INT. DEAN'S INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

Several others have crowded into the observation room outside where DEAN is being held; across from his seat a digital camera has been set up. BALLARD and KRAUS enter.


SHERIDAN
Counselor? Your boy decided to confess.


KRAUS
Mr. Winchester? I'd advise against that strongly.


SHERIDAN
Talk directly into the camera, first stating your name for the record.


DEAN clears his throat and leans forward, looking into the camera.


DEAN
My name is Dean Winchester. I'm an Aquarius. I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky women. And I did not kill anyone. But I know who did. Or rather what did. Of course it can't be for sure, because our investigation was interrupted. But our working theory was that we're looking for some kind of vengeful spirit.


BALLARD
Excuse me?


DEAN
You know, Casper the bloodthirsty ghost?


In the observation room, the spectators start laughing.


DEAN
Tony Giles saw it. I'll bet you cash money Karen did too. But see, the interesting thing is the word it leaves behind. For some reason it's trying to tell us something. But communicating across the vale, it ain't easy. You know, sometimes the spirits, they, they get things jumbled. You remember "REDRUM". Same concept. You know, it's, uh, maybe word fragments... other times, it's anagrams. See, at first we thought this was a name, Dana Shulps. But now we think it's a street. Ashland. Whatever's going on, I'll bet you it started there.


DEAN spreads his hands and smiles.


SHERIDAN
You arrogant bastard. Tony and Karen were good people, and you're making jokes.


DEAN
I'm not joking, Ponch.


SHERIDAN
You murdered them in cold blood just like that girl in St. Louis.


DEAN
Oh, yeah. That wasn't me either. That was a shape-shifter creature that only looked like me.


He smiles at the camera. SHERIDAN loses his temper and hauls DEAN up by the collar, slamming him against the wall.


BALLARD
Pete, that is enough!


DEAN
You asked for the truth.


SHERIDAN
Lock his ass up.


Another cop takes over, shoving DEAN face-first against the wall and handcuffing him.



INT. SAM'S INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

SHERIDAN and BALLARD return to find SAM gone; the coffee and the note are still on the table.


SHERIDAN
What the hell? Where is he?


SHERIDAN goes to the window, which is open, and looks out - it's a (four?) story drop with no visible fire escape nearby. BALLARD sees the note on the table and picks it up.


SHERIDAN
What'd he do? The fire escape's way over... what?


BALLARD
These two guys.


She hands him the note.


SHERIDAN
Hilts and McQueen?


BALLARD
Hilts is Steve McQueen's character in the Great Escape.



INT. BATHROOM - NIGHT

BALLARD enters the bathroom and the lights flicker. She sighs. As she approaches the sink, it turns on by itself. She recoils. All the faucets start pouring out hot water, steam rising. In the fogging mirror the letters DANASHULPS are formed; BALLARD scrubs them away to reveal THE GHOST. Her throat is slit deeply, her eyes deep red. She struggles to talk.

END ACT TWO



ACT THREE

INT. DEAN'S LOCKUP ROOM

DEAN is handcuffed to another table as BALLARD enters, nervous. She shuts the door.


DEAN
Can we make this quick? I'm a little tired, it's been a long day, you know, with your partner assaulting me and all.


BALLARD
I want to know more about that stuff you were talking about earlier.


DEAN
Time Life. Mysteries of the Unknown. Look it up.


BALLARD
Let's pretend for the moment you're not entirely insane.


DEAN
Mmm.


BALLARD
What would one of these things be doing here?


DEAN
A vengeful spirit? Well, they're created by violent deaths. And then they come back for a reason, usually a nasty one. Like revenge on the people that hurt 'em.


BALLARD
And uh, these, they're capable of killing people?


As she rubs her neck, DEAN notices something on her wrist.


DEAN
Where did you get that?


She pulls up her sleeves to reveal deep bruises, like those on KAREN'S wrists.


BALLARD
I don't know. It, it wasn't there before.


DEAN
You've seen it, haven't you? The spirit?


BALLARD
How did you know?


DEAN
Because Karen had the same bruises on her wrists. And I'm willing to bet that if you look at Giles' autopsy photos he's got 'em too, it's got something to do with this spirit, I... I don't know what.
(She turns away, looking into the mirror)
I know. You think you're going crazy. But let's skip that part, shall we? Because the last two people who saw this thing? Died, pretty soon after. You hear me?


BALLARD
You think I'm going to die.


DEAN
You need to go to Sam. He'll help.


BALLARD
You're giving your brother up.


DEAN
Go to the first motel listed in the yellow pages. Look for Jim Rockford - it's how we find each other when we're separated. Now you can arrest him if you want. Or you can let him save your life.



INT. MOTEL - NIGHT

SAM is sitting at a motel desk, going through files. There is a knock on the door; he opens it to find BALLARD; he hesitates, she shrugs and comes in.


BALLARD shows SAM her wrists.


SAM
These showed up after you saw it?


BALLARD
Yeah, I guess.


SAM
All right. You're going to have to tell me exactly what you saw.


BALLARD
You know, I must be losing my mind. You're a fugitive. I should be arresting you.


SAM
All right. Well, you know what? You can arrest me later, all right? After you live through this. But right now you've gotta talk to me. Okay?
(She nods)
Okay, great. Now, this spirit. What did it look like?


BALLARD
She was, um, really pale, and her throat was cut, and her eyes, they were like, this deep dark red? It appeared like she was trying to talk to me. But she couldn't. It was just... a lot of blood.


SAM
You know what? Here. I've been researching every girl that's ever died or gone missing from Ashland Street.


He leads her over to a table, where he gathers up a stack of crime scene photos.


BALLARD
How'd you get those? Those are from crime scenes, and booking photos.


SAM
You have your job, I have mine. Here. I need you to look through these, tell me if you recognize anyone.


BALLARD sits and flips through the stack. On the third photo, a young woman's booking photo, she stops.


BALLARD
This is her. I'm sure of it.


SAM
Claire Becker? Twenty eight years old, disappeared about eight or nine months ago.


BALLARD
But I don't even know her. I mean, why would she come after me?


SAM
Well, before her death, she was arrested twice. For dealing heroin. You ever work narcotics?


BALLARD
Yeah, Pete and I did. Before Homicide.


SAM
You ever bust her?


BALLARD
Not that I remember.


SAM
It says that she was last seen entering 2911 Ashland Street. Police searched the place, didn't find anything. Guess we gotta check it out ourselves. See if we can find her body.


BALLARD
What?


SAM
Well, we gotta salt and burn her bones. It's the only way to put her spirit to rest.


BALLARD
(deadpan)
Of course it is.



INT. 2911 ASHLAND STREET - NIGHT

SAM leads BALLARD into a dark and creepy warehouse.


BALLARD
So what exactly are we looking for?


SAM
I'll let you know when we find it.


They split up, SAM checking up a flight of stairs and BALLARD continuing on the lower level. She turns towards a window and sees CLAIRE, standing by the window. The ghost struggles to talk.


BALLARD
Sam? Sam? Sam!


As SAM runs down the stairs to BALLARD, the ghost disappears.


SAM
Hey! Hey, I'm here, what is it? What happened?


BALLARD
Claire...


SAM
Where?


BALLARD
She, she was here.


SAM
Did she attack you?


BALLARD
No. No, she was just like, reaching out to me. She was over there by the window.
(The window is blocked by a shelving unit.)
Here, help me move this.


SAM
All right.


They shove the shelves aside, revealing the window. It is labeled from the outside:


ASHLAND SUP(plies)


BALLARD
Our little mystery word.


They turn to see a shadow on the opposite wall, casting the words into clear reflection.


SAM
Now the extra letters make sense.


SAM pulls out his EMF reader and approaches the opposite wall.


BALLARD
What is that?


SAM
Spirits and certain remains give off electromagnetic frequencies.


BALLARD
So if Claire's body was here, that would indicate that?


SAM
Yeah. Well, that's the theory.


The EMF reader purrs as he waves it over the brick wall. He turns.


SAM starts breaking through the wall with a sledgehammer. When he's knocked out a sizable hole, he pokes his flashlight inside.


SAM
Yeah. Yeah, there's definitely something in there.
(He starts breaking through the wall with elbows and fists.)
You know? This is bothering me.


BALLARD
Well, you are digging up a corpse.


SAM
No, not that. That's, uh, that's pretty par for the course, actually.


BALLARD
Then what?


SAM
It's just, I mean, no vengeful spirit I've ever tussled with wanted to be wasted, so why the hell would Claire lead us to her remains? It doesn't make any sense.
(He's broken open most of the wall.)
All right, here. Give me a hand.


Together, they pull out a shroud-wrapped body and place it on the ground. SAm pulls out a pocket knife and cuts the ropes holding the shroud together, uncovering her. BALLARD holds out her wrists.


SAM
Her wrists. Yeah, they'd be bruised just like yours?


BALLARD notices a necklace on the corpse and touches it cautiously.


SAM
That necklace mean something to you?


BALLARD
I've seen it before. It's rare. It was custom made over on Carson street.
(she reaches into her neckline)
I have one just like it. Pete gave it to me.

END ACT THREE



ACT FOUR


INT. 2911 ASHLAND STREET - NIGHT

SAM
Now this all makes perfect sense.


BALLARD
I'm sorry?


SAM
Yeah. You see, Claire is not a vengeful spirit, she's a death omen.


BALLARD
Excuse me?


SAM
Claire's not killing anyone. She's trying to warn them. You see, sometimes spirits, they don't want vengeance, they want justice. Which is why she led us here in the first place. She wants us to know who her killer is.
(beat)
Detective, how much do you know about your partner?


BALLARD
(thinking)
Oh my god.


SAM
What?


BALLARD
About a year ago, some heroin went missing from lockup. Obviously it was a cop. We never found out who did it. But whoever did it would need someone to fence their product.


SAM
Someone like a heroin dealer. Somebody like Claire.



EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT

SHERIDAN is driving an armored van with DEAN in the back.


DEAN
So I'm being extradited to St. Louis, huh? And you just decided to transfer me yourself, eight hundred miles? At two in the morning? This can't be good.


EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT


BALLARD is driving SAM down a similar stretch of road, finishing a call on her cell phone.


BALLARD
All right. Thanks.


SAM
What is it?


BALLARD
Pete just left the precinct. With Dean.


SAM
What?


BALLARD
He said the prisoner had to be transfered, and he just took him. Dispatch has been calling but he won't answer the radio.


SAM
Radio? He took a county vehicle?


BALLARD
Yeah.


SAM
Well, then they should have a lo-jack, you've just gotta get it turned on.



EXT. CLEARING - NIGHT

The armored van pulls off the road and stops.


DEAN
Pee break? So soon? You might want to get your prostate checked.
(SHERIDAN gets out and circles to the back.)
Son of a b*tch.
(SHERIDAN opens the van.)
Hey, I'm cool in the van, you go do what you gotta do.


SHERIDAN hauls DEAN out and throws him to the ground.


SHERIDAN
You're a cocky son of a b*tch. You think those people in St. Louis are gonna buy that crap you're peddling? Here's the thing. You're not gonna make it to St. Louis. You're gonna die trying to escape.


He pulls out his gun and points it at DEAN'S head.


DEAN
Wait! Wait. Let's, let's talk about this. I mean, you don't want to do something that you're gonna regret later.
(SHERIDAN cocks the gun.)
Or maybe you do.


BALLARD
(arriving)
Pete! Put the gun down.


SHERIDAN
Diana? How'd you find me?


BALLARD
I know about Claire.


SHERIDAN
I don't know what you're talking about.


BALLARD
Put the gun down!


SHERIDAN
Oh, I don't think so. You're fast. I'm pretty sure I'm faster.


BALLARD
Why are you doing this?


SHERIDAN
I didn't do anything, Diana.


BALLARD
It's a little late for that.


SHERIDAN
It wasn't my fault. Claire was trying to turn me in, I had no choice.


BALLARD
And Tony? Karen?


SHERIDAN
Same thing! Tony scrubbed the money, he got skittish, and then he wanted to come clean. I'm sure he told Karen everything.


DEAN glances at SAM, who's giving him "How do we get out of this" looks. DEAN shakes his head, SAM grits his teeth.


SHERIDAN
It was a mess; I had to clean it up. I just panicked.


BALLARD
How many more people are gonna die over this, Pete?


SHERIDAN
There's a way out. This Dean kid's a friggin' gift. We could pin the whole thing on him. Right? No trial, nothing. Just, just one more dead scumbag.


DEAN
Hey!


SHERIDAN raises the gun; DEAN backs off.


SHERIDAN
No one will question it. Diana, please. I still love you.
(She lowers the gun.)
Thank you. Thank you.


As he turns back to DEAN, BALLARD brings her gun up and fires, hitting SHERIDAN in the stomach. He goes down; DEAN rolls out of the way.


BALLARD
Then why don't you buy me another necklace, you ass?


He tackles her legs, knocking her down; she loses her gun and SAM tries to go for it, but SHERIDAN gets there first.


SHERIDAN
Don't do it! Don't do it!


BALLARD stares past SHERIDAN, who turns to see the GHOST behind him, staring through her bloody hair. She smiles. A gunshot goes off: BALLARD has recovered a weapon and shot SHERIDAN in the back. He goes down, more permanently this time.

END ACT FOUR



ACT FIVE


EXT. CLEARING - MORNING

BALLARD is kneeling by the body of her late partner. She gets up and approaches SAM and DEAN, standing nearby.


SAM
You doin' all right?


BALLARD
Not really. The death omen Claire. What happens to her now?


SAM
Should be over. She should be at rest.


DEAN
So, uh. What now, officer?


BALLARD
Pete did confess to me. He screwed up both your cases royally. I'd say that there's a good chance that we could get your cases dismissed.


SAM
You'd take care of that for us?


BALLARD
I hope so. But the St. Louis murder charges? That's another story. I can't help you. Unless... I just happened to turn my back, and you walked away. I could just tell them that the suspects escaped.


SAM
Wait, are you sure?


DEAN
Yeah, she's sure, Sam.


SAM
No, it's just, I mean, you could lose your job over something like that.


BALLARD
Look, I just want you guys out there doing what you do best. Trust me, I'll sleep better at night.
(she turns to go)
Listen, you need to watch your back. They're gonna be looking for both of you right now. Get out of here. I gotta radio this in.


DEAN
Hey, uh, you wouldn't happen to know where my car is, by chance?


BALLARD
It's at the impound yard down on Robertson.
(seeing DEAN'S calculating look)
Don't... even think about it.


SAM
it's okay, it's all right, don't worry. We'll, uh, we'll just improvise. I mean, we're pretty good at that.


BALLARD
Yeah. I've noticed.


SAM and DEAN walk off down the road.


SAM
Nice lady.


DEAN
Yeah, for a cop. Did she look familiar to you?


SAM
No, why?


SAM shoves DEAN playfully.


DEAN
I don't know. Anyway, are you hungry?


SAM
No.


DEAN
For some reason I could really go for some pea soup.


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