The Elusive Case of the Carrion Fowl, Episode I
Below is an excerpt from one of my pilot scripts - The Elusive Case of the Carrion Fowl
EXT. MEXICAN MARKET - DAY
Looking for her brother, Maria leads Steven and Wesley
through a maze of shop vendors. They finally arrive at a
beaten down shop that sells old comics. Her brother,
VICTOR, 21, is a large man who is minding the shop.
MARIA
Are you OK?
Victor is pale with pain and his left arm is bandaged
heavily. He waves a little and laughs recklessly.
VICTOR
Fine.
WESLEY
What happened to your hand?
Victor unwraps the bandages. His thumb has been cut off.
VICTOR
I play too many video games, anyway.
He throws his head back and laughs. He loses control of
himself completely.
MARIA
Victor!
WESLEY
Stop. Stop it!
He hits Victor so hard that he falls down hard. Victor
stops laughing. Maria rushes to his side and helps him up.
VICTOR
I couldn't do it anymore.
MARIA
He told them that he wouldn't break
other people hands anymore, so they
cut off his thumb.
WESLEY
Did you go to the cops?
MARIA
We can't go to them!
VICTOR
They wouldn't believe me anyway.
(beat)
I don't think that you'll even
believe me.
Steven steps forward and sits down on an empty chair. He
pulls an old pipe out of his pocket and lights it up.
STEVEN
Why don't you try telling me?
CUT TO:
EXT. MEXICAN MARKET - NIGHT
The shops have been stripped bare and the market is
deserted. Steven and Wesley are crouched behind a full
trash dumpster. Steven is examining the ground carefully.
WESLEY
Victor had been studying to become
an engineer. He's been clean for a
couple years now. What I don't
understand is why Big Mike would do
that.
STEVEN
Big Mike?
WESLEY
The guy Vic used to work for.
Mike's always been a good guy.
STEVEN
An old acquaintance?
WESLEY
Very old.
STEVEN
Were you an employee too?
Wesley stands up with ferocity, bumping his head hard on
the dumpster lid which was open above his head.
WESLEY
No. A friend.
He rubs his head.
WESLEY (CONT'D)
What are we doing here anyway?
STEVEN
Out for blood.
WESLEY
What!
STEVEN
Found it.
He dips his finger in pool of blood on the ground. It is
leaking from the bottom of the trash dumpster. He tastes
the blood.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
Yep. That's blood alright. That
poor kids thumb must be buried under
there. Towards the bottom, from the
amount that has leaked out. It's a
relief.
WESLEY
What!
STEVEN
I just didn't feel like going
through a trash dumpster again.
WESLEY
Victor didn't tell us that.
STEVEN
He didn't tell us anything...
(beat)
of value.
WESLEY
He's hiding something. How did you
know it was there?
Steven turns and walks away from the dumpster to the empty
vending grounds.
STEVEN
Why do you say that Big Mike has
always been a good guy?
WESLEY
(beat)
I don't know. There's something
about Mexicans. They take care of
family. It means something to them.
STEVEN
Exactly.
WESLEY
(beat)
Come on! You know I don't get it.
STEVEN
Mexicans care about family.
WESLEY
Is that supposed to be clever?
Because I said it first.
STEVEN
Earlier today we stood in the midst
of a busy pulga and listened to a
young man tell us about how he was
brutally attacked and injured after
turning down a job from old mob boss
the night before on this very spot.
Did you notice the curious way that
the rest of the vendors acted around
that poor engineer?
WESLEY
They didn't take any notice of him
at all.
STEVEN
That is the curious thing.
He walks off and starts digging in the dirt. Wesley
follows after him.
WESLEY
You know what? You'd make a
terrible story teller.
Steven stands up in exasperation, and walks off to a pool
of liquid in the ground.
WESLEY (CONT'D)
You still haven't said anything!
STEVEN
Mexicans take care of family! It's
something that defines what they
are, and this definition covers even
family of shop vendors.
WESLEY
They're together so long that they
form a sort of family.
Steven sniffs the liquid and gags at it. He stands up and
moves off in the opposite direction. Wesley follows after
him.
WESLEY (CONT'D)
But I still don't see how-
STEVEN
Do you need me to paint you a
picture!
Victor walks by them and up to a shadowed figure.
VICTOR
Where's Big Mike?
He glances around nervously.
VICTOR (CONT'D)
I get a message like that again,
after all this time? I'm going to
go straight. Where's Big Mike?
Wesley walks up and looks at Victor then at the shadowed
figure.
WESLEY
OK. I get that this is what
happened last night.
(to Steven)
But who is that guy?
He jerks a thumb at the shadowed figure.
STEVEN
(sniffs)
Well. You said yourself that I'm a
bad storyteller.
WESLEY
I'm sorry man.
STEVEN
There's a shadowed figure there
because I don't know who he is yet!
Victor turns away from the shadowed figure but still
addresses him.
VICTOR
I don't know who the heck you are,
but I can tell you I'm not doing
anything without Mike. I don't care
how much money you offer me to fix
that solar panel.
SHADOWED FIGURE
I can't let you walk away. You
know too much about it.
He steps towards Victor. Victor steps back, shaken.
VICTOR
What are you talking about? I
don't know anything.
WESLEY
You know he's right. He didn't
know anything.
STEVEN
He doesn't. But maybe he should.
He spreads his arms about him.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
It had to be something around here.
Solar panels can't be moved easily.
And he knew the object.
WESLEY
A solar panel.
VICTOR
A solar panel? All of this for a
solar panel? Take it easy man.
STEVEN
And he would have taken it easy, if
it had only been about a solar
panel. But solar panels are not
built for their own sakes.
WESLEY
They power something.
STEVEN
And if only that knife vendor
hadn't left a butcher knife lying on
the ground the day before.
VICTOR
What!
Victor is dismayed by this. The shadowed figure picks up a
butcher's knife from the ground from the spot that Steven
had been digging.
VICTOR (CONT'D)
No. Stop. Help!
The engineer runs away, pursued by the Shadowed Figure.
Victor stops when he reaches the dumpster. He turns and
thrashed out at his attacker. Surprised, the attacker drops
the knife. They tussle on the ground for a little bit, but
the Shadowed figure winds up on top and he pummels Victor
for a bit. Wesley steps forward, horrified.
WESLEY
He never would have been able to do
that if Vic had been in shape.
STEVEN
College has a way of making you fat.
The Shadowed Figure slams Victor's head into the side of
the dumpster. Victor holds up his hands in front of his
face. The Shadowed Figure picks up the knife, and starts to
swing. Victor moves his head out of the way, but not his
hand.
Wesley looks away. There is a thud and Victor screams.
WESLEY
OK. That's how he lost his thumb,
then he passed out. I get it. Why
didn't he finish the job?
STEVEN
Have you ever had a very old car?
Wesley waits.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
Because they are the only kind that
emit that sort of vomit.
He points to the pool of liquid he sniffed earlier. There
is an old car idling there now.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
He must have parked there, and left
it idling. Only he didn't leave it
empty.
WESLEY
Maria?
Maria peaks out from the back window where she was
crouching down. She sees her brother in trouble.
MARIA
Victor!
She climbs into the front and puts the car into gear. She
presses the gas and brings the car forward with a roar. She
can't control it very well but manages to direct it at the
Shadowed Figure. Steven and Wesley are in the way, but
Steven pulls Wesley out of the path of the car at the last
minute.
WESLEY
She's too young to drive!
STEVEN
She's Mexican.
Maria chases the Shadowed Figure off. Then reverses the
car back to where Victor is lying. She opens the door and,
wrapping his hand in her sweater, pulls her brother into the
car.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
Siblings are life savers.
WESLEY
They're orphans. They look after
each other.
The car zooms off. The Shadowed figure comes back, picks
up the severed thumb, calls someone on his phone and starts
talking in the background.
STEVEN
You see, Mike didn't do this, but
he helped. He gave the contact
information of a engineer with a
shady past.
The Shadowed figure tosses the thumb into the trash.
Steven smiles.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
It was someone that even Mike is
afraid of.
He pulls a crumpled piece of paper out of the trash. It
reads- "NOTICIA A LOS VENDEDORES. ELLOS QUE QUIEREN VENDER
AQUI NO PUEDEN AYUDAR LA FAMILIA DE VICTOR Y MARIA MARTINEZ.
(Signed) EL JEFE."
WESLEY
Someone that could force Mike to
cover for him.
He picks up a rock and throws it at the Shadowed Figure,
but the figure disappears and the rock slams against the
trash can. Steven turns away.
STEVEN
So what could that solar panel have
been for?
He looks down on the ground.
WESLEY
Uh, Steven.
STEVEN
It could have been a car,
He drops to the ground and examines the dirt.
WESLEY
How about a camera?
He points up to a nearby building.
STEVEN
Excellent Wesley!
On a nearby building there is a solar panel attached to the
surveillance camera.
CUT TO:
If you'd like to see what this looks like on film. Here you go! Bonus!
EXT. MEXICAN MARKET - DAY
Looking for her brother, Maria leads Steven and Wesley
through a maze of shop vendors. They finally arrive at a
beaten down shop that sells old comics. Her brother,
VICTOR, 21, is a large man who is minding the shop.
MARIA
Are you OK?
Victor is pale with pain and his left arm is bandaged
heavily. He waves a little and laughs recklessly.
VICTOR
Fine.
WESLEY
What happened to your hand?
Victor unwraps the bandages. His thumb has been cut off.
VICTOR
I play too many video games, anyway.
He throws his head back and laughs. He loses control of
himself completely.
MARIA
Victor!
WESLEY
Stop. Stop it!
He hits Victor so hard that he falls down hard. Victor
stops laughing. Maria rushes to his side and helps him up.
VICTOR
I couldn't do it anymore.
MARIA
He told them that he wouldn't break
other people hands anymore, so they
cut off his thumb.
WESLEY
Did you go to the cops?
MARIA
We can't go to them!
VICTOR
They wouldn't believe me anyway.
(beat)
I don't think that you'll even
believe me.
Steven steps forward and sits down on an empty chair. He
pulls an old pipe out of his pocket and lights it up.
STEVEN
Why don't you try telling me?
CUT TO:
EXT. MEXICAN MARKET - NIGHT
The shops have been stripped bare and the market is
deserted. Steven and Wesley are crouched behind a full
trash dumpster. Steven is examining the ground carefully.
WESLEY
Victor had been studying to become
an engineer. He's been clean for a
couple years now. What I don't
understand is why Big Mike would do
that.
STEVEN
Big Mike?
WESLEY
The guy Vic used to work for.
Mike's always been a good guy.
STEVEN
An old acquaintance?
WESLEY
Very old.
STEVEN
Were you an employee too?
Wesley stands up with ferocity, bumping his head hard on
the dumpster lid which was open above his head.
WESLEY
No. A friend.
He rubs his head.
WESLEY (CONT'D)
What are we doing here anyway?
STEVEN
Out for blood.
WESLEY
What!
STEVEN
Found it.
He dips his finger in pool of blood on the ground. It is
leaking from the bottom of the trash dumpster. He tastes
the blood.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
Yep. That's blood alright. That
poor kids thumb must be buried under
there. Towards the bottom, from the
amount that has leaked out. It's a
relief.
WESLEY
What!
STEVEN
I just didn't feel like going
through a trash dumpster again.
WESLEY
Victor didn't tell us that.
STEVEN
He didn't tell us anything...
(beat)
of value.
WESLEY
He's hiding something. How did you
know it was there?
Steven turns and walks away from the dumpster to the empty
vending grounds.
STEVEN
Why do you say that Big Mike has
always been a good guy?
WESLEY
(beat)
I don't know. There's something
about Mexicans. They take care of
family. It means something to them.
STEVEN
Exactly.
WESLEY
(beat)
Come on! You know I don't get it.
STEVEN
Mexicans care about family.
WESLEY
Is that supposed to be clever?
Because I said it first.
STEVEN
Earlier today we stood in the midst
of a busy pulga and listened to a
young man tell us about how he was
brutally attacked and injured after
turning down a job from old mob boss
the night before on this very spot.
Did you notice the curious way that
the rest of the vendors acted around
that poor engineer?
WESLEY
They didn't take any notice of him
at all.
STEVEN
That is the curious thing.
He walks off and starts digging in the dirt. Wesley
follows after him.
WESLEY
You know what? You'd make a
terrible story teller.
Steven stands up in exasperation, and walks off to a pool
of liquid in the ground.
WESLEY (CONT'D)
You still haven't said anything!
STEVEN
Mexicans take care of family! It's
something that defines what they
are, and this definition covers even
family of shop vendors.
WESLEY
They're together so long that they
form a sort of family.
Steven sniffs the liquid and gags at it. He stands up and
moves off in the opposite direction. Wesley follows after
him.
WESLEY (CONT'D)
But I still don't see how-
STEVEN
Do you need me to paint you a
picture!
Victor walks by them and up to a shadowed figure.
VICTOR
Where's Big Mike?
He glances around nervously.
VICTOR (CONT'D)
I get a message like that again,
after all this time? I'm going to
go straight. Where's Big Mike?
Wesley walks up and looks at Victor then at the shadowed
figure.
WESLEY
OK. I get that this is what
happened last night.
(to Steven)
But who is that guy?
He jerks a thumb at the shadowed figure.
STEVEN
(sniffs)
Well. You said yourself that I'm a
bad storyteller.
WESLEY
I'm sorry man.
STEVEN
There's a shadowed figure there
because I don't know who he is yet!
Victor turns away from the shadowed figure but still
addresses him.
VICTOR
I don't know who the heck you are,
but I can tell you I'm not doing
anything without Mike. I don't care
how much money you offer me to fix
that solar panel.
SHADOWED FIGURE
I can't let you walk away. You
know too much about it.
He steps towards Victor. Victor steps back, shaken.
VICTOR
What are you talking about? I
don't know anything.
WESLEY
You know he's right. He didn't
know anything.
STEVEN
He doesn't. But maybe he should.
He spreads his arms about him.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
It had to be something around here.
Solar panels can't be moved easily.
And he knew the object.
WESLEY
A solar panel.
VICTOR
A solar panel? All of this for a
solar panel? Take it easy man.
STEVEN
And he would have taken it easy, if
it had only been about a solar
panel. But solar panels are not
built for their own sakes.
WESLEY
They power something.
STEVEN
And if only that knife vendor
hadn't left a butcher knife lying on
the ground the day before.
VICTOR
What!
Victor is dismayed by this. The shadowed figure picks up a
butcher's knife from the ground from the spot that Steven
had been digging.
VICTOR (CONT'D)
No. Stop. Help!
The engineer runs away, pursued by the Shadowed Figure.
Victor stops when he reaches the dumpster. He turns and
thrashed out at his attacker. Surprised, the attacker drops
the knife. They tussle on the ground for a little bit, but
the Shadowed figure winds up on top and he pummels Victor
for a bit. Wesley steps forward, horrified.
WESLEY
He never would have been able to do
that if Vic had been in shape.
STEVEN
College has a way of making you fat.
The Shadowed Figure slams Victor's head into the side of
the dumpster. Victor holds up his hands in front of his
face. The Shadowed Figure picks up the knife, and starts to
swing. Victor moves his head out of the way, but not his
hand.
Wesley looks away. There is a thud and Victor screams.
WESLEY
OK. That's how he lost his thumb,
then he passed out. I get it. Why
didn't he finish the job?
STEVEN
Have you ever had a very old car?
Wesley waits.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
Because they are the only kind that
emit that sort of vomit.
He points to the pool of liquid he sniffed earlier. There
is an old car idling there now.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
He must have parked there, and left
it idling. Only he didn't leave it
empty.
WESLEY
Maria?
Maria peaks out from the back window where she was
crouching down. She sees her brother in trouble.
MARIA
Victor!
She climbs into the front and puts the car into gear. She
presses the gas and brings the car forward with a roar. She
can't control it very well but manages to direct it at the
Shadowed Figure. Steven and Wesley are in the way, but
Steven pulls Wesley out of the path of the car at the last
minute.
WESLEY
She's too young to drive!
STEVEN
She's Mexican.
Maria chases the Shadowed Figure off. Then reverses the
car back to where Victor is lying. She opens the door and,
wrapping his hand in her sweater, pulls her brother into the
car.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
Siblings are life savers.
WESLEY
They're orphans. They look after
each other.
The car zooms off. The Shadowed figure comes back, picks
up the severed thumb, calls someone on his phone and starts
talking in the background.
STEVEN
You see, Mike didn't do this, but
he helped. He gave the contact
information of a engineer with a
shady past.
The Shadowed figure tosses the thumb into the trash.
Steven smiles.
STEVEN (CONT'D)
It was someone that even Mike is
afraid of.
He pulls a crumpled piece of paper out of the trash. It
reads- "NOTICIA A LOS VENDEDORES. ELLOS QUE QUIEREN VENDER
AQUI NO PUEDEN AYUDAR LA FAMILIA DE VICTOR Y MARIA MARTINEZ.
(Signed) EL JEFE."
WESLEY
Someone that could force Mike to
cover for him.
He picks up a rock and throws it at the Shadowed Figure,
but the figure disappears and the rock slams against the
trash can. Steven turns away.
STEVEN
So what could that solar panel have
been for?
He looks down on the ground.
WESLEY
Uh, Steven.
STEVEN
It could have been a car,
He drops to the ground and examines the dirt.
WESLEY
How about a camera?
He points up to a nearby building.
STEVEN
Excellent Wesley!
On a nearby building there is a solar panel attached to the
surveillance camera.
CUT TO:
If you'd like to see what this looks like on film. Here you go! Bonus!
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