Early Edition (1996) s02e11 Episode Script

Okay, you go back.
Oh, look.
Mr.
Boggles is out of his cage.
Miss Bailey! Miss Bailey! Mr.
Boggles is out of his cage! I'll be right there, Allie.
Good job.
Miss Bailey! Miss Bailey! Mr.
Boggles is running away! Not so far.
Come back here, Mr.
Boggles.
Come back! Paper said 9:00 a.
m.
, right? Around 9:00 a.
m.
Around? That's not very helpful.
Least they could do is give you the exact time.
Yeah, well- Who's they? They.
You know, whoever delivers the paper in the first place.
Well, they don't know the exact time Hang on! Next time you do that, tell me about it beforehand! I said, "hang on," didn't I?! Besides, you're the one that's in such a big hurry.
Oh, no.
What? Look, "Pedestrian killed on Chestnut.
" Chestnut? We're on Chestnut.
Right.
How? Speeding car.
When? Now! Oh, mama! Are you okay? I- I think so.
What are you doing? I'm-I'm laying in the street.
What happened? Well, you fainted.
Uh, uh You fainted, Walter.
How'd you know my name? Well, becau- He's all right.
You take care of him.
Hey, why me? 'Cause I got to go.
You can't do that; that's a hit and run.
Well, except that we didn't hit him.
What are you doing? I- I think my nose is gonna bleed.
* * Excuse me.
Who are you? I'm looking for Allie Chapman.
Do you know where she is? I'm sorry, but unless you're a qualified guardian, I Look, this is an emergency.
She's gonna disappear, if she hasn't already.
Now, where is she? I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave.
Look, do-do you know where Allie is, Allie? Allie? Well, hey, wait.
Allie?! Allie! Sir, I insist you Allie! Allie? Oh, my God.
Allie! Allie! Allie! Mr.
Boggles, where are you? Mr.
Boggles, where are you? Mr.
Boggles, where are you? What if you knew, beyond a doubt, what was going to happen tomorrow? What would you do? There's no easy answer for a guy who gets tomorrow's news today.
* * It's not your fault.
Okay, let's go over this again.
You're who? Teacher? Parent? Look, I already told you this.
Just happened by.
That's right.
Why? Well, no particular reason.
But you asked about Allie Chapman.
Said you thought she was missing.
And why is that? Look, I guessed, all right? Well you guessed right.
Detective Barnes? We've searched the area; there's no sign of her anywhere.
Hospitals? Nothing yet, sir.
Okay, start a house-to-house.
Yes, sir.
I'm Mrs.
Chapman.
Is there any Not yet, ma'am.
Karen.
I'm so sorry.
I got to do this.
Um, I can reach you at this address, right? Yeah.
You wouldn't happen to know where this little girl is, would you? No, sir.
Never hurts to ask, right? Uh, Ms.
Chapman, um need to ask you a couple questions about your daughter.
Stop beating yourself up.
You did what you could.
I missed her.
You tried.
Yeah, I tried and I missed her.
She's a five-year-old kid.
Well, she'll turn up.
The paper just says she's not found, that's all.
No where, no when, no how, nothing.
Did you tell the police what you know? I don't know anything.
What could I tell them? Why does this do this to me? Well, there's a reason.
What reason? I have no idea.
Well, thank you very much.
You're welcome.
I would've got to her if some nut hadn't run out in front of Chuck's car- The nut.
What? I left Chuck with the nut.
Hey, Gare.
Remember your buddy Chuck? Of course, you've met Walter.
Nice running into you again.
Oh, no.
Uh-uh.
That would be a disaster.
Well, he looks okay.
All right.
Yeah, I'll get his signature anyway.
Thanks, Mort.
Who was that? That was my lawyer.
I need to get a release signed for the accident.
What accident? We didn't hit the guy.
Correct.
But if some smart lawyer gets ahold of his story, we are in a lot of trouble.
Well, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would sue you.
And how, may I ask, would you know that? Well, it's just a feeling.
I mean, he seems sad.
I feel sorry for him.
Hey, Walt, are you, uh, are you sure you're not hurt? I'm fine, thanks.
Thanks for asking.
Yeah, no problem.
So what do you got in this briefcase you've been lugging around? Oh, nothing.
Just my life's work.
You mind if I, uh Well, go ahead.
Whoa.
What the heck is it? It's called a digital aurameter.
It filters out the big noises and detects micro vibrations.
Micro what? Little noises.
You know, tiny movements that the ear couldn't otherwise detect.
Oh, really? Tiny movements, huh? Mm-hmm.
Micro vibrations.
Wait, what's so odd about that? Oh, nothing.
This thing's ridiculous.
It'll never work.
Go ahead, Chuck, give it a try.
Yeah, sure.
Hey, cat.
Uh, excuse me for Well, I'll be darned.
This thing really works.
Of course it works.
Now that it's too late.
Cat? Cat? Cat? ANNOUNCER In weather news today, batten down the hatches, Chicago.
A severe line of thundershowers is headed our way.
The storm line has been approaching, and it's bringing record amounts of rain along its path as it's headed into the metropolitan area.
Who turned that on? And now, a special bulletin from the news watchers news room.
A five-year-old child is missing.
Hello? Hello? And so far, police are baffled as to how she may have disappeared from her schoolyard earlier this morning.
She was last seen wearing a pink snow suit, and police need your help to find little Allie Chapman.
I hope she's found before the big storm.
It's supposed to be torrential.
In other news, the price of milk is going down.
What am I supposed to do? There are no new changes in this.
Hey, you know what? You're so smart, why don't you clean the place up, huh? Just a few hours ago, I was standing at ground zero of every inventor's dream.
There I was, in the boardroom at Consolidated Electric Enterprises.
and sweat and dreams and hard work came down to this one moment.
And the machine would not turn on.
A crummy two-dollar on/off switch ruined my life.
Since then, I've just been wandering around in a fog.
Uh, next thing I remember, I was sitting in the middle of the street, and you were standing over me.
Oh.
Now that's a bad day.
Mommy? Man, I think Cheryl is so hot.
So, what are you gonna do about it? Man, what can I do? I got no car.
Hello? Hello? Oh, wait.
Hello? Help me.
What was that? Somebody help me.
Somebody please help me.
Somebody please.
Did you hear that? What? I don't know.
I thought I heard something.
It's nothing, man.
Come on.
We're gonna be late.
Come on.
Let's go.
Hello? Anybody, please! I'm down here! Oh, well, there must be someplace else you can take it to.
Uh-uh.
I have been totally discredited.
In the micro-movement world, I'm a walking joke.
Can it find groundhogs? Huh? You know, little animals that burrow under the ground.
Oh, that'd be easy, but that's not what it's designed to do.
Why? Well, I'm in the pest control business.
Grant's the name.
Just got back from the police captain's house.
Big groundhog problem.
They're eating his grapevines all over the place.
But I couldn't find the little buggers.
A thing like that, if it worked, hell, it'd be worth a small fortune.
But that's not its scientific purpose.
It's a geological Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Is it patented? Well, of course.
Really? Grant, name's Charles Fishman.
All right, now that I'm here, what the hell am I looking for? * * * * Allie? Well, well, well, this is gonna be interesting.
What are the odds? How's that? You and me.
First we meet this morning, then we both show up here.
Gotta be astronomical, don't you think? Look, if you're interested in Oh, that I am.
I'm looking for Allie Chapman.
Thought she might be here? I thought she could be.
Why? Well, maybe I should ask you the same thing.
I'm a cop.
This is my case.
I do this for a living.
Your turn.
I'm just a nice guy who cares.
Oh, you do this kinda like for a hobby, huh? You just run around looking for lost little girls? Listen, why don't you try and help me to understand? Contrary to popular belief, we cops aren't as dumb as we look.
All right, listen, you want to find Allie Chapman, I think I might know what happened to her.
There's a rabbit missing over at the school, a Mr.
, Mr.
Boggles or something.
Now, I was just over there, only the rabbit's not there.
He's gone.
Now, I think Allie might be looking for this Mr.
Boggles, and when she went to look for him, she got lost.
And followed him down a hole? Like Alice in Wonderland? Allie and Mr.
Boggles, huh? Hey, where's the Mad Hatter? I'm sure I don't know.
You know, I have a theory about this, too.
You want to hear it? Sure.
Go ahead.
Little girls just don't disappear.
I think someone took her.
Maybe someone that lives in there.
Now what do you think Mr.
Boggles would say about that? Well, I don't know.
Rabbits, I don't talk to.
Are you done with me now? You need a lift? No, thank you.
I'll walk.
Yeah, that's right.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not so sure about this.
Uh, Captain, no.
Look, I understand completely.
Those pesky little rodents can drive you nuts.
Look, tell the captain that Shh! What? Oh, no.
This machine was built for that problem.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, the name? It's Digital Aurameter.
Captain, we call it "The Critter Transmitter.
" What? What?! Mm-hmm.
Okay.
So then we'll see you tomorrow? Great.
Bye-bye.
All right, we're in.
How could you do that? Do what? Look, this is not some pest control gizmo.
It's a scientific invention for seismic exploration.
For natural resource recovery.
See, for geographical Uh-uh, uh-uh.
Walter, Walter, Walter, look at it this way, okay? Now, this morning, your baby was living on the trash pile, okay? Well, yeah Now thanks to me, you actually have a chance to redeem your reputation.
What, by, by catching rodents? Walter, do you have any idea what you've built here? Yes, a locating device.
Wrong.
It's a much better mousetrap.
Now, you'll stay at my place tonight with this.
Okay.
And listen to me.
It doesn't matter what you originally built this for.
Well, the sonar Nobody cares.
Trust me, okay? Now Nothing.
Not even a single word has changed in here.
Well, why should it be? Because I talked to the detective at the school about Mr.
Boggles.
Mr.
Boggles? Mr.
Boggles is the missing rabbit.
And he didn't believe you? It's very odd there are no changes.
Usually there's something, it gives me an idea what to do, but there's nothing.
Well, maybe you just have to wait for tomorrow's paper.
Yeah yeah.
I'll see ya.
Wait.
Where are you going? I'm gonna take a jog.
Hey, you know, it's very strange, but all day I've been, uh I've been, uh Getting this feeling like she's somewhere nearby? How did you know that? It's a normal response when people are missing.
Oh.
I guess that makes sense.
Yes? Marissa, what if something happens to that little girl before I get the paper tomorrow? Guess we have to hope it doesn't.
Yeah.
My mommy knows we're lost, and she will have the police come and find us.
I'll get it.
Hey, what's going on? It's the Chapman place.
You know, the kid who got snatched.
Snatched? Kidnapped.
What makes them think that? Sorry.
Sources.
Oh, yeah? Well, you're wasting your time.
You ought to go home.
Says who? Sorry.
Sources.
You know, my sources say that the cops already have a suspect in mind.
Oh, yeah? Whoever it is, I would hate to be that guy.
Do you want a cookie? It's your favorite; a elephant.
Maybe tomorrow.
WOMAN metropolitan area.
And for anyone who hasn't heard yet, the weatherman says we're going to get some heavy rain, starting about midday.
There's a small craft advisory, so stay off the lakes "The body of Allie Chapman was discovered yesterday "in a drainage pipe at Main Street wash.
"A city search has been underway for the little girl "who wandered off the morning before.
"Apparently, the girl drowned "when the pipes from the maze of tunnels beneath the city "filled with runoff from yesterday's heavy rains.
"The discovery came as a surprise to police, "who were certain Miss Chapman had been abducted.
Funeral services will be held Friday.
" That's it? That's the thing that's gonna find the groundhogs? This, sir, is absolutely guaranteed.
How? Uh, it detects micro-movements in the mini-decibel level Smell.
It can smell the fur.
It can? Uh, yeah.
Good idea.
M.
I.
T.
How much is this gonna cost me? For you, absolutely free- if you are willing to sign the following endorsement.
You save my garden, and I'll sign your Aunt Mary's diapers.
Okay, let's give it a try.
Good.
Come on.
Excuse me? It can smell their fur? Why get technical? Simple is better.
And for the record, I went to Ohio State.
Just leave the public relations to me, okay? And it's not a mousetrap! Well, that's good, 'cause we're not looking for mice, we're looking for groundhogs! Allie? Allie? Allie? Straight.
Watch out for my grape arbor.
Those plants are very delicate.
I didn't know you could grow grapes out here.
Yeah, they're specially imported from France.
They're dormant now; come to life in the summertime.
Beautiful plants, beautiful.
Damn groundhogs have been eating 'em.
Taking care of that problem for you right now, Captain.
Excuse me.
Hey, what's wrong with that thing? Does it need a new battery? For your information, it has a 50-year lithium battery.
Well, we don't have 50 years, so set the doohickey on groundhog, and let's get going.
Well frankly, this is an exercise in futility.
This thing was not designed to find groundhogs.
It found a cat, it can find a rodent.
I- I-I don't even know what a groundhog looks like.
Hey.
We're almost there, sir.
You know what I think? I think you guys got no idea what you're doing.
N - Now, hold on, with all due respect, I really believe that I found something! He found something.
Really? Allie? Where are you? Allie? Hey Hello, Mr.
Boggles.
Mr.
Boggles.
All right.
Come on, buddy, we're gonna go get some help.
Mr.
Hobson.
Barnes, it's nice to see you, for once.
Here.
One Mr.
Boggles.
And here's one teddy bear.
That proves she's down in there somewhere.
Yeah, nice detective work.
Hey, look, these tunnels, they run for miles down here.
She could be anywhere in there, so I suggest you organize a search party a little bit bigger than this one, huh? We could.
Then again, maybe you could save us some time.
Huh? Tell us where she is, Hobson.
Oh, no.
Oh, no, now, listen Why don't you take us to her, man? You could spare us all a little trouble here.
I'm telling you, I don't know where she is! She could be down here anywhere! Put him in the car.
Look, Barnes Bar-Barnes, don't do this.
Put him in the car.
The kid's down there somewhere.
I don't know where she Hey, my paper! Barnes, you're making a big mista Those critters sure dig deep.
Are you sure they're down there? Might be.
Might? Might be something else.
Like what, gophers? Gas.
Oh Go! Look out! Oh Oh, my my grapes! Well, that ought to take care of those groundhogs.
If you didn't put the girl in there, why did you go back for her things? Look, I didn't go back.
I've never even been there before.
I found the bear down there, and then I found The little bunny.
Come on.
Look, you've got to believe me, the kid, she went down there by herself, all right? Okay.
So now it's Alice Through the Looking Glass again.
Come on, man, don't try to play me for a fool.
Listen, even if you think it's me, the least you can do is start the search.
Already did.
That girl is nowhere near that wash.
Well, then I suggest you start again, 'cause I'm telling you she's down there somewhere.
Maybe.
Or maybe it's all just a red herring.
Maybe she's nowhere near that wash.
Look, you gonna charge me with something? For the moment, I'm gonna hold you for questioning.
All right, well, I got a right to a phone call, right? In weather news today, batten down the hatches, Chicago.
A severe line of thundershowers is headed our way.
I want you to know I'm very sorry.
Skip it.
I really thought I had it.
Had it? Walter, we blew up his backyard.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
That's not the fault of the aurameter, okay? Besides, as I think I mentioned to you before It's not a mouse trap.
I know.
Exactly.
You know, I deserve this.
Must have been something I've done, way back.
This is karma.
Look, I-I know it's a setback, but that's no reason to lose faith in the basic technology.
That is so typical.
I put my reputation on the line, my good name, and this is what I get! You're-you're taking it too personally.
Here, sign this.
What is it? It's a release form from yesterday's near accident.
Robin, you have a pen, please? Yeah, sure.
You think I would sue you? You think I'm a fake.
I thought you believed in me.
Just sign it.
Thank you.
You know, may-maybe if I rewired the machine, and Nope.
Well, we could go back to square one Nope.
You're right.
Why waste your breath on Walter Dalrymple? He's not worth it.
Hello? McGinty's.
It's Gary.
Hey, Gar.
What's up? You're where? Listen, Chuck, I need your help, and I need the paper.
Don't ask so many questions, all right? The State Street Wash.
You got that? I'll tell Look, I'll tell you when you get here, all right? ALLIE Mommy? Mommy? Mommy, help me.
WOMAN The leading edge of this storm is in, and if you look out your window, you'll see a light drizzle already falling.
It's expected to get pretty heavy at times.
So get out your galoshes, and be careful on those roads.
The things I do for this guy.
All right, look, you let me out of here, I'll help you find the girl.
Then you can throw me in jail.
How does that sound? So you're gonna show me where she is, huh? Anything.
Let's just get out there.
Where? Out there where? I don't know where exactly.
I told you I don't Look, stop playing games with me.
I'm just trying to stop a girl from drowning, that's all.
Sorry, I'm not biting.
Detective? This kid has something you might want to hear.
I don't mean to be a pain, or anything, but Well, the TV said to come here if I knew something.
About what? That little girl on the news.
Well, I meant to get here yesterday, but Well, I had school, so What about the little girl? Well, you're gonna think I'm crazy.
But yesterday, I heard this voice calling from the sewer.
I thought I was spacing.
Where did you hear the little girl? Oh, on Ohio, just before State.
You ignore this, you're gonna regret it the rest of your life, I promise you that.
You come with me.
WOMAN Some suburbs are now experiencing significant downpours as the storm moves across the city.
A traveler's advisory is still in effect for all of Cook County.
This newspaper's getting my upholstery all dirty.
If you have to go out, please drive carefully.
Whoa! Not again! Walter, you've got to stop doing this.
Any news, Captain? Nothing good.
They say the water's rising pretty fast down there.
Well, the rain's letting up.
It'll go down soon.
No way.
That water's coming from all over.
It's not even close to cresting yet.
ALLIE Mommy, help.
Mommy? Somebody? The water's getting too high.
All right, two things.
One, you can't keep doing this.
Two, you are a menace to society.
Now I want you to hang that thing up in your garage, and forget about it.
I don't- I don't have a garage.
Promise me.
Then I'm getting out.
No, no, no, no, you're staying.
I'm leaving.
No, you're staying.
I'm leaving! Staying! WOMAN Police and rescue departments have instituted a search for a five-year-old girl who they believe is trapped in the storm drain system under the city.
That's Gary's girl.
Rescue teams are concentrating in the area of Ohio and State Streets.
Get out.
What? Get out now.
I'm staying.
Leaving.
Staying.
Leaving.
Staying.
Leave.
I'm staying! I- I can find that girl.
With what? With that? Walter, you couldn't find snow in Antarctica.
If you don't take me, I'm going to sue you for hitting me with your car.
How are you going to sue me? You signed a release.
It's worthless.
I signed it Thomas Alva Edison.
Let's go, buster.
How about here? We've already been down there.
What about this one? Completely saturated.
My men are looking down here right now.
Allie! Hold it, buddy.
Where do you think you're going? Oh, it's okay.
We got emergency equipment here.
This is a groundhog detector.
A what? A groundhog detector.
Hey, Gare! Come on.
Hey, Gary! Hey, we got here as fast as we could.
What Listen, I think I can help.
What are you doing here? And you Gee, what a small world.
Who are these guys? A couple of conmen.
Swindlers.
Actually, we're, uh, we're friends of his.
Oh, thank you very much.
Don't mention it.
Get them out of my sight.
But-But I've come to help.
Let's go.
Hey, wait a minute.
Move! Okay, that's it.
We covered all the tunnels from Rush Street east.
Wait a second.
Look, we know she's down here.
You're not giving up.
Look, at this point, I think we need to consider our options.
What do you mean, consider your options? You mean you're giving up? It's getting too dangerous down there.
I got my men to think of.
Now look what you did.
You got us sitting here.
Oh, what am I yelling at you for? It's not your fault.
It's not? No.
It's mine.
Let's face it, I'm a sucker for hopeless causes.
Talk about buying the Brooklyn Bridge.
Micro-vibrations? What was I thinking? What is that? Maybe you hurt its feelings.
"Hurt its feelings " Look, with all due respect, would you just turn that thing off, please? Shh.
What? What is it? Be quiet.
Oh, the gas company's gonna have a field day with this one.
Mommy? Mommy? Oh, this is ridiculous.
She's under here.
I found her.
Get somebody.
Get someone over here.
Oh, no, no.
I hereby relinquish all rights and responsibility for that-that-that thing.
Hey.
Come back here! Listen to me.
You can't just leave that kid down there.
Look, I'm going to tell you one more time, I am not going to risk my men's lives on a one in a million.
All right, then you give me the equipment and I'll do down there.
You want to go down there? You're crazy.
I found her! I found her with the aurameter.
She's here.
Can't be.
That tunnel's full of water.
I don't care.
She's alive, I'm sure of it.
Oh, no.
Get him out of here.
And I mean out of here now.
Wait.
Let's hear him out, just in case.
Listen, I may look like a crackpot, and I know things haven't always gone right, but this one time, I need you to believe me.
She's down there.
Never mind how I know, I just- I just do.
That's it, I'm calling this now.
It's too dangerous.
Everybody back to the trucks.
I'm sorry.
Show me.
Come on, show me.
Hobson, where are you going? I'm going to find that little girl.
Oh, no.
Here comes the rain again.
Where is she? She's under here.
Where does this go? I don't know.
Down to the river, I guess.
You're not going down there.
There's a five-year-old kid down there.
Are you going to help me, or not? This is Barnes.
Get a rescue team down to the State Street wash, now.
MAN Yes, sir.
Help! Help me.
Allie? Over here.
Help me! Somebody, please.
I don't believe this.
Why'd you let him go down there? I don't know.
You know, with that current, there's no way he's gonna be able to get back out of there.
This'll take him to the State Street wash, right? Yeah, eventually.
Then let's go.
Come on, we can save 'em over at the other end.
Over here! Help me! Help! I'm here.
Help me.
Help me! Help.
Over here.
Over here.
I hope you're right about that thing.
I- I am right.
I'll stake my life on it.
You don't have to stake your life on it.
You already staked Gary's.
Chuck? Marissa! What are you doing here? I heard it on the news.
Is he all right? I don't know.
Say a prayer.
Look! Look over there! I got her.
I got her.
I want my Mommy.
All right! Mommy! Allie! Mommy! I was so scared.
Sir, is it true that they found the little girl with the help of a new device? Well, umm Absolutely.
Everything you heard is absolutely true.
No, it's not.
I bet by tomorrow night, you'll be selling thousands.
I- I-I don't know As Mr.
Dalrymple's official business associate, I would like to tell you and mention that It's not for sale.
What do you mean, it's not for sale? It's not for sale.
Yes, it is for sale.
It's going back to the drawing board.
I've still got some bugs to get out.
Maybe next year.
Uh, no.
Mr.
Dalrymple's a little confused.
We've already started mass production of this item.
And I'll be right back.
Apparently, this story has had a happy ending.
Allie is safe.
How are you, sweetie? Thank you.
She's a tough little girl.
Mommy, who was that man? He's the one that saved you, honey.
Yeah, I believe you.
Thanks for the help.
Thanks.