Free The Glades by Clifton Campbell Page A

a half west, buffeting the azure waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
    LONGWORTH (V.O.)
    Hi, you've reached Jim Longworth...
    INT. FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL VEHICLE - DAY
    MIKE OGLETREE listens to the outgoing message on his cell as he throws his vehicle into park, eyes fixed on something through the windshield --
    LONGWORTH (V.O.)
    I'm either out seeking justice - or trying to break eighty - leave me a message...
    OGLETREE
    Damn it, Jim. Answer the phone...
    Ogletree disconnects, getting out of the car as he dials another number --
    EXT. FDLE - PALM GLADE SUBSTATION - DAY
    Stepping to the wall where "Okeechobee Southerners are Sub-Human" has been spray-painted, as the phone on the other end begins to RING...
    EXT. BELLEAIR COUNTRY CLUB - DAY
    JIM LONGWORTH over a ball on the fourteenth fairway as his playing partner CARLOS' phone rings. He checks the ID --
    CARLOS
    Now he's calling me.
    LONGWORTH
    Don't answer it.
    Carlos flips open his cell phone. INTERCUT as necessary.
    CARLOS
    Hello?
    OGLETREE
    Carlos - is he with you...
    CARLOS
    Yeah, yeah, he's right here.
    Carlos hands the phone to Longworth.
    LONGWORTH
    You must've heard. I'm four over at the turn...birdied three, seven and ten with a lip out at eleven...
    OGLETREE
    Yeah that's great. Look, we got a situation...
    LONGWORTH
    -- yeah we do. I'm four holes away from breaking eighty for the first time in my life.
    OGLETREE
    A woman's body was found in Fisheating creek.
    LONGWORTH
    Well she's not gonna be any deader an hour from now.
    Ogletree staring at the graffiti on the wall.
    OGLETREE
    And this message - tag or whatever - has been popping up all over town. I think they might be connected.
    LONGWORTH
    Who found the body?
    OGLETREE
    Some underaged kid and her boyfriend. Fell asleep in the swamp last night...
    LONGWORTH
    How underaged we talking?
    OGLETREE
    I dunno, sixteen, seventeen.
    LONGWORTH
    What was she doing; was she doin' the guy?
    OGLETREE
    I didn't ask her that.
    LONGWORTH
    Well what the hell did you ask?
    OGLETREE
    Nothing, I'm still trying to find her parents...
    LONGWORTH
    Listen, just stick her in a room and don't let her talk to anyone. I want a clean shot at her before her parents shut her up.
    OGLETREE
    Jim...
    Longworth hangs up. Ogletree, frustrated, annoyed, as he disconnects and lumbers inside the Sub-Station.
    LONGWORTH
    Call your wife and open your office.
    CARLOS
    It's Sunday; my office is closed.
    LONGWORTH
    I just opened it.
    Longworth waves a HISPANIC GROUNDSKEEPER over.
    LONGWORTH
    Excuse me. See this ball? Es yo bolito - si?
    The groundskeeper nods as Longworth flashes his badge.
    LONGWORTH
    This ball is part of a murder investigation. Anybody messes with my ball and you go to jail? Comprende?
    The worker nods. Longworth gets in the cart with Carlos and they ride off. The worker stands there.
    CUT TO:
    INT. FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL - BREAK ROOM - DAY
    Longworth waits for a burrito to reheat in the microwave. Ogletree stirs a packet of sugar into his coffee from Robbie's as he teases out details from a work in progress protocol.
    OGLETREE
    No scar tissue, no water in her lungs - nothing in her stomach...
    The microwave DINGS. Longworth goes for his burrito.
    OGLETREE
    ...identity and Cause of Death inconclusive without the head -- you might wanna give that a --
    LONGWORTH
    Ah! Damn it.
    Longworth burns his hand grabbing the hot burrito.
    OGLETREE
    You wanna go look at the body?
    LONGWORTH
    She's dead. I wanna talk to the girl. Any word from her folks?
    OGLETREE
    Her mom is M.I.A. Apparently not unusual for a weekend, especially with her husband on a poker run in the Keys.
    LONGWORTH
    Any o' these geniuses have a record?
    OGLETREE
    Law abiding, far as we know.
    LONGWORTH
    What about the boy?
    OGLETREE
    Local kid. Justin Brussard. Twenty-two...
(beat)
I sent him home.
    LONGWORTH
    Why?
    OGLETREE
    He threw up on my keyboard giving his statement.
(beat)
Got a call in to the girl's folks.
    Longworth heads off, Ogletree calling out after him --
    OGLETREE
    She's