Inner circle
Toby is riding his motorbike in his way to a meeting with Michelle.
In Michelle’s car.
Michelle : Hey.
Toby : Hey.
Michelle : Thanks for meeting me.
Toby : It’s been a long day.
Michelle : Anything left in the tank?
Toby : What you got?
Michelle : I need you to go to a bar.
At the Blue Goose.
Oz : You know when you said try someplace new, this wasn’t what I was picturing.
Toby : It’s a cop bar. What do you want? You want velvet ropes?
Oz : I would settle for air freshener.
In Michelle’s car.
Michelle : Last six months a dedicated unit of IIB has been running a massive drug investigation with Metro. Lots of big busts, bad guys being taken off the street…
Toby : I sense a “but” coming.
Michelle : Yeah, recently the busts have slowed down. Now some people say that Metro’s going soft, others think there is something much more serious going on. I have been asked to take a look.
At the Blue Goose.
Toby : So McCluskey gave me a new case today.
Oz : Are you at least getting paid for this one?
Toby : It’s not about the money.
Michelle : (Voiceover) Most of rumors have been swirling around a couple of detectives from Metro’s anti-gang unit.
Toby : Follow my lead.
Oz : Follow you what?
Michelle : (Voiceover) Ross Miller, 15 year vet and his partner Scott O’Neill.
Toby : Ooh, nice shot. Me and my partner here, we got the next game.
Ross Miller : Oh, we got us some bangers.
Scott O’Neill : Hey fresh meat.
Toby : Miller, right?
Ross Miller : Hey fellas, do I know you?
Toby : We are EMS, I think we might have worked a case together last year.
Ross Miller’s thoughts.
Ross Miller : “Took it in the lung… Parkdale. That’s overtime for that one.”
Toby : What’s that that was West End, right?
Oz : Yeah. Hey yeah, West End, yes definitely.
Toby : Right, it was Parkdale, it was a stabbing.
Scott O’Neill : You mean the Portuguese guy. You remember that Ross, he was at the laundry mat… Took one in the chest?
Toby : Yeah, that’s right, collapsed lung. Hey, Toby, this is…
Oz : Oz.
Ross Miller : What’s up. What’s going on Oz.
Scott O’Neill : Don’t get too many of the Band-Aid brigade in here.
Toby : You guys want me to get you another pitcher?
Scott O’Neill : Yeah.
Ross Miller : Hell, yeah.
Toby : Okay.
In Michelle’s car.
Toby : Cops and paramedics… we are like brothers.
Michelle : Yeah. Imagine how I feel.
At the Blue Goose.
Toby, Oz, Ross Miller & Scott O’Neill are playing billiards.
Oz : Yeah, just got lucky.
Scott O’Neill : I don’t think I lie you guys.
Toby : There you go.
Oz : Nice.
Toby : I got lucky, I got lucky.
Oz : I think you, gentlemen, have met my associate Minnesota Fats…
Toby : Not from Minnesota, nor fat.
Ross Miller gets out of his pocket a wad of cash.
Oz : Wow! The city gives you guy a pay… You guys robbed a bank? Look at that.
Ross Miller’s thoughts.
Ross Miller and another person got out of their pocket a wad of cash to a box. Then, another man in a shop is smiling to Ross Miller.
Ross Miller : Ponies were good to me today.
Oz : Oh, the ponies.
Ross Miller : Why don’t you guys get us another round, alright?
Toby : Sure.
Ross Miller : Scott and I have to have a little shop talk.
Scott O’Neill : Right.
Oz : Shop talk, ok.
Toby : (To the bar tender) Excuse me can we grab another pitcher?
The bar tender : You got it.
Oz : Hey, what’s going on?
Toby : Nothing.
Oz : Come on this is… this is the IIB thing? This is your new case, these cops with the massive wad of cash? You know it would be nice to know this stuff ahead of time.
Toby : I thought we would come in and drink a little bit and then we could leave.
Oz : Maybe make some lifelong enemies while we’re at it.
Scott O’Neill : Guys, I need you now! Come on.
Oz : Ok… alright.
Toby : Alright, ok. Hey. Call 911.
Ross Miller’s thoughts.
Ross Miller is taking drugs. Then, a billiards ball is rolling of the table.
Oz : I need you to clear a path and make sure EMS can get in here.
Scott O’Neill : Yes, this is Detective O’Neill…
*CREDITS*
At St. Luke’s hospital
Toby : He’s unresponsive, breathing is shallow and irregular. He’s got tachycardia, BP is sinking.
Olivia : It’s a good thing you both were on the scene.
Oz : One second he’s fine, the next second elevated pulse, seizures, the whole thing.
The beep of the monitoring accelerates.
Olivia : Ok he’s crashing, let’s move it.
Olivia leaves Toby and Oz.
Toby : Did not see that coming.
Oz : Yeah, yeah, that just happened.
Scott O’Neill arrives.
Scott O’Neill : How is he?
Toby : They’re going to work on him right now. I don’t know. Just hang here.
Scott O’Neill & Ross Miller’s boss, Matt Collins, arrives.
Matt Collins : Scott, where is he?
Scott O’Neill : The surgeon just took him inside.
Toby : Sir, I’m Toby Logan, I’m a paramedic. I was there at the bar with him. Look, you don’t want to go back there, just let the doctors do their thing.
Matt Collins : Yeah, yeah, yeah, you are right. It’s just when it’s one of your own, you know.
Toby : I know.
O’Neill & Miller’s boss leaves the hall.
Toby : Hey Scott, is there anything else you can tell me about what happened?
Scott O’Neill’s thoughts.
Ross Miller and he are in the bar’s bathroom. Ross is taking some drugs and collapses. Then Scott cleans up the table with the drug in it.
Scott O’Neill : Like I said, he just crumpled.
Toby : Hey… you got to tell them about the drugs.
Scott O’Neill : What drugs?
Toby : Shop talk. The Doctor should know about that.
Scott O’Neill : I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.
Toby : Look, your boy’s hanging on by a thread right now. If you don’t tell them I will. They’re going to find out eventually.
A voice-over : Code blue, ER 4. Code blue ER 4.
Toby leaves Scott O’Neill in the hall to see Olivia.
Olivia leaves the room where is Ross Miller’s body.
Toby : Liv…
Olivia : Acute myocardial infarction. The Coroner will figure out what happened. I’m sorry Toby, you did everything you could.
The doors of the elevator open at the waiting room level, with Toby in it. Scott O’Neill, Ross Miller’s wife, Emily, his daughter, Jan and Matt Collins are waiting for news.
Toby : Ms. Miller?
Emily Miller : Yes?.. Do you know something about my husband?
Toby : Dr. Fawcett will be out to talk with you soon.
Emily Miller : What? No, no.
Ms. Miller begins to cry.
Scott O’Neill : It’s ok, I’m right here.
At EMS’ QG.
Oz : Oh man, shift starts in 5 hours… I’m going to hit one of the coughs upstairs.
Toby : Hey Oz, listen, what you said earlier about you not filling you in when I’m helping Michelle, I was wrong.
Oz : Yeah you were.
Toby : I volunteered for this, you didn’t.
Oz : Speaking of which… do you know exactly what you volunteered for? I mean, do you get a bonus if you end up dead?
Toby : This is not my first rodeo.
Oz : Toby this is different, ok? These cops, they pick their teeth with guys like us. I do not want to get lost into an early grave.
Toby : Right, which is why I think you should keep your day job.
Oz : That’s something you might want to consider.
Michelle arrives.
Michelle : Hey… got here as fast as I could.
Toby : Thanks for coming.
Michelle : It’s been a hell of a night for you.
Oz : I was there too, Sergeant McCluskey, you know. Could have been shot, no big deal, right?
Michelle : I didn’t realize I hired a team.
Toby : Don’t worry, you didn’t. You want a grab of tea?
Michelle : Yeah. So Ross Miller didn’t make it.
Toby : Yeah, yeah.
Toby and Michelle come in the EMS’ break room.
Toby : How you doing? You doing ok?
Michelle : Sometimes you don’t want to be right. They said he OD’d.
Toby : Yeah, he was doing coke in the bathroom before he collapsed. And his partner Scott cleaned it up before he came and got us.
Michelle : Was he using too?
Toby : I don’t know. I don’t know. All I got was that he was cleaning it up like he was trying to protect Ross.
Michelle : Well, it’s not a stretch to think that they were skimming coke from their busts. What I need to know is if it went any further than that.
Toby : Ross was flashing a lot of cash.
Michelle : What’s a lot?
Toby : Like a chunk of cash. I got a good read off Ross. There’s more. There’s boxes of cash.
Michelle : This is not what I wanted to hear.
Toby : Welcome to my world.
Michelle : Yeah.
Toby : There’s a guy with gold teeth and a diamond stud and a spinning eight ball, now I don’t know if that’s code for crack or it’s because we were playing pool.
In EMS’ locker room.
Oz is preparing to take his shift when Ryder arrives.
Ryder : Well, well, well, look who’s on time.
Oz : Bright eyed and bushy tailed too sir.
Ryder : Looks like you two have had a rough night.
Toby : Oh, you heard about that?
Ryder : Oh yeah, from the Metro Sergeant sitting in my office. Wants a private meeting with you two.
In Ryder’s office.
Toby and Oz come in where Matt Collins is waiting.
Matt Collins : Hey. Detective Matt Collins from the hospital, remember?
Toby : Yeah, I remember, Toby Logan.
Matt Collins : Yeah, thanks for taking the time. I know you did your best to save Ross, we all appreciate it. His partner Scott O’Neill says he and Ross were having drinks with you two when it happened.
Toby : That’s right, yeah.
Matt Collins : Scott says after Ross went to the can and didn’t come back he went to find him.
Oz : That’s not exactly…
Matt Collins : Look, I’m not going to pretend Ross didn’t have his problems. It’s not like the tax screen is going to be a secret. It’s just I’ve lost one good cop, I don’t want to lose another.
Toby : Sir we can only tell you what happened. They both went to the bathroom together.
Matt Collins : Is that how you remember it, Mr. Bey?
Oz : Yeah, they went to “talk shop” and by the time we got in there, someone had tidied up. It’s not exactly rocket surgery.
Matt Collins : I, I don’t think I’m getting through to you guys. These are men in uniform just lie you, who put it all on the line every day. One is dead and you want to destroy another for some dumb indiscretion? You saw things a certain way. Maybe it would behoove you to think about whether you might be mistaken.
At IIB’s QG.
In Alvin Klein’s office.
Michelle is sitting in Alvin’s office chair while Alvin is sitting on the other side.
Alvin : The boys in anti-gang unit are going to close ranks, you can bank on it.
Michelle : Yeah this is what you call your basic thankless task, right? No surprise they gave this one on to the blond.
Alvin : I know you’re not looking for thanks but you may be looking for trouble.
Michelle : Am I supposed to be reading between the lines here?
Alvin : Rookie cop to the IIB Sergeant in under 10 years. Correct me if I am wrong but isn’t that a land speed record.
Michelle begins to arrange Alvin’s disorganized desk before Alvin stops her.
Alvin : Ah, ah… that’s actually organized, thank you.
Michelle : And your point?
Alvin : You didn’t get here by making the wrong choices.
Michelle : Like putting fellow officers under the microscope.
Alvin : All I’m saying is sometimes when you’re right you’re wrong, and vice versa.
Michelle : Well thank you for the homily.
Alvin : You make a corruption charge, whether it sticks or not, an officer is going to be affected, maybe permanently.
Michelle : Yeah I know that, happened to my dad.
Alvin’s phone rings.
Alvin : Yeah?
Michelle puts her feet on Alvin’s desk, waiting for Alvin ends his phone talk.
Alvin : (To Michelle) Do you want me to make some popcorn, slip in a movie? (To his interlocutor) I wasn’t talking to you.
Michelle leaves the office.
In the street.
Toby and Oz are walking back to their ambulance.
Toby : Took two hours, two.
Oz : Where’s the ambulance?
Toby : Wait a minute, did you leave the keys in it? You were driving.
Oz : So it’s stolen?
Toby : Who’d steal an ambulance?
Oz : Someone who is accident-prone or something.
Scott O’Neill gets out of his car.
Scott O’Neill : Looking for something? Hey guys, remember me?
Toby : Where’s our ambulance?
Scott O’Neill : Oh I had it towed, it was blocking a fire lane.
Toby : What fire lane? There’s no fire lane here.
Scott O’Neill : You can read all about that in the report, how that?
Toby : Hey Oz, call Ryder and tell him what’s going on. I got to take care of this. I know you’re upset about Ross.
Scott O’Neill : Ross?
Toby : Yeah.
Scott O’Neill : It’s Detective Miller, a police officer who’s dead and you want to rake his family over the coals?
Toby : They have a right to the truth, don’t they?
Scott O’Neill : You’re so far above your pay grade man, you have no idea.
Toby : Well, you’re right, my job isn’t nearly as lucrative as yours.
Scott O’Neill hustles Toby, which Toby responds to.
Scott O’Neill : Whoa, whoa, whoa... (He takes his handcuffs out of his pocket) that was a mistake Logan.
Toby : If I were you, I’d keep my eye on the eight ball.
Scott O’Neill’s thoughts.
A man with a gold tooth, Eight ball, gives to Ross Miller a wad of cash. Ross Miller counts it.
Eight ball : “Eight ball came through for us again.”
Scott O’Neill : Come here, come here. (Scott O’Neill tackles Toby on his car). Hands behind your back. Spread ‘em.
Toby : Come on.
Scott O’Neill : Come on!
Oz : Is this really necessary officer?
Scott O’Neill : Take a walk.
In a police car.
Toby is sitting at the back. Matt Collins get in the car.
Matt Collins : How you doing?
Toby : Can’t complain.
Matt Collins : I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this could go down very hard for you, assaulting a police officer.
Toby : He towed our ambulance, there was no reason for that.
Matt Collins : You know Scott’s a good man, he’s good police. If you lose a partner the way he did, he’s only human… I say I sit him down, talk to him and you pretend this never happened.
Toby : The list of things that never happened seems to be getting bigger.
Matt Collins : If I were you I’d think long and hard about where you could wind up.
Michelle arrives.
Michelle : Sergeant McCluskey, IIB, he’s with me.
Matt Collins : Really?.. Paramedics see a lot, I guess. Maybe so much they get confused. And just so you know Sergeant, I’ll stand by my people all day long, is that clear?
Michelle smiles at him and open the back door for Toby to get out of the car.
Michelle : So clear I can see right through it.
Toby : Unbelievable.
Michelle : Yeah. Think things are tense now, I’m about to share Ross’s toxicology report with these guys.
Toby : What, there was no cocaine?
Michelle : No, there was plenty of that but what killed him was a lethal dose of cyanide. So now we’re not just investigation cops, we’re investigation a cop murder.
Toby sighs.
Michelle : Yeah.
In the street.
Michelle and Toby are walking in the street.
Toby : So I’m pretty sue eight ball is the guy with the gold teeth. He has something to do with the cocaine.
Michelle : So we get him maybe we can find out how deep the cancer inside the anti-gang unit really is.
Toby : Well, whoever killed Ross had to be able to get close enough to his stash to taint it.
Michelle : Someone who’s afraid Ross’s recklessness would bring them down too.
Toby : Or someone like a dealer who is being pressured by the cops.
Michelle : Ok, I’m going to get Dev putting a face to this Eight ball. Look, I wish I could say the heat was off, but I have a feeling you’re going to get leaned on ever harder before this is over.
Toby : Well, the same goes for you.
Michelle : Yeah… I, I can’t afford to be wrong on this one.
In a shop.
Scott O’Neill is queuing when Matt Collins arrives and hustles him.
Matt Collins : Sorry there, bud.
Matt Collins goes out and waiting for Scott O’Neill before the shop. Scott O’Neill follows his boss in the street.
Scott O’Neill : What are you trying to do? Blown my cover?
Matt Collins : Is there anything coming back on who might have done Ross?
Scott O’Neill : No. If anyone knows anything they’re not saying nothing.
Matt Collins : Look, somebody got to his coke. He took a hot shot. You got to know where he got his drugs.
Scott O’Neill : Look… Matt, I didn’t ask if he didn’t want tell, right? I’m working on it.
Matt Collins : Is there something you’re not telling me?
Scott O’Neill : Is there something you’re not telling me?
Matt Collins : I’m cutting you guys a lot of slack. I didn’t listen to the trash talk, I didn’t ask questions. Anything coming back to bite me on the ass?
Scott O’Neill : Sir, I just want to find out who’s involved.
Matt Collins : Then you do that, but everything’s by the book, right? You’re not going off half cocked.
Scott O’Neill : By the book, Sergeant, like you said.
In Toby & Oz’s ambulance.
Oz : Whoa, geez…
Toby : Whoa what? What’s going on?
Oz : I saw a cop car.
Toby : Not every cop in the city is after us.
Oz : Yeah, just the loose cannons with crazy eyes and bulging neck veins. I didn’t want to poop on your parade here but I’m starting to think this whole IIB thing was a bit mistake.
Toby : If it’s a mistake it’s my mistake.
Oz : Yeah, but it has consequences for other people. I’m not just talking about me, even though I will be reliving that telephone conversation with Ryder about the ambulance towing for the rest of my like, thank you.
Toby : Ok, I didn’t mean to get anyone involved in this.
Oz : Toby, if you want to fight crime, get a badge and a gun and fight crime. But is that who you are?
At IIB’s QG.
Dev : Last year the anti-gang unit did a sweep of the downtown east side. This is one of the guys they arrested. He goes by the mane of Erran Balamani, aka Eight ball. That’s original. Possession, two counts, possession with intent, one count. All the charges got dropped before they made their way to the court. I’m going to give you one wild guess who made the bust.
Michelle : Scott O’Neill and Ross Miller.
Dev : Boom. And here’s where it starts to get interesting. We’ve been tracking this Eight ball character.
Michelle : Who has, IIB?
Dev : Immigration unit. His family is from Sri Lanka, with some serious ties to the Tamil Tigers and the hard core members they have this tradition, they carry a vial of cyanide around their neck in case they ever get captured.
Michelle : Well, I’ll be damned.
At St Luke’s hospital.
In front of the hospital.
Toby see Jan Miller waiting for her mom outside.
Toby : Hey, uh, I saw you the other day, right? I’m Toby. Sorry about your loss.
Jan Miller : My mom’s getting dad’s things. I couldn’t go back in there.
Toby : Can’t imagine the pain of losing your father.
Jan Miller’s thoughts.
Jan is crying, sitting in a chair while her parents are having a fight.
Ross Miller : “… around the house.”
Emily Miller : “I’ve had enough of this. Let go…”
Jan Miller : You see this every day, don’t you?
Toby : I do, too many days.
Jan Miller : How do people do it? Like, like get through it?
Toby : They just do. It’s life one day at a time.
Jan Miller : Yeah.
Outside of a restaurant.
Eight ball is leaving a restaurant with some friends. Michelle introduces herself carrying her badge. Dev is setback, close to them.
Michelle : Eight ball, why don’t we have a little chat? You guys can go for a walk.
Eight-ball : What?
Michelle : You know what.
Eight-ball : No, I don’t.
Michelle : Why don’t you tell me about the Tigers?
Eight-ball : Give me a break. That’s old world stuff. I ain’t got nothing to do with it.
Michelle : Yeah, you don’t have an uncle in the Tigers, carries some cyanide around his neck.
Eight-ball : Cyanide? What are you smoking?
Michelle : Tell me about the cops.
Eight-ball : You’re the first two I’ve met.
Dev : How about I go tell your crew back there how you cut a deal with two cops to get these possession charged dropped.
Eight-ball : Listen, if you think I’m some kind of player, I’m not.
Michelle : Anti-gang unit, they cut you lose, you supplied them with product.
Eight-ball : No, no, listen, I didn’t supply them with anything. He took what he wanted.
Michelle : You supplied them coke.
Eight-ball : No, just information. I keep my ears open. If someone’s pushing weight I let them know.
Dev : And you do that for what? For charity?
Eight-ball : I get a cut.
Michelle : Yeah, cash or blow? Oh, ok, both. So what happened? Ross cut you lose, maybe you wanted a bigger piece?
Eight-ball : Ross? I didn’t deal with Ross. It was Scott. Him and I, we never had a problem.
Eight ball leaves Michelle and Dev.
Michelle : Scott.
Dev : Scott.
At St Luke’s hospital.
Emily Miller leaves a room where she got her husband’s stuff. She begins to cry when Toby arrives.
Toby : You all right? Just…
Emily Miller : Excuse me.
Toby : Just sit down.
Emily Miller : Thank you.
Toby : I’ll get you some water.
Emily Miller : You’re the paramedic, the one who was there when it happened?
Toby : Yeah, one of them. There was two of us.
Emily Miller : He was still alive with you.
Toby : Yeah, just barely lucid.
Emily Miller’s toughts.
Emily Miller : “Thank God it’s over.”
Emily Miller : I was nineteen when we married. We were just kids.
Toby : Being a cop isn’t easy, it changes people, make them do things you wouldn’t expect.
Emily Miller’s thoughts.
Emily Miller is sleeping with a man. Then she is having an argument with her husband.
Ross Miller : “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
Emily Miller : I used to think people could change. I don’t anymore. Thank you.
At IIB’s QG.
In IIB’s interrogation room.
Scott Miller is waiting in the room, impatient.
In IIB’s surveillance room.
Toby : You said that Eight ball has access to cyanide. What if he’s not the killer, but the killer got the cyanide from Eight ball.
Michelle : Someone could have switched it with Ross’s stash.
Dev : Someone like Scott?
Toby : Or Emily.
Michelle : The wife in an abusive marriage… having an affair with some mystery man, which could also be Scott.
Toby : Well, she did turn to him right after she heard.
Dev : We had an authorized tap on Emily’s telephone. Here’s a call from Scott late last night.
Conversation on Emily Miller’s phone.
Scott O’Neill : “I know, Emily, I know, I know, it’s got to be hell for you. It’s going to get better, believe me.”
Emily Miller : “It hasn’t even sunk in yet.”
Scott O’Neill : “I’ll come by, I’ll take care of things. You got enough to worry about.”
Michelle : He’s been in there for 40 minutes. Haven’t should be the temperature.
Dev : Ear bud.
Michelle : Oh, thanks.
In IIB’s interrogation room.
Scott O’Neill : Nice to see you again. Listen, Sergeant, I’m more than happy to answer any questions you might have about Ross. I’d just like to get back to work.
Michelle : What do you know about Eight ball?
Scott O’Neill : You try to sink it last?
Michelle : We know he was a paid informant for you guys, gave you intel on a bunch of drug busts.
Scott O’Neill : You accusing us of doing our job?
Michelle looks at the files in her hands.
Michelle : This is your arrest records for the last year, carjacking, turf wars, east end sweeps, drug busts… so what’s missing here?
Scott O’Neill : You tell me?
Michelle : Money. Dealers always carry lots of it but you guys never seem to recover much.
Scott O’Neill’s thoughts.
Scott O’Neill : “I don’t risk my ass for a cop’s salary.”
Michelle : Don’t you think I don’t know what it’s like surrounded by these low life criminals every single day? They all have more money than you, bigger houses, nice cars. So you take a little cash, who’s going to know?
Scott O’Neill : Sergeant, we took the same interrogation course. Of course I didn’t have the big Ivy League education. It must be nice to have everything handled to you. How old are you?
Michelle : Eight ball said you were skimming the cream off busts from his intel.
Scott O’Neill : The man is a drug dealer. He’ll tell you he craps gold bricks if he thinks it will help him out.
Michelle : Come on, a cash operation… but something threatened all of that, right?
Scott O’Neill’s thoughts.
Scott O’Neill : “I told him his drug problem was going to get us both killed, he wouldn’t listen.”
Toby : (In Michelle’s ear bud) : They were arguing over Ross’s drug use.
Michelle : What was it. Ross’s coke problem, maybe you two argued?
Scott O’Neill : We argued… look, is this your investigation?
Michelle : Why are you covering him?
Scott O’Neill : Why.. am I covering for him? He was my partner. Do you know what that means? He would have laid down his life for me.
Michelle : Oh I don’t doubt that.
Scott O’Neill : That was his job. Your job is to find out who slipped him that hot shot not try to pin it on another cop. If you have any more questions, you go through the Union lawyer, right?
Michelle : Actually I do have one more. Were you sleeping with your partner’s wife? Word is someone was.
Scott opens the interrogation room’s door to leave when he saw Emily Miller waiting outside.
Scott O’Neill : That’s.. nice, real nice. You want to see our reactions when we saw each other?
Michelle : You give me way too much credit.
Scott O’Neill : Just answer the questions Emily, you got nothing to hide.
Michelle : (To Emily) I’ll be right there.
Michelle closes the door, leaving Emily Miller outside the interrogation room.
In the street.
A car is parking. Scott O’Neill and Matt Collins get out of it.
At IIB’s QG.
In IIB’s interrogation room.
Emily Miller : I’m not sure I can be much help. Ross kept that side of his life pretty private.
Michelle : It’s a tough unit to be married into.
Emily Miller : He tried not to bring it home but you know how it is.
Michelle : Cop’s got to keep their cool right, never let them see you sweat. All that frustration, it’s got to come out somewhere.
Emily Miller’s thoughts.
Ross Miller and his are fighting. He slaps her.
Toby : (In Michelle’s ear bud) : Ross got violent with her.
Michelle : Emily, he hit you, didn’t he?
Emily Miller : He wasn’t himself when he…
Michelle : When he used. Yeah. And who are you going to tell? Your husband’s a cop. Every day you… you think it’s going to be different but it never is.
Emily Miller’s thoughts.
Ross is using cocaine when his daughter arrives.
Ross Miller : “It’s not what it looks like.”
Jan Miller : “Oh, it’s not what it looks like?”
Toby : (In Michelle’s ear bud) Daughter caught him using.
Michelle : Did Jan ever see him using?
Emily Miller : Well, that was the deal breaker, I mean, I couldn’t pretend anymore. Ross moved out to a hotel a week later.
Michelle : Did he ever get violent with her?
Emily Miller : No. Thank God, I would never have forgiven him.
Michelle : But she saw what he did to you and that must have been tough. You know you put up with it because you feel like you didn’t have any other choice but then maybe one day you see a way out.
Emily Miller’s thoughts.
Emily is sleeping with a man, Matt Collins.
Emily Miller : I think I’d like to go now.
Toby : (In Michelle’s ear bud) I know who the lover is.
In IIB’s main room.
Michelle and Dev are walking through the desks.
Michelle : Ok, let’s say Toby’s right, Emily is having an affair with Ross’s boss, Matt. Ross finds out, gets rough.
Dev : Ok, Emily decides to finally fight back, she knew where he kept his drugs. She just needs to get her hands on cyanide.
Michelle : Which is easy enough to do, it’s just pesticides and rat poison, right? I mean… (Michelle’s phone is ringing) it could be any one of them. (On the phone) Yeah? Yeah, ok, we’ll be right there. (To Dev) Come on let’s go, Matt and Scott found Eight ball.
In the street.
In a restaurant.
Scott O’Neill and his boss are talking to Eight ball while Michelle and Dev are listening to the conversation in Michelle’s car.
Scott O’Neill : Really Eight, my partner dies and you thought I wouldn’t come looking for you?
Eight-ball : I never gave him anything.
Scott O’Neill : Where do you think it came from?
Eight-ball : It ain’t from me.
Matt Collins : Don’t lie to us.
Eight-ball : I’m not lying to you.
Matt Collins : You’re lying.
Eight-ball : It’s not from me.
Matt Collins : Fess up, fess up!
In Michelle’s car.
Michelle : I know how this is going to end.
Eight-ball leaves the restaurant, trying to escape from Scott O’Neill and Matt Collins.
Michelle : Here we go.
Michelle and Dev get out of the car, running after the three.
In the street.
Eight-ball : Trust you?
Eight-ball gets out a gun from his pocket. Scott O’Neill shoots him while Dev and Michelle arrive.
Matt Collins : (On the phone) Dispatch, this is Detective Sergeant Collins, we have a suspect down, gunshot wounds. Alley off the northwest corner of Gerrad and Ashdale.
Michelle : What the hell happened?
Scott O’Neill : He had a gun.
At IIB’s QG.
In IIB’s conference room.
Dev : Seriously, listen to these emails between them. They got Ross in. “It’s never gonna happen, I’m dropping you from the payroll effective immediately, you are no longer a confidential informant.” “Nobody drops Eight ball, Eight ball’s got the drop on you bitch.”
Dev puts his foot on the table, which Michelle puts off.
Dev : How convenient that Metro be releasing these from one dead guy to another.
Michelle : Ok well how hard is it to fake these emails?
Dev : Give me a minute and you’ll get an email from Jimmy Hendrix inviting me to a nice little luncheon.
Dev leaves the room.
Alvin shows up in front of the conference room.
Alvin : (On the phone) Well I know that I promised but something’s come up. Well, there will be other soccer games, right? So you can just… can you please tell him that I’m sorry and that…
His interlocutor hangs up. Alvin pretends to throw his phone down.
Alvin : (To Michelle) I thought you might have left.
Michelle : Still working the Metro cop homicide.
Alvin : What’s there to work, it’s closed, isn’t it?
Michelle : Not from my end.
Alvin : I was copied on that email string. Threats verified, cyanide found in the dealer’s apartment, what more do you want?
Michelle : How about a case that’s not wrapped up in a big shiny bow?
Alvin : You have everything you need to put this thing to bed… Except for a signed confession from one… here it is, one Erran Balamani aka Eight ball.
Michelle : Yeah well that would be difficult because he’s dead. Shot by a cop who is also under suspicion.
Alvin : The guy pulled a gun. We are talking about a drug dealer here, and possible cop killer.
Michelle : Ok, can we just drop the charade for one minute and be honest with each other.
Alvin : Oh I’m sorry, because the truth trumps everything doesn’t it. Never mind that it destroys our relationship with Metro.
Michelle : Whatever happened to that gung-ho lawyer I met 8 years ago who said that the system works and he’s gonna prove it?
Alvin : That guy sends me fruit baskets occasionally, every Christmas. Listen, if they have issues inside Metro they have special investigations to handle it.
Michelle : Ok, well it doesn’t really come down to this.
Alvin : Since when is the greater good a bad thing?
Michelle : Two standards of justice, right? One for the cops and one for everything else?
Alvin : I’m not saying that.
Michelle : Don’t have to.
Michelle sits up from her chair, about to leave the room.
Michelle : You know my father was a God in his precinct until he was accused of taking ninety grand in cash from evidence lockup. He didn’t do it, it didn’t matter.
At EMS’ QG.
At the back of Toby and Oz’s ambulance.
Oz : You know normally I have no problems with the cops, I run into on the job.
Toby : These guys are the exception, not the rule.
Oz : So it’s not just me.
Toby : No, they’re total…
Oz : … jerks.
Toby : Yeah.
Michelle arrives behind them.
Michelle : I’m glad I caught you.
Oz : Hey Sergeant.
Toby : Hi Michelle.
Michelle : Do you have a minute?
Toby : Yeah, I got a minute.
Oz : You guys need to have a little powwow, sure, great.
Oz leaves them alone.
Toby : Sorry.
Michelle : I, I’m being pressured to close out the Ross Miller case.
Toby : Well, you got the perfect scapegoat, is that it?
Michelle : If Eight ball wasn’t dead I would be arresting him right now.
Toby : Yeah, I doubt that.
Michelle : Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.
Toby : Something tells me you didn’t come down here to tell me that the case is over.
Michelle : Ok, there is something but… but I don’t know if I should have even brought you into this.
Toby : Today it’s Eight ball, tomorrow it’s some innocent person. Where’s the line? What is it?
Michelle : You can still walk away.
Toby : So can you.
Michelle : There’s a wake for Ross tomorrow at the Blue Goose. It’s one last chance to get to the truth.
Toby : I’m in.
At Blue Goose.
Toby and Oz arrive for Ross Miller’s wake.
Matt Collins : So I’ve been asked to say a few words about Ross. I’ve known Ross since… since he first joined the force…
Oz : (Whispering to Toby) Hey, want to go get the med kit?
Toby : (Whispering) For what?
Oz : For when we get our asses kicked.
Toby : Oh, thought you had my back.
Oz : I do… in theory.
Matt Collins : Ross was a hell of a cop… Hell of a friend…
Scott O’Neill’s thoughts.
Scott O’Neill : "What the hell are they doing here?"
Matt Collins : You talk about loyalty…
A man’s thoughts.
Man : “Some nerve coming here… pair of rats.”
Matt Collins : You never let a fellow cop down, never. But he was a cutup too. Like that time he ordered a case of champagne and billed it to the inspector. Ross will be glad to know that we got the bad guy. But he’d take more comfort in knowing that Emily and Jan were looked after. So… one last time… to Ross.
People in the bar : To Ross.
Toby & Oz : To Ross.
Matt Collins : We’ll miss you buddy.
Matt Collins walks towards Toby and Oz.
Matt Collins : Trying to decide whether you boys are brave or stupid.
Oz : Is it strictly an either or situation?
Toby : We’re just paying our respects.
Matt Collins : Well you had your chance for that.
Toby walks towards a board to pay homage to Ross Miller, putting a magnet on the board.
Scott O’Neill : Logan… listen the thing between us, I was out of line.
Toby : It’s ok, I get it, I get it. I’d do the same thing for my partner. Look, whatever Ross’s secrets were, it’s not worth digging up right now. Though I here IIB is going to be looking through his house tomorrow morning.
Scott O’Neill’s thoughts.
Ross Miller is counting a wad of money. Then he is hiding it somewhere.
Scott O’Neill : Anyways, no hard feelings, huh?
Toby : No.
Scott O’Neill leaves them.
Toby : We should probably get out of here.
Oz : That we do.
Toby : Let’s hope he took the bait.
Oz : Or else this is going to be the end of your very short career at IIB… or worse.
In the street.
Scott O’Neill arrives with his car in front of Ross Miller’s house. He walks towards the house. Toby arrives after, driving his motorbike. He calls Michelle.
Michelle : (From IIB’s QG) What the hell are you doing there?
Toby : I followed Scott here, he’s looking for the money.
Michelle : You know that, course you know that. Ok, don’t do anything until I get there. I’ll be there in 10 minutes.
Scott O’Neill is in Ross Miller’s house, he found the money and is using cocaine. A car is parking in the alley, Matt Collins and Emily Miller get out of it while Toby is waiting for Michelle.
Toby : Oh, this isn’t good.
Scott O’Neill is holding a gun while Matt Collins and Emily Miller arrive.
Emily Miller : Scott!
Matt Collins : Wow, what the hell is going on?
Scott O’Neill : Close enough, Sergeant, that’s close enough.
Matt Collins : Ok, Emily get out of here now.
Scott O’Neill : No, no, no, nobody’s going anywhere.
Matt Collins : Ok Scottie, this is bad. Ross is dead, you’re standing here with all this cash.
Scott O’Neill : And look at you Sergeant, standing here, with a dead cop’s wife. I know about the affair.
Matt Collins : Never mind that, put the gun down.
Emily Miller : Scott, please.
Scott O’Neill : You stay out of this.
Matt Collins : Hey, hey, hey… hey! There’s a way out of this. You come clean, we’ll put all this behind you.
Scott O’Neill : There’s no way out, look at this. You’re going to roll on. It’s over, ok. Don’t lie to me.
Matt Collins : No, no, I’m on your side. Listen to me, I’m on your…
Scott O’Neill : Do not lie to me, Sergeant!
Matt Collins : Look, you still wear the badge, that means something.
Scott O’Neill : You know what that means? It means we earned this. Ross and me, this is our money. We earned this risking our lives for years for what!
Matt Collins : I understand, just give me the gun.
Scott O’Neill : (pointing his gun on his boss) You know what I’m talking about Sergeant, you know I’m right.
Matt Collins : Look for the love of God Scott, we haven’t even buried Ross yet.
Michelle arrives by car.
Toby : Scott went in through the back. Matt and Emily just showed up.
Matt Collins tries to take the gun from Scott O’Neill. Scott O’Neill pulls the trigger.
Toby : Oh God…
Michelle and Toby run to Ross Miller’s house.
Emily Miller : Oh my God Matt! Oh, what have you done Scott?
Michelle arrives in the house.
Michelle : Drop the weapon Scott, drop it! It’s over.
Toby arrives behind Michelle and walk towards Matt Collins, wounded.
Scott O’Neill : Do not move!
Toby : You gotta let me do something o he’s going to bleed out.
Michelle : Come on Scott.
Emily Miller : Scott you can’t do this.
Toby : Scott do the right thing. Let me help him.
Scott O’Neill : I just wanted to… we were good cops.
Scott O’Neill’s thoughts.
Ross Miller : (To Scott O’Neill) You got to out me loose man, I’m too far gone, save yourself.
Toby : You were a good friend, you did what you could but he was too far gone. But not you. You can save yourself. That’s what Ross wanted to do.
Scott O‘Neill : Go ahead.
Toby : Hey Matt, Matt… look at me, look at me. Keep talking to him, keep him conscious. Matt, you’re going to be dine, we’re going to be fine. Just keep breathing, stay conscious.
Scott O’Neill : All right…
Scott O’Neill pulls his gun down, Michelle takes it.
Toby : You’re doing good, you’re doing great. You’re doing good Matt.
Michelle : You made the right choice.
At St Luke’s hospital.
Michelle : Hey.
Toby : Hey.
Michelle : So I just spoke with our legal liaison to the Crown. Scott’s lawyers are already suggesting a plea bargain. There’s going to be a full investigation into Metro anti-gang.
Toby : And Eight ball?
Michelle : Between the cyanide and the emails, Homicide is still convinced he gave Ross the hot shot. He’s the best candidate. (Michelle’s phone is ringing) Excuse me. Hello?
Jan Miller arrives.
Jan Miller : You’re ok?
Emily Miller : Honey, it’s ok, I’m all right. Oh baby… my sweet angel. You never asked for any of this, did you?
Jan Miller’s thoughts.
Jan Miller : “I’m not sorry for what I did.”
Emily Miller : Everything is going to be ok, ok?
Jan Miller : Okay.
Emily Miller : You’re going to be all right.
Jan Miller : Okay.
Emily Miller : I promise.
Toby is thinking about what he heard.
Michelle : What is it?
Toby : Remember when I told you that I hear people thoughts I never know if they’re going to do it or if they’ve done it already?
Michelle : Yeah, what are you getting at?
Toby : I wish I knew. I wish I knew.
*THE END*
