12

2

EARL
     She was scheduled to begin filming
       a new movie in Mexico in two weeks… 

They continue wheeling the gurney past the living room, where an attractive fair-skinned BLACK WOMAN is on the sofa, softly weeping and dabbing her eyes with a lace handkerchief as she relates her version of events tothe 2ND DETECTIVE.  She is GERI NICHOLAS BRANTON, 40s, the former sister-in-law of the decedent.

                        GERI
         We had just talked on the phone.
         Something she said didn't sit right
         with me.  You know that gut feeling 
         you get when something bad is about 
         to happen?  I tried calling her back
         several times… 

VAN BUREN, 40s, the snazzy-dressing lead detective, signals to the TWO CORONER’S ATTENDANTS from the bathroom doorway.

                       VAN BUREN
         What took you boys so long?  You're 
         holding up the party. 
 

INT. FOUNTAIN AVENUE APARTMENT—BATHROOM—HIGH ANGLE. DAY.

The corpse of a BLACK WOMAN is lying flat on the tile floor of the bathroom.  A clear view of the face and nude body of the deceased woman is obscured by the CURIOUS COPS gathered around her.