the Federal
Bureau of Investigation.
Yes, it's an emergency!Dr. Hill.
Dr. Bassett.
Where's the patient?
I hated
to drag you out of bed.
Will you let me go
while there's still time?
You'll soon see why I did.
Will you tell
these fools I'm not crazy?
Make them listen to me
before it's too late!
I'll listen to you.
Let him go.
Who are you?
I'm Dr. Hill
from the state mental hospital.
I'm not insane!
Let him go!
Doctor,
now you must listen to me.
You must understand me.
I am a doctor, too.
I am not insane.
All right.
Suppose we sit down,
and you tell me what happened?
Well, it started...
for me,
it started last Thursday...
in response to an urgent
message from my nurse.
I'd hurried home
from a medical convention.
At first glance,
everything looked the same.
It wasn't.
Something evil had taken
possession of the town.
These two.
Here you are.
Thank you, sir.
There you are.
Thank you.
Morning, Mr. Fisher.
Doc!
Hiya, Sally.
Hi. Welcome home.
I'm glad you're back.
How's Mickey and the baby?
Fine, but everybody else
in Santa Mira needs a doctor.
You've got an office
full of patients.
Oh, no.
On my first day back?
Some of them have
been waiting for two weeks.
Why didn't you send them
to Pursey or Carmichael?
Most of 'em wouldn't go.
They want to see you.
Oh?
What's the matter with them?
They wouldn't say.
Usually people can't talk enough
about what's ailing them.
For instance,
Wally Eberhard was in twice...
and called three times,
but he wouldn't say about what.
That's funny.
Nobody would talk...
from Becky Driscoll...
down to that fat
traffic cop Sam Janzek.
Becky Driscoll?
I thought she was in England.
She got back a few days ago,
and she wanted to see you.
Are you still interested?
My interest in married women
is strictly professional...
or yours would have been
a lost cause long ago.
- How was the convention?
- Wonderful.
They wept with envy
when I read my paper.
MRS. GRIMALDl: Come back here!
Jimmy!
What's the matter,
Mrs. Grimaldi?
It's nothing. He just don't
want to go to school.
If I were you, I'd have
a talk with his teacher.
MRS. GRIMALDl:
I will when I get time.
What's the matter?
Has Joe been sick?
MRS. GRIMALDl: No.
We gave the stand up.
- Too much work.
- Oh.
The boy's
panic should have told me...
it was more than school
he was afraid of...
and that littered,
closed-up vegetable stand...
should have
told me something, too.
When I last saw it,
less than a month ago...
it was the cleanest
and busiest stand on the road.
That's strange.
She was in to see you, too...
last Friday.
I tried to get her to see
Doc Pursey, but she wouldn't.
She said only you
could help her.
Whatever it was...
it couldn't have been
too serious, I guess.
One minor concussion,
two cases of the common cold...
and six canceled appointments.
Looks like you rushed me here
for nothing.
I don't understand it.
They couldn't wait to see you.
But you're still booked up solid
for the afternoon.
I bet they don't show.
Look, there's Wally Eberhard...
talking somebody
into buying some insurance.
There's nothing wrong with him.
Bill Bitner's taking
his secretary to lunch.
And speaking of lunch...
will you tell whoever that is
that I'm out having mine?
Is Dr. Bennell in?
Yes, he's here.
Do you suppose
he has time to see me?
If he hasn't,
something's wrong with him.
Go right in.
Becky.
Almost five years.
It's wonderful to be home again.
I've been away so long...
I feel almost like a stranger
in my own country.
Hope you don't mind my coming
without an appointment.
Not at all.
What'll you have?
We're pushing appendectomies
this week.
Oh, Miles.
I don't know,
maybe I clown around too much.
Pretty soon, my patients...
won't trust me
to prescribe aspirin for them.
Seriously, what's the trouble?
It's my cousin.
Wilma?
What's the matter with her?
She has a...
I guess you'd call it
a delusion.
You