LET NO MAN TEAR ASUNDER

*****

Nick: Butcher or baker?
Natalie: The former, I'm afraid. Her heart was extracted. There are also signs of blunt trauma to the head. Looks like it might be a knockout blow.
Nick: A stolen heart? Why?
Natalie: I have no idea.
Nick: I'm not an expert, but it looks as if someone tried to remove it without damaging it.
Natalie: You know, you could be right. It looks to me like someone tried to keep the aorta and the connecting tissue intact. This wasn't done out here on the street, that's for sure.
Nick: So it's not mutilation...it's open heart surgery.

Tracy: I covered the grounds. No other evidence suggests that the murder took place here. A homeless guy, rooting around in the dumpster, found her. He said he comes here quite frequently, and he didn't see anything.... And I found this, about half a block away.
Natalie: It's a match. Cinderella has both her slippers. Warm feet....
Nick: Cold heart.

Nick: I swear, my dear Hans, it becomes more intoxicating with each session.
Hans Victor: Call it a mortality cocktail, Nicholas. The electrical charges catalyze the serum injections and stimulate production of normal blood cells. And you will be cured. Personally, I would give my fortune for your...vitality, Nicholas.
Nick: So, you would step into my boots, would you, Hans? You'd have to give up the women. Your lovely Veronica.
Hans: It would be easier to excise my own heart. The voltage we're using can be quite brutal--even on your metabolism. Fortunately, it's nothing that this shouldn't remedy. A toast to your first day in the sun.
Nick: In anticipation of the fruits of our labor, and to you, my dear Doctor. And to Veronica, that magnificent diva who has so captured your soul.
Hans: And every other part of me, as well.

Natalie: Rare blood type, same as mine--AB negative. I'd say it happened less than, oh, eighteen hours ago. And take a look at this.
Tracy: Hmm. Nice work. Not as ugly as some of the tattoos I've seen.
Natalie: Freshly applied. From the looks of it, I'd say the artist never got to finish his work.
Nick: Okay, so we take a picture of this with us, and check out all the tattoo parlors in town.
Tracy: Oh, let me save the trip. I think I know the place. I'm a bit of an expert on the subject, actually. (Nick glances her way, suspiciously...) Hey, it's not what you're thinking. I don't have one hidden somewhere. It's a friend of mine, he's really into tattoos...and this is an Asian design. I recognize the handiwork. It's a place in Chinatown.
Nick: What about the heart extraction?
Natalie: Expertly done. Somebody knew what they were doing. Knew what they wanted.
Nick: To maintain its usefulness in somebody else's body?
Natalie: No, I'd say that's a long shot at best. Even if the surgeon managed to deliver the organ safely, it should have been declared unsuitable for transplant. I found evidence of incipient hepatitis A in what little bit of blood remained. Probably she didn't even know she had it yet.
Nick: So, if someone needed this young lady's heart to replace their own, they're out of luck.
Tracy: Yeah, and back on a long waiting list. My Uncle Sonny needs a transplant. He's just waiting for a donor.
Nick: That's got to be tough on the family.
Natalie: Yeah, the waiting is the hard part. I, myself, am due to go under the knife as soon as my doctor can find an opening.
Nick: That's your bad knee, right?
Natalie: Okay, okay, I know it's not as drastic as open heart surgery, but I understand the stress.
Tracy: Yeah. We're all praying for a miracle.

Nick: I didn't know your uncle was sick. He was a cop, wasn't he?
Tracy: Yeah, but his bad heart forced him to take early retirement. It's getting pretty tense now. Almost desperation time. It's the waiting is just so hard.... You know, if someone actually stole another person's heart, as ridiculous as that sounds....
Nick: It would be a tremendously complex conspiracy, that's for sure.
Tracy: I mean, obviously you could not condone something like that, but if they did it for someone they really loved, it's almost understandable, isn't it?
Nick: Almost.

1830's or 1840's

Hans: She is being wooed by every opera company in Europe.
Nick: Well it's no wonder, with a voice like hers...she's remarkable.
Hans: Yes, she is. And I'll go with her wherever she goes.
Nick: Well, that would be some undertaking, moving a laboratory like yours to a new city.
Hans: I'll give it all up, and more, to be with her, Nicholas.

Hans: Magnificent, Veronica. Truly magnificent.
Veronica: I was so nervous. I've done better, I'm sure.
Nick: Never better. You were superb.
Veronica: With the Baron's blessing, I may receive an appointment to the Royal Company in Hamburg next season.
Hans: And if we stay here a moment longer, you'll have to do an encore--and I have much work to finish before the night is done.

Veronica: Good night, Hans. Thank you for another wonderful evening.
Hans: Thank you, my darling. And you, Nicholas--will you be staying the evening?
Nick: No, I must really get back to the village. (Eyeing the nervous horses)
Hans: (Going to steady the horses) Easy there. Steady on lads. Steady.... Easy, easy....
Veronica: I've never seen him so unnerved. Hans: Easy....
Veronica: Perhaps he is ailing. (The horses continue to fight Hans, and they rear) Hans!
(Nick pulls Hans away from the horses, but Veronica moves closer as well, and she ends up in the path of the horses.)
Hans: Veronica!

Hans: Oh, my God! Veronica.... Quickly, Nicholas, you must help me get her inside.
Nick: We must take her to a hospital.
Hans: No! No one is as qualified as I am to care for her. Come--bring her to the laboratory.

Tracy: It looks like no one's home.
Nick: Someone's inside. I think someone's in trouble. You stay here, watch the front. I'll go around the back.

Tracy: Nick! Back here! Wow. Adrenaline. Amazing stuff.

Tracy: Victim's name is Malora Willoughby--pretty name. Twenty-four...recently moved here from Halifax.
Nick: According to the old man, she was a fairly frequent visitor at his tattoo parlor.
Reese: The old tattoo guy is too shook up for any more questions right now. I sent him home with his daughter as soon as she got here.
Tracy: Suspect's name is Mel Purdy. He's on parole, and the old man hired him at the tattoo parlor just a week ago.
Reese: Big question--do we think he grabbed the girl? And for whom?
Tracy: Well, the old man thinks he did.
Nick: Purdy kidnapped her all right. Forensics found her blood in the back of his van. And he's working for someone else. He had twenty grand in a box under the floorboard in his truck, and he didn't get it doing tattoos.
Reese: Why the hell did he go back to the tattoo parlor? He should be on his way to South America by now.
Tracy: Maybe he's trying to cover his tracks?
Reese: I think he's a little bereft in the IQ department. Come on, let's join this criminal genius in the barbie pit, shall we?
Nick: I'll catch up with you. (About the weeping guy on the bench) Malora's boyfriend?
Natalie: Yeah. Poor guy. He collapsed in the morgue when he had to identify her body. One minute, she's everything he lives for, and the next....
Nick: Anything I can do?
Natalie: Yeah, find the people responsible.

Nick: Is there nothing I can do?
Hans: There is...something you can do, Nicholas. I've done what I can for her wounds. But the injury has severely traumatized her heart. It's weakening by the minute. The pulse is fading and irregular. Bring her over. Make her into what you are. You must bring her over before it's too late. Oh, she's slipping away.
Nick: Hans. I cannot do that.
Hans: Do it now! I beg you. I am losing her.
Nick: The choice to become what I am is Veronica's alone. I cannot make that decision for her, Hans. I will not inflict my condition on her. I will not condemn her. I have sworn it.
Hans: Sworn to who? To a God that you have scarcely obeyed for centuries. You owe this to me, Nicholas. To Veronica. It was because of you, because of what you are, that the horse reared and bolted. He sensed what you are. Bring her back to me. Bring her back....

Natalie: Mmm, my savior beckons. Dr. Freeman--my orthopedic surgeon. I guess she found an opening for me. I suppose I should bite the bullet and get this over with. I've been putting it off for years.
Nick: I suppose that means you'll be laid up for a bit?
Natalie: Oh, pffd, a couple of weeks. The operation itself is no big deal. Basically an outpatient procedure. I've arranged to take some time off to recuperate.
Nick: Just let me know if you need anything after, okay?
Natalie: Some flowers?
Nick: Yeah.
Natalie: Seriously? I could use a ride home from the clinic after the procedure.
Nick: It's a done deal. I'll stop by after my shift. Just tell me where I have to be.
Natalie: Dr. Valerie Freeman--Mount Pleasant and Grover. Don't worry, I'm in the best possible hands.
Nick: Yeah.
Natalie: Good luck to you.
Nick: Sure.

Reese: Okay, Mr. Purdy, this is what you're looking at: kidnapping, accessory to murder, aggravated assault on a peace officer. The best deal you're going to get is life. Help us out, and we'll see if we can get you a room with a window.
Purdy: Hey, look--I was hired as an assistant at the parlor. The old man's senile. Can't remember anything. He says he paid me for my work, but he didn't. I just came back for my money. That's it. I showed up just before these two cops did. He was already tied up. He was okay, man. I just wanted what he owed me.
Tracy: Why? We found twenty thousand dollars hidden in your van.
Nick: And, of course, you jumped Detective Vetter here because you thought she was a prowler.
Purdy: Yeah.
Nick: You being the security-minded type.
Reese: Let's get down to business here. Why Malora Willoughby?
Purdy: I don't know anything about her.
Nick: We found her blood in the back of your van. Can you explain that?
Purdy: I don't know what you're talking about. Look, don't I get a lawyer right about now?

Reese: Too sick for me. The idea of someone being kidnapped and murdered for their internal organs. I cannot wrap my brain around that one. (He tries to get the water cooler to work...it doesn't.) Well, should've known. Well, what now?
Nick: Well, to start with, I want to look at the transplant waiting list. Somebody on it might just be desperate enough to kill for what they need. (Reese walks off)
Tracy: Nick, I have a contact...or I have a feeling someone I know can provide us with information. If there is a black market for organ transplants operating in this city, he might know something about it.
Nick: You trust this person?
Tracy: Well...not really. But it's worth a shot--could save us some time.
Nick: All right, go for it, and be careful.
Tracy: Maybe I could find someone to lead us to whoever hired Purdy.
Nick: Well, there's one thing we know for certain--someone still has a desperate need for a human heart. The one Purdy brought them isn't usable. And I have a feeling they're not going to stop until they get one that is.

Natalie: Oh, believe me, I am really happy to get this over with. I'm glad you could fit me in.
Dr. Freeman: Well, a cancellation came up. I'm glad you could take it. The latest X-rays we received show an additional complication. I bet the pain's back and worse than ever.
Natalie: Really?
Dr. Freeman: Not to worry. And you are going to love the results. We get minimal scarring with the laser. Now, what did you say your blood type was?
Natalie: Ah, AB--AB-negative.
Dr. Freeman: Hm.
Natalie: Well, I can't wait to get this over with.
Dr. Freeman: I can videotape the whole thing for you, if you like. You can critique my handiwork after?
Natalie: Wouldn't presume, Doctor. I know that you're the best in your field.
Dr. Freeman: We'll give you a sedative, and I'll start the IV drip as soon as possible.
Natalie: Wait a minute--you're...you're going with a general anesthetic?
Dr. Freeman: Does that bother you?
Natalie: Well, I dunno. I sorta figured it was a fairly non-invasive procedure. I thought maybe you'd go with an epidural?
Dr. Freeman: Armchair quarterbacking now? Do you have a problem with going under?
Natalie: It's not my favorite thing in the world, no.
Dr. Freeman: Well, it helps to keep the knee as immobile as possible, so I use the general. Unless, of course, you'd like to do it yourself?
Natalie: No. Sorry, Doctor. Well, let's do it, then.
Dr. Freeman: Yeah. Let's get started.

Vachon: Black market what?!
Tracy: Organ transplants. Hearts, specifically. I've heard of these things happening in China or Central America. Where, um, organs are harvested for transplant from political prisoners.
Vachon: So what is this now, every time you run across anything really weird you run to you supernatural chum Vachon for the inside dope?
Tracy: Well you're the only supernatural friend I have. Look, all I'm asking is, just keep an ear to the ground. Just ask around.
Vachon: What kind of friends do you think I hang around with, anyway?
Tracy: Hey, I've met them, remember? Anyway, it's not really just a police matter. It's my uncle. He's in desperate need of a heart transplant, and he's way down on the list for a donor heart.
Vachon: Screed told me about something. He said that he'd heard of a group of doctors that travel back and forth between here and Rio. And some of them have connections to us--you know, our Community.
Tracy: Vampires?
Vachon: (He nods) Anyway, they have a thing going. Millions of dollars involved. They prey on people's desperation.
Tracy: I can understand that. I see it more and more in my own family.
Vachon: So, they accelerate the process of procurement. That's what Screed told me. For a fee...an astronomical fee, of course, they find you what you need, and uh, you know...take care of the particulars.
Tracy: Find it? Where do they find it?
Vachon: Do you want me to draw you a picture? Hey, I don't have anything to do with this. I'm just repeating what Screed told me.
Tracy: Okay. I'm going to need names...places.
Vachon: If you really think it's the only way to go.... You're that desperate? (Tracy doesn't answer, and Vachon writes something down on a piece of paper.) I think his name's Walters. Tell him Enrique, from the clinic in Rio, sent you. Tell him you'll pay him whatever he wants. Okay?

Nightcrawler: Do you suppose they celebrate death days on the other side? Will the day we give up the ghost be a cause for celebration in heaven, or are we just another log on the fires of hell? The only extraordinary thing about birth, it seems to me, is that we are no longer dead, which we presume to be an inferior predicament. How fiercely we struggle to avoid death. How the death of our loved ones pains us. How desperately we hold on...hold on for dear life.

Nick: Hans, what are you doing?
Hans: I will not allow death to cheat me of my only reason for living. She's almost gone, Nicholas. But I will bring her back. I can reanimate her. I've been able to sustain her dying heart with intermittent bursts of regulated voltage. Power is diminishing--rapidly. I need a human heart. One that is still warm from pumping blood.
Nick: For what?
Hans: I believe that I can surgically replace it...with a healthy one. I want you to bring one to me. You will help me, Nicholas. Yes, you shall, or you will forfeit the reversal treatments. Refuse to help me to bring life back to Veronica, and you will live on interminably with blood thirst and fear of the sun.
Nick: Hans, you are mad with grief.
Hans: You have no choice! I hold the key to your future. Your only hope for a normal life. Go. Do as I say. There is no time to waste.
Nick: This is insanity, Hans. This is insanity, pure and simple. I will not be a party to this.

Hans: How can you deny me? You come to me to restore your mortality, to give you life. But you draw the line when I beg you to help me.
Nick: What you are contemplating is murder.
Hans: Then bring me the heart of a murderer, I don't care! Look around you, Nicholas. Hundreds to choose from, evil men and women who prey on the decent people of this city, criminals who kill for pleasure and profit.
Nick: I'm not judge and jury.
Hans: What was Veronica's crime but her misfortune? She used her life to bring light to the world, to bring joy and beauty.
Nick: You are meddling where you should not. You're interfering with the natural course of life.
Hans: And you never have?! How many, Nicholas? How many lives interrupted to feed your bloodlust through the centuries? How much beauty lost? What have you ever brought to the world but pain and darkness? (Nick leaves, and Hans continues, shouting after him.) How many hearts stopped cold? (Nick stops) How many fates interrupted, Nicholas? Or can you even count them?

Woman: A fine evening, isn't it, sir? You look like you might use some company. Or the comfort of a woman, perhaps?
Nick: Please, let me pass.
Woman: Yours--for a fair price.
Nick: Please, let me be.
Woman: All right, I'll have your gold then.
(Nick grabs her, prepared to kill her)

Nick: Excuse me. (Pulls out his badge.) Detective Knight. I'd like to see the national organ transplant waiting list, if I could, please?
Nurse: Sure.

Dr. Freeman: How are you feeling, Natalie?
Natalie: Okay...tired.... Still not dressed yet, huh? I guess we've...we've got a while to wait?
Dr. Freeman: Not much longer.

Dr. Walters: This'll just take a moment.... Yes, here he is.
Tracy: We've been waiting a long time for a donor. And there's a question at this point about his survival.
Dr. Walters: I have all the particulars here. We have access to the nationwide waiting list. It's updated constantly, and every perspective transplant recipient is on it. (Pulls up the file) Here he is. Vetter, Sonny--that's him, right?
Tracy: Yes, that's him.
Dr. Walters: Looks like a good candidate. Your uncle was a police officer, I see.
Tracy: Yes, until his condition forced him to retire.
Dr. Walters: Miss Vetter, what exactly do you think we do here?
Tracy: Well, I was told that you can...influence matters, so to speak. That you can get my uncle to the top of the list.
Dr. Walters: Who told you that?
Tracy: My aunt. She contacted a clinic--the Benitez Clinic, in Rio? They specialize-
Dr. Walters: Ms. Vetter, I understand the...desperation that drives people to seek alternatives at the fringes of medicine to save their lives. To save the lives of people they love. But I can assure you, the work we do here is all strictly above board. I'm sorry, but I think you've been misled by some unscrupulous people. I feel for you, I honestly do.

Hans: Come to me...please. Please...Veronica....
Nick: It's done then, Hans. It's over. Let it be.
Hans: Nicholas. Nicholas, come here now. Now, Nicholas! She is alive. She is alive! (She opens her eyes) Veronica, Oh, my God. Veronica. Yes, it's me, Veronica. Yes.

Nick: Angie, I need to access background information on this patient, Sage Freeman, right away, please. (The nurse types in the needed password) Thanks.

Dr. Freeman: Quickly. The medic techs will meet us on second level parking.
Attendant: Yes, Doctor.
Dr. Freeman: Now, move it, quick.

Tracy: I know you can do something. Please. My family has more than adequate resources.
Dr. Walters: Let me take the matter under advisement. Talk with the other members of the group. Sometimes the situation changes by the hour. It's not simply a matter of priority on the list, but suitability of the candidate. Genetic characteristics of the donor... Ms. Vetter, you understand that to get a transplant donor that is suitable this quickly is... Well, it's feasible, but it requires a tremendous amount of special effort. Which costs a lot of money.
Tracy: Whatever it costs. My family will get it. There's nothing that we won't do. My uncle is a wonderful man. We love him very much.
Dr. Walters: (The intercom beeps) I'll be there in a moment.... (After studying Tracy for a moment) There's some forms in that folder on that table. You can fill one out for me.

Sage Freeman: Mom.... I feel so weak. I don't know if I can make it through this....
Dr. Freeman: Honey, now you listen to me. They found a donor. She's right here. They're getting her ready right now in the other room.
Sage: I know you're just saying that...anything to make me do it. I'm tired of all these operations.
Dr. Freeman: This will be the last one, Sage. The one we've been waiting for. I love you, sweetie. Hang in there.

Tracy: Nick, it's Tracy. Listen...they've got Natalie.
Nick: What? Who's got Natalie?

Dr. Walters: Did you find what you were looking for, Miss Vetter? Tell me, what's your blood type? Come on, move!

Nick: Got a call from Tracy--she said someone's got Natalie, then the phone went dead. I think they're both in trouble, Cap. I'm at Natalie's doctor's office. Her car's here, but she's not. The building's locked. Reese: Where's Vetter? You know I really wish you two would stay in sync.
Nick: Just put out an APB. I don't know where Tracy is now, but I know who she was with. (Hangs up the phone)
Reese: Nick? Nick? Nick?! I'm going to have to sit those two down and show them what the word partner means.

Dr. Walters: Sit down. I'd appreciate it very much if you'd stay put. You might distract our doctors in the middle of a very difficult procedure.
Tracy: I was just looking around.
Dr. Walters: And you saw the wrong thing.

Vachon: 336 Church Lane. That's where Screed told me it's happening. It's a clinic or something. That's their cover. That's as much as I know.
Nick: She went alone? Of course, she did.
Vachon: Hey, look, I'm sorry, I thought I was helping. What else can I say? I'll come along.
Nick: No, thanks. Thanks.

Dr. Walters: I've got a bit of a situation here, but I think we can turn it to our advantage.... That's right. Twenties. Seems to be in excellent health. I can start a genetic profile, blood work immediately, if you like. She may be a better option for a...non-local case. Uh huh. Sure. I'll take care of everything from this end. You make arrangements for disposal.

Hans: We've done it, Nicholas. We've actually done it.
Nick: This is so wrong, Hans. It's all wrong.
Hans: Veronica, you have been gravely ill. You must rest. Your voice will come back. Veronica, give yourself time. Veronica, you will be better, you will sing again. (She pushes him away)
Nick: Hans!
Hans: Veronica, no! (She kills herself with one of Hans instruments) My God....

Dr. Freeman: My daughter. She needs help right away.
Tracy: All right. We'll get her to a hospital as quickly as we can.
Dr. Freeman: No, please, listen to me. She's not going to make it. Her heart. She needs a new heart. My child is going to die. Don't you understand?
Tracy: Yes. Unfortunately, I do. I know what it's like when someone you love is in pain.
Dr. Freeman: No.... No, please, you--you've got to do something. Oh, help me. Help me, please!

Hans: My God.... What have you done...?

Nick: They doing anything interesting in there?
Natalie: Only if you like watching cellular mitosis as much as I do. And people say that I'm a boring person.
Nick: Imagine that. What do you have there, anyway?
Natalie: Hair follicles. You can learn an amazing amount just by looking at people's hair. Exercise habits...sexual preferences, believe it or not. No, I'm serious. L'Oreal. Dippity Do. You name it.
Nick: A little something to speed your recovery.
Natalie: (For the bouquet of flowers he gave her) Well, that's awfully sweet of you. Thank you.
Nick: How's your knee?
Natalie: It appears to have gone into some sort of spontaneous remission. I think I'm going to live.
Nick: Well, that's the best way, isn't it? Nature, looking after everything on its own without man's intervention.
Natalie: Well, don't go all holistic and alternative on me. We all know that medical science does occasionally still come up with the odd miracle now and then.
Nick: All I'm saying is that I like your knee the way it is. And I'm glad that you're in one piece.
Natalie: Well, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my...oh, never mind. Am I to take this to mean then that you...idolize my knee?
Nick: Oh, absolutely. It's my personal choice for the body parts hall of fame.
Natalie: Anything else?
Nick: Everything.
Natalie: Hmm?
Nick: I like the whole package the way it is.