How i Died S3 E07: The New Deal

Transcript: How i Died S3 E07: The New Deal

This transcript is adapted from the episode’s original script, so the final audio may differ slightly.

INT. KIM'S OFFICE – DAY

[Jon hesitantly creaks open the office door.]

Jon: Doctor Kim?

[Kim is packing up their things. They stop.]

Kim: Jonathan. Come in. Thank you for seeing me.

Jon: The hospital front desk knows I'm here.

Kim: Great. I'd hope they would.

Jon: So does Sheriff Crowley.

Kim: Ah. You're telling me this because you still think I'm some sort of threat to you. I see time away hasn't done you any good.

Jon: Why did you want me to come in?

Kim: District Attorney Grant called me. He said we should talk.

Jon: I wanted to talk to him. Not to you.

Kim: But about me, right?

[Jon grunts.]

Kim: Have a seat Jonathan.

Jon: I'd rather not.

Kim: Then excuse me if I sit. I'm quite exhausted.

Jon: I bet you are.

Kim: Have you heard? I tried to keep the news under wraps.

Jon: Heard what?

Kim: I'm leaving Springfield General for a position at New Amsterdam hospital in New York.

Jon: Did Grant fire you?

Kim: Yes. Thanks to you.

Jon: How can you leave? You're under investigation–

[Kim cuts him off.]

Kim: I'm not… under investigation for anything, Jonathan, except for maybe in your perception.

Jon: I know you're involved in something here. When I can prove it, we'll drag your ass back from New York.

Kim: We?

Jon: Crowley and I.

Kim: Jonathan, Sheriff Crowley is not working with you on any case. Especially not one against me. (beat) I don't know what it is about me that triggers you, but I hope that my departure can break whatever delusion you have going on right now.

Jon: I can see why Grant wants you out of the picture. Any threat to you eventually exposes him… But does he know you killed Levant?

[There's a pause.]

Kim: Is that name supposed to mean something to me?

Jon: You can deny it all you want, but I know about Maureen Levant. I know she was sent here to kill me. Why did you stop her?

Kim: Perhaps this was a mistake. I can see things have only gotten worse for you.

[Jon moves forward and slams his hand on the chair.]

Jon: I'm not delusional!

Kim: Okay Jonathan. Let's say I believe you came across some record keeping discrepancies and a string of deaths. What is it about me that makes you so adamant about my implication?

Jon: You work for Springfield Corp.

Kim: I don't. They've been closed for decades.

Jon: You observed Roger and wrote that note to "Stop the leak."

Kim: I did observe Roger. He was a patient of mine after coming to me for help with extreme anxiety. But he wrote that note. That's not my handwriting. (beat)

Kim: He said someone else told him to "stop the leak." It was in my file because he became obsessed with the phrase.

Jon: The– The purple bodies were killed using a mixture of drugs including chemo, which I found in your office.

Kim: I should've known you went through more than just my files.

[Kim gets up, shuffling over to the drawer. They pull out a chemo bag.]

Kim: You found this?

Jon: It's the same kind I found on the scene.

Kim: There's only one type of chemotherapy available at this hospital. All of our bags are the same.

Jon: You still have it.

[Kim sighs.]

Kim: You said I looked sick in the past. Remember? (beat) Jonathan… I have thyroid cancer.

Jon: That's just an excuse to–

[Kim pulls down the neck of their turtleneck sweater.]

Kim: Do you see this lump in the base of my throat? It's Stage 2, not responding to iodine treatment. And that's why I've progressed to chemotherapy.

Jon: I don't…

[Kim rolls the clothing back up.]

Kim: I've been hiding it from everyone but my oncologist. Grant confronted me about it, and I explained that I wasn't stealing the bags, as you suggested. But the hospital frowns upon doctors with chemo bags sticking out of them as they treat patients. It was either don't work and just do the chemo, or find a place that allowed me to do both. New Amsterdam has no problem with it.

Jon: What about the tapes?

Kim: Your old autopsy recordings? What about them?

Jon: Not those tapes… The ones you've… been leaving for… I can't be wrong about this. About you.

Kim: You are not an investigator, Jonathan. And that's always been your problem — Stop trying to be one. And seek more professional help once I'm gone. Maybe they can unpack your paranoia.

Jon: You're wrong about me.

Kim: I'm not. I know you better than anyone else in Springfield, I'd imagine. Does anyone else know about your past abuse? Foster care? How you view Sheriff Fran as the mother you never got to have? I bet you're not even aware of that. Well how about what happened in Baltimore with Luan? Does anyone know that about you?

Jon: Fuck you.

Kim: I'm not wrong about you, Jonathan. But you are wrong about me.

[Kim stands, going back to packing their things.]

Jon: Good talk as always. I hope the next time I see you, you'll be in handcuffs.

Kim: You destroy everything you touch, Jonathan. Every career; every relationship. And you’ll continue to do so until you seek help. People are worse off for being around you.

[Jon slams the door.]

EXT. SPRINGFIELD WOODS – NIGHT

[Jon walks through the woods while recording on his recorder.]

Jon: Do you know what I've been doing every night for almost two weeks, Joy? I've been walking from the side of route 66, about ten minutes back into the god damn Springfield woods, pacing around and checking for any other tapes from you. And do you know what I've gotten? Nothing. Absolutely nothing for almost fourteen days. What do you want from me? What is the point of all of this? (beat) Did you get spooked after seeing me and Sheriff Crowley and the cops at the old meat packing plant? I swear to you I didn't know they'd take me there, or that they'd find anything. I didn't point them toward it at all. (beat)

Jon: The cops found out from Vinchenzo about your involvement in whatever human trafficking ring was happening, and they pieced together the location. They're on the case, and Crowley even thinks you're going to kill me next. (laughing) You know what? You might. You could be in the fucking woods now, waiting behind a tree for me. But I don't think that's it. You know what I think it is? I think it's getting a little too real for you. I think Crowley is close to figuring it out, you found out, and now you're scared. You can't hide behind the tapes any more. They're onto you. And now suddenly Doctor Kim is moving away. That sounds a little coincidental. I think you're running away, and trying to detach from any–

[From behind Jon, someone interrupts him.]

Eli: Is someone there?

[Jon crouches down suddenly, afraid of who's there.]

Jon: (whispering) Shit.

Eli: Hello? Anyone? I… I need help.

Jon: (whispering, dejected) Shit…

Eli: Please… I heard someone… help me.

[Jon stands back up, coming out from behind a tree.]

Jon: I'm here. I'm with the Springfield PD and they know where I am. So show yourself.

Eli: Thank god! You can help me.

[Jon walks a little further.]

Jon: Are you hurt?

Eli: No. (beat) I don't think so… (beat) Maybe…

Jon: What's your name?

Eli: Eli. Elijah Mills. Officer…

Jon: Spacer.

Eli: Officer Spacer, I think something terrible happened out here in the woods.

Jon: Did you find a body?

Eli: I did. How did you know?

Jon: Shit. (beat) Okay. Can you take me to it?

Eli: Is that a flashlight? Can you turn it on so I can see?

Jon: It's not. It's… a recorder. But I can use my cell phone light. Here.

[He pulls it out, flicking it on.]

Eli: How were you getting around without a light?

Jon: I've been here a lot… recently. Where are we going?

Eli: This way…

[Eli starts leading him down a new path.]

Eli: Why are you out in the woods?

Jon: Why are you?

Eli: I went on a retreat… with my group.

Jon: Out here?

Eli: Yeah. A few days ago. Me and a few other guys, and our leader.

Jon: Like, boyscouts or something?

Eli: Yeah, sort of.

Jon: Well, why are you still here?

Eli: I've been trying to get someone to come look what I found. It's… Here… (beat) I think someone was hurt. He won't wake up.

Jon: Jesus. Is that a body?

Eli: I think so. I didn't want to get to close…

[Jon gets closer, crouching down.]

Jon: It is. Holy… fuck. What is that sticking out… Jesus. Hold on. Let me call this in.

[Jon dials Crowley on his phone, recent calls.]

Jon: Crowley? Did I wake you?

Crowley (V.O.): I was up. Everything okay?

Jon: I don't know how to tell you this. I found a body in the Springfield woods, north of exit fifteen off route 66. I'm parked on the side.

Crowley (V.O.): This doesn't surprise me anymore. Do I even need to ask how you found it?

Jon: I'll explain when you get here. How soon can you come?

Crowley (V.O.): I'm not far. Is it related to our purple body killer, or should I call the cavalry?

Jon: I'm not sure. It's suspicious being out here… But it doesn't look purple. There's a fucking… big, big knife sticking out of his chest.

Crowley (V.O.): (serious, intrigued) Like a steak knife?

Jon: No, some sort of… I don't know. Ornate curved blade.

Crowley (V.O.): Crap. I'll come first and we can decide. Probably easier to explain that I got a tip than you fucking searching the woods… again. (beat)

Crowley (V.O.): Wait in your car. Lock your doors and don't touch anything.

Jon: I'll see you soon.

[He hangs up.]

Eli: Shouldn't you have called on a radio and not your phone?

Jon: How did you say you found this?

Eli: I don't know. I just woke up near here, looking for my friends and I couldn't find them. I looked around and found… this.

Jon: Wait… Come closer. In the light of my phone.

[He holds up the phone, looking at Eli.]

Jon: Shit. Eli, right? Come look at this… Does he look familiar?

[Jon crouches down again. He moves some leaves. Eli gasps.]

Eli: Oh my god… That's… Jeremiah.

Jon: Jeremiah? (beat) That isn't you?

[Jon stands back up.]

Eli: No. Why?

Jon: You look… very similar.

Eli: Because of the shaved heads? That's Jeremiah. I'm certain of it.

Jon: You're wearing the exact same clothes, but… okay. Who is Jeremiah?

Eli: One of my friends from the group.

Jon: He was out here with you? What were you doing?

Eli: I told you. It was a retreat.

Jon: Can you… kick those leaves? With your foot?

Eli: Of course. Why?

Jon: Just… try, please.

Eli: I… I am trying.

Jon: I thought so. I noticed a lack of leaves crunching on our walk here.

Eli: What's happening?

Jon: Eli, I'm worried about what happened to you. Can you tell me everything you remember from the night you were here?

Eli: I can't do that. I'm sorry.

Jon: Why not?

Eli: You're not a part of the group. To tell you would break our vow.

Jon: Your… vow. What does that mean?

Eli: That's all I can say about it. But if you'd like, I can introduce you to my leader and they might be able to explain.

Jon: What type of retreat were you on, exactly?

Eli: I can't–

Jon: Okay. I get it. But what type of group is it? What are you called?

Eli: We're called Subsequent-ium.

Jon: Sub… sequentium.

Eli: Can you please explain why I can't kick the leaves, instead of just repeating things I tell you?

Jon: Do you have any idea what happened to you?

Eli: I think so. But… it looks like it didn't work for Jeremiah. Sad.

Jon: Right… Eli… I think you're dead. Jeremiah is definitely dead, but from my experience… the only people who can't touch the ground… And the ones I can… do this to…

Eli: Hey! Don't touch me!

Jon: Yeah… My hand went through you. You're a ghost, Eli. I think you and Jeremiah were killed here.

Eli: So the leaders were right…

Jon: I don't understand what that means. Are you listening to me? You are dead.

Eli: No. I've ascended!

Jon: Excuse me?

Eli: I knew it was true! If I've ascended, that means I'm a living god–

Jon: (under breath) Well, you're not alive, so…

Eli: And you're witnessing me. So you must be here for me to guide you to the light.

Jon: Right. Well, the only light I'd like to see if the sheriff's flashlight down that path, so… if you'll excuse me.

[Jon starts walking back.]

Eli: You don't believe?

Jon: Trust me, I'd like to… But without enough information about what it is your group does, I'm afraid I'll just have to chalk this up to yet another deity trying to gain some followers.

Eli: No, No — I can tell you now. I've ascended, which means I'm above the leaders themselves. They can't stop me any more.

[Jon stops.]

Jon: Oh good. So… Should I keep…

Eli: Come this way. There's more.

[Jon sighs and starts walking again.]

Jon: So, what kind of retreat was this again?

Eli: It was our ascending ceremony. Jeremiah, Lucas, Glenn and I were here with the leaders as our final act before becoming worthy. Like I said, it didn't seem to work for Jeremiah.

Jon: Uh… huh… Jesus. The ground looks like a fucking slaughterhouse. Or… like someone was hunting.

Eli: Here's our campsite.

[Jon stops. He crouches.]

Jon: Hmmm… I don't have gloves to touch that. What is it?

Eli: Our literature.

Jon: Your literature.

Eli: Yes. Again, why do you just keep repeating what I'm telling you?

Jon: I'm just trying to understand. You all came out here for some sort of camping trip and a ceremony.

Eli: It wasn't a camping trip. We were taking the next step of our journey to ascension.

Jon: And the next step involved… killing you and your friends.

Eli: The ceremonial dagger was just to–

[Jon's phone starts vibrating.]

Jon: Hold on. (beat) Crowley?

Crowley (V.O.): I see your car. I don't see you in your car, despite being told that's where you should wait.

Jon: I'm further in. I'm coming back to get you.

[Jon starts walking, he pulls the phone away to speak.]

Jon: (quieter) Stay here.

Eli: Why?

Jon: So I can find the campsite on the way back.

Eli: Fine. But then I really need you to understand the–

Jon: Crowley, do you have a flashlight?

Crowley (V.O.): Of course I have a fucking flashlight.

Jon: Can you wave it so I can– Yup. I see you.

Crowley (V.O.): Do you have a fucking flashlight, Spacer? You were the one planning to come into the woods, right?

Jon: Just my phone. It was a little… spur of the moment.

Crowley (V.O.): Uh-huh. And what led to that?

Jon: I'd rather tell you in person.

Crowley (V.O.): Great. Can't wait. Wave your phone so I at least know where I'm going too.

[Jon waves his arm.]

Jon: We're close. Should we say goodby–

[The phone beeps. Crowley hung up.]

Jon: Of course.

[Jon and Crowley get close. We can hear Crowley's footsteps and speech in the distance.]

Crowley: Spacer.

Jon: Hey Crowley. Not super far from here. Back this way.

[They walk together, deeper in the woods.]

Crowley: We're already pretty deep in the woods. This is way off the path.

Jon: Yeah…

Crowley: That's your hint to tell me how you found this body. With details this time, please.

Jon: You know that tape you found inside of Maureen Levant's body a few weeks ago?

Crowley: I wish I could forget finding it. Why?

Jon: Well… I received a tape in the mail.

Crowley: In the mail?

Jon: Yeah. No postage. Someone dropped it in. And it had the location of the body on it.

Crowley: Like you could hear the tape? Someone was talking?

Jon: Uhh… It was my voice. On the tape.

Crowley: Explain.

Jon: It was my autopsy recordings, but clipped and manipulated. Like those ransom notes from the 90's where the letters were cut from magazines and pasted together.

Crowley: You're telling me this purple body killer clipped your audio to send you a message? Where is it?

Jon: I can get it to you. I didn't bring it.

Crowley: You should've told me immediately. Not gone exploring the damn woods in the middle of the night!

Jon: You're right. But we're here now.

Crowley: What if the killer was out here waiting for you?

Jon: I'm not in any danger, Crowley. I think they wanted me to find the body.

Crowley: No offense, but I don't exactly trust your read of a serial killer.

Jon: Shouldn't we have some sort of name for them? It's getting tedious to say "the purple body killer" over and over.

Crowley: The media usually comes up with those names. Or the department if it's internal. Right now, neither of those know about the killer. So until then, it's "the purple body killer."

Jon: Great.

[They walk in silence a bit more.]

Crowley: How much further?

Jon: It's right over here.

Crowley: And you already examined it, I bet?

Jon: I didn't touch it. Just saw it, confirmed she was dead, and then called you.

Crowley: Mhm. And how'd you confirm that without touching them?

Jon: Well…

[They stop.]

Jon: I'd say that's pretty dead.

Crowley: Fuck… That's very dead. Is that… some sort of ceremonial dagger?

Jon: I don't know what to make of it.

Crowley: It's a huge fucking knife.

Jon: I didn't think our killer would really escalate like this.

Crowley: Yeah. Stabbing someone in the chest? That's a different MO completely.

Jon: And they probably would've taken the body to experiment on, if they wanted it.

Crowley: We already ruled out injecting dead people, right? Steven Maur didn't work.

Jon: Right… Duh.

Crowley: You're not an investigator. Don't worry about analyzing why. Right now, I'm deeming this a new crime scene, unrelated to the other deaths.

[Crowley grabs her walkie.]

Crowley: Dispatch, this is Sheriff Crowley, car #453.

Jon: Wait. There's more.

[Crowley sighs heavily.]

Crowley: I've got a homicide in Springfield's north woods, by marker 16, about half a mile in.

[Her walkie squawks back.]

Dispatch (V.O.): Copy Sheriff. Officer Mendez is nearby.

Mendez (V.O.): This is Eric Mendez. Officer Hart can take this one. It's not my turn to give a fuck.

Crowley: Mendez–

Jon: Sounds like you've got a situation to sort out… I'm going to–

[Jon backs away slowly, crunching on leaves.]

Crowley: You stay the fuck here. I'm not leaving you alone.

Jon: Fine.

[Crowley grunts. She finally presses the walkie.]

Crowley: Send Hart. Mendez and I will talk later.

Dispatch (V.O.): Copy.

[She sighs again.]

Crowley: You said there's more?

Jon: Yeah. I can see it more clearly with your flashlight than my phone, but my initial inspection revealed some blood spatter along the path here. And if you look at the leaves, it almost looks like people ran through here.

Crowley: Look at that. Good catch. Did you follow it back?

Jon: I… did.

Crowley: Of course you did.

Jon: I realized it didn't look like just a body dump site. And so… well… back this way.

[They start walking again.]

Jon: So, uh… any news with that tape from Levant's body?

Crowley: No. I'd tell you if there was.

Jon: You sure? You like to keep me in the dark.

Crowley: Says the guy who got a suspicious message in his mailbox and didn't tell me until I get onto the fucking scene.

Jon: I just figured… if I'm getting tapes, there must be some connection between everything.

Eli: Officer Spacer. Welcome back. You brought a fellow officer…

Crowley: You want to talk about another case while on an active scene?

Jon: This one clearly isn't as important.

Eli: I beg to differ.

Crowley: They all matter.

Jon: How can you solve something big if we keep interrupting to solve the little ones?

Crowley: Is this the other location? A campsite?

Jon: Yeah. The blood trail leads back here. Leaves haven't covered everything up yet, so chances are it's recent. And then there's this pamphlet. I didn't touch it since I didn't have gloves.

Crowley: I got it.

[Crowley puts on a glove.]

Jon: By the looks of it, footprints, number of stumps near the fire pit, I'd say there were six people out here.

Crowley: Mhmmm…

[Crowley bends down, grabbing the pamphlet with her gloved hand. She flicks through it.]

Crowley: What do you make of this?

Jon: I can't read it.

Crowley: Come in the light and look.

Jon: Subsequent…ium. I've heard of this group.

Eli: You said you haven't.

Crowley: (reading) "The most prestigious training of human potential." The fuck does that mean?

Eli: It means we're bettering ourselves through societal awareness.

Jon: It's like one of those…

Crowley: It sounds like a cult.

Eli: We are not a cult!

Jon: Does the madness ever end here?

Crowley: Ain't no rest for the wicked…

Jon: That doesn't make any sense.

Crowley: It's a saying.

Jon: And I'm saying that it doesn't make any sense.

Crowley: So your theory is… what?

Jon: I've heard they take groups of people to retreats for some sort of ascension ceremony.

Crowley: And you've heard this from…

Eli: From me.

Jon: The rumor mill. It's pretty hard to hide a cult.

Eli: We're not a cult!

Crowley: It's not, actually. (beat) Not saying from personal experience, but it's not the first cult of Springfield. Crazy shit happens here with people turning purple and it's not exactly hard to believe weirdos come looking for something to save them. The last cult was operating from like the early 90s until a few years ago.

Jon: Of course it was…

Crowley: But this doesn't seem related to our purple killer. So…

Jon: So?

Crowley: So I need you to leave.

Jon: Seriously? I found the body.

Crowley: That's exactly why you gotta go. This isn't about our case and I can't exactly have an ex-coroner finding mysterious bodies in the woods.

Jon: I told you how I found it.

Crowley: And you'll bring me that tape for our purple body killer. But until then, I'll say we got an anonymous tip about this victim. And you can't be here when Hart shows up.

Jon: Kim quit today.

Crowley: I heard.

Jon: How?

Crowley: Grant told me.

Jon: Well, we can't let them leave. What if Kim's the purple body killer?

Crowley: Then our evidence trail stops. But I'm assuming it will continue.

Jon: Well, with them gone, you can get me back into the pathology lab. Grant can make it happen, right?

Crowley: Potentially. We can talk about it later.

Jon: Crowley, I don't get why–

Crowley: Spacer. Seriously. Get lost. We'll talk later.

[Crowley starts walking away.]

Jon: On the tape I got, I heard another voice… It didn't sound like mine.

Crowley: Another voice? The fuck are you saying? (beat)

Crowley: This is the kind of shit I need to know immediately.

Jon: I'm sorry. I'm just trying to figure out what to do here. I'm not used to this.

Crowley: And I am?

Jon: More than me!

[She grunts.]

Crowley: What voice?

[There's sirens in the background.]

Jon: The killer, I think. They wanted to be called "Joy."

Crowley: That's why you asked about what to call the killer. Fucking shit, Spacer — what happened to total transparency?!

[The squad car parks in the distance. Hart comes in over the walkie.]

Hart (V.O.): Officer Hart on location. Sheriff, is that you in the distance? I see light.

[Crowley grumbles and grabs the walkie.]

Crowley: I'm coming back. Watch your step. This whole place is littered with evidence.

[She lets go of the button.]

Crowley: We'll talk about this later. You… fucking go another way out of here.

[Crowley heads back. She whispers back to him.]

Crowley: Now, Spacer!

[Jon is left alone for a moment.]

Eli: Why didn't you tell her about me?

Jon: I'm sorry. I'm a little more distracted by something.

Eli: You're not a police officer, are you?

[Jon starts walking through more leaves.]

Eli: Where are you going?

[Jon pulls out his tape recorder. He rewinds it, then presses record again.]

Jon: Joy, if you want to continue our conversations, I need something in return: I need a tape from you, using pieces of my voice to say there's a body in the Springfield Woods. A few meters north of our contact point. Don't say that part, obviously. But Sheriff Crowley found your tape inside of Maureen Levant, and I had to lie and say I got one from you too, about this body. She doesn't know anything else. And if you don't do this, the jig is up.

[He clicks off the recorder and takes out the tape. In the distance–]

Crowley: Over this way…

[Jon shoves the tape inside the hole in the tree. He stops. He pulls back out. He found something.]

Eli: What is that?

Jon: A tape.

Eli: Did you put that there?

Jon: No.

[He puts the tape inside the tape recorder and presses play.]

Joy: Johnny Boyyyyy. Long-time, no talk. Seems like you and Sheriff Fran have been on my trail recently, HA! You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you? No… I can't imagine you'd risk getting caught. Especially not after you've been dropping bodies in the woods for me to play with.

Eli: You did… what?

Jon: Shh.

Joy: Do you know why I asked you to do that, Jonathan? It's not for my own use, obviously — you already know that I can't use a dead body for what I need! Nope. I asked you to do that to see if you'd play ball, as they say. And you did; you passed. Great news! Now, I need you for something else… I need help securing my next victim. A live one this time. A young man named Scott Hart. You might know him actually. He works in the sheriff's department.