Moonlight s01e07 Episode Script
The Ringer
NARRATOR: Previously on Moonlight: BETH: By the way, the whole kiss thing Yeah, the kiss.
I was thinking maybe that was like an accident.
Oh.
Oh, okay.
You wanna know how I became a vampire? I told you I was married.
On our wedding night, she turned me.
- I'm glad you told me about your wife.
MICK: I didn 't tell her everything.
Things didn 't end well, even by vampire standards.
You stop carrying Coraline around, Mick.
Let her go.
[HELICOPTERS WHIRRING.]
[SIRENS WAILING.]
MICK [IN VOICEOVER.]
: One thing you learn when you live forever is not to get too set in anything.
Because it's all gonna change.
Just when it seems like everything's going your way and maybe you're even patting yourself on the back that's when it happens.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING.]
[SIRENS WAILING.]
Whoa, stay back.
FIREMAN: Thanks.
WOMAN: Help me.
[MAN YELLING.]
Try and get some shots of the entrance, but be as discreet as you can, okay? [SIREN WAILS.]
It's sad, isn't it? Think they're gonna be able to save it? They might be able to save a couple of the top floors but most of the interior is wood.
It was built in the '20s.
My parents used to bring me here for brunch after church on Sundays.
I keep forgetting how old you are.
MAN: Got another unit coming in now.
Must be frustrating, having the power to help, but not able to do anything.
If only you knew.
MICK: At the oddest time, you might find yourself feeling lucky like maybe you found somebody.
Then, bam, that's exactly when the ex-wife shows up.
Coraline.
The woman who turned me into a vampire.
[BAND PLAYING SLOW MUSIC.]
Something else, isn't she? Yeah.
I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers.
What I would give to go home with that.
BANDMATE: Forget it.
She drops more in a day at Saks than you make in a year.
- Coraline.
- No, sorry.
Sorry, you look like someone I used to know.
- Ex-girlfriend, maybe? - Ex-wife.
Does this usually work for you? This isn't a pickup.
You look like her.
It's not a turn-on when you tell somebody that they look like your ex.
- What's your name? - You know each other? No.
No, we just met.
So you don't know each other? - No.
- I thought we did, but I guess we don't.
- I'm Mick.
- Morgan.
Now we know each other.
- How do you two know each other? - I buy a lot of her photos for Buzzwire.
- How long have you worked together? BETH: Couple months.
- She just moved here from Chicago.
- What's with the interrogation? He's a private investigator.
Can you tell? MORGAN Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Well, I'm gonna get back to it.
It was nice meeting you.
So the fire inspector says he found lighter fluid and dirty rags in the Dumpster over there.
- Hey, did you hear me? - What? They think it's arson.
I'm gonna wrangle some quotes.
I'll catch you later.
MICK: There is a good reason I never expected to see Coraline again.
I killed her.
MICK: I gotta talk to you.
JOSEF: Yeah? This better be good.
Dawn is in 15 minutes and I'm about to go home and hit the icebox.
I saw Coraline last night.
Coraline? - You mean "Coraline" Coraline? - Yeah, that Coraline.
Was she dead? - No.
- Well, then it can't be Coraline.
You killed her, remember? Yeah, I'm aware of that.
I was at the Franklin fire downtown.
There was this photographer there.
She was a dead ringer for Coraline.
- Everybody's got a twin somewhere.
- It wasrt a twin.
Josef, it was her.
She moved the same.
She talked the same.
- You talked to this person? - Yeah.
Her name's Morgan.
She works with Beth.
And did Beth recognize her as Coraline? No.
If it was the woman who kidnapped her as a child I'd think that Beth would have opinions about it.
Beth doesn't remember me from back then and I'm the one who rescued her.
- What do you remember from 4? - It was 1603.
It's reasonable it'd be a little hazy.
Look, Beth has suppressed the whole trauma, okay? Josef.
I know this sounds crazy, but you gotta see her.
Did this Morgan person have a long history of drinking blood? No.
She's not a vampire.
I was close enough to tell.
Well, Mick, if she's not a vampire, then she can't be Coraline.
I could take these reaction shots to the fire and write a piece about what this landmark hotel has meant to people over the years.
What is this, ladies, NPR? I mean, I need a celebrity angle, a dead body, something.
Sex it up a bit and get back to me.
Maureen always goes for the lowest common denominator.
- Don't worry, I'll wear her down.
- Thank you so much for your support.
Please, anything to keep me away from restaurants and fashion shows.
Yeah.
Oh, what happened? Did you get burned? - Oh, no.
It's just a little incident.
- A little incident? Look at your arm.
MORGAN: It's just a couple stitches.
What happened? Believe it or not, some guy broke into my house last night and we scuffled.
You fought him? You bet I did.
He was taking my cameras.
- You tell the police? - Of course, but you know the police.
They just acted like they had more important stuff to do than help me track down my stolen equipment.
You did tell them he attacked.
Oh, what I would give to get my hands on that little punk.
Not to mention getting your cameras back.
What about that PI friend of yours? Do you think he could help? - Mick? - Yeah.
I thought you werert very impressed.
Well, I mean, he seemed persistent.
[KNOCK ON DOOR.]
I'm sorry to stop by without calling but since you're a night person, I thought you might be up.
Well, you know me too well.
- Hey, Mick.
- Hey, Morgan.
Morgan has a problem I thought you might be able to help her with.
I had jewelry out in plain sight that he ignored completely.
- So it's just the cameras.
- Which is why I attacked him.
You wouldn't believe what a digital Nikon costs.
- You attacked the thief? MORGAN: Well, I had Mace.
Which, turns out, pissed him off just enough for him to then gouge me with my own letter opener.
She needs her cameras back.
It's her livelihood.
- Beth said that you were the best.
- Oh, she did, huh? Yes.
Several times, actually.
Maybe you could go by her apartment, check see if there's anything to go by.
And also, if it helps, I would absolutely recognize the thief if I saw him again.
I never forget a face.
[BAND PLAYING SLOW HAWAllAN MUSIC.]
[MIC FEEDBACKS.]
[CORALINE CHUCKLES.]
Can't you guys play something that will get this snore on its feet? [CHUCKLES.]
- Like what? - I don't know.
Like Wynonie Harris or Little Willie John or something with a bit more rhythm.
Well, gee, I don't know if this crowd would like the devil's music.
That's why I want you to play it.
How about "Good Rockir Tonight"? How about "Ain't That Just Like a Woman"? I think that that would be much more shocking.
- Don't you? - On one condition.
My name's Coraline.
- I didn't say what the condition was.
- That's always the condition.
BETH: Wow, I love your place, Morgan.
It's so cool.
Thank you.
I have this, like, '50s thing I'm trying to shake.
So, what can I tell you? Why don't you start with what happened? Okay.
I was in my bedroom and it was about 3 in the morning.
I was asleep and then that's when I heard a rattling at the front door.
Were you alone? - Is that part of your investigation, or? - Potentially.
Yes, I was alone.
Okay, I think we've established you were alone.
So, what next? Well, then I leave the bedroom and come out here and I see that there's this man at my desk.
And like I said, he left jewelry, keys to my BMW, cash.
He wasrt after cash.
My cameras were won'th at least 8 grand.
He took those.
Maybe he was interested in what was inside.
- Pictures.
- They said it was arson, right? Maybe your thief was the one who set the fire.
BETH: Maybe you took a picture of him.
Yeah, those arsonists, they really stick around to watch the burn.
If he's after photos, he's out of luck.
Because I don't let anybody see these until I sell them.
[COMPUTER BEEPS.]
MICK: What is that? It's a fire.
No, in the fire.
- Nothing, I don't think.
- No, look, there is something.
Right there.
I have some shots where I racked to the building.
Hold on one second.
That's him.
That's the thief.
He's killing her.
MICK: Seeing that photo was like looking into the past.
Reliving a nightmare.
CORALINE: Forever.
I love you.
I freed you from death.
The greatest gift I could give.
I freed you from death.
He saw me.
That must be why he wanted the photos.
You caught a murder on camera.
You wouldn't believe these photographs, Josef.
It was like outtakes from the night - The night you killed your wife.
- You know what? It's like somebody staged this whole thing for me.
- Can you hear yourself right now? - No, it's like Like Coraline is baiting me with these photos.
Coraline is dead.
You saw her die with your own eyes.
I never saw the ashes.
Oh.
In the 22 years since she died, you never told me that.
I never told anybody that.
I never thought she could possibly survive.
I left Coraline trapped in an inferno that night, man.
Just like the woman in these photos.
Mick, look at me.
Coraline did not come back from the undead to exact revenge on you.
- You know how dangerous she was.
- Yeah.
I've known her for a century more than you.
She's capable of anything.
But not even she could pull off a resurrection.
No? [SIGHS.]
Coraline drove you crazy the whole time you knew her.
Now she's dead and she's still driving you crazy.
Now, you need to let her go.
So tell me more about Morgan.
Um - Like, who'd she work for in Chicago? - Everybody, she was a stringer.
But legit stuff.
She has shot for the Tribune, News Corp.
Uh I don't know.
She's got a reputation for being a gritty crime photographer.
Been running her pictures for years.
- And you met where? - At a crime scene.
Kind of like how I met you, actually.
- Why are you so interested in Morgan? - It's just standard due diligence.
- On a client? - Yeah, know your client.
Private eye 101.
Oh, okay.
I'm just not used to being grilled about a girl that you're after, so - I'm not after her.
I wouldn't have pegged her as your type.
This isn't about types.
Even if it is, it's fine.
It's your business.
You're jealous.
Don't flatter yourself.
Okay.
Look, I just need some info on her time in Chicago.
- Can you look into it, get back to me? - Sure.
Are you gonna turn her photos in to the police? Not yet.
I'm gonna wait and see if I find a body at the hotel first.
[FOOTSTEPS.]
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Mick St.
John, California Fidelity.
I'm one of their investigators.
Everybody get out okay? No casualties so far.
Still a lot of debris to get through, though.
What you think about these arson rumors? I can't say anything about an ongoing investigation.
Sorry.
My supervisor's a hard-ass.
Hey, I work for an insurance company.
I get it.
I'm gonna take a couple happy snaps and get out of your way.
Don't touch anything.
[SIREN WAILING.]
[WATER DRIPPING.]
[WOOD CREAKING.]
[SNIFFS.]
I found a womars body at the hotel, right where you took your pictures.
You're kidding.
I forwarded your photographs to the police.
Okay.
I'm gonna dust for prints before Homicide gets here.
MORGAN: Please.
You know, the police didn't do that the first time.
Yeah, they usually don't for a break-in.
But they will now, though.
[BLOWS.]
[LOUIS JORDAN'S " AIN'T THAT JUS LIKE A WOMAN" PLAYING.]
That's one of my favorite songs.
How could you know that? Know how you feel like you know somebody even if you haven't known them long? - How does that happen? It's just one of those great mysteries.
I don't know.
Past life, maybe.
Yeah, maybe.
Any luck? Yeah, I got a few clean prints.
But it'll only help if your thief's in the system.
Right.
It's hard to believe you caught it on camera.
MORGAN: Were they able to identify the woman? Not yet.
There wasrt much left.
Just ashes, huh? Yeah, they just got a couple bits of pelvis and a few molars to go by.
That has got to be the worst way to die.
Can you imagine the pain before you actually die? What you'd have to endure? Your hair singed off, your skin blistering Ooh.
It's a bad way to go.
No doubt.
Bad? It's horrific.
There's something on her back.
MORGAN: What is it? It's a tattoo.
[MEN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY.]
You wanna get wet? - You don't even know my name.
- Do I need to? Maybe you should come to one of my real gigs.
This was one of your real gigs.
Will you give me a hand? [WATER SPLASHING.]
This is good.
It could be a lead to identify her, right? You sure that's a tattoo? Yeah.
It's a fleur-de-lis.
Mm.
BETH: So I spoke to her editor of three years at Reuters in Chicago.
He said she was the best thing he had.
I don't know exactly what you're looking for.
That Morgan is who she says she is.
I found nothing to say she isn't Morgan Vincent from Highland Park.
Northwestern class of 2000.
Daughter of Bob, sister of Jennifer You spoke to her family? Yeah.
You should've heard how ridiculous I sounded talking to her father, pretending to be from the Wildcat Alumni board.
Okay, so she's legit.
Unless she's doing a really good job of faking it.
What is going on, Mick? You're absolutely sure that you never met Morgan before a few months ago? - Yes.
- My ears were burning.
[MORGAN CHUCKLES.]
Did you hear any feedback on the fingerprints yet? There's fingerprints? Yeah, Mick picked them up at my place last night.
Speaking of, I'd better get back to it.
I should have something this afternoon.
Was that? Was that a little look? Are you guys an item? - Me and Mick? No.
- You could have fooled me.
Or anybody else for that matter.
- We work together, that's all.
- So it's just professional? Yes, it's just professional.
I'm a photographer.
I see things.
- And I have a boyfriend, remember? - Like that ever stopped anybody.
MICK: I gotta tell you, man, these fingerprints are suspiciously perfect.
- A little too perfect, right? - Take a look at that tattoo.
It's a fleur-de-lis.
Hmm.
Looks like a dog smoking a cigar.
Coraline had the same tattoo on the same shoulder.
- I think it's all in your head, Mick.
- It's not all in my head.
[COMPUTER BEEPING.]
All right, we found our thief.
Hank Mottola.
Racketeering, trafficking in stolen goods.
- Standard issue crook.
- Not standard issue, Josef.
This guy's dead.
Hank Mottola died three weeks ago from acute pancreatitis.
So? So he died before any of this happened.
The fire, the murder, the break-in.
I sense a conspiracy theory coming on.
When crimes are committed by dead people this doesn't suggest to you vampire involvement? Our break-in was committed by a dead man.
This can only mean one thing.
A minimum-wage peon made a clerical error? No.
Hank Mottola is a vampire working with Coraline to stage this whole thing.
Seems a little elaborate, don't you think? What's elaborate? Dump a body, fake a few photos.
Come on, you're talking about staging a murder in a fire.
That exactly parallels the way Coraline died.
Don't you see? This is just the kind of mind game that reeks of Coraline.
Or not.
Take the tinfoil hat off, boyo.
- Step back, get some perspective.
- Maybe you could help.
I don't do perspective.
You can help me look through our thief's house.
I could use another set of eyes.
And teeth.
[GROWLS.]
JOSEF: So where are we again? - City of Palmdale? MICK: Next time I'll find a Beverly Hills thief.
JOSEF: Thanks.
Are you sure this is Mottola's house? The alleged killer? Who's in league with Coraline.
Yeah, I'm sure.
Now Mottola's in league with Coraline.
Yeah, that's right.
[EXHALES.]
- Come on.
- Why don't you just let me in the door? - Shh.
- Can't we hire someone to do this? [GROANS.]
[DOOR OPENS.]
JOSEF: Ah.
So this is how the little people live.
Vinyl recliners.
Have "crazed killer" written all over them, don't they? Josef, if you're not gonna help, at least be quiet.
I would love to help, Mick.
Just don't know what we're looking for.
Oh, that's weird.
Looks just like Coraline and you, only worse.
Must be the woman who died in the fire.
Maybe Coraline staged their relationship too.
Morgan had a copy of this on her bedside table.
A little French for me.
I couldn't finish it.
Yeah.
It was Coraline's favorite book.
[BED SQUEAKS.]
What do you got? Her cameras.
Stolen by a guy who's been dead for three weeks.
I gotta get eyes on this girl for myself.
Yeah, you do.
[DOOR CLOSES.]
Hey, Morgan.
This is my associate, Josef.
- It's nice to meet you.
MORGAN: Mm-hm.
The suspense is just killing me.
What's the surprise? Over here.
Go on.
Open it.
My cameras.
It's all here.
How did you do it? You recognize this guy? Yeah, that's him.
That's the thief.
You're amazing.
It was nothing special.
His prints were in the system.
The cameras were stashed at a safe at his house.
And who's that in the photo? I presume that's the woman who burned to death in the fire.
Your thief was her boyfriend.
Killed her, set the fire to cover it up.
Came after me because he thought I had incriminating evidence.
Well, we'll see when the police get a match on her molars.
Wow, so that's that.
Not quite.
There's one little catch.
The death certificate of the man named Mottola whose fingerprints were found on your front door.
From three weeks prior.
Guy was dead when you took his pictures.
He faked his own death? Or he rose from the grave.
He must've faked it.
That's the only explanation.
- Where is he buried? - He was cremated.
- His ashes are at Hollywood Forever.
- Not if he faked his own death.
We need to go and see if his remains are there.
We should let the police handle this.
You got your cameras back.
This case is over.
Wait a second, the thief is a dead guy and you guys aren't even a little curious? Come on, you guys.
We can't stop now.
JOSEF: You were right.
Morgan is a perfect doppelgänger for Coraline.
She moves like Coraline.
She sounds like Coraline.
She didn't flinch.
Even when I baited her about coming back from the dead.
The nerve.
But Mick, it isn't Coraline.
I could smell Morgan in there.
She wasrt a vampire.
She's a human.
There's no way to assimilate that fact into any conspiracy theory about Coraline coming back.
- I know, but - No, there is no buts.
But what if it is Coraline, and she's reversed it? Reversed what? You don't even get it, do you? What this means? It means that you're losing it.
- It means she's found a cure.
- A cure? There is no cure for vampirism, Mick.
If there was, I would know about it.
Not that I would care.
And personally, there's no way I'd ever go back to the mortal coil.
That's you.
I would.
You see that? Right there.
That's your entire problem.
There's no way to unbecome a vampire, Mick.
I think this has to do with Beth.
I think Beth is why Coraline has come back now.
- She can't stand to see me - With a human? - Is that what you were gonna say? - To see me happy.
Look, I appreciate, you know the unwritten rule that we don't give each other advice, that we don't nag.
- What are you saying? - One of these days you're gonna have to stop hating what you are.
God, this whole story is just so weird.
No joke.
It's like one of those true stories that sounds more like fiction.
Inadvertently catching a murder on camera.
MORGAN: A horrific murder.
Burned alive? That I happened to catch at that exact moment? What are the chances? Beth thinks it's the angle we need with her editor.
- She does, huh? - Yeah.
What's the deal with you two, anyway? MICK: There is no deal.
MORGAN: She likes you.
- She has a boyfriend.
Well, it's there if you want it.
Trust me.
What about you? Me? [SIGHS.]
Why don't I handle the guards? - What are you gonna do? - I'll think of something.
[KNOCKING.]
Why did you leave the other night? We were just starting to have some fun.
CORALINE: What night? [SCOFFS.]
I get it.
That's fine.
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE.]
[DOOR CLOSES.]
[CREAKING.]
[THUD.]
[GRUNTING.]
[MICK GROANS.]
[DOOR CLOSES.]
[GRUNTING.]
You fight pretty good for a dead guy, Mottola.
Just like a vampire.
[GROWLS.]
[HANK SCREAMS.]
Mick! Your eyes [MORGAN BREATHING HEAVILY.]
[PANTING.]
- Come back here.
Come here.
- Ah! - You come here.
- Aah! - What is wrong with you? - You tried to kill me.
- What are you talking about? - I kill you then you kill me, we're even? - You're scaring me.
- You set me up in there.
It was your idea to check those remains, then I get ambushed by Hank Mottola.
- What is he, some friend of yours, huh? - Get away from me.
Just tell me how you did it.
Just tell me how you turned human.
- Show me that tattoo.
- What tattoo? [MORGAN SCREAMS.]
Where's your tattoo? There's no tattoo.
[SCREAMS.]
[SNIFFS.]
You're bleeding.
[SNIFFS.]
How are you bleeding? How are you bleeding? You should have healed by now.
How are you bleeding? [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
What did Morgan say? Nothing.
She refused to talk.
I think it's time you tell me what's really going on.
The truth is Morgan is the spitting image of my ex-wife.
In fact, I was convinced it was Coraline up until last night.
You know this murder she's caught on camera? - Yeah.
- That's exactly how Coraline died.
- Exactly.
- In a fire? MICK: Yeah.
That woman was murdered.
So was Coraline.
By who? By me.
How did that happen? - You don't know, do you? - How would I know? You ever had an intense affair? The first couple months of Josh and I were like a honeymoon.
Not the first six weeks, not a honeymoon.
An intense affair.
Like a fever.
I was crazy about this guy at college.
I don't know, it's a subjective question.
You'd know if you'd had one.
It's like an infection.
It burns you up.
[SIGHS.]
Makes you do things you wouldn't normally do.
[TAPS GLASS.]
[EXHALES.]
Hey.
[KNOCKING.]
Hey.
I know you're in there.
[KNOCKING.]
[DOOR RATTLING.]
MICK: Where's your boyfriend? Send him out.
[CHUCKLES.]
I got something for him.
[MICK CHUCKLES.]
- Send who out? There's nobody here.
- Then let me in.
I'm not in the habit of letting inebriated men into my house at 2 in the morning.
You stood me up.
You stood me up three times.
I'm sorry.
Okay? We'll make it up.
I never thought I'd feel that way again.
- What way? - Insane.
Then Morgan showed up.
Yeah, and I went crazy.
Chasing ghosts.
Nearly got killed.
Let a killer get away.
After all the parallels to the past I didn't know what was in my head and what wasrt.
So you tried to force her to reveal herself at the cemetery.
Yeah.
But I was wrong.
She didn't have a tattoo.
Were you disappointed? [INHALES.]
MICK: The longer you live, the more surprises you get.
You'd think you'd come to expect the unexpected but you don 't.
Authorities now believe that Mottola faked his own death in preparation for the first-degree murder of his girlfriend in the Franklin Hotel fire.
The girl has been identified as Diane Apple, 27.
As of now, Mottola is still at large.
This is Beth Turner for Buzzwire.
Really great work, Beth.
I knew you'd find a way in that sizzles.
Oh, thank Morgan, not me.
I was thinking maybe that was like an accident.
Oh.
Oh, okay.
You wanna know how I became a vampire? I told you I was married.
On our wedding night, she turned me.
- I'm glad you told me about your wife.
MICK: I didn 't tell her everything.
Things didn 't end well, even by vampire standards.
You stop carrying Coraline around, Mick.
Let her go.
[HELICOPTERS WHIRRING.]
[SIRENS WAILING.]
MICK [IN VOICEOVER.]
: One thing you learn when you live forever is not to get too set in anything.
Because it's all gonna change.
Just when it seems like everything's going your way and maybe you're even patting yourself on the back that's when it happens.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING.]
[SIRENS WAILING.]
Whoa, stay back.
FIREMAN: Thanks.
WOMAN: Help me.
[MAN YELLING.]
Try and get some shots of the entrance, but be as discreet as you can, okay? [SIREN WAILS.]
It's sad, isn't it? Think they're gonna be able to save it? They might be able to save a couple of the top floors but most of the interior is wood.
It was built in the '20s.
My parents used to bring me here for brunch after church on Sundays.
I keep forgetting how old you are.
MAN: Got another unit coming in now.
Must be frustrating, having the power to help, but not able to do anything.
If only you knew.
MICK: At the oddest time, you might find yourself feeling lucky like maybe you found somebody.
Then, bam, that's exactly when the ex-wife shows up.
Coraline.
The woman who turned me into a vampire.
[BAND PLAYING SLOW MUSIC.]
Something else, isn't she? Yeah.
I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers.
What I would give to go home with that.
BANDMATE: Forget it.
She drops more in a day at Saks than you make in a year.
- Coraline.
- No, sorry.
Sorry, you look like someone I used to know.
- Ex-girlfriend, maybe? - Ex-wife.
Does this usually work for you? This isn't a pickup.
You look like her.
It's not a turn-on when you tell somebody that they look like your ex.
- What's your name? - You know each other? No.
No, we just met.
So you don't know each other? - No.
- I thought we did, but I guess we don't.
- I'm Mick.
- Morgan.
Now we know each other.
- How do you two know each other? - I buy a lot of her photos for Buzzwire.
- How long have you worked together? BETH: Couple months.
- She just moved here from Chicago.
- What's with the interrogation? He's a private investigator.
Can you tell? MORGAN Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Well, I'm gonna get back to it.
It was nice meeting you.
So the fire inspector says he found lighter fluid and dirty rags in the Dumpster over there.
- Hey, did you hear me? - What? They think it's arson.
I'm gonna wrangle some quotes.
I'll catch you later.
MICK: There is a good reason I never expected to see Coraline again.
I killed her.
MICK: I gotta talk to you.
JOSEF: Yeah? This better be good.
Dawn is in 15 minutes and I'm about to go home and hit the icebox.
I saw Coraline last night.
Coraline? - You mean "Coraline" Coraline? - Yeah, that Coraline.
Was she dead? - No.
- Well, then it can't be Coraline.
You killed her, remember? Yeah, I'm aware of that.
I was at the Franklin fire downtown.
There was this photographer there.
She was a dead ringer for Coraline.
- Everybody's got a twin somewhere.
- It wasrt a twin.
Josef, it was her.
She moved the same.
She talked the same.
- You talked to this person? - Yeah.
Her name's Morgan.
She works with Beth.
And did Beth recognize her as Coraline? No.
If it was the woman who kidnapped her as a child I'd think that Beth would have opinions about it.
Beth doesn't remember me from back then and I'm the one who rescued her.
- What do you remember from 4? - It was 1603.
It's reasonable it'd be a little hazy.
Look, Beth has suppressed the whole trauma, okay? Josef.
I know this sounds crazy, but you gotta see her.
Did this Morgan person have a long history of drinking blood? No.
She's not a vampire.
I was close enough to tell.
Well, Mick, if she's not a vampire, then she can't be Coraline.
I could take these reaction shots to the fire and write a piece about what this landmark hotel has meant to people over the years.
What is this, ladies, NPR? I mean, I need a celebrity angle, a dead body, something.
Sex it up a bit and get back to me.
Maureen always goes for the lowest common denominator.
- Don't worry, I'll wear her down.
- Thank you so much for your support.
Please, anything to keep me away from restaurants and fashion shows.
Yeah.
Oh, what happened? Did you get burned? - Oh, no.
It's just a little incident.
- A little incident? Look at your arm.
MORGAN: It's just a couple stitches.
What happened? Believe it or not, some guy broke into my house last night and we scuffled.
You fought him? You bet I did.
He was taking my cameras.
- You tell the police? - Of course, but you know the police.
They just acted like they had more important stuff to do than help me track down my stolen equipment.
You did tell them he attacked.
Oh, what I would give to get my hands on that little punk.
Not to mention getting your cameras back.
What about that PI friend of yours? Do you think he could help? - Mick? - Yeah.
I thought you werert very impressed.
Well, I mean, he seemed persistent.
[KNOCK ON DOOR.]
I'm sorry to stop by without calling but since you're a night person, I thought you might be up.
Well, you know me too well.
- Hey, Mick.
- Hey, Morgan.
Morgan has a problem I thought you might be able to help her with.
I had jewelry out in plain sight that he ignored completely.
- So it's just the cameras.
- Which is why I attacked him.
You wouldn't believe what a digital Nikon costs.
- You attacked the thief? MORGAN: Well, I had Mace.
Which, turns out, pissed him off just enough for him to then gouge me with my own letter opener.
She needs her cameras back.
It's her livelihood.
- Beth said that you were the best.
- Oh, she did, huh? Yes.
Several times, actually.
Maybe you could go by her apartment, check see if there's anything to go by.
And also, if it helps, I would absolutely recognize the thief if I saw him again.
I never forget a face.
[BAND PLAYING SLOW HAWAllAN MUSIC.]
[MIC FEEDBACKS.]
[CORALINE CHUCKLES.]
Can't you guys play something that will get this snore on its feet? [CHUCKLES.]
- Like what? - I don't know.
Like Wynonie Harris or Little Willie John or something with a bit more rhythm.
Well, gee, I don't know if this crowd would like the devil's music.
That's why I want you to play it.
How about "Good Rockir Tonight"? How about "Ain't That Just Like a Woman"? I think that that would be much more shocking.
- Don't you? - On one condition.
My name's Coraline.
- I didn't say what the condition was.
- That's always the condition.
BETH: Wow, I love your place, Morgan.
It's so cool.
Thank you.
I have this, like, '50s thing I'm trying to shake.
So, what can I tell you? Why don't you start with what happened? Okay.
I was in my bedroom and it was about 3 in the morning.
I was asleep and then that's when I heard a rattling at the front door.
Were you alone? - Is that part of your investigation, or? - Potentially.
Yes, I was alone.
Okay, I think we've established you were alone.
So, what next? Well, then I leave the bedroom and come out here and I see that there's this man at my desk.
And like I said, he left jewelry, keys to my BMW, cash.
He wasrt after cash.
My cameras were won'th at least 8 grand.
He took those.
Maybe he was interested in what was inside.
- Pictures.
- They said it was arson, right? Maybe your thief was the one who set the fire.
BETH: Maybe you took a picture of him.
Yeah, those arsonists, they really stick around to watch the burn.
If he's after photos, he's out of luck.
Because I don't let anybody see these until I sell them.
[COMPUTER BEEPS.]
MICK: What is that? It's a fire.
No, in the fire.
- Nothing, I don't think.
- No, look, there is something.
Right there.
I have some shots where I racked to the building.
Hold on one second.
That's him.
That's the thief.
He's killing her.
MICK: Seeing that photo was like looking into the past.
Reliving a nightmare.
CORALINE: Forever.
I love you.
I freed you from death.
The greatest gift I could give.
I freed you from death.
He saw me.
That must be why he wanted the photos.
You caught a murder on camera.
You wouldn't believe these photographs, Josef.
It was like outtakes from the night - The night you killed your wife.
- You know what? It's like somebody staged this whole thing for me.
- Can you hear yourself right now? - No, it's like Like Coraline is baiting me with these photos.
Coraline is dead.
You saw her die with your own eyes.
I never saw the ashes.
Oh.
In the 22 years since she died, you never told me that.
I never told anybody that.
I never thought she could possibly survive.
I left Coraline trapped in an inferno that night, man.
Just like the woman in these photos.
Mick, look at me.
Coraline did not come back from the undead to exact revenge on you.
- You know how dangerous she was.
- Yeah.
I've known her for a century more than you.
She's capable of anything.
But not even she could pull off a resurrection.
No? [SIGHS.]
Coraline drove you crazy the whole time you knew her.
Now she's dead and she's still driving you crazy.
Now, you need to let her go.
So tell me more about Morgan.
Um - Like, who'd she work for in Chicago? - Everybody, she was a stringer.
But legit stuff.
She has shot for the Tribune, News Corp.
Uh I don't know.
She's got a reputation for being a gritty crime photographer.
Been running her pictures for years.
- And you met where? - At a crime scene.
Kind of like how I met you, actually.
- Why are you so interested in Morgan? - It's just standard due diligence.
- On a client? - Yeah, know your client.
Private eye 101.
Oh, okay.
I'm just not used to being grilled about a girl that you're after, so - I'm not after her.
I wouldn't have pegged her as your type.
This isn't about types.
Even if it is, it's fine.
It's your business.
You're jealous.
Don't flatter yourself.
Okay.
Look, I just need some info on her time in Chicago.
- Can you look into it, get back to me? - Sure.
Are you gonna turn her photos in to the police? Not yet.
I'm gonna wait and see if I find a body at the hotel first.
[FOOTSTEPS.]
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Mick St.
John, California Fidelity.
I'm one of their investigators.
Everybody get out okay? No casualties so far.
Still a lot of debris to get through, though.
What you think about these arson rumors? I can't say anything about an ongoing investigation.
Sorry.
My supervisor's a hard-ass.
Hey, I work for an insurance company.
I get it.
I'm gonna take a couple happy snaps and get out of your way.
Don't touch anything.
[SIREN WAILING.]
[WATER DRIPPING.]
[WOOD CREAKING.]
[SNIFFS.]
I found a womars body at the hotel, right where you took your pictures.
You're kidding.
I forwarded your photographs to the police.
Okay.
I'm gonna dust for prints before Homicide gets here.
MORGAN: Please.
You know, the police didn't do that the first time.
Yeah, they usually don't for a break-in.
But they will now, though.
[BLOWS.]
[LOUIS JORDAN'S " AIN'T THAT JUS LIKE A WOMAN" PLAYING.]
That's one of my favorite songs.
How could you know that? Know how you feel like you know somebody even if you haven't known them long? - How does that happen? It's just one of those great mysteries.
I don't know.
Past life, maybe.
Yeah, maybe.
Any luck? Yeah, I got a few clean prints.
But it'll only help if your thief's in the system.
Right.
It's hard to believe you caught it on camera.
MORGAN: Were they able to identify the woman? Not yet.
There wasrt much left.
Just ashes, huh? Yeah, they just got a couple bits of pelvis and a few molars to go by.
That has got to be the worst way to die.
Can you imagine the pain before you actually die? What you'd have to endure? Your hair singed off, your skin blistering Ooh.
It's a bad way to go.
No doubt.
Bad? It's horrific.
There's something on her back.
MORGAN: What is it? It's a tattoo.
[MEN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY.]
You wanna get wet? - You don't even know my name.
- Do I need to? Maybe you should come to one of my real gigs.
This was one of your real gigs.
Will you give me a hand? [WATER SPLASHING.]
This is good.
It could be a lead to identify her, right? You sure that's a tattoo? Yeah.
It's a fleur-de-lis.
Mm.
BETH: So I spoke to her editor of three years at Reuters in Chicago.
He said she was the best thing he had.
I don't know exactly what you're looking for.
That Morgan is who she says she is.
I found nothing to say she isn't Morgan Vincent from Highland Park.
Northwestern class of 2000.
Daughter of Bob, sister of Jennifer You spoke to her family? Yeah.
You should've heard how ridiculous I sounded talking to her father, pretending to be from the Wildcat Alumni board.
Okay, so she's legit.
Unless she's doing a really good job of faking it.
What is going on, Mick? You're absolutely sure that you never met Morgan before a few months ago? - Yes.
- My ears were burning.
[MORGAN CHUCKLES.]
Did you hear any feedback on the fingerprints yet? There's fingerprints? Yeah, Mick picked them up at my place last night.
Speaking of, I'd better get back to it.
I should have something this afternoon.
Was that? Was that a little look? Are you guys an item? - Me and Mick? No.
- You could have fooled me.
Or anybody else for that matter.
- We work together, that's all.
- So it's just professional? Yes, it's just professional.
I'm a photographer.
I see things.
- And I have a boyfriend, remember? - Like that ever stopped anybody.
MICK: I gotta tell you, man, these fingerprints are suspiciously perfect.
- A little too perfect, right? - Take a look at that tattoo.
It's a fleur-de-lis.
Hmm.
Looks like a dog smoking a cigar.
Coraline had the same tattoo on the same shoulder.
- I think it's all in your head, Mick.
- It's not all in my head.
[COMPUTER BEEPING.]
All right, we found our thief.
Hank Mottola.
Racketeering, trafficking in stolen goods.
- Standard issue crook.
- Not standard issue, Josef.
This guy's dead.
Hank Mottola died three weeks ago from acute pancreatitis.
So? So he died before any of this happened.
The fire, the murder, the break-in.
I sense a conspiracy theory coming on.
When crimes are committed by dead people this doesn't suggest to you vampire involvement? Our break-in was committed by a dead man.
This can only mean one thing.
A minimum-wage peon made a clerical error? No.
Hank Mottola is a vampire working with Coraline to stage this whole thing.
Seems a little elaborate, don't you think? What's elaborate? Dump a body, fake a few photos.
Come on, you're talking about staging a murder in a fire.
That exactly parallels the way Coraline died.
Don't you see? This is just the kind of mind game that reeks of Coraline.
Or not.
Take the tinfoil hat off, boyo.
- Step back, get some perspective.
- Maybe you could help.
I don't do perspective.
You can help me look through our thief's house.
I could use another set of eyes.
And teeth.
[GROWLS.]
JOSEF: So where are we again? - City of Palmdale? MICK: Next time I'll find a Beverly Hills thief.
JOSEF: Thanks.
Are you sure this is Mottola's house? The alleged killer? Who's in league with Coraline.
Yeah, I'm sure.
Now Mottola's in league with Coraline.
Yeah, that's right.
[EXHALES.]
- Come on.
- Why don't you just let me in the door? - Shh.
- Can't we hire someone to do this? [GROANS.]
[DOOR OPENS.]
JOSEF: Ah.
So this is how the little people live.
Vinyl recliners.
Have "crazed killer" written all over them, don't they? Josef, if you're not gonna help, at least be quiet.
I would love to help, Mick.
Just don't know what we're looking for.
Oh, that's weird.
Looks just like Coraline and you, only worse.
Must be the woman who died in the fire.
Maybe Coraline staged their relationship too.
Morgan had a copy of this on her bedside table.
A little French for me.
I couldn't finish it.
Yeah.
It was Coraline's favorite book.
[BED SQUEAKS.]
What do you got? Her cameras.
Stolen by a guy who's been dead for three weeks.
I gotta get eyes on this girl for myself.
Yeah, you do.
[DOOR CLOSES.]
Hey, Morgan.
This is my associate, Josef.
- It's nice to meet you.
MORGAN: Mm-hm.
The suspense is just killing me.
What's the surprise? Over here.
Go on.
Open it.
My cameras.
It's all here.
How did you do it? You recognize this guy? Yeah, that's him.
That's the thief.
You're amazing.
It was nothing special.
His prints were in the system.
The cameras were stashed at a safe at his house.
And who's that in the photo? I presume that's the woman who burned to death in the fire.
Your thief was her boyfriend.
Killed her, set the fire to cover it up.
Came after me because he thought I had incriminating evidence.
Well, we'll see when the police get a match on her molars.
Wow, so that's that.
Not quite.
There's one little catch.
The death certificate of the man named Mottola whose fingerprints were found on your front door.
From three weeks prior.
Guy was dead when you took his pictures.
He faked his own death? Or he rose from the grave.
He must've faked it.
That's the only explanation.
- Where is he buried? - He was cremated.
- His ashes are at Hollywood Forever.
- Not if he faked his own death.
We need to go and see if his remains are there.
We should let the police handle this.
You got your cameras back.
This case is over.
Wait a second, the thief is a dead guy and you guys aren't even a little curious? Come on, you guys.
We can't stop now.
JOSEF: You were right.
Morgan is a perfect doppelgänger for Coraline.
She moves like Coraline.
She sounds like Coraline.
She didn't flinch.
Even when I baited her about coming back from the dead.
The nerve.
But Mick, it isn't Coraline.
I could smell Morgan in there.
She wasrt a vampire.
She's a human.
There's no way to assimilate that fact into any conspiracy theory about Coraline coming back.
- I know, but - No, there is no buts.
But what if it is Coraline, and she's reversed it? Reversed what? You don't even get it, do you? What this means? It means that you're losing it.
- It means she's found a cure.
- A cure? There is no cure for vampirism, Mick.
If there was, I would know about it.
Not that I would care.
And personally, there's no way I'd ever go back to the mortal coil.
That's you.
I would.
You see that? Right there.
That's your entire problem.
There's no way to unbecome a vampire, Mick.
I think this has to do with Beth.
I think Beth is why Coraline has come back now.
- She can't stand to see me - With a human? - Is that what you were gonna say? - To see me happy.
Look, I appreciate, you know the unwritten rule that we don't give each other advice, that we don't nag.
- What are you saying? - One of these days you're gonna have to stop hating what you are.
God, this whole story is just so weird.
No joke.
It's like one of those true stories that sounds more like fiction.
Inadvertently catching a murder on camera.
MORGAN: A horrific murder.
Burned alive? That I happened to catch at that exact moment? What are the chances? Beth thinks it's the angle we need with her editor.
- She does, huh? - Yeah.
What's the deal with you two, anyway? MICK: There is no deal.
MORGAN: She likes you.
- She has a boyfriend.
Well, it's there if you want it.
Trust me.
What about you? Me? [SIGHS.]
Why don't I handle the guards? - What are you gonna do? - I'll think of something.
[KNOCKING.]
Why did you leave the other night? We were just starting to have some fun.
CORALINE: What night? [SCOFFS.]
I get it.
That's fine.
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE.]
[DOOR CLOSES.]
[CREAKING.]
[THUD.]
[GRUNTING.]
[MICK GROANS.]
[DOOR CLOSES.]
[GRUNTING.]
You fight pretty good for a dead guy, Mottola.
Just like a vampire.
[GROWLS.]
[HANK SCREAMS.]
Mick! Your eyes [MORGAN BREATHING HEAVILY.]
[PANTING.]
- Come back here.
Come here.
- Ah! - You come here.
- Aah! - What is wrong with you? - You tried to kill me.
- What are you talking about? - I kill you then you kill me, we're even? - You're scaring me.
- You set me up in there.
It was your idea to check those remains, then I get ambushed by Hank Mottola.
- What is he, some friend of yours, huh? - Get away from me.
Just tell me how you did it.
Just tell me how you turned human.
- Show me that tattoo.
- What tattoo? [MORGAN SCREAMS.]
Where's your tattoo? There's no tattoo.
[SCREAMS.]
[SNIFFS.]
You're bleeding.
[SNIFFS.]
How are you bleeding? How are you bleeding? You should have healed by now.
How are you bleeding? [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
What did Morgan say? Nothing.
She refused to talk.
I think it's time you tell me what's really going on.
The truth is Morgan is the spitting image of my ex-wife.
In fact, I was convinced it was Coraline up until last night.
You know this murder she's caught on camera? - Yeah.
- That's exactly how Coraline died.
- Exactly.
- In a fire? MICK: Yeah.
That woman was murdered.
So was Coraline.
By who? By me.
How did that happen? - You don't know, do you? - How would I know? You ever had an intense affair? The first couple months of Josh and I were like a honeymoon.
Not the first six weeks, not a honeymoon.
An intense affair.
Like a fever.
I was crazy about this guy at college.
I don't know, it's a subjective question.
You'd know if you'd had one.
It's like an infection.
It burns you up.
[SIGHS.]
Makes you do things you wouldn't normally do.
[TAPS GLASS.]
[EXHALES.]
Hey.
[KNOCKING.]
Hey.
I know you're in there.
[KNOCKING.]
[DOOR RATTLING.]
MICK: Where's your boyfriend? Send him out.
[CHUCKLES.]
I got something for him.
[MICK CHUCKLES.]
- Send who out? There's nobody here.
- Then let me in.
I'm not in the habit of letting inebriated men into my house at 2 in the morning.
You stood me up.
You stood me up three times.
I'm sorry.
Okay? We'll make it up.
I never thought I'd feel that way again.
- What way? - Insane.
Then Morgan showed up.
Yeah, and I went crazy.
Chasing ghosts.
Nearly got killed.
Let a killer get away.
After all the parallels to the past I didn't know what was in my head and what wasrt.
So you tried to force her to reveal herself at the cemetery.
Yeah.
But I was wrong.
She didn't have a tattoo.
Were you disappointed? [INHALES.]
MICK: The longer you live, the more surprises you get.
You'd think you'd come to expect the unexpected but you don 't.
Authorities now believe that Mottola faked his own death in preparation for the first-degree murder of his girlfriend in the Franklin Hotel fire.
The girl has been identified as Diane Apple, 27.
As of now, Mottola is still at large.
This is Beth Turner for Buzzwire.
Really great work, Beth.
I knew you'd find a way in that sizzles.
Oh, thank Morgan, not me.