BACK ROOKIE02 23' 1 1/2 ROOKIES: episode: bold daylight robbery INT AFTERNOON WIDE: ROBBER'S TRUCK (Robber, driving truck, pokes keys on cell phone, puts it to ear) VICTIM (picks up phone) Hello. ROBBER (fakes accent) Mrs Mansfield? VICTIM Yes. ROBBER This is Robby at the alarm monitoring center. Is everything alright there? VICTIM Yes. Why? ROBBER One of the new window sensors we installed on your alarm system is telling us that your back bedroom window is open or broken. Can you check that for us? VICTIM I'm in the master bedroom now and all the windows are closed. ROBBER And there's no damage to the window glass or the locks? VICTIM Just a second. Let me check. (she examines all windows) No. All the windows are closed and locked and there is no damage to the glass. ROBBER That's odd. We're still getting an alarm. Mrs Mansfield, would you mind if we send a technician out there to check the window sensors? We have a man in your neighborhood. It would only take a few minutes to swap out the defective sensor. And, of course, there would be no cost to you. VICTIM Oh, sure. ROBBER Okay, then, I've notified the technician and he's on the way. He should be there within five minutes. Thank you for your cooperation and I'm sorry for the inconvenience. VICTIM That's okay. There's no inconvenience at all. INT AFTERNOON OVER-THE-SHOULDER: MANSION ENTRYWAY (door bell rings, Victim enters frame, opens door) ROBBER (dressed in technician's uniform and carrying tool case) Mrs... (reads cell phone screen) Mansfield? VICTIM Yes. ROBBER The dispatcher told me to replace a defective window sensor in the... (reads cell phone screen) number one bedroom. VICTIM Yes, (points) top of the stairs left side in the back. ROBBER (entering) Sorry for the inconvenience. (climbs stairs) VICTIM Not at all. ROBBER Can you please be sure the alarm panel is disarmed? VICTIM (exiting frame) Oh, sure, yes, of course. (jump cut: Robber descends stairs carrying a sensor with short wires attached) ROBBER Mrs Mansfield? VICTIM (enters frame carrying a vase with flowers) Are you done already?! ROBBER (crossing to door) The dispatcher was right. It was just a defective sensor in one of the windows. (holds up sensor) All I had to do was swap it out and we're good to go. (opens door) Once again, we're sorry for the inconvenience. VICTIM Not at all. ROBBER (closing door behind him) Have a good day. INT AFTERNOON WIDE: MANSION MASTER BEDROOM VICTIM (enters carrying flowers, turns toward a table under the wall safe, drops the vase and screams as camera zooms in on the open, empty wall safe) He stole my necklace again! EXT AFTERNOON WIDE: RUNNING TRAIL (Laura, dressed in running clothes, jogs along the trail) (sound cue: cell phone rings) (Laura pulls out cell phone, reads screen, stops running, phone to ear) LAURA Sergeant? A case for me? You do know that this is my day off... The chief? The Chief of Police said I should catch this... This what? Jewel heist? You mean the Romanoff necklace? Well, I already recovered that necklace. You mean it was stolen... again?! Yes, yes, of course, I'll handle it. If the chief said I should handle it, I'll handle it. Was the necklace taken from her house again? Okay. I'm on it. (turns, runs out of frame) Yes, I'll call you and keep you updated. INT AFTERNOON OVER-THE-SHOULDER: MANSION ENTRYWAY (door bell rings, Victim enters frame, opens door) LAURA (dressed in a pants suit, flashes badge) Mrs Mansfield. I'm officer Laura... VICTIM I know who you are. I'm glad your here. Please come in. LAURA (steps in) My dispatcher says the crime lab people should be here within the hour. VICTIM Oh, your assistant is already here. She's collecting evidence in the driveway. LAURA (steps back, turns toward the driveway) My... assistant? VICTIM Katie, your explorer scout. LAURA My explorer scout? KATIE (pops up from behind a hedge, smiles, waves, shouts) Detective Laura! I found some evidence here that you should see. LAURA (forces smile, to Victim backing away) Oh, my explorer scout. Mrs Mansfield, will you excuse me for a moment? I'll be right back. EXT AFTERNOON WIDE: MANSION DRIVEWAY KATIE (kneels at the edge of the driveway, looks through hand-held microscope) Aha! LAURA (enters frame, restrains frustration) Katelyn Rose Archer, what do you think you're doing here?! KATIE (not looking up) I think I found enough evidence to locate the perp. LAURA You can't be here! How did you even know I was coming here?! (slumps) You cloned my cell phone too?! KATIE Well, let's just say that, based on past experience, I can't trust you to notify me of your next investigation. So, I had to resort to extraordinary means. LAURA I'm a police officer! I don't have any obligation to notify you of anything! KATIE Have you forgotten our bargain, Sis? LAURA What bargain?! KATIE The last time we were here, we agreed that if you went up stairs and found alarm sensors on the bedroom windows, I would have to back off, BUT if you found NO sensors on the windows, as I predicted, you would let me help you with your next investigation. LAURA I just said that to get you out of my crime scene. KATIE Gee, that's too bad. (stands) I really wanted to be here and help you with this crime scene, (picks up backpack, backs away) but if you insist, I'll just go home and tell Mom and Dad the real reason you were able to recover the Romanoff necklace last time... (turns) See ya! LAURA You little brat. KATIE (turns) And I'll tell Mom that you called me a little brat. She hates that word. I think it's unbecoming of a police detective, don't you? (turns, walks) See ya! LAURA Alright! KATIE (stops but doesn't turn) I'm sorry, did you say something? LAURA Alright. You can help me with this investigation. KATIE (turns, approaches) Now, was that so difficult? LAURA (points over shoulder) You told Mrs Mansfield that you were an Explorer Scout?! KATIE I told her that I was an explorer doing a ride-along with the police department. I can't help it if she assumed it was Explorer Scouts. LAURA Alright, tell me what you know so far. KATIE A guy called Mrs Mansfield and told her that he worked for the alarm company and that her alarm system wasn't working properly, so he sent a technician to repair a defective window sensor in the master bedroom.... LAURA ...And the next time she went up to the master bedroom, she found the safe wide open and the necklace gone. KATIE We could have written the script ourselves. LAURA I'll bet the guy on the phone and the technician were the same guy. KATIE I hope you brought a picture of that Russian jewel thief to show Mrs Mansfield. LAURA (pats file folder) Right here. (waves hand toward where Katie was kneeling previously) What did you find here? KATIE (kneels, points) Mrs Mansfield said the technician parked his truck here. So, I looked for trace evidence from the soles of his shoes here (points) where he stepped out of his truck. LAURA And? KATIE I found grains of pollen and several short pieces of human hair. LAURA I don't see what that tells us. KATIE The short pieces of hair were several different colors and textures and they were all chopped off square like from a scissors. That tells us that the perp was in or near a barber shop or a beauty salon recently. (pulls out cell phone, pokes keys) LAURA So, you think the hair trimmings from a barber shop would stick to the soles of the perp's shoes? KATIE That's the way I see it. LAURA And what do you make of the pollen grains? KATIE (poking keys on cell phone) If we compare those pollen grains to the microscopic pictures of pollen grains on a web site... Yes. Here it is... (shows screen) these are the pollen grains. They're from the Jacaranda Tree. LAURA How do you know those pollen grains didn't come from the trees in this yard? KATIE This is why you need me... LAURA Stop with the sales pitch! Just tell me about the pollen grains! KATIE The jacaranda tree has large purple flowers shaped like trumpets. Do you see any trees with purple trumpets in this yard? LAURA Oh. No. (long silence) So, your theory is that you can locate the perp with just these two clues? KATIE Yes. It might take a little leg work to narrow down the possibilities, but I can't imagine that there are too many barber shops and beauty parlors with a jacaranda tree outside. LAURA This looks like a dead end to me. KATIE What do you mean? LAURA I mean it's more likely that those pollen grains... (points to cell phone) got here (points to driveway) on the soles of the shoes of Mrs Mansfield's gardener. KATIE I suppose it's possible. Do you have a BETTER lead? LAURA (pauses) Alright, I'll check with the public works department to see if the city planted any jacaranda trees in business districts. It's not a very common tree. So, that should narrow my search. Then, I'll check with the hall of records for the addresses of barber shops and beauty parlors in the areas with jacaranda trees growing along the street. (turns and walks away) There can't be more than a handful. KATIE You're taking me with you, aren't you?! LAURA (stops, turns, pauses) Why should I? KATIE Two can narrow the search twice as fast, Detective Laura. LAURA And if it turns out that the jacaranda pollen is from the gardener's shoes, NOT the perp's... KATIE Then two of us will find the dead-end twice as fast. LAURA What I'm saying is, if this is a dead end... (points) you have to promise to butt out and stay out of police business FOREVER! KATIE On the other hand, if this turns out to be a good lead, and you recover the stolen necklace again, then I get to help you with your next investigation. LAURA You're not going to be satisfied until you get me fired, are you?! Alright. You wait here while I show this mug shot to Mrs Mansfield. (exiting frame) Why couldn't I have a sister who likes dresses and hairdos and boys and pajama parties? INT AFTERNOON OVER-THE-SHOULDER: MANSION ENTRYWAY (door bell rings, Victim enters, opens door) VICTIM Well, did your explorer scout find any evidence in the driveway? LAURA As a matter of fact, she did. We're going down to the hall of records, but before we do... (pulls out Interpol wanted poster, shows it) do you recognize this man? VICTIM Why, yes! That's the man who came to fix the alarm system! Except he had facial hair. He had a goatee and mustache. LAURA Thank you. You've been very helpful, Mrs Mansfield. (backs out the door) VICTIM Is that the same man who stole the necklace last time? LAURA (exiting) We think so. EXT AFTERNOON OVER-THE-SHOULDER: MANSION DRIVEWAY (As Laura approaches, she sees Katie pointing at the driveway and giving instructions to the crime lab techs) KATIE ...plant pollen grains and multicolored human hair clippings... CSI (turns to Laura) Your... ASSISTANT is apparently an expert in criminal forensics. LAURA (puckers lips to Katie, forces smile) She's just trying to save you time. Actually, I don't think you'll find much trace evidence upstairs in the crime scene. (points up at the mansion) The home owner just ID-ed the perp. He's a very successful jewel thief wanted by Interpol. (exits toward car) I'm on my way to the Department of Public Works to follow up on these... (points) pollen grains and hair clippings. (motions broadly) The crime scene is all yours. Katie, may I have a word with you? KATIE (catches up) Yes, Detective Laura? LAURA (exiting frame) Stop calling me that! And I don't want you giving orders to the crime lab techs! KATIE (follows, salutes) Sir, yes sir! INT AFTERNOON TWO-SHOT: LAURA'S CAR LAURA (to Blue-Tooth, rolls eyes) No, I'm not interested in the city parks. As I said, I'm only looking for Jacaranda trees planted along city streets. (sighs) KATIE You still talking to the public works department? LAURA Jerks! KATIE (poking her own cell phone) Don't tell me. They put you on hold again. LAURA In city government, the wheels of progress grind slowly. What are you working on? KATIE I'm greasing the wheels of progress. LAURA What does that mean? (to Blue-tooth) Yes, I'm here. You've got to be kidding me! (taps earpiece) Jerk! KATIE (poking her cell phone) Don't tell me. She'll have to call you back. LAURA One to two hours! How long could it take to find jacaranda trees? KATIE It took me less than one minute. (points to cell screen) The city cut down all the jacaranda trees that had been planted along city streets because they leave a purple mess on the sidewalk when the purple blossoms fall off in the spring time and then in the fall when the big seed pods fall off and little old ladies slip and fall on them. There's only one street in the entire city that still has any jacaranda trees. Guess what it's called. LAURA Jacaranda Street. KATIE You're a winner! LAURA How do you know that? KATIE I'm not telling you. You'll just yell at me. LAURA You hacked their database?! KATIE (poking her cell phone) Well, to be fair. The department is call PUBLIC Works. Wouldn't you think it should be PUBLIC? LAURA Katelyn Rose Archer! (sighs) Alright. We don't have time for this. Now we need to go to the hall of records and look up the business licenses of barber shops and beauty parlors on Jacaranda Street. KATIE Turns out it's mostly a residential street. There's only twenty businesses on Jacaranda street and only one beauty parlor and one barbershop. And they're both on the same block. LAURA Katie! You hacked into the Hall of Records too?! KATIE Did anybody mention that this perp is wanted by Interpol? LAURA This theory of yours had better pan out! I am getting tired of covering for you! (turns car) INT AFTERNOON WIDE: BEAUTY PARLOR LAURA (enters, flashes badge to Owner) Hi, I'm Officer Laura Archer. (pulls out Interpol wanted poster) Have you seen this man around here? OWNER Sure. He rents the room upstairs. (points up) Why? Is he wanted for something? (gasps, points at poster) Wo! That's an Interpol poster! What is he wanted for? LAURA He's a jewel thief. OWNER Well, it's a good thing he paid his rent three months in advance in cash, huh? LAURA (looks around) How do I get... OWNER (points to back door) The stairway is out back. You can use the back door there. EXT AFTERNOON WIDE: PERP'S UPSTAIRS BACHELOR APARTMENT (Laura climbs the last few stairs, sees the door ajar, draws pistol, points it in all directions, approaches the door, steps into doorway) LAURA (shouts) Police! (kicks door open, steps in carefully) Show me your hands! KATIE (enters from bathroom with hands up) I give up and I confess to everything. LAURA Katie! You could have been killed! KATIE (examining kitchenette) Oh, sure. You're finger isn't even on the trigger. LAURA This perp is wanted by Interpol! KATIE Relax. I looked through the window and saw the closet and drawers empty. He's long gone just like last time. (bends and looks at scratch pad near telephone) Aha! LAURA (checks all cabinets and drawers with flashlight) I don't know why I waste my words. You're not listening to a word I say. KATIE (picks up the pencil and lays the lead flat on the paper and begins scribbling uniformly over the whole paper) Blah blah blah. LAURA (turns) What are you doing?! You could be destroying evidence! KATIE OR.... I could be revealing the last message the perp wrote on this tablet. LAURA (approaches) What is it? KATIE Oh no! I destroyed the evidence! LAURA You didn't! KATIE Relax! It's an address: (squints, tilts head repeatedly) 3... 4... 1... 1... Maple... (exiting apartment) Looks like the address of another dead drop. Let's go. LAURA (examines scratch pad, squints, tilts head repeatedly) 3... 4... 1... 1... Maple... Your right. It could be another dead drop. (sees she's alone, tears paper of scratch pad, exits) Katie! INT AFTERNOON TWO-SHOT: LAURA'S CAR (Katie pokes the keys of her cell phone as Laura pulls car to a stop at the curb) LAURA (to Blue-Tooth) Yeah, Sarg, I'm about a half block away from the dead drop right now, just out of camera range. No, I don't see any vehicles in the lot and no movement inside. I think the perp has already made the dead drop. No. Interpol says this perp doesn't carry a gun. So, I don't think I need back-up. Anyway, this looks like a repeat of the last theft. The perp is probably long gone. Okay, thanks, Sarg. (pokes button on ear piece, to Katie) Okay, we got the telephone warrant. We're good to go. KATIE (unfastens seat belt) Good. Let's go. (opens door) LAURA (reaches across Katie, pulls the door closed, grabs Katie's wrist) WE are not going anywhere. (handcuffs Katie's wrist) KATIE Laura! You need me! LAURA (fastens the other handcuff to the steering wheel) If this is the only way I can get you to do what I want, so be it. KATIE (shows cell screen) Laura, do you know who owns this building? LAURA (checks pistol and ammo clip) You're not going to talk me out of this. If you end of dead or injured, I lose my job and Mom will never speak to me again. (exits car) KATIE The same guy who owns this building owned the last dead drop building! He's also a trustee for the art museum! LAURA You're not coming. KATIE His name is Lucifer Snidely. He owns more real estate than anyone else in the city. He's the mastermind behind this robbery. LAURA Stay. (closes door, sneaks toward bushes) KATIE (crawls across seats, opens door, shouts) He's rich and he's smart. He's too smart to lose the Romanoff necklace twice. (Laura, holds her finger to her lips, advances toward the dead drop) Look for a booby-trap. He might have left a bomb or something at the door. Look for a trip wire or a laser switch or something. (Laura waves Katie down dramatically, Katie closes the door) Stupid girl! She thinks because she's older than me she's smarter than me! She's going to get herself killed without me! (folds arms, boils for a moment, then sees the keys in the ignition switch, looks out the window toward Laura, then looks back down at the keys) EXT AFTERNOON WIDE: DEAD-DROP WAREHOUSE (Laura approaches, scans the roof line for CCTV cameras, sees one, avoids it by slithering along the wall to the side door. She looks through the window in the door and scans the empty warehouse inside, reaches for the door knob, then withdraws hand, looks around, kneels in front of door, pulls out flashlight, looks for trip wires all around the door, lays her cheek on the ground, shines flashlight under the door, stands, reaches for knob, withdraws, sees a downspout nearby, slithers over to it to avoid video camera, kneels, reaches into downspout, fishes briefly, retrieves a key, slithers back to door, reaches key toward lock, withdraws, reaches key toward lock, hears the screech of tires) (Laura's car turns into the driveway with screeching tires, speeds past Laura, crashes through the roll-up garage door nearby, comes to a halt inside the warehouse) INT AFTERNOON WIDE: DEAD-DROP WAREHOUSE LAURA (runs to the car door, pulls it open) Are you alright? KATIE I'm fine. But your car is not so good. LAURA (looks around, waves) Look at the damage! There is no way we can keep this damage out of the police report! What were you thinking?! Do you know what you've just done?! With one stupid, foolish stunt, you got me fired from the police department and you virtually sentenced yourself to six months of grounding at home! KATIE I was saving your life. Your welcome. LAURA (unlocks hand-cuffs) I have nothing to thank you for and everything to blame you for. KATIE (points) Look at the inside of the door you were about to open. LAURA (looks at door, just below the window, she sees seven sticks of dynamite attached to some curly wires attached to a small black plastic box with a blinking red LED taped to the door knob, gasps) Oh! Oh, Katie! You saved my life! If I had turned that door knob, the bomb would have... (falls back against car, slumps to floor) KATIE (exits car, points toward the office) I'll get the necklace, you call in the bomb squad. LAURA Katie! KATIE (without looking back) I know. I'll be careful. (jump cut: Katie exits office wearing latex gloves and carrying the necklace case and an advertising poster for Mexican refried beans, as the bomb squad and police Chief enter through the broken roll-up door, bomb squad shine flashlights on bomb) CHIEF (Hugs Laura) Sweetie, I heard you called the bomb squad. (points to car) What's all this?! KATIE Daddy! Laura is a good cop! She assessed the situation and then she rammed her car through the garage door to avoid setting off the bomb on the door knob. CHIEF What are you doing here?! KATIE Laura and I collaborated on this case... LAURA (under her breath) Oh, no! Here we go! KATIE because I'm better at the technical stuff. (offers necklace case) Here's the Romanoff necklace. (Laura steps forward with evidence bag open and Katie drops in the necklace case) It was in the wall safe in the office. (points) CHIEF YOU opened the wall safe yourself?! KATIE Piece of cake! The wall safe was hidden behind this ad poster (shows poster) and the combination was written on the poster. CHIEF (bends and examines poster) Nice work, kiddo! But I don't see any combination. Is it on the other side? KATIE No. It's printed in Spanish in the small print at the bottom. (points) CHIEF I still don't see a combination. KATIE Laura didn't either. That's why she brought me into the case. And the combination was even harder to decipher this time because Lucifer Snidely got a bit smarter. CHIEF Lucifer Snidely? Did you say Lucifer Snidely? KATIE Yeah. LAURA Ah, it's just a theory at this point. (examines the ad poster) KATIE Lucifer Snidely owns this warehouse AND he owned the warehouse at the last dead-drop. CHIEF He's also a trustee for the Art Museum! And he's one of the wealthiest people in the city. He would have the resources to hire an international jewel thief and a world class bomb maker. I think you may have a good lead here, Laura! LAURA I do? I mean, I do. CHIEF I still don't see a combination to the wall safe here. (points) KATIE Well, that's because Lucifer Snidely covered the numbers on the wall safe's ten number keys with stickers of ten different colors. Do you see the combination now? (flashback: close-up of safe's ten-key pad with colored stickers covering the numbers) LAURA No. CHIEF Me either. KATIE The colors are written in Spanish. And they're all run together to make it look like the words in a sentence. LAURA I didn't take Spanish in school. CHIEF (bends, examines the poster) Me either, but I've been around a lot of people who speak Spanish. So, we're looking for colors... in Spanish... (points) This sentence here. It's not a sentence at all. All the words are colors. (close-up of chief's finger pointing to sentence in the poster) "Rosa amarillo rojo verde negro azul purpura blanca marron naranja." rosa=pink amarillo=yellow rojo=red verde=green negro=black azul=blue purpura=purple blanca=white marron=brown naranja=orange So, that's the combination! KATIE Piece of cake. CHIEF Very clever! No wonder you brought Katie on board, Laura! She's a real asset to the department. LAURA So, you're not mad at me? CHIEF On the contrary, you were acting on behalf of the department. But just to make it official, I'll write a new department policy creating a ride-along program... KATIE Like the explorers. CHIEF Exactly. Then you'll be able to ride along with Laura legally. LAURA (unenthusiastically) How nice. CHIEF Alright, let's get out of the building and move across the street while the bomb squad defuses the bomb. (all exit except bomb squad) KATIE (hugs Laura's arm as they exit) So, everything worked out just fine, huh, partner? �2013 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: Do not sell any part of this script, even if you rewrite it. Pay no royalties, even if you make money from performances. You may reproduce and distribute this script freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.bobsnook.org email: [email protected] BACK |