Episode #70
Two Days After #69

TEASER

NEW YORK
INT: YANG MANSION (LIVING ROOM)
EVENING

An unlit cigar in hand, STEVE leans back on the leather sofa. He examines it, sniffing it as he goes along. After several moments he pulls out a lighter. He is about to light the cigar when ANDREA enters, followed by SARAH and BRENT.

ANDREA: Steve, Brent and Sarah have some—

She cuts herself off upon seeing her fiancé holding the cigar.

ANDREA (CONT’D): Will you put that filthy thing away? You know I hate those!

STEVE: Fine, fine …

He puts the lighter back in his pocket but keeps the cigar between his fingers. Then he looks up at Sarah and Brent, finally acknowledging their presence.

STEVE (CONT’D): So what’s up?

ANDREA: As I was saying, Brent and Sarah have some important information about the case to discuss with us.

Steve perks up at the mention of the investigation.

***

INT: HOTEL RESTAURANT
MIDDAY

Dressed in a navy blue pinstriped business suit with her hair pulled up, MOLLY enters and looks around. Spotting DANIELLE and ANDY at a table, she waves off the maitre’d and proceeds to join them.

DANIELLE: Glad you could make it.

MOLLY: Believe it or not, I almost didn’t. I had a job interview—

DANIELLE: That’s terrific!

MOLLY: It definitely is. But the woman who had an interview before me was half an hour late and then did nothing but rant and rave once she got there. It took them forever to get her out. (pause) But at least I made it.

ANDY: At least. So what kind of job is this?

MOLLY: It’s just an entry-level kinda job at a small fashion agency, but still, it’s a start – or rather, a restart. I’m trying to look at this as a new beginning, you know?

DANIELLE: Good for you. I know you’ve been through a lot of crap; it’s probably best that you just consider this all a fresh start. Too much has happened – it’s not healthy to dwell on it.

A wistful look sweeps over Molly for an instant, her mind drifting to thoughts of her current relationship, her disastrous engagement, and her brother-in-law.

MOLLY: (suddenly distant) Exactly.

***

INT: CHASE HOME (KITCHEN)
MIDDAY

COURTNEY is eating lunch and flipping through TV GUIDE when a cheerful HELEN enters. She makes her way to the refrigerator and begins rummaging as she speaks to her daughter.

HELEN: Your father’s settled in upstairs … finally.

COURTNEY: I can’t believe they let him come home.

HELEN: (happily) I know! I was surprised, but Claire said there was really nothing major to worry about once he came out of the coma. He has to keep checking in with them, but luckily all the tests showed no permanent damage, thank goodness.

Courtney nods, sharing her mother’s enthusiasm about Don’s recovery.

HELEN (CONT’D): Maybe this is a turning point for us – for this family. Maybe we can finally have some peace and quiet … Maybe all these tremendous problems are finally behind us.

COURTNEY: I wouldn’t be so sure of that.

Helen turns to her daughter in confusion.

ACT ONE

INT: HOTEL RESTAURANT
MIDDAY

MOLLY, ANDY, and DANIELLE are now eating their lunches.

MOLLY: I’m glad we have this time to hang out together. With Brent gone, there’s not really any common link to get us all in the same place at the same time. So it’s nice that we’re all staying in touch.

DANIELLE: Believe me, it’s nice to have a friend to talk to.

ANDY: It’s too bad Brian couldn’t join us. He seems like a nice guy.

MOLLY: He is – he really is.

A tinge of guilt rings in her voice.

MOLLY (CONT’D): But he had to work. Hopefully I’ll have the same excuse soon, huh?

She smiles playfully across the table at her friends.

DANIELLE: Let’s hope. (pause) Did you ever figure out what that big brouhaha was all about the other day? When Tim invited you over for dinner to talk about all that "important" stuff?

MOLLY: You know, it’s strange: I went over there and saw that they’d invited Brian. I asked them what was going on, but Tim told me it was nothing, so we just relaxed and had a nice dinner.

DANIELLE: That’s odd.

MOLLY: I know. He made it sound so urgent. (pause) I wonder what it was that he was gonna tell me.

***

INT: PUBLISHING (DIANE’S OFFICE)
MIDDAY

BRIAN and DIANE are standing around the office, the door closed as they talk.

BRIAN: Seriously, I love you. I can’t believe how well that whole thing worked out.

DIANE: Tim wanted to believe that I was lying. He just ate it up when I "confessed" to lying.

BRIAN: Yeah, well, I can’t thank you enough.

DIANE: It’s no problem, Brian. It was my fault that they got suspicious – a slip of the tongue. It was only right that I should help repair the damage I did.

BRIAN: (raising his index finger) Almost did.

DIANE: Besides, you’ve been too good a friend to me for me to let you take the fall for something like that. It’s not worth it.

BRIAN: Again, thank you.

He gives her a friendly though passionate hug.

BRIAN (CONT’D): I can’t thank you enough.

DIANE: Yeah, well, you could start by not draping yourself all over me.

BRIAN: I think I could manage that.

He moves towards the window, staring out over King’s Bay with a determined look on his face.

BRIAN (CONT’D): It’s lucky that we were able to keep that a secret. The key will be to keep it buried now – for good.

Diane nods in silent agreement.

ACT TWO

NEW YORK
INT: YANG MANSION (LIVING ROOM)
AFTERNOON

Scene in progress. STEVE and ANDREA await the news that SARAH and BRENT have come to tell them.

BRENT: I talked to your neighbor, Ed Powers, about what he saw on the night of the theft.

STEVE: Really? How did it go?

BRENT: Basically, he narrowed down the list of suspects a good deal.

ANDREA: How much?

BRENT: To one person – Matt.

ANDREA: What?!?

STEVE: I told you all along that there was something funny about him, baby. Was I right or what?

ANDREA: Shut up. (pause) How could it have been Matt?

Brent pulls a folded document out of his jacket pocket.

BRENT: Here’s the transcription of my entire talk with him. Go ahead and read it.

ANDREA: (as she begins riffing through the pages) Thanks.

STEVE: So what do you guys do now? I mean, you’re pretty much positive that he did it, right?

Brent opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by his wife, silent until this point.

SARAH: I’m not.

All heads turn her way.

***

INT: CHASE HOME (KITCHEN)
MIDDAY

A surprised HELEN looks to COURTNEY for an explanation.

HELEN: What do you mean?

COURTNEY: We may have something else to worry about.

HELEN: Like … ?

COURTNEY: Like Shannon.

HELEN: Shannon is in a mental institution, dear! There’s no way she can do us any more harm!

COURTNEY: Well, then, how do you explain this?

She reaches over to a side table upon which the phone is resting and pulls a drawer open. Out of it she draws the death threat she found at the rink the previous day. A curious Helen comes closer as her daughter holds out the orange piece of construction paper for her to read.

HELEN: Let me see that …

She takes the paper from Courtney and reads the message:

"PREPARE TO DIE, BITCH!"

HELEN (CONT’D): My word! Where did you find this?

COURTNEY: After I was done skating yesterday, I found it in my bag.

HELEN: But I don’t understand. How …

She trails off and leans on the counter, overcome with horror at the thought of her only child’s life being in peril.

COURTNEY: If you can’t tell me after seeing that that something is up, I don’t know what is gonna convince you.

Helen turns back to her daughter.

HELEN: Are you sure this was put in your skating bag, Courtney?

COURTNEY: What do you mean?

HELEN: I mean – What I mean is, are you sure you didn’t just put it there?

Courtney’s jaw drops as she stares at her mother.

ACT THREE

INT: PUBLISHING (DIANE’S OFFICE)
MIDDAY

A focused BRIAN is looking out the window. DIANE stands behind him.

BRIAN: We can never let anyone find out about that – Tim, Claire, or especially Molly.

DIANE: There’s no proof of it, correct?

BRIAN: Yeah.

He turns around.

DIANE: So no one can find anything out unless one of us says something.

She "zips up" the pretend zipper over her lips, "locks" it, and tosses the "key" aside.

DIANE (CONT’D): And I, for one, will never do that.

BRIAN: Believe me, neither will I. (pause) The one thing that worries me is how you said Claire remembered me calling her to tell her to come to the office on the day they found out you were having Tim’s baby.

DIANE: There are a million ways I can explain my way out of that. (pause) I’ll just say that I gave that message to one of the male assistants around here and told them it was legit – end of story.

BRIAN: That should work.

Though he is attempting to sound relaxed, Brian is still very nervous about the whole matter. He sweeps a hand over his hand tensely.

BRIAN (CONT’D): I swear, if Molly found out about that, I would kill myself. I’d never be able to even explain myself to her.

DIANE: You really do like her, don’t you?

BRIAN: Yeah, I do – a lot. She’s … She’s just special. But the poor girl has been through so much garbage already – I’d hate to add onto that pile. Besides, she’s so fragile emotionally that finding out I did something like this to her brother would probably send her over the edge, you know?

Diane again nods as Brian bites his lower lip nervously.

***

INT: HOTEL RESTAURANT
MIDDAY

MOLLY, ANDY, and DANIELLE are in the midst of eating lunch.

DANIELLE: I wouldn’t worry about it. It was probably nothing.

MOLLY: You’re probably right. (pause) Still, I’m just curious to know what it was.

ANDY: Maybe it was some sort of misunderstanding that they got cleared up.

MOLLY: That’s a good point. You’re probably right. Maybe I’ll just ask them.

DANIELLE: Now there’s an idea.

She raises an eyebrow at Molly, who takes a bite of her salad before speaking.

MOLLY: I’m glad to see you two doing well.

Andy looks into Danielle’s eyes as he responds.

ANDY: We’re very happy.

DANIELLE: Happier than we’ve ever been.

They kiss, immersed in each other completely.

MOLLY: That’s good to hear. I know you haven’t had things … easy lately.

She chooses her words carefully, trying not to offend Andy by speaking ill of his mother.

ANDY: Maybe not, but you’ve been through much worse things than we have. My mother is just a controlling person – she’ll come around eventually.

DANIELLE: I hope you’re right.

ANDY: (suddenly looking worried) So do I.

ACT FOUR

INT: CHASE HOME (KITCHEN)
MIDDAY

An dubious COURTNEY stares at HELEN.

COURTNEY: What is that supposed to mean, Mom?

HELEN: Nothing—It’s just that—

She stops, trying to get her point across without hurting her daughter.

HELEN (CONT’D): All right, let me just say it: Did you put that note in your bag yourself, Courtney?

Courtney springs to her feet, outraged.

COURTNEY: Of course not! Why would I—

She interrupts herself, realizing what is going on.

COURTNEY (CONT’D): You think I’m going crazy, right?

HELEN: I didn’t say that!

COURTNEY: But you meant it. You think I’m so fixated on the idea of Shannon coming back to hurt us that I’m making this up!

HELEN: Well … You have to admit it would make sense.

COURTNEY: That’s insane, Mom! How can you even accuse me of something like that?

HELEN: I’m not accusing, Courtney. (pause) I’m just wondering if the damage Shannon did to you isn’t as instantly curable as it appears to have been.

***

NEW YORK
INT: YANG MANSION (LIVING ROOM)
AFTERNOON

STEVE, ANDREA, and BRENT all turn to SARAH in total surprise.

BRENT: What?

SARAH: I’m not so sure that Matt is guilty.

BRENT: Sarah, how can you say that? We have a witness who can place Matt on the grounds at the time the robbery happened!

SARAH: No, we have a witness who saw Matt here half an hour before the robbery.

Andrea, marking a spot in the interview transcript with a finger, speaks up.

ANDREA: But it says right here that Ed saw Matt running away from the house as the alarm was going off.

SARAH: He saw someone who he thought was Matt. After all, he even says that Matt’s car was nowhere in sight by that point.

STEVE: Why would Ed lie about something like that? He’s a great guy.

SARAH: And so is Matt. I can’t believe he would do something like this.

All three of them, Brent in particular, look at Sarah skeptically.

ACT FIVE

INT: HOTEL RESTAURANT
MIDDAY

Mid-conversation. MOLLY, ANDY, and DANIELLE are talking over lunch.

MOLLY: I’m sure she’ll come around, Andy.

DANIELLE: I know. Don’t worry about it.

ANDY: I’d love to believe that she’ll just accept the fact that we’re going to be together, Danielle, but I’m not so sure that it’ll happen.

DANIELLE: She can’t seriously hold out forever, Andy.

ANDY: You’d be surprised.

He sighs, his chin resting on his right fist as he thinks.

ANDY (CONT’D): She’s a stubborn woman, and she’s used to having things her way. My father hardly dared cross her at all. And neither did I – until now.

MOLLY: Well, she’s gonna have to accept at some point that you’re a grown man and you are going to make decisions of your own.

ANDY: The problem is that her idea of me being a grown man includes me finding a suitable wife – by her standards.

MOLLY: And why isn’t Danielle suitable?

ANDY: She is.

DANIELLE: Mrs. Fitch just thinks that it’s wrong for Andy to be involved with an employee of hers – or ex-employee.

MOLLY: How old-fashioned is that?

ANDY: I’m afraid that’s just the way my mother is. (pause) And whether we like it or not, I’m afraid she’s never going to change.

***

NEW YORK
INT: YANG MANSION (LIVING ROOM)
AFTERNOON

STEVE, ANDREA, and BRENT are all shocked by SARAH’s protest.

BRENT: You hardly know him! How can you say that?

Sarah looks perplexed for a moment, unable to give a solid answer. Even as she does speak, she struggles with her words.

SARAH: I don’t mean … It’s just—From what I’ve heard of him, and the little I have personally seen of him, I can’t picture him doing something like this to a good friend like Andrea.

ANDREA: I’d tend to agree with Sarah on that …

STEVE: Maybe he’s not such a good friend after all. Maybe this whole thing was an act, an elaborate setup to keep your trust. He probably stole those jewels for revenge or something after he realized he couldn’t get you back.

BRENT: You have to admit it would make sense, Sarah.

SARAH: Yes, it would – on paper! But I just have a feeling about this guy – he’s not a criminal!

The others are unable to respond.

***

INT: CHASE HOME (KITCHEN)
MIDDAY

In progress. COURTNEY and HELEN are engaged in a heated discussion.

COURTNEY: How can you even suggest something like that, Mom?

HELEN: I’m not trying to upset you, Courtney. I’m just wondering if maybe this whole Shannon thing has bothered you so much that you …

COURTNEY: That I’ve gone crazy? (pause) I can’t believe this!

She begins heading out of the kitchen, furious, but pauses in the doorway and turns back to her mother.

COURTNEY (CONT’D): After all this family has been through lately, you’d think the least we could do is support each other and stick together as a family, huh?

She marches out.

A frustrated Helen rubs her temples.

HELEN: (sotto voce) I don’t believe this. Why do things like this keep happening to us? Maybe Courtney’s right – of course she is. She hasn’t lost her mind. There has to be a logical explanation for all of this …

She trails off, standing in the middle of her kitchen. Despite what she has just said, it is apparent that a seed of doubt about her daughter’s mental stability has begun to sprout in her mind.

END OF EPISODE #70

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