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.

Hiya, 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 Prof. 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 learnt 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 the disease for years.

I saw Jacobs last month.

He looked okay then.

BARNEY:
They're in the back room,

Professor.

It's Eric, all right.

He was my friend for 30 years.

SHERIFF:
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 though 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?

Dr. 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, Dr. 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?

PAUL:
There's just you and me...

and we're going to die, too.

DEEMER:
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 burnt 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 M.D. 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 speciality 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.

SHERIFF:
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?

Not very.

First time I've seen it, as a matter of fact.

BURCH:
My dictionary says it's chronic,

it doesn't mention death.

Well, death doesn't usually come

from the disease itself.

It's caused by suffocation.

What do you mean, suffocation?

The tongue becomes enlarged.

The throat, the thorax, the heart...

everything gets pushed out of place.

What do you think

Deemer's been working on out there?

MATT:
That I'd like to know.

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