Murder In The First

Happy Thursday, crime slicksters. It's time once again to take a trip to the dark side, where the girls are hot, the drinks are cold, and the hardboiled-pulp-noir action is non-stop, right here, at the coolest crime joint in cyberspace ... at That Killing Feeling.

In Chapter 14 of THE DISH, B-movie starlet Haven Crayce gets grilled by homicide detective Cal Seely about her husband's murder. Meanwhile, Haven's co-conspirator and adulterous lover, personal trainer Jett Targo has a deadly run-in with one of her clients ...


EXT. MARINA SLIP - THE SAFE HAVEN - MORNING
Haven sits at the workout machine, working her arms.

A FIGURE IN BLACK appears.
CAL SEELY (50’s), short, squat homicide detective.

Face like an old potato.
Chewing on an unlit cigar.
Rumpled, in a shitty suit and a fedora.

SEELY
Excuse me. Are you Mrs. Crayce?

HAVEN
(turns, looks)
Uh-huh. Who are you?

He walks over, hands her a business card.

SEELY
Detective Cal Seely. Homicide.
(squinting in the sun)
Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?

HAVEN
(reading the card, heart pounding)
Of course not.
Come inside, it’s cooler in there --

INT. SAFE HAVEN - GALLEY - MOMENTS LATER
Haven sits on the couch
with a glass of ice tea.

Seely takes a sip of his,
slowly walks around the room.

HAVEN
Please, sit. Make yourself at home.

SEELY
I’m comfortable standing, thank you.
(squints)
That a real Oscar?

HAVEN
Uh-huh.

SEELY
Smaller than I thought it’d be --
(turns, looks at her)
Thanks for seeing me like this,
during your -- time of grief.

HAVEN
Sure.

SEELY
Damn good ice tea.
(beat)
Now you said your husband’s
insulin pump wasn’t on.
How could that be?
Didn’t he need that -- to live?

HAVEN
Yes, he did.
(beat)
The battery must have been -- defective.
I changed the battery once a week,
on Sunday --

SEELY
Yesterday was Sunday.

HAVEN
Exactly. I normally change it in the morning,
when he got up, but with all the excitement --
he got home from the hospital yesterday --

SEELY
Why was he in the hospital?

HAVEN
He was -- having some tests.
He had a -- bad fall last week,
and his doctor wanted to make sure
everything was -- you know, okay.

SEELY
And was everything okay?

Haven looks at him.
Eyes cloud up with tears.

HAVEN
Yes. Everything was -- okay.

SEELY
So then when did you
change the battery?

HAVEN
Right before the movie.
We watched a movie every night.
(inhales)
We had some wine, he fell asleep.
After it was over, I went down
the guest room to meditate --
I listen to music
while I’m meditating on my Ipod.

SEELY
I see.
(beat)
But if you were listening
to music on headphones,
how did you -- hear him?

PUSH IN ON Haven.
Eyes liquid-bright.

HAVEN
It was a -- quiet song.
(beat)
You know -- meditation music.

EXT. BEACH CONDO - OUTDOOR PATIO - AT THAT MOMENT
Jett is training the
Fat, Sweating Venture Capitalist
we met earlier on the beach.

Fat lies on a bench under a barbell
ringed with weights clamped
in a cradle above him.

FAT, SWEATING VENTURE CAPITALIST
That looks like -- too much weight.

JETT
It’s only an extra ten pounds, Tyledge.
You told me you want to be ripped.

TYLEDGE
Yeah, I do.

JETT
Well, then -- let ‘er rip.
(beat)
Relax. I’m spotting you.
Just go nice and slow.

Fat looks up. Nods.
GRABS the barbell,
slowly lifts it up off the rack.

Straining and wheezing.
Jett’s cell phone VIBRATES in her pocket.

She fishes it out.
It’s a text message.

TYLEDGE
(pushing, straining)
I, uh -- I can’t -- it’s, it’s slipping --

But Jett is reading the message.
It’s from Rush. On his way.

JETT
(under her breath)
Shit.

TYLEDGE
HELP, it’s gonna --

The weight is too much for Tyledge,
his grip slips, and the barbell
SLAMS DOWN on his neck.

TYLEDGE
GAAAAAAA!

Jett WHIPS her head around.

JETT
FUCK!

She GRABS the barbell,
TOSSES it aside.

It CRASHES into a glass table,
SHATTERING it into a million pieces.

Tyledge GRABS his throat,
SCREAMS in pain.

TYLEDGE
Fucking bitch!
You trying to KILL me?

JETT
I’m sorry, I was -- on the phone --

TYLEDGE
Get the FUCK OUT OF HERE.
You’re FIRED, you HEAR ME?
(beat)
Fucking DYKE.

JETT
WHAT did you call me?

TYLEDGE
You heard me.
(ominous)
You’re gonna hear from my lawyer.
I’m gonna take you
for every cent you have.
(beat)
So, tell me.
Do you have to strap one
on to satisfy that little whore?

Jett rears back and SUCKER-PUNCHES
him under the chin, sends him FLYING.

He SLAMS down, CRACKING
his head on the pavement.

JETT
Shit.

She feels his neck for a pulse.
Nothing. He’s DEAD.

JETT
NO.

Jett looks around. Nobody.
Everyone is at work.

She grabs Tyledge by the ankles,
drags him into the house.

IN THE LIVING ROOM
Jett pulls the large body
through the lux living room.

IN THE BASEMENT
She drags him down the stairs,
his body going THUNK, THUNK, THUNK
on each step.

Talk about ‘dead weight.’

They get to the bottom.
Jett looks around, sees --

A LARGE FREEZER
One of those industrial-sized ones
that lies horizontally.

JETT
Drags Tyledge to the freezer. Opens it.
Sees a mountain of steaks, chops and meat.
She starts pulling them out.

DISSOLVE TO:
Jett TOSSES meat packages into the freezer,
covering the body.

All we can see is his head.
She FLIPS one last steak in,
which covers his face.

SLAMS the lid closed.

JETT
That'll teach you
to call me a fucking DYKE --