PARTMENT, TULANE - DAY
The place is dark. STU, the security guard, unlocks the front door, enters, hits the light switch. The entire building lights up. Willie and Richard follow Stu inside.
WILLIE
Thanks for opening up early, Stu.
STU
Don't know what you're talking about.
INT. STACKS - LATER
Richard and Willie sit at a table stacked high with several enormous index books. They pour over the indexes, searching.
RICHARD
Here it is, I think.
Richard spins the book around, pushes it under Willie's nose, slams his finger down at a specific line on the open page:
"REDMOND 1870 MET."
WILLIE
Yeah, that's it.
Willie leans back in his chair, shuts his eyes, groans.
WILLIE
It's in Meterie Cemetery.
INT. FRONT DESK, STACKS - DAY
Stu drinks coffee, watches the screen of a small television tucked underneath the desk.
ON THE TELEVISION
-- A plaster-haired WEATHERMAN stands in front of a local weather map.
WEATHERMAN
... we're already at a sweltering 92 degrees. We could see highs today in the mid-100's, possibly set a new record. Couple that with 95 percent humidity and, well, just stay indoors folks...
BACK TO SCENE
Richard and Willie emerge from the stacks.
WILLIE
Thanks again, Stu.
STU
Watch the heat out there, boys.
Richard and Willie exit. Stu turns back to his television.
ON THE TELEVISION
-- A bleach-blonde NEWSCASTER.
NEWSCASTER
We have breaking news coming in from Sheriff's Headquarters. Authorities are asking the public's help in locating attorney and author Richard Haggerty...
-- A photo of Richard appears on the screen.
NEWSCASTER
... in connection with a shooting last night at the Garden District home of Former District Attorney Albert Collier...
BACK TO SCENE
Stu's drops his coffee. He hustles to the door, shoves it open.
OUTSIDE
Willie's car shoots past. Stu gets the license number.
INT. WILLIE'S CAR - DAY
Richard and Willie speed along a busy freeway.
WILLIE
We gotta hit the cemetery office first, look at a plot map. Shit, I don't even know if they have an office there!
RICHARD
What's the problem? How hard can it be to find the crypt?
Willie shakes his head.
WILLIE
You don't understand.
EXT. METERIE CEMETARY - DAY
Willie's car passes under an enormous iron gate. The sign above:
"METERIE CEMETERY"
In the distance, the cemetery grounds:
-- One hundred fifty acres;
-- Seven thousand crypts.
The car screeches to a halt in front the small red-brick office. Richard and Willie jump out. In front of them, a funeral procession slowly passes:
-- A small BRASS BAND plays a dirge, "Just A Closer Walk With Thee";
-- A horse-drawn coffin cart;
-- Two dozen MOURNERS in a somber march.
Willie pushes through the throng of mourners, makes for the office. Richard disappears into the sea of crypts.
EXT. CEMETERY OFFICE - DAY
Willie reaches the front door. It's locked. Nearby, a GROUNDSKEEPER rakes leaves, eyes Willie. Willie slams on the door. No answer. He circles the building, finds the sole window, bangs on it. The groundskeeper turns the corner.
GROUNDSKEEPER
It's no use, man. They're only open on Sundays to sell flowers.
Willie scans the surrounding area, spots a wooden bench. He grabs it, drags it back toward the office. He struggles to raise it up, heaves it through the window. An ALARM blasts. Willie climbs in.
The groundskeeper drops his rake.
GROUNDSKEEPER
Holy shit!
He pulls out his cell phone, dials 911.
EXT. CEMETERY GROUNDS - DAY
Richard rushes from crypt to crypt, checking the names. He passes the funeral service. Several mourners turn to look. The MINISTER reads from his bible as the casket is placed into its crypt.
MINISTER
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust...
INT. CEMETERY OFFICE - DAY
Willie tears open filing cabinets, desk drawers. The noise from the alarm is deafening. He can't take it anymore. He picks up the bench, slams it into the alarm. The alarm bell falls silent. In the distance, a POLICE SIREN. The siren grows louder, then stops.
Willie pulls a file from the cabinet, rips out a sheet of paper. He's found what he's looking for. Willie compares the numbers on the sheet to a plot map on the wall, makes note of a particular location, bolts for the door.
OUTSIDE THE OFFICE
Willie plows head first into two SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES.
DEPUTY
Hold it right there!
Willie breaks away, runs for it.
ON THE CEMETERY GROUNDS
Richard searches frantically. The heat is oppressive. He struggles to keep moving. From the far end of the grounds, a single BELL tolls. Richard freezes, listens. He notes the direction of the tolling, takes off toward the sound.
NEAR THE OFFICE
Willie sprints across the grounds, the deputies in hot pursuit.
THE FAR END OF THE GROUNDS
Richard follows the tolling bell. The sound grows louder. He crosses the path of the funeral procession, now on it's way out:
-- The brass band kicks into a fast ragtime.
-- The mourners, umbrellas raised high, dance and spin in rhythm.
The music drowns out the tolling. Richard loses his bearings. He spins in every direction, strains for the sound of the bell. It's no use.
The funeral procession moves out of the cemetery and into the surrounding neighborhood. The clamor subsides. The bell has stopped.
Richard's panting, sweating in the intense heat. His legs buckle. He drops to his knees, lifts his head. He's face to face with the Redmond crypt. He looks up. On top of the crypt, a bell. His head drops, his eyes steady on the names and dates on the face. There's a newly carved entry at the bottom:
"STEVEN FEBRUARY 10, 2001 - AUGUST 15, 2011"
Richard rises up, stumbles toward the crypt.
AT THE REDMOND CRYPT
Richard pounds the marble face.
RICHARD
Steven! Steven!
Helpless. He turns, surveys his surroundings. Nearby, two LABORERS seal the crypt left behind by the funeral procession. Richard spots their work cart. Among the tools, a sledgehammer.
AT THE WORK CART
Richard rips the sledgehammer from the cart. The laborers spot him.
LABORER
Hey! What the Hell you doin'?!
Richard staggers back toward the Redmond crypt.
AT THE REDMOND CRYPT
Richard raises the hammer, slams it into the crypt's face, smashes it to pieces. He drops to his knees, digs away the fragments of marble. He peers into the open chamber. His eyes adjust to the darkness.
INSIDE THE CHAMBER
Ancient remains: bones, ashes, dust. Nothing else.
OUTSIDE
Richard drops back, collapses, sobs uncontrollably. The laborers approach cautiously.
ACROSS THE GROUNDS
Willie locates Richard at the far end of the cemetery.
AT THE REDMOND CRYPT
Suddenly, a BELL rings out. Richard rises up. He turns, stares into the distance.
OFF THE CEMETERY GROUNDS
Across the street, through an iron gate, a grey stone church, the one in the last of the historical photographs. The bell rings out from its steeple. The funeral
procession continues its celebratory march past the church.
One dancer in the back slows. The procession moves on without her. She twirls her umbrella, spins to a halt in front of the church steps. She looks directly at Richard.
It's Chandra.
She pauses a moment, drops her umbrella, closes it. She steps slowly up the church steps, disappears inside.
AT THE REDMOND CRYPT
Willie arrives. Richard's gone. The laborers clean up the mess.
WILLIE
Where'd he go?
A laborer points toward the cemetary entrance.
WILLIE
(screams)
Richard!
AT THE ENTRANCE
Richard sprints past the office and out the front gate. He doesn't hear Willie.
AT THE REDMOND CRYPT
Willie's tackled from behind, slammed face first into the dirt. A deputy slaps on the cuffs, yanks Willie to his feet.
DEPUTY
That's it, asshole. You're done.
EXT. STREET - DAY
Richard crosses one lane of traffic, pauses on the median strip. A sign planted in the median:
"THE OLD MORTUARY CHAPEL
Built in 1826 as a burial church
for victims of yellow fever."
The traffic clears. Richard crosses the street, climbs the church steps.
EXT. CEMETERY GROUNDS - DAY
The deputies haul Willie to a waiting police cruiser, open the back door, toss him inside.
INT. POLICE CRUISER - DAY
Staley's in the back. Bower's driving. Staley throws a black hood over Willie's head. Bower hits the gas.
INT. OLD MORTUARY CHURCH - DAY
It's dark, empty, silent. Richard inches his way down the middle aisle. A quiet NOISE echoes from behind the altar. Richard follows the sound.
BEHIND THE ALTAR
Richard enters the dimly lit apse. Suddenly, a blow to the back of his head. He blacks out.
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT
Willie, hooded and handcuffed, twitches on a metal chair in the middle of a windowless, florescent-lit, tiny box of a room. A hand reaches over, pulls off the hood. Willie squints, focuses his eyes. Staley's in front of him.
STALEY
Where is he?
Willie's trembling.
WILLIE
Where's who?
STALEY
Haggerty.
WILLIE
I'm not talking 'til I see a lawyer.
STALEY
(smiles)
You're not under arrest.
Willie looks down at his handcuffed wrists.
WILLIE
(yells)
I said I want a lawyer!
The door opens. Bower sticks his head inside.
BOWER
Shut the fuck up.
The door slams shut.
STALEY
You went to see Pasternak.
Staley pulls up a chair.
STALEY
Knowledge can be a dangerous thing. For example, this --
Staley reaches into Willie's shirt pocket, removes the brown vial, holds it in front of Willie's face.
STALEY
-- tiny little jar got a parish coroner's throat cut.
He drops the vial onto the floor, crushes it under the heel of his boot.
STALEY
Now, where is he?
No answer.
STALEY
Alright. Maybe you should talk to someone else.
Staley produces a small key, unlocks Willie's handcuffs. He steps out of the room. The door shuts with a THUD. The florescent light buzzes. Muffled VOICES from outside. Willie stands, picks up his chair, braces for what's about to happen.
The lights go out. Pitch black. Dead silence. Willie breathes hard, his heart pounds. Nothing happens. Willie drops the chair, feels his way along the cinder block wall, finds the door. He listens a moment. Silence. He turns the knob.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
Willie sticks his head out, looks around. Nobody's there. He steps out. He's on the second floor of an abandoned warehouse. The fixtures are missing, the outside walls are gone. Nothing left but bare bones, concrete and steel.
Willie pauses at the edge of the floor, stares down at the weed-filled, cracked concrete parking lot below. He spots his car. The only one there.
EXT. WAREHOUSE PARKING LOT - NIGHT
Willie edges up to his car. He checks all around, looks underneath. He peers through the driver's door window. The keys are in the ignition.
EXT. OLD MORTUARY CHURCH - NIGHT
Willie pulls up, climbs out, runs up the church steps. He tries the front door. It's chained and padlocked. He circles to the back of the church.
AT THE BACK
He tries the rear door. Chained and padlocked. He looks down. Green mud is caked on the back step. He reaches down, picks off a piece, examines it. Embedded in the mud, bits of white wool. Louisiana Bluestar.
INT. BOATHOUSE - NIGHT
Richard lies unconscious on the wooden floorboards of a tiny dilapidated shack. His wrists are tied tightly in front. He comes to, struggles to his feet, immediately falls back down. He hits hard. He's been drugged. Dim moonlight pours through the front entrance. The door's long rotted away.
OUTSIDE
Richard stumbles out onto a ramshackle wooden landing. It's very dark. The only light, a sliver of moon reflected on the surface of the Mississippi River. Crickets CHIRP. The sound pounds Richard's throbbing skull. Richard turns the corner of the boathouse, finds an overgrown trail leading into the woods.
EXT. WOODS - NIGHT
Richard staggers along the trail. He makes out a faint glowing yellow light up ahead.
IN A CLEARING
Richard stops. His vision is blurred. He pitches forward, struggles to focus his eyes. In front of him, the Redmond plantation. Yellow light bleeds out from behind the shuttered ground floor windows.
EXT. REDMOND MANSION - NIGHT
Richard climbs the front steps, kicks open the front door.
INT. FOYER, REDMOND MANSION - NIGHT
Richard's bathed in yellow light. It's silent. He's alone. He steps into the middle of the room. There are lit candles everywhere. Dozens of them: on the ground, across the mantle, along the stair rail leading to the second floor. Richard follows them across the room and up the decaying staircase.
THE SECOND FLOOR LANDING
The line of candles ends at the top of the stairs. Richard checks both directions of the darkened hallway. A faint light emits from under a single door. The child's bedroom.
AT THE BEDROOM DOOR
The door's slightly ajar, half an inch. Richard leans in, nudges it open with his shoulder.
THE BEDROOM
Richard steps just inside. The room is awash in candlelight. In the corner, the wardrobe chest is open:
-- The candlelit voodoo shrine;
-- The Crescent City murder scene photos, still plastered to the inside.
Across the room, the canopy bed, now heavily and ornately draped.
The barrel of a .38 revolver rises up to Richard's head, presses against his left ear. From behind:
TERRANCE
(just above a whisper)
Don't you fuckin' move.
Terrance grabs Richard's shoulder, shoves him down onto his knees. Richard faces the bed.
CHAN (O.S.)
(softly)
Confess.
Chan steps out from behind the bed.
CHAN
Confess your sins.
She pulls back the canopy drape. A bare-chested Steven lies motionless under thick bedcovers.
RICHARD
Steven!
Steven turns his head toward his father, his eyes half-opened.
STEVEN
Daddy?
Chan reaches over to the nightstand, unscrews the top off a bottle of rubbing alcohol. She
picks up a cotton swab, dips it in the alcohol. Richard tries to stand. Terrance slams him back down.
TERRANCE
I told you not to move.
Chan reaches under the bedcovers, pulls out Steven's right arm, places it on top, palm up. She rubs the inside of his forearm with the cotton swab. Richard struggles to focus.
RICHARD
What are you doing?
Chan picks up an intravenous cannula, inserts the needle into Steven's vein. She steps back from the bed. Richard's eyes follow Chan's hand along the length of the I.V. tube to its end: a lethal injection machine.
RICHARD
(screams)
No!
Richard leaps to his feet, lunges at Chan. Terrance throws Richard to the floor, slams the side of his skull with the butt of the revolver. Richard's face turns purple, swells. He struggles to stand, collapses backward onto the floor.
RICHARD
(shaking)
Don't you hurt my son!
CHAN
The epigraph of your book, Richard. What does it say?
RICHARD
I... I don't --
CHAN
Deuteronomy 24:16. Recite it for me.
Chan puts her hand on the injection machine.
RICHARD
No, don't! Please!
She places her finger on the first button.
CHAN
Recite it, Richard.
RICHARD
The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, --
CHAN
Look at your son, Richard. Look into his eyes.
RICHARD
-- neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: --
CHAN
Fear. Sadness. Resignation.
RICHARD
-- Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
CHAN
He knows, Richard. It's in his eyes. He knows his fate.
RICHARD
(sobbing)
What do you want from me? What do you want me to say?!
CHAN
Confess your sins.
RICHARD
I confess! I confess my sins!
CHAN
You framed Danny, you framed my brother.
RICHARD
Yes, I did it! I framed him!
A light flashes through an open window, across the opposite wall. Terrance rushes over. Outside, in the distance, a car pulls to a stop.
TERRANCE
Goddammit! Someone's here!
INT./EXT. WILLIE'S CAR - NIGHT
Willie kills the engine, extinguishes the headlights. In the distance, the yellow glow from the Redmond house. Willie reaches under his seat, pulls out his Beretta, opens the driver's door.
EXT. REDMOND MANSION - NIGHT
Willie steps cautiously up the front steps, enters.
THE FOYER
Willie pauses in the center of the room. Terrance raises his revolver to the back of Willie's head.
TERRANCE
Drop the gun, cocksucker.
Willie complies.
TERRANCE
Cracker gonna get you killed yet.
A BLAST. A gunshot through the open front door, directly into Terrance's skull. He drops. Dead. A second BLAST. Willie dives for the floor.
OUTSIDE
Staley and Bower approach the house. Bower's carrying a hunting rifle.
THE FOYER
Chan calls out.
CHAN (O.S.)
Terrance? What's going on?
Willie grabs his pistol, breaks for the staircase.
THE BEDROOM
Chan races to the door, checks the hallway.
CHAN
(calling out)
Terrance?!
Richard rises to his feet, staggers over to a lit candle. He places his wrists over the open flame. The binding burns away. Just as his hands are free, Chan slams Richard in the back of the head with a lamp. Richard tumbles.
Chan reaches for the lethal injection machine--
RICHARD
No!
-- places her hand on top.
CHAN
Too late.
She presses the button. Liquid races through the IV tube. Chan picks up the lamp, raises it above Richard's head. Richard pulls Chan down, slams her into the floor. He tightens his fist, pulls back and lets go. He pounds her in the face, over and over. Chan's out cold.
Richard rushes to the bed, rips the IV from Steven's arm, pulls his son up, slaps his face.
RICHARD
Steven! Steven!
Willie arrives.
WILLIE
How is he?
RICHARD
He's breathing. He only got the sedative.
STALEY (O.S.)
(calling out)
Haggerty!
THE FOYER
STALEY
Haggerty! Where are you?!
Moving toward the staircase.
STALEY
Is your son up there, Haggerty? You want to get him out of here alive, don't you? Nobody else has to die for this! You hear me? We can work this out!
THE BEDROOM
RICHARD
(to Willie)
Take my son and get him out of here.
WILLIE
How?
Richard points to the shuttered balcony door.
RICHARD
There.
Willie tries the shutters, forces them open, looks out. The balcony's long rotted away.
WILLIE
It's a twenty foot drop.
RICHARD
Give me the gun.
Willie hands over the pistol.
RICHARD
Stay with Steven.
Richard disappears into the hallway.
THE UPSTAIRS HALLWAY
Richard locates a back stairway at the far end.
THE FOYER
STALEY
(calling out)
Haggerty! Your only chance is to talk to me!
Staley motions to Bower, points to the staircase. Bower starts up the stairs.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
Richard enters what's left of the kitchen: rotted cabinets, rat infested shelves. Untouched for a hundred years.
THE SECOND FLOOR LANDING
Bower reaches the top of the staircase, turns down the hallway. He edges up to the bedroom door, shoves it open.
THE BEDROOM
Bower raises his rifle, points it at Willie's head. A GUNSHOT. The bullet rips through Bower's chest. He drops. Richard's in the doorway. He lowers his pistol.
RICHARD
There's a back staircase at the end of the hallway.
He hands Willie the pistol, pulls Steven up from the bed.
RICHARD
Come on.
THE FOYER
STALEY
(calling out)
Bower? Where are you? Answer me!
(to himself)
Shit.
He drops behind the staircase, checks the clip in his pistol.
THE UPSTAIRS HALLWAY
Richard and Willie make their way down the hall, Steven in his father's arms.
STALEY (O.S.)
(calling out)
Hey, Willie! What you helpin' that man for? What's in it for you?
Willie pauses.
RICHARD
(calling out)
Why did you frame Danny Wells, Staley?
STALEY (O.S.)
(calling out)
Why do you think? Look at his father. Rapist scumbag! You think his son was gonna be any different? We needed somebody to protect our Mayor and we found him!
RICHARD
(calling out)
You protected a rapist and murderer! You're a hypocrite, Staley!
THE FOYER
STALEY
(calling out)
I don't know that. All I know is what I heard on the tape. "Danny, no. Danny, no." You remember, Hagg
erty. You got that boy executed with it.
RICHARD
That's not what he said!
STALEY
Well then, that's one helluva fuck-up by you, isn't it counselor?
THE UPSTAIRS HALLWAY
Willie stops, stares at Richard.
WILLIE
(calling out)
Staley! What about Haggerty?
STALEY (O.S.)
What about him?
WILLIE
He was in on it, too! Right?
STALEY (O.S.)
Couldn't have done it without him! Right out of school. Young, ambitious, stupid. You know, a lawyer!
WILLIE
That don't answer the question. Did he know?
THE FOYER
STALEY
You don't get it, Willie! Read your Bible! There are sins of commission and sins of omission. Haggerty didn't know. But he didn't want to know!
Staley steps out from under the staircase, fires several rounds at the upstairs hallway. Richard and Willie break for the back stairs.
THE KITCHEN
Richard lays Steven out on a table, opens the back door, checks behind the house.
RICHARD
Take Steven and get him out of here.
WILLIE
What the fuck are you gonna do?
RICHARD
Chandra. I can't leave her here.
Willie offers Richard the pistol.
WILLIE
You better take this.
RICHARD
No.
WILLIE
Are you crazy, man? Staley's gonna kill you. Take it!
RICHARD
Just get out of here.
Richard disappears up the back stairs. Willie grabs Steven, throws him over his shoulder, shoots out the back door.
THE BEDROOM
Richard enters. Chan's on the floor. Her face is badly bruised, her eyes swollen shut. She's coming to. Richard pulls her to her feet, turns back. Staley's in the doorway, pistol pointed at Richard's face.
STALEY
Where's your boy, Haggerty?
RICHARD
You're too late. He's gone.
STALEY
Let go of the girl.
Richard releases Chan. She staggers. Disoriented.
STALEY
(motions)
Back off.
Richard steps away from Chan, stops beside Bower's corpse.
RICHARD
It's over, Staley. Willie knows everything.
Staley moves in on Chan
STALEY
It's his word against mine. I have no problem with that.
Staley puts the pistol barrel against Chan's temple and fires. She collapses onto the bed. Staley turns his pistol toward Richard. Richard reaches down, grabs Bower's rifle by the barrel, swings it. The butt slams into Staley's side. Staley doubles over, drops the pistol.
Richard raises the rifle above Staley's head, comes down hard. Staley rolls. The rifle slams into the floor. The butt splinters, flies across the room, knocks over a large brass candlestick. The candle rolls to the foot of the bed. The canopy drape ignites.
Staley scrambles for his pistol, fires. The bullet tears into Richard's shoulder. Richard drops to his knees, directly in front of Staley. He picks up the brass candlestick, plows into Staley's skull. Richard struggles to his feet. Blood soaks his shirt.
The fire races up the drape, engulfs the canopy.
RICHARD
Sins of commission --
Staley slowly raises his pistol. Richard kicks it away.
RICHARD
-- sins of omission.
Richard pulls Staley up, drops him onto the bed. He reaches down to the floor, picks up the IV tube, plunges the needle into the middle of Staley's chest.
RICHARD
God, forgive me for all that I have done...
He steps back, places his hand on the lethal injection machine.
RICHARD
... and all I have not.
Richard depresses the button.
EXT. REDMOND MANSION - NIGHT
Willie carries Steven away from the house. In the background, smoke and flames pour out of the second floor windows.
INT. BEDROOM, REDMOND MANSION - NIGHT
The walls and ceiling are engulfed in flames. In the room, Chan, Staley and Bower's lifeless bodies. The room is consumed.
EXT. REDMOND MANSION - NIGHT
Police cruisers, SIRENS wailing, screech to a halt next to Willie's car. The COPS jump out. One officer shines a flashlight. Directly in front of him, Willie and Steven. Something in the distance catches the officer's eye. He redirects the flashlight beam. Richard staggers toward them. In the background, the mansion burns.
EXT. SHERIFF'S HEADQUARTERS, NEW ORLEANS - DAY
On the street, Mia and Steven wait beside their car. Richard emerges from the front entrance. He's the worse for wear, his shoulder tightly bandaged, arm in a sling. Throngs of REPORTERS and news cameras press in around him. One REPORTER steps forward, shoves a microphone in Richard's face.
REPORTER
Mr. Haggerty! What did you tell the police? Mr. Haggerty!
Richard says nothing, pushes his way through. Steven breaks for Richard, rushes into his father's arms.
REPORTER
(calls out)
Mr. Haggerty! Do you believe now that Danny Wells was not guilty?
Richard freezes, turns.
REPORTER
Did you send an innocent man to his grave?
INT. LIVING ROOM, PASTERNAK'S HOME - DAY
Gladys Pasternak sits on the edge of her couch, focused on the television newscast.
ON THE TELEVISION
The reporter turns back to her camera.
REPORTER
That appears to be a "no comment" from Richard Haggerty, questioned by police today in connection with the bizarre deaths of three people sometime last night...
INT. BEDROOM CLOSET, PASTERNAK'S HOME - DAY
Gladys pulls open the door on the grey metal safe, removes the manila envelope. She opens it, pulls out the business card, checks the name: Willie Williams.
INT. SHERIFF'S HEADQUARTERS - DAY
Gladys carries the envelope to the front counter.
INT. DEPUTY TOWNSHEND'S OFFICE, SHERIFF'S DE
Remembrance Photo: The Screenplay Page 13