The Murder That Brought Us Together// Klance Castle Au

Act 6

ACT SIX

[INT. PRECINCT, INTERROGATION – NIGHT]

Ben sits at the interrogation table. Keith and Lance are with him.

BEN DAVIDSON

So, I'm here because I questioned a woman about a freezer?

LANCE

Not any freezer, Mr. Davidson. The freezer that your daughter's body was stored in.

BEN DAVIDSON

For the moment, let's... Let's assume what you say is true. What's the charge?

KEITH

If Mrs. Marsh's answer led to Sam's death, then the charge would be murder.

BEN DAVIDSON

I kept going over everything Sam said, everything he claimed happened that night, until I came to the same conclusion that you both apparently did: that Melanie never left her apartment alive. Mrs. Marsh's answers merely confirmed what I already knew.

KEITH

That your son-in-law was a killer.

LANCE

If you had figured out what Sam had done, why not just go to the police? He would have gone to prison for the rest of his life.

BEN DAVIDSON

If he'd been convicted. They didn't have a body at the time, remember? His lawyers would have put Melanie on trial, not him.

KEITH

So you took matters into your own hands.

BEN DAVIDSON

Well, you could certainly understand how a father might want to. How he might follow his daughter's murderer one dark night, when he was sure no other people would be around. How he might confront him with a gun he'd brought back from the war. Might even promise forgiveness in exchange for the

truth. And, hearing his admission, be overcome with rage. Every time he brought the girls to see us, I watched a little piece of my wife die. A visit from your grandkids should be life-affirming, not a reminder of how your only child was murdered.

KEITH

Killing him wasn't the answer.

BEN DAVIDSON

I never said I killed him. I said a father might be justified. Police told me Sam was shot in a robbery. And, without evidence, there would be little chance his killer would ever be brought to justice. So I guess we'll find out if that's really true. I'd like to see a-- a lawyer, if I could.

--

[INT. PRECINCT – NIGHT]

Keith stares at the picture of Melanie. Lance rounds the corner, on the phone.

LANCE

No, Sis, I just wanted to make sure I said good night. (listens) You got it. Strawberry happy face pancakes on me. Mwah. Later.

[He hangs up. Sits next to Keith. He looks at him]

LANCE

Veronica missed me.

KEITH

How did you know?

LANCE

Spidey-sense.

KEITH

Hmm. By the way, it was my mother, not my father.

[Lance doesn't say a word. He leaves the door open for him to continue.]

KEITH

We were supposed to go to dinner together - my mom, my Dad, and I, and she was gonna meet us at the restaurant, but she never showed up. Two hours later, we went home, and there was a detective waiting for us. Detective Raglin. They found her body. She had been stabbed.

LANCE

A robbery?

KEITH

No. She still had her money and purse and jewelry. And it wasn't a sexual assault, either. They attributed it to gang violence. Random wayward event. So, just like in Melanie's case, they couldn't think outside the box. So, they just try to package it up nicely. And the killer was never caught.

LANCE

Why do you wear the watch?

KEITH

My Dad took her death hard. He's sober now. Five years. So, this is for the life that I saved. And...

[He reaches into his shirt and pulls out the necklace with the ring on it.]

KEITH (CONT'D)

this is for the life that I lost.

[He forces a smile.]

KEITH

So, I guess your Nik Heat has a backstory now, Lance.

LANCE

I don't know, um... I did kind of like the hooker-by-day cop-by-night thing. But, uh, I guess a heavy emotional angle could work, too.

[He smiles, his joke letting him off the emotional hook.]

KEITH

Well, don't bewilder your audiences with substance on my account, Lance.

LANCE

Until tomorrow, Detective.

KEITH

You can't just say "night?"

LANCE

I'm a writer. "Night" is boring. "Until tomorrow" is more hopeful.

KEITH

Yeah. Well, I'm a cop. Night.

[He watches him walk away.]

LANCE

Night.

--

[INT. KEITH'S APARTMENT - NIGHT]

And here we see the reverse of the opening scene. He places his gun back in the drawer. And then puts his father's watch, and the necklace with his mother's ring into the Jewelry box. He closes Its top to reveal the picture of his father and mother in happier times. In his pajamas and a robe, Keith picks up the phone and dials.

KEITH

Hi Dad.

--

[INT. PRECINCT, RECORDS ROOM - NIGHT]

Pidge enters, followed by Lance.

[Pidge leads him past rack after rack of file boxes, until they come to one and open it. They pull out a file and hands it to Lance.]

PIDGE

Remember, this never happened. I was never here.

LANCE

You have my word. Thanks.

[Pidge clears their throat]

PIDGE

If you tell him I did this, I'll make you bleed.

LANCE

Understood.

PIDGE

Good luck.

[The name on the file: Krolia Kogane. Lance takes a seat at a table and turns on the desk light as Pidge leaves, dousing the overheads. Lit by the light of the lamp, Lance looks down at the case file. He takes a breath, and opens it.]