"[man] I drive at night." "A police radio as my compass." "Looking for answers to questions I'm only learning how to ask." "About things adults dismiss, but children are right to fear." "Shapes that lurk in the darkness." "Nightmares that intrude from another realm." "Forces that spring not from the imagination, but live amongst us, unseen." "These forces have taken something from me, something I can never recover." "So I stalk the night, looking, and knowing." "Our fear of the dark never really goes away." "We just learn to pretend..." "it's not there." "Don't forget this." "Cold tonight." "I could call in sick, you know." "Oh yeah?" "How are we gonna make the house payments then?" " Going to bed now?" " In a minute." "[clattering]" "[thudding]" "Henry?" "[banging, smashing]" "Ow!" "[light bulb fizzes]" "[thudding]" "[eerie whooshing] [woman screams]" "[woman screams]" "Perri Reed, with the Beacon." "Press passes." "I was hoping to speak with the detective in charge." "I think he's already answered your questions, Ms. Reed." " We just got here." " Yes, you did." "But another reporter from your paper's already here." "[Perri] Hey there." "You're from the Beacon?" "Carl Kolchak." "Hi." "I'm Perri Reed, and this is Jain McManus." "We're from the Beacon." "You can go." "Excuse me?" "Well, obviously it's a mix-up but I've got the assignment." "You can go." "Do you even work for the Beacon, Mr. Horshack?" "Kolchak." "T oday's my first day." "Yeah, well, the mix-up's yours, Mr. Kolchak, because this is my story." "Look, I've already got the story." "And it's not the one they're peddling outside." "I even took the photos." "What is the story?" "Emily Gale, age 32, reported missing by husband Henry, 37, when he came home this morning from his job as a night watchman." "Signs of violence suggest foul play." " That it?" " No, that's not it." "Well, what else do you have?" "I have confidential sources, Ms. Reed." "First day on the job, you've got confidential sources?" "And what do those sources tell you, hmm?" "That even though no body's been found, they think this is a murder, with husband Henry prime suspect." "They even have a nice, juicy motive." "Which is?" "Wouldn't you like to know?" "Yeah, I would." "And I intend to." "No one actually gave you the assignment, did they, Carl?" "Well, you asked me to cover crime, did you not, T ony?" " That's my beat." "You can't..." " Perri!" "Please." "You know, most people come in the office, meet their colleagues, get a desk, before they start snagging stories." " I thought you'd value my enterprise." " And I do, Carl." "But Perri is senior crime reporter at this paper." " She's senior crime reporter?" " I've been here 4 years." "Do you know how long I've covered crime?" "Do I care?" "The two of you are expected to get along." "Is that clear?" " Crystal." " Yes." "Good." "The story's hers." " [man] Cray." " Detective Cray, Perri Reed." "I'm calling about the missing woman in the desert, Emily Gale." "We heard you are treating this as a murder case." "None of my guys would source information like that." "I can't give you anything beyond the official statement." "Thank you." "How's it coming?" "I need to know who your sources are." "A good reporter protects his sources." "Kolchak, you heard what Vincenzo just said." "This is my story." "Of course." "You can use my information." "No, I can't." "Not without knowing who your sources are." "Perri." "You do want to know the nice, juicy motive, don't you?" " What is it?" " [whispers] Come here." "Emily Gale was pregnant." "And that's why they think he killed her." "Yo!" "[buzzing]" "[clamoring] [reporter] Where were you when your wife disappeared?" " Mr. Medlock, who killed your sister?" " Your brother-in-law?" "[Jain] Hey." "What are they saying?" "Officially, Gale's being questioned for the murder of his pregnant wife." "Her fetus was torn from her body." "Oh, man." "T orn how?" "It doesn't say." "And they're still looking for the murder weapon." "It's just like Kolchak said?" "Yep." "How did he know?" "Mr. Medlock?" "I'm sorry for your loss." "Do we have to do this?" "A member of the family has to make the identification, sir." "Honey, the doctor needs to see Daddy and me alone for a minute." "Are you OK waiting here?" "OK." "[Carl] It's a little scary, isn't it?" "The bodies of dead people used to scare me too." "Until I realized that well, the people living in those bodies, they're not there anymore." "They went someplace else." "I'm still afraid." "Of what?" "Of what's out there." " Who are you?" " Carl Kolchak." "Honey, wait out there." "How the hell did you get in here?" "I'm writing about your sister." "Police think your brother-in-law killed her." "Of course he did!" "How dare you come in here?" "Come on." "Come on, let's go." "Mrs. Medlock?" " Come to gloat?" " You've got the story." "Yeah." "The same one as everyone else." " Not necessarily." " What's that?" "Emily Gale's brother and his wife." " You talked to them?" " We had a chat in the morgue." " May I..." " Of course." "It's for you." "You see, he believes his brother-in-law's guilty," " but the wife doesn't." " She said that?" "She didn't exactly." "But she gave me this look." "A look." "She gave you a look?" "Well, she obviously believes he's innocent." "I see." "So who does she believe killed Emily Gale?" "Well, that's up to you to find out." "But you want a fresh angle, that's the lead." "Carl." "Why can't you let this story go?" "I'm the little pig that built my house of straw!" "[Medlock] Just running to the store." "I'll be right back, Petunia." "[door closes]" "[TV] I'm the smart little piggy." "I built my house of bricks!" "[shower]" "[door handle clicking]" "[door handle clicking]" "[door handle clicking]" "[door handle clicking]" "[thumping] [thumping]" "[eerie whooshing] [jaunty tune]" "[light bulb fizzing]" "Julie?" "[screaming]" "[creaking] [heavy breathing]" "[screaming]" "I just returned from the hospital, where my wife, Trish, is in the icu fighting for her life." "My daughter's out there somewhere." "If you took Julie, please bring her back." "[Medlock] I'm begging you." "Carl!" "Thank you." "How'd it go?" "Aw, lots of questions, no answers." "They're now looking for a serial killer." "They think the little girl's dead?" "Well, they aren't telling the father that." "Call Henry Gale's attorney." "See if he'll talk now charges have been dropped." "Wow." "Kolchak, I would have thought you would have tried to get that interview for yourself." " I did, actually." " Without asking me first?" "Yeah, he wouldn't return my calls." "Seeing as you're the senior crime reporter, hm?" "That's good thinking, Carl, but the, uh, interview's already been granted." " Really?" " Wanna come?" "Gumby do something to piss you off?" "You knew I had that Henry Gale interview before you asked." " Yeah, I did." " That's what I thought." "[Perri] Ed Medlock thought you killed his sister, Mr. Gale." "Have you spoken to your brother-in-law?" "I know what he told you." "[Gale] I guess, when there are no answers, people get desperate for an explanation." "Sometimes, they believe the unbelievable." "Did..." "Did you see or hear anything before you left?" "Like, say... an animal?" "An animal?" "Yeah, um, sometimes coyotes come down, get in the garbage cans." "I didn't think anything of it." "But did you... actually see this coyote?" "No." "Why?" "Is that important?" "Thank you, Mr. Gale." "What was that about?" "Good morning." "Morning." "Hi." " [ringing tone]" " Agent Fain." "Agent Fain, hi, I'm Perri Reed with the L.A. Beacon." "How can I help you, Perri Reed from the L.A. Beacon?" " I'm calling about Carl Kolchak?" " Carl Kolchak?" "Where is he?" "He works with me here at the Beacon." "Is that right?" "I know he worked for the paper in Las Vegas, and he was being questioned regarding a murder case." "Are you writing a story about this, Ms. Reed?" "'Cause none of Kolchak's buddies out here in Vegas would." "Is there a story?" "Oh, hell yes there is, if you're willing to write it." "Carl Kolchak is a murderer." " Hey." "Got a minute?" " Y eah, sure." "All right, when you asked Henry Gale about an animal, it got me thinking." "These are shots I took from the Gale home and the motel." "Now, I wasn't trying to photograph the dirt, but look." "Tracks." "They're pretty much all just partials, but then I found this." " An ambulance?" " No." "Behind it." "What the hell is it, Kolchak?" " Ms. Reed?" " Agent Fain." " Thank you for taking the time." " Of course." "What is it you want me to see out here?" "This is where Kolchak killed his wife." " Are you sure about that?" " Course that's not his story." "[Fain] Kolchak says he pulled over to avoid a head-on collision." "[gasps] Carl!" "[Fain] That's when he said it happened." "[gasps] Carl!" "What was it?" "He said he never got a good look at it." "He claimed that, whatever it was, it wasn't human." "Pretty convenient, don't you think?" "Killing his wife, leaving him alive." "He was never charged?" "Insufficient evidence." "I've answered your questions, Ms. Reed." "Now, answer mine." "Why are you investigating Carl Kolchak?" "The ambulance was parked back there when I took the picture." "Which means, whatever it was, it was running over here." " How do you know that?" " These marks." "One set here, and one over there." "So, there's two of these things?" "Well, at least." " But no drag marks." " Drag marks?" "Emily Gale's body was dragged." "But there's no drag marks here and no blood." "Which means what?" "Maybe they didn't drag her off." "Maybe they carried her off." "Instead of looking for her body, the police should be looking for that little girl alive." "I don't understand." "What kind of animal carries off a little girl?" "Who said this thing's an animal?" "It's not an animal, but it leaves tracks." "OK, now you're freaking me out." "Perri?" "What's going on?" "If it isn't my old friend Carl." "Agent Fain." "I talked to the authorities out here, Carl." "It seems this case that you're, um, investigating has uncanny similarities to your wife's murder." "What?" " Where is he?" " Being questioned." "I have you to thank for this?" "You knew what happened and didn't say." " It's nobody's business." " Hiring a murderer?" "Accused murderer." "That's reassuring." "It's not my job to reassure you." "Were you aware Kolchak claimed a beast killed his wife, and a judge ordered him held for psychiatric evaluation?" " He recanted that story." " After six months." " The fbi considers him a suspect." " That's all he is." "Regardless of how you feel about him, you have to wonder why he's been so interested in this case." "You mean why a man would be drawn to a story that closely mirrors his own?" "Five years ago," "I'm working the night desk at the Vegas Daily News... when this kid walks in." "He says he's got proof that Freemar Holdings is paying off city officials." "Freemar graft case?" "That kid was Kolchak." "It turned into the biggest corruption scandal in Nevada history." "Made my career." "And his." "For two years, he lived that story 24-7." "The DA brought 32 indictments, got 28 convictions." "But the capper is... the day old man Freemar himself is convicted," "Kolchak is a no-show." "Where was he?" "Irene was sick." "He stayed home to take care of her." "And he missed... the biggest day of the biggest story of his career." "So do I think Kolchak went to pieces when his wife died?" "Course I do." "But killed her?" "Mm-mm." "The prisoner emerges." "[T ony] They done with you?" "For now." "All they have is their fevered imaginations." "Thanks for the lift." "Hey, Kolchak?" "When I went to the fbi, I was just asking questions." "I didn't mean to get you arrested." "But you're not sure I'm innocent, either, are you?" "Perri?" " That's your house, right?" " Yeah." "Why's your front door busted open?" "[Perri] Oh, my God." "Agent Fain, I presume." "Let me help you clean this up." "I need a beer." "How about you?" "Sure." " [Carl] Bottle OK?" " That's fine." "[Carl] It's my wife." "Why would you keep these?" "Look at her left hand." " What is it?" " I don't know." "But she didn't have it before she died." "It's the same marks here in Seattle, five months ago." "And again in Sacramento, six weeks ago." "And again, and again, and again." "So all these people were killed by the same thing that killed your wife?" "That's just it." "None of them were." "Laura Brau, convinced someone's gonna burn her to death," "Iocks herself in her house." "Next morning her body's found incinerated by 2,500 degree heat, but the floor beneath her isn't even singed." "Glenn Barger kills himself in Idaho." "His suicide note confesses to three murders, correct in every detail." "Only the murders are committed after his death." "Andre and Arlene Bormanis move into an old house with two children." "They report strange sounds, think they have a ghost." "The police ignore it, until they're all found hanging in the attic." " I don't understand the connection." " I don't either." "But there is one." "You never had any confidential sources, did you?" "You knew Emily Gale's murder would match your wife's before the police did." "How?" "Maybe it's like Agent Fain said." "Maybe I know because I did kill her." "Or?" "The body of a drifter was found in the desert last week, not two miles from Emily Gale's house." "She was killed the same way." "But if you knew they were coming for someone," " why wouldn't you go get help?" " From who?" "My psychiatrist?" "Why kill that woman and take that little girl?" "Why kill your wife?" "And why not you?" "My wife had a secret that she was gonna tell me... the night she died." "I didn't find out what it was until the autopsy." "She was pregnant." "They tore the fetus from her body." "Did Emily Gale have that same mark on her body?" "I don't know." "They won't release the autopsy photos." "So what about all these other people?" "You're telling me they all have this mark?" "Most of them don't." "But some do." "All these strange deaths." "They're like pieces in a puzzle." "A puzzle I'm trying to put together." "Something terrible is happening." "But no one sees it 'cause no one wants to." "I think I could use that beer now." "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" "I think it's like the man said." "You desperately want an explanation, so you believe the unbelievable." "That little girl is still out there." "I'm the only one asking questions that could save her." "[phone rings]" "[Carl] Yeah?" "OK, I'll be right there." "That was Jain." "He just responded to a call about some wild animals near a girls' school." " What happened?" " Girl inside heard scratching." "When the headmistress looked, she saw something run off." " She told the police it was an animal." " That what you're basing this on?" "That, and those tracks that we found at the motel, they're here, too." " That's why they left." " The lights?" "They're on motion sensors." " Look." " [Perri] What's this prove?" "[Jain] That these things Kolchak's looking for were here." "Or wolves, or coyotes, or armadillos, for all I know." "Armadillos?" "All I'm saying is that this proof of yours is anything but." "What are you doing?" "Hunting." " Gimme the keys." " What for?" "You can ride home with Elmer Fudd." "I've had enough." "[faint growling]" "[cooing]" " [eerie whooshing] - [Perri yells]" "[squealing tires]" "You OK?" "Kolchak!" " It's a coyote." " What?" "The common Canis latrans, found throughout North America." "Doesn't look like any coyote I've ever seen." "It was badly mangled when Kolchak hit it, son." "Release the body." "We can get confirmation of your findings." " That's not possible." " Why not?" "Animal Control picked up the body a half hour ago." "It's been cremated." "[Jain] Aw, you gotta be kidding me!" "You can write the story anyway." " Saying what?" " What happened." "What really happened." "That we saw a coyote and mistook it for something else?" "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of moral crisis, remain neutral." "What are you talking about?" " Did that look like a coyote to you?" " No." "It didn't." "But why would they lie?" "Fain's so desperate to put me away, he'd suppress any evidence" "linking my wife's death to Emily Gale." "Fain told me there were human footprints outside Emily Gale's house." "Why won't he release the autopsy photos?" "He knows what they show." "That Emily Gale's body has the same mark as Irene's did." "Only she didn't." "I got Fain to release the photos." "Sorry, Kolchak." "She doesn't have the mark." "I know how badly you want answers, Carl." "T o know who or what killed your wife." " She was afraid." " Your wife?" "That little girl." "Julie." "When I met her, she said she was afraid of what's out there." "She probably knew the killer." "She's not dead, Perri." "I know you want to believe that, Carl." "And, trust me, so do I." "But it's been two days..." "There were no drag marks outside the motel and no blood." "I'm telling you, they carried her away." ""They"?" "Maybe... these aren't the same things that killed my wife." "Whatever they are, they killed Emily Gale, and they took that little girl." "So these animals, they have purpose?" "Intelligence?" "[Jain] Somebody order piping hot coffee?" "[bleeping]" " What is it?" " Come on." ""Come on"?" "I've got the coffees." "The vapor I sprayed outside the school" " was a sort of chemical LoJack." " What's it tracking?" "The other one of those "coyotes", I guess." "[Carl] This is near where Emily Gale's body was found." "[bleeping]" "[Carl] The signal's coming from that cave." " [Jain] What happened?" " [Carl] Lost the signal." " You think she's down there." " I intend to find out." " We're going down there?" " That's what I had in mind." "T ake this." " What is it?" " Cattle prod." " Cattle prod?" " [electrical buzzing]" "You have like a gun or something?" "[Jain] I think a gun might be better." " You ever used a gun before?" " No." " As I thought." " I've never used a cattle prod..." "Shh!" " [child sobbing] - [Carl] You hear that?" "That's her." "[distant screaming]" "[Jain] Hey, hey." "[Perri] What is it?" "[Jain] I don't know." "[squealing, wings flapping]" "It was... bats." "Great." "[child screaming, sobbing]" "[eerie swooshing]" "[Perri] That's no little girl." "[Perri] Think we went the wrong way?" "[Carl] I don't think so." "[sobbing]" "Julie!" "[child] Here." "[Carl grunts] [sobbing]" " Julie!" " [rocks crumbling] [distant splashing]" "We're gonna get you out of here, OK?" "T ake you home." "[eerie whooshing]" " Carl!" " Yeah, I got her." "I need you to jump." "Come on." "[Carl] That's right." "Don't look down." "Look at me." "Look at me." " [eerie whining] - [Jain] Kolchak!" "[Julie sobs]" " I'm afraid." " I won't let you fall, OK?" "I promise." "[whooshing]" "Come on." "I won't let you fall." "[Carl] That's right." "Look at me." "Look at me." "[Julie screams]" "[Carl] I got you." "I got you." " [Carl] Let's go!" " [roaring]" "[Perri] Let's go!" " [eerie whining] - [Julie shrieks]" " [roaring] - [whooshing]" "[whooshing]" "[Jain groans]" "[Julie screams]" "[Perri] Come on, Jain!" " [Jain yells] - [Julie screams]" "[shrieking]" "[revving engine] [squealing] [screaming]" "?" "I can see it all tonight" "?" "Underneath a perfect sky" "?" "Where the universe revolves around the pupil of an eye" "?" "And infinities stretch out from infinities within" "?" "I'm a part of everything" "?" "I'm a part of everything" "?" "Am I falling asleep?" "?" "Is it all just a dream?" "?" "And the cars are like water" "?" "And the road is like a stream" "?" "Rolling down through the city" "?" "Flowing out into the city" "?" "Going nowhere like me" "Morning." "Want to explain this story you wrote?" " What about it?" " It says the police are looking" " for whoever kidnapped the girl." " They are." "Julie can't remember anything about how she got into that cave." "But that's not the... [hushed] point." "You didn't write what we saw, what you believe." "How long would I last if I wrote what I believed?" "How long would you?" " The public has a right to know." " The public?" "The public doesn't wanna know." "Look, these are things I need to find out, to understand, for myself." "And when you get your answers?" "Then I'll print them." "And then they'll believe." "Then they'll have to." "I'm watching you." "Well, you are the senior crime reporter." "Yes, I am." "That reminds me." "I've been covering crime for four years." "How long have you?" "Five." "That's what I thought." "[Carl] As a reporter, I seek answers to the questions that haunt me." " [radio]... victims mutilated." " [Carl] But the stories, the real stories, you won 't find printed in any newspaper." "Stories of strange deaths." "Endless suffering." "Horrors we can only pretend to explain." "And these are the stories I live to write." "Driven by the faith that one day people will read them and understand." "Haunted by the fear that the answers I seek" "Iie not in the darkness without, but the darkness... within."