"Ouch!" "Dr. Campbell?" "Dr. Campbell?" "Dr. Campbell?" "Hey, Dr. Campbell?" "Are you sick or something?" "Doc-- Doc" "Get Dr. B-- Beecher." "Oh." "Yes, sir." "Don't you worry, I'll get him right away." "Hi, Tommy." "Matt Campbell's sick." "He sent me for your dad." "Carol, tell daddy Matt Campbell's sick." " What's the trouble?" " I don't know, Ma'am." "He's just lying there awful sick." "He asked me to get Doc Beecher." "I'll tell him." "You'd better go on home, Tommy." " But, Ma'am..." " The doctor will go right over." " Doctor..." " Just remember that." "Well, you try not to worry about things, Carrie." "What?" "Speak louder, young man." "I said, try not worry, and take these pills three times a day." "Before meals?" "Well, after meals." "Thank you, Doctor." "Yes, Carol?" "Matt Campbell's had another attack." " Oh." " Who?" "Who's sick?" "Matt Campbell." "Oh, him, him sitting up in that big house all day, doing the-Lord-only-knows-what to those poor animals." "And just to be on the safe side, Carol," "you better call an ambulance." " Yes, Doctor." "And good-bye, Carrie, and don't forget those pills." "What?" "What did he say?" "He said to take the pills." "Oh." " Matt?" "Hey, Matt, what's wrong this time?" "Here we go." "Let's get you over to the couch, huh?" "Here we go." "Attaboy." "Easy, now." "There we go, Matt." "Okay." "Paul, what time?" "Tell me." "I got to know what time." "It's a little after 6:00, Matt." "They've got to know what I've done, but nobody will." "I'm" " I'm dying now." "Well, you're not dying, Matt." "You'll be fine." "All these years, all these years of experimenting," "I have got the answer now, Paul." "It's" " It's, it's, it's right here." "Take it." "It's" " It's the-- the... pills." "Hey, how about that?" "360!" "Can this boy play darts or not?" "This just doesn't seem to be your day." "I can't seem to get warmed up." "I've done a lot better." "Hiya, Doc." "Hiya, Buck, George." "Hmm, brought you the medical report on Matt Campbell." "Good." "Thanks, Doc." "It was a simple coronary." "His heart had been pretty bad for years now." "Yeah." "Poor guy didn't have any relatives." "I know." "So, I called the University of Bigelow, talked to a Dr. Beaumont, he's bringing someone up tomorrow to take over." "Beaumont?" "Will Beaumont?" "You know him?" "Well, we went to school together." "No kidding." "Well, he's head of the psychology department now." "Is that a fact?" "Yeah." "He seemed pretty upset over Campbell's death." "What's going on in that lab, anyhow?" "I don't really know, Buck." "The man never talked much." "I think he was doing some research about primitive instincts, regressing the brain or something." " I don't know." " Wow." "Well, I got a lot of house calls to make," " I may not..." " Say, Doc, say hello to old Mrs. What's-her-name, for me, will ya?" " Who?" " You know, your nurse." "Well, got a new girl now." "Yeah?" "I don't think she's quite your type, fat, bifocals, buck teeth." "But she's a good, hard worker." "Doc, I'll remember not to get sick." " Hi, Daddy." " Oh, hi, Marion." " Hello, Doctor." " I'll be with you in a minute." "Oh, what have you been up to all day, huh?" "Practicing." "I'm always practicing something." "Yeah." "I guess you are." "I wish you'd get those teachers to pay their bills with money." "Oh, they'll pay me when they can." "Here, let me help you, Daddy." "Oh, thank you, darling." "Let me get my pencil." "Yeah." "What's the matter with Marion?" "She said she felt dizzy all day." "I know just what she means." "What's wrong?" "Just another one of my headaches." "But... do you think you could hold her off for a few minutes?" "Of course." "I'm sorry you feel so awful." "Oh, I'm gonna be all right, honey." "Would you get me my migraine pills?" "They're in my coat there." "Oh, sure." "Right-hand pocket." "How are you coming with your dancing?" "Okay." "Except I can't figure out whether I wanna be a concert pianist or a prima ballerina." "Well, why don't you settle for being a cook, right now?" "Oh, I haven't had time for any dinner." "Okay, but just because it's you." "Thank you, darling." "Tell Marion to come on in here." "Oh, sure." "My dad says you can come in now." "Sit down, Marion." "Oh, what seems to be the trouble?" "Well, I don't know exactly." "I think maybe it's my heart murmur acting up again." "Marion, I'd like to ask you something." "Did you hear anything about Matt Campbell?" "Yes, I did." "Well, maybe that sort of frightened you, huh?" "Hmm?" "I don't know." "Look, Doctor, I live alone, and sometimes I get scared something's going to happen to me." "My heart being the way it is." "Oh, now, Marion." "My folks are worried sick." "I tell them not to worry, but they do." "I tell them, I've got a good job and all, but they just don't like me to live away from the farm." "Excuse me, Marion." "Don't you feel well, Dr. Beecher?" "Oh, just a little tired, I guess." "I'm afraid you will have to excuse me, Marion." "Do you suppose you can come back tomorrow morning, first thing?" "I would like to do another electrocardiogram on you." " Oh, sure, Doctor." " Oh, thank you." "Gee, I'm sorry you don't feel well." "Oh, I'll be all right." "I'll see you in the morning, now." "Sorry." "The doctor doesn't feel very well." "I'm going to come back tomorrow, first thing." " All right." " Good night." "Good night." "Can I get you something?" "No, no, no." "Oh, I'll be all right." "I think I'm gonna lie down for a while." "You mind tell Betsy she can forget about dinner?" "All right." "I'm not hungry." "Oh, thank you." "Oh." "Nobody home." " What?" " I guess nobody's home." "Oh, uh, are you one of the doctor's patients?" "Not if I can help it." "I" " I, um, I don't believe I know you." "Oh, my name is Carol Butler." "Carol Butler." "My, that's a pretty name." "Well, um, why don't we go inside?" "The door should be unlocked." "It's" " It's 9:00." "You must be a regular customer here." "Oh, well, yes, I guess I am, in a matter of speaking." "Oh, the doctor must've been called away temporarily." "Hey, you can't be the doctor's nurse." "That's right." "Uh, but you're filling in for a friend, you know," "the plump girl?" " Plump girl?" "The one with the glasses." "No, look, you've lost me some place." "I've been working here for several weeks." " Oh." " Now, what was your name?" "My name" " Oh, Donnelly, Buck Donnelly." "The doctor said that-- Oh, hi, Doc." " Hello, Buck." " Oh, Doctor..." " I didn't know you're in." " Just woke up." " Doc, can I see you a minute?" " Oh, sure." "How are you feeling this morning?" "Oh, I feel fine." "Bifocals, buck teeth, Doc." "All right." "Well, what's on your mind, besides Carol?" "Well, we got a report last night there was a prowler in the neighborhood." "Mrs. Whitman down the street called us." "Yeah?" "But she gets hysterical pretty easily, but we sent a car out anyhow, they didn't see anything, would've been about 11:00?" "Oh, I didn't hear anything." "I was sound asleep by 11:00." "Well, I don't think there's much to it." "I'm just following through." "" " Excuse me, Buck." "Dr. Beecher." "Who?" "Oh, thank you." "Yes?" "Marion Wilkins?" "Oh, she seemed fine last night." "She was coming in this morning." "I don't know anything about that, Doctor." "I come in on Tuesdays to clean, and that's all, but she looks awful sick to me." "Well, I'll be right over." "Excuse me, Buck." "Got to make a house call." " Marion Wilkins?" " Mm-hmm." "What's wrong?" "Well, she's one of my heart patients." "Oh, thanks." "I don't think Matt Campbell's death helped her any." "I'll be at Marion Wilkins' place, Carol." "All right." " Ms. Butler." " Yes?" "Do you know a good eye doctor?" "Why, do you need glasses?" "No." "But I think doc does." "I didn't know what to do, Doctor." "She just lies there like that with her eyes closed up." "Can you hear me, Marion?" "What is it, Doctor?" "I think it's her heart." "You better call the county hospital." "Ask them to send an ambulance." "Yes, sir." "Would you use another phone, please?" "All right." "It's all right, Marion." "Everything's going to be all right." "Now, don't worry, you're gonna be fine." "Oh, no." "No!" "Go away." "Go away!" "Marion, it's me." "It's Dr. Beecher." "Yes." "Yes, it's you." "Don't touch me." "Leave me alone." "Don't touch me!" "" " Marion?" "" " Leave me alone!" "Good morning, Doctor." "How is she?" "She died." "Oh, no." "Oh, Doctor, I'm terribly sorry." "It's all my fault." "I should have helped her last night." "I didn't think it was that serious." "How could you know?" "It was my job to know." "I'm supposed to second-guess death, not run away from it." "Another headache?" "Doctor, why don't you let yourself take a rest?" "And what would all my patients do?" "You could get someone in." "No, I'll be all right." "Is something wrong?" "No." "Where's Betsy?" "Oh, she's cleaning her room, I think." "Do you suppose you could ask them to wait a little while longer?" "Oh, I think so." "There's nothing really urgent." "I'll be right back." "Hi, Daddy." "Hi, honey." "Is there an "I" in elegant?" "No." "What are you writing?" "A letter to Aunt Sally." "I'm gonna tell her what an elegant summer we had." "Oh, she'll appreciate hearing from you." "You mind if I turn this thing off?" "Oh, no, here I'll do it." "Thank you." "Whenever you start off like that," "I know it's something important." "Well, I did wanna talk to you about something, Betsy." " You remember last night?" " Sure." "When I had the headache?" "Oh, sure." "And I asked you to get me the pills out of my coat pocket?" "You mean your migraine pills?" "Yeah, um..." "These were the pills, weren't they?" "Mm-hmm." "You know, doctors are kind of funny." "They often carry a lot of pills around with them, and I had some others last night, too." "These do look sort of like the migraines, don't they?" "What's in 'em?" "Oh, nothing much, just--just aspirin." "I thought maybe you might've given me these, you know, by accident." "No, Daddy, I didn't." "Well, that's fine." "You know, Betsy, I've been thinking, you and I ought to get out on those hills for a real hike one of these days, huh?" " What do you say?" " Gee, that'd be terrific." "We don't seem to have much time anymore, just for fun, do we?" "" " Daddy?" " Hmm?" "I don't know which one of the pills I gave you." "But aspirin never hurt anyone, did it?" "No, honey." "It never hurt anyone." "Oh, hello, Buck." "Willy, how's business?" "Oh, picking up, can't complain." "Marion back there?" "Yeah, she is, poor little girl." "Mind if I take a look?" "Not at all." "As matter of fact, I kind of expected you." "Any reason why, Willy?" "Well, you usually turn up, don't you?" "Marion?" "Guess we're having an epidemic of heart attacks." "Matt Campbell, now Marion Wilkins." "You think doc's gonna ask for an autopsy?" "Autopsy?" "Oh, no." "No need for that." "It was heart, all right, plain and clear." "I've seen a lot of cases in my day." "Trouble with you, Buck, you're overanxious." "Guess you ain't had no excitement since Abe Hibbel axed his mother-in-law." "And that's the way we wanna keep it." "Well, thanks, Willy." "Anytime." "Here, Henry." "Put them right there." "Will." "Paul." "Paul Beecher." " What are you doing here?" " Well, I heard you were coming, so I just dropped by to say hello to you." "Oh?" "Well, we just got into town." "Yeah." "Paul, this is a pleasant surprise." "Years haven't changed you." "And you don't look so bad yourself, huh?" "Oh, Henry." "You know, Henry is one of our top research assistants at the university, he's going to take over Campbell's job." "I'm just here helping him get organized." "You know, Henry, Paul and I were friends many years ago" "at medical school." " Yeah." "How are you, Henry?" "How do you do?" "Henry, would you take this thing over to the desk and hook it up?" "I mean, Paul, you're gonna have to excuse Henry." "Light bothers his eyes." "He suffered a trauma in early childhood." "His mother was burned to death when a gas heater exploded and only just has adjusted to society." "Always the psychologist, aren't you, Will?" "I hear you're head of the department now." "Oh, yes, indeed." "That's wonderful." "What have we got here?" "Unusual." "Yeah, I noticed that when I came in." "They were alive yesterday." "I was here with Matt Campbell when he died." " Heart attack." " Mm-hmm." "That's too bad." "I didn't know him very well." "I just appropriated the funds for him." "Henry?" "Do you want something?" "The animals are dead." "Yes, I know." "That's Henry for you, phlegmatic, but seething inside, brilliant mind, brilliant." "He's just the person to carry on." "Oh, well, um, what exactly was Campbell working on?" " Didn't he tell you?" " Uh-uh." "Only briefly." "I know it had something to do" "with the instincts, reaction." " Yeah." "Well, that's about it." "It's" " How're you coming?" "Dull knife." "I cannot work with a dull knife." "You know, Henry complains a lot, but deep inside, he's a frightened child seeking approval." "Will, I want you to tell me everything you know about Matt Campbell's work." "" " Why?" " Well..." "He tried to tell me something just before he died." "I thought maybe it might be important." "Paul, I don't honestly know too much about it myself." "We've been subsiding scientists that work on regression, to see whether it's possible chemically to revert the animal mind to a primitive state, and if it is, whether or not we can reverse the process and advance intellect." "Human intellect, eventually." "Well, did Campbell succeed on what he was trying to do?" "I don't honestly know." "He claimed that he developed some kind of a pill" "which he thought was..." " A pill?" "Say, as a matter of fact, these are probably the ones right here." "They're supposed to induce these primitive instincts by draining the blood in the brain temporarily." "Well, that would induce fainting." " Let me see one of those." " Sure." "Well, I imagine it would, but apparently it doesn't harm the animals as long as they keep getting the pills." "You see, they're habit-forming." "What do you mean, habit-forming?" "Just that." "I talked to Campbell the other day on the phone, he was very excited, but seemed to run into some kind of a problem, said that once that he'd given the animals the pills, they had to have them practically every 24 hours," "or they went wild." "Wonder why those bats aren't dead?" "Will?" "How sure was Campbell about this 24-hour business?" "Oh, he seemed to be pretty sure about it." "I don't know, but, Paul, after all, the animals are dead except the bats, so we got to find out why." "Oh, well, I'd like to stay here and watch you work, would you mind?" "It would seem the synapse leading to the portions of the brain affected suffered permanent injury in some cases, destructive process unknown." "What time is it, Will?" " Hmm?" " What time is it?" "My watch just stopped." "Quarter after 8:00." "There're no conclusions on all this stuff." "Nothing that Campbell's written makes any sense to me." "Just doesn't make sense." "Yeah, I'm having the same trouble, brilliant mind, he's just brilliant, but unfortunately he's rather untidy." "Henry..." "I wanna ask you a question." "How long before you know something?" " Know something?" " Yes." "What caused them to die?" "This business takes patience, Paul." "It's not the kind of thing you rush through." "Well, maybe not, but all I wanna know is, was it the pills that killed them?" "Oh, no." "No, it wasn't the pills or lack of pills." " Something else." " Like what?" "Capillary disintegration." "Well, Henry, you have made progress." "Look, you're just gonna have to learn to speak up." "Henry, what caused this capillary disintegration?" "Disease, maybe a virus." "A virus?" "I'll find it." "It won't get away from me." "I didn't know you were so interested in research." "You missed your calling, Paul." "Well, I am going to call it a day." "And I imagine Henry will welcome the peace and quiet." "Will you, Henry?" "I don't mind." "Paul, uh, don't forget to throw the switch on the electric furnace." "We don't wanna blow up the circuit." " Coming, Paul?" " You go ahead." "Well, oh, Henry, I'll be at the hotel, if you need me." " You'll be all right?" " Of course." "Yeah." " Henry?" " Yes." "Why didn't the bats die?" "I don't know." "Oh, Daddy, you just gotta watch this." "I'm not watching anything." "And why aren't you in bed?" "But, please, I just learned how." "No, and turn off that stupid record." " But, Daddy..." " Did you hear me?" "Turn it off." "Daddy?" "Daddy?" "Daddy, I'm sorry." "Please." "Daddy?" "Are you asleep?" "Oh, shoot." "Can't think." "Yes?" "Oh, Dr. Beaumont." "I'm just starting a chemical analysis of the pills." "Hold it, the storm just shorted out the lights." "Doctor..." "I think the pills are a control serum." "From the bats, they were the only animals immune." "Mm-hmm." "I think I'll work on a while longer." "Yes, yes." "I'll see you in the morning." "Bye." "Needless to say, I'm shocked." "I just can't believe Henry's gone." "It doesn't seem possible." "Did you touch anything in here, Doc?" "Oh, no, I" " Why?" "Well, obviously, there's a struggle." "We'll have to presume it was homicide." "Oh, no, that's not possible." " I don't see how that could be." " Why not?" "Well, you'd have to know Henry." "It's possible Henry might have killed somebody, but vice versa?" " No." " Did Henry have any enemies?" "No, he didn't have any friends, either." "Believe me, nobody cared whether Henry lived or died." "Nobody would bother to kill him, unless, of course, it was a maniac, in that case." "Paul." "Paul, this is terrible." "Hi, Doc." "Buck, I finally got your message." "I was asleep." "Oh, God." "Well, Doc, what do you think?" "What?" "Cause of death." "Well, give me a chance, Buck." "Dr. Beaumont tells me that when he left last night, you were still here with Henry." "That's right." "How long did you stay?" "I only stayed a couple of minutes." "Was everything okay then?" "Yeah, everything was fine." "There's nothing immediately apparent, except a couple of little marks on his throat, maybe insect bites." "I wouldn't even mention it except that..." "Marion Wilkins had the same thing." "You didn't mention that at the time." "Well, I didn't think it was important enough to mention at the time." "And now?" "I don't know, Buck." "There's a slight contusion on the head that could be the cause of death, but I doubt it." "Well, the autopsy surgeon will be able to tell us more." "Will?" "What's the matter?" "Did you notice that the bats are gone?" "You know, this is odd." "I talked to Henry last night." "He discovered that Campbell's pills were a control serum extracted from the bats." "Well, that's hard to believe." "Yes, it is." "Especially when you consider they were vampire bats." "Good morning, Dr. Beecher." "Good morning." "Well, I'll get this sample over to the lab right away." "Doc, how long before they give you the results of the autopsy?" "Oh..." "If I put a rush on, six hours." " Make it a rush, will you?" " All right." " You know, Buck?" " Yeah?" "I can't go along with this murder theory of yours." "Well, Doc, somebody did break into that lab." "All right, but you don't kill someone by giving them a blood disease." "That is, not usually." "Doc..." "What if someone else died of this --?" " What did you call it?" " Capillary disintegration." " Yeah." " That is complete destruction of the body tissues." "Capillary disintegration." "What would you think?" "Well, that would depend." "It's such a rare thing." "I'd say the odds were against it happening." "Yeah." "But what if it did happen?" "Do you think there was someone else?" "No, I guess not." "All right." "Well, I'll call you later on." "Okay, thanks again, Doc." "Willy?" "Willy?" "What do you make of the fact that both Marion Wilkins and Henry Winston died with the same marks on their throats?" "Well, I don't know." "It must be coincidence." "Maybe." "Maybe it also means she didn't have a heart attack, huh?" "But she did, Buck." "You don't believe what you're told." "That's your trouble." "But what if she didn't?" "I'd like to know how you're gonna know that now, with her all nicely and properly buried up in the family plot." "" " Well, we can take care of that." " Buck!" "You can't go around digging up people's graves." "To get a court order, you got to have some good reason." "I got plenty of reasons, Willy." "Three deaths in three days." "Carol?" "Carol?" "Are you feeling better, Paul?" "Well, a little bit." "I thought maybe you'd gone." "Well, I was just finishing up." "Buck is coming for me." " Buck?" " Yes, he's taking me to dinner." "Oh." " Where's Betsy?" " At dancing school." "Well, I haven't seen her all day." "She thinks you're angry with her." " Angry?" " Paul..." " What happened last night?" " What do you mean?" "I mean, did you two have a quarrel or something?" "No." "Well, I guess maybe I did lose my temper a little bit." "You know how it is with kids, so easy to hurt them, without meaning to." "I think Betsy's pretty indestructible." "Carol, do you have to go with Buck tonight?" "No, of course not, it was just tentative." "Do you want me to work?" "No." "No, it isn't that." "It..." "Carol, I need someone to stay with me." "Stay with you?" "Yes, I know I shouldn't ask this, but, well, I haven't been myself lately." "You were right last night when you said that something had happened to me." "Oh, you've just been working too hard." "No, it isn't that, either." "It's..." "I've been using these pills that I take for my migraines as a kind of a crutch, because I haven't felt well." "And I thought... maybe if you stayed with me," "I might not take them," "might not take so many." "I'll get it." " Oh, Buck." " Hey, you look nice." "Oh, thank you." "I was just going to call you." "Oh, look, I hate to do this to you, but I'm gonna have to break our date tonight." " Something came up." " I was going to have to tell you the same thing." "The doctor wants me to stay here." "Oh, well, look, can we make it tomorrow night?" " Of course." " Good." "Now, I'd like to see the doc." " He's in his office." " Thanks." "Come in." "See you a minute, Doc?" "Why, sure." "Anything new?" "Paul, we're getting a court order to exhume Marion Wilkins' body." "Well, what do you wanna do that for?" "We just found out that Henry Winston died of a rare blood disease, a thing called capillary disintegration, whatever that is." "Destroys body tissue." "What's that got to do with Marion?" "Well, I don't know exactly, but if she died of the same thing..." "What makes you think she died of the same thing?" "Now, Paul, I don't doubt your judgment on this." "Buck." "Yeah?" "Buck, I..." "Something wrong, Paul?" "No." "Well, this thing needs your signature." "Judge Watson's waiting." "Thanks a lot." "Appreciate your cooperation." "Don't mention it." "Good night, Carol." "See you tomorrow." "Well, I guess you heard." "I don't have a date." "Come on, Carol." "Let's get out of here." "You're going-- go out and have dinner with me." "Oh, well, it's no trouble to fix something here." "Well, I wanna go away some place, somewhere where I can relax." "All right." "But I'll have to go get changed." "All right." "We'll stop by your place." "Fine." "Oh..." " The pills." " Oh, yes." "Put them in your purse, then I'll have to ask you for them." " Here you are, Doc." " Well, thank you, Joe." " Oh, Doc." " Yeah?" "I don't wanna be imposing on you on all that, but..." "Well, what is it, Joe?" "Well, this would probably sound funny to you, but, well, it's my left eye, right here." "Oh, I see." "It looks all right." "Yeah, it looks all right, but it feels terrible." "Well, why don't you call us and make an appointment?" "All right, Doc." "And we'll give it a thorough check." "Okay, Doc, thanks." "Oh, Doc, it's really my wife." "You see, she sleeps on that side, and, well, she's got a terrible cold, and she keeps breathing on my eye at night, you know." "And, well, I figured maybe my eye went and caught it." "You know, the germs?" "Well, why don't you just come in tomorrow, and we'll have a look at them." "Okay, Doc." "And bring your wife in, too." "All right, Doc, thanks." "You see, you're not the only one who's got troubles." "Well, I know one thing." "I'm feeling a little better." "You know, this has really done me good." "Oh, I'm so glad." "Carol, you're not prone to hysterics, are you?" "Oh, I don't think so." "I mean, if I were to tell you something, something incredible, do you think you'd believe me?" "Well, if it were something true." "If it were true?" "Yeah." "And there, we have the problem." "Carol, there is something I must talk to you about." "I just can't seem to do it." "Go ahead." "I'm an understanding type girl." "Yeah, I know you are." " Well" " Oh, Doc, you're wanted on the phone." "Excuse me a minute." "Dr. Beecher." "Yes?" "Oh." "Yes." "Well, can't you get Dr. Morgan?" "All right." "Tell the resident to stand by." "Yes." "Yes, right away." "Carol, I've got to go to County Hospital." "An emergency abdominal." "Do you want me to go with you?" "No, you better-- look, would you mind waiting for me here?" "Of course not." "I may be a little while." "I'll try to make it as soon as I can." "Oh, that's all right." "Oh, could I borrow your lighter again?" " Of course." " Oh, I'll get it." "Oh, sorry." "Now, you're gonna wait, won't you?" "Don't worry." "I'll be here." "Because I do wanna talk to you." "Okay, boys, this is it." "Doctor." "He's had two-quarters - of morphine, 30 minutes apart." "But how long was the last injection?" "About 15 minutes." "Doctor?" "Yes, I'm ready." "Puncture." "Give me a #00 suture." "Doctor?" "Okay." "You'll have to go on." "There, I think that should do it." "Nice job, Doctor." "I didn't think he'd make it." "Neither did I." "We'll put him in 107, Doctor." " What?" "107." "Take over for me, Bailey." "I can't stay." " - what?" "" " I can't stay." "But, Doc..." "Hello?" "This is Dr. Deecher." "Is Carol Butler there?" "No, as a matter of fact, she just left two minutes ago." "Said to tell you she'd be home if you wanted her." "She left?" "But she can't have left." "Are you sure?" "Well, that's what she said to tell you, Doc." "No!" "Okay, boys, open it up." "Look, I don't like this." "Take it easy, Willy." "Take it easy." "All right, let's go." " Ooh." " Oh." "I can't believe it." "I must've made a mistake." "This can't be the one." "Why, Mrs. Dietz, what on earth are you doing out at this hour?" "This is our constitutional." "Last week, I said to Priscilla," ""Priscilla, you and I just don't get enough exercise."" "And what did Priscilla say?" "She agreed with me, but then she doesn't have much choice." "Good night, Mrs. Dietz." "Good night, Carol." "Come along, Priscilla." "Mrs. Dietz?" "Oh!" "Oh." "Oh." "Come along, Priscilla." "Priscilla, don't tire out on me now." "Once around the corner, and we'll be home." "Priscilla, stop making so much noise." "You'll wake everybody up." "" " Who is she?" "" " Is she alive?" "Huh?" "Must be." "Hey, Daddy!" "Egg's up in one minute!" "Daddy!" "Come on!" "Daddy, if you don't hurry, I'm gonna have to eat these eggs all by myself." "Daddy!" "In a minute." "Carol." "Carrie." "Carol!" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Carol?" "This is Paul." "Oh, Paul." "I waited and waited for you last night and then-- and all this other happened." "What?" "What happened?" "Somebody killed Carrie Dietz last night." "Carrie?" "Yes." "Oh, it's the most frightening thing that ever happened." "He tried to get to me first." "Paul?" "Paul, are you still on the line?" "Paul?" "Yeah." "You better stay home today, Carol." "Get a little rest, huh?" "I will." "I still feel upset." "I'll call you later." "Oh!" "Daddy!" "What's wrong?" "What happened?" "The mirror fell down." "Betsy, I wanna talk to you about-- about something kind of important." "I'm going to telephone your Aunt Sally today." " What for?" " Well, I thought I'd ask her if she'd let you... come and live with them for a while." " Live with them?" " Mm-hmm." "But where would you live?" "Here." "Well, you can't live here without me." "Who'd feed you and take care of you and everything?" "Oh, I'd get along fine." "I don't wanna live with them." "Betsy." "Betsy, if you were over in Bigelow, you'd go to a really wonderful school." "There are a lot of kids there, nice kids." "You'd get a good education." "Dad?" "Are you mad at me or something?" "No, honey." "I've never been mad at you." "I just want you to have a good home." "And you can't have that here... with me-- with me being gone all the time." "Now, look, with Aunt Sally..." "She'd be there every day at home with you." "Oh, look, look, look, honey, please, don't cry." "Please, don't." "All right, all right." "We won't talk about it anymore." "But you think about it, huh?" "Now, come on, come on." "I got a lot of patients to see today... and a lot of things to finish up." "Come on, come on." "That's my girl." "I bet those eggs are stone-cold by this time." " There you are, Ms. Miller." " Thank you, Doctor." "Now, you see that that boy gets plenty of rest." "Yes." "About our bill, Doctor..." "Oh, now, don't you worry about that." "Just pay what you can, when you can." "We're awful lucky, Doctor." "Having you around to take care of us." "I'm going out for a while, Betsy." "Oh, okay." "And look, honey, I may not be here when Aunt Sally comes." "Aren't you coming back?" "Of course I am, honey." "I was just thinking, in case I'm not back in time, you'd better go on home with Sally, and I'll call you there." "All right, Daddy." "Good-bye, Betsy." "Take good care of yourself." "I will." "Daddy?" "Daddy, I love you." "I love you, too, honey." "Good-bye." "Well, Paul." "I'm worried you frightened me half to death." " Sorry." " I wasn't expecting you." "Maybe better get you a key, huh?" " Been here long?" " No, not too long." "Will, I wanted to talk to you." "I've been trying to get you all day." "Oh, well, I've been at Bigelow all day." "The university decided they wanted to continue with the experiment, but ran in a bit of a trouble finding a replacement." "Well, for pity's sakes, Paul, what is it?" "I never could stand suspense." "Well, I" "Well, a patient of mine," "Carrie Dietz, a wonderful old lady, was killed last night." "I know, it's a shame." "Well, I talked to Duck this morning." "I killed her." " What you say?" " I said, I killed her!" "Paul, what are you talking about?" "I don't know how," "I don't even remember doing it, but I'm sure I killed her." "Paul, this whole conversation's fantastic." "Please, let's start over again." "And I think I killed Henry, too." "And Marion Wilkins." "But..." "But why?" "I don't know." "I know it has something to do with those pills of Campbell's." "I started taking them, Will." " By mistake." " You mean the regression pills?" "Yes." "And they've done something terrible to me." "They've turned me into... a horrible thing, a beast." "It made me kill people." "Look, Paul." "What you say just isn't possible." "Look, suppose you did take those pills." "They may cause a reaction in a small animal, but you're a human being." "I know what I'm talking about, Will." "How?" "What proof do you have?" "Look." "Look at that." "I'm a scientific man, Will." "I've been keeping that notebook, trying to figure it out." "Too many things have been happening." "Paul, there's not one thing here that's conclusive." "All right." "Then how do you explain it?" "Three people have been killed." "I have taken those pills three times." "I go to sleep, and when I wake up," "I don't remember anything for a while, and then suddenly," "there's something in my mind." "A dream." "Well, not a dream, a face." "First, it was Marion, and yesterday it was..." "Henry." "And today, it was Carrie Dietz." "What do you propose to do about this?" "Well, I'm going to tell Buck." "What else can I do?" "I just wanted to talk to you first." "In other words, you want me to confirm this?" "Yes, I guess so." "Look, Paul." "Before you ruin your reputation and your livelihood in this community," " let me give you some advice." " Oh, Will..." "Now, listen to me, Paul." "I've seen sick men before." "Now, I know about men, and I know what you're feeling is nothing more than an emotional state probably brought on, at least abetted, by these confounded pills." "Will, you told me yourself, these pills were from vampire bats." "Exactly." "But, Paul, that doesn't make you another Dracula." "You found a strong suggestive influence there, that's all." "You think so?" "It's my opinion you need a complete rest." "Well, you're wrong, Will." "Look." "Paul, people depend on you here." "I don't wanna see you destroy your life." "It's a useful life, Paul." "I don't wanna see you destroy it over a hallucination like this." "No hallucination!" "But suppose it is." "Look, suppose you confessed to that killing last night." "Paul, you'll never be able to pick up your work here again." "It's a small town, Paul." "It" "It's a small town." "People don't forget." "You know you got to wait." "Wait?" "Wait for what?" "11:00?" "11:00?" " Yeah." "That seems to be the hour." "That's as long as I can go without the pills." "Now, nonsense." "All right, Paul." "I'll keep you from taking the pills." "Now, you can trust me." "I'll stay with you until 11:00." "I can't let you do that, Will." "It'd be too dangerous for you." "Paul, give yourself a chance." "Just give yourself a chance." "Okay, Willy, that's all I need." "You can take them out, please." " Oh, hello, Buck." " Doc." "" " Hi, Willy." " Hi, Buck." "It's incredible." "I'm having the bodies, what's left of them, sent to the university lab." "I've never seen such total cellular destruction." "By the way, Buck, I owe you an apology." "So I'm right, there is a killer." " How'd he do it?" " Well, it seems that this-- this maniac extracts a small amount of blood from his victims' throats." "And then because he carries the disease virus in his saliva, he transmits it to them." "But for some reason, he remains immune himself." "I don't get it." "I don't get it." "How could somebody build up something like that in their body?" "Maybe an answer to that as soon as the university isolates the virus." "That'll probably be tomorrow, they promised to call you." "That'll be too late, Doc." "Too late?" "Yeah, I've got men covering the whole town." "If he sticks to his pattern, someone will die tonight." "There was one common factor in all the animals dissected, an almost complete cell deterioration." "However, in trying to break it down into cause and effect, once again we come against that unknown factor, the origin of the virus." "Oh, Will, could you stop that?" "My head's splitting wide open." "Do you suppose there's a sedative in this place?" "A strong one?" "I think so." "Here's..." "Yeah, here we are." "I need it." "I need it now." "Well, you may need it more later, Paul." "I think we'd better wait." "There's one thing, Paul." "These pills, do you have some with you?" "Yes." "Give them to me, huh?" "No, I'll keep them." "Paul, if I'm going to help you, I have to have them." "I don't know that I can give them up." "You don't know what it's like." "Let me be the judge, huh?" "Thank you." "No, don't do that, Will." "I've got to be able to get to them if I need them." "Well, you can, Paul." "It's just a wooden drawer." " And there is a key." " No!" "I can't be responsible." "Nonsense." "Paul, let go of my arm." "Oh." "Oh." "Oh, come on, Will." "Help me." "I've got to have them." "I can't do it." "I can't wait like this." "Can't you see what's happening to me?" "I can't see any difference except your state of mind." "Now, try to bear it just a little longer." "No, I can't." "You got to help me." "Look, I'm gonna give you the sedative, Paul, in just a few minutes." "I need it now." "Please." "Please!" "Oh, please!" "Paul." "Paul." "Paul, please!" "Paul, stay away!" "Stay back!" "Paul, please!" "Stay back!" "Paul!" "Paul!" "Well, look, Sheriff, if you could keep us covered for a few more days." "No, it won't be necessary." "The Highway Patrol's helping us out, too." "Right." " Here's the file." " Thanks." " I don't understand it." " What's that?" "Why didn't something happen last night?" "We were set for it." "Donnelly." "Yeah." "Oh, yes, sir." "What?" "Yes, that is a coincidence." "Yeah, I'll check." "Now, that doesn't make any sense." "What's that?" "That was Professor Yates from the university." "Yeah?" "They finished their test on the blood cells." "So?" " What?" " So they finished the test." "Yeah." "He said it reminded him of something." "What's that?" "He said it reminded him that Matt Campbell had been working on a rare virus," "a control serum, caused some kind of capillary disintegration." "What does that mean?" "I don't know, George." "I don't know." "What kind of a guy do you think this Dr. Beaumont is?" "He's okay, a little odd." "Mm-hmm." "Think he'd go so far as to do a little experimenting?" "On human beings?" "Come on." "Dr. Beaumont?" "Dr. Beaumont!" "Ooh, it's hot in here." "Well, here's your reason right down here." "What's that?" "Ooh." "Maybe we better wait for him, huh?" "Yeah." "Look at this, George." "Hey, the light's flashing." "Talk about your absentminded professor, he's even left this thing on." "Relating to Experiment 675, it would appear that Dr. Campbell has made a great deal of progress with the chemical structure of the entire system." "However, in contrast," "Experiment 703 had no such definition." "Sounds like he knew what he's talking about, all right." "I'm gonna call the university, to see if they know where he is." "...almost complete cell deterioration." "Paul, Paul, please!" "Paul, stay away!" "Stay back!" "Paul, please!" "Stay back!" "Stay back!" "Paul, Paul!" "Stay back!" "Stay back!" "Paul?" "What are you doing here so early?" "Well, I thought I'd get a head start." "I mean, things must've piled up on you yesterday." "Well, you can go on back home." "I didn't make any appointments for today." "Paul, are you all right?" "I'm fine." "Go on home, Carol." "Please." "Tell me what's wrong." "I want to help you." "You wanna help me?" "There's one way you can do it." "Get out of here." " Paul." " Get out of here!" "Paul, I don't understand you." "I've tried, I really have." "But I know something is terribly wrong." "I'm sorry, Carol." "What's in the syringe?" "Nothing." "Paul..." "Tell me what you're gonna do." "What's in the syringe?" "Novocaine." "Oh, no." " You're out of your mind." " Yes." " Give me that syringe." " Stay back." " You can't do it, Paul!" " Stay back!" "Oh!" "Paul!" "Paul, why do you wanna take your own life?" "I haven't any choice." "Paul, please." "Please." "Sorry, Carol." "There's no time." "Oh, no." "Paul!" "No!" "No!" "Keep away from me!" "Keep away!" "Carol!" " Give me a hand here." " Yup." "Carol!" "Check the house." "I'll take a look outside." "Paul!" " Are you all right?" " Yes." "Yes." "Stay right here." "Look."