Them!

Them! (1954) 1:32:30 NTSC 23.976

301A to car 5W, code one.

5W to 301A, go ahead, Johnny.

I think we're chasing the wind, Ben.

Maybe the guy who sent in that report drank his breakfast.

We might as well call it...

Hey! Wait a minute.

It's a kid, all right. Maybe 50 yards off the road.

I'll keep circling her until you pick her up.

-10-10. -10-10.

Hey!

Hey, honey!

Hey, little girl. Little girl!

Wait a minute. What are you doing out here?

Honey...

...what's your name?

Who do you belong to?

Car 5W, code one.

Car 5W to 301A, go ahead.

10-9, Johnny.

There's a trailer three miles from you, off to the side of the road.

I didn't see anybody around it, you better check it out. 10-10.

Okay, Johnny. 10-10.

- What's the matter with her? - I don't know.

Sunstroke?

She's not sunburned. Couldn't have been out in the sun long.

Looks like she's in shock.

Johnny spotted a car and trailer up ahead. Maybe she's from there.

Maybe so.

No use waking her up unless somebody can identify her. I'll check it.

- What is it? - Have a look.

This blood must be 10 or 12 hours old.

Whatever happened here was either last night or early this morning.

Check outside.

It was sure no traffic accident, was it?

This wasn't caved in. It was caved out.

Did you find anything?

No footprints or tire marks.

Found this.

I picked up just one. Six or seven more are scattered over there.

- Sugar. - Yeah.

There's something over here you should look at.

I don't know if it's important, but see what you think.

Mountain lions never come down to the desert.

No cat ever lived would leave a print like that.

Maybe something was set down there.

A bag, or a can, something like that.

It could be almost anything.

I found these inside.

Put in a call for fingerprint and moulage equipment, right away.

Right.

- Have the medics come to pick up the kid. - Right.

Car 5W to KMA-628. Come in, please.

KMA-628, to car 5W, go ahead.

We're 12 miles north of the crossroads.

Halfway up the secondary road to White Butte.

Station wagon and house trailer with Illinois license plates.

They look pretty well beat up. Looks like a 9-14.

Picked up a little girl who seems to be in shock.

Send ambulance and medics. We'll stay here till you arrive.

Anything else?

Ben?

10-10.

KMA-628 to 5W, location previously reported by 301A...

...will dispatch ambulance.

Hi, Reggie, how are the kids?

- Fine, thanks. Another one on the way. - Good for you.

- Do you know what happened to her? - No.

- Don't know her name? - No.

Take good care of her.

Give her a nice, easy ride. I'll be with her all the way to the hospital.

What was that?

I don't know.

It must be the wind. It gets pretty freakish in these parts.

Yeah.

I'll be along soon. I want to be there when she starts talking.

You know what that is, Cliff?

I haven't the faintest idea.

Hurry before the wind fills it in. Looks like a sandstorm is kicking up.

- You got any idea what happened? - No.

Nothing that adds up.

How old you figure that kid is?

Five or six.

Tough break for her.

They don't need us right now.

Let's go down to Gramps Johnson's store and see what he knows.

Gramps?

Gramps!

Beats me.

Look, Ed, put in a call...

Wait a minute.

Gramps.

Looks like he was dragged and thrown down there.

- What do you make of it? - What did you make of the trailer?

This wasn't pushed in, it was pulled out. Just like at the trailer.

Ben, have a look at this.

Sugar.

Money wasn't taken here either.

This is another 9-14. I'll call for the guys at the trailer to come.

I want to be at headquarters when the girl talks.

I'll stick around and ride with them.

- Okay. Stay loose. - Sure.

With all this stuff, we only know the car and trailer was owned by...

...a man named Alan Elinson from Chicago.

Yeah, that's all.

Stop blaming yourself for what happened to Ed Blackburn. It wasn't your fault.

Somebody had to stay at Johnson's place, so it happened to be Ed.

Yeah, I know.

We'll find out who killed him, if he's dead,

along with Gramps and the Elinson family.

So come off it.

We'll get a report on the fingerprints some time this morning. It'll tell us more.

- Have you figured out what this print is? - No.

Great.

Kit, run down all Gramps' personal stuff and records.

I don't think he had an enemy in the world, but somebody might have...

No, wait, that doesn't make sense.

If somebody wanted to knock off Gramps why tear down half the building to do it?

I put in a call to check out all the mental institutions.

Everything seems to indicate a homicidal maniac.

There's no money stolen, violent wreckage. Just sugar taken.

That's being checked, but it's a waste of time, too.

We'd have been notified if there was a loony killer on the loose.

Gramps got off four shots from his 30-30 before the killer did this to the gun.

And Blackburn was a crack shot. He could hit anything he could see.

Unless your maniac was armored like

a battleship, there's no maniac in this case.

Yeah, you're right.

I want every available man scouting the desert.

If our two planes aren't enough to cover areas the cars can't reach...

...I'll ask permission from the chief to hire a couple more.

Ben, get yourself something to eat and grab some sleep.

I don't want you wearing yourself out so you'll fold up on us.

- I have a little score to settle. - We all have.

- Report from Washington, Captain. - All right, thanks.

Fingerprints on the trailer check out real good.

Mr. Elinson was an FBI agent on vacation with his wife and two children.

Call the local FBI office. They've got a stake in this case, now.

Tell them Mr. Elinson's vacation has been extended indefinitely.

It's nice to get off that desert.

- It must have been 110 out there today. - At least.

Captain Edwards...

...this is Robert Graham from the FBI office in Alamogordo.

- How do you do? - Sit down.

Ben here bring you up to date on this business?

Yes, sir, we went over these exhibits before we left for the desert.

I took him to where we found the trailer and to Johnson's store.

We've been there all day. Nothing.

Any ideas, Mr. Graham?

None that make any sense.

I thought you FBI guys were all Quiz Kids. Solved everything right away.

I did, too, when I applied for the job.

Planes and the cars haven't found anything.

Give them time. People don't just drop off the face of the Earth without a trace.

We'll find them.

You know what that is?

It beats me. Has it been identified yet?

No, an officer took it to a friend who teaches zoology at the college.

He said he'd never seen anything like it.

Lots of evidence, loaded with clues, but nothing adds up.

The Elinson girl is our only real bet. Any news on her?

No change. I checked with the hospital a half hour ago.

I'd like to send this to our Washington bureau. They might be able to identify it.

Or prove that it's nothing.

It's all right with me.

Come in.

- Hello, Fred. Glad to see you, Ben. - Hi, Doc, how are you?

You two know each other?

I don't believe so.

Dr. Putnam, County Medical Officer. Robert Graham.

He's with the FBI, so watch your language.

I will.

I finished the autopsy on Gramps Johnson. You want it technical or plain?

Just plain, Doc. Get to the verb.

Old man Johnson could have died in any one of five ways:

His neck and back were broken, his chest crushed, his skull fractured...

...and here's one for Sherlock Holmes:

There was enough formic acid in him to kill 20 men.

I still don't get this.

Doctors Medford, two of them. Department of Agriculture.

You sent that cast to your outfit in Washington, didn't you?

Yeah.

Does this mean that somebody has identified it?

I don't know.

- Great. - Pardon me, sir.

The plane has landed. It'll load over there.

Thanks.

- Got a match? - Yeah.

Okay, thank you.

Dr. Medford?

Are you Dr. Medford?

Yes, yes. No need to shout.

You're the people. They said you'd meet us.

That's right.

I'm Bob Graham.

- How do you do? - This is Sgt. Ben Peterson.

- You're the one who found the print? - Yeah, that's right.

Pat, hurry up.

I'm caught.

- Can I help? - No, thank you, I can manage it.