ACT THREE
FADE IN:
INT. FRITZ HOME - MAIN BATHROOM - DAY
Greg stands in the bathroom door staring at the blood. His kit is clutched in one hand, his other is balled into a tight fist.
NICK (O.S.)
I've turned this house inside out
and haven't
found anything new.
Greg doesn't answer.
NICK (O.S.)
Greg?
Nick appears at his side. Greg doesn't reply. Nick leans against the doorframe.
NICK
Did it finally hit home?
Greg nods.
Nick rests his head back against the frame, looking up. He stares at a gold chain with a ring hanging from the attic door overhead.
NICK
Greg... There's an attic.
Greg turns.
GREG
What?
Nick stands up, walking out into the hall under the chain. He jumps up, latches a finger through the ring, and pulls the door open. He jumps aside as the ladder folds out to meet the floor underneath.
The two walk up to the ladder, looking into the dark space above. Nick pulls his flashlight off his belt and starts up the ladder. Greg is right behind him.
INT. FRITZ HOME - ATTIC - DAY
Nick clears the stairs and sees a string hanging from a bare bulb. He pulls it, turning on the bulb. The attic runs the length of the house and is half finished. Holiday decorations, a few pieces of light weight furniture, several trunks, stacks of boxes.
Nick starts searching through the items. Greg clears the steps and starts in the opposite direction. After a minute he stops and turns, watching Nick.
GREG
Why are we searching up here?
Nothing happened up here.
Nick looks up at him.
NICK
Why this family, Greg? Why kill
them? That's been
bothering me.
Everyone else Donald has attempted
to kill,
he's had some connection
to. The Detention Center rep told
me
that Donald's foster family
waived guardianship rights six months
ago and had the file sealed. Donald
has several rape charges,
yet there
was no DNA on either of the girls.
GREG
You think this was his foster family.
NICK
I think so.
GREG
There aren't any pictures of him
anywhere in this house.
NICK
The foster parents gave up on him
and tried to remove him
from their
lives. If that kid ran back here,
and found that
out, it would have
been more than enough reason for
him to
kill the entire family.
GREG
It doesn't explain why he killed
the officer or Grissom.
Or his accomplice.
NICK
I think the officer and Grissom
were just in the wrong
place at the
wrong time. Maybe Curtis wasn't
supposed to rape
the girls, or once
Donald was done using him, he shot
Curtis
too.
Satisfied with why they're searching, Greg goes back to it. He comes to a trunk and uncovers the answer to Nick's theory.
The trunk is piled with torn photographs and picture frames that had been haphazardly tossed in. They are the missing photographs of Donald and the family imitating a happy Normal Rockwell family.
INT. FRITZ HOME - ATTIC - DAY (RE-ENACTMENT)
Mrs. Fritz comes into the attic crying, devastated. She has her arms full of pictures and frames. She runs to the trunk, throwing it open. Behind her Mr. Fritz and her teenage daughter follow.
The woman throws everything in the trunk and then slams it shut. She falls to her knees crying. Her daughter and husband try to console her.
BACK TO SCENE
GREG
Nick.
Nick trots over. He dons a latex glove and picks up a photograph. He sets it down and heads for the stairs.
NICK
I'm going to get an evidence bag.
Greg spins around.
GREG
I'll come too.
Nick turns, staring at him. Greg stops.
GREG
What?
Nick smiles.
NICK
There's six policemen here. You'll
be fine for a few
minutes.
Greg is embarrassed that Nick has guessed why he didn't want to stay.
GREG
I was going to get a lantern. It's
real dark up here.
NICK
I'll grab one.
Greg watches him leave. He takes a long look around the dark, eerie attic. Finally he turns back to the trunk, kneeling before it.
He pulls out the photographs, boxes, and other Donald memorabilia. As a young child he didn't smile any more than he did as a teenager.
Greg finds report cards -- Donald aced every subject. He comes to a stack of blank books tied so tight the string is cutting into the spines and edges.
Greg grabs his kit from near the ladder and returns. He pulls the books out, carefully unties the string, and then bags it.
He sits down and starts reading. Donald's words leap out at him:
DONALD (V.O.)
...eighth birthday party was
boring. I wanted to
slit everyone's
throats. Watch them laugh while
they died...
Greg is on the last book when a figure comes up the ladder.
DONALD (V.O.)
...Mrs. Pots failed my creative
writing
assignment for violence. I
stood outside her house tonight and
watched her. I could hear her
scream for mercy as I stabbed
her
to death...
The person is carrying something in their hand and starts toward him.
DONALD (V.O.)
...it felt good to kill that
yapping mutt. The
owner's crying
about it. I thought leaving it on
the barbecue
just the way I slit it
open was a great gift...
Greg sets the book aside and pulls a metal box from the trunk.
DONALD (V.O.)
...I could smell the blood as I
pulled the guts
of the horse out.
Is this what it's like pulling human
guts
out? Warm, slimy, sweet smell
of blood. It oozed down my arms and
covered me. I couldn't drink enough
of it...
The figure stops right behind Greg.
DONALD (V.O.)
...the maggots have finally found
the man.
They're the only things
that will miss the stinking
homeless
man...
The metal box has a three-digit combination on it. Greg quickly figures out the code and lifts the lid. Inside are Donald's legal papers and newspaper clippings.
Greg picks up newspaper clippings with headlines: 'SERIAL KILLER KEEPS LAS VEGAS UP,' 'SERIAL KILLER WRITES NEWSPAPERS, CALLS HIMSELF GLASS,' '6 YEAR OLD SOLE SURVIVOR OF GLASS KILLER'S LATEST ATTACK.'
ECKLIE (O.S.)
I remember that case.
Greg jumps, trying to scramble to his feet as he turns. The clippings scatter, he knocks the books over, the trunk lid slams closed on his hand. Greg sees it's Ecklie and sits down, holding his hand.
ECKLIE
I didn't mean to scare you. Sorry.
Greg doesn't acknowledge the apology. He notices Ecklie's holding evidence bags and a lantern.
GREG
Where's Nick?
ECKLIE
We got a tip on Donald Conway's
location. Nick insisted
on being
there when the kid is arrested.
Ecklie sets the bags and lantern down. He takes gloves from Greg's kit and puts them on, then starts picking up the scattered evidence. Greg joins him. Ecklie stops, looking at the headline about the surviving child.
ECKLIE
I kept thinking Donald's name
sounded familiar. I was
second
level when I worked this case. I
remember he asked for
Emily the
entire time, but no one related to
him, or that
knew him, was named
Emily. I've always wondered what
happened
to him.
GREG
(angry)
He grew up to be a fifteen-year-old
serial
killer.
Ecklie glances at Greg.
ECKLIE
It's not entirely his fault.
Something tells me he
never had the
help he needed to get over seeing
his parents
killed.
Greg stops, staring at Ecklie in disbelief.
GREG
He's fifteen! A fifteen-year-old
kid killed Grissom!
ECKLIE
He's not dead yet, Greg.
GREG
Stop with the "I care" bullshit,
Ecklie! He has
a DNR. His
healthcare advocate will--
ECKLIE
I'm his advocate. I was able to get
the DNR thrown out
and ordered the
life support.
GREG
Why would he have chosen you?
ECKLIE
I guess because like everyone else,
he thought I didn't
care what
happen to him.
Ecklie hands the newspaper clipping to Greg and heads back to the stairs. Greg thinks about the answer.
GREG
But you do care.
Ecklie stops on the ladder with his head above the floor. He looks at Greg.
ECKLIE
Get that evidence bagged and to the
lab, then I want
you to take ten
hours off. It's not an option,
Sanders.
Ecklie disappears. Greg starts bagging evidence.
EXT. I-515 UNDERPASS - DAY
Brass, Nick, and four officers walk through a transient camp. The homeless look at them, but are quick to avoid further eye contact. Two officers stop people and show them a picture of Donald.
Finally two homeless men point toward an overpass column. The group walks through the camp. They come around a 'house' and stop.
Donald Conway is spray painting EMILY in giant red letters. The writing is as high as he can reach.
BRASS
Donald Conway.
Donald turns, sees the police, and the chase is on!
INT. SUNRISE HOSPITAL - ICU ROOM 4 - DAY
Greg walks into the hospital room, staring at Grissom. It shakes him to see someone he looks up to in this condition. He turns his head, looking down at Sara. She's curled up in the recliner with a hospital blanket draped over her.
Greg walks over and crouches down before waking her. She stares at him for a moment and then hugs him. He returns it.
GREG
Hey there.
Sara squeezes tighter. Both look up when the heart monitor alarm goes off as it loses sinus rhythm. Sara climbs out of the chair, grabs Greg's wrist, and pulls him back against the wall. Doctor Ian and the nurses rush in and go to work reviving Grissom.
SARA
That's the fourth time in two hours.
Greg just stares.
EXT. SUBURBIA LAS VEGAS - DAY
Donald races through a yard, leaps a fence into an alley, and hits the ground running. Only Nick and one young officer have been able to keep up. Donald comes around the corner to find police cars speeding toward him.
He dashes across the street and vaults over another fence. Nick and the officer are close behind. The drop lands them in a yard with a kennel of Doberman Pinschers. The dogs bark angrily at the intruders.
As Donald passes the end, he lifts the gate latch. Nick reaches the gate before the dogs and smacks it shut on them, but doesn't lose pace. The three dash out of the yard and around a house...
INT. SUNRISE HOSPITAL - ICU ROOM 4 - DAY
Suddenly the heart monitor has rhythm again, but it's erratic. Doctor Ian watches the monitor. Sara, on the other hand, is relieved. She smiles, looking up at Greg's grim expression.
SARA
What?
Greg looks down at her.
GREG
Five times in two hours? You know
that's not good. This
is the end,
Sara. He's--
SARA
He is not dying.
Greg doesn't try to argue. Sara lets his wrist go, stepping away. The monitor alarm goes off again. Ian and the nurses work to revive him.
EXT. SUBURBIA LAS VEGAS - DAY
Donald has lost Nick and the officer, but overhead a helicopter is following him. He tries to lose it by running through garages or under trees.
He jumps a fence into an alley and slides to a stop when he finds a police car waiting. He turns to run the other direction as another police car turns down it.
Donald scales the privacy fence on the other side and drops right into Nick and the young officer's arms. Donald fights as they wrestle him to the ground.
He looks up and his eyes widen. He sees Grissom's little girl. Now she holds a terry cloth cat. Her sad expression melts even this killer's heart.
DONALD
Help me, Emily! I'll do whatever
you want. Tell me what
to do.
EMILY, HELP ME!
The child does nothing to help him.
Donald grabs for anything that will help him fight off Nick and officer. He throws rocks at the girl, but misses by a long shot.
The two finally get Donald on the ground and Nick holds him while the officer handcuffs him. The cuffs make a loud click.
INT. SUNRISE HOSPITAL - ICU ROOM 4 - DAY
Doctor Ian snaps the power button off on the monitor, silencing it. The nurses working on Grissom move away. They didn't want to lose him, but they know when to give up.
SARA
What are you doing? You can't stop!
IAN
Time of death thirteen hundred and
forty-six hours.
SARA
No! You can't stop, Ian! Keep
trying. He doesn't want to
die!
Sara takes a step toward Ian and Greg grabs her wrist, stopping her. She glances at him, shaking her head.
SARA
Gil doesn't want to die, Greg. He
doesn't want to.
She turns back to Ian. The doctor is pulling the bed sheet over Grissom's head. It's enough of a reality to silence her. Greg lets her go and she walks up to Grissom. She pulls back the sheet. With trembling hands placed on either side of his face, she cries.
INT. CSI - HALLWAY - DAY
For it being the middle of the day, the halls are eerily quiet. People are hunched over their work, or huddled in groups. In the corridor, at the end of a row of chairs, sits Nick.
Papers and photographs from his case file are scattered across the floor but he's oblivious to that. His cell phone rests in his hand, open and forgotten. He looks like a statue positioned to eternally stare across the lab.
ON PHONE SCREEN
Grissom passed 13:46. Come soon.
BACK TO SCENE
Brass passes in front of Nick, careful to avoid the case file papers and photographs. He sits down next to the CSI.
BRASS
Damned thing, this.
Nick only responds with his eyes.
He looks into the trace lab. Wendy is hunched over, but she's not working, she's crying. Hodges leans near her, not to see the results, but to comfort her.
In the chem lab, Henry, Bobby, and Mandy are huddled together to support each other.
Off in the A.V. lab, Archie isn't staring at anything. He's staring blankly at the floor, his cell phone forgotten in his limp hand.
BRASS
We still have to interview the kid, Nick.
Nick's eyes drift to the spilled case file.
BRASS
You want someone else to handle this?
Nick shakes his head.
BRASS
Then what? I mean, I understand
wanting to shut down,
because
believe me, I want to get in my car
right now and
drive as fast as I
can to anywhere but here, but...
This is
Grissom's case, even if he
wasn't on it. He wouldn't want it
to
end like this, Nick.
Nick puts his phone back on his belt. He drops to a knee and starts gathering up the papers and photographs, organizing them for the interview. He stands, looking down at Brass.
NICK
I'm ready. How 'bout you?
Brass stands and the two head down the hall and around a corner...
INT. INTERVIEW ROOM A - DAY
Nick sits opposite Donald. The kid may only be fifteen, but his eyes are the cold, dispassionate eyes of a killer. He has no remorse. His thirst for blood is unquenchable. Grissom never stood a chance against this demented child.
Standing on either side of Donald are two officers. Brass stands back, letting Nick do his job. A child advocate stands next to him, making sure the child's rights are not violated.
NICK
Tell me where you were two nights
ago, Donald.
DONALD
You know that answer, or we
wouldn't be talking, would
we?
Donald leans forward, setting his cuffed hands on the table. The move makes the officers move closer. Nick doesn't pull back. He looks down at the child's soft, smooth hands untouched by life. Wasted youth.
DONALD
Or would we, Mister Stokes?
Nick doesn't react to Donald knowing his name.
NICK
Your fingerprints are on the guns
and the crowbar used to
kill eight
people. I--
DONALD
I only killed one with the crowbar.
A dreamy look comes over Donald.
DONALD
I hope I get another like that one.
He didn't cry for
help. He didn't
beg for his life.
Nick stares at Donald. He's been unsettled. Luckily, Donald is too busy daydreaming about his kill to notice and it gives Nick time to pull it together.
NICK
What did he do?
Donald focuses on Nick.
INT. FRITZ HOME - BASEMENT - NIGHT (RE-ENACTMENT)
Grissom walks down the steps again.
GRISSOM
Tom? Are you down here? Where are
the bodies?
Behind him, Donald comes around the corner and starts down the stairs behind him. Grissom stops, barely turns his head. He knows someone is behind him. He takes one slow step at a time.
Just as Donald brings the crowbar swinging down, Grissom spins and throws his kit at Donald. It surprises the teenager, but the movement throws Grissom off balance. He staggers down the last few steps, trips, and falls.
Donald is on him like a rabid dog. Grissom suddenly plays dead. Donald gets up and walks away, still carrying the crowbar.
Grissom opens his eyes. He's hurt badly, but not mortally yet. He finally gets to his feet and heads up the stairs to the front door.
INT. FRITZ HOME - HALL - NIGHT (RE-ENACTMENT)
He hears a girl begging someone to stop, his hand inches from the door handle. Grissom knows better. He hears her beg again and he chooses to protect over serve.
He turns and starts up the stairs.
INT. FRITZ HOME - UPSTAIRS HALL - NIGHT (RE-ENACTMENT)
He's almost to the room when out of nowhere Donald flies at him with the crowbar. Grissom fights for his life. Donald forces him into the bathroom.
INT. FRITZ HOME - MAIN BATHROOM - NIGHT (RE-ENACTMENT)
Grissom makes a move that throws Donald off and pulls the crowbar away. He won't attack Donald with it and tries to escape.
Donald is too fast and forces Grissom to use the crowbar and his body to defend himself. Donald gets the crowbar away and savagely beats Grissom...
BACK TO SCENE
DONALD
And even then he wouldn't die. I
had to shoot up the
closet just to
shut him up!
NICK
That man lived, Donald, for three
days. That only makes
the charges
worse for you.
Donald leans in. He's stopped when an officer grabs his shoulder.
DONALD
Were you two close? I can see why.
I've never respected
someone so
much like I did that one. I want
another one just
like him. Not
those whiny, sniveling fucks that
beg and pray
and barely put up a
fight. Someone who has a lot to
live for
and fights for it.
Someone hard to kill.
Nick sits back in an attempt to calm his anger and not screw up the case. Donald mocks him, sitting back just like him. It's a sign that underneath the killer, there is still a little boy who doesn't quite comprehend his situation. That worries Nick.
NICK
Did you kill your family, Donald,
or did your accomplice?
DONALD
That wasn't my family.
NICK
They were your foster family since
you were six.
When he grins, Donald's insanity bleeds through. There is raw sadistic pleasure in it.
DONALD
My family was murdered. Have you
seen the pictures? The
man cut out
my father's heart and slit him open
like a pig.
He raped my mother as
he strangled her. He told me about
it,
he reminds me about it all
the time.
NICK
How is your parent's murderer
telling you what happened?
He's dead.
DONALD
In my head. Long live Harris! Long
live Klebold!
Nick is unmoved by the psychopath's homage to his idols.
NICK
Why were you writing Emily when we
found you? You wrote
it all over
the house too. Who is Emily?
Donald laughs but it's nervous. Nick picks up on it.
NICK
Who's Emily? How is she connected
to this?
DONALD
Stop saying her name. You should
never say her name.
NICK
I want to know who Emily is.
DONALD
Don't say her name!
Nick would smile with vengeance if he could. He can barely mask how he's relishing in watching this juvenile killer squirm.
NICK
Who is she, Donald?
Donald looks past Nick into the hall. Emily stands outside the room. She has her stuffed cat clutched to her chest. Her other hand is pressed against the glass. She's crying, slowly shaking her head.
DONALD
(to Emily)
Why won't you talk to me anymore?
Please,
help me.
Everyone else in the room looks, but they see nothing. Nick looks back at Donald.
Donald sees the girl turn her back on him and walk away.
DONALD
Wait! EMILY WAIT!
Donald tries to get up but the officers push him down.
DONALD
COME BACK!
Nick slams a hand on the table, getting Donald's attention.
NICK
Answer me, Donald. Who is--
DONALD
When you first see Emily, you will
fear her. When Emily
comes again,
you will be no more.
Nick knows this phrase. He shuffles through his papers and photographs. He pulls out four photographs: two of the refrigerator, two of the main bathroom mirror. He sets them in front of Donald.
NICK
You wrote this at the house. What
does it mean?
Donald's wickedness returns.
DONALD
I don't know.
NICK
Donald, who is Emily?
Donald lunges at Nick, his hands outstretched to grab Nick by the throat.
DONALD
STOP SAYING HER NAME!
Nick leaps from his chair as the police officers grab Donald. He moves back with Brass and the advocate. The three are dumbfound as they watch the officers try to subdue the crazed teenager.
BRASS
(quietly)
I've seen scary killers in my time,
Nick,
but this kid is damn scary.
The advocate and Nick both nod.
The officers finally get Donald in his chair and under control. They look up at Nick.
NICK
We're done.
With a struggle, the officers get him to his feet and lead him out. The advocate follows behind. Donald's cold, killer behavior has returned.
He lunges at people as he passes, and laughs when they jump away in surprise or fear. He starts loudly singing 'I wanna be an airborne ranger...'
NICK
He's going to get away with this,
isn't he?
BRASS
I hope not, but...
Nick is disappointed. He turns and starts gathering his case file together.
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT THREE
