i'll only be here twenty-four hours.
that's right.
they didn't?
probably didn't think it was important.
i want to go to adobe flat. any cabs available?
where's the hotel?
i asked where's the hotel?
thanks.
'afternoon.
you run this hotel?
then there's nothing you can do for me.
i'd like a room.
got any idea where i might --
i thought it ended a couple of months ago.
tell me.
you seem to have lots of vacancies.
lots of vacancies.
yes?
not really. but while i'm pondering it, get a room ready. just for tonight. this one.
sure could use a bath. where is it?
i don't know just why you're interested -- but the name's macreedy. i'm.  it's all in the ledger.
i think you have the wrong room.
nothing, i guess.
and this, i guess, is yours?
i guess i do. would you mind very much if i sort of.  . clean up this mess and get another room?
i guess so.
i guess not.
one thing i know. since i got off the train, i've been needled. why?
hey! hold it!
got any cigarettes?
in my new room, you mean? i'm staying.
just about twenty-four hours. why?
why? you expecting a convention?
stale.
where can i rent a car?
let's put it this way -- if i had a car and if i wanted to put gas in it, where would i go?
thanks.
here we go again.
hi, t.j.
this your garage?
where's the man it belongs to?
where'd she go?
when will she be back?
thanks.
sorry. i thought you were a guest.
no, thanks.
you tell me.
what were you celebrating?
my name's macreedy. i came in on the streamliner.
i said i came in.
no. all i want from you is a little information. i've got to get to a place called adobe flat.
one thing about black rock -- everybody's polite. makes for gracious living.
how do you know?
i'm looking for a man named komako.
almost a disaster.
what about komako?
that's the friendliest word i've heard since i got here.
they act like they're sitting on a keg.
i don't know. maybe diamonds. maybe gunpowder.
i thought the tradition of the old west was hospitality.
could be.
thanks, but i'm afraid not.
i'm looking for.  never mind. thanks, anyway.
a man named komako.
no?
which one did he go to?
you think maybe if i wrote him, the letter would be forwarded?
it wouldn't be too much trouble?
funny. because i think it would be a great deal of trouble for you. it's been a great deal of trouble for me.
i wrote these letters to komako. they weren't forwarded. they were returned -- address unknown. so i guess there's nothing you can do for me, after all.
need a little help?
well, i need a little help. i'd like to rent your jeep.
the road's marked?
then i won't need your time.
i can manage.
it's all right. i won't mention it to the sheriff.
shifts to low gear as the jeep presses into hilly country.
yeah. it's a small world.
i'm kind of sorry if i've incurred your displeasure.
if there's anything i can do to make up for it.
i'd be glad to pay the damages.
fortunately no one was hurt.
that's the real danger, i can see that.
i'm getting out of here, right now.
still expecting that convention?
if you're expecting any extra cowboys, my room is available.
is there a train through here tonight?
i know that. how about freights? milk train?
busses?
i'm inclined to agree with you.
anybody home?
in that case, where do you suggest i look?
it was, just a few hours ago.
sure. and smith is the kid who changes 'em.
miss brooks. what's the matter with this town of yours?
then why are they all so concerned about me?
no, you're not. but.
but it strikes me you're a little too unconcerned. so unconcerned you won't even rent me a jeep.
i wish others in this town were as scrupulously devoted to law and order as you are.
funny thing. they try to kill me, and you feel persecuted.
involved in what?
all of them?
dead and buried? whatever did happen, you don't seem to like it. why do you stick around?
didn't you ever think of going without him. you're sort of independent and he's.  he's.
what did your brother do?
nothing much. only, there're not many places like this in america -- but even one is too many. because i think something sort of bad happened here. something i can't find the handle to.
this much i know -- the rule of law has been suspended in this town. the gorillas have taken over.
i kind of had a notion that was the only way i could get it.
was i wrong, miss brooks?
i'm around all right.
you probably know that miss brooks is no longer in the car rental business?
you wouldn't?
sure. i admire your sturdy sense of responsibility.
let's talk about my future.
i don't seem to be going any place.
i have a way with jeeps. a certain familiarity.
italy.
what stopped you?
tough.
i'm retired.
you might say i was forced into retirement.
komako, like i told you. like you told me, he wasn't there.
what's so funny?
flattery will get you nowhere.
maybe i'm not so big.
what makes you mad, mr. smith?
i see. you're a big man, too. only.  . the japanese make you mad.
and komako made you mad.
what did komako have to do with corregidor?
all strangers do.
snooping for what?
for what?
leave you alone to do what?
what happened to komako?
nothing. only -- i don't believe you. any more than i believed you about the letters.
yes, i do -- about businessmen, for instance. i think a businessman would be interested in adobe flat.
all that land lying fallow. could be put to some use. like a graveyard. a historian might be interested, too. because of the strange customs around here, such as burying cattle.
something's buried out there.
see these wild flowers? that means a grave. i've seen it overseas. i figure it isn't a man's grave or someone would have marked it. sort of a mystery, isn't it?
maybe.
not interested. i got other things to do.
can i use your phone?
what's 4-2-4?
thanks.
don't look at me like that.
like i'm a potential customer.
yeah. i've got a problem of my own.
and you'll just sit on your hands and let them.
sorry.
to save a life.
it's a little late for that.
how can i?
where is it?
won't start.
just won't start.
for that i thank you. how much time you think i've got before?
well, so long, doc. i can't say it's been charming but.
i don't know. but i'm going on foot.
it can be fixed.
maybe.
if i can't get out of town, maybe i can get the state cops in.
there's another way. i'll be seeing you, doc.
that's what it says.
i never thought much about it.
what ails you, mr. hastings?
why are you so upset about.  . this wire?
are you afraid, mr. hastings?
you want me to describe the symptoms? right this minute i'm scared half to death.
yeah. but not of the state police.
then what are you afraid of? the grave at adobe flat? a grave nobody marked, nobody knows anything about.
is it smith? is it?!
to smith you are. how about to komako?
then send that wire, and bring me the answer. you'll do that, won't you?
what have you got?
anything else?
in that case, i'll have it. and a cup of coffee.
going to, or coming from?
no comment.
i always seem to be taking somebody's place around here.
i was afraid of that.
suppose you tell me where to sit.
your friend's a very fellow.
no comment.
you're not only wrong -- you're wrong at the top of your voice.
i think your friend's trying to start something.
i don't know. maybe he figures, needle me enough and i'll crack. maybe i'll even fight back. then he or hector -- your other ape -- would beat me to death and cop a plea of self-defense.
wouldn't it be easier if you just waited till i turned my back? or are there too many witnesses present?
so are you. whatever happens -- you're lost.
you killed komako. sooner or later you'll go up for it. not because you killed him -- in this town you probably could have gotten away with it -- but because you didn't even have the guts to do it alone. you put your trust in guys like him.  . and hector -- they're not the most dependable of god's creatures. sooner or later they'll get the idea you're playing them for saps. what'll you do then -- peel them off, one by one? and in the meantime if any one of them breaks, you'll go down hard. because they got something on you. something to use when things get tough.
and they're getting tougher every minute.
anything for me?
any message -- a telegram?
i'm waiting for a wire. from the state cops.
no?
i think that's for me. where's the answer?
nothing. just a thought -- -- a thought dazzling in its purity.
you're in a jam, hastings. you gave my telegram to smith.
you're in deep, too. like i said, it's getting tougher and tougher. sheriff, you'd better do something about this.
i know -- -- pain is bewildering. i came here bewildered, full of self-pity, afraid to fight back. and then your friend smith tried to kill me. funny, how a man clings to the earth when he feels there's a chance he may never see it again.
you think so?
i was washed up when i got off that train.
had to. i had one last duty to perform before i resigned from the human race.
l.a.'s a good jumping off place -- for the islands, for mexico, central america.
i don't know. i was looking for a place to get lost, i guess.
because of this. i thought i'd never be able to function again. thanks to your friend smith, i found i was wrong.
i know your problem. you'd like me to die quickly, without wasting too much of your time.  . or silently, without making you feel too uncomfortable.  or thankfully, without making your memories of the occasion too unpleasant.
what happened, pete?
i know. to enlist. he was turned down.
ten o'clock in the morning.
did you know him?
then you all got scared, buried him, kept quiet.
did komako have any family besides his son joe?
he had one. but he's dead, too. he's buried in italy.
joe komako died in italy, saving my life. they gave him a medal. i came here to give it to his father.
it'll take a lot of whiskey to wash out your guts.
and it will never help -- not even a barrel full washes away murder!
but maybe i'm wrong. go on -- drink. what else is left for you?! you're as dead as komako, only you don't know it! you also don't know that it's not enough to feel guilty. it's not enough to confess. it's not enough to say, "forgive me, i've done wrong."
sit down?! or would you rather have me kneel, to beg his pardon for raising a touchy subject?
well, that's mighty noble of you. you feel ashamed -- that's noble, too. and four years from now you'll probably be sitting here telling somebody else you haven't forgotten me. that's progress -- you'll still be ashamed but i'll be dead.
go on, have your drink. you need it.
thanks, pete. thanks very much.
i'll never forgive you, doc.  . for depriving me of that pleasure.
you're doing the best you can. aren't you, liz?
don't worry, i won't.
yes i do.
that i don't believe.
it's never too late.
why is muscle so important?
not with muscle.
i'm beginning' to think it runs in the family. you think strength is in the width of a man's shoulders.
he wasn't around when i left.  maybe i will yet.
what's this?
you're stupid, liz. you're a fool. if he finishes me, he's got to finish you.
he has unscrewed the nut and unconnected the gas line with the carburator. a spurt of gasoline is running out. with a quick motion he picks up an empty whisky bottle from the litter-strewn earth. he fills it with gasoline, quickly screws the nut back on. now he sweeps his necktie free of his collar. holding it with his teeth, he tears the felt lining free from its silk face. he twists half the lining inside the bottle, knotting the other end securely around the bottle's neck, leaving a long strand dangling.
i'd like to kill you now, but you caused too much pain to die quickly. you'll be tried in a court of law. you'll be convicted by a jury. then you'll die.
hands behind your head.
am i going to have trouble with you?
just as you took care of his buddies?
well. the gang is all here.
put him in with hastings.
your sister's outside, pete.
she's dead.
tim knows where to find me if i'm needed.
what's on your mind, doc?
"we?" can who have it?
why?
some towns come back. some don't. it depends on the people.
a shooting.
second time.