OP Old Prison Guard
[Gerard and the sheriff are interviewing the prison guard who survived the bus wreck and train derailment]
...the bus rolls over several times before it settled at the bottom of the hill here. I don't know if I passed out or what, but, when I looked up, the train was bearing down on us. Fast. I don't know how, uh, it's-still kinda hazy, but, somehow I grabbed him and---and I pushed him out of the bus.
SR Sheriff Rollins
You're a brave man. You could've both been killed.
OP Old Prison Guard
Yeah, I know! But, hell, he's my partner. He would have done the same for me.
Excuse me, sheriff, I'm United States Marshal Samuel Gerard. I'd like to talk to you-
SR Sheriff Rollins
[sincerely]
Uh, I'll be with you in just a minute. [turns his attention back to the guard]
SR Sheriff Rollins
One more time. Just for the record, uh, these three are dead? [He shows the guard photos of Carlson, Copeland and Pernilla]
OP Old Prison Guard
Yeah.
SR Sheriff Rollins
And, uh, this one? [shows the guard a sheet with Kimble's mugshot; the guard looks at it closely]
OP Old Prison Guard
Well, everything happened so fast. Uh.... no, I don't think he made it. [The sheriff turns back to Gerard]
SR Sheriff Rollins
Well, looks like you came a long way for nothin'.
With all due respect, uh, Sheriff Rollins, I'd like to recommend checkpoints on a fifteen mile radius at I-57, I-24, and over here on Route 13 east of Chester-
SR Sheriff Rollins
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, wait a minute: uh, the prisoners are all dead. The only thing checkpoints are gonna do is get a lot of good people frantic around here and flood my office with calls.
Well, shit, Sheriff, I would really hate to see that happen, so I guess I'll take over your investigation. [Rollins looks at him incredulously]
SR Sheriff Rollins
[scoffs]
On what authority?
Governor of the State of Illinois, United States Marshal's Office, Fifth District, Northern Illinois. [pause]
SR Sheriff Rollins
All right, fine. Uh, you want jurisdiction over this mess? [hands the file over to Gerard] You got it. [to his deputies] Okay boys, gather around here and listen up! Uh, we're shuttin' it down, Wyatt Earp's here to mop up.
That's funny. "Wyatt Earp". [Biggs shoulders his way through the crowd]
Marshal Bobby Biggs Excuse me. Sam! Sam! [Gerard looks at what's in Biggs' hands]
Oh, wow, gee whiz! Look here! [dangles a set of unshackled leg irons in front of the guard] You know, we're always fascinated when we find leg irons with no legs in them! Who held the keys, sir?
OP Old Prison Guard
I don't know.
DE Deputy Erin Poole
Care to revise your statement, sir?
OP Old Prison Guard
What?
Do you want to change your bullshit story, sir? [Poole shows the photo of Kimble to the guard]
OP Old Prison Guard
[after looking at it for a few seconds]
He mighta got out.
SR Sheriff Rollins
What the hell is this?! A minute ago you're telling me was part of the wreckage! Now he might have gotten out?!
Listen up, ladies and gentlemen! Our fugitive has been on the run for 90 minutes. Average foot speed over uneven ground barring injuries is 4 miles per hour and that gives us a radius of... 6 miles. What I want out of each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area. Checkpoints go up at fifteen miles. Your fugitive's name is Doctor Richard Kimble. Go get him.
[Gerard is on the phone in his office]
What can I tell you, sir? Mr. Copeland was a bad man. He was gonna kill one of my kids. [listens] Well, sir, you can blame me, I mean I'm the one who shot him. [sets down the receiver and hands the file on Copeland over to another agent, then heads into a conference room where his other deputies are listening to the tapped phone call Kimble made to his lawyer] So he showed up not dead yet. [closes the doors behind him] Let that be a lesson to you, boys and girls. Don't ever argue with the big dog. The big dog is always right. [Biggs barks like a happy dog; Gerard leans back in his chair]
DP Deputy Poole
Yeah you've been right before. [Gerard laughs dryly]
All right. [The techs play the phone call from the beginning; as the conversation plays, we hear a bell ringing in the background; at the point where Walter asks Kimble for his location, the rumbling of a train passing overhead can be heard]
MH Marshal Henry
I might be crazy, but that train sounds like an 'L'.
DB Deputy Bobby Biggs
St. Louis doesn't have an elevated train.
How do you know it's an elevated train?
MS Marshal Stevens
You know, I think he's right. I lived under an 'L' for twenty years.
[sarcastically]
Oh, then you can explain the difference in the sound of an elevated train as opposed to a train that's running along the ground. Play that back. I wanna hear the sounds of an elevated train.
All right, now wait a minute. Now What cities have 'L's? uh, New York's got an 'el'.
DB Deputy Bobby Biggs
We do.
We got an 'el', Milwaukee's got an 'el'.
Hold it right there! When the lawyer says that he sounds guilty, there's bells in the background, there's a guy on a PA. I wanna drop everything but the guy on the PA. Can you do that?
T Technician
Yeah, I'll try it. Hold on. [presses a few buttons, rewinds the tape, and presses play; at the point where Walter asks Kimble "Why did you run?" a distinguishable P.A. voice comes on]
PA PA Announcer on tape
[unintelligible]
Next stop...
What's he saying? Something like "Next," uh, "stop"? It sounds like "Next stop". Do that again. [The tech rewinds, presses a few more buttons, and replays that portion of the clip; this time, the announcer is more clearly audible]
PA PA Announcer on tape
Next Stop: Merchandise Mart.
DP Deputy Poole
[repeating the announcer's words]
"Merchandise Mart".
Son-of-a-bitch, our boy came home.
[realizing]
That bell, That bell is the bell on the Wells Street Bridge. It's six blocks away.
I knew that was an elevated train.
Marshal Bobby Biggs [standing up]
Oh yeah, big dog, you're never wrong.
Doctor Nichols, you really want to help him? You really want to be his friend? Then you'll help us bring him in, unharmed.
Why? So he can go back to prison? [clicks his tongue] If you want help, gentlemen, you've come to the wrong man. Richard is innocent and you'll never find him. He's too smart.
Marshal Bobby Biggs [sarcastically]
Oh well... we're pretty smart guys.
Yeah, we're smart. We are. I mean, how smart could he be, really? Is he as smart as you are?
[thinks and considers his answer, smiles]
Smarter.
