DEAD OF NIGHT

*****

Spencer: Power's down. Had contractors in to re-wire the place, but they took off like a shot one day, right in the middle of the job. Ghost got to them, probably.
Weintroff: Well, I suppose you come with the place, Mr. Spencer.
Spencer: I'm like part of the furniture.
Weintroff: Yeah, well, we'll be redecorating. Now go get me some damned lights.
Ms. King: Mr. Weintroff, Carl Spencer's been working here for almost twenty years. Mr. Ogden, the owner of the property, specifically stipulates--
Weintroff: Excuse me. I stipulate. Customer's always right. Where the hell is Ogden, anyway?
Ms. King: I'm not sure he got my message.
Weintroff: Yeah, well, call him again. Wake him up. Well?
Ms. King: I'll just try him again on my car phone.
Weintroff: Oh, goody. (Ms. King leaves, and Weintroff goes up the stairs)

Weintroff: (Hears something and turns around) What the hell...? (He's pushed over the balcony to his death)

Spencer: It's not the house that's supposed to be haunted, it's the people that go in it. That's the legend, anyway.
Nick: I've heard stories about this house.
Spencer: They say it's a spiritual channel of some kind.
Tracy: A portal into the afterlife.
Spencer: A porthole somewhere. Never seen anything like a ghost in there, but I got a clear conscience. No spook bugging me. I think, anyway.
Nick: You're sure you three were the only ones in the house when Weintroff fell?
Spencer: Oh, that's for sure. I went to get the juice going, you know, light the place up.
Tracy: And you left him with Ms. King?
Spencer: Right here.
Nick: Mr. Spencer, you understand we'll have to take you in for questioning.
Tracy: With a lawyer, Mr. Spencer.
Spencer: Oh, give me the lie detector, if you want. (He leaves)
Tracy: So, I'm guessing you're not much of a believer in ghosts?
Nick: I'll take the fifth on that one.

Ms. King: I was on my phone in the car, and I heard him scream. It was awful. And I looked up, and saw him on the.... He fell out, onto the fence.
Tracy: Did you see anyone with him?
Ms. King: It was dark, but...I thought I saw someone. A silhouette in the window. I looked again. No one was there.
Nick: Man or woman?
Ms. King: It was so dark, I couldn't say. Oh, God, I should call Mr. Ogden.
Nick: That's the property owner? We'll handle it.
Tracy: Ms. King, we're going to have this officer take you down to the precinct for your statement.
Ms. King: Why? Please, I just want to go home. I didn't do anything.
Tracy: And you should call your lawyer.

Nick: I want to have a look at that window.
Tracy: All right. I'll check around down here. And uh, hey, Nick? If I see anything weird, I'll scream.

Alyssa: (Faintly, just enough for Nick to hear) Nicholas....
Natalie: (Coming up behind him) Well, looks pretty cut and dried to me. Railing broke. In highly technical terms, he fell, he died. (Looks at Nick) You know, if I didn't know you better, I would say that this place frightens you.
Nick: Yeah, just keep it between us, okay?

Female Cop: Doctor Lambert, I need you to sign the crime scene duty roster.
Natalie: Sure. (Sees the officer's name badge, which reads 'Natasha') Oh, that takes me back. Natasha. My grandmother used to call me Natasha.
Female Cop: Excuse me, Doctor?
Natalie: Your name.... (She looks at it again, and it now reads 'Kate Nash') Uh...never mind. It's all right.

Nick: Officer--did you see a young woman standing by my car just now?
Cop: No.
Tracy: (Coming out of the house) Covered the downstairs. No trace of anyone. You?
Nick: No luck. Let's go talk to the landlord. (Gets into the Caddy)
Tracy: (After seeing a girl sitting next to Nick) Nick--there was a little girl sitting right here. Didn't you see her?
Nick: No. No, I didn't see anything. You okay?
Tracy: Yeah, forget it.

Ogden: Of course it's haunted. Shirelle can attest, can't you, sweetheart? She's had encounters there, in the dead of night.
Tracy: With ghosts?
Ogden: Ghosts are merely people without bodies, Detective. Very much like us, they share our same need for answers to burning questions. Many seek justice where none was rendered in life. Kessel House is a reverse medium, if you will, through which the dead come to the living for closure. I've been an aficionado of the occult and the paranormal all my life, and I've never come across anything quite like it.
Nick: How well did you know Gefford Weintroff?
Ogden: Well enough not to like him, frankly. He and his partner were interested in the house, and the adjoining property. Are you insinuating a motive, Detective?
Nick: No, we think his death was an accident...but now that you've brought it up....
Ogden: But I was home all evening. Exercising. Shirelle has been helping me. Doubling as my personal trainer. One of the things about being a ghost I most look forward to is a less cumbersome package. And as for Gefford Weintroff.... I warned him that the house was in a dangerous state. I insisted that he sign a waver before he inspected the property.
Nick: And his partner?
Ogden: Gerry Scalley? Also most unpleasant. Toured the property last week.
Tracy: Did Gefford Weintroff believe that Kessel House was haunted?
Ogden: Well, I know he didn't yesterday.

Natalie: Subject: male, Caucasian, 43. Cause of death: massive internal trauma, result of impalement. Anomalous bruising noted on the upper thorax.
Nana: This is such an awful place, Natasha.
Natalie: Yeah. You're telling me. (She then spins, realizing no one should be there.)
Nana: Natasha, why you don't come see me in hospital? Why you don't come say dosvidanya?

Reese: I don't believe in ghosts, but I know foul play when I see it. Look, Nick, the guy went over the railing with sufficient force to pull it down.
Nick: Yeah, that's right.
Reese: Well, that tells me he was pushed. We're not focusing here, people.
Tracy: I don't know how I missed that one.
Reese: The real estate agent says she left Weintroff to use her car phone.
Tracy: Easy enough to verify.
Reese: And did you? What about you? Well, I did. The cellular company said no call was made from that car all night. No incoming, either. Adios, alibi. The caretaker says he left victim with the real estate lady, who says she left victim alone. Well, I say someone pushed the guy, and that's two prime suspects. They're going to walk because I don't have anything.
(Natalie comes in)
Reese: Please, tell me you found something?
Natalie: Well, I did finish the prelim, and uh, I'm going to say that...actually, I think that I'm going to say that it was...uh...
Reese: Accidental?
Nick: You okay?
Natalie: Yeah. Yeah, never been better. Maybe just a little over caffeinated.
Reese: Something you people should know about me--I hate when people get away with murder on my watch. Now, we're going to take a fresh look at this thing with the idea firmly in mind that this was a homicide, okay? Sleep on it.

Alyssa: Nicholas. (Nick turns around) You said we'd be together forever.
Nick: Alyssa.
Alyssa: Your wife.

Alyssa: Say you remember. Please. Say you remember how I loved you.

Austria: around 1530

Priest: Do you, Alyssa von Linz, promise to love, cherish, honor and obey this man who would today be your husband?
Alyssa: I do.
Priest: In sickness and health, forever and without condition?
Alyssa: Without condition.
Priest: Do you, sir, also take this woman as your wife, in the eyes of God and Church, to cherish in life, forever and unconditionally. What say you, Nicholas de Brabant?
Nick: I do.
Priest: If any man object whatsoever to this union, let him come forward to speak, or forever hold his peace. With authority vested in me by God, I pronounce you man and wife. What he has put together, let no man put asunder.

A dream:
Tracy: (As a child) Come on, let's go.
Susan: My sled's stuck.
Tracy: Come on. Hurry up!
Susan: My sweater's stuck. Tracy, come help me.
Tracy: Susan.
Susan: Tracy.... (Looks ahead and sees a train approaching) Tracy! Help me!

Susan: (Outside Tracy's window) Tracy. Help me. Tracy, help me....

Scalley: So, you're here about Weintroff. Tough break for him, huh?
Nick: We're investigating his death as a homicide. We need to see his records.
Scalley: Murder? Well, don't look at me. I was on the red-eye from Vancouver last night when it happened.
Tracy: You'll pardon my saying so, Mr. Scalley, but you don't seem that affected about your partner's death.
Scalley: Sure I am--it's double the work for me now he's gone.
Nick: Did Weintroff have any enemies?
Scalley: Better to ask if he had any friends. None of either, I'd say.
Tracy: Tell us about Kessel House.
Scalley: Place is a dump. Weintroff's idea. He had plans for it, so I took a look at it.
Nick: What plans?
Scalley: Never got around to telling me. We weren't exactly seeing eye to eye in the last few months.
Tracy: Has anything strange happened to you since you visited Kessel House last weekend?
Scalley: Well, let's see.... My partner was killed in a freak accident, does that count? Look, I know what you're getting at. Everyone goes to Kessel House looking for ghosts. But you don't see ghosts unless you believe in ghosts. And I don't, period.
Nick: We're going to have to ask you to stay around for a little while--until this situation clears.
Scalley: Sorry, tomorrow I'm in Calgary.
Nick: Well, then, you'll have to change your plans, won't you?

Reese: Military. I'm not sure which branch. Oh, and your hunch was right--that is Weintroff's blood on it. I want to run it past some military people I know. Try and trace it.

Tracy: For two guys who didn't see eye-to-eye Weintroff and Scalley sure go back a long way. How about you?
Nick: Well, only that Weintroff has been sued by almost everyone in Ontario.
Tracy: Sorry, man...I didn't sleep last night.
Nick: What's up?
Tracy: Nick.... What if I told you I saw a ghost at Kessel House?
Nick: The little girl in the car.
Tracy: I thought you'd laugh. When I was little, a friend of mine was killed by a train. I was there. I saw it. I blamed myself. Last night, at Kessel House, that was her. And I saw her again, outside my window at home. It was her. It was Susan Feldman.

Nana: Natasha.... Why?
Natalie: Look, I...I know you're just a figment of my imagination, but please don't sneak up on me like that.
Nana: I'm sorry, Tashka.
Natalie: Nana, you've...you've been dead for years.... How can you be here?
Nana: I don't know. I saw you last night, so I followed. To ask why you don't come see me in the hospital.
(Nick and Tracy come in)
Nick: Who are you talking to, Nat?
(Natalie jumps, and then after looking at them, looks back to where her grandmother was--nothing)
Tracy: Are you okay?

Natalie: Could be hysteria, hypnotic suggestion, maybe even an hallucinogenic agent. I haven't slept, going on two days. That could be it. Or, I could just be losing my mind.
Tracy: You're not crazy. It's happening to me, too.
Nick: All right. All right, I saw someone, too. A woman in the house. Make you feel better? But I'm not prepared to think that a ghost killed Weintroff.
Natalie: Okay. This conversation has officially gone over the deep end.
Tracy: Natalie, when your grandmother came to see you, what did she want?
Natalie: She wanted to know why I never went to see her when she was dying.
Tracy: And did you tell her?
Natalie: No. No, I didn't. Not the real reason.
Tracy: She'll be back.

Nightcrawler: A ghost is a hallucination of some famous regret, no more. Ghosts are mistakes that we have made. They come not from beyond the pale, but rise up from our gravest doubts about ourselves. Each ill-considered thing that we have done is a ghost that haunts us. If we let it.

Alyssa: Are you happy, my lord Nicholas?
Nick: As I've ever been.
Alyssa: We'll be together forever, won't we?
Nick: For eternity.

Nick: Do you remember when I promised that we could be together forever? I can give you eternal life. (They kiss) Alyssa...I am immortal. As you will be. My gift to you. (He vamps out) Alyssa.... Do you trust me?
Alyssa: Of course, my lord. With all my heart.
Nick: Then close your eyes...and give yourself to me.

Nightcrawler: Regret is for the foolish, the weak, the tormented. Kill it before it bleeds you dry.

Tracy: (After turning the radio off) Sorry, Nick, that guy gets under my skin. So what do you think she wants? Susan Feldman? What does she want?
Nick: I don't know. Why don't you ask her? (His cell phone rings) Knight?
Scalley: (On the phone) Yeah, Detective Knight. Look, someone's tailing me. I think they've got it in for me like they had it in for Weintroff.
Nick: Someone you know?
Scalley: Yeah, someone I know. A dead someone.

Nick: (At Scalley's) Something's not right here. Look, you take the front, I'll go around back. If anyone comes, check their ID, okay?

Tracy: Susan? Susan, is that you? Susan...? Susan? (She follows Susan out into the street until a van drives between them, startling her...at which Susan disappears)

Reese: I don't buy it.
Natalie: Well, my preliminary report is just going to add to the confusion. Heart attack. Massive, sudden and swift.
Reese: He's too young for a massive coronary. Have you checked his medical records?
Natalie: There's nothing there. There's no history of heart disease, murmur, cholesterol, tachycardia, you name it. You know, with what's been happening lately, if someone were to suggest to me that he'd been scared to death, I might actually believe it. (She leaves)
Reese: Did he know who was following him?
Nick: It was a dead someone, he said.
Reese: These guys have real flesh and blood enemies. Stop chasing ghosts, will you?
Nick: (To Tracy) I wish they'd stop chasing us.
Reese: Oh, yeah, Nick? My friends in the service tell me it's a uh, US Army issue service star. Of the type issued about twenty years ago.
(Nick and Tracy head back to their desks)
Nick: My guess is that Weintroff grabbed it from his assailant in the struggle.
Tracy: This is interesting. Who's Who from the Chamber of Commerce listings. Remember when I said Weintroff and Scalley go back a long ways in business? They were fraternity brothers in college, too.
Nick: The ghost had it in for both of them. Calling in an old debt, maybe.

Natalie: Subject: Gerard Scalley. Enzyme tests confirm coronary thrombosis. Anomalous contusion over the sternum similar to that observed in subject G. Weintroff.... (Sensing something, she turns off the recorder) Grandma? Nana? You here? (Waits, but there's not answer) Right. I am completely out of my mind. (Starts the recorder again) G. Weintroff suggests comodio cortus, a fatal blow to the chest, though the instrument of death is unknown.
(She turns, feeling something, but nothing is there, then, a hand touches her, and she finds her grandmother there.)
Nana: Oh, this is such an awful place, Natasha. You spend so much time here. That nice boy, Nick. He likes you. I can tell. He seems like a very down-to-earth young fellow.
Natalie: Nana, listen to me.... I'm sorry I never came to the hospital, but I have to tell you the truth. I resented you. Do you remember, when I was a little girl and you used to take care of me?
Nana: Yes, I remember.... I hit you. I hurt you. Now I know how wrong I was. I'm sorry, Natasha. Can you forgive me?
Natalie: Yes, of course. I'm sorry, too.
Nana: I'm happy now. I can rest.
Natalie: Nana, wait...please! You...you have to tell me...where are you?
Nana: I'm sleeping, Natasha. I'm sleeping in a beautiful dream. (She vanishes)
Natalie: Nana?
(Nick enters)
Nick: Nat? What's wrong?
Natalie: She was here. My grandmother was here again, and when I told her why I never went to visit her when she was dying, she apologized to me. I've been waiting my whole life for her to apologize.
Nick: Maybe you should knock off for a while?
Natalie: No, I'm okay. It's okay. I've almost finished my write-up.
Nick: Nat...well, if you're sure, uh.... (Pulls out the evidence bag with the military insignia in it) I found this outside of Kessel House. It's got Weintroff's blood on it. I was wondering if you could find a cut or a scratch to match with it.
Natalie: I'll double check.
Nick: Nat? You sure you're going to be okay if...you know, your grandmother comes back?
Natalie: She won't be back. Don't ask me how I know, I just know. She's finished here. We made our peace.

Nick: Sleep, my love. When you awake, we will be as one forever.

Nick: Alyssa. Alyssa...? Alyssa, it's time to wake. Alyssa?
LaCroix: Something wrong, Nicholas? Your love nest reeks of death.
Nick: I brought her across.
LaCroix: Life is a fire, Nicholas, it can be rekindled from the tiniest ember so long as it is not allowed to become too cold. This fire, is dead. Oh well, nevermind. It's a subtle art, practice will make perfect. It was your first attempt after all.
Nick: LaCroix, help me please.
LaCroix: I cannot, Nicholas. I told you--don't take too much.

Nick: Alyssa, can you hear me? (He waits, but there's nothing) I want you to understand...I did love you very much. I wanted us to be together forever. I'm so sorry.
Alyssa: Nicholas, I know that what you say is true. I love you still. But I must tell you, because I love you, that you should not have come here. You are in danger here. You will die here tonight. And because of what you have been, and done, you will not be with me...ever.

Tracy: Hey, Captain, I think I've found something.
Reese: Please don't say Weintroff and Scalley's ghost.
Tracy: Yeah...I think so. Sorry. Weintroff and Scalley were both beta-kappa-sig twenty-two years ago at McClendon University in Ohio. And, I found this.
Reese: List of unsolved homicides in Ohio?
Tracy: Going back twenty-five years. This one jumped out at me.
Reese: Lieutenant Jean St Clair. Army nurse, stationed at Wayland Army Base near the university. Body found 1974.
Tracy: Raped and murdered. No one was ever charged in her death. Canvas teams questioned students around the area of McClendon University.
Reese: Detective, you're still telling me what I don't want to hear. A ghost, back from the dead for revenge. Tracy, there's no such thing as ghosts. (He walks away)
Tracy: Captain!
(Tracy goes after him, then turns and sees half of the room in a...very different light, and then there, before her, is Susan)
Reese: Detective? What's wrong? Tracy?
Tracy: Captain, over there. Tell me what you see.
Reese: (The room is normal to him) Cops. What do you see?
Tracy: Oh, my God. What does she want? Captain, what am I gonna do?

Alyssa: You are in grave danger, Nicholas.
Nick: Please forgive me for what I've done.
Alyssa: I do. I forgive you. I needed to know that you remembered me, and what we had together.
Nick: What we almost had.
Alyssa: Seeing you again gives me great peace.
(They hear something from another part of the house.)
Alyssa: You must go now. Others are coming. Some among them bear you ill-will. Souls you dispatched from this world who cannot be appeased. Go now. Go quickly!
Nick: Please. Come with me.
Alyssa: I cannot.
Nick: Be with me a while longer.
Alyssa: I cannot. But I can help you. (She looks toward the fireplace) I know what it is you seek. Why you came here. The answer is here, Nicholas. Come to me, and see. (She disappears, standing in front of the fireplace, where Nick finds a pearl...and Shirelle had been missing one earlier)

Reese: Tracy, I'm taking you to ER. I don't like this.
Tracy: Susan, what do you want? (Susan turns and starts to leave) Wait.... Where are you going?
Susan: The house. They're closing it. I have to go back. (She vanishes)
Reese: Tracy, what the hell is going on? Detective- Where are you going?
Tracy: Kessel House. Tell Nick I'm there.

Shirelle: They killed my mother, Scalley and Weintroff. She came to me here. She told me they have to pay.
Nick: Why kill Ogden?
Shirelle: He lied to me. He told me he'd protect the house. But then I found out, he wanted to tear it down, too. This is the only place I'll ever see my mother again. I couldn't let that happen. (She pulls out a gun and shoots Nick)

Susan: Tracy...come play with me. Tracy...come with me....

Reese: Police, freeze! (Shoots Shirelle when she prepares to shoot in Nick and Tracy's direction)

Reese: Halt! Drop your weapon now!
Jordan: Wow, watch where you're pointing that thing. Hey, Little Joe.
Reese: What the hell...? Jordan?

Nick: Captain? See something?
Reese: No. Nothing.

Natalie: So, is your case closed now?
Nick: (Coming up behind her) Boo. (She jumps and screams a bit) You mean my ghost?
Natalie: You know, you never actually told me who it was.
Nick: It was someone I loved, and lost a long, long time ago. Someone who needed to be remembered.
Natalie: So what happens to the house now?
Nick: The city will probably tear it down, and put up an apartment complex, like Weintroff and his partner had originally intended. Tell me, Nat, what do you make of all this...what we saw?
Natalie: You mean what we think we saw? I don't know. You know what bothers me about this is that each of our ghosts told us the same thing. Things that we subconsciously wanted to hear.
Nick: Projections of our own desires? Our needs for closure.
Natalie: Well, I'm not going to go on record saying that I saw a ghost. But if someone were to ask me if I'd had some kind of religious experience...? I think I'd have to take the fifth on that one.