and
Reese catch each other’s eyes.

INT. LOOSE CHIPPINGS, LIZZY’S ROOM - NIGHT

[It’s 1985. The night of the murders, as imagined by Reese.]

Lizzy sits at her desk, meticulously brushing Wite-Out onto a

blurry Polaroid of a naked woman’s chest and hips.

TAP, TAP. Someone quietly knocks at the window.

Lizzy takes a steadying breath and the slides the window open.

Doyle and Sloane are waiting outside. They slip in through the
window. They’re wearing gardening gloves.

Lizzy has two kitchen knives ready for them. They each take one.

Without another word, they swoop out of the room.

Lizzy brushes Wite-Out onto her pinky nail as she strains to

listen.

Silence. Silence.

A scream. Her father’s voice. He’s shouting. Another scream.

Lizzy breathes quicker. It’s really happening. It’s really--

DEMARCO
Rezek.

EXT. DOYLE’S COMPOUND - DAY

[Demarco’s voice pulls Reese back to reality.]

DEMARCO
Inside’s clear.
 110.

INT. DOYLE’S COMPOUND, OFFICE - DAY

The wall is covered with hand drawn hardcore posters.

Reese has white gloves on. She’s going through the desk. What am I
looking for?

She opens drawers, carefully searching for something to go on. If

I just knew what I was looking for.

Someone is watching her.

Reese turns around and finds Sharon Hughes leaning in the doorway.

HUGHES
You might be relieved to know that
nobody you shot is going to die.

REESE
Oh.

HUGHES
This could have been a shitty day
for us, but it was alright because
of you. So thanks for that. But I
am about to contend with the tiny
little problem that you’re not
actually one of my agents.

REESE
Well, like you told me, I’m not
here.

HUGHES
Yeah, that was okay before you
started shooting people.

Oh. So this is going to be bad.

REESE
So what are we going to do?

HUGHES
I haven’t figured that out yet. But
you being here could really twist
everyone’s panties. It depends.

REESE
On what?

HUGHES
On whether or not I can figure out
some way to sell this as kosher.
And what side of the bed my bosses
wake up on.
(MORE)
 111.
HUGHES (CONT'D)
But let me tell you, unusually
they’re just looking for a reason
to get those panties twisting.

Hughes checks her watch.

HUGHES (CONT’D)
Okay. For one thing, don’t be here
when the techs arrive. Those little
guys don’t like people touching
shit like you’re doing right now.
And they like filing complaints.
That gives you ten minutes.

Reese nods.

HUGHES (CONT’D)
You find what you’re looking for?

REESE
Not yet. I want to talk to Doyle.

HUGHES
Jesus H. Fuck, talk to Doyle. First
thing is, we’re trying not to get
fucked here. You ever hear about
the weight of bureaucracy?

REESE
Talking to him was the whole point
of this. None of this means
anything if I don’t find out
whether he’s the guy I’ve been
looking for.

HUGHES
Listen, just lay low and don’t do
anything until I call. Don’t call
my office. And sure as shit don’t
go talking to anyone until I know
how it shakes out.

Reese nods. Okay.

HUGHES (CONT’D)
And please, please get the fuck out
of here before the techs arrive.

Hughes turns and leaves before Reese can say anything.

Okay. Ten minutes.

Reese opens up a file cabinet. Papers are crammed in every which

way. Whatever I’m looking for isn’t here.

She closes the file cabinet.

 112.

There’s nothing here.

She examines a shelf. It’s full of three ring binders, hardcore

zines, and shoeboxes.

Reese opens one of the shoeboxes. It’s full of tapes. She pulls
one out. It’s unmarked.

INT. REESE’S APARTMENT - DAY

Exhausted, Reese tosses the shoebox of tapes on her coffee table.

She flops down on the couch.

After a moment, she reaches across the narrow canyon between the
couch and the coffee table to inch the shoebox closer.

She pulls out a tape. There’s no label, but someone’s scratched in

“1/6/85.”

She feels around under the couch and comes up with her tape
player. She sticks in Doyle’s tape and presses play.

It’s fuzz and distortion.

Then something rhythmic comes through. The beginning of a song. It

must be a recording of a harcore show.

Reese lets her head loll upsidedown off the side of the couch.

The thrashing beat of the song is so warped it sounds like a

broadcast from outer space.

Reese presses stop on the tape.

Her head is still upsidedown off the edge of the couch, but an
overwhelming exhaustion sweeps over her.

Before she knows it, she’s--

RING!

Reese jolts awake and--

BANG!

She hits her head on the coffee table.

RING!

Disoriented, she staggers to the phone.

REESE
(picking up the phone)
Hello?
 113.

HUGHES (V.O.)
(over the phone)
It’s Hughes. Now, how’s this for
government fuck-ups? It turns out
nobody did the right paperwork
years ago when you stopped working
with us.

Hughes pauses like Reese should get it, but she’s doesn’t.

REESE
So?

HUGHES (V.O.)
So you’re marked inactive, but
still on the rolls. The way the
system works, I could backdate your
activation to the beginning of the
week.

REESE
My what?

HUGHES (V.O.)
Come work for me.

REESE
Hang on.

HUGHES (V.O.)
I know this isn’t what we talked
about, but think about it. If you
work for me, my bureaucratic pain
in the ass goes away and you can
talk to Doyle all you want.

REESE
Right.

HUGHES (V.O.)
Plus you can chuck your bullshit
insurance gig and get back to doing
some real work.

REESE
I don’t like the DEA.

HUGHES (V.O.)
Fuck you, you don’t like the DEA.
You have five seconds to tell me
not to put this through.

Wait, what?

HUGHES (V.O.)
Four. Three.
 114.

Reese’s brain isn’t working at the right speed for this.

HUGHES (V.O.)
Two. One.

Click.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT

Doyle is bandaged and resting in bed. He’s watching an episode of

Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Reese flips the TV off. Doyle looks over at her, pissed.

DOYLE
I don’t have shit to say to you
people without my lawyer.

Reese sits down, facing him in a stiff plastic chair.

She watches him calmly. Play it slow. Make him curious.

DOYLE (CONT’D)
Aren’t you going to say something?

REESE
You don’t have shit to say without
your lawyer. That doesn’t stop me
from watching you.

DOYLE
Well, cut it out. It’s freaky.

Reese just keeps watching. Doyle looks her over too.

DOYLE (CONT’D)
Do I know you?

REESE
I’m the one who shot you.

DOYLE
That’s not it.

Doyle studies her. Reese lets him. Keep him curious.

REESE
Picture me about five years
younger. Bad Brains shirt. Ripped
up tights. Turned out I was a narc.

Now Doyle remembers.

 115.

REESE (CONT’D)
You showed me pictures of your
band. Then I saw a picture of you
and that girl who killed her
parents. What was her name?

DOYLE
You’re talking about Lizzy Haysom.

REESE
Turned out, her boyfriend killed
the parents to prove his love. At
least, that was the DA’s case.

DOYLE
Sounds like you know something
about it.

Reese watches Doyle. She’s waiting for her moment.

REESE
Why don’t I tell you what I think?
Then if I’m wrong, you tell me to
fuck off.

Her intensity is freaking Doyle out. He doesn’t know what to say.

REESE (CONT’D)
I think someone went with Lizzy to
kill her parents that night. Only
it wasn’t the man who’s in prison.
It was you. Maybe you were her
dealer. Maybe you two got fucked up
that night and she asked you to do
something for her.

Doyle chuckles. He picks up the remote and turns the TV back on.
It’s a commercial for Hot Shots!

DOYLE
You pigs are dumber than I thought.

He looks to Reese.

DOYLE (CONT’D)
I was her dealer. You got that much
right. And sometimes she’d go on
about knocking off her folks. And
oh my god, wouldn’t she just fuck
the brains out of anybody who’d
help her. But I wouldn’t touch that
crazy girl’s murder plots with a
ten foot pole, man. Now, you’ll
like this.
(MORE)
 116.
DOYLE (CONT’D)
Back then, a while after that
German twat went through with it, I
started to think you dumbshits
would pick up a thread, mix things
up, and get some idea about me. And
that scared the shit out of me. So
guess what? I checked to see what I
was up to that weekend. Want to
guess?

EXT. PRISON YARD - DAY

A live recording of Doyle’s band plays on Reese’s tape player.

Reese stops it.

She looks up to Jens who sits across from her. He’s puzzled.

She pops the tape out. Written in Sharpie on a piece of masking

tape it says, “Ottawa - 3/29/85.”

She pulls three more tapes out of her pocket.

REESE
March 30th, Montreal. April 1st,
Quebec City. April 2nd, Portland,
Maine.

JENS
Okay. The weekend Lizzy’s parents
were killed.

REESE
Oscar Doyle can’t be the guy
because he was playing hardcore
shows in Canada.

JENS
He could have changed the dates.

REESE
I called the venues. He was there.

JENS
So now what?

REESE
The music video in your hotel room.
The one that was on when Elizabeth
came back... What was it again?

FLASH: Jens sits on the hotel bed watching the T’Pau video.

JENS
T’Pau. “China in Your Hand.”
 117.

REESE
That’s what I thought. The thing
is, that song didn’t come out for
another two years.

INT. REESE’S VW RABBIT - NIGHT

Reese feels around under the seat. She comes up with Reese
Goodchild’s Roanoke Times business card.

INT. REESE’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Reese uses an iron to flatten out Goodchild’s card.

INT. WOMEN’S PRISON, SECURITY CHECKPOINT - DAY

Reese slides Goodchild’s card across the desk to the DISPIRITED

GUARD.

REESE
Reese Goodchild, Roanoke Times.

DISPIRITED GUARD
ID?

Reese pulls out her ID.

REESE
Now, I just got married and they
messed up on my ID so...

The guard gives the ID a cursory glance and points to the sign in
sheet.

DISPIRITED GUARD
Sign here.

INT. WOMEN’S PRISON, VISITING ROOM - DAY

A DOUR GUARD leads Lizzy to a table. Seeing Reese, Lizzy is not

happy.

REESE
I know. Hear what I have to say.

DOUR GUARD
Is there a problem here?

Lizzy studies Reese. Curiosity gets the better of her.

LIZZY
No. No problem.
 118.

Lizzy sits down. The guard leaves them.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
You’re not Reese Goodchild.

Reese takes out her recorder and starts it.

REESE
The newspaper said they think I got
a false confession out of Jens.

LIZZY
They also said I made Jens do it.
If this is all you want to talk
about, I have better things to do
with my time.

Lizzy turns the recorder off.

REESE
I just want to understand it.

LIZZY
You’re looking for closure.

REESE
Yes, I’m looking for closure.

LIZZY
Well, fuck you, because this is the
rest of my life.

REESE
I’ve tried to do the right thing
all along and now--

LIZZY
That story you told me before--

REESE
What story?

LIZZY
About the picture of your dad.
About how the whole thing was made
up. Was that true? I mean, was it
true or were you just saying it to
draw me out.

Somehow, Reese knew Lizzy would ask. She reaches into her purse
and pulls out the framed picture. She sets it on the table between
them.

Lizzy stares into the man’s eyes.

 119.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
He even kind of looks like you.

REESE
I think so too.

Lizzy starts the voice recorder.

They let it run for a while, capturing nothing but the air between
them.

LIZZY
What’s your name?

Sounds like the opening question of an interview. Reese decides to

play along.

REESE
Reese. Reese Rezek.

LIZZY
How many years have we known each
other?

REESE
Six.

LIZZY
And how’d you get on this path?

REESE
It was my job.

LIZZY
Still?

REESE
No.

LIZZY
I got on my path because I went to
a movie. I met Jens at the movies.
We were supposed to meet and fuck
and get pissed off and forget each
other. Imagine me and you at a bar
right now. We’re there and I say,
remember that guy I dated in
college? I wonder where he is now.
You know, one time we went to the
movies and we saw George Bush. Can
you believe it?

Reese smiles.
 120.

LIZZY (CONT’D)
We could have had a fun talk about
it. But now it’s not fun. Now all I
have is this. I’m Lady Macbeth for
the rest of my life.

EXT. DANTE’S HOUSE - DAY

A suburban brick house with a mowed lawn.

GABRIELLE (5), Dante’s daughter, stands in the open front door

looking up at Reese.

GABRIELLE
Daddy! There’s a lady here!

I/E. DANTE’S STUDY/BACKYARD - DAY

KIDS play in the pool. They shriek and splash and do all the
things that normal kids do.

Separated by a halfway open sliding glass door, Dante sits in his

study with Reese. He’s wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

They’re listening to playback on Reese’s tape recorder.

LIZZY (V.O.)
(on a tape recording)
I have just one thing to say about
Lady Macbeth, because apparently
nobody’s read the play. It was Lady
Macbeth who died of remorse and
grief and killed herself. It was
Macbeth who discovered his true
nature.

Reese presses stop.

REESE
But nobody asked what happened to
the ghost. They all forgot about
him by the end.

DANTE
What ghost?

REESE
The ghost. His father. I know it
doesn’t make that much sense, but
that’s what I feel like.

DANTE
That’s Hamlet. There’s no ghost in
Macbeth.
 121.

Shit, really? Reese lets this soak in.

REESE
Oh. Well, I guess I’ve been in the
wrong play.

Dante nods and squeezes her hand. It’s okay.

They make eye contact and Reese knows that he wants to tell her
something.

REESE (CONT’D)
What?

DANTE
I’m getting divorced. My wife’s
leaving me.

REESE
But you’re always so... I mean, I’m
sorry. What happened?

DANTE
My job. That was part of it. And I
guess she met someone else.

There’s tension here. What’s he trying to say?

REESE
I’m not going to be here. I mean,
I’m moving to Arlington.

DANTE
I know.

They’re not rejecting each other. Just stating facts. Outside, one
of the kids jumps in with a big splash.

REESE
I wish I had a suit.

They watch the kids having fun for a few moments.

DANTE
You could borrow one of my wife’s
suits.

REESE
That would be weird, right?

EXT. DANTE’S BACKYARD - DAY, MINUTES LATER

Reese stands on the edge wearing one of Dante’s wife’s suits. It

has pastel flowers and parrots on it. Not like Reese at all.
 122.

GABRIELLE
Get in! Get in!

Reese acts like she’s not going to, then she makes herself all
stiff and keels over into the pool with a huge splash. It’s weird
and funny, like Buster Keaton almost. The kids love it.

Everyone splashes and screams and loves Reese. She’s happy and
loose and not thinking about anything except right now.

INT. DEA HEADQUARTERS, HALLWAY - DAY

A WORKER slides a placard into the holder next to an office door.

It says, “Reese Rezek, Special Agent.”

EXT. DEA HEADQUARTERS, REESE’S OFFICE - DAY

Pouring rain streaks down the tall, narrow windows.

The modern, comfortable room is set up with sleek filing cabinets

and a large desk.

The door opens and Hughes shows Reese into her new office. We
can’t hear what they’re saying because we’re outside. Probably,
Hughes is razzing Reese for not liking the DEA.

After a moment, Hughes leaves Reese alone.

Reese looks around, taking in the room that’s meant for her.

She opens up a filing box and gets out the picture of the man
who’s not her father.

She sets him up on her desk and sits down, staring at him.

She picks up the picture and pulls a hammer from an open toolbox
on the floor.

CRACK. SMASH! She uses the hammer to break away the glass.

Shaking the glass into the wastebasket, she pulls out the picture.

She looks at the back. It says, “Love you Dee, always. Robert.”

She rips the picture in half and throws it away.

Reese moves to the window, looking out at the wet, inhospitable

world.

For now, she’s dry and she has an office.

THE END.