Original subtitles

"A bone was buried at a university campus building site.

(Monahan) "Medical Examiner Quincy, of Los Angeles,

has promised to rebuild a life from that bone. ”

Quincy did what?

He stopped work on a multimillion-dollar project

by declaring the area a possible scene of a crime!

[smacking]

His larynx is crushed.

One bone doesn't make a crime!

The thigh bone is connected to the knee bone.

Oh, honey, that killing took place over 20 years ago.

Well, what if the killer knows you're on his trail?

[crickets chirping]

[thudding]

[crashing]

[digging]

(guard) Jessie!

[blowing whistle]

[engines roaring]

[machinery creaking]

[engine idling]

What's the matter? Your shovel bust?

I want to show you something.

Get that shovel moving.

And make sure you get all of these bones

out of this hole and into the dump truck.

Maybe we should tell the cops about this.

It's the same hole Jessie was thrown into.

One thing's got nothing to do with the other.

Spence, I still think we should tell the cops.

Then I'll tell you.

(Spence) A couple of years back, on another project,

we spotted some bones.

Got shut down a week until they finally

figured out it was from a dog.

Then the goons came out of the trees, yelling how it was,

like, some sacred burial ground.

Three weeks it took to straighten out the mess

and my butt was on the line the whole time.

Now just get rid of them dog bones. Now!

(Sam) I don't know what time I'll be able to get off, sweetheart.

Well, it could be as late as 10:00.

Well, if I can make it any earlier, I'll call.

Good morning, Quince.

Uh, I can't talk any longer, sweetheart.

Okay.

[speaking Japanese]

Okay? Bye-bye, sweetheart.

Don't trust me, huh?

[both laughing]

Well, well, well...

And what are you doing here when you are supposed to be there?

In the freezer?

[scoffing]

At the university.

Do you realize that six students,

now I mean the créme de la créme

of the medical department, are expecting your Forensic Pathology course?

And do you realize that I will not allow them to be disappointed?

But I'm needed here. Uh-uh.

That's my decision to make and I've made it.

Let me guess, I'm not needed here.

Right. You're needed there.

[telephone ringing]

Hello?

Hi, honey.

Yeah, I miss you.

What are you up to?

Another masterpiece.

What do you mean another masterpiece?

Yeah, I haven't done one since last April.

(Quincy) You're painting again? That's terrific.

Listen, you better not paint anything wider than, oh,

about 30 inches, okay?

Honey, I need my old pathology notes for a class I'm teaching at the university.

Would you dig them up for me? Yeah.

I'll pick them up on my way to class.

Sure.

Oh, by the way, when are you going to get that boat of yours fixed up?

Can't wait to get away from it all, huh?

No, I want to get it all away from me.

I rented a 2-bedroom apartment at the marina.

One with a skylight to paint by,

and the other with a view to sleep by.

I'm sorry, honey.

My boat's gonna be fixed any time now.

It's been almost a year.

Then I'll get everything out of your room, okay?

Have you got any idea where the notes might be?

I know exactly where they are.

They're in a brown envelope.

Brown envelope.

Uh, could you be a little more specific?

(Quincy) Why don't you wait till I get over there?

What time's your class?

11:00.

Oh, you'll never make it.

Look, I'll find the notes and meet you there.

(Quincy) All right, let's get right into it.

I want you to clear your heads of everything you've ever learned

or heard about Forensic Pathology.

We don't only deal in autopsies.

Now the ramifications of our work makes a world of difference

in, oh, insurance, estates, civil cases.

We're a lot more concerned with the living than we are with the dead.

Dr. Quincy, I don't mean to put down your little parade.

(Frank) I guess everyone takes pride in his own specialty,

but we know about the wonderful world of pathology.

Oh, we have a young cynic in the group, an impatient one.

It's an unconscious defense mechanism.

That's all.

Strike out first, then there's less chance

of being touched by anything yourself.

That's just what I need.

Her own self-criticism of me.

The pattern's very clear, Frank.

I've been in other classes with you.

It's starting to sound like a group therapy session.

Yes, indeed. Yes, it is. I think we ought to clear the air right away.

Sure. Give her a bottle of mouthwash.

You're very funny. Uh, was it "Claude?"

Frank.

You're very fast with those quips and those one-liners.

But this is not a course in comedy.

It's a course in pathology.

It's not a course in neurobiology or psychiatry,

or any other thing that interests you more.

Now if you're here just for the unit credit

or because you need pathology as a prerequisite,

that's your only interest, then you better get out of here. Now.

Now I mean that,

and if the class is empty, fine!

I'll get back to my work.

But if the class goes on, and there's only one student,

it'll be the hottest class you've ever had,

because I'm going to teach it and I love it.

There'll be no hard feelings. You want to leave? Okay, now's the time to do it.

Thank you.

Now, Pathology class has started.

All right. Now the main thrust of pathology is...

"To teacher.

I couldn't find an apple to polish."

A femur for the teacher. Unique.

Haven't seen one for a couple of hours.

Who do I have to thank for this?

Me. And I'm sorry.

It was some kind of childish regression.

No, it's very thoughtful.

Makes me feel at home.

Where did you get it? Out of the anatomy class?

No. At a building site on the other end of campus.

(Sue) It's the new student union.

Was it ever a cemetery?

Why?

Seems odd

that a human bone would be buried in the middle of nowhere.

Human?

When did you study anatomy?

Two years ago. I'm going into psychiatry.

That would have been very hard to guess.

Were there any other bones there?

I didn't look. This one was by the side of the road

where they're loading dirt into trucks.

They're still digging there?

With bulldozers as big as this room.

I think we ought to take a look.

What's so important about that bone?

It was shot.

What are you waiting for?

Grab some shovels, get down here and start digging.

Hey, you! Get out of there!

Hold it a minute, will you?

I said get out of there! I got work to do!

Will you hold it?

(Spence) What are you looking for?

More of these.

You ain't out of here in one minute flat, I'm calling the police.

It's a good idea. Dr. Quincy, Medical Examiner, City of Los Angeles.

Now, this human bone was found here.

So what? How do we know how it got there?

I want you to stop all digging.

No way. I got a contract to fill.

I'm afraid you don't have much choice.

I'm declaring this area the scene of a possible crime.

What crime? How can you tell that from just a bone?

This bone has a nick in it.

It could've been caused by a bullet.

I'll know when I find the rest of the body.

What body? Where do you see a body?

I don't yet. That's why I want you to stop until I find it.

Hey, Pete! Keep digging!

Kids! Come on!

I'm warning you, you're breaking the law.

You're disobeying a direct order from an officer of the court

and you could be held as an accessory after the fact.

What do we do now?

Let's go get a cop.

Officer, I just declared a site

the scene of a crime, a possible homicide.

The foreman won't stop work.

He may destroy some crucial evidence.

How do you know a crime's been committed?

This human bone was found at the scene.

And this nick indicates a bullet wound.

That's not enough for me to stop all that work.

Officer, if I say it is, it is.

Now you listen to me. Either you go there and stop work

or you'll be up on more charges

than the numbers on this black-and-white.

Seems crazy to me to stop all that work for an old bone.

Excuse me, people. Coming through. Excuse me.

But, Officer, you have no right to shut me down.

We'll have the whole thing taken care of in an hour, okay?

An hour? That's $5,000!

Cost and expediency are no reasons for disregarding the law.

I'm sorry, sir, I'm just going to have to ask you to shut down.

Quincy did what?

That's right. He stopped work on a multimillion-dollar project

by declaring the area a possible scene of a crime!

Uh, Quincy must have some basis for his action.

Oh, he did! An old bone!

The project manager said it probably didn't even come from there.

I'm on my way over there right now.

Well, you see? Good. Now let me know what happens.

I won't have to. You're coming along.

I'm coming along?

Along! You're his superior. He declared the area the scene of the crime,

you're the only one that can undeclare it! [sighing]

I don't know about that.

What if Quincy's right?

Then I'll start a homicide investigation.

But if he's wrong, I want you to put those men back to work again!

Terrific.

(Spence) You Officer Monahan?

The only crimes committed here are these guys on their behinds

costing $8 an hour.

Where's Quincy?

(Spence) He went off with his students.

After more bones, he said.

Brill, put a call out on him.

Did you look the area over?

Yes, sir. No other bones have been found,

at least nothing to indicate a crime's been committed.

Dr. Astin.

Lee. What are you doing here?

They told me Quincy was here.

I brought him his notes.

Notes? You mean to tell me he planned all this?

(Brill) Lieutenant? Yeah?

They just located Quincy. (Monahan) Where?

At the Mulholland dump.

Dump? What's happening there?

He did it again!

He declared the dump as a scene of a crime, too!

Come on, Astin.

What about the stoppage?

You better do something, Astin.

(Astin) Quincy is a very conscientious man.

He would not be whimsical about anything this serious.

So far this has been on his head.

From now on, it's on yours.

Now, if you want to get in bed with Quincy, it's up to you!

You may, uh, resume work.

[horns blaring]

(Monahan) Quincy is the only doctor in the world

who could cause a traffic jam in a city dump.

[horns blaring]

It. Monahan. Where's Quincy?

Quincy!

Quincy, get up here!

Dr. Quincy, would you come up here at once, please?

Who are they?

The guy with the white hair, that's It. Monahan. He's with the police.

The guy who's uptight, that's my superior, Dr. Astin.

Quincy, if you don't come up here on your own right now,

I'm gonna send Brill down there to drag you up!

Now get up here!

[sighing]

We better go.

You okay?

Oh, yeah, I'm fine.

That's what you think. Just a minute, please. Just.

Now, Dr. Quincy, I sent you to the university to teach an elective course

in Forensic Pathology, and that's all.

So would you explain to us why in less than 53 minutes

you have crippled work on an important state project

and stopped normal city work here at the dump?

And I must mention that you have subjected It. Monahan and the police

to unnecessary harassment, and totally destroyed my routine

as the Assistant Deputy Coroner and I don't know why.

It's all part of their education, sir.

Okay, Astin, you can tell them to get back to work here, too.

Too?

Yes, too!

Did you overrule me at the building site?

Well, yes, I... I was forced to.

Perhaps you didn't understand. This femur was found there!

One bone doesn't make a crime!

Let me give you a lesson in anatomy:

the thigh bone is connected to the knee bone.

The knee bone is connected to the shin bone.

The shin bone... Plug it, Quincy.

Look, this bone also has a nick in it

that probably came from a bullet.

It would be invaluable to us if we could find the rest of the bones.

I think they're down there.

Do you realize how long it'll take to sift through all that dirt?

I can get more help tomorrow.

And these trucks will be lined up clear to San Diego,

and we'll be the laughingstock of the state. No, thanks.

Astin, do you overrule him or do I go to the Mayor and have him do it?

And he will.

Don't buckle, Astin.

Quincy, I have no choice.

I don't see any facts.

Facts that would justify your rash actions.

You can start the trucks rolling.

Good.

My hero.

Uh, Dr. Quincy? Dr. Quincy.

Uh, Chip Hayden, campus paper.

Do you believe there's any connection between that bone

and the attack on the watchman last night?

What attack?

He was knocked unconscious and fell into the same pit the bone was found.

What else?

When he came to, they found some dynamite missing.

They think it might be a radical group.

I don't see any connection at this point.

Thank you.

(Quincy) Do you believe it?

He had the gall to overrule me when he knew I was right.

Well, you did get in a little deep, Quince.

Taking on the state, the city, the police, and Astin.

This is bigger than the both of them put together.

Aren't you overreacting?

Frank, at one time

there was a brain, a heart, and a soul attached to this bone.

There is nothing bigger, there's nothing more important,

than finding out what made all that stop.

That's exactly why I'm thinking about general practice.

You get to stop something from going wrong

before it gets all detached.

Oh, that reminds me. I found your notes.

I changed my mind on this class.

I'm going to spend the entire Pathology course on this bone.

On just one femur?

That's right.

And from it, we're gonna try to rebuild a person's life.

Before we're through we'll know whether it was

a man or a woman,

when they died, and approximately

how old they were at the time.

We're gonna know the height, the weight, the race,

possibly the nationality, and with a little luck,

the place of birth, the kind of work he did, and what he died of.

Can you really learn that from just one bone?

Yeah, it doesn't seem like very much to work with.

A wise man once said that creativity is at its greatest

when the concept is crystal clear,

and the limitations are most severe.

In that case, we got the limitations to make us geniuses.

Who's going back to the college?

I am.

Take good care of that. I will.

See you kids later. Bye-bye.

It's all so exciting.

It's like we're being led into battle.

By Frankenstein.

(Quincy) We're starting with the right femur.

519 millimeters in length, 31 millimeters in width.

Okay, let's see how well we've done our homework. Sue? Milt?

Okay, um, from the length of the femur,

we make the tibia to be 422 millimeters,

the pelvic area 160 millimeters,

which makes him definitely a man, about 5'11".

Good. Good thinking.

But how'd you get 5'11" from those measurements?

Well, off the graphs in various textbooks.

(Quincy) I don't understand it.

The university spends $2 million for a new student building,

over $12 million for a football stadium,

but not a dime on new textbooks.

After all, that is what school is all about, isn't it?

This text was written in the '305.

We all know how much man has grown since then.

The average male foot in the '305 was Size 8.

It's now Size 11. Same with the body.

This table no longer holds true.

So that should make him about 6'3".

And that's where we're gonna start.

You will continue to work here on the femur,

to develop every piece of information you can.

Now, with what we have, and what you'll provide,

in my lab I'll try to construct a life-size model,

bit by bit, bone by bone.

Wherever possible we'll try to deduce what we can

about muscles and other organs.

This class is gonna help me recreate

the man to whom this femur once belonged.

Sam.

(Sam) Good morning, Quince.

Where's my femur?

You're standing on it.

As ordered. 590 millimeters long, 31 millimeters wide.

Oh, listen. I'm gonna need a tibia,

475 by, say, 25.

I hate to be personal, but what are you doing?

I'm gonna build a man.

Should be easier than a tree.

Only God can make one of those.

Get the tibia.

Uh, Dr. Quincy.

He's the one building the man.

Dr. Quincy, Bernie Price, L.A. Police Art Department.

How do you do?

Uh, you ordered a composite drawing?

Yeah, of this.

Is there anything more to go on?

I mean, I, uh, usually have some kind of description.

Oh, I'll describe him for you.

Powerful guy with big muscles.

Big, powerful muscles.

Yeah.

Between us, we're gonna build a man.

With only a thigh bone to go by?

And a lot of imagination.

(Quincy) What do you think, Sam?

(Sam) What's to think?

He was a powerful guy.

He worked to get those muscles.

They didn't just come.

(Astin) Dr. Quincy?

You know, I'm here to inform you that

you are being paid to take bodies apart.

Well, now that that's cleared up,

perhaps you can get caught up on your case loads.

You asked me to do this.

I asked you to do this?

Yes! Teach the créme de la créme.

Put the future of forensic medicine into

the hands, the minds, the hearts of the bright young students.

How will they appreciate how much you could learn

from examining one single bone, if I don't demonstrate?

Well, you demonstrate all you need.

But I would be unhappy if I thought that you were taking time

to create cases for the homicide division.

Well, I don't blame you, sir.

Right. Right.

Have a good day, sir.

The man's got a problem.

He's suffering from chronic Quincy.

Who asked you?

All right, Fred, Borden, what've you got?

Well, we cut a few tiny pieces

from the upper part of the, uh, the femur,

and subjected it to x-ray and lab tests.

And we're still waiting for some of the results.

So far, we've been able to determine

the blood type from the dry bone marrow,

and it's "." B Probably. Excuse me.

(Fred) Uh, no "probably." It was "."B

It looks like "."B Could be "."B

But it's still a probable.

You can be fooled by a blood type taken from old tissue.

What else? Well, we measured the bone cortex.

Uh, it was about four millimeters.

These are the measurements here.

That's about all.

About all? It could be the most vital statistic of your investigation.

It tells us about the physique beyond the bones themselves.

(Quincy) See, from these measurements,

the slant of the trochanteric angle,

this man had some kind of muscles.

This guy not only had muscles, but he used them.

See, from the surface of the condyles,

it looks like there were shocks despite his muscularity.

That indicates heavy work or some kind of intense muscular activity.

Next you'll be telling us what kind of job he had.

I might, when Fred and Borden come up

with more details about the bone.

What've you got?

We've studied the various growth sites of the femur.

By examining the epiphyseal closure patterns,

we calculate the guy was about 18 or 19.

Good. Very good. Did you check the lesser trochanteric cortex?

No. Uh-huh.

Sure, come here.

See that? You see where the site is closed, there?

Yeah. Right.

You see, normal growth is accomplished at 21, often earlier.

Now, this means that although he didn't reach his full potential,

at the point you measured, he was past the growth age.

That means he was at least 22.

(Lee) Going back to school has been on my mind a lot lately.

Honey, if you want to go back to school, you should go.

You could arrange for classes between flights.

Oh, I'm at that awkward age.

Out in the world but still not sure

about what I want to be when I grow up.

That's why I envy people like you, Quince.

Me? I'm a mess!

Only in relationships.

Oh, thanks a lot!

At least you got your work.

You know what you want and you're doing it.

And loving every minute of it.

Sometimes, it gets a little hairy with Astin and Monahan.

Dr. Quincy!

Hey, Brill! Thinking about coming back to school?

I've learned enough.

Only a small man talks like that.

Thanks. Monahan would like to see you.

I don't have the time.

Let me put it this way.

Monahan wants to see you as soon as possible.

Now I take that to mean you and I head back with the siren on.

Go ahead, Quince.

I'll head back to my place.

All right, honey. I'll see you later.

Maybe he knows something about the victim.

What victim? You know, with the bone.

Come on.

Take a look at this. That's what it's all about.

"Alas! Poor Yorick. I knew him well."

Your Shakespeare is eloquent.

You think that article's funny, do you?

Not bad, governor.

A national syndicate picked up the campus story.

That article is gonna appear in every newspaper in the country.

What's wrong? The school reporter will make a name for himself.

And make an ass out of me!

Quincy, do you realize what an article like this does?

Here, listen.

"A bone was buried at a university campus building site.

"Medical Examiner Quincy, of Los Angeles, on loan as a professor,

"has promised to rebuild a life from that bone.

[laughing] Shades of Frankenstein have..."

Oh, come on, that's a joke.

A joke? I've had four sworn confessions since that article came out

and my department has to run down every one of them.

An utter waste of time!

What do you want me to do about it?

Simple. You call the newspaper

and tell them that that bone is not connected

with homicide in any way, shape, or form.

Monahan, I really appreciate what you're going through.

Good. I can't do it.

Quincy, don't say that.

Suppose there was a homicide?

Supposing there wasn't?

I'm wasting good manpower and I haven't got any to spare!

I got great kids in my class. They're really bright.

One's liable to come up with something soon.

Soon is not good enough.

That thigh bone could very well be the finger pointing

in the direction of a homicide.

If I were you, I'd listen very carefully to all those confessions.

It's possible one of them is a murderer.

[telephone ringing] What's more possible is...

Monahan.

Figures.

Like I said, what's more possible is

the can of peas you opened is gonna spill all over the city.

[crowd chanting] Save our shrine!

70 years ago, bones were found on this site.

The Indians wanted to save this land

because it was part of their sacred burial ground.

The government said they weren't gonna tamper

or desecrate it in any way.

I guess that big hole there is the government's way of proving it.

[crowd chanting] I'm telling you this was never agreed on.

Where are the rest of the bones?

Your trucks probably carted them off!

That's why Quincy followed up by looking in the dump. Right?

Well, not exactly.

Right, tell them.

I agree with you. I think the digging should stop.

[crowd shouting]

(Quincy) Monahan!

All right, all right. Okay, all right.

My name is Quincy. I'm a doctor.

I'm a medical examiner for the City of Los Angeles.

(man) Big deal!

Let the man talk.

Look, this may once have been a burial ground. I don't know about that.

But I do know the bone we're talking about is definitely not Indian.

(man) How do you know that?

You're just a bigot!

Give me a chance, I'll tell you how I know.

Now, I'm teaching a course in forensic medicine here.

My students and I have been working on this bone.

Yesterday, we took a blood type out of the marrow.

Blood types don't prove race!

That's right. Blood types can cross racial boundaries.

But the very fact that we can make a test on this bone

proves that it couldn't be Indian.

(crowd) How do you know?

It wasn't old enough.

It wasn't fossilized. It wasn't demineralized.

It was too compact.

It wasn't encrusted with enough mineral

or with enough bug debris

to have been in the ground more than 20 or maybe 30 years at the most.

Now that is a scientific fact,

no matter how much you bellyache.

Now you may have a beef about this land, and it may be justified.

But you can in no way connect it

with the discovery of the bone we made here.

I'm sorry.

[crowd booing]

That was very clever, Doctor.

Seems like, hey,

those in power always seem to use

the scientific community to sell out the masses.

Oh, Alice.

You know you don't really believe that.

[crowd chanting] Save our shrine.

You handled that real well.

Chicken.

[crowd chanting] Save our shrine.

[telephone ringing]

Hello?

Yes, one moment, please.

Miss Freud.

Yes, Sue. What is it?

I got this number from your office.

I hope you don't mind.

No, what's the matter?

I know I shouldn't be calling you this late.

But I have a confession to make.

And knowing the devious way my neurotic subconscious works

(Sue) I know I'll never be able to sleep

unless I unburden myself from this

debilitating guilt.

I guess that means you want to talk it over with me?

May I speak bluntly?

Anyway you want.

[laughing] As long as I can understand you.

I have the bone at home.

Oh, Sue, you shouldn't have done that.

Wait a minute.

Sue told me to hold on a minute.

I hope she doesn't take too long.

I can hardly wait for the next installment.

Ohhh!

Just keep quiet and you won't get hurt.

I've had my eye on you for a long time.

[screaming]

Sue!

[muffled screaming]

Sue!

I better call the police.

I can't get the dial tone. She didn't hang up!

Where does she live?

I got her address right here. Let's go!

[screaming]

[knocking on door]

(woman) Sue?

Sue? Are you all right?

[knocking on door]

That's all I can tell you.

I think that should do it for now. Thank you.

Feel all right?

Yeah, I'm fine.

You poor thing.

No! It's a fascinating moment.

I should be traumatized

psychologically, physically, and, uh...

It's extraordinary. Here I am sitting here, discussing it

calmly, serenely, and absolutely in control.

[sobbing]

I'm sorry.

Come on. Let your imaginations roam. Let me hear something.

(Claude) All right. Now the weakness at the top of the bone,

now that makes me believe there was definitely kidney distress.

(Sue) Nonsense. If there was kidney malfunction,

liquid would've oozed out.

The bone would have been streaked with pus pockets.

(Milt) The medial condyle is distinct.

Uh, waitress.

(Claude) I don't think so.

Check, please.

(Milt) Did it show excess fluoride?

Yeah, it's loaded. Right.

Which means the bones were healthy and strong.

Now, the break was irregular, which indicates an old injury.

Probably happened as a child.

You're nuts, Claude. (Quincy) Uh-uh!

Let's keep personalities out of this.

You want to disagree? Wonderful.

But no insults, okay?

Okay.

Any other opinions? Yeah, one.

[all laughing] They're both wrong.

Mr. Wonderful strikes again.

It was a torsion injury. But it couldn't have happened when he was a child.

Now we already know that he was highly muscular,

including his legs.

(Frank) An injury as severe as this, sustained early

would have made it impossible for him

to have developed that muscularly.

Since it's a malacia, twisted high on the condyle...

(Danny) Can I see you a minute? Be right there.

It proves it was a late injury,

a debilitating one. You see here?

There's no reactive proliferation, no growth around it.

He sustained the injury within two years before his death.

You're right on the button.

All right, let's take it a couple of steps farther.

Let's see if we can figure out how the accident happened.

Claude, you want to take a stab at it? No.

I left my crystal ball at home.

All right, let's give it a try without one.

The nature of the deformity joint

indicates a strain in two directions

and a ripping away from the knee.

Now where would an injury like that most likely take place?

Football.

I would say so, too.

Pretty soon, you are going to be telling us what position he played.

Well, I can give you an educated guess.

Running back, an end.

Someone who was carrying the ball.

You see, he was torn from two sides.

A tackle would do that.

What a shame! All those muscles went to waste. A macho jock.

I hate to step into your field, Sue,

but didn't Freud say that we protest most vehemently

against the thing we want most?

No, he didn't.

And Frank, after all these years,

why haven't you taken a psychology course, too?

What does that got to do with it?

Classic perennial student syndrome.

You should have graduated two... Sue.

Please, you should have graduated two years ago, Frank,

but you are afraid to get out in the world, so you keep taking classes

and you're putting down everybody who really Sue.

Cares about doing their best!

Unfortunately, your best is still inadequate.

(Quincy) Frank, you're out of line... Excuse me.

Doc, could I see you a minute?

I'll be right with you, Danny.

(Quincy) Now, look, we gotta cut this out.

We gotta cut out these putdowns.

That's the trouble with having a small class.

We get to know each other very fast but not too well.

Excuse me. Let's have a little peace, huh?

You been... Relax, will you?

You know I love you.

I don't have time for romance.

That's what I mean. You're a little off-center,

but I'd rather spend time with you.

You got it. No, no, no. Wait.

Does that mean I have to lose customers?

What are you talking about?

You and this entourage, you come over here,

you eat chocolate milk, peanuts, you know.

But I'm gonna take them down to the lab.

I had to get them out of the classroom.

I'm happy you're out of the classroom, but when you're here, please,

don't talk shop. It's morbid.

What should I talk about, the weather?

Perfect. This is a marina.

Everybody talks about the weather.

You talk about anything...

But shop talk. I know.

But frankly, I got a sensitive stomach. Gives me acid.

Talk about pus, kidneys.

I don't say words like that.

See what I mean?

I'm leaving. I'm leaving.

Okay. It's time to go to the lab.

Charge it.

[chuckling] What else?

I'm missing dinner because of this.

Better be good.

No, Monahan. It's awful.

You see that nick?

The electron microscope proved my suspicion.

Those black particles are lead.

Sam?

It was caused by a bullet.

(Sam) Lead particles are still present.

From the size of the wound, I'd say a .32 caliber.

I'm officially declaring that this man, John Doe, was murdered.

So he was shot. I've never heard of anyone dying from a thigh wound.

He didn't. Now look closely, Lieutenant.

(Quincy) There was no regeneration.

That means the body didn't have time to heal over.

An open wound like that is very painful.

Yet it wasn't treated.

If it had been,

you wouldn't see those lead particles around there.

My theory is that he was shot and killed almost immediately afterwards.

I'll buy that. You still can't prove he was murdered.

If it was suicide, he was the worst shot in history.

All right.

He could have been shot in the thigh.

The person who did it ran.

He passed out and bled to death.

And then he buried himself?

Quincy, only one bone was found.

All you have to do is see if you could find somebody

who found a body without a right thigh.

And how am I supposed to pin that down, when that happened, huh?

We tested the fill and the calcification of the bone.

We figure the bone was buried in, oh, 1957,

'58, possibly early '59.

From that far back, all our records are on microfilm

buried in the basement.

It would take 10 men a month to go through it.

Monahan, my job is to see if a homicide was committed.

Your job is to find the killer.

Look, it wouldn't do any good.

I have to know more about the victim.

Sam, take them through the analysis again, will you?

Monahan, you come with me.

Well, there he is.

There who is?

Our victim. I mean, as far as we know.

Male, Caucasian, 22, 23.

Weighed approximately 198 pounds, 6'3",

very powerfully built, athletic, blood type probably "."B

And you know already he had blond hair and blue eyes?

Well, the bone formation definitely indicates a Scandinavian background.

(Quincy) Since the majority of the Scandinavians are blond,

that's a logical surmise.

A logical surmise.

Look, Quincy, you've got the gift.

What gift?

My grandmother used to tell me stories about the Leprechauns,

that they had the gift to make the most insane things sound right.

Quincy, haven't we got enough problems today

without finding them 20 years old?

It happened 20 years ago.

What possible difference could it make today?

That's hard to say.

Frank, maybe an invention that was never discovered.

Or an orphan who never knew its father,

or a sweetheart who lost her lover, whatever.

Each person born has a right to that life,

and no one has the right to interfere with that.

A moral, psychological attachment to the past

is a necessary chain to the present and the future.

Hey, now that sounds good.

But does that mean you're with me or against me?

Thanks, honey.

All right. Now we know he was an athlete,

he suffered from a football injury when he was about 20.

Now we have to track down anybody

with a knee injury from that time.

You ever work the university clinic during football season?

(Frank) It's mayhem.

There are more ripped knees than there are colds.

And the equipment they wear now is much more protective than it was then.

(Frank) Where do we begin?

On all fronts, Frank.

On all fronts.

If I can ever get Borden off the telephone.

Look, I got to go, okay? Talk to you later.

Thank you.

Well, folks, another crisis averted.

You know, you'll have a perfect bedside manner by the time you graduate?

In all modesty, Doc, I'm not having too much trouble as it is.

[laughing] Sit down, will you?

Okay, here's what I intend for the follow-up.

It's normally done by investigators

who are connected with the coroner's office.

They're not M.D.s, but it's a good idea to know what they do.

Sue, I want you and Milt

to check through the university clinic records

for the entire spring and fall of 1958 and 1959.

See if there were any football players

who were out with a knee injury.

Fred and Claude, I want you to check with

the campus school papers, the sports page.

Borden, Frank, you check with the athletic department.

From 20 years ago?

I tell you, it happened to dozens of players.

From Lubbock, Texas?

Lubbock?

You can tell that from the bone?

See, the bone was excessively laced with fluoride.

So I checked over the 20 years before he died for an area

where the water was exceptionally heavy with fluoride.

Now our best shot is Lubbock and the surrounding farm communities.

Quince.

Excuse me.

Honey, we got guests.

[chuckling]

I'm worried about those kids.

They're terrific. What?

Oh, Quincy, you know me.

I never stick my nose in your business.

But?

Well, it's about those assignments you handed out.

What about them?

Well, I think you got a little carried away.

You said so yourself. Trained medical investigators

normally do that kind of work.

That's right. I think they should know

how every medical operation works.

Well, then, they should go along with a professional.

They're just kids. Amateurs.

It could be dangerous.

Dangerous? Honey, it's here on campus.

So was that bone.

Oh, honey, that killing took place over 20 years ago.

What if the killer knows you're on his trail?

He'll try to stop you or them. I don't like it.

There's too many coincidences.

What coincidences?

The university night watchman was attacked

in the same hole that the bone was found in.

And dynamite was stolen.

And what... The police have a unit on it.

They think it was some radicals.

What about Sue? She was attacked while she had the bone.

But that was an attempted rape. Even Sue said so.

Those are two different acts.

But what if they weren't?

Oh, Quince, those kids adore you.

They'll follow you anywhere.

Frankly, I don't like where you're leading them.

Well, now, I can't help that, can I?

I don't tell you how to do your job.

Please don't tell me how to do mine.

Does that mean I'm not even entitled to express my opinion?

If I listen to just every person's opinion

I'd never let my feet hit the rug in the morning.

I didn't realize I was "just every person."

[men shouting]

Come on, hit it!

Hit it harder! That a boy! That a boy!

There's almost a dent after that.

Around '57 to '59... I'm not sure.

From our latest calculations, we'd say 1958.

I'll tell you one thing for sure.

He wasn't a star.

I'd remember a running back if he was any good.

Hit it! Come on, come on, slam it away! Slam!

The player we're talking about... Slam it!

May have been from Texas, southwestern Texas.

How about Lubbock, Coach?

Does that ring a bell?

Lubbock, Texas.

No. No. Wait a minute. Sure!

The Texas Fish.

Fish?

Charley Trout.

He was from a farm right outside of Lubbock.

He had potential. He was only a sophomore.

Got wiped out in his first big game.

Ripped his knee every which way come Sunday.

You have any idea where he might be right now?

I heard he got killed.

(Frank) How?

Back in the Vietnam War.

Thanks very much, Coach.

[telephone ringing]

Yep?

Hi. What's happening? You sure?

Okay, I'll be right there.

Frank went over to the university

to check out this guy's records.

I hung in with Coach Ives to see if he could remember anybody else.

He couldn't.

Then Frank called you there?

Yeah, right.

He found out where Charley Trout lived

when he was at the university.

So he told me to call you

and we could meet him there in case this guy was the one.

It's hard to figure, isn't it?

Killed in Vietnam, buried on the campus.

Unless that bone of yours turns out to be a liar.

[smacking]

[doorbell ringing]

[woman moaning]

She's in shock. How's Frank?

He's not breathing!

His larynx is crushed. It cut off his wind.

Go in the kitchen, get me the sharpest knife you can find. Hurry.

How am I going to sterilize it?

No time.

We'll worry about infection later.

[choking] Hurry up, will you?

Move with the knife!

Okay.

Give me some metal tubing.

What kind?

Anything made out of metal or plastic.

Hurry up with the tubing!

I can't find any!

You got a ballpoint pen on you?

Yeah!

Bring it over here, take it apart.

(Quincy) Give me the bottom piece.

Is he going to make it, Quince?

I don't know.

Get back. Come on.

Come on.

[crowd chattering]

Pardon me. Pardon me.

How bad is it?

They didn't make it. I got here too late.

I gotta talk to you.

I don't believe it!

I don't believe what I'm hearing.

You mean to tell me that that woman and that boy are still alive?

Yeah.

You faked their deaths? I had to.

I wanted the killer to think he succeeded.

I want him to let his guard down.

Quincy, you can't do that.

Don't you realize the confusion this can cause?

I mean, what with the relatives,

the insurance companies, the friends...

I think it's worth the problems.

Pour me a cup.

How bad were they hurt?

The woman's all right.

I had to give Frank an emergency tracheotomy.

He'll be okay in a couple of hours.

Quincy, why can't you ever consult me?

Why can't you ever do anything like anyone else?

Why can't you get asthma and work out of Phoenix?

Cream and sugar?

Black.

[knocking on door]

May I come in?

You heard, huh?

I can't believe Frank and that poor woman are dead.

[crying]

Honey, they're not dead.

Don't you lie to me!

I wouldn't lie to you about a thing like that.

I only did that to throw the killer off the track.

They're at the hospital. They're all right.

You're crazy! You're driving me crazy! No, no, honey.

[weeping] Please. Shh.

What do you think you're doing?

Come on, let's get back to bed.

What's the matter with you? Don't be foolish.

[clearing throat]

How are you?

[rasping] I'm all right.

I learned a big lesson in medicine today.

What's that?

It's very important to breathe.

Do you have any idea who jumped you?

Mmm-mmm.

It happened too fast.

He was wearing a mask.

How's Mrs. Courtland?

Oh, she's fine. A very slight concussion, that's all.

Did she tell you anything?

Yeah. She told me that Trout had a roommate, Robert Gideon.

They were inseparable.

Gideon told her that Trout went to Vietnam and he was killed there.

I think you should put out an all points on Gideon.

I think you should stick to pathology and let me handle homicide.

If it was murder, he's a prime suspect.

If it wasn't murder, I don't have anything to worry about, do I?

What have you got to lose by questioning him?

What if I pick him up, Quincy?

What am I going to ask him?

Oh, Mr. Gideon, did you kill Charles Trout? No.

Mr. Gideon, did you knock out the watchman? No.

Mr. Gideon, did you try to rape a nice young woman? No.

(Monahan) Mr. Gideon. No.

Lieutenant, let me ask you something.

What happens to a person that's picked up by the police

and is asked damaging and embarrassing questions

without a modicum of proof?

Mr. Gideon, that's called harassment with prejudice,

and is subject to bringing suit

to the police department and the city.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

And good night, Quincy. So long, kid.

I still think you ought to pick him up.

What have you got to lose?

Oh, what is this, Frank? Haven't you done enough?

You ain't seen nothing yet.

Frank, we were lucky.

You were almost killed and it was my fault.

Now we're dealing with murder here.

Lee said I shouldn't have involved you kids in this

and she was right.

[exhaling] Quincy.

That's a problem for your own conscience.

But I can't let you stop me. You feel guilty.

I think you're crazy.

But I'm going to go through with this to the end.

He's not going to get away with this,

or with clobbering poor Mrs. Courtland.

Oh, revenge is a lousy reason for doing anything.

That's the one I got.

Yeah. That's him.

I'm glad you found him.

We only keep John Does for three months.

Well, I want my brother to have the right kind of funeral.

What was his name?

Mark. Mark Haley.

I'm Frank Haley.

Listen, can we, uh, arrange it all right from here, you know?

I'll send over a casket and take him right now.

Sure. I'll try and make it as easy as we can.

Thank you.

[knocking]

[laughing]

What're you doing here? You should be in bed.

No, no, I'm all right.

How do you feel? Hurt when you talk? No.

How're you doing?

Well, I'm a little guilty, but I'm okay.

Come on in. Sit down.

What have you found out?

How do you know I'm still looking?

I was sure Monahan's monologue hit you the way it did me.

Now, he's a good cop.

He called Trout, Sr. In Texas.

Trout received the body. It's buried there.

Did he ask him if the casket was opened?

No, the War Department recommended against it.

Then he can't be sure he was inside.

You're very good, Frank. But he was inside.

That casket was x-rayed.

That's a county rule.

You have to x-ray any casket that is buried unopened.

No. That only means that there was a body inside.

It didn't have to be Charley Trout's.

That's good again. What's your theory?

A substitute body.

Well, that's not easy.

Well, I don't know about that.

I got one ready to go right now.

What are you talking about?

I just identified a John Doe down at the morgue as my older brother.

All I needed was a driver's license.

The city's so eager to save a $100 burial fee,

they don't check too closely, do they?

So it occurred to me

that the killer could have kept himself covered forever,

if he managed to get another body accepted and buried as Trout's.

When you toured the class through here,

I saw someone claim a John Doe.

That's what gave me the idea.

And you were right all along about the answers from the bone.

We got the answers.

I'm proud of you, Doctor.

You've just come up with something using three of the best tools we have:

common sense, human intuition, and caring.

Teachers ought to take a lesson from salesmen.

What's that?

Stop pitching once the sale's made.

[laughing] Okay.

What's the next move?

Well, I got to find a way to get to Lubbock, Texas.

Is that a problem?

Oh, it's baffling.

Oh, Quincy, no beer cans on the table.

What's the difference?

I have wine.

Oh, he doesn't drink wine.

I'm sure he's a beer drinker.

I still don't understand what's going on anyway.

What's to understand?

You said we don't entertain enough.

Yes, but you don't even like him.

[knocking at door] Of course, I like him.

He's a nice fellow.

Come on, be nice to him, it's very important.

Hey, Monahan, good to see you.

How do you do, Quincy?

It was nice of you to have me over.

Nice of you to come, Lieutenant.

(Quincy) Come on in. Come on in.

You want a beer?

Uh, well, no. I'd rather have wine.

Put on weight, didn't you?

It looks good on you.

Quincy, I can't stand the suspense.

What suspense?

Waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I didn't hear the first shoe drop.

You, Lee?

No, but I understand what Monahan means.

Thank you.

What is it with you two?

You in cahoots against me?

Quincy, what's on your mind?

So we can get it over with and have a nice dinner.

Right on.

I don't believe you two.

But there is a very little favor I would like you to do

for my friend, but that's not why I asked you to come here.

What friend?

Astin.

Astin.

He's a friend of yours, too?

Of course, he's my friend!

What's the matter with you?

Sometimes we have our differences because he's my boss,

but way deep down, he's a person.

What am I supposed to do for this person?

You know the convention of homicide chiefs

you're having in town next week?

Of course. I'm hosting it. What does that got to do with Astin?

I would like you to invite him to be your guest speaker.

I don't mean to be rude, Lee, but I have to go.

He's a very good speaker.

Let me ask you something,

what have you got in for the country's homicide chiefs?

Okay, I'll level with you.

Well, hallelujah.

Okay, it's vacation time. We're short of help.

I'm on duty this weekend, he's on duty next weekend. I want to switch with him.

(both) Why?

The Andrews Sisters.

I want to go to Lubbock, Texas.

Oh, you just want to do a favor for a friend, huh?

For everybody! Let's face it, there is a killer out there,

we haven't been able to touch.

I'd like to nail him.

Then do it by the book.

Are you kidding? I'm getting cross-eyed trying to do it by the book with you,

with Astin, with the Texas state coroner.

There is a possibility if I can go there and look for myself.

I know you mean well, but I can't.

I can't do that to my colleagues.

How many times have I asked you to go to bat for me?

I'm begging you now, please!

Quincy,

what do you hope to do down in Texas, anyway?

Sit down, make yourself comfortable.

Get some hors d'oeuvres, the hot dogs with the mustard.

Not that I intend going along with you.

Of course not.

Hey, let me put a head on this wine.

[telephone ringing]

Hello? No, this is Sam.

(Sam) Dr. Quincy isn't here.

He's flying down to Lubbock, Texas tonight.

Anything I can do for you?

Of course, I can handle it.

All right. Yeah. I'll be right over.

(Trout) You know, I guess I never did know Charley

from the time he was 10.

How old was your son when he left home?

17.

Couldn't get away fast enough.

He hated this farm.

[birds chirping]

He hated poverty.

He hated most everything.

[panting]

And I, uh, I never could find it in my heart to blame him.

Life was hard on him.

I always wanted to tell him that.

Next thing I knowed, he was dead.

I'm sorry, sir.

Poor Charley. I guess I short-changed him.

Maybe it wasn't your fault.

Maybe he fell under a bad influence after he left home.

Somebody like Robert Gideon.

[rooster crowing]

I knowed that

the first time I heard his friend's voice on the phone.

Then you knew him?

He brought Charley's body here.

I thought the War Department shipped his body here.

No. No. Gideon called me from Los Angeles.

He told me Charley had been killed.

Said he wanted to save me the heartache.

So he brought Charley's body here.

You never talked to anybody at the War Department, right?

No. Gideon handled all that.

Thank you very much, Mr. Trout.

Thank you.

Hey, Doctor, uh,

you're a medical doctor, an examiner, uh,

important fellow like you, makes me kind of wonder.

How come all this about Charley,

20 years after the fact?

I wish I could explain it to you, sir.

I'm getting on, and I'd appreciate anything you could tell me.

Like what?

(Trout) Like how Charley really died.

I never believed in my heart that's the way he died.

Why not?

That wasn't Charley's way.

Volunteer? War hero?

Dr. Quincy, I'd appreciate the truth.

So, after your call from Mr. Trout's place,

why, I did me a little scavenger hunting.

Were you able to zero in on the right femur, as I asked? Yes.

The, uh, x-ray was made through the casket.

Charley Trout was returned from Vietnam.

There you are. Uh-huh.

There's only one problem, Doctor.

It wasn't Charley Trout.

How can you tell?

The right femur.

Looks normal to me.

It shouldn't.

He suffered a serious football injury to his knee.

There's no sign of it in the femur's lower joint, see?

Are you trying to tell me this is an impostor?

There's no doubt about that, Doctor.

Well, then, where is the real Charley Trout?

That's what I'm trying to find out.

Anything else I can do for you, Doctor?

As a matter of fact, there is.

Would you call the police, tell them to get here right away, please?

The police?

I'll explain later. Please hurry.

Well, I'll, uh, call from my office.

No.

I'd rather you call from outside the building. It'll be safer.

Why are you staying here?

I'm the bait.

Well, but I... Please.

Don't be a fool, Gideon.

Fool?

I should've killed you at the university.

(Gideon) I had a dozen chances.

There's no reason to kill me. (Gideon) Reason!

I got all the reason in the world.

I had it made.

20 years, nothing! My life was my own.

Then you start looking at that stupid bone.

It was all over till then. Finished.

And then you opened it up.

But now I'm closing it for good.

Give me a minute. What've you got to lose?

Look, I knew you were going to follow me.

I wanted you to.

(Quincy) I don't want you to hurt any more of my kids.

I got something to say. Will you give me a chance?

I did. You almost buried me.

And now I'm trying to help you.

Believe me. One minute.

No, no, you're trying to save your neck.

Of course, I'm trying to save my neck,

and I'm trying to save yours, too.

You kill me and it'll be life in jail for you.

It is already.

No, that's what I'm trying to tell you.

The statute of limitations ran out on the burglary a long time ago.

How about Charley?

Doesn't run out on murder.

Well, it was self defense, wasn't it?

How'd you know about that?

From the angle of the bullet wound on the thigh bone.

You see, it was straight down.

Straight downward.

It would've been impossible for anybody else to inflict that wound.

I figured you and Trout were struggling for the gun while he held it.

We pulled off a $50,000 robbery.

And the jerk says he wants to give all the loot

to his old man to pay off the farm.

You were right. He was ready to shoot me.

I grabbed him, one accidentally went off into his thigh.

But he wouldn't give up.

Another one got him in the heart.

I'll testify to self-defense.

That doesn't take care of the kid, the kid and the old lady.

There's nothing to take care of. They're fine.

I only said they were dead to get you off their tail.

Bull. No. Check with L.A. General.

You'll see they're fine.

But I'm not going to lie to you, Gideon.

You'll be charged with assault with intent to kill.

That's 1 to 14 years.

That's a long time.

Yes, it is.

But it's not forever.

You kill me and it will be.

[footsteps approaching]

(Wayne) Dr. Quincy! Where are you?

I sent for the police.

This was all a stall!

No, it wasn't.

Leave him alone!

Gideon.

Every word I told you was the truth. I swear.

Don't do anything stupid.

Are you all right, Quincy?

For a minute, I thought you was going to be

my first customer I had this morning.

Thanks a lot.