Original subtitles

What's the matter? Why are you slowing down?

Highway Patrol up ahead.

You got good eyes.

I'm paid for, Mr. Tamarin.

Hey, what are you thinking about?

Julie or Debbie?

Neither one in the hills.

It'd be nice someday if I had a place of my own away from all this asphalt and

concrete. You know, a place to keep my horses, fresh air.

Nobody around me.

Nothing but peace and quiet.

Belay that, Rafferty.

Cold out this morning.

You don't care, though, do you?

All you admirals never have to stand foul weather. Watch.

Oh, poor little things.

What got into you?

Ain't it a pity they look half dead?

Oh, my God.

Any

unit

position? A citizen's report.

1180 Taft Road at Redolfi.

Ambulance rolling.

Units responding, identified.

LA-15 Mary 3 and 4, westward 405, ETA 7.

Hey, uh... I'm sorry about Captain Smith.

Phoned the station just a couple of minutes before we got the call.

Fine, happy.

Wanted to check the gas company's processing plant.

I don't know, man.

John, the car Captain Smith rear-ended was empty when Pete got here.

What? No occupants. Empty? And we got here fast.

Station's only three miles east.

He say anything?

Unconscious. Uh, Hewlin, Benny T.

Hewlin's name's on the Dodson plate.

Could have crawled out.

Could have got thrown out.

What about the lady in the cab back there?

Name of Janet Atherton.

That's all I got. She's pretty upset.

Well, listen, you take it easy on yourself. I'm gonna go talk to her,

okay?

Look, there had to be somebody in that car. I mean, what, was it just sitting

here? What can I tell you? It was empty.

Okay, how about down here? Any witnesses?

I don't know, John.

The guy's a Navy pensioner.

Chief Petty Officer.

Max Emerald.

Employed to maintain meters on the gas line.

He's wound kind of tight and space kind of loose.

He's always kind of friendly with us, but today he doesn't even want to talk.

Okay, I want you to divert all traffic that's coming to this intersection till

I can get some guys to seal it off, all right? Okay.

I want you to hold up on your cleanup and don't move a thing. It's important.

All right, okay. Thank you.

L.A. 15, Mary 3, we have some missing bodies and one fatality from Allied

agency. Contact Sergeant Contrera and ask him to meet us here, please.

10-4, Mary 3.

There's a fire department car, the red car. Is that the only car you saw?

Yes. He just cruised by right past me.

So fast.

What would you say your speed was, Mrs. Afton? Say 40?

Oh, no. Oh, mercy, no. I'm very careful.

20, 25 every day.

It's very dangerous through here.

And you didn't see the accident happen?

No, just the fire.

He must have just smashed right into them.

Thank you.

Now, please stay in the car, because I'm gonna have somebody drive you home, all

right? Thank you.

Thank you.

Loud crash it was.

Woke me out of a deep sleep. And you called the highway patrol?

I did not. What's the use?

I moved out here for some peace and quiet.

I called and I called about those scuttlebums racing their sporty cars up

and down the road.

Ain't one thing been done.

Mufflers so loud you can't get out. But, Chief, look, chasing those sporty cars

with our heavy patrol cars, that's like chasing a PT boat with a cruiser. But

now we have Camaros, and we can catch them. Sure, now that somebody's dead.

Thank you, Chief.

See you, fella.

Careful what you say, Rafferty.

Loose lips sink ships.

Captain Smith rear-ended the sedan.

We're checking the hospitals for occupants.

I hate to say Smith is the cause, but that's how it looks.

I think that Navy chief is holding something back.

Benny Ulan has a severe concussion.

I don't think he was thrown over there.

And he didn't crawl over there because there's not a mark on his clothing.

Too many questions.

And an officer in public service dead.

I'm going to give it to Mate.

Who's Mate?

M-A-I-T.

Multidiscipline Accident Investigation Team.

All specialists.

Be careful and don't mess up any of the evidence.

OK, thank you. Right, bye.

Ah, as you all know, we have a new team psychiatrist, Dr. Colleen Jacobs.

Hello, Sergeant.

Hi. Anderson, you knew Sam Jacobs, county sheriff.

He was Colleen's father.

Hello. Anderson does photography and graphics, Wells Caltrans.

Hello, Doc. Miller Laboratory, and Ryan handles interrogations. You already know

John Baker.

Hi. Look, Sarge.

The car that Smith hit looks like it's from Coronet Car Rentals from

Bakersfield. Bakersfield's checking it out.

And Benny Uland, the Datsun driver, still unconscious.

Uh, two men reported the accident.

To us, it's 70315.

To the fire department, it's 70240 from an emergency phone almost a mile east of

the intersection.

Now, both calls were anonymous.

People hiding something.

So don't expect any help.

Okay. Get out there while the evidence is fresh.

I'd get the feeling that one good witness would clear this up.

So,

uh, this is where it happened?

Yeah, Taft Road and Rodolphe, the intersection.

And a widow named Janet Atherton. She was in shock when Ponch talked to her.

I think you ought to talk to Chief Amaral first, though.

You know, maybe Amaral's lying because he doesn't like cops.

Yeah, Punch told me about that.

Now, you'll be working with John and Punch. It's their incident. They were

the responding officers.

You're still teaching at UCLA?

Yes, but this is what I really want.

Yeah, well, why blow the opportunity?

I mean, exceeding the speed limit.

How'd you like me to arrest you and take you into my personal custody for a

while? I'm sorry.

Well, John, I've wanted to do police work all my life because of Dad, I

guess.

It's my first case.

I'm so glad for the chance.

I guess I'm just uptight about this interview.

Chief Admiral?

A pretty lady can handle a Navy man anytime.

Besides, Paunch is out there softening him up already.

Just drop me off at the intersection.

No, I did not call. No highway patrol.

Belay that, Rafferty.

The man used that word, Chief.

Belay. His call was tape-recorded. Every call is.

Chief, you've served your country.

We depend on people like you. Now, the man who made that call is important.

Maybe he saw the cars.

Or knows who caused the accident?

Well, I ain't saying what caused it.

But if them cops tape-recorded me, I guess they know I made the call.

I told one other lie, too.

I said I was asleep. Well, I wasn't.

I was out here checking my plants.

Must have been a quick freeze last night because some of them was frostbit.

Well, I was standing...

Just about here when I heard the crash.

I never noticed nothing else, but I thought I might be able to help

somebody, so I went to check to see what happened.

I got partway to the top when I heard this big explosion.

Then I kept on going.

Time I got here, I seen three cars burning.

So I run back down, and that's when I made the phone call.

S-47 Adam, from a standing start back there, I'm at the emergency telephone in

a minute 20.

80 seconds. Do you copy? S-4, Bear, 10-4. Get back to your roadblock.

10-4.

Hey, Sarge, I had no trouble getting Amaral to talk.

I used a little courage, ingenuity, and charm.

In other words, you, uh, left it to Dr. Jacobs.

Right. That way we make a wonderful team.

Back timing from his call, we put the wreck at 7 a.m. sharp.

Hey, Sarge.

Listen, these are Ulan's skid marks.

He ran that stop sign over there, and he was braking as he was going into the

turn. There was just no way he could stop.

Right here, this is an acceleration skid mark.

Ulan's skid mark lays over it.

Someone hot-rodded out of here before Ulan tried to stop.

Question is, how long before?

OK.

Collision, seven sharp.

Anonymous call from the roadside phone about three minutes later.

That's about an eight or ten minute walk to that phone, but Berixa drove it in 80

seconds. So the caller drove, the guy who left the acceleration skid.

Maybe.

There is another car involved somehow.

Find it, we may find all the answers.

What are you doing?

Calculating collapsibility.

Using factory specs, I estimate that that car impacted this car at 45 miles

an hour.

When they hit?

Are you saying Captain Smith approached that intersection that fast?

And then the Dowson collided. It's not what I say, Sergeant. It's what the

damage says.

Has John here yet? Call from Sergeant Harper up in Bakersfield.

Oh, I'll take it.

Hello? Baker?

No, this is Joe Gutierre.

Oh, Joe, hi.

Yes, on your LTD.

Coronet rented out two of those last night, both to salesmen.

On the one you have there, there's no word from the renter, but I have his ID.

Oh, good. Give it to me.

Noron.

Got it.

Hey, thanks, Bob.

Yeah, I'll call you.

Bye-bye.

Hey, Sarge.

Eulon's still unconscious.

The fire department has a duplicate sedan. They're gonna send it over here

to meet me. Good.

John, I think Eulon was racing, and I think he was behind.

I think the leading racer's a missing car.

Now, it makes its rolling stop and bugs on through.

The LTD is coming up Smith behind it.

It wants to go up Rodolphe.

Panic stops when it sees the leading racer, but doesn't see Eulon coming.

Smith rear-ends the LTD right in front of Yulin, who has run through the stop

sign and plows into him both times.

Now, the leading racer stops its driver, helps the LTD driver. They both get out

Yulin before the wreck begins.

They leave in the missing racer, drive back to the roadside telephone and call

the fire department.

That still leaves Smith with a lot of the blame.

There's a car here from the fire department.

Red. All right.

Look, Sarge, you know, maybe the acceleration skid marks had nothing to

do with the accident.

I mean, what if the two guys, the LTD and the missing car, were working

together, some kind of criminal action, a car thievery, something?

A different missing car?

Miller?

Gage, I'll do your thing.

See you later.

Sergeant Harper.

Oh, yeah, Joe.

Second sedan?

Cornette rented out two, right.

Well, grab that second one for me, will you, Bob?

See how far it was driven and check for evidence of contraband.

Sure, but it's probably been through a car wash. They always do that.

Well, there's always something that doesn't wash, right?

Right. Thanks, pal.

I want you to put that car out there, what's left of it, through a sieve, hmm?

Hello, Wells, this is John. I'm at the process plant ready to run my speed

test. Is the roadblock ready?

Yeah, John, it's Berexa.

I'm up here in the Camaro. No traffic so far. 10-4, John.

Come on.

Who the heck are these guys?

Stay right there.

Wells, it's Berexa. Racer coming fast.

He got past me. Perfect, John. Hold it.

Look, I'm sorry. Yeah, that's great. Just get on over there. Come on now.

Let's go.

If John never got it over 45, there is no way Smith was going 45 when he hit,

because he did break before impact.

The brakes on his car are still frozen.

Harlan says he was going 45.

Grossie, somebody is wrong.

I know. I know.

Who?

Hey, Anderson.

Look, did you, uh, did you take some pictures over here?

Of what?

Everything happened on Rudolph or the other side?

There's some tire marks here. They're almost wiped out.

Make some casts of these.

John, why?

A professional curiosity.

Looks like a car stopped here and then backed out so the guy could get out,

just like the Mustang did.

You matched this cast with the tires of the car that Smith hit.

It matched. I mean, matched perfectly.

So what's your thinking?

Okay, let's say that the LTD is standing still. If Smith would have run into

that, it would have knocked it forward, but that didn't happen.

They were interlocked as if they were moving in different directions.

So let's say the LTD was coming from a different direction, but he has to break

and cut short on Rodolphe because the unknown racer barrels through.

Therefore, he backs up. He's going to take another shot at Rodolphe, not

seeing Smith coming from the opposite direction.

You have this car moving backwards, both cars moving, and you have the speed at

impact. The tire marks from the impact fire are destroyed.

That doesn't explain the missing car.

But maybe the guy that Smith hit wasn't hurt, and he's hiding because he feels

he's to blame.

I buy that.

John, if your theory's correct, it takes the onus off Smith.

That I like.

Doctor, stay close to Benny Ulin. Ryan's at the hospital now. If Ulin regains

consciousness, you can clear this all up.

I'll be there.

Sergeant Catriona. That's right.

Grady Brooks. I'm a salesman.

Seems like you asked the highway patrol in Bakersfield to hold the car I rented

up there.

That's right.

I'm only in L.A. overnight, but I assure you that car is not involved in anything

illegal.

Thank you, Mr. Brooks.

May I ask you what it was involved in?

Company business.

My firm and I hope you'll accept my word on it.

I have a sedan here, rented by another salesman by the name of Noren.

I'm told it traveled almost exactly the same distance as the one you say you

rented.

You and Mr. Noren were the same company?

Noren. Noren.

I don't know a Mr. Noren.

Bakersfield? Yeah, this is Gutierre, L.A.

Sergeant Harper's holding that sedan for me?

Yeah, that's the one.

Why don't you load it up and truck it on down here?

Okay. Thank you.

I smell you, cousin.

Why don't you identify yourself as a fellow officer and tell me what this is

all about?

I spent all night on it.

One wheel cover and one bumper guard missing.

No evidence of contraband or a major injury.

But here, on the windshield, bloodstains.

On the passenger side?

Probably had two people in it.

This pedometer analysis puts the car at zero miles an hour on impact.

That's good for your theory he was backing up.

But he was in forward gear.

That's bad for your theory.

Dr. Jacobs, telephone.

Chief Amaral. Won't talk to anyone else.

Rafferty likes you. I can see that.

People think I'm foolish because Rafferty talks to me. I understand him.

Birds talk to me.

Plants, trees.

Talking to my flowers just before the wreck.

I know what caused that wreck.

You know?

What, you... you saw?

Fireman's the best friends I got up here.

They're saying that captain's to blame.

Can't have that. Wasn't his fault.

There's only one thing I ask of you.

Please don't repeat this to no cops that don't need to know.

All right.

I don't believe in ghosts, spirits, people vanishing.

But this I saw, and no foolishness to it.

I heard a sound.

Flying saucers, UFOs, whatever

you call them things.

Them drivers, they seen it too, or it caused them to lose control.

My eyes were on it, and I heard the crash.

Grady Brooks is trying to muscle me off this case, Captain Haskell. I mean,

whose cop is he? State, federal, county, what?

Well, Brooks has a problem. That's all I can give you. Except he wants to know

how far you're going to go with this. Back to Ned Smith's widow with the

truth. And I don't care where I get it, from Grady Brooks, from the mate team,

whoever. I thought that you believed that Captain Smith was not the cause.

That's what I want to believe. That's what I want to tell that woman.

Look, if Benny Ulan's family files on this, I'm going to have to drag her

through interrogation on the mental state and intimate life of her dead

husband.

Yeah, Gautreur.

Yes?

Hey, great.

Look, find Dr. Jacobs and get her there at once. And please tell Officer Ryan to

go ahead.

I gotta get to the hospital.

Benny Ulan has regained consciousness. They're gonna let him talk.

They won't let me.

Won't let you? Who?

That guy.

Brooks.

Brooks!

John, I used to hear Dad talk about the rule of first event.

What is it?

If you don't slow down, they're going to carry us to the hospital. I'm sorry.

Okay, say you ran into a fence, all right?

That's the incident.

But before that, you ran off the road. That's the first event.

Okay, well, what if you and the sergeant are right?

The missing driver was racing Ben and Eula.

But he wasn't involved in the actual accident.

Non-contact felony hit and run, if he was the cause.

Even if he didn't know the accident happened?

I think the missing driver knew.

No, I mean supposing.

If he didn't, by the rule of first event, where does he stand?

Or maybe proximate cause.

I don't know. I mean, there's no way to tell until we find out exactly how it

went down.

All I'm asking is a little inter-service cooperation.

I must know what that man says.

That man is our witness. His doctor said no.

Look, nobody knows what you're up to. Either you let us into your confidence

or you get your information through channels if you have the authority.

Where's John?

He's on his way.

Go on in. You too.

You're forcing me to go to your superiors.

Again? You've already been there. I haven't been to yours.

But I'm warning you, if I find out that you're obstructing justice, I'm coming

after you.

It would be perfectly normal if you were unable to recall much at this time, Mr.

Ulan.

So do you remember the accident?

I don't know what happened.

Mr.

Ulan, we know that you live out there and that you were driving pretty fast,

but that's okay.

There's nothing to worry about. We're only here to ask for help.

I was... I was driving to work.

Just tooling along, you know, by myself.

People are always racing out there, Mr. Ewell, and people who, uh, all live

there, people from other areas.

But I guess that you, uh, knew all about that.

Yeah.

Not me.

It's against the law.

I'm a law-abiding citizen.

There was a brown sedan. We thought it might have run in front of you.

Remember it?

Man, I... I don't know what happened.

Well, someone pulled you out of that car.

Someday, you may want to help us find out who, so you can say thanks for

saving your life.

Thank you, Mr. Yeoman.

Well, he was racing, no question.

Andy knows something, but he's smart enough not to incriminate himself.

I'll just keep on looking for someone who saw.

Yeah, well, we may just have someone.

I'm sorry.

Mr. Ulan wasn't much help, was he?

Oh, he never did see the LTD, but Ryan fed it to him, and he's sharp enough to

know it would have helped him if he would have remembered it.

Anyway, there's nothing more you can do. Thank you.

Okay, then. If you're sure, I'll be at UCLA.

Bye-bye. Bye.

Sarge, the Z-28's parked out in front.

Colleen doesn't know about it. Do you mind riding with Ryan?

Yeah, sure.

Let's race.

There. You didn't know me after all.

Officer, I didn't know it was a police car. I was...

Colleen, you drive pretty fast when you're

uptight, and you've been uptight since this began.

I did this because I want you to tell me why.

When I found out what we were investigating, I could see my whole life

ruined. But I swear I was gone. I didn't know what happened. There was not a

thing I could say to help.

Would have helped a lot to know that you were the one who made the acceleration

skid. You never saw the car that Smith hit?

No, I, uh... I caught a glimpse of the fire sedan as I was turning off Taft

Road.

Knowing that would have saved us a lot of time.

It also shoots down your theory and mine, John.

What about Chief Amaral? He told you something. What was that?

He thinks it was caused by a flying saucer.

What? Flying saucer.

Sergeant. Yes.

That second sedan from Bakersfield just pulled up.

Thanks, Carolyn.

Doctor, you're innocent as far as the accident's concerned.

I know that now.

But I am so embarrassed that I am deeply ashamed of myself.

Look, I'll find someone to give you a ride home. We'll get your car tomorrow,

all right?

Hey, Miller, take a look at this.

That, friend, is a blood stain.

They're checking all the hospitals near Bakersfield.

This place is secure for now.

But frankly, sir, from my level, the CHP sergeant is uncontrollable.

Norrin's not badly hurt.

Mr. Tamarin is due to testify tomorrow. He's fine.

Fine? My protection almost gets me killed in a car crash, and some traffic

cop's gonna burn my safe house, and I'm fine? Oh, yeah, I'm fine.

Good. Thank you, sir.

Boss will handle Gutierrez from Sacramento.

Wants me back in L.A. to stay on top of things there.

Brooks, if word gets out that I'm even in the country, you never see me on a

witness stand, and that's a promise.

What are you looking for, Harlan?

Soil samples from places car washers won't wash.

Hey, Miller, didn't you say you were missing a wheel cover from the wreck,

the sedan?

Yeah, left rear.

Anderson?

John, we better pick up Colleen.

I don't know. Is she still with us?

I don't know.

We got to see Chief Amaral.

She can help pave the way.

Get a shot of this.

Stuck in the left tire.

Okay. Add it up for me. Come on. Okay.

Now, bloodstain on the seatbelt of the second sedan.

Bloodstain on the windshield of the wreck.

Now, the lab says they match, and the tire print matches both cars.

So, injured victim.

from wrecked sedan driven away in rear seat of second sedan.

Convincing?

Convincing, but not conclusive.

This reflector was beside the tire tracks John found run over by second

sedan, which picked up a piece of the glass in its tire at the accident site

beyond question.

Conclusive?

Conclusive. We have our missing car.

Now, how did it get there and who was in it?

How do we wrap this up?

He'll be out in just a minute.

Just remember, he dreads ridicule.

Where you going?

You're going to call the entire mate team out here.

It's hard enough facing you.

Doc, not telling you how to treat a patient, but it's you you have to face.

So why not now?

The lady says you need to know.

I don't believe in UFOs or stories about them kidnapping people.

But this I saw.

I won't be told I'm foolish. I'll deny it to anyone that asks me. You

understand? All right. Just show us where it landed.

I didn't say it landed.

It just vanished.

Up there.

Hey, Potch.

Flying saucer.

Watch your step.

Hey, John!

All right. Well, John was right. The LTD was headed north.

Amaral saw the flying saucer before he heard the crash because the car threw

the wheel cover right here on the curve and right here went out of control and

skidded. backwards into the intersection.

Couldn't have stopped.

Skidded. 100 feet.

Punch, there's not a single tire mark.

No oil slick, no mud, and water wouldn't stand here.

So what would vanish without a trace?

Ice.

Black ice.

And remember the chief said his plants were frostbitten?

Yes, but what's black ice?

That's a frozen mist, a thin coating. It's transparent like glass. The

pavement shows through black.

There was no ice at that intersection, not when I drove through.

No, it was in the sunlight.

And you turned to the right.

Then the sun hit this part of the road. Plus the heat from the fire.

The ice melted off before we got here.

Wells, we need proof.

I'll talk to the weather people.

If we could recreate the dew point, the, uh... Temperature, the wind velocity,

the wind chill factor, precipitation... Wells, yes or no?

Maybe. Just maybe.

Okay, Jim. I appreciate it. I'll be right over, all right? Thank you.

They have a car waiting for me, similar to the one Smith had.

Good. A five-point safety harness.

Right.

I'm not with the mate team, but I like to be involved.

Well, Brooks got to Sacramento and Sacramento got to me. We have to make

out a report tonight on where we stand.

Okay. With the help of a timely pre-dawn frost, Wells is gonna try to create

black ice to see if it lasts till 7 a.m., the time of the collision.

Well, what is Baker doing with that duplicate car?

Try to show that it skidded into the intersection backwards.

Well, what if he hits one of those high-pressured gas pipes?

It'll blow like Hiroshima.

Look, why don't you tell Grady Brooks that there's a cop who is willing to

risk his neck to try to find out why a fireman died?

Inter-service cooperation.

Maybe he should watch.

pretty fast now.

Will it last till seven?

Ten minutes? Sure.

Okay. Grossman, go to the van, call the hospital, and see if Pontrella's come up

with anything.

This way.

At least we proved that there was ice, or could have been.

Yeah, well, let's go see what I can prove.

Uh,

John, if Benny Ewan is talking, we may not have to do this, but if we do, uh,

don't get fancy.

Oh, don't worry, Sarge. I'm a lousy driver.

Okay, everybody, down the hill.

Has Baker driven the test yet? You're about five minutes early. We're hoping

to hear something helpful from the hospital.

I understand that Officer Baker's running a serious risk.

That's right. Can we avoid that if I tell you that I know for certain that

the accident was unavoidable?

We can't take that to a coroner's jury.

Sergeant, I'm protecting a man once very big with the underworld.

Back in this country from voluntary exile.

Chief witness for the government.

Trying to prove that organized crime.

is plotting to rob the naval oil reserves near Bakersfield.

There are billions involved.

And more contracts on this man than flies at a picnic.

We used back roads to bring him in secretly.

It was an uncontrollable skid.

We're very sorry the fireman died.

Is that it? I can't give you more.

Brooks, we need facts, evidence.

We need a witness.

OK, Wells, I'm ready.

10-4, John. Stand by, Juan.

We'd better get it on.

Just a second there, Wells.

Ponch is still at the hospital with Ryan and Colleen. Yulin admits he was racing

with Colleen, still swears he doesn't remember how the accident happened.

Thanks, Chrissy.

Look, I'm going to run something by you.

You tell me if I'm wrong.

That second sedan was following the first sedan.

Riding shotgun in that operation.

The Porsche and the Datsun were the only cars traveling really fast. They were

racing and revolving.

Traveling toward the intersection on a collision course were Ned Smith and the

fire sedan and your two LTVs.

The only really innocent man in the bunch was Ned Smith, the man who was

killed.

You probably spun out too on the curve.

But the ice was chewed up, so you never lost it.

The wreck blew up. You couldn't do anything.

Somebody would see the fire and call for help.

So you took off. Now, I know you didn't call the fire department because I

checked the voice tapes.

And you wouldn't let your witness drive himself.

You didn't see the collision because

you would have said something. But you know who did? Your witness and his

driver. They were in it.

Look, Brooks, we need them. I'm warning you in the strongest possible times. If

my witness... Look, I warn you, cop to cop, if Baker gets one bruise on him...

Sergeant!

Okay, John, bring it on. Okay, 10-4.

All right, hold it. I'll give you a witness.

Gun stop.

Hey, watch the ice!

Now I suppose you're gonna tell us you have friends at City Hall.