



















                                   Insomnia

                                      by

                                   H. Seitz












                                               










                                                            5.2.00




             FADE IN:

             On credit sequence...

             AN ARM

             stretched out.  Long, alabaster white.  Beautiful.  A WASH
             CLOTH enters frame.  Starts washing the arm with long, tender
             strokes. 

             A TUMBLE OF HAIR
 
             thick and auburn.  Being gently washed.  

             FINGERNAILS

             being clipped with a shiny nail clipper.  Short.  Uniform.
             Tidy.

             EYEBROWS

             brown with a touch of gold.  A BRUSH comes into view.
             Brushes against the eyebrow hair, then back again.  Against.
             Then back again.

             PANTY-HOSE

             pulled gingerly off a long leg.  Folded neatly.  The wash
             cloth begins between the toes.  Warm, soapy water.

             HAIR

             now dry.  The HAND appears with a comb.  Pulls down through
             the thick tresses.

             It is only now that we see the hand is wearing a SURGICAL
             GLOVE.

             The gloved hand holds up the comb and pulls stray hairs from
             it.  Places them in a big, clear, plastic bag.  In the bag we
             see the panty-hose, a folded flower dress, the nail
             clippings.

             Goes back to combing.  Comes across a knot and yanks the comb
             through.  The HEAD rolls over to us.  Her face is bruised,
             her eyes blank.  She is lying on the floor.

             Dead.

             End of credit sequence.

             INT. BUSH PLANE - THE KILBUCK MOUNTAINS, ALASKA - DAY

             The loud THRUM of a bush plane.  We CLOSE ON a small, cloudy
             window.  Through it we see an endless expanse of pine trees.

                                 HAP (O.S.)
                       Jesus.  Just look at all that.

             PULL BACK to reveal HAP ECKHART and WILL DORMER sitting side
             by side.  Hap's at the window.  Greying moustache, a little
             pudgy, wearing a brown suit.  Holding a folded over Seattle
             Times.

                                 HAP (cont'd)
                       I thought we had a population problem.
                       Everyone should just move up here.
                           (taps window)
                       Just look at it, Will.

             Will's eyes remain on the file on his lap.

                                 WILL
                       I don't need to look at it.

             Will Dormer.  Tall, handsome, expensively tailored suit.
             Snakeskin cowboy boots.  There's both a magnetism and a
             distance to him.  An intense mixture.  Hap glances at him.
     
                                 HAP
                       Nothing wrong with smelling the roses.

             Will looks up.  We see the trace of a thick, ropy SCAR by his
             Adam's apple.  There's tension between him and Hap, just
             below the surface.  He taps the file.

                                 WILL
                       Tell that to her, partner.

             ANGLE ON THE FILE

             a stack of 8x10 PHOTOGRAPHS.  Of the dead girl.  Her eyes
             puffed up from bruises.  The whites bloody.  Contusions along
             her breasts and shoulders.

                                 PILOT (O.S.)
                       Detective?

             The PILOT's looking back at Will.  Wearing a leather red
             baron hat.

                                 PILOT (cont'd)
                       Better check your belts.  We'll be
                       landing in about fifteen minutes.

             Will nods.  The plane lurches.  The file falls to the floor
             and the photographs scatter.  The pilot catches a glimpse of
             them.  Looks at Will.

             EXT. BUSH PLANE - CONTINUOUS

             The small yellow plane veers left.  Clears a mountain top and
             gives view to the spectacular Alaskan coastline.  The green
             of the Bering sea, the blanket of pine trees, the jagged rock
             of the beaches.  Enormous.


             EXT. LANDING STRIP - OUTSIDE NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             A SIGN swinging in the wind: Nightmute, Alaska.  Halibut
             Fishing Capital of the World!

             PULL BACK to reveal it hanging from the eave of a small,
             corrugated building.  The "airport."  Nothing else for miles
             around.

             A mud-splattered Jeep Cherokee pulls up next to it.  Brakes
             SCREECHING.  A YOUNG WOMAN hops out.  About 23.  Petite with
             short, brown hair.

             Peers up at the sky.  Brightens at the sight of the BUSH
             PLANE coming in for landing.  Smooths down her down vest.
             Making sure the GOLD SHIELD on her belt's visible.  Nervous.
             Excited.

                                 OLD MAN (O.S.)
                       Eleanor?

             ELLIE BURR turns.  Shields her eyes from the sun.  An OLD MAN
             hosing down the side of the building.

                                 ELLIE
                       Hey, Mr. Angstrom!

                                 MR. ANGSTROM
                       What're you doing here?

             Ellie puffs up.

                                 ELLIE
                       Police business.

                                 MR. ANGSTROM
                       Police business?

             The old man screws up his face, confused.  

                                 MR. ANGSTROM (cont'd)
                       Didn't you used to baby-sit for us? 

                                 ELLIE
                       I don't babysit any more, Mr. Angstrom.
                       Just made detective three weeks ago.

             A CAT jumps down off the roof.  Angstrom sprays it.

                                 MR. ANGSTROM
                       Boy, Charlie must be short-handed down at
                       the station.

             Ellie, used to not being taken seriously.  Turns back to THE
             ROAR of the bush plane as it taxis down the strip.  Coming to
             a stop.  She hurries over as the door swings open and...

             WILL DORMER steps down.  Slipping on his sunglasses.
             Scanning the nothingness around him.  Spots the swinging
             sign.

                                 WILL
                       "Halibut fishing capital of the world."

             Hap, right behind him.  Rubs his neck.

                                 HAP
                       This ought to be interesting.

                                 ELLIE
                           (over the engine)
                       Detective Dormer!

             They look down.  Ellie reaches up and takes Will's bag.  Then
             his hand.  Shakes it vigorously.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       It's a huge honor to meet you!  Ellie
                       Burr.  I'm here to take you to the
                       station!

             Will motions to Hap.

                                 WILL
                       My partner...

                                 ELLIE
                       Detective Eckhart!  I know!  Welcome to
                       Nightmute!

             She leads them away from the plane.  Takes Will's briefcase.

                                 ELLIE
                       I just want to say how incredible it is 
                       to have you working with us, Detective
                       Dormer.  I've followed all your cases.
                       Theodore Dineli, Frank and Casey
                       Prud'homme, the Port Angeles shootings...

             Opens the back of the Jeep.  Puts the bags inside.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       ...And especially the Leland Street
                       Murders.  That was my case study at the
                       Academy.

             The Pilot walks by.  Taps her on the shoulder.

                                 PILOT
                       Tell your dad the game's gonna start late
                       this week, Ellie.

                                 ELLIE
                       Sure thing, Spence.

             She looks back at Will.  Can't help but focus in on his scar.
             Touches her own smooth neck.  In awe.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       That's where Ronald Langley cut you in
                       the basement of his father's house on 325
                       Leland, isn't it?

             Will smiles, taken aback by this girl's exuberance.

                                 WILL
                       You did your homework, Officer.

                                 ELLIE
                       Actually...

             She throws a quick glance at Angstrom.  Out of ear-shot.

                                 ELLIE
                       I just made detective three weeks ago.

             EXT. NIGHTMUTE POLICE DEPARTMENT - DAY

             The Cherokee parked next to a police car outside a plain, one-
             storey building.  The Nightmute Police Department.  A totem
             pole stands out front.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (O.S.)
                       Will Dormer!

             INT. CHIEF CHARLES NYBACK'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

             Nightmute Police Chief CHARLES NYBACK gets up from behind his
             desk with a big smile.  Ruddy, red hair sprinkled with grey,
             Nyback wears a faded army sweater over his uniform.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       I'll be damned!

             Limps from behind his desk and gives Will a shake and a slap
             on the back.

                                 WILL
                           (warmly)
                       How you doing, Charlie?

             Nyback shakes Hap's hand.  A reunion.

                                 HAP
                       Hey, Charlie.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Christ.  I haven't seen you boys since...

                                 WILL
                       Just after Leland Street.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       What's that, then?

                                 HAP
                       Eight years.

                                 WILL
                       Seven years.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Seven years?  Where does it all go?  That
                       was some amazing time, though, wasn't it?

             Looks at Will.  Down at his boots.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       You haven't changed a bit, Will.

             Will.  Looks at Nyback's gut.

                                 WILL
                       You have, Chief.

             They LAUGH.  Eyes twinkling.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       I knew that was coming.  I deserve it.

             He starts back over to his desk.  Notices Ellie still
             standing by the door.  Points to Will.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       Pay attention to this man, Ellie.  He'll
                       teach you how to be a great cop.

             Ellie straightens.  Smiles.  Looks over at Will.

                                 ELLIE
                       Yes, sir.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       That's all, for now.

             Ellie, realises they want to be alone.

                                 ELLIE
                       Oh.  Right.  Okay.

             Backs out.  Quietly closing the door behind her.  Will
             unbuttons his jacket.  Takes a seat.

                                 WILL
                       Nice kid.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                           (sits with a SIGH)
                       Got a love affair with police work.
                       Drives me crazy with it.

             Will surveys the fishing poles leaning against the gun rack.

                                 WILL
                       Keeping you busy up here, Charlie?

             Hap picks up a cheap trophy.  Reads the base.

                                 HAP
                       "2nd prize Great Kodiak Salmon Catch."

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       I told you seven years ago this was a 
                       stepping stone to retirement.

             Nyback nods to Hap's Seattle Times.  The headline:  "Deeper
             Investigation into Special Branch"...

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       Looks like it's a good time for you to
                       get up here, too.  With all the bad
                       business going on down at Special Branch.

             Will and Hap share a look.  No more joking.  Hap folds over
             the paper.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       Just five bad apples so far?

                                 WILL
                       So far.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       What's the D.A. got them on?

                                 WILL
                       Four unwarranted shootings, witness
                       intimidation, and cocaine theft.

             Nyback winces.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       How about you?  How you faring?

                                 HAP
                       They're all over us, Charlie.

                                 WILL
                       They're all over everybody.

                                 HAP
                       I.A.'s calling themselves the "Corruption
                       Task Force."  Can you believe that?
                       Trying to root out any mistakes or
                       "oversights" any other Detectives may
                       have made over the years.  They're
                       turning it into a witch hunt.  Something
                       on the news about it practically every
                       night.

             Nyback pulls a stack of messages from his desk.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Got a bunch of messages here from some
                       guy named Warfield.

             Hap tosses a glance over at Will.

                                 WILL
                       That's I.A.'s pit bull.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Wants me to keep him posted on all your
                       movements up here.

             Nyback turns and ceremoniously drops the messages into the
             trash.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       I'm just glad Buck could spare you a
                       couple of weeks.  Take you out of the
                       frenzy.  I gotta tell you, though, I sure
                       don't miss big city police work.  Not
                       that I was ever a great detective.  But
                       up here there's no Bureaucracy.  No
                       Public Relations.  No blurred lines.
                       Just good guys and bad guys.  Simple.

             A cloud passes over his face.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       Except for this.

             Holds up a file.  The name written on the lip:  KAY CONNELL.

             INT. HALLWAY - MINUTES LATER

             Nyback leads Will and Hap down a hallway.  Crooked plaques
             and black-and-white pictures line the walls.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Couldn't get a thing from the body.  Not
                       a trace.  Town's never dealt with
                       anything like this before.

             They turn a corner and stop at a door.  Will glances up:
             MOOSE ANTLERS hanging over it.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       I've briefed everybody about your coming.
                       They know to follow your lead.

             Nyback opens the door onto...

             INT. BULLPEN - NIGHTMUTE PD - CONTINUOUS

             ...the bullpen of Nightmute PD.  Wooden desks, a couple
             computers, a jumbled corkboard, an impressive gun cabinet.  A
             RADIO's playing.

             Three MEN look over.  A young uniformed cop and two guys with
             heavy facial hair, Timberland boots, and flannel shirts.  One
             of them's part Inuit.  Ellie sits in the back.  Reaches over
             to turn off the radio.

             Will and Hap stand in the doorway.  Sticking out like sore
             thumbs in their suits.  Nyback jerks his thumb towards them.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       This is Detective Dormer and his partner
                       Detective Eckhart.  On loan from Buck
                       Lundgard, Seattle Robbery and Homicide
                       Special Branch.  They'll be helping with
                       the Connell case.

             The Inuit, FRED DUGGAR, snorts.  Takes his feet of the desk.

                                 FRED
                       Helping?  

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                           (ignoring him)
                       Anything they need to see, you show them;
                       anywhere they want to go, you take them.
                           (nods to Fred)
                       This is Detective Fred Duggar.  He's been
                       leading the investigation up to now.

             Will puts out his hand.

                                 WILL
                       Detective...

             Fred tugs at his dark handlebar moustache.  Stands.

                                 FRED
                       Suppose you want to see the body.

             EXT. NIGHTMUTE POLICE DEPARTMENT - DAY

             Fred steps out of the station, pulls on a baseball cap.

                                 FRED
                       We can walk from here.

             He heads off across the parking lot.  Will and Hap exchange a
             glance.

                                 WILL
                       Guess that's what they call Alaskan
                       hospitality.

                                 ELLIE (O.S.)
                       Don't worry about him...

             They turn.  Ellie's come up behind them.  Looks over at the
             hunched figure to Fred.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       He's just mad 'cause you're taking over.

             Fred stops up ahead.  Sees her.  Annoyed.

                                 FRED
                       Ellie!  Go type something!

             INT. NIGHTMUTE MORGUE - LATER

             CLOSE ON a faucet.  A bead of water, quivering at the mouth.
             Falls with a BLIP!

                                 CORONER (O.S.)
                       Did a fundascopic examination and found
                       papilledema and petechiae of the retina.

             PULL BACK to reveal Will, Hap, and the COUNTY CORONER
             standing by a stainless steel table.  The naked body of KAY
             CONNELL is laid out before them.  Fred hangs back.

             The coroner tugs at her surgical gloves.  She's in her late
             seventies.

                                 CORONER (cont'd)
                       Clear cause of death was herniation of
                       the brain stem due to intracerebral
                       hemorrhage.

                                 HAP
                       Beaten to death.

                                 CORONER
                       Beaten to death.

             Will points to the bruises on the body's shoulders and
             breasts.

                                 WILL
                       What about these contusions?

                                 CORONER
                       Superficial.

                                 WILL
                       Any signs of rape?

                                 CORONER
                       None.

             The coroner starts to cover the body with a sheet.

                                 CORONER (cont'd)
                       She was a nice girl.  Played flute with
                       my granddaughter.

             Will stays her hand.

                                 WILL
                       Wait.

             He pulls the sheet back down.  Studying the body of Kay
             Connell.  Starts walking slowly around the table.  In his
             element.  The faucet drips.  Drips.  Drips.

             He bends down to smell her hair.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       He washed her hair.

             Takes a handful and lets it fall from his fingers.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Combed it.

             Continues around the table.  Picks up one of her hands.
             Examines her fingers, her nails.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Cleaned under her fingernails.  Clipped
                       them.

             Continues down around her feet.  Checks between her first and
             second toes.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Toes, too.
                           (to Fred)
                       You found nothing on the body?

                                 FRED
                       No.
 
                                 WILL
                       No fibers, skin flakes, hairs...

                                 FRED
                       Like I said, no.  We know about those
                       things up here.

             Will stands there.  Looking down at the body.  Slim.  Young.
             Beautiful.  Skin like marble.

                                 WILL
                       He knew exactly what we'd be looking for.
                       Made sure to cover up all his tracks.

                                 HAP
                       Even the best make mistakes.

             Will looks up and locks eyes with his partner.

             INT. PIONEER LODGE - NIGHTMUTE - NIGHT

             Will and Hap enter the lobby of the Pioneer Lodge.  Big stone
             fireplace and heavy ceiling beams.  MOOSE ANTLERS mounted
             above reception.  They put their bags down by the desk.  Look
             around.

                                 RACHEL (O.S.)
                       Lower forty-eight.

             They turn.  RACHEL CLEMENT stands in a doorway behind the
             desk.  Dunking a teabag into a mug.  Long dark hair and
             intelligent eyes.

                                 HAP
                       Lower forty-eight?

                                 RACHEL
                       You're not from here.  I can tell by your
                       walk.

                                 HAP
                       Oh?  And how's that?

                                 RACHEL
                       Unsure.

             Hap smiles at her.  Will checks his watch.

                                 WILL
                       Detectives Will Dormer and Hap Eckhart.
                       There should be a reservation for us.

             Rachel looks at him.  Goes to a small file box on the desk.

                                 RACHEL
                           (to Hap)
                       Your friend's all business.

                                 WILL
                       I'm always all business.

             He glances out the window.  It's as bright as day.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Is it really 9:30?

                                 RACHEL
                           (nods)
                       Alaskan summers.  Hope you're an easy
                       sleeper.  It'll be like this all night.

             She hands them two cards.

                                 RACHEL (cont'd)
                       Sign here.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - NIGHT

             Will's taken off his jacket and is unpacking.  The room is
             sparse and creaky.  Bed dips in the middle.  He hangs a
             jacket in the armoire then returns to his suitcase.  Pulls
             out his SMITH AND WESSON 45.

             Lays it on the bedside table.  Takes out a shoulder holster.
             A back holster.  A handful of shells.  Lays them on the 
             table.  Then a small SMITH AND WESSON 39/13 9MM.  Checks the
             magazine.

             There's a KNOCK on the adjoining door.

                                 HAP (O.S.)
                       Me.

             Will SLAPS the magazine back.

                                 WILL
                       Come on in.

             Hap opens the door.  A glimpse into his room: family PICTURES
             on his bedside table - a WOMAN and three teenage GIRLS.

                                 HAP
                       See you have the same decor as my room.

             He walks over to the big window.  It overlooks the harbor.
             Big, snow-capped mountains in the distance.  One lone TUGBOAT
             in the harbor towing a freighter.

                                 HAP (cont'd)
                       Same view, too.
                           (looks out)
                       I've been watching that tugboat for the
                       last half hour.  So small, pulling all
                       that weight.
                           (beat)
                       We have to talk, Will.

             Will reaches into his suitcase.  Pulls out a shirt.

                                 WILL 
                       What do you want to talk about?

                                 HAP
                       You know what about.

             Will throws him a look.

                                 WILL
                       We'll talk when we get back to Seattle.

                                 HAP
                       When's that, a week?  Two weeks?...
                           (heads over to him)
                       We have to figure out a plan of action
                       now.

                                 WILL
                       You know my plan of action.

                                 HAP
                       To do nothing.

                                 WILL
                       That's right.

                                 HAP
                       Dammit, Will.  Warfield had me locked up
                       in his office again for five hours
                       yesterday.  Five hours.  Asking all kinds
                       of questions...

                                 WILL
                       He's asking everybody questions.

                                 HAP
                       But he's zeroing in on me.  On us.
                       Everyone's talking about it.

                                 WILL
                       He's just rattling your cage.

                                 HAP
                       Well, I gotta tell you.  With a wife,
                       three kids, and a pension plan in the
                       balance, it's rattling hard.

                                 WILL
                       We say nothing.  It goes away.  Simple as
                       that.

             Will goes back to his suitcase.  Hap follows.  A thin film of
             sweat on his upper lip.

                                 HAP
                           (lowers voice)
                       Look.  We've tampered with evidence.
                       We've pushed witnesses.  We've planted
                       shit.  And they're sniffing around like
                       dogs.  Especially on the Dobbs case...

             Will flares up.  Struck a nerve.  Turns to his partner.

                                 WILL
                       Weston Dobbs killed an eight year-old boy
                       and left him hanging in the basement like
                       a piece of meat.  You remember that?

                                 HAP
                       You know I remember that.

                                 WILL
                       One word to I.A. and he walks.

                                 HAP
                       Maybe not.  We could talk to Buck...

                                 WILL
                       No way.

                                 HAP
                       Cut some kind of a deal.  I heard that's 
                       what Flynn's doing...

                                 WILL
                       Mike Flynn's a dirty cop, Hap!  We are
                       nothing like Mike Flynn.  We did what we
                       needed to do to make sure that son-of-
                       bitch Dobbs paid for what he did.  And
                       every bastard like him.  We say one word
                       about it and every case we ever brought
                       in is going to blow wide open and they'll
                       all walk.  Every last one.  And I am not
                       going to let that happen.  No deals.  No
                       compromises.  No discussions.

             He grabs a hanger.

                                 HAP
                       Goddammit, Will.  You grab on to
                       something and you don't let it go.

             He takes out a handkerchief.  Wipes his brow.

                                 HAP
                       I don't know if it's because you think
                       it's the right thing to do or because
                       your pride won't let you do anything
                       else.  I can't tell any more.
                           (steps back)
                       But I can tell you one thing.  I'm
                       getting too old for this cowboy cop
                       stuff.  Breaking the rules.  Cleaning up
                       messes.  We're a dying breed, Will.
                       You're a dying breed.  I.A., the D.A.,
                       all those reporters - they don't care
                       what you did at Leland Street seven years
                       ago.  They don't care that you've made
                       this your life.  They don't care about
                       getting the bad guy...

             Will turns on his partner, eyes burning.

                                 WILL
                       I care.

             The partners, lock eyes.  Years of working together.  A
             thousand things unsaid.  Hap reaches for the door.

                                 HAP (cont'd)
                        They're watching us, Will.  Like it or
                        not.  They're watching us.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - NIGHT

             Will's asleep.  Kay Connell's folder open on his chest.  It's
             dark in his room, quiet.  Suddenly the shade on his window
             quivers and SNAPS up, flooding the room with light.

             Will's eyes pop open.  He rolls over to look at the clock:
             3:15.  Squinting, he gets up and walks over to the window.
             We can see the rest of his scar.  Runs down deep across his
             sternum.

             He yanks the shade back down.  It bucks, then settles.
             Satisfied, Will returns to bed.  Plumps the pillow, pulls the
             blanket up around him.  Closes his eyes.

             The shade lurches halfway.  Then SNAPS back up.  Light pours
             in.  Will's eyes open.

                                 WILL
                       You got to be kidding me.

             EXT. STREET - NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             Will jogs along in a Sonics sweatshirt, a ring of sweat
             around his collar.  He looks out over the harbor.  Fishing
             boats coming in with their early morning haul.  More halibut.
             He checks his watch.  Slows to a walk.  Looks up and sees...

             Ellie Burr standing on the front steps of the Pioneer Lodge.
             Smiles.  Holds up some car keys.

                                 ELLIE
                       Fred wants us to meet him at the
                       Connell's.

             INT./EXT. JEEP CHEROKEE - DAY

             Ellie driving.  A hula-girl, swinging from the rear-view
             mirror.  Will in the passenger seat.  Wearing a crisp suit.
             Ellie hands him a take-out bag.

                                 ELLIE
                       Brought you a bear claw.  Just in case
                       you were hungry.

             Will takes the bag.  Looks inside.  Yikes.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       Local delicacy.

                                 WILL
                       Think I'll pass.

             He puts the bag on the dash.  Looks out the window.
             Nightmute's main street.  A line of shops.  Undistinguished
             Town Hall.  Elementary school up on a hill.  Sign out front:
             Sign-ups for Midnight Little League!

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       What kind of calls you get around here?

                                 ELLIE
                       Oh.  You know.  Small-time stuff.
                       Nothing like what you must get.  Mostly
                       drinking-related problems.  Domestic
                       abuse.  Barroom fights.  Stuff like that.

             She shifts down.  Takes a steep turn.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       In the summer months it's pretty quiet.
                       That's when there's work out on the
                       boats.  The rest of the year, though...

             They pass a MAN walking along the road.  Gnarled walking
             stick.  Ellie calls out the window.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       Hey, there, Joe!

             JOE waves.  They pass.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       That's Joe Willy.  Took his family 
                       hostage in November.  That was the most
                       exciting thing that happened last year.
                       I wasn't there, though.
                           (grinds gear)
                       Chief barely lets me handle anything
                       above a misdemeanor.

             Will looks over at her.  Smiles.

                                 WILL
                       Don't give misdemeanors a bad rap.

                                 ELLIE
                       But they're so boring.  All small stuff.

                                 WILL
                       It's all about the small stuff.  Small
                       lies.  Small mistakes.  Small oversights.
                       People give themselves away in a traffic
                       violation just as much as they do in a
                       murder case.  It's human nature.

             He looks over.  Ellie's listening intently.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Aren't you going to write that down?

             Ellie, searching her pockets for something to write with...

                                 ELLIE
                       Let me just...

             Stops.  Looks over.  Realises Will's teasing her.

             EXT. CONNELL HOUSE - DAY

             A small ranch house.  Aluminum siding.  FLOWERS piled up by
             the front door.  TEDDY BEARS.  RIBBONS.  Left by well-wishers.

                                 MRS. CONNELL (O.S.)
                       I haven't tidied up, since Fred told me
                       not to touch anything.

             INT. HALLWAY - CONNELL HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

             MRS. CONNELL, a big woman with a thick grey braid down her
             back, opens the door to her daughter's room.  Looks at Will.

                                 MRS. CONNELL
                       I don't believe in keeping a child's room
                       like a shrine.

             Will heads into the room.  Hap follows.  A palpable
             uneasiness between them.  Fred and Ellie stand in the
             doorway.  Mrs. Connell turns to go.

             INT. KAY CONNELL'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

             A small bedroom.  Pink shag carpeting and clouds painted on
             the ceiling.  Pictures cut from magazines pasted on the
             walls.  A stack of tapes and a boom box in the corner.

             Will stands in the middle of the room.  Taking it in.

                                 WILL
                       Typical seventeen year-old.
                           (beat)
                       She went to a party Friday night?

                                 ELLIE
                       Down at a local dive the kids like to
                       hang out in.

             Fred throws Ellie a look.  "Kids?"  She's practically a kid
             herself.  Will opens the top drawer of the bureau.  Roots
             beneath the panties.

                                 WILL
                       No diary.

             On top of the bureau, a stack of photos.  A couple torn up.
             Kay Connell and a GIRL with white-blonde hair.  Laughing.

                                 FRED
                       She left the party early.  Friends said
                       she had a fight with her boyfriend and
                       stormed out.

                                 WILL
                       What time was that?

                                 FRED
                       Around twelve-thirty.

             Hap picks up a bear on Kay's bed.  A bell JINGLES when he
             shakes it.  Will crosses to a closet in the corner.

                                 WILL
                       Who was the last one to see her alive?

                                 FRED
                       Randy Stetz.  Her boyfriend.  We've
                       questioned him, searched his place.
                       Didn't find anything.

             Will pulls a dress out of the closet.  Small, black, elegant.
             The tag's been cut out.  He pulls out another, then another.
             Feels the fabric.

                                 WILL
                       These are designer.  Expensive.
                           (looks up)
                       Could Randy Stetz afford these?

             Fred and Ellie exchange a look.

                                 ELLIE
                       He fixes boat engines.

             Will looks around.  Cheap wallpaper, torn window screens.

                                 WILL
                       Well her mother didn't buy them for her.

                                 HAP
                       What are we thinking?

             Will reaches over to a heart-shaped box on the bedside table.
             Pulls out a pretty gold necklace.  Holds it up.

                                 WILL
                       Kay Connell had an admirer.

             He hands the dresses to Ellie.  Heads out of the room.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       I want to talk to the boyfriend.

             INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

             CLOSE ON a hand squeezing a shoulder.  Hard.

                                 WILL
                       You don't seem all that sad.

             The shoulder jerks away.  PULL BACK to reveal RANDY STETZ
             sitting at a wooden table in an interrogation room.  Longish
             blond hair, wearing a Metallica t-shirt, trying like hell to
             grow a moustache.

                                 RANDY
                       I haven't had a chance!  You fuckers been
                       all over my back since Monday!

             He takes out a cigarette.  It's bent.  He lights it.  Hap
             sits opposite.

                                 HAP
                       You know smoking stunts your growth.

             Randy throws him a look.

                                 RANDY
                       Yeah, okay, fat-ass.

                                 HAP
                           (smiles at Will)
                       More Alaskan hospitality.

             Will goes over to a coffee machine.  Pours a cup.

                                 WILL
                       Did you love her?

                                 RANDY
                       Huh?

                                 WILL
                       Kay Connell.  Did you love her?

             Randy flicks his ash.  Shrugs.

                                 RANDY
                       Sure.  She was nice.

             Will turns with his coffee.

                                 WILL
                       "She was nice."  Wow.  That makes me all
                       soft inside.  Ever occur to you she
                       didn't love you back?

                                 RANDY
                       Huh?

                                 WILL
                       You heard me that time.

                                 RANDY
                       She loved me.  She wanted to see me every
                       night.

                                 WILL
                       But she was seeing someone else on the
                       side.

             Randy glares.

                                 RANDY
                       I don't know what you're fucking talking
                       about.

                                 WILL
                       Friday night, at the party - what'd you
                       fight about?

                                 RANDY
                       Stuff.

                                 WILL
                       What kind of stuff?

                                 RANDY
                       Just stuff.  I don't fucking remember.

                                 WILL
                       The other guy?

                                 RANDY
                       I told you I don't remember.

                                 WILL
                       After that she left the party to go to
                       him.

                                 RANDY
                       How should I know?...

                                 WILL
                       Ran like hell to go to him...

                                 RANDY
                       Fuck you, man! - I'm sick of all your
                       fucking cop questions...

             Will suddenly hurls his coffee cup and grabs Randy up by the
             collar.  Nose to nose.

                                 WILL
                       Now you listen to me, you little shit.
                       This fuck-the-world-Metallica-t-shirt 
                       crap may work with your mamma, but it
                       doesn't work with me.  You got mad at
                       your girlfriend because she was seeing
                       someone else.  You want to be the last
                       person who saw her alive or are you going
                       to tell me who that is?

             Randy's lip curls.  Red-faced.

                                 RANDY
                       I don't know.

                                 WILL
                       You don't know.

                                 RANDY
                       She didn't tell me.

             Disgusted, Will shoves Randy back into his seat.

             INT. HALLWAY - MINUTES LATER

             Will walking out of the interrogation room.  Ellie joins him.

                                 ELLIE
                       He's a little surly, isn't he?

             Will smooths back his hair.  Checks his tie.

                                 WILL
                       Just a little.

             He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the gold necklace
             from Kay's room.  Hands it to her.

                                 WILL
                       I want you to check this out, Ellie.

                                 ELLIE
                       We already did.

                                 WILL
                       Do it again.

                                 ELLIE
                       But there wasn't any...

             Will stops.  Ellie stops.  Will puts a hand on her shoulder.

                                 WILL
                       The small things - remember?  The second
                       you're about to dismiss something - look
                       at it again.

             Ellie smiles, teasing.

                                 ELLIE
                       You want me to write that down?

             Will, has to smile.  She's quick.  Looks down the hall.  A
             bearded GUY on crutches.  Ellie follows his gaze.

                                 WILL
                       Who's that?

                                 ELLIE
                       The bartender at Darrow's.  He was there
                       Friday night.

                                 WILL
                       Good.  He's up next.

             Will heads over to him.  Ellie watches his neck.  Her hand
             closing over the necklace.

             INT. RESTAURANT - PIONEER LODGE - NIGHT

             The Pioneer Lodge restaurant.  Small, dark wood, a RADIO
             playing something between Bluegrass and Folk.  Some rough-
             looking GUYS at the bar.  Throwing looks over at...

             Will and Hap, sitting at a table.  Studying faded menus.

                                 WILL
                           (reading)
                       Halibut Calabrese.  Halibut Olympia.
                       Halibut Cajun Style.  Halibut fish and
                       chips...

             He puts down his menu.  Reaches for his drink.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Can't wait to see what's for dessert.

                                 HAP
                       At least there's variety.

             Will drains his drink.  Locks eyes with a big GUY over at the
             bar.  Beer froth on his moustache.

                                 WILL
                       Looks like the natives are restless.

                                 HAP
                       Will?

             Will looks back at his partner.  Hap's fidgeting with the end
             of his tie.

                                 HAP (cont'd)
                       I think, I think I'm gonna talk to Buck
                       when we get back to Seattle.

             A cold flash down Will's spine.

                                 HAP
                       I wish I could stick it out like you.  I
                       just, with Trish and the kids...

                                 WILL
                       Don't do this, Hap...

             Hap avoids his eyes.

                                 HAP
                       I'm thinking I could get off with
                       probation.  Keep half my pension.  That's
                       all I want.

                                 WILL
                           (hisses)
                       Goddammit, Hap.  Think about what you're
                       doing...

                                 HAP
                       You don't have to be involved, Will.

                                 WILL
                       You tell Buck and I'm involved whether I
                       like it or not...

                                 RACHEL (O.S.)
                       Ready to order?

             The men look up, interrupted.  Rachel is standing by the
             table with a pad.  Hap tries to recover with a big smile.

                                 HAP
                       Hey - you do everything around here?

                                 RACHEL
                       Just about.

             Will stands abruptly.  Eyes on Hap.  Trying not to explode.

                                 WILL
                       I'll just have another Scotch in my room.
                           (turns to Rachel)
                       If you don't mind.

             Just then, his cell phone RINGS.

             INT. BULLPEN - NIGHTMUTE PD - NIGHT

             Will bursts into the bullpen.  Hap behind.

                                 WILL
                       Where is it?

             Ellie, Fred, and a couple other GUYS huddled around a desk.

                                 ELLIE
                       Over here.

             Will and Hap head over to them.  One of the younger guys,
             FARRELL, intimidated by Will's presence.  Tucks his shirt
             into his dirty jeans.

             They part to reveal a BLUE KNAPSACK laying on the desk.  Mud
             spots all over it.  An embroidered daisy.  Will examines it.

                                 WILL
                       We're sure it's hers?

                                 FRED
                       Has her books in it.

                                 HAP
                       What about prints?

             Ellie shakes her head, unfortunately not.  Will reaches into
             the bag.  Pulls out two text books.

                                 WILL
                       Biology and Algebra.

             He shoves the books towards one of the guys.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Find out who she studied with.

             He continues through the bag.  Pulls out a little plastic bag
             with "Hello Kittys" all over it.  Dumps out the contents.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Make-up.

             Looks up at Fred.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Find out where she bought it.

             Fred looks at him.  Not happy with make-up duty.  Will pulls
             out a hair brush.  Hands it to Ellie.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Lab.

             Next, a couple worn paperbacks.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                           (reading titles)
                       Otherwise Engaged, Murder at Sunset.

             He looks up at the group.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Who here reads this kind of crap?

             Farrell straightens.

                                 FARRELL
                       I read that kind of crap.

             Will tosses them to him.

                                 WILL
                       Read them.  Tell me anything that strikes
                       you.

             Down to the bottom of the bag.  A Ziploc with a half-eaten
             sandwich and an apple core.  Will hands them to Ellie.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Lab.

             Upends the knapsack.  Scraps, paper clips, gum wrappers.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       That's it.

             Fred reaches for the knapsack.

                                 FRED
                       I'll stick it in the evidence locker...

                                 WILL
                       No.

             Will takes it, walks slowly over to the window.  Thinking.
             Twists the knapsack in his hands and looks out at the
     
             TOTEM POLE standing tall outside.  A black RAVEN alights on
             top of it.  Pecks at the air.  Turns.  Seems to look right at 
             Will.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       We put it back where we found it.

             Will turns to them.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       You said it was a fishing cabin.

                                 FARRELL
                       Uh, right.  About two miles outside of
                       town.

                                 ELLIE
                       On the beach.

             Fred tightens his jaw.

                                 FRED
                       Why are we taking it back?

             Will ignores the question.  Walks back towards them.

                                 WILL
                       This murder was in the papers, right?

                                 ELLIE
                       Yeah.  All over.

                                 WILL
                       Call all of them from here to Anchorage.
                       Tell them we now know that Kay Connell
                       left the party with a dark blue knapsack,
                       but we haven't recovered it yet.
                           (checks watch)
                       We can get it in by the morning editions.

             He hands the bag to Farrell.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Fill this with random books.  Make it
                       look heavy.

             Will pulls out a handkerchief.  Wipes the mud off his hands.
             Taking his time.  Finally turns to Fred.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       It'll eat this guy alive if he thinks he
                       overlooked a detail.

             EXT. ROCKY BEACH - OUTSIDE NIGHTMUTE - MORNING

             POV through BINOCULARS

             A WOODEN CABIN comes into focus.  Right by the water.  Hasn't
             been used in years.  Weathered, slate roof.  Algae growing up
             the sides.

                                 HAP (O.S.)
                       Nice.  Lighter than I remembered.

             WILL lowers his binoculars.  He's standing on the black rocky
             beach.  It's damp, slick, and cold.  A fog's rolling in.

             Hap and Farrell are sitting behind a cluster of rocks.  A
             couple paper bags and a megaphone.  They're comparing guns.

                                 FARRELL
                       Glock 40.  All plastic save the barrel
                       and firing pin.  Never rusts.  What do
                       you carry down in Seattle?

             Hap reaches into his holster.  Pulls out a...

                                 HAP
                       Smith and Wesson 45.

                                 FARRELL
                       Excellent!

             Fred Duggar's standing on the other side of them.  He's got a
             pair of binoculars, too.  They're staking out the cabin.
             Been there a while.

                                 ELLIE (O.S.)
                       Brought some coffee...

             Ellie appears with a thermos.  Crouching down.  Fred turns,
             annoyed.

                                 FRED
                       What are you doing here?

                                 WILL
                           (answering for her)
                       I told her to come.

             Fred shoots Will a look.  Down at his cowboy boots.  Will
             gives him a smile.

                                 ELLIE
                       Anything yet?

                                 WILL                    FRED
                       Nothing.                Nothing.

             Fred goes back to scanning, pissed.

                                 FARRELL
                       Maybe this guy doesn't read the papers.

                                 HAP
                       Or goes straight to the Sports Section.

             Hap and Farrell chuckle.  Hap unscrews the thermos.  A cloud
             of steam.

                                 HAP (cont'd)
                       Who gets first dibs?
                           (looks up at Will)
                       Will?

             Will looks down at his partner.  Holding out the thermos like
             a weird kind of truce.  Will turns away, rejecting it.  A
             swath of thick fog unfolds over the black rocks as...

             Fred tenses.

                                 FRED
                           (looking through binoculars)
                       I see someone!

             Hap and Farrell scramble to their feet.  Will whips up his
             binoculars.

             POV THROUGH WILL'S BINOCULARS - a FIGURE making its way to 
             the cabin.  Furtive.

                                 WILL (O.S.)
                       That's him.

             Will lowers the binoculars.  Snaps his fingers at the men.
 
                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Fan out.

             Fred, Farrell and Hap.  Start spreading out.  Ellie steps
             up.  Will looks back at her.  Too dangerous.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Stay here, Ellie.

                                 ELLIE
                       But...

             Will puts up his hand.  She stops short.  He plunges ahead.

             Hap.  Will.  Farrell.  Fred.  Fanning out.  Silent.  Keeping
             eye-contact.  Will points to Farrell.  Wants the megaphone.
             Farrell, balancing on a rock, holds it out.  Accidentally
             keys it.  The feedback SQUAWKS.  Fuck.

                                 FRED
                       He's bolting!

             POV THROUGH WILL'S BINOCULARS - the FIGURE, looking around,
             running towards the cabin.  Leaping from rock to rock.

             WILL reaches for his Smith and Wesson.

                                 WILL
                       Go!  Go!  Go!

             The men jump into action.  Race down towards the cabin.

             Fred and Farrell, nimble over the wet rocks.  Will and Hap,
             harder going.  Grab onto jagged edges, slip down small
             crevices.  Rocks sticking out every which way.  The fog,
             thick and white...

             THE FIGURE disappears into the cabin.

             FRED AND FARRELL leap up onto a tall boulder and jump down.
             Run over to the door of the cabin, guns at the ready...

             WILL rounds the boulder, Hap panting behind him.  Joins Fred
             and Farrell at the door.

             Will levels his Smith and Wesson at the door, and with a nod
             to Fred as he KICKS it in...

             INT. FISHING CABIN - CONTINUOUS

             ...the door CRACKS and swings in.  The men rush inside.

                                WILL
                       Police!

             They look around:  Nothing.  A few old nets, a wooden table
             rotted through.  No knapsack.

             In the corner, a TRAP DOOR, left open.  Will races over.
             Looks down into the darkness.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Goddammit!

             Turns and points to Farrell.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       You!  Head back up to base...
                           (to Fred)
                       You!  Go right and follow along the
                       water...
                           (to Hap)
                       Hap!  You go left...

             The men nod.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Go!

             They rush out the door and split directions.  Will crouches
             down by the trap door and...

             INT. TUNNEL - CONTINUOUS

             ...drops down into a dark, dank TUNNEL.  Water dripping.
             FOOTFALLS echoing.  Will cocks his head.  Left or right?
             Starts sprinting down towards the lighter end of the tunnel,
             his own footsteps bouncing against the tunnel walls.  He
             rounds a curve.  Sound recedes...

             EXT. TUNNEL - CONTINUOUS

             ...He exits the tunnel onto the rocky beach.  Stops short.

             FOG

             has enveloped everything - obscuring all vision, dulling all
             sound.  Like a strange dream.  Eerie.

             Will blinks against the thick whiteness.  Strains to hear any
             sound, anything.  There's only the distant LAPPING of the
             water.

             He tightens his grip on his gun and plunges into the fog.
             Quick, careful steps.  Stumbles over a rock.  Waves his gun
             in defense.  Eyes wide open like a blind man...

             SUDDENLY

             a GUNSHOT.  Off to the right.  Will whips his head around.

             EXT. UP ON THE BEACH - CONTINUOUS
 
             Ellie, alone, jumps at the sound.  Reaches for her weapon...

             EXT. DOWN THE BEACH - CONTINUOUS

             Will heads towards the sound.  Reaching out for approaching
             rocks.  Scrambles over a small bank and finds...

             FARRELL rolled up into a fetal position on the ground. 
             Clutching his thigh.  Blood seeping through his fingers.  He
             looks up.

                                 FARRELL
                       Sorry about...

                                 WILL
                       Where is he?

             Farrell can't answer that.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                           (impatient)
                       Where'd the shot come from?

             Farrell lifts his bloody hand.  Points off towards the water.

                                 FARRELL
                       Over there.

             Will disappears back into the fog, leaving Farrell behind.

             Clambers back down towards the water, pausing every few 
             seconds to listen, to adjust.  Heart POUNDING.  Blood 
             pumping.  Like an animal tracking its prey.  Leaps up onto a
             plateau of rocks when...

             SUDDENLY

             a DARK FIGURE

             flashes past him.  The killer!  Inches away.  Will wheels
             around...

                                 WILL
                       Freeze!

             CRACK!  Squeezes off a shot.  Misses!  Can't believe it.
             Goes for another... Nothing!  Jammed!  The figure,
             disappearing.  Will tosses his Smith and Wesson, reaches
             behind his back and whips out his SMITH 39/13...

             EXT. UP ON THE BEACH - CONTINUOUS
 
             Ellie, weapon drawn, making her way down the rocks.  A HAND
             suddenly grabs her arm.

                                 VOICE (O.S.)
                       Dammit, Ellie!...

             Fred emerges from the fog.

                                 FRED (cont'd)
                       Put that thing away!  Farrell's down!...

             CRACK! as another shot rips through the air.  Fred and Ellie
             freeze.

             EXT. DOWN BY THE WATER - MINUTES LATER

             Fred and Ellie, skittering down the rocks.  Getting closer to
             the water.  Hear a voice ring out...

                                 VOICE (O.S.)
                       Hap!

             The fog starts to dissipate.  They reach the water to see...

             WILL DORMER

             kneeling beside the body of his partner.  Lying in the water.
             Shot in the stomach.  Blood dribbling from his mouth.  Will
             grabs him up by the collar.

                                 WILL
                       Hap!

             Starts shaking the limp body.  Teeth clenched.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Hap!

             Hap's head, rolls back.  Mouth agape.  Face white...

             Will, rips off his tie.  Presses it to the gaping wound...
             trying to stop the bleeding...warm blood, pumping into the
             water...

             Ellie watches.  Horrified.  Fred races over to the body.
             Feels for Hap's pulse.

                                 FRED
                       Dormer...

             Will, shaking Hap again.  Jaw set.  Eyes intense.  Veins
             popping up along his temples.  Fred catches his shoulder.

                                 FRED (cont'd)
                       Dormer!  He's gone.

             Will looks up at Fred.  His face contorts.

             Suddenly leaps to his feet.  Grabs a rock and hurls it
             savagely into the thick fog.

             INT. CHIEF CHARLES NYBACK'S OFFICE - NIGHT

             Chief Nyback sits in his chair.  Fingers interlaced.  A 
             somber expression on his face.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       And then you lost him.

             Will sits opposite him.  Wet, dishevelled, dirty.  Hap's
             blood smeared all over his shirt.  Staring off into space.

                                 WILL
                       And then I lost him.  In the fog.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       About how long 'til you heard the
                       suspect's second shot?

             Will, hesitates.

                                 WILL
                       Twenty, thirty seconds.  I followed the
                       sound down to the water.  That's where...

             He blinks.  Looks down.  Swallows.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       That's where I found Hap.

             Nyback sighs, shakes his head.  Reaches down to his bottom
             drawer and pulls out a bottle of bourbon and a glass.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       I think you need a glass of this.

             He goes to unscrew the bottle, but Will shakes his head.
             Stands.  Paces.  Rakes his hand through his hair.

             Turns suddenly and swipes his arm across Nyback's desk.
             Everything CRASHES to the floor.

                                 WILL
                           (yells)
                       Why didn't I know about that goddamn
                       tunnel, Charlie?

             Nyback looks up at him.  Calm.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       There's a bunch of those tunnels out
                       there, Will.  From bunkers over sixty
                       years old.  I don't even know half of
                       them myself, and I grew up here.

             Will clenches his fists.

                                 WILL
                       I had him, Charlie.  Right in front of
                       me.  Not two feet.  I could smell the son-
                       of-a-bitch.  Playing with me.  And I
                       missed the shot.  He was right there and
                       I missed the shot!  Then my goddamned gun
                       jammed...

             Nyback gets up.  Limps over to his old friend.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Will, you can't blame yourself.

                                 WILL
                       I had him!

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       It's only gonna make you crazy.

             Just then there's a soft KNOCK on the door.  The men look
             over.  Ellie sticks her head in.  Speaks in a tone that
             belies that a man has recently died.

                                 ELLIE
                       You wanted to see me?

             Will turns his back to her.  Nyback heads over.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Right, Ellie.

             Ellie flicks a look at the pile on the floor.  At Will's
             back.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       I want you to take care of the
                       investigation into Detective Eckhart's
                       shooting.

             Ellie looks at him.  Confused.  Lowers her voice.

                                 ELLIE
                       But what about the Connell case?  I'm on
                       the Connell case.

             Nyback puts a hand on her shoulder.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       We need paperwork, Ellie.  You know that.
                       Just write up a quick report.

             Ellie's shoulders droop.  Thought she was playing with the
             big boys.  Just then Will turns abruptly and grabs his coat.

                                 WILL
                       I'm going to check on the roadblocks...

             Nyback catches his arm.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       You're no good right now, Will.  Go back
                       to the Lodge.  Try to get some rest.

             Will looks at him.  Know's he's right.

             EXT. ROAD - NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             CLOSE ON a SQUEALING tire, ripping around a curve...

             INT./EXT. SILVER JEEP CHEROKEE - CONTINUOUS

             Will driving.  Speeding.  Scenery whipping past the window.
             His hands, tight around the steering wheel.  The hula-girl,
             dancing beneath the rear view mirror, a smile plastered to
             her face.

             He grows suddenly pale.  Pulls the Cherokee off to the side.

             EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS

             Will jumps out of the Cherokee, leaving the door open.  Runs
             down an ALLEY behind a row of shops.

             INT. ALLEY - CONTINUOUS

             A couple industrial trash bins.  Will leans his hand against
             the wall and vomits.  Hovers for a moment, saliva dripping
             from his mouth.  Braces himself.  Heaves again.  Hears a 
             BUZZING behind him.  Turns.

             A DEAD DOG lying next to a dumpster.  FLIES buzzing around
             its head.  Teeth bared.  Eyes wide open.

             Like it's watching him.

             INT. PIONEER LODGE - LATER

             Will walks up to reception.  No one there.  Just wants his
             key.  Rings the bell.  In the back room, he hears a RADIO.

                                 RADIO
                       ...earlier this evening after an aborted
                       attempt to apprehend a suspect.  He was
                       forty-five...

             It clicks off abruptly.  Rachel appears in the doorway.
             Takes in the blood on Will's shirt.

                                 RACHEL
                       I'm sorry about your partner.

             Will looks at her.  She walks over to the desk.

                                 RACHEL (cont'd)
                       It's been on the radio for the last two
                       hours.  Nothing but that.  Like when they
                       found Kay Connell's body.
                           (sympathetic smile)
                       We're not used to this sort of thing up
                       here.

             She reaches for his key.

                                 RACHEL (cont'd)
                       He was standing right there just a couple
                       of days ago.  Your partner.  Exactly
                       where you are now.
                           (beat)
                       I hope I was nice to him.

             Will takes his key.

                                 WILL
                       You were nice to him.  He liked you.

             He smiles faintly, turns to go.  Just then the phone RINGS.

                                 RACHEL
                           (answering)
                       Pioneer Lodge?...
                           (listens)
                       Hold on a second.  He's right here.

             Will stops.  Turns.  Rachel holds up the phone.  Covering the
             mouthpiece.

                                 RACHEL (cont'd)
                       John Warfield.  He's called a couple of
                       times.

             Will's stomach drops.  That's the last phone call in the 
             world he wants to take.  Rachel reads his face.

                                 RACHEL (cont'd)
                       Want me to lie?

             Will shakes his head.  Steps back and takes the phone.
             Clears his throat.

                                 WILL
                           (into phone)
                       Dormer.

             PAUSE.  A bemused VOICE on the other end.

                                 WARFIELD'S VOICE
                       Detective Dormer.  I've been trying to
                       reach you.  I was very sorry to hear
                       about your partner, Detective Eckhart.
                       It must have been a terrible shock, what
                       happened this morning.

             Will.  Not giving this asshole an inch.  Rachel, trying not
             to listen.

                                 WILL
                           (into phone)
                       That's not exactly how I'd put it.

                                 WARFIELD'S VOICE (cont'd)
                       No, no.  I suppose not.  But I look
                       forward to reading the report.  Very
                       sad.  Very sad.  Funny...

                                 WILL
                           (into phone)
                       What do you mean, "Funny?"

                                 WARFIELD'S VOICE
                       Oh, nothing.  Just that I felt Detective
                       Eckhart and I, Hap and I, were starting
                       to make a real connection before you
                       left.  I sensed that he was ready to get
                       some things off his chest.  Did you
                       sense anything like that, Detective?  I
                       mean, as his partner?...

             Will, squeezing the phone cord with his bloody fist.

                                 WARFIELD'S VOICE (cont'd)
                       ...You were his partner for, what, about
                       ten years?...

             Will turns from Rachel.  Eyes burning.  Voice steady.

                                 WILL
                           (into phone)
                       You know why everyone hates you,
                       Warfield?  It's not your questions, it's
                       not your press conferences, it's not even
                       your cheap suits; everyone hates you
                       'cause day after day you suck the marrow
                       out of real cops when you never had the
                       balls to become one yourself.  Well I got
                       to tell you, it's a shame you're not up
                       here with me because I'd love to show you
                       right now just what a real cop is capable
                       of.  You just remember that when you're
                       sitting at your bullshit desk reading
                       your bullshit report on my dead partner!

             SLAM!  He hangs up the phone.  Runs his hand through his
             hair.  Turns back to Rachel.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Next time.  Go ahead and lie.

             EXT. ROCKY BEACH - OUTSIDE NIGHTMUTE - MORNING

             Fog everywhere.  Dense.  White.  Suffocating.

             We're running through it.  Clambering over rocks.  Hearing
             the sound of our own BREATHING.  Our own HEARTBEAT.
             Adrenaline pumping.  An animal tracking its prey...

             SUDDENLY a DARK FIGURE

             flashes past.  Just inches away.  Playing with us.  Taunting
             us.  We whip round with our weapon and...

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - LATE NIGHT

             BANG!  Will bolts upright in bed.  A film of sweat over his
             body.  Breathing hard.  The sound that woke him: the window
             shade FLAPPING open.  LIGHT floods the room.

             Will gets up.  Goes over to the shade and pulls it down.  It
             lurches up halfway.  He tugs it down again.  It slaps all the
             way open.  Will yanks it down so hard it rips off the window.

                                 WILL
                       Goddammit!

             He gets tangled in it.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Goddamned...thing!

             Pulls it off and flings it in the corner.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - 4:22 A.M.

             The digital clock flips to a new minute:  4:23.  Will,
             pacing.  Scratching at his stubble.  Unable to sleep.  Keeps
             stepping on a SQUEAKY floorboard.

             Slows near the ADJOINING DOOR that leads into Hap's room.
             Hovers.  Lightly pushes the door open.  Sees...

             THE PICTURES on the bedside table.  A WOMAN and three teenage
             GIRLS.  Hap's family.

             INT. BATHROOM - 5:18 A.M.

             Water gushing out of the faucet.  Will's WATCH sitting on the
             sink's edge.  5:18.

             Will reaches up into the open medicine cabinet for a bottle
             of aspirin.  Shakes out a couple.  Cups his hand under the
             water and knocks the pills back.

             Closes the medicine cabinet and CRIES out...

             HAP'S REFLECTION

             looming behind him.

                                 HAP
                       They're watching us, Will...

             Will whirls around...

                                 WILL
                       Hap!

             ...nothing.  No one's there.

             EXT. MAINSTREET - NIGHTMUTE - MORNING

             CLOSE ON running shoes, POUNDING the tarmac.  PULL BACK to
             reveal Will running down Nightmute's main street.  Eyes
             bloodshot.

             A COUPLE NATIVE ALASKANS walking into a hardware store.  Stop
             talking and glance over at him.

             A YOUNG MOTHER in her husband's work shirt.  Lifts her small
             KIDS into the cab of a 4x4.  Watches him pass.

             AN OLDER MAN fixing the broken "E" on his store front.  Turns
             at the sound of Will's footfall.

             Everyone edgy.  Cautious.  A murderer amongst them.

             Will continues on.  Looking straight ahead.  Wipes the sweat
             from his neck.  Slows to a stop just outside the...

             LOCAL CONVENIENCE STORE

             A blown-up picture of KAY CONNELL in the window.  Below, a
             painted sign:  We miss you, Kay.

             A stack of newspapers by the front door.  The "Nightmute
             Ledger."  The headline:  Seattle Cop Killed by Suspect.

             Will picks one up.  Stares down at it.  Rain starts to dot
             the paper.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (O.S.)
                       ...We're going to bring down a couple of
                       guys from Ridgemount, but I want us to
                       step up the investigation here...

             INT. BULLPEN - NIGHTMUTE PD - CONTINUOUS

             Rain hammering against the windows.  Chief Nyback addresses
             the bullpen.  Everyone's there except Farrell.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       ...Nightmute hasn't lost an officer in
                       thirty-seven years, and even though
                       Detective Eckhart wasn't from here, he
                       was as good as one of us on this case.  I
                       had the honor of working with him down in
                       Seattle for a number of years.  He was a
                       fine detective and an even better man.

             Will stands nearby, watching the rain hit the windows.  His
             suit pants are slightly wrinkled.  Nyback nods towards Fred.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       Fred, you'll be working with Detective
                       Dormer directly from now on.

             Fred, stroking his moustache, nods.  Nyback turns to Will.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       Will?  Anything you'd like to add?

             Will looks up.  Everyone's eyes turn to him.  He shakes his
             head.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Okay.  Then let's get to it.

             Feet shuffling.  Chairs scraping the floor as people get up.
             A sense of determination in the air.  Will grabs his coat.

                                 ELLIE (O.S.)
                       Detective Dormer?

             He turns.  Ellie is beside him, holding a map.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       I'm sorry to bother you, but I was asked
                       to write the report on...
                           (lowers eyes)
                       ...you know what I was asked to write the
                       report on...
                           (looks back up)
                       ...Could you, just to be accurate, for
                       the report, could you just point out
                       where you were when you saw Detective
                       Eckhart yesterday?

             She holds out the map.  It's of the small stretch of
             coastline.  Red circles marking various points.

             Will looks down at her.  Takes the map.  Turns it around.

                                 WILL
                       It's good to be accurate, Ellie.  You're
                       doing your job.

             He looks down at the map.  Ellie watching his face.

                                 ELLIE
                       I'm so sorry about what happened.  I know
                       you did everything you could...

             Will points to a spot.  Cutting her off.

                                 WILL
                       I was here.

             Hands her back the map.  Smiles.  Just then Fred walks up.

                                 FRED
                       Dormer.  Still no sign of the bullet that
                       went through Farrell.

                                 WILL
                       I'm going to the hospital to talk to him
                       now.
                           (looks at his watch)
                       You get the search party together.  No
                       fewer than thirty people.  I'll meet you
                       in exactly twenty-five minutes.  Don't
                       waste any time.

             He pulls on his coat and heads for the door.  Fred watches
             him leave.  Sticks a toothpick in his mouth.

                                 FRED
                       Partner or no partner.  That guy's a
                       prick.

                                 ELLIE
                       He has to be a prick, Fred.  He's a great
                       detective.

             INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL - DAY

             CLOSE ON the cover of one of the paperbacks, Otherwise
             Engaged by Walter Byrd.

             PULL BACK to reveal Farrell lying in a hospital bed in
             striped pajamas, reading it.  A tear runs down his cheek as
             he turns the page.

             A SNICKERS BAR is tossed onto his lap.  He looks up.  Face
             brightens.

                                 FARRELL
                       Detective Dormer!

            Will stands by his bed.  Farrell puts down the book.  Picks
            up the Snickers.

                                 FARRELL (cont'd)
                       You don't seem like the bring-an-
                       underling-who's-in-the-hospital-a-
                       Snickers-bar kind of guy.

                                 WILL
                       I'm not.

             He pulls up a chair.  Nods to the paperback.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       How's the book?

             Farrell bites into the candy bar.

                                 FARRELL
                       Oh, a real tear-jerker.  Brody, the good
                       guy, just got shot.

             He stops chewing.  Realises the association.  Swallows
             uncomfortably.

                                 FARRELL (cont'd)
                       Oh.  I'm sorry.  About Hap.  Detective
                       Eckhart.

                                 WILL
                       Thanks.

                                 FARRELL
                       I wish I'd had the chance to get to know
                       him better.  Take him fishing or
                       something.

                                 WILL
                       He would have liked that.

                                 FARRELL
                       We just gotta catch the bastard, right?

                                 WILL
                       That's why I'm here.  I need to know
                       exactly what you saw yesterday, Farrell.

                                 FARRELL
                       What I saw?

                                 WILL
                       Anything.  It's important.

             Farrell takes another bite of the Snickers.  Like a little
             boy.  Furrows his brow, trying to remember.

                                 FARRELL
                       Pretty much nothing.  That fog was so
                       thick.  The bullet seemed to come out of
                       nowhere.  I don't even remember seeing 
                       any shapes.  Then I saw you.  But only
                       when you came up close.  Then you
                       disappeared again.
                           (shrugs)
                       I guess I heard more than I saw.

             Will sighs, rubs his eyes.

                                 FARRELL (cont'd)
                       Sorry.

                                 WILL
                       No.  No.  Don't be sorry.  It's not your
                       fault.

             Just then a NURSE comes in with a Dixie cup.  Pretty,
             freckled face.  Not much older than Kay Connell.

                                 NURSE
                       Time for your meds.

             Farrell smiles at her, winks at Will.

                                 FARRELL
                       Lonnie and I went to high school
                       together.

             Lonnie gives him the cup.

                                 LONNIE
                       Just take the pills, Farrell.

                                 WILL
                       How's the leg?

                                 FARRELL
                       Oh, you know.  Don't feel that much.
                       Bullet went right through.

                                 WILL
                       Right.  Got lost in the rocks.

                                 FARRELL
                       We'll get the other one, though.

             Will looks up.  Farrell pops the rest of the Snickers in his
             mouth.

                                 FARRELL (cont'd)
                       After the autopsy.

             INT. HALLWAY - HOSPITAL - LATER

             Will walks down the hallway.  Light pouring in from a set of
             high windows.  He looks tired.  Set-upon.

             POV of SOMEONE

             WATCHING HIM.  From a doorway.  Not close, not far.  A HAND
             comes into view.  Small.  Bruised knuckles.  Holds on to the
             door jamb.  Watches as...

             Will suddenly stops.  Skin prickling at the back of his neck.
             Turns and looks around.

             A MAN in a wheelchair.
 
             A LITTLE GIRL tugging at her hospital gown.

             A couple of NURSES laughing at check-in.

             An empty doorway.

             Nothing.

             EXT. ROCKY BEACH - OUTSIDE NIGHTMUTE - MORNING

             Back at the beach.  We see nothing but fog.  A VOICE comes
             through.

                                 ELLIE (O.S.)
                       ...and it was at this point that Detective
                       Dormer headed towards the noise...

             Ellie emerges from the fog.  Carrying the map and talking
             into a small tape recorder.  She's climbing over the rocks,
             wearing a windbreaker a couple sizes too big.

             A UNIFORMED OFFICER follows, carrying a camera.  She turns to
             him.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       Remember, Kepp, shoot everything...
                           (back to the tape recorder)
                       ...wherein he discovered the wounded
                       Detective Farrell Brooks, having been
                      shot in the vastus externus of the upper
                      left thigh...

             She climbs over the same bank Will Dormer climbed two
             evenings before.  Finds...

             ANOTHER UNIFORMED OFFICER, hanging out and smoking.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       Francis!

             He looks up.  Pimples on his chin.

                                 FRANCIS
                       What?

                                 ELLIE
                       You're supposed to be Farrell.  Shot in
                       the thigh and writhing in pain.

                                 FRANCIS
                       C'mon, Ellie.  What's it matter?

                                 ELLIE
                       Accuracy.  That's what.
                           (points to the ground)
                       Now get down.

             Francis looks up at her.  Flicks his cigarette away and gets
             down amongst the rocks.  Holds his thigh like he was shot.

                                 FRANCIS
                       Ow.

             CLICK!  Kepp takes the picture.

             EXT. DOWN BY THE WATER - MINUTES LATER

             Ellie sloshes through the water.  Ankles getting cold.
             Cheeks pink.  But it doesn't matter.  She's investigating.

                                 ELLIE
                           (into tape recorder)
                       ...shortly after hearing the second shot,
                       Detective Dormer continued through the
                       water until he spotted the body, lying
                       approximately fifteen feet away.

             She stops.  Looks at the map.  At the spot Will pointed out.
     	     Looks back up.  Fog.  Clicks off the recorder.  Calls out.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       You there, Rich?

             A VOICE calls back.  Someone pretending to be Hap.

                                 VOICE (O.S.)
                       Yeah.  And I'm freezing my nads off!

             Ellie furrows her brow.  Just then...

             FRANCIS appears.  Slips on a rock but catches his fall.

                                 FRANCIS
                       Ellie!  Think I found something!

             EXT. ROAD NEAR BEACH - DAY

             CLOSE ON a row of FEET.  Mostly boots.  Some more beat-up
             than others.  Inching forward along a road.

                                 WILL (O.S.)
                       ...Anything catches your eye, you put it
                       in a bag.  Anything looks strange, you
                       put it in a bag...

             PULL BACK to reveal a long line of PEOPLE stretched out
             across the road about a mile up the beach.  Some old, some
             young.  Linking arms and moving forward.  Looking down.  The
             SEARCH PARTY.

             Will, walking up and down behind the line.  Talking through a
             megaphone.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       ...Anything he may have dropped, moved,
                       kicked, or stepped on, you put in a bag.
                       Cigarette butts, gum wrappers, paper
                       clips, coins, buttons - nine times out of
                       ten a suspect leaves something behind...

                                 VOICE (O.S.)
                       Detective?

             Will turns.  A couple burly GUYS with some BLOODHOUNDS.

                                 BURLY GUY #1
                       Where do you want us?

             Will points over to the woods on the other side of the road.

                                 WILL
                       The woods.  One group heading south, the
                       other heading north.

             Nods to Fred who's standing nearby.  He hands the guys two
             radios.
 
                                 FRED
                       Make sure they're set to channel 6...

             Just then two young OFFICERS pull up in a squad car.  Young
             and apple-cheeked.  The first one holding a piece of paper.

                                 OFFICER #1
                       We did the interviews with all the nearby
                       houses like you asked.

                                 WILL 
                       Anything?

                                 OFFICER #1
                           (shakes his head)
                       Here's a list of who we talked to.

             Hands the list to Will.  He glances it.

                                 WILL
                       Alright.  Go back and set up some follow-
                       ups for this afternoon.

             The Officers nod, put the car in reverse.  Fred saunters
             over.  Nods towards the searchers.

                                 FRED
                       You don't think they should start further
                       back?

             Will shakes his head.

                                 WILL
                       He had to have exited here.  Over those
                       boulders.  I saw him move, he's nimble.
                       Would have taken the hardest way out.

             Fred shrugs, skeptical.  Just then, his cell phone BLEATS.
             He reaches for it.

                                 FRED
                           (into phone)
                       Duggar...

             Will looks back at the search team.  Slow.  Meticulous.

                                 FRED (cont'd)
                           (into phone)
                       Where was it?

             A local WOMAN.  At the end of the line.  Glances over her
             shoulder.  Looks at Will.  Smiles.  You'll help us catch him.

                                 FRED (cont'd)
                           (into phone)
                       Okay. 
                           (slaps phone closed)
                       That was Ellie.

             Will turns back to him.

                                 FRED (cont'd)
                       They found Farrell's bullet.  Says it
                       looks like a 357.  After the autopsy Rich
                       can drive 'em both to the lab in
                       Anchorage.  Have a murder weapon by
                       morning.

             Fred crosses his arms.  Sarcastic.

                                 FRED (cont'd)
                       That is, if it's alright with you.

             EXT. PIONEER LODGE - NIGHTMUTE - NIGHT

             Thunder RUMBLING.

             INT. PIONEER LODGE - NIGHTMUTE - NIGHT

             Rachel winding an old grandfather clock with a key.  Looks
             about a hundred years old.

             Will enters the lobby.  Soaked through.  Carrying an armload
             of wet files.  Rachel turns, sees him.  Reaches over to an
             umbrella stand.  Hands him an umbrella.

                                 RACHEL
                       Here.  It's on the house.

             Will takes it.  Preoccupied.

                                 WILL
                       Thanks.

             He starts up the stairs.  Notices Rachel straining to return
             the key to the top of the clock.  Backtracks to help her.
             She gets it without his help.

                                 RACHEL
                       I got it.
                           (smiles)
                       Don't know why I bother.  It's been
                       broken for two years.

                                 WILL
                       Habit.

             Rachel looks at him.  Can't figure this guy out.  Remembers
             something.

                                 RACHEL (cont'd)
                       Oh.  A man came by to see you earlier.
                       Said he was your new partner.

             A TINGLE skips down Will's spine.  He looks at her.

                                 WILL
                       Fred Duggar?

                                 RACHEL
                       No.  He didn't say what his name was.
                       Only that you were expecting him.

                                 WILL
                       I'm not expecting anyone.

                                 RACHEL
                       That's not what he thinks.

                                 WILL
                       What did he look like?

             Rachel thinks for a second.  Leaning against the clock.

                                 RACHEL
                       Short.  Dark hair.  Not that memorable.

             Will nods, rubs his forehead.  Suddenly has a pounding
             headache.  Turns for the stairs.  Hesitates.

                                 WILL
                       I need to borrow something.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - NIGHT

             CLOSE ON a nail.  One THWACK of a hammer and it bites into
             the wall.  PULL BACK to reveal Will nailing the corner of a
             blanket to one side of the window.  An ad hoc curtain.

             He finishes that side.  Starts to stretch the blanket across
             the window.  Hesitates.  Looks outside.  To the left.  To the
             right.  To see if anybody's out there.  If anybody's
             watching.  Sees instead...

             A LONE TUGBOAT chugging across the harbor.  Pulling a huge
             freighter.  Will squeezes his eyes shut.  Opens them again.
             Pulls the blanket fully across the window.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - 1:05 A.M.

             The FILES spread across the floor.  Their edges buckled from
             the rain.  Dozens of pictures of Kay Connell.  School
             records.  Private letters.  Health files.  Coroner's report.

             Will.  Pacing.  Back and forth.  Thinking.  Over that same
             SQUEAKY floorboard.  The clock reads: 1:05.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - 2:20 A.M.

             Will lying in bed.  On top of the blanket.  Wide awake.
             Staring at the ADJOINING DOOR.  Into Hap's room.

             EXT. PIONEER LODGE - NIGHTMUTE - LATE NIGHT

             Will, in a sweatshirt and coat, heads down the front steps of
             the Pioneer Lodge.  Jams his hands in his pockets.  The walk
             of an insomniac.

             EXT. MAINSTREET - NIGHTMUTE - LATE NIGHT

             Will walking down main street.  In the middle of the road.
             The dead of night.  No cars.  The sky a blinding white.

             Hears some rowdy NOISE coming from a corner bar, beer lights
             flickering.  A WOMAN rides by on a bicycle.  Birds SINGING.
 
             Not day.  Not night.  Stuck somewhere in between.  Like a
             dream.

             Turns down a side street.  Passing more stores.  Guns and
             Ammo.  Patty's Hair and Nails.  General Store.  Comes upon
     
             THE ALLEY

             where he vomited the day before.  Stops.  Sees the DEAD DOG,
             still down at the end.  Half obscured by the dumpster.

             Will wavers, pale.  Suddenly...

             A HOMELESS MAN emerges from the shadows.  Big.  Wild-eyed.
             Awakened from his sleep.  Will, quickly backtracks to the
             sidewalk.  Spooked.

             JUST THEN the CRACK! of bat hitting ball.  He turns.  In the 
             distance.  Nightmute Elementary School.

             EXT. NIGHTMUTE ELEMENTARY - LATE NIGHT

             A Little League game in full swing.  The uniforms, a little
             faded.  The diamond, a little unkempt.  A smattering of
             SPECTATORS.  Mostly dads with six-packs.

             Will wanders over to the fence.  Spots Ellie sitting alone on
             the bottom bleacher.

                                                                   CUT TO:

             POV OF SOMEONE

             WATCHING HIM.  From afar.  The SOUNDS of the game, delayed a
             few seconds.  Watches as Will crosses to the bleachers...

                                                              CUT BACK TO:

             ...and sits down next to Ellie.  She turns, surprised.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       Detective Dormer!  What are you doing
                       here?
                           (looks at watch)
                       It's two-thirty in the morning.
                       Shouldn't you be asleep?

             Will glances out at the game.

                                 WILL
                       I could say the same thing about you.

                                 ELLIE
                       Oh.  We always have play-offs in the
                       middle of the night.  It's the best time.

                                 WILL
                       Who's playing?

                                 ELLIE
                       The Puffins and the Hawks.  We're in
                       extra innings.  The Hawks have a really
                       good line-up this year.

             She sips on a take-out coke.  Looks back at the game.  A
             plump, redheaded GIRL comes up to bat.  Blows a bubble.

                                 ELLIE
                       That's my sister.

             Will looks over just in time to see the girl swing and miss
             by a mile.  Ellie cups her hands around her mouth.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                           (calling out)
                       That's okay, Lib!
                           (to Will)
                       Usually she's better.

                                 WILL
                       She your only sibling?

                                 ELLIE
                           (nods)
                       Twelve years younger.

             Libby takes another swing.  Connects with the ball.  Drops
             the bat and runs to first.  Ellie gives a sharp WHISTLE.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       What about you?  You have any siblings?

                                 WILL
                       No.
                           (rubs his eyes)
                       Well.  I had a brother.  He died when I
                       was eleven.

             Ellie, sits up...

                                 ELLIE
                       Oh, I shouldn't have...

                                 WILL
                       It's okay.  Happened a long time ago.  He
                       was killed in a fire.  In New Mexico.

                                 ELLIE
                       That must have been awful for you.

             Will leans back.  Stretching his legs.  Remembering.

                                 WILL
                       Not really. 
                           (slight smile)
                       I remember I was more embarrassed that he
                       had died.  Embarrassed that it made me
                       different.  So I didn't tell the other kids
                       at school what had happened.  They'd ask 
                       me where he was, where he'd gone.  And I'd
                       make up stories.  He was visiting an aunt up
                       north, he'd broken his leg, he was in a 
                       Swiss boarding school.  Stuff like that.
                           (shakes his head)
                       Nice kid, huh?  Just kept making up more
                       and more lies...

             Suddenly, he stops talking.  Slowly sits up.  Sensing 
             something.  Ellie, noticing the shift.

                                 ELLIE
                       You okay?

             The row of DADS behind them.  Jump up and start CHEERING.

                                                                   CUT TO:

             POV OF THE PERSON

             WATCHING WILL.  Sees him sit up.  Look around.  That same
             prickle at the back of his neck.  A KID slides home just as...

                                                              CUT BACK TO:

             ...Will stands.  Trying to shake the feeling.

                                 WILL
                       I'm going back to the Lodge, Ellie.
                       Still need to go through some of Kay
                       Connell's school records.

                                 ELLIE
                           (unsure)
                       Okay.

             He turns to go, scanning the area.  Ellie calls after him.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       Try to get some sleep!

             EXT. NIGHTMUTE MORGUE - EARLY MORNING

             The Nightmute morgue.  Next morning.  A SQUAD CAR pulls up.
             Francis gets out, whistling.  Starts for the morgue's
             entrance.

             INT./EXT. JEEP CHEROKEE - EARLY MORNING

             Will in the Cherokee.  Dark circles under his eyes.  Suit
             jacket wrinkled.  Pulls in next to Francis' squad car.

                                 WILL
                           (calls out window)
                       Officer!...

             Francis turns.

                                 WILL 
                       I'll pick it up.  You head back to the
                       station.

             INT. HALLWAY - NIGHTMUTE MORGUE - EARLY MORNING

             Will walking down a hallway.  Fluorescent lights.
             Cinderblock walls.  On his cell phone.

                                 WILL
                           (into phone)
                       Duggar - I'm at the coroner's now.  I'll
                       be back in about twenty minutes...

             Stops at an open doorway in time to see
    
             THE CORONER pull a sheet over the cold, blue body of Hap
             Eckhart.

             Will's heart lurches.  He grabs on to the door jamb.  Wasn't
             ready for that.  The coroner looks up.

                                 CORONER
                       Detective.  Thought you were sending one
                       of your lackeys.

             Will clears his throat.  Closes his cell phone.

                                 WILL
                       I thought it was better if I came.  Under
                       the circumstances.

             The coroner nods.  Goes to wash her hands.

                                 CORONER
                       It's different when you know them, isn't
                       it?
                           (nods to clipboard)
                       Just sign over there and she's all yours.

             Shrugs off her lab coat.  She's wearing a blue dress.  Looks
             like a piano teacher.  Heads into an adjoining office.

             Will.  Alone.  Steps into the room.  The smell of
             formaldehyde.  Bloody instruments on a stainless steel tray.
             Walks towards the clipboard, eyes flicking over to the shape
             under the sheet when...

             SUDDENLY Hap's HAND drops down.  Thick fingers.  Wedding
             band.

             Will jumps...

                                 CORONER (O.S.)
                       Your partner didn't suffer much...

             The coroner re-emerges from the office with a manila
             envelope.  Hap Eckhart written on it in black pen.

                                 CORONER (cont'd)
                       Maybe for a minute or two.

             Will rubs his face.  Tries to focus on the clipboard.  The
             coroner holds out the envelope.  Smiles.

                                 CORONER (cont'd)
                       Just enough time to reflect.

                                 WILL
                       Thanks, Doc.

             He takes the envelope.  The coroner peers up at him.

                                 CORONER
                       You're looking a little green, Detective.

             INT. BULLPEN - NIGHTMUTE PD - DAY

             Fred Duggar, dialing the phone at his cluttered desk.

                                 WILL (O.S.)
                       So where's the other bullets?

             He looks up.  Will standing before him, holding the manila
             envelope.

             INT. STORAGE ROOM - NIGHTMUTE PD - DAY

             CLOSE on a key slipping into a padlock.  Opens with a CLICK!

             PULL BACK to reveal Fred and Will in a small storage room.
             Standing in front of an army-green LOCKER.  The evidence
             locker.  Room's stuffed with old files and boxes.  MOOSE
             ANTLERS hanging over a small window.  Will glances up.

                                 WILL
                       What's with all the moose antlers around
                       here?

             Fred throws a look over his shoulder.  Opens the locker.

                                 FRED
                       Lots of moose.

             INSIDE THE LOCKER - another manila envelope.  The name on
             this one: Farrell Brooks.

             Fred reaches back for the other envelope.  Will, hesitant to
             give it to him.  Feeling the bump of the bullet in the bottom
             corner.  Hands it over.  Wipes his brow.

                                 WILL
                       When's Rich coming?

             Fred slides it in beside Farrell's.  Closes the locker door.

                                 FRED
                       I'll call him now.

                                 WILL
                       First I need a copy of the key.

             Fred turns, a twinkle in his eye.

                                 FRED
                       This isn't Seattle, Detective.  We don't
                       have copies.
                           (holds up key)
                       This is the only one.

             Will looks at him.  At the key.  Plucks it from his hand.
             Just then Nyback's SECRETARY appears in the doorway.

                                 SECRETARY
                       Detective Dormer?  Telephone.

             INT. BULLPEN - NIGHTMUTE PD - DAY

             The secretary hands Will the phone.  Pulls something from
             under the desk.  A beat-up BOX.  Will's name on it.

                                 SECRETARY
                       This came for you earlier.

             Will glances at it.  Takes the phone.  Rubs his eyes.

                                 WILL
                           (into phone)
                       Dormer.

             Nothing.  Someone's there but they're not saying anything.
             Will, too tired for this shit...

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Goddammit, Warfield, if you're gonna
                       check up on me every...

             Then...the VOICE.  A MAN's voice.  Not John Warfield's.
             This voice is medium-ranged.  Higher.  Nose sounds stuffed.

                                 MAN'S VOICE
                       I bet you haven't been getting much
                       sleep.

             Will straightens.  Something weird.

                                 WILL
                           (into phone)
                       What?

             A little TITTER on the other end.

                                 MAN'S VOICE
                       You lower-48s.  You think the white
                       nights are kind of neat.  Then you can't
                       sleep for days.  I've seen it happen
                       about a million times.  But you can't
                       sleep for a different reason.

                                 WILL
                           (into phone)
                       Who is this?

             A PAUSE.  Will loosens his tie.

                                 WILL 
                           (into phone)
                       I said, who is this?

             The voice.  Dropping to a WHISPER.

                                 MAN'S VOICE
                       I saw what really happened, Will...

             Will, furrows his brow.

                                 MAN'S VOICE
                       I saw you kill your partner.  With your
                       back-up weapon.  Out there on the beach.
                       I saw you shoot him dead...

             CLOSE ON

             Will Dormer's face.

             As all the blood drains from it.

             As all SOUND

             fades around him.

             As his heart
 
             begins to POUND against his chest.

             He falters, reaching out for the desk.  To steady himself.
             As if the floor's just dropped out beneath him.  Eyes,
             darting around the bullpen...

                                 WILL
                           (sotto, into phone)
                       Now you listen to me...

                                 MAN'S VOICE
                       Don't worry.  I won't tell anyone.  Oh,
                       and I saw you take my gun.  My uncle's
                       old 357.  I dropped it in the rocks.
                       But you can go ahead and keep that.

             CHIEF NYBACK, exits his office.  Looks at Will and smiles.

                                 MAN'S VOICE (cont'd)
                       ...I mean...
                           (beat)
                       ...Now that we're partners.

             CLICK.  The line goes dead.

             Will, throat constricted.  Listening to the DIAL TONE.
             Smiles back at Nyback.  Turns.  Slowly hangs up the phone.
             White as a sheet.  Trying to act normal.  Trying to act calm.
             SOUND returning to the bullpen, like nothing's different.
             Looks over at

             THE BOX

             sitting on the edge of the secretary's desk.  He reaches for
             it.  Carefully, rips the packing tape.  Bends back a flap.
             Inside, some dark blue material.  An embroidered daisy.
  
             Kay Connell's knapsack.

             EXT. NIGHTMUTE POLICE DEPARTMENT - DAY

             Will, heading for the Cherokee.  Clutching the box.  Face
             pale, pace quick.  Everything's different now.

                                 ELLIE (O.S.)
                       Detective Dormer!

             He closes his eyes.  Now is not the time.  Reaches the
             Cherokee.  Yanks open the driver's side door.  Ellie catches
             up with him.  Out of breath.

                                 ELLIE
                       You look like you're in a hurry.  I just
                       wanted to ask you about these pictures.

             She smiles, holds up some PHOTOGRAPHS.  They're of the BEACH.
             The ones Kepp took.  Almost all fog.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       I know they're not great quality, but
                       this is where you said you were when you
                       first saw Detective Eckhart, right?

             Will.  Barely glancing at them.  Tosses the box into the car.

                                 WILL
                       Right.

             Gets in and closes the door.  Puts his hand over the box.
             Ellie comes up to the window.

                                 ELLIE
                       But here's the thing.  I retraced your
                       exact steps according to your statement.
                       You couldn't have seen Detective Eckhart
                       from there.  I mean, not in that fog.

                                 WILL
                       Then change it.

                                 ELLIE
                       How much closer would you say you were?

                                 WILL
                       I don't remember.

                                 ELLIE
                       Five feet?  Seven feet?

             Will, about to seriously lose his shit.  Looks at Ellie.
             Eyes dark, distant.

                                 WILL
                       Listen, Ellie.  I don't have time for
                       this shit.  Five feet, seven feet, twenty
                       feet.  Put down whatever you want in your
                       report, alright?

             He turns the ignition.  Pulls out with a SQUEAL.  Ellie
             steps back, watching him drive away.  More curious than
             stung.

             EXT. OUTSIDE NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             The Cherokee.  Parked off-road.  A remote spot by the water.
             The driver's side door, left open.  The PING-PING-PING of the
             interior BELL.

             EXT. BREAKFRONT - DAY

             Will Dormer, walking along a breakfront.  Aimless.  One foot
             in front of the other.  Staring out at nothing.  The endless
             sea.  Waves CRASHING.  Wind HOWLING.  Seagulls SCREECHING.

             Everything.  Closing in on him...

             He stumbles over a rock.  Grabs his head in his hands.

             Stunned.  Guilty.  Ashamed.  Fucked.

             He saw it.  He saw it!

             A WAVE, explodes nearby.  Drenching him in sea spray.

             Will turns, raking his hand across his face.  Blinking.  Eyes
             stinging.  Trying to focus.  Trying to think this through...

             Hears a dog BARKING in the distance.

             Shakes his head.  Looks at his watch.

             Got to deal with the problem at hand.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - PIONEER LODGE - DAY

             Will, bursts into his room at the Lodge.  The shoulders of
             his coat still wet with sea spray.  Crosses to the area of
             the floor where Kay Connell's files are still spread out.

             Starts pressing the floorboards with the toe of his boot.
             Testing.  Testing.  Until...he finds the one that SQUEAKS.

             Gets down on his knees.  Hesitates.  Then jams his fingers in
             around the loose board.  Starts pulling it up.  Face
             reddening.  Knuckles whitening.  Slips his hand into the gap.

             Pulls out a muddy 357 RUGER.

             The killer's gun.

             Will, stares down at it.

             INT. ALLEY - DAY

             Will, standing at the mouth of the ALLEY.  Just like the
             night before.  Steps inside.  Cautious.  Eyes darting.
             Peering into the shadows for the HOMELESS MAN...

             Not there.  Coast's clear.  Heads for the dumpster at the end 
             of the alley.  Shoves it aside.  Looks down at...

             The DEAD DOG.  Rancid.  Rotting.  Will gags.  Holds a
             handkerchief to his face.  Waving away the flies.

             Then.  Pulls the 357 Ruger from his pocket.  Shrugs his coat
             off and wraps it around his hand and the gun.  Looks away.
             Fires a muffled SHOT into the dog's side.  The body kicks.

             Crouches down.  Feels along the dog's ribs for the bullet's
             point of entry.  Finds it.  Pulls out a PENKNIFE and extends
             one of the blades.  Cuts into the gash, fingers probing deep
             for the lodged bullet.  He finds it.  Pulls it out.

             Looks back at the dog.  Takes a deep breath.  Wipes his brow.
             A little smear of the dog's blood left on his forehead.
             Turns and pulls a bottle of RUBBING ALCOHOL from his pocket. 
             Douses the bullet.  Cleaning it.  Glancing at his watch.
             Running out of time...

             EXT. NIGHTMUTE POLICE DEPARTMENT - DAY

             The rear of the Nightmute PD building.  Will, looking around,
             heads briskly for the back door...

             INT. HALLWAY - NIGHTMUTE PD - DAY

             ...steps into the HALLWAY leading towards the bullpen.  Hears 
             VOICES.  Nearby.  Ducks back.  Waiting for them to fade.

             Safe.  Heads down towards the STORAGE ROOM.  Glancing briefly
             at the PICTURES hanging on the wall.  Of old time POLICE
             OFFICERS.  Striking brave poses...

             INT. STORAGE ROOM - NIGHTMUTE PD - DAY

             The storage room.  Hot.  Stifling.  The moose antlers LOOMING
             over his shoulder.  Will pulls the evidence locker key from 
             his pocket.  Unlocks the padlock.  Swings the door open.

             Pulls the Hap Eckhart envelope out.  Throwing a look over his
             shoulder.  Opens it.  Shakes out the bullet that was lodged
             in Hap's spine.  Then fishes a plastic bag from his pocket.
             The bullet he shot into the dead dog.  Drops that into the
             envelope and reseals it.  Hands shaking.

             Something.  Catches the corner of his eye.  He turns.

             HIS REFLECTION in the locker mirror.  The blood smear still
             on his forehead.

                                 FRED (O.S.)
                       Dormer...

             Will jumps.  Quickly wipes the smear off and turns.  Fred 
             Duggar standing behind him.  RICH by his side.  Will clears
             his throat, shoves Hap's envelope into Fred's hand.  Then
             Farrell's.  Angry.

                                 WILL
                       These should have gone out two hours ago.

             SLAMS the locker door and brushes past him.  Fred and Rich
             exchange a glance.

             EXT. CEMETERY - NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             CLOSE ON a YOUNG GIRL's face.  Dark hair held up in two
             barrettes, wind tousling the curls.  Reading from a piece of
             paper. 

                                 YOUNG GIRL
                       ...And that's how I think Kay would want
                       us to remember her...

             PULL BACK to reveal Kay Connell's funeral.  PEOPLE standing
             by the grave, most of them HIGH SCHOOLERS.  The sky's a
             brilliant blue.  Red fireweeds blanket the hillside.

                                 YOUNG GIRL (cont'd)
                       ...Swimming, reading, hiking through the
                       Kebaughs...

             FRED, ELLIE AND WILL

             stand off to the side.  Dressed in black.  Fred looks like
             he's never worn a tie before.  Ellie holds a potted plant.  A
             gift for the bereaved.

                                 YOUNG GIRL (cont'd)
                       ...playing her flute, meeting at Darrow's
                       after school...

             Will.  Eyes bloodshot.  Not really listening.  Not really
             paying attention.  A thousand miles away.  Tugs at his
             collar.  Feels tight.

                                 YOUNG GIRL 
                       ...And always, always with a smile on her
                       face.

             The young girl looks up.  Folds the paper closed.  People
             SNIFFLE.  Mrs. Connell, reaches out to squeeze her arm.

             Some CHILDREN.  Start circulating with plastic buckets.
             Filled with white carnations.  Handing them out.

                                 VOICE (O.S.)
                       Want one?

             Will, startled, looks down.  A LITTLE GIRL stands before him.
             Curly hair.  Glasses.  Holding up a bucket.  He shakes his
             head.  Looks back up at

             THE MOURNERS lining up to place the carnations on Kay's
             casket.

             AN OLD MAN with a brass-tipped cane.  Two GIRLS, look like
             sisters, holding each other up.  A MAN with a thick red
             beard.  A LITTLE BOY, about five, clutching a FLUTE tied with
             a pink ribbon...

             Will, looks away.  Then.  At the end of the line.  Something
             catches his eye.

             RANDY STETZ

             in tight jeans and a down vest.  In front of him stands a 
             GIRL with white-blonde hair.

             From the torn pictures in Kay Connell's room.

             Will, straightens at the sight of her.

             Sees Randy surreptitiously caress her ass.

             EXT. CEMETERY - LATER

             The service is over.  People are heading back to their cars.
             Fred yanks off his tie.  Looks at Ellie.

                                 FRED
                       We should go say hello to Mrs. Connell.

             He starts off.  Ellie, looks back at Will.

                                 WILL
                       You go ahead.  I'll be there in a second.

             Ellie nods.  Catches up to Fred.  Will turns his attention
             back to RANDY AND THE GIRL.  Over at the far end of the 
             cemetery.  Standing next to Randy's motorcycle.

             EXT. AT THE EDGE OF THE FOREST - MINUTES LATER

             Randy gets on his bike, strapping his helmet on.  The girl's
             about to get on behind him.

                                 WILL (O.S.)
                       Why don't I give her a ride?

             They look over.  WILL walking towards them.  The wind
             whipping his jacket.  His tie.  Randy makes a face.

                                 RANDY
                       Thought I smelled something.

                                 WILL
                       Good to see you, too, Randy.

             Will arrives at the bike.  The girl, TANYA FRANCKE, looks at
             him curiously.  Her long white-blonde hair, her skin almost
             translucent.  Something sexy about her.  Has the carnation
             stuck in the buttonhole of her jean jacket.

                                 TANYA
                       Who're you?

             EXT. GRAVESITE - CONTINUOUS

             Fred shakes Mrs. Connell's hand.  Ellie waits.  Looks over
             and sees
 
             WILL standing with Tanya and Randy.

             Shifts the plant in her hands.

             EXT. AT THE EDGE OF THE FOREST - CONTINUOUS

             Will shows the gold shield on his belt.

                                 RANDY
                       Fuckin' cop.

             Randy kick starts the bike.  It dies.  He kicks it again.
             Calls out over his shoulder.

                                 RANDY
                       You coming or not?

             INT. CHEROKEE - FOREST - DAY

             Sunlight dappling through tall fir trees.  Will drives.
             Tanya sitting next to him.  Her black skirt riding up.
             Picking at the flaking polish on her nails.
 
                                 TANYA
                       I never met anyone from Seattle before.

                                 WILL
                       You're not missing much.

                                 TANYA
                       What are you doing in this shit-hole
                       town?

             Will, shifts.  Looks over.

                                 WILL
                       You were good friends with Kay Connell,
                       weren't you?

             Tanya hesitates.  Pulls a cigarette from her purse.

                                 TANYA
                       I was her best friend.

                                 WILL
                       Best friend?

                                 TANYA
                       Since grade school.

                                 WILL
                       That's a long time.

                                 TANYA
                       We were like sisters.  Knew everything
                       about each other.

                                 WILL
                       Must be tough for you.  What happened.

             Tanya shrugs.  Lights the cigarette.  Takes a drag.

                                 TANYA
                       Everybody says I'm holding up great,
                       considering.  Don't even care if I go to
                       school.  They're all worried I haven't
                       cried yet.

             She stretches.  Her midriff showing.  Shifts her body towards
             Will.

                                 TANYA (cont'd)
                       But there's no law against not crying,
                       right?

                                 WILL
                       What about Kay's other friends?

             Tanya makes a face.  Reaches out and taps the hula-girl.

                                 TANYA
                       Do we have to talk about Kay?  I don't
                       want to talk about her right now.  Let's
                       just drive.  Go somewhere.

             Will looks over at her.  She blows out a plume of smoke.
             Smiles.  Seductive.

                                 WILL
                       You want me to take you somewhere?

                                 TANYA
                       Long as it's fun.

             She reaches out a sinewy arm.  Starts massaging the back of
             Will's neck.

                                 TANYA (cont'd)
                       Young, impressionable girl left alone
                       with older, Seattle detective.  Who knows
                       what we could get up to.

             Will, impervious to the touch.  Head, throbbing.  Reaches for
             the gear.  His foot, pressing harder on the gas.

             EXT. CHEROKEE - FOREST ROAD - CONTINUOUS

             SCREECH!  The Cherokee whips around a curve.

             INT. CHEROKEE - CONTINUOUS
 
             Tanya giggles.  Likes the speed.  Will, goes even faster.

             EXT. CHEROKEE - CONTINUOUS
 
             The Cherokee breaks free from the forest.  Racing along a
             coastal road.  Water CRASHING against the rocks.

             Up ahead, a LOGGING TRUCK coming the other way.  The Cherokee
             shifts lanes.  Heading straight for the truck.

             INT. CHEROKEE - CONTINUOUS

             Tanya looks out at the truck.  Still giggling.

                                 WILL
                       How about this.  You like this?

             The truck BEEPS.  Will goes faster.  Tanya takes her hand
             from Will's neck.  Holds on to her seat.

             EXT. CHEROKEE - CONTINUOUS

             The gap's closing fast.  The truck BEEPS again.

             INT. CHEROKEE - CONTINUOUS

             Tanya looks over at Will.  Not giggling any more.

                                 TANYA
                       Hey...

                                 WILL
                       Thought you wanted something fun...

             Will goes even faster...

             EXT. CHEROKEE - COASTAL ROAD

             The truck and the Cherokee.  On a collision course.  The
             truck BEEPS wildly.

             INT. CHEROKEE - CONTINUOUS

             Tanya squirming in her seat.  Not liking this any more.

                                 TANYA
                       Move over!

             Will staring dead ahead.  Tensing his jaw.  The TRUCK...
             bearing down on them...

             Tanya reaches for the wheel...Will pushes her hands away...
             The TRUCK...a breath away...

                                 TANYA (cont'd)
                           (screaming)
                       Move over, you crazy fuck!

             EXT. CHEROKEE - COASTAL ROAD

             The truck and the Cherokee...just feet from each other...at
             the last moment...the Cherokee jerks out of the way...

             EXT. ICICLE FISHING CANNERY - DAY

             ...SCREECHES to a stop near an old sign, Icicle Cannery.
             Gravel flying.  Will gets out.  Slams his door.  Rounds the 
             car and opens Tanya's door.  She's screaming at him.

                                 TANYA
                       You crazy son-of-a-bitch!  You could have
                       killed us!

             Will reaches in and pulls her out of the car.

                                 TANYA (cont'd)
                       Ow!  You're hurting me!

             Will pulls her up a steep hill of garbage and broken crates.
             Pushes her down the other side.  She stumbles.

                                 TANYA (cont'd)
                       You want to tell me what the fuck this is
                       all about?

             Will stands above her, on the hill.  His face set like stone.

                                 WILL
                       You and Kay were like sisters?

                                 TANYA
                       That's what I said.

                                 WILL
                       Told each other everything.
                           (heads down the hill)
                       That why your picture's torn up in the
                       top drawer of her bureau?

             Tanya steps back.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Why her boyfriend's hand was clamped on 
                       your ass at her funeral?

             He grabs her by the arm.  Jerks it up.  She CRIES out.  Will
             leans in.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       You like games, little girl?  Well how
                       about this one - you're standing right
                       where her naked body was found wrapped up
                       in a garbage bag.

             Tanya's eyes grow wide.  She looks around her.  Disgusting,
             rotten.  A SEAGULL pecking at the body of a dead bird.  She
             tries to break away...

                                 TANYA
                       No...

                                 WILL
                       Who was Kay seeing besides Randy Stetz?

             Tanya looks away.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Who gave her those dresses?

             She struggles more.  No good.  Will's grip is like a vice.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       I need a name.

                                 TANYA
                       I don't know.

                                 WILL
                       You don't know.

                                 TANYA
                       She wouldn't tell me!

                                 WILL
                       But you were such good friends...

             Tanya, squirming.  Angry.

                                 TANYA
                       It was like some big fucking secret!

                                 WILL
                       What was?

                                 TANYA
                       She kept saying she was gonna get out of
                       here.  Leave us all behind.  That he was
                       going to take her!

                                 WILL
                       Who?

                                 TANYA
                       My arm!

                                 WILL
                       Who?

                                 TANYA
                       She used some stupid code name.

                                 WILL
                       What was it?

                                 TANYA
                       Brody...I don't know...
                           (crying)
                       ...Something Brody!

             Will straightens.  He's heard that name before.

             Suddenly Tanya jams her heel into his shoe.  He CRIES out.
             She breaks away from him.  Runs up the hill.  Turns.  Tears
             streaking her face.  Throws the carnation to the ground.

                                 TANYA (cont'd)
                       You happy now, you fucking bastard?

             INT. BOOKSTORE - NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             CLOSE ON a FINGER.  Running along a row of book spines.
             Brundt...Buckley...Buss...Buckham...Byrie...

             PULL BACK to reveal will in Nightmute's small bookstore.
             Still in his funeral clothes.

             In the "Mystery!" section.  Not finding what he wants.  Then,
             something catches his eye:  A BARGAIN BIN at the end of the 
             aisle.  Will limps down to it.  Avoides eye-contact with a
             YOUNG WOMAN shelving "New Arrivals!"

             Reaches into the bin.  Rummages through some paperbacks.
             Then he finds it:  Otherwise Engaged by Walter Byrd.
             Underneath the title, he finds what he's looking for:
             Another J. Brody Mystery.  Flips to the inside of the cover.

             A BLURRY PICTURE of Walter Byrd.  Head turned to the side.
             Walter Byrd was born in Watson Lake, Canada.  He graduated...

             Will's eyes skip down to the bottom:

             Mr. Byrd currently lives in Umkumiut, Alaska, with his two
             labrador retrievers, Lucy and Desi.

             Will looks up.  Slaps the book closed.

             INT./EXT. CHEROKEE - ROAD - DAY

             Will drives, sipping take-out coffee.  Trying to fight the 
             stinging in his eyes.  Passes a sign:  Umkumiut, 30 miles.

             EXT. TESORO ALASKA GAS STATION - UMKUMIUT - DAY

             Will stands in a phone booth at the gas station.  Flips
             through the phone book.  His finger tracing down the "B"s.
             Finds it:  Walter Byrd, 451 S. Diamond Tooth, Apt. B.

             EXT. DIAMOND TOOTH ROAD - UMKUMIUT - DAY

             Sky's become overcast.  Will stands across the street from a
             pale blue building.  On the ground floor, a tackle store.
             Above, looks like several apartment units.

             He starts across.

             INT. HALLWAY - APARTMENTS - DAY

             Will heads down a narrow hallway.  Tiled floor.  Passes door
             "A."  Stops at the next one, "B."  Knocks.  Hears nothing but
             the muted tv from apartment "A."  Pulls out his gloves.

             INT. WALTER BYRD'S APARTMENT - DAY

             With a CLICK the door swings open.  Will, gloves on, pockets
             his credit card.  Hears the CHING CHING of dog collars as
 
             TWO LABRADOR RETRIEVERS stand at attention, GROWLING.  Will's
             prepared.  Takes a bag of treats from his pocket.

                                 WILL
                       Lucy.  Desi.

             The dogs break.  Trot over to him.  Wolf down the treats.
             Will scans the place.  Small, cheap.  Matching sofa and easy
             chair, corduroy upholstery.  The walls, lined with old 1950s
             movie posters.  All second-rate detective movies:  "Another
             Shot in the Dark," "Lady Luck," "He wore a Black Hat."

             Will walks across the room.  Repulsed.  The pathetic hovel of 
             a killer.  Looks into the
   
             BEDROOM

             Single bed.  Books and magazines.  A half-eaten tuna sandwich
             on the bedside table.  "NYPD BLUE" calendar on the wall.

             It's quiet.  He walks over to a large DESK by the window.
             Scattered papers.  Computer.  Mini cassette recorder.
     
             On the wall, hundreds of newspaper articles.  Some yellowing,
             some fresh.  All about cops: "Officer Louis Saved My Life!"
             "Shoot-out in Soho," "South Street Cop Takes Down Drug
             Ring," "Seattle Cop Killed by Suspect..."

             Will curls his lip.  Starts looking through the papers on the
             desk.  Underneath a stack, he finds an 8x10 PHOTOGRAPH.  It's
             of Byrd, standing in front of a big, lakeside HOUSE.  A RADIO
             TOWER in the background.  Walter Byrd's face is blurred,
             turned to the side.  The photo from the book bio.

             Will takes it.  Starts roughly opening drawers.  A box of
             animal crackers, a rubber band ball.  Then, shoved in the
             back of the top drawer, an APPOINTMENT BOOK.  Will flips
             through to today's date.  Blank.  Shoves the book into his
             pocket.  Slams the door closed.
  
             Then reaches back for his Smith 39/13.  Checks the magazine.
             Slaps it back in place.  He's ready.

             SUDDENLY the phone RINGS.  A beige rotary on the desk.
             Plugged into an ancient answering machine.  It RINGS again.
             The answering machine WHIRS.  Then BEEPS.

                                 WALTER'S VOICE
                       Now you're mad at me.

             Will freezes.

                                 WALTER'S VOICE (cont'd)
                       ...I spotted your car around the corner.
                       You must have been in a hurry.  Put some
                       pieces together.  Don't worry, I would
                       have done the same thing...

             Will turns back to the window.  Looking furiously...

                                 WALTER'S VOICE (cont'd)
                       Anyway...
                           (blows nose)
                       ...I'm not coming home.  So you
                       shouldn't wait there all day.  I mean,
                       they'll wonder about you at the station.
                       You should be careful about following
                       procedure, Will, especially now that...

             Will lunges for the phone.  Snatches it up just as CLICK! the
             tape cuts off.

                                 WILL
                       Goddammit!

             Enraged, he PUNCHES the receiver through the wall.

             INT. HALLWAY - APARTMENTS - DAY

             Will exits the apartment.  Cradling his hand.  Looks down at
             the tile floor.  Scanning it for a broken tile.  Finds one.
             Bends down and plucks out a broken corner.

             Places it carefully where the bottom of the door meets the
             door jamb.  Just then.  His BEEPER goes off.

             INT. BULLPEN - NIGHTMUTE PD - DAY

             Will strides into the bullpen.  Wounded hand in pocket.
             Ellie hunts and pecks at a typewriter.  Glances up.

             Fred, over in the corner.  SLAMS a drawer in the filing
             cabinet.  Turns.

                                 FRED
                       Forget your pager?

                                 WILL
                       What?

                                 FRED
                       I beeped you over two hours ago.

             Holds out a one-page report.

                                 FRED (cont'd)
                       Got a fax from the lab.  Murder weapon
                       was a 357 Ruger.

             Will takes the report.  Heads over to the coffee machine.

                                 WILL
                       Good.

                                 FRED
                       And something else that might interest 
                       you.

             He reaches into his desk drawer and pulls out a book.  Holds
             it up.  Otherwise Engaged.  In hardback.

                                 FRED (cont'd)
                       Remember this?

             Will blinks.

                                 WILL
                       No.

                                 FRED
                       One of the paperbacks we found in Kay
                       Connell's knapsack.

             Will pours himself a cup of coffee.  Trying to keep the
             stream steady.  Ellie continues typing...CLACK...CLACK...

                                 WILL
                       That's right.

                                 FRED
                       Mrs. Connell found this copy in the 
                       house.
                           (opens it up)
                       It's signed.  Personally.

                                 WILL
                       So?

                                 FRED
                       This is a local writer.  Kay had all his
                       books.  I think we should check it out.

             CLACK...CLACK...CLACK...Will rubs his chin.  Looks back at
             the report.  Judicious.

                                 WILL
                       I don't think it'll lead anywhere.

             The CLACKING stops.  SILENCE.  Will turns around.  Ellie's
             staring right at him - that isn't like him.

             He turns back to Fred.  Beat.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Well.  If he's local.  Give him a call.

             The CLACKING resumes.

             INT. STAIRWAY - DIAMOND TOOTH ROAD - UMKUMIUT - LATE NIGHT

             A dark stairway.  Late at night.  Will, bathed in shadows.
             Climbs to the top.  Quietly, carefully.  He heads down a
             hallway.  We recognise it.  Back where Walter Byrd lives.
 
             Will approaches apartment "B."  Slowly pulls out his weapon.
             Cocks it.  Waits a beat then swings out in front of the door.
             Ready to fight.  Ready to confront.  Looks down...

             Tile corner's still there.

             INT./EXT. CHEROKEE - UMKUMIUT - NEXT DAY

             CLOSE ON Walter Byrd's APPOINTMENT BOOK laying open.
             Scrawled in pencil:  8:30.  Dr. Agee.

             PULL BACK to reveal Will sitting in the parked Cherokee.  The
             appointment book on the passenger seat.  Been there all night.

             Insomnia.  Taking its toll.  His hair, no longer neatly
             combed.  His face, pale and unshaven.  His eyes, dragged open
             from fatigue.  Looks like the whole world's pulling him down.
             Staring down the street at a
   
             BRICK BUILDING on the corner.  A placard by the front door:
             Dr. Florence Agee, D.D.S.

             Will checks his watch.  Rubs his eyes with the heels of his
             hands.  Suddenly.  Something tells him to look up.

             A MAN

             in the distance, walking along the road.  Towards Dr. Agee's.
             He's in his forties.  Short, shoulders sloped.  Wears a 
             beige, zip-up windbreaker, khakis, brown desert boots.

             WALTER BYRD

             has a bulky hearing aid in one ear.  Is looking down at the
             road.  Glances up.

             LOCKS EYES WITH WILL

             Byrd, slows his pace.

             Will, reaches for the door handle.

             SUDDENLY

             Byrd turns in the other direction, starts walking fast.

             Will leaps out of the Cherokee and heads after him.

             WALTER BYRD

             his short legs pumping, spots a TOUR BUS across the road.
             Veers over to it.

             WILL

             a runner's stride.  Weaves through PEOPLE.  Closing in on
             Byrd.  Sees his plan.  Cuts across the road just as...

             A PICK-UP

             rounds the corner.  THUMP!  Broadsides him.  Will's pitched
             up and over the hood.  Falls hard on the tarmac.  Dazed for a
             second.  Blood, gushing from his forehead.  Hears the PICK-UP
             DOOR open...FEET running over to him.

                                 WOMAN'S VOICE (O.S.)
                       Are you alright?  You popped out from
                       nowhere!

             More FEET running over.

                                 MAN'S VOICE (O.S.)
                       He okay?

             Will opens his eyes.  Trying to focus.  Looks up and sees, in
             the distance...WALTER BYRD getting on the tour bus.

             Will struggles to his feet.  The OLD LADY who hit him,
             wearing overalls.  Reaches out.

                                 OLD LADY
                       I don't think you should move.

             Will stands, wavering.  Flashes her his badge.

             INT./EXT. PICK-UP

             The old lady rips along in the truck.  Will sits in the
             passenger seat, a handkerchief to his forehead.  It's soaked
             with blood.  The lady looks over.

                                 OLD LADY
                       You sure you're okay?

                                 WILL
                       I'm fine.

                                 OLD LADY
                       Careful not to bleed on my interior.

             Will looks over at her.  Shifts in his seat.  Ouch.  Feels
             like a couple cracked ribs.  Peers out the windshield at the
             TOUR BUS a few cars ahead of them.

             EXT. WINDY ROAD - CONTINUOUS

             AERIAL VIEW of the pick-up tailing the tour bus.  A windy
             coastal road.  Beyond it, a blanket of endless evergreens.

             EXT. FERRY STATION - OUTSIDE UMKUMIUT - DAY

             A FERRY at the end of the pier.  A small wooden booth for
             selling tickets.  Beautiful, sweeping snow-capped mountains
             on the other side of the bay.  Nothing else for miles around.

             The pick-up pulls up next to the bus and a couple other cars.
             Will jumps out.  Scans the area for Byrd.  Nothing.  Then,
             sees the last few PEOPLE boarding the ferry.

             INT. FERRY - MINUTES LATER

             Ferry's getting pitched around in the roiling water.  Most
             everyone is inside.  TOURISTS with throw-away cameras,
             backpacks, anoraks, CHILDREN.  Some looking sea-sick in the
             corner.

             Will weaves through the crowd.  Eyes darting, searching.  The
             ferry lurches to one side, the crowd sways, Will spots

             WALTER BYRD standing by a window.

             INT. WINDOW - FERRY

             Walter holds on to the railing.  Looking at the view, the sea
             spray.  Will comes up.  Stands next to him.  Cognizant of the
             people around them.

                                 WILL
                       Walter Byrd.

             Walter continues looking out the window.  That same stuffed-
             nose voice.

                                 WALTER
                       When I was seven my mother and
                       grandmother took me to Vancouver.  We
                       were walking along the street one day
                       when these two men ran past and snatched
                       my grandmother's purse right from under
                       her arm.  Right from under her arm.  That
                       night a police officer came to our hotel 
                       room to ask us questions.  Stood the
                       whole time.

             The ferry pitches again.  Will grabs on to the railing.
             Looking down at this little man.  Hate in his eyes.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       His uniform looked brand new.  His shoes
                       and badge were polished, his billy club,
                       his belt buckle.  All perfect.  He was
                       like a soldier, but better.

             Walter reaches up to blow his nose.  Will's eyes look on in
             disgust - his knuckles are still red and swollen.  From
             beating Kay Connell to death.

                                 WALTER (cont'd) 
                       Made a huge impression on me.  His
                       goodness.  Gave me an instant respect for
                       the police.  I tried to become a cop when
                       I left high school, but...

             He points to his hearing-aid.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       Congenital problem.

             The ferry's engine HUMS to a stop.  Walter smiles.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       Oh.  We're here.

             EXT. GENDREAU GLACIER - DAY

             Gendreau Glacier.  Spilling down between two huge mountains.
             Enormous in its whiteness, its coldness, its silent power.

             Will and Walter walk up its face, away from the other
             tourists.  Walter leads the way.  Hands in his pockets.

                                 WALTER
                       You know this glacier moves a quarter of
                       an inch every day?

             He points off to the horizon.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       And on a clear day you can see all the
                       way over to Newtok.  There's a beautiful
                       aviary over there.  We can go sometime.

             Will's lip curls.  Watching him.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       It's actually cool for this time of year.
                       Normally the temperature runs about...

             SUDDENLY Will lunges at him.  Walter's eyes widen in surprise
             as he grabs him up by the collar.  Nose to nose.  Will barely
             keeping control.

                                 WILL
                       You think this is a nice meeting we're 
                       having here?  Friendly?  Two people
                       getting acquainted?
                           (jerks him harder)
                       You sick, coward, fuck.  I get up every
                       morning of my life just to bring someone
                       like you down.  Beating a seventeen year-
                       old girl to death.  Washing her
                       afterwards, cleaning her.  Make you feel
                       like a real man?
                           (tightens his grip)
                       Huh?

             Walter flounders.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       I outta end this right now.  Take a rock
                       and smash your fucking skull in...

             His jaws tense, nostrils flare.  Walter, red-faced,
             sputtering...

                                 WALTER 
                       I stood right behind you...I saw you look
                       right into his eyes and shoot him...

             Will clenches his teeth.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       ...Seattle's great hero.  Shooting his
                       own partner.  I saw it all...

                                 WILL
                       That was an accident!  You hear me?  I
                       didn't know it was him!
                           (shakes him hard)
                       I didn't know it was him!

             Just then a SHRIEK.  Will looks over

             A COUPLE KIDS.  Further down the glacier.  Having a snowball
             fight.

             Will looks back at Walter.  Has to take it easy.  Shoves him
             away in disgust.  Walter falls down onto the snow.  Dislodges  
             his hearing aid.

             Watches Will pace.  Head throbbing.  Ribs, screaming in pain.

                                 WALTER
                       Then why lie about it?

             Walter brushes the snow off the dislodged hearing aid.  Puts
             it back around his ear.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       I mean, I'm all for bending the truth.
                       That's what I do in my novels.  It's my 
                       trade you might say.  But why cover it
                       up?

             Gets up.  Brushes the snow from his butt.  Checks something
             in his pocket.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       You don't have to tell me if you don't
                       want to.  I'm sure you have some reason.
                       Something noble.  I have faith in that.
 
             Looks down at the kids.  Shakes his head.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       They should be bundled up better.

                                 WILL
                       What's your game, Byrd?

             Walter turns back to him.

                                 WALTER
                       No game.

                                 WILL
                       The phone call.  The knapsack.

             Walter shrugs.

                                 WALTER
                       I figured we're partners on this one.  I
                       mean, after what I saw...

             Will stops short.  Eyes burning.  It's all he can do not to
             throttle this weed.

                                 WILL
                       Let's get one thing straight, Byrd.  We are
                       partners on nothing.

             Walter looks at him.  Scratches his head.

                                 WALTER
                       I research my novels.  I know the 
                       procedures.  You'd have cuffed me back at
                       the ferry.  You'd have called for back-
                       up, read me my rights, and gotten a
                       search warrant for my apartment.  You're
                       a well-respected detective.  There's
                       no reason for you to be talking to me
                       right now...

             He takes out a handkerchief.  Blows his nose.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       ...except that we could help each other.

             Will stares at him.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       So.  We're at an impasse.

             Will runs his hands through his hair.  Half-crazed.  Heart
             pounding.  Turns to watch...

             THE KIDS down the glacier.  Making angels in the snow.  Their
             GIGGLES carried along by the wind.

             Will, squeezes his eyes shut.  Trapped.  About to defy every
             instinct in his body.

                                 WILL
                           (sotto)
                       You're going to get a phone call.

             Walter steps up, tapping his hearing aid.

                                 WALTER
                       I'm sorry?

                                 WILL
                       I said you're going to get a phone call.

                                 WALTER 
                           (perks up)
                       Oh?

                                 WILL
                       Kay Connell had a signed copy of one of
                       your books.

                                 WALTER
                       Thought you might find that.

                                 WILL
                       You're going to be brought in for
                       questioning.

             Walter smiles.  Pleased.

                                 WALTER
                       Down at the station?

                                 WILL
                           (hisses)
                       Yes down at the station.

             Walter rubs his hands together.  Thinking.

                                 WALTER
                       Okay.  Okay.  Brought in for questioning.
                       Good.  I can write this.

             JUST THEN the ferry blows its HORN.  Low and loud.  Walter
             looks down at it.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       Ferry's leaving.

             He starts down.  Will watches him pass, has no choice but to
             follow.  Walter, going over the details in his head.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       Something to divert...

             Snaps his fingers.  An idea.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       My gun.  You still have my gun, right?

             Will nods.  Walter smiles.  Spreads out his hands.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       Then that's the wild card.  Every
                       detective story has a wild card.

                                 WILL
                       What do you mean, "wild card?"

             TOURISTS.  Boarding the ferry.

                                 WALTER
                       Next ferry's in forty-five minutes.

             Walter heads over to the ramp.  Will stops, grabbing his
             side.  A PANG through his ribs.  Excruciating.  Calls out to
             Walter.

                                 WILL
                       What do you mean "wild card?"

             Walter looks back.  Waves.

                                 WALTER
                       You'll know.  At the questioning.

             Gives his ticket to the TICKET TAKER.  Gets on.  Walks back
             to the stern.  Looks out at Will.  The HORN sounds again.

             Walter, at the rail.  Smiles.  The ferry's engine, churning
             up water.  Starting forward just as...

             Walter takes a MINI CASSETTE RECORDER from his pocket.  Holds
             it up for Will to see.

             Will, on shore, sees it.  A cold flash ripping through his 
             body.  That motherfucker.  Bolts through some tourists
             towards the ramp but...

             A couple of GUYS are just pulling it in.  The Ticket Taker,
             grabs his arm.

                                 TICKET TAKER
                           (to Will)
                       Full up.

             Will, jerks his arm away.  Stares off at the ferry.  Walter
             Byrd and his tape recorder.  Receding into the distance.

             INT. CONVENIENCE STORE - NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             CLOSE ON a counter top.  Stuff thrown down.  Aspirin.  Band-
             aids.  Gauze.  Medical tape.  First aid cream.  Back pills.
             Sleeping pills.  Bottle of scotch.

             PULL BACK to reveal Will standing at the counter in the
             convenience store.  His entire body aching.  The CASHIER,
             throws him a look.

                                 WILL
                       I have a cold.

             EXT. CONVENIENCE STORE - MINUTES LATER

             Will exits the store.  A bag under his arm.  We Miss You, Kay
             looming over his shoulder.  Steps out onto the sidewalk and
             sees...

             ELLIE leaning against her truck.  Waiting for him.  Smiles.

                                 ELLIE
                       Which way are you walking?

             A tingle, all across Will's body.  Christ.  This girl's
             everywhere!  He hunches into his coat.  Flicks up his collar.
             Doesn't want her to see him fully.  Nods down the road.

                                 WILL
                       Back to the Lodge.

             Ellie grabs her bag.  Joins him.  They start walking.

                                 ELLIE
                       I needed to get your signature on
                       something.

             She pulls a folder from her bag.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       The report on Detective Eckhart.  Chief
                       made me finish it this morning.  Said it
                       was taking too long.

             Will takes the file.  Flips it open.  The death of his
             partner.  Neatly typed.  Neatly stapled.  Pulls out a pen.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       Aren't you going to read it?

                                 WILL
                       I trust you.

             He signs.  Hands it back to her.  She slips it into her bag.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       Now I can help you with the Connell case. 
                       That writer's coming in tomorrow.  Walter
                       Byrd.

             A slight stutter in Will's step.

                                 WILL
                       Duggar called him?

                                 ELLIE
                       About an hour ago.  Said he was more than
                       happy to cooperate.

             Ellie looks over at Will as they cross the street.  Studying
             his face.  His gait.  Noticing the slight limp in his right
             leg.  The cut on his forehead.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       You haven't been sleeping much, have you,
                       Detective Dormer?

             They arrive at the stone steps of the Pioneer Lodge.

                                 WILL
                       Not really.

                                 ELLIE
                       Isn't that the difference between a good
                       cop and a bad cop?  A good cop can't
                       sleep 'cause a piece of the puzzle's
                       missing.  A bad cop can't sleep 'cause
                       his conscience won't let him.
                           (smiles)
                       You said that once, remember?

             Will, finally looks at her.

                                 WILL
                       No.  But it sounds like something I
                       would've said.

             Turns and starts up the steps.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       See you tomorrow, Ellie.

             Ellie, watches him for a second.  Then calls out.

                                 ELLIE
                       Oh!  I forgot to tell you.  The Puffins
                       won.

             Will stops, turns to look back at her.  Confused.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       The baseball game.  Our team...

             Slings the bag over her shoulder.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       ...We won.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - PIONEER LODGE - LATE NIGHT

             Clock flicks to 3:00 A.M.  Will, pacing in his room.  Shirt
             off.  Rib cage wrapped in a bandage.  Looking through...

             A STACK OF MESSAGES.  All from John Warfield.  He discards
             them one by one.  Can barely focus...

             SUDDENLY the phone RINGS.  He lunges for it.

                                 WILL
                           (grabbing it)
                       Listen to me, you son-of-a-bitch...

             Interrupted by a CLICK...

                                 RECORDED VOICE
                       ...I saw you look right into his eyes
                       and shoot him...

             Walter Byrd's voice.  Recorded from that afternoon.

                                 RECORDED VOICE (cont'd)
                       ...Seattle's great hero.  Shooting his
                       own partner.  I saw it all...

             Will, hears his own voice...

                                 RECORDED VOICE (cont'd)
                       That was an accident!...

                                 WILL
                       Goddammit, Byrd!

             Then, another clumsy CLICK.  Walter Byrd gets on.

                                 WALTER
                       You'd have done the same thing, Will.  I
                       know you would...

             He hangs up.

             Will SLAMS down the receiver.  Then again.  And again.  Yanks
             the cord out of the wall and HURLS the phone across the room.

             EXT. ROCKY BEACH - OUTSIDE NIGHTMUTE - MORNING

             ...The DARK FIGURE.  Disappearing back into the fog.  Closing
             in around him like milky water...

             We whip out our SMITH 39/13...plunge in after him...taking
             chase...BREATHING hard...leaping from rock to rock...the FOG,
             blanket thick...tightening around us...

             Our feet.  Hit water.  Up to our ankles.  Icy cold.  We
             run...sloshing through...when...

             SUDDENLY

             A DARK FIGURE.  Appears ahead.  Big and hulking...CRASHING
             towards us...

             We raise our weapon...quick as a flash...as the FIGURE
             emerges...

             And in a split second...

             WE LOCK EYES WITH FIGURE's - his eyes, brown and gentle...

             CRACK!  We fire!  The FIGURE grips his gut, falls into the
             water.

             Heart POUNDING.  Adrenaline PUMPING.  We slosh towards the
             body.  Something...catching our eye...

             A 357 RUGER

             lying in the rocks.  Off to the side.  We grab it.  Turn back
             to the body...

             And stop cold.

             That's when it hits us.  That's when we realize...

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - LATE NIGHT

             Will bolts up.  White as a sheet.

                                 WILL
                       I didn't know!

             His body, drenched in sweat.  His breathing, quick and
             ragged.  Caught up in the twisted sheets of his bed.  Looks
             across the room and sees

             HAP

             sitting in the corner.  Eating an apple with a penknife.

                                 HAP
                       You sure about that, buddy?

             He smiles.  Sympathetic.  Looks over at the window just as...

             The BLANKET.  Drops to the floor.  

             LIGHT floods the room.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - 4:02 A.M.

             With a GRUNT Will puts his back into it.  Shoving the heavy
             oak bureau towards the window.  Sweat beading his face.

             A...few...more...shoves.  And the bureau finally stands in
             front of the window.  WIll stands back to take a look.  Only
             covers half of it.

                                 WILL
                       Fuck!

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - 4:35 A.M.

             Red-faced, Will leans into the wooden armoire.  Shimmying it 
             towards the window...

                                                                   CUT TO:

             EXT. PIONEER LODGE - NIGHT

             Ellie.  Sitting in her truck.  Parked behind the Pioneer
             Lodge.  Rubbbing her eyes.  Sleepy.  Looking up at
   
             WILL'S WINDOW

             concerned.

                                                              CUT BACK TO:

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - 4:35 A.M.

             With one last heave, Will gets the armoire to the window.
             Light still shining through the cracks.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - 4:50 A.M.

             Will shoving magazines, blankets, sheets, pillows.  Anything.
             To fill the cracks.  To cover the light.  His eyes.  Like a
             crazy man's...

             SUDDENLY a knock on the door.  Will turns.

                                 RACHEL (O.S.)
                       Detective Dormer?

             INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

             Rachel standing out in the hallway.  Will opens the door.

                                 RACHEL
                           (startled by his appearance)
                       Will...I...

                                 WILL
                       What is it?

                                 RACHEL
                       There's a guy down the hall.  Complaining
                       about the noise.
                           (beat)
                       Says he can't sleep.

             Will gives a half-smile.  Fucking irony.  Heads back into...

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

             ...his room.  Rachel follows.  Looks around at the mess.

                                 RACHEL
                       Are you alright?

             Will grabs up a sweater.

                                 WILL
                       I'm fine.

             He heads back over to the window.  Rachel now notices all the
             stuff piled up.  Softens her voice.

                                 RACHEL
                       Did something happen?

             Will.  Cramming the sweater into a crack.

                                 WILL
                       No.

             Rachel walks up behind him.  His cramming, more desperate.
             More urgent.

                                 RACHEL
                       Will...

             He grabs a magazine.

                                 WILL
                       The light.  It keeps coming in...

             Rachel reaches out.  Catches his arm.

                                 RACHEL
                       Will.

             He stops.  Looks down at her hand.

                                 RACHEL (cont'd)
                       What happened?

             Will suddenly realises what he's doing.  Absurd.  Pathetic. 
             Pitiful.  Slowly turns to face Rachel.

             Her eyes, looking up at him.  His shoulders droop.
             Exhausted.  Rachel reaches up.  Catches him in her arms.
             Strong arms.  Caring.  Will buries his face in her neck.
             Wants to be swallowed up.

             Rachel holds him.  Arms encircling.  Will breathes her in.
             Sweet, soft, safe.

             Looks up.  His mouth suddenly finding hers.  A kiss, hungry,
             urgent.  His arms move to surround her.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - LATER

             Will and Rachel in bed.  Spooning.  Rachel behind will, her
             finger tracing his scar.  Rain DRUMS against the window.

             Will.  Watching the raindrops streaming down the glass.
             Casting strange shadows against the wall.

                                 WILL
                       There was this guy named Weston Dobbs.
                       Twenty-four.  Worked as a part-time stock
                       boy in a copy store.  Every morning he'd
                       sit at the only window in his apartment
                       and watch an eight year-old boy get
                       picked up by his carpool across the
                       street.  And every afternoon he'd watch
                       the boy get dropped off again.  He did
                       this for about six months.  Until one day
                       he got up the nerve to cross the street
                       and grab the boy before his carpool came.
                       Kept him in his apartment for three days.
                       Tortured him.  Raped him.  Made him do
                       things...

             Will tenses his jaw.  Rachel, listens in horror.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       When he was done, he got a rope and a
                       kitchen stool and hanged the boy in the
                       basement of the apartment building.  But
                       he didn't do a good enough job.  The
                       little boy's neck didn't break and he
                       died from shock.  The landlord found him
                       five days later.

             Rachel reaches for Will's hand.  Squeezes it.

                                 RACHEL
                       One of your cases?

                                 WILL
                       Me and Hap.  A year and a half ago.  I
                       knew the second I met Dobbs that he was
                       guilty.  Smug, cold.  Dead eyes.  We had
                       circumstantial evidence, but nothing to
                       tie him to it.  Nothing concrete.  Went
                       over every inch of that apartment.

             He pauses.

                                 RACHEL
                       What happened?

             Will turns slowly over to face her.  Her hair, splayed out on
             the pillow.  Her cheeks, flushed.  Her eyes, listening.

                                 WILL
                       We took some blood samples from the boy's
                       body and planted them in his apartment.
                           (beat)
                       Arrested him the next day.

             Rachel looks at him.  Goose pimples on her arms.  Realising
             the weight of the confession.

                                 RACHEL
                       Will.

                                 WILL
                       There've been other cases.  Where we've
                       changed results.  Pushed witnesses.
                       Manipulated evidence.
                           (rubs his face)
                       But Dobbs.  I wanted Dobbs more than
                       anything.

             He sits up.  Abrupt.  Wincing from the pain in his ribs.
             Rests his arms on his knees.

                                 RACHEL
                       What if someone finds out?

                                 WILL
                       We're under investigation now.  Back in
                       Seattle.
                           (beat)
                       Hap wanted to talk.  As soon as we got
                       back.  Thought he could work out some
                       kind of deal.

             Rachel rubs his shoulder.

                                 RACHEL
                       Well, that's not going to happen now.

             Will closes his eyes.  The rain, PATTERING.  Rhythmic.

                                 WILL
                       Do you think it was wrong?  What we did?

             There's a PAUSE.  Rachel, studying Will's back.  The cuts.
             The bruises.  Not sure how to answer.

                                 RACHEL
                       There are two kinds of people in Alaska. 
                       Those who were born here and those who've
                       come here to escape something in their
                       lives.
                           (beat)
                       I wasn't born here, Will.  I'm in no
                       position to judge anyone.  I'm not about
                       that any more.

             Looks out the window.

                                 RACHEL (cont'd)
                       It's all about what you're willing to
                       live with.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - MORNING

             The clock reads 6:00.  Will pulls on his trousers.  Goes to
             strap on his Smith 39/13 holster.  Grimaces with pain.  Looks
             at his back in the full-length mirror.  BLACK BRUISES seeping
             out from under his bandage.

             Puts the 39/13 and holster in the top drawer of the bureau.
             Turns and looks down at Rachel.  Sleeping soundly.

                                 FRED (O.S.)
                       You were acquainted with the deceased,
                       Kay Connell?

             INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - CONTINUOUS

             Will in the interrogation room.  Standing by the window.
             Tensed jaw.

                                 WALTER (O.S.)
                       Yes I was.

             WALTER BYRD

             sits at the table.  Hair combed, wet.  Shirt newly starched.
             A Styrofoam cup of coffee in front of him.  Playing the part.

             Fred sits opposite him.  Report file open.  Ellie, next to
             Fred.  Taking notes.  She's combed her hair, too.

                                 FRED
                       In what manner?

             Walter smiles modestly.  Looks over at Ellie.

                                 WALTER
                       She was, not quite a "fan."  More an avid
                       reader of my detective novels.

                                 ELLIE
                       When did you first meet her?

             Fred shoots Ellie a look.  She closes her mouth.

                                 WALTER
                       A year ago.  At one of my signings.

             Ellie hands Fred the hardback of Otherwise Engaged.  He holds
             it up.  Opened to the signature.

                                 FRED
                       Where you signed this?

                                 WALTER
                       That's right.

                                 FRED
                       What happened at that signing?

                                 WALTER
                       She flattered me about my writing.  Asked
                       if she could visit me.  To talk about my
                       books.

                                 FRED
                       Did she?

                                 WALTER
                       Yes.  Not that much at first.  But then
                       she became more comfortable.  Started 
                       visiting me every week...

             Will, from over by the window.  Interrupts.

                                 WILL
                       What was the nature of your relationship?

             Walter looks over.  Wide-eyed.

                                 WALTER
                       What do you mean, Detective Dormer?

             Will turns.  Accusatory.

                                 WILL
                       She was an attractive girl.  Did you have
                       sex with her?

             Walter blinks.

                                 WALTER
                       She was only seventeen.

                                 WILL
                       But she was an attractive girl.
 
                                 WALTER
                       I suppose.

                                 WILL
                       Did you have sex with her?

             Fred shoots Will a look.  Ellie, watching him.

                                 WALTER
                       No.

                                 WILL
                       But you wanted to.

                                 WALTER
                       I was a mentor to her.

             Will heads over to Walter's chair.  Fists clenched in his
             pockets.

                                 WILL
                       You gave her gifts.

                                 WALTER
                       Yes.

                                 WILL
                       Expensive dresses.  A heart necklace.

                                 WALTER
                       Yes.

                                 WILL
                       Doesn't sound like a mentor to me.

                                 WALTER
                       I gave her things she didn't have.
                       Couldn't have.

             He turns to Fred and Ellie.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       Her family lives on Mr. Connell's
                       disability.  It isn't much.

             Fred stops Will with a look.  Had enough.

                                 FRED
                       We understand, Mr. Byrd.
                           (to Will)
                       You want to sit down, Detective?

             Tense BEAT.  Will stares at Walter.  Revulsion.  Heads back
             over to the window.

                                 WALTER
                       She wasn't happy.  I was someone to talk
                       to.

                                 FRED
                       How do you mean?

                                 WALTER
                       That boyfriend.  Randy.

             Fred, sits up.

                                 FRED
                       Randy Stetz?

                                 WALTER
                       That's right.

                                 WILL
                       What about him?

                                 WALTER
                       He.  Well, he...

             Walter hesitates.  Takes a sip of coffee.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       I don't want to talk out of school.  Kay
                       told me things in the strictest of
                       confidence.  As a friend.

                                 FRED
                       Mr. Byrd.  Anything you can tell us could
                       help out with this case.

             Walter furrows his brow.  Taps his hearing aid.

                                 WALTER
                       Well.  He hit her.

             Ellie's eyes widen.  Fred glances at Will.  But Will's too
             busy watching this little man weave his web.

                                 FRED
                       Are you sure about that?

                                 WALTER
                       She'd come to me, sometimes in the middle
                       of the night.  Bruises all over her back,
                       her upper arms.  I pled with her to let
                       me call the police, but she wouldn't hear
                       it.  Wanted to keep it a secret.

                                 ELLIE
                       Randy Stetz beat Kay Connell?

                                 FRED
                           (angry)
                       Ellie.

             Walter looks right at her.

                                 WALTER
                       He has a terrible rage.  Kay even said he
                       carried a handgun around with him.

             Fred stands.  This is big.  Calls out the door.

                                 FRED
                       Margaret!  Get Judge Biggs on the phone!
                           (to Will)
                       I'll get another warrant for Stetz's
                       place.

             Walter takes a sip of his coffee.  Cup's empty.  Holds it out
             to Ellie.  Smiles.

                                 WALTER
                       Could I have some more coffee, Detective
                       Burr?

             Ellie nods, takes the cup.  Heads over to the coffee machine.
             Fred turns back to the door...

             AND AT THAT MOMENT Walter levels a look right at Will.

             Mouths the words Wild Card.

             A shiver down Will's spine.  Wild card.  The gun.  Randy.

             ELLIE

             over at the coffee machine.  Pouring coffee.  Glances up at
             the window.  Catches the reflection of the two men.

             An intense look between them.

             EXT. ROCKY BEACH - OUTSIDE NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             CLOSE ON a BOOT.  Jumping down onto a black rock.

             PULL BACK to reveal Ellie walking out on the beach.  Heading
             down towards the water.  Thinking.

             INT. RANDY STETZ'S ROOM - NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             A dark, narrow boarding room.  A HAND reaches through an open
             window.  Feels for the lock on the door.  CLICK.

             Will enters Randy Stetz's place.  Cigarette butts, electric
             guitar, Hustler centerfolds tacked on the walls.

             He looks around.  Every inch of him revolting against what
             he's about to do.

             EXT. ROCKY BEACH - CONTINUOUS

             The sound of waves.  A slight breeze.  Ellie walking along
             the water.

             Looking down.  Brow furrowed.  Stops and puts her hands on
             her hips.

             INT. RANDY STETZ'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

             Will heads over to a hanging sheet on the other side of the
             room.  Pulls it aside.  A MOTORBIKE being repaired.  Parts
             and tools all over the place.

             Pulls the 357 Ruger from his pocket with a handkerchief.
             Spots a COFFEE CAN on a shelf.  Filled with thick oil.

             EXT. ROCKY BEACH - CONTINUOUS

             Something catches Ellie's eye.  GLINTING from between the
             rocks.  She bends down.  Pulls a pencil from her backpack.
             Spears something and holds it up.

             A SHELL CASING.

             INT. RANDY STETZ'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS
 
             Will, drops the 357 into the oil.  Turns and heads back
             across the room.  Hesitates.  At the door.  Turns back.
             Looking at the oil can.  Takes a step back towards it when he
             hears...

             The sound of a SQUAD CAR.  Pulling up outside.

             Too late.

             EXT. RANDY STETZ'S ROOM - LATER

             Will stands just outside the doorway into Randy's room.
             UNIFORMED OFFICERS inside searching the place.  Tearing down
             pictures.  Turning out doors.  Ripping up carpet.  Randy's
             voice.  In protest.

                                 RANDY (O.S.)
                       You can't fucking do this!

             Will hears some SCUFFLING.  The sheet being pulled down.  The
             CLATTER of tools.

                                 RANDY (O.S.)
                       Hey!  I'm working on that!

             Parts pulled off the shelves.  The bike, shoved to the side.
             Then.  A SILENCE.  Followed by...

                                 OFFICER (O.S.)
                       Found something.

             Will shuts his eyes.  Heavy FOOTSTEPS head over to the bike.
             Someone's pulled the gun from the can.

                                 RANDY (O.S.)
                       What the fuck is that!

             Fred's voice, calm.

                                 FRED (O.S.)
                       That's it.  Let's bag it.

             More FOOTSTEPS.  Randy, desperate.

                                 RANDY (O.S.)
                       That's not mine, man!  That's not mine!

             Will opens his eyes.  Fred's voice.  Almost sympathetic.

                                 FRED (O.S.)
                       Randy...

                                 RANDY (O.S.)
                       No way, man!

             More SCUFFLING.  A chair knocked over.  Something SMASHES.
             Will looks down at the floor as

             FRED AND A UNIFORMED COP struggle to drag Randy through the
             doorway.  Randy writhes, kicks, tugs.  Screams.

                                 RANDY (cont'd)
                       That ain't mine!

             Fred grabs Randy's shoulder.

                                 FRED
                       C'mon, Randy.

             Randy squirms.  Turns.  Looks right into Will's eyes.  Gone
             is the bluster.  Gone is the attitude.  Randy Stetz, lost
             kid.  Tears streaming down his face.

                                 RANDY
                       I swear to God.  I didn't kill her.  I 
                       swear to God...

             EXT. GARAGE APARTMENT - DAY

             Will stands outside the garage apartment.  Wind whipping his
             coat.  Watches as a Nightmute PD SQUAD CAR pulls off with
             Randy Stetz in the back.

             Fred sees him, heads over.

                                 FRED
                       You look like shit, cowboy.

             Will shifts his eyes to him.

                                 WILL
                       That's an understatement.

             Fred half-smiles.  Watches the receding squad car.

                                 FRED
                       Looks like we can wrap this one up.

             Will barely nods.  Fred pulls his baseball cap on.

                                 FRED (cont'd)
                       We're getting together for a couple of
                       beers later on.  Might not be the Seattle
                       thing to do.  But you're welcome to come.

             Fred puts out his hand to shake.  Truce.  Will looks at him.
             Takes it.

             INT. SHANTY BAR - NIGHTMUTE - NIGHT

             CLOSE ON a tray of dark beer.  Five glasses, foam sloshing.

                                 FARRELL (O.S.)
                       I can't believe it.  Randy Stetz.

             PULL BACK to reveal Farrell, Rich, Francis, and Will sitting
             at a small, round table.  Fred's passing out the beers.  Dive
             bar.  MUSIC blaring.  3 a.m. Happy Hour! banner on the wall.
             Place packed with rough-looking FISHERMEN.

             Rich takes a glass from Fred.

                                 RICH
                       What do you mean, you can't believe it?

                                 FRANCIS
                       He was an asshole.

                                 FARRELL
                       That doesn't mean anything.

             Fred sits.  Takes a sip of his beer.  To Farrell.

                                 FRED
                       Didn't you grow up with him?

             Farrell shifts in his seat.

                                 FARRELL
                       Our dads were on the same boat.
                           (to Will)
                       We used to wait for them together.

             Will nods.  Jostled by the crowd.  Reaches for his beer.

                                 FRANCIS
                       He used to pick fights at the gas
                       station.

                                 RICH
                       And remember when he did all those donut
                       holes that one summer?

             He and Francis GUFFAW.

                                 FRED
                       Just a bad seed.

             Farrell looks over at Will.

                                 FARRELL
                       How do you like our beer?

             Will slams down his empty glass.  Squeezes his eyes open and
             shut.  Loud music.  Cigarette smoke.

                                 WILL
                       I like it fine.

             Fred pats Will's shoulder.

                                 FRED
                       What Detective Dormer needs is a little
                       shut-eye.

                                 RICH
                       The white nights been hard on you?

                                 WILL
                       They haven't been easy.

             Francis grabs a handful of peanuts.

                                 FRANCIS
                       They don't have titanium shades over at
                       the Pioneer.

                                 RICH
                       Well no wonder.

                                 FRANCIS
                       You lose all sense of time.

                                 FARRELL
                       Better than Fred's home town.

             Will turns to Fred.  Wiping the foam from his moustache.

                                 FRED
                       My people are from Barrow.  Way up north.

                                 RICH
                       In the winter there's no sunlight for
                       five straight months.

                                 FRED
                       Like being swallowed up in a black hole.

             JUST THEN.

                                 ELLIE (O.S.)
                       Hi, guys.

             They look up.  Ellie standing by their table.  Jeans, down
             vest.  Hair tousled.

                                 FRED
                       Nancy Drew!  Pull up a seat!

                                 FRANCIS
                       You hear what happened, Ellie?

                                 ELLIE
                       Yeah.

                                 RICH
                       Pretty cool.

                                 FARRELL
                       Rich found the gun.

                                 ELLIE
                       I know.  I heard.

             Fred leans back in his seat.  Eyeballs Ellie.

                                 FRED
                       Something's on Nancy's mind.

             Ellie reaches into her vest pocket.  Pulls out a Ziploc with
             the SHELL CASING inside.

                                 ELLIE
                       I found this out on the beach.

                                 FARRELL
                       What is it?

                                 ELLIE
                       Shell casing.  9mm.

             Will, blanches.

                                 FRANCIS
                       Let it go, Ell.  We got the bad guy.

                                 ELLIE
                       None of us carries a 9mm duty weapon.
                       And the murder weapon was a 357.

             Rich throws peanut shells at her.

                                 RICH
                       Get a hobby, will ya?

             Ellie brushes off the shells.  Looks right at Will.

                                 ELLIE
                       It's a legitimate point, isn't it,
                       Detective Dormer?

             Everyone turns to Will.  Their faces, spinning.  He nods.

                                 WILL
                       It's legitimate.

                                 ELLIE
                       Worth pursuing?

             He looks up.  Holds her gaze.  Then turns away.  Grabs the
             side of the table.

                                 WILL
                       The case is closed, Ellie.
                           (gets up)
                       I got the next round.

             The guys don't protest.  Will starts heading for the bar.
             Weaving through broad shoulders, massive backs.  Smoke.
             MUSIC.  Laughter.  Arguing.  A mass of bodies and sound.
             Like being swallowed up in a black hole...

             Looks back at the table.
 
             Ellie, watching him.

             EXT. ELLIE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

             Ellie's truck pulls up in front of a small house.  She jumps
             out.  

             INT. FRONT HALLWAY - HOUSE - NIGHT

             SLAM!  Ellie heads through the front door like a gust of
             wind.  Thunders up the stairs.  Calls out.

                                 ELLIE
                       Me, Pop!

             We hear the TV in the other room.  An older MAN, Ellie's
             father, appears in the doorway.  Thick glasses, grey stubble,
             big paunch.  Wearing a flannel robe.

                                 ELLIE'S DAD
                       Ellie?  You okay?

             Ellie appears at the top of the stairs.

                                 ELLIE
                       Where's all my academy stuff?

             INT. BASEMENT

             Pitch black, then, CLICK! as a bare lightbulb's switched on.
             Ellie stands beneath it.  Piles of crap everywhere.

             She steps through the quagmire of old bikes, fans, auto
             parts.  Over to a stack of cardboard BOXES in the corner.

             She nudges through them, reading the writing on the tops.  In
             thick black pen.  Shoves a couple aside.

             Then.  Finds what she's looking for.  Pulls down a box
             marked:  Ellie Acad.  Tears it open.

             INSIDE - piles of papers, polaroids of her and her FRIENDS,
             schedules, syllabi, handbooks.  Stuff from her Academy year.
             At the bottom, a report.  The title:  "Securing the Crime
             Scene," the Leland Street Murders.  By Eleanor P. Burr.

             Ellie pulls it out.  Sits down on an old stool.  Opens to the
             middle of the report.  Her finger, tracing down the 
             typewritten page.  Flips to the next page.  Then the next.
             The next.  Then.  She spots it.

             THREE-QUARTERS DOWN THE PAGE, her finger finds the
             sentence:...Detective Dormer's unregistered Smith and Wesson
             model 39/13 9mm, to immobilize Langley...

             Ellie looks up.  Chews her bottom lip.

             EXT. MARINERS MEMORIAL - OUTSIDE NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             CLOSE ON a huge wave CRASHING against a retaining wall.
             Spray flying.

             PULL BACK to reveal a small monument by the sea.  A stone
             cupola with a bronze statue underneath.  The sky, black with
             clouds.

             INT. MARINER'S MEMORIAL - CONTINUOUS

             Walter Byrd waits under the Mariner's Memorial.  Wind
             whipping his jacket, the green sea churning behind him.  Next
             to a fifteen-foot statue of a SEAMAN, tall, rugged, tough.
             Holding on to a thick coil of rope.

             Hunches against the wind.  Watches as...
 
             WILL approaches the monument.  Sonics sweatshirt, wrinkled
             coat.  Face drawn and haggard.  Angry.

                                 WALTER
                           (smiles)
                       Hi, Will...

             Will enters the monument.

                                 WILL
                       What the hell are you doing calling me at 
                       the station?

             A gust of wind WHORLS through the monument.

                                 WALTER
                       I figured we should touch base.  Compare
                       notes.  I think it went well.  What did
                       you think?

             Will's eyes pierce into him.

                                 WILL
                       Randy Stetz is in jail.

                                 WALTER
                       Told you I could write an ending.

                                 WILL
                       Congratulations.

             Will holds out his hand.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       The tape.

             Walter looks at the open hand.  Hugs his jacket to him.

                                 WALTER
                       I thought maybe we could talk some more.

                                 WILL
                       There's nothing more to talk about.

                                 WALTER
                       But we work so well together...

             Will breaks.  Rushes Walter.  Slams him against one of the
             concrete pilasters.

                                 WILL
                       We do nothing well together.
                           (SLAMS him again)
                       Nothing!  You understand me?

             Another wave CRASHES.  Sprays them.  Walter looks up into
             Will's bloodshot eyes.

                                 WALTER
                       You run on two settings, Will.  I've 
                       noticed that...

             Will tightens his grip.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       You jump from calm to rage in the blink
                       of an eye.  That's okay.  I do that too.

             He holds up the tape.  Will grabs it, shoves Walter to the
             side.  Yanks the tape out of the cassette.  Steps back and
             HURLS it into the sea.  Waves engulf it hungrily.

             Walter watches him.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       You're not sleeping, are you?

                                 WILL
                       What the hell do you know?

                                 WALTER
                       Kay told me.  She comes to me, you know.   
                       Tells me things.  About you.  About me.

             PAUSE.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       Does Detective Eckhart come to you?

             Will curls his fists.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       Does he ask you why you shot him?

             Whips around...

                                 WILL 
                       I told you that was an accident!

                                 WALTER
                       Then so was mine...

                                 WILL
                       Don't you pull that shit with me.

                                 WALTER
                       I didn't want to kill her, Will.

             Steps closer to him.  Beseeching.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       When she called me that night from the
                       party, she'd had a fight with Randy.
                       Wanted to talk.  I told her to meet me at
                       our special place.  The cabin at the
                       beach...

             A couple RAVENS alight nearby.  Flapping their wings.
             SCREECHING into the wind.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       ...When she came she was barefoot.  And
                       there was liquor on her breath.  I only
                       wanted to comfort her.  To touch her.
                       She could have at least let me do that.
                       Her skin...it was like everything I'd
                       ever written about.

             A dark shadow crosses his face.  Holds on to the coiled rope
             of the statue.  Will hisses.

                                 WILL
                       Couldn't get it up, Walter?

                                 WALTER
                       It was when I went to kiss her.  She
                       started laughing.  I got angry.  After
                       all I'd given her.  All I'd shared with
                       her.  I just wanted to make her stop.
                       That's all.

             Walter.  Squeezing the bronze rope.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       From calm to rage in the blink of an eye.

             Locks eyes with Will.  Conspiratorial.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       Remember?

             WILL'S HAND shoots out.  Clamps around Walter's neck.

                                 WILL
                       Like this?

             Walter's face, starts turning red.

                                 WALTER
                       Yes.  Like that.

                                 WILL
                       This an accident, Walter?

                                 WALTER
                       If you want it to be...

             Will looks deep into Walter's eyes.  Squeezing harder.  Pure
             hatred.

                                 WILL
                       It took ten minutes to beat Kay Connell
                       to death.  Ten minutes.

             Their eyes, locked.  Veins, popping along Walter's temples.
             Lip quivering...

             JUST THEN a BELL sounds in the distance.  Will looks up.

             A LINE OF FISHING BOATS coming back in.

             Will, looks back at Walter.  Throws him to the ground.
             Sickened.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Get the fuck out of town, Byrd.  Leave
                       and never come back.

             Walter COUGHS.  Holding his neck.  Enjoying this.

                                 WALTER
                       I have a summer house up by Kgun Lake.
                       I'm going to write my next novel there.
                       It's about a famous detective who goes
                       bad.

             Will shoots him a look.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       Just kidding.

             He pulls himself to his feet.  A little unsteady.  Takes out
             a handkerchief.  Dabs his forehead.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       The never coming back part, though.  I'm
                       not sure.  To tell you the truth this has
                       been kind of fun.  Going to the station,
                       meeting all those nice people.  Talking
                       with you.

             He shrugs.  Walks past Will.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       I might miss it.

             Will turns.  Watches him walk away.  Walter hesitates.  Turns
             back.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       I especially like that new detective.

             Will looks at him.  Back straightening.

                                 WALTER (cont'd)
                       Detective Burr.
                           (smiles)
                       I liked her very much.  Has a real
                       vitality.

             Will's stomach jumps.  Walter turns back.  Continues on.

             The little man in a beige windbreaker.

             INT. CHIEF CHARLES NYBACK'S OFFICE - NIGHTMUTE PD - DAY

             CLOSE ON a HAND.  Signing the bottom of a form.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (O.S.)
                       I was hoping not to send you back with so
                       much paperwork, Will.

             PULL BACK to reveal Chief Nyback sitting at his desk.  Will
             stands before him.  Signing papers.  A bottle of bourbon on
             the desk.  Some paper cups half filled.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       When are you taking off?

             Will checks his watch.

                                 WILL
                       Six-thirty.

             Fred, standing over by the filing cabinet.  Toothpick in his
             mouth.

                                 FRED
                       If Spencer's not too drunk to fly.

             Nyback chuckles.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Can't talk you into staying for a couple of
                       days?  Do some fishing?  Show you what
                       normally goes on around here.

             Will shakes his head.

                                 WILL
                       I have to get back.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Too bad...

             Looks over at Fred picking his teeth.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK (cont'd)
                       ...Brought some real class to the place.
                       But, Seattle needs its hero back.
                           (stands)
                       Couldn't have done it without you, Will.

             Will caps the pen.  Uncomfortable.  Nods towards Fred.

                                 WILL
                       Had a lot of help from Nightmute's 
                       finest.

             JUST THEN the door swings open.  They look over as

             ELLIE hurries in.  She smiles.  Looks tired.

                                 ELLIE
                       Didn't want to miss anything.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Detective Dormer's not leaving for a few
                       hours.

                                 ELLIE
                       Good.

                                 CHIEF NYBACK
                       Maybe you could drive him to Spencer's.

                                 ELLIE
                       Sure.

             An awkward beat.  Ellie walks over to Will.  Looks up.
             Suddenly throws her arms around him.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       I thought what you did on this case was
                       amazing.

             Will holds his hands out.  Not sure what to do.  Looks down
             at the top of Ellie's head.

             ELLIE'S HAND

             slips down his back.  Feeling for a holster.  For that 39/13.
             Nothing.  She breaks away.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       We're really going to miss you around
                       here.

             She and Will lock eyes.  Hold for a beat.

             He knows exactly what she was trying to do.

             INT./EXT. JEEP CHEROKEE - NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             Will, driving down Nightmute's main street.  He takes a left.
             Goes up a hill.  Glances out the window.  Passing by

             THE CEMETERY.  A cluster of headstones.  Something catches
             his eye.  He stops the car.

             EXT. CEMETERY - NIGHTMUTE - DAY

             Will, walking up to the wrought-iron gate surrounding the
             cemetery.  Stops.  Puts his hands up to the bars.

             KAY CONNELL'S GRAVE

             on the other side.  Newly dug.  A mound of dirt.  Flowers,
             scattered by the wind.  Daughter and Friend...1982-1999.

             Will.  Grips the bars.  As if he's seeing it for the first
             time.  Really seeing it.

             Closes his eyes.
 
             What have I done?

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - PIONEER LODGE - EVENING
 
             Will's REFLECTION in the mirror.  He's showered.  Hair's
             combed.  Put on a clean suit.  Steps back.  Smooths down his
             lapels.  Just right.

             Turns to face the room.  Bed's made, mess cleaned up.  He
             heads over to the bureau, pulls out his Smith 39/13.  Lays it
             on the bed.

             Unclips his badge from his belt.  Lays it on the bed.  Takes
             something from the bedside table.  The BULLET found in Hap
             Eckhart.  Lays it on the bed.

             All neat.  All ordered.

             Reaches under the mattress.  Pulls out the PHOTOGRAPH of a
             blurry Walter Byrd standing in front of a house.  A radio
             tower in the background.  The call numbers: WKOZ.

             Will studies it.  Tears it in half.

             INT. BACK ROOM - PIONEER LODGE - EVENING

             Rachel in the back room behind reception.  A pullman's
             kitchen, a desk, an old recliner.  Pouring some milk into a
             bowl for a CAT.  A stray.

             Will walks in.  Rachel turns, smiles.

                                 RACHEL
                       I found a new friend.

             Will walks up to her.  Puts his arms around her.  Holds her,
             smells her, kisses her neck.  Pulls away.  Looks into her
             eyes.

                                 RACHEL (cont'd)
                       Will.  What is it?

             He doesn't answer.  The cat, rubs against his leg.  PURRING.

             INT./EXT. JEEP CHEROKEE - EVENING

             Will driving along a forest road.  Eyes dead ahead.  A map on
             the passenger seat.  By the fold, Kgun Lake circled in pencil.

             INT. BULLPEN - NIGHTMUTE PD - CONTINUOUS

             Ellie working at her desk.  Looks up at the clock: 6:00.
             Gets up, grabs her down vest.  Heads for the door.  Farrell
             sticks the tip of his crutch in her path.  She stumbles.

                                 ELLIE
                       Very funny, Farrell...

             EXT. ROAD TO KGUN LAKE - EVENING

             AERIAL VIEW of the silver Jeep Cherokee.  The only car on the
             road.  The sky, white-grey.  The trees, a blanket of green.
             The Cherokee heads around a hairpin curve.

             INT. LOBBY - PIONEER LODGE - EVENING

             Rachel at reception.  Reading the paper.  Ellie walks in.

                                 ELLIE
                       Hi, Rachel.

             INT./EXT. JEEP CHEROKEE - ROAD TO KGUN LAKE - EVENING

             Will, scanning the treeline.  Takes a left fork then stops.
             Thought he saw something.  Grinds the gear, backs up.  Takes
             another look.

             IN THE DISTANCE, a radio tower.  WKOZ.
 
             INT. HALLWAY - OUTSIDE WILL'S ROOM - EVENING

             Rachel and Ellie, standing outside Will's room.  Ellie knocks
             again.

                                 RACHEL
                       I would have seen if he came back.

             INT. WILL'S ROOM - PIONEER LODGE - EVENING

             The CLICK of a key and the door opens.  Ellie strides in.

                                 ELLIE
                       Detective Dormer?

             She stops.  Rachel behind her.  Taking in the strange feeling
             in the room.  Walks over to the bed.  Eyes riveted on the
             39/13.  On the bullet.  Rachel, behind her.

                                 RACHEL
                       What is all this?

             Ellie, her mind races.  Notices TORN PHOTOGRAPH PIECES in the
             trash can.  Reaches in and pulls some out.  A puzzle.

             INT./EXT. JEEP CHEROKEE - LAKE KGUN

             Will stops the car at the end of a narrow dirt driveway.
             Looming before him...

             A HOUSE right on the lake.  Tall, wooden, in disrepair.
             Chipping yellow paint.  A ghost of what it once was.  The
             house from the photograph.  

             INT. STUDY - HOUSE

             The CLANG of electric typewriter keys bang out a title:
             BLINK OF AN EYE, by Walter By

             WALTER BYRD hunched at his typewriter.  In an old study.
             Books stacked everywhere.  Light patches on the walls where
             pictures used to hang.

             BARKING outside.  Walter cocks his head.  Gets up.  Walks
             over to the window.  

             OUTSIDE.  Will walking up to the house.  Lucy and Desi
             jumping around him.

             INT. LIVING ROOM - SUMMER HOUSE

             Will opens the screen door with a CREAK.  Steps into the
             living room.

             Recoils from the smell.  Flies BUZZING.  Yellow plastic
             covering the sofas.  Boxes, books, papers, pictures piled
             high everywhere.  Wallpaper faded, peeling.

             Everything, decaying.

             INT./EXT. ELLIE'S TRUCK - CONTINUOUS

             Ellie ripping along the forest road in her truck.  Gripping
             the wheel.  The photograph pieces, taped together on the
             passenger seat.

             INT. SUMMER HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

             Will heads down a hallway.  Dark, narrow, floorboards worn.
             More shit stacked up.

             Each step, careful, quiet.  Tracking.  Listening.  A BREEZE
             sweeps through.  The burned-out lightbulb hanging from the 
             ceiling, starts swinging.

                                 WALTER (O.S.)
                       Here to visit me?

             Will whips around.

             WALTER standing there.  At the other end of the hallway.
             Shoulders slumped.

             Will shakes his head.

                                 WILL
                       No.

             FLIES, bouncing against the screen door.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       I'm here to end this.

             Walter looks around.

                                 WALTER
                       Where's your back-up?

                                 WILL
                       No back-up.

                                 WALTER
                       You're not following procedure.

                                 WILL
                       Procedure went out the window a long time
                       ago.

             Walter looks at him.

                                 WALTER
                       We're on the same side, Will.  You know
                       that.  After what we've been through
                       together.  We're partners.  Bound by a
                       secret.

             Will takes a step forward...

                                 WILL
                       That's where you're wrong, Walter.

             Slowly reaches into his jacket...

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       There is no secret.  Because the biggest
                       difference between you and me is what we
                       will or will not live with...

             Pulls out his SMITH AND WESSON.  Walter.  Looks at the gun.
             Inches back.

                                 WALTER 
                       Will...

             SUDDENLY, darts out of sight.  Swings back into the doorway
             with a SHOTGUN...

             BAM!  Will's shoulder explodes with blood.

             EXT. DRIVEWAY - SUMMER HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

             Ellie, jumping out of her truck.  Hears the sound.  Looks up
             at the big, yellow house.  Pulls out her Glock 40.

             INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

             Walter walking down the hall.  Will, writhing on the floor,
             reaches for his back holster...gun's not there!

             Walter stands over him.  Swings his leg back and...CRACK!
             Kicks will in the ribs.  The pain, blinding.  Will GASPS.

             CRACK! again, CRACK! again, CRACK! again.  Walter's face.
             Calm, flushed.  A vein along his temple.  

             Will's eyes flutter.  Blood, spewing from his lips.  A THUD!
             to his kidneys.  Walter stops, out of breath.  Hand on hip.

                                 WALTER
                       You give the police a bad name, Will.

             WILL'S HAND suddenly shoots out.  Grabs the shotgun barrel.

             WALTER stumbles back.  The shotgun goes off.  BAM!  Chunks of
             ceiling rain down.  Walter falls to the ground.

             EXT. SUMMER HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

             Ellie, heart POUNDING.  Kicks the front door open...

             INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

             Will, covered in dry wall, struggling to his feet.  Reaches
             for his Smith and Wesson.

             WALTER'S DESERT BOOT kicks it out of the way.  It SKITTERS
             down the hall.

             Walter grabs his shotgun.  Scrambles to his feet.  Runs down
             to the end of the hall.  Ducks into...

             INT. LIBRARY

             ...the library.  Dirty shelves, strings of dust.  Endless
             books.  He races over to a cabinet.  Yanks open a DRAWER...

             INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

             Will, on his feet, trying to focus.  His suit, soaked with
             blood.  Looking for his gun.  Spots it, in the corner...

             INT. LIBRARY

             Walter jerks open another drawer.  A STACK OF BOOKS teeter on
             the top of the cabinet.  He finds what he needs.  SHELLS.
             Grabs a handful...

             THE BOOKS tumble down on top of him.  He CRIES out, covering
             his head...touches his ear, panics - hearing aid's gone!
             Looks up.  Will, coming down the hall...

             INT. HALLWAY

             Will hobbles into the library.  Sweeps the room with this gun.
             No Walter.

             Steps on something, crushing it.  Looks down.  Walter's
             hearing aid.  Kicks it aside.

             INT. FRONT HALL - CONTINUOUS
    
             Ellie.  In the front hall.  Following procedure.  Right hand
             gripping the gun.  Left supporting the butt.

             Blinks away sweat.  Facing three doorways.

             INT. DINING ROOM

             Will limps into the dining room.  Furniture stacked high.
             Eyes, darting.  Gun, covering.  Trying to stay conscious...

             BANG!  The screen door.

             INT. FRONT HALL - CONTINUOUS

             Ellie.  Gun swinging.  Doorway one.  Doorway two.  Doorway 
             three...SUDDENLY

             A FIGURE

             runs past number one.  Big.  Shadowy.  The flash of a GUN.
             She wheels toward it.  Finger on the trigger...

             SLO-MO...The FIGURE, passing.  Her heart, POUNDING.  Her
             finger...squeezing...

             Will Dormer or Walter Byrd?

             At the last second, she jerks the gun away.  The figure 
             disappears.  She swallows.  Gripping the gun.  Follows.
  
             EXT. BACK YARD - SUMMER HOUSE

             The sky, heavy with clouds.  The air, foreboding.  Will
             steals out the screen door.  Gun cocked.  Eyes scanning.
             Wind, bending the weeds, the trees.

             BAM! a shot.  Out of nowhere.  Rips into his thigh.  Will
             CRIES out.  BAM! a second shot.  Whizzes past him...

             INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS

             ...CRACK! the shot bites into the window frame.  Wings Ellie
             halfway across the room.  She drops to the floor.  Clutching
             her shoulder.  Flesh wound.

                                 ELLIE
                       Shit!

             Pulls herself over to a SIDEBOARD for cover.  Shrinks behind
             it.  Notices

             A PLASTIC BAG sticking out from one of the drawers.  Nudges
             it open.  A flowered dress, some panty-hose, strands of long
             dark hair...

             EXT. BACK YARD - SUMMER HOUSE

             Will.  On the ground.  Gripping his leg.  Looking wildly
             around.  No sign of Walter.  Then.  He sees it.

             Lucy and Desi.  Down by the boathouse.

             INT. BOATHOUSE

             The boathouse.  Old, rotted wood.  Crumbling beams.

             Walter stands at a window.  Re-loading his shotgun.  He
             fumbles, drops a shell.  It rolls towards a crack in the
             floor.  Falls into the LAKE WATER below.

             CLICK!  Walter levels the shotgun out the window.

             WALTER'S POV - the long, undulating WEEDS outside.

             EXT. WEEDS
   
             Will.  Pulling himself through the weeds.  Losing blood fast.
             Dragging his body.  Approaches the side of the BOATHOUSE.

             WALTER'S GUN BARREL, sticking out.

             Will ducks his head.  Winces in pain.  Breathing, becoming
             ragged.  Rounds to the other side.  Hoists himself up to
             another WINDOW.  Cautiously looks in...

             WALTER at the far window.

             Will jerks back.  Steps on the dock.  A plank CREAKS.  Shit.
             Peers back through the window.  
    
             WALTER.  Still looking out.  Didn't hear a thing.

             Will remembers.  Walter doesn't have his hearing aid.  He's
             deaf on that side.

             INT. BOATHOUSE

             Walter, looking out the window.

             OVER HIS SHOULDER - we see Will climbing in through the
             window.  Smearing blood along the sill, favoring his leg.
             Stands straight.  Levels his gun at Walter's back.

                                 WILL
                           (softly)
                       Walter?

             Nothing.  Walter continues staring out the window.  Will
             raises his voice.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Walter!

             Walter jumps, whips around.  Comes face to face with the 
             barrel of Will Dormer's gun.  Surprised.  Absently touches
             his deaf ear.

                                 WALTER
                       Wild card.

                                 WILL
                       Drop the gun, Walter.

             Walter looks at Will's 45.

                                 WALTER
                       That jammed the last time, remember?

             The men LOCK EYES.  Wind HOWLING through the boathouse.
             Killer and Detective.  Only a bullet separating them.

             WALTER suddenly jerks up his shotgun...

             BANG!  He stumbles back.  Hit in the gut.

             Will's Smith and Wesson, smoking.  No longer jammed.

             Walter, touches the blood.  Looks back at Will.  Staggering.
             CRACK!  The rotting floor gives way beneath him.  He CRIES
             out, falls.  Drops into the icy water below.

             SILENCE.  Will steps over to the hole.  Looks down at
     
             WALTER, floating on his back.  Looking up at him.  Water
             washing over his body.  Eyes, pleading.  Fading.  A wave,
             gently pulls him away.

                                 WILL
                       Another J. Brody mystery.

             EXT. BOATHOUSE

             Will staggers out on to the dock.  Drops his gun.  Crashes to
             his knees.  Falls back.  His face, pale.  Lying against the
             wood of the dock.

             RAIN DROPS.  Start to fall.  Washing the blood from his skin.
             Puckering the lake water.  Will's eyes...flutter...

             FOOTSTEPS...running along the dock.  Heavy boots...

                                 ELLIE (O.S.)
                       Detective Dormer!

             Will squints against the rain.  Makes out the face of

             ELLIE hovering over him.  He gives a half-smile.

                                 WILL
                       God, you're a pain in the ass.

             Ellie kneels down next to him.  Pulls over her vest.  Covers
             him.

                                 ELLIE
                       You're shot.

             Will looks at her bloody shoulder.

                                 WILL
                       You, too.

             Ellie, tearing off her boot.  Yanks off her sock.

                                 ELLIE
                       I'm going to make a tourniquet.

             Will, fading fast.

                                 WILL
                       Walter Byrd killed Kay Connell.  Her
                       things are in the house.

                                 ELLIE
                       I know.

                                 WILL
                       Byrd's dead.

             Ellie, wraps the sock around his leg.  Starts twisting.  Will
             grimaces.  Ellie swallows.  Doesn't want to ask this.

                                 ELLIE
                       You shot Detective Eckhart, didn't you?

             Will nods.

                                 WILL
                       Yes.

             A pained looks crosses Ellie's face.

                                 ELLIE
                       Did you mean to?

             Will shakes his head.

                                 WILL
                       No.  But I covered it up.  I lied.

                                 ELLIE
                       Why?

             RAIN, drumming down around them.  Will, takes a deep breath.

                                 WILL
                       Because I just couldn't be wrong.
                           (looks at her)
                       Don't ever get that way, Ellie.  Don't 
                       ever lose your way.  It blurs the line.

             His blood, pumping out in rivulets.  Ellie looks down at him. 
             Her hero.  Moves up to the wound in his arm.

                                 ELLIE
                       This one looks worse.

             Will reaches up a feeble hand.  Stops her.

                                 WILL
                           (whispers)
                       Just let me sleep, Ellie...

             His eyelids, growing heavy.

                                 WILL (cont'd)
                       Let me sleep.

             Ellie blinks away the tears.  Knows what he means.  What he
             wants.  Watches as the calm spreads over him.

             Will closes his eyes.

                                 ELLIE
                       No!

             Will opens his eyes.  She ties the second sock around his
             arm.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       I will not let you sleep.  If you've lost
                       your way then you have to make it right.
                       That's the only way.  That's what you'd
                       tell me.  I've been a detective for four
                       weeks and I say you're coming with me.

             She gets up.  Slips her arms under his shoulders.  Starts
             hoisting him up.

                                 ELLIE (cont'd)
                       C'mon...

             Will.  Struggling to his knees.  Every inch of him, screaming
             in pain.  Gets to his feet.  Arm slung around this tiny,
             young woman.

                                 WILL
                       What about your shoulder?

                                 ELLIE
                       Don't worry.  I'll have a cool scar.

             And they head, slowly but surely, back down the dock.
                                                          
                                                                 FADE OUT.









