Moonlight (2007–2008): Season 1, Episode 7 - The Ringer - full transcript

NARRATOR:
Previously on Moonlight:

BETH: By the way,
the whole kiss thing...

Yeah, the kiss. I was thinking
maybe that was like an accident.

Oh. Oh, okay.

You wanna know how
I became a vampire?

I told you I was married. On
our wedding night, she turned me.

- I'm glad you told me about your
wife. MICK: I didn't tell her everything.

Things didn't end well,
even by vampire standards.

You stop carrying
Coraline around, Mick.

Let her go.

[HELICOPTERS WHIRRING]



[SIRENS WAILING]

MICK [IN VOICEOVER]: One thing
you learn when you live forever...

is not to get too
set in anything.

Because it's all gonna change.

Just when it seems like
everything's going your way...

and maybe you're even
patting yourself on the back...

that's when it happens.

[PEOPLE CHATTERING]

[SIRENS WAILING]

Whoa, stay back.

FIREMAN: Thanks.

WOMAN: Help me.

[MAN YELLING]

Try and get some shots of the entrance,
but be as discreet as you can, okay?



[SIREN WAILS]

It's sad, isn't it?

Think they're gonna
be able to save it?

They might be able to save
a couple of the top floors...

but most of the interior is
wood. It was built in the '20s.

1927.

My parents used to bring me here
for brunch after church on Sundays.

I keep forgetting
how old you are.

MAN: Got another
unit coming in now.

Must be frustrating, having the power
to help, but not able to do anything.

If only you knew.

MICK: At the oddest time, you
might find yourself feeling lucky...

like maybe you found somebody.

Then, bam, that's exactly
when the ex-wife shows up.

Coraline.

The woman who
turned me into a vampire.

[BAND PLAYING SLOW MUSIC]

Something else, isn't she?

Yeah. I wouldn't kick her
out of bed for eating crackers.

What I would give
to go home with that.

BANDMATE: Forget it.

She drops more in a day at
Saks than you make in a year.

- Coraline.
- No, sorry.

Sorry, you look like
someone I used to know.

- Ex-girlfriend, maybe?
- Ex-wife.

Does this usually work for you?

This isn't a pickup.
You look like her.

It's not a turn-on when you tell
somebody that they look like your ex.

- What's your name?
- You know each other?

No.

No, we just met.

So you don't know each other?

- No.
- I thought we did, but I guess we don't.

- I'm Mick.
- Morgan.

Now we know each other.

- How do you two know each other?
- I buy a lot of her photos for Buzzwire.

- How long have you worked
together? BETH: Couple months.

- She just moved here from Chicago.
- What's with the interrogation?

He's a private
investigator. Can you tell?

MORGAN Oh, okay. Yeah.

Well, I'm gonna get back
to it. It was nice meeting you.

So the fire inspector
says he found lighter fluid...

and dirty rags in the
Dumpster over there.

- Hey, did you hear me?
- What?

They think it's arson.

I'm gonna wrangle some
quotes. I'll catch you later.

MICK: There is a good reason I
never expected to see Coraline again.

I killed her.

MICK: I gotta talk to you.
JOSEF: Yeah? This better be good.

Dawn is in 15 minutes and I'm
about to go home and hit the icebox.

I saw Coraline last night.

Coraline?

- You mean "Coraline" Coraline?
- Yeah, that Coraline.

Was she dead?

- No.
- Well, then it can't be Coraline.

You killed her, remember?

Yeah, I'm aware of that.

I was at the Franklin
fire downtown.

There was this
photographer there.

She was a dead
ringer for Coraline.

- Everybody's got a twin somewhere.
- It wasn't a twin.

Josef, it was her.

She moved the same.
She talked the same.

- You talked to this person?
- Yeah.

Her name's Morgan.
She works with Beth.

And did Beth recognize
her as Coraline?

No.

If it was the woman who
kidnapped her as a child...

I'd think that Beth would
have opinions about it.

Beth doesn't remember me from back
then and I'm the one who rescued her.

- What do you remember from 4?
- It was 1603.

It's reasonable
it'd be a little hazy.

Look, Beth has suppressed
the whole trauma, okay?

Josef.

I know this sounds crazy,
but you gotta see her.

Did this Morgan person have
a long history of drinking blood?

No.

She's not a vampire. I
was close enough to tell.

Well, Mick, if she's not a
vampire, then she can't be Coraline.

I could take these reaction shots
to the fire and write a piece about...

what this landmark hotel has
meant to people over the years.

What is this, ladies, NPR?

I mean, I need a celebrity
angle, a dead body, something.

Sex it up a bit and
get back to me.

Maureen always goes for the
lowest common denominator.

- Don't worry, I'll wear her down.
- Thank you so much for your support.

Please, anything to keep me away
from restaurants and fashion shows.

Yeah.

Oh, what happened?
Did you get burned?

- Oh, no. It's just a little incident.
- A little incident? Look at your arm.

MORGAN: It's just
a couple stitches.

What happened?

Believe it or not, some guy broke
into my house last night and we scuffled.

You fought him?

You bet I did. He was
taking my cameras.

- You tell the police?
- Of course, but you know the police.

They just acted like they had
more important stuff to do...

than help me track down
my stolen equipment.

You did tell them he attacked.

Oh, what I would give to get
my hands on that little punk.

Not to mention getting
your cameras back.

What about that PI friend of
yours? Do you think he could help?

- Mick?
- Yeah.

I thought you weren't
very impressed.

Well, I mean, he
seemed persistent.

[KNOCK ON DOOR]

I'm sorry to stop
by without calling...

but since you're a night person,
I thought you might be up.

Well, you know me too well.

- Hey, Mick.
- Hey, Morgan.

Morgan has a problem I thought
you might be able to help her with.

I had jewelry out in plain sight
that he ignored completely.

- So it's just the cameras.
- Which is why I attacked him.

You wouldn't believe
what a digital Nikon costs.

- You attacked the thief?
MORGAN: Well, I had Mace.

Which, turns out, pissed
him off just enough for him...

to then gouge me with
my own letter opener.

She needs her cameras
back. It's her livelihood.

- Beth said that you were the best.
- Oh, she did, huh?

Yes. Several times, actually.

Maybe you could go by
her apartment, check...

see if there's
anything to go by.

And also, if it helps, I would absolutely
recognize the thief if I saw him again.

I never forget a face.

[BAND PLAYING SLOW
HAWAIIAN MUSIC]

[MIC FEEDBACKS]

[CORALINE CHUCKLES]

Can't you guys play something
that will get this snore on its feet?

[CHUCKLES]

- Like what?
- I don't know.

Like Wynonie Harris
or Little Willie John...

or something with
a bit more rhythm.

Well, gee, I don't know if this
crowd would like the devil's music.

That's why I
want you to play it.

How about "Good
Rockin' Tonight"?

How about "Ain't That
Just Like a Woman"?

I think that that would
be much more shocking.

- Don't you?
- On one condition.

My name's Coraline.

- I didn't say what the condition was.
- That's always the condition.

BETH: Wow, I love your
place, Morgan. It's so cool.

Thank you. I have this, like,
'50s thing I'm trying to shake.

So, what can I tell you?

Why don't you start
with what happened?

Okay.

I was in my bedroom and it
was about 3 in the morning.

I was asleep and then that's when
I heard a rattling at the front door.

Were you alone?

- Is that part of your investigation, or...?
- Potentially.

Yes, I was alone.

Okay, I think we've
established you were alone.

So, what next?

Well, then I leave the
bedroom and come out here...

and I see that there's
this man at my desk.

And like I said, he left
jewelry, keys to my BMW, cash.

He wasn't after cash.

My cameras were worth at
least 8 grand. He took those.

Maybe he was interested
in what was inside.

- Pictures.
- They said it was arson, right?

Maybe your thief was
the one who set the fire.

BETH: Maybe you
took a picture of him.

Yeah, those arsonists, they really
stick around to watch the burn.

If he's after photos,
he's out of luck.

Because I don't let anybody
see these until I sell them.

[COMPUTER BEEPS]

MICK: What is that?

It's a fire.

No, in the fire.

- Nothing, I don't think.
- No, look, there is something.

Right there.

I have some shots where
I racked to the building.

Hold on one second.

That's him. That's the thief.

He's killing her.

MICK: Seeing that photo
was like looking into the past.

Reliving a nightmare.

CORALINE: Forever.

I love you. I freed
you from death.

The greatest gift I could
give. I freed you from death.

He saw me. That must be
why he wanted the photos.

You caught a murder on camera.

You wouldn't believe
these photographs, Josef.

It was like outtakes
from the night...

- The night you killed your wife.
- You know what?

It's like somebody staged
this whole thing for me.

- Can you hear yourself right now?
- No, it's like...

Like Coraline is baiting
me with these photos.

Coraline is dead.

You saw her die
with your own eyes.

I never saw the ashes.

Oh.

In the 22 years since she
died, you never told me that.

I never told anybody that.

I never thought she
could possibly survive.

I left Coraline trapped in
an inferno that night, man.

Just like the woman
in these photos.

Mick, look at me.

Coraline did not come back from
the undead to exact revenge on you.

- You know how dangerous she was.
- Yeah.

I've known her for a
century more than you.

She's capable of anything. But not
even she could pull off a resurrection.

No?

[SIGHS]

Coraline drove you crazy
the whole time you knew her.

Now she's dead and
she's still driving you crazy.

Now, you need to let her go.

So tell me more about Morgan.

Um...

- Like, who'd she work for in Chicago?
- Everybody, she was a stringer.

But legit stuff.

She has shot for the
Tribune, News Corp. Uh...

I don't know. She's got a reputation
for being a gritty crime photographer.

Been running her
pictures for years.

- And you met where?
- At a crime scene.

Kind of like how I
met you, actually.

- Why are you so interested in Morgan?
- It's just standard due diligence.

- On a client?
- Yeah, know your client.

Private eye 101.

Oh, okay.

I'm just not used
to being grilled...

- about a girl that you're after, so...
- I'm not after her.

I wouldn't have
pegged her as your type.

This isn't about types.

Even if it is, it's fine.
It's your business.

You're jealous.

Don't flatter yourself.

Okay.

Look, I just need some
info on her time in Chicago.

- Can you look into it, get back to me?
- Sure.

Are you gonna turn her
photos in to the police?

Not yet. I'm gonna wait and see
if I find a body at the hotel first.

[FOOTSTEPS]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Mick St. John,
California Fidelity.

I'm one of their investigators.

Everybody get out okay?

No casualties so far. Still a lot
of debris to get through, though.

What you think about
these arson rumors?

I can't say anything about an
ongoing investigation. Sorry.

My supervisor's a hard-ass.

Hey, I work for an
insurance company. I get it.

I'm gonna take a couple happy
snaps and get out of your way.

Don't touch anything.

[SIREN WAILING]

[WATER DRIPPING]

[WOOD CREAKING]

[SNIFFS]

I found a woman's body at the hotel,
right where you took your pictures.

You're kidding.

I forwarded your
photographs to the police.

Okay.

I'm gonna dust for prints
before Homicide gets here.

MORGAN: Please.

You know, the police
didn't do that the first time.

Yeah, they usually don't for a
break-in. But they will now, though.

[BLOWS]

[LOUIS JORDAN'S "AIN'T THAT
JUST LIKE A WOMAN" PLAYING]

That's one of my favorite songs.

How could you know that?

Know how you feel like
you know somebody...

- even if you haven't known them long?
- How does that happen?

It's just one of those
great mysteries.

I don't know.

Past life, maybe.

Yeah, maybe.

Any luck?

Yeah, I got a few clean prints.

But it'll only help if your
thief's in the system.

Right.

It's hard to believe you
caught it on camera.

MORGAN: Were they
able to identify the woman?

Not yet. There wasn't much left.

Just ashes, huh?

Yeah, they just got a couple bits
of pelvis and a few molars to go by.

That has got to be
the worst way to die.

Can you imagine the pain
before you actually die?

What you'd have to endure?

Your hair singed off,
your skin blistering... Ooh.

It's a bad way to go. No doubt.

Bad? It's horrific.

There's something on her back.

MORGAN: What is it?

It's a tattoo.

[MEN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

You wanna get wet?

- You don't even know my name.
- Do I need to?

Maybe you should come
to one of my real gigs.

This was one of your real gigs.

Will you give me a hand?

[WATER SPLASHING]

This is good. It could be a
lead to identify her, right?

You sure that's a tattoo?

Yeah.

It's a fleur-de-lis.

Mm.

BETH: So I spoke to her editor of
three years at Reuters in Chicago.

He said she was
the best thing he had.

I don't know exactly
what you're looking for.

That Morgan is
who she says she is.

I found nothing to say she isn't
Morgan Vincent from Highland Park.

Northwestern class of 2000.
Daughter of Bob, sister of Jennifer...

You spoke to her family?

Yeah. You should've heard
how ridiculous I sounded...

talking to her father, pretending to
be from the Wildcat Alumni board.

Okay, so she's legit.

Unless she's doing a
really good job of faking it.

What is going on, Mick?

You're absolutely sure that you never
met Morgan before a few months ago?

- Yes.
- My ears were burning.

[MORGAN CHUCKLES]

Did you hear any feedback
on the fingerprints yet?

There's fingerprints?

Yeah, Mick picked them
up at my place last night.

Speaking of, I'd better get back to it. I
should have something this afternoon.

Was that...?

Was that a little look?
Are you guys an item?

- Me and Mick? No.
- You could have fooled me.

Or anybody else for that matter.

- We work together, that's all.
- So it's just professional?

Yes, it's just professional.

I'm a photographer.
I see things.

- And I have a boyfriend, remember?
- Like that ever stopped anybody.

MICK: I gotta tell you, man, these
fingerprints are suspiciously perfect.

- A little too perfect, right?
- Take a look at that tattoo.

It's a fleur-de-lis.

Hmm. Looks like a
dog smoking a cigar.

Coraline had the same
tattoo on the same shoulder.

- I think it's all in your head, Mick.
- It's not all in my head.

[COMPUTER BEEPING]

All right, we found our thief.

Hank Mottola.

Racketeering,
trafficking in stolen goods.

- Standard issue crook.
- Not standard issue, Josef.

This guy's dead.

Hank Mottola died three weeks
ago from acute pancreatitis.

So?

So he died before any of this happened.
The fire, the murder, the break-in.

I sense a conspiracy
theory coming on.

When crimes are
committed by dead people...

this doesn't suggest to
you vampire involvement?

Our break-in was
committed by a dead man.

This can only mean one thing.

A minimum-wage peon
made a clerical error?

No.

Hank Mottola is a vampire working
with Coraline to stage this whole thing.

Seems a little elaborate,
don't you think?

What's elaborate? Dump
a body, fake a few photos.

Come on, you're talking
about staging a murder in a fire.

That exactly parallels
the way Coraline died.

Don't you see?

This is just the kind of mind
game that reeks of Coraline.

Or not.

Take the tinfoil hat off, boyo.

- Step back, get some perspective.
- Maybe you could help.

I don't do perspective.

You can help me look
through our thief's house.

I could use another
set of eyes. And teeth.

[GROWLS]

JOSEF: So where are we again?

- City of Palmdale?
MICK: Next time...

- I'll find a Beverly Hills
thief. JOSEF: Thanks.

Are you sure this is Mottola's
house? The alleged killer?

Who's in league with
Coraline. Yeah, I'm sure.

Now Mottola's in
league with Coraline.

Yeah, that's right.

[EXHALES]

- Come on.
- Why don't you just let me in the door?

- Shh.
- Can't we hire someone to do this?

[GROANS]

[DOOR OPENS]

JOSEF: Ah. So this is
how the little people live.

Vinyl recliners. Have "crazed killer"
written all over them, don't they?

Josef, if you're not gonna
help, at least be quiet.

I would love to help, Mick.

Just don't know
what we're looking for.

Oh, that's weird. Looks just
like Coraline and you, only worse.

Must be the woman
who died in the fire.

Maybe Coraline staged
their relationship too.

Morgan had a copy of
this on her bedside table.

A little French for
me. I couldn't finish it.

Yeah.

It was Coraline's favorite book.

[BED SQUEAKS]

What do you got?

Her cameras.

Stolen by a guy who's
been dead for three weeks.

I gotta get eyes on
this girl for myself.

Yeah, you do.

[DOOR CLOSES]

Hey, Morgan. This is
my associate, Josef.

- It's nice to meet you.
MORGAN: Mm-hm.

The suspense is just killing
me. What's the surprise?

Over here.

Go on. Open it.

My cameras.

It's all here.

How did you do it?

You recognize this guy?

Yeah, that's him.
That's the thief.

You're amazing.

It was nothing special. His
prints were in the system.

The cameras were stashed
at a safe at his house.

And who's that in the photo?

I presume that's the woman
who burned to death in the fire.

Your thief was her boyfriend.
Killed her, set the fire to cover it up.

Came after me because he
thought I had incriminating evidence.

Well, we'll see when the
police get a match on her molars.

Wow, so that's that.

Not quite. There's
one little catch.

The death certificate of
the man named Mottola...

whose fingerprints were
found on your front door.

From three weeks prior.

Guy was dead when
you took his pictures.

He faked his own death?

Or he rose from the grave.

He must've faked it.
That's the only explanation.

- Where is he buried?
- He was cremated.

- His ashes are at Hollywood Forever.
- Not if he faked his own death.

We need to go and see
if his remains are there.

We should let the
police handle this.

You got your cameras
back. This case is over.

Wait a second, the thief is a dead guy
and you guys aren't even a little curious?

Come on, you guys.
We can't stop now.

JOSEF: You were right.

Morgan is a perfect
doppelgänger for Coraline.

She moves like Coraline.
She sounds like Coraline.

She didn't flinch.

Even when I baited her about
coming back from the dead. The nerve.

But Mick, it isn't Coraline.

I could smell Morgan in
there. She wasn't a vampire.

She's a human. There's no
way to assimilate that fact...

into any conspiracy theory
about Coraline coming back.

- I know, but...
- No, there is no buts.

But what if it is Coraline,
and she's reversed it?

Reversed what?

You don't even get it, do
you? What this means?

It means that you're losing it.

- It means she's found a cure.
- A cure?

There is no cure
for vampirism, Mick.

If there was, I would know
about it. Not that I would care.

And personally, there's no way
I'd ever go back to the mortal coil.

That's you. I would.

You see that?

Right there.

That's your entire problem.

There's no way to
unbecome a vampire, Mick.

I think this has
to do with Beth.

I think Beth is why
Coraline has come back now.

- She can't stand to see me...
- With a human?

- Is that what you were gonna say?
- To see me happy.

Look, I appreciate, you know...

the unwritten rule that we don't give
each other advice, that we don't nag.

- What are you saying?
- One of these days...

you're gonna have to
stop hating what you are.

God, this whole
story is just so weird.

No joke.

It's like one of those true stories
that sounds more like fiction.

Inadvertently catching
a murder on camera.

MORGAN: A horrific murder.

Burned alive? That I happened
to catch at that exact moment?

What are the chances?

Beth thinks it's the angle
we need with her editor.

- She does, huh?
- Yeah.

What's the deal with
you two, anyway?

MICK: There is no deal.

MORGAN: She likes you.
- She has a boyfriend.

Well, it's there if
you want it. Trust me.

What about you?

Me?

[SIGHS]

Why don't I handle the guards?

- What are you gonna do?
- I'll think of something.

[KNOCKING]

Why did you leave the other night?
We were just starting to have some fun.

CORALINE: What night?

[SCOFFS]

I get it.

That's fine.

[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

[DOOR CLOSES]

[CREAKING]

[THUD]

[GRUNTING]

[MICK GROANS]

[DOOR CLOSES]

[GRUNTING]

You fight pretty good
for a dead guy, Mottola.

Just like a vampire.

[GROWLS]

[HANK SCREAMS]

Mick!

Your eyes...

[MORGAN BREATHING HEAVILY]

[PANTING]

- Come back here. Come here.
- Ah!

- You come here.
- Aah!

- What is wrong with you?
- You tried to kill me.

- What are you talking about?
- I kill you then you kill me, we're even?

- You're scaring me.
- You set me up in there.

It was your idea to check those remains,
then I get ambushed by Hank Mottola.

- What is he, some friend of yours, huh?
- Get away from me.

Just tell me how you did it.

Just tell me how
you turned human.

- Show me that tattoo.
- What tattoo?

[MORGAN SCREAMS]

Where's your tattoo?

There's no tattoo.

[SCREAMS]

[SNIFFS]

You're bleeding.

[SNIFFS]

How are you bleeding?

How are you bleeding?

You should have healed by now.

How are you bleeding?

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

What did Morgan say?

Nothing.

She refused to talk.

I think it's time you tell
me what's really going on.

The truth is Morgan is the
spitting image of my ex-wife.

In fact, I was convinced it
was Coraline up until last night.

You know this murder
she's caught on camera?

- Yeah.
- That's exactly how Coraline died.

- Exactly.
- In a fire?

MICK: Yeah.

That woman was murdered.

So was Coraline.

By who?

By me.

How did that happen?

- You don't know, do you?
- How would I know?

You ever had an intense affair?

The first couple months of Josh
and I were like a honeymoon.

Not the first six weeks,
not a honeymoon.

An intense affair. Like a fever.

I was crazy about this guy at college.
I don't know, it's a subjective question.

You'd know if you'd had one.

It's like an infection.
It burns you up.

[SIGHS]

Makes you do things
you wouldn't normally do.

[TAPS GLASS]

[EXHALES]

Hey.

[KNOCKING]

Hey.

I know you're in there.

[KNOCKING]

[DOOR RATTLING]

MICK: Where's your
boyfriend? Send him out.

[CHUCKLES] I got
something for him.

[MICK CHUCKLES]

- Send who out? There's nobody here.
- Then let me in.

I'm not in the habit of
letting inebriated men...

into my house at
2 in the morning.

You stood me up.

You stood me up three times.

I'm sorry.

Okay? We'll make it up.

I never thought I'd
feel that way again.

- What way?
- Insane.

Then Morgan showed up.

Yeah, and I went
crazy. Chasing ghosts.

Nearly got killed.
Let a killer get away.

After all the parallels to the past I
didn't know what was in my head...

and what wasn't.

So you tried to force her to
reveal herself at the cemetery.

Yeah.

But I was wrong. She
didn't have a tattoo.

Were you disappointed?

[INHALES]

MICK: The longer you live,
the more surprises you get.

You'd think you'd come
to expect the unexpected...

but you don't.

Authorities now believe that
Mottola faked his own death...

in preparation for the
first-degree murder...

of his girlfriend in
the Franklin Hotel fire.

The girl has been
identified as Diane Apple, 27.

As of now, Mottola is still at large.
This is Beth Turner for Buzzwire.

Really great work, Beth. I knew
you'd find a way in that sizzles.

Oh, thank Morgan, not me.

[ENGLISH SDH]