The Dead Don't Lie

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In Chapter 21 of A DISH BEST KILLED, murderous B-movie starlet Haven Crayce gets grilled by homicide dick Cal Seely about the death of her husband Dart ...


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

A FIGURE IN BLACK appears.
Meet 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
to 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.