Original subtitles

Yes, I'm calling from the trip. I'd like to confirm. Hey, I've been getting the

runaround for two hours. Well, can you tell me approximately how much money was

missed?

Was it over $1 ,000?

Bring the page through.

Hello, Randolph Monitor.

Just a minute.

Mr. Murky? Long distance.

L .A. A Lou Grant.

Grant? We have your application.

At the present, we have no openings on the editorial side.

But circulation tells me there may be an opening and home delivery.

What's that?

A guy in knickers going through the countryside, ringing a bell and calling,

hear ye, hear ye?

Some pretty big stories have been broken that way. You want the job or not.

I'll take it. Do I have to bring my own bell?

Well, we'll settle it when you get up here.

How's the fishing?

Well, I'll have to check with my wildlife editor.

The story here, Lou, the fish are smaller, but they fight a lot harder.

See you tomorrow.

Are we really going to run this?

It's the news, isn't it?

We've got to run it.

At least have the decency to wait until I get into the elevator before you take

over.

We're in a very gray area here, Lou. Oh?

What if a big story broke right now? Would you, as the city editor who's

on vacation, handle it? Or would I, as the acting city editor, leap into the

void and take command?

At this point, the lines of authority are tangled.

Let me untangle them for you.

I'm the city editor.

until I hit the street.

You take it.

You might want to go over these background reports while you're up in...

Charlie. I haven't had a vacation since I started on the trip.

I don't want to think about newspapers.

All I want to do is dip my toes in the clear water, breathe the clean air.

And argue with Chip Murphy.

Yeah, just like old times.

Yeah, well, we were...

Starting out working for him.

There were a couple of times when I came this close to quitting the newspaper

business because of Chip Murphy.

He was the toughest city editor I ever worked for. Tough?

He was a monster.

Oh, that's because you took his razzing personally. When a guy says, Hugh, take

your lazy butt and get out of the business, I tend to take it a little

personally. He treated me worse.

Oh, that's because he liked you the best. Ah, come on. Ah, you were always

favorite.

And when I left, even I wasn't talking to him.

But name me a better city editor.

I said he was overly suspicious, arbitrary, cunning, cynical, sarcastic,

relentless, and self -pitying.

I never said he wasn't good.

Well, I guess the time has come... Charlie, Charlie, Charlie.

You know how I hate sentimental goodbyes.

Me too.

God love you and keep you till we meet again.

That was perfect.

Couldn't wait for the corpse to get cold, could you?

Cancel my subscription.

42 years I've taken this paper. I finally get arrested and you misspell my

What's going on here?

Hello.

Clarence Hadrian Murphy.

What took you so long to get here? I took US 5 to Gardner and then

took 27.

No one takes 27. It's three hours out of your way. Chip, don't start.

Okay. I shouldn't have taken 27.

It's really a nice little town.

That's what I've always dreamed about.

Way back in Detroit, becoming William Allen White.

Having my own little newspaper, writing insightful editorials, calling my own

shots. You're loving it, huh? Every minute.

And how do folks take to you here?

Oh, well, you know, I always make friends easily.

Well, all right, Tom.

I'm not the most popular guy in town.

I wouldn't be doing my job right if I were.

Come on, it's after four. We'd better get going or we're going to get some

fishing in. Uh, Cat Lou, wish I could.

Oh, come on, you're down today. Sir can run this place better than you.

Yeah, well, no, I've got to meet some people from county health. Oh, sounds

exciting. Yeah, well, you go on.

Huh? Now, moving into the country hasn't made me much of a fisherman anyway.

You go on to the house, drop your things.

Say, I'll scratch out a map.

And Lou, Hollywood with you.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here on A &E.

You okay?

I'm all right.

Let that get home.

Give me a lift.

Oh, yeah.

Thank you, mister.

Am

I

going in the right direction?

Oh, yeah. Sure.

Have to be right up here someplace.

I just got myself turned around.

You new here, too?

No, no, I've been here five years.

My name's Carl Mueller.

Blue Grant.

I work for John Harper.

The mailbox back there says Harper on it.

Oh, yeah.

Hence the place.

Sorry,

Miss Harper.

Thank you, mister.

What happened?

I don't know. I guess he had a few too many.

Carl, he's never had a drink in his life.

Against his religion.

I hope he didn't cause you any trouble, but thank you.

Mr... Grant. Lou Grant.

Lucy Harper.

How do you do? Nice to know you.

You're not from around here?

No, I'm just here to do some fishing.

Ah. Well, have you got a place to stay? We have a room we'd like to rent.

Oh, thank you, Mrs. Harper. That's very nice of you, but I'm staying in town

with Chip Murphy.

If I take a right, will that take me to Scobie Creek?

Can't miss it.

Thanks.

He broke a leg.

What's she using?

It's the best.

It's a little Phoebe.

You ever try a Colorado spinner?

We get plenty of bites, but they don't have leg room in a sardine can.

Yeah, that's the problem.

Where'd the big fish hang out?

Why, that's this big fish hang out in the city.

County gives livestock clean bill.

Sounds controversial.

It doesn't have the panache of Hillside Strangler claims 12 victims.

That's the fastest for news up here.

It has all the newsworthiness of a headline that says, no war today.

Every six months, the county comes up with a report, and we run it.

I think it looks good.

Almost as good as it comes out of a bucket.

Mmm.

Delicious. Come on, Chip, sit down.

I'll get a couple more beers. I'll go. Sit.

I had kind of an interesting experience today.

Where's Uncle Harper from?

Oh, yes. John and Lucy.

They're very nice people.

I saw a farmer shoot a steer.

Hey, wait. Let me set that in type.

A steer I'd just seen jogging around a field.

Mrs. Harper had the need to tell me the animal broke a leg.

That couldn't have something to do with this headline, could it?

That's not bad, Lou.

You always had a good story since.

What is it? That's not the first steer shooting around here.

As a matter of fact, the discrepancy between what the county says and

like what you saw today make a pretty good story.

You mean you've got some kind of animal disease or something up here? No, it's

more complicated than that. A story like this can upset a lot of people.

That explains why I mentioned your name and got instant hostility.

I thought it was just your personality.

These people like me to stay quiet.

I hope it'll go away.

Kind of a tough story for a one -man operation, isn't it? I don't get to do

tough stories.

What I'm trying to say is, if you're in over your head... No thanks, but no

thanks. You came here to fish and relax.

Besides, you can't go in cold to some strange area where you don't know.

But if you're shorthanded... No, I've lived here for ten years.

I know the people, and I've learned how to communicate with them.

I think he just got a letter to the editor.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here on A &E.

Give back to me. Thank you.

You know, all you guys who live at the beach are the same. You think you can

cover every story from your sun deck?

Look. I don't care if a great white shark is dragging a Coast Guard cutter

to Point Conception.

We've got the president and the governor in town, and I need your suntan body at

the Century Plaza in 45 minutes.

Wear shoes.

I'm following up on my story on unsafe dams. I'll be out all afternoon in San

Ysidro. Close. You'll be following up on the governor. You'll be at UCLA from 10

.30 to 1 with the governor, then pick up the president from 4 to 5 on Olvera

Street.

City desk.

Yeah, hold on a minute.

See if you can get an angle on the difference between their two styles and

effect on the crowds.

Uh -huh. Listen. Uh -huh. Listen.

Uh -huh. Listen.

Donovan, I am very close to finding out that those dams aren't as safe as

they're supposed to be. Put burrows on it.

There are a lot of unanswered questions here.

There's really only one question that people care about when it comes to dams.

Are they going to burst today?

No. Have fun with the governor. Some guy in line three wants Lou. Lou isn't

here. Well, you try to tell him.

City death, Donovan.

I don't think Lou would handle it this way.

Right. He wouldn't be as patient as I am. Now forget about the damn dams and

come to the damn luncheon.

Lou is out of town. May I help you? Out of town?

You sure? Look, I'm pretty busy here. Can I take a message?

This is Henry Dreyfuss from the Secretary of State's office.

Washington? Well, we're in town now.

I'm calling Lou because I have a firm time on a meeting tonight.

What meeting?

Didn't Lou read you on it?

No, no, he didn't, Mr. Dreyfuss.

Can you hold on a moment?

City desk, Donovan.

Why would someone want to kidnap a cat?

Plays the piano?

Are we talking about a real piano or just one of those little chord organs

anyone can play?

Ah. Well, for kidnapping, I'd call the FBI. If they can't help, then try a

musician's union.

I'm sorry for the delay, Mr. Dreyfus.

The meeting is set for nine tonight, and I was able to get clearance for one

reporter and one photographer.

Gosh, this is really embarrassing, but I don't know what meeting you're talking

about. Can you tell me what it's about?

I guess I don't have any choice.

In my talks with Lou, we had an agreement to respect the confidentiality

information. The same goes for me.

It's not a coincidence that the president and governor are in town at

time.

What we have here is either a fantastic publicity gimmick or an extraordinary

intervention to break the Mid -East stalemate.

A summit meeting?

Here? That was my reaction.

If all the elements in this come together at the right time, it'd be a

Believe me, I didn't ask for this job.

You could just find that memo.

Don't worry about it. I'll give it to the Times. No, no, no. Give it to me.

Tell your reporters, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Eastgate, 9 o 'clock

Sorry about the cross wires.

Oh, I'm the one who should be apologizing to you. Thank you for being

patient, Henry.

I'll let you go, Donovan. I know you're busy, too.

Billy, pick up the animal.

This is the fellow staying with Chip Murphy.

Gave Carl a lift yesterday.

Morning. Morning. What can we do for you?

Oh, I just thought I'd stop by and see how Carl was doing.

Carl's fine. I'm fine.

Great.

Carl, why don't you go ahead and take a rest now?

Poor guy should have seen down at it yesterday.

Come, Joe.

Dad, finish the dishes. I'm going to go make a rat count.

Well, hello there, son. What are you doing?

Oh, hi, mister.

You were right about the fish.

Yeah, I told you so.

Yeah, where are you off to in such a hurry?

Well, my dad pays me a bounty for all the rats I catch in the barn. So I got

go check on the cat.

That's wonderful.

I used to have the same deal when I was a kid and spent summers on a farm.

Missing. That's nice.

Look, back in Los Angeles, I'm a newspaper man.

Look, if it's about the cattle, I've told Chip everything I know.

Well, Chip didn't exactly tell me.

You lost many of them? No.

I told Chip no, and I told the county no.

Had a few abortings. Some cows have ulcers.

Too much worry.

What's your theory?

I don't know.

Vets run tests.

It's no disease she knows of.

What about herbicides?

I don't use them.

They checked that, too. That wasn't it.

So you've got a little mystery.

Just happened.

One summer, my dad lost half a herd. We never did find out what it was.

Look, I'm getting tired of answering a lot of questions about some bad cows.

You read the Randolph monitor, then you know the county's okayed them.

You're not sure.

Tap.

Zip again.

No rats today?

Ain't been any for weeks. I might have to get out of the business.

They must be making better traps now.

Back in Michigan, there never was a farm that could get rid of all its rats.

Well, you gotta get lucky about some things, now, don't you?

Peterson? Lou Grant, step in my office.

Sorry I had to come way out here.

You didn't say on the phone what it was about.

I need some answers, but I don't think I know enough to ask the questions.

You want to try?

Well, you folks up here have a secret epidemic?

Where'd you get an idea like that?

I've been staying at Chip Murphy's place.

Ah, Chip's going about this all wrong.

Okay, boys, let him up.

I'm going to take a look at the leg on that one.

Chip's taken some isolated cases and tried to claim that there's a pattern.

We don't have enough evidence.

But something is going on.

I didn't say that.

Well, I just came from the Harper farm.

Okay, so John Harper is one of those isolated cases, and he's had some steers

with some weight loss. He's had a couple of cows abort.

He's had a few problems, and we just haven't been able to get to the bottom

it yet. I don't call that an epidemic.

Okay, so it's not an epidemic, just a whole lot of isolated cases.

I don't know how many. I worked for three dozen farms. Nine of them have had

problems. Well, I'm a little out of my element here.

But have you tried to find a common link among all the cattle on the nine farms?

Still looking for it.

I figure that the first place to look was the food the cattle eat. You know,

they all share the same feed.

Well, that would explain something else I heard at the Harper place.

Something's been killing off all the rats there.

They might have gotten into the feed.

Well, it's a neat theory, but we tested the feed for herbicides, pesticides,

metals, infections.

It all checked out all right.

If there is a weird disease, if people are drinking the milk and

eating the beef, can't they get infected?

You do know that the county bureau keeps health staff.

And as of three months ago, ending last Thursday, we weren't any sicker than

anybody else.

Doc, I find that comforting.

I think.

Let me see if I got this.

The cows are not contented in Randolph County.

You want me to go over these statistics again?

No, I think it's all here, Lou. They tell a pretty dramatic story.

Listen, Charlie, I want you to give credit to the Randolph Monitor.

I think Chip will get a kick out of it. Yeah, how is Chip?

Aging like old vinegar.

I'm glad to see he's brightening up a little.

Budget meeting in five minutes. Got it.

You remember Lou Grant?

The guy replaced, isn't it? He's got a very hot story about how cows are giving

skim milk.

I'm doing a bang -up job here. You may have a little trouble getting back into

the starting lineup, you know.

What makes you think I'm coming back? It's beautiful here.

Well, you picked a great time to leave.

We got the president in town. We got the governor in town.

And Henry Dreyfuss called. The meeting's tonight.

I know the first two names, but who's Henry Dreyfuss?

Henry Dreyfuss.

Repeating is not going to help. Who is he?

From the State Department.

Oh, that wacko.

What do you mean, Lou?

He lives out in Tarzana.

Calls me four or five times a month. I humor him.

You mean he's not from the State Department?

Did he give you a cock and bull story about a meeting at L .A. Airport?

No, no.

Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Well, I hope he didn't bug you too much. No.

I handled him.

Hey, Chip, where have you been?

Is Sarah gone?

Over an hour ago. I got so bored I started reading your editorial.

Any other calls?

Just me.

I've been trying to get you.

Did you go fishing?

Short fish don't do anything for me.

You're a short fish? You've been too busy.

Going around the county asking questions, playing the hot shot

Oh, this is a small town.

I just talked to Dr. Peterson, made a little survey of some of the farmers.

I told you I didn't need any help. Who's helping you?

I happen to have a relationship with another newspaper, but don't worry. The

Trib will run the story with the credit line Randolph Monitor.

What story?

What story do you think?

There's a mysterious disease going around this county.

More than one -third of the farmers I talked to said the bottom fell out of

dairy production.

You don't know what it is, but you're reporting that Randolph County cattle

a mysterious disease?

If I knew what it was, it wouldn't be mysterious.

That's accurate reporting.

I have a better name for it.

Irresponsible.

Lou, you call the trip.

You call the paper now. You call them. You tell that story.

Jeff, what the hell... God, trust me.

Tell that story.

What?

It's probably too late. I can pull it, but it'll run in the first edition.

That's great.

You think you're the big city expert coming down to help the senile, fetal

-minded, over -the -hill country editor?

What arrogance, you irresponsible ass!

I could take that personally. You see anybody else in this room?

I meant it personally.

What's the matter with you?

You can't handle the fact that I beat you out of your little story? Beat me

of a story I've been sitting on for six weeks?

That thing on Mrs. Hoffer's head. I found seven of them in the county.

Seven women whose hair fell out. All of a sudden.

Five people I called Mueller went blank.

All of a sudden.

You see, we're not just talking about dairy production.

We're talking about people.

Sick people.

Okay, that's even a bigger story. And why do you think I haven't run it?

As soon as people hear that livestock is infected, there's going to be a lot of

cattle slaughtered very fast and shipped all over the place.

And whatever the sickness is, people are going to be eating it.

I was hoping to get some sort of quarantine to keep the animals on the

you had to run your big story.

Exclusive tomorrow in the L .A. Tribune.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment.

Here on A &E.

Hello, it's the Los Angeles Tribune.

Yes, sir?

You probably have our names on the list. We're with Henry Dryson.

I'm Billy Newman, and this is Dennis Price.

No, ma 'am.

We were asked to come here.

We know about the meeting with the president and the governor.

The president and the governor?

They're meeting here, huh?

That kind of a surprise. I hear they don't get along too well.

Then it must be very important if they're together, wouldn't you say?

Well, what do you know?

Their names aren't on the list either. Now, look, there's a very important

meeting going on in there, and we're supposed to be covering it, and you're

going to have more than your commanding officer to answer to. Now, where's the

guy from the Secret Service?

Ah, the Secret Service.

That's the secret.

You the folks in the Tribune?

You must be Henry Dreyfuss.

It's okay. They're with me.

Shall we go in now?

We're not going in.

Back your car up and park it behind mine.

Donovan mentioned something about a summit meeting.

That's all I could say on the phone.

Actually, this is bigger.

Bigger than a summit.

Do you have any background in ETI?

ETI? Of course not.

They'd send up anybody.

Media.

ETI.

Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

Extraterrestrial?

The peace mission is from Andromeda.

Uh -huh.

Why would they care about a war on our planet?

For the same reason the United States cares about a war in the Mideast.

We are all safer in a peaceful world.

Or universe.

Makes sense.

Excuse me. I better check in.

I believe we've got a real loony here.

Donovan sent us on an awful long drive. Can this be his idea of a joke?

I am sorry.

This is embarrassing.

Why would you say that?

I'm afraid you've made the trip for nothing.

No,

wait.

No, I had it right the first time.

They have ordered a mission.

Oh, that's too bad.

Andromedans are charming, but they're so independable.

No wonder they can't get their economy together.

Good morning.

Morning.

What do you need?

My thermos. Oh, look at the sink.

Excuse me.

How do you like your eggs?

I'll get some on the way.

On the way where?

L .A.

Oh, Lord.

We had a beef. It's over.

Journalist had a professional difference of opinion.

Wait a minute.

Before I went to bed last night, I was responsible for destroying most of the

farms and families in Randolph County.

Now this morning, I'm a journalist with a professional difference of opinion.

What happened?

Have you seen the Tribune this morning?

Huh? Let me read to you as an entirety.

Your big story. Here, take over.

It's, uh...

One column box, second page of the business section.

The head reads, cattle herds need incentive.

Randolph, California.

Ranchers here report the average weight of a steer at market is down as much as

12 % according to the Northern California Weekly, the Randolph Monitor.

Aside from their apparent desire to stay slim, the steers have been certified

healthy by the county bureau.

You sure carry a lot of weight with Charlie Hume.

How could they come up with an angle like this?

Well, there they are.

We're here.

Yeah, eat your eggs.

You'll need the energy.

We've got work to do.

You're pretty sure I'm going to do it?

Sure, you're hooked.

No, I'm not.

Oh, yes, you are. I could always tell you're hooked.

It's written all over your face.

Good editor knows these things.

I'm going to eat my eggs in peace.

Do the dishes in the sink.

pack up, and have a pleasant, leisurely drive back to L .A. I'll bring the truck

around front.

I have a plan. I'll tell you on the way. Oh, Lou, please don't screw it up.

Unbelievable.

Now, how about it?

You ready?

Let's go.

Miss Harper?

John's not here, and I'd just as soon not talk to you.

Miss Harper, we'd like to talk to you or to Carl.

We had to let Carl go. He just couldn't do the job.

Oh, that's too bad.

Yep. We're learning to adjust to bad news.

Lucy, we need your help. Oh, Chip. We've been over this hundreds of times.

Leave us alone.

Lucy, listen to me. Now, I think what's happening to the cattle, the problem

with Carl, what's been happening to you are all related.

What do you mean, what's been happening to me?

Now, Lucy, you are not the only one.

There will be seven women in this county whose hair is falling out. Oh.

Chip, for Pete's sake. Oh, we're talking about an epidemic here.

I don't have time to worry about some woman's vanity.

Mrs.

Harper?

God, not everybody knows.

Mrs. Harper, I'm sorry about what you're going through.

But all we want to do is take a sample of the feed that we think could be

causing these problems and check it out.

It's been tested over and over again for all kinds of poisons.

It's been tested for specific things that might be in it. We want to analyze

completely in case there's something in there that nobody's thought of.

The implications of this thing are enormous.

Please help us.

I'll get you back.

I'm going to be popular at Health Food Hamlet when they find out I got a bag of

Ritland's number nine uncut cattle feed.

Don't laugh.

They tell me this is great with milk. I just talked to Lou.

What's up? He's just picking the raisins out. Yeah, he tells me they have some

weird things happening in Randolph. What kind of things?

Well, people losing their memories, sudden hair loss. Lou thinks that there

be some connection to this stuff, which is what they were feeding to the cattle.

So what are we supposed to do, serve it up in the cafeteria and see what

happens? Get it over to the Department of Health and the Chemistry Department

L .A .U. for exhaustive tests.

I have a buddy over at L .A .U., Henry Pogler. Keeps telling me he's a genius.

So give him a chance to prove it.

Next time there's a summit meeting, send our astronomy writer.

Hey, mistakes happen.

That's what Henry Dreyfuss did.

I already said I'm sorry. Yeah, you're sorry.

I'm the one who drove 200 miles to make a total and complete fool of myself.

Yeah, but I'm the one who sent you there. But I'm the one who had to stand

the cold with a certified wacko waiting for a landing from Andromeda. I never

felt like such a patsy. Yeah, but I'm the editor who made the decision to

two top people to what turned out to be a landing from Pluto.

Andromeda. They were supposed to be creatures from Andromeda.

Really one of your top people?

I am sorry.

I guess you must have felt pretty silly.

On the other hand, there had been a landing. You'd been standing here

me.

Yeah. All those years I kept referring to myself as a genius. I wasn't joking.

It's true, you know. I never doubted you. I definitely detected skepticism.

no, that was awe. I was in awe of your powers of deduction.

How many new substances do you think are created each year?

How should I know?

Well, uh, how many do you think?

I don't know.

Four. You don't read very much, do you?

Between 1 ,500 and 3 ,000 man -made chemicals are invented each year.

Think about that for a second. Okay.

What's the picture, Henry?

Bear with me for a second.

I don't get very many visitors here at the lab. Would you like something? Some

coffee or something? Okay, sugar.

Now, one of these is arsenic and one of these is sweetener. I'll take it black.

Look, after you tell me we'll have coffee, we'll have a Danish. We'll dance

you want. What the hell is this?

It's dioxibromophenyl acid.

Thanks.

What the hell is that?

Yeah, yeah, I accept the charges.

Yeah, Rossi, go ahead.

What is antifreeze doing in your cattle feed?

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here on A &E.

BBP. Yeah, it's one of a bunch of highly toxic substances. If ingested, they

settle in the fatty tissues of the body.

And they're not readily eliminated.

What does it do to you? They say it can attack the nervous system.

Attack it how?

A lot of ways. Memory loss, dizzy spells, cold shakes.

Sudden hair loss?

Sudden hair loss.

It would be consistent.

Yeah, Lou, it could be that too.

Thanks, Rossi. This is good stuff. I want you to try and find out how this

got in a bag of Ritalin's No. 9 cattle feed.

John, we just found out something. Damn you, Grinch.

Don't you ever come sneaking around my farm again when I'm not there. Hold it,

John. Shut up.

He used my wife.

Is that what you reporters learn in the big city?

Use a man's wife against him?

I told you, Chip, I don't want to talk to any more reporters.

We've done all the testing.

I just want to be left alone. You understand?

Yeah.

Now, can you understand this?

All we did was ask your wife for a little cooperation.

Thanks to that cooperation, we found out what it was that made the cattle sick.

We think we know what made the people sick.

You've got a highly toxic chemical in the system of your cattle.

Maybe it's in you and your wife and your son and anyone else who's eaten your

beef or drunk your milk.

So, yeah, we bothered your wife, and you know what? I'm not sorry.

Hey, hey, guys, hey, hey. Instead of arguing, we should be trying to get a

quarantine so nobody else eats the meat or drinks the milk.

Quarantine.

Chip, do you know what that means to us?

What's our choice?

Chip,

what's happening?

John, go on home.

Come on.

Let us do what we have to do.

Feeling starting to come back.

Doesn't feel too good.

I thought I taught my reporters.

Block with the left.

Aren't you supposed to be getting a quarantine?

There's ice and a little refrigerator in the back room.

That's fine.

Now, where does this start?

I may have Commissioner Gurdon.

Tell him it's Chip Murphy.

Hello, Earl.

I think we've finally figured out what's making the cattle in this county sick.

Now, I'm afraid the news isn't too good.

It's something called DBP.

Antifreeze in the cattle feed.

What do you mean, a control group?

If we found it in one cup of feed, are you going to take the risk of stunting

all the rest of Ritalin's feed?

Earl, we need a quarantine. We need it now.

What you are being idiotic.

Charmed him again, didn't you?

Bureaucrats! He wants more evidence.

Well, let's go get him some.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I'm so sorry to keep you in the office so late.

Right. Bye.

I think I've got it.

It is not a conspiracy. It is just a monumental goof. Let's have it.

Okay, there are three companies that make BDP, but only one of them also

food preservative, which they sell to Ritalin Feed Company. Now, you may not

believe this, but the food preservative and the antifreeze compound are both

made in the same factory. So what happened? The antifreeze stuff and the

preservative got mixed up?

Exactly. You're right. I find that hard to believe. How could that happen?

I got the results of the blood test they wanted. Hold it just a second. Go on.

Well... They ran out of bags for the antifreeze compound, so they started

packaging the poisonous stuff in the same bags as the food preservative.

Now, they stamped the bags correctly, but I guess that wasn't enough of a

precaution. That week, a shipment of poison was sent to Randolph County and

ended up in Ritalin No.

9. No, it ended up in Carl Mueller, John Harper, Lucy Harper, and Jerry Harper.

Good work. You better call Lou.

Lights on.

Yep, looks like they're home now.

If not, I'm going to stay on this porch until he does come home.

Oh, evening, Chip. Well, hello, Grant.

Is this the new freighter man that's been staying with you? No.

Would you like to come in? No, we don't have time.

When we talked last, you said that you can't ask for a quarantine until you

proof. Well, we got proof.

Well, let's hear it.

They found traces of VBP.

In the blood of Carl Mueller and every member of the Harper family.

I see.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Thank you. It's obviously something we have to look into. We need a quarantine

now while you're looking into it before the farmers start dumping their cattle.

Why would they dump cattle?

Because we're running the story in the Randolph Monitor tomorrow.

And the Los Angeles Tribune.

Now, hold it.

Let's talk this over.

We don't even know what levels of DBP in people's blood are unsafe.

Of course we don't.

Because there's not supposed to be any DBP in people's blood. That's

not protein.

I appreciate your concern for the public welfare.

The blood sample comes from John Harper's family and one of his

The single bag of infected feed was found on Harper Farm.

I'll order a quarantine on that farm.

That's not good enough.

Twenty -seven animals on five farms had to be destroyed during the past three

weeks. Now, this thing is bigger than one farm.

Commissioner, every symptom in those files can be caused by DBT. The lab told

that, and these reports bear that out.

Oh, fine. Thank you. I'll be sure and look them over in the morning, and I'll

give you a call.

No, Earl. We are staying here on this front porch until you read that

even if it takes all night.

Why don't you go home, Chip? I'll call you first thing. It's a nice night.

We'll wait.

Just don't forget about us.

How are you enjoying your vacation?

Very relaxing.

I think next time I'll tell people I'm going out of town and just stay in my

house instead.

Why don't you go back to Detroit and look up some other old friend?

Hmm.

Chip, I always wanted to ask you something.

Shoot. Did you buy the monitor to become William Allen White, beloved editor of

a small -town newspaper?

Or did you just run out of people who could work with you?

Both.

Okay,

I've read the material.

I'm ordering a quarantine countywide.

And then I'm going to bed.

And may I suggest you fellas do the same?

Thanks, Earl. That was real good of you. Yeah, I know what it was.

Chip, that's great. Let me buy you a drink. No, thanks. I'm going to pass on

that. I just don't feel like celebrating.

You got what you're fought for for months.

Somehow I... I don't feel I won.

There are 2 ,000 people affected by this quarantine. I know most of them. It's

not like putting on a paper for 2 million people.

You heard folks here.

You feel the hurt.

You want to be reminded of all the good this story will do?

Remind me in the morning.

Be sure to let me know how this thing develops. It'll be in the course for

years.

Well, Chip, that's about it.

Hey, listen, be sure not to... I know, I know.

I won't take 27 on the way back.

Lou, wait a minute.

Huh?

I thought maybe you'd like to have some copies after all you did some good work.

Oh, thanks. You turned out to be a pretty good newspaper man.

Oh, I was trained by the best.

The delivery boy better get these out.

Where is he? Is he late?

If you don't stop yakking with me, we'll be.

Two assistant DAs put their licenses on the line in a risky move to get to the

truth. Join us for the critically acclaimed drama Law and Order tonight.

Now, a controversial anti -police author is slain aboard a train filled with

cops. Rock Hudson stars in Macmillan and Wife, next on A &E.