The Atomic City Page #3

mother will have you home soon, darling.

You mustn't be afraid, dearest.

I'm not afraid, mama.

I've been treated very good.

I can come home after daddy

does what they want.

He will, darling. He will.

Tell them he will.

You heard your son, mrs. Addison.

Can't I speak to him

another minute, one more minute?

There's no time for that.

You better listen closely.

I won't repeat this.

Get it right the first time.

[horns honk]

Yes. Please tell me what to do.

Frank! Frank, he's safe. I spoke to him.

You spoke to Tommy? On the phone.

The man wanted to prove

he hadn't been hurt.

They'll let him come home.

Tommy said, "I can come home

as soon as daddy does what they want."

Frank, the man promised

no one will ever know.

No, no one would...

not until they've wrecked

half the world.

I only know that Tommy is our world, Frank,

our whole world.

All right, Martha.

I'll see what I can do.

What were the instructions?

[monitor buzzes]

Hello, doctor. I didn't think

you'd be in on Sunday.

Bring me the mark 3-b file, all of it.

It's in your office vault, doctor.

Thank you.

I'll take that, doctor.

I'm inspector Mann,

federal bureau of investigation.

Russ.

What's he doing here, a newspaperman?

I stopped playing newspaperman this morning

when I found out Tommy was missing.

That's the only file

he mentioned to the clerk.

Was this going to be the ransom payment?

The blind alley experiments

we tried a year ago--

useless to anyone.

Your son is kidnapped,

and you come to your lab

just to pick up useless experiments.

I was searching for some way

to delay the threat to my son.

I have only 48 hours to deliver the bomb.

These are intricate equations.

If I sent them, it would

give me time to think,

to act, to know what to do.

It would take very competent mathematicians

several days to check these equations

to discover they're useless.

Well, if you're telling the truth--

and that's a big "if"

we're going to check--

then sending these useless equations

may be the way we'll flush them out.

Martha, this is inspector Mann

of the federal bureau of investigation.

Mrs. Addison. Who called them?

You--you called them.

No. They found out

I didn't go to Santa Fe for Tommy.

No one will know why we came here, Martha.

Russ is a federal agent,

not a newspaperman.

Get them out.

Your husband said

the kidnappers contacted you this morning.

I won't answer their questions.

It has to be done their way.

Their way!

Give him time to calm her.

I'm in a peculiar spot, inspector.

The Addisons have been

close friends of mine

for the past couple of years.

That might help us.

Is this a recent picture of the boy?

Yes, very.

Frank was telling the truth

about that file. I'd bet on it.

He wouldn't sell out,

not even for his own kid.

You're not a father, Russ.

I have two, two little girls.

I wouldn't like to have to decide

between my kids and my country.

How would you decide, inspector?

I don't know. That's why I don't know

if you told the truth about this file.

I don't know which way you decided.

Pardon me. Is this the letter?

They contacted your wife

through a pay station phone?

Yes, she spoke to a man and then to Tommy.

I'd like to get the details

from mrs. Addison.

She'll answer your questions

if you give her a little time.

Your coming here was quite a shock to her.

Yes, of course.

It's entirely possible mrs. Addison

didn't talk to your son.

That could have been a recording.

Don't mention that to my wife.

No. Did she say

what instructions they gave her?

Everything we have on the h-bomb

is to be delivered to a William Masters

care of the will-call desk,

hotel Belfort, Hollywood.

After they check,

they promise to turn Tommy loose.

They probably would, rather than

have it known they had the data.

Turn you into a traitor,

and they have a pipeline into Los Alamos.

They'd own the top scientist here.

They won't get that chance.

I guess I'm to be placed in custody.

We can't put you in deep freeze

without attracting attention.

We can't afford that.

You'll be regarded as a calculated risk.

You've got to try to see our job, Frank.

The bomb means more than just one life.

They said those same words to Martha,

but to her, Tommy counts

more than the millions.

They're just numbers.

Tommy's very real.

Maybe I won't be

a very good risk, inspector.

It might be wiser to place me in custody.

If we have to, we will.

Even you can't be permitted

to get in the way

of what has to be done.

Our job is to keep the bomb at home,

to apprehend the kidnappers,

and to bring your son back safely.

That's the order

of their importance, isn't it?

1, 2, 3.

Tommy's number 3.

Yes, doctor, I'm afraid so.

I want to emphasize one thing.

We're dealing with top espionage agents,

who have resorted to kidnapping,

and we want them,

and I mean every last one of them.

That's a must.

You're probably asking yourselves,

"What about the boy?

Isn't getting Tommy Addison

back safely more important?"

I'm giving you my answer

to that officially.

No. No matter

how callous that may seem,

your first job is to locate

and apprehend the spies.

Russ Farley will give you your assignments.

Connors, Weinberg, Summerton,

check the route to Santa Fe.

Maybe someone noticed

the school bus being followed.

Davis, you stick around the hotel lobby.

Talk to the chamber of commerce people,

the secretary, people around the hotel.

We want to know who they are,

what they eat for breakfast,

everything about them,

their families and friends.

Remember, don't panic people.

They talk to friends when they're scared.

By Tuesday morning,

the phony formula on the bomb

will arrive at the hotel Belfort,

Hollywood.

We'll be needing some of you there.

It's here. O.K. to go ahead now?

Sure.

This is position Harding.

We're all set here.

Position Melrose. Everything O.K.

Position Sunset. O.K.

This is Junction.

Position Harding again.

Now, keep those cameras ready.

Let's have a routine check on all positions

every half-hour.

Now, if anyone looks

even vaguely familiar--

Yes, I know. You've told us a dozen times.

I remember.

When I see somebody from the puppet show,

I tap you on the shoulder.

That's the idea.

I'm sorry I snapped, Russ.

It's just that I can't help

feeling responsible

for Tommy being kidnapped.

You had nothing to do with it.

This wasn't planned overnight.

If it hadn't happened Saturday,

it would have happened some other time.

The people we're dealing with

know how to be patient and wait.

Stop worrying about it.

We'll get Tommy back.

But first things first.

Getting the spies is the important thing.

It has to be that way.

This is position Harding.

It's 1:
30. Let's have another check.

O.K. at sunset.

May I have 72-cent stamps, please?

Yes, indeed.

There you are. Thank you.

Are you holding a letter here for me,

William Masters?

Masters?

[buzz buzz]

Let's see, when would it have arrived?

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote