“TAPES”

By

Henry Baverstock

CAST:
DETECTIVE JOHNATHON TAYLOR – Chance Chromik
KENNETH / THE SOUTHBANK STALKER – Henry Baverstock
NEWS REPORTER – Millie Gladwin
FADE IN:

SOUND: Crackle of the radio is heard as NEWS

REPORTER is speaking.

NEWS REPORTER: …closed due to weather. And now,

the body of Sandra Deen, aged
twenty-three, was found floating in
the Thames early this morning. The
body was mutilated and stripped of
all clothing, a key signature of
the Southbank Stalker; a serial
killer that has been active in
London for the past two months. If
the theory that this is another
Stalker victim is true, then this
is the eleventh killing so far.
And, yes, yes a report from the
police says that the victim was –

SOUND: DETECTIVE J. TAYLOR groans and turns

off the radio.

DETECTIVE J. TAYLOR: Jesus Christ, this is never

ending.

SOUND: Detective Taylor sighs. The sound of

Taylor lighting a cigarette and the
door opening as KENNETH enters with
footstep sound effects. Kenneth should
have a strained voice due to carrying
a mildly heavy cardboard box.

KENNETH (STRAINED): No luck catching your friend,

John?

2
Taylor lets out a half-second chuckle before
speaking.

DETECTIVE J. TAYLOR: No; no luck yet, Ken.

SOUND: Cardboard box being placed on the

desk.

DETECTIVE J. TAYLOR: What’s this? Have you gone up

from a cleaner to a postman?

Kenneth pants for a moment before speaking.

KENNETH: It was left on the doorstep of

the station in the middle of
the night. The lads down in
forensics took a look and it’s
safe; they asked me to bring
it up to you.

SOUND: Cardboard box flaps/lid being gingerly

lifted off.

DETECTIVE J. TAYLOR: Tapes?

KENNETH: Addressed to you, most likely

from your Southbank friend.

SOUND: Mild audio stinger

3
KENNETH: From what I’ve heard about
this bloke, you’re gonna need
a coffee for whatever’s on
those things.

DETECTIVE J. TAYLOR: God, well, thanks. I’ll give

these a listen.
SOUND: Footsteps and the sound of a door
closing as Kenneth leaves the room.
The Detective rummages around in the
box, pulling out a tape recorder and
the tape labelled “1”. He places it
inside and it begins to play. Sound
effects for all of this should be
included. The SOUTHBANK STALKER’s
voice should have a crackle and a
voice changer; music should begin to
play when he starts speaking.

SOUTHBANK STALKER: Hello, Detective. I hope you

enjoyed my recent piece. It
hasn’t happened yet at the
time of me recording this, but
if the way you’ve attempted to
hunt me down is anything to go
by, I know that it’ll go just
fine.

The Southbank Stalker chuckles.

It’s actually impressive how

poorly you’ve tried to find
me. You’re like, a snail,
slowly trying to navigate
through a salt factory.

The Detective growls in distaste at the comment.

4
SOUTHBANK STALKER: I wonder how they’ll look in
their final moments. That’s
when you see someone’s true
self, you know, when they’re
about to die. Their pupils
shrinking, the breathing
hitches, and they become
colder, and colder, and
colder, until, they’re gone;
it’s, an oddly beautiful sight
that I’ve become somewhat
addicted to.

SOUND: The tape ends. The Detective ejects it

and the tape labelled “2” is placed
inside of the recorder.

SOUTHBANK STALKER: You’re probably smoking when

you’re listening to this.

SOUND: Audio stinger; music gets more intense.

It’s very bad for you, you

know. How many do you have a
day? I imagine it wasn’t too
much at first, just enough to
get you through the usual, but
now, I bet there’s an empty
pack in your pocket right now.

SOUND: The Detective blows out a cigarette

before crushing it in the ashtray on
his desk.

Why do you smoke, Detective?

Did you get into it in your
youth and couldn’t get out?

5
 It’s most likely hereditary
though; you had a packet of
Sterling for a mother, didn’t
you?

The Southbank Stalker chuckles again, louder than before.

DETECTIVE J. TAYLOR: W-What?

SOUTHBANK STALKER: Her lungs must’ve been charred

black by the time she kicked
the bucket. But was it the
cigarettes that killed her?
No, no, it was her brute of a
husband! I can only imagine
how much he-

SOUND: The Detective cuts the serial killer

off by stopping the tape and placing
the third and final one inside,
growling as he does.

SOUTHBANK STALKER: Overall, Detective, I believe

you are poor at your job, but
that’s what makes you so fun;
you’re my little stress ball.
Whenever I’m not purifying the
gene pool, I’ll send you some
of these and picture your
angry, adorable face…

SOUND: The intense music cuts off as Kenneth

reenters the room with a mug of
coffee. The sound of the door,
footsteps, and the mug touching the
desk should be there. The tape still
plays though it’s muffled by the
sounds of the other’s talking.

6
KENNETH: Everything alright, John?

Sighs before speaking.

DETECTIVE J. TAYLOR: Yeah yeah, just having to

listen to this freak for
clues. He, knows so much about
me.

KENNETH: I’m sure you’ll take care of

him, John. Anyway, this is the
end of my shift, so I’ll see
you around.

DETECTIVE J. TAYLOR: Right right, see you around,

Ken.

SOUND: Kenneth leaves the room, footsteps and

the door are heard; the Detective goes
back to listening to the third tape.

SOUTHBANK STALKER: Well, I suppose that’s all I

have to say to you for
now…John. I’ll, see you
around…

SOUND: Audio stinger as the Southbank Stalker

laughs and the third tapes finishes.
Detective Taylor slowly begins to
hyperventilate.

DETECTIVE J. TAYLOR: Oh, oh my God...

7
SOUND: He stands up, sound of effect of
rising out of chair plays.

KENNETH!!

SOUND: Taylor runs out of the room and down

the hall. The sound of police car
sirens play alongside the music.

FADE OUT:

THE END