The Fugitive (1963) s04e18 Episode Script
Concrete Evidence
Next: The Fugitive in color.
- What happened to Nebbs? - I sent him on an errand.
I told him we were running out of carbons.
We're not.
The only thing we're running out of is you.
This will settle you until Friday.
I know this isn't the usual two weeks' notice, but then this isn't the usual dismissal.
Well, if it's all the same to you, I'll talk to Pat.
Dr.
Kimble, you're hearing it from me.
And the next voice you hear will be the sheriff's.
A QM Production.
Starring David Janssen as Dr.
Richard Kimble.
An innocent victim of blind justice, falsely convicted for the murder of his wife, reprieved by fate when a train wreck freed him en route to the death house.
Freed him to hide in lonely desperation, to change his identity, to toil at many jobs.
Freed him to search for a one-armed man he saw leave the scene of the crime.
Freed him to run before the relentless pursuit of the police lieutenant obsessed with his capture.
The guest stars in tonight's story: Jack Warden, Harold Gould, and special guest star, Celeste Holm.
Tonight's episode: Along an isolated stretch of farmland in Northern Nebraska, a construction company builds the sleek asphalt ribbon of a new superhighway.
Workers are needed.
Richard Kimble takes his place in line with other nameless faces, seeking the job that will give him a new beginning, a new identity.
But a superhighway, even one as yet unfinished, can prove a dangerous road for a fugitive.
That's some handsome tribute.
Who helped you write it? Your night school English teacher? Well, I don't get you, lady.
If you were as indispensable as this recommendation says, how could your former employers bear to part with your services? Next.
Hey, Pat, pretty good shape-up this morning.
Bet you ten bucks there's not a decent cat skinner in the lot.
Oh, I don't know.
Better inventory that last shipment of steel.
Looked a little light to me.
If there's any shortchanging going on, I wanna be on the dispatch end.
Okay, Pat.
I'm sorry, Mr.
Patton.
This new accounting method is not going to work.
Nebbs, once a day you shuffle up to me, announcing that something just ain't gonna work.
And at least once a day I assure you that it is going to work.
Just save yourself the trip, huh? Where did Pearl file those wanted posters the sheriff dropped off Last week? I filed them under ''P'' for police.
Well, it could be under ''C'' for cops or ''L'' for law or ''V'' for villain.
How am I supposed to know? Sorry, we need somebody with more experience.
Hey, you! Come here.
- What's wrong with him? - No experience.
Well, we need cat skinners.
He can learn, can't he? - What's your name? - Dexter.
Sign him up.
- Thank you.
- Don't worry.
You'll earn your keep.
Fill out this application.
You want to wreck your car, that's a quick way.
Let's not waste each other's time.
My name's Crailer.
I'm just a simple, easygoing Little town manager who presently finds himself with a very big problem.
What has that got to do with me? Anybody tell you where the town limits of Coleman are staked out? Not that I remember.
Well, just try beyond that hill back there where you plowed under a taxpayer's fence.
I'm only following orders.
Oh? Whose orders? Well, first team's coming in.
Oh, Tom, what are you doing out here in the boondocks? I got a bottle of bourbon up in my office.
Your lad here just ripped up 60 yards of private pasture fencing, inside the Coleman city Limits.
Now, we've been just discussing whose fault it is.
Oh, now, come on, Tom, you can't lay a roadbed without accidentally ripping up a few fence posts.
He claims he had instructions.
Is that right? Did you tell Mr.
Crailer I authorized ripping up those fences? That's the way I got it from Pete.
Town's fed up, Patton.
Broken fences, dust because you won't spray, brush fires because you won't put spark arresters-- Hold on, hold on.
This isn't Coleman township.
I'm in county here, honoring a state contract.
Now, don't kid yourself that just because you stick to county territory there's nothing us townspeople can do.
There's statutes, you know, covering safety hazards, public nuisances.
Well, look, I haven't been here in 10 years.
You can't expect me to remember everything.
Maybe not, but the town still remembers everything, Pat.
Especially where you're concerned.
- Dexter, isn't it? - That's right.
You been with the company how long? About four days.
Well, draw your pay.
I never authorized ripping down fences.
Just leave that cat where it is, get your gear and clear out.
Was that good enough? Or would it take a firing squad to satisfy you? Okay, you made your point.
I'll call the council off for now.
But you'll keep my file open.
Day or night, Patton, it's never closed.
I'll get Pete to fix that fence.
Did I ask? Ooh.
Pat [SIGHS.]
That's what I get, eating in those ptomaine traps.
Well, you know there's a good restaurant in Coleman.
Andre's.
Remember? Yeah, if you like strychnine in your coffee.
Forget I mentioned it.
I'm sorry.
Have Pete get on those fences, huh? Well, there's always soap.
Heh.
The company can't afford it.
How do you know what the company can afford? You've been nosing around those books again, huh? Now, how many times do I have to tell you that's Nebbs' job? If I wanted you to do it I wouldnt have hired him.
Now, do I make myself clear? Don't you always? All right, Nebbs, what is it? What is it? $9000 worth of past due invoices from Consolidated Materials.
So? We don't have the cash balance in that account to pay.
- Well, stall them.
- I did.
They've given us five days to make good and then they start attachment proceedings against the motel.
Motel? Now, Look, they can't do that.
They can and will if we don't pay these invoices.
Mr.
Patton, if I make a suggestion-- Well, there's the Grandview job.
Hold up payment on the suppliers.
Mr.
Patton, you don't understand.
You're just borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.
It won't work.
It will work.
It's called juggling.
You just keep the balls in the air, that's all.
You can defy the law of gravity, Mr.
Patton, but you can't repeal it.
Sooner or later the balls come tumbling down.
There's another thing.
Miss Saunders.
What about her? Well, she has to initial all requisitions, countersign all checks, okay any transfers-- You mean she still hasn't got the message? Pearl? No, stay here, Nebbs.
Let's get one thing straight, huh? Anything Nebbs does, he's got my full authority, is that understood? Even when it verges on a felony? That's my lookout.
Now is there anything else on your mind? Yes, there is.
Why is it that everything relating to the motel is being kept under lock and key? Why am I being forbidden to even Look at the blueprints? - Where's he going? - Who? Dexter.
Well, you told me to pay him off.
That was for Crailer's benefit.
Can't you do anything right? It was a gag? Sure, I just needed a patsy to satisfy Crailer, that's all.
- Well, then am I back on the payroll? - Of course.
You know, Dexter, most hardhats never even been inside of a schoolhouse unless maybe it was to put one together.
But, you, you're Well, you're different.
You got a lot of savvy.
Now, how'd you Like to work in the office with me? - The office? - Yeah, as my assistant.
I could use some more brainpower.
What about Miss Saunders? I thought that-- You just let me worry about Pearl, huh? That's one problem that will never get subcontracted.
Come on.
Hope you're not given to claustrophobia, Nebbs.
I'm moving Dexter in here.
He can help Pearl with the workload.
Put him on the inventory.
That report's supposed to be at the Highway Commission day after tomorrow.
It wouldve been there.
Well, sure, it wouldve.
Only this way it'll be a Lot easier.
Right, Dexter? Without even consulting me? Why? Just answer me, why? Look at yourself.
You're wound up tighter than a drugstore watch.
Shape you're in, it's a wonder you can even make out a payroll.
That's not the real reason.
You're up to something.
I don't know what it is, but something.
So what if I am? Any time you don't Like it, you can stay home.
The money still keeps coming in.
You know I can't do that.
Well, then play the game, Pearl.
I am.
You appear to have a very bright future, Mr.
Dexter.
Come in.
You asked me to bring this by as soon as I'd finished.
Thank you.
Why don't you stay a minute? Please? I just made a pot of coffee.
All right.
That's my daughter.
- She's in school back east.
KIMBLE: Very pretty.
You weren't headed out? I mean, a date or something? No, no, no.
You know, it must be hard on you fellows.
I mean, the attitude of the townspeople.
That doesn't bother me.
Still, you must have wondered, a whole town riled up over one man.
Well, I wonder about a Lot of things, Miss Saunders.
Cream and sugar? - No, just black.
- Mm.
Thank you.
You're an odd one, Dexter.
You've got something going for you, keeps you together somehow, but your motor's always idling.
Miss Saunders, I Twenty-one years Pat and I have been together.
These pictures are my scrapbook.
All of them projects we've shared together.
You've got something going for you and this is mine.
I I know you resent me.
I think I know why.
But I'm not here to take your job.
I'm not here to squeeze you out.
It's Pat's decision.
If it wasn't me, it'd be somebody else.
- And I'd deal with him too.
- Okay.
I think it's late.
It's not that Late.
You're here, you might as well stay and listen.
Well, all right, I'll Listen.
There's a job opening up at the Southern Construction Company down in Bellingham.
I know the boss.
I'm sure if I asked him, he'd give you the job as assistant foreman.
I wouldnt last more than a week, you know that.
Try.
No, Pat's been good to me.
Pat, Pat, Pat! I'll tell you about your precious Pat.
There's one picture missing from this collection.
A theater.
A neat little job we built ten years ago in Coleman.
His hometown.
You didn't know that, did you? The walls caved in a month after it was finished.
It was a Saturday morning cartoon show.
Three children were crushed and some others were maimed and crippled.
You still listening? I'm Listening.
A Lot of substandard concrete went into those theater walls.
Intentionally? According to the courts, no.
He was operating within the legal limit, barely.
The manslaughter charge was dismissed.
But you didn't agree with the verdict? No, I don't.
But I wanna be sure.
One day he's going to betray himself.
And I wanna be there when it happens.
Why do you care so much? Because I was indicted right along with him.
We were both crucified by that town.
It's his company.
It's our company.
It still is.
We both signed the incorporation papers.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Alex Patton.
Surprised? I thought you might be.
We're not exactly the ideal couple.
But then we haven't lived together for 10 years.
Take the job, Dexter.
You have a Lot of hate in you.
How do you live with it? A day at a time.
What I've got, nobody else would want.
But it's all I've got and I intend to keep it.
You've got the wrong man.
I stopped being judge and jury a Long time ago.
I can't help you.
Dexter, I'm warning you.
- Boss in? - To you, Mr.
Crailer? Always.
Well, it's funny.
You know you Look just Like a fellow who used to work here.
? So, hello, Tom.
Come on in.
Dexter, check with me when you finish that, huh? Well, what brings you here? Decided to take me up on that drink, huh? A smile for everyone, handshakes all around.
Pack it up, Patton.
I'm on a sugar-free diet.
And by the way, how come when you fire a man he doesn't stay fired? Oh, come on.
Come on, now.
You didn't come here to talk about Dexter, did you? That's right, I didn't.
You Look Like a man with trouble in your pocket.
Not my pocket, Patton.
Yours.
My office just dug up a bit of information about the new motel under construction in Coleman.
- Motel? - Mm-hm.
Big one.
Expensive.
Seems an outfit called Fairplay Construction is handling the job.
Fairplay.
I never heard of them.
Must be a new operation.
Brand new.
As a matter of fact, it incorporated just to build the motel.
Checking into it, whose name do you suppose we discovered on the incorporation papers? What did they do? Pass a new Law against private enterprise? You're slipping, Patton.
You're really slipping.
You'd have to be simple to figure you could carry it off without somebody tumbling.
Oh, I knew it'd leak out sooner or Later.
Fairplay was just my way of, well, postponing the inevitable.
You expect me to buy that? Patton, I wanna know why.
I wanna know why you're building a luxury motel in a town that's too small to fill it and on a lot that's nowhere near a major highway.
Well, maybe I just Like peace and quiet.
Maybe you Like bankruptcy too.
Ten years, Pat, the whole country to choose from and yet you come back to build in the town that hates your guts.
Look, I got a license and it's legal.
And you and the town can just kiss off.
I got a present for you, Patton.
A stop-work order.
Building inspector found 22 code violations.
Oh, he had to dig pretty hard to find some of them but we can make that order stick if we have to bring in the state militia to do it.
Code violations? There's not a nail in that building that's not up to specifications.
Well, that's now, Pat, but we've got stipulations in that building code that go back to 1897.
Some of them are real lulus.
But they're still on the books and that makes them legally enforceable.
And if I fix these violations you'll just come up with 22 more.
Well, our building inspector's a very resourceful man.
Wish I had more Like him.
I'm gonna take this to court.
Help yourself, Pat.
My responsibilitys to the town.
A few hotheads already know it's your motel.
Tomorrow, it'll be all over Coleman.
A Lot of people nursing old grudges.
Wouldnt take much to fan that spark into a four-alarm fire.
Not in my town.
You unload that motel, Pat.
Grab whatever you can and pull out.
Come in.
Excuse me, I just wanted to tell you I'm going with Pete to check on that lumber shipment.
That can wait.
Come in.
Close the door.
Dexter, you remember Mr.
Crailer, don't you? He came in here making all kinds of noisy threats but he's going to Leave very, very quietly.
You playing more games, Pat? You don't honestly think I'd be stupid enough to put that kind of money into a motel, do you, without protecting myself against exposure? It's a photo static copy.
The originals in my safe deposit box.
Where did you get this? Well, does it matter? I mean, does it really matter? A certified check for $6500 payable to Thomas Crailer, and signed by F.
T.
Latimer.
F.
T.
Latimer, for your information, owns among other things, the First-Rate Construction Company.
A little outfit that just finished building the new civic auditorium for Coleman.
- I think I'd better wait outside.
- No, no.
Stick around.
I'm sure Crailer would want you to hear his explanation.
It was a personal loan, Pat.
- My wife needed an operation.
- Uh-huh.
She got it.
Latimer's a close friend.
Well, he is now, that's for sure.
Look, Pat, First-Rate got that contract fair and square.
Theirs was the lowest bid.
Then you have nothing to worry about, do you? An unsecured Loan to Colemans town manager on a check dated one week before the new auditorium contract was even awarded.
That's blackmail, Pat.
Yeah, that's just what I was thinking when you hit me with those code violations.
They'll think I sold out.
Let them talk.
Talk is cheap.
It's proof that raises lumps.
Well, that's the way it gets done, Dexter.
Is that what you wanted me for? No, I wanted to tell you what happens to a minnow when he strays into a shark tank.
That motel is the most important thing in my life and it will get built, if I have to chop down a hundred Crailers to do it.
Yeah? No, put him on.
That'll be all, Dexter.
Jeffers? Yeah, Look, what about those plumbing fixtures? Never mind what you heard.
What? What are you talking about? When have I ever stuck you for any money? Now Look, you'll get it.
Well, just Ju-- Ju-- Pat! - Pat! - I'm all right.
- Come on.
- I just fell down.
I can get up by myself.
Get out of here, Pearl.
Go on, get out.
Get out! I'm all right.
Dexter.
Top drawer of the filing cabinet.
There's everything in there but a resuscitator.
I'll get one tomorrow if you think I need it.
That's it, give me of those pills.
Tell them it's acute gastritis.
Angina pectoris.
King-sized.
Your turning up is the best piece of luck I've had in a Long time.
- Luck? - I couldnt go to anyone around here.
Now suddenly I got my own private doctor.
I don't know what you're talking about.
That's the only reason you were hired, Dr.
Kimble.
If you know that much about me, you know I can't stick around.
You run away and there'll be cops.
There'll be cops after you in three minutes.
If you stay I'll keep my mouth shut.
All right, what's so important that I had to Leave the office? I want out.
- What? - All the way.
- What do you mean? - First Nebbs, then Dexter.
What's left for me? Well, what do you want? Out, that's all.
I'm just plain tired.
I can't I just can't put up with everything any longer.
Look, Look, now come on, it's the motel.
It's bending us all out of shape.
Now, just hang on till it's finished.
Things will be different, you'll see.
It's not the motel.
It's us.
Pat and Pearl.
It's It's every day another choice of weapons, every day another beachhead.
Well, baby, that's the way the contract reads.
Nobody slipped anything into the fine print.
We picked our punishment We laid all the ground rules.
Up until now no one's hollered foul.
Well, it's just the way it is.
I want to collect my time.
There's gonna be a lot of papers to sign.
Certain legalities.
Half of it's yours.
It always has been and it always will be.
No.
I want a period on this sentence.
No more profit-and-loss statements.
No more invoices to sign.
No more us.
And the bottom line of it all is, I want you to buy me out.
What? My share in cash.
Now.
Cash? I can't raise that kind of money, and you know it.
- Then liquidate.
- Liquidate? Liquidate what? Everything we have is tied up in that motel.
Nebbs is up to his ears in double-entries.
If an outside auditing firm ever got hold of our books, we'd all be weaving gunnysacks on some state farm.
Hello.
Yeah.
What? When? All right.
All right, I'll be right over.
Dexter.
Wheel out that truck.
We're going over to Coleman.
- Trouble? - Is there ever anything else? Pat, go home! Pat, go home! All right, now, you people go home.
Where's Patton? Is he afraid to come out? He's not here.
Now, break it up.
Move out! Let's put this motel in a garbage dump, where it belongs.
Look, go ahead, now, break this up.
Now, go on home, all of you.
We don't want any trouble.
Now, go on.
Beat it.
Get your hands off of her! All right! What's the matter with you people? Come on, break it up.
Break it up.
We're just trying to get the guy out of town! Police.
Wait in the motel.
Well, Crailer, it's a good thing Charlie phoned me.
Is this the way you Look out for my interests? Broken fixtures, missing tools.
Sabotage, vandalism.
- What time's the earthquake? - You're insured.
Look, I got a deadline to meet.
You got any idea how Long it'll take me to re-order some of these parts? You're getting full police protection.
As it is, I'm cutting my political throat.
Oh, stop it, stop it, Crailer.
You're breaking my heart.
I can show you the damages, Mr.
Patton.
I can see, Charlie.
I can see.
I got eyes.
Dexter, where are you? In here.
You know, this doesn't Look Like any motel I've ever seen.
Rooms are rooms.
Could be a hospital.
Okay, so you guessed.
Doc, everything is first-class.
I mean, ice water in all the rooms, oxygen, radio, TV sets.
Out there, I'm putting a swimming pool with a big playground.
Lots of trees and grass.
Childrens hospital.
Down here I got one of those One of those whirlpools.
You know, for the kids who got something wrong with their legs.
Right in there is the x-ray room.
I've even been thinking about installing one of those electrical gadgets you know, that kind that heats you from the inside.
It looks Like it might be a good investment.
Investments are supposed to make money.
Even with tax write-offs, I stand to be 200,000 in the red.
I know at first, but after you sell it-- Sell it? Oh, no.
No, this is a gift.
To the town? I see.
What? Pearl told me about the movie theater.
What else did she tell you? Enough.
I don't understand the secrecy.
If you're gonna do the town a favor, why don't you tell it the truth? I'm not doing this just for the town of Coleman or for that one decent night's sleep I haven't had in 10 years.
Pearl told you about the theater.
Did she say anything about our daughter, Melanie? No, but I saw her picture.
She's very pretty.
Yeah.
She's in school in the east.
At least we Like to call it a school.
Actually, it's a place for mentally disturbed children.
She's 21 now and she's still there.
I'm sorry.
I didn't know.
You got any idea what happens to an 1 1-year-oId child when she sees three of her Three of her schoolmates killed in a building her father built? She was at that matinee, same audience.
Nothing happened to her.
Wasn't even bruised.
Not so you could see anyway.
But overnight there was a change.
Everything changed.
Pearl, Melanie, me.
Everything.
Well, why didn't you tell Pearl about this? This hospital.
You still don't see it, do you, Kimble? Up until now, I've at Least enjoyed the benefit of the doubt.
It's the one thing that held me and Pearl together Like a piece of frayed twine.
Kept my child from hating me.
This hospital is just Like a signed confession.
Then you were guilty.
What's guilt? Law says one thing, conscience says another.
Only your conscience can build a stronger prison.
The day Pearl finds out about this hospital, that's the day that twine snaps.
Well, she's going to find out.
You can't keep it from her forever.
I ain't got forever, doc.
Just keep me on my feet one more month.
That's all I ask.
What makes you think you have a month? You'll see to that.
That much you owe me.
Why? Because you didn't turn me into the police? That's right.
Kimble, I never even asked you if you were guilty or not.
Well, I kind of wished you had.
Pat, I'm saying goodbye.
Nothing from nothing is nothing.
That's what Im taking.
That's what Im leaving behind.
- Good morning.
- How's it going, Steve? Can't complain.
All right, come on, get them rolling.
- What happened to Nebbs? - I sent him on an errand.
Told him we were running out of carbon.
We're not.
The only thing we're running out of is you.
This will settle you until Friday.
It isn't the usual two weeks' notice but then this isn't the usual dismissal.
Well, if it's all the same to you, I'll talk to Pat.
Dr.
Kimble, you're hearing it from me.
And the next voice you hear will be the sheriff's.
So take the money and pack your bundle and move.
- Pat told you that-- - No, I just got lucky.
You think it can be an omen? Pearl, there are some things you don't understand.
Maybe not, but there's one thing I do know.
I learned it from Pat.
When you've got the upper hand, squeeze.
Now you've got one hour, then I call the Law.
Now, don't try to talk to Pat or even try to get in touch with him.
If you do, you lose your hour.
I've got nothing to Lose, doctor.
Bear that in mind.
No! Come on! Come on, get those shovels! Come on, put it out! Get that water truck, come on! Some of you guys get inside.
See what you can do.
Come on with the water.
What are you waiting for? Get it on in there.
Come on.
Initial these for me, will you, Pearl? Pat's over at the motel.
Steve Dexter gone yet? Oh, he's packed up okay, but right now he's talking to Pat on my phone.
Hey! Who said he could use my truck? He's probably going over to see Pat at the motel.
Here, Pete, I'll finish these up Later.
I have something more important to do.
Okay, Pearl.
- Where's Pat? - Search me.
He was here a minute ago.
That should ease the pain.
Here Breathe in slowly.
In and out, breathe in slowly.
That's it.
I'll try.
- Pat, please.
- Those kids.
Never had a chance.
Wall caved right in.
Don't talk, Pat.
That's right.
Gotta square it.
I gotta square it with Melanie.
Those kids.
Pearl, Pearl.
Please, Pat.
Pat, Pearls here.
Pearl, promise me to see it through.
See what through? What's the matter with him? What's he talking about? Old Ironsides has sprung a leak.
No, you're as strong as an ox.
Yeah, you see, doc, you tell her there's salt in the ocean, she gives you an argument.
You're strong, Pearl.
You were always the strong one.
Promise me you'll finish that hospital.
Hospital? Promise me.
Yes.
Pat, yes.
Anything.
Oh, anything.
No! No! He was afraid if you knew about the hospital, you'd think he was guilty and Leave him.
That's the sheriff.
I called him.
Well, he's not in that bunch.
I'll check the inside.
You go around back.
All right, all right.
Come on, you guys.
Back to work, go ahead.
Miss Saunders? What's the matter with Pat? Is he sick? Hey, Miss Saunders, that's Steve Dexter.
Are the cops after him? Charlie, get in my car and go for the doctor as quick as you can.
- Oh, I can use the phone right-- - Just do as I say.
Yes, ma'am.
Sheriff! Sheriff! He's getting away.
There he is, sir.
You promised to build the hospital.
Do it.
I want you to clear all the debris out of there by tomorrow morning.
Oh, and replace all the windows.
It seems to me that you couldve let us know that it was only one of your workers using your car.
Well, at the time, I had more important things on my mind.
I appreciate that fact, but chasing down your car's what gave Kimble every opportunity needed to make his getaway.
I'm sorry, sheriff.
Tell Pete I want the electrician here tomorrow morning.
It's apparent you're greatly concerned, Miss Saunders.
Mrs.
Patton, sheriff, if it's all the same to you.
Pearl? Pearl, I'll be glad to drive you back to the construction yard.
I won't be going back to the yard, Tom.
From now on, our office is going to be located right here.
And if that doesn't sit well with the townspeople, that's their Lookout.
I hope you're not holding Coleman responsible for Pat's death.
Now, granted, maybe the fire was no accident, but what killed Pat-- I know what killed Pat.
I also know what's gonna keep him alive.
A fugitive gropes his way into a small corner of darkness, hoping for sanctuary from the relentless force that eternally pursues him.
Now, thrust once again into the harsh, inquisitive light, Richard Kimble must run, searching for the elusive place where a new life can commence.
- What happened to Nebbs? - I sent him on an errand.
I told him we were running out of carbons.
We're not.
The only thing we're running out of is you.
This will settle you until Friday.
I know this isn't the usual two weeks' notice, but then this isn't the usual dismissal.
Well, if it's all the same to you, I'll talk to Pat.
Dr.
Kimble, you're hearing it from me.
And the next voice you hear will be the sheriff's.
A QM Production.
Starring David Janssen as Dr.
Richard Kimble.
An innocent victim of blind justice, falsely convicted for the murder of his wife, reprieved by fate when a train wreck freed him en route to the death house.
Freed him to hide in lonely desperation, to change his identity, to toil at many jobs.
Freed him to search for a one-armed man he saw leave the scene of the crime.
Freed him to run before the relentless pursuit of the police lieutenant obsessed with his capture.
The guest stars in tonight's story: Jack Warden, Harold Gould, and special guest star, Celeste Holm.
Tonight's episode: Along an isolated stretch of farmland in Northern Nebraska, a construction company builds the sleek asphalt ribbon of a new superhighway.
Workers are needed.
Richard Kimble takes his place in line with other nameless faces, seeking the job that will give him a new beginning, a new identity.
But a superhighway, even one as yet unfinished, can prove a dangerous road for a fugitive.
That's some handsome tribute.
Who helped you write it? Your night school English teacher? Well, I don't get you, lady.
If you were as indispensable as this recommendation says, how could your former employers bear to part with your services? Next.
Hey, Pat, pretty good shape-up this morning.
Bet you ten bucks there's not a decent cat skinner in the lot.
Oh, I don't know.
Better inventory that last shipment of steel.
Looked a little light to me.
If there's any shortchanging going on, I wanna be on the dispatch end.
Okay, Pat.
I'm sorry, Mr.
Patton.
This new accounting method is not going to work.
Nebbs, once a day you shuffle up to me, announcing that something just ain't gonna work.
And at least once a day I assure you that it is going to work.
Just save yourself the trip, huh? Where did Pearl file those wanted posters the sheriff dropped off Last week? I filed them under ''P'' for police.
Well, it could be under ''C'' for cops or ''L'' for law or ''V'' for villain.
How am I supposed to know? Sorry, we need somebody with more experience.
Hey, you! Come here.
- What's wrong with him? - No experience.
Well, we need cat skinners.
He can learn, can't he? - What's your name? - Dexter.
Sign him up.
- Thank you.
- Don't worry.
You'll earn your keep.
Fill out this application.
You want to wreck your car, that's a quick way.
Let's not waste each other's time.
My name's Crailer.
I'm just a simple, easygoing Little town manager who presently finds himself with a very big problem.
What has that got to do with me? Anybody tell you where the town limits of Coleman are staked out? Not that I remember.
Well, just try beyond that hill back there where you plowed under a taxpayer's fence.
I'm only following orders.
Oh? Whose orders? Well, first team's coming in.
Oh, Tom, what are you doing out here in the boondocks? I got a bottle of bourbon up in my office.
Your lad here just ripped up 60 yards of private pasture fencing, inside the Coleman city Limits.
Now, we've been just discussing whose fault it is.
Oh, now, come on, Tom, you can't lay a roadbed without accidentally ripping up a few fence posts.
He claims he had instructions.
Is that right? Did you tell Mr.
Crailer I authorized ripping up those fences? That's the way I got it from Pete.
Town's fed up, Patton.
Broken fences, dust because you won't spray, brush fires because you won't put spark arresters-- Hold on, hold on.
This isn't Coleman township.
I'm in county here, honoring a state contract.
Now, don't kid yourself that just because you stick to county territory there's nothing us townspeople can do.
There's statutes, you know, covering safety hazards, public nuisances.
Well, look, I haven't been here in 10 years.
You can't expect me to remember everything.
Maybe not, but the town still remembers everything, Pat.
Especially where you're concerned.
- Dexter, isn't it? - That's right.
You been with the company how long? About four days.
Well, draw your pay.
I never authorized ripping down fences.
Just leave that cat where it is, get your gear and clear out.
Was that good enough? Or would it take a firing squad to satisfy you? Okay, you made your point.
I'll call the council off for now.
But you'll keep my file open.
Day or night, Patton, it's never closed.
I'll get Pete to fix that fence.
Did I ask? Ooh.
Pat [SIGHS.]
That's what I get, eating in those ptomaine traps.
Well, you know there's a good restaurant in Coleman.
Andre's.
Remember? Yeah, if you like strychnine in your coffee.
Forget I mentioned it.
I'm sorry.
Have Pete get on those fences, huh? Well, there's always soap.
Heh.
The company can't afford it.
How do you know what the company can afford? You've been nosing around those books again, huh? Now, how many times do I have to tell you that's Nebbs' job? If I wanted you to do it I wouldnt have hired him.
Now, do I make myself clear? Don't you always? All right, Nebbs, what is it? What is it? $9000 worth of past due invoices from Consolidated Materials.
So? We don't have the cash balance in that account to pay.
- Well, stall them.
- I did.
They've given us five days to make good and then they start attachment proceedings against the motel.
Motel? Now, Look, they can't do that.
They can and will if we don't pay these invoices.
Mr.
Patton, if I make a suggestion-- Well, there's the Grandview job.
Hold up payment on the suppliers.
Mr.
Patton, you don't understand.
You're just borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.
It won't work.
It will work.
It's called juggling.
You just keep the balls in the air, that's all.
You can defy the law of gravity, Mr.
Patton, but you can't repeal it.
Sooner or later the balls come tumbling down.
There's another thing.
Miss Saunders.
What about her? Well, she has to initial all requisitions, countersign all checks, okay any transfers-- You mean she still hasn't got the message? Pearl? No, stay here, Nebbs.
Let's get one thing straight, huh? Anything Nebbs does, he's got my full authority, is that understood? Even when it verges on a felony? That's my lookout.
Now is there anything else on your mind? Yes, there is.
Why is it that everything relating to the motel is being kept under lock and key? Why am I being forbidden to even Look at the blueprints? - Where's he going? - Who? Dexter.
Well, you told me to pay him off.
That was for Crailer's benefit.
Can't you do anything right? It was a gag? Sure, I just needed a patsy to satisfy Crailer, that's all.
- Well, then am I back on the payroll? - Of course.
You know, Dexter, most hardhats never even been inside of a schoolhouse unless maybe it was to put one together.
But, you, you're Well, you're different.
You got a lot of savvy.
Now, how'd you Like to work in the office with me? - The office? - Yeah, as my assistant.
I could use some more brainpower.
What about Miss Saunders? I thought that-- You just let me worry about Pearl, huh? That's one problem that will never get subcontracted.
Come on.
Hope you're not given to claustrophobia, Nebbs.
I'm moving Dexter in here.
He can help Pearl with the workload.
Put him on the inventory.
That report's supposed to be at the Highway Commission day after tomorrow.
It wouldve been there.
Well, sure, it wouldve.
Only this way it'll be a Lot easier.
Right, Dexter? Without even consulting me? Why? Just answer me, why? Look at yourself.
You're wound up tighter than a drugstore watch.
Shape you're in, it's a wonder you can even make out a payroll.
That's not the real reason.
You're up to something.
I don't know what it is, but something.
So what if I am? Any time you don't Like it, you can stay home.
The money still keeps coming in.
You know I can't do that.
Well, then play the game, Pearl.
I am.
You appear to have a very bright future, Mr.
Dexter.
Come in.
You asked me to bring this by as soon as I'd finished.
Thank you.
Why don't you stay a minute? Please? I just made a pot of coffee.
All right.
That's my daughter.
- She's in school back east.
KIMBLE: Very pretty.
You weren't headed out? I mean, a date or something? No, no, no.
You know, it must be hard on you fellows.
I mean, the attitude of the townspeople.
That doesn't bother me.
Still, you must have wondered, a whole town riled up over one man.
Well, I wonder about a Lot of things, Miss Saunders.
Cream and sugar? - No, just black.
- Mm.
Thank you.
You're an odd one, Dexter.
You've got something going for you, keeps you together somehow, but your motor's always idling.
Miss Saunders, I Twenty-one years Pat and I have been together.
These pictures are my scrapbook.
All of them projects we've shared together.
You've got something going for you and this is mine.
I I know you resent me.
I think I know why.
But I'm not here to take your job.
I'm not here to squeeze you out.
It's Pat's decision.
If it wasn't me, it'd be somebody else.
- And I'd deal with him too.
- Okay.
I think it's late.
It's not that Late.
You're here, you might as well stay and listen.
Well, all right, I'll Listen.
There's a job opening up at the Southern Construction Company down in Bellingham.
I know the boss.
I'm sure if I asked him, he'd give you the job as assistant foreman.
I wouldnt last more than a week, you know that.
Try.
No, Pat's been good to me.
Pat, Pat, Pat! I'll tell you about your precious Pat.
There's one picture missing from this collection.
A theater.
A neat little job we built ten years ago in Coleman.
His hometown.
You didn't know that, did you? The walls caved in a month after it was finished.
It was a Saturday morning cartoon show.
Three children were crushed and some others were maimed and crippled.
You still listening? I'm Listening.
A Lot of substandard concrete went into those theater walls.
Intentionally? According to the courts, no.
He was operating within the legal limit, barely.
The manslaughter charge was dismissed.
But you didn't agree with the verdict? No, I don't.
But I wanna be sure.
One day he's going to betray himself.
And I wanna be there when it happens.
Why do you care so much? Because I was indicted right along with him.
We were both crucified by that town.
It's his company.
It's our company.
It still is.
We both signed the incorporation papers.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Alex Patton.
Surprised? I thought you might be.
We're not exactly the ideal couple.
But then we haven't lived together for 10 years.
Take the job, Dexter.
You have a Lot of hate in you.
How do you live with it? A day at a time.
What I've got, nobody else would want.
But it's all I've got and I intend to keep it.
You've got the wrong man.
I stopped being judge and jury a Long time ago.
I can't help you.
Dexter, I'm warning you.
- Boss in? - To you, Mr.
Crailer? Always.
Well, it's funny.
You know you Look just Like a fellow who used to work here.
? So, hello, Tom.
Come on in.
Dexter, check with me when you finish that, huh? Well, what brings you here? Decided to take me up on that drink, huh? A smile for everyone, handshakes all around.
Pack it up, Patton.
I'm on a sugar-free diet.
And by the way, how come when you fire a man he doesn't stay fired? Oh, come on.
Come on, now.
You didn't come here to talk about Dexter, did you? That's right, I didn't.
You Look Like a man with trouble in your pocket.
Not my pocket, Patton.
Yours.
My office just dug up a bit of information about the new motel under construction in Coleman.
- Motel? - Mm-hm.
Big one.
Expensive.
Seems an outfit called Fairplay Construction is handling the job.
Fairplay.
I never heard of them.
Must be a new operation.
Brand new.
As a matter of fact, it incorporated just to build the motel.
Checking into it, whose name do you suppose we discovered on the incorporation papers? What did they do? Pass a new Law against private enterprise? You're slipping, Patton.
You're really slipping.
You'd have to be simple to figure you could carry it off without somebody tumbling.
Oh, I knew it'd leak out sooner or Later.
Fairplay was just my way of, well, postponing the inevitable.
You expect me to buy that? Patton, I wanna know why.
I wanna know why you're building a luxury motel in a town that's too small to fill it and on a lot that's nowhere near a major highway.
Well, maybe I just Like peace and quiet.
Maybe you Like bankruptcy too.
Ten years, Pat, the whole country to choose from and yet you come back to build in the town that hates your guts.
Look, I got a license and it's legal.
And you and the town can just kiss off.
I got a present for you, Patton.
A stop-work order.
Building inspector found 22 code violations.
Oh, he had to dig pretty hard to find some of them but we can make that order stick if we have to bring in the state militia to do it.
Code violations? There's not a nail in that building that's not up to specifications.
Well, that's now, Pat, but we've got stipulations in that building code that go back to 1897.
Some of them are real lulus.
But they're still on the books and that makes them legally enforceable.
And if I fix these violations you'll just come up with 22 more.
Well, our building inspector's a very resourceful man.
Wish I had more Like him.
I'm gonna take this to court.
Help yourself, Pat.
My responsibilitys to the town.
A few hotheads already know it's your motel.
Tomorrow, it'll be all over Coleman.
A Lot of people nursing old grudges.
Wouldnt take much to fan that spark into a four-alarm fire.
Not in my town.
You unload that motel, Pat.
Grab whatever you can and pull out.
Come in.
Excuse me, I just wanted to tell you I'm going with Pete to check on that lumber shipment.
That can wait.
Come in.
Close the door.
Dexter, you remember Mr.
Crailer, don't you? He came in here making all kinds of noisy threats but he's going to Leave very, very quietly.
You playing more games, Pat? You don't honestly think I'd be stupid enough to put that kind of money into a motel, do you, without protecting myself against exposure? It's a photo static copy.
The originals in my safe deposit box.
Where did you get this? Well, does it matter? I mean, does it really matter? A certified check for $6500 payable to Thomas Crailer, and signed by F.
T.
Latimer.
F.
T.
Latimer, for your information, owns among other things, the First-Rate Construction Company.
A little outfit that just finished building the new civic auditorium for Coleman.
- I think I'd better wait outside.
- No, no.
Stick around.
I'm sure Crailer would want you to hear his explanation.
It was a personal loan, Pat.
- My wife needed an operation.
- Uh-huh.
She got it.
Latimer's a close friend.
Well, he is now, that's for sure.
Look, Pat, First-Rate got that contract fair and square.
Theirs was the lowest bid.
Then you have nothing to worry about, do you? An unsecured Loan to Colemans town manager on a check dated one week before the new auditorium contract was even awarded.
That's blackmail, Pat.
Yeah, that's just what I was thinking when you hit me with those code violations.
They'll think I sold out.
Let them talk.
Talk is cheap.
It's proof that raises lumps.
Well, that's the way it gets done, Dexter.
Is that what you wanted me for? No, I wanted to tell you what happens to a minnow when he strays into a shark tank.
That motel is the most important thing in my life and it will get built, if I have to chop down a hundred Crailers to do it.
Yeah? No, put him on.
That'll be all, Dexter.
Jeffers? Yeah, Look, what about those plumbing fixtures? Never mind what you heard.
What? What are you talking about? When have I ever stuck you for any money? Now Look, you'll get it.
Well, just Ju-- Ju-- Pat! - Pat! - I'm all right.
- Come on.
- I just fell down.
I can get up by myself.
Get out of here, Pearl.
Go on, get out.
Get out! I'm all right.
Dexter.
Top drawer of the filing cabinet.
There's everything in there but a resuscitator.
I'll get one tomorrow if you think I need it.
That's it, give me of those pills.
Tell them it's acute gastritis.
Angina pectoris.
King-sized.
Your turning up is the best piece of luck I've had in a Long time.
- Luck? - I couldnt go to anyone around here.
Now suddenly I got my own private doctor.
I don't know what you're talking about.
That's the only reason you were hired, Dr.
Kimble.
If you know that much about me, you know I can't stick around.
You run away and there'll be cops.
There'll be cops after you in three minutes.
If you stay I'll keep my mouth shut.
All right, what's so important that I had to Leave the office? I want out.
- What? - All the way.
- What do you mean? - First Nebbs, then Dexter.
What's left for me? Well, what do you want? Out, that's all.
I'm just plain tired.
I can't I just can't put up with everything any longer.
Look, Look, now come on, it's the motel.
It's bending us all out of shape.
Now, just hang on till it's finished.
Things will be different, you'll see.
It's not the motel.
It's us.
Pat and Pearl.
It's It's every day another choice of weapons, every day another beachhead.
Well, baby, that's the way the contract reads.
Nobody slipped anything into the fine print.
We picked our punishment We laid all the ground rules.
Up until now no one's hollered foul.
Well, it's just the way it is.
I want to collect my time.
There's gonna be a lot of papers to sign.
Certain legalities.
Half of it's yours.
It always has been and it always will be.
No.
I want a period on this sentence.
No more profit-and-loss statements.
No more invoices to sign.
No more us.
And the bottom line of it all is, I want you to buy me out.
What? My share in cash.
Now.
Cash? I can't raise that kind of money, and you know it.
- Then liquidate.
- Liquidate? Liquidate what? Everything we have is tied up in that motel.
Nebbs is up to his ears in double-entries.
If an outside auditing firm ever got hold of our books, we'd all be weaving gunnysacks on some state farm.
Hello.
Yeah.
What? When? All right.
All right, I'll be right over.
Dexter.
Wheel out that truck.
We're going over to Coleman.
- Trouble? - Is there ever anything else? Pat, go home! Pat, go home! All right, now, you people go home.
Where's Patton? Is he afraid to come out? He's not here.
Now, break it up.
Move out! Let's put this motel in a garbage dump, where it belongs.
Look, go ahead, now, break this up.
Now, go on home, all of you.
We don't want any trouble.
Now, go on.
Beat it.
Get your hands off of her! All right! What's the matter with you people? Come on, break it up.
Break it up.
We're just trying to get the guy out of town! Police.
Wait in the motel.
Well, Crailer, it's a good thing Charlie phoned me.
Is this the way you Look out for my interests? Broken fixtures, missing tools.
Sabotage, vandalism.
- What time's the earthquake? - You're insured.
Look, I got a deadline to meet.
You got any idea how Long it'll take me to re-order some of these parts? You're getting full police protection.
As it is, I'm cutting my political throat.
Oh, stop it, stop it, Crailer.
You're breaking my heart.
I can show you the damages, Mr.
Patton.
I can see, Charlie.
I can see.
I got eyes.
Dexter, where are you? In here.
You know, this doesn't Look Like any motel I've ever seen.
Rooms are rooms.
Could be a hospital.
Okay, so you guessed.
Doc, everything is first-class.
I mean, ice water in all the rooms, oxygen, radio, TV sets.
Out there, I'm putting a swimming pool with a big playground.
Lots of trees and grass.
Childrens hospital.
Down here I got one of those One of those whirlpools.
You know, for the kids who got something wrong with their legs.
Right in there is the x-ray room.
I've even been thinking about installing one of those electrical gadgets you know, that kind that heats you from the inside.
It looks Like it might be a good investment.
Investments are supposed to make money.
Even with tax write-offs, I stand to be 200,000 in the red.
I know at first, but after you sell it-- Sell it? Oh, no.
No, this is a gift.
To the town? I see.
What? Pearl told me about the movie theater.
What else did she tell you? Enough.
I don't understand the secrecy.
If you're gonna do the town a favor, why don't you tell it the truth? I'm not doing this just for the town of Coleman or for that one decent night's sleep I haven't had in 10 years.
Pearl told you about the theater.
Did she say anything about our daughter, Melanie? No, but I saw her picture.
She's very pretty.
Yeah.
She's in school in the east.
At least we Like to call it a school.
Actually, it's a place for mentally disturbed children.
She's 21 now and she's still there.
I'm sorry.
I didn't know.
You got any idea what happens to an 1 1-year-oId child when she sees three of her Three of her schoolmates killed in a building her father built? She was at that matinee, same audience.
Nothing happened to her.
Wasn't even bruised.
Not so you could see anyway.
But overnight there was a change.
Everything changed.
Pearl, Melanie, me.
Everything.
Well, why didn't you tell Pearl about this? This hospital.
You still don't see it, do you, Kimble? Up until now, I've at Least enjoyed the benefit of the doubt.
It's the one thing that held me and Pearl together Like a piece of frayed twine.
Kept my child from hating me.
This hospital is just Like a signed confession.
Then you were guilty.
What's guilt? Law says one thing, conscience says another.
Only your conscience can build a stronger prison.
The day Pearl finds out about this hospital, that's the day that twine snaps.
Well, she's going to find out.
You can't keep it from her forever.
I ain't got forever, doc.
Just keep me on my feet one more month.
That's all I ask.
What makes you think you have a month? You'll see to that.
That much you owe me.
Why? Because you didn't turn me into the police? That's right.
Kimble, I never even asked you if you were guilty or not.
Well, I kind of wished you had.
Pat, I'm saying goodbye.
Nothing from nothing is nothing.
That's what Im taking.
That's what Im leaving behind.
- Good morning.
- How's it going, Steve? Can't complain.
All right, come on, get them rolling.
- What happened to Nebbs? - I sent him on an errand.
Told him we were running out of carbon.
We're not.
The only thing we're running out of is you.
This will settle you until Friday.
It isn't the usual two weeks' notice but then this isn't the usual dismissal.
Well, if it's all the same to you, I'll talk to Pat.
Dr.
Kimble, you're hearing it from me.
And the next voice you hear will be the sheriff's.
So take the money and pack your bundle and move.
- Pat told you that-- - No, I just got lucky.
You think it can be an omen? Pearl, there are some things you don't understand.
Maybe not, but there's one thing I do know.
I learned it from Pat.
When you've got the upper hand, squeeze.
Now you've got one hour, then I call the Law.
Now, don't try to talk to Pat or even try to get in touch with him.
If you do, you lose your hour.
I've got nothing to Lose, doctor.
Bear that in mind.
No! Come on! Come on, get those shovels! Come on, put it out! Get that water truck, come on! Some of you guys get inside.
See what you can do.
Come on with the water.
What are you waiting for? Get it on in there.
Come on.
Initial these for me, will you, Pearl? Pat's over at the motel.
Steve Dexter gone yet? Oh, he's packed up okay, but right now he's talking to Pat on my phone.
Hey! Who said he could use my truck? He's probably going over to see Pat at the motel.
Here, Pete, I'll finish these up Later.
I have something more important to do.
Okay, Pearl.
- Where's Pat? - Search me.
He was here a minute ago.
That should ease the pain.
Here Breathe in slowly.
In and out, breathe in slowly.
That's it.
I'll try.
- Pat, please.
- Those kids.
Never had a chance.
Wall caved right in.
Don't talk, Pat.
That's right.
Gotta square it.
I gotta square it with Melanie.
Those kids.
Pearl, Pearl.
Please, Pat.
Pat, Pearls here.
Pearl, promise me to see it through.
See what through? What's the matter with him? What's he talking about? Old Ironsides has sprung a leak.
No, you're as strong as an ox.
Yeah, you see, doc, you tell her there's salt in the ocean, she gives you an argument.
You're strong, Pearl.
You were always the strong one.
Promise me you'll finish that hospital.
Hospital? Promise me.
Yes.
Pat, yes.
Anything.
Oh, anything.
No! No! He was afraid if you knew about the hospital, you'd think he was guilty and Leave him.
That's the sheriff.
I called him.
Well, he's not in that bunch.
I'll check the inside.
You go around back.
All right, all right.
Come on, you guys.
Back to work, go ahead.
Miss Saunders? What's the matter with Pat? Is he sick? Hey, Miss Saunders, that's Steve Dexter.
Are the cops after him? Charlie, get in my car and go for the doctor as quick as you can.
- Oh, I can use the phone right-- - Just do as I say.
Yes, ma'am.
Sheriff! Sheriff! He's getting away.
There he is, sir.
You promised to build the hospital.
Do it.
I want you to clear all the debris out of there by tomorrow morning.
Oh, and replace all the windows.
It seems to me that you couldve let us know that it was only one of your workers using your car.
Well, at the time, I had more important things on my mind.
I appreciate that fact, but chasing down your car's what gave Kimble every opportunity needed to make his getaway.
I'm sorry, sheriff.
Tell Pete I want the electrician here tomorrow morning.
It's apparent you're greatly concerned, Miss Saunders.
Mrs.
Patton, sheriff, if it's all the same to you.
Pearl? Pearl, I'll be glad to drive you back to the construction yard.
I won't be going back to the yard, Tom.
From now on, our office is going to be located right here.
And if that doesn't sit well with the townspeople, that's their Lookout.
I hope you're not holding Coleman responsible for Pat's death.
Now, granted, maybe the fire was no accident, but what killed Pat-- I know what killed Pat.
I also know what's gonna keep him alive.
A fugitive gropes his way into a small corner of darkness, hoping for sanctuary from the relentless force that eternally pursues him.
Now, thrust once again into the harsh, inquisitive light, Richard Kimble must run, searching for the elusive place where a new life can commence.