01x16 - The Forests of the Night

[bunniefuu]

[theme music]

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

Alright.

Can thee walk?

Yes, father.

[music continues]

Yes, sir, be with you in just..

Well, for the love of..

Mr. MacDonald, what happened?

Tell him.

Two men caught me along Indian ridge and beat me.

They said this will remind thee to take the letter serious.

What letter?

[instrumental music]

[dramatic music]

These men, did you ever see them before?

No.

[theme music]

[music continues]

[male narrator] "The FBI."

A Quinn Martin, Warner Brothers production.

Starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

Also starring Philip Abbott

Stephen Brooks.

With guest stars, John Anderson

Harry Townes

Robert Colbert

Michael Burns.

Tonight's Episode

"The Forests Of The Night."

[instrumental music]

[thunder rumbling]

I understand about that.

What about the long range forecast?

Well, check it out for me, will ya?

[thunder rumbling]

I hate to call you back on a night like this, Lewis

but we gotta mean one here.

Extortion.

Spencer's going over the original manuscript upstairs.

Jobites?

Yeah. A minority religious group.

Settled on a few acres just south side of Stanton, Oregon

about six months ago and there's been trouble

brewing there ever since.

Mainly a matter of economics, I suppose

but maybe bigotry

'is always a matter of economics.'

It is a highly depressed area.

There are more men on relief than there are working.

A year ago, uh..

...a pulp mill started looking at the property, uh

down by the river, for a new plant.

The Jobites bought it, while the pulp men

were still trying to make up their minds.

And the town blames the Jobites?

Mm, yeah, some of the town does.

Safer getting into constitutional guarantees, Art.

That's not all we're getting into.

What do you think of, Lewis

when you think of Oregon?

[Erskine] 'Oregon?'

[thunder rumbling]

Mount Hood, Crater Lake.

- Rain? - Yeah.

They've just finished their 97th day

without a drop of it.

I was talking to Kramer

over at the Department of Interior

a little earlier tonight.

He says they're sitting on a nuclear b*mb out there.

[Arthur] 'One spark and ten thousand acres'

'of prime timber could explode.'

[thunder rumbling]

And Stanton is right smack in the middle of it.

"Burn houses, k*ll people."

What do you suppose we're up against here, Art?

I don't know.

People do strange things when a drought hits.

I know, because I've been through it myself.

Well, there's a plane leaving for Portland, tomorrow at noon.

And you can get a plane there to Klamath Falls

where the resident agent will pick you up.

His name is, uh, Martin Bennett.

[buzzer beeps]

[thunder rumbling]

Ward. Yeah.

Okay, thanks.

That was the weather bureau.

There's no change in the forecast

for southern Oregon.

Continued hot and dry.

[thunder rumbling]

[instrumental music]

[thunder rumbling]

[dramatic music]

Well..

Sometimes thee can be a hard man to locate, Adam.

We missed thee at supper.

Too hot to sit in the house.

Or the meeting hall?

Was there a meeting this afternoon, Elder Stone?

I forgot.

That's what I told the council.

I said, "Stop grumbling."

"Adam's the leader and the leader

has more on his mind these days than council meetings."

Like heat lightnin'

or, uh, tender dry forest, for instance.

Maybe God's gonna burn us out

before our general neighbors get around to it.

Maybe you'd like to know what the council discussed?

Let me guess.

Moving.

Payment to the extortionist.

If there is a fire set

and if a spark blows into the woods

everything here could perish.

Jobites, towns people

men, women, children

animals, everything.

Is five thousand dollars too much

to pay for all that life?

Five cents is too much to pay for all that bigotry.

Has thee ever thought that

part of this may be our own fault?

[Elder Stone] 'I remember, when we first came here'

some of the towns people asked us to their homes

and we always said, "No, no"

as though it would corrupt us.

The world's way is not our way, Elder Stone.

Father.

The sheriff just called, he has more pictures

for me to look at.

Would thee be afraid to go into town again, Jacob?

No, sir.

Well.

Another hand held out, Adam.

I've been leader

twenty two years, Elder Stone.

I've never known a single outsider

who truly wanted to help us.

But perhaps this once.

[instrumental music]

There's nothing unusual about these cutouts, Inspector.

They appear to be from national and regional American magazines.

The paper though, that's something else again.

That's a very distinctive water mark.

Comes from a little mill in Vermont.

- And I need comparison strips. - Alright.

What about the paste?

Plain flour and water. Probably homemade.

Lou, I'm sorry I'm late.

The traffic's backed up half way to Harlington.

What have we got?

Extortion, Southern Oregon.

Better book two seats in the noon flight to Portland.

You can forget about that flight.

You'll be boarding an Air Force jet at three.

This morning?

That's right, this morning.

That'll get you into Portland at 5:30, their time.

Bennett will meet you there.

What's happened, Art?

Remember how I told you a weather like that

could make a man wanna k*ll something?

[Arthur] 'I just got a call from the local undersheriff.'

MacDonald and his son, went into town tonight.

They're being attacked. Right now.

Hello, sheriff, you'll have to call out to militia.

I need some help down here and I need it now! Now!

[mob shouting]

Stop it!

I said stop it.

Stop it.

[glass shattering]

Get out. We'll be torched.

[indistinct shouting]

You hurt my son, I'll k*ll thee.

[g*nshots fired]

Get 'em in the office.

[indistinct chatter]

Check the back, bud. Get tear gas.

"Let the world in a little?"

You've heard Elder Stone say it.

You've heard us argue about it.

'You've even argued a little with me thyself.'

Thee are young.

Thee'll be leader someday.

Remember what thee have seen tonight

and keep the world out.

They don't hate you, Mr. MacDonald.

Well, it's the weather, it's-it's their own fear--

Fear didn't write that extortion note, sheriff.

Hatred, hatred did.

Will you let the FBI, handle the extortionist?

The FBI can do as it pleases

so long as it leaves my people and me alone.

They'll need your co-operation, Mr. MacDonald.

And they'll not get it.

We'll let no more of the world in.

No more. Ever.

[instrumental music]

Hey, hey, hey, hey! Hey!

Hey, you guys, look out over there.

Let's tip it over. Come on, tip it over.

[male #1] 'Let's go, come on.'

[mob shouting]

[instrumental music]

After that, the sheriff said

they broke out a few store windows

and milled around for a while

and then most of them went on home.

When the streets were cleared he and a deputy

drove MacDonald and his son out to their farm.

And nobody attacked the settlement?

No, sir.

- Lou, look. - Oh.

I must say, it's a beautiful country.

Yes, sir.

" Like a tigress", my granddad use to say.

Beautiful until she turns on you.

Turns on you?

Fire. Forest fire.

Did you ever see one?

Once.

I remember the Douglas fir exploding like cannon.

You see, the fire creates its own vacuum.

And that's what you hear mostly, the wind screaming.

How many roads are there out of Stanton?

For evacuation?

Hmm?

One.

But I guess most of the children have been moved out already.

Just in case.

[Bennett] 'There won't be much time for evacuation'

'if a fire ever breaks out here.'

There won't be much time for anything.

That's got to be a bluff.

Nobody could hate anybody enough

to try to burn this whole country out.

Could they?

Could they? Just look.

Look at that street.

How come it's so quite now, sheriff?

They're quite because it's Sunday

and because they are all home

nursing an emotional hangover.

They're all ashamed of themselves.

I'm ashamed.

Come on, let's go inside, I'll try to fill you in.

Was this supposed to be a Jobite?

That's a Jobite, found it hanging over my door

when I got in from the settlement last night.

There's only one man in town with gall enough

to do a thing like that, so I arrested him.

Well, not just for the effigy.

He was one of the rioters too.

He probably organized it.

I air-mailed his prints to Washington.'

I don't know of anything important

that's going on in this town in the last ten years

that Roy Sumner didn't start.

Or finish, or at least know about.

Did the boy get a good look at this Sumner?

Good enough.

Roy didn't have anything to do

with beating up the boy.

I'd like to talk to him.

Well, I'll tell you right now

you're not gonna get any co-operation

out of anyone on this case, Inspector.

But it's your time, if you wanna waste it

you go right ahead.

[Sheriff Earl] 'Sumner, rise and shine.'

You yell when you're ready.

FBI, Mr. Sumner.

I'm Inspector Erskine, this is Special Agent Rhodes.

FBI?

I'd like to ask you a few questions.

You're entitled to counsel, of course.

What questions?

Yesterday morning, a 16 year old boy

named Jacob McDonald was beaten up.

Not guilty.

Look Mr. Erskine, I don't beat up kids or women

even when they deserve it.

And you feel the MacDonald boy deserved it?

- I wouldn't know. - How about his father?

Did he deserve having his car wrecked?

Look, Mr. Erskine, if wrecking a car, sending a note

would chase these pious people out of here, then..

A note, Mr. Sumner?

[Sumner] 'Stanton's got a sheriff with a big mouth.'

Everybody knows about that note.

Something about burning him out, wasn't it?

And you would approve of that?

I wouldn't know. Nobody's gonna set any fires around here.

- You're sure? - I'm sure.

Then wouldn't the note seem a little pointless?

Mr. Erskine, the kids in this town

play a game on the sidewalks.

They race their bikes towards each other

as fast as they can.

It'd be quite a crash if they hit.

But one of 'em always swerves.

Are you serious?

What's the matter with you, Sumner?

We're not talking about children's games.

We're talking about extortion and bigotry.

Or do you think these people deserve that?

These people? These people put this town out of business.

Did they? Or are they being blamed

for the towns backwardness?

Oh, for crying out loud.

Hey, Earl? Earl? Hey, Earl?

- Alright' what's going on? - Get 'em outta here.

- You're through, Mr. Erskine? - All through.

Hey, I thought I was gonna be transferred to Klamath Falls?

You will be. Simmer down.

Crazy weather is getting to all of us, I guess.

Yeah? Must be.

Hey, could I borrow your car? I'd like to talk to MacDonald.

- Why, yes, certainly. - And it won't do any good.

But go ahead, go ahead.

In the meantime, check the stores in town.

Any place that sells writing paper.

See if they can match that.

- Jim. - Yep.

You know something, sheriff?

Sometimes I think they ought to add a phrase

to all welcome mats.

"Tolerate or die."

I'm for that.

[dramatic music]

Call my father quick.

[music continues]

Afternoon.

You wouldn't be, uh, Jacob MacDonald, would you?

Yes?

We'd like to talk to your father, Jacob.

He sees no one from the town.

But we're from Washington, the FBI.

I'm Inspector Erskine, this is Special Agent Rhodes.

How do you do?

Washington D.C.?

Truly?

Uh, truly.

The Smithsonian Institute? Lincoln Tunnel?

Uh, Lincoln Memorial.

I-I read that they have Lindbergh's plane

in Smithsonian institute, has thee ever seen it?

Yes-yes I have.

Has thee ever ridden in a plane thyself?

- Jacob? - Yes, father?

Thee has no business here, go away.

Uh, we're from the FBI, Mr. MacDonald

We are here in connection with the extortion.

I said thee has no business here.

My people and I can take care of ourselves.

Now, Mr. MacDonald, uh, I know how you feel

but if you'll just, uh, give us your version of the story?

Jeremiah.

[instrumental music]

[car engine revving]

[music continues]

[Erskine] 'No, I understand they're governed'

by a council of Elders.

MacDonald seems to have the final word.

At least he did today.

You're not expecting any co-operation at all, then?

Not until something happens

and then it'll probably be too late.

You'd better call some agents down from Portland.

There'll be five men in tomorrow.

How are you doing with the paper sample?

Oh, hold on. Any luck?

No luck, checked every outlet in town.

Nothing, Bennett drew a blank.

We developed some very clear latents

from the extortion note.

They're being checked against the stamp

and the writer's prints right now.

I'll call you tomorrow.

[phone rings]

Rhodes.

[Rhodes] 'Are you sure? Thanks.'

Lou?

Klamath Falls courthouse, Sumner made bail.

He's out.

[instrumental music]

[screams]

Father?

Stone's house.

Fire brigade!

Fire brigade!

[woman screaming]

David? David? David!

Dave, no, no.

Fire brigade..

Hurry with those buckets!

Come on, now.

[bell tolling]

David! David!

Oh.

David!

Hey! Get those buckets in.

Oh, please, please, let me go!

David!

Ah! Thank the lord!

[indistinct shouting]

[male #2] 'Keep going.'

[indistinct shouting]

[indistinct chatter]

[music continues]

Oh, God of vengeance

hear me now.

[instrumental music]

[Sheriff Earl] Hey, Mac.

Wet this down along there real good.

That's his stuff.

Did you get all of it?

- I hope so. - You hope so?

Well, can't you be sure?

Well, no, not a hundred percent.

Some of those hot spots are gonna smolder

underground for days

and a good wind comes up

and, "that's all she wrote."

Hey, I got the boy's statement.

Doctor says Stone's awake, if you wanna talk to him.

You get a chance to talk to MacDonald?

Yes, I did.

Apparently, he was the only one at the settlement

still awake when the fire broke out.

He was in his room writing his sermon

and he heard a woman scream and ran outside.

- No sign of the arsonist. - Mm.

Get this back to the lab.

Looks like part of Molotov c*ck.

Yes, sir.

Oh, by the way, the, uh, th-the boy, Jacob

has to go into town for some medication.

I told him he can go back with me.

Thought it'd give me a chance to talk with him.

Unless you think it's too risky.

Sorry to take so long, tracking him down, Inspector

but turns out he was still in Klamath Falls.

He got to drinking, sh**ting off his mouth

about the Jobites causing all kinds of trouble.

Ended up in the hospital.

- All night? - All night.

Looks as if somebody forgot to swerve, Mr. Sumner.

- Anybody k*lled, Inspector? - Not this time.

It won't happen twice, it has to be an accident.

He could be right, Inspector.

This shook up the whole town.

Set a lot of people to thinking.

A fellow said to me, "Earl?"

"What happened, this isn't Hitler's Germany.

This is Stanton, Oregon."

I said, "Well, Bob.

"Everybody was yelling for help, nobody was listening.

For gosh sake, let's listen."

You won't have any more trouble, Inspector.

Mr. Erskine?

This just came in the morning mail delivery, sir.

The Jobites asked me to give it to you.

Well, Jim, go ahead and drive the boy in

and ask the Police to escort him back.

[instrumental music]

[Adam] '"Put money in hallow log.'

'"Jasper Forks.'

'Goodnight."'

Mr. MacDonald.

I'll take that.

It was addressed to me.

It was addressed to us.

Give him the note.

I'll have the area covered.

No.

People have been independent for 300 years.

We want no help.

No interference.

Mr. MacDonald, one house has burned already.

It's God's wrath for our weakness.

It's a good lesson.

I think it'll be taken to heart.

I should be back no later than midnight, David.

- If I'm not-- - Where are thee going?

I told thee, Roseburg.

We need tools.

Picks, axes and shovels to save our homes.

In case of fire.

[Elder Stone] 'Adam.'

Oh, God, help the man.

There's something I should tell thee, perhaps.

[Elder Stone] 'Something I saw.'

No..

No, i-it's for the council to decide.

There's...one telephone in the settlement..

...at our meeting hall..

...they even messaged there..

...this afternoon.

I will write thee the number, sir.

[instrumental music]

Jacob, you're gonna go blind reading on a road this rough.

It would almost be worth it.

Did thee you buy anymore magazines at the airport?

Uh, just this one.

Hey, there's an article on the astronauts in there.

Maybe you'd like to see it.

- Oh, really? - Uh-huh.

Oh, "Ships to the Stars."

Boy, wish I could be on one.

Maybe you will, someday.

No, father wouldn't approve.

- He approves of very little. - He approves of you.

He talked a lot of about you when I interviewed him.

Yes, we're-we're friends.

We've been friends from the start.

My-my mother died when I was four.

Typhus. I-I had it too.

I remember lying there, shaking with pain

and my father's hand on my forehead..

'Light, cool.'

That big voice of his saying

that I wasn't gonna die because he forbade it.

If he only wouldn't forbid so much..

It's about time we caught up with the world a little.

E-everybody wants that, you know.

'Elder Stone, Elder Price, Elder Gordon.'

Sometimes, I think he'd do almost anything

to keep the old ways.

[instrumental music]

No, sir, I couldn't tell you which box this letter came from.

But you do remember the first letter?

I sure do, it'd come on a Friday.

I recall it from the, uh, cut-outs

and, uh, the way it was addressed.

Enemy Jobites, just like that one.

But you didn't see who deposited?

No, sir.

I noticed another mail box outside the sheriff's office.

Could this second letter have been dropped there?

Yes, sir, that's an afternoon pick up.

And you'll notice that's a Saturday p.m. cancellation.

Did any of your people mention, uh, seeing a Jobite

in the office here on Friday?

No, sir.

But the only way you'd pick out

these people is by their clothes.

See, if somebody came in here in a regular outfit

he'd be the invisible man for certain.

Yeah, except for the beard.

Well, that wouldn't been seen either, last Friday.

- Why not? - It was Pioneer Day.

The anniversary of Stanton's founding.

You see, every male over 21 in the county

had to dress the part or be fined.

We all wore beards.

[instrumental music]

Yes, sir, I'll tell him.

Lou, that was identification, they couldn't get a match

between Sumner's prints and latents on the first note.

That's alright.

- Bennet? - Yes, sir?

I want an alibi have a run down

on MacDonald's whereabouts last Friday.

Find out if he left the settlement.

If he did, I think we've got our extortionist.

I have that information right here, Inspector.

When did he leave?

Never.

Never?

When I interviewed the doctor this morning

he said that this was only the second trip

he'd made out to the settlement

since the Jobites moved in.

He said that last Friday

a little after 8 a.m. was the first.

You see, MacDonald has a bad sacroiliac.

Something slipped out of place and he had a muscle spasm.

He was flat on his back in bed until Saturday morning.

[dramatic music]

[instrumental music]

Alright, what have we got?

Well.

Both extortion notes were apparently written

on the same kind of paper.

And both match the paper that came from the MacDonald's desk.

So, MacDonald could've written 'em.

He had a motive.

His position as leader out there

seems to be kinda shaky.

Becoming a martyr could be a good way to bolster it up.

He could've set the fire, he admits he was the only man up

and dressed at the time.

He certainly could have mailed the second note

when he stopped by here, Saturday.

What about the first note?

Couldn't he have sent someone in with it?

Who he could he trust that much?

- His son? - No.

Jacob was beaten up Saturday.

By whom?

Where was it he was attacked?

Indian Ridge.

- And you went up there? - Yes, sir.

There's a path that runs along the crest

with a guard rail on the right.

That rail was broken out as though someone had pushed

the boy through it.

Or as though he jumped through it?

Inspector, you've met that youngster.

He's obedient, smart, quiet.

And suffocating.

I had quite a talk with him.

The boy's a volcano.

He'd do almost anything to get off

that settlement, believe me.

Let's examine it.

He had access to the paper.

He could've mailed both extortion notes.

And he had motive.

$5000 would have taken him a long way.

How can we get his finger prints?

We've got it, out in the car.

Now, let's see.

And here you go.

[Jim] 'How's this for openers?'

Yeah.

The speed forward transceiver in San Francisco.

How long will it take you to fly there?

Two hours.

Call me the minute you get an answer from Washington.

[Bennett] 'Yes, sir.'

[instrumental music]

[engine revving]

If I'm not at the office, I'll be at the settlement.

[music continues]

Are you ready to receive?

Ready to transmit.

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

Bennet, we have a match.

Pull.

- Mr. Rhodes. - Hello, Jacob.

It's good to see thee again.

Has thee come to do more investigating?

Uh, just about finished.

Uh, my father's gone, sir, otherwise, I suppose

thee wouldn't be allowed on the farm.

Thee better be off before he gets back.

Yeah.

Has thee been using the phone in the meeting hall?

- That's right. - Did you talk to Washington?

Uh, San Francisco.

Huh, never even talked to Stanton.

Truth is, I-I've never been allowed to use the phone at all

Small loss, I suppose, I wouldn't know anyone

on the other end.

Well, I-I'd better get back to work.

Will I see thee later?

I don't know, Jacob, I'm not sure.

Maybe.

[music continues]

No.

No one touched the first note but Adam.

No one brought it to him from the mail box?

He found it himself.

He wouldn't let it out of his sight.

The only other fingerprints on it

would be the extortionists.

Has thee identified those other prints, Inspector?

Mm-hmm.

Jacob's.

Mr. Stone, you-you started

to tell me something this morning.

Can you tell me now?

Yes.

When Jacob helped me

out of the house, last night..

...in the fire..

...he was fully dressed under his night shirt.

[Elder Stone] 'He had been awake.'

'He'd been outside.'

I see.

Will thee arrest him?

The prints on the note aren't conclusive, Mr. Stone.

Jacob could've handled it in on the way to Stanton.

Nobody saw him set the fires.

Nobody saw him mail the letters, if he did.

I understand..

...thee calls it "circumstantial evidence."

Inspector Erskine, I think I know a way

thee might find out for sure.

Terrible as it may be..

...Adam went to Roseburg to pick up more than tools.

We have some money there.

He intends to pay off the extortionist.

But he said that he--

What a man says

and what a man means

can be two different things.

The burning of my house

was a fearful shock to Adam.

He'd do anything to prevent

another act of terrorism like that.

- Mr. Stone. - I know.

Adam has asked thee not to interfere.

But the council still has the final word, Mr. Erskine

if they choose to exercise it.

They met today..

'...in this room.'

'The entire problem was discussed.'

I am authorized..

...to beg thee to help us.

[dramatic music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

Mr. Jacob MacDonald, this is the FBI.

[Erskine] 'Stay where you are.'

'Put your hands above your head.'

[horse galloping]

Jacob?

I-I had to see more than these people, father.

More than the farm.

I tried to tell thee over and over

but, eh, thee wouldn't hear.

I asked but thee wouldn't listen.

I-I didn't mean to burn Elder Stone's house.

I-I meant only to start a little fire in the yard.

What about the beating at Indian Ridge?

I jumped so it'd could look as though I've been beaten.

[bell tolling]

[instrumental music]

Must've started from the fire I set yesterday.

Get on the radio.

Take him into town or Klamath Falls

if you can get there.

[music continues]

Right, every man you can spare.

Aerial, tankers, everything.

[intense music]

Hey, MacDonald, look out, you're gonna burn yourself.

Take this.

[music continues]

[siren wailing]

[music continues]

Hey, bring out hose over here.

[music continues]

[grunts]

[grunts]

I thank thee, friend.

[instrumental music]

Ahem, they-they told me thee'll be taken

to Portland for the trial.

Yes.

As well I'll-I'll be there, Jacob.

If thee wants.

Uh, good.

Oh, I say, I say good.

No.

None k*lled, a few were hurt.

Our-our neighbors here in town

have given us rooms.

Yes. Well, I'll see thee

in about an hour then, Jacob.

Uh, Mr. Erskine and, uh, Mr. Rhodes are gonna take me

to Klamath Falls with them.

[Adam] 'Ah.'

Goodbye, son.

- Ready? - Yes, sir.

Goodbye, Mr. MacDonald.

Well, Sheriff.

[instrumental music]

I wonder if brimstone smells like this?

It'll be in air for a long time to come.

A reminder.

Many foolish mistakes.

Many people.

Well?

Leaving, Mr. MacDonald?

I'll be back, Mr. Sumner.

Good.

This land will bounce back too.

We'll have a lot of planning to help you with.

[music continues]

[theme music]

[music continues]