CRAZY LOVE
*****
Peter Barlow: Killing is lovemaking in it's purest form. Does that shock you Dr. Welsh?
Dr. Shawna Welsh: Is that your intention, Peter? To shock me?
Barlow: I'd much rather make love to you. You're my type, you know. So into bondage. (Pulls his hands, chained, up as far as he can for emphasis)
Dr. Welsh: Does your...lovemaking satisfy you sexually?
Barlow: You're actually enjoying this, Dr. Welsh. I think you are getting aroused. You really want to know the truth?
Dr. Welsh: The truth can be illuminating.
Barlow: I'm always satisfied. You know what else? (She shakes her head) I never get any complaints from the customers. (Pulls his chains taut) I let them finish first.
Dr. Welsh: (into a tape recorder while other scenes are being shown) In the case of the people vs. Peter Barlow, findings and recommendations to the court respectfully submitted by Dr. Shawna Welsh, Laurier Mental Health Clinic. In my opinion, the above mentioned patient is legally sane and can stand trial. He has full understanding of his actions regarding the two women that he murdered. It is also my opinion that Barlow is extremely dangerous, and presents a grave risk to society. If there is such a thing as a human monster, Peter Barlow is one. He must never be allowed freedom, for I am certain the consequences will be deadly.
Schanke: Hey Nick.
Nick: Patient or staff?
Schanke: I think inmate is probably closer. Her name's Whitney David. Double-header, twin-bill, both halves of the comedy team. A schitzo.
Nick: Oh, right.
Schanke: She was committed here for treatment by her parents, and apparently she was out for a breath of fresh air, and um, that's when Barlow escaped.
Natalie: I'm afraid it's got Barlow written all over it.
Schanke: Yeah, he lifted some shears from the ground keeper's toolbox and as they say...the rest is history.
Nick: We're sure it's Barlow?
Natalie: Well, we won't get anything from the shears--they were wiped. But I worked all those other victims. Same MO. Stabbed to death, signs of sexual assault.
Schanke: That is sweet. It takes a police taskforce eleven months to nail this creep, and no sooner does he unpack his toothbrush, when it's one flew over the cuckoo's nest.
Nick: Well, he didn't fly very far, did he? I mean, he escapes and stops to kill Whitney David right here on the grounds.
Natalie: Well, he is a psychotic killer. Maybe the thought of getting caught turns him on.
Nick: Let's find somebody in charge.
Schanke: The head wig-picker's Dr. Shawna Welsh, author of 'The Road From Despair'. She's in the clinic.
Nick: Okay. Let's go.
Schanke: If you don't mind, I'll handle things down here. That place kind of creeps me out.
Nick: Well, don't be shy.
Natalie: Yeah, Schank, most of the patients aren't dangerous, they're just a little emotionally challenged.
Schanke: It's not the patients, Natalie, it's the shrinks.
Dr. Welsh: It's Bedlam.
Nick: Interesting choice for a psychiatrist's office.
Dr. Welsh: It serves as a reminder of how far we've come, and how far we've yet to go.
Nick: It was a horrible place. I've read a lot about it.
Dr. Welsh: I'm Dr. Shawna Welsh.
Nick: Nick Knight, Metro Homicide.
Dr. Welsh: It's so awful about Whitney. I've been telling them for years that we need better security around here. Less and less money in the budget every year. But, what's especially tragic about Whitney...she was making really good progress.
Nick: Was she your patient?
Dr. Welsh: Not on a regular basis, no.
Nick: How about Peter Barlow? Was he one of your patients?
Dr. Welsh: Barlow was sent here for psychiatric evaluation pending appeal of his criminal conviction.
Nick: And?
Dr. Welsh: Frankly, his is the most dangerous mind I've ever met. He freely acknowledged killing. He gloried in it.
Nick: How do you mean?
Dr. Welsh: With Barlow it went far beyond a sexual aberration. He doesn't kill especially for pleasure, although he does take conspicuous pleasure in killing. He murders to possess totally. To take them into himself. To have their whole being fill him up.
Dr. Welsh: He talked about the look in the victim's eyes at the very end. A confused, resigned look. He said that signaled the transfer of life's essence. But he did say that once you see that look you never forget it, and the need to see it again and again completely takes over. It's a very common trait among serial killers and sexual offenders. It's all about possession. I'm sorry. Detective, you have more questions?
Nick: Did Barlow have any relationships inside the hospital? Was he close to any of the patients?
Dr. Welsh: Like Whitney David? He may have met her in the hallway.
Nick: Is there any chances she could have rejected him? Could he have made advances to her or anyone else?
Dr. Welsh: Detective, Peter Barlow makes eye contact with a woman and he thinks it's a sexual advance. He's very delusional in that regard.
Nick: Insane?
Dr. Welsh: No. Quite sane. He knows what he's doing is wrong and he understands the consequences of his actions, so by all legal standards, he's as sane as you or I. But to get back to your question, there are any number of woman here who qualify as one of his potential victims, they just have to be unfortunate enough to get noticed. We have hundreds of outpatients here, men and women who come and go here every day.
Erin: I'll finish the dishes, Jack, you go on home.
Answering machine: This is the ??? street restaurant. We're open 6am to 10pm. If you have a message, leave it at the beep. Thanks.
Nurse Simmons: Erin, this is Nurse Simmons at the Laurier Clinic. Please call me or Dr. Welsh right away. It's urgent.
Erin: Jack? Jack? Is that you? Jack?
Barlow: Hello, Erin. I hate the news.
Cohen: Schanke. Find him. Nobody, I mean nobody--uniforms, detectives, meter maids--I don't care. No one punches out until we bring him in, got it? Where the hell is Dr. Lambert?
Schanke: She's on the way. Barlow's out to break some records, huh?
Nick: Here we go again. It looks like Erin Devin was a patient at the Laruier Mental Health Clinic.
Schanke: He must have made some girlfriend's in the loony bin. What?
Nick: Actually, you're not that far off. Look, would you mind finishing up the paper work for me? I'm going to go at this from a different angle. Try to get inside Barlow's head.
Schanke: How?
Nick: Well, how else? I'll go see his doctor again.
Dr. Welsh: A psychiatrist is supposed to remain emotionally detached from their patients. But this is too much. First Whitney and now Erin?
Nick: It wasn't your fault. Was Erin Devin your patient?
Dr. Welsh: Technically...ah, no, but we did work with each other on occasion. I was preparing for my new book. We take snapshots of all the patients during the course of their treatment. It's amazing what a photograph will tell you. It's all in their eyes. Here she is. That's Erin. You could see how much she was improving. She was just recently assigned to Dr. Sillman on an outpatient basis. I was really happy with her progress. Oh..it's just it's such a shame. She was such an innocent. Well, anyway ah...you wanted to talk to me about Peter Barlow.
Nick: I have all the facts I need.
Dr. Welsh: You wanted to get inside his mind. You wanted to ask me what makes him tick so you can anticipate his next move.
Nick: Something like that.
Dr. Welsh: Well, Detective, all of us--you, me and Barlow--we all have a desire to fill a need in our lives. To connect up intimately with another person. For some, a platonic relationship is sufficient. For others the need is physical.
Nick: Sexual?
Dr. Welsh: Yes, sexual. But fortunately for most us good sex doesn't end in murder. But it's no accident that orgasm is often described as a small death. For all its love and romance that goes along with it, there is a certain part of the act that is sheer possession. To be able to bring a lover to a place where they're out of control, where they're completely and utterly yours.
Probably Italy: Mid 16th century
Nick: Did anyone see you leave? Your father? The servants?
Amalia: They're all asleep. (They kiss) He asked me why I'm looking pale. I'm ill. I want to laugh. I want to tell them about you and I, about what we've been doing. If they only knew. (They kiss again) I am yours, Nicholas. You are my world. Drink from me again.
Nick: Each time you grow weaker. Nearer to death.
Amalia: Fill yourself with my blood, take it all, please.
Nick: I won't allow you....
Amalia: Then take only what you need.
Nick: Barlow kills to possess.
Dr. Welsh: He can't help himself, it's his curse, his addiction.
Nick: Then you understand?
Dr. Welsh: Yes. It must be awful to have that desire, that...that emptiness that never gets filled.
Nick: Yes.
Dr. Welsh: The aching hunger for physical contact.
Nick: The lust.
Dr. Welsh: Yes, the lust. And knowing that nothing can satisfy it, and the only thing it can lead to is...murder.
Nick: Thank you for your help, Doctor.
Kinda flashback to previous conversation:
Dr. Welsh: It's all about possession. The aching hunger for physical contact.
Nick: The lust.
Dr. Welsh: Yes, the lust. That desire that never gets filled. Aching hunger for physical contact.
Nick: The lust.
Dr. Welsh: Yes, the lust.
Nick: The lust.
Raven Employee: Raven.
Nick: Yeah, I have to talk to Janette.
Janette: Nicolas.
Nick: I wasn't sure you'd come.
Janette: We all have our needs. And it's been so long....
Janette: I like it when you need me.
Nick: I'm sorry I used you.
Janette: And I you. We have needs, Nicolas, just as mortals do.
Nick: I shouldn't have.
Janette: Are you saying that you didn't want to?
Nick: No, it's not that. It's just I have to fight so hard to control it. I have to control it.
Nick: One night you will not recover. I will lose you, Amalia. We must not see each other again. Ever.
Nick: I have to control it.
Janette: Not with me. Ever....
Amalia: Drink from me again.
Nick: (Turning away from Janette) No.
Janette: It's all right. It's all right. Shh. Look, the light is coming. Come and sleep the day with me. Can it not be like it was for just a brief time?
Nick: I can't. I have to work. (He leaves, flying away and not looking back at her)
Nick: So, what have you got?
Natalie: Uh, polluted lake water in the lung tissue of a drowning victim.
Nick: Erin Devin.
Natalie: What?
Nick: Erin Devin.
Natalie: Erin Devin. I'm so sorry, I'm really overwhelmed here. I don't know what is going on, whether it's the full moon, or the summer heat, but the world has gone crazy out there. Yes, Erin Devin was sexually assaulted before she was killed.
Nick: As were all of Barlow's other victims.
Natalie: No, not quite. I finished the post-mortem on Whitney David. Turns out there was no sexual assault.
Nick: Oh, maybe he was scared off?
Natalie: But he still had time to kill her?
Nick: No, you're right. The killing is secondary to the possession.
Natalie: Which begs the question, then, is Barlow responsible for Whitney David's murder?
Schanke: (On phone) No, no, thank you for your trouble. Yeah. (Hangs up) Just had a very illuminating conversation with Whitney David's parents.
Nick: And?
Schanke: She was scheduled to go home next month. That's what they thought, anyway, until about two weeks ago. She had a relapse of some sort, and they postponed her release.
Nick: A relapse. Dr. Welsh said she was making progress.
Schanke: Whitney had told her folks about a week ago that her Doctor, a Dr. Elliott Sillman, had changed his mind, didn't want to let her go.
Nick: Sillman.
Schanke: Does that mean something to you?
Nick: No, probably no...except that he was treating Erin Devon as well.
Dr. Welsh: I know, I know it's hard, Robyn, but this is the kind of work we have to do if we're ever going to make you well again. And we are going to get you there, okay? Okay? You can do it.
Nick: I hope I'm not disturbing you. The nurse said it was okay, that you were finished.
Dr. Welsh: Oh, Detective, come in.
Nick: Dr. Elliot Sillman. Where can I find him?
Dr. Welsh: He's on vacation, actually. He'll be due back next month.
Nick: Dr. Sillman was set to release Whitney David, and he had a change of heart. Why?
Dr. Welsh: Well, she was making good progress, and then she started to backslide. Dr. Sillman decided she needed more time.
Nick: And the decision was based solely on the Doctor's recommendation?
Dr. Welsh: And on mine, of course. Why do you ask?
Nick: Well, he was treating both Erin Devon and Whitney David.
Dr. Welsh: And?
Nick: Well, I thought it might be interesting to talk to him. He might know something about them that could lead us to Barlow.
Dr. Welsh: I don't think you can afford to take that time, Detective. Once you get inside the mind of a murderer, you begin to realize how predictable it is.
Nick: Meaning?
Dr. Welsh: Meaning that Barlow will kill again the same way for the same reasons. And we have no control. Worse, he has no control.
LaCroix: My goodness, Nicholas. Such a hurry to leave your paramour. And such a willing one at that. I'd say she was something of a find. A beautiful daughter of a wealthy wine merchant. What's this all about? You can tell me, can't you?
Nick: You know what this is all about.
LaCroix: Let me think. Hmmm. You've found a ravenous beauty. A mortal. Who makes love to you and wants you to possess her...totally. Who will happily die in your arms, drained. I'm afraid I don't see the problem.
Nick: I must have her.
LaCroix: Ahhh, but if you go on this way, possess her as a vampire must, then you will have to kill her, or bring her across, and either way, you will no longer possess her.
Nick: Yes.
LaCroix: I do sympathize. You may not believe that, but I do. It is our nature to possess. To drain away the lives of others into our bodies, and that is the logical consequence, isn't it?
Nick: What do you mean?
LaCroix: Of possession, my dear, hungry, Nicholas. For a vampire or a mortal to possess another totally is destroy them. They cease to exist.
Nick: Then we possess nothing.
LaCroix: Until we kill again. And creatures such as you and I, always kill again.
Nick: It never ends.
LaCroix: No. No, it doesn't. Isn't it delightful? Oh, don't be such a fool, Nicholas. Drink up. Be merry.
Dr. Welsh: Find him, Detective. He'll kill again until he's stopped. I know.
Nurse: Here we go. Yesterday's surveillance videos.
Schanke: Barlow's wing?
Nurse: That's what you asked for, isn't it?
Nick: Thanks.
Nurse: You hoping to find something you missed last time?
Schanke: Well, as they say in the movies, 'it's dogged determination that solves crimes, ma'am.'
Nick: Nurse, could you stick with us for a minute? We might need you.
Schanke: Hey, there he is.
Nick: Well, that's definitely not a hospital uniform.
Schanke: He had help from the inside.
Nick: Roll it back from there. A little faster. Stop, hold it right there. Nurse, do you recognize her?
Nurse: Let me see. I believe that's Michelle Parker.
Schanke: Where can we find her?
Nurse: Actually, she was discharged only yesterday.
Schanke: Do you really think he's that predictable? I mean, Barlow has to know we'll be watching the patients he came into contact with.
Nick: He knows. But he can't break the pattern. That's his weakness.
Schanke: Let's just hope Michelle Parker checks her messages.
Schanke: (on answering machine) We'll be there in ten minutes. Stay calm, don't panic, and please do not answer the door.
(Michelle grabs a sweater and starts for the door, Barlow comes in)
Barlow: You don't know what I went through to find you.
Schanke: Backup units rolling. Let's just hope you're right, Nick.
Michelle: Please, what to you want from me?!
Barlow: Just about everything.
(Michelle throws something, and then locks herself in the bathroom)
Barlow: Open up. Come on, Michelle. Don't be this way. You don't have to be shy with me. Gosh, we're practically old friends.
Michelle: Please, just leave me alone. I won't tell anybody. I won't.
Nick: I'll go around back. You take the front.
Schanke: 'I'll go around back.' Maybe for once, I will go around back.
Barlow: Come on, honey, open up. Don't make me go in after you.
(Barlow pushes on the door and Nick pulls it open, pulling Barlow into the room)
Nick: I wouldn't move if I were you.
Cohen: Thank you, Detectives, good work.
Schanke: Pleasure's all ours.
Nick: Get a statement from him yet?
Cohen: Nothing that man says makes since to me, Nick. Nothing.
Cohen: Okay, Mr. Barlow. Let's try this again. We have evidence that you've killed two women since your escape.
Barlow: I'm incorrigible.
Nick: Tell us about Whitney David. You killed her on the Laurier grounds, minutes after you escaped.
Barlow: Guess I couldn't wait.
Nick: You tied her to a tree. (A lie, that causes Cohen to turn his way)
Barlow: That was a spectacular touch, wasn't it? (Nick and Cohen share a glance) Tell me, Detective, when you found her, did she have that surprised look on her face? A kinda, 'I can't believe what you just did to me', kind of look. You don't know what I'm talking about, do you? You don't know, you wouldn't know...less you've seen it, less you...did it.
Nick: Barlow didn't kill Whitney David.
Cohen: How sure are you?
Nick: You heard him. About the 'spectacular' touch. Whitney was never tied up. Natalie has her doubts, too.
Schanke: Well, somebody sure as hell wanted to make it look like Barlow.
Nick: Yeah. Maybe the same somebody who helped him escape.
Schanke: If he had help.
Cohen: But why? Who could possibly be sick enough to help someone like Barlow escape?
Dr. Welsh: I know they said that you could go home, but it's just not best for you right now. We haven't got you where you need to be, and...and we're close, honey, we're really close. It's just a couple of weeks.
Robyn: That's what you said last time. And before.
Dr. Welsh: Okay, fine. I'll take you home. You can go. Fine.
Schanke: Whitney David's shrink? Dr. Elliot Sillman, he's on vacation.
Nick: Yeah, I know...Dr. Welsh told me.
Schanke: Isn't that just like a shrink, leaving town when you need him?
Nick: Get in touch with him?
Schanke: No, he's on his way to Nepal. He flew out this morning. He's doing a little rock climbing in the Himalayas. We left word for him, but I don't know. A stirrup on a yak ain't my idea of 911. He'll get back to us, but when, I don't know. Do you think he's the do-er?
Nick: Well, he was still in town when Whitney David was killed.
Schanke: Yeah, but he left before Erin Devon was killed.
Nick: Erin is Barlow's victim.
Schanke: But...but Sillman had nothing to do with Barlow. I mean, what's the connection? I-I'd like to think shrink, but right now I'm thinking patient.
Nick: It's not a patient, Schanke.
Schanke: Well, somebody in there helped Barlow, Nick. I mean, maybe they made an arraignment, a conspiracy, I don't know.
Nick: Think about it. If you're inside and you couldn't get out, what would your first priority be? Wouldn't be helping another patient escape, would it?
Schanke: Well, who then? An orderly? A nurse? Simmons could pass for Nurse Ratchet, herself.
Nurse: I'm not so sure about this...with Dr. Sillman on vacation and everything. Shouldn't you have his permission?
Nick: Trust me, he won't mind.
Nurse: Well...this is kind of irregular....
Schanke: Well, this is kind of a police emergency.
Nick: Here we go. Notes on on the sessions with Whitney David. Diagnosis. Prognosis. Transcripts.
Schanke: Here's a recommendation for Whitney's release.
Nick: But nothing to suggest he was having second thoughts.
Schanke: Not that I can find. Typical shrink. Decides at the last minute that Whitney David's got to stay in the boobie hatch, and then take off for a vacation.
Nick: Unless it wasn't Sillman who decided to keep her in.
Dr. Welsh: Come on, Robyn, let's go.
Robyn: I can go now?
Dr. Welsh: That's what you wanted, wasn't it? To get out of here? Well then, we'll go. In my car.
Nick: Excuse me, do you have some kind of a master list of patients? I mean, a status report of who's coming, who's going, who recommends release, that kind of thing?
Nurse: I've got the admissions record.
Nick: Good.
Nurse: That's everyone.
Nick: Thanks. Does Dr. Welsh normally countermand so many release recommendations.
Nurse: No more than anyone else I've worked for. Although come to think of it, there have been a few more than usual in recent months.
Nick: Are they here?
Nurse: Yeah, right here.
Nick: Where can I find Robyn Flood.
Nurse: She's in N 12.
Nick: Let's go.
Nurse: Robyn?
Schanke: No one home? She is supposed to be in here, right?
Nurse: Yes, it's well past lights-out.
Nick: Wherever she is, she hasn't been gone long.
Nurse: This is not possible, Detective. According to the sheet, she was given her medication at nine thirty. She would need a key, besides.
Schanke: Well, somehow she got a hold of one, didn't she?
Amalia: I knew you could not leave me. Mini flashback to present: Nick: Does Dr. Welsh have a pager? Schanke: You think the good Doctor's gone over to the other side, that she's emotionally challenged, too? Nick: Police officer, have you seen Dr. Shawna Welsh? Nick: (on phone) Yeah, Schanke? Dr. Welsh: I just thought it would be nice to get to know each other a little better. You know, like friends. Nick: Dr. Welsh, you can let her go, and you will. Stay away from her, Robyn. It's all right, I'm a police officer. (She injects herself with something) Not this.... LaCroix: Poor Nicholas. One moment we gorge on the life force, and the next...only silence fills us, and we are empty again. Then whisperings of renewed thirst. You feel it already, don't you? Already your thoughts have strayed from her to the next. Where will you find her? How will you take her? All at once? A little at a time? I can see it in your eyes, Nicholas. Can there be any finer thing than this? Eternal hunger followed by eternal pleasure. If this is our prison, let us rot for all eternity. You will forget this one, Nicholas. There will be many, many more and you...you will possess them all....
Nick: She sprang Barlow. To cover herself, she copied his MO, figured we'd assume Barlow killed Whitney David.
Nick: No, Amalia, but you must leave me. Before it's too late. Before this obsession consumes us.
Amalia: I do not have the will, Nicholas. I am as helpless as you.
Nick: But you have a lifetime.
Amalia: You are my life. I could never hope to meet another man such as you. You are worth everything to me, worth life itself.... Take me. Let me die in your arms. Go ahead my love, drink. One last time....
Dr. Welsh: It's all about possession. (Echoes)
Nurse: Of course. All of the doctors do.
Nick: Try to reach her. Come on, Schank.
Nurse: Are they in trouble?
Nick: Robyn is.
Dr. Welsh: (Tape) Recommendations re: Flood, Robyn, case number 67192. Suggest that patient's scheduled release be postponed. Robyn exhibits renewed signs of psychotic behaviour. Suggest also more aggressive medication therapy. Rescind Dr. Springer's recommendation for release.
Nick: Lock this place down. Put out an APB on Dr. Shawna Welsh. And get me the make and plate on her car.
Schanke: Where are you going? (Picks up phone, dials) Dispatch, this is Schanke, listen up.
Security: Not lately.
Nick: She hasn't been through?
Security: She wouldn't, uh...employees and staff mostly use their own entrance. Out back in maintenance. Just go down there.
Schanke: Yeah, Nick, I got a make on Welsh's car. It's a red late model convertible, license number RKP 698. Got it?
Nick: I'm on it.
Robyn: Friends?
Dr. Welsh: Yes, friends. That's what ???, isn't it? Friends?
Robyn: It's getting cold, Dr. Shawna. I want to go home.
Dr. Welsh: Oh. Oh.... Yes, you're right. Here you go, dear. Robyn, we have to talk. I can't let you go. I want you to stay.
Robyn: But, they....
Dr. Welsh: No, no, you don't understand. I can't let you go, because...I love you. ??something...?? I just can't let you go.
Dr. Welsh: No, no, this is better. You know then.
Nick: About Whitney and Barlow?
Dr. Welsh: No. About the murdering mind. You know it well.
Natalie: But why?
Nick: To posses her totally, finally.
Natalie: Well, it does happen--psychiatrists taking on their patient's illnesses. I-I suppose it's one of the hazards of the job.
Nick: I know how she felt, Nat. All of it. Not just the loneliness, but the urges to fill the void. The perverse logic of it.
Natalie: Those are needs that you don't have anymore. That's all in the past. Isn't it?
(Nat leaves and Schanke comes up with a yawn.)
Schanke: I am out of here. I'm history. That's all she wrote. Not only has the fat lady sung, but she's left the theater with Elvis. (Laughs) About time for a little bed and breaky, huh?
Nick: Schank, do me a favour, will you. Will you take the car back to the precinct? I'll pick it up later.
Schanke: And you'll be?
Nick: Busy.