Original subtitles

[music playing]

NARRATOR: "Gunsmoke," with Milburn Stone as Doc, Ken

Curtis as Festus, Buck Taylor as Newly, and starring

James Arness as Matt Dylan.

[snoring]

[harmonica playing]

[banging] -Ah!

[laughter]

Sorry, Mr. Nelson.

Can't have you sleeping on the job like that.

I was just resting my eyes.

Now you go back to sleep.

[laughter]

Goodnight, Mr. Nelson.

[laughter]

[gunshot]

[humming]

Matthew?

Matthew?

It's time to get some breakfast vittles.

I could smell coffee clean down the street,

flapjacks floating in syrup, and ham, biscuits, and mush.

Festus.

Morning, Matthew.

I'm trying to get some sleep.

Well, a cup of coffee and a good breakfast

will perk you right up.

I guarantee it will.

I'm not hungry, just sleepy.

Well, Matthew it's 8:00 o'clock in the morning.

That means I've only been asleep about three hours.

I didn't get back from Elsworth till 5:00 o'clock this morning.

Oh, Matt, I thought-- what's the matter, you sick, Matt?

No, no, just sleepy.

Well, I was going to ask you to breakfast.

Funny thing, Doc, I was just talking to Matthew about--

I'm just talking to Matthew about it.

Can't you see the poor man's trying

to get his self some sleep?

Just listen, if you think you're

going to stick me for breakfast, you got another thing coming.

Well, if you think I'm going to go over yonder

to Delmonico's and sit and listen

to you slurp your coffee, you got another thing--

Matthew, I thought you was fixing to get

yourself some more sleep.

I know when I'm licked.

Let's go get some breakfast.

Marshall?

Marshall, there's been a killing over at the Dodge house.

Jeb Nelson, he's been shot.

-When? -Well, I don't know.

They just found him.

Just go away.

You have no business here. -No!

-Would you please go away? -No!

Let us through, ladies.

Oh, thank goodness.

He came in about 1 o'clock this morning, Marshall.

That's the last time I saw him.

Matt, it's close range.

There's powder burns here.

How long you think he might have been dead, Doc?

Well, I'd say several hours.

Howard, did you hear anything at all?

Not a sound.

I best get back to the desk, Marshall.

I'll talk to you later.

Festus, get these folks out of here, will you?

All right, folks, don't stand here gawking.

Go on about your business.

-Doc? -What?

You know, he was a drummer.

And he spent most of his time out of town.

He never came back till the end of each month.

Meaning what?

Well, it could have been a crime of passion.

Passion?

Sure, a jealous husband or something.

Oh, for heaven's sake, Burt, will you

let Matt do the detective work?

Get out here. Get out.

He's got over $80 on him, Doc.

That rules out robbery.

Poor Jeb, been around here 15 years or so,

never hurt anybody.

Here it is, Matt.

30 caliber rifle bullet.

Yep.

You think anybody fired a 30 caliber weapon one

o'clock in the morning, they'd wake up half the town,

wouldn' you?

You'd sure think so.

Yet, we know the shot couldn't have been muffled

by a pillow or something, because man

had powder burns on his coat.

He wasn't after money.

Could it have been something else?

Well, I don't know, Doc.

I don't think his room was searched.

Something on his person maybe?

I don't know, Doc.

Been over him carefully two, three times.

It doesn't look to me like the body was even searched.

Well, just a senseless killing, huh?

But why Nelson?

If we find out who, we might find out why, Doc.

Hank, you calling it a night, are you?

It's almost 11 o'clock, Festus.

If I don't get home before 12, the wife starts worrying.

Well, Mr. Hank, it appears to me

that a worrying wife is something that a husband

has got to put up with.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

[gunshot]

[neighing]

Luke!

He got shot in the back.

Matthew!

Matthew!

It's Luke.

You know where the shot came from?

No, Matthew, we never even heared no shot.

[chatter]

-Doc? -Yeah?

What's going on?

What do you mean?

This the same man that killed Nelson?

Now, why would you ask me a thing like that, Burk?

Well, you're the one that dug the bullets out of each man.

Are they the same caliber?

That's none of your business.

Doc, there's been too men killed

here right under our noses.

Folks have got a right to know. -Yeah?

It's almost like there's a madman turned loose.

Burk, for heaven's sakes!

Shut up, Burk.

What are you trying to do here, start a panic?

What caliber did you take out of Haynes?

Burke, let me tell you something.

Matt and I are the only two people who know about this.

And if Matt wants you to know, he'll tell you.

I'm just trying--

I know exactly what you're trying to do.

Just stop trying so hard, Burk.

Just be calm.

And maybe everybody else in town will do the same thing.

Set a good example.

Here's what you can do for me.

Go tell Percy Crump that he can take the body out of my office.

These here just come in, Matthew.

Hi, Matt. Here you are.

30 caliber.

Well, there's lots of them in Dodge.

That don't mean the same feller killed them both.

Well, the fact that nobody heard the shot, including you,

makes for a reasonable assumption.

Newly, do you know of any way that a man could fire off

a rifle without making a sound?

No, sir, but it is possible that somebody could

put together some sort of a gadget that

would muffle the explosion.

They'd have to be homemade.

Nobody I know manufactures one.

Doc, you know both these men well.

Can you think of any possible connection between them?

No, none that I can think of.

You know, Burk might be right at that.

We just might be dealing with a madman here who's just going

to kill anybody at random.

I don't think so.

Well, do you see any connections

between Haynes and Nelson?

No, no, but that killer had to have a reason.

Now, Nelson, for instance, he comes into town only a few days

a month.

And he always goes the Long branch.

And he always closes it up at night.

The killer could have made a point of finding that out.

Well, how did he get into Nelson's room?

Well, the lock wasn't forced.

The door wasn't jammed open.

So he either had to get in one of two ways.

Either Nelson let him in or he had a key.

Heaven's, Howie should have seen him.

Doc, old Howie sleeps at that desk half the night.

I'll tell you something else.

This Haynes had a pattern too.

He used to gamble down at the Long branch, played poker

there several nights a week.

And he always quit around 11 o'clock.

Now, the killer could just as well have known about that too.

Well, Matt, I can give you something.

The bullet entered Hayne's body from a high angle.

Now, the shot had to be fired from somewhere

at a level above the street.

Like a rooftop.

Or a second story window, maybe.

Festus, I want you to go out and round up some men that we

know we can trust, like Laythrup, Halligan,

Burk, Potter, maybe Saxsby.

Matthew, old Halligan, he's got to argue something fierce.

He can't even already get out of bed.

And you know, Mr. Potter's got that their bad sick girl that

can't be left by her own self.

Well, ask him if he can get somebody to take care of her

while he's out.

And then round up some other good men.

We'll get everybody we can.

One more thing, spread the word around town until further

notice we're under curfew.

I want everybody off the streets by 10 o'clock.

All right, Matthew.

You bet.

Matt, if he intends to kill again,

that's sure not going to stop him.

All we can do is try, Doc.

Remember, stop anybody you see on the street.

Anything you see out of the ordinary,

let me know right away.

All right, let's go.

Sorry I'm late, Marshall.

I'm glad you made it.

Burk, that Mr. Potter with you.

Yes, sir.

You see anyone we don't know, get ready to use your gun.

Take it easy, Burk.

Shoot an innocent bystander, the Marshall's

going to have your head.

Potter, aren't you scared?

Of course I'm scared.

That don't prove he's going to try it again tonight.

Well, he killed two nights in a row.

What's so different about tonight?

A lot.

Think he don't know about all us deputies?

Maybe he does, but you know if he's crazy that ain't

going to stop him from trying.

You know, the thing that puzzles me most

is he-- we've got no guarantee that he's a stranger.

What do you mean?

Well, he knew enough about Nelson and Haynes

to be ready for them.

I was thinking, what if he-- what if he's

living right here in Dodge?

What if he's one of us?

Oh, Burk, why don't you shut up?

Don't be so blamed jumpity.

I'm sorry, Festus.

I've never seen Dodge so quiet.

That there is a pure old fact.

I ain't either.

Kinda spooky, ain't it?

Think he'll try again?

I mean, with all these armed men, it'll be too risky.

Maybe he'll just move on.

I don't know, Mr. Price.

I got me this sure kind of tickled feeling that ain't

going to be the way it is.

Gonna do me some more looking around.

You make blame sure that all these doors is locked.

Sure thing, Festus.

Evening, Marshall.

Mr. Meeker, it's 10 o'clock curfew tonight.

Yeah, I heard, but I just sent a telegram over to Hayes.

I got to wait for an answer.

How long will that take?

Oh, half hour or so.

All right, I'll send somebody by to see

that you get home all right.

Marshall, I've been walking home from this job every night

by myself for the last 18 years.

I'm no schoolgirl that needs escorting.

I know, Mr. Meeker.

But I'm sending somebody over anyway.

And along with that, I want you to lock this door

and pull the shades.

Marshall, I've got--

Mr. Meeker, just do like I tell you.

[typing]

Festus?

It's almost 11 o'clock.

Better get over to the telegraph office

and tell Meeker it's time to close up.

And make sure he gets home.

He may argue with you.

I'll fetch him, Matthew.

[gunshot]

Henry?

Henry?

Well, it came from a high angle.

That's all I can tell you.

Yeah, another 30 caliber bullet.

How well did you know Meeker, Doc?

Well, about as well as anybody in town.

Served on a jury with him month or so ago, the Crowley trial.

Was either Haynes or Nelson on that jury?

No.

No, if you're thinking revenge killing, Matt,

you're barking up the wrong tree.

I'll tell you that, because Crowley, all he did

was just break up the Bulls Head saloon.

The judge fined him $20 and released him.

That's hardly a motive for a murder.

Maybe not, but Doc these are not just random killings.

There's got to be some connection between them

somewhere.

We just haven't found it yet.

If you're trying to tie it to juries,

you've got a tremendous job.

Good heavens, I've served on juries,

just about everybody in town.

Anybody else that's been in town any length of time

would say the same thing.

Wait a minute.

Maybe you got something right there.

Length of time-- maybe there's a connection between the victims.

What do you mean?

Well, look at it-- Meeker, Haynes, and Nelson, all three

of them well along in years, and all three of them

longtime citizens of Dodge.

Long as you or I, Meeker longer maybe.

That's not much to go on.

But it's a start.

Marshall?

Searched every inch of this town and found nothing suspicious.

Talked to boarding houses, hotels,

checked horses stable that delivered through their owners.

It seems as though stranger in town

has got a reason for being here.

Yeah, well, I guess I never expected anything different.

Mr. Saxsby tell you anything?

Not a thing, went into the barn, somebody hit him.

That's all he remembered.

Look, I want you to go down to the courthouse.

Get the clerk down there to give you

the court records for every major trial going back

20 years.

Make sure he gives you a list of the jurors on each trial.

That's a lot of paperwork.

Well, we may not have much time to do it either.

All right.

This is rough on the eyes, trying to read this writing.

Here's something.

Nope, just Meeker.

Listen to this.

April, 1859, list of the jurors.

First three names Henry Meeker, Jeb Nelson, and Haynes.

Who was the defendant?

Kind of hard to make out.

Willis Connors, guilty of murder, sentenced to 20 years.

Who else was on that jury?

Donald Walsh.

Walsh, I think-- yeah, he died in a fire back about '68.

Quint Asper.

He was a blacksmith here.

He went to California about 10 years ago.

Chester Good.

He used to work for me here.

He was before your time.

He left I think right after the trial.

Gordon Smith.

He's been dead a long time.

Take a look at this.

Oh, come in, Matt.

Doc.

Well, I think e found the link.

Link?

Yeah, Newly and I just spent most of the day

looking over court records.

Meeker, Haynes, and Nelson, all three of them

served on the same jury 15 years ago.

Man named Willis Connors was given 20 years for murder.

That bring anything back to your mind?

Well, sure does.

I was on that jury too.

Take you're being a little presumptuous though.

So we're eight other men.

Yeah, and all eight of those men, either dead

or moved away from Dodge years ago.

Doc, the way I see it, you're next.

Matt Connors was a drifter.

And he killed a farmer outside of town.

Nobody knew why, bunch of cowboys

came by looking for water, you see.

And they heard shots, and rode in,

and found him with a gun in his hand, caught him red-handed.

Yeah, I was away at the time.

But I remember him talking about the trial.

Didn't he threaten one of the jurors or something?

Threaten?

Good heavens, he rushed the jury box

and said he'd see us all dead.

It took about five minutes of doing.

The thing that bothered me was the sentence.

If it was out and out murder, why wasn't he hanged?

Well, Matt, to tell you the truth,

I think I'm responsible for that.

You, why?

There's no question at all about him being guilty.

He was caught with a gun in his hand standing over the victim.

There was sign of a struggle.

But, you know, when it came to trial,

he didn't seem to have the mental capacity to testify.

He just kept saying, he hurt me, he hurt me.

Now, I kind of coupled that with the fact

that the victim had been a bully, kind of a troublemaker.

And I just couldn't make myself believe

that he was responsible for his actions at the time.

Well, all right, so he wasn't hanged.

He was given 20 years.

See, that still doesn't do us any good,

not unless he was pardoned or escaped.

Well, you can check on that.

I already have.

I got off a telegram to Leavenworth.

Should hear by tomorrow.

Well, Matt, I'll give you the logic that I may be next.

But let me tell you something.

I'm not going to sit here in this office the rest of my life

with the shades pulled down.

Doc, I just can't take a chance on anything happening to you.

I'm going to send you off to Hayes tonight with Newly.

Oh no, you're not, no sir.

Doc, he's killed three nights in a row.

Now, if he follows his pattern, tonight you're next.

Well, you send me to Hayes, he'll follow me,

or wait for me here.

Oh no, Matt.

No, we've got to flush him out some way.

And the only way I know is to, well, give him a target.

-You? -You said it yourself.

Doc, listen to me.

The man's killed three people on three consecutive nights,

two of them at long range.

That means that Connors, if it is Connors,

is a deadly shot with a rifle.

You try to set yourself up as a target,

you're going to wind up as victim number four.

Well, Matt, setup or not, he's going to try again.

We know that.

I just figure my chances are better if we

kind of know what he's up to.

And anyway, I'm too danged old to sit around and wait

for somebody to kill me.

I want to get it settled right now.

By golly, I'll lock you up if I have to.

On what charge?

Fool stubbornness, if that doesn't work,

I'll think of something else.

Matt, if you don't help me, I'm going to do this myself.

All right, but we're you're gonna do it, let's do it right.

[music playing]

Newly, it's past 9 o'clock.

Doc, get away from that window.

Don't make yourself a target yet.

Well, it's this dang waiting, Newly, that's getting me.

I know.

I don't blame you.

Let's do it the way the Marshall laid it out.

All right.

You sit down in that chair at 10 o'clock and not before.

All right.

Now, we got about a half an hour more.

Why don't you go in the back room in there and lie down.

Oh fine, man's out to kill me, and you want me to go to sleep.

That's good.

I just want you to do what you normally do.

Let whoever it is out there know you're home.

But kind of keep moving around a little bit.

[music playing]

It's time, Doc.

[gunshot]

[gunshot]

[gunshot]

There it is, would have been just like the others,

right through the heart.

Thank the good Lord for blacksmiths.

You betcha, Doc.

You ought to buy old Herschel a drink for building

that iron plate you.

I was just thinking the same thing, Festus.

There it is.

Well, I'm sorry he got away, Doc.

But at least one of us winged him.

I wonder how bad he's hurt.

Not bad enough, I'm afraid.

[groaning]

[groaning]

Marshall?

Marshall?

How's Doc Adams?

He'll be well before we know it.

You got any idea who it could be?

That we're going to know just as soon as we can.

Three men have been shot.

You gotta do something soon.

Lucky he didn't kill me.

Now, look, boys, best thing we can do

is stay with the plans we've made out.

Now get back to your patrols.

All right, Marshall.

Ain't no sign of him no place, Matthew.

We've looked at every nook and cranny

of this town, all the storehouses and the back rooms,

everywhere.

And he's nowhere to be found.

Marshall, this just arrived.

This Connors died in prison three years ago.

Connors?

You figured he was the killer?

That's right, Festus.

Puts us right back where we started.

Don't you know you're supposed to be dying?

I'm tired of dying.

Doc, I thought I told you.

I know what you told me.

But that's when we were looking for Connor.

And Connors is dead now.

It could be anybody else.

That still doesn't alter the fact there's

a killer loose in Dodge.

And he's looking for you.

All right, I've told you, if you

think I'm going to spend the rest of my life hiding

in corners, well, I won't do that!

Four men that served on the same jury.

That could be a coincidence.

It could be something else the four of us

had in common, besides that trial.

I tell you, there's only one way we're going to find

out-- when he kills again.

[gunshot]

[chatter]

[shouting]

Doc!

You just can't stay put, can you?

Doc, you shouldn't have come here.

By now, everybody in town will know you're

healthy, including the killer.

Well, I heard a man had been shot.

I'm a doctor, you know.

Well, right through the heart, just like the others.

Festus, get some of these boys to get him over to Percy

Crump's, will you?

Burk, Connor, come on in here.

Get hold of him now.

Rest of you folks break it up.

Move along, it's all over now.

OK, got it?

I got him.

Go on, go on.

Jones.

He was in here alone.

Must have happened about an hour after the place was closed.

Bowl was home sleep.

Well, it kinds of breaks the pattern.

Homer wasn't even in town during the Connors trial.

You know, come to think of it, I--

I served on a jury once with Homer, three or four years ago.

Who else was on the jury?

Matt, I-- I've served on so dang many juries,

I just can't-- can't remember.

Well, who was it that was on trial?

It was some cowboy, a drifter.

But I can't think of his name.

But it makes no sense anyway, Matt, because he was acquitted,

lack of evidence.

And that's the only jury your ever served on with Homer?

I believe it was.

That leaves us right up a blind alley again.

I'm going to have Newly check the records again,

just the same.

Wouldn't do any good, Matt, because the case was dismissed.

He'd have no reason to hold a grudge against anybody here.

I know, Doc, but it's the only thing we got to go on.

Festus, I want you to go back to the office with Doc

and stay with him.

What?

What's this?

That killer is still loose, Doc.

And he knows you're alive now.

Don't let him out of your sight.

Wait a minute.

Wait.

Are you talking about 24 hours a day?

I'm talking about however long it takes.

Well, now just-- no, sir.

Wait a minute!

I can't stand that.

I won't.

Having to live in the same town with you is bad enough,

but having to look at you 24 hours a day,

I can't take that that.

Oh, you ornery old scutter, you ain't

no painting your own self.

[music playing]

Find anything?

Nothing much.

I found something here, but I don't think

its' going to lead anywhere.

Did you get anything to eat?

I went over to Delmanaco's a couple hours ago.

There's a letter on the desk over there.

I found it underneath the door when I got back.

It's from the killer.

Dr. Adams is still alive.

And I've been injured.

You have interfered with my plans.

Be on the street tonight at 11 o'clock, alone,

or others will die.

Five minutes to nine.

Well, you can't do what that letter says.

You go out on the street and he'll kill you.

Doesn't look to me like I've got much choice.

This may be the last chance we get.

That's no chance at all.

What else can I do?

Let him go after Doc, or anybody else he wants to?

Wait a minute.

Let's do some thinking on this.

Why don't you, and Festus, and myself, the three of us,

we go on out there.

And if he gets one of us, the others will get him.

It's no good, Newly.

He says alone.

And he's just crazy enough to go through it if I

don't follow his instructions.

What guarantee do we have he won't keep on killing anyway?

Well, none, except that he says right in this letter

that he'll definitely go on killing if we don't do

what he says, maybe at random.

I don't like it any better than you do,

but I have to go through with it.

There's no other choice. What else did you find?

Well, nothing much, I'm afraid.

The name of the cowboy that was acquitted at the trial

was Jeff Wright.

He was accused of attacking a 15-year-old girl.

But it really doesn't help.

Um, Doc and Nelson served on the jury, but not Meeker or Haynes.

There's no way of tying them together?

No way that I know of.

But I haven't finished reading the transcript here.

Puts us right back where we started then.

Now, wait a minute.

Haynes and Meeker testified at the trial.

Mm-hm.

But that doesn't really mean anything, does it?

The cowboy was acquitted.

All right, but witnesses said they

saw the attacker running away, but they couldn't positively

identify him.

I think it does tie together.

[banging]

Well, it's almost 10:30.

Are we going to make it?

You bet we are, Doc.

I just hope I did the right thing

in showing you that letter.

You did just fine.

I'll tell you, some of them other ladies did just fine too.

They're already done sewing everything.

All right.

Let's go.

[knocking]

Potter!

Potter?

Potter, I'm here.

Don't pay any attention to him!

He's not Dylan!

I am!

I'm here!

Neither one of them are.

I'm Matt Dylan.

Don't be a fool, Potter!

Give it up!

I'm the Marshall.

No, he's not the Marshal.

-No, here! -I am!

Potter!

I'm the Marshall!

I'm Matt Dylan!

Listen to me!

I'm here!

[gunshots]

Potter, why?

It's been five years since your daughter was attacked.

Five years.

She never knew me till just last Sunday, just before she died.

She never knew me till just last Sunday, just before she died.

None of you cared.

None of you.

You let him go.

All of you, let him go.

The man-- the man who killed my baby.

You and some of the boys get him out of here.

I don't guess I'll ever know who arranged for this.

Well, no, no I guess, uh, I guess you probably never will,

Matt.

You might want to thank these two fellas here, though.

Ben, Alex, you done her just right.

Appreciate it, man.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Stay tuned for exciting scenes

from our next "Gunsmoke."

[music playing]