01x10 - The Energy Eater

[bunniefuu]

The city of Chicago sparkles...

with architectural monuments
to man's achievement...

His artistic aspirations, his quest
for the truth, his respect for the law.

Now, a different
sort of monument.

There is a theory that dying institutions
erect their own mausoleums before they die.

This particular monument was to
be a hospital and a research center,

dedicated to extending the life of
man, improving the quality of that life.

It succeeded instead in introducing a
new horror, a new way of death, a mystery.

I became involved just after the hospital's
completion, covering the dedication.

The building's construction
had been a little rocky.

Two Indian high steelworkers
had fallen off the top floors,

but that was quickly
forgotten and never explained.

No matter. Now it was dedication
time, and everything was roses.

It was all I could do
to stay awake.

- Your name, please?
- Oh, yeah. Carl Kolchak, I.N.S.

See?

- Here you are, Mr. Kolchak.
- Thank you very much.

- Anybody important here today?
- No, just a bunch of reporters.

Thanks a lot.

- Good afternoon. "Mr. Kolchak"?
- Yeah.

This kit has been carefully prepared
by the Public Relations Department.

It contains all of the general information
about the hospital, plus a commemorative coin.

If you would like me to get you
a drink, I'd be happy to do so.

That's very good. You
remembered that all by yourself.

- You wanna be an actress, right?
- You can tell?

- Yeah.
- Good. I'm just doing this for the exposure.

It's difficult for someone
just starting to get exposed.

I wouldn't say that. Anything in
here that I should know that I don't?

Gentlemen and ladies,
the bar is closed.

- Yes. The bar just closed.
- Temporarily.

- That figures.
- For, uh...

For those of you
who don't already know,

on my left is Dr. Ralph Carrie,
the medical director of the hospital.

On my right, Walter Green, the
gentleman who built this fine facility.

I would like to say a few
words about these two fine men.

Our Dr. Carrie
comes from Toledo, Ohio,

and his teachers there
at Southside High...

remember him as a man
with a fine mind, an athlete...

and a boy who
always got things done.

- Gung ho.
- Now, when he was a...

Dr. Carrie won the...

It's, uh... It's nothing at
all, ladies and gentlemen.

As you can see,
we're back to normal.

However, uh, time is growing short, so perhaps
we had better begin the tour right now.

If you'll just step toward
the elevators.

Excuse me.

Uh, we, uh... We're running
a little short of time,

so we will exclude the tour
of the lower level,

as it's listed in your program.

Now, uh, the hospital
is already in use.

We already have some patients.

And you are about to see the
most modern facility in existence.

Uh, "Nurse Eisen,
Pathology."

- You enjoy your work?
- Oh, yes. Yes.

A well-performed autopsy
is a joy forever.

My name's Carl Kolchak.
I'm with the press corps on tour here.

- Why aren't you with 'em?
- I got lost. However...

I'm sorry.
If this is an interview,

you're going to have to clear
it with Public Relations.

You mean you can't even
talk to the press?

How about having a cup of coffee? Or do
you have to clear that with the cafeteria?

Relax. It's
all right. It does that a lot.

I've reported it. I suppose
they'll fix it eventually.

It's supposed to be
brand-new, isn't it?

They said it takes a while
to get everything working.

Yeah, well, I feel that way
myself some mornings.

- Why is it so hot down here?
- It's the air conditioner.

Air conditioner, huh?

There's cold air
coming out of there.

Maybe the P.R. Department
closed off some of the vents, huh?

Why don't you check
that with them?

I'm sorry. I'm working.

Yeah.

Is this what caused
the power failure?

I don't know.
I'm just a broom-pusher.

Uh-huh.
Look at those cracks.

Sometimes if you pile drive
to the lake bottom,

you can have a settlement
cr*ck of that type.

Settlement cracks. You seen
a lot of those around here?

- Nope. My foreman told me.
- Oh. Where's your foreman?

- I don't know.
- What's his name?

- I don't know.
- What's your name?

I don't know.

Thanks a lot.

Hmm. Hmm.

So the funds came
from conventional sources, huh?

I mean, no union pension funds or
blind loans or anything like that, huh?

You're sure?
Okay, thank you very much.

Your angle on the hospital dedication,
Carl... How did you come up with it?

Oh, a little, uh, research
and, uh, imagination.

Some angle... two pages condemning
the lack of geriatric facilities.

What did you promise her this
time? Orthopedic glitter boots?

Well, Tony, there is a vast
and growing proportion...

of our citizens in their autumn
years, who are living on fixed income,

faced with a growing inflation,
possibly even recession.

I mean, they have their
rights, their special needs.

- They're organized.
- Really?

- What do they call it? Wrinkle Power?
- That's disgusting.

They call it Gray Power.

And we're tough.

We're standing up
for our rights.

Don't stand up
too quickly, Emily.

I'm all right.
I'm sorry, Mr. Vincenzo.

I may have come on a
little too strong at first,

but I can't stand to see
senior people glossed over.

I'll see if I can
soften it up a bit.

Well, that's not the point.
I assign the stories.

The idea is for you to do
what you are supposed to do.

Now, what are you doing?

Well, uh...

- What is all this?
- This?

- Yeah.
- Oh, these are blueprints for the hospital.

- The hospital?
- Mm-hmm.

- Where did you get them?
- I stole them.

- Kolchak, you stole the plans?
- Mr. Vincenzo.

- Yes?
- Telephone. It's urgent.

Hello, Mr. Kibbey? Don Kibbey,
the architectural engineer?

Yeah. This is Carl Kolchak.

Kolchak!

I gave you all that publicity
you needed to combat...

those phony charges lodged against
you in that building you designed.

You remember?
I saved your...

reputation.

You said that
if I ever needed a favor...

That's right. Kolchak.

Yeah. Well, I'd rather explain
it to you in person in my car.

I'll pick you up in about half an hour in
front of your office building, okay? Right.

There was a sh**ting
in Scorpino's Restaurant.

Two men with shotguns just blasted
little Augie Cesare and his two bodyguards.

- Looks like a turf w*r.
- They're always sh**ting at each other.

- You don't seem too interested, Carl.
- I'm on a story.

And you always say, "One story
at a time, Carl. One story at a time."

Besides, there's never any
news in those g*ng killings.

You don't think there's
anything printable here?

No. Nobody ever talks. The
last one I covered was typical.

Of the people in the restaurant,
of them claimed to be in the men's room,

and the rest of them claimed never to have
heard one of the sh*ts that were fired.

All right. I'll cover
it, but it's a waste of time,

as you'd know
if you'd ever done one.

If I've done one? How do you
think I got behind that desk?

- I don't know. How?
- I was top crime reporter in this town...

when it was important,
when it was dangerous.

If you weren't careful, you could
wind up under a Pierce-Arrow.

Oh, boy, that was
a long time ago, Tony.

Yeah, you've probably
forgotten how. No, I'll do it.

No, no. I'm gonna show you
how to dig out a story.

Good for you, Mr. Vincenzo.

- I like to see older people with spunk.
- Yeah.

I wanna see that hospital
dedication story on my desk...

- by the time I get back.
- Yes, sir!

What do you think's gonna
happen at the hospital?

I think it's gonna fall down.

- Good evening.
- Good evening.

You look tired.

Been getting enough rest?
Better sleep some more.

That's the problem with the
world today... tension, anxiety,

sleeplessness, insecurity.

Medical enemies one,
two, three and four.

That's right.

- I don't like this one bit.
- Neither do I.

Just wait,
if you think this is bad.

- Wait for what?
- You'll see.

Well, now it's not gonna do it.

- Do what?
- Never mind. Come on.

Whew.

- Don't they have air conditioning down here?
- See for yourself.

- Yeah, it seems to be working all right.
- Right.

This should be the
coldest floor in the hospital.

Right. Question is,
why isn't it, huh?

Why are they still using
temporary work lights?

Who knows? No juice,
maybe. Come on.

- Now, I ask you... Is that a settling cr*ck?
- No, I don't think so.

It looks like structural
damage from stress.

Aha. Dangerous, right?

It all depends on how far deep
down it goes into the foundation.

I'll show you some more.

Yeah, here.

Yeah, you're right.
There is a big problem here,

and I don't think
it's just in this section.

I saw a couple of walls back there
that looked like they'd been refinished.

So what do you
think's causing it?

First I'd get a sample of
concrete and have it tested.

- What if it's not the concrete?
- Drill a hole through the wall...

and look for either poor-quality
steel or not enough of it.

- What if the steel's okay?
- What do you want from me?

- What if the steel is okay?
- Then have someone check to see if the geologist goofed.

And if that's not the case, look for a
geothermal leak under the foundation.

And with this heat,
that's a real possibility.

- Will you put all that in writing?
- No.

Loyalty to your fellow
engineers, huh, Kibbey?

Look, I've been the victim
of unsupported accusations.

So far, you've only enough to
warrant a little more investigation.

"A little more invest"...

What the hell is that?

That's something that warrants
a lotmore investigation.

- Where you going?
- I've had it!

- You're on your own!
- Wait for me!

Where do you think you're going?

[ Woman On P.A. I Nurse
Eisen to the Pathology Lab.

Nurse Eisen
to the Pathology Lab.

You? What are you
doing here?

Hi there, Miss Nurse Eisen.

- You had me paged?
- That's right.

There's something very
strange going on in this hospital,

and I thought you might
care enough to help me.

- Everything is under control.
- Everything's under control.

All right. Let's recap.
How about the elevator...

and the heat and the plaster
being knocked off the walls?

And I hear that
people are dying.

Of course people are dying.
This is a hospital.

Okay.

I think you ought to get
an engineer down here...

so that more people
don't start dying.

I'm afraid it's gonna
take more than an engineer.

- Oh?
- I don't know.

There's just no explanation for
what's been going on around here.

Then what has been
going on around here?

Like this afternoon, a patient in a
heart-lung machine was... was horribly k*lled.

And this is an earlier case.
Would you like to see for yourself?

Yeah. Yeah.

This morning, this was a healthy
young man... a staff electrician.

- He was found after the power failure in the hall.
- Mmm.

First we thought he was electrocuted,
and then we started an autopsy.

So what happened?
What was the result?

What... So, what?

Mr. Kolchak, all of these people had some
connection with electrically operated equipment.

For the last time, Dr. Carrie
will not see any reporters today,

and he has no comment
on anything.

Dr. Hartfield, go right in.

- Thank you.
- Doctor.

As far as I can tell, there is no precedence
for this in the annals of medicine.

This tar-like substance is all that was
left of the blood in the patient's body.

- Mmm. What is the content of that substance, Doctor?
- See for yourself.

Oh, thank you.

Mmm.

Oh. Yes, of course.

That's incredible. Mmm.
Dr. Hartfield.

- Amazing. Virtually no plasma at all.
- Mmm.

- I've never seen such a concentration of blood cells.
- Mm-hmm.

At first, it seemed to be a massive
clotting... an acute case of Polycythemia...

- But, obviously, it was much, much more than that.
- Yes, yes.

- You're Dr...
- Kolchak.

- Oh, yes. Gentlemen, please.
- How do you do?

Ah, Detective Webster.

Detective, these are among the
leading pathologists of the city.

Gentlemen, if you'll follow me,
we will proceed with the autopsy.

Dr. Hartfield, would you mind
preparing the toxicological report?

- Gladly.
- Dr. Kolchak, what do you prefer?

Oh, I'm not fussy.
I'll take the feet.

Dr.Kolchak?

- You're making a big mistake, Captain.
- I know. I ought to book ya.

For what, impersonating a doctor? You'd
have to take Carrie and the rest of those...

Will you wait a minute?
Will you just wait?

Those pathologists upstairs
are trying to find out...

why this system blew out
and what k*lled the patients.

- The equipment is being tested.
- That's what you're here for?

I'm here checking out all the irregularities,
including the possibility of sabotage.

- Did you see those cracks in the basement?
- Yeah, they're settling cracks.

In your head. What
would you say if I told you...

there's a force beyond your comprehension
that's trying to destroy this hospital?

I'd say good-bye, Kolchak.

And don't try to come back in.
I won't be so nice next time.

Fact: There
have been no documented irregularities...

in the way the new hospital
had been built.

But, item: The generally
reliable Indian high steelworkers...

had left the job last October
after several mysterious accidents.

I found the same Indian
crew now hard at work...

on the Starette Building
on Michigan Avenue.

The foreman told me
as much as he could,

but the high steelworkers
talked only through their shaman,

or medicine man, Jim Elkhorn.

Since Elkhorn was a high steelworker,
I assumed I'd find him on the high steel.

It was only after I went
all the way up there...

that I found that
he was back on earth,

eating lunch and taking
care of business.

Look, I didn't mean to be
supercritical the other night.

It's just that, uh...

It's just that your legs
really excite me. And, uh...

And when you wear that
pants suit and that vest, it's...

I'm just trying to
do you a service.

You left your hairbrush and
platform shoes at my place,

and I figured maybe
you wanted them, Valerie.

It's the oldest salesman's
trick in the world.

You deliberately forget your hat, and
then you have an excuse to come back.

You know what I mean?

Valerie, I'm gonna have to hang up, because
I'm just not used to that sort of language.

Carl Kolchak, I.N.S.
You Jim Elkhorn?

I'd like to know why you pulled your men off
that job at the Lakefront Hospital last fall.

Was it because of unsafe working
conditions you pulled them off?

That's tribal business. I don't
discuss that with reporters or outsiders.

Your phone's ringing.

Thank you.

Hello. Hi, Melinda.

Before I say good-bye, can I step
into your trailer and forget my hat?

No, I'm not tied up,
darling. Hang on a second.

What happened at that hospital?
How did those high steelworkers die?

- Matchemonedo.
- What?

- Matchemonedo, he k*lled my men.
- Matchi...

Matchimo... Yeah.

Matchimo...

Claudia Granov, age .

The little bit of movement
she retained in her right hand...

wasn't even enough to let
her wipe her own forehead,

and the sudden heat was
beginning to get to her.

Claudia couldn't sleep.
She was too concerned...

over what was going
to become of her life.

The truth was, nothing was ever
going to become of Claudia's life.

Help me, please! Somebody
help me! Help me, please!

Here you are.

Thank you.

Uh, check those lines
for any kind of break.

Doesn't it make you nervous
with all this going on down here...

and a hospital full of
people over your head?

I mean, if anything goes wrong,
you're gonna take the wrap.

- I beg your pardon?
- Well, unless, on the other hand,

of course, this hospital is
built over a geothermal fault.

- Geothermal fault?
- Or bad concrete...

- That's ridiculous.
- Or a structural miscalculation.

Whatever it is,
I suggest you stop...

scraping and patching these walls
and start evacuating the hospital.

I think I'll start the
evacuation with you. Officer.

You can never find a cop
when you need one.

Officer!

Big problems, right?

All the lab personnel are
here. We were called back.

It seems there's been another strange
death, this time in the orthopedic ward.

- What happened?
- Pretty much the same as the other one.

All the vital organs of
the patient just seized up,

and an electric orthopedic bed
just went crazy and blew up.

- Any leads at all?
- None, and I'm scared.

Yeah, well, so are they, but
they're not honest enough to admit it.

Are you scared enough to go
along with me on an idea?

- Jim!
- Now you're gonna bug me at home, huh?

Look, I'm right in the middle
of trying to fix something.

- Uh, Jim Elkhorn, Janice Eisen.
- Hello.

Janice is a technician
over at Lakefront Hospital,

and I just thought that you
might be able to help us.

Oh, sure. Please come in.

Uh, Janice Eisen, this is
Diane Linnear from next door.

Diane, this is Charles Ko...

- Kolchak, Carl.
- Hello. Hello.

I feel like we're interrupting.

Oh, no. Diane has got
a raisin bread problem.

I don't know why,
but it gets stuck.

No, it's my English muffins
that get stuck.

- Right. Look, could I fix you people a drink?
- Oh, maybe later.

You were just about to get
me a vodka on the rocks.

I'm sorry, babe.
Excuse me.

Jim... Jim, uh...

- Are you sure, Charles?
- About "Matchimodo."

Is that any relationship
to Quasimodo?

You have a master's degree in business
administration, and you still do construction work?

Jim... Matchimodo?

- Matchemonedo.
- Oh.

He was called a bear god, Charles, and I
don't really know why since he was invisible.

Excuse me, please.

It's a question
of economics, Janice.

You see, high steel
pays $, a year,

and that thing over there
was worth ,,

and part of that was written
off against public relations.

An Indian head is
a high-visibility asset.

Bear god? Then you
were putting me on.

- You knew there was sabotage going on in that hospital.
- Jim, my rocks are melting.

I'm sorry, darling. Look, sabotage
I don't know anything about.

- Uh-huh.
- Sit down, Janice.

But I can tell you
about Matchemonedo.

I wish somebody would say
something about it. Now...

- Carl said that you're a medicine man.
- Yeah, I'm a shaman.

It's a hereditary title, but I
don't practice it much anymore...

since we got Blue Cross
on our last contract.

- Janice.
- Oh, yes.

What about this
bear god, Matche...

- monedo.
- That's right, Miss Linnear!

Well, Matchemonedo always
lived in the jungle area...

of where the hospital
foundation is now.

And he was there before the Illinois
tribe. He was there before the Iroquois.

- Iroquois.
- He was even there before...

Chicago became Checagou.

- "Chicagow"?
- Checagou.

He was referred to by some
early French explorers too.

Hey, do you believe any of this?

Sounds as good as most of
the stuff I've been getting.

Well, anyway,
to pacifyMatchemonedo,

my people used to drive
buffalo over his place,

and he would eat them, I guess,

which is a pretty neat trick
if you don't have a stomach.

Well, that turns mine.

Diane, I think your muffin's
stuck in your spring again.

Mmm. Stuff the muffin.

I'll eat instant oatmeal.

I... I really feel terrible
about this.

- Hey, don't. Oatmeal is very nutritious.
- And so is creamed farina.

If Matchemonedo really does exist, why
haven't we heard from him in recent years?

- Why does he remain dormant?
- That lake has shifted.

That land was underwater
until it was reclaimed,

so maybe the water's
had some effect.

- You mentioned energy.
- Yeah.

The dead patients all had the
plasma congealed in their bodies.

Now, plasma is practically pure
protein, and protein is pure energy.

And there is no other form of
energy purer... than electricity.

I don't
know about that, Chuck.

Charl... Carl.

- Come on, come on.
- And then they cook it all right in the melon.

- Sounds exquisite.
- C'est magnifique.

The name of this place is
Wu's Great Wall of Peking,

and it's only about
minutes from here.

So if you get off work at
:, we are in good shape.

Uh-huh. Well, give my
regards to Chef Wu, will you?

- Good-bye, Janice.
- Janice.

You know what your problem is?
You have no time for the amenities.

Thank you, Dr. Brothers.

Oh, boy.

- Well?
- What do you expect me to do?

Who knows? Try doing what
your ancestors used to do.

- I don't think it's gonna work.
- Try. Anything's worth trying.

- Do you understand mechanical stress at all?
- No.

Do you have any idea the force that was
required to split this concrete like this?

No.

Well, it's too darn big to
be driven off by any dancing.

Try. Go on. Try. Go on.

- Go on.
- All right, all right.

You put that thing away, or
you'll get a close-up of my foot.

Right, chief.

Look, it didn't work for my grandpa,
and it's not gonna work for me now!

No. No, no, no.
Go on. Try.

Shh. Shh. I heard something.

What if he comes out, and we've got no buffalo?

My grandpa told me about it,
but I never thought I'd see it.

Don't touch that!

X-rays. I think our developing trays
in the I.N.S. office will fit these plates.

Come on. Grab them.

- Got 'em?
- Yeah.

Ah! Uh-huh. Huh.

There. That's it.
Get me another one there.

Put one up on top.

Okay.

Try this one.

Let's see how this one...

It might work.
No, no. Let me see another one.

Wait a minute.
Hold one of these.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

There it goes.

Tape that one to there.

See, they come like this.

There. That's it.

We haven't got enough room.

That's a vertebrae.
What's that doing here?

Well, let's...

Let's give it a whirl,
see what we've got.

All right.

That one.

Okay.

Let's see.

Holy...

So that's Matchemonedo.

It seems that Matchemonedo
predates any Indian records that exist.

All right.
Now, look at this.

These are cave drawings from an area
very near where the hospital now sits.

- Really?
- Neanderthal period.

Which means that Matchemonedo
could have been there before man.

Yeah, maybe, maybe.
Go on. Read on, read on.

Okay, here's some sightings.
Look at this.

In , Father Bouvet
mentions Matchemonedo in June.

I didn't know you read French.

That means that Monsignor de
Nancy talked about him in July .

All right. Look at this. The Iroquois
talk about him in July and August.

Summer months!

Kolchak, I know what are summer
months and what are winter months.

Yeah, but apparently
so does Matchemonedo.

I mean, there are no
sightings in winter, right?

- So he hibernates. What?
- Like a bear.

Kolchak, that's not bad.

That's not bad at all.

So when the lake shifted, the cold water
at that depth kept it winter year-round.

That's right. And then when
they excavated the land,

- it heated it up, right?
- Right.

- How do we get it cold?
- Hmm.

Look, Green's company has
a refrigeration division.

He ought to know the
building, man. He put it up.

This is why you called us, huh?

To tell us to evacuate the hospital
and turn it into a refrigerator...

- because of some old legends!
- Right!

- And this... this absurdity!
- If it's all that absurd,

youtell us how
those patients d*ed!

I guess it would be too much to
hope that you two are finished.

You're saying that Matchemonedo
is pure energy. Is that right?

- Yeah.
- He sort of breathes it in, magnifies it and blows it out.

It's a kind of super-energy. It's
like overcharging your patients,

which is not unusual
for a hospital, I suppose.

If I didn't hear this,
I wouldn't believe it.

- He just sort of breathes it in and then blows it out.
- Something like that, yeah.

What's that supposed to mean?

That you believe
in any of this tripe?

Of course not, Walt. But
if you're feeling pressured,

why don't you have a talk with
one of our staff psychiatrists?

- Whoo-hoo.
- Mr. Green is a bit testy today, isn't he?

Well, some people do behave
that way when faced with concepts...

beyond the
limited capacities of comprehension.

Here's something
you better comprehend.

I'll have you arrested if
you or any of your legends...

ever set foot
in this hospital again!

As the great
Louis Pasteur once said,

"Any schmo can invent
a rabies vaccine,

but when will we find
a cure for stupidity?"

Gentlemen, we'd better go
to the basement immediately.

- What's the matter? What?
- Look at that.

There's something in there.

- What thing?
- Some kind of a thing.

- Is it trapped, finally?
- Whatever it is, it looks like it's trying to get out.

No, it's not trying
to get out. No, no.

It went in there.
It's feeding on the cobalt.

It's growing stronger.
It's expanding.

- Where are you going?
- We've gotta let it out of there.

Are you crazy?

- You're gonna let it get out?
- I gotta let it out of there!

Matchemonedo had done me a favor.

He proved to the others
that he existed.

But no one was ready for the immense
problem of evacuating a giant hospital.

Beds had to be found
in other hospitals.

Patients who were dependent
on heart-lung or kidney machines...

had to be moved
with the machine.

There was a shortage of
ambulances and police cars.

And Matchemonedo was
still to be dealt with.

Now, you're the public
relations man, Frank.

Now, evade it with finesse.

Do I have to tell you your job?

Aw, now, don't give me
that, friend.

You've sliced baloney much
thicker than this in your day.

All right,
all right. Spare me.

Now, here's your press release.

"Due to a weakening in
the hospital's foundation,

the authorities have
deemed it advisable...

to evacuate the hospital
pending further investigation."

Et cetera, et cetera.
Can you work with that?

Yeah, and, Frank, just give
it to the major news services.

They released the story to the
other news services. Yeah, yeah.

After all we did!

It's a complete cover-up!
Listen to this. Listen.

"The facility will be
temporarily deactivated...

"so that a comprehensive
facility study can be conducted.

A determination will then be made as to how
to proceed with corrective construction."

Have you ever heard such
patent blather in your life?

They know it's Matchemonedo.
They know that.

Are they gonna do
anything about it? No!

- What are you doing standing there? Get dressed!
- Kolchak.

Look, Kolchak,
many, many moons ago,

when the buffalo roamed
what is now the Loop,

- my ancestors offered up sacrifices to Matchemonedo.
- Yeah.

Now I think it's becoming
a police problem.

What do you mean, a police problem?
It's your problem. It's your heritage.

Yeah, you get the Loop,
and I get Matchemonedo.

- Is that the way the game goes?
- No, wegot Matchemonedo.

What do you mean "we,"
white man?

What do you think you're doing
with two of our best cameras?

I'm gonna hock 'em.
What do you think?

You ask a stupid question,
you get a stupid answer.

Some heavy trucks been rolling in and
out of that hospital all day long today.

I'm gonna find out what's
on 'em. It's all very hush-hush.

So go and see,
but leave the cameras...

for people who have some
regard for expensive equipment.

Need I remind you that
within the last year,

you completely ruined two cameras
and the electric pencil sharpener?

- Yeah, remind me of that sometime.
- I'll also remind you...

I let you borrow my
eight-millimeter projector.

When was that?
Last New Year's Eve?

And it came back with guacamole
all dripped down into the gears.

That isn't
funny. It cost me bucks to fix.

I didn't ruin
that pencil sharpener.

Our Miss Emily went through
a whole box of ballpoint pens.

Ah, you figured it out. Will
you listen to me, Kolchak?

If you must use a big negative
camera, isn't one enough?

- Do you need one for each hand?
- I am going to fill this one...

with infrared film and this
one with ultraviolet film,

and then I am gonna
get an image, sir,

of something that everybody
else denies exists.

Infrared, ultraviolet? That
means special film and processing.

- Well... - You're talking
about muchodollars, Carl.

Wait a minute. What do you mean,
something that everybody denies exists?

I am gonna get a photograph of
Matchemonedo, and you are gonna publish it.

A photo of who?

A great energy force.
An Indian...

Who is "Matcheminodo"?

A Cuban.
Carlos Matchemonedo.

He's a bantamweight fighter,
and he's absolutely terrific.

He's a real comer.
Here, put your money on him.

It's a voucher for
ultraviolet and hue-grain film.

Forty dollars!
Kolchak, come back here!

- Who is Matchemonedo?
- He's a Cuban fighter, a bantamweight.

Oh.

They were loading unmarked
boxes into the hospital from an unmarked truck.

But for me, everything had
"double cross" written all over it.

You're getting all the way
down to the basement, right?

Walter, I'm gonna stay
here. I wanna watch what happens.

Use your head, Ralph.

You come in contact with the liquid
nitrogen, you'll get serious freeze burns.

Well, I'll see that I
stay well away from the flow.

As supervisor of this
project, I'm not gonna let you do it.

Big, tough Walter Green, a man who's afraid to
admit the truth, even when he's acting on it.

- Please don't lecture me.
- You're not afraid of frostbite.

You're afraid this thing may
go wild when we try to freeze it.

You're afraid to admit that there's no
logical explanation for this Matchemonedo...

That he might have a personality,
that he might react to us.

Go outside, will you?
Will you please go outside?

Well? Are we
evacuated or not?

My men are checking out
all the floors for stragglers.

Some of your workmen
are still in the kitchen.

Everybody's out, Captain.

Good.

Come on, Ralph.

Keep away.

Carl, it's all right. Relax. Take it easy. Relax.

- Oh, it's you.
- Yeah, it's me.

- Get me out of here.
- Don't worry, Carl.

This isn't Lakefront. This
is good old St. Vincent's.

Oh, St. Vincenzio.
What? Oh. What happened?

You got some frostbite
on your hands and your feet.

- They decided not to amputate.
- Well, I'm glad to hear that.

What about it... Matchemonedo?

I mentioned
Matcheme-what-do-you-call-it...

to the fellow Green
that brought you in here.

- He didn't know what I was talking about.
- Sure he didn't.

You just take it easy, get
some rest. That's all you need.

You'll be out of here
before I know it.

Wait a minute.
I got something for you.

Your film and tape.

The film... ruined by the cold.

- All that money down the drain.
- Forty dollars. Hmm.

These came out though. Don't
ask me what they're supposed to be.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I'll never forget that.

Good-bye, Tony.

Lakefront
Hospital won't be up much longer.

It's coming down to make
room for a new marina...

One with deep channels
of icy lake water.

Dr. Ralph Carrie has gone
back to private practice...

from the safety and comfort of
an office in his own home, I hear.

Walter Green, construction wunderkind,
has another project going for him.

His company is building
the new lakefront marina.

Some people can make
a profit on anything.