LOVE YOU TO DEATH

*****

Schanke: Mm, mm, hmm.
Bollinger(?): Here's the file. Our missing person is now officially your homicide.
Schanke: How long did you guys say you've been working on this case?
Bollinger: Gee, I hope you get the chance to take a look at some of the other information in this file.
Schanke: Yeah, I will, I will. Hey, Nicky-boy, how you doing? Hollinger, and, uh...sorry, Bollinger and Freeman, Missing Persons.
Nick: (Shakes Bollinger's hand) Hey, guys.
Schanke: Time for the Jane Doe slide show.
Nick: Who is it?
Bollinger: This is Stephanie Donovan, number one on our active list. Reported missing four months ago. That's how we found her this morning on a bench in Toronto Island Park. Asphyxiated.
Schanke: It's weird. You know, it almost looks like an ad.
Freeman: (who's flipping slides occasionally from here on) We thought so too. That's why we got these slides. They're catalog shots. We're going to compare them and see where the similarities take us.
Bollinger: It might mean something if that's how the killer wanted her to be found.
Nick: Or it could be an attempt to make her look alive so he could get away. Stephanie Donovan, wasn't that a model or something?
Schanke: Wasn't she a model or something? Where've you been Nick? Does Classy Intimates ring a bell?
Nick: Oh, yeah, Classy Intimates. 'The lingerie catalog for discerning tastes'.
Schanke: Or so goes their motto, but lately they seem to be getting a little bit more risque. I don't know. They used to be more conservative. It's not that they're any less attractive, it's just that they're a little bit more revealing. It's gotten to the point that Myra doesn't even leave the catalogs around the house unless I...make it to the mailbox first. (He laughs a bit and gets a look) What? Like no one here's ever taken a peek?
Nick: Gee, Schank, I get them in my mail all the time. It's just if I'd known, I wouldn't have thrown them away so carelessly.
Freeman: Don't worry about it, Knight. He's got a collection of back issues in his locker that would choke a whale.
(Bollinger laughs)
Schanke: What? Like my belief in last-minute gift-giving preparedness makes me some kind of pervert? I think not. Take it from the married man, Nick. Quickest way to a woman's heart--buy her underwear that fits.
Nick: Have we considered the stalker possibility?
Freeman: Could be, but we haven't found anything to substantiate. No sick fan mail, no reports of her being followed, and everybody that worked with her, checked out. I mean, we've got Max Henkel, her photographer, his assistant, makeup artists, other models. They all had alibis. They all checked out.
Schanke: Reminds me of what James Dean said about leaving a good-looking corpse. Was that James Dean who said that?
Bollinger: Uh, that's actually another thing. Now, assuming that she was kidnapped, she didn't show any signs of bodily harm. In fact, quite the opposite. Looked like she was being well-cared for.
Schanke: A happy hostage.
Freeman: Then again, maybe she just ran away, chucked it all, and took off with her boyfriend.
Nick: That's when they had their fatal falling-out. (The slide is flipped to show another model) Who's that?
Everyone else: Lucy Preston.

Janette: Will you go backstage tonight?
Nick: No.
Janette: Oh, Nicolas, this is getting so repetitive. That's why you come here every night, isn't it? To see her?
Nick: I wouldn't darken her doorstep with the stain of my shadow.

Schanke: Lucy Preston, Knight. Geez, now maybe you'll be able to appreciate your junk mail. She is the queen of lingerie and every husband's soft-core fantasy. She *is* Classy Intimates.

Natalie: Any mortician would envy the job that was done on her.
Nick: Mortician?
Natalie: She was bathed, dressed, coiffed, and made up after her death.
Nick: Right after she was suffocated?
Natalie: Oh, I'd say less than an hour. She'd only been dead about three hours when they found her. There is some bruising under the lips, which would suggest perhaps a pillow was used, pressed down on her face. Other than that, I can see no signs of physical abuse of any kind.
Nick: So where do you think she spent the last four months?
Natalie: I'd say in someone's lap of luxury. About an hour before her death she had a gourmet meal--pate, caviar, washed down by very good champagne. Lots and lots of very good champagne. Are you sure she was kidnapped?
Nick: Yeah, that's the main assumption at this point. There's nothing to suggest otherwise.
Natalie: Well, I'm still waiting for the results of the chemical trace, but I'm not sure how long I can before... (She trails off as Schanke comes in)
Schanke: There's that partner of mine. Come on, we're off to a lingerie photo shoot. (Laughs) Guess where? Your friend's club, the Raven.
(Nick sighs and starts for the door)
Schanke: Sometimes you've really gotta love this job.
Natalie: I'm calling Myra.
Schanke: She's in Tampa with her mother. (Laughs as he leaves)

(At photoshoot)
Max Henkel: I like that. That's good. Yes, now, hand off the neck. Good. Yes, demure. Lovely, good, good. Same. Now, chin down. Love it. Beautiful. You're gorgeous. Let's do that again. Perfect. That's right. Good. Now, chin down. Perfect. Got to like it. Okay, come on now....
(Nick and Schanke enter)
Schanke: Wow, it's her. Lucy Preston.
Nick: Hey, hey, hey. No leering.
Schanke: So much for Myra's airbrush theory.

Janette: Nicolas.... What a nice surprise.
Nick: The surprise is all mine.
Janette: Yes, well you see they wanted something...different for their Christmas catalog and I just couldn't resist the irony...Christmas. And besides, I wanted to show off my new decor. Do you like it?
Nick: Yeah, where are they?
Janette: Don't worry. I've sent them out to play, and they won't start straggling back until dawn. Look at that one. What do you think? Timeless beauty, no? Now do I imagine it, or does she bear some resemblance to....

LaCroix: Poor smitten fool. You are in a fog, aren't you? What is this? Our seventeenth performance? Eighteenth? Do tell me what it is about her that has you so bewitched.
Nick: Something you wouldn't understand. Purity. Absolute purity. She's the closest thing to an angel that I've ever seen.

Nick: She's a model, that's all.
Janette: Oh la, 100 years and still you won't talk about it.
Nick: No, and I don't think I ever will talk about it.
Janette: It's uncanny though, isn't it?
(Below in background)
Max: Take about 10, 15, okay? Relax. Lucy, you can get down.
(Nick walks away from Janette)
Nick: Max Henkel?
Max: Yeah. What can I do for you?

Max: I guess we always knew there was a possibility she wouldn't be found alive.
Nick: You and Stephanie were very close.
Max: I discovered her. She was my protegee. But now, I don't know what to tell you. If it's okay with you right now, I just need some time to digest this.
Nick: Right. You think of anything else, you give us a call, all right? (Pulls out a card and hands it to Max) Otherwise, we find anything, we'll give you a call.
Max: Okay.
Lucy Preston: Max?
Max: I'll be with you in a minute. We'll do that silky kimono thing next.
Lucy: They're still setting up for the next layout. They told me to hang out here.
(There's a crash)
Max: Oh, what the hell was that? (Charlie approaches) Not another flash umbrella.
Charlie Murdich: We can bend it back.
Max: (While walking off with Charlie) I swear, Charlie, I should be able to leave the damn room for two minutes.
(Lucy walks over toward Nick)
Nick: Hi, I'm Nick Knight.
(Nick holds out his hand to shake hers, but she doesn't take it)
Lucy: You're from 'Kitten Club'?
Nick: Kitten Club?
Lucy: That men's magazine. Cuz if you are, I just want you to know that I haven't said yes yet. I don't know what Max told you, but he gets over-enthusiastic sometimes. Before things are done deals, you know?
(Nick holds up his badge as she turns toward him)
Nick: I'm with the police department.
Lucy: I'm sorry. I thought...mmm, nevermind what I thought. I'm Lucy Preston. (Shaking his hand) Can we start again?
Nick: Absolutely. It's, uh, nice to meet you.
Lucy: It's nice to meet you. So, you're a cop? Detective?
Nick: Yeah.
Lucy: You're hear about Stephanie, right?
(Nick nods)
Lucy: You're still looking for her, I hope? You haven't given up?
Nick: No. No, we found her. Uh, Stephanie's dead, Miss Preston.
Lucy: Oh my God.... How?
Nick: You two were friends, right?
Charlie: (enters the area) Excuse me? Uh, Lucy, we're--
Lucy: Just tell them I'll be right there. (back to Nick) I've got to get back to work. Um...yeah, we weren't really, really close. I mean, we did shoots a few times.
Nick: Listen. Listen, if my partner and I need to get in touch with you to talk....
Lucy: Yeah. (Turns away, pulls a folding card with contact info from her purse) Here's my home phone number. Anything that I can do to help.
Nick: Okay, thank you.
Lucy: Thank you.

Schanke: (talking to a couple of the models) Well, thank you very much. Keep in touch, huh? (laughs a bit) No new leads. Nothing. Nothing that hasn't been warmed over 30 million times in the missing person files.
Nick: Well, maybe Nat'll have the test results back, give her something to go on.

Max: No, sweetheart. Let it fall open. I said, let it fall. Murdich, adjust it for me. Murdich, are you working here? Do you want to work here?
Lucy: It's a catalog, Max. We're selling underwear.
Max: And you can sell sexy clothes with no sex? I don't think so. Stop frowning. You'll get ugly wrinkles on your forehead, like my mother in the nursing home.
(Charlie reluctantly and carefully does as asked)

Model 1: Bye.
Model 2: Bye.
Model 3: It's late. Do you need a ride?
Lucy: No, I'm parked over there.
Model 3: Okay.
(Lucy starts toward her car on her own, stops, then is grabbed from behind.)

Schanke: Hey, where the hell have you been? I called your place about 90 times, left about 100 messages.
Nick: I must have had the stereo turned up too loud. What happened?
Schanke: Lucy Preston. She's disappeared.
Nick: What do you mean, disappeared?
Schanke: I mean, her agent called up this morning and said that she didn't show up for a booking, so Bollinger checked it out, found her car parked behind the Raven Club. Hmph. No sign of her.
Nick: Kidnapped.
Schanke: Well, missing, anyway. AWOL. Just like Stephanie Donovan.
Nick: Let's hope not.
Janette: (Entering and approaching) Nicolas.... So this is where you work. Hmhmm. Very interesting decor. Yes. But you know, I could send Alma over, because she did such a beautiful job on the club, you know?
Nick: Would you excuse us for a moment...? (Leads Janette off)
Schanke: (Taking a folder from the desk sergeant) Thanks.
(Walks into the main area of the precinct)
Schanke: You ladies want to come with me now, please?

Nick: What are you doing here?
Janette: Paying a parking ticket. Picking up young men.
Nick: I'm serious, Janette.
Janette: They called me down for questioning.
Nick: Lucy Preston's disappearance?
Janette: Uh-hm. Poor thing.
Nick: Do you have anything to do with this?
Janette: You think that we? Don't be ridiculous, Nicolas.
Nick: I'm not, I'm serious.
Janette: You know how rarely any of us gets to feed on humans anymore, not that it isn't sometimes very tempting.... Look, they dragged me in here, because I was one of the last people who saw the girl. I'm actually sorry that I can't be of more help.
(Janette goes toward the door, where Schanke is entering)
Janette: Oh, Officer Schanke. May I please have permission to go? Detective Knight has succeeded in grilling a confession out of me, and I fully admit I had nothing to do with anything.
Schanke: Yeah, yeah. You're free to go. We know where to find you. Oh, by the way, thanks for coming down, Janette.
Janette: Oh, believe me, seeing Nicolas here in his element was all my pleasure. (She walks around Schanke and leaves)
Schanke: 'Nicolas....' (laughs) What is she, Hungarian or something?
Nick: Among other things.
Schanke: (As Max enters) Have a seat Mr. Henkel.
Max: Where the hell could she be?
Schanke: (pointing) Sit.
Nick: At this point, she's still a missing person, so another department's handling it. What we want to talk about is Stephanie Donovan.

Lucy: (Realising she's in a 'prison') Oh my God. My God. Where am I? What is this?

LaCroix: What can you possibly hope to achieve gazing at her from a far night after night? Go in there. Go in there and introduce yourself.
Nick: I would only repulse her. Purity is always repulsed by pure evil.
LaCroix: Purity is an illusion. What's the allure?
Nick: Something perhaps that I regret leaving behind me. It's a feeling. My humanity.
LaCroix: Now look here, Nicholas. There really are only three choices in this matter. Try to love her as a human. Well, we all know that's impossible, so lets move right along. Continue in this manner, to gaze at her over the balustrade, like a love struck mongrel, which would be a terrific waste of eternity, or, consummate your intense love for her, in the most intense way. Take her. Kill her. Purity. Purity...where do you get these notions, Nicholas? She is a dancer. She's an actress playing the part of an angel. In reality, she is common whore.
Nick: (Pushes LaCroix against the wall) How dare you.
LaCroix: Go ahead, Nicholas. Take her when its your turn. You might as well, you want her so badly. It is in keeping with your code of the last three centuries, preying on criminals and derelicts, feeding off the useless and the impure....

Nick: (finding Janette when he gets home) Oh, you're full of surprises.
Janette: Something is troubling you.
Nick: I'm a homicide detective. I'm paid to be troubled by things.
Janette: Paid. A quaint idea. If only they knew how wealthy you really are. Ecoute. No matter how deeply you try to bury yourself in this make-believe mortal world of yours, you cannot deny our connection. We are both still the children of LaCroix. The threads of that connection have been vibrating lately....
Nick: Are you sure you haven't been strumming them yourself?
Janette: No. You know what I'd give to have that power still. I'm not playing the tune on this one. I'm only hearing it. What is it? Is it Lucy Preston?
Nick: She's in grave danger. I am...I'm concerned about her.
Janette: It's not all though is it, my love? Sylvaine Montrocher. I knew it. It concerned LaCroix, and it concerned you, therefore it concerns me. I want to know what happened. Please. It's going to haunt you until you talk about it.
Nick: My whole life haunts me.

Lucy: Please, whoever you are, just tell me why I'm here.

Max: (At studio) Hello? Anybody here? (Goes into dark room)

Natalie: Skin sample test. It shows traces of vinegar on Stephanie Donovan's skin.
Schanke: Vinegar?
Natalie: Well, actually, a chemical very similar to vinegar.
Nick: A photo developer. Stop bath.
Natalie: I thought she was a model, not a photographer.
Schanke: Something else. Turns out Mr. Max had a closer relationship with Stephanie than he previously admitted.
Natalie: What do you mean?
Schanke: Some of the other models talked. They said that he threatened her before she was kidnapped. Something about her contract being up and her not wanting to re-sign.
Nick: She was a key member of his stable. Stephanie made him a star photographer. She was like his muse.
Schanke: So what happens when your muse threatens to bolt?
Nick: You tighten the reins.
(Nick leaves, and Schanke follows)
Natalie: (As Schanke walks by) See ya.

Nick: Hello, anybody here? The darkroom.
(Nick and Schanke walk over to it, the light is on)
Nick: Anybody there?
Schanke: Metro Police.
(They enter the room...Max is dead, hanged)

Schanke: (reading from note) "I don't care what you do with my body. Dump it in Lake Ontario if you want. Leave me down there with Lucy. I did what I had to do. Stephanie and Lucy were mine. I created them. They should never have tried to leave me," and on and on and on. Suicide note.
Nick: So he admits to killing Stephanie.
Schanke: Uh-hmm.
Nick: It sounds like Lucy too.
Natalie: I found blonde hairs on his sweater.
Nick: Check them out against the hairs you found in Lucy's apartment.
(Natalie leaves)
Nick: Something isn't right about this.
Schanke: Like what?
(Nick leaves, not immediately answering, Schanke follows and they go outside)
Nick: I don't get it. Why would he kidnap and kill Lucy if he was planning on killing himself?
Schanke: Maybe he wasn't planning on doing it. Maybe he got tipped off we were on to him. Or maybe it was just a murder-suicide of passion.
Nick: Obsession, Possession, and distraction. I don't know. Maybe you're right, but, uh.... (Shakes his head) It's just too clean.
Schanke: Well, you might not feel that way when Lucy Preston's body washes up on the beach in three days.

Lucy: It's my size. (Throws the dress) I want to go home! Do you hear me? Home!
(Picks up cover of dinner plate and throws it, which breaks the mirror, revealing Charlie)
Lucy: Charlie? Charlie, is that you? Tell me what's going on.
Charlie: I didn't want you to see me yet.
Lucy: Why, Charlie? Why? Where am I?
Charlie: You're safe.
Lucy: Safe from what? Oh.... Is this...is this what happened to Stephanie?
Charlie: Nobody's going to hurt you.
Lucy: Did you kill Stephanie?
Charlie: I didn't plan that. I wanted to protect her. She didn't know what I wanted.
Lucy: Please, Charlie, don't hurt me, okay?
Charlie: I won't.
Lucy: Then let me go home.
(Charlie shakes his head and looks down)
Lucy: Why not? Why not?!
Charlie: Someone...has to protect you. (He vanishes from view)
Lucy: No, Charlie, please! Let me go! Charlie!

LaCroix: She is a whore.
Nick: (Slaps LaCroix hard, then grabs him) Don't ever say that again!
LaCroix: Love has made you stronger. You're a simpering fool, Nicholas. Take her!
Nick: I have no designs on her.
LaCroix: So you won't even take your place in line. They wait outside her dressing room. One by one. Sometimes, she even takes two at a time.
Nick: You're a filthy liar.
LaCroix: See for yourself.
(Two men exit the room and walk by them)
Nick: If they took anything, it was theft!
(Nick goes into the room)

Natalie: (without turning around) Nick, what are you doing here? The sun's barely gone down.
Nick: I couldn't sleep.
Natalie: I can see that.
Nick: I keep on thinking about the Lucy Preston/Stephanie Donovan case.
Natalie: I thought that one was about to be closed?
Nick: There's something wrong. It doesn't make sense. Why would Max take so much trouble to make up Stephanie Donovan? I mean, prepare her corpse so painstakingly, and then just dump Lucy Preston in the lake?
Natalie: Well, we don't know that he did that yet. I mean, I've had divers out all day and nothing's turned up. Although, he didn't have as much time as he had with Stephanie. A man planning to kill himself is--
Nick: But did he? Kill himself, I mean?
(Natalie shakes her head uncertainly)

(Lucy's holding the dress up to her, looking in the mirror, thinking)
Charlie: Someone...has to protect you.
Charlie: She didn't know what I wanted.
(She unbuttons her shirt, thinking he wants her to put the dress on)

Janette: (Finding Nick outside the Raven) Now you're ready to talk about it.

Janette: Poor Nicolas. Tortured by a soul he hasn't got.
Nick: I was tricked.
Janette: Tell me. Tell me about it....

Nick: (After politely kissing her hand) No. Excuse me, I don't mean to appear rude, its just that I wanted to make sure....
Sylvaine: Make sure? Of what?
Nick: That you are unharmed.
Sylvaine: I'm fine.
Nick: Those two men that were here?
Sylvaine: Yes, so many visitors tonight, Nicho...las.
Nick: You know my name.
Sylvaine: Yes. I've seen you here on many nights. I asked about you. Are you in love with the ballet?
Nick: I love to watch you dance.

Nick: She recognised me from all the performances I'd been to. She recognized me.
Janette: You must have been very flattered.
Nick: No. Her compliment went to a deeper place inside me. For a moment I thought I was worthy. It was painful, knowing it was all an illusion....

Sylvaine: Don't leave!
Nick: We should never have met. I'm sorry I.... I will never see you again.
Sylvaine: Please...stay.
(She kisses him on the lips, and he turns away)
Nick: No.
Sylvaine: Why? (She kisses him again) I love you. Yes, Nicholas, I've been watching you, as you've been watching me, knowing it would come to this, someday.
Nick: Don't. Don't love me. How can you?
Sylvaine: The same way that you do.
Nick: It's not possible. It isn't.
Sylvaine: It is more than possible. It's the truth.
Nick: How can you be anything but repulsed by me. Purity cannot tolerate evil. How can it love evil? Unless it isn't purity?
Sylvaine: No.... (Again, she kisses him)
Nick: Then I will take you.
(He pushes the robe(?) from her shoulders, then drains/kills her)

Nick: I killed her for betraying my fantasy.
Janette: She was only a human woman, Nick.
Nick: I needed her to be more than that, and in the end I condemned her to less.
(Nick's cell phone goes off and he answers it)
Nick: Yeah?
Natalie: Nick? It's Nat. I found something. It's Max Henkel. You ready for this? The chair he was standing on had no fingerprints on it.
Nick: He never touched it?
Natalie: Yeah, some suicide, huh? I went looking for something else and guess what I found? Traces of chloroform in his sinuses.
Nick: There was no evidence of struggle in the darkroom, so he was murdered, right?
Natalie: By whom?
Nick: I have an idea.

Charlie: Oh, Lucy.
Lucy: I'm wearing your present, the one that you gave me, because I wanted you to see it. Do you like it on me? Does it look good? Is it what you imagined?
Charlie: Beautiful.
Lucy: Why don't you come in here and have dinner with me, in this beautiful room that you made for me? I'm waiting for you, Charlie. I know that Stephanie didn't know what you wanted, but I'm different, Charlie. I do, Charlie. I do.

Nick: Schank?
Schanke: Hey, Knight, where are you?
Nick: Max's darkroom. Have you heard from Natalie yet? Schanke: Yeah, I did. Seems like our open and shut suicide is open again. Ready for this? I talked to someone over at the Kitten Club magazine. Seems that Max abruptly backed out of the business deal some time ago.
Nick: A change of heart?
Schanke: Yeah, apparently. Right before he allegedly decided to stretch his neck? Nick, the deal was worth a lot of money.
Nick: Yeah, well, I don't think Max changed his mind. Whoever killed him changed it for him. Someone who definitely did not want Lucy Preston in Kitten Club magazine.
Schanke: What do you mean? Lucy herself?
Nick: No. I have someone else in mind. Charlie Murdich.
Schanke: Max's lackey.
Nick: Yeah. Do we have an address on him?
Schanke: Yeah, yeah. Hold on. I got it right here somewhere. We brought him in for questioning the other night. His alibi checked out, but I've got to tell you, the guy's a real schlub.
Nick: I'm not so sure.

Lucy: (pours a glass of champaign) Join me?

Lucy: (after setting glass down and walking away) I never knew that you felt this way, Charlie. What's kind of neat, is I always felt the same way about you. (She turns and starts back to him) But you were always really quiet. I never knew what you were thinking.
Charlie: I was thinking they were taking advantage of you.
Lucy: They were. When all I wanted was to be with you. (She tries to kiss him)
Charlie: (holding her back) No!
Lucy: Please, Charlie. Make love to me. It's okay, I swear.
Charlie: No.... Don't say that. It's not true. You're not like that! (He pushes her back, down on the bed.)
Lucy: Please, Charlie. Do it.
(Charlie takes a pillow and tries to suffocate her, she tries to scream, manages to hit him with a wine/champaign bottle, and she runs while he's out of it)

(Outside, when Charlie catches up, Lucy grabs a pitchfork)
Lucy: Don't come near me.
Charlie: I wanted to protect you! I just wanted to save you from how they wanted to corrupt you.
Lucy: Stay away! I'll kill you!
(She stabs at him with the pitchfork, he takes it from her and points it at her. As Lucy's backing up into a pile of wood, Nick lands behind Charlie.)
Lucy: Nick!
(Charlie turns, points pitchfork at Nick, Nick breaks off the fork bit, and Charlie keeps holding the broken pole out)
Nick: Put it down, Charlie. It's over.
Charlie: I can kill you both. She made a big mistake. I just wanted to protect her, keep them from exploiting her. They want to exploit her.
Lucy: He killed Stephanie. He was going to kill me.
Nick: Put it down, Charlie, now.
(Charlie starts to do so, then stabs toward Nick. Nick backs out of the way, and Charlie falls onto the broken off fork bit, turns over showing it, and dies.)

LaCroix: (entering) It worked. We have our Nicholas back again.
(Behind him are the two 'men' from earlier--clearly vampires)
Nick: (getting up and grabbing LaCroix' jacket and pushes him) What have you done?
LaCroix: We wanted you back, Nicholas.
Nick: She was innocent.
LaCroix: She was in love.
Nick: You betrayed me. (Releases LaCroix, goes to Sylvaine) I hate you.
LaCroix: Good. Hate is a step in the right direction.

Janette: I never knew exactly what had happened. I only knew that it was then that you withdrew from us, that you stopped killing.
Nick: In a strange way, he did me a big favor.
Janette: How?
Nick: He made me realise the complete hypocrisy of killing only the guilty. There's no distinction between guilty and innocent blood. The truth is...we are the guilty. They are the innocent. He stopped me from killing. In fact, he stopped me from killing altogether.
Janette: So it was LaCroix, and his little joke, that backfired. But then again, I suppose you got your revenge.
Nick: (Remembers killing LaCroix) Oh yes. I got my revenge.