"Nick Knight " Pilot Movie Storyboard #8 part 1   What if Nick was a brunette, his doctor was a man, and the world had never heard of Flashbacks?

During an archeological dig, a legendary Mayan Jade goblet is unearthed by archeologist and museum curator Alcye Hunter. A year later, while on display at the Natural History Museum, the Mayan cup is stolen. In the process, a security guard is attacked by the thief and drained of blood. He becomes the fourth victim in a string of seemingly related murders.

Meanwhile, Detective Nick Knight is soaking up the ultraviolet rays at a tanning salon. When the rays become too intense, he pushes the panic button, bringing two attendants running to his aid, only to find him out of the tanning bed and perfectly all right. He tells them that he got a little claustrophobic. "It's like a coffin in there," he jokes. Later, as he leaves the salon, one attendant coos, "He's cute." Not as impressed, the other points out, "He's weird. Comes in three times a week and never gets a tan."

Nick stops off to visit Topper and Jeanie, a couple of homeless people he's befriended. He asks if they have a safe place to sleep for the night and they assure him that they will be fine. He tells them to keep their wits about themselves until the murderer that's been killing homeless people is caught. Hearing the radio dispatch from his car calling 81 Kilo, Nick rushes to answer the call. He's informed that there's been another murder at the Natural History Museum.

By the time Nick makes it to the museum, Det. Donald Schanke is already there, giving lessons on how to photograph a dead body. Schanke comments sarcastically on Nick's lateness to the scene, then explains his own presence. "I thought you might need some experienced help." Nick ignores the condescending offer along with the comments about him not doing too well with the investigation. He proceeds to check out the body, having to cover his mouth with a handkerchief while viewing the bloodstained throat of the victim. "Believe they put a guy like this in homicide?" Schanke snorts. "Falls apart when he sees a little hemoglobin."

Nick leaves the body and goes in search of the curator, Alyce Hunter. Reading the hieroglyphs from a stone sculpture, he mentions that the first 4 digits match his alarm code. "I've done a little grave robbing in my time," he tells her to explain his archeological knowledge. He asks her about the crime, and Alyce tells him that she was working in her office when she heard glass breaking, then gunshots. When she came out, the guard was dead and the murderer already gone. When she shows Nick a picture of the artifact that was stolen, she's surprised to find that he already knows that the goblet was used to drink the blood of a sacrificed victim.

After leaving the museum, Nick stops off at the morgue to visit with his best friend, Dr. Jack Brittington who gives him a foul tasting concoction to drink. Whatever's in the drink is suppose to aid Nick towards his goal of someday seeing a sunrise. Jack asks Nick how his tanning sessions are coming along. Proudly, Nick admits that he's now up to ten minutes. Their attention then turns to the murder victim, whose wounds are different from the previous homeless victims found drained of blood. All the others' necks were slashed with a sharp instrument. This one has fang marks.

When Nick gets back to headquarters, Captain Brunetti tells him that because of his inability to work daylight hours and the fact that the killer has begun to target victims other than the homeless, he's going to be assigned a partner. Nick is horrified to find that his new partner will be Don Schanke. Nick offers his gun to the captain and says, "Shoot me!" Schanke happily encourages the captain to take Nick up on the offer.

As dawn arrives, Nick heads home where he resides in the wing of an old movie theater. He lowers the electronic blinds on the windows, then turns on a bank of television sets showing a taped sunrise. After heating up some blood in the microwave using a jade cup identical to the one that was stolen from the museum, Nick settles down to savor the taste of a warm meal in front of an artificial sunrise.