RESPECT THE ORDER

2013 Finalist at the Write Brothers International Screenplay Competition A fire CRACKLES in a large fireplace. In front of the fireplace rests a vintage leather armchair. A hand throws a picture into the fire. A photo of a young Caucasian man with his arms wrapped around a young African American woman melts under the intense heat of the fire. When a determined killer begins to leave a trail of bodies across the city, Detective Bruce Adams pieces the clues together, only to find that he and the killer are forever linked. An African-American man slumps in a chair and clutches a gun in his right hand. He has a bullet hole in his right temple. Adams inspects the body and finds nothing out of the ordinary. Later that day, Adams and his partner (Detective Davies) are called into the coroner's lab where they discover the words, "Respect The Order" carved into the back of the deceased man's leg. Another day and another two dead bodies turn up in the city. Growing frustrated at the Detective's apparent lack of attention, the killer leaves the words "HOW CLOSE ARE YOU WILLING TO LOOK, DETECTIVE ADAMS?" at his latest crime scene written in blood. Sent into action, Detective Adams unearths a link which implicates someone within his own department. The Detectives close in on a suspect and bring him in for questioning. While interrogating their most promising suspect, Adams and Davies plead with him to come clean about the murders. Undaunted by the Detective's games, the suspect, knowing the evidence is circumstantial, upsets the Detectives and walks out of the interrogation room only to later turn up dead. With their prime suspect dead, Detective Adams and the rest of the police force are sent reeling when the police captain is murdered. What follows is an investigation which unearths sixty years of lies and murder and brings into question Detective Adams' father's (Eugene) past and threatens to tear the Detective's family apart. The following day Detective Adams receives a frantic call from his mom. The killer has just broken into his parent's home leaving Adams' father (Eugene) with a swollen and bloodied face. Forced to clear his dad's name and bring a killer to justice, Detective Adams continues searching for answers. As Detective Adams fights his family's dark history, he struggles to solve a mystery which brings him back to a member of his family. In the end Adams must overcome his perception of the facts as he comes to grips with a killer so determined, he takes the Detective's entire family away from him.