Night Stalker, The (1972)

[bunniefuu]

Chapter One.

This is the story behind one of
the greatest manhunts in history.

Maybe you read about it,
or what they let you read about it,

probably as some minor item
buried on the back page.

However,
what happened in that city

between May 16th and May 28th
of this year was so incredible

that to this day
the facts have been suppressed

in a massive effort to save certain
political careers from disaster

and law enforcement officials
from embarrassment.

This will be the last time I will ever
discuss these events with anyone,

so when you have finished
this bizarre account,

judge for yourself its believability,

and then try to tell yourself,
wherever you may be,

"It couldn't happen here."

Sunday, May 16th.

At approximately 2:30 A. M.,

Cheryl Hughes was standing
at the intersection

of Casino Center
and Fremont Street

waiting for a girlfriend
to give her a lift home.

Cheryl Hughes was 23,





blonde hair, light brown eyes,

swing shift change girl
at the Gold Dust Saloon.

Cheryl Hughes, tired and hungry,

but just mad enough
to walk the eight blocks

to her small frame house
off the corner of 9th and Bridger.

Cheryl Hughes.
En route to her doom.

That's odd,

No evidence of
dependent lividity, either,

Peel back
the chest flap, please,

This should do it,

It's incredible,

Begin the gross work
on internal organs,

I'm going to phone
the district attorney,

And don't talk about this,
to anyone,

I came into it two days later,
called back 97 miles

from the first vacation
I had had in 21/2 years

because the story is so big
no one else can handle it,

according to our lovable
managing editor.

Rumor has it that the day
Anthony Albert Vincenzo was born,

his father left town.

The story may be apocryphal,
but I believe it.

The only point I wonder about

is why his mother
didn't leave, too.

Good morning, sl*ves,

- We are not amused,
- Kolchak, you are on it,

A two-day old,
third-rate m*rder...

- You are on it,
- What about them?

They have other assignments,

You're beautiful when you're angry,

Out,

First stop, County General, to see
one of my most reliable spies...

at least, he used to be reliable.

Hello, Carl,

I thought you were disbarred
for malpractice,

I thought we were
rid of you for two weeks,

So did I,

Well, about this
Cheryl Hughes thing...

why does it say "officially undetermined"
under "cause of death"?

- Why don't you ask the coroner?
- Come on, you're my spy here,

Haven't I kept quiet about
all those ill*gal operations

you've been performing
in closets?

Tell me true, was there anything
unusual about the autopsy?

- No, She lost a lot of blood,
- Some spy,

I'm just a poor doctor that occasionally
takes pity on an aging reporter,

Dr, O'Brien,
Any messages for me?

Sounds like
a Pulitzer Prize story to me,

Second stop,
the Gold Dust Saloon

and a chat with Gail Foster,
one of Cheryl Hughes' fellow workers

and a rather close friend of mine.

Poor Cheryl,
I feel just terrible about it,

If you don't want to talk about it,
you don't have to,

No, I want to help if I can,

You said that she
never had any boyfriends,

No, none that I ever heard of,

She dated once in a while,
but never the same man twice,

I don't think she liked men,

- Yeah?
- Yeah,

She even took karate lessons
in case one got fresh with her,

You mean that she knew karate?

Yeah, Brown belt,

Oh, I see him,
I've got to go, Bye-bye,

In any town
the size of Las Vegas,

the m*rder of one young woman
hardly causes a ripple.

But then the ripples started.

Thursday, May 20th,


Over there,

I didn't go down, I couldn't,

Okay, okay,
Don, take his statement,

What took you so long, Kolchak?

I got a flat tire,

Not a footprint in sight,

- Is that physically possible?
- If it happened, it's possible,

- It sure looks like it happened,
- Well, come on,

Bonnie Reynolds, 27, divorced,

c*ck waitress
at the Harem Room Casino.

Look at her throat!

She must have lost
an awful lot of blood,

Cheryl Hughes lost
a lot of blood, too,

You read that in the newspapers?

No, I didn't read that
in the newspapers,

This girl lost a lot of blood, Sheriff,
but she didn't lose it here,

Anything?

We found a purse,

There's signs
of a struggle up here,

But nothing in between,

Only our footprints,

What did he do, throw her?

Who said Bonnie Reynolds was thrown


I haven't heard about it,

Who said this new k*lling is connected
with the Cheryl Hughes m*rder?

The police?
Not to me, they haven't,

Who said Cheryl Hughes died
of massive blood loss?

The coroner again?

He hasn't even
turned in his report yet,

And who, may I ask, said that
a super-powerful madman

is running loose in Las Vegas?

You hearing voices, Kolchak?

I did not make up
the facts on this story,

I know you're bored,

Big-time reporter like you,

condemned to the sticks
with us journalistic rubes,

I know you'd like
a big, fat byline on a big, fat story

so you can pay your way
back to a big, fat city job,

but Kolchak,
I expect you to report,

not to come up with fairy tales,

And, Kolchak...

Quit bugging the P.D.

If something turns up,
they'll let us know,

Meanwhile, use your head
and lay off,

Whatever they're up to,

they don't want any help
from amateur bloodhounds like you,

Friday, May 21st, 8:06 A. m.

Apartment of Carol Hanocheck,

swing shift c*ck waitress

in the Bird of Paradise
Show Lounge.

She'd gotten home
around 2: 15 A. M.,

poured herself a glass of milk,

opened the back door
of the kitchen for reasons unknown,

and died like the others...

suddenly, quietly,

without disturbing
her sleeping roommate

only a few feet away.

Something of a pattern had
started to form, and it was ugly.

It was then
that people stopped talking.

Does that surprise you?

Look, you're not the only one
that likes to play detective,

The police, the Sheriff boys,
they all think they're pretty good,

And they don't need you,

You know,
you really make me feel wanted,

We've had three murders
in town, Bernie,

We have one tremendously
strong guy, maybe more,

who goes around
k*lling young girls,

and they all lost a lot of blood,

You aren't supposed
to know about that,

I'm not supposed to know
about that, And I know it,

What about your people
down at the Bureau?

No, this is nothing for the Bureau
to mess with at this stage,

You could make
some unofficial inquiries for me,

Like?

You could check around the country
and check all the hospitals

and see if any of them
have had corpses recently like ours,

all with a big loss of blood,

You could check all the insane
asylums across the country,

see if they released recently
a nut who thinks he's Count Dracula,

even if he hasn't done
anything to prove it,

Do you believe
in vampires, little boy?

That's funny, That's very funny,

That's very funny, Bernie,

Are you gonna do it, or sit there
like a cheap goniff guzzling my beer?

I'll think about it, okay?

Meanwhile, I hope
it doesn't disillusion you to know

that the local law enforcement people
go along with your views... somewhat,

At this moment, they're waiting for
a special report from the coroner

and two pathology experts
who were flown up from L.A.P.D.

along with
a small truckload of equipment,

Oh, hi, Marilyn, how are you?

- I like your luncheon place,
- Yeah,

If you want to hear
that special report,

meet me at the sheriff's office,
Starts at 6:30,

- Hey, thanks,
- Don't thank me, Just be there,

Where are you going?

Mr. Kolchak, telephone please.
Mr. Kolchak.

Carl Kolchak, telephone, please.
Carl Kolchak.

Kolchak,

Hi, Carl,

I heard the Parkway Hospital
was knocked over,

Knocked over for what?
Cash, drugs, equipment, what?

Blood?

That's right,
Every container in the place,

Their entire stock,

What about blood type?

Seems blood type and Rh factor
didn't much matter,

- Can't stop now, See you,
- Yeah, but...


Clark County Courthouse.

Present in addition to myself

and two incompetents
who called themselves reporters

were Warren Butcher
of the Sheriff's Office,

Thomas Paine
of the District Attorney's Office,

Captain Edward Masterson
of the Las Vegas Police Department,

and old buddy Bernie Jenks.

Holding forth
with his inimitable cool,

Dr. Robert Makurji,
boy coroner.

We found that death in each case
was extremely swift,

coming in something
less than a minute,

After the initial wounds
were inflicted,

the blood was drained
very quickly,

some kind of suction device
being used,

This would explain why no blood
was found anywhere in the victims

or in the areas
they were discovered,

Doctor, Kolchak, Daily News.

Do you have any idea what
could have made these wounds?

They're not unlike the bite
of a medium-sized dog,

What do you mean, dog?

What are you telling us,
a dog did these murders?

I didn't mean to indicate the wounds
were actually inflicted by a dog,

only that they're similar to those
which might be caused by a dog,

A rather interesting point
is that we found another substance

mixed in with the traces of blood
in the throat wounds, namely saliva,

What do you mean, saliva?

I mean saliva, Sheriff Butcher,

Human saliva,

If Makurji had suggested
that the murders

were committed
by a giant butterfly,

he couldn't have made more sparks.

Now... what do you mean, human?

Are you suggesting
that each of these women

was bitten in the throat
by a man?

At present,
the evidence points that way,

However, I couldn't and wouldn't
hazard a guess as to motivation,

I can only be sure
they each died from shock

induced by massive loss of blood,

Dr, Makurji, is it possible
that he k*lled these women

by biting them in the throat
for the express purpose

of drinking their blood?

Kolchak, you're here by
the mutual suffrage of us all,

- Sufferance,
- What?

It's "sufferance," Sheriff,

Well, whatever it is,
just shut up!

I'll answer that,

There have been cases of people who,
through some mental derangement,

have come to believe
they were vampires,

In Germany in the 1920s,
there was one fellow

who did use his teeth
to rip out his victims' throats,

We are not going to jump
to any conclusions

about who or what
k*lled these women,

It is possible, you know, to type
a person's blood from his saliva,

If I were you gentlemen,
I'd look for a very anemic fellow,

possibly with
some rare blood disease,

I don't care what kind of a nut
k*lled these women,

But I'll tell you this...
he's out there,

and I'll bet he's high on pot
or the hard stuff,

and he's going to k*ll again
unless he's stopped,

What have your people got
on this Parkway blood theft?

Well, the latest is the nurse said

she saw something funny
out there last night

or early this morning,

Seems that a tall, skinny guy
dressed as an orderly

was nosing around
the refrigerated storage area,

That's where they keep
the blood and the plasma,

She didn't think much of it then,

but later when she spoke
about the guy to the floor super,

she was told that there was
no such tall, skinny guy on duty there,

Description as follows...

white male adult...



about 175 pounds
with pale complexion,

Dark hair,

So we start looking for a man,

local resident or,
worse yet, some outsider

who may not even
still be in the area,

We'll check the airport,
the bus terminal, railroad station,

blockade the highways,
and if we're lucky, we'll get him,

if he's stupid enough to still be
hanging around after three crimes,

You got any other suggestions?

Just do it,
All right, let's break this up,

Thank you, Doctor MA...
MA...

Thank you, doctor,

Mr. Paine, I shouldn't be
too inclined

to reject Mr. Kolchak's theory
out of hand if I were you,

It is at best highly speculative,
but not altogether unwarranted,

You can throw away that cassette,

Now, this "vampire" stuff

is to stay right in this room,

Until we have
the assailant in custody,

we say nothing about these women
being drained of blood,

There will be no rumors,
no reports in the paper,

The official opinion at this time is that
the cause of death is undetermined,

We don't want to cause a panic,

It's bad for police operations,
It's bad for the people,

And it's bad for business,

Thank you for your cooperation,

Kolchak, I want to have
a talk with you,

Boys, there's no reason
to bother the doctor anymore,

I have a prepared statement
in my office,

You can go back to the lab,

You're becoming a real pest,

I'll have to have a word or two
with Vincenzo about you,

Maybe one of the other boys
at the office

should handle this from here on,

Keep your nose clean, son,
Stay out of other people's business,

It's healthier that way,

Will you watch what you're saying?
You know these guys,

You could find yourself out of a job
and 86'd all over town,

That go for you, too?

Who can talk to you
when you get like this?

Listen, I'll nose around unofficially
for you on anything you bring me,

just between the two of us,

but do me a favor and stay away
from me for a few days,

just for friendship's sake,

Did I say it was a vampire?

What does
your suggested headline say?

The story makes it clear,

"Vampire k*ller in Las Vegas,"
question mark, Do I misread?

The story makes it clear,

Do I misread, or did you
use the word "vampire"?

Some screwball
who imagines he's a vampire

is loose in Las Vegas,
and people ought to be told,

If there's a screwball
loose in Las Vegas,

his last name begins with a "K,"

I've heard about the little scene
you had with the boys downtown,

No vampire stories, clear?

How about a special featurette
with a border of roses...

an interview
with the two girl victims in heaven,

with a celestial choir
in the background,

Out!

I'm sorry,
I guess I fell asleep,

Yes,

What were you saying?

You do great things
for my masculine ego, you know?

Yeah,

Actually, I was saying that
I think that Vincenzo

has the news sense
of a tree stump,

It's got to be one man,
It's got to be,

Big, strong, psychotic,

You're certainly making me very glad
that I work nights,

Well, I told you
to quit working nights, didn't I?

I am forever in your debt, love,

What was that?

The k*ller's done it again,

Oh, no,

Only this time, he was seen,

I saw him standing over there,

I thought he was kissing her,

Then he turned, and she fell down
over there by the car,

He must have followed her home,

I'm sorry, I can't,

Victim number four.

Mary Branden, showgirl, 25,

five feet eight inches tall,


less the weight of


Looks like Bela Lugosi struck again,

Knock it off,
That's her daughter,

Oops,

I'm all right now,

Now, the car he drove away in...
was it new?

No,

It was a few years old, I think,

It was a maroon coupe,

I'll call it in,

Barney, may I, uh...?

Yeah, but take it easy,

I'm sorry, ma'am,
Kolchak, the Daily News.

That was your daughter?

My best contact in Las Vegas
has always been Helen O'Brien,

chief switchboard operator
at the county courthouse.

Hello, adorable,

You're a sadist,

Oh, I could take it back,

Over my dead, plump body,

Listen, you magnificent morsel,

the DMV is
checking on the suspect's car,

You couldn't help me
in that area, could you?

Of course not,

Bribed again,

What?

How'd you like to see
the k*ller's face?

Sherman Duffy
of the Chicago Globe

once described a reporter
as follows...

socially, he fits in somewhere
between a hooker and a bartender.

Spiritually, he stands
beside Galileo,

because he knows
the world is round.

Not that it does much good
when his editor knows it's flat.

Shelley Forbes
has got to be his fifth victim,

Look at the way
her dog was k*lled,

- You never give up, do you?
- What do you mean?

I mean this is unacceptable,

I'm very close to firing you,

even though the owner of this paper
has a soft spot in his head

for has-been big city reporters,

I am tired of your pressure,

I am tired of the owner's pressure,

I'm tired of the pressure all around me
to blow this story up on the one hand

and keep it under wraps
on the other,

I am tired of being the middleman,

Do you understand that?

Can you understand that?

What do you want, Vincenzo?

A testimonial from Count Dracula?

Out! Get out!

What is this "Out! Out!
Get out!" game we play?

This nut thinks he is a vampire,

He has k*lled four,
maybe five women,

He has drained every drop of blood
from every one of them,

Now, that is news, News!

And we are a newspaper!

We are supposed to print news,
not suppress it!

You know darn well why we're
soft-pedaling this thing,

No! Tell me why!

Could it be because
we have been told to?

You are an idiot,

Worse, You're irresponsible,

All these murders mean to you
is a byline,

What difference does it matter
what it means to me?

The point is that
we are suppressing news,

we are withholding information,

Everybody in town
knows what's going on...

the police, the D.A...
the coroner's office,

Every reporter on every newspaper
in Las Vegas knows what's going on,

The only people
who don't know are the people,

At last you got the point,

The people
in Las Vegas don't know,

because the people would
come unglued if they did know,

even more than they're
coming unglued already, Capisce?

Tuesday, May 25th,


Helen O'Brien had told me

that the DMV had come up
with 16 possibles.

All but one had been eliminated.

The car owner's name,
Martin Lubin,

address on Spring Mountain Road,

name and address both phony.

Name of salesman
who sold car, Fred Hurley.

So I sets him a price,

He don't say nothing,
just stands there looking at me,

How'd you find out about this?

A fat little bird told me about it,

- Just keep your mouth shut,
- Yes, sir,

Okay,

Well, like I said, he just
stands there looking at me,

Then he tells me
the price is too high...

$300 too high,

He keeps staring, as if daring me
to tell him the price is $1200,

Is this the fellow?

Stop doing our job for us,
That's already been established,

You see, I told them
only he had a mustache,

Mustache, Did you
sell him the car?

Well, I started to say no,

but something inside tells me,
"Don't mess with this guy,"

I mean, he's a creep,
with them red eyes and that voice,

He's enough to keep a guy
from working nights,

All my life I've waited
for a story like this, All my life!

When it finally comes,
I can't get it printed,

Do you know
the holes in Mary Branden's neck

were airbrushed out before
they printed the photographs?

If you keep going on like this,
you're going to get fired again,

Let's see...
how many times has it been?

Twice in Washington,

three times in New York,

twice in Chicago,

and once...
or was it twice? In Boston,

Oh,

I'm becoming extinct
in my own lifetime,

h*m* Newshawkus.

Natural habitat,
a pool of sour mash bourbon,

You know, I really ought to
light a candle to Ben Hecht,

Here,

You ought to
quit your job, you know,

And you'll support me?

Well, I...
Come on, honey, I'm serious,

That weirdo's hit five girls,
and they were all night workers,

Five?

Yeah, five,

A girl named Shelley Forbes
is missing,

and I'll bet my bottom dollar
she's victim number five,

You know, you iron a shirt
pretty good there,

I've been doing some thinking,

What do you know about vampires?

Only that they wear dinner suits

and talk
with marbles in their mouth,

Will you please be serious?

Watch my natural habitat there,

Open it,

"Everything You Always Wanted
to Know About Vampires.

But Were Afraid to Ask."

No, you're going to look at it,

Come on, Why?

- What if the k*ller's a real vampire?
- I've had a very long week,

He's done everything
that's in this book,

You're going to read it,

Yes, all right,
I'm going to read it,

Oh, now, come on,
you're a big, tough reporter,

You can take it, You might even
get a good feature article out of it,

That's it,

"Since the beginning
of man's existence,

"there have been
creatures of the night,

"crazed monsters
that track their bloody prints

"through the pages
of fact and fiction,

"Of them all, the vampire
seems to have accumulated

the largest body
of documentation,".

"By night, the vampire
is virtually indestructible,

"fearing only
the sign of the cross,

"Before daybreak,
he must return to his coffin,

"otherwise he will be destroyed
by the purifying rays of the sun,

"It is then,
while he lies dormant,

"he can be destroyed

by hammering
a wooden stake through his heart,".

According to the legend,

the victim of the vampire
will ultimately rise again

as the living dead,

and must be destroyed
in a similar manner.

From any source available,
the vampire must have blood.

Help! Help!

Someone help!

He's in there,

I was doing double duty
as night editor

when the P.D. squawk box
went crazy

about a wild brawl
at the Old Town Hospital.

Thursday, May 27th,


Our morning edition hit the streets

recapping all the action
at the hospital.

The TV people, as usual,
had missed out completely,

and the radio stations were literally
reading our copy on the air.

But now the whole lid
was really blown off.

The maniac had been identified.

Sorry I'm late, I just got these
out of the soup,

Now, here's a rundown

on the Scotland Yard
and the Interpol findings,

Subject... Janos Skorzeny,

Born in Craesti, Romania, 1899,

Now, wait just a minute,

You trying to tell me this guy
is over 70 years old?

Come on, Bernie, your boys
have come up with the wrong man,

Like hell we have!

These facts have been
triple-checked and confirmed,

I've been up all night,
and I'm pretty tired,

Do you want it or don't you?

Just take it easy,
Let's hear it,

All right,

Skorzeny's father died in 1923,

He left somewhere between
$75 and $100 million,

At this time he began to travel,

and he became known
throughout Eastern Europe

as a big lover of nightlife,

We don't have a lot more
on him before World w*r II,

Scotland Yard reports
he showed up in England

just in time
for the German blitz,

I'm sure Mr. Kolchak will find
the following facts of interest,

Such formality from a man
who always guzzles my beer.

While in England, he passed
himself off as Dr, Paul Belasco,

specialist in hematology research,

His work involved
freshly k*lled air raid victims

from various
London emergency rooms,

As a matter of fact,
at his residence in Shafto Court,

he installed several kinds
of sumps, tubs,

and an extremely large
commercial meat freezer,

In 1948, he turned up in Canada,
still as Dr, Belasco,

Further checking
made his presence known

in almost every place
along the US-Canadian border

where rioting and violence

and a number of dead bodies
were found,

We believe he left Canada
for Vegas April 19th

under the name of
Detective Constable Alan Hensley,

Now, because of
his British citizenship,

he is an international fugitive,

so my people
are very interested in him,

This is no longer just a local matter,

Now, gentlemen,

the one constant that has
shown up in all of our reports is

that Skorzeny's travels
have always been accompanied

by a number of unexplained killings,

many of which
have one thing in common...

A massive loss of blood,

So, if Skorzeny is not the vampire
of Mr. Kolchak's theories,

he is certainly the suspect
of multiple homicides

extending back some 30 years,

Mr. Jenks, you seem to be
running this show,

Could I have a minute
to say something?

- You have the floor,
- You keep it short,

I was at the hospital yesterday,
and a lot of things were happening

that you just simply
cannot explain away,

Sheriff, your own men shot at him,
some at point-blank range,

How come it didn't even
slow him down?

How come a man over 70 years old
can outrun a police car?

How come this same man, slugged
in the head, doesn't even bleed?

I saw those gashes in his head,
and whatever it was

that was trickling from those wounds
was clear. It was not blood!

This guy's got a motor mouth,
Can't we shut him up?

No, let him hang himself,
Then we'll finally be rid of him,

So far he has k*lled four,
probably five women,

The coroner said that
those bite marks on the throat

were made by human teeth,

He practically confirmed the fact
that he actually drank their blood,

Now, wait, Whatever
this Skorzeny may be,

he seems to be functioning
as if he were a vampire,

You can go on operating
as if he were an ordinary man,

That's up to you,

But I know that the only way
you're going to get him

is if you proceed
under the assumption

that he's a real-life vampire!

Now, the research
that I've been able to find...

Wait a minute,
Have you lost your mind?

Can you imagine the total
blind panic this town would be in

if the public were told we were
actually looking for a vampire?

Not to mention
the irreparable damage

it would do to the image
of law enforcement in Vegas,

That's what it's all about,
isn't it? That's it,

Boy, I really can't believe
that you guys

are so afraid of appearing stupid

that you'll ignore the only
possible way of nailing him!

You listen, and you listen good,

We'll handle this by ourselves,

and without
undue public observation,

No undue public observation?
You've blown it already!

Look what's appeared
in my paper today,

People are going to be calling
for a grand jury investigation,

You can't stop the rumors!

Sit down!

I don't care what's
been printed in the newspapers,

This man is still classified
as an ordinary maniac,

and he'll be settled
by standard police procedures,

And you'd better start
cooperating with that fact,

or you're going to get your
pushy tushy kicked out of town,

You dig?

Yes, sir, I dig,

But just remember
the next time you blow it

who's got the answers... sir,

All right, Ed,

Let's get on with it,
What have you got?

Our two departments combined
have 650 men on full-time duty,

All leaves are canceled,

and everyone's working
a 16-hour day,

Our chopper is going
from dusk to dawn,

We've got unmarked cars patrolling
the Casino Center and the Strip,

All roads are blocked,

and we're receiving
complete cooperation

from the Highway Patrol
and the Jeep Posse,

- You got it?
- Got it,

Repeat,

What did I say?

Show every real estate agent in town
the picture of this guy's puss,

and ask 'em if they sold a house
to anybody that looks like him,

Good boy, You got it,
Now get going,

Now, wait a minute,
Wait till I lose this last dollar,

Mickey, has the idea of winning
ever occurred to you?

Winning?

Oh, boy, oh, boy,

You spoke,

You know, I have a very strange,
unhappy feeling

that the police are never
going to catch this m*rder*r,

I also have another
very unhappy feeling,

Which is?

This case may be even bigger
than I thought it was,

Bigger?

Stranger, then,

I've seen a lot of weird things
in my life, love,

I have never,
ever seen anything like this,

You don't tell me that
you're finally going to believe...

I don't even want to think about it,

Car 14, check out the report
on the two ladies

downtown on Casino Drive.

Code 10-33, code 10-33.
All units, all units.

Janos Skorzeny spotted

in 1969 green,
unpaneled station wagon,

intersection Oakey and Houssels.

I.D. confirmed.

Positive visual contact made.

Units 7 and 8, seal off
Rexford and Houssels at Oakey.

Repeat, Units 7 and 8.

Unit 3, close off Park Paseo
at Las Vegas Boulevard.

Units 4, 6, move north to face
Unit 3 at Park Paseo and 5th.

Unit 5, move up Bracken
to 5th Place.

All units...

Hold it!

Get up, slowly,

Somebody find a light switch!

He's holding Chambers down!

Friday, May 28th, 3: 17 A. m.

Despite the helicopters,
the Highway Patrol, the Jeep Posse,

despite the blocking
of every major road and highway,

despite the mass coverage
of Las Vegas

by every available man in both
police and sheriff departments,

Janos Skorzeny was still at large.

The courthouse conference room
had been a scene of chaos

for more than three hours now.

Messages were still flooding in
from every outside unit.

Every available man who had
taken place in the capture attempt

was being debriefed.

At the hospital,
two officers had died

and a third
was hovering on the edge.

Reports on them
were still coming in

as the greatest manhunt
in the history of Las Vegas

continued in vain.

Oh, thanks, Bernie, Yeah,

Well, what are we gonna do?

Now are you willing to listen
to my insane ideas?

Get out of here!

Hold it, hold it,
You were there, weren't you?

Yes,

Every man we've questioned insists

not only that Skorzeny was
possessed of incredible strength,

but that he was shot
more than once

during the capture attempt,

I'd say 30, 40 times,

I'm sorry, I'm not buying that,

Captain, you have two choices,

Either he was shot,

or your entire police department
is blind,

Ed, let's admit it,

We had the man, had him cornered,
and we couldn't hold him,

Let Kolchak have his say,

Before I do,

is it agreed that
in return for my help

you will grant me
the exclusive rights

to the entire story?

Let's say it's agreeable if

we decide to follow your suggestions
regarding the suspect,

Fine, because if you don't
follow my suggestions,

you're going to be chasing
your suspect till doomsday!

Just get on with it,

Of course,

Each man in the field
is to be issued one of these...

to be carried in his pocket,

- This, gentlemen...
- Where'd you get that?

I have a friend who's got
a furniture repair store,

I woke him up and had him make it,

Each man in the field
is to be issued one of these

and one of these,

Are you suggesting that we pound
one of these into Skorzeny's chest?

No, into his heart,

There's a legal phrase for that,

You might have run into it once
or twice in your broad experience,

It's called premeditated m*rder,

It's the only way
you're going to stop him,

You heard your own men,
Can they all be wrong?

You can stop your nighttime chases
from now on, too, gentlemen,

The only hope you have
is to spot Skorzeny

and then track him back
to where he lives

and wait until sunrise
before finishing him off,

He's only vulnerable during the day,
At night he's much too strong,

Yes, gentlemen,
I hate to say this...

but it looks as if we have
a real, live vampire on our hands,

- Ed,
- Yes, sir,

- Warren,
- Yeah,

Tom, I'd like to be
in on this, too,

Okay, you've
got yourself a deal,

- Conditional,
- What's that?

Butcher here will issue
the crosses, the mallets, the stakes,

The one thing he won't do is depart
from established police procedures,

If feasible, Skorzeny is to be
taken alive and held for trial,

Trial?!

That's right, trial, Trial,

All right, In return for what?

You'll get
the exclusive rights to the story...

when the blackout is lifted,

Any other conditions?

- One more,
- What's that?

If it turns out you're wrong,
you're to be out of town in 12 hours,

Take it or leave it,

All right, I'll take it,

Because I know I'm right,

And you know I'm right,

Right,

Ciao.

I'll take Manhattan,

the Bronx,
and Staten Island, too,

Watch out, you great big
wonderful Big Apple,

Kolchak's coming back,

Yeah!

Kolchak! It's me, Crawford!

What are you doing driving off
with me in the backseat?

What are you doing
in my backseat?

I wanted to talk to you,

I saw your car parked here,

so I got in to wait for you
and I got sleepy,

You got sleepy!

Hey!

I think I found the house,

I told Crawford
to give me 30 minutes

before telling Jenks where I was.

That way I could get to see
the house alone for a while,

and also keep the police
from arriving before dawn,

which I knew they'd do
if they got the chance,

no matter what I told them.

Shelley Forbes?

I'll get us out,

His own private blood bank. Wow.

Hold still, It won't stick,

You think they'll print it?

I know they will,
We've got an agreement,

You look kind of tired,

You want me to drive you
to the office?

Go on, hush-a-bye, will ya?

I want to finish this in time
for the special edition,

Why don't you stop working nights...

Oh, Carl, not that again,

and marry me?
What?

Well, you're a good cooker
and a good kisser,

Why not?

Oh, baby, you're gonna love
New York City,

Honey, after this story hits
the news services with my byline...

- Us, married?
- Yes! Us, married!

Don't look now, baby,

but Kolchak's coming back,
in style!

There you are, Vincenzo,

and if I do say so myself,
it's sensational,

I'm sure it is, Carl,

You're going to put it
in the special edition? With pictures?

And the news services?

Okay, fine,

What's got into you?
You sick or something?

Nothing,
This is all fine, Carl, fine,

Jenks has been trying to reach you,

Yeah? What'd he want?

He wants to see you
at the D.A.'s office,

Why don't you run over there now?

Yeah,

You're one hell of a reporter,

Thank you, sir,

And a bright
"good morning" to all of you,

Bernie, what did you...?

Is your name Carl Kolchak,

and do you reside
in the city of Las Vegas?

You know my name's Carl Kolchak,
What's going on?

You're under arrest
on the charge of m*rder,

The state requires
that you be informed

that you have the right
to remain silent,

No, Oh, no,

No chance, You're not going to
pull that one on me,

You are under arrest,

All right, Paine, just what kind
of a dirty deal is this?

You have a very short memory,

A few hours ago,
Sheriff Butcher himself

saw you actually pound
a wooden stake

through a man's heart
with this mallet,

A man wanted for questioning...
questioning, mind you,

He hadn't been arrested,

He hadn't even been charged,

You broke up our stakeout,

and after we were kind enough
to invite you to go along,

You just charged in there
in front of us

and k*lled Janos Skorzeny

before we had a chance
to do anything,

Why, you were even ranting
and raving

about this Skorzeny being
some kind of a vampire,

and you had to save the world,

And that, Mr. Kolchak,
is m*rder one,

If you plead insanity, you might
get lucky, but I promise you this,

you'll be committed to an asylum
for the rest of your life,

I pull your fat out of the fire,
and you do this,

Will you just sit down a minute
and listen to them?

You were there!

Just listen,

Now, this is your story, Kolchak,

It's already being printed,

"This morning
shortly before sunrise,

"Las Vegas Sheriff's deputies

"under the command
of Sheriff Warren A, Butcher, 45,

"surrounded the home
of Janos Skorzeny,

"a fugitive
from a federal warrant,

and, in a pitched g*n battle,
were forced to k*ll him,".

Never, You'll never
get away with it,

- What's to stop me...?
- You're going to stop yourself,

Because if you open your mouth,
we'll find you,

bring you back,
use this warrant,

and put you away forever,

Pick 'em up, Kolchak,

Pick 'em up
and get out of town, Now,

We'll take care
of your back rent,

I want to call Gail,

She's not there, Carl,

What have you done with her?

Nothing,

We just asked
the young lady if she'd be

good enough to leave town,

She's an undesirable element,
Kolchak,

and we don't want
undesirable elements in Las Vegas,

There's nothing I can do,

You let me know
where you end up, huh?

Yeah, sure, I'll keep in touch,

So all the loose ends
have been gathered together

and tied into a pretty knot,

right around the neck of guess who.

After I left town, I began putting
notices in the personal columns

of newspapers
from San Francisco to St. Louis.

Until I ran out of money, that is.

So far, I've received no answers,

but I'll keep trying

even though I don't think
I'll ever find Gail Foster again.

Maybe it's just as well.

So that's it.
The book's finished.

And now you'll have to
judge for yourself.

I must warn you, however,

if you try to verify this account,

you will find it quite impossible.

Item... in Washington, D. C.,

there is no longer a file
listing the suspect

under his true name
or any of his alleged aliases.

Item... in Las Vegas,
all of those who were involved

have either left town,
aren't talking,

or are dead.

I haven't had a decent night's sleep
since all this happened,

and now you might find it
difficult, too,

because there is still one fact
that cannot be buried.

After the death of Janos Skorzeny,

he and all of his victims

were immediately cremated.

Why?

Remember the legend?

All those who die
from the bite of the vampire

will return as a vampire

unless destroyed first.

So think about it, and try to
tell yourself, wherever you may be,

in the quiet of your home,
in the safety of your bed,

try to tell yourself,
"It couldn't happen here."