Good Night, Sweet Prince EXT. BACK YARD - LATE AFTERNOON PATTI, 9, sprawls across porch steps, surrounded by carelessly discarded dolls and toys. She reads to herself from a book, following the words with her finger, her attention frequently distracted. Her MOTHER, early 30's, kneels closeby in rose garden planting a new rose bush. PATTI Mom? MOTHER Uh huh? Her mother scoops dirt out of hole. PATTI Can I go bike riding now? Against the porch is a new two-wheel bike, the store tags still attached. MOTHER I told you, Patti, homework first. Her mother throws in some fertilizer and chemicals and stirs the soil. The bike shines in sun as the SOUNDS of unseen children grow louder. The woman concentrates, carefully arranging the rose roots in the hole. The little girl looks longingly at the new bike. Her mother shakes the dirt off her hands and reaches for the next bush. Patti slips quietly over to her bike and, watching her mother over her shoulder to make sure the woman doesn't notice, walks the bike around the corner of the house. EXT. STREET IN FRONT OF SMALL TORONTO HOUSE - LATE AFTERNOON Getting on her bike, Patti peddles furiously away, eyes alight with her successful escape. EXT. STREET SEVERAL BLOCKS AWAY - LATE AFTERNOON Patti rides down the street, pleased with herself and her adventure. Cars pass her and stop at the end of the block. She reaches the light and stops beside a black van. The passenger window rolls down. MAN (O.S.) I have a kitten here I'm trying to give away. Know anybody who wants one? The girl is undecided whether to ignore the stranger or look at the kitten. A MEOW decides the issue. PATTI Can I see it? MAN (O.S.) If you hurry. The light's about to change. Patti carelessly drops her bike to the sidewalk and hurries to the opening door. She looks into the van. PATTI It's so cute! An orange tabby kitten sits on the seat. The girl leans in to pet it. Suddenly, she's pulled into the van. As she struggles, the kitten jumps out. The van door closes and the van speeds away. EXT. BACK YARD - LATE AFTERNOON The mother sits back on her heels and proudly surveys her new roses. MOTHER Aren't they beautiful, Patti? When no answer is heard, the woman turns and looks at the porch. It's empty. MOTHER (continuing) Patti? Seeing the empty spot where the bicycle had been, the mother runs out of her yard. EXT. STREET IN FRONT OF SMALL TORONTO HOUSE - LATE AFTERNOON The mother looks frantically up and down the street. MOTHER Patti! Patti! The empty street gives back no answer. FADE OUT. END OF TEASER ACT ONE FADE IN: EXT. TORONTO SKYLINE (STOCK) - SUNSET EXT. STREET CORNER - NIGHT NICK and SCHANKE watch as the TECHNICAN dusts the bike for prints. SCHANKE I hate this kind of case! NICK She's not dead yet. Nat said the other three girls weren't killed for days. Until we find her body, there's a chance. SCHANKE Jennie's been asking for this bike. I asked her what was wrong with her old one. OFFICER (O.S.) (calling) Detective? An ELDERLY WOMAN and a POLICE OFFICER, 30's, stand to the side. Nick waves then he and Schanke walk over to join them. The woman cuddles the kitten which was last seen jumping out of the van. WOMAN Speeders. I keep calling. Last month I gave the police 46 license plates. 46. Did they put up a single speed trap? OFFICER Detective Knight, this is Mrs. Soxer. She thinks she got the license number of the van that picked up the little girl. WOMAN 30 miles an hour it's posted. That van was doing at least 40. NICK You saw the girl taken? WOMAN She got in by herself. If I'd realized what was happening, I would have called sooner. OFFICER Mrs. Soxer came over while we were examining the bike. Nick reaches out to pet the kitten. It hisses. Nick concentrates on the kitten (HEARTBEATS begin). It relaxes, beginning to purr. Nick takes the kitten in his arms and pets it (HEARTBEATS stop). WOMAN Isn't he adorable? What sort of monster would throw away an angel like this. Nick remembers one. EXT. LIBRARY - OXFORD (1830's) - NIGHT La Croix and Nick watch Janette trying to coax a kitten from beneath a bench. It hisses. JANETTE Mon petit chat. Are you hungry? NICK I think it's wondering the same about you. Janette pointedly ignores him and makes encouraging noises. When it won't come, she concentrates (HEARTBEATS begin). It purrs, and goes to Janette who scoops it up, stands and pets it (HEARTBEATS stop). JANETTE Come back to Paris, Nicholai. If you want to study ideas, I have some I could let you investigate. Nick responds to the invitation with a brief caress. NICK Ideas that would undoubtedly shock the entire Oxford student body. LA CROIX Nicholas, the knight, the man of action. A scholar now. NICK It is fascinating to study history and hear people argue over why we did what we did. JANETTE The past is dry and dull. It's over! Why waste your time there when the present can be so exciting? NICK Ideas can be exciting. It's like solving a mystery to try to see behind men's thoughts - to understand their reasons, hopes, what makes them more than that kitten in your arms. LA CROIX You forget, Nicholas, to you that's all they are. Two students pass by. La Croix indicates them. LA CROIX A meal. (pets kitten) A snack. Janette turns away from him and murmurs to the kitten. LA CROIX (continuing) They invent meaning for their lives to make death palatable. And what does it get them? In the end, they still die. NICK Perhaps so, but can't death itself have meaning? Consider that candle. A candelabra burns on a table in a window behind them. NICK (continuing) It is made of wax and wick and yet it's only in the burning, in its death, that it has any purpose. La Croix takes the kitten from Janette. It purrs beneath the sensuality of his stroking. LA CROIX And after it has burned, what is it then? Nothing! Don't think, Nicholas. Feel! For us, meaning is the removal of that barrier between blind instinct and awareness. This little creature already knows that. Study him if you must. Carelessly, La Croix drops the kitten onto the bench. Startled from its drugged contentment, it MEOWs, then runs away. La Croix laughs. EXT. STREET CORNER - NIGHT - RESUME SCENE Nick stares into his memory. SCHANKE (O.S.) Nick? The car? Nick breaks from his trance to find Schanke staring. Reorienting himself, he hands back the kitten. NICK Yes. You say you saw the car. WOMAN A black van. It ran the light so I wrote down the license number. I always do, but do you think anyone cares? NICK (to officer) Have you checked out the plate yet? Do we have a name? OFFICER Not exactly, Detective. NICK Well, why not exactly? The officer takes Mrs. Soxer's purse, opens it and displays the contents. Inside the purse are many small scraps of paper. Schanke picks out one of the scraps on which is written a license number. He looks at the rest. SCHANKE Great! EXT. PRECINCT - NIGHT INT. PRECINCT - SQUAD ROOM - NIGHT Nick and Schanke sit at their desks. Schanke is on phone. SCHANKE I know computers go down, Norma, but there's a little girl being held somewhere in this city by a serial killer and I don't think she wants to wait for the technician to get back from dinner. (pause) Then go get him. I'll spring for a sandwich. Hello? Schanke slams down phone while Nick watches sympathetically. NICK There must be a printout. SCHANKE Nada. Departmental efficiency experiment. They're saving trees. Can you believe it? NATALIE walks up to them. NICK Find anything? NATALIE No. Since my computer's down, I just thought I'd come over and see if you had anything. SCHANKE It's a technological revolution alright. And we're the victims! Schanke gets up and storms away. NATALIE Did I miss something? NICK The little girl. She looks like Jennie. NATALIE These cases make me feel like I'm dipping into a pool of human slime. NICK There's a dark side to humanity. This webpage created by InterMedia Enterprises Copyright © 1997, InterMedia Enterprises