A vagrant recognizes Todd as the last person seen with several of the homeless victims and notifies the police. Meanwhile, French meets Todd's real grandfather. French brings up their previous conversation, but the real Victor Bowden obviously does not recall their meeting and bears no physical resemblance to Dussander. French becomes suspicious and checks Todd's old report cards, finding that they have been tampered with. Later, he identifies Dussander as the man who met with him about Todd's grades. French confronts Todd, who responds by fatally shooting him. Todd's sanity finally breaks. He takes his rifle and ammunition to his hideout by the freeway and embarks on a shooting spree, resulting in his death at the hands of the authorities five hours later. Connection to King's other works Kurt Dussander remembers using a "bank in the State of Maine" to purchase stocks under an assumed name. He goes on to say that the banker who bought them for Dussander went to jail for murdering his wife a year after he purchased them. He even references Andy Dufresne by name — he remembers the name because "it sounds a little like mine." Andy Dufresne is a central character in Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, the novella preceding Apt Pupil in Different Seasons. When confronting Todd about his murders, Dussander mentions a serial killer named "Springheel Jack". This killer is the focus of "Strawberry Spring", a short story published in the King collection Night Shift (1978). The guidance counselor Ed French mentions his hotel room is number 217, the same as the famous Overlook Hotel room in The Shining. Furthermore, in The Shining, Jack Torrance is working on a play that includes a character named Denker, the same name as Dussander's alter ego. This has led some fans to speculate that Apt Pupil is Torrance's play. In the afterword to Different Seasons, King mentions having written Apt Pupil immediately after The Shining. Adaptations In 1987, an attempt at an adaptation by Alan Bridges was started but never finished. It starred Ricky Schroder as the lead Todd Bowden, and Nicol Williamson as Kurt Dussander. It was stated that about 40 minutes were shot. Other sources have stated that 75% of the movie was shot. It was never finished due to loss of money. Once the necessary finances were collected to finish the movie, Schroder was deemed too old for the role, so the