Outside the Lines Forever Knight, Season 3, episode 3 Written by Roy Sallows Transcribed by Marg Baskin Proofread by Nancy Warlocke Guest Cast: Bruce....................................Callum Keith Rennie Stu.......................................Michael Filipowich Cass............................................Mitra Lovett J.T..............................................Brad Austin Greg...............................................Jeff Wood Claude....................................Jacques Tourangeau Leo..............................................Tom Costain Marie-Claire..................................M.J. Lefebryre Giroux...........................................Simon Barry Vicki........................................Gabrielle Allan Debbie.......................................Chantal Quesnel Anne Meyers ..................Starvoula Logothettis TEASER [SCENE: A private party "club", home territory to some big-time drug dealers. It's a cavernous building, possibly a warehouse, that has been divided into intimate alcoves with draperies, sheets, etc. The camera pans across the various inhabitants--people dancing, arguing, doing drugs, etc. Focus in one of the inhabitants, Stu, as he explores the place.] Stu: Cool. [In one of the alcoves, J.T., Stu, Greg, and Bruce are talking "business". Cass, a young, attractive woman, watches impatiently.] Cass: Wonderful. Another night in hell. Do we have to stay? J.T.: [impatiently] We're doing business, Cass. Cass: [seductively, trying to encourage him to leave] J.T., I don't want to do business, I want to do something else. J.T.: [still annoyed] Cass. Stu: Ai carumba. Looks like the girlie wants it. Greg: [willing to take her up on the overt offer] Yeah, well, Stu--the girlie's gonna have to come and get it. [J.T. jumps to his feet, and intervenes as Greg starts to paw her.] J.T.: We've got business to do, Greg. Greg: Uh? Before pleasure? Uh? [Greg pulls a straight razor and threatens J.T.] J.T.: You want to watch that thing. It might end up in your own yarbles. Greg: Yeah? [J.T. takes the razor away from him, and threatens him in return. Bruce, who has been watching passively until now, stands up and intervenes.] Bruce: Don't. J.T.: You want to stay out of it? Bruce: You. Stay out of it, J.T. [Stu has lost interest in the argument, and is studying the action outside again. Two of the female dancers have started to fight, and he goes off to watch the fun.] Stu: [leaving] Hey, ladies, want to see some real action? Check this out, man. Come on. [Stu and Greg, at least, join the crowd watching the fight--the two women are gradually stripping each other as they struggle. Various fragments of conversation continue in the background. Music. Arguments. Then a terrified woman staggers out of the back area, where the drug dealing was happening a few minutes earlier. A group of onlookers, including J.T., go to check out what's wrong.] J.T.: [pushing crowd aside] Move. Move! [He finds Cass sprawled within the alcove, with her throat cut.] J.T.: [in shock] Cass. [He looks away from her body. Bruce is standing nearby, staring at him.] OPENING CREDITS [SCENE: Same location, but later, after the police have been called and the party shut down. Uniformed officers are protecting the crime scene itself.] [Nick and Tracy approach the scene.] Tracy: Wow. I heard about this place! Nick: [teasing] You say I never take you anywhere. [They approach Natalie.] Nick: [to Natalie] Hey. [He looks at Cass's body.] Nick: There's not a lot of blood. Natalie: No, most of it was in her blouse. It was wadded up in the wound. [Natalie hands him an evidence bag, with Cass's bloodstained blouse inside.] Tracy: Ugh. Was she--? Natalie: Raped? Yup. Got a positive on the phosphate test, and there are abrasions. [She moves away from the body, and Nick takes her place, examining it closely. Tracy continues to hang back.] Nick: Bruising around the mouth. His hand? Natalie: Well, we couldn't have her crying out and attracting a lot of attention, now could we? Nick: Any idea on the body? Natalie: No. Apparently she was here with friends, and her name is Cass. Nick: The weapon looks to be a sharp knife. Single cut. No hesitation. Tracy: [staring at the corpse with a queasy expression.] Um, is that rigor mortis? Natalie: No, not really. When people die violently, or during a struggle, sometimes the lactic acid can build up in their muscles, causing them to seize up. [Nat and Tracy move away, talking. Nick is still crouching over the body. Absently he puts his fingers--bloodstained?--to his mouth, then is startled back to the present by the flash of a police photographer's camera.] Tracy: So, can you give us a blood type on the killer? Natalie: No, unfortunately the phosphate test does not give a blood type, it merely indicates the presence of sperm. I'll have to go back to the lab and cross match for that. See ya. [Nat leaves. Nick joins Tracy.] Nick: You okay? Tracy: [definitely lying] Yeah. So, I guess we should start questioning the witnesses. Uniformed cops will have statements. [Tracy looks around at the various witnesses who are being detained. She spots Bruce Spencer among them, and reacts to his presence.] Nick: [following her gaze] Look familiar? [When Tracy nods, he goes over, grabs Bruce, and drags him aside for "questioning."] Bruce: [struggling uselessly within Nick's hold] Don't touch me, ya friggin'-- Nick: You got a problem? C'mon! Let's go. Onlooker: What's going on here? [Once they are out of sight of the other witnesses, Bruce stops struggling, and Nick releases him.] Bruce: Okay, ease up, buddy. You're stronger than you look, pal. [He turns to Tracy.] Button. [Bruce throws his arms around her, lifts her and twirls her around as they hug.] Tracy: Hey. Bruce: Nice to see you. Tracy: You, too. Bruce: Bruce Spencer. Special affairs. Thanks for not blowing my cover out there. And you're Detective--? Nick: Knight. Bruce: With a 'K'? Nick: Yeah. Tracy: What're you working on? Bruce: Drug dealers. Tweakers. Cocaine. Heroin. Ah, those are the principals out there. They bring it in, mix it down, deal it to the kids. [As he talks, Bruce moves around restlessly, seemingly too wound up to be still--acting almost as if he's been sampling some of the drugs himself.] Nick: What can you tell us about the murdered girl? Bruce: Well, she's one of them. Look, I've been tracking them for seven months. Their supply route, their dealers--you guys know the routine. Nick: What about the murder? Bruce: Um... I know who did it. [Tracy and Nick stare at him in surprise, and move closer.] Bruce: Ah, J.T. J.T. Gary. Look, Cass was no angel but she wouldn't give him the time of day, you know, and he kept after her. He wouldn't leave her alone. Nick: How do you know he killed her? Bruce: Look, it's obvious. She kept shutting him down, and, uh, he went after what she wasn't giving him. Tracy: Now, Bruce, are you sure it was him? Bruce: [angrily] Yeah! Tracy: Okay. I'm just asking. Nick: How about some evidence? Do you have any evidence to back this up at all. Bruce: [annoyed and impatient] Evidence? Look, you just take him down to the station, lean on him, he'll fold like a towel. Nick: [reacting badly to his attitude] Why don't you just humor me, and give me something that'll hold up in court. Bruce: Look, what part of this don't you understand? Nick: None of it. Bruce: None of it? Understand this--you take him down, you slap him around a bit. What? It'd take me thirty seconds. It'll take you, what? An hour? [Tracy lays her hand on Bruce's arm, trying to defuse the tension building between the two men.] Tracy: Bruce, take it easy. Bruce: [sarcastic and contemptuous] Smart guy like you. I've been on this for seven months, and I get a text book from who? [He's gesticulating wildly with his arms now, pacing around, and Nick reacts in kind.] Nick: Text book. Now, look, I'm talking about *law* here. Law book. Tracy: Hey, hey--give it a rest. [She looks over her shoulder, worried that the raised voices will have carried to the drug dealers being held nearby.] Bruce, this is our investigation now. You've got a different job to do. Bruce: Fantastic... Thank you. [He storms out.] Nick: [annoyed and sarcastic] We've got work to do, Button. Tracy: [exasperated sigh.] [SCENE: the 96th Precinct. Nick and Tracy sit down at their respective desks. The tension between them is palpable. Tracy grabs a form from the edge of her desk, and feeds it into her typewriter.] Nick: It's the wrong form. [She drags the paper out of the typewriter, and slaps in another.] Nick: That's a property report. [She drops that form back where she found it, searches for the right one, and fails to find it. Leaving her desk, she goes searching for the elusive right form, then finally gives up pretext, and faces Nick about the real problem.] Tracy: What was that with Bruce? Nick: What? Tracy: He's a good cop. I've known him for more than eighteen years. He does things that no other cop could do, and he does them undercover. Every day he has to live his life knowing that anyone finds out who he is, they'll kill him. Nick: [still sarcastic] Yup. Well, you know him better than I do. [Nick leaves his desk and heads for Reese's office, threading his way among workmen who are doing some kind of repairs to the building. Tracy's eyes follow him resentfully.] Nick: Captain? [Reese's desk chair is empty, but as Nick speaks, there's the sound of a head meeting wood from somewhere *under* the desk.] Reese: Ow. [Reese appears from behind his desk, looking sheepish, and takes a seat.] Reese: Orthopedic shoes. Can't keep them tied up. Close that door, will you? Damn hammering is making me crazy. Don't know what's wrong with the old walls. [Nick closes the door, cutting off the sound.] Nick: Victim's name is Cass Purcell. Twenty-three. She was raped, probably while he was killing her. [He hands a report to Reese.] She ran with a heavy-duty crowd. Drug dealers. Big time. They had an undercover cop with them. Reese: Great. Nick: Bruce Spencer. Reese: [his face falls, and this time the word is pure cynicism.] Great. Nick: My opinion, too. Reese: Bruce Spencer has a great arrest record. [Reese leaves his desk, goes to a filing cabinet, and pulls out a report.] Nick: Oh, yeah? Well, things aren't always as they appear. Reese: [conspiratorially] You didn't hear this from me. [He opens the file folder, and hands it to Nick.] Nick: [reading] He's been charged with all this? [Reese places another sheet of paper over top of the file Nick is reading.] Reese: His official record. Nick: Someone has been cleaning up after him. Reese: Commissioner Vetter has been helping Spencer since he was a rookie. Spencer give you anything on the murder? [Reese returns to his chair, and Nick goes over to stare out the window.] Nick: Oh, yeah. He told us who it is. Reese: And? Nick: No evidence. He just knows. [His gaze goes out of focus, as he slips into the past.] [FLASHBACK: France, World War II, a cellar being used as headquarters by a cell of resistance fighters. Claude, leader of the cell, is poring over some papers on a table. The door opens behind him, and Nick enters.] Claude: [subtitle for French dialogue] Welcome back, Nicolas. Successful? [Nick places the box he's carrying in front of Claude.] Nick: [subtitle for French dialogue] You tell me. [Claude opens the box, and gazes at the contents triumphantly.] Claude: [subtitle for French dialogue] High quality German blasting caps. You never cease to amaze me. [Looks up at Nick.] After the war you will have a great future in crime. [Nick looks sheepish. There is movement at the door behind them, and both men leap for weapons and hiding places. The door opens and a young partisan, Leo, staggers in. He's bleeding from the mouth, and after a couple of shaky steps, he collapses in Nick's arms. Claude: [subtitle for French dialogue] He's been shot. [to Leo] Where are the others? Leo: [subtitle for French dialogue] The Gestapo were waiting for us. It was a trap. Claude: [subtitle for French dialogue] Don't talk. Leo: We had no chance at all. They cut us down like dogs. All dead. All... dead. [He dies.] Claude: A trap. Nick: There's a traitor among us. [SCENE: the morgue. Nat is giving her report to Nick and Tracy.] Natalie: Cass Purcell was pregnant. Ten weeks. Tracy: [looking queasy] Oh, no. Natalie: Oh, yeah. And she had a prescription from a gynecologist, so I called her. Apparently Cass told her who the father was. Tracy: Patient privilege? Natalie: Not when your patient is murdered, and you give a damn. [She finds the note on her desk, and reads from it.] Any of you guys run across someone named J.T. Gary? [Nick and Tracy exchange confused glances.] [SCENE: downtown Toronto, the roof of J.T.'s high-rise apartment building. The door opens, and J.T. and Bruce walk out onto the roof. Bruce goes straight to the parapet and looks over.] Bruce: You've got a nice view up here, huh, J.T.? J.T.: [impatiently] Okay, you've got twenty seconds. What the hell do you want? Bruce: [sitting on the parapet, still enjoying the view.] Fantastic. Come here. [He signals J.T. to come look at the view.] J.T.: What? Bruce: I want you to see something. J.T.: What? Bruce: Come here. [Reluctantly, J.T. joins him, and stares downward.] J.T.: I don't see nothing. What? [Bruce grabs him, shoves him down onto the parapet, with his head and shoulders hanging over the drop, and starts to handcuff him.] Bruce: It's called the ground! You and I are going to have a little talk, aren't we? Aren't we? Why'd you kill Cass? J.T.: I didn't. I swear! Bruce: Wrong! [He shakes J.T., threatening to tip him over the edge.] J.T.: I swear! Bruce: I don't like people getting killed on my time. J.T.: [looking up at him, appalled.] What? You're a cop? Bruce: Oh, man, wrong again. [CUT to the ground below. The Cadillac pulls to a halt. Nick and Tracy get out, in the midst of an argument.] Tracy: So, Bruce made a mistake. So what? Nick: A mistake? Look, he said Cass wouldn't even let J.T. touch her. Now it takes a hell of a lot of touching to make someone pregnant. [As they walk towards the front door of the building, Nick hears a fragment of the conversation that is taking place on the roof overhead. He stops walking, and Tracy halts, too, puzzled.] [CUT to Bruce and J.T.] Bruce: Why did you kill Cass? J.T.: I don't have to tell you squat! I'm gonna sue your ass for police brutality. [CUT to Nick and Tracy.] Tracy: [Realizing he's listening to something she can't hear.] Nick? What? Nick: He's on the roof. Tracy: W-Who? Who is on the roof? Nick: J.T. Take the elevator. I'll take the fire escape. [Nick heads for the obscurity of an alley. Tracy draws her pistol and enters the building.] [CUT to the roof. Bruce pulls J.T. to his feet, to face him.] J.T.: Come on, Spencer. Hand me some more. [CUT to the alley as Nick takes off, flying. Then back to the roof.] J.T.: Come on, you sorry bastard. Scare me all you want. You'll do more time than I will. [Bruce grins at him unpleasantly. Nick arrives on the roof just in time to see Bruce push J.T. over the edge.] COMMERCIAL [SCENE: the roof, a few seconds later. Tracy is approaching the area.] Tracy: [calling out] Bruce? [Tracy comes running out the door from the building. Nick hides from view, but continues watching the scene as Bruce throws a fit, feigning near-hysterical remorse.] Tracy: What? Bruce, what's happening? Bruce: Look, I cuff him and he runs. I cuff him, and he... [Tracy looks over the edge of the roof, and sees J.T.'s body sprawled below.] Tracy: Oh, my God. [Turning to Bruce.] Come here. [She tries to put an arm around him to comfort him, but he fends her off.] Bruce: No, it's okay. [Tracy persists, and eventually, he allows her to take hold of him.] Tracy: [softly] It's me. It's me. [SCENE: the precinct. Bruce is with an officer, recording his statement. Nick and Tracy are standing in the background, listening.] Bruce: I went to J.T.'s place to talk to him. I figured I could get some information and pass it to Tracy... Detective, uh, Vetter. When I got there, he was ready to split. I guess he figured he was going to get nailed for the rape and murder. So I had to break cover. I arrested him. Cuffed him. And, uh, as I was reading him his rights, he bolted. Up the stairs. I gave chase. Up onto the roof.... Um... I tried to save him.... I called out to him. One second he was there... then he was gone. There was nothing I could do. [Nick leaves the room in disgust. Tracy gives Bruce an apologetic, reassuring look, then follows her partner into the squad room.] Tracy: [angrily, as she catches up] Why are you being so negative about Bruce? Nick: How did he let a handcuffed suspect get away from him? And why would J.T. go up to the roof? Tracy: I don't know. I wasn't there. And neither were you. You didn't see the look on his face when I got up there. He was torn apart. He's not lying, Nick. Nick: [crossing his arms, annoyed and belligerent] And besides he's your big brother. [Reese appears at the door of his office, behind them.] Reese: Knight. Vetter. M.E. wants you down at the morgue. [SCENE: the morgue. Natalie leads Nick and Tracy into the cold storage area behind the lab, where J.T.'s body is lying on a gurney, covered with a sheet.] Natalie: Mr. John Thomas Gary. Purported father of the baby that Cass Purcell was carrying. Tracy: And was he? Natalie: Blood type is right. Tracy: [annoyed] Is that it? Your big news? Natalie: [tightly] We got the blood typing results back on the sperm sample. Mr. John Thomas Gary may have been the father. He may even have been the killer--that's your department, Detective. However, he definitely was not the rapist. Nick: The blood types didn't match? Natalie: The rapist is AB-neg. John Thomas was B-positive. Not even close. Tracy: [grasping at straws] Well, maybe you made a mistake? Natalie: [sarcastic and annoyed] I don't think so. That is about as close to certain as medicine ever gets. [They walk back into the main area of the morgue, and Nat closes the door to the cold-storage locker.] Tracy: [a hard admission] Bruce was wrong. Nick: It happens. [to Natalie] Anything else? Natalie: Cass had a single cut to the throat, severing the trachea, and the right carotid and jugular. Cause of death was exsanguination--blood loss. And like you said, the murder weapon is very sharp. Maybe something like a filleting knife. Nick: Or a scalpel or a straight razor. Natalie: Could be. Killer is likely left-handed. And the bruising around her mouth indicates that he was holding her like this. [She walks over to Tracy and begins to demonstrate, catching Tracy under the chin and tilting her head back.] Natalie: Right hand over the mouth. Thumb under the chin. And as we all know, people almost never hold a knife in their weak-sided hand, which means he's... Nick: Left-handed. Natalie: And the deepest part of the cut was on the right-hand side of the throat. [She makes a "whsss" sound as she pantomimes the cut across Tracy's throat.] Natalie: Nice guy. Probably got off as much on the murder as he did on the sex. And I wouldn't be surprised if he'd done something like this before. Nick: And is likely to do it again. Natalie: I hope you guys have a plan to bring him down. Fast. [FLASHBACK: Claude and Nick are alone in the cellar, waiting for the rest of their companions to arrive.] Claude: [subtitle for French dialogue] No one knew about the raid except De La Salle, Marie-Claire and Giroux--that's it. Nick: [subtitle for French dialogue] And you. Claude: [subtitle for French dialogue] And me, of course. [Nick is standing in front of him, looking at him uncertainly. Claude extends the machine gun he's holding, allowing Nick to disarm him.] Claude: You're right, of course. Nick: De la Salle? Claude: No, he hates the Germans more than anyone. I've known him all my life. He would never betray us. Nick: Marie-Claire? Claude: Leo was her brother. Nick: Giroux? Claude: Giroux... Giroux... I don't know...before the war he was always in trouble. A liar. A thief. Nick: Then there's you. Claude: How does a man judge himself? Nick: A guilty man would have kept the gun. [He hands the weapon back to Claude.] Claude: [wryly] I was just thinking the same thing about you. Nick: Giroux. Claude: Giroux is a man of no honor. It can only be him. Nick: Something like this--we must be certain. How would we know? Claude: We need a plan. Okay, when they get here, I will tell them about the trap. Nick: Tell them one lived. That he knows who betrayed us. Claude: Yes! And when Giroux tries to run.... Nick: He'll convict himself. Claude: And he will die. [Hearing the others arrive, they conceal themselves. Marie- Claire, De La Salle and Giroux enter. Claude steps out of concealment, and points his machine gun at them.] Claude: [subtitle for French dialogue] Don't move. Claude: [subtitle for French dialogue] What are you doing? Claude: [subtitle for French dialogue] The raid failed. Claude: They were betrayed. Nazis were waiting for them. They were all killed. All except one. Leo managed to escape. He said he overheard the Nazis talking. Talking about the traitor. He said he heard the name. [One by one they turn to stare at Giroux, who looks around in panic, then makes a grab for his gun. Nick intercepts him before he can reach it.] Claude: Traitor! Giroux: No. It's not me. Nick: Then why did you pull the gun? Giroux: You were all looking at me...I knew what you were thinking. Claude: [punches Giroux in the gut] Liar! Tie him! He's going to tell us a few things before we avenge Leo's death. [Claude turns slowly to face Marie-Claire, who is standing behind him and has overheard the comment.] Claude: I'm sorry, Marie-Claire. [SCENE: the precinct. Tracy is reviewing case files stored in a filing cabinet. Nick comes up beside her.] Tracy: Here's a possible. Leather fetish and razor blades. Glen Davis. Nick: He's been inside since '91. [Nick hears Reese approaching, and leaves Tracy to seek out the captain.] Reese: [to a hapless cop] "I don't know?" "I don't know" is not an answer. Get this to fraud squad and find out why the hell they haven't made an arrest yet. Cop: Yes, sir. Reese: [to Nick] Counterfeiting hockey cards. How low can you get? [They walk toward Reese's office.] Nick: You really want to talk about it? Reese: Not on your life? What's up? Nick: It's this J.T. Gary thing. I don't like it. Reese: What don't you like about it? Nick: Spencer busts a guy for rape and murder. Suspect escapes, runs up to a roof, and Spencer can't stop the guy from falling? I mean, why does J.T. go up to the roof? He knew he wasn't the rapist. [They reach the door to Reese's office, but Nick blocks the captain's entrance, leaning on the door jamb while he speaks confidentially.] Reese: So what are you saying? Nick: I'm saying I don't think we should take everything that Spencer says as chapter and verse. [Reese tries to edge past Nick, who lets him pass, then follows him into the office.] Reese: Thank you. I don't know. Tracy's statement backs him up. Nick: I know. Reese: And she was first on the scene. Nick: [deadpan] I know that too. Reese: You see something from down there on the street that would make you believe Spencer is lying? Nick: No. Reese: Then what do *we* think we should do about it? Nick: I don't know. We can't arrest him. All we have is a suspicion. Reese: I talked to Commissioner Vetter. Spencer's hip-deep in a huge drug case. We'd lose that. Nick: If he did kill J.T. we have to prove it. We have to find who killed Cass. Reese: Is he a suspect in that, too? Nick: The statements from the club didn't clear anybody. He lied about her, he lied about J.T. Maybe there's something there. Reese: Well, what does Tracy think? Nick: [sarcastically] He walks with the angels. [Tracy enters the office behind him, not quite in time to overhear the conversation.] Tracy: Hey, I've been through the similar crime files going back eight years. Rape and blades. Nothing shows. The doers are either dead, or in prison. [Bruce comes to the office door and looks in.] Bruce: Captain Reese? Reese: Uh, yes, Detective. Bruce: I'm done with my statement. Checked with my Captain. Do you need anything else before I go back out? Reese: Nope. Bruce: Uh, I'd better get going. Living the fast life's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. [to Tracy] Ciao. [Bruce leaves. Still grinning, Tracy turns back to Nick and Reese. As she reads the expressions on their faces, her grin fades.] [SCENE: a phone booth. Bruce is making a call to his drug connections.] Bruce: Hi, Stu... Yeah, it's me. Yeah, I was there... Yeah, they hauled my ass in for questioning... Yeah, I told them everything--nah, I didn't tell them squat. [laugh] Look, don't worry. You know. Everything's going on the way it was. Business as usual. We just stay in the pipeline with J.T.'s people. Look, don't sweat it. [He hangs up the phone, hears movement behind him, and whirls, pulling his gun to point it at Nick's face.] COMMERCIAL [SCENE: continuation of previous. Recognizing Nick, Bruce lowers his gun.] Bruce: You startled me. I was just reassuring my people. They tend to get a bit nervous. Nick: Yeah, there's a lot of that going around. People with a guilty conscience. They tend to get nervous. Bruce: Yeah. [He steps out of the phone booth, pulls a hip flask and takes a drink. Silently, he offers the flask to Nick, who doesn't respond at all.] Bruce: [uncomfortably] Look, I'm just, uh, tying up this, uh, drug case. This bust. I was thinking, I might need some back up. Maybe Tracy and you want to get in on it. [Still not responding, Nick turns his back on him and walks away.] Bruce: [calling after him] Hell, it's gonna be a good arrest. Plenty of credit to go around. Commendations. [SCENE: a street corner. Tracy is questioning a pair of hookers. Nick joins her, and they walk back towards the Cadillac.] Tracy: Tell me you got something. Nick: No. Tracy: So we're going to have to talk to hookers tomorrow night? Nick: [amused] Got a problem with that? Tracy: [embarrassed] Some of them thought I was... interested in them... Er, you know. Nick: And? Tracy: And they were saying things. It was embarrassing. Nick: Welcome to the street, Detective. Tracy: Thanks a lot, partner. [They reach the car, and Nick sits down on the fender, confronting her.] Nick: Look... About your friend, Bruce. Tracy: I'm sorry. I grew up with him. [proudly] Bruce's first case, right out of the Academy. He was undercover in vice. Busting hookers. Got a tip from a girl, followed it, and in one night his team took down a white slavery ring. Just like Police Gazette. Bruce made it all happen. My dad prosecuted the case--just blew them away. Nick: And he's been covering for him ever since. Tracy: [angry] What covering? You never let up, do you? Just because he was wrong about the J.T. thing. About him being the rapist doesn't mean you question everything that he does. Everybody makes mistakes. Even you. Nick: [persuasively] When you were assigned as my partner, I didn't like it. I didn't want another partner after Schanke. Now, listen. Just listen. You're a good cop. You've got good instincts. All I'm asking you to do is to step back. Your friend, Bruce--look at him, not like a friend, but like a good cop. Tracy: I have. I am. [With each comment her uncertainty becomes more obvious.] About... What you said about my dad covering for him. Covering what? Nick: There have been reports of excessive force. Tracy: He's not like that. I've heard him and my dad talking late at night about their... I thought they were comparing notes... Criminals... Cases.... I hate this. You don't know what it's like to doubt someone you've trusted all your life. [CUT to FLASHBACK: Claude is beating Giroux, who is tied to a chair, semi-conscious.] Claude: Nicolas. [subtitle for French dialogue] Take over... if he moves, kill him. Giroux: Nicolas... Nick: [subtitle for French dialogue] Why did you do it? Giroux: [subtitle for French dialogue] It wasn't me. Nicolas... We're fighting side by side, you should know me by now. Nick: I know what you were. Claude told me. Giroux: And what were you before the war, huh? A hero? A champion? I make mistakes, but I am not a traitor. For the first time, here in the Resistance, I was not Giroux, the thief, the liar. I was Giroux, the fighter. [As he talks, Giroux is working on the ropes tying his arms, attempting to work them free.] Nick: I lost friends in that ambush. You are the only one who could have betrayed them. Giroux: But I didn't. I swear. [Marie-Claire enters, carrying a bottle of wine.] Marie-Claire: [subtitle for French dialogue] Nicolas, I thought you might like this. Giroux: Marie-Claire. [subtitle for French dialogue] I never did anything... Marie-Claire: [subtitle for French dialogue] It's hot in this hole and it stinks of vermin. [holding out the bottle] You must be thirsty. Nick: [subtitle for French dialogue] You can just leave it. [He turns back to Giroux.] Marie-Claire: [subtitle for French dialogue] Sorry, Nicolas. [She strikes Nick over the head with the wine bottle. As Nick falls, Giroux finishes working his hands free. He jumps up from the chair as Marie-Claire attacks him with a knife. Marie-Claire: [subtitle for French dialogue] You bastard. [Giroux grabs her and disarms her, then puts the knife to her throat and holds her in front of him as a shield when Nick regains his feet.] Giroux: Stay away. I swear I'll kill her. Nick: Like you killed the others Giroux: I betrayed no one. But you and that other fool will butcher me for nothing. Nick: Traitors die, Giroux. Giroux: I am no traitor. [He presses too hard with the knife, cutting Marie-Claire's skin, then shoves her aside in panic as Nick faces him with gold eyes and fangs.] Giroux: What are you doing? [Giroux attacks Nick with the knife. Nick easily overpowers him, and breaks his neck.] Nick: [Hissing the words past his fangs.] Traitors die. [Claude runs into the room, and Nick keeps his back turned, to hide his face.] [SCENE: A Toronto street, early morning. Tracy gets into her car, then jumps as she realizes there's someone in the back seat.] Bruce: Hey, hey, hey--just me. Tracy: What the hell are you doing? Bruce: I didn't want anybody to see us together. Look, Button, I need your help. Tracy: [annoyed] Don't call me that... [softening] What kind of help? Bruce: I want you to get Knight off me. He's trying to set me up for something. Tracy: [with total conviction] No, he's not. Bruce: Look, he might be some kind of hero to you, but to me he's putting my life in jeopardy. Tracy: He's investigating a murder case. That's all. Bruce: That has nothing to do with me. I'm this close to bringing down a whole drug cartel. [wheedling] Look, you get him off me, and I'll write you into the report. Your dad would like that. Tracy: [annoyed] If I impress my father, it'll be because of something I've done, thank you. Bruce: But you will talk to Knight. Tracy: Yeah. Bruce: Thanks, Button. Nice to have friends. [He waits for a response, but Tracy doesn't look at him. After a moment, he leaves. Thoughtfully, Tracy watches him walk away.] [SCENE: Bruce enters an apartment by picking the lock, then sneaks in quietly, with his gun drawn. He hears sounds, and hides. A woman comes out of the bedroom, and as she walks past him, Bruce grabs her by the hair.] Bruce: Shh. Shut up. Shut up. Or I'll splatter your ass all over that fancy couch. [He flings her down on the leather couch. She tries to escape, then freezes as he waves his revolver in her face.] Bruce: Your name is Vicki, right? Well, Vicki, you and I are going to have a little talk. Confirm a few things. There's a container ship coming up from Quebec City. Laptop computers. The guts are ripped out, and inside are little white packages. Does that sound about right? Vicki: [stammering] I don't know anything about any shipment. Bruce: Wrong answer, Vicki. [He draws his hand back to backhand her across the face, then freezes as a pistol barrel is pressed to the back of his neck.] Tracy: [coldly] Don't even think about it. [Bruce turns slowly to look at her.] COMMERCIAL [SCENE: continuation of previous. Bruce has retreated to a corner of the room, and Tracy is talking to Vicki.] Tracy: You can press charges against him. [Vicki shakes her head quickly.] Bruce: [impatiently] I didn't hurt her. Tracy: Shut up. [to Vicki, who is still shaking her head frantically.] Are you sure? Vicki: Just get him out of here. Tracy: All right. [Hands over a business card.] Give me a call if you change your mind. [to Bruce] Let's go. [SCENE: Tracy exits Vicki's apartment building and strides off down the street, with Bruce trailing behind while they argue.] Bruce: Look, she's connected to the importer I was after. I was just going to scare her. Tracy: [furiously] Everything they said about you is true. Bruce: Wow, your partner's been working over time turning you against me. Tracy: Nick has nothing to do with this. Bruce: Oh, yeah? Then why were you following me? [She stops walking and whirls to confront him.] Tracy: Because I wanted to prove to myself that you weren't what they said you were. That everything people were saying about you was a lie. Bruce: What? That I've got the best arrest in the department? That I've taken down more bad guys than anyone else? Tracy: No. The part about the violence. [She turns her back on him and continues walking.] Bruce: Look, you work on the street. You know what it is. Tracy: [stopping again] Yeah, I do. And it's not what you say it is. Bruce: Is this the part where I'm supposed to confess that I've slapped around some street trash? That I've been a bad boy? Look, you've got to be tough. That's what the trash knows. It's what they respect. Tracy: No, it's not. It's what they get. Bruce: Look, I... [He hesitates, then gives up and walks away.] [SCENE: that night, at the morgue. Nat is examining something under a microscope, while talking to Nick.] Natalie: We ran a full tox screen on that semen sample from Cass Purcell's body. Your rapist is a sick man. Nick: For that I need a lab report? Natalie: I don't mean just mentally. He's physically ill. The screen turned up strychnine in substantial amounts. Nick: Strychnine? [SCENE: A parking lot, either at the precinct or the coroner's building. Tracy parks her car and gets out. As she's walking toward the building, Nick intercepts her, and they head for the Cadillac.] Nick: You okay? Tracy: Yeah, I guess. We going somewhere? Nick: Well, Natalie found Strychnine in the samples from Cass Purcell. Tracy: [puzzled] Strychnine's a poison. Nick: Some heavy users cut their drugs with it. Makes their heart rate race. Gives them a bigger, faster rush. Sounds like our rapist did tweakers cut with strychnine while he was having sex. Tracy: Okay, so he's got a history of drug abuse, as well as violence during sex. Nick: Which means he sees a special kind of girl. [They get in the Cadillac and drive away.] [SCENE: A street corner, populated by an even sleazier-looking class of hookers than the earlier scene. Nick approaches Debbie, a hooker clad in a purple leather minidress and thigh-high boots.] Debbie: [insolently] I didn't say a word. Nick: Nobody said you did. Debbie: You can't bust me if I didn't say anything. Nick: You're right. Debbie: Hey, are you looking for something, cop? [Taking off her sunglasses to stare at him, she lets her voice turn sultry.] Or you just... looking? [CUT to farther down the street, as Tracy approaches a pair of hookers.] Tracy: Hi there, ladies. I'd like to ask you just a couple of questions. [The two women turn and walk away. CUT back to Nick.] Nick: You come across anyone who's into sharps? Debbie: [gesturing at her costume] Well, if they like leather, they tend to like sharps. Nick: Well, that's why we're talking. Debbie: I thought you loved me for myself. Nick: Let's take it one step further. Debbie: Oooh, an adventurer. [CUT to Tracy, who is walking down the street. Bruce calls to her from the concealment of an alley mouth.] Bruce: Hey--hey, Button. [CUT to Nick.] Nick: He's also into strychnine. Debbie: Oh, he likes to up the kinks, huh? Nick: Sound familiar? Debbie: Hey, do I look nuts, honey? Nick: No, but maybe some of your associates aren't so cautious. Debbie: Yeah, yeah, there are a couple girls into the heavy stuff. Nick: Who? Debbie: Anne. And Lisa. Nick: Where can I find them? [CUT to Tracy, as she joins Bruce in the alley.] Bruce: I've been thinking about what you were saying. Maybe you were right. Maybe I've been using a little too much muscle to open doors. And to talk to people I wouldn't otherwise be able to, but-- Tracy: [firmly] You don't have to do it. Bruce: I just didn't like the way you were looking at me this morning. So I'm going to try it your way, all right? Tracy: It's the right way. Bruce: I don't know. Maybe. Look, I'm just going to be glad when this is over. The bust's coming down soon. J.T. Cass. Tracy: [as a peace offering] Hey, look--the M.E. found out that the killer's a heavy user. And he's cutting his drugs with strychnine. Bruce: Look, I gotta go. Um... Good luck with your case, though. [He leaves, and Tracy continues on to join Nick.] Tracy: Anything? Nick: Ah... Yeah, there are a couple of ladies we can check out, over at the Paine Towers. Tracy: Let's just hope it leads to the right guy this time. [CUT to FLASHBACK: A street. Several German soldiers march past Claude and Nick, who are talking surreptitiously.] Claude: [subtitle for French dialogue] I think we have nothing to worry about now. Nick: [subtitle for French dialogue] Claude, about Giroux... Claude: No, I understand. I would have killed him myself. And now for a while, we are safe again, my friend. As safe as we can ever be. [Claude leaves. Nick continues walking, then jumps into concealment as he sees the door of a nearby building open, and Marie-Claire come out with a man in Gestapo uniform. They kiss passionately, then Marie-Claire comes out to the street and leaves. Nick leaps out of concealment, attacks the German, and drains him. Then he goes after Marie-Claire. When he catches up with her, she is moving like a zombie, and in a moment, LaCroix appears behind her. Nick: This is not your fight, LaCroix. I do not need your help. LaCroix: That much is obvious. You certainly didn't need my help with that other poor man... Giroux. I've been watching you. You really should be more cautious, Nicholas. You nearly tore that fool in half. What if they'd discovered who and what you really are? [As he's talking, LaCroix is circling Marie-Claire, who stands frozen and oblivious between them.] Nick: Give her to me. She is the traitor. LaCroix: Oh? Oh, but that means you choked the life from an innocent man. Don't you find it troublesome, Nicholas? This double standard you've adopted about killing... and not killing... and playing at omniscience. What are you waiting for? [LaCroix gestures, and Marie-Claire walks towards Nick.] LaCroix: Traitors die, don't they? At least you'll be killing the right one this time. Nick: Our cause is a just one. [He grabs Marie-Claire, tilts her head, and bites her. When she's dead, he discards her body.] Nick: No more innocent people will die on account of her. LaCroix: That is true. And yet, one can't help wondering what an effective strategy it is to work to destroy your enemy by providing him with his every wish. Say the granting of sexual favors to elicit trust in your enemy. To learn his secrets. [Uncertain now of what he's done, Nick bends over Marie-Claire's body, then looks at LaCroix with horror.] LaCroix: [subtitle for French dialogue] It's just a thought... But now we'll never know the truth, will we? [LaCroix smiles at him, then flies away.] COMMERCIAL [SCENE: the hallway of an apartment building. Nick knocks on an apartment door.] Nick: Lisa Kishner? Police. [There's no answer.] Tracy: We can come back. Anne Kypreos is in 1605. [SCENE: The interior of apartment 1605, decorated as an S&M playground. Anne, a blonde woman in dominatrix gear, lounges on the fur-covered couch, talking on the phone.] Anne: [into phone] You've been a bad little boy... Umhm... And you know what mummy has to do to bad little boys, huh?... That's right--you have been a bad little boy.... [She hears movement behind her, looks over her shoulder and sees Bruce entering.] Anne: [more annoyed than worried] Mummy's got to hang up now... Look, if you don't hang up, Mummy's never gonna spank you again. [Bruce grabs the phone away from her and hangs it up.] Bruce: Office hours are eight to four. Anne: Get the hell out of here, Spencer. You just crashed my best customer. Bruce: What? Twenty bucks a minute? What do you care? [He grabs her, pinning her to the couch with an arm around her throat.] Anne: Hey-- Bruce: Where is he? Anne: I don't know. Bruce: You don't know? Anne: Uh uh Bruce: You don't know? [Anne still seems more amused than frightened.] Anne: Uh uh. Bruce: Don't play games. Anne: Honey, you couldn't afford my games. You got a warrant? Bruce: Yeah. [He shows her his revolver.] Now, where is he? Anne: I told you, I don't know. [insolently] What are you gonna do? Beat it out of me? [The irony of the comment strikes both of them, and they grin in mutual understanding. The scene is disturbed by Stu, who enters from somewhere in the apartment, partly dressed. Bruce jumps to his feet and turns the gun on him.] Bruce: Son of a bitch. Stu: [to Anne] You know this guy? Anne: Yeah, he's a cop. Stu: Man! Bruce: You killed Cass, and now you're gonna die. Stu: [jittery and tense] Hey wait, wait. Hold on. It was an accident, man. Okay? She started to fight with me. I didn't know what the hell else I was gonna do. I couldn't help it. [Seeing an opportunity to get out of there, Anne heads for the door. Bruce glances over his shoulder to check out the movement, and Stu grabs a ceramic objet d'art and clocks him over the head with it.] Stu: [triumphantly, as Bruce slumps to the floor] You're getting soft, Bruce. Bad news for an undercover cop. [He draws a straight razor, and heads for the prone cop.] Stu: At least he used to be. Anne: What the hell are you gonna do to him? Stu: Just what he deserves. [Anne grabs his arm, trying to stop him, but he turns on her. Shoving her back against the wall, he threatens her with the razor.] Anne: Stu! Stu, wait. Don't do this! Stu: [caressing her face with the blade] Shhh. Anne: Stu, for God's sake, don't kill me. Stu! Stu, please! Don't! [Tracy bursts in, with her gun drawn. She miscalculates where the inhabitants of the apartment are, and Stu manages to leap on her before she can bring the weapon to bear on him.] Stu: [to Tracy, as he holds the razor to her throat] Drop the gun! Drop it! [Nick burst around the corner, gun drawn, but Tracy is between them.] Stu: All right, you want me to give blondie here a little happy face? You keep coming, cowboy. Come on. [Nick puts his gun away.] Nick: No. No one's going to die here. Stu: [looking at Tracy speculatively] Yeah? Nick: Just put the knife away. [While Stu is momentarily distracted by Nick, Tracy twists free, grabs Stu's wrist, and knocks him off balance. Nick grabs him, stuns him and tosses him to the floor, then goes to Tracy.] Nick: You okay? Tracy: Yeah. [While they're distracted, Bruce goes over to Stu, who is still sprawled on the floor. He points his revolver at Stu's forehead. His hand is trembling.] Stu: [in panic] Don't shoot. You just gonna let him shoot me? You gonna do something? Tracy: Bruce! Stu: Do something! Tracy: [quietly, trying to defuse the situation] Bruce, don't do it. We'll take it from here. [Bruce looks at her, uncertain and on the edge of pulling the trigger. There's blood running down his face from where Stu hit him. After a long moment, he relaxes his grip on the trigger and straightens up.] Bruce: [to Stu] Get up. You're under arrest for the murder of Cass Purcell. COMMERCIAL [SCENE: the Precinct. Nick and Tracy both look grim and tired.] Nick: I'm sorry about this. Tracy: So am I. Nick: But it's the only way it can work. Tracy: Yeah. [Nick leaves, and Tracy heads downstairs to the lock up.] [SCENE: a holding cell in the precinct. Bruce is sitting on the floor. Tracy enters, but he doesn't look at her.] Bruce: Hi. Tracy: [determinedly cheerful] Your importer's girlfriend, Vicki, gave us the final piece of the puzzle. The raid was perfect. Took everybody down. All the way to the top. Bruce: Good. Tracy: They're going to charge you with the murder of J.T. Gary. Bruce: I figured that. Tracy: [approaching him] I'm sorry. Bruce: [still not looking at her] Me, too. [After a moment, she gives up, turns and starts for the door.] Bruce: You were wrong. Tracy: What? [As she turns back, Bruce finally stands up to face her.] Bruce: You were wrong. I should've killed Stu when I had the chance. Sometimes you have to dance heavy. Use a little force. [sigh] Instead I played it your way. You almost got killed. Tracy: Nick was there. Bruce: Yeah, Nick's always there. Look, the bad guys won tonight. I'm in here. They're still out there. [She turns to leave again, but his next words stop her.] Bruce: You and Nick play by the rules, you get eaten up. Maybe what I do is outside the law, but... [laughs] it's justice. Tracy: [Without looking back] No, it's murder. [She walks out.] END CREDITS