Now wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Just hold on a second, Lem.
Liz.
You hear me, girl?
What you want now?
Gotta play that thing so loud?
What you come out like this for?
Oh, don't bother me.
Liz.
Someday, I'm gonna give that she-cat the whoppin'
she's been asking for.
Sure, you will, Dave.
Lay the law down to her.
Let her know who wears the pants around here.
I'll be back in a minute.
Any whoopin's done back there, I'll lay
you a jug she'll be doing it.
Come on now, Lem, and tell us about that thing you
killed out there at the swamp.
Yeah, Lem.
Let's hear the rest of that.
Like I was saying, I put five slugs into that critter
before it went under.
Doggonest thing I ever seen.
Had regular arms on it like a man.
But it was sorta different-looking.
Had suckers on them.
Like one of them-- like one of them octopuses things.
Oh, it was plumb awful.
Lem, you sure that critter wasn't pink?
No.
I told you before it was sorta gray-looking.
Well, laugh if you want.
But that thing weren't nothing nature put out there.
No, sir.
And it weren't no freak gator neither.
I been poaching this country for 40 years,
and I ain't never seen nothing like it.
Well, too bad you didn't bring it back.
Steve Benton probably pay a far bounty for whatever it was.
Bounty?
I wouldn't touch that critter for all the money ever made.
And if you'd seen it, you wouldn't neither.
You better take it easy on that stuff.
You looking kinda pinked.
Oh.
I'm gonna clean my otter lines out before morning.
Lem, I think that critter's a ghost of one of those otters
you been poaching all these years,
coming back to haunt you.
Well, if that's so, you fellas will
see it right quick yourselves.
Boy, he's lost it.
Now look, it's not like I wanna be mean or anything
like that, Liz baby.
I got a reputation around here.
These folks have no respect for a man
who lets his woman boss him.
Next thing you know, they'll be laughing at me,
and they'll be telling all the rest of the-- won't you
please listen to me, Liz baby?
Liz?
Stop looking at me like that.
I'll look at you any way I want.
You're my wife.
Don't touch me.
Who do you think you're talking to?
Don't touch me.
You're my wife.
I'll touch you any time I feel like it.
Where you going?
I'm going out.
Maybe I'll be back.
Maybe I won't.
Look, Liz baby, I didn't mean nothing.
Well, there was a young one in that last trap.
I had to kill it.
Oh, poor thing.
Told you you shouldn't have come along.
Well, I can understand hunting an animal,
but making it suffer in those traps.
Horrible.
Well, these poachers know the swamps
like the back of their hands.
But I'll catch one of them in the act some night
and put him away for six months.
In the meantime, I'll have to be satisfied
confiscating their trap lines.
They lose enough traps, it won't pay them to keep trying.
Well, be careful, darling.
These people aren't like other folks.
You know, they'll try and get back at you.
Let them try.
Steve, you're a stranger here.
They've lived this way for generations.
One man isn't gonna change them overnight.
You're a real worrywort.
I'm serious, Steve.
They can be dangerous.
OK.
I'll be careful.
You just stop worrying.
Oh, Steve, I love you.
I love you so much.
What was that?
I don't know.
You get in the truck and lock it up.
Listen, Benton.
The coroner ruled that Sawyer died in a misadventure.
Now as far as this office is concerned,
that's the end of it.
But, Sheriff, I can't see why there--
Look, if Lem was killed by anything human,
I wouldn't need you to tell me my job.
But I'm not about to go tromping through the swamp
looking for an overgrown gator.
Sawyer wasn't killed by an alligator.
Is that so?
Did you hear that, Morton?
Game Warden Benton says it wasn't a gator killed Lem.
Well then, what was it?
You know so much, go on, tell me.
What killed him?
Doc Greyson said the wounds were the kind a squid
or a large octopus might cause.
Oh, sure.
And did Greyson explain how a saltwater
creature happened to be 30 miles inland, living in Clearwater?
Stranger things have happened.
I know of--
Look here, Benton.
You work for the state.
Now why don't you keep your nose out of county business?
Is that clear enough for you?
Oh, go soak your fat head.
What was that you said?
I said, go soak your fat head!
That boy's looking for bad trouble.
And he's sure gonna get it.
You can bet on that.
So you see, the octopi uses its suction disks to hold its prey.
Now in itself, the disk will not inflict a wound.
Same is true of the squid.
Now both creatures have a parrot-like beak
as their primary offensive and defensive weapon.
Well, maybe the Sheriff was right, dear.
Could be a freak or a malformed alligator.
No.
No, I'm afraid it wasn't.
Well, where does that leave us, Doc?
I wish I knew.
You know, I'm beginning to think Lem was telling
the truth in Walker's store.
He did see something that night, something
that had intelligence enough to seek
him out and destroy him later.
But Sawyer claims to have killed
the thing he saw, put a half a dozen rifle bullets into it.
I've seen that old .44-40 he used.
Nothing could live after being hit with those slugs.
Well, conceding the possibility of one such creature,
we must also concede the possibility of others.
Well, there's one sure way of finding out.
Go in and search every backwater, channel,
and wet spot in the swamp.
If it's there, I'll find it.
Sure is quiet around here.
Did you hear something?
Yes.
Well, whatever it was, it's not here anymore.
Did you want some coffee?
Yeah.
Thanks, hun.
An army could hide in here and never be noticed.
Well, one did.
What?
The Seminoles under Osceola in the 1830s.
Took the US Army two years to round them up.
Oh, I remember reading about Osceola in high school.
Two years.
We've only been at it two days and I feel worn out.
Well, we might as well keep on looking around.
Well, I guess we may as well give up for the day.
Well, you won't get any arguments from me.
I'm asking you for the last time, Dave Walker.
Will you answer me, you dirty old man?
I ain't dirty, Liz baby.
Liz baby.
Liz honey.
Can't you think of anything else to say, stupid?
I gotta get this order over to Ms. Showby.
She's one of my better customers.
Can't keep her waiting.
I love you, Liz baby.
Get out.
Get out, you fat pig!
Did you, um, have some trouble, Dave?
You know women, Cal.
Gotta get their hair down every now and then.
You sure do know an awful lot about females.
I gotta hand it to you.
I can't stand here jawing, Cal.
Gotta get this order over to Ms. Showby.
What she letting her hair down about this time?
Well.
Ever since Lem got hisself killed,
she wants me to sell out and move into town.
Don't you let her bamboozle you, Dave.
You keep her right here in the store.
After all, place wouldn't be the same without you around.
Thanks, Cal.
I better get going.
See you when I get back.
Yeah, I'll be around.
Liz baby.
It's Cal, honey.
You want something, Cal?
I sure do, honey.
Tired?
Oh, I'm dead.
Me too.
Come on over here.
Seems kind of silly knocking ourselves out
looking for something we aren't even sure exists.
What do you mean?
You know, we've covered miles of back channel
and haven't come across anything to support your father's
theory of an alien creature.
Not so much as a mud print we couldn't identify.
I know.
You're not gonna give up, are you, Steve?
Well, I-- I can't waste anymore time on a wild goose chase.
With all respect to your father's ideas.
But Dad seemed so sure.
You're some woman, Liz.
I reckon I never met a woman like you before.
You really like me, Cal?
Are you kidding?
Oh, no.
I didn't hurt you now, did I?
It's just that you're so strong.
I-- I like a man who's strong.
You sure picked a doozy, that man Dave.
I don't think he's got a muscle in him.
Just a big piece of flab.
Oh, now, I didn't mean anything against you.
Just that I can't see a-- a real woman like you tying
in with a tub of lard like him.
You wouldn't understand, Cal.
You know, I-- I wanted to tell you.
You just wouldn't understand.
Try me.
Come on, you tell old Cal all about it.
You wouldn't think bad of me?
Crazy.
You could tell me you killed your pa, and your ma,
and your whole family, I'd fight to protect you.
My first husband was a no-good bum.
Couldn't keep a job more than a week.
Used to get lushed up, come home and beat up on me.
He must have been a prize pig.
One night, he tried to hold up a gas station.
He was so drunk, he couldn't even run.
They caught him less than a mile away.
Got set up.
I got a divorce.
That's rough.
After three years working in a lousy
I was ready for the first guy that said a nice word to me.
It was Dave.
That's it.
God, I wish it had been me.
I'd know how to take care of a woman like you, Liz.
You made it there too late, Cal.
You're wrong, woman.
It's too late for the both of you.
Get up.
Come on, get up.
Now look, Dave.
I-- I know what you're thinking, but--
I got double large shot in this here thing.
You got two seconds before I pull the trigger.
No point getting riled, Dave.
Wasn't my fault. Why, she's been pestering me
for months to take her out.
Sure, Cal.
I understand.
Get her up so I can get a better look at the lying little tramp.
Come on, get her up.
Come on, get up.
No, Cal. No.
He'll kill me.
We'll jump him.
Your husband wants to take a look at you.
You-- you walk all the way, Dave?
One more step and I'll blow you plumb in two.
Get over there.
Now-- now, Dave, it ain't as bad as you think.
Shut up.
Tramp.
What are you gonna do?
You'll find out soon enough.
Dave, you put down that gun before I
get mad and make you eat it.
You go ahead and try, Cal.
Go right ahead and try.
Move.
Move!
Come on.
I can't go any further.
No.
Come on.
Go on, run.
Run till you drop.
I'm telling you, I can't go anymore.
I can't.
You gotta let me stop running.
Shut up.
I can't go on.
Cal.
Come on.
Keep going.
Dave, please, you gotta listen.
It wasn't my fault, honest.
She kept playing up to me every time you turned your back.
It wasn't my fault.
You call yourself a man.
You and your muscles.
Shut up, you tramp!
If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be in this fix,
and my old friend Dave wouldn't be doing this thing to me.
It's all your fault.
Oh.
Get going.
But-- but, Dave-- Dave, we been friends.
We been friends a long time, Dave.
You wouldn't-- you wouldn't kill an old friend, Dave?
If you don't move, I'll kill you where you stand.
But, Dave--
You brave, big man.
Keep going.
I didn't mean it, Dave.
I swear, I didn't mean it.
Dave, they'll kill us out here.
Please, Dave.
I'm sorry.
Please, I'm sorry, honey.
I'm sorry, Dave.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean it.
I'm sorry.
You think you've learned enough to stay
away from my woman, Cal?
Oh!
Anything, Dave.
I'm ... I'll do anything you say, Dave.
Anything.
All right.
Come on outta there.
Dave! Dave!
Give me a hand.
Dave.
My god.
Look out.
Behind you!
There ain't nothing down here, sir.
Well, I'm getting tired of this.
Come on in, boys.
Well, if there was any bodies out there,
we'd have found them.
I want some straight answers, Walker.
And don't give me any more of that
crud about monsters either.
Where'd you hide them after you killed them?
I told you the truth, Sheriff.
I didn't kill them.
I just wanted to scare them good.
I love my Liz.
I wouldn't do anything to hurt her.
I loved her.
Sure.
You loved her.
That's why you chased her through the swamp with a shotgun.
Come on, Walker.
Where'd you hide the bodies?
Won't you believe me?
It was some monsters.
They--
Take him outta here before I lose my temper.
My Liz.
County pay a reward if'n someone
finds the body, Sheriff?
$50.
Each?
Yeah.
You know, I never though that of old Dave.
Course, everybody knowed that Cal
and Liz had a hankering for each other, everybody but old Dave.
Darn fools.
Grappling out there in the middle of the water.
If'n them bodies are still in there,
you can bet some old bull gator's got them stuffed
in his cave under the bank,
letting them riping up for a few days.
Yeah, well, what we need now is some long,
Cypress poles to go in there and pole them gator caves.
I'm sorry, Doc.
I can't do it.
I'll have to do it myself.
I wouldn't want to have to arrest you, Doc,
but I will if I find you near the preserve
with any explosives.
Steve.
Sorry, Nan.
That's the way it's gotta be.
Steve's right, Nan.
It's his job to protect wildlife.
What about human life?
Three people have been killed in that game preserve.
Doesn't that mean anything to you?
Nan, try to understand.
If I could be sure something in the swamp
was responsible for those deaths,
I wouldn't hesitate a minute.
We've been together the last three days.
We didn't see a trace of anything unusual.
Not so much as a suggestion of any form of life unknown to us.
Steve.
Something killed those people.
All right, I'll admit Sawyer's death left
a lot of questions unanswered.
But you can bet your bottom dollar the other two died
from Dave Walker's shotgun.
Do you really believe that?
Figure it out, Nan.
Walker admitted chasing his wife and Cal into the swamps
after he found them together.
He shot them and he tried to place the blame on Sawyer's DTs.
If Sawyer had told us he'd seen purple giraffes
with polka dot tails, Walker would've claimed they did it.
There's one argument against that, Steve.
Dave Walker wasn't the kind of a man
to hang himself, not even with two murder charges against him.
Now I talked with Dave less than an hour
before he killed himself.
That man was in a state of shock.
I've seen frightened men before, terrified men.
But I've never seen anything to compare with the horror
and the fear in Walker's eyes.
Well, he realized what he'd done.
He killed two people, and one his wife.
Look, Doc, Nan and I were all over that swamp.
Why didn't these monsters attack us?
I've been thinking about that.
They're probably night creatures.
They can't stand the light.
They stay down near the bottom during the day.
A small charge would stun them, bring them to the surface.
Can't buy it, Doc.
You're pig-headed, Steve Benton.
Stubborn and pig-headed.
You just don't understand, do you?
Good night, Doc.
Right over there in them reeds.
You know, I just can't figure old Dave out.
If you was caught like Cal, what would you do?
I hadn't thought of that.
Right over there in them reeds is
where that big'un used to be.
Yeah.
Caught some great catfish in that hole.
Boy... This is sure a hot one.
Right unseasonable.
Sure is funny.
Huh?
Ain't you noticed anything?
No.
What?
We been prodding around here all morning.
Ain't run across a single gator.
By rights, this pool should be crawling with them.
Sure funny.
Yeah, that is funny.
I don't like the looks of things.
Let's call it a day.
Well now, wait a minute.
We ain't pole the gator holes around the bend yet.
You do what you wanna do, boy.
Just get me on dry land, and right quick.
All right.
Now ain't no use getting all head up.
Let's go.
You gotta quit drinking that moonshine.
Eh.
That's why you're so wrinkled and ugly.
Coming all the way out here on a wild goose chase.
We've been calling, but there's been no answer.
Oh, I just got back.
What seems to be the trouble?
Well, haven't you heard?
Old Sam Peters and Porky Reed have disappeared.
Come on inside.
You know Kovis.
Nothing would please him more than to have
all the swamp people disappear.
Swamp trash, he calls them.
I know.
They have about as much regard for him as he has for them.
When they're worried enough to go to him,
you know something's wrong.
Mrs. Reed said the men went searching
for Cal and Mrs. Walker's bodies,
and they never returned.
Kovis says he'll get up a search party if they don't
show up in a couple of days.
Doc, you and Nan take your car and get as many volunteers
as you can.
Tell them to meet me at the Old Wagon Road.
I'll call Doake Evans and have him bring his dogs.
Either they're lost or they've had an accident.
I hope to heaven you're right.
Well, they picked up the scent, anyway.
Dad, do you think they'll find them?
Only the good Lord can answer that.
Well, at least we know they got this far.
All right, let's split up into two
parties and circle the lake.
Keep your eyes open.
Let's move out.
All clear.
It's clear over here.
All right, let's keep moving.
Well, we can't do anything more tonight.
Might as well start back.
I reckon ain't no use hurrying now, Mr. Benton.
If Reed and old Sam was alive, they'da let us known
with a holler or something.
Yeah, it kinda looks that way.
You fellas notice anything about this lake?
I mean, the gators.
What about them?
They ain't here.
Piece of water this size usually has maybe 50, 60 big'uns around
and a whole lotta little'uns.
It's real unnatural.
Well, maybe our torches scared them away.
Nothing scares gators.
Nothing, animal or human.
Well, we might as well get outta here.
You got something in mind, Steve?
I keep thinking of what Evans said about the gators.
Nothing scares them, animal or human.
And yet, something made them leave.
Maybe a-- maybe a mineral contamination.
Guess I better run some water samples.
Come on, you two, drink your coffee.
And supposing there is no contamination?
Well then, I'll send over to Eastport for a diving rig
and go down to look for this monster of yours.
No, Steve, don't even joke like that.
I'm not joking, Nan.
I had some training with an Aqua-Lung
while I was in the Navy.
But, Steve--
Look, there are two bodies we know for sure
are down there, maybe four.
They've got to be brought up.
Wait a minute.
There are no alligators in that part of the swamp, right?
So?
No sign of any fish or snakes?
No.
What are you getting at, Doc?
Well, there goes your argument about setting off
a dynamite charge under water.
It'd bring the bodies to the surface.
Get it out of your mind, Doc.
I'm not using any explosives as long as there's another way.
Why must you be such a--
Stubborn pighead?
Exactly.
I'll tell you why.
Number one, there's bound to be some aquarian
life in that section, even if the bigger
forms have abandoned it.
Explosion under water would destroy every living thing
and wreck what nature took years to build up.
Number two, I'm paid to prevent the useless
slaughter of wildlife.
Number three, I'd have to get authorization.
And to get that authorization, I'd have to come up
with a heck of a good reason.
Satisfied?
Finish up, Dad.
I want to go home.
Steve.
How long will it take to get this diving equipment
from Eastport?
A couple of days. Why?
Oh, nothing.
Take care of yourself, Steve.
Well, here's hoping.
Dad.
Can't you throw the dynamite in from here?
No. I want to get it out into the middle, in the deepest part.
All right.
Stop!
It should go any minute.
I just can't figure it out.
Walker's wife, why didn't her body come to the surface?
I don't know.
I think I better walk over to the coroner's office.
What's the matter, Mr. Benton?
You feel awkward about arresting my father in his own home?
I warned him I'd arrest him if he used dynamite.
That's nice of you.
Well, the autopsy should be over by now.
Oh, Steve.
I thought you'd be here.
I don't like to have to do this, Doctor.
Do we have time for a cup of coffee first?
Sure.
Do you mind, honey?
No. I'll make some sandwiches.
One thing is certain, for all the good it'll do now.
Dave Walker didn't shoot Cal.
I'd just come from the autopsies.
Kovis tried to keep me out.
But I told him I'd raise a stink they'd smell all the way
to the capital if he did.
Well, what killed them, Doc?
Not drowning.
And Cal wasn't shot either.
Every drop of blood was drained out of their bodies.
And they had wounds on their throats, suction wounds,
like a-- like a gigantic leech might make.
And there's something even more incredible.
Now Cal was supposed to have been killed several days ago.
Sam and Reed had been missing a matter of 48 hours.
All three of them, as far as we know, were in that lake
a minimum of two days.
Now I'd stake my reputation as a doctor
that Cal hadn't been dead more than
two or three hours when we found them.
And the other two, less than that.
First stage rigor mortis started in during the autopsy.
But how could that be, Doc? It's impossible.
The coroner will confirm it.
Whatever killed them is still in that lake.
And it's gonna take more than dynamite to get it out.
Concussion from those charges would've
killed a full grown whale.
That explains how Cal and the others
lived after they were supposed to be drowned.
What do you mean?
Well, this whole region is riddled by caves
and caverns cut out by the ocean thousands of years ago.
If there are caves above the water,
then there must be caves under the water.
Go on.
Mike and I had a chance to fool around
with some frogman equipment captured from the Italian Navy.
We sort of prowled through a sunken transport off Salerno.
When a ship went down,
it trapped some air inside the hull.
We'd go down, come up inside the officer's lounge,
take off our face masks, and sort of sample some
of the bottles floating around.
We drove the guys crazy trying to figure out
how we were getting the stuff.
You mean you think that there's an air pocket
or a cave underneath the lake?
Right, gotta be.
How else could those people have lived down there?
Not only that, it explains how whatever it is down
there lived through the concussions.
Steve.
Liz Walker.
She might still be down there.
Alive.
No.
No!
Comfortable?
Yeah.
You sure you don't want me to go down for you, mate?
You haven't had one of these things
on for a long time, while me, every other day,
I've been playing fish.
Not this time, Mike.
If you ask me, they oughtta have their heads examined.
Giant leeches.
Hmph.
I'm willing to bet a month's pay they don't come up
with nothing more than excuses.
He's crazy.
Him, the Doc, and his brat too.
Just wait till I get on the phone with the capital.
I'll guarantee somebody will wish they had kept their nose
out of other people's business.
I'll guarantee that.
Let's go, Mike.
Steve.
Be careful, please.
Don't worry.
Mike will be ready if anything goes wrong.
Don't worry about Steve.
Now if he were going after a barracuda,
you might have a tiny bit to worry about.
Ready, Mike?
No, no, please stay away.
Please.
Not exactly inviting, is it?
It sure isn't.
Hold her steady, Mike.
It'll stop anything up to a tiger shark.
But you gotta hit.
Misses don't count.
Now anything goes wrong, just yank on the line.
I'll be down in a hurry.
You sure you don't want me to go down and finish it off
for you, Steve?
No thanks, Mike.
I-- I think I hurt it pretty bad.
Careful now.
Anything hurt's 10 times as dangerous.
He's wounded it.
He's gonna finish it off.
Does he have to go under again?
He's got to make sure, honey.
Where could it have come from?
I wish I knew.
We'll have to make some tests.
Maybe the proximity of Cape Canaveral's got something to do with it.
The rocket station?
Well, they use atomic energy in the first stages of launching.
Not all of them have been successful.
You think that it's an animal life that was close by,
not close enough to be killed, but close enough
to feel the effects of a radioactive energy that--
A mutation.
A type of gigantism of some common animal.
Whatever it is, I hope he's able to bring it up.
That-- that can't be Liz.
What could have done that?
Look at her face.
What's that?
Look at that thing.
I've been around here for years.
I never saw nothing like that before.
There was no sign of them this time.
They must be licking their wounds.
Are you sure you used enough stuff to do the job, Mike?
I used 100 sticks of 40%.
Oughtta blow the bottom right out.
All right.
Let her go.
Oh, no.
I've done enough of your dirty work.
Help yourself.