Tarantula

What's the score, Doc?

Twins, cutest things you ever saw.

Hey, they're keeping you busy these days.

It's the desert, gives people wonderful ideas.

Check the ship, will you?

You betcha.

Hi ya, Doc.

Phone's been ringing like crazy for you.

Sheriff's half out of his mind.

Call him for me, will you, Josh?

Yeah.

I'm ringing him, Doc.

That's fine.

He's on, Doc.

Thanks, Josh.

Hello Jack, what's up?

Can you come over right away, Doc?

I hate to bother you.

I know you've been up all night,

but this is important.

Okay.

Doc, sure sounded worried, didn't he?

Someday, you old codger,

you're going to hear something you won't like.

Are you inferring that I was listening in?

Yeah.

Hi Jack, what's all the excitement about?

Who's sick?

Nobody.

Huh?

The boys found a man near the highway this morning.

Run over?

No.

Well, then?

That's why I called you, Doc.

What's it look like?

Like nothing I've ever seen before.

Who is it?

Well, he has the same general build as Eric Jacobs,

but I'm not sure.

I don't follow you.

There's something about his face says he's Jacobs,

but maybe he ain't.

Look, Jack, I'm lost.

You remember Jacobs, don't you?

Yeah, he's the biologist.

Works for Professor Deemer,

met him a couple of years ago.

He's over at the undertaker's.

You'd better have a look.

- Hi, Charlie. - Hi, Charlie.

I phoned Deemer right away.

He said he'd be over to see if this is him.

You know Deemer, don't you?

Yeah, when I opened my office

I went out to pay my respects.

He was polite enough,

but I had the feeling I wasn't welcome,

so I never went back.

Some of these big brains never learned manners.

Here he is, Barney.

Hi, Doc.

Hello, Barney.

You figure this one out and you're good.

Now you know why I'm not sure.

That's not Jacobs.

This man has had this disease for years.

I saw Jacobs last month, he looked okay then.

They're in the back room, Professor.

It's Eric, all right.

He was my friend for 30 years.

You better come outside, Professor.

Yes.

You all through in there?

Yeah.

Leave us alone for a minute, will you, Barney?

Yeah, sure.

Professor, I have to know all about it,

why he looks that way, why he was missing.

Sheriff, have you ever watched a friend

dying before your eyes and not been able to help?

That's the worst of it.

Being helpless.

It's particularly tough when you're a physician,

and you know what's wrong with him,

and there isn't a single solitary thing

you or anyone else can do.

When I saw the body, I thought it was acromegalia,

but that's not possible.

Acromegalia?

The pituitary gland goes haywire, Jack.

It distorts the face, neck, hands, and feet.

I met Jacobs a couple of years ago at your place.

The sheriff saw him about a month ago,

he looked normal then.

It is acromegalia.

But in every case I've ever heard of

it's taken years to produce the deformity.

I know.

The history of medicine is the history of the unusual.

Perhaps Eric had been ill for years, who knows?

But it was only four days ago

that he began to complain of muscular pains.

Neither of us thought too much about it.

These things happen as you grow older.

And the next morning he began to,

to change.

Maybe we'd better do an autopsy just to make sure.

I don't think that'll be necessary.

I was in attendance,

and I signed the death certificate.

I see.

How come we found him on the desert?

Doctor Jacobs became delirious last night,

broke out of the house and ran into the desert.

Are you certain he hadn't complained

of anything before that time?

There's nothing I can add to what I've already said.

Eric had no family, I'll arrange for the funeral.

Thank you for calling me so promptly.

Goodbye, Doctor Hastings.

Professor.

Acromegalia.

You heard the man.

I sure did.

A young fellow like you

can't stack what he knows against the professor.

The trouble is, Doc,

you hate to admit you're wrong.

We all make mistakes Jack, this isn't one of mine.

Hello.

There we go.

Paul!

Eric is dead, do you hear me?

There's just you and me,

and we're going to die, too.

No, Paul, keep away from me!

I'm trying to help you, Paul!

Coco, you startled me.

So you escaped the fire?

Let me see those paws.

I'll have to do something about those burns, won't I?

Come on, Coco.

You've got that look like you swallowed the canary.

Not at all.

If there's anything a man hates,

it's to be told he's wrong when he knows he's right.

I knew Deemer had burned your tail.

Listen, I'm just a country doctor,

but I know what I know.

And I know acromegalia doesn't turn up

in four days out of left field.

So?

So I went to the medical library in Phoenix

and read up on it.

There wasn't one single recorded case in medical history

where a malformation developed

as fast as Deemer said Jacobs' did.

You mean he was lying to us?

I don't know.

But I'd like to know why

he was in such a hurry to bury Jacobs,

and why he didn't want me to do an autopsy?

The man's an MD Like you.

He's entitled to his opinion,

or do you want me to charge him

with confusing a country doctor?

There's nothing like the safety of prestige,

is there, Sheriff?

Let's skip it.

Everything's clean and legal and I wouldn't want you

to stick your neck out for anything.

What do you want me to do?

Pinch him because I don't like the way he parts his hair?

Have you ever asked yourself what Deemer and Jacobs

were working on in their lab?

No, and I don't intend to Jimmy open a window

to find out, either.

Deemer's specialty is nutrient biology.

Jacobs is a leader in the same field.

Now when two big shots like that get together

and hole up in the desert 20 miles from civilization,

I'd say they might be working on something

they're not too anxious to talk about.

You think whatever they might be doing

ties in with what killed Jacobs?

I wish I knew.

Uh oh, Joe Burch is on the warpath again.

What'd you do this time?

I forgot to tell him about Jacobs.

Well, good day, my very, very good friends.

A fine pair you turned out to be.

I practically had the paper put to bed

when I found out about Jacobs by accident.

Well, I'm sorry Joe, it slipped my mind.

What do you want to know?

Only what I haven't found out for myself.

I sneaked a look at the death certificate over at Barney's.

Got the personal dope on him out of Who's Who.

How often does this acromegalia occur, Doc?