THE FIRST CUT
Written by
Benjamin L. Hinnant
PILOT
WGA-w# 2004890 [email protected] FADE IN:
EXT. WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - NIGHT
CU: AN OPEN EYE.
Lifeless. Accentuated OFFSCREEN by RED & BLUE siren lights and red blood spatter. We are greeted by a LOUISIANA DRAWL:
CAMILLE (V.O.) Around my way, the meaning of life is summed up in who comes to bury you, who gathers together in your name after you’ve gone, and how they remember and eulogize you.
SLOW-MO: A bright red FORD FIESTA parks at the corner of the intersection. HE steps out the car, hood of his black hoodie covering his head. “TRAYVON MARTIN 1995-2012” on his back.
TITLE CARD: “THE FIRST CUT”
The trunk pops open. The hoodie comes off and is replaced with a “MEDICAL EXAMINER” windbreaker and cap. He grabs the PELICAN CASE, shuts the trunk, and locks the car by remote.
CAMILLE GALLIEN is our boy-next-door handsome protagonist, thirty, a “Louisiana Creole” of color. He rounds the corner onto Havenhurst. The Andalusia building is cordoned off with “CRIME SCENE” tape. CRIME SCENE TECHS operate on auto-pilot.
END SLOW-MO
Waving Camille over wearing matching “Medical Examiner” gear is EZEKIAL FOGG, white, sixty, silver-haired.
CAMILLE Dr. Fogg. You’re everywhere.
FOGG Yeah, I’m what you call hands-on. Forget every episode of CSI you’ve ever committed to memory. Tonight’s a crash course on what you’ll learn during your year here. What is your first objective at the crime scene?
CAMILLE To inventory as much information related to the body as I can.
FOGG Make sure the decedent is dead. 2.
Fogg and Camille conduct a walk through, an overview of the entire crime scene. FORD SZARAGOSA, white, forties, senior death investigator, snaps photos with a crime scene CAMERA.
SZARAGOSA Black Lives Matter, you. Are. Late.
CAMILLE It’s LA. I can be fashionably late.
SZARAGOSA Analyzing the body at the scene of the crime is an integral component to death investigations even before the first cut of a postmortem. As primary DI your job is to ascertain crime scene safety prior to setting foot on the scene itself to prevent injury or loss of life, Doctor.
FOGG Szaragosa’s already established an entry and exit path to the body. An unidentified, white male. John Doe.
Camille kneels and pulls back the sheet covering the BODY. The image before Camille is unnerving. But he’s used to it.
CAMILLE He’s wearing a tux. Another black tie basic for getting laid in this town? Am I really checking vitals?
FOGG You’ll be surprised what the human body can survive. Trust me, nothing about this job is TV-friendly.
CAMILLE Heard of cable? Who called it in?
FOGG A resident here. Actually called to complain the body was blocking the driveway’s entrance. Some set, huh?
SZARAGOSA A determination of death’s needed before jurisdiction’s established.
CAMILLE And you’re volunteering me? Fine.
Camille grabs the dead man’s hand and feels. 3.
CAMILLE (CONT'D) He hasn’t gone into rigor yet.
SZARAGOSA Rigor mortis sets in three to four hours after time of death, lasts up to, give or take, thirty-six hours.
CAMILLE Abrasions by the left ear extended across the back of the head. Same point of contact. Vascular damage.
SZARAGOSA Consistent with blunt force trauma. Camille registers the wound pattern on the back of the head.
CAMILLE (measures it) Five inches. He was struck by something strong. Hard.
SZARAGOSA Like a wooden stake perhaps?
CAMILLE A stake? If it were hard enough, sure. It could do the trick. I’d like to pronounce it. Homicide.
SZARAGOSA And there it is. The magic word.
FOGG Here’s what needs to be done before leaving. Note the location where death was confirmed. Obtain dispatch records. Interview family and witnesses as needed. Record any discrepancies between the scene and the body, inconsistencies involving trace evidence...
CAMILLE (V.O.) I am a Forensic Pathology fellow. Every month out of the next twelve I will see four to ten homicides, sixty to a hundred natural deaths, twenty to thirty unnatural deaths, two to five pediatric postmortems, and eight to twelve suicides.
CUT TO: 4.
INT. GALLIEN HOUSE/LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA - DAY
A framed photo atop the fireplace mantle of a six-year old BOY OF COLOR, filled with adorable, wide-eyed innocence.
CAMILLE (V.O.) It was my granpè who introduced me to death. He owned a funeral parlor back in my hometown. I was blessed with his name. A name I’ve had a constant love-hate relationship with once the bullying began. My parents taught me early on how race and class can divide us. And how the ignorant and overprivileged ridicule our names and our culture, before appropriating and colonizing them. Never giving our traditions nor our language the respect they deserve. Which is why it’s taken me this long to make amends with the familial history behind my name.
PULL BACK TO REVEAL: A multitude of vintage pictures over the fireplace personalizing the walls of the front room. A FAMILY history ranging from infant to elder representing African, Spanish, European and Native American hybridism is displayed.
CAMILLE (V.O.) I come from a line of free Creoles of color, as my kinfolk were called back in the day. French, African, Spanish and Native ancestral bloods who migrated here from the French colonies in the Caribbean and West Africa during the Spanish rule in Louisiana. My elders were artists, doctors, tailors, educators, hair- dressers, and cooks. They owned property and maintained boarding houses. They also owned slaves. I know my history. Any man who hasn’t owned his past is doomed to get owned. Knowledge is our best weapon against a movement driven by hatred and threatened by the history we carry in our minds, our bodies, and in our spirits. It’s what keeps me woke as fuck. Why I take a knee. And why my black life matters. And if empowering myself makes anyone mad they should ask themselves why.
CUT TO: 5.
INT. MOREHOUSE COLLEGE/AUDITORIUM/ATLANTA, GA - DAY
CAMILLE, eighteen, dressed in his MAROON BLAZER with other BLACK FRESHMEN. Heads bowed, hands joined in silent prayer.
CAMILLE (V.O.) Faith healing is a dying tradition, which sadly skipped my generation. My papa inherited the Gift from his mother, Granmè Prevella Delphine. With it, a respect for human life. “Healing is more intoxicating than the sweetness of a first kiss”, my papa says. Takes me back to when I kissed my first boy, Hero Jean. We were both twelve back then.
CUT TO:
EXT. MOREHOUSE COLLEGE/ATLANTA, GA - DAY
CAMILLE and MOREHOUSE FRESHMEN march single file through the main gates of campus during the Parents Parting Ceremony.
CAMILLE (V.O.) Hero’s dad, Dr. Henri Jean, my former pediatrician whom I secretly crushed on, mocked faith healing ‘cause it wasn’t backed by science.
CUT TO:
INT. MOREHOUSE COLLEGE/AUDITORIUM/ATLANTA, GA - DAY
CAMILLE, twenty-one, sits with his GRADUATING CLASS wearing caps and gowns. FAMILIES are in their seats as names are called to collect diplomas. Camille spots his family taking photos and videos in the audience: His parents PATRICE and EUPROSINE, and older brother CAYENNE, in his Naval uniform.
CAMILLE (V.O.) That didn’t stop people who could afford real doctors from traveling to see my papa. Dr. Jean died that summer after we graduated high school. He willed his body to a medical school in another state. To give students there a chance to perform their first cut. Sadly, Hero and I lost touch. His loss.
CUT TO: 6.
EXT. MOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE/ATLANTA, GA - DAY
Gross Anatomy. First-year medical student CAMILLE expertly performs his first cut on a human body. And then faints.
CAMILLE (V.O.) Dreaming big is what made me the bad-ass papi loco I am today. By repurposing the negativity from my life and into my dreams, I could rebuild my Self. As a lawyer, an actor, astronaut, even a superhero.
CUT TO:
EXT. SHUTTLE BUS (MOVING)/ATLANTA, GA - EVENING
CAMILLE on a CAMPUS SHUTTLE BUS being re-routed by POLICE. A car with a bullet-riddled windshield and a BLACK MAN’s lifeless body slumped over the wheel in the street is treated as an afterthought. POLICE mill about joking with each other.
CAMILLE (V.O.) Especially when reality reminds me how disposable I am. Well, almost.
CUT TO:
INT. MOREHOUSE DORM/ATLANTA, GA - NIGHT
CHEERS and TEARS echo throughout the halls. CAMILLE and other STUDENTS witness BARACK OBAMA become the President on TV.
CAMILLE (V.O.) I ultimately chose doctor. Because I used to be afraid of dead people. Especially the ones in my granpè’s funeral parlor. And too many of us are being taken before our time.
CUT TO:
INT. HOSPITAL OFFICE WAITING ROOM/LOS ANGELES, CA - DAY
FACES are buried in CELLPHONES in the reception area. Except CAMILLE. He’s in his ill-fitting, Sunday best on a budget.
ALVES (O.S.) Dr. Camille Gallien?
CUT TO: 7.
INT. HOSPITAL OFFICE - DAY
DR. WINTER ALVES, white, fifties, offers CAMILLE a choice of seats inside. She sits behind her desk reviewing his resume.
ALVES I’m Dr. Winter Alves. Director of Lochner Gannon Memorial Hospital’s Department of Pathology. I’m also the interim deputy medical examiner for the LA County Coroners Office. You’re here for the post-residency training in forensics. We reviewed your resume: Bachelor’s in English, Morehouse. Doctor of Medicine, Morehouse Med. And a four-year accredited residency in combined anatomic and clinical pathology at Piedmont Eastman General. Talk to me, Doctor. Why Forensic Pathology?
CAMILLE The patients are already dead.
Camille’s attempt to elicit a laugh from Alves falls flat.
CAMILLE (CONT'D) Becoming a lawyer was my OG plan. Until my devotion to Law & Order reruns had me re-imagining myself as this illmatic reboot of Quincy ME in all of Dr. Rodgers’s scenes.
ALVES Quincy ME. Before your time. But as a Nas fan you’re about to bring out the “Jackson Heights” in me while I’m still in fake-white-bitch mode.
CAMILLE Okay. But living up to “the world is mine” expectations means always backing it up. Not an easy thing when the only forensics program available is in Speech and Debate.
Alves reviews Camille’s reference letters, Dean’s letter, medical school transcripts, medical licensing scores, and American Board of Medical Specialties certification.
ALVES I assume you are eligible for medical licensure in the state of California, start date next July? 8.
CAMILLE Once I pass the background.
CUT TO:
EXT. LOCHNER GANNON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL - DAY
An impressive, modern state-of-the-art hospital. ESTABLISH.
ALVES (V.O.) Lochner Gannon is a non-profit, a thousand bed, multi-specialty academic hospital with a globally- renowned staff of over two thousand physicians and ten thousand employees. Lochner Gannon’s facilities are among the most advanced in the world with state-of- the-art equipment and technologies.
CUT TO:
INT. DEPT. OF PATHOLOGY - DAY
It is a world unto itself. CAMILLE follows ALVES inside. Each department listed in the directory located at the front desk is fully staffed to process hundreds of autopsies natural and traumatic. Departments include: Records, Storage, Examination Rooms, Trace Evidence, Intake & Processing, to name a few.
ALVES The forensic pathology fellowship offers a year of in-depth and joint accredited training with the LA County Coroners Office. Forty percent of annual deaths are autopsied, and a third of those are performed by our office. The fellow will be under the supervision of three, board-certified, forensic specialists during all postmortems and will accompany them to conduct on-scene investigations. (points out quickly) My office is down the hall there.
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY SUITE - DAY
CAMILLE examines the state-of-the-art autopsy workstations. 9.
ALVES The fellow can expect to perform over two hundred medicolegal post- mortems on routine and unusual cases, and attend roughly seventy- five scene investigations during the year. The fellow is responsible for managing their own cases from intake to final reports, composing the proof of death certifications, and seeking assistance as needed. Additional rotations will include toxicology, postmortem imaging, forensic odontology & anthropology, and crime labs. The fellow will testify in court and is encouraged to witness testimony by forensic specialists experienced in courtroom dialogue.
CUT TO:
EXT. RADIOLOGY - DAY
ALVES offers CAMILLE a look at The CT (computed tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanners.
ALVES Once your contract is signed you are an employee of the State of California. Biweekly salary, four calendar weeks of paid time off, holidays, sick leave... Lab coats and laundry service are free of charge. Incentives are available for those who bike, bus, take the train, or walk to work. Human Resources will contact you to schedule a pre-hire drug screening once your on-boarding paperwork’s processed. Hire date is contingent upon negative drug screen results. There will be no repeat screening if you test positive. Dr. Fogg normally accepts four fellows per academic year. But he is adding a fifth slot to accommodate you.
CUT TO:
TITLE CARD: “LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA”
CUT TO: 10.
INT. GALLIEN HOUSE/CAMILLE’S BEDROOM - AFTERNOON
CAMILLE looks around his bedroom untouched since high school. Everything he is taking with him sits on top of his bed: his suitcases, several storage boxes, 13” TV, laptop and printer.
CUT TO:
INT. GALLIEN HOUSE/KITCHEN - AFTERNOON
CAYENNE, thirty-five, enters with a pair of bags of takeout. EUPROSINE, PATRICE and CAMILLE gather around the table.
CAYENNE I got us Reggie’s. Stuffed catfish with baked beans for my brother the doctor. Papa, your usual spare ribs platter. Red beans and rice for ma. And banging shrimp poor-boy for me.
PATRICE What time you leaving, so I’ll know when I can shut everything down and start sending folks home?
CAMILLE Midnight-ish. I did my travel math. I drive all night, sleep during the day. Hampton Inn stops in Ozona, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. And I’m in Cali on Monday. I need that week to get settled in before training starts. I will miss the food here.
EUPROSINE I thought fudge-packers had to keep it height-and-weight proportionate to get some tail. Reverend Tremble preached about that in church.
CAMILLE Where’s Reverend Tremble now, ma?
Dead silence. Euprosine side-eyes Camille with contempt.
PATRICE So that month-long cruise you’ve been talking up, what happened?
CAMILLE Beyonce snatched those coins right out of my hands at Coachella. Theo, you’re not staying for my send off? 11.
CAYENNE I’m on the I-10 to the Superdome after this if I wanna make kick- off. They reimbursing you for gas?
CAMILLE I’ll ask. Moving expenses are part of the package. Along with student loan repayment. Mortgage allowance. It’s in the offer letter they sent.
EUPROSINE You should rent yourself a U-Haul.
CAMILLE Everything I’m taking fits in my car. And at eighty-six thou a year I’ll also be out-earning you, papa.
EUPROSINE Eighty-six? Sounds light.
CAMILLE Becoming a doctor and earning an MD’s pay doesn’t happen overnight.
PATRICE As long as you boys don’t stick me in a home. Make sure you got air in your tires. Ain’t you nervous about driving out there by yourself?
CAMILLE You know what’s making me nervous? A fellowship I applied for years in advance is offered to me after they selected their four fellows. What if I go out there and I fail?
PATRICE Don’t allow yourself to fix those thoughts in your head. Study and work hard like you’ve been doing. Look at what you’ve accomplished. You’re a doctor. Won’t He do it?
EUPROSINE Yes, He will. And don’t forget what Oprah said about not being afraid to step into your greatness either.
CAMILLE Okay, ma’s scaring me. Y’all really see me as a first-round draft pick? 12.
PATRICE Ain’t that why they chose you? But why California? What will you do there you can’t do here or Atlanta?
CAMILLE Prepare for the forensics board. It’s the last hurdle I have to clear to become a medical examiner.
CAYENNE Nigga, you used to faint all the way the fuck out hooking bait to your fishing line. Now you wanna make canoes for a living?
PATRICE We didn’t raise any niggas, boy.
CAYENNE Sorry, papa. Bet you can count on the LAPD for more black bodies. You might even autopsy some celebrities with your slave-master, sweet talk.
CAMILLE You mean speaking properly, which, as a doctor, I have to do anyway? You think me learning words such as Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia and knowing its spelling and function impresses white people? And for the record it’s a slushie brain freeze.
CUT TO:
EXT. GALLIEN HOUSE, LAFAYETTE - NIGHT
His Ford fully packed, CAMILLE says goodbye to his PARENTS.
EUPROSINE I hope you lined yourself up some place nice to live since you grown.
CAMILLE I found a one-and-one online and I already wired my deposit over. So quit looking for an excuse to fuss.
EUPROSINE So every time I open my mouth I’m fussing? Boy, you think ‘cause you a doctor I won’t put hands on you? 13.
PATRICE Sweet, take a corner. Let him be. (to Camille) How can I continue to tolerate her madness? Because she keeps giving me bomb sex. Your mother’s in her feelings. Her baby’s leaving home.
CAMILLE It’s not the first time I’ve left. She’s had beef with me since my boy- on-boy kiss at Catholic school went viral and “embarrassed the family”. But you knew about me before all that went down. And you still kept me lifted. How long have you known?
PATRICE Let me take you back to when I had my first vision of Him. The brother told me on that porch your mom and I would have another boy and to never be ashamed of him. He’s not a punishment. He is a gift. And some gifts have to happen this way. His word I’ll take over anybody’s. Son, I wish you a full meal and a good night’s sleep at every stop, and a safe journey overall. Bonne chance.
Camille hugs his parents goodbye. He climbs into his car and backs out of the driveway and drives off, saying goodbye to the historic neighborhood he grew up, “La Place des Creoles”.
CUT TO:
I/E. FORD FIESTA (MOVING) - DAY
CAMILLE turns onto I-10 West crossing into California. San Bernardino Freeway becomes US 101 N./L.A. Camille raps along to Notorious BIG’s “Going Back to Cali” on the STEREO.
CAMILLE “N-o-t-o-r-i-o. U-s, you just lay down slow. Recognize a real don when you see one. Sipping on booze in the House of Blues. I’m going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali.”
Camille is dazzled by the star wattage of the city itself. Every stretch of road is a Hollywood landmark to behold.
CUT TO: 14.
EXT. KOREATOWN, LOS ANGELES - DAY
CAMILLE turns onto Wilshire and into the vibrant neighborhood of Koreatown. He arrives at the AVANA ON WILSHIRE apartments.
CUT TO:
INT. AVANA ON WILSHIRE - DAY
CAMILLE enters the lobby barefoot (country as hell) wearing a “BOYCOTT BEYONCE” tee-shirt with faded cargo shorts. As if on cue, a stylish BUILDING MANAGER steps out of his/her office.
MANAGER Good afternoon. May I help you?
CAMILLE Bonmatin. I’m Dr. Camille Gallien. I’m your new tenant.
CUT TO:
INT. CAMILLE’S APT. - MORNING
CAMILLE and the MANAGER enter the one bedroom unit.
MANAGER The floor plan you selected. Walk- in closets. Spacious kitchen. Full washer and dryer. Granite counter- tops. And an outdoor living space.
Camille explores. Tastefully furnished. Nine-foot ceilings. Vinyl plank floors. Granite counter-tops. Recessed lighting. Maple cabinets. Walk-in closets. A closet housing the space- saver WASHER & DRYER. Ceramic tile floors in the bathroom.
CUT TO:
EXT. BALCONY - MORNING
CAMILLE steps out onto the balcony overlooking the pool, gas barbecues, private courtyard and lounge areas with fireplace. Camille produces his cellphone and speed-dials a number:
CAMILLE Can you talk?... I ask because I’m aware of the time difference. Papa, I made it. It’s so big here.
CUT TO: 15.
INT. HIGH-END MINI-MARKET - MORNING
CAMILLE puts cereal, milk, butter, bacon and eggs into his shopping basket. A CLERK comes to assist him.
CLERK Can I help you find anything?
CAMILLE Sure. Where do you keep your grits?
CLERK Where do we keep our what?
CAMILLE I checked your bread aisle for poor boys with no luck. I’m also looking for boudin, king cakes, crawfish bisque, seasoned fish fry mix...
The Clerk stares incredulously at Camille.
CAMILLE (CONT'D) Or should I ask where the nearest Martin Luther King Boulevard is?
CUT TO:
INT. CAMILLE'S APT./KITCHEN - AFTERNOON
CAMILLE’s over the stove cooking bacon and eggs. He sets the dining table for one. He logs into his laptop for electronic companionship.
CUT TO:
INT. CAMILLE’S APT./BEDROOM - NIGHT
CAMILLE in bed reading Samuel R. Delany’s Stars In My Pocket Like Grains of Sand. He puts it down and turns out the light.
CUT TO:
INT. PARKING GARAGE - MORNING
THE ELEVATOR DOORS SLIDE OPEN. CAMILLE steps out and crosses to his car. His first day. Dressed professionally, shoulder bag (or grip) across his chest. He starts the car and drives out of the garage.
CUT TO: 16.
EXT. LOCHNER GANNON HOSPITAL/PARKING LOT - MORNING
CAMILLE parks. Right beside a DODGE PICK-UP with Waco, Texas plates and confederate flag bumper sticker. Camille hops out, slings his grip and crosses the parking lot to the hospital’s main building. He pins his MEDICAL ID to his coat lapel.
CUT TO:
INT. DEPT. OF PATHOLOGY - MORNING
CAMILLE approaches the busy-as-hell reception station. No one notices him. A RECEPTIONIST quickly eyeballs him, judges him.
CAMILLE Hi. I’m Dr. Gallien. It’s my first day of fellowship. Where do I...?
NURSE (fast, without looking up) Residential suite’s down the hall your lab coats are inside someone will come get you. I’m sorry. You need someone to hold your hand?
Camille hesitantly proceeds down the hall, totally dissed.
CUT TO:
INT. LOUNGE/LOCKER ROOM - MORNING
Lined up neatly are three white lab coats with a doctor’s name embroidered over “Department of Pathology”. CAMILLE enters and finds his “Camille Gallien MD” white coat waiting. “Hunter White Horse” and “Finnlay Voss” remain unclaimed.
ORION (O.S.) Are you Dr. Finnlay Voss?
ORION STROZZI, thirty-four, body of a professional athlete and wearing his white coat. He looks more jock than academic.
CAMILLE Someone better check Nurse Ratchet before I lose my foot in her butt. No, I’m Dr. Camille Gallien.
ORION You’re Camille? Lt. Orion Strozzi.
CAMILLE Strozzi? How do I know that name? 17.
ORION You watch Naval Academy football?
CAMILLE (it hits him) You played for the Mids. My brother was Navy. He got me hooked on the Midshipmen Bowls. Where you from?
ORION Silver Springs, Maryland. Since I’m still active military I’m addressed by my rank, not by doctor.
CAMILLE Got’cha. So you’re active duty?
ORION Reservist until I re-up. Navy gets a weekend a month and two weeks a year. Have you seen much of LA yet?
CAMILLE Nah. I’ve been staying close to home and overspending on takeout.
ORION Sounds like me at my first duty station. My mother put me on a meal delivery service. Three customized meals a day delivered to my door.
CAMILLE That sounds pretty dope. Big-ups to the moms who keep us golden. Right? Where did you go to medical school?
ORION UMB in Baltimore. The Navy granted me a Health Professions scholarship to cover my tuition and living. Sweet, right? Hey, check that out.
MARLOWE HOOTEN in her lab coat in the lounge area reapplying her makeup. She’s thirty-two, white, easy on the eyes without being provocative, with a Texan swag. Camille finds a locker.
ORION (CONT'D) Marlowe Hooten. Waco, Texas. Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. And I’m gonna hit by midnight.
CAMILLE Yeah? How do know you’re her type? 18.
ORION I’m an officer and a doctor. I’m every woman’s type. Are you one of those brothers who don’t eat pussy?
CAMILLE Big time.
ORION You’re not into women? That’s cool. Hey, you need a workout partner?
CAMILLE Yeah, maybe. Let me think on that.
HUNTER WHITE HORSE enters. Native-American, thirty-three, non- threatening in an endearing way. He grabs his white coat.
ORION Dr. Hunter White Horse, this is Dr. Camille Gallien.
CAMILLE Sioux Nation? I’m part Choctaw, so I’m just guessing out loud.
HUNTER I am Sioux. The Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Santee Dakota in Lake Traverse. Out in South Dakota.
CAMILLE No diss, but I rarely see your people on the medical front lines.
HUNTER I’m aware of the shortage. Out of the twenty thousand graduates of medical schools this year, under thirty of those were our people.
ORION You wanna talk shortage? There are maybe five hundred, board certified medical examiners covering the population in this country when at least double that number’s needed.
CAMILLE Especially with the spike in opioid ODs. So what pushed you to become a doctor when there aren’t that many Native healthcare professionals out there, Hunter White Horse? 19.
HUNTER I initially wanted to be a shape- shifter like my grandfather. And transform into the bodies of the animals to heal and protect our women. Shape-shifting trains our egos to let go, become shapeless so we can assume the qualities of our chosen animal. That opened the door for me. I haven’t been outside of South Dakota since Disney, senior trip. Now I’m in West Hollywood.
ORION Westlake. Marlowe’s in Melrose.
CAMILLE Koreatown.
MARLOWE saunters over and joins them.
MARLOWE Heads up. I overheard Alves on the phone at reception. We’re short a fellow. Visa issues. Though I doubt with the name “Finnlay Voss” he’s an illegal who speaks no English. (to Camille) Hi. I’m Dr. Marlowe Hooten.
HUNTER No one is illegal on stolen land. And last time I checked, “Marlowe Hooten” was not a Navajo name.
MARLOWE Before you grab your junk and call me a racist conservative, I believe all races and religions should be celebrated. But migrant caravans flooding the borders is a serious issue. There is no room for them.
HUNTER Really? That’s why you support that racist wall? One hundred and eighty countries. One hundred and forty languages. All living next door to us in a city called Los Angeles. Or El Paso. Or Las Vegas. San Antonio. Makes you wonder who is crossing whose borders. I’m just saying.
CUT TO: 20.
INT. DEPT. OF PATHOLOGY/HALLWAY - MORNING
EZEKIEL FOGG is front and center before four of his FELLOWS.
FOGG I’m Dr. Ezekiel Fogg. Zeke. Senior Chair of Pathology. Welcome those of you fresh off the farm and eager to learn the lay of the land here. You were carefully selected out of hundreds of applicants because your postmortem game is hella tight. So if you don’t fulfill your potential it is a failure on my part. And I abhor failure. Our department has a one-hundred percent clearance rate for identifying and processing John Does and skeletal human remains. So you have your work cut out for you.
ORION Is this where you made your bones as a medical examiner, Dr. Fogg?
FOGG God, no. Between us, if you really want to be a rock star, Manhattan will take you to church. All sorts of lurid ways to die there. Struck by lightning at a rooftop party in the East Village. Decapitated by a runaway egg roll cart, Soho. Don’t ask. Falling eighteen feet down an open manhole and into a pool of three-hundred degree boiling water from a broken main. Outer layer of skin peeling off, organs cooked like a lobster. Damn, I miss those days. This week is about easing you back into postmortems. Next week, a two-week homicide seminar. Today, all new hires must suffer a slow death by orientation before we let you back into your element. And I will do my best to speak to each one of you individually today.
CUT TO:
INT. DEPT. OF PATHOLOGY - MORNING
Post-orientation. CAMILLE and the FELLOWS follow ALVES down the corridor to the reception area. 21.
ALVES M & M conferences are every Monday morning in the surgical wing. Check the board for postmortems. You’ll meet your supervising pathologists before close of business today. And those in need of a parking pass or photo ID report to Human Resources. Dr. Gallien, hang back a second?
Alves and Camille separate from the others.
ALVES (CONT'D) Huge favor, Doctor. We’re still shy a fellow. He was having immigration issues at the airport, or rather he got caught up in that travel ban madness. He’s been in England since Friday. But everything is copacetic and he should be landing any moment now. You’ll be reimbursed for gas.
CAMILLE You promise or you’re just saying?
CUT TO:
INT. LOS ANGELES AIRPORT/ARRIVALS GATE - MORNING
CAMILLE is flanked by disembarking PASSENGERS as he holds up a placard that reads: “DR. FINNLAY VOSS, LOCHNER GANNON”.
FINNLAY VOSS, black, thirty-two, British, boyish charm, sits with a trolley of luggage - a year of his life packed inside.
Finnlay waves him down. Camille is elated to see another black doctor in the fellowship. They approach each other.
FINNLAY I’m Dr. Finnlay Voss, hello. But please call me Finnlay. Or Finn.
CAMILLE Okay. Let me help with your bags.
FINNLAY Thank you very much. And you are?
CAMILLE Sorry. Dr. Camille Gallien. Another black man in a white coat. I guess I’m no longer the lone spokesman for the entire black community now. 22.
FINNLAY Indeed. You’ve been the only one in the room too. Brilliant. So tell me what I missed this morning.
CAMILLE Two hours of orientation and a shit- load of material and protocols. Are you hungry? I can stop somewhere.
FINNLAY You do have lovely manners. I was upgraded to first class after being inconvenienced all weekend. I ate and drank with a fucking vengeance. (produces his cellphone) Mind if I take a photo of us then?
CUT TO:
I/E. FORD FIESTA (MOVING) - MORNING
CAMILLE and FINNLAY as they drive away from the airport.
FINNLAY My sister had the morning off from work to drop me at the airport. No more airport goodbyes with parents. My flight was scheduled to depart on British Air at nine fifty-five, with a Las Vegas connection, and arrive in Los Angeles at nineteen fifty Friday. Except I’m still in Manchester halfway through X-ray when airport security pulls me aside. Banned to board all flights.
CAMILLE You’re from Manchester? Isn’t that where that bomb went off?
FINNLAY It is. Manchester once prided itself on its multiculturalism. But since the bombing there’s been a rise in race hate. Do you consider yourself African-American?
CAMILLE I see myself as Black, as a man of color but I’m not African-American. Thanks for asking. How do you see yourself? Besides human, I mean? 23.
FINNLAY Mother’s black and dad’s white. No one ever thinks I’m white. Because I look black. I identify as black. And unless a white woman approaches me first, I date black. Mum reminds me Emmett Till was not so long ago. Have you ever imagined an entire day where race was not an issue?
CAMILLE Have I? I can’t even get through an entire day without being accused of playing the race card. Especially when barbecuing or ordering coffee puts our lives at risk of getting got. So how were you marked in that travel ban? Are you a Muslim?
FINNLAY I’m a truth-seeker. There is no one truth in all religions. Of course the Quran in my hold-all may have alarmed security, despite my having a legit visa and passport. Do you consider yourself very religious?
CAMILLE Not religious enough to arm myself. I was raised Baptist then Catholic, so a lot of it does still resonate with me. But the church has been dead to me for a minute. Or rather dogma’s dead to me. I’m a live and let live guy. For some the illness, for others the antidote. Where am I taking you? Where are you staying?
FINNLAY I’m homeless until I register into a hotel this evening. I had hoped to have this all sorted before now. All I can think to do is go to the hospital and salvage my first day.
CUT TO:
INT. DEPT. OF PATHOLOGY/HALLWAY - MORNING
CAMILLE locates his name on the dry-erase whiteboard. ALVES approaches him hauling an armful of computer TABLETS. 24.
ALVES Fogg wants to see you. Select a tablet. Updated with the latest pathology apps. And sign please.
Camille carefully selects a tablet, then signs her clipboard.
CUT TO:
INT. BREAK ROOM - MORNING
CAMILLE finds FOGG feeding money into a vending machine.
FOGG Dr. Gallien. I just wanted to welcome you to the cathedral.
CAMILLE Thank you, Doctor. This fellowship is everything. How hard you want me to put it down though is up to you.
FOGG We only expect A-game and then some here. Our selection committee was very impressed with your CV, your transcript, exam scores, letters of recommendation. Especially Maddux Compton’s letter. That’s right up there with the angel Gabriel giving God his tens across the board. So we upped our offer to avoid losing you to New Mexico or Manhattan.
CAMILLE Sorry, but I don’t recall attaching Dr. Compton’s letter to my resume.
FOGG Actually, Compton sent a separate letter unequivocally recommending you for this fellowship. I’m sorry, but I have a bad habit I need to feed. Mind if we catch up later?
CAMILLE Okay. Thanks again for choosing me.
FOGG I did not choose you. I made you an offer. You chose us.
CUT TO: 25.
INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - MORNING
CAMILLE bursts through the morgue’s double doors, seething.
CAMILLE Goddamn, psychotic bastard Compton.
CUT TO:
INT. MORGUE - MORNING
CAMILLE hears a strange, muffled, repetitive BANGING NOISE once inside. It’s coming from one of the crypts.
CAMILLE (V.O.) If this were the Tyler Perry reboot of Six Feet Under and the episode opened with Madea as Ruth Fisher hearing noises coming from the morgue... Shortest. Episode. Ever.
Camille inhales deeply and opens the crypt’s door. The BODY BAG convulses violently. He unzips it - the BODY is seizing.
CAMILLE (V.O.) The pyramidal tract connecting the brain to the nerve fibers sometimes forgets the rest of the body is dead. To shut it down I have to sever the tract.
Camille pulls out a SWITCHBLADE he just happens to have in his coat. As he holds the body’s head steady, he shoves the knife sharply into the back of the neck. The seizing stops.
CUT TO:
INT. BODY TRANSFER STATION - MORNING
A MEDICAL ASSISTANT shows CAMILLE how to operate the body transfer station, an air-lock transfer from the body cooler. Once the CADAVER arrives he checks the ID on the toe tag - FLAVIA STACY, white, fifty-two. He covers her back up.
CUT TO:
INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - MORNING
CAMILLE wheels Flavia Stacy’s body out of the morgue.
CUT TO: 26.
INT. AUTOPSY SUITE - MORNING
ORION, MARLOWE and HUNTER in scrubs, working on postmortems. CAMILLE wheels his body in and parks her in a workstation.
ALVES (O.S.) Dr. Gallien.
ALVES appears with FINNLAY trailing closely behind her. He’s in his scrubs too and holding onto his own brand new tablet.
ALVES (CONT'D) Doctors Nona Patel, Ford Szaragosa, and Coleman Hampton will supervise your fellowship. I feel I should apologize in advance for Szaragosa. He is still a little PTSD-ish so he can be a bit aggressive and hyper- vigilant. He is retiring once the academic year is up. (checks the ID tag) Stacy. From the hospital wing. Insurance requested an autopsy.
CAMILLE To avoid cutting checks, no doubt.
ALVES You mind keeping Dr. Voss bright- eyed and bushy-tailed for me while he’s being processed in?
CAMILLE Not at all. Jump in here, Doctor.
ALVES Hampton was grand juried. Szaragosa has court-ordered therapy once he finishes community service. Leaving only Patel and me to observe today. Making sure time off hasn’t killed anyone’s rhythm. Take Stacy’s body over to Radiology and run a CAT scan on her. To help narrow down your autopsy field. I’ll be back.
Alves leaves them.
FINNLAY Reentry is always hard for me.
CAMILLE I know. Put me on lunch break and I need to be retrained on everything. 27.
FINNLAY PTSD is quite common in our line of work. Imagine the visuals roaming in this Dr. Sarasota’s head after performing thousands of autopsies.
CAMILLE Shouldn’t we be concerned if it’ll affect us too since we’re here now?
Camille quickly thumbs through Flavia Stacy’s file.
CAMILLE (CONT'D) Went down a flight of steps, vacuum cord around her leg questionable. Subdural hematoma, bleeding in the brain. Shunted to relieve the brain of pressure. Coma six months, died last night from severe wounds. I’ll change and we’ll make some answers.
CUT TO:
INT. RADIOLOGY - MORNING
Stacy’s BODY slides into the CT scanner’s tunnel and rotates around her. CAMILLE and FINNLAY watch from the control room.
CAMILLE Finnlay is Irish, right? Does it mean anything?
FINNLAY Fair-haired warrior. Mother wanted to name me Jesuloluwa, Nigerian for Jesus is Lord, but feared it would hurt me professionally on resumes. Instead it’s me middle name.
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY SUITE - MORNING
CAMILLE and FINNLAY transfer Stacy’s BODY from the trolley to exam table and position it on the rubber body block. Her gown is removed. Camille registers the Y-incision on her chest.
CAMILLE What the blood clot?
FINNLAY Sod it. Was she autopsied already? 28.
Finnlay PHOTOGRAPHS this. Camille searches Stacy’s file.
CAMILLE Her heart. She was an organ donor.
Camille examines her head and upper body closely using gloved hands too feel for anything abnormal. Then he carefully lifts her head to check for bruising.
CAMILLE (CONT'D) Severe bruising and coalescing on the left side of the face and her upper body.
Camille enters data into the COMPUTER MONITOR mounted on the portable workstation and into his TABLET.
CAMILLE (CONT'D) Help me turn her over, please. (they turn her over) Okay... No bruising on the back.
Camille moves the magnifying glass over her body.
CAMILLE (CONT'D) No indication of severe injuries. No skeletal fractures. Hold up...
Camille stops and studies Stacy’s medical reports again.
CAMILLE (CONT'D) An accelerated level of troponin. Troponin. That’s it. Proof there was a cardiac event. Mic drop.
CUT TO:
INT. ROGER ROOM - AFTERNOON
Eclectic bar with vintage freak show pictures on the wall. CAMILLE and FINNLAY sit at a table waiting for the others.
CAMILLE I considered general surgery. This was a better fit. The challenge of never knowing what I’m facing each day. Plus reasonable work hours.
FINNLAY Everything that fascinated me about medicine convinced me this was the proper field to pursue. Except pay. But it’s never discussed publicly. 29.
CAMILLE Are you boo’d up back home?
FINNLAY I am, yes. Tessa Woodchurch. A mid- wifery student I met at university. We’re together close to five years. Is it true you attended an HBCU?
CAMILLE Yes, sir. I’m a Morehouse man. You?
FINNLAY The School of Medical Sciences at the University of Manchester. Also known as Manchester Medical School.
HUNTER, ORION and MARLOWE join them with their own drinks.
MARLOWE What are you two talking about?
FINNLAY What drew us to Forensic Pathology.
MARLOWE I applied for this fellowship to be a well-rounded diagnostician. Which means being knowledgeable in both clinical and forensic pathology.
ORION Marlowe wants to be House. There’s always someone who thinks they’ll be the next Hugh Laurie. Medical examiners are in shorter supply in military medicine. Determining the cause of death for all active duty soldiers, as well as identifying them, especially a soldier you fought beside. It’s the least we can do to honor them after they gave their lives for our country.
HUNTER Eighteen years ago, my aunt became one of the thousands of murdered or missing indigenous females in this country. And I’m tired of putting my life on hold whenever a body is found. I want to do something about this. My aunt was only twenty-two.
DISSOLVE TO: 30.
EXT. ANDALUSIA, WEST HOLLYWOOD - NIGHT
FLASH-FORWARD. The CRIME SCENE SPECIALISTS’ focus is the BODY covered by a sheet lying between the driveway and the street. CAMILLE is caught in between SZARAGOSA and FOGG’s guidance.
FOGG Transport’s on its way. Fill out a vehicle report. And collect enough blood and fluids for analysis.
SZARAGOSA The moment you declare a manner of death everyone goes into overdrive. Keep your ID out, introduce yourself and establish a rapport with everyone from the debriefing. It’s how you earn top-billing here. You see Foxy Tabernacle over there?
Szaragosa points out the BLACK FEMALE looking vintage Pam Grier who seems to have taken charge of the investigation.
SZARAGOSA (CONT'D) That’s catching detective Sheba Slaughter. Yes, that really is her name, I kid you not. When you talk to her don’t forget to ask for her badge number. Happens a lot. Even to fags. Come and meet CSUs finest.
Szaragosa guides Camille to Crime Scene’s RUSSOW and GIBSON.
SZARAGOSA (CONT'D) Russow, Gibson, meet Dr. Gallien. He’s popping his cherry tonight.
CAMILLE Russow. From earlier. Detective Yo?
RUSSOW Wait, you’re Zeke Fogg’s fellow and Dellatorre keeps you on speed-dial? Homie, that’s mad game.
CAMILLE Beg pardon?
SZARAGOSA Tell him about the wooden stakes.
GIBSON We recovered a pair near the body. No blood on them, made from oak. 31.
RUSSOW We also found a wallet on the body with money but no ID in it.
CAMILLE You know how hard oak stakes are?
SZARAGOSA No. But I’ll bet you do.
CAMILLE Kill yourself. Can we run the stakes for DNA?
SZARAGOSA All evidence maintained through the chain of custody will be processed.
CAMILLE The abrasion across the back of his head could have come from a wooden stake being wielded like a baseball bat. And the lacerations on his face are consistent with falling face down. Check out his hands.
Szaragosa reexamines the corpse’s hands.
SZARAGOSA No umbrella effect. His hands didn’t spring forward out of reflex to break his fall. No impact injuries to his wrists or elbows...
CAMILLE His hands were by his side when he hit the ground. He was already unconscious before he fell.
GIBSON Think the you-know-who’s did this?
CAMILLE Who are the you-know-who’s?
SZARAGOSA The ‘fearless vampire killers’. No. There’s no proof this is their work which makes Gibson just as reckless for mentioning them at all. Check for spinal injuries once your jump off’s on the table. In the morning.
CUT TO: 32.
INT. COUNTY CORONER’S/WEISS’S OFFICE - EVENING
ALVES reads CAMILLE’s preliminary report on Flavia Stacy.
ALVES This is the result you want to stand by for Flavia Stacy?
CAMILLE It’s the only one that makes sense.
ALVES “Undetermined”?
CAMILLE No linear bruising from falling backwards or bruises on the back of the head. No markings on her hands. A heart attack could easily explain her death. Except she’s an organ donor and her heart was removed. If someone has a heart attack, cardiac muscles release enzymes. Troponin. Her medical records indicated she had a high level of troponin. That closed the case for me. At first.
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY SUITE - MORNING
RESUME w/CAMILLE and FINNLAY post-autopsy. Finnlay sews the body closed. Camille dials an extension from a nearby desk:
CAMILLE (into phone) Dr. Camille Gallien in Pathology. Could you please send me all of Flavia Stacy’s blood work? Mèsi.
CUT TO:
INT. NEARBY OFFICE - LATER
CAMILLE reviews the blood work results under a microscope.
CAMILLE (V.O.) Flavia Stacy’s troponin levels only spiked while she was in ICU.
CUT TO: 33.
INT. COUNTY CORONER’S/WEISS’S OFFICE - EVENING
RESUME w/CAMILLE and ALVES.
CAMILLE So if cardiac arrest didn’t cause her to trip and fall, what did?
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY SUITE - MORNING
RESUME w/CAMILLE and FINNLAY. Stacy’s body is before them.
FINNLAY I love a good mystery. Give a man a front row seat and he won’t ask what’s behind the theatre curtain.
CAMILLE Whatever that means. Let’s rule out murder. Her old man comes home and finds his wife at the bottom of the stairs. He failed to indicate the cord twisted around her leg, which may have helped her trip and fall.
FINNLAY Is the body telling us this was a slip and fall? Not cardiac arrest?
Camille examines Stacy’s head with the magnifying glass.
CAMILLE Same trauma, bruising, lacerations to the scalp as before. But their directions aren’t consistent at all with a fall. No dirt, no debris in any of the lacerations. So why the pool of blood around her head?
Camille grabs a scalpel and makes a triangular incision across the top of her scalp. He gently pulls the scalp back revealing the skull. He places a towel over her face, employs the bone-saw to cut open the skull revealing her brain.
CAMILLE (CONT'D) Massive hemorrhaging to the frontal parietal, occipital and temporal lobes. Consistent with falling down a flight of stairs.
CUT TO: 34.
INT. COUNTY CORONER’S/WEISS’S OFFICE - EVENING
RESUME w/CAMILLE and ALVES.
CAMILLE There’s no solid proof whether it was a homicide or an accident. Not without further evidence.
ALVES I hear you. You could have left your reports in my office at the hospital. But since you’re here... (into INTERCOM) Szaragosa. My office, please.
CAMILLE You said the sooner I stopped by here I’ll be assigned an MDI case.
FORD SZARAGOSA enters. He meets Camille for the first time.
ALVES Dr. Ford Szaragosa, Dr. Camille Gallien. One of our new, showroom fresh death detectives this year.
SZARAGOSA My man, my mellow. Welcome to the next evolution, high yellow.
ALVES Wow, I seriously underestimated you, Ford. You better hope to God Dr. Gallien has a sense of humor.
SZARAGOSA Please. Redbone’s too cool for school. Ain’t ‘cha, home-slice?
CAMILLE All due respect, you’ll get much further with “Dr. Gallien”. Ya dig?
SZARAGOSA Oh, it’s like that? Aiiight, I dig.
ALVES Issue Gallien a medicolegal death investigation kit. So we can send him out on calls. The roster’s alphabetical and he’s first up.
CUT TO: 35.
INT. SHERATON GATEWAY HOTEL/LOBBY - EVENING
FINNLAY is on his CELLPHONE sitting with his luggage.
CAMILLE (V.O.) Hello? Whose number is this?
FINNLAY It’s Finnlay. This is my Manchester number. The hotel you let me off at is sold out for the Fourth of July holiday. And it’s not the only one.
CUT TO:
INT. COUNTY CORONER’S/WARDROBE - EVENING
CAMILLE on his CELLPHONE:
CAMILLE Shit. I completely forgot about the Fourth. Give me half an hour to get out of here and come pass for you.
Camille hangs up.
A pair of navy polyester shirts hit Camille squarely in the face. SZARAGOSA also tosses a pair of windbreakers at him.
SZARAGOSA Polyester won’t absorb the smell. Pants, up to you. Windbreakers...
CUT TO:
INT. MEDICAL EQUIPMENT ROOM - AFTERNOON
CAMILLE moves down the aisle collecting items off the shelves as SZARAGOSA reads them off a list.
SZARAGOSA Grab a pelican case. Inside of it - sharpies, storage clipboard, latent print kit, chain of evidence forms, toe tags, entomology kit, latex gloves, re-closeable bags, bio- swabs, face masks, evidence bags, GSR kit, detectors, flashlight, temp probe, containers, tape measure, EDM... Everything on this list in the case. Digits on top are mine. Give me a charming ring-tone. 36.
CAMILLE I have just the ring-tone in mind. So, what’s your steez, Doc? I don’t buy you as someone volunteering to become a cautionary tale. Unless it’s why you’re choosing to retire.
SZARAGOSA Retire? Is that how this is being spun? People see the mythology on TV. But they will never understand what it is to do our job.
CAMILLE You’re trying to talk me out of it?
SZARAGOSA Do you know what it means to be a medical examiner? You’re that live grenade whose pin is pulled and tossed into a crowded church. Your job is to destroy lives.
CUT TO:
INT. CAMILLE’S APT. - EVENING
CAMILLE lets himself and FINNLAY in. They ferry Finnlay’s heavy LUGGAGE inside. Finnlay looks around the apartment.
CAMILLE The couch in the sitting room’s yours while you hunt for shelter.
FINNLAY Thank you. I still can’t believe we’re in Hollywood. Though this is not my first visit here. Universal Studios when I was eight. Theme parks during summer was our family thing back then. Until my sisters and I qualified for adult airfare. Think we’ll see any stars while we’re here? During work, perhaps?
CAMILLE They can’t live forever. Except on film. I’m low on groceries ‘til I get out to Leimert Park. But whatever’s here is yours. There’s Korean barbecue down the street.
CUT TO: 37.
INT. PARKS KOREAN BARBECUE - NIGHT
CAMILLE and FINNLAY share a dish of Bulgogi they cook on the table’s open grill themselves, with a side of rice noodles.
FINNLAY I’m in the middle of four sisters: Josephine, Harriet, Mattiwilda, and Lola. Dad’s the Irish one and mum’s Nigerian. The best portrait I can paint of my family is English post- punk meets Diggin’ In the Crates.
CAMILLE Gang of Four blessed by Lord Finesse? I ain’t mad at that.
FINNLAY What do you know about Gang of Four? They were before my time.
CAMILLE Only the nicest makes it into my papa’s record collection. Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Boz Scaggs, Joni Mitchell, Prince... Gang of Four, Hard. 1983. I spent every chance educating myself on papa’s vinyl. Quid pro quo: your parents?
FINNLAY Mum’s an investigator with the New National Consumer Watch. And dad is the local Crown-appointed Coroner. He also maintains his practice as a GP. Quid pro quo: your brother?
CAMILLE Cayenne Theogene Gallien. Theo. The brother who couldn’t keep his pants pulled up. And he has the nerve to call me bougie. Me! He’s a pilot with a major airline. I sometimes have panic attacks living alone in the big bad city. So when I began interning at Piedmont Eastman in the A, Theo was fresh out the Navy with his airline gig. That’s when he and I reconnected and went half on a crib together in College Park.
FINNLAY I wish I had a brother. Everything square between you two then? 38.
CAMILLE He is my brother, womb to the tomb. And I just up and ghosted him when I left Atlanta and moved back home. But I wouldn’t have done it if he couldn’t swing the rent by himself.
FINNLAY Then why the drama queen exit?
CAMILLE After the insanity of residency and studying for the boards I was burnt- out. Reacting without thinking. I needed a break. From everything.
CUT TO:
EXT. SOUTH VERMONT AVENUE - NIGHT
CAMILLE and FINNLAY walk back to their apartment building.
CAMILLE Everybody calls my father Shine. He’s a traiteur. A faith healer. Postal worker is his day slave.
FINNLAY You believe in the paranormal?
CAMILLE I believe in magic as much as I believe in medicine. Now my mammè, Euprosine, she’s Gullah. From the Low Country. A Saltwater Geechee gal, her. She would spend summers on a Trailways bus to Lake Arthur, an hour outside of my hometown, to put in work on her family’s oyster farm. But her dream was always to play music. Mammè’s a Blues woman.
FINNLAY Really? A musician? Is she famous?
CAMILLE On the local circuit, at festivals. She has an all-fee band, Sugarfoot, records her own music CDs. Mammè shreds a mean guitar, but you won’t find her on Wikipedia anytime soon.
CUT TO: 39.
INT. HOSPITAL CAFETERIA - MORNING
CAMILLE and FINNLAY are in line to order breakfast.
CAMILLE I’m sticking to cereal and yogurt ‘til I get my sea legs back. I discovered the hard way on Monday I can’t work on a full stomach yet. Too much time passed since reentry.
FINNLAY This M & M meeting I’m expected to attend every Monday, what is that? (orders) Eggs, hash browns and bacon crisp.
CAMILLE Morbidity and Mortality. Doctors basically being put on blast for mistakes made during patient care.
CUT TO:
EXT. AUTOPSY SUITE - MORNING
YOHAN DELLATORRE, Asian, forty-four, watches CAMILLE insert a needle into each eye of a cadaver to collect fluid through the window. SZARAGOSA is about to pass when Yohan stops him. Yohan shows him a file. Szaragosa points to Camille.
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY SUITE - MORNING
YOHAN DELLATORRE enters the bay. The smell hits him hard. CAMILLE looks up at him.
CAMILLE Beg pardon? You’re wearing a gun.
YOHAN Yes. Why? Does the gun make me look fat? You’re drawing vitreous fluids from the eye for toxicology?
CAMILLE I’m supposed to be impressed a cop knows his way around an autopsy?
YOHAN You must be Dr. Camille Gallien. 40.
Camille uses the pruning shears to cut through the ribs on the lateral sides of the chest cavity to allow the sternum and attached ribs to be lifted as one chest plate.
CAMILLE Stepped out. Who’s asking for him?
Yohan offers his BADGE.
YOHAN Detective Yohan Dellatorre, Robbery- Homicide. Dr. Szaragosa pointed you out to me. Nice try. You’re one of the new puppies being housebroken.
CAMILLE You need something, Detective?
YOHAN Let’s talk outside.
CUT TO:
INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - MORNING
YOHAN is relieved to be away from the smell of autopsies. CAMILLE removes his latex gloves.
YOHAN An hour prior to noon service today Minister Omar Dupree put a three- fifty-seven Magnum into his mouth and blew out the back of his head.
CAMILLE Damn. I mean I’m sorry for your loss. But it sounds pretty cut and dried. It doesn’t go to the table if it’s ruled non-suspicious.
YOHAN Alves declared it a suicide at the scene. She also said come see you. Said you could hook a brother up.
CAMILLE Shit. She must think I’m thirsty as Africa. Don’t get me wrong. You’re fly. You talk shit. And I’ll be the first to admit I’ve over-abstained. By choice. So I’m down for a smash and dash until my Afro Sheen, cocoa- buttered Barack comes through. 41.
YOHAN Okay... Wait, what?
CAMILLE But I also take what I do here very seriously. And keeping it one thou ain’t always easy when I have to document every single move I make.
YOHAN Hold up. Alves did not hook us up. Dry your eyes. I’m here because we have cases that crossed swords. Is it true you’re a Louisiana Creole? Est-ce que tu parles français?
CAMILLE Oui. Ou as tu appris le francais?
YOHAN I attended Le Lycée Français School my first four years. Dupree didn’t leave a note. Family and friends are tight-lipped and I’m out on the streets piecing his life together. His wife Mia Dupree was a nanny for Audrey Stacy. The late first wife of Alan Stacy. His second wife died Sunday. You autopsied her Monday.
CAMILLE Sounds like a cruel coincidence.
YOHAN One thing I did learn in all my years as a detective: There’s no such thing as a coincidence.
Yohan slips Camille his business card.
YOHAN (CONT'D) My number. Call me. By the way, why did you lie and say you’re not you?
CAMILLE Why did I lie? To a total stranger with a gun, with gun control being what it is? You can’t be serious? A body needs my attention right now.
YOHAN Man, if I had a dime... Au revoir.
CUT TO: 42.
INT. MEDICAL SUITE - AFTERNOON
ALVES moderates a slide-show presentation to the FELLOWS.
ALVES Death certificates need to be as etiologically specific as possible. For instance, myocardial infarct due to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease is an example of what’s acceptable. Cardiac arrhythmia is an example of death. Not a specific cause of death. Cardiac arrhythmia due to rheumatic valve. And avoid the word accident. Accidents are not a cause of death. Consultations are presented to the senior pathologists for review and advice. You are allowed to actively participate in these. And since you’ll all be involved in didactic teaching, I strongly encourage you to participate in research as well.
Camille twirls Yohan’s business card between his fingers.
CUT TO:
I/E. DELLATORRE’S CAR (MOVING) - EVENING
YOHAN drives CAMILLE. Heavy traffic on Santa Monica Blvd.
CAMILLE Cause of death for the first wife?
YOHAN Head trauma. From the car accident. We suspected her husband, Alan Stacy. Casting director. He’s never been accused of any casting-couch nookie, a “me-too” miracle lately. I called to ask if you would like to step in and “consult” on this?
CAMILLE Me? Let’s review: I’m barely a week into a year-long fellowship and you are already asking me, not someone with boo-coo years of forensic medical experience, to “consult” on a murder? Hell to the yeah, I’m in.
CUT TO: 43.
INT. PRECINCT/ROBBERY HOMICIDE DIVISION - EVENING
A MURDER BOARD posted with photos of ALAN STACY, white, fifty, lines drawn connecting to his late wives FLAVIA and AUDREY. CAMILLE sits at Yohan's desk as YOHAN educates him.
YOHAN Fourteen years ago, Stacy’s driving wife Audrey to the ER after she complains of stomach pains. Her seat belt was not on because it made her uncomfortable. An animal, possibly a dog, bolts out in front of the car. Stacy swerves to avoid hitting it but crashes into a guard rail. Audrey’s head smashes into the windshield. The husband gets out of the car and calls 911.
CAMILLE And it’s treated like an accident, which probably seemed consistent.
YOHAN Two dead wives of one man.
CAMILLE And they both died from blunt force trauma to the head. No concrete proof either was a homicide. Was the preacher’s wife, Mia whatever, was she smashing Stacy or his wife?
YOHAN You know how messy a side-chick she would have to be for Alan Stacy to marry wife number two over her?
CAMILLE I’ll ask and see if I can get the first case reopened. I’ll call you.
YOHAN Wait! Uh, so what does TV normally get wrong about medical examiners?
CAMILLE We never talk back to superiors if we value our jobs. Nor do we eat or smoke in the morgue. We good?
They ‘homeboy-handshake’ then part ways.
CUT TO: 44.
INT. COUNTY CORONER’S/WEISS’S OFFICE - MORNING
ALVES looks over the medical reports CAMILLE gave her.
CAMILLE Unwitnessed, no postmortem because it wasn’t treated as a crime...
ALVES Is there a body left to autopsy?
CAMILLE I’m not sure. I’ll ask Yohan.
Alves REACTS to the name Yohan. Camille shoots Yohan a text.
ALVES Since it wasn’t treated as a crime no one’s given these a hard look.
The pictures detail the aftermath of the accident. A head-on collision with the guard rail. Dried blood on the dashboard of the passenger’s side. Dried blood on the passenger’s seat.
ALVES (CONT'D) Starter wife’s in the car gravely injured. But the husband manages to get out, walk away, and call 9-1-1.
Camille’s cellphone CHIRPS. A message. Camille reads it.
CAMILLE Yohan. Says the wife was cremated.
ALVES In other words she got lit. Hardly any damage to the vehicle. Certainly not substantial enough to cause the injuries she died from.
CAMILLE Maybe someone just wanted this case shut down fast to avoid paperwork.
ALVES Let’s put more eyes on this.
CUT TO:
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - EVENING
FINNLAY joins CAMILLE and ALVES. They are studying the car accident photos spread out across the conference room table. 45.
FINNLAY The blood in the car. Look at it.
CAMILLE What about the blood in the car?
FINNLAY The passenger’s seat and dash, the windscreen... Where’s the spatter?
CAMILLE Son of a... How did you see that?
ALVES You’re right. The blood in the car has to be a transfer. When she hit the windshield there’s fresh blood on her head. But the blood on the rest of her body transferred from her and onto her seat and the dash. Somebody put her in the car after she was already bleeding to death.
CAMILLE Then how do you explain the second wife? If he intentionally meant to kill her, why not finish her off?
ALVES First you have to prove the starter wife did not die accidentally.
CUT TO:
INT. HOSPITAL/INDOOR POOL - AFTERNOON
CAMILLE and ORION are not swimming for pleasure. They are working out, lap after lap.
CUT TO:
INT. SUSPECT NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT
HE enters the HOUSE MUSIC-driven sanctum of the gay and black fringe with cocksure swagger. His outfit accentuates his trim athletic body. He bears some physical resemblance to Camille.
OTIS BROOK sits at the bar comfortable in his single status, eyes locked on him. Otis locks eyes with a lone, unassuming BLONDE MAN across the bar. This is AMMON WIKSTROM, thirties.
CUT TO: 46.
INT. CAMILLE'S APT. - EVENING
CAMILLE and ORION enter. FINNLAY is cooking in the kitchen.
CAMILLE Hey. Look who followed me home.
FINNLAY Welcome. Dinner’s nearly ready. I threw together a spot of roast beef and mashed in onion gravy.
CAMILLE You trying to shame me in the kitchen? I was gonna cook tonight. Sorry I couldn’t give you a ride.
FINNLAY No worries, mate. I knew I’d be at the mercy of public transport once I arrived in the states. So, Orion. Is your name Irish too?
ORION Astrological.
FINNLAY I went to the market for some of my favorite things. Roast chicken, Boston beans on toast, mushrooms...
CAMILLE Mushrooms? From a can?
CUT TO:
INT. LABORATORY - AFTERNOON
CAMILLE and ALVES at the X-RAY FILM BOX: Audrey Stacy’s head.
ALVES These are Audrey Stacy’s CAT scans when she was admitted.
CAMILLE I’m not seeing anything different.
ALVES That’s because it’s not giving us a full picture. But thanks to today’s technology...
CUT TO: 47.
INT. DEPT. OF PATHOLOGY - AFTERNOON
CAMILLE and ALVES sit before a 3-D X-RAY IMAGING SYSTEM and the three-dimensional images of Audrey Stacy’s X-rays. The DOCTOR feeds data from the original CT scans into the system.
DOCTOR The 3-D X-ray offers a full, three- dimensional configuration with more visual detail. The system allows you to rotate the picture, remove the tissue layer by layer, giving a more intimate look at your patient.
ALVES So if I strip the bruising away I’ll be able to see the fractures.
Alves strips the images of the bruising away to reveal:
CAMILLE The direction of the fatal blow.
ALVES Those wounds are not consistent with the windshield impact at all.
CAMILLE She was struck by something hard. Hard enough to cause brain trauma.
ALVES The husband clearly faked the car accident after he had killed her.
CAMILLE Now all we need is proof.
ALVES That’s the detectives’ job. This is not Crossing Jordan. Your job ends once the determination of death is established. Am I clear, Rosewood?
CUT TO:
INT. COLE’S FRENCH DIP - EVENING
Downtown eatery and bar. Happy Hour CROWD. First-timers CAMILLE and FINNLAY enter and sidle up to the bar to order.
CAMILLE Let’s do something this weekend. 48.
FINNLAY Marlowe’s determined to go bar- hopping with us. She seems nice.
CAMILLE She does. But Becky is as woke as she’s ever gonna get. She calls it Southern pride. But to us that confederate flag on her truck means slavery. Notice how for her people to be happy, everyone else has to be miserable? I’m telling you when someone’s accustomed to privilege, equality for everyone can feel like oppression. I spoke to the building manager. A two-and-two’s available at the end of the month. It’s an extra eight-hundred a month. But if I transition my lease to that unit and we divvy the rent, that’s six Benjies a month I’m saving.
BARTENDER What can I get you?
CAMILLE A cognac and a coffee. Separately.
FINNLAY Lager. And a takeaways menu.
CAMILLE I actually prefer wine. But I love me some Brandy once in awhile. The problem is I’m not as Irish as you.
FINNLAY Poppycock. My sisters can drink me under the table. You sure you want the responsibility of a flat-mate?
CAMILLE No. But my anxiety issues are gone when you’re there, you can cook and you’ll have your own bed and bath.
FINNLAY Then I’m definitely in. Thank you.
CAMILLE Yeah, let’s get through the year first. And then you can thank me.
CUT TO: 49.
INT. CAMILLE’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
CAMILLE is in bed channel-surfing. His cellphone RINGS. It’s YOHAN (on SKYPE or FACETIME). Camille MUTES the TV’s VOLUME.
CAMILLE Detective Yohan. Where are you?
CLOSE ON PHONE VIDEO: Yohan holds his phone at an angle to reveal he is in the dark living room of the Stacy house.
YOHAN (ON VIDEO) Stacy’s house. He listed it a few days after his wife died. “Too many memories” according to him. My ass.
A MAN in coveralls appears behind Yohan. It’s RUSSOW.
YOHAN (ON VIDEO) (CONT'D) That’s Tony Russow from the Crime Scene Unit. I had Russow spray the house top to bottom with Luminol.
Yohan goes downstairs holding his PHONE up for a VIDEO POV into the dark basement. An eerie glow illuminates the room.
CAMILLE You found something?
The fluorescent blood carnage lights up the entire basement.
YOHAN (ON VIDEO) We’ll grab samples and run DNA. If it proves Stacy beat his wife to death we’ll get an arrest warrant.
CAMILLE (V.O.) Providing the what, when and how to questions surrounding suspicious deaths is my minor contribution to the healing process. It ain’t much. But giving families much-needed results to help provide them with a measure of closure after all of the stress they’ve endured from not knowing... This is my ministry.
CUT TO:
INT. COUNTY CORONER'S - NIGHT
The heart of the office has become a half-lit shell of deserted desks. CAMILLE is there typing on a COMPUTER. 50.
FOGG (O.S.) You know you’re first up.
Camille looks up. It’s FOGG about to leave for the night.
CAMILLE Everyone keeps reminding me. I’m just adding my notes to the files for Stacy’s wives. You ever have fellows wash out on you, Dr. Fogg?
FOGG On my watch? That’s funny. What’s not funny is we see more victims resembling you than we do doctors. For the past five years I pushed to include doctors who resemble White Horse, Voss, and yourself to help change that perception. Between us.
CAMILLE Any advice you can offer a fellow?
FOGG An old whore advised a young whore, “when you come with the clients get a new hustle”. Do not allow the job to bleed through into your everyday life. Once it’s in, it’s never out. And think of me as your colleague. Not the class principal. Criminal cases take months to build. So take your time to do what’s needed correctly.
CUT TO:
EXT. COUNTY CORONER’S/PARKING LOT - NIGHT
CAMILLE exits the Coroner’s heading to his car. YOHAN is leaning against Camille’s Ford Fiesta waiting for him.
YOHAN Zeke said you were still here. You completed your first week. Always the hardest. I’ve had my share of first weeks and finding my groove.
CAMILLE I’m just thankful I haven’t visited any crime scenes straight out of a Korean horror flick. Yet. So Yo, what’s your deal? Are you Filipino? 51.
YOHAN Why? Because my name’s Spanish? My father’s Portuguese and my mother’s Korean. I’m Beverly Hills born and bred. My father’s a Foreign Service Officer, so we would change locales every three years or so. I lived in Stockholm, Reykjavik, and Beijing. Before I relocated to France, where I was a student at the Sorbonne in Paris. And then I was an agent for Interpol for five years in Lyon.
CAMILLE Very impressive. What did you do at Interpol? And why would you leave?
YOHAN My job was to gather information and turn it over. Sound familiar?
CAMILLE I’m good with staying in my lane when it’s my turn to give a damn. Chasing after murderers ain’t me.
YOHAN Anyway, I left Interpol because it didn’t offer me the Sean Connery- James Bond thrills I was fiending for. I wasn’t even issued a weapon.
CAMILLE How many languages do you speak?
YOHAN Including English? Nine. Tomorrow it’ll be announced that Alan Stacy is to be charged with the murders of both his wives. Looks like I’m rolling solo tonight, unless you’d like to go get some dinner with me.
CAMILLE Sure. I could go for some erstas, I meant oysters. If you know a place?
CUT TO:
I/E. JESU’S CAR (MOVING) - NIGHT
YOHAN drives as CAMILLE rides shotgun. 52.
YOHAN We’re going to the Blue Plate in Santa Monica. Views of the water.
CAMILLE You make it sound so normal. Until now my social life only consisted of post-exam potlucks and post- lecture happy hours. Are you gonna feel some kind of way if I don’t invite you back to my crib tonight?
YOHAN What makes you think I’d want to go back to your crib? Am I that basic?
CAMILLE My dude, I pulled your hoe card the second you surfed into my autopsy.
YOHAN Look who’s raking leaves on a windy day. Camille, I’m married.
CAMILLE (sours) I should have seen that one coming.
YOHAN I was married. As of two weeks ago. We co-parent my son from another relation. He got all the friends while I work and parent full-time.
CAMILLE Then what’s this, dinner out?
YOHAN This is all I have to look forward to on my rare child-free weekend. You know how it is when two men meet and find themselves in the hands of something more powerful. He and I couldn’t live without each other. Now it’s over. And I miss being married. Dating apps? Really?
CAMILLE Did you just bitch up? If you got bitch in you, please let me know.
YOHAN And just when I promised myself to not take any calls tonight. 53.
CAMILLE Why LAPD? Doesn’t that feel like a step backwards after Interpol?
YOHAN No. I do currently hold the highest closure rate in RHD. That’s because I’m good at what I do. Camille, you request me as your ride-along during the homicide thingy next week and I’ll show you some things.
CAMILLE These oysters better be right then.
CUT TO:
INT. CAMILLE’S APT. - NIGHT
CAMILLE arrives home and finds FINNLAY on the couch under a blanket writing a letter. Camille sits across from him.
CAMILLE Hey. I thought you’d be asleep.
FINNLAY Just writing a letter to mum.
CAMILLE By hand? Damn, that’s gangster.
FINNLAY She prefers handwritten. Though we Skype daily. Leftovers in the cooler if you’re hungry.
CAMILLE Thanks. But I went out for oysters with Agent Yo. They’re not as fresh here as they are back home.
FINNLAY The oysters or detectives? Clearly the detective if you’re home early.
CAMILLE He ain’t ready for me and my dirty drawers.
FINNLAY Wait. This a relationship goal? I wasn’t aware you were trying to put a ring on it. You’re interested? 54.
CAMILLE He is heavy on my mind. But I’m playing myself if I think I’m ready to go the distance. I know nothing about relationships. My love life’s a joke. A series of random hookups.
FINNLAY Relationships are tough. You forget the rewards. Your thoughts drift to your girl’s friends who’ve begun to notice you, or maintaining wood for more perfunctory sex. So how do you meet other blokes? On the net?
CAMILLE The net? Where every other profile lists “no blacks”? Where prejudice against an entire race of people is considered a preference?
FINNLAY Blimey. Everything really is about race. Do you want a white man?
CAMILLE Negro, please. I will gets my swirl on but I’m no snow queen. Bet. If I can’t love a man who looks like me, what does that say about me? Black men say I’m too dark to give them that snow white passion without the hot comb. White men tell me I’m not dark enough to give them the jungle fever they’re really jonesing for. When am I appreciated for being me? Makes me wonder if my life really would be easier if I was straight?
FINNLAY Well, maybe not. I spoke to Tessa earlier. She and I have agreed to take a trial break while I’m here in LA. It’s only a year, right?
CAMILLE How do you feel about that, cher?
FINNLAY I feel that after five years I can finally embrace being single again and sample new strange, guilt-free. And that I could kill the bloke who puts his bloody hands all over her. 55.
CAMILLE Just be careful of making break babies. You tried the pool yet?
FINNLAY Part of me has been reluctant. You know? Swimming while black? I think I’ve become conditioned to monitor my words and actions with a finely- tuned microscope. A routine stop and frisk at thirteen will do that.
CAMILLE I was eleven the first time po-po held a gun on me. For jay-walking. You believe that? A fucking gun.
FINNLAY No way to live our lives, editing yourself at every moment. When did you know you wanted to be a doctor?
CAMILLE Easy. Freshman year. We’re watching the election night results. When he finally appeared on stage as the forty-fourth president-elect, I was reminded why I was there on that college campus. I was surrounded by the best and brightest black men from all over who refused to sell themselves short. I was no longer some racial census category or an alternative lifestyle. I wasn’t even expected to attend college because no one pins their hopes and dreams to the second-born. But that moment really inspired me to not only challenge myself, but exceed my expectations. When did you know?
FINNLAY After seeing the reactions of dad’s patients coming from his office after he made them feel better. I had doubts, this colored Mancunian with his Lenny Kravitz dreadlocks, despite my academic achievements, including a Bachelor’s in Biology.
CAMILLE My adviser said Humanities majors were preferable and scored higher on M-CAT exams than science majors. 56.
FINNLAY Well, I assumed having a medically focused major would better prepare me for medical school. I completely underestimated how traumatizing the first two pre-clinical years would be. The amount of information, the time to study and stay on top of it all, the sleep deprivation, the frequency of exams...
CAMILLE Who you telling? I’m so glad I can look back and laugh about it now.
FINNLAY My parents are huge supporters of the arts and tried to encourage me into pursuing a career as an actor instead. They saw something in me. My uncle’s a classically trained dancer, so I chose to study ballet. Just watching him soar across the stage... Plus I wanted a dancer’s body. You should have seen me then. Mother thought it was too gay and talked me out of continuing my ballet lessons. I studied acting in secondary school and performed in many of their stage productions. Shakespearean mostly. I did receive glowing notices in the local press.
CAMILLE On that note I’m off to bed. Before I get bodied. Literally. I don’t see this weekend as casualty-free.
FINNLAY Mind if I tell mother you’re gay?
CAMILLE If you can avoid using the word gay. I’m not comfortable with it. Cultural reasons. Use “same-gender- loving”. Half the California king’s yours if you’re fed with the couch.
FINNLAY Thanks. I’ve slept with a same-sex lover before. So it’s not an issue.
CAMILLE You don’t mark me as bi-curious. 57.
FINNLAY My sister Wilda is gay. But if your man-box is something serious...
CAMILLE Damn, you wrong for that. (pauses) It’s a job. I keep telling myself being a doctor is just a job. Then the weight of history sneaks up on me. Tomorrow you want to go for a ride, get to know the city better?
FINNLAY Yes. I’m ‘bout it.
CUT TO:
INT. LOS ANGELES AIRPORT/ARRIVALS - MORNING
FLASHBACK. CAMILLE leans in close as FINNLAY snaps their first selfie together following their initial meeting.
CUT TO:
INT. CAMILLE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
FINNLAY finishes his letter. He rises from the couch, wraps the blanket around him and heads out on the balcony.
CUT TO:
EXT. BALCONY - NIGHT
Late-night SWIMMERS cavort in the pool below. One BATHING BEAUTY waves at FINNLAY with an inviting smile. He smiles.
CUT TO:
INT. CAMILLE’S APT./BEDROOM - NIGHT
CAMILLE and FINNLAY are in bed asleep. Camille’s CELLPHONE, attached to its charger on the bedside table, suddenly SOUNDS OFF with the Halloween theme song RING-TONE. His phone-screen announces: “Szaragosa Calling”.
CAMILLE (V.O.) I have a cause of death.
CUT TO: 58.
INT. COUNTY CORONER'S/AUTOPSY BAY - AFTERNOON
The MALE BODY from Lomita lies on the exam table. SLAUGHTER follows CAMILLE into the coroner’s autopsy bay.
SLAUGHTER When did you get in?
CAMILLE This morning. Somatic death. When I removed John Doe’s brain, the brain stem was black from hemorrhaging. His C-1 vertebrae, what the skull rotates on, was dislocated. That shut down his body’s electrical activity and led to the death of all body cells from the lack of oxygen. The victim was six-one. Only someone who’s taller could strike him from such a high angle. You should look hard at the Lakers.
SLAUGHTER Oooh... I will question each and every player until I am pregnant.
CAMILLE You stupid. You just clocked in?
SLAUGHTER Yep. I’m on four to twelve.
CAMILLE Once I stitch Frankenstein up and write up a meticulous report that reads like Shakespeare on him, all under Dr. Szaragosa’s professional guidance, I’m done for the weekend.
TO:
INT. MEN'S LOCKER ROOM - AFTERNOON
CAMILLE, wet from showering, dresses in his street clothes.
CUT TO:
EXT. GAS STATION - AFTERNOON
CAMILLE pulls up in an empty gas pump lane, swipes his card, and fills his tank. Another car pulls up in the neighboring lane. A MAN in a stylish SUIT steps out and fills his tank. 59.
SUIT Excuse me. My GPS is offline. I’m looking for a club called Feria?
CAMILLE Sorry. I’m new in town.
SUIT Two weeks now, right? You’re from the happiest city in America: Lafayette, Louisiana.
How does he know? Feeling uneasy, Camille has a tight grip on the switchblade in his pocket.
SUIT (CONT'D) Don’t be scared. I just wanted to make sure I had your attention. We’re looking into Dellatorre.
CAMILLE What? Who’s we? Internal Affairs? Better yet, I’m gonna stop talking.
SUIT The source approached us instead of IA with concerns about his integrity. Dellatorre’s pulling in more financially than others in his pay grade. We can’t locate his other sources of income, and I’m sure he hopes his divorce from Fogg will pull us off his ex’s scent.
CAMILLE Dr. Fogg is Yohan’s ex-husband? Why are you telling me this?
SUIT Despite how chummy you two looked over oysters you are new here. So this is your chance to remove yourself from the line of fire.
The Suit hangs the nozzle up and gets into his car.
SUIT (CONT'D) Keep your head on the swivel, Doc. And be careful who you talk to.
Camille watches as the Suit pulls off into traffic, leaving Camille bewildered. What is Camille caught in the middle of?
FADE OUT.