The Silent Girl

daughter’s autopsy, and I can prove that Lucas Henry didn’t kill her.”
    “How the hell can you prove that?”
    “By showing you the real killer.” Maura’s flashlight came on, and Jane squinted at the sudden glare of the beam. “Lucas, tell me where Kimberly was sleeping.”
    The boy’s voice was shaky in the darkness. “I couldn’t find a coffin for her. So we dragged in that cardboard box. Over there.”
    Maura’s flashlight beam swept the shadows and came to a stop on a giant appliance carton. She approached it and read the shipping label. “This box was sent from North Carolina.”
    “So what?” said Rayner.
    She bent down and stared into the carton. “Jane, do you want to come take a look?”
    Jane crouched down beside her and whispered: “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”
    “I told you. Identifying the killer.” Maura aimed her flashlight beam into the box, scanning past rumpled blankets and a stained pillow, to focus on the corner above. “There’s our perp.”
    Jane stared at the gossamer web, and the creature that had woven it. “A spider?”
    “Genus
Latrodectus
. A black widow. It probably hitched a ride from North Carolina and bit the victim while she was sleeping in this box. She may not have even felt the bite. In most healthy adults, the poison’s not fatal, but Kimberly was not a healthy adult. She was malnourished and medically fragile.” Maura’s voice dropped so that only Jane could hear her next words. “Death would have been excruciating. Muscle spasms, abdominal pain, followed by respiratory arrest. No wonder passersby heard her screaming.”
    Jane rose to her feet and turned to Rayner. “Your daughter wasn’t murdered, sir. It was a spider bite. A freak death. And the killer’s right here, in this box.”
    Slowly the man lowered his weapon. Even as Jane took it away and handcuffed him, Rayner stood motionless, his head bowed. “I only wanted justice,” he said. “Justice for my little girl.”
    “And you’ll have it, Mr. Rayner,” said Jane. “In this case, all it takes is the heel of a shoe.”

ALSO BY TESS GERRITSEN
    Harvest
    Life Support
    Bloodstream
    Gravity
    The Surgeon
    The Apprentice
    The Sinner
    Body Double
    Vanish
    The Mephisto Club
    The Bone Garden
    The Keepsake
    Ice Cold

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    TESS GERRITSEN is a physician and an internationally best-selling author. She gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of suspense, the
New York Times
bestseller
Harvest
. She is also the author of the bestsellers
Ice Cold, The Keepsake, The Bone Garden, The Mephisto Club, Vanish, Body Double, The Sinner, The Apprentice, The Surgeon, Life Support, Bloodstream
, and
Gravity
. Tess Gerritsen lives in Maine.
    www.tessgerritsen.com

“What Doesn’t Kill You”
    Episode 301
#2M5901
    Written By Janet Tamaro
    Directed By Michael Katleman
 
PRODUCTION DRAFT
 
February 28, 2012
 
BLUE FULL REVISED
 
March 4, 2012
 
PINK PAGES REVISED
 
March 7, 2012
P. 5, 15, 22, 23, 33, 33A, 41, 41A
YELLOW PAGES REVISED
 
March 11, 2012
    All rights reserved. © 2012 Warner Horizon Television Inc. This script is the property of Horizon Scripted Television Inc. No portion of this script may be performed, reproduced or used by any means, or disclosed to, quoted or published in any medium without the prior written consent of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
     R&I 301
    24 INT. MEDICAL EXAMINER’S OFFICE - MAURA’S OFFICE - DAY 2
    Maura packs up a few files as Jane enters.
    JANE
    You’re back …
    MAURA
    Did you ever return my book, Soothing Paint Choices for the Home?
    JANE
    Yeah, a long time ago. So … you are back …
    MAURA
    (ignores question, looks)
    How odd. I can’t seem to find it …
    JANE
    Did you give me back my “Guns of the World Digest”?
    MAURA
    (… unlike other people)
    I always return things that I borrow.
    Jane looks at Maura’s shelf suspiciously.
    JANE
    You sure?
    MAURA
    Of course I’m sure. Maybe you lost it. You do lose things.
    (inspects chair)
    Has Dr. Pike been sitting in my chair?
    JANE
    (sarcastic)
    Could be. Is it broken? Hey, want me to find out if he’s been sleeping in your bed, too?
    Pike enters after hearing his name.
    PIKE
    Were you looking for me?
    JANE
    And what about your food? Dr. Pike, have you been eating Maura’s porridge?
    PIKE
    Of course not.
    MAURA
    I’m glad you think you’re so funny.
    JANE
    Better to be funny than Poindexter, The Know-It-All.
    MAURA
    Better to be Poindexter The Know-It-All