BACK ROOKIE03 23' 1 1/2 ROOKIES: episode: the ride-along program EXT MORNING WIDE: SIDEWALK ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL (Katie, dressed in school uniform, wearing backpack, walks to school as Laura's patrol car approaches from the rear, stops at the curb, Laura lowers the passenger side window) KATIE (notices car) Sis! What are you doing here?! (approaches) LAURA It's official. Daddy created a special ride-along program for you. KATIE You mean I'm riding with you?! (reaches for the door latch) LAURA (pushes button, locking all car doors) Not so fast. KATIE What do you mean? LAURA Now that the ride-along is official, it means that YOU are technically an agent of the police department. It means you can't search a perp's house or a suspected dead-drop sight unless you have a search warrant. KATIE Okay. (points) Unlock the door. LAURA That's not all. Whenever you're on a ride-along, it means you work for me. It means everything you do must be approved in advance by me. KATIE Okay. (points) Unlock the door. LAURA That's not all. As a representative of the police department, everything you do will be scrutinized by the department AND by the public. No more "I'm just a little kid" excuses. KATIE Okay. (points) Unlock the door. Let's go! LAURA Have you heard a word I said?! KATIE Sis, I'm sorry I put you into situations that embarrassed you or that made you cover up for me. I won't do that anymore... At least I'll work hard at it. LAURA (unlocks doors) Get in, partner. (Katie smiles and enters car, car exits frame) INT MORNING TWO-SHOT: LAURA'S PATROL CAR KATIE So, what are we working on? LAURA Well, how do you feel about crime PREVENTION? KATIE Are you saying that noone has committed a crime yet? LAURA That's right. But I'm absolutely sure that a crime will be committed if we don't prevent it. KATIE Oh. LAURA Listen, I know that your Science Fair project is about finding evidence and solving crimes NOT crime prevention. So, if you want out of this case, I'll just drop you off at school. KATIE (pauses) Has Mom already notified the School that I'm not coming in? LAURA Well, yes, but, she can always... KATIE No. It's okay. This is more fun than school anyway. Let's do this. So, tell me about this crime that you know will happen. LAURA Lucifer Snidely is going to try to steal the Romanoff necklace... BOTH Again. KATIE Again?! How could that be?! Lucifer Snidely must know he's a suspect. LAURA Yes, but I never told Mrs Mansfield that Lucifer Snidely was a suspect. KATIE Oh, please don't tell me she gave HIM the necklace for safe-keeping! LAURA Something almost as bad. He told her that the Art Museum had state-of-the-art security systems with security guards on duty round the clock. So, she loaned the necklace to the Art Museum again. KATIE Talk about a set-up! As a member of the board of Trustees for the museum, Lucifer Snidely probably has access to all the blueprints and paperwork for all the security systems. He would know how to get in and get out without being caught. And now that we've recovered the necklace twice, he would also know how to hide it from us. This could be a perfect crime! LAURA Do you see now why I wanted you to come along? KATIE So, we're headed down to the art museum to try to guess how Lucifer Snidely plans to steal the necklace? INT MORNING WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY DIRECTOR (gives Laura an Ipad) The blueprints and specifications for the museum's security systems are all on here. Let me know if you have any questions. (exits frame as Laura and Katie stroll beside the Romanoff necklace display case) LAURA (gives Ipad to Katie) Can you make any sense of these security plans? KATIE (fingers the screen of an Ipad) According to these specifications, there's always one Security Guard strolling through the galleries and one up in the video room watching... (points to camera over the main entrance) the twelve closed circuit TV cameras. (reads) After the museum closes, the roving guard clears the galleries and then turns on laser detectors. After that, he comes by here every ten minutes and looks in. Looks pretty secure to me, Sis. LAURA No security system is perfect. Let's pretend we're jewel thieves. How do we get in and get out without being caught? KATIE With all this protection at night, it's got to be a daytime smash and grab. INT AFTER-HOURS WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY (dramatization: Petrova enters a dimly lit gallery running, smashes display case, snatches the necklace and runs out of frame) INT MORNING WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY LAURA Good choice! KATIE (poking Ipad) Now, I'm not so sure. LAURA During business hours, if the roving security guard is in the other part of the building, what's to stop the thief from smashing the display case, grabbing the necklace and running out? KATIE At the very least, he'll get his picture taken by all the cameras (points) when he comes in and when he goes out. LAURA But we already know what Boris Petrova looks like. He doesn't care if his face is on one more wanted poster. Beside, he'll probably disguise his face with a beard or glasses or something when he comes in. INT BUSINESS-HOURS WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY (dramatization: Security guard strolls to exit past Petrova, who, wearing beard and glasses, turns to be sure that the guard is out of sight, smashes display case, snatches the necklace and runs out of frame) LAURA (voiceover) Noone will recognize him until he smashes the glass and steals the necklace. INT MORNING WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY KATIE It says here (points) that each display case has a state-of-the-art tamper switch. Breaking the glass would bring the security guard with gun drawn. INT BUSINESS-HOURS WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY (dramatization: Security guard strolls to exit past Petrova, who, wearing beard and glasses, smashes display case, snatches the necklace and runs out of frame, approaches the front door of the museum and is greeted by a security guard with pistol at the ready) KATIE (voiceover) There's a good chance the perp wouldn't even make it out of the building. INT MORNING WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY LAURA You're right. The security guards carry guns. We know that Petrova never carries a gun. (gasps) What if Lucifer Snidely gives up on Petrova and he hires a bunch of gun-toting thugs instead? KATIE You mean a daring daylight armed robbery?! LAURA Yeah,... INT BUSINESS-HOURS WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY (dramatization: three armed thugs stand with backs to the necklace display case, while the fourth smashes the glass, snatches the necklace, then all exit frame. When they get to the front door of the museum, the Security Guard with gun drawn puts gun down and backs away from the door) LAURA (voiceover) four thugs with four guns would neutralize the security guard with one gun. INT MORNING WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY KATIE Wrong. Four thugs with guns would be spotted coming through the front door of the museum. No, wait. According to these... (points) ...security plans, they would be spotted by the security camera on the sidewalk before they even got into the building. That would give the security guard in the video room enough time to send the alarm to the... third precinct which is... (peruses screen) LAURA ...two blocks away. You know what that means... INT BUSINESS-HOURS WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY (dramatization: three armed thugs stand with backs to the necklace display case, while the fourth smashes the glass, snatches the necklace, then all exit frame. When they get to the front door of the museum, the Security Guard with gun drawn is now accompanied by four uniformed policeman with guns drawn) LAURA (voiceover) No way this robbery can be carried out during business hours. INT MORNING WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY LAURA So, we're back to Boris Petrova the cat burglar. But this place is like a fortress after hours. With all these cameras, the security guards will see him coming. KATIE (poking Ipad) Unless they DON'T see him coming. LAURA (looks over Katie's shoulder) You got an idea? KATIE (points) Yeah. Right here. LAURA The roof of the building? KATIE Yeah, there are no sensors or cameras up there. LAURA That's probably because noone could ever get up to the roof. (points) There's only one ladder leading to the roof and that's INSIDE the boiler room, here. KATIE (flicks Ipad screen) Look at all these buildings across the streets and across the alley from the museum. LAURA I'm looking. (pauses) And I see neighboring buildings. What about them? KATIE Two of the neighboring buildings are taller than this museum. LAURA And...? KATIE Two words: ZIP LINE. INT AFTER-HOURS WIDE: ROOF OF NEIGHBORING BUILDING (dramatization: Petrova fires a grappling hook and cable from a gun from the roof of a building across the alley, piercing a cooling tower on the roof of the museum. He ties off the cable, then zips down the cable to the museum roof) INT MORNING WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY LAURA Oh. Okay. So, he gets to the roof of the museum unseen. Now how does he pull off the robbery without being seen by one of the security guards? KATIE (points to the screen) He puts the guards to sleep. LAURA He what?! KATIE Nitrous Oxide or Diethel ether. LAURA Speak English. INT AFTER-HOURS WIDE: ROOF OF ART MUSEUM (dramatization: Petrova pulls a small gas cylinder out of his backpack, inserts the cannula into the air vent and turns the valve. Inside the museum, the roving guard stumbles, grabs the wall, then slides to the floor and falls asleep, then the guard in the video room nods off, while back up on the roof, Petrova dawns a gas mask and climbs down the roof access ladder) KATIE (voiceover) The fresh air vents for the building are on the roof. The perp inserts sleeping gas into the fresh air vent and puts the guards to sleep. Then he climbs down the ladder... INT AFTER-HOURS WIDE: MUSEUM SECURITY VIDEO ROOM (dramatization: Petrova enters the video room wearing gas mask, removes the ring of keys from the sleeping guard) KATIE (voiceover) ... to the video room where he takes the keys from the sleeping guard... INT AFTER-HOURS WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY (dramatization: Petrova enters the main floor from the stairway wearing a gas mask, turns off the alarms in the display room with the keys, unlocks the display case, snatches the necklace and exits the frame) KATIE (voiceover) ...and uses them to shut off the alarms in the gallery and steal the necklace. INT MORNING WIDE: ART MUSEUM GALLERY KATIE That way, the alarms don't go off and nobody calls the police. LAURA By golly, Katie, you might have something there! KATIE That's the way I would do it. (offers Ipad) LAURA (takes Ipad, backs out of frame) Okay. Let me notify the museum director to install sensors and video cameras on the roof of the building. Then, I'll notify the third precinct to increase after-hours police patrols around the museum for the next few days. (smiles, points) Good thinking, PARTNER! KATIE (follows) Just doing my job, PARTNER! INT NIGHT WIDE: KATIE'S BEDROOM LAURA (enters darkened room in the light from the hallway wearing pajamas, shakes Katie's shoulder) Katie. Katie, wake up. KATIE (raises up partially) It's still dark outside. It's not time to go to school yet. (flops down) LAURA I need your help. KATIE (raises up, wide awake) You mean with a police case?! LAURA (exiting) Yes. Hurry and get dressed. (closes door as Katie speaks) KATIE (sitting up) What kind of case is it? (swinging legs out of bed) She asked herself with noone around to answer. INT NIGHT TWO-SHOT: LAURA'S CAR (Laura, already in the car, drives off as Katie closes the door) KATIE So, what's the big mystery in the middle of the night? LAURA The Romanoff necklace was stolen from the museum. KATIE That's impossible! There's only one way into the museum and that's the roof. But they installed cameras and sensors on the roof. So... LAURA I thought so too. But, maybe there was another way in. We'll see. The good news is that the third precinct increased their patrols around the museum. So, they caught the perp as he was getting away. KATIE That Boris guy?! LAURA Yes. KATIE What about Lucifer Snidely? LAURA They asked the perp about him. But he swore he didn't even recognize the name Lucifer Snidely. He claims the mastermind behind the robberies always communicated with him through text messages. KATIE So, he wouldn't even recognized Lucifer Snidely's voice? LAURA Looks like Snidely got off scott free. KATIE What about the necklace? Did they get that back? LAURA No. The perp didn't have the necklace with him when they arrested him just two blocks away from the museum. KATIE So, he already handed it off before he got caught. But where? LAURA That's why I brought you along with me. Where do you want to start? KATIE Well, we are fortunate that the museum has a state-of-the-art security system. LAURA Is that your idea of humor? KATIE No. Their video cameras will tell us how the perp got in and how he got out. INT NIGHT WIDE: MUSEUM SECURITY VIDEO ROOM KATIE (enters, sits at the desk) Here we are. LAURA (enters, exits, looks both ways) We need the security guard. Where is he? (shouts) Somebody fetch the security guard for us please? KATIE (shouts) We don't really need him, Sis. (begins typing and mousing) All these computers work pretty much the same. (monitors come alive, and twelve different camera images show up on the screens) See? LAURA (reenters the room) You never cease to amaze me! KATIE (typing and mousing) Now we back up the recording to the time just before the perp was arrested. LAURA (leafs through notepad) He was arrested.... at 12:36 am. KATIE (typing and mousing) Okay here's 12:36 am. So, we back off a minute at a time. (points at screen) Here's the perp leaving the building by the back door. LAURA Good. KATIE So, we back off a couple minutes to see where he first comes into the building. (typing and mousing) (points at screen) And there's the perp coming down the hallway toward this room. LAURA But I still don't see how he got in. (points) He didn't get in through the front door. (points) And he didn't get in through the back door. (points) And he didn't get in through the loading dock entrance. How did he get in? GUARD (enters) They said you were asking for me? LAURA Oh, yes, you were on duty here in the video room tonight? GUARD Yes. LAURA We were wondering how the burglar got into the building. GUARD I don't know. I never saw him. I passed out. Didn't they tell you? LAURA Sleeping gas. Just like you predicted, Katie. KATIE That doesn't make sense. The perp would have had to inject the gas into the air intake system. But the air intake for the building is up on the roof. LAURA But there's no way the perp could have gotten in that way. They upgraded the roof security systems. GUARD If only. LAURA What do you mean? GUARD Lucifer Snidely told us there was no money in the budget for all those new sensors and cameras. KATIE So, they didn't upgrade the security on the roof? LAURA Oh, brother! EXT NIGHT WIDE: MUSEUM ROOF (as Katie climbs the last few steps of the ladder, Laura enters frame and grabs Katie's hand, pulls her up) LAURA (looks at the cable running between a nearby building's roof to the cooling tower with the trolley wheels still attached and the gas cylinder attached to the fresh air vent) (motions broadly) Looks like the perp did it exactly the way you said he would: (dramatization: Petrova, dressed in all black and wearing a black ski mask, fires a grappling hook and cable from a gun from the roof of a nearby building, impaling a cooling tower on the roof of the museum. He ties off the cable, then zips down the cable to the museum roof) (voiceover) He connected a cable between the roofs of the two buildings, then he used it as a zip line to ride down here. (dramatization: Petrova pulls a small gas cylinder out of his backpack, inserts the cannula into the air vent and turns the valve. Inside the museum, the roving guard stumbles, grabs the wall, then slides to the floor and falls asleep, then the guard in the video room nods off. (voiceover) Then he connected a cylinder of sleeping gas to the fresh air duct and put the security guards to sleep. (dramatization: Petrova enters the video room wearing a gas mask, removes the ring of keys from the sleeping guard, enters the main floor from the stairway, turns off the alarms in the display room, unlocks the display case, snatches the necklace and exits the frame) (voiceover) Now the perp can proceed at his leisure. He removes the ring of keys from the sleeping guard, enters the main floor from the stairway, turns off the alarms in the gallery, unlocks the display case, and takes the necklace and makes his getaway. KATIE (moving toward the back alley) According to the surveillance video, he escaped through the back door of the museum into the back alley, down there. (points at the alley below) LAURA That makes sense. He was arrested two blocks in that direction. (points) KATIE According to the time stamp on the video, he left this building at 12:33. What time was he arrested? (pokes cell phone screen) LAURA (pages through notepad) 12:36. That doesn't give him much time to hide the necklace, does it? Just running down the alley to the sidewalk, (points) down the sidewalk two blocks (points) that way would take most of the three minutes. You don't suppose he just tossed it somewhere along the way, do you? Or maybe handed it off to somebody? KATIE (looking up) Do you believe in mere coincidence? LAURA I'm a cop. Of course not. KATIE (points up) Look where the zip line came from and look at the direction he ran after he left the building. LAURA Same direction! KATIE (points to cell phone screen) Do you know who owns that building across the alley from the museum? LAURA Lucifer Snidely. KATIE You're a winner. LAURA That would give the perp full access to that building before and AFTER the robbery. So, he didn't necessarily run AROUND that building. He saved himself some time by running THROUGH that building. (turns toward ladder) We need to search that building. KATIE Wait. LAURA (turns) What? KATIE Lucifer Snidely didn't get rich by being a fool. LAURA What do you mean? KATIE He now knows that we know that he used two of his buildings as dead drops. He's too smart to point the finger at himself for three robberies in a row. LAURA (climbing down the ladder) Just to be on the safe side, I'll search the alley and the first floor of that building. KATIE (follows) While you're doing that, I'll look for hiding places on the other side of that building. EXT NIGHT WIDE: CITY COMMERCIAL AREA STREET (Katie shines her flashlight into several possible hiding places, then notices three coin operated newspaper dispensers on the sidewalk, approaches, examines each one thoroughly with the flashlight as Laura enters frame) LAURA I had the security guard in there open every door on the first floor. KATIE (still examining dispensers) Any luck? LAURA (points flashlight down a nearby storm drain) Naw. You were right. Snidely wouldn't point the finger at himself again. How about you? Any luck? KATIE Yeah. I think this is the dead-drop. LAURA A newspaper dispenser?! That's not very logical! KATIE You got a quarter? LAURA Yes, but this is a waste of time. You don't hide a million-dollar necklace in a place where ANYBODY could find it! KATIE Try your quarter in this machine. (points at end machine) LAURA You're wasting valuable time. KATIE Try it, PARTNER. LAURA (pulls quarter from pocket, tries unsuccessfully to insert it into the slot) It doesn't fit. KATIE Look at the date on the newspapers inside. LAURA (reads) It's two days old. KATIE Do you see anything else different about this dispenser? (digs through her backpack) LAURA (examines machine quickly) It's newer than the other two machines. KATIE It's brand new. It's spotless. And... LAURA And it's not bolted to the sidewalk like the other two machines. It's like it was just placed here recently... as a dead-drop. Very clever! Noone would want to buy a two-day-old newspaper, but even if they tried to buy it, they couldn't insert the quarter into the slot. (Katie pulls out a slim-jim, slides it into the coin slot of the machine, subtly tugs and twists) That's a burglar tool you're using!. Where did you get that?! KATIE I made it in Daddy's workshop. LAURA Did you know that it's illegal in this state to own burglar tools? KATIE It's only illegal if I'm not a cop. But, because I'm your partner, it's legal. (opens door of dispenser) LAURA Wait a minute. We need a warrant, don't we? (pulls out cell phone, pokes keys) KATIE (pulling out newspapers singly) Think again. For both trash containers and newspaper dispensers on public sidewalks, there is no expectation of privacy. The person who puts a dispenser on a public sidewalk EXPECTS it to be opened. (removes the final paper, sees a small vault door on the floor of the machine, but all ten number keys on the keypad are covered with stickers containing words: pepper cats lightning ketchup sugar pans exit dad moon feet) Well, what have we here?! LAURA (shines flashlight) Nice work, partner! Wo! Words instead of numbers! How do we open it? KATIE Well, I already looked at the outsides of all the machines, and there were no clues outside. So, the clues must be in one of these. (offers newspapers) LAURA (takes the top newspaper, unfolds newspaper, lays it on top of dispenser, scans with flashlight, sighs) Wow. There's a lot of words in one newspaper, we could be at this all day. (points to newspaper below the fold) Or not. (close-up of ten words circled on the front page: mustard cream salt dogs thunder mom sun hands pots entrance) Here. He circled some of these words on the front page below the fold. (repeatedly compares the words to those on the ten-key pad) I'm guessing that from top to bottom, these must be the order we should press the keys. Bummer. None of these words are the same as the words on the key pad. Now what? KATIE (shines light) Let's see. Are these words the opposite of those words? No. Are they synonyms? No. (snaps fingers) These words are go-togethers! LAURA Say what? KATIE Well, look here. The first word in the newspaper is MUSTARD. MUSTARD always goes together with... LAURA Ketchup! I think you've got it, partner! (presses the KETCHUP button, then repeatedly compares the next newspaper word with keypad word and presses the keys) cream and... sugar salt and... pepper dogs and... cats thunder and... lightning mom and... dad sun and... moon hands and... feet pots and... pans entrance and... exit (pulls open the door, pulls out the Romanoff necklace, shows it) Sheer genious, partner! KATIE (yawns, stretches) Can we go home now? INT MORNING WIDE: MOTHER'S KITCHEN (Katie and Laura enter from garage as Mother butters the toast) LAURA Morning! MOTHER (turns) No wonder you didn't come to breakfast. I was just going to knock on your door again. Where have you been? CHIEF (enters frame carrying suit coat) That's a good question. Where have you been? (drapes coat over chair back, sits) LAURA We arrested Boris Petrova! CHIEF The jewel thief wanted by Interpol? Good for you! MOTHER I've always said "The best man for the job is a woman." CHIEF Did you catch him in the act of burglary? LAURA (sits) No. But this time, he left his finger prints on the dead drop. We got him, Daddy! We got him! MOTHER So, what about a promotion to detective for our daughter, Chief? CHIEF Marian, you know we don't have money in the budget for promotions. LAURA It's okay, Daddy. I just love doing detective work. I don't care if I get a gold badge. CHIEF (to Katie) What about you, my little angel? Would you like to be a detective some day? KATIE Maybe... (exiting) After I get some sleep. Mama, would you mind if I skip breakfast? MOTHER Not at all, honey. You get back to bed. I'll call the school and tell them you're not coming in today. CHIEF (to Laura) She didn't seem very enthusiastic. Aren't you two getting along? LAURA Oh, she's just tired. She was a real trooper last night. She was spot on about the M.O. of the perp, how he got into the museum, how he got out, even how he would disable the security guards. She was the one who found the dead-drop and she figured out the combination to the vault inside. And we only had one disagreement. CHIEF What was that? LAURA The dead-drop used by the perp was a coin operated newspaper dispenser on the sidewalk. Katie said it was public, so she didn't need a search warrant to open it. I said she did. Am I going to get into trouble for letting her open it? CHIEF Katie's right on this one, Laura. The vendor who put it on a PUBLIC sidewalk had no expectation of privacy, so no warrant is needed. LAURA What if Katie opened the newspaper dispenser with a burglar tool? CHIEF & MOTHER With a what?! �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 |