When pretentious staff and patrons of a trendy speakeasy start dropping like barflies, an unsympathetic detective must solve the cases before a devious serial killer gives new meaning to “last call.”

SYNOPSIS:

By the time female DETECTIVE DAYO WATERS (35) arrives at Shorty’s Speakeasy, CHEF WILBER (40s) has died from a knife attack, and EMMA IRONS (30), a former hand model turned sex worker, has been bludgeoned to death with a candle. Shorty’s is a trendy hangout behind a candle shop front in the bad part of town frequented by pretentious snobs and at least one murderer. The only “backup” available for the Detective is clumsy POLICE CADET RED SMILEY (26), who has failed the Police Academy twice. The Detective’s investigation is hampered by frequent power outages lasting up to two minutes in the bar.

The bar’s suspects and potential victims include the owners, SAMANTHA (35) a tough blonde in a tuxedo, and her ex-wife, BARBIE (35), a feisty Asian woman with a temper; two “mixologists,” VICTORIA (26), a Mexican beauty, and MAX (22), a black law student; arrogant PROFESSOR BOND (40) and his former grad student, KATINA (25), a fiery black woman; and two local thugs. DASH (30) is a slumlord, and BETO (30) is a new-age mobster. A sexy REDHEAD (22), new in town, blends in with the 15 other Patrons.

Many suspects emerge for the Chef’s and sex worker’s murders. As the Detective investigates, the lights go out again and the much-hated slumlord, Dash, is found strangled to death with his skinny red necktie. The Detective and Cadet make little progress by gathering statements. The Patrons are more concerned about the small portions of the appetizers, the outrageously expensive cocktails, and the live-streaming “Best Speakeasy in America Contest,” than about the deaths of the unlikable barflies.

The Professor is the next target when the lights go out. But the lights come on quickly and we see the Professor hunched over with a bratwurst stuck in his throat. The Detective saves his life with the Heimlich maneuver, but she thinks the Professor planned his attempted murder. Beto dies next by chugging a drink with dry ice pellets in it. The bodies mount up in the walk-in fridge, where the Detective makes a startling discovery: each victim has a small puncture wound in the neck suggesting a serial killer is at work. However, someone locks the Detective and Cadet in the fridge and the lights go out again.

In a conclusion with twists and turns, the Detective and Cadet are released from the fridge and backup police now guard both exits. The Detective accuses the Professor of the crimes and sends the police back to the station to trick the real killer into escaping the next time the lights go out. The ploy works and the Detective captures the escaping killer after a near-death fight in the dark kitchen.

LAST CALL AT SHORTY'S SPEAKEASY