The Summer of Capricorn

A broken-down private detective named Joe Castle is hired to investigate the case of a missing person by a mysterious stranger. As Joe delves deeper he discovers that things aren’t what they seem, and that he might have just uncovered a serial killer that has been preying on women for decades.

Starring - Torquil Neilson - Sep Caton- Virginie Laverdure - Felicity Jurd - Lilly Bader - Isabella Rose Harvie & Special Guest Star Jeff Martin as Baron Sordor - Produced - Aaron Harvie - Natalie Harvie & Lilly Bader – Recorded at King Sound Studio - Engineer - Nick Bird – Casting - Citizen Jane Casting - Music - Il Terrori Notturni - Story - Aaron Harvie & April Hamilton – Written - Aaron Harvie – Directed - Natalie & Aaron Harvie

Transcript

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INTRODUCTION
 
 NARRATOR There’s an old, decrepit theatre down
 the end of a dark, deserted alley. The sign out front reads ‘Theatre of the Doomed’ in spidery green letters. On the thirteenth night of every month Baron Sordor throws open his theatre doors to the lucky few invited to see the show. The crowd are ushered into the theatre and take their seats, whispering in nervous expectation. Then the music starts to rise and the red velvet curtains are drawn aside. A dark figure strides to the edge of the stage and the audience gasps in a tense hush, because when the clock strikes midnight it’s time for Baron Sordor’s Theatre of the Doomed.
 (Start Piano line of Theatre of the Doomed theme music)
 BARON SORDOR Good evening honoured guests, I am
 your host Baron Vladimir Sordor, welcome to another night at the Theatre of the Doomed.
 (SFX clapping)
 BARON SORDOR (cont'd) I hope for your sake, dear audience,
 that you are prepared for what awaits you, for our show is not for the faint of heart. Tonight we will be travelling into the the darkest recesses of the human mind, to a place of nightmares where monsters lurk beneath the bed and strangers with candy wait around every corner...

SCENE 1 

(SFX nervous whispering)
 (Summer of Capricorn theme, 1st 8 bars repeat in the background)
 BARON SORDOR (cont'd) (evil chuckle)
 For tonight's show we descend into the mind of madness for a macabre tale of murder and mayhem... I present to you, dear audience, THE SUMMER OF CAPRICORN.
 (SFX clapping)

(The Summer of Capricorn theme music)
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 Plainsville. 4th of January, 1982. My name's Joe Castle. I'm a private investigator. I find missing people, whether they want to be found or not. You might have seen my ad in the paper. My office is located on the third floor of the old Chemical Bank building near the corner of 4th and West Avenue. It's a real shithole, four walls painted the colour of putty and a door. Still, it's nicer than my apartment. It was a Monday morning, two weeks after Christmas, the first time I met Gracie Anderson. I was sitting at my desk, smoking a cigarette and reading the morning paper when there was a knock at the door.(SFX knocking on a wooden door)
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Come on in, it's open.
 GRACIE ANDERSON (unsure)
 Hello? My name is Gracie Anderson, I don't have an appointment, but I was hoping I could speak to someone regarding my sister.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 She was tall, early thirties with long brown hair and bright green eyes. I kept my office dark and she stood in the doorway peering at me, unsure of who she was speaking to.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Take a seat. Name's Joe Castle.
 GRACIE ANDERSON Thank you Mr Castle... (gasp)
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 Her smile faltered as she pulled the chair out from in front of my desk. She'd seen my face. Everybody reacted like that the first time they saw my face. To tell you the truth, most people reacted a lot worse. I learned to ignore it a long time ago.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) So, you were telling me about your
 sister. What's her name?
 GRACIE ANDERSON Maliyah Nash. She went missing
 fifteen years ago. I was hoping you might be able to help me find her.

JOE CASTLE (hesitant)
 Cold case huh? Jeez, I hate to be the bearer of bad news Miss Anderson but in cases where the person's been missing for that long, there's not much chance of finding them alive.
 GRACIE ANDERSON My family and I have long since given
 up hope of finding Maliyah alive. However, we would like to find out exactly what happened to her and how she died.
 JOE CASTLE Alright, well why don't you start by
 telling me about your sister and how she disappeared.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 She nodded and fumbled with her purse for a moment before retrieving a dog- eared black and white photo. It was of Maliyah Nash posing in front of a car. She had long blonde hair parted in the middle. Her smile was familiar. She reminded me of someone.
 GRACIE ANDERSON Maliyah was 31 years old when she
 disappeared. She was married with two children and lived in our home town of Brimsdale her entire life.
 JOE CASTLE That's up north near the Winterpeak
 Mountains isn't it?
 GRACIE ANDERSON Correct Mr Castle.
 JOE CASTLE Mind me asking if she was happily married? 
GRACIE ANDERSON Her husband David was her high school
 sweetheart, they got married after graduation. As far as we knew they had a very happy marriage.

JOE CASTLE And her kids?
 GRACIE ANDERSON Riley and Grace were her whole world.
 She loved being a mother more than anything.
 JOE CASTLE You say her daughter's name was
 Grace? Is she named after you? 
GRACIE ANDERSON Yes. 
JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
I fished out a crumpled packet of cigarettes from my shirt pocket and offered her one. She declined with a polite shake of her head. I lit my cigarette from the dying ember of my last, crushing the butt in the ashtray on my desk and motioning for her to continue.
 GRACIE ANDERSON Well, just after Christmas, it was
 the 28th of December 1966, my sister left the kids with David and his parents, who were in town visiting for the holidays, and drove down to the market to go shopping.
 JOE CASTLE What was she shopping for?
 GRACIE ANDERSON She was in charge of the church bake
 sale in the new year, I think she planned on making some grand dessert for it, I can't remember what it was called, ummm... a crocker, no, a croquembouche, that's it. She was a very keen baker.
 JOE CASTLE And was your sister active in the
 local church?
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)

GRACIE ANDERSON She was. She volunteered all of her
 free time... anyway, she left home that morning but she never arrived at the market. In fact no one saw or heard from her ever again. She just vanished into thin air.
 JOE CASTLE What happened to her car? You said
 she drove to the market.
 GRACIE ANDERSON Gone, just like her.
 JOE CASTLE And how long after she disappeared
 was she reported missing?
 GRACIE ANDERSON That evening. David called the police
 when she didn't come home for dinner.
 JOE CASTLE And what did they say?
 GRACIE ANDERSON They didn't believe him, well not
 right away anyway. David was on the phone for hours before they sent someone over to the house. At first they were adamant she'd gone away and forgotten to let her family know. It wasn't until a couple of days later that they started investigating her disappearance seriously. They hauled David into the station and grilled him about his movements on the day she disappeared, as if he was a suspect. It was horrible. Then about a week later while they were performing a follow up search of her house they found evidence that they claimed proved she was having an affair and had run off with her lover to start a new life.
 JOE CASTLE What evidence?

GRACIE ANDERSON (upset)
 A note. I can't remember exactly what it said, the police in Brimsdale have got it, but it didn't prove my sister was romantically involved with anyone. Anyway, after they found the note they stopped looking for Maliyah.
 JOE CASTLE But you don't believe the police?
 GRACIE ANDERSON (upset)
 No, of course not. She wouldn't do that, just disappear and never contact her family ever again. We haven't heard from her in fifteen years, Mr Castle. Even if she was having problems with David, Maliyah would have never abandon her children. Never. Besides, my mother was battling lung cancer at the time, she wouldn't have just left and not checked in on how she was doing. They were very close.
 JOE CASTLE And your mother, how's she doing now?
 GRACIE ANDERSON (quiet)
 She passed two years after Maliyah disappeared.

JOE CASTLE
  I'm so sorry. (Joe Castle clears his throat uncomfortably) So, if she didn't run off, what do you think happened to your sister? 

GRACIE ANDERSON I think she was murdered Mr Castle.
 JOE CASTLE Why do you think that?
 GRACIE ANDERSON About five years after Maliyah
 disappeared I was contacted by Sarah Prince, she was an officer with the Huntingborough police department.

GRACIE ANDERSON (cont'd) Officer Prince had been investigating a cold case of woman named Pam Peters
 who had disappeared the year before my sister in similar circumstances. Although she didn't have the evidence to back it up, Officer Prince had the theory that a serial killer was active in the area at the time of Maliyah's disappearance. She had a working profile... white male in his early thirties, married, probably works in a position of trust in the community. She said that there was evidence linking the disappearance of four other women from nearby towns over a three-year period to the killer. Officer Prince thought my sister was number five.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 I took a long draw on my cigarette and sat back in my chair. There was something about this case that niggled at me, something that didn't feel right. But, I hadn't had a case in a while and work was work.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) My rate is fifty dollars a day, plus
 expenses. First week in advance.
 GRACIE ANDERSON So you'll take the case?
 JOE CASTLE If I do this, I do it alone, Miss
 Anderson. No interference from you or your family.
 GRACIE ANDERSON You have my word. Do you think you'll
 be able to find her?
 JOE CASTLE If she's out there, I'll find her...
 one way or another.
 GRACIE ANDERSON Thank you Mr. Castle, I'll wire the
 money to your account this afternoon. 
JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 She stood up and shook my hand before turning and walking for the door. I called out to her just before she left my office.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Just one more question. Did Officer
 Prince have a name for the killer?
 GRACIE ANDERSON She did. She called him the Capricorn Killer. 
(ominous music rises in the background)
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 The Monday night Alcoholic's Anonymous meeting was in the basement of the church of Our Ladies Merciful Heart. It wasn't all that much to look at, a circle of folding chairs, a couple of stale doughnuts and urn of bad coffee, but there was something I liked about the Monday night meeting. I never missed a week. I went to meetings most nights, in fact I spent most of my free time sipping free coffee in community halls and basements working the program. I liked the company, I liked listening to people, and quite frankly it was cheaper than buying a TV. Tonight's a busy night down in the basement of Our Ladies Merciful Heart, Monday's are always busy. I sat in the circle smoking and listening to the others share. As usual I wore a ball cap to the meeting. I pulled it low over my brow to hide my face. It was easier that way. People didn't stare so much. Most nights I came to meetings I didn't share, most nights I just sat and listened. But tonight was different. I felt out of sorts somehow, on edge and uneasy.

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) So when they asked if anyone else wanted to share I put up my hand.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) My name's Joe and I'm an alcoholic.
 AA MEMBERS (in chorus)

Hi Joe. 

JOE CASTLE It's been ten years and three months
 since my last drink. Tonight, I suppose I wanna talk about how I got here. Those of you who've heard me share before know I suffer from amnesia. Guess that really make me anonymous, huh?
 AA MEMBERS (SFX scattered laughter) 

JOE CASTLE But seriously, I think that having
 amnesia is the reason why I do what I do. Helping find missing people makes me feel complete. It fills the hole amnesia left in my life, a hole I used to try and fill with alcohol. I guess in a way I hope that one day, when I'm looking for that missing person I might find myself out there too. Anyway, I owe this program a lot, just like I owe the doctors who got me here a lot. They found me in an alley eleven years ago, drunk and dying with burns to eighty percent of my body. Doctors told me a bunch of kids had doused me with lighter fluid and set me on fire. To tell you the truth, I don't know what happened. I was in a coma for a long time. Funny thing is, I spent so many years in a drunken haze on the streets before I was attacked, I don't even remember forgetting who I was in the first place. Apparently I'd been homeless for years with no memory of who I used to be. It's all a blur to me.

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) But luckily the doctors at the
 hospital put me back together again, they fixed my broken body, gave a me a name and an identity, and coming here and getting sober, well you all gave me a purpose, something to live for. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm grateful. Grateful to be alive and grateful for another day sober. I pray that God keeps giving me the strength to go on so I can continue to be grateful for all I've been given. Thanks for letting me share.
 AA MEMBERS (SFX scattered clapping) 

JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 At the end of the meeting I stayed back and helped clean up, then followed the others out to the street. I made small talk for awhile then watched them peel off one by one back to their own lives till it was only me. It was cold out and I snapped the collar of my overcoat against the icy wind as I started for home. The neighbourhood I live in was dying, most of the shops I passed were dark, or boarded up or abandoned. It was a fifteen minute walk till I reached home, an old, derelict boarding house with a blinking green neon sign outside that read 'PLAINSVILLE BOARDING. GENTLEMEN ONLY.'. I opened the door and went inside. The lobby smelled of piss. A vagrant snored loudly from an armchair near the vacant front desk. I made my way up the stairwell to the third floor then down to my room at the end of the hall. It was tiny, just like my office. A single bed, a mirror and a sink. I turned on the light, removed my hat and coat and sat down on the edge of my bed. This is when it was the loneliest, when I felt like drinking the most, sitting alone in this shitty room staring at the wall.

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) After a while I laid back in bed and
 waited for sleep to take me. And just like I did every night I prayed I wouldn't dream the same nightmare I dreamed every night for the past ten years. But as soon as I closed my eyes it returned to haunt me again...
 (The Crystal Shallows music)
 STRANGE VOICE (V.O.)
It is winter and a blanket of pristine white covers the ground. Snow laden pines and spruce stretch off in every direction, their arms heavy with ice. I am standing in water on the edge of the lake. It is bitterly cold. Someone is screaming, a woman. She sounds desperate, feral even. The air is charged, I can feel the violence in the crackle like electricity. The woman is drowning in front of me, struggling to keep her head above the icy water. I reach out to help her, I grab at her arms, but every time I do she is pulled down into the dark depths. I call her name over and over again, fighting to save her with all my might, but there is nothing I can do, and she simply disappears beneath the waves, lost beneath the cold, grey water.
(The Crystal Shallows music ends)
JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
I wake with start, the sheets soaked with sweat. My heart is racing. I can't tell if I've been screaming or not. It's almost dawn, I can see the grey light of sunrise outside my window. The nightmare retreats back into my broken mind and I get up and walk to the sink, splashing cold water on my face. Then I look in the mirror. What's left of my of my twisted and scared face looks back at me. But I don't see that. I don't see that my
nose has fused with my cheek or that my skin is so badly burnt it looks like melted candle wax. My mind a million miles away. I'm trying to remember the woman's name I was calling in the dream. But for the life of me, I can't remember a thing.
(haunting music rises in the background)

JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
Brimsdale is a long way from Plainsville, almost seven hours drive by car. I didn't have a whole lot to go on in the case. There rarely was, investigating a person that's been missing for all that time. Gracie Anderson mentioned that Maliyah's former husband David Nash had stayed in town and remarried after his wife had disappeared, so I decided to start there. Luckily he was the only David Nash in the phone book. When I called the conversation was standoffish and tense but he agreed to meet me at his house the following day at two. I spent the rest of the day calling around to the local law enforcement, hoping to glean some more information about the case. But as usual I was met with the a wall of silence. Cops didn't like people in my line of work. I left before dawn the following day. The drive was long, the countryside endlessly bleak. It was past one by the time I reached the outskirts of Brimsdale. It was a sleepy little town, tucked away in the foothills of the Winterpeak Mountains. It was the kind of place you didn't have to lock your door at night and everybody knew each others name.

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) It was the kind of place where a
 woman like Maliyah Nash could never, ever disappear in broad daylight. After I checked in to the local bed and breakfast I drove over to David Nash's house. When I knocked on the door it was answered by a dark haired woman with a pinched face and eyes that were too close together.

DAWN NASH Hello? 

JOE CASTLE Yeah hi, Mrs Nash is it? I'm Joe
 Castle, we spoke on the phone.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) (V.O.)
 A little kid appeared behind her, no more than eight years old, hiding in her mothers dress.
 LEIA NASH Mummy, what's wrong with that man's face? 

DAWN NASH Hush now child, go to your room.
 Sorry about that, please, come in Mr Castle. I'm David 's wife, Dawn.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 I followed her into the house. It was poorly kept and untidy. The smell of stewed cabbage, cigarettes and stale alcohol were in the air. David Nash was sitting on the couch in the living room watching football, the coffee table in front of him littered with empty beer cans. He didn't get up as I came into the room.
 DAWN NASH Can I get you something Mr Castle? A
 cup coffee, water maybe?
 JOE CASTLE No thanks, I'm fine.
 DAVID NASH I'll take another beer.

JOE CASTLE Thanks for taking the time to see me
 David. Do you mind if I call you David?
 DAVID NASH (snaps)
 That's my name isn't it?
 JOE CASTLE Well, I won't take up too much of
 your time. I'm here investigating the disappearance of your wife Maliyah...
 DAVID NASH I know what her name is.
 JOE CASTLE Of course you do. Anyway I just
 wanted to ask...
 DAVID NASH (annoyed)
 Why the hell are you bringing this up after all this time?
 JOE CASTLE I was hired to try and locate your wife by her sister Gracie Anderson
 and her family.
 DAVID NASH (angry)
 I should'a know. Goddamed pain in the ass. As if they haven't got enough of my shit already.
 JOE CASTLE I'm sorry David, what do you...
 DAVID NASH (upset)
 The police already solved this case, years ago. She ran off with some fella, everybody knows it. But her fucking family won't accept it, not their perfect daughter Maliyah...
 DAWN NASH David... the baby can hear you.

JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 Dawn came back in the room carrying a tray with a glass of water and a beer. She she set the drinks down on the coffee table, then sat on the couch next to her husband, holding his hand and trying to calm him down.
 DAWN NASH Sorry Mr Castle, but we try not to
 talk about the past too much, David gets awful upset sometimes.
 JOE CASTLE I understand. I'll keep this brief.
 David, can you just walk me through what happened the day Maliyah disappeared.
 DAVID NASH (takes a deep calming
 breath) Sure. It was a couple of days after Christmas. My folks were in town for the holidays. They were planning to stay till New Years then take the kids back up with them to their place for a week or so. Maliyah and I were having some problems at the time so I was hoping to get a few days alone together, to try and sort it out.
 JOE CASTLE Do you mind if I ask what you were
 fighting about?
 DAVID NASH I was pretty convinced she was having an affair. 
JOE CASTLE What made you think that?
 DAVID NASH You've been married long enough you
 learn to see the signs. She'd been distant for a while, secretive, always had somewhere else she needed to be. We used to do things together as a family but in the last few months before she ran off she was always busy with something at the church.  I remember I heard her once talking on the phone, whispering really. When I asked her who it was she said it was her mother but I knew she was lying. I could see it in her eyes.
 JOE CASTLE Really... go on.
 DAVID NASH Anyway, she was going to be doing so
 kind of fundraiser at the the church when the kids were supposed to be away, some kind of fancy version of a bake sale or something and she wanted to practice making these French pastries...
 JOE CASTLE A croquembouche.
 DAVID NASH That's the one. So said she had to head to the store and pick up some
 stuff, then head over to the church to help the pastor with something or other, I don't quite remember what it was. Anyway, she said she was going to be back by three. I took my parents and the kids out for lunch. I didn't think much of it that she was late. I thought she must have got held up or something. I got worried when she missed dinner, when she wasn't home to put the kids to bed, I knew there was something wrong. I started calling around to the church and her friends asking if they'd seen her. They all said no. Then I called my buddies dad who owned the market. He said he hadn't seen her either. That's when I called the police.
 JOE CASTLE Gracie tells me you were a suspect for a while. 

DAVID NASH Yeah. That was hard. Not just on me,
 but the kids too. At first they were real helpful, I'd go out searching with them, helping anyway I could. Then it was like a switch flicked or something and they started questioning me about every little thing. By that time Maliyah's parents had come down to help. When the police started looking at me as a suspect, you could tell they believed them. Ended up they took Riley and Grace to live with them.
 JOE CASTLE Do you still see your children David?
 DAVID NASH (on the verge of
 tears) No. Not for twelve years. Their grandparents poisoned them against me. They'd be in their twenties now...
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 David started to cry and he took a long drink of his beer. I waited till he'd calmed down before I continued.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) (apologetic)
 I'm so sorry to bring all this up. I've only got a couple more questions.

DAVID NASH  Sure. 

JOE CASTLE Gracie told me about a note that they found. 

DAVID NASH Yeah, that changed everything. The police were searching the house for the third or forth time, I dunno. They were looking for something to put me away, something they could use to prove I'd killed her. Anyway they found a false bottom in Maliyah's jewellery box. There was a note in there. A love letter. That's when they figured out she'd run off and left us.

JOE CASTLE What did the note say? Do you remember? 

DAVID NASH Yeah. It said 'Jesus loves you and so
 do I'. A few days later they closed the investigation. With the evidence I'd given them and the love letter, it was obvious what had happened.
 JOE CASTLE If I could just ask...
 DAVID NASH It's time for you to go Mr Castle. I
 think we've answered more than enough of your questions.
 JOE CASTLE Of course. Thank you both for your time. 

DAVID NASH Can I give you a word of advice?

JOE CASTLE  Sure. 

DAVID NASH You need to leave sleeping dogs lie. Call up Gracie and tell her she needs to accept the truth. I mean, what kind of person runs out on their husband and kids and doesn't so much as call or write even a goddamn letter for fifteen years? She made her choice Mr Castle, she got her new life. Maybe it's time for the rest of us who had to pick up the pieces get a chance to live ours too.


 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 It was close to four by the time I got back into town. I was beat so I stopped at the Starlight Diner on Main street, bought a pack of smokes and a cup of coffee and thought about the case. Neither David Nash or Gracie Anderson were lying, at least not that I could tell, but they both believed different versions of the same story. That was emotion over logic. See it all the time. Problem was, their versions of the truth was all I had to go on. I needed to speak to the police, see what ever evidence was left. After fifteen years I was sure it wasn't going to be a lot. But if there were answers out there, if I had any chance of finding out what happened to Maliyah Nash, best chance was finding out what the police know. I finished up and paid the tab then crossed the street and pushed open the glass double doors of the Brimsdale Police Department.

 SARGENT JENNY SNEED Can I help you?
 JOE CASTLE Hi. My name's Joe Castle, I'm a
 Private Investigator from Plainsville. I was hoping I could speak to one of your detectives regarding a cold case I'm looking into.
 SARGENT JENNY SNEED You the guy that called yesterday?

JOE CASTLE  That's me. 

SARGENT JENNY SNEED Sorry. Everyone's busy. You're going to have to come back another time.
JOE CASTLE That's alright, I'm happy to wait. I'll just take a seat over here till someone's available. Tell me, is the Sheriff in today?
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) (V.O.)
 The duty Sargent gave me a greasy look, then picked up the phone and thumbed the intercom button. It was almost shift change, and you could tell he just wanted to get home.

DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE (intercom voice)
 Yeah Jenny, what do ya need?
 SARGENT JENNY SNEED I've got someone here who wants to speak to you. A private detective.
 DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE (intercom voice)
 Jesus, really Jenny? I'm packing up to go home.
 SARGENT JENNY SNEED This one ain't going away.
 DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE (intercom voice
 exasperated) Alright, send him in.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 The desk Sargent pressed the buzzer and I made my way through the main door into the precinct.
 (SFX door buzzer)
 SARGENT JENNY SNEED First door on your right.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 Detective Colin Poole was siting at his desk in a glass walled office packing up for the night. He was a big man, so big he could barely fit in his chair. When he saw me he did a double take, then put on a bad attempt at a smile.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Detective Poole? I'm Joe Castle.
 DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE Close the door and take a seat.
 JOE CASTLE Thanks for seeing me. 
DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE You're a private dick, huh? Where you from? 
JOE CASTLE Plainsville. 
DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE Oh yeah? You on the job down there?
JOE CASTLE No. 
DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE (stiffens up) I see. Well, what can I do for you?
 JOE CASTLE The family of Maliyah Nash has asked me to look into her disappearance. Are you familiar with the case?
 DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE Jesus when was that, twenty years ago? 

JOE CASTLE Fifteen. I was hoping you might let
 me take a look at the case files, maybe see any of the evidence you might still have on...
 DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE Alright, slow down there Mr Castle. From what I recollect, the Nash case is still an open investigation and I'm not inclined to discuss the specifics with a member of the public at this time. Now if the situation were to change somehow...
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) Detective Poole smiled then raised his eyebrows knowingly. It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand what he was driving at. He was about a subtle as a brick through a window. I nodded my head and he punched the intercom on his phone.  

DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE Officer Green?
 OFFICER GREEN (intercom) Yessir? 

DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE Go down to records and bring me up everything we've got on the Nash case right away?
 OFFICER GREEN (intercom) Yessir. 

JOE CASTLE (V.O.) He smiled at me greedily then grunted as he pushed himself up from his desk and walked over and dropped the blinds.
DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE It's twenty to five. I'm gonna go down to the break room, grab a cup of coffee before I clock off. You got till I get back to pull whatever information you need. Now, I want you to listen and listen good. Nothing leaves this room, not a photo, not a report, nothing, not even a goddamn paper clip, you got that?

JOE CASTLE Yeah. 

DETECTIVE COLIN POOLE And when I come back there better be an envelope with one hundred dollars in my top desk draw or I'm gonna come looking for you.

JOE CASTLE No problem. 

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) (V.O.) Detective Poole gave me one last sideways glance before he waddled out of his office. It was five minutes before Officer Green arrived with the Nash evidence. It was about what I expected, an evidence box and a couple of files. I started with the files. Interviews, witness statements, financials, phone records... it was pretty comprehensive. Three things stood out to me. The first was David Nash's version of Maliyah's disappearance, which for the most part matched the police report. However, he had forgotten to mention a domestic disturbance that had been filed against him by a neighbour after a heated argument with his wife two days before she disappeared. The second was two phone calls made to the Nash house from a payphone in the nearby town of Blackwater the day Maliyah went missing. The third was the Nash's bank accounts. Maliyah hadn't accessed them since she allegedly ran off with her lover. Not once. I check the box next. There was nothing of interest except for the note. It read: Jesus loves you, And I do too. What David had failed to mention was the valediction written beneath. Forever R.K. Who the hell was R.K? And why hadn't anyone mentioned those initials to me before?
 (ominous music rises in the background)

 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) I pack up the evidence and stack it neatly on the detective's desk then I leave one hundred dollars in his top draw. You don't want to fuck with people like Colin Poole, he was the kind of person that would go out of his way to make your life a living hell. It's getting dark by the time I leave the police station. I think about getting something to eat but my stomach is in knots. I'm nervous for some reason, on edge. Normally, I'd go to a meeting if I felt like this, but the closest one was in Huntingborough, which is more than fifty miles away. I decide to go over to the local church, St. Jude's instead. It's quiet there. I need a place to think. Besides, no one points and stares at you in church. I can be anonymous there. I slide into one of the pews in the back of the room and start to go over the details of the case in my head. At first I was inclined to believe the police's version of events, the truth that David Nash was so desperately clinging to. But after looking at the evidence something feels off. Then I start thinking about something David had said when I interviewed him... "What kind of person runs out on their husband and kids and doesn't call or even write a letter for fifteen years?" Thing is that people leave their families all the time, marriages break up. But they don't just walk away from everything they know and love, start a new life and never contact anyone ever again. Not unless they're running away from something. People take what they're owed and then some, that's what divorces are all about. It seemed pretty obvious that something bad had happened to Maliyah. So why were the police and Maliyah's husband so desperate to believe she'd run off with someone? Was it pride? Brimsdale is a small town. The kind of place that you don't have to lock your doors at night and a woman like Maliyah Nash could never disappear in broad daylight.  As scandalous as it was, maybe it was easier for them to believe that she had run off rather than face the horrible truth that her husband, or even worse, a perfect stranger had come into their little town and murdered her while she was shopping for the church bake sale. So, if Maliyah was dead, then this case was not about finding a missing person, it was about finding who killed her and why. Was it David Nash? There was enough to make him a suspect. He admitted that he and Maliyah were having problems, there was even a report of a domestic dispute and evidence she was having an affair. Thing is though, in the police report, he had a rock solid alibi. He took his parents and his kids out to lunch. Dozens of people saw him. So unless he hired someone else to do it, which was an impossibility when you look at their finances, David Nash was innocent. Which leaves the writer of the love note, the mysterious R.K. Did he have something to do with Maliyah's disappearance? Was he the mystery caller? Too many questions and not enough answers. By the time I get back to my shitty Bed and Breakfast my brain feels like oatmeal. Right now, there's only two things I know for sure. One... there is more to this case than anyone's telling me and two, Maliyah Nash is most definitely dead. 

INTERLUDE 

(The Summer of Capricorn theme music)
 BARON SORDOR Salutations honoured guests, I trust you are enjoying your evening at the Theatre of the Doomed.
(SFX clapping)
 BARON SORDOR (cont'd) While I'm sure you are eager to
 continue on your journey with Mr. Castle and his search for the Capricorn Killer we are obliged at this moment to offer a brief intermission so that some of the more craven members of the audience might have a chance to gather their wits, bolster their courage and prepare themselves for the horrors that await. So please, take the time to get yourself a refreshment while we enjoy a few words from our sponsors...

 (The Summer of Capricorn theme music)

JOE CASTLE (V.O.) I wake up late. It's past ten when I open my eyes. I never sleep in, not ever, in fact most nights I barely sleep at all. Something's wrong, I can feel it. I had that dream again about the lady in the lake. Even though I can't remember her face or her name, her panicked screams still ring in my ears. I feel like my insides are tied up in knots. Something terrible is about to happen, I just don't know the how or the why. A cup of coffee and a couple of cigarettes calm my nerves, then it's back to the case. Gracie Anderson said her sister was murdered. Looking at the evidence I'm inclined to agree with her. So I decide to follow up Officer Prince and her serial killer theory. It still sounded far fetched to me, but it was better than anything else I had to go on. Price is retired now. We organize to meet at a diner near Huntingborough at noon the following day. There's not much more I can do here in Brimsdale, the trail is cold. I decide to do some research of my own into Sarah Prince's theory before meeting with her. I head to Brimsdale library and ask for any information they might have on murders and missing persons in the mountain area all the way back to 1960. Thankfully the librarian is helpful. He says that while their records are not on microfilm I am more than welcome to go through their archive copies of the local paper, The Brimsdale Bugle. He sets me up in a private room and I begin to go through the mountainous stacks of newsprint. I start at today and work backwards. It's laborious, mind numbing work. Pile after pile of newsprint, enough to send me blind. Luckily, it's easy to scan quickly. There's not a lot of murders or missing people, it's mostly drunks driving off the road and teenage runaways. Nothing that really fits what I'm looking for. It's not till around three in the afternoon that I find the stories about Maliyah's disappearance. That was big news in Brimsdale and it dominates the headlines for months. Then I find another one. Pam Peters who went missing in Huntingborough, early 1965. Then another. Leah Myers disappeared from Barnton at the start of 1964. Then another the same year just before Christmas. Lillie Cole, a young mother from Cliffbury. Just before the library closes I find one more. Tara Mullen. She disappeared from Blackwater in 1963. Then I look at the dates these women disappeared. Every single one was between the 22nd of December and the 20th of January... the same dates as the astrological sign of Capricorn. A chill runs down my spine. This could be the break I've been searching for.

(ominous music rises in the background)

JOE CASTLE (V.O) It's bang on noon when I arrive at Cup o' Joe's on the highway, just outside of Huntingborough. Sarah Prince is already there waiting for me. She's sitting towards the back of the diner, a thick folder on the table in front of her. She's about my age with thick glasses and long black hair pulled back in a tight bun. She smiles at me as I walk in and motions me over to join her. As I approach the table I notice Sarah Prince is confined to a wheelchair. 

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Thanks for meeting me, can I get you something? 
SARAH PRINCE Another coffee would be good.
 JOE CASTLE Excuse me, Miss? Can we get two coffee's over here please?
 WAITRESS Sure thing, how'd you like 'em?
 SARAH PRINCE Black again for me please.
 JOE CASTLE Cream and four sugars.

SARAH PRINCE (laughs) Sweet tooth, huh? Does the spoon stand up on it's own when you try and stir it?
 JOE CASTLE Something like that.
 SARAH PRINCE So... you're here to talk about the Capricorn. 

JOE CASTLE Well, as you know I've been looking
 into the disappearance of Maliyah Nash for the Anderson family. Gracie told me that you'd spoken to her about the similarities of her sisters case and a homicide you were investigating.
 SARAH PRINCE Such a tragedy.
 JOE CASTLE Look, I'm not going to lie, at first
 the idea that a serial killer might have been involved in the case seemed a bit far fetched... no offence.

SARAH PRINCE None taken. 

JOE CASTLE But now I've had the chance to go over the evidence and do some digging of my own, well, I can say there's definitely a chance these could all be related.
 SARAH PRINCE A chance?(scoffs)Look, I was one of the officers investigating the disappearance of Pam back in '65. Unlike those jokers over in Brimsdale, we worked the case as a homicide from the very beginning. In my mind, there was no way she'd just run off and left her family. Pam was a happily married mother of four who worked as a teacher at the local school.

SARAH PRINCE (cont'd) Her family were upstanding citizens,
 they were members of the Lions Club and parishioners of the local church, it just made no sense to treat this case as anything but a murder.
 JOE CASTLE What happened to her?
 SARAH PRINCE Pretty similar to what happened to
 the case you're investigating. On the morning of January 10 Pam Peter's told her family she was going to meet with a minister at the church for the afternoon. She was never seen again. No leads. No witnesses. When we spoke to the church they told us they'd never even spoken to Pam about a meeting. The investigation went nowhere and after a six months it was filed as a cold case.
 JOE CASTLE So how'd you go from a cold case to a  serial killer? What happened?
 SARAH PRINCE Maliyah Nash happened. I remember
 reading about her in the paper. The details of the case were almost identical. So I started digging into other unsolved cases. There were five I found between '63 and '66. Then they end as abruptly as they began. All of the women were aged between 28 and 35 and married. All of them were involved with their local church. All of them disappeared between the 22nd of December and the 20th of January. None of their bodies have even been found.
JOE CASTLE (V.O.) She opens the file on the table in front of her and lays out the pictures of the five missing women.
 SARAH PRINCE And all of them look the same. Young, pretty, with long blonde hair parted in the middle.

JOE CASTLE (amazed)  I never noticed that before. How did I miss that? Jesus, these women could be sisters. So tell me, why didn't the detectives in Brimsdale follow this up?
 SARAH PRINCE I spoke to the police in Brimsdale,
 but they weren't interested. None of the other precincts were. In fact, they refused to discuss their cases or share evidence with me. It was a real boys club back then, still is. I'm sure me being a woman didn't help.
 JOE CASTLE What about your superiors here in Huntingborough, couldn't they convince them to co-operate?
 SARAH PRINCE They were about a interested as Brimsdale was. The official line in the Peter's case was that the department would follow up any and all viable leads but didn't have the resources to chase down unsubstantiated theories. So, I started investigating in my own time.
 JOE CASTLE But why? This is more than a coincidence, it's a pattern, a serial killers pattern. Anyone can see that.
 SARAH PRINCE What can I tell you, policing was different back then. A lot of small town police simply didn't want to believe something like this could happen in their jurisdiction. Plus, there was a whole macho attitude about the victims. Most times if a woman went missing, the mindset was that she must have done something to cause it. There's a lot of lost souls out there because of that, still waiting for justice.

JOE CASTLE So what happened with your investigation?
 SARAH PRINCE This happened. I got shot trying to
 stop a hold up in a liquor store about a year after Maliyah Nash went missing. Bullet severed my spine. I spent a couple of years in hospital, a few more in rehabilitation before I retired from the force on a medical. By then there was no case. The Capricorn killer hadn't raised his head in years. I tried to continue to investigate on my own but a lack of money and my ongoing health problems prevented me from doing too much. About five years after Gracie Anderson's sister disappeared I called and told her about my theory. I don't know why, I guess I hoped she might be able to do something more with it than I could.
 JOE CASTLE So is there anything else you can tell me? Have you got any idea who he is?
 SARAH PRINCE None. If I were you I'd start in Blackwater, where it all began. I don't if he's still living there any more, but back in the day there was a Sargent named Henry Higgins at the precinct there. He was a decent guy and could still probably help you out. Here, I want you to have this, it's is everything I've got on the Capricorn killer.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) Sarah Prince gathers up the photos from the table, puts them back in the case file and slides it across the table.
 SARAH PRINCE Hopefully it'll help you catch the son of a bitch, bring some closure to those poor the families.

(ominous music rises in the background)
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) Part of me wants to stay in Huntingborough tonight. They have an A.A. group here and I could attend a meeting. I need to go to a meeting. But the snow clouds up on Winterpeak Mountain looked dark and ominous and all it took was one good storm and Blackwater could be cut off from the rest of the world for days. I couldn't wait that long. Even though the case was cold I felt like I was getting closer to the truth. I decide not to risk it. I head back to my car and start the long drive up the mountain. It's slow going, the roads are perilously narrow. They twist and turn and hairpin, beyond the guard rail is a dead drop into a rocky abyss. The closer I get to Blackwater the more the feeling of impending doom twists in my gut like a knot. Something very bad is going to happen. I know it now. Outside the car window everything looks cold and dying. The trees are grey, their tortured and twisted branches reach up to the sky as if in agony.
 (ominous music rises in the background)
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)
 Blackwater is an old mining town, no bigger than a main street and a couple of blocks of houses. I'm anxious now, my hands are shaking, everything looks like I've seen it before. I park in front of a little pancake place on the main street and get out of my car. It's bitterly cold, the sky above is the colour of iron and heavy with snow clouds. The air is charged, like the moment before a storm. I need a drink more than I've ever needed anything. Am I close? Is the Capricorn here? Is this why I'm feeling this way? Everybody looks in my direction as I push through the double doors and into the restaurant. I ignore the stares, order a cup of coffee and a pack of smokes then go round the back to use the phone. Gracie Anderson picks up after the second ring.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Gracie? 

GRACIE ANDERSON (phone voice) Mr Castle. It's been awhile. I was starting to get worried. How's the case going, any leads on my sister?
 JOE CASTLE Sorry I haven't been in touch sooner,
 been busy. Look, as hard as it might be to hear, I called to tell you that I think you're right... about your sister.
GRACIE ANDERSON (phone voice) She's dead? 

JOE CASTLE I've spoken to her husband David as  well as the police. I got a look at what they had on the case. I think they got it wrong, just like you said. I think something bad happened to Maliyah.
 GRACIE ANDERSON (phone voice) The serial killer?
 JOE CASTLE Maybe. I met with Sarah Prince today. She's put together some compelling evidence.
GRACIE ANDERSON (phone voice) Alright. So what now?
 JOE CASTLE Well, I'm in Blackwater at the moment. That's where the first lady, Tara Mullen, disappeared. I'm going to start digging, see what I can find. Most of these cops can be bought off pretty cheap and from what I understand they didn't collaborate or share evidence when the crimes were happening. Hopefully, if I push hard enough, something might come loose.
 GRACIE ANDERSON (phone voice) Spend what you need to Mr Castle, just please, find out what happened to Maliyah.
 JOE CASTLE I'll be in contact in a couple of days when I have more.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) (V.O.) I hang up and look for a listing for Henry Higgins in the phone book. There's nothing. Still, I feel like I'm close, a breakthrough... something. I head back to the counter, lighting a smoke and slurping down my coffee. I'll head over to the police station first thing in the morning, see if someone can give me a lead on Higgins. See if maybe they can be persuaded to share their files with me. The clock says it's just past five. I'm on edge. I need to go to a meeting. Fuck. I should've stayed in Huntingborough. I finish my coffee and and ask the waitress where the closest church is. She tells me St. Anthony's is one block over. I thank her, pay the tab and head back out into the cold. I need to get my head straight. I need some peace an quiet to think. I head back to the car, grab Sarah Prince's case file and head over to the church.

(ominous music rises in the background)

 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)  St. Anthony's Church is a white, timber framed building with a black shingled steeple and a big, brass bell. The front door is painted emerald green and it's open. I walk inside. The chapel is long and brightly lit from leadlight windows. It smells strongly of frankincense and myrrh. The chapel is empty and my footsteps echoed loudly as I enter. There was something about this place. I sit down on one of the pews at the back and wring my hands tightly in my lap. The feeling to drink is overwhelming. But there's something more though, something I can't put my finger on. I close my eyes and whisper the serenity prayer to myself...
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the
 wisdom to know the difference, living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; taking this world as it is and not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I sur...
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) (V.O.) I open my eyes as I pray, looking around the quaint little chapel. The statue of Mary and child is in an alcove near the front. Christ crucified beneath the grand window at the far end of the chapel. A wooden plaque on the far wall... I freeze, my eyes wide, my mouth agape. The plaque. I stand up and walk closer reading it again, not able to believe what my eyes are seeing.

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) But it's real. I read it out loud so I could hear myself say the words.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Jesus loves you. And I do too. Pastor Randall Knell.
 FATHER DANIEL (clears his throat)
 Welcome my son, can I help you with something.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) The priests voice scared the living shit out of me. It takes all of my control not to swear out loud. I turn around with my hand clasping my chest, my heart in my throat. He recoils when he sees me then regains his composure and smiles a beautific smile.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Sorry Father, you scared me half to death. 
FATHER DANIEL It's quite alright. Are you new here?
 JOE CASTLE Just passing through. Father, the
 plaque... who is Pastor Randall Knell?
 FATHER DANIEL Oh, well. Well, that's a sad story.
 Pastor Knell served our congregation for ten years. Sadly, he took his own life. Such a tragedy, abandoning his wife and child. While we at the church regard suicide as a mortal sin, Pastor Kneel was always a good and decent man, so I keep his favourite saying here as a reminder to us all.
 JOE CASTLE Look father, I'm a private detective.
 I'm investigating a missing persons case from fifteen years ago in Brimsdale. I'm in town following up some leads that might link my case to some others from around the area.

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about Pastor Knell?
 FATHER DANIEL (hesitant)Sorry, Mr...  
JOE CASTLE Castle. You can call me Joe.
 FATHER DANIEL Well, while I'd like to help, I don't know if I feel comfortable discussing...
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) I fish out my wallet from my jacket pocket and produce two crisp fifty dollar notes. JOE CASTLE (cont'd) For the poor box. Please Father.
 FATHER DANIEL Alright, but not here. Please, come to my office. 

(ominous music rises in the background)

 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) Father Daniel's office is well lit, and extremely neat. He offers me a seat then pours himself a whisky and offers me one too. I decline.
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Mind if I smoke?
 FATHER DANIEL Of course not.
 JOE CASTLE So, tell me about Pastor Knell.

FATHER DANIEL Alright. Well, as I said, Randall was the Pastor of this church for almost ten years. He was married, I understand he and his wife went to high school together, and he had a daughter. I was transferred here in late 1966. At the time Pastor Knell was having some personal problems and was pulling back from a lot of his duties with the church.
 JOE CASTLE Do you mind if I ask what kind of problems? 

FATHER DANIEL (clears his throat) This is a little uncomfortable. Ummm, well, it seems that Randall's wife Deborah had been conducting an affair with a man living in the town at the time, I believe his name was David Griffon. Now this was back in 1963. Unfortunately for Randall and his family, details of her affair became, well, let's just say it was quite the scandal around town. Randall of course forgave his wife, like any good Christian would, however, it was common knowledge that the two continued their liaison after they were discovered. Quite brazenly apparently. Regrettably, Pastor Knell was the subject of a lot of cruel and unnecessary ridicule from some of the townsfolk after that. We believe he took his life just before Christmas that year. We kept it out of the papers, for the sake of his family. While no body was ever found, the police did locate his car which was abandoned near Crystal Shallows, a mountain lake about five miles from town.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) My hands felt clammy and my heart was beating out of my chest.

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Can you tell me Father, was Pastor
 Knell active with the churches in the surrounding communities?
 FATHER DANIEL Why yes he was. He did a yearly faith
 based program for Christian Housewives at ministries all over the area. It was a huge success. The housewives loved it, they came from all around.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) Everything fit. The dates. His involvement with the church. The outreach program. Was Pastor Randall Knell the Capricorn killer?
 FATHER DANIEL Well, I hope that was helpful.
 JOE CASTLE Sorry Father, if you don't mind, just one more question. Do you have a photo of Pastor Knell at all?
 FATHER DANIEL Why yes I do. Give me a moment, it's around here somewhere.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) Father Daniel opens his top draw, sorts through it for a moment then checks the one underneath. He smiles and produces a small leather bound photo album and proceeds to open page after page of old snapshots till he stops at one. He pries a photograph from its mount and hands it to me. The image is black and white. A photo of a family standing in front of the church. Father, mother and daughter. The girl Kimberly is young, no more than eight years old. Randall Knell looks unassuming, totally unremarkable. You wouldn't look twice at it in the mirror or pass him on the street and even notice. Totally forgettable. It was Deborah Knell that I couldn't stop staring at.

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Tell me Father, does Pastor Knell's
 family still live here in Blackwater?
 FATHER DANIEL No, they moved away years ago.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) I can't stop looking at the photo of Deborah Knell. My hands are shaking. I open Sarah Prince's case file and find the picture of Tara Mullen then place them side by side. They're exactly the same.
 FATHER DANIEL My word, I never knew they looked that alike. 

JOE CASTLE Do you know know this woman Father?
 FATHER DANIEL Well not personally, but everyone in
 Blackwater knows about poor Tara Mullen. You know that she was best friends with Deborah Knell back in high school.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) The other shoe drops. The Capricorn Killer is Randall Knell. There's no doubt in my mind. I want to call Gracie Anderson and tell her that he's the one that killed her sister. That he was meeting them through his outreach program and murdering women that reminded him of his wife in some kind of sick act of revenge. But I don't have the proof. Yet. But it was out there waiting for me, and I knew where I needed to go. I leave the church and look up at the sky. There's about an hour of daylight left. I get in my car and drive to Crystal Shallows.

(The Crystal Shallows Music rises)

 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) It's twilight when I arrive at Crystal Shallows. I get out of the car. It's like walking into a dream. The lake stretches off into the distance, a blanket of pristine white covers the ground. Snow laden pines and spruce stretch off in every direction, their arms heavy with ice. Off in the distance, a small, rocky island juts out of the grey water. I walk like I'm in a trance. It's a dream. It's my dream. I almost expect to hear the screams from the woman I'm trying to save from drowning in the lake. It takes me a moment to notice I'm not alone. There's a car parked off near the trees at the edge of the clearing and the silhouette of a lone figure standing at the waters edge.

 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) Hello? The figure turns and looks at me. I know her face. Why do I know her face?
 KIMBERLY KNELL Can I help you?
 JOE CASTLE My name's Joe Castle, I'm a private
 investigator. You're... you're Kimberly Knell... aren't you?
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) (V.O.) She sees my face. But it's different. When people see me they recoil or stare just a little bit too long before averting their eyes. But she doesn't. She looks at me like she knows me.

KIMBERLY KNELL Have we met? 
 JOE CASTLE I don't think so. Look, I'm sorry.
 I'm investigating...
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) (V.O.)
 I can't go on... something's happening. I'm having a panic attack. My hands are shaking, my palms are sweating and my life is flashing before my eyes...
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) You're Randall Knell's daughter aren't you? 

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) (V.O.) My head feels like ginger ale. I can't tell what's real, from what's a dream.
 KIMBERLY KNELL Yes. 

JOE CASTLE What... what are you doing here?
 JOE CASTLE (cont'd) (V.O.)  She looks ready to run. I must look crazy to her. Still, she looks at me like she knows me.
 KIMBERLY KNELL It's the anniversary of my fathers death. He took his life right here
 fifteen years ago. I come here every year to remember him.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) All of a sudden, my mind is hit like a freight train. Memories burst to life in my brain lighting up the darkest corners of my psyche. One, after another, after another. My life, my old life. Ministering at the church in Blackwater. I was a Pastor. A man of god. Marrying Deborah... the birth of our only child.

JOE CASTLE (cont'd) We were so happy, so happy. My whole childhood and adolescence comes back to me in an instant. So much joy. So
 much love. Then something changes. All the light goes dark and something bad, something evil that has slumbered inside of me for fifteen years pushes it's way to the surface.
 KIMBERLY KNELL Are you okay?
 RANDALL KNELL (V.O. angry voice)
 I'm standing on the shore of Crystal Shallow, watching my wife Deborah and my best friend David fucking in the backseat of our car. My heart breaks. How could she do this to me? HOW COULD SHE DO THIS TO ME?!? She laughs when she sees me, SHE LAUGHS AT ME! She tells me she never loved me... that I'm not a real man. The humiliation. THE FUCKING HUMILIATION!
 KIMBERLY KNELL Do you need help? You don't lookalright. 

RANDALL KNELL (V.O. angry voice) Then me months later driving out here, to the very same spot with her best friend Tara Mullen. I'm trying to give her a taste or her own medicine. HOW DO YOU LIKE IT WHEN I FUCK YOUR FRIENDS? I try to kiss her. She pulls away. Something snaps. A rage like I've never felt courses through my body, unhinged and psychotic. She tries to get away. She's laughing at me, calling me pathetic. THEY'RE ALL LAUGHING AT ME. Everything becomes a blur. My fists smashing her face. Dragging her by her hair into the water and drowning her. But I'm not hurting her, I'm hurting Deborah. It feels good. Better than anything has ever felt before. She's dead. And for one blinding moment, I'm complete. I'm a man. YOU CAN'T LAUGH AT ME ANY MORE! Then the adrenaline goes and I'm back to being Randall Knell again.

RANDALL KNELL (cont'd) The fucking laughing stock. I drag  her body to the island in the middle of the lake. Bury her with my bare hands in the rocky earth. But I'm not going to be a laughing stock anymore. They're all gonna pay... over and over again. I wait. All year, I play the fool while everybody laughs at me. But every Christmas holiday, when that bitch Deborah takes Kimberly to her parents, I'm gonna make them pay.
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.) Kimberly keeps staring at me, her face a knot of confusion. I'm hyperventilating, the rush of everything about to send me reeling to my knees.
 KIMBERLY KNELL Dad? 
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)Did she call me Dad? Another wave of memories crash down on me.
 RANDALL KNELL (V.O. angry voice) Then that night with Maliyah here at the shore. Attacking her, drowning her just like the others. We struggle in the water... it’s just like the dream...
 JOE CASTLE (V.O.)The voice from the dream, the screaming. It's not her, it's me. It was always me. "Why did you do it Deborah? I loved you, I loved you!"
 RANDALL KNELL (V.O. angry voice)I hold her under the water, crushing her throat with my hands. Deborah needs to pay, the cunt needs to pay. Then she cracks me in the head with a rock or something hard she grabbed from the bottom of the lake. Everything goes red. Then black. I'm not me any more, I can't remember anything. The blood, my head...

RANDALL KNELL (cont'd) nothing but pain now. She stops struggling and finally drowns in the shallows. I leave her body to float out into the lake and I stumble to shore then fall to my knees...then I pass out. I awaken hours later, but I'm not me anymore, I'm no one, nothing, a husk of the man I used to be. Instinct takes over. I run from the lake like an wild animal. Somehow manage to I hitch-hike to a town. The days become weeks become a blur. I live on the streets, desperate to survive, waking up year after year not knowing who I am. Then the attack. A group of drunk kids beat me mercilessly, they kick and punch me till I'm laid out in the gutter. The smell of gasoline fills the air. All I can hear is their laughing till my screams drown them out. The hospital. Coma. Skin grafts. Operations. The agony. Too much, I can't take no more. Then one day I'm found. The doctors help me become Joe Castle... and I don't hurt any more.
 RANDALL KNELL (cont'd) (V.O.) Kimberly looks into my eyes and sees something inside that hasn't been in there for the longest time. She can see me beneath the scars, she can see who I really am. I'm her father. I'm Randall Knell.
 KIMBERLY KNELL Dad? Is that really you?
 RANDALL KNELL Yes sweetie, it's really me.
 RANDALL KNELL (cont'd) (V.O.) Kimberly runs into my arms and we embrace. Time stands still and for one moment, everything is perfect. I look at her with new eyes, with my real eyes, and I smile.
 RANDALL KNELL (cont'd) I can't believe how much you look like your mother.

EPILOGUE 

(The Summer of Capricorn theme music)

 BARON SORDOR (evil laughter)
 Well, well, well, what a wonderfully wicked tale of murder and mayhem we have enjoyed here tonight. I trust that you, my most valued audience, have savoured this evenings entertainment as much as I have. Unfortunately this is where we must part, and it is with such sweet sorrow. But remember, we will open our doors next month for another tale of terror, horror and suspense. I bid you all farewell, until the next episode of Baron Sordor's Theatre of the Doomed.
 (SFX clapping)
 (Theatre of the Doomed theme music)

END