All language subtitles for One.Step.Beyond.s2.11..The.Stone.Cutter

- Have you ever had the feeling

that you knew what
someone was going to say

just before he said it?

Or have you ever walked
into a strange room

and had the sensation that
you'd been there before?

Well if you have, you've
taken a small step beyond.

Now watch a giant step.

(dramatic orchestral music)

A tombstone cutter
deals in logic.

Every man has a birthdate and
every man has a death date.

And it's the function
of the stonecutter

to engrave these
vital statistics in
their natural order.

Now, if this seems
so self evident,

that it needn't
even be discussed,

I urge you, remember
this stonecutter.

- Alright, that's
water over the dam,

get rid of Jameson.

Nevermind about his contract,

he's got a price,
pay it and drop him.

Now look, you're gonna
have to handle that

and do some business yourself,

I'm flying to Tulsa in an hour

and I won't be back
until late tonight.

Tony, Tony!

Now look, tomorrow won't
be any good either,

I'm tied up all day.

Well, alright then,

will you get it settled
and check with me?

Alright, Tony, alright,
that's enough, that's enough!

What are you trying
to do, kill me?

(grunt)

- Here, this is for you.

- So?

- Well, it might be important.

- They're all
important, read it,

what are you talking about?

(grunts)

- This is one I never heard of.

Casinack Village, Maine.

- Give me that.

- Have you even got
business up there?

(dramatic music)

Bad news?

- My father says he's dying.

- That's a shame.

How long has he been sick?

- How would I know?

I don't ever hear from him
except once every six months,

he sends a card wanting to know

when I'm coming
back for a visit.

When do I ever get
time to visit anybody?

He lives there, I live here.

I send him checks,
he sends them back.

Now this, "I'm dying,
come tomorrow."

- Maine's a long
way, you gonna fly?

- Dying.

Keep the change.

- Stan, come over here, boy!

Ain't in no condition
to go to you.

How are you, boy?

Didn't expect you for
a couple of hours yet.

- What the devil do you
think you're doing up there?

- What the devil
does it look like?

I was fixing to finish this off,

but seeing as you've
brought visitors,

I reckon I best come down
for a little handshake and...

Welcome to you.

Name's Lockhart.

- I'm Dr. Halsey,
your son's physician.

- And this is doc
Simmons, sitting with me.

- Oh, how do you do, doctor?

- Now, just exactly
what's going on, here?

- Well now, it's right
good to see ya, Stan.

- Look, what kind of a joke
is this supposed to be?

You scare me into
getting a doctor

and flying 3,000 miles,

because you're supposed
to be dying today,

and look at you!

- The day's young, yet, boy.

- What are you talking about?

Up on a ladder,
painting a house?!

And you, there, telling me
tomorrow, it'd be too late!

- Reckon it will be.

- Well, have you made
a diagnosis, doctor?

- You could call it that.

- Dying, up on a ladder
painting a house!

- I don't know of any plan

that a man, had to,

has to lie down to die.

I was sort of planning

on visiting with
you, not arguing.

Ain't much time left
for arguing, you know.

- Oh, pop, why do you
want to talk like that?

What do you want to scare me
with a trick, like this, for?

Well, are you sick,
are you feeling bad?

- No, never felt
better in my life,

as a matter of fact.

- Examine him, take him in
the house and examine him.

And if I find that this
is just an idea of yours

to try to get me here...

- There ain't no cause
for so much shouting, boy.

Don't remember how you used
to be so much of a shouter.

You used to be more quiet like.

- Look I didn't come
here to discuss...

Give him a thorough physical.

- Do I have permission to
examine your patient doctor?

- Oh, go ahead.

It'd make you feel better than

if I just tell you what I found.

- Mr. Lockhart?

- Sure, sure.

I'll get the other side
of this finished today,

even with time off, I reckon.

- I suppose you'll tell
me what this is all about!

I want to know everything!

- I never lied to a patient
or his folks yet, Stan.

(stuttering) It's right good,
you got here for his last day.

(dramatic music)

- Well?

- Well, his heart's about
as good as yours or mine.

Blood pressure's probably lower
than yours is at the moment.

Well, his muscle
tone is extraordinary

for a man of his years.

Reflexes, normal, Kidneys,

his liver is sound.
- In other words,

there's nothing wrong with him.

- Well, doctor, have
I overlooked something

that you've found?

- Not in there.

- Alright, I've had enough.

I suppose you tell me
what makes you or him

think that he's
going to die today.

- No.

Don't tell 'em, doc.

Show 'em.

Maybe I ain't seen this
little mind found at 15 years,

but I wager he hasn't
changed that much.

Talking about something,
never proved nothing to Stan.

He's got to be shown.

- Show me what, pop?

What are you talking about?

- The doc will show you,
and then you'll know.

And then, maybe we
can quit this arguing

and have that little
visit together.

Go on, doc, take him there.

There ain't much time left.

- Well, I've never
seen anything as

ridiculous in my life.
- Now, wait a minute.

- Pop, come back, will ya,

come back here?
- Now, wait a minute.

Like he said, there's
no use arguing.

We'll take a little
walk and I'll, uh,

I'll show you the reason
he's gonna die today.

(suspenseful music)

The thing he wants you
to see, is right here.

- Well, it's old Menzies' Place.

- Oh, you remember Menzies, hmm?

- He's still
carving grave stones

for everybody in
town before they die?

- That's right.

- The old ghoul used to give
me the creeps when I was a kid.

Having those stones
all ready and waiting

for the final date.

- He's still doing it.

He, um, he carved a
stone for your pa, Stan.

Finished it, uh, oh
five, six years ago.

Over there.

- Alright, so he carved a stone.

Your pa's stone is different
fro the others, Stan.

Go on, look.

(mysterious orchestral music)

Like I said, your uh, pa's stone

is different from the others.

Five years ago,
when it was carved,

Menzies put in two dates.

Birth

and death.

- [Stan] "Born July
10th, 1883, and died,

"September seventh, 19--

(dramatic orchestral music)
"57?"

- Business man like you,

must keep dates in
his mind pretty good.

Today is September
seven, 19 and 57.

- Alright doc,
the joke over now?

- Now listen, Stan.

- Nevermind, I know
what you're gonna say.

I remember some years ago,

Menzies put a death date on
a man' stone before he died,

and the old geezer
died on that day

and everybody talked
about it for a year,

but that was a coincidence,
and you know it.

- A year or two
after you left here,

Menzies did it again.

A woman.

Oh, she had been
ailing for a spell,

but she died on the day
Menzies carved on her stone.

- So, he traded one lucky guess

to give some old sick soul
a push on the way out.

Now what's the
matter with you, doc?

You're a medical
man, a scientist.

You know about suggestion,

psychosomatic suggestion?

- Two years ago, it
happened a third time.

A baby.

Menzies carved a stone
the day it was born,

birth and death date.

For about a year later,

father got so mad, he come
up here with a sledge hammer

and busted the stone
into a hundred pieces.

Menzies said that wouldn't
make no difference,

and it didn't either.

- And you wonder why I never
came back here for a visit?

The whole town, even you,

living a hundred years back
in stupidity and superstition,

letting an old crank
lead you by the nose,

even though the place
he's leading you to

is your own grave.

(chiseling)

My name's Lockhart.

- Sorry about your
pa, Mr. Lockhart.

- Got a phone here?

- I have.

- You get in there
and call my father,

and you tell him this
thing is a fraud.

- It ain't no fraud.

- Get on that phone!

- Can't stop death
with a phone call.

(clank)

- Alright, what do you want?

- Mallet will do, for a start.

- How much money do you want

to call off this
ridiculous act of yours?

- I carve the truth when
I know it, Mr. Lockhart.

I don't like it, none.

Your pa's a good man.

- I'll give you $500.

Take it, and break
up that stone,

and call my father and
tell him the joke's over.

- Maybe you think
you can buy yourself

a lie with money, Mr. Lockhart,

but it ain't going
to change the truth.

- Go back home, Stan.

Spend some time with your
pa, while there's still time.

(light orchestral music)

- Mr. Lockhart.

- My father in there?

- Yeah, he came in
about 10 minutes ago.

No, no, wait,

before you go in there.

- What's the matter?

- Well, he came back about
10 minutes ago, as I said,

and he looked rather ill, so
I gave him another check up,

and, uh, well, I just don't
know how to explain this,

but there's been
a definite change.

His heart is erratic,
his pulse has weakened.

There's nothing
definite, but I...

- Pop?

- Just resting, I might.

Doc took you over to Menzies
to see the stone, eh?

- Pop, how much of a
fool do you have to be?

What's the matter with you?

So, a guy puts a couple
of dates on a stone,

now, that doesn't
mean a blasted thing!

- Still shouting, boy.

Seems like a powerful
lot of shouting.

- Alright, will ya listen?

Will ya listen to me,
instead of some of these

half cracked
characters around here?

Now, you're not gonna
die because some crank

puts a couple of
letters on a stone.

Those other things,
call 'em coincidence,

call 'em suggestion,

they don't mean a thing.

- What's all this you do
back where you work, boy?

That it keeps you so busy.

We've got a shot time to
catch up on a long while.

- Now pop, we've got all
the time in the world,

if you just--

- Making money, I guess,

judging by that fancy doctor,

and them checks you
send me every month.

- I can afford to
send checks to a man

who sends them back uncashed.

- Made you mad, didn't it,

my doing that, eh?

- Well, they were for you.

- No.

Not for me,

more for you.

We've got a name for it, here,

conscience money.

You don't want you having
me on your conscience, boy.

- Now look, pop, let's
get this straight,

I don't have anything
on my conscience.

Now, maybe, you have.

Maybe that's why you
think you're dying

because somebody says today
is your day, but I don't.

- I always kept thinking
you'd come back Stan,

before now, I mean.

I figured we'd get
a weekend in fishing

up at the Rangelies.

- Now look, pop, we've
got more important things

to talk about than the fact
that I didn't come back here

and fish, and
you've got a grudge.

- I ain't got a grudge, boy.

- No? We'll you used
to cash the checks.

You used to cash them all,
up until that Christmas,

when I said I was coming
back for the holidays

And then, just because
something came up,

and I couldn't make it, you
started sending them back.

And, you don't
call that a grudge?

- It wasn't.

After that Christmas, I didn't
need the money, no more.

- Why not?

- I quit buying the
things I needed it for.

- What are you talking about?

- Well, I'll show ya.

Remember that Christmas,

you was about 10.

Your ma was still alive, then.

You wanted a fishing
rod, a good one.

We didn't have money
for no store rods.

I made you one.

You didn't say much,

but we knew.

Boy, 10, he wants what he wants.

At Christmas, I
reckoned you were

coming back for a visit, right.

I bought a rod,

and all kinds of stuff, here.

The one you wanted
when you was 12.

Heel glasses, that must've
been the next year.

Camera, wristwatch.

It isn't easy for a man to
forget the things his kid wants

that he can't get him.

- You mean, you spent all
of this money I sent you

for things to buy me?

- I had to use yours.

Never could do it on my own.

- Pop.

- Wouldn't have told you,
except that you'd probably

be wondering, after I was gone,

and you cleaning up things
and found this stuff.

Pop.

- Keep it in.

Best go sit down a while.

(sigh)

- Pop.

- Yeah, boy?

Is September too late to go
fishing in the Rangelies?

- Yep, September's too late.

- Then we'll do it this spring,

or maybe you can
come west with me.

Well, if you can't do that,

I can come up here weekends,

and we'll go in the spring.

Now, I mean it, pop!

- I know you do, boy.

- Remember that
horse we had, pop?

Remember how you
told me to water him

every morning and every
night, and how I forgot?

And one day, how he died?

- Yeah.

Didn't catch up for
ya, 'til ya'd gone

three miles down the
road, running away.

- That horse cost $25,

all the money in
the world, then.

Dead.

And, you didn't say a word,

except, "Hot out, today, son.

"Let's go back."

Seems like I'm always
in the same rut,

always wanting to
get you to go home.

- I'm home now, pop.

I'm home.

(sigh)

I've wanted to come home before,

but, well, every time
I said I was busy,

it just because I...

- Because you were running
away from home, again.

- Isn't that what the
Lockhart kid always did,

when things went wrong?

- One thing about you, boy,

maybe you run, but you
always tell the truth after

you go for your run.

Yeah, well, I want to
show you something.

Ooh.
(intense orchestral music)

- Pop!

Pop!

Halsey!

I was just talking to him and...

- Cardiac seizure.

But, I can't understand it,

his heart was in fine
condition, this morning.

- It still is.

He's gonna be alright,

just save him.

- I'll do what I can,
Mr. Lockhart, but,

he's dying.

(suspenseful music)

That should ease the pain.

I've given him some
morphine and a stimulant.

- Pop.

Pop, please.

See, I'm not shouting.

I'm not shouting,
but listen to me.

We've wasted so
much time, already.

There are many things
for us to do together.

Pop (whimpering)

(sobbing) please.

- You know of, doc Simmons
told me about that headstone,

and I keep telling myself,

why, this is the
United States, 1957.

This is not, not Haiti,
not the jungle, we're here.

- It had nothing to
do with a headstone,

it was his heart.

- Yeah, I keep telling
myself that, too.

But, his heart was
okay, this morning.

He was in fine condition.

Other people in good condition

have been hit by a
heart attack, too.

Well, I know that.

Tell me something,
now, those three cases,

they weren't
substantiated, were they?

Well, I mean, not
what they were,

if this man could
really call these names,

why there'd been some
publicity about it,

the newspapers would've
carried the story.

- I can see you
don't know much about

towns like this, Halsey.

Even if Menzies
did what they said

and brought the dead
back for an encore,

nobody outside this town
would ever know about it.

They guard their town
and their secrets,

as if it were pure gold.

- Why then, you think those
three cases were authentic?

I think it's time you
stopped asking questions

and started doing what I
paid you to come here to do.

Now, get in there and help him.

- $500, $1,000, $2,000,

makes no difference what
kind of money you talk about,

I can't take it.

It's not right.

- You're a fine one to
talk about what's right.

You think it's
right to kill a man?

- No blood on my hands, mister.

- What difference does
it make how you kill 'em?

Your ideas, or your hands.

It's still murder.

Look, please listen to me.

What do you want?

If it's not money,
what do you want?

- What I mostly want is
not to be able to do this.

I don't like it none.

Your pa's a good man.

I don't like doing what I do.

- Well then, why do you do it?

- Seems like I can't not.

Names, dates,

I carve 'em.

When it tells me to
put something extra,

I gotta do it, that's all.

Go on home to your pa, mister.

You can't do him no good, here.

- You murdering dill, you!

- Get out.

- Give it up!
- Just stop!

- What for, so you can
go on with your killing?!

So you can write somebody
else's death sentence?!

Huh?!

- Get out!

- Please,

listen to me please, please.

My father's dying.

Look I just want to go home

and tell him that
there's no stone,

that this is a mistake.

Please, listen.

- I said, get out!

- Alright.

I'll go now,

but I'll be back with
someone to stop you.

I'll be back.

- Get out.
- I'll be back.

I'll be back.

- Get out!
- I'll be back!

- I can't do that, Stan.

I know how you feel,
but I can't do that.

- Why can't you?!

It's murder, isn't it?

Why can't you do your job
and close up Manzies' place,

and throw him in jail,
where he belongs?!

Why can't you do your job?!

- My job is law, Stan,

not persecution.

- Now, you sit there and
talk to me about persecution.

Who's persecuting who?!

What about Menzies?

Can't you understand,
sheriff, my father's dying?

What does it take to get a town
to do something about this?!

What does it take to
stop a man like Menzies?!

- Tell me what I can do,

what anyone can do, and
stay inside the law,

and I'll do it,

but I can't throw a man in jail

for carving a date on a stone!

If I could, it would
do no good, anyhow.

- What, are you all,
dead in this town?

Is that why you don't
care if a man kills,

because you're dead, anyway?!

Standing there letting a
thing like this happen?

- How can we stop it?

You tell me that.

The father of that
baby that got burned,

he felt like you did.

He came in here, like you now,

shouting at me to lock up
Menzies, but I couldn't!

Then he went out
to the stone yard,

and smashed his baby's
tombstone to bits!

It didn't change a thing.

The people in this town don't
like this anymore than you do!

But, what are we
supposed to do?!

- I don't care what you do,

just do something to stop him!

Stop him?!

Stop him from what?!

That stone was carved
five years ago,

carve and finished!

- You want me to beg, don't you?

Just like everybody
else in this hick town,

you want to cut me down to
size and make me beg, huh?

Alright, I'm begging ya.

Just stop him, will ya?

Arrest him, run him out
of town, do anything,

please, but just
stop him, will ya?

I've wasted a lot of time.

My pop and I, we've got so
many things to do together.

We just have so many
things to do together.

(phone ringing)

- Sheriff Allen, speaking.

Ah yes, doc.

Uh, yep.

He came in a while ago.

I'll tell him.

- Look, just get Menzies to
come with me to pop's, will ya?

Now, that's not breaking
a law, is it, huh?

Just get him to say
it was a mistake?

- Stan, that was doc
Simmons, who called.

Sorry, Stan.

Your pa's gone.

(dramatic music)

Stan, you want I should
come home with you?

My car's right outside.

Stan, let me come
with you, and I'll...

(door slams)

(tapping)

- My father's dead.

- I figured.

(menacing music)

(thud)

(choking)

(intense music)

(dramatic music)

(light orchestral music)

- "Stanley Lockhart, beloved
son of Simon Lockhart.

"Born September 18th, 1921,

died, December 14th,

1958.

He died,

executed

by the state

on that day

for the murder of Peter
Menzies, stonecutter.

(dramatic orchestral music)