Strings
     Forever Knight, Season 3, Episode 12
     Written by Roy Sallows
     Transcribed by Marg Baskin
     Proofread by Nancy Warlocke

Guest Cast:
     Christie Black....................................Joy Tanner
     Dr. Ben McGee.....................................Peter Hutt
     Helen Neary.....................................Amanda Smith
     Czar Nicholas................................Victor A. Young
     Alexandra....................................Caroline Yeager
     Rasputin..........................................Sam Malkin
     Matthew Neary....................................Joel Keller
     Captain Forrest..............................Elizabeth Brown
     Rose Woolcott..................................Natalia Jasen

TEASER

[SCENE: a Toronto street, nighttime. A woman steps out of a city 
bus.]

Driver: Watch your step now.

Woman: Good night.

[She walks away down the street. A car accelerates towards her, 
jumps the curb and strikes her, throwing her through a store 
window. While the store's alarm system blares, she lies amid the 
shattered glass. The driver gets out of the car, approaches, and 
shoots her five times.]

OPENING CREDITS

[SCENE: the same scene, after the police have arrived. Nick and 
Tracy are examining the car which was used as a murder weapon.]

Tracy: Looks like it's stolen.

Nick: Punched in the ignition.

Tracy: Probably popped the lock. I'll check with vehicle theft 
when we get back to the shop.

[Tracy's cell phone rings.]

Tracy: [into the phone] Vetter?... Dad, I'm working... [loudly] 
What?! You can't... Dad, I've got... I've gotta go.

[While Tracy is arguing with her father, Nick walks over to 
Natalie.]

Natalie: Uh-oh, trouble at home. 

[Tracy joins them, still stuffing the cell phone back into her 
coat pocket.]

Natalie: Ah, her name was Helen Neary. Greer is looking up next 
of kin.

Nick: She die on impact?

Natalie: [laughing] Actually, I doubt it. She was shot.

Nick: Shot?

Natalie: Five bullets into the torso. Small caliber, maybe a .32. 
No exit wounds, so we should be able to match the recoveries, 
assuming that you can find a weapon.

Tracy: Did they take anything?

Nick: No, they don't think so. Credit cards, cash--nothing seems 
to be missing.

Tracy: Looks a little bit like a hit.

Nick: How many hired killers do you know soften up their victims 
by ramming them with their cars first?

[SCENE: Same location, later. Tracy and Nick are walking away 
from the scene.]

Tracy: What do you know about Corporate Crime Division?

Nick: White collar. Suits. Expense accounts. Good place to 
advance.

Tracy: Would you go there? If you were offered a transfer?

Nick: That's what the phone call from your father was about? A 
transfer? [in surprise] You're interested?

Tracy: I dunno.

[SCENE: the hallway outside Matthew Neary's apartment. Nick and 
Tracy are there to notify him of his mother's death.]

Nick: Is the son the only next of kin we've got?

Tracy: There is a daughter, but Records is having a problem 
tracking her down.

[They reach Neary's apartment door.]

Nick: Here we are.

Tracy: Ugh. I hate notifications.

Nick: Everyone does. [knocks, and calls through the door] Matthew 
Neary?

Neary: [from inside the apartment] Yeah, what?

Nick: Police officers. Could you open the door, please?

[They hear frantic, scuffling noises coming from inside the 
apartment.]

Tracy: Just because he's her son doesn't mean he didn't pull the 
trigger.

[Nick kicks in the door, and they enter the apartment with 
weapons drawn. No one is inside. In the bedroom, they find an 
open window with a fire escape below--Neary's obvious escape 
route.]

Tracy: Damn!

Nick: Well, while we're here, why don't we have an informal look-
see?

[They put away their weapons and begin an unofficial search. 
Tracy's cell phone rings again.]

Tracy: [embarrassed] I thought I'd turned that off. 

Tracy: [answering it] Vetter?... 

[She throws an embarrassed glance at Nick, and goes off to the 
far side of the room, looking around while she talks.]

Tracy: Dad, I can't talk right now... Because I'm on duty. Just 
like the last time... No, I haven't made a decision yet... Well, 
yeah, I know what you think, but I don't... Dad, I am capable of 
running my own life.

[CUT to FLASHBACK: Pre-Revolution Russia, probably 1915-16, the 
palace of Czar Nicholas II. Nick and the Czar are talking. 
Rasputin walks past, and the Czar calls him to Nick's attention.]

Nicholas II: [softly and conspiratorially] It is the monk, 
Rasputin. The Czarina will do nothing without his consent.

Nick: How can this be?

Nicholas II: It is through our son. Alexei grows weaker every 
day. Alexandra is convinced that the monk is the only person who 
can help him. He seems to control her every thought. Her mind 
is... clouded. Rumor has spread to the people that she has gone 
mad, though I know it is Rasputin's influence, not madness.

[A servant approaches, and the Czar stops speaking, not wanting 
her to overhear. The conversation resumes again when she moves 
out of earshot.]

Nick: How can I help? What can I do?

Nicholas II: It is said that a friend gained at the gaming table 
is the truest a man can find. I have need of such a friend now, 
Nikolai. Yefimovitch has ambition. 

[He sees Alexandra approaching, with Rasputin trailing behind 
her.]

Nicholas II: [in disgust] It is her with him.

[When Alexandra is within speaking distance, Nicholas calls to 
her.]

Nicholas II: [falsely cheerful] Ready to retire for the evening, 
my dear?

Alexandra: What are you doing here? [she sees Nick] Ah, Nikolai. 
Discussing past exploits at the gaming table, no doubt?

Nicholas II: We were not, actually. Is that Yefimovitch lurking in the 
shadows? 

Nicholas II: [to Nick] Nikolai, I want you to meet Rasputin, the 
so-called monk my wife believes will cure our son.

[Nick walks over to Rasputin. As he approaches, the monk's eyes 
glow vampire-golden very briefly.]

[CUT to the present. Tracy has finally gotten off the phone with 
her father. She starts to read a letter that is lying on the top 
of Neary's dresser.]

Tracy: [excited] I can't believe this! Nick, this letter is from 
Christie Black. She's his sister.

[Nick looks at her blankly.]

Nick: Christy who?

Tracy: Christy Black. [clarifying] The singer.

Nick: Any return address?

[SCENE: Nick and Tracy arrive at the address they found on the 
letter, and ring the doorbell. Dr. Ben McGee opens the door.]

McGee: Yes?

Nick: I'm Detective Knight. This is Detective Vetter. We'd like 
to speak to Christie Black, please.

McGee: How did you know she was here?

Nick: We found out through her brother.

McGee: Look... Whatever it is, you can discuss it with me.

Nick: And you are?

McGee: Dr. Ben McGee. I'm Ms. Black's therapist.

Nick: You live in?

McGee: Well, it's my home, actually. It also serves as a clinic. 
Christie's case requires constant supervision.

Nick: What's the matter with her?

Tracy: Drugs, wasn't it?

McGee: Please... I'm trying to rebuild her life at the moment.

Tracy: May we please speak with her? It's very important.

[McGee shrugs, and invites them inside. He leads them to the door 
of a room where Christie is sitting, watching a videotape. She's 
wearing headphones, and staring at the TV screen with a blank, 
fixed expression.]

McGee: I'll just... 

[McGee signals for Nick and Tracy to wait at the door, and goes 
in alone. He turns off the TV, and talks softly to Christie. Nick 
listens to the conversation from across the room, and notices 
that the side table by Christie's chair is *heaped* with 
prescription drugs--pills bottles, syringes, etc.]

McGee: [whispering] Christie, the police are here to see you. 
Pull yourself together. 

[Nick and Tracy cross the room. Christie is making a haphazard 
attempt to finger-comb her hair into order, though she doesn't 
seem to be really aware of what's going on.]

McGee: That's enough, Christie. Pay attention now. 

[McGee pulls her hand away from her head.]

McGee: You listen to the detectives.

[Nick and Tracy exchange uncertain glances.]

Tracy: Ms. Black, your mother is Helen Neary?

Christie: Yes.

Nick: There's been an accident. Your mother's dead, Miss Black.

[Christie's only reaction is to look up at McGee, as though 
asking him what she should do.]

McGee: Is there anything else?

Tracy: Uh, yeah--Miss Black, is there any reason you can think of 
that your brother might not want to speak to the police?

[Christie shakes her head slightly, then again turns to McGee.]

Christie: Can I get a glass of water, please?

McGee: Of course. Don't be long.

[She gets up, her movements very zombie-like. As she walks past 
Nick and Tracy, she pauses.]

Christie: My mother... how?

Nick: It was a hit-and-run.

[She turns away again, showing no reaction, and walks out of the 
room.]

Tracy: If I remember correctly, this whole drug thing started 
shortly after her boyfriend committed suicide. Didn't he shoot 
himself at Pier 5?

McGee: Gary Wilton. But she would have gone over the edge without 
that. They both hit rock bottom together. Heroin. Cocaine. You 
name it. Fortunately, she's made good progress. She's beginning 
to come back to life. I just hope a shock like this... Any leads 
on the driver?

Nick: No. Actually, it was murder.

[McGee looks at the two of them in surprise, then glances towards 
the doorway.]

McGee: She shouldn't be this long.

[He leaves to find Christie. Tracy picks up one of the pill 
bottles by the chair, and reads the label.]

McGee: [voice calling from elsewhere in the house] Christie! 
Christie! 

[McGee rushes back to the doorway.]

McGee: She's gone! The door's open.

Nick: She can't have got far.

[Nick and Tracy follow McGee out of the house.]

McGee: We have to find her. She's not equipped to deal with 
something like this.

Nick: [to Tracy] That way. Go with him.

[As soon as Tracy and McGee run off, Nick listens with expanded 
hearing and hears Christie's voice in the distance. He flies off, 
tracing the sound.]

Christie: Center yourself.... Center yourself... 

[Christie is walking down the street, chanting the phrase over 
and over like a mantra. A car approaches her from behind, and 
honks its horn at her since she's in the roadway. She turns 
slowly to look at it, then deliberately walks in front of it. 
Nick drops in from nowhere and drags her out of the way just 
before the car hits her.]

[At the edge of the road, the shock seems to have shaken Christie 
out of her stupor, and she finally begins to display a normal 
amount of reaction to what's happening.]

Christie: What?... What happened?

Nick: Are you all right?

Christie: I don't know... I, uh, I shouldn't--I shouldn't--

Nick: Christie--Christie, it's okay.

Christie: I shouldn't have done that.

Nick: It's okay. Just take it easy, all right?

[McGee and Tracy run up to them.]

McGee: Christie! Christie! [to Nick] Is she okay?

Nick: Yeah.

Christie: [to McGee] I'm sorry. Please help me, I don't know what 
to do.

McGee: It's okay, Christie. Let's get you inside.

[He puts his arm around her shoulders and leads her away.]

COMMERCIAL

[SCENE: the 96th Precinct. Tracy and Nick are in Reese's office. 
The captain is reading a report he's holding.]

Nick: We ran Matthew Neary through CPIC. 

Reese: They got him on cocaine. Think he was into heroin, too. 
Like sister, like brother. Maybe Mum was cutting back on his 
allowance, and he decided to do something about it, who knows? 
You put out an APB?

Nick: Yeah.

Reese: All right... Now, uh, what was the sister's name again?

Tracy: Christie Black. [She looks at each of them, realizes the 
name means nothing, and expands,] The singer.

Reese: Unless she sings the anthems at hockey games, I don't know 
her. [to Nick] You sure about leaving her at McGee's house?

Nick: Well, it is a clinic. She doesn't need to be locked up, and 
her doctor's right there.

Reese: All right, it's your call. Look, maybe you'd better start 
working up the reports. 

[Nick walks out. As Tracy starts to follow him, Reese catches her 
attention.]

Reese: Ah... Tracy.

[She settles back into her chair, looking confused when Reese 
doesn't continue until Nick is out of earshot.]

Reese: Now, Detective Vetter, I got a phone call.

Tracy: [disheartened] Don't tell me. My father called.

[She sags in the chair.]

Reese: He informed me you were transferring off my watch. Working 
under Captain Forrest at Corporate Crime.

Tracy: I don't know what to tell you, Captain. None of this was 
my idea.

[Now that he knows she hasn't been maneuvering behind his back, 
Reese's expression grows more sympathetic.]

Reese: Oh, okay. I know how that goes, but I wish you would've 
told me it was in the wind.

Tracy: I haven't agreed to take the transfer yet, but apparently 
my father's telling everyone it's a done deal. I mean career-
wise, it's...

Reese: A smart move?

Tracy: Maybe. But the more my father pushes, the more I don't 
want to do it.

Reese: Look, I know he's put you in a tough spot, but I don't 
want anyone on my watch who's here to prove a point. You're here 
because you want to be, or you move on and that's it. Okay?

Tracy: Okay.

[She leaves the office.]

[SCENE: the morgue. Natalie is giving a preliminary report on the 
case to Nick. She hands him an evidence bag, which contains the 
slugs removed from Helen Neary's body.]

Natalie: Helen Neary might have lived, if she'd had good field 
care and a great surgeon, but the five shots into her chest sort 
of settled the issue. Thirty-two automatic.

Nick: Have you heard of a psychiatrist named McGee?

Natalie: Ben McGee? [laugh] Oh, yeah.

Nick: What's that? Disapproval?

Natalie: More like caution. Some people call him "miracle 
worker." He works on very high profile cases. Rich ones. If 
you've got enough money, you're not crazy, merely eccentric. Why 
do you ask?

Nick: I met him tonight. He's treating Helen Neary's daughter, 
Christie Black. 

[Natalie looks at him blankly.]

Nick: The singer? 

[Natalie shakes her head.]

Nick: Nah, me, neither. 

Natalie: What? And you think they're involved in the murder 
somehow?

Nick: Well, we're looking for Neary's son, Matthew.

Natalie: [laughing] Charming. Well McGee is a whiz at 
hypnotherapy and chemical conditioning. It's a classic 
behavioristic approach.

Nick: You're not a fan?

Natalie: It's the old elevator controversy. Say you have a 
patient who has a fear of closed spaces. He can't ride in the 
elevator. One school of thought says treat the fear of closed 
spaces, and its underlying causes, so that he can ride the 
elevator. The other side--McGee's side--says get him used to 
riding in the elevator, get him used to closed spaces, and the 
fear doesn't matter. One way you treat the disease, the other way 
you treat the symptoms. I'm a "treat the disease" kind of gal 
myself.

Nick: He does get results. 

Natalie: Oh, no question. Probably faster, too. I'm just 
uncomfortable with leaving the original fear there, waiting to 
come out in compulsive behaviors. And he does tend to take over 
his patients' lives.

[FLASHBACK: Nick is talking to Alexandra, who holds a porcelain 
doll he has handed to her.]

Alexandra: Absolutely exquisite.

Nick: It's for Anastasia. I found it in a small shop in Covent 
Garden. 

Alexandra: You're so thoughtful, Nikolai. [sadly] We are grateful 
for your friendship.

Nick: I did not mean to sadden you with this gift.

Alexandra: Oh, of course not. But of late, I am often stricken 
with melancholia. I don't know the cause. So many things. The 
world is no longer the world I knew. I fear for our survival.

Nick: Your Highness, if I may... The monk.

Alexandra: Rasputin is my trusted confidant. He is a holy man. Do 
not speak ill of him. My son has been sick for months. Yefimovitch is the 
only one who can help him. 

Nick: This sickness... Tell me--is Alexei weak? Pale?

Alexandra: Yes, terribly.

Nick: His bones ache. He has fevers. Bright lights hurt his eyes? 
He's always thirsty?

Alexandra: Yes. Yes, how did you know?

Nick: I'm familiar with this ailment.

Alexandra: This disease? Is there a cure?

Nick: Yes. But only up to a certain point. Your Highness, 
Rasputin's treatments cannot save your son.

[Rasputin enters the room, unnoticed.]

Rasputin: Without me, he would already be dead.

Nick: If Alexei is to be cured, it must be done now.

Rasputin: And you would cure him?

Nick: [angry] If the Czarina wishes.

Rasputin: [smugly] Then we should ask her. [hypnotic voice] No 
one can help him but me. You are right to resist outsiders who 
would try to steal your son.

Nick: [hypnotic voice] Examine his motives, Your Highness. He's 
using your son's weakness to gain control of you.

Rasputin: [hypnotic voice] He lies. 

Nick: [hypnotic voice] Can you not feel the hold he has on you?

Rasputin: [hypnotic voice] His is an evil soul. I am the 
salvation of Alexei. 

Nick: [hypnotic voice] I can help Alexei.

Alexandra: [distantly] No. No, Yefimovitch is the only one. Any who oppose 
him must die.

[Realizing he has lost the content of wills, Nick switches back 
to a normal, human voice.]

Nick: Ever your servant, Your Highness.

[He walks out, leaving Rasputin looking smug and triumphant.]

[SCENE: McGee's clinic. Christie is huddled in her chair, crying. 
McGee looms over her, speaking angrily.]

McGee: What were you thinking? Did you think killing yourself 
would make it all better?... I asked you a question!

Christie: [crying] She was my mother. I loved her. I needed her.

[McGee knees in front of her and speaks intently.]

McGee: No. The only person you need right now is you. Accidents 
happen. Life goes on, but you--your solution is to kill yourself? 
You're saying you give up. That you're weak. Is that what you're 
saying, Christie?

Christie: Yes.

McGee: That's not you, Christie. You're not weak. All you've been 
through. All the work. The pain. That's not something a weak 
person could go through, is it?

Christie: [reluctantly] No.

McGee: You're getting better. No one can take that away from you, 
can they?

Christie: [smiling through her tears, proudly] No.

McGee: Because you're strong. Say it.

Christie: Strong.

McGee: Again.

[She's stopped crying now.]

Christie: Strong.

McGee: Loud.

Christie: Strong!

McGee: Strong enough to do what you have to do to survive.

Christie: [viciously] Yes!

McGee: And more than that. You know why I'm hard on you, don't 
you?

Christie: Because I can take it.

McGee: Right. Now--center yourself, and let's get back to it.

[He goes over to turn on the TV. Christie slips the headphones 
back onto her head. Her expression now is one of determination.]

[SCENE: the Cadillac. Nick and Tracy.]

Nick: Your father call again?

Tracy: He may as well have. He's talked to everyone else.

Nick: Why don't you just tell him you need more time to think 
about the transfer?

Tracy: Because, he'll tell me how much time to take.

Nick: You can't reason with him?

Tracy: How do you reason with someone who thinks that they're 
always right? Sooner or later, you just give up. Let them have 
their way. People need to feel in control of their lives. If not, 
it's like a little piece of you goes crazy. Maybe that's why I 
always used to run to my dad for advice. I couldn't make 
decisions because he'd never let me learn how.

[She stares out the car window, while Nick studies her with 
concern.]

[SCENE: McGee's clinic. Tracy is interviewing McGee again, while 
Nick keeps to the background, watching.]

McGee: I'll do what I can, but you must realize I can't 
jeopardize Christie's recovery in any way.

Nick: We're not asking you to. But our only next of kin are 
Matthew and Christie.

Tracy: He won't talk to us, and she can't. We're hoping that you 
can provide us with some information to go on.

McGee: Well, there's not much to say about Helen. Quite an 
unremarkable woman, really. Christie had an ambivalent 
relationship with her.

Nick: What about the brother?

McGee: Matthew was a problem. He and Helen fought a lot. There 
was his substance abuse. Poor Christie was always caught in the 
middle. Matthew won't talk to you?

Tracy: No. You said Helen and Matthew fought? Was there any 
physical violence?

McGee: [surprised] He's a suspect? But he couldn't... I know 
Matthew, and he's not a killer. And his own mother? I can't 
believe that.

Nick: Perhaps there's a motive you're unaware of.

McGee: If it does turn out that Matthew killed Helen, I have to 
do everything possible to keep that from Christie. Can I have 
your word that you'll help me do that?

Nick: We'll do what we can.

Tracy: How is Christie?

McGee: Overall, I'm optimistic. Of course, the news of her 
mother's death... Well, you saw her reaction. But I think I 
helped her work through some of the grief in our session last 
night.

Nick: Um, Doctor, about that... Your methods....

McGee: I know what you're going to say. My treatment technique 
has troubled you.

Nick: Yes.

McGee: I've heard it many times. All I can say, Detective, is 
that it gets results. 

[The doorbell rings.]

McGee: Excuse me--I'm expecting some deliveries.

[He leaves to answer the door. Tracy looks up at Nick.]

Tracy: Nick? I think I'm going to take the transfer.

[Before Nick can react to her comment, they hear Matthew Neary's 
voice shouting from elsewhere in the house, followed immediately 
by a gun shot.]

Neary: I warned you.

[Tracy and Nick run into the hallway. Tracy reaches McGee first.]

Tracy: [to McGee] Are you hit?

McGee: No, I'm okay. It was Matthew.

Nick: Call it in.

[Nick runs outside, leaps into the air and lands in front of 
Neary's motorcycle before he can take off. He grabs Neary.]

Nick: Police.

Neary: That bastard's messin' with my sister's head. He's 
screwing with her brain--don't you get it?

Nick: You're under arrest.

[He drags Neary off the bike.]

Neary: Hey!

COMMERCIAL

[SCENE: an interview room at the 96th Precinct. Nick and Tracy 
are questioning Matthew Neary.]

Neary: I wasn't trying to shoot him... Look, I'd had a couple of 
beers. I wanted him to know I meant business.

Nick: What type of business?

Neary: I don't like the way he's treating my sister.

Tracy: [sarcastically] Oh, you mean the fact that he's 
practically saved her life?

Neary: Any rehab clinic can do that. Hell, I'm proof of that. 
I've been clean for two years now... except for tonight, maybe.

Nick: So what's the objection?

Neary: Christie isn't Christie anymore.

Tracy: Well, judging by her past, maybe that's a good thing.

Neary: No, she isn't anyone anymore. She's just blank. Under 
his complete control.

Nick: Tell us about your mother. 

Tracy: When was the last time you two spoke?

Neary: I dunno. [shrugs] In the last year.

Nick: We heard the two of you didn't get along. That there were 
fights. Is that right?

Neary: What, are you analyzing me now?

Nick: Your mother's dead.

Tracy: Murdered.

Neary: [upset] What, you think it's me? She's my mother, for 
God's sake. I swear, I didn't know.

Tracy: Well, we went to your apartment last night to notify you, 
and you ran. Why?

Neary: [miserably] I was holding.

Nick: I thought you were clean?

Neary: Hey, clean's relative. Just a little grass, that's all. 
Does Christie know... she was murdered?

Nick: Not yet. Dr. McGee thought it was better not to tell her 
yet.

Neary: [laughs] Might be the first time I ever agreed with him.

[Nick and Tracy leave the interview room and join Reese, who is 
watching the interview through the one-way mirror.]

Reese: Well, what's your take?

Tracy: Well, I dunno if I buy his reason for running.

Reese: Well, we're still a few pieces of evidence away from 
guilty. We can hold him on the weapons charge. Kind of a mess to 
pull together an act like that, don't you think?

Nick: I think we should tell Christie that her mother's been 
murdered. McGee's not going to like it, but she's the only person 
we haven't really talked to. 

Reese: All right, I'll get the Crown Attorney on the horn to hold 
the brother. 

[They turn to leave, but Reese stops them.]

Reese: Oh, one other thing, while I got the two of you here. 
Tracy, I just got word that your father's pushed through your 
transfer. You start in Corporate Crime first thing tomorrow 
night..

[Tracy doesn't look surprised--but she doesn't look happy, 
either.]

Reese: You knew, didn't you?

Tracy: Well... I'd sort of accepted the inevitable.

Reese: I'm going to be sorry to lose you, but who knows? [He 
shakes her hand.] You might like it down there. Now, 
look--shift's over. Go home, report to Corporate tomorrow. See 
how it goes. Okay?

Tracy: Thanks, Captain.

Reese: Congratulations.

[SCENE: LaCroix is on the air as the Nightcrawler. Nick is 
listening on the Cadillac radio.]

LaCroix: I know what you're thinking. You're thinking about the 
past. And you're asking yourself "how did I get here?" And when 
you think about it, you realize that really you had no say in the 
matter at all. Funny isn't it? You've just been bobbing along on 
the eddies and currents of life. Like flotsam. [chuckles] Subject 
to the whims of everyone and everything but yourself. Bumping 
through history.

[FLASHBACK: December, 1916. Nick enters a room in the palace, and 
finds Rasputin waiting for him.]

Nick: What is it you want? Why have you summoned me?

Rasputin: It wasn't me.

[Nick looks across the room, and sees LaCroix sitting in a chair 
by the fireplace.]

LaCroix: [standing up] Bumping through history again, Nicholas? 
Here to see a revolution in the making?

Nick: What are you doing here?

LaCroix: [approaching him slowly] Oh, I'm never very far from my 
acolytes. Or from history, for that matter. History, after all, 
is always where we are.

Nick: You brought him across?

LaCroix: [laughing] Delightful conceit, don't you think? A holy 
man. [looks at Rasputin, contemptuously] Unfortunately, he's 
turned out to be rather more of a handful than I'd first 
anticipated. He's quite mad, I'm afraid. Not even a real monk. 
He's rather headstrong. Rather like you, actually. Although I 
trust that it is not madness that makes you so.

Nick: You know why I resist you.

LaCroix: Oh, yes. You would have me believe that all men should 
be free. Unfortunately, history teaches us that the human species 
lends itself readily to enslavement. It is a comfort to be told 
what to think, how to live... against whom to wage war. Freedom 
is the absence of individual thought. We are all under one form 
of control or another. The Czar under the Czarina. The Czarina 
under Rasputin. Rasputin under me.

Nick: And you are under?

[LaCroix ignores the question, and turns his attention back to 
Rasputin. Two uniformed soldiers enter the room, carrying 
rifles.]

LaCroix: He's begun to resist me. He's forgotten the source of 
his power. Here I was, ready to hand him this peasant nation on a 
silver platter. But oh, no. It wasn't enough. Ah, well... 

[LaCroix nods to the soldiers, who shoot Rasputin multiple 
times.]

LaCroix: Throw him in the river. 

[The soldiers drag the body away.]

Nick: But that won't kill him.

LaCroix: Of course not, but it will catalyze events. Revolution, 
you see, is all in the timing.

[SCENE: the offices of Corporate Crime Division. Captain Forrest, 
a short, blonde woman, is leading Tracy through an introductory 
tour.]

Forrest: You're going to get along with everyone here. Nothing 
but the cream of the crop. We have more economics and business 
administration degrees in this one room than in most brokerage 
firms.

Tracy: Really?

Forrest: You should be very proud. It's not everyone who gets 
into our forensic accounting department.

Tracy: [appalled] Forensic accounting?

Forrest: Oh, yes. You have to get your feet wet. 

Tracy: Yeah, but... Captain, my last assignment was homicide.

Forrest: Oh, I know this is a big challenge, but I'm sure 
you're up to it. 

[They arrive at Tracy's new desk.]

Forrest: And here's your new home. Welcome to Corporate Crime 
Division, Detective Vetter.

[SCENE: an office building, somewhere downtown. A woman, Rose 
Woolcott, is working at her desk. There's a knock on the door.]

Woolcott: Yes?

[No answer, but another knock.]

Woolcott: I'm working late tonight. You can clean up here in the 
morning. 

[There is still no reply, so she opens the door, then stares at 
her visitor in surprise.]

Woolcott: What are you doing here? [exasperated] Oh, for goodness 
sake. Come in.

[Leaving the door open, Woolcott walks back towards her desk. The 
unseen visitor shoots her in the back, multiple times. As she 
falls to the floor, the camera pans back, revealing that Christie 
Black is holding the gun.]

COMMERCIAL

[SCENE: Rose Woolcott's office, now a crime scene.]

Natalie: Well, what can I tell you? Five shots from a small 
caliber, probably a .32. Sound familiar?

Nick: Victim's name was Rose Woolcott. Christie Black's business 
manager.

Natalie: Aha, I detect a pattern.

Nick: Time of death in the last twelve hours or so?

Natalie: Definitely.

Nick: Well, that lets Matthew Neary off the hook. He was in 
holding at the time.

Natalie: So, who does that leave you with?

[SCENE: Corporate Crime offices. Captain Forrest arrives at 
Tracy's desk, carrying an enormous stack of papers and file 
folders. She drops the stack beside Tracy's computer terminal.]

Forrest: That's the Laurin file. He's an investment broker we 
suspect has been bilking his clients of tens of thousands of 
dollars.

[Tracy looks at the file without enthusiasm.]

Tracy: [fatalistically] Okay.

Forrest: We need you to follow the various paper trails. See 
where they start and end.

Tracy: [with mild sarcasm] Sounds exciting.

Forrest: [annoyed] Look. I know it's tedious, but it's what we 
do around here. My people keep their heads down, do exactly what 
I tell them to, and get the job done.

Tracy: [frowning] That's fine.

Forrest: And don't think I'm cutting you any slack because your 
father sits on the Police Commission.

[Tracy rolls her eyes.]

Tracy: I would hope not.

Forrest: Because around here, we do things my way.

Tracy: [by now wearing a "give me a break" expression] You've 
already pointed that out, Ma'am.

Forrest: Yeah, well, you homicide cops have a reputation for 
being... [making it sound like a dirty word] "independent." 

Tracy: [disgusted] Don't worry, Ma'am, I wouldn't dream of using 
my head in here.

Forrest: I'm just going to pretend this conversation didn't 
happen, and that we got off to a good start, okay, Vetter? 
There's the Laurin file. Have it completed by the end of business 
tomorrow.

[SCENE: the precinct, by the sergeant's desk. Reese sees Christie 
walk in.]

Reese: Miss Black? How can I help you? 

[As she talks to him, Christie stares at the floor, never looking 
at him.]

Christie: I want to see my brother. You're dropping the charges.

Reese: Yes, we are. And yes, you can see him. Normally, we 
wouldn't, but since you're his sister... Just leave your purse 
behind, if you don't mind. [catching the attention of a nearby 
cop] Officer. 

[Christie hands her purse to a uniformed cop.]

Reese: [indicating the cop] Just accompany him.

Cop: Come with me, please.

[Christie follows the cop to the interview room where Neary is 
still being held.]

Neary: [jumping up to greet her] Christie! What are you doing 
here?

Christie: I came to see you.

Neary: On your own? No McGee?

Christie: No.

Neary: Well, here--sit. 

[He leads her to a chair, then sits down in another, directly in 
front of her.]

Neary: They're letting me out.

Christie: I know.

Neary: Yeah.

Christie: That's good.

Neary: Yeah... Look, about Mum. 

[Christie starts to cry, so he puts his arms around her.]

Neary: Hey, shhh. [to the cop] Can we get some water, maybe? 
Kleenex?

Cop: Yeah, sure thing.

[The cop goes outside to get them, leaving them alone.]

Neary: It's okay. It's okay. You and me are going to be okay. 
What you say, after, we go get something to eat at my place. I'd 
like to talk to you about McGee. I really think he's not doing 
good things for you, Chris.... 

[Christie's face crumples again, so Neary embraces her.]

Neary: [whispering] It's okay.

[Christie pulls out a pistol, and presses the silenced barrel 
against him.]

Christie: I don't care what you think. You wanna hurt me. 

[She shoots Matthew five times, then puts the gun away and walks 
out the door.]

[SCENE: the observation area adjacent to the interview room. 
Reese and Nick are there, while forensics techs and Natalie deal 
with Neary's body inside.]

Reese: How the hell something like this could happen in a police 
station is beyond me.

Nick: She had us all fooled.

Reese: Well, that won't wash when this hits the fan upstairs. And 
the fact that she walked right out...

[Natalie comes out to join them.]

Natalie: Would you be surprised if I said five shots, probably 
with a .32-caliber automatic and a silencer.

Nick: The mother, the manager, and now the brother. What's going 
on inside her head?

[SCENE: the Corporate Crime office. Tracy is staring intently at 
her computer screen, flipping through information on Christie 
Black's estate and financial holdings. Captain Forrest walks up, 
looking annoyed.]

Forrest: [pointedly not looking at the information displayed on 
the screen] Tracy--you still working on the Laurin file?

Tracy: Yeah.

Forrest: Come up with anything?

Tracy: Why don't we just cut the little game, Captain. You and I 
both know I'm not working on the Laurin file.

[Forrest starts to walk away, then turns back.]

Forrest: I would have thought you had the smarts to take a look 
at the larger picture. We're talking about your career. This is 
not about the Laurin file, or your homicide case, this is about
you doing what you are supposed to do.

Tracy: You mean me doing what *you* say I am supposed to do.

Forrest: Same thing.

Tracy: No, it's not. What I should be doing is trying to track 
down a killer.

[Tracy turns back to the computer, and starts typing.]

Forrest: [leaning over her] What are you doing?

Tracy: I'm... being insubordinate.

[Forrest hits a key on the terminal, interrupting her work.]

Forrest: [coldly] You are making a big mistake.

Tracy: What are you going to do? Bust me back down to meter maid?

Forrest: I could.

Tracy: You wouldn't. You're too busy trying to score brownie 
points with my father.

[Forrest stalks off. Tracy goes back to what she was doing.]

COMMERCIAL

[SCENE: in front of Ben McGee's clinic. Tracy and Nick arrive 
separately, meet beside their cars, and walk towards the house.]

Nick: [smiling] It's good to see you. Thanks for the call.

Tracy: No problem.

Nick: Any sign of him? 

Tracy: Nope.

Nick: Well, I've got the warrant. Come on.

Tracy: According to the records I've found, Christie had no 
motive to kill anyone. No one can get at the fortune unless 
Christie died.

[Nick rings the doorbell.]

Nick: And if she did?

Tracy: Money simply stays in the corporation, to be controlled by 
Matthew and Helen Neary, Rose Woolcott, and Dr. McGee.

[Getting no answer, Nick rings the doorbell again.]

Nick: Three down, one to go.

Tracy: Yeah, but which one?

[Still no answer from inside, so he knocks, then tries the door. 
It's locked, but a surreptitious vampire-strength shove breaks 
the lock. Nick opens it. He and Tracy enter the house, weapons 
drawn.]

Nick: Christie? Dr. McGee? 

[The house appears to be empty. They start looking around the 
room with the TV set.]

Nick: First time we were here, wasn't she watching a video of 
Rose Woolcott?

Tracy: Yeah.

[He locates that videotape, puts it in the machine and turns on 
the TV. Rose Woolcott's face appears.]

Nick: There she is.

Tracy: Dr. McGee said he uses the old videotapes in his therapy.

[Nick checks out another part of the tape, which shows Christie's 
brother.]

Nick: Matthew Neary. 

[He puts on the headphones and listens. With vampire hearing, he 
can pick up a subliminal audio track.] 

McGee: [on tape] This is the person that you must shoot. (2) 
You're strong. You can do it. It is just a dream. Not real. Don't 
let anyone stop you.

[Nick pulls off the headphones.]

Tracy: Anything?

Nick: I'd like to get these tapes checked out. If I'm right, Dr. 
McGee is using these and the drugs to program Christie.

Tracy: To control her.

Nick: To make her kill. She probably doesn't even know she's 
doing it.

[CUT to FLASHBACK: Czar Nicholas is sitting by the fire, reading. 
Rasputin walks into the room, looking a tad worse-for-wear, but 
definitely not dead.]

Rasputin: You cannot kill me. No one can. 

[His eyes are vampire-gold and crazy. The Czar stares at him in 
horror, and leaps to his feet.]

Nicholas II: What are you?

Rasputin: The man who will lead all the Russias. 

[Rasputin leaps forward at vampire speed, but as he grabs the 
Czar, Nick flies into the room and drags him off the mortal.]

Nick: [holding him] Leave now and I'll let you live.

Rasputin: We could destroy them all.

Nick: Listen to me, Grigori Yefimovitch--you would bring a 
monarchy to its knees. Countless thousands of people may die in 
the upheaval. You would be ruler of nothing but a wasteland, 
filled with rotting flesh.

[The Czar goes to his desk and retrieves a revolver.]

Rasputin: You do not belong here, de Brabant. This is not your 
country. It is mine.

[Nick throws him aside. When Rasputin leaps at him again, Nick 
drives a stake through him. Rasputin collapses on a couch and 
dies.]

Nicholas II: [aiming the revolver at Nick] You are like him?

[Nick walks over to him slowly, ignoring the revolver.]

Nick: It's a long story, Nicholas. One that I'm afraid I shan't 
be able to tell you. Alexei should recover now. I wish you and 
your family well... my old friend.

Nicholas II: I thank you for what you have done, but... go now. 
Please. Do not return.

[CUT to the present. Nick is rooting through the McGee's pile of 
videotapes. He checks out another one, which shows Christie and a 
young man down by the lakeshore.]

Nick: Pier 5.

Tracy: [looking at the man on the tape] That face looks familiar. 
Isn't that Gary Wilton?

Nick: The boyfriend who committed suicide.

Tracy: Nick, if McGee's programming forces Christie to kill 
whoever's on the videotapes he makes her watch...

Nick: She's going to kill herself.

[McGee walks into the room.]

McGee: What the hell are you doing here?

Nick: We have a warrant, Dr. McGee, but I'm thinking that maybe 
we should add your name to it. How does conspiracy to commit 
murder sound?

[McGee takes a step backwards, as though he's planning to run.]

Tracy: [pulling her pistol] Don't even think about it. 

Nick: Where's Christie, Doctor? You know where she'd gone, and 
what she's going to do.

McGee: I don't have to say anything.

Nick: Cuff him.

[Tracy holsters her gun and pulls out the cuffs.]

Tracy: [as she's cuffing McGee] Where you going?

[Nick leaves without answering.]

[SCENE: Pier 5. Christie is standing by the water, with her 
silenced pistol in her hands. She's alone, but listening to 
McGee's voice in memory.]

McGee: [voice echoing in Christie's head] This is the person that 
you must shoot. You are strong. You can do it. It's just a dream. 
Not real. Don't let anyone stop you.

[She slowly raises the gun towards her temple. Nick arrives.]

Nick: Christie!

[Christie whirls towards him and points the gun at him.]

Christie: No! Go away! I can't let you stop me.

[Approaching her slowly.]

Nick: Christie, you can stop.

Christie: I have to shoot her.

Nick: No, you don't. 

Christie: I have to!

[She whips the gun up towards her forehead. Nick gets to her and 
grabs her before she can fire.]

Nick: [hypnotic voice] Listen to me. Listen only to me. You can 
rest. You can forget the pain for now.

Christie: No. 

Nick: [hypnotic voice] You don't have to kill her, Christie. It's 
not what you want. It's what McGee wants. Think, Christie. He's 
been controlling you. You know that. You don't have to die.

Christie: [whispering] I don't have to... I don't have to... I 
don't have to...

[He releases her, and takes her into his arms.]

COMMERCIAL

[SCENE: the following night, the 96th Precinct. Reese is leaning 
on the partition talking to Nick, who is sitting on his desk.]

Nick: No. 

[Tracy walks in, and dumps her stuff on her desk.]

Reese: Well, well, well, will you look who's here? So, um, you 
had that conversation with your father?

Tracy: No... That's still to come.

Nick: Boy, I'd like to hear it when it does.

Tracy: [laughing] I'm sure you would. How's that Christie Black 
thing going?

Nick: Not good, but not hopeless. She's got a lot to recover 
from. But she does remember what McGee did to her and she's 
willing to testify.

Tracy: Yech. McGee's got the best lawyers.

Nick: Nah, the tapes are going to hang him.

[Tracy's cell phone rings.]

Nick: [to Reese, in amusement] Sounds like his ring to me.

[Tracy sits down at her desk, and Reese and Nick move off in 
opposite directions, giving her an illusion of privacy.]

Tracy: [on the phone] Vetter. Dad, how are you?... Yeah... Yeah, 
right... Yeah, we do have to talk... Okay. How about two?... 
Well, that's--No, that's not good for me... Dad, you change 
yours.

END CREDITS