In the Heat of the Night Page #2

homicide expert.

- That's right.

- I bet you look at a lot of dead bodies.

Lots.

Well?

- Well, what?

- Well...

I just thought maybe, uh... Maybe you

wouldn't mind takin' a look at this one?

No, thanks.

- Why not, expert?

- Because I've got a train to catch.

Wait a minute.

That train don't leave till noon.

They pay you $162.39 a week just to look

at bodies. Why can't you look at this one?

- Why can't you look at it for yourself?

- Because I'm not an expert...

Officer!

Ten cents, ten million dollars - just

doesn't matter when a man's time comes.

Mm-hm.

I could give him a nicer service

right here in Sparta

than he could ever get up there

in Chicago. And at half the price, too.

- I got a rosewood casket out there...

- (door opens)

Ted Ulam, Chief.

We haven't had the pleasure.

That's for sure.

He's with me.

Hello, Doc.

Yep.

Well...

Uh...

Do you wanna look at it?

(Virgil) New manicure. That's good.

That's very good.

- I'll need a few things.

- (Gillespie) Such as?

Ammonium hydrosulphide,

benzidine, superoxide of hydrogen.

Copper powder, distilled water.

A six-inch celluloid scale.

Thermometer.

Some tweezers.

Callipers. And some toothpicks.

Toothpicks?! Copper...?

What's goin' on here, Chief?

Who is this boy anyway?

I asked him to look at the body.

That's who he is.

It's 4.45. What time was this man killed?

Sam found him at 3am. The doctor says

it's possible he was killed an hour earlier.

- At two?

- Maybe a little later.

2.15... 2.30?

Would you feel the face and jaw, please?

Am I mistaken, or has rigor begun?

It has.

You'll notice too

that postmortem lividity is present.

So the time of death really has

to be earlier. Wouldn't you say?

Mm.

Well, we'll be able to pinpoint that

as soon as I get a thermometer.

As you know, the loss of heat from

the brain is the most reliable way

of determining time of death.

Right, Chief?

Oh, yeah.

Well...

Which one of you gentlemen

will assist me?

(phone rings)

Ulam's Funer... It's for you, Chief.

Yeah. Talk to me.

When?

Oh, good. Yeah, yeah. Right away. I've

got a runaway suspect, boy. I gotta go.

Now listen, you. Anything he wants,

man, you better see that he gets it.

Where can I wash my hands?

(dogs barking in the distance)

(grunt)

(dogs barking with excitement)

This here's Shagbag, you hear?

He's headed for the river.

The river, you hear?

He's gonna be in Arkansas.

Shoot.

(train horn)

OK. I got him.

Mrs Colbert.

- How is she taking it?

- Chief had to leave. She don't know it yet.

Hey! You can't go in there, boy!

- Mrs Colbert?

- Where's my husband?

What's happened to him? Why won't

anybody tell me what's happened to him?

Why won't anybody here tell me?

I have a right to know if he's hurt,

if he's been in an accident.

I want to know if he is all right!

Your husband is dead, Mrs Colbert.

Uh...

Somebody killed him.

We don't know who - yet.

It's, uh...

It's very hot in here.

It's very hot in this room.

Sit down.

No.

(sobs)

Would you...

Would you... leave me alone

for a few minutes, please?

(sobs)

(sobbing continues)

Virgil, we don't need you or your

microscopes. Tell that to your chief.

We don't need him - or you.

Mrs Colbert's in there.

- I've already told her.

- I see.

Here is the examination results from

Ulam's. You wanna know what I found?

No. I don't need to look at 'em now.

May I examine this prisoner?

Yeah, you can look at him.

C'mon, let him look. Go on.

All right, now! Steady!

You finished?

Thank you.

All right, Fryer, bring him with me.

- Now we're grindin' corn!

- You shoulda been there!

If it weren't for them radios,

we woulda lost him goin' over that bridge.

That old boy highballing that train

like to cut us off.

And old Charlie's hound dog got loose...

- Did he confess?

- Huh?

The man you arrested, did he confess?

Well, I believe he will.

Yes siree, I believe he will.

I believe he will.

- He's left-handed, isn't he?

- How do I know?

Well, he seemed left-handed to me.

I believe Harvey is a southpaw.

Now, ain't he, Shagbag?

What if he is? What's that make him?

Innocent.

Mrs Colbert... There's just one more thing.

Yeah.

I picked it up, I tell you. He was already

lyin' there. It was lyin' there next to him!

I just picked it up, ma'am. That's all I did.

Shut up.

- Get him outta here.

- OK. C'mon, Harvey. Let's go.

Mrs Colbert, I, uh... I wonder if you'd mind

if I have somebody drive you over

so you could, uh...

complete the identification?

Martin, I want you to take

Mrs Colbert over to the funeral parlour.

And, Wood, run Virgil down the depot.

Uh... Virge here, Chief,

he thinks that Harvey's innocent.

- Well, I'll be damned.

- Could I talk to you about it, in private?

No. Because I got Colbert's wallet in my

hand, and we took it from Harvey Oberst.

- You think he gave it to him?

- I don't know.

But Oberst could have come along

after the crime, found it, picked it up.

- I don't know.

- That's what the boy said he did.

Well, I'm sorry, ma'am, but I say different.

When I examined the deceased,

it was obvious the fatal blow was struck

from an angle of

17 degrees from the right,

which makes it almost certain

the person who did it is right-handed.

- So what?

- (Shagbag) Harve's left-handed, Chief.

- Everybody in town knows that.

- We figured that out.

Harvey's a lefty. Uh-huh.

You're sure of yourself, Virgil. Funny

name for a n*gger boy from Philadelphia.

- What do they call you up there?

- They call me Mr Tibbs!

Mr Tibbs! Well, Mr Wood, take Mr Tibbs,

take him down to the depot.

And I mean, boy, like now!

I'll have the FBI lab

send you the report on this.

Not that it'll make any difference.

I'll take that.

No, you won't.

I'm sending it in personally.

(Mrs Colbert) My God!

What kind of people are you?

What kind of a place is this?

My husband is dead.

Somebody in this town killed him!

I want you to find out who!

You gonna give me that?

No, I'm not.

Wood, you take him,

and you lock him up

for withholding evidence.

Go on, move! Put him with

his friend, Harvey Oberst!

Well, Virgil, nobody threw your brains

to the hogs, that's for damn sure.

Hold on there, Arnold. Open her up again.

We got another customer.

(Harvey) Hey, man, not in here.

- Put him somewheres else!

- Don't push the panic button.

Play it cool, boy. Play it cool.

Hey!

- Hey!

- (door shuts)

What you doin'

wearin' white man's clothes?

Where d'you come from?

You deaf or somethin'?

Listen, I'm get...

Keep cool, Harvey.

I'm on your side.

Well, I don't need you!

I'm all you've got.

Police?

You're a cop?

- You're a cop.

- Mm-hm.

Yeah?

So, how come they locked you up?

How come they lock up a cop?

Who said they locked me up?

How come with all these empty cells here

they'd throw me in with you? You dig?

Look.

I already told 'em.

I see this fella lyin' on the street there.

And there's this wallet lyin' beside him.

Boy, I mean, I come into

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