Edge of Eternity

Ahhh.

Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin.

Mr. Martin, come quick.

There's a man up at my place. Take it easy.

No time to take it easy. You've got to come right away.

You know, Eli, in all the months I've been on this job,

there hasn't been one week you haven't had three or four people

skulking around your place. But listen...

You got money in your mattress or something?

This man wasn't skulking. He was, I don't know what,

staggering around like he was lost.

Maybe it was just his weekend that get lost.

Mr. Martin, this man ain't drunk.

If he's not. She sure is.

Deputy, I'm telling you, this fellow's different.

Well, you keep him that way, Eli.

I'll drop in on you on my way back.

Hello there.

You could have ended up like that.

Officer,

I know there's no excuse.

I agree with you. May I have your...

I was going pretty fast, wasn't I?

You were going pretty reckless too.

You know, this is an old road.

It's tricky and dangerous, it's lined with signs

that say 25 miles an hour, 15 miles an hour,

"Winding road."

Now, those signs can be quite interesting

if you're going slow enough to read them.

I've read them all before.

What do you think we put them up for, pedestrians?

Can you give me one good reason

why any sane person would drive the way you were driving?

No.

You surprise me. I was sure you would.

Well, actually, Officer, I'm maladjusted.

I come from a broken home.

Want me to write that down for the judge?

You're not going to throw the book at me, are you?

Well, here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to reach into the hat and pull out just one of your violations.

Forty-five miles an hour in a 25 zone.

Sign there, please?

Here's your copy.

I'll save the reckless driving charge for next time.

Operator! Operator!

The sheriff's office, quick!

Sure looks like he put up quite a struggle.

Yeah.

Be sure and don't touch any of this stuff, Eli.

Don't worry. I know all about these things.

No identification of any kind.

No wallet. Labels all cut out of the clothing.

All we have for sure is that he wasn't a suicide. Ah.

Not with his hands tied behind his back.

You should have listened to me. I told you to come up right away.

Now, Eli.

Remember the story about the boy who cried wolf.

Don't you go trying to put the blame on me, Sheriff.

Nobody's blaming anybody, Eli.

If we followed up all your stories, we'd have to put on two extra men.

Which, by the way, you taxpayers won't let us have.

You know, it's no wonder old Eli lives alone.

No woman could stand to listen to him all the time.

I wish I'd listened to him this once.

There's not enough time in the day to stop and measure all the ifs.

You made the same choice I would

and went after what you saw instead of what you didn't see.

That's what you're paid to do.

I know that. It doesn't make me feel any better.

If I'd gone with Eli, that man might still be alive.

Now, look, boy.

When I hired you, I hired myself a good lawman.

I didn't think about what happened in Denver then.

You stop thinking about it now.

You shout your mouth and solve this case.

- Morning, Deputy. - Morning.

Rising with the sun, or just going to bed?

Hoping to catch some worms.

I'm trying to get a line on a fellow. Thought maybe you could help me.

I'll do my best.

Fellow about 55, 60 years old, tall,

grayish hair, distinguished-looking.

When last seen, wearing a suit of thin, dark gray shiny material.

Doesn't sound like anybody I've seen.

Thanks anyway.

Oh, if he turns up, do you want me to tell him you're looking for him?

No, thanks. He's turned up already.

Oh, yeah, here it is.

R.E. Wallace, El Trovatore Motel.

That's all?

Well, that's all you asked me.

Well, that's all you've got? No permanent address or anything?

Nope.

Well, you must have asked to see his driver's license.

Why?

Well, most people do when they rent an automobile to a perfect stranger.

Oh, he didn't rent the heap.

He bought it for a 150 bucks. C.O.L. Cash on the line.

Well, registration?

Oh, he hasn't gotten around to fill that out yet.

Hey, look. You're the law.

What do you think? Should I send it to him at the motel?

No, send it to the county morgue.

Good morning. Morning.

Looks like it's going to be another scorcher, don't it?

Yes, ma'am.

Are you selling tickets for the sheriff's rodeo,

or are you just raiding the place?

I wouldn't think of it.

Just trying to track down some information on a Mr. R.E. Wallace.

Oh, yeah. Number 8.

I don't think he's here now, though.

I don't see his old yellow car.

You mind if I take a look in his room?

Why should I mind?

Can you tell me anything about this Mr. Wallace?

Well, not an awful lot, I'm afraid.

He's been here four or five days,

but he's not gabby like most of us.

Very quiet, fine-looking gentleman.

I'd say a businessman of some sort, probably from the east.

Has that funny way of talking.

This is 8.

What?

What in the world could have happened?

This is just awful. Why everything's ruined !

I'll certainly have plenty to say to that Mr. Wallace.

I don't think he did it, ma'am.

How can I ever get it cleaned up?

Don't touch a thing, please, as a favor to the state of Arizona.

No label on this clothing either.

Not even any laundry marks.

All this expensive luggage.

But no initials on it. Nothing.

What does that mean to you?

First I thought the killer was trying to cover up the identity of the victim.

Now I think the victim destroyed his own identification.

How do you figure that?

Any man who buys luggage as expensive as this

usually has his initials put on it.

Could be.

Could be, brother bloodhound.

Don't just stand there. He ain't treed yet.

Get out and see if you can pick up his track.

It's sure funny how now, when I got nothing to say to you, you keep wanting me to talk.

You've got to keep talking, Eli, till I can make some sense out of it.

I can't remember crazy talk when it don't make sense.

Well, try. Think. What else?

Over.

He did say something about over the rim.

Over the rim. That must mean the Grand Canyon.

Well, that narrows it down to Arizona anyway.

Come on, Eli. Did he say anything else that you haven't told me?

Well, but I'm not sure I heard it right.

Come on.

It sounded like "dancing in the bucket."

Dancing in the bucket? Uh-huh.

At least that's what it sounded like.

Got any idea what it could be?

Over the rim.

Dancing in the bucket.

Bucket.

Hey, wait a minute.

You just keep your mouth shut.

Hey, Jack! Over here!

Mr. Ward?

Yeah. Oh, hi, Deputy.

Say, what do you call that contraption out there?

Tramcar.

You see anything of him?

Around here we call it the dancing bucket.

Who's he looking for?

Charlie Piper.

Old Charlie's one of the guys that works here. He's missing.

What's he look like?

He's about 30, maybe 35.

You seen anything of a man about 60,

grayish hair, 5'11", well built?

No. Nothing around here but us chickens.

You know what happened? One time a guy did end up down there.

Can you imagine? He got so busy trying to get his ladder working, he just...

walked right over the edge.

How do you figure that?

How long has old Charlie Piper been missing?

I don't know for sure. He's a watchman around here on the weekends.

When we come on today, he wasn't around.

And you didn't think of reporting this to the sheriff's office?

Hold on. Don't take me in yet.

We don't think nothing of it around here, when a guy's missing.

What do you mean?

The work. Gets them.

See the bucket out there?

Well, that thing travels 9,000 feet across that canyon

to that cave on the other side.

Inside that cave,

there's about 500,000 tons of prehistoric bat guano.

Man, that's a lot of fertilizer.

The only way to get the stuff out's in that bucket.