Mystery Woman 10 In The Shadows -broadcast Script

CASSIE: Philby. What’s going on?

PHILBY: I can’t believe I missed it.

CASSIE: Missed what?

PHILBY: The manuscript.

CASSIE: We didn’t find the manuscript.

PHILBY: I know. I was so concerned about Samantha it never occurred to me.

CASSIE: What didn’t occur to you?

cut to:

(philby and cassie enter and see lydia is on her cell.)

LYDIA: I’m on it I’ll get to it as soon as I can, I gotta get out of here first.

PHILBY: That’s Lydia Cranston. I’ve been looking for her all day.

CASSIE: Philby, wh….?

(they run outside after lydia.)

CASSIE: So you gonna tell my why she is carrying that cane if she doesn’t need it?

PHILBY: That’s a good question.

CASSIE: So you going to tell me about the manuscript? You said the killer had it.

PHILBY: I was wrong. Alexsandr hid it. He had no intention of meeting me in his room the night he was murdered.

CASSIE: Why not?

PHILBY: He trashed his own room.

CASSIE: That would explain the no forced entry. And why the only fingerprints they found were the deceased and the maids.

PHILBY: He left a clue for me to find. It was the only thing in the room that was untouched.

CASSIE: What clue?

PHILBY: It was a chessboard. The one thing I have to do is figure out what it means. And then we can find the manuscript.

CASSIE: I don’t like this at all. Whoever tried to hurt Sam is still out there.

PHILBY: Come on, lets get out of here.

cut to:

ext. hospital – night

int. hospital – night

(a cop sits guarding samanthas door, cup of coffee in hand. CONNERS exits the room, the guard leaps to his feet.)

CONNERS: Relax son, I’m just gonna get some coffee, you want some?

COP: Oh no thank you chief. Sixth cup right here.

CONNERS: Sixth cup. (answers ringing cell)

COP: Coffee’s right down here.

CONNERS: This is Conners, whatya got for me?

cut to:

int. bookstore – night

cut to:

cut back to:

int. hospital corridor – night

(the cop rubs his knee, JITTERS his leg.)

cut to:

int. hospital – coffee station – night

cut back to:

(cop finally gives in and runs for the mens room. the door opposite samantha’s room opens and a scrub – suited figure crosses and enters. A doctor and nurse converse, conners pushes past them seeing the cop gone. he bursts into the room, gun drawn, and confronts a nurse adding fluid from a syringe into samantha’s i.v.)

CONNERS: Hold it, hold it right there get your hands up. Get em up. (she does.) Now put that syringe on the table nice and easy.

(she does, and the cop comes running into the room.)

CONNERS: Where were ya?

COP: Chief, I…

CONNERS: I don’t want to hear it.

cut to:

int. hospital corridor – night

COP: Out of my way, out of my way.

NURSE: Again?

cut back to:

In. hospital room – night

CONNERS: I’m gonna find out who you really are.

Cut to:

Ext. Hospital – night

int. hospital room – night

(samantha lies in her bed, the charge nurse checks the i.v. while the other nurse stands looking cowed.)

NURSE: If there’s nothing else, we’ll be leaving now.

CONNERS: That’ll do. Sorry about the mix-up.

(samantha wakes up.)

SAMANTHA: Chief Conners? Where am I?

CONNERS: You’re in the hospital Sam. Don’t you remember what happened?

SAMANTHA: Um, I – I was hit by a car.

CONNERS: Yeah. (her eyes close) You gotta wake up, this is important. Someone attacked you before you were hit by the car.

SAMANTHA: They did?

CONNERS: Do you remember who attacked you? Could you identify them?

SAMANTHA: I don’t know. I don’t remember. Chief Conners, what are you doing here?

CONNERS: I’m taking a personal interest in this one kid. You may be a pain in the backside, Snoopy but you’re my pain in the backside.

fade out

fade in

cut to:

(samantha opens her eyes and sees philby asleep in a chair.)

SAMANTHA: Philby.

PHILBY: You’re awake. How do you feel?

SAMANTHA: I’m finding it a little hard to focus my eyes. Sounds like bacons frying in my head.

PHILBY: You have a concussion.

SAMANTHA: I remember trying to help Alexsandr. And after that it’s kind of a blur.

PHILBY: The doctor said with head injuries it’s common to forget the event that caused the injury.

SAMANTHA: What if I never remember?

PHILBY: Don’t worry about that. You just concentrate on getting better.

SAMANTHA: Alexsandr. What happened to him?

PHILBY: Alexsandr’s dead. We believe the same guy who killed Alexsandr attacked you when you tried to help him. He threw you in front of a car.

SAMANTHA: But who?

PHILBY: There’s nothing you can do about it now. I don’t want you involved.

SAMANTHA: I’m already involved.

PHILBY: That was my fault.

SAMANTHA: Philby, when have I ever passed up the opportunity to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong? I’m involved. I’m going to stay involved.

(a doctor enters.)

DOCTOR: Miss Kinsey. And how are we feeling this morning.

SAMANTHA: We feel lousy. And don’t like being in hospitals.

DOCTOR: Yes well unfortunately you are stuck here for a while. I have to run a few more tests before I let you go. Uh sir, I’m sorry I’m going to have to ask you to leave. We need to take Miss Kinsey in for a follow up CAT scan.

PHILBY: Okay doctor. (To Samantha) I’ll see you later. And I’ll fill you in.

cut to:

int. hospital corridor – day

PHILBY: Cassie, Philby. Samantha’s awake. I just thought you might want to know. Okay. Later.

(he gets on the elevator and the doors close. lydia limps into the hall on her cane and looks at the closed door. samantha is wheeled out of her room by an orderly, a different cop wheels her I.V. stand.)

(cut to p.o.v. of hallway, walking towards samantha’s room and opening door. cut to man in janitor outfit wearing black gloves, entering with a bug which he attaches to the bottom of her phone.)

cut to:

ext. hospital – day

NURSE: That’s a good position though.

EMT: Yeah, it’s good money.

(the gloved hand places a transmitter on the passenger seat of a car, we can hear samantha’s voice through it.)

cut to:

int. Samantha’s hospital room – day

PHILBY: I’m where I need to be.

(cassie enters the room with an overnight bag and A file.)

CASSIE: Hey Sam. How you feeling?

SAMANTHA: Oh I’ve been better.

CASSIE: I stopped by your place, I got some make-up, a hairbrush, a bunch of other stuff, (to Philby’s laugh) it’s a girl thing.

SAMANTHA: Are those files regarding me and Alexsandr?

PHILBY: It’s okay Cassie, I said I’d fill her in.

cut to:

ecu bug under telephone, receiver on car seat.

CASSIE: You sure you’re up for it?

SAMANTHA: (sitting up) What have we got?

CASSIE: Forensics, photos, and best of all the autopsy results. Here you go. (hands Philby the file.)

SAMANTHA: What do Forensics say?

CASSIE: Not much. There was nothing at the crime scene it was a complete bust. (to Philby who’s reading it) Interesting, isn’t it?

PHILBY: Um hm.

SAMANTHA: What is it?

CASSIE: Cause of death was an injection of a massive amount of morphine. Enough to render him unconscious immediately and kill him within a matter of minutes.

SAMANTHA: But he wasn’t unconscious, I remember him talking to me.

CASSIE: Apparently Alexsandr had built up a tolerance to morphine.

PHILBY: Because his body was riddled with cancer. He was taking morphine for the pain. And the killer knew he was on morphine, and was prepared to make it look like an accidental overdose.

CASSIE: Then you interrupted the killer, and the killer tried to kill you.

SAMANTHA: So why would a dying man travel halfway around the world to go on a book tour.

PHILBY: He had to. Think about it Samantha. It was the best way to get the manuscript out of Russia.

SAMANTHA: Because, if he didn’t get it out of the country before he died…

PHILBY: It would be destroyed, by the very people he was trying to expose.

SAMANTHA: The red mafia. That’s who the double agent was selling information to.

PHILBY: He was willing to sacrifice the last few weeks of his life, in order to write a wrong.

SAMANTHA: Philby we’ve got to find out who killed him.

PHILBY: We’ve got to find the manuscript. It’s the only way to identify the double agent.

CASSIE: I still don’t get why he hid the manuscript.

SAMANTHA: For the same reason he had to get it out of Russia. He knew he was dying. And if he died before the manuscript was published then the double agent would never be exposed. I think he was trying to get it to Philby. He knew Philby would make sure it ended up in the right hands.

PHILBY: But he was killed before he could tell me where he had hid it. The clues he left us were his insurance policy. But only someone who knew how he operated would be able to figure them out. And that was you.

(cassie’s phone rings.)

CASSIE: Oh, I got to take this, it’s Chief Conners. Hey Chief, what’s up?

cut to:

(chief conners stands in his office. intercut with cassie in hospital.)

CONNERS: Counselor, I’m bringing in a suspect for questioning.

CASSIE: Who?

CONNERS: The deceased’s publisher, Jonathan Stansfield.

CASSIE: What’s the evidence implicating him?

CONNERS: Well it seems Mr. Stansfield’s been getting a little greedy. He’s been underreporting the sales on some of the books.

CASSIE: Are you sure the source of this information is valid?

CONNERS: As valid as public court record can be.

CASSIE: Hmm.

CUT TO:

PHILBY: at it, and I’ve been trying. I’ve been comparing the chessboard to every classic game in recent years. Hoping it would give me something, an idea….

PHILBY: …of what he was up to. But I’ve never seen a match like this ever.

SAMANTHA: Did he say anything else?

PHILBY: The last thing he said to me was, “everything is in the shadows.” That’s when

INT. SAMANTHA’S HOSPITAL ROOM – DAY

SAMANTHA: How do we go about finding Alexsandr’s manuscript?

PHILBY: Well, he didn’t have much time to prepare. Only a couple of hours. He would have used ordinary items close at hand. But I think it all evolves around the items that were left in the hotel room. Here (hands her a paper) this is one of the clues Alexsandr left us. The chessboard, and maybe the phone book.

SAMANTHA: What do they mean?

PHILBY: I have no idea. There’s a game in progress on the chessboard, but it doesn’t say who has the next move. It doesn’t tell us anything.

SAMANTHA: What makes you think this chess game is anything more than just a chess game?

PHILBY: Because of what Alexsandr said to me before he died. He said, “You must finish the game.” I’ve been looking I knew he wasn’t going to make it.

SAMANTHA: The Shadows. That’s the title of his last book.

PHILBY: Of course.

SAMANTHA: We need to read his book.

CASSIE: (bursting in) Hey Philby Chief Conners is bringing in a suspect for questioning, you want to come?

SAMANTHA: You should go.

CASSIE: I’ll see you later Sam.

cut to:

cut to:

(philby and cassie walk with chief conners.)

CASSIE: Why would a publisher underreport sales?

PHILBY: To avoid paying proper royalties to the authors.

CONNERS: Bingo. It turns out a few months ago there was a lawsuit filed by four of this guys former authors, they’re suing him for millions in unpaid royalties.

PHILBY: That’s why Stansfield was so eager to make a deal with Bender’s Bookstores.

CONNERS: He needs a lot of money to pay back those authors.

PHILBY: And he forced Alexsandr to announce the content of his book publicly. Very controversial contents.

CONNERS: Which generated a big book deal.

CASSIE: With the author’s untimely death it seals the guarantee of big sales.

CONNERS: I’d say makes him a pretty good candidate for Zeitsev’s murder.

CASSIE: But why kill the author before he’s handed in his manuscript?

PHILBY: Perhaps Stansfield has the manuscript. Or knows where it is.

CASSIE: It’s worth checking out.

CONNERS: Care to observe?

(he leads the way, they follow.)

cut to:

ext. hospital – day

int. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR– day

(a woman is wheeled past the cop outside samantha’s door.)

cut to:

(she awakens, and reaches inside a bag on her bed and removes two copies of the shadows. she opens the first, and the title is in russian. she flips a few pages, and then settles back in to her pillow. the door opens, a nurse enters, smiles at sleeping samantha, takes the bag and books off the covers and moves them to a bedside table, then walks out.)

cut to:

int. interrogations room – day

CONNERS: Well the statement that you made the morning after Mr. Zeitsev was murdered you said that his new book, the one he’d just finished writing, is a guaranteed best seller. Now was that an exaggeration or did you believe that?

Cut to:

int. observation room – day

STANSFIELD: Believe it, I’d stake my reputation on it. Why?

CONNERS: Well a best seller like that would mean a lot of money for your company, wouldn’t it?

STANSFIELD: Yes, my company stands to make a healthy profit.

CONNERS: Would you happen to have the manuscript for that novel? (silence) I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.

STANSFIELD: No.

CONNERS: I mean with the author dead, no agent, and no heirs, you would have complete control over the percentage of royalties.

STANSFIELD: I hadn’t thought of that, but I’m sure Al had a trust or something.

CONNERS: You hadn’t thought of that.

STANSFIELD: What are you implying?

CONNERS: I know all about the lawsuit.

STANSFIELD: It’s a nuisance suit, and accounting error. I don’t see what that has to do with Al’s ….you don’t think I had something to do with Al’s death?

cut to:

int. samantha’s hospital room.

cut to:

CONNERS: Don’t leave town Jonathan.

STANSFIELD: Humph.

(stansfield straightens his jacket and walks off, cassie and philby join conners from the observation room.)

CONNERS: Well Counselor, have we got a case?

CASSIE: The motive is pretty weak and with no physical evidence tying him to the crime, we haven’t got much.

CONNERS: I know it’s not the strongest case, but at this point what else do we have?

CASSIE: We need some hard evidence.

cut to:

ext. hospital day

cut to:

(samantha sits reading. there is a knock.)

SAMANTHA: Yes?

(a cop opens the door.)

COP: Miss Kinsey do you feel up to seeing anyone?

SAMANTHA: Who is it?

COP: The Chief says he’s a friend of Mr. Zeitsev, he flew in from Russia to claim the body.

SAMANTHA: Sure. (he enters)

YURI: Miss Kinsey, Yuri Slipchenko. I am a friend of Alexsandr Zeitsev’s. I still cannot believe that he’s dead.

SAMANTHA: Neither can I. He seemed like such a nice man. So if you don’t mind my asking Mr. Slipchenko, what can I do for you?

YURI: Please, it is Yuri. (sits) I just wanted to thank you in person. Chief Conners tells me you tried to help Alexsandr before he died.

SAMANTHA: I wish I could have done more.

YURI: What I do not understand is why someone would want to kill Alexsandr.

SAMANTHA: How well did you know Alexsandr?

YURI: Alexsandr Zeitsev and I were friends for over forty years. Before he became a writer he worked for the government as a trade attaché.

SAMANTHA: Did you know he was dying?

YURI: Alexsandr never told me how ill he was. But I should have suspected something was wrong when he started missing our weekly chess games.

SAMANTHA: You and Alexsandr played chess. (takes out chess photo from file on bed.) Can you tell me anything about this?

YURI: Ah yes, it is the game Alexsandr and I were playing. It was his move.

SAMANTHA: Do you have any idea what his next move might have been?

YURI: Alexsandr could be very unpredictable.

SAMANTHA: Was Alexsandr black or white?

YURI: Alexsandr was always white. I – I really must be going. (gets up, hat in hand) I need to make arrangements for the transportation of Alex’s remains.

SAMANTHA: Thanks for stopping by.

fade out

fade in

cut to:

(samantha is asleep, file open on her lap. cassie and philby enter.)

CASSIE: She’s asleep. Should we come back later?

SAMANTHA: I’m not asleep, I’m just resting my eyes. Chief Conners have anything worthwhile?

CASSIE: That remains to be seen.

SAMANTHA: Ugh. I have been looking at the forensic reports and photos till I’m blurry eyed.

PHILBY: Did you finish the book?

SAMANTHA: Yes. In the Shadows is the story of a spy who has to get information to his contact without being caught. So he leaves a series of clues for his contact to follow to the dead drop. This is how it works. The spy dropped a crumpled wrapper from a pastry shop in the trash near his contact. When the contact goes to the pastry shop he finds the next clue. An arrow chalked on the outside of the building. He then follows that arrow to find his next clue.

CASSIE: So what you are saying is that each clue leads you to the next one.

SAMANTHA: Which will in the end, finally lead to the manuscript. (to Philby, who has been getting more and more amused) Why are you laughing?

cut to:

insert – receiver on car seat broadcasting the conversation

cut back to scene:

PHILBY: I’m not laughing. What you’ve described is the simplest way to pass on information ever devised. I was certain he’d use something more complicated for that. Something that would be hard to break. Like a code based on the chess game. But this. This is so simple.

CASSIE: What next?

SAMANTHA: Well, we have to figure out, which one of these is the first clue.

PHILBY: Well according to what you told us about the book, this must be it. (holding out paper) Bishop to Queens Pawn Four. Now all I got to know is, was Alexsandr black or white?

SAMANTHA: Alexsandr was always white.

CASSIE: How do you know that?

SAMANTHA: A friend of his is in town to claim the body, he stopped by to see me. So if white makes that move on the chessboard, what does that mean?

PHILBY: It means black has the next move.

CASSIE: Nothing more than that?

PHILBY: Not that I can see. It’s just a chess move. We’re right back where we started.

SAMANTHA: Wait a second, where is that forensics report? Calcium carbonate, which is chalk, was found on the phone book in Alexsandr’s room. The page had been folded down. Cassie there’s a phone book right in there, will you hand it to me?

(cassie hands her the phone book.)

cut to:

SAMANTHA: I think he folded down that page and marked it for you to find, Philby.

PHILBY: (reading) page, four fifty five.

cut back to scene

SAMANTHA: And look what just happens to be on page four fifty five.

CASSIE: A listing of Pawnshops.

cut to:

ecu phone book – yellow pages - pawn shop listings

PHILBY: Very good Samantha.

CASSIE: There’s at least a hundred here where should we start?

SAMANTHA: I think this would be a good place.

ECU LISTING “BISHOP’S PAWN SHOP”

cut to:

cut to:

(cassie and philby enter.)

BISHOP: Buying or selling?

PHILBY: Neither. Can I ask you a couple of questions please?

BISHOP: Who are you?

PHILBY: That doesn’t matter, who I am. What really matters is who she is.

BISHOP: And who might she be?

CASSIE: She is Assistant District Attorney Hillman. And we could do this the easy way, or the not so easy way.

BISHOP: Ask away.

PHILBY: The last couple of days, did a guy come in here with a Russian accent?

BISHOP: Old guy? Looked like he was on his last legs?

PHILBY: That’s him.

BISHOP: He had something he wanted to pawn.

he goes to shelf and pulls down a small castle shaped bookend.)

BISHOP: He must have been pretty hard up to want to pawn this. I could only give him a couple of bucks. That’s probably more than it’s worth.

PHILBY: Can I see that please? (examines it) Did he say anything about it when he brought it in?

BISHOP: Just that I should sell it to the first person who asks for it. He didn’t need it any more.

CASSIE: How much?

BISHOP: Well I’d say thirty-nine bucks should do it.

(he writes it up and cassie disgustedly hands over the money from her purse.)

BISHOP: Nice doing business with you.

(a girl enters, crosses to bishop offscreen.)

GIRL: Hi, um I have a locket…

CASSIE: So what do you think this could mean?

PHILBY: Oh it’s, it’s a miniature of the Castle of St. Andrews of Scotland. That’s where modern golf was invented.

CASSIE: How do you know that?

PHILBY: Cause I was there. More importantly so was Alexsandr.

CASSIE: So what could this mean?

PHILBY: It’s a reference that he and I share. Could it have something to do with golf?

CASSIE: There’s a sunset country club, Samantha and I have golfed there, but it doesn’t have a castle.

PHILBY: No no it’s too far. He was on foot the night he was murdered. The clues should be within walking distance of each other.

CASSIE: I know where there’s a golf course that has a castle.

PHILBY: What kind of golf course in Walden has a castle?

CASSIE: Come with me.

cut to:

ext. pawnshop – day

cut to:

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