Fires of Eden By Caleb Ellenburg
EXT. BACK ALLEY BEHIND TAILFIN NIGHT CLUB - NIGHT Detective Adrian Strauss, age 32, of the New Chicago Police Department, arrives on the scene of a crime. Strauss is somewhat tall, close cut blond hair, dressed in a long jacket and hat. He walks with a slight limp. He arrives later than everyone else due to it being late and his day off. (V.O.) People call this place the perfect city. New Chicago. Reborn of a great fire, epicenter of technology. Employment is up and the economy is sound. But where there s money, there s bound to be crime. The ever looming threat of the Reds, trying to eradicate our capitalist society. The very society that allows our great city to bloom. Small gangs pop up every once in awhile, robbing stores and apartments. Often hurting, even killing the victims of their transgression. That s what got me into this business in the first place. Busting the bad guys is something I ve been good at since before the war. Yet try as I might, I can t catch them before the act. Det. Strauss pulls up to the scene of the crime in his brand new Buick Skylark. A rookie officer stops him on his way to the crime scene. ROOKIE COP Alright, that s far enough. This is a crime scene, you know. Det. Strauss reaches into his pocket and flashes his badge. ROOKIE COP Oh, Detective Strauss. Sorry sir. Go on through. The Chief is in the alley ḊET STRAUSS (V.O.) Here I thought everyone knew about the Kraut in the NCPD.
CONTINUED: 2. Strauss heads past the Rookie, keeping his head low. He pulls a flask out of his jacket, taking a swig of the cool metal liquid. The Chief of Police is a middle aged semi-overweight man with a thick mustache. Bout time you showed up Strauss. Well, it s my day off, I had plans. Dinner? Something like that. Well, you re here now. How bout headin over to check on the body. Adler s there now. You guys are close right? He s a friend. Well, go talk to the Kraut. Then head over to talk to the witness. See if you can get any info out of er. Staruss walks over to Josef Adler, taking note of the group of officers surrounding a young woman. Adler stands over the body of the victim, taking notes on a clip board. (GERMAN ACCENT) Ah, Detective Strauss, how good to see you. Adler. What s the cause of death here? Always right to the point. Yes, well, you see the stab wounds in her abdomen and neck?
CONTINUED: 3. They re not the cause of death? Very astute, Detective. Now, if you turn her neck facing away from the stab wound, you will see a very small bruise. I will not be able to tell what it is until I return to my office, however I believe it to be.. A needle. Yes. Some sort of injection. So the stabbing was to throw us off? I would like to think so. Again I would need to inspect the body further to see what happened. Strauss looks down at the body again noticing for the first time a tattoo on her wrist. Hey Adler, you see anything like that tattoo? No, I haven t. I noticed it earlier but thought nothing of it. Strange for a young woman to have such a barbaric modification to her body. Detective Strauss drew a quick sketch of the tattoo in his notepad. Thanks, Josef. I need to talk to the witness. See if she knows anything. How is the leg Detective?
CONTINUED: 4. Fine. Aches when its cold like this. The wet doesn t help. Perhaps you should see a physician? Thanks Adler, I ll just stick to the juice. It helps more than you d think. Strauss holds up his now half empty flask. He then takes a swig and heads in the other direction. Let me know if you come up with anything new? Of course, Detective. Detective Strauss moves from the body, taking one last look and tipping his hat to the medical examiner. He then pushes through the crowd of officers to the witness. Alright fellas, you ve all had enough time with the lady. How about leaving her to catch her breath? The police officers clear out. My name is Detective Adrian Strauss of the New Chicago Police Department. I know this has been hard, but I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions? Of course. Thank you. Now, what is your name? Merida. Merida?
CONTINUED: 5. Just Merida. Merida is a young woman, Adrian s age, or a little younger. She is tall, medium cut brown hair. She is wearing a dark dress under a long coat. Her makeup running from either tears or the rain. (V.O.) Merida was beautiful. More than beautiful. She was stunning. I found myself wondering how a gal like her came to working in a place like the Tailfin. Even with her tear stained eyes and this dismal light, there wasn t a more stunning girl in the city. Maybe the world. Alright, Merida. Why don t you tell me what happened here? Well, I m not sure if I can remember everything. Just what you can, please. Well, you see, Lucy. That s her name. Lucy. Lucy and I worked here together. At the Tailfin. We were serving girls. Take people their drinks, you know? Anyway, Lucy s shift ended thirty minutes before mine. That s how Thursday nights were for us. So we d walk home together. We live in the same building. About five blocks from here. So, tonight, Lucy came outside to wait for me, like she always does. Only she usually stays out front. In the light... Merida trails off for a moment. Tears start to stream down her face. Hey, you re doing great. I just need a little more informaton on what went down here. Then I ll have someone take you home.
CONTINUED: 6. Okay. Well when my shift ended, I left like I always do. I walked out front but didn t see Lucy. I went back in and asked around. See if anyone else saw her. I know she left cause she always tells me she is heading out. So I walked back out and headed down the street, thinking maybe she got a ride home from some guy. Does that happen often? Never. She never goes home with guys, especially guys she doesn t know. May I continue? Please. So, I walked down to the next block and turned around. That s when I noticed her... Merida starts to cry again. Her words broken by sobs. Just lying there. Blood everywhere. Her hair in a mess. Why? Why what? Why did you turn around? I... I don t know. I just felt like I needed to turn around. Go check the Tailfin again. See if I missed her. (V.O.) I didn t think Merida was dumb. Maybe a little coy, maybe hiding something. She was wearing these (MORE)
CONTINUED: 7. (V.O.) (cont d) long gloves, pulled midway up her arms. I don t think I have anything else to say. I think that s pretty much it. I m sorry. That s alright, Merida. You ve been a big help. Thank you. Listen, if you come up with anything new, give me a call? Detective Strauss rips a piece of paper from his notepad and scribbles his extension onto it. Okay I will. Thank you Detective. Merida leaves, in the direction of a police car, the rookie cop waiting to give her a ride home. The Chief arrives behind Strauss, still looking over his notes. Well, get anything good outta er? Nothing every other officer probably has. Her story has a few holes. Well whatdya expect? She just found her best friend dead in a ditch. I d be upset too. Hardly best friends if you ask me. They work together. Walk home, live in the same building. Nothing more from Merida s story. Yet, she acts like Lucy was her sister. You know how gals are. Gettin all worked up over anything. Has anyone talked to the club owner?
CONTINUED: 8. The Chief leaves. FADE IN: Was just comin over to ask you if you d like. I would. I take it this case is mine? You re my boy wonder. Leaving no case unsolved. Course its yours! Gimme the details of the club owner in the morning. See ya bright an early. (V.O.) I headed inside, hoping to get some more info about Lucy, maybe even Merida. Hoping it wouldn t be a dead end. FADE OUT. INT. DESK/OFFICE - DAY The day after the murder of Lucy, Detective Adrian Strauss spends the final hours of his day wrapped up in possible leads on the tattoo. There is a knock on his door. Come in. Merida opens the door slowly, sticking her head in first. Merida. Detective Strauss, am I bothering you? Not at all, come in. (V.O.) She was wearing a dress, and the same gloves as the night before. Her make up was fixed and she (MORE)
CONTINUED: 9. (V.O.) (cont d) looked even more stunning. Still, I could tell she hadn t slept. How can I help you? Well, you said to call if I had any more information. Yes, sorry I have been on the phone for most of the day. Trying to track down some leads. Oh, well did you talk to Nicky? The club owner? Yes I did, but he wasn t much help. Oh, well what did he have to say? Nothing much, just gave me some dates of when Lucy started working. Her address. Your address. Some potential clientele that may have had it out for her. My address? Whatever for? Oh, just in case I need to follow up with you. I needed to find the best way to make contact with you again. I see. So what do you have for me? Are you always so straightforward and to the point?
CONTINUED: 10. I try to be. Well, I just wanted to tell you that I remember why I turned around. And? I remember seeing something out of the corner of my eye as I passed the alley the first time. I didn t think about it until I reached the next block, and I needed to go back to check. What did you see? A man. A man? What did he look like? Strauss shuffled around at his desk looking for his notebook. Well, it was dark, and raining. I didn t see his face. He was wearing a mask. Or it looked like he was. What kind of mask? I m not sure. Something dark, with large eyes. He was just standing there in the alley. When I came back he was gone, and Lucy... Merida broke down, sobbing in Strauss office. He didn t know what to do. I m going to catch this guy, Merida. No matter what it takes. She walked closer to his desk. She saw the metallic flask sitting on his desk.
CONTINUED: 11. Thank you Detective. May I? She grabbed for the flask, but Strauss snatches it before she can. Actually, you won t find what you re looking for in that. You re better off heading down to the bar around the corner. Much harder stuff there. Oh. I m sorry. Can I ask, what is it? Just something to help keep me relaxed. Listen Merida, I need you to tell me something else. Sure, anything. Tell me about the tattoo. Merida takes a step backward, caught off guard. The tattoo? You know what I m talking about. The one on Lucy s wrist. Tell me what it is. I have no idea. She has had it since I met her. Then tell me why you have one too? Merida instinctively grabbed her left wrist to cover it. What makes you think? You re covering it with your gloves. Tell me about it or prove (MORE)
CONTINUED: 12. (cont d) you don t have one too. Take off your gloves. Detective, you don t know... Merida, I m trying to help you. I m trying to put away the guy in the mask. The guy that killed your friend. Merida looks down, taking a deep breath and removing her gloves. Right hand first, then slowly, the left. Merida you have to tell me what it is. I can t tell you what it is exactly. I don t know. She rubs the tattoo as if it were some old scar, from a wound given to her a long time ago. Then tell me where you got it. I can t tell you that either. What do you mean? You do realize this is obstructing the law don t you? I could put you away for that. No, you don t understand. I don t know. I have no idea when or where I got the tattoo. I don t remember a time that I haven t had it. That s why Lucy and I were so close. She had it too. I only knew her as long as she worked at the Tailfin. But we felt like we ve known each other for years. We felt like sisters. Merida starting sobbing once again. She covers her face with her hands and sits down in a nearby chair.
CONTINUED: 13. (V.O.) There it was. The case that would either make or break my career. A woman murdered in an alley. A witness who felt a connection as strong as that of a sister to her because of a matching tattoo. Merida, you need to listen to me closely. We need to find out where that tattoo came from. What s the point? Lucy and I tried for a while. We thought it was weird that we had the same tattoo and no idea where it came from. That s my point. Detective Strauss turned back to his desk and picked a stack of photographs. Pictures of people, dead, wearing the same tattoo as the two women. You re not the only two. FADE OUT.