- Hey. - Hey.
How far you going? - I don’t know… 10k.
Show off.
So how’s Henry doing? - Fine.
That’s good.
Yeah, after he snacked on the mad monk that almost killed him he was like
a kid again.
You know, 480 years young. Spring lamb.
We’re not passed this yet are we?
We’ll be fine…
it’s just Henry almost died that night.
Yeah, well there was a lot of that going on that night.
I know. It just doesn’t make it any easier.
Does it hurt?
- I’m heading back. - What?
I’m just… I’m not feeling it today.
Mike, we’ll be fine! It’s just…
- But I want to see you. - Shhh.
Close your eyes.
Concentrate on your other senses.
Tell me what you feel.
- Your skin, it’s soft like silk. - Mmm…
good.
And…what do you smell?
You smell like the Ocean.
Like you’re forever.
You’re very perceptive Brendan.
What’s wrong with me saying you’re beautiful?
‘Cause you are… ever since I saw you.
Remember?
And here we are finally… - So my beauty moves you does it?
Yeah…
- And… would you do anything for my beauty? - I’d do anything you want me to.
I swear.
- Sottotitolo non tradotto -
He’s not the kind of kid who misses a booking.
When he’s not answering his phone, something’s up.
He’s early 20’s. I mean, how do you know he’s not sleeping it off somewhere?
Brendan’s a responsible kid. H-he’s very dedicated to his career.
- What about his parents? Have you talked to them? - His mother’s dead.
Uh… father left when Brendan was in pre-school.
So you’re all he has in the whole world?
And?
And I loaned him six grand just before he disappeared.
I was supposed to get it back this week.
- What about drugs? - No.
He likes clubbing, late nights, girls, but he’s very careful.
That detective told me that you’d be able to help.
That detective?
Detective Mike Celluci? He referred Ms. Fulton.
Ah… that detective.
- Thank you. - I’ll call you.
You realize that Mike giving you this case is like other guys giving you flowers.
Yeah, never really been much for flowers.
He can’t do right by you can he?
What?
I know he made a mistake
and it nearly killed Henry, and you.
But I thought the whole finding Henry, feeding Henry thing, sort of redeemed him.
When did you become my mother?
Cut him a break.
I did.
Sort of.
What was the offer?
Qualified mistrust.
Yeah. Exactly.
So let me get this straight. You do this every year?
Every year.
So this is her, huh? This is Christina.
This year’s version.
What do you think about when you paint her?
Everything she gave me. Eternal youth, strength, power.
And everything she took away, everything I let her take away.
Come on, you were seventeen years old.
She knew what she was doing. You didn’t.
Maybe.
But she was beautiful and I loved her.
Well then she was lucky. - Are you feeling lucky?
Are you gonna go to the nightclub with me or what?
Last time we played sleuth I didn’t feel so good.
Yeah but there’s a missing kid that could sure use our help.
And the last place he was seen happened to be a nightclub full of hotties.
Well when you put it that way. Let me get my coat.
What happened to the other 480 paintings?
They never card me anymore it's tragic
What's tragic is you still care about that
Wow! Abouncer and a philosopher
- I'll card you - I'm an old soul.
That count, buddy but not for more
If they only knew
Excuse me.
- Model? - You know him.
Educated guess. It’s model central here
Yeah, I know. They calculated my body mass index before they let me in. So?
- So - Brian? Brendan? Something like that, right?
- Yeah - Crushing on the boss lady.
Hanging around here whenever she was in the club.
- Did she return his attentions? - She gets lots of attention.
I don’t know what she return to who.
- All right. Where can I find her? - Private booth. Look for the chain curtain.
- Excuse me. - Thanks.
Oh yeah, sure, Brendan. Yeah, he brought his own backlight
- Sounds obnoxious. - Actually, it was a nice night in.
But I could have done without that broadcast on Fox City.
What’s Fox City?
Oh, well that’s gonna cost you
I happen to carry that legal tender.
- You busy? - Not anymore.
- Whatever happened to beauty before age? - Age stomped beauty’s ass.
Hi, sorry to interrupt. Uh, my name’s Vicki Nelson
I’m a private investigator. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?
- Please. - It must be hard to get any work done around here
I’ve learned to tune out the distractions.
He’s quite beautiful.
Yeah, no shortage of that here.
We cater to the young here and youth is beauty.
It is one kind.
His name’s Brendan Ledford. He was here… Tuesday night?
and he didn’t show up for a booking the next day.
Maybe he met someone?
- He doesn’t miss bookings. - Things happen
So you haven’t seen him?
I meet a lot of people. Most of them start looking the same after a while.
- Do you have any problem with drugs here? - I run a clean club.
Well, like you said, things happen. You mix hormones, booze and...
Boys will be boys
Yes, they will.
Did Brendan ever act up with anyone here? You?
As I said, I don’t remember him.
How about someone acting up with him?
Lots of people who’d want something from a beautiful young man.
- You mean sexual predators? - Yes
If you could tell me how to spot them I’d stop them but uh,
they hide in plain sight now, don’t they?
My club is safe, Ms. Nelson
Ask around, no one’s ever come to any harm here.
- Anything else? - I think we’re done here.
Thank you.
She’s hiding something.
Too bad it’s not that tattoo.
- When did you become a prude? - Five minutes ago.
Funny, that’s when the case became interesting for me.
All right, so how do you know she’s hiding something?
Her heart started beating faster when she said she’d never met him.
Oh, you’re the best lie detector a girl could have.
What about you?
Well, she got a little edgy when you said ‘boys will be boys'
and she used the term ‘sexual predator’, not me.
- So? - So, it shows where her mind’s at.
It’s interesting.
Where was your mind at with that girl?
On the job of course.
- Mmm, find anything interesting? - Possibly.
- Fox City. - Fox City. Hm
It’s frat boys and wannabes posting pictures of their conquests.
- Space Invaders? - It's my favourite video game
Ah. And what? Brendan posted to this site?
He’s MC. Model Citizen. We can search by poster
Dear Lord. Do the girls know about this?
Check out the comments.
The ever popular ‘I’m so hot’.
Here’s ‘I’d do me’. And my favorite,
‘I need this shot for my college application’.
Whatever happened to the winsome awkwardness of teenagers?
You know, they’re endearing shyness?
- Different website. - Sure
Go… go… Oh, stop!
Bitchin' ink
You got that right.
Hi.
- Hi. - Detective Mike Celluci.
I’m, uh, looking for a kid who may have gone missing? A Brendan Ledford.
Your manager around?
Do you think the manager actually knows something about what goes on around here?
Yeah, sounds like my chief.
Listen, um… you ever seen this kid around?
Apparently he hung out here.
Well, he must be popular. A couple of people were here last night asking about him.
- A woman with glasses? - Yeah, and a young guy.
That’s, uh, Vicki Nelson. She’s a private eye. But, uh, this
became a police matter a couple of hours ago.
You ever seen him around?
I’m afraid I’m the owner so I guess that makes me kinda useless
Ah. Well, I somehow doubt that.
Well, I wish I could help you but he’s not familiar.
Yeah.
Well… I guess a lot of people pass through here, huh?
Yeah, even those you wish would stay longer.
So the picture of the tattoo proves she knows him.
Thereby proving she’s a liar.
Can’t hide that note of glee, can you?
Don’t deny me my small pleasures Henry.
So if we’re going to lean on her to try to get some more information, I call Brisco.
Actually, we’re counting on her not being home. And we’re PI’s, not cops.
- Columbo, then? - Also a cop.
- Cannon? - You want to be Cannon?
Fat? Balding?
Good point.
Well it appears that no one’s home. You wanna check?
We good to go?
- It’s Friday night, she should be at her club. - If it is her, something’s wrong.
Her heartbeat’s too slow.
Well then, we proceed with plan A.
Vicki.
Show off.
- There. - What?
- It's a statue. - Vick
it's still alive
Let's go
Wait
Is it true that policemen can’t drink on duty?
It is true they’re not supposed to, yeah.
- What kind of policeman are you? - The off duty kind.
Mmm, that seems promising.
So, are we gonna stand out here all night or are we…
- Is someone here? - No, there shouldn’t be.
- Don’t. - Wait here.
- Can you even see? - Not much.
Look, get… get in the car. We’ll argue about who’s driving later!
- I think it was just a noise. - Well, let’s be sure.
Floor it!
This is the actual Brendan Ledford?
- In the actual non-flesh? - It is
So, what did she do to him? Is she a witch or something?
It might be a spell
but in the turns-to-stone department I’m thinking a basilisk or a gorgon?
- Great, one’s an herb, the other’s a cheese. - Basilisk.
half-chicken, half-lizard.
One look and you’re stoned.
The gorgons were sisters, Greek myth.
- Also practiced turning people to stone. - Oh wait, was one of them named Medusa?
- You’ve been reading. - I read.
Firearms manuals.
If it is a gorgon we’re looking for, all Elena has in her arsenal is being greek
- No snakes, no ugly. - And not a lot of basilisk sightings in town
Ever, actually
Nevertheless, I’ll keep my eyes open for a chicken-lizard.
- Why would you do that? - Because we were face to face with the woman
and weren’t turned to stone.
Oh… you’re trying to make me keep an open mind, aren’t you?
I know better than to do that. Speaking of which, Mike was at the house.
What?
Michael Celluci, of your acquaintance, was at the home of Elena Kanapolous,
suspected gorgon. As we were leaving,
I… saw… him.
Huh, It’s been 48 hours since the missing person’s case was filed.
Homicide handles missing persons so Mike just caught the case, that’s all.
- Shouldn’t he have been at the nightclub? - Regardless, it’s not a conflict.
We share cases with Mike always.
Shouldn’t you be trying to, you know; figure out a way to break this spell or whatever it is?
I mean, there is still a 22 year old boy alive in here
We, apparently, are the only people who can help him.
Brendan posts phone pictures of his conquests to a website, Fox City?
- Elena’s on it. - Sure it’s him posting her?
She has a very distinctive tattoo.
Any pictures of her face?
Mike, it’s her. She lied about knowing Brendan
We both know that lies never stand alone.
Yeah, so you got a phone camera picture of a tattoo.
- You think that’s gonna hold up in court? - Are you defending her?
No, I’m just asking police 101 type questions here
all right? You’ve got a phone camera picture of a tattoo, point one. Am I right?
Look, we could confirm it was Brendan’s.
All right, you got any witnesses that saw them together? Huh?
A-any priors? Hey, how about motive?
Is she upset that he, uh, didn’t tip a waitress or something?
Did you even run her?
I ran her, her address and her company. No priors, no complaints, no nothing.
- But it doesn’t mean there’s nothing to find. - Yeah, it doesn’t sound like you found it either
Mike, she knows him. She saw him the night he disappeared and...
she’s got a really weird attitude about sexual assault.
- Weird. - Yeah, she thinks it only happens to women.
Vicki, a lot of people think that. It doesn’t make her guilty.
You’ve decided she’s innocent?
No, I’m just following the facts. What are you doing?
I mean, why haven’t you informed your client that this is a police matter now?
I sent her my bill.
- So why are you following it? - This kid needs my help.
- Oh, right, because the police aren’t help enough huh? - No, not when they don’t listen.
No, you know what?
How I operate as a cop and how I operate in my personal life, you don’t get a say in that any more.
Okay?
Seriously, Vicki,
why don’t we just end this now?
Okay? No harm, no foul.
Just come back to my office. There’s something I need to show
It’s evidence
No, I can’t. Elena had a break-in last night. I gotta do paperwork later.
Homicide cop doing a robbery?
- Anything missing? - No
Nothing
Why?
Nothing
Yeah
If you say so
- Your boss here? - No
I thought we had a connection you and I?
Okay, Aristotle,
you can just give her a message then.
Ask her…
Does her house feel empty?
Was issuing a challenge wise?
Now she knows we’re on to her.
It makes most criminals nervous.
She didn’t seem like the nervous type.
Yeah...
Someone’s here.
Vicki, wait. I’m nearly there…
I was cleaning up and I thought, um, well maybe I could
put these pieces back together.
I could do that, couldn’t I?
This is going to be a fun call to make.
Hey I found your client.
He’s in a million pieces in a box in my office.
- Vicki… - I’ll just tell her Brendan left town.
End of story.
She just wanted her money anyway.
Maybe you should figure this out tomorrow. Right now, you could use some sleep.
Yeah, sleep.
That’s a sweet solution.
I could sleep half my life away.
I’m sorry.
Yeah, what is it about being young anyways?
Why are we always insanely attracted
to the bad boy, hm?
The bad girl.
I’m sure Brendan thought there was something more.
- Yeah, her looks. - Beauty isn’t everything.
It’s a lot.
But when it goes, and it does, you have to have a deeper connection.
Do you think Brendan had that with Elena?
Sometimes it only goes one way.
But you never find out until it’s too late.
Your story with Christina?
Yes.
Mike’s ‘looking into’ the break-in at Elena’s.
He doesn’t do that for a living.
- Do you think he’s interested? - You saw her.
Mike is not that person, Vick.
None of us are that person anymore.
Not since we started looking into your world.
Well, thanks again for your help, though.
Helpful?
A couple of people think they saw him on Tuesday night,
but no one’s really sure.
- I’m sorry. - Apparently,
though, Brendan was crushing on you.
You’re kidding.
The waitress there says that, uh, you get a little too much of that kind of action to take notice.
Well I wish I’d noticed. I could have been more helpful.
What are you going to do now? - I’ll conduct some more interviews,
do some credit checks and um…
...stuff. - Stuff you can’t talk about?
Not with a civilian, no.
- And I’m a civilian? - Would you rather be a suspect.
Depends. Are you going to interrogate me?
I might just have to do that. - Well, then,
be suspicious. Uh…
Detective Celluci, have you had a chance to speak to Dimitri?
Yeah, yeah we spoke earlier.
About that boy. Right.
I mostly remember the ones who cause trouble.
Apparently he had a crush on me.
Go figure.
I’m gonna set up out front.
- Hey, let me help you with that. - I don’t need your help.
- I thought we were going out? - This will just take a minute.
I admire her. We’ve worked together for a while now.
Must hurt to see all those guys chasing after her, huh?
If she doesn’t get hurt, it’s none of my business.
Oh, so if she does, it is?
That’s not what I mean.
A lot of good looking guys, too. That’s pretty tough competition for you.
Looks aren’t everything.
Yeah, you say that, but Elena’s a very beautiful woman.
Why don’t you ask me questions about the kid?
Aren’t you supposed to be looking for him?
That’s what I’m doing.
I don’t know anything. I haven’t seen him.
And Elena can take care of herself.
Were there statues at the nightclub?
Not that I noticed.
Did you hear anything?
A lot of bodies, a lot of heartbeats.
There was that one section we didn’t get into.
The VIP section.
I have a bad feeling Brendan’s not the only one.
We can go back and check it out if you like.
If there are, I want you to take pictures of them.
Okay? See if we can ID them.
- You’re not coming? - I don’t think I’m welcome there.
Why don’t you take Coreen? Besides, there’s something I have to do.
I.D.
A compliment, thank you.
I.D. please, Miss.
If you wanted my name and number, why didn’t you just ask, you big lug? Huh?
Strike three and you’re out. I.D.
Thanks.
I wish… we’d met a different way.
- Yeah? Why is that? - Because you’re so honorable.
You’re investigating this missing kid and maybe I’m part of the picture so you can’t…
I can’t what?
Have a glass of wine? Too late.
No, that’s not what I’m thinking.
You’re not attracted to me?
No, of course I am Elena. It’s just that, uh,
I’m a little out of practice with um… the whole dating thing.
Well then, let’s practice.
Is it that woman with the glasses? The private detective?
Vicki? No.
Because when I said she’d been to the club you… reacted strangely.
She used to be a cop and uh…
we used to be partners. But, uh… nothing more than that.
You don’t seem sure.
No, I’m sure.
Listen, maybe we should, uh, call it a night, huh?
- You don’t… find me beautiful? - Elena I like you a lot. But, uh…
a woman, who’s not happy with the way she looks, there’s no changing her mind so uh…
if you need me to tell you what should be obvious…
Oh, no, no, no. No I don’t.
It’s uh…
I’d like to see you again.
You will.
Okay. Good night.
Where did you get this software?
It would be better if you pretended it wasn’t here.
Does that say FBI?
We have a match!
Ryan Henderson.
How did she get her hooks in you?
I can’t find any way to turn the statues back.
It’s nowhere in the mythology.
Don’t all spells end when the witch dies?
Spells and witches, Vicki, different strokes.
But I did research the Medusa myth a little deeper.
It’s actually a really horrible story.
- Obviously. - No, for her.
Medusa is this beautiful young woman whom Poseidon covets.
He follows her to the temple of Athena one day and rapes her.
Very standard operating procedures in the day.
Then Athena gets mad about the desecration of her temple,
blames Medusa,
turns her into this hideous creature.
The snakes, the stone gaze, all of it.
She gets punished for being raped.
So her nightclub is the temple?
And anyone attracted to her beauty is punished.
Considering what happened to her the first time…
When I was a cop I met people who’d been through horrific abuse and violence and…
then there would be ones who would turn it around
and would use it against other people
and cry victim at the same time.
You know, it’s a choice
and it’s a bad one.
She doesn’t get to work out her issues by turning kids to stone.
Are you gonna tell Mike about this?
Mike doesn’t want to know.
Maybe you should. If he’s getting busy with the bad lady…
Hey Coreen, its Mike. Is Vicki there?
All right. Uh,
hey. You got a minute?
So you’re telling me that Elena is…
Turning guys to stone as she re-lives her sexual trauma and seeks revenge?
Yep, and there’s more. - Oh wait, wa…
I’m still processing the first part.
A couple of our statue dudes used to post on Fox City.
Their last postings are within a week of their disappearances.
Hey! It’s Ryan Henderson. Remember him?
- Excuse me. - how about him?
Hmm? Or him?
- Now I know why Mike thinks you’re crazy. - Okay, let’s see…
Brendan Ledford.
Come on. You must remember him.
He was alive a couple days ago and now he’s dead.
Yeah, it’s very sad,
struck down in his youth and beauty and all that. - Yep.
Like all of them.
Like you.
I know you had a rough go of it back then.
Doesn’t excuse you now…
Medusa.
You think you know something about me?
Oh yeah, Mike? He doesn’t think
I’m crazy, he knows I am.
That’s what bothers you, isn’t it?
You pretend it’s about all these young men, but, uh,
if he wasn’t sniffing around, would you be?
Well here’s what you don’t understand about anyone who’s worked homicide.
We can’t stop speaking for the dead.
The mythical Medusa was slain.
She died centuries ago.
Yes, and when Perseus killed her, some of her spilled blood had the power to raise the dead,
so why can’t she be self-resurrecting?
You have been reading.
Yes, I’ve been reading, and I’m wondering, why are you stalling?
Motivation counts Ms. Nelson. Do you know why you’re doing this?
That 22 year old kid
did not deserve to be killed because he fell in love with a pretty face.
You should understand that.
And Mike.
Mike might be in danger.
And I’m not okay with that. - If I do this,
I’m doing this for you.
There’s one more thing.
I could hold that.
And let you do my dirty work?
That would be the easy way out wouldn’t it?
I’m doing this. - It’s not like killing a Wendigo or
a Demon; she’s human in many respects.
Just what she’s showing us.
She’s not going to be easy to kill.
I know.
Then maybe this isn’t your job. Have you ever killed a human being?
My third year on the force.
This kid has got a bead on my partner; he’s ready to pull the trigger.
And I tap him.
He died almost instantly.
And there’s pretty much not a day that goes by that I don’t think about that.
I don’t have that problem.
I don’t believe you.
Sometimes I think you forget what I am.
Sometimes I try to forget.
I’m not going to be haunted by this.
This is mine.
Because I think you forget who you could be.
I’m worried about that woman.
And the cop.
Break the statues Dimitri, every last one of them and get rid of them.
What’s wrong with the statues?
They’re bloodstains…
and I’m the knife. - No, that’s not true.
You think you know me
because you’ve seen me change? - I do know you.
And I’m not afraid.
Every one of those statues is a person, Dimitri.
A shallow, beautiful person that tried to hurt me.
And they’re still alive in there. You think you know me now?
Hey.
It’s quiet here tonight. - That’s ‘cause we’re closed.
It’s nice to see you.
You too.
Listen, do you think there’s a chance we could, uh, find a place to talk?
Dimitri I’m starving. Can ya
go down the street and get me somethin’?
You know, I was uh,
wondering about something and I hope you don’t take offense.
Last night,
there was...something in the way...things were between us…
the way you talked about your looks.
Look, I really hope that I’m-I’m not out of line here but it-it made me think
that maybe something happened to you in your past.
That maybe somebody had hurt you.
Because if that was the case,
you know I think I could help you. I want to.
He said he loved me but he didn’t even know me and then when I tried to leave,
he… he grabbed me and he-he raped me.
- I’m sorry. - And… and-and… and then he went and he told everyone,
and-and they said that I deserved it because I was vain
and it was my fault. - So you were innocent and they blamed you.
Yeah, like-like I wanted to be violated.
They destroyed me, they-they made me hideous. - No,
You’re not.
I am. I’ve done things. You don’t know.
You can’t let these people just walk around like they own everything that they see.
So you take care of them.
This guy who raped you,
these people who blamed you, they still around?
Yeah, they’re always around.
Have you found a way to take care of them?
Because if you didn’t I can help with that.
No I found a way.
Good…
good for you.
What are you looking at? Hm?
Elena I’m here for you.
You think you know. You think you understand?
You’re all the same!
Take it easy.
You had to do it.
Doesn’t make it any easier.
You guys okay?
- Yeah, you? - Yeah.
- Hey. - Hey.
I got your message.
Am I intruding?
No.
I like it out here. It’s so quiet.
Yeah.
Yeah, it is.
You know it was his manager that hired me?
She loaned him six grand and she just wanted to get it back.
Well, I found it.
Oh yeah?
Brendan bought two tickets to Greece, one for him and one for Elena.
He really thought they had something.
Yeah. I guess people fall in love with the wrong person all the time, don’t they?
Yes, they do.
script: ? synchro: alexandraD. www.subsfactory.it