Gunsmoke (1955) s04e02 Episode Script

starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.
Boys, I hate to say this, but won ya again.
Four aces.
Oh.
Hey, Kitty Oh, hey, now.
Wait a minute.
You know, what you need is another drink.
Yeah.
Oh, my goodness, it just seems to get hotter and hotter in here.
Yeah, it does for a fact.
Would you like to go out back and get some fresh air? We could slip out and no one'd notice.
Well, um, you don't think it'd make any trouble? Of course not.
Come on.
There you are.
- Kitty.
- Thank you.
Thank you, Kitty.
Got a whole bottle.
Nice night.
Sort of cool out here.
Yeah, it is.
It's, um kind of nice being out here alone with you, Miss Holly.
Is it? You're, uh You're awful pretty.
Dave.
Oh, Miss Holly, I Must have been around back.
Around back, boys.
What in thunder is goin' on? I don't know, Doc.
Where's Matt? He's in his office.
Well, I guess I better go get him.
No, no.
He heard it; he'll be here.
Let me through here, boys.
Who is it? That's Dave Thorp.
Pretty bad, Doc? Yeah.
Dave.
Dave, can you hear me? Can't help you any, Matt.
Anybody see this happen? No.
Most of this bunch came out of the Long Branch, Matt.
I was coming up the street for a beer.
There was nobody out in front at all.
Gun's still in his holster.
He was shot in the back.
I don't understand it.
He's a fine boy.
Didn't think he had an enemy in the world.
He had one, Doc.
Yeah, he did for a fact.
Mr.
Dillon here comes his brother.
He's dead? Yeah.
Who done it, Marshal? Well, Joe, I was hoping you might have some idea.
Do you know anybody he might have had a run-in with lately? Nobody in this town ever had a grudge against Dave, you know that.
Nobody ever said one bad word against him.
Just don't seem right, Marshal a boy like him that always worked hard.
Pulled his share of the load ever since Pa died and we took over the hide business.
Only kin I got shot down.
Shot right down on the street.
You find that killer, you hear me? Joe, I'm sorry about this.
I'll do everything I can to help you.
You find that killer, you hear?! If you have to tear Dodge City apart, you do it! 'Cause if you don't, I will.
Joe.
Now, I can understand how you feel, but don't start talking that way.
You leave this up to me.
You find that killer, understand?! You know, all them empty cells out back there, Mr.
Dillon I sure wish that we could fill one of them.
Yeah, so do I.
Body just can't kill somebody and then just disappear.
Well, they seem to have been doing it so far.
Yeah.
Mr.
Dillon, how much sleep did you get last night? Oh, about an hour, I guess.
Yeah.
Well, I'll have some coffee fixed for you in a minute.
It'll help fix you up.
Y-You think that that Joe Thorp's gonna cause trouble like he said he was? Well, probably, unless we find the killer.
Yeah.
He and Dave were always pretty close, you know.
They lived together, ran the hide business together.
Still didn't give him any call to talk to you the way that he did.
Aren't you gonna put the egg in? Well, Mr.
Dillon, ain't no need to waste a whole egg.
Well, look who's coming.
Hi, Kitty.
Hello, Matt.
Hey there, Chester.
Miss Kitty.
Uh, I want you both to meet Holly Fanshaw.
- Howdy do? - How do you do? Holly's kind of new in Dodge, Matt.
She's got something she wants to tell you, but she was afraid to come here alone.
Is that so? It's about the shooting.
What about it? Holly saw it happen.
She did? Well, now, suppose you tell me about it, Holly.
Go ahead, honey.
I was with him, Marshal with Dave, I mean when-when he got shot.
You were? It was hot in the saloon, and Dave wanted some fresh air, and well, maybe he'd had too many drinks.
Go on.
Well, that's about all.
We-We went out back.
Well, uh, did anybody see you leave? I don't know.
I don't think so.
Mm-hmm.
Well, then, uh, what happened when you got outside? Well, we-we stopped to talk, sort of, and just then, a man stepped out of the shadows behind Dave and aimed a gun.
And before I could yell or anything, he fired, and Dave fell.
And then the man ran down between the two buildings and got away.
Did you get a look at him? Yes.
I saw him.
I know who it was.
You didn't tell me that.
Well, I was afraid to.
That's why I ran away, why I didn't say anything last night.
I was scared, and-and I still am.
I'm scared to death, Marshal.
Well, Holly, you don't have to worry about that.
I'll see that you're protected.
Now, who was it? It was a cowboy he had an argument with at the bar.
A trail driver from Texas.
You remember, Kitty.
Yeah, now that you mention it.
A few words passed between them.
It didn't seem like anything.
It it was one of that XT bunch, Matt.
You know his name? I think they called him Fly Hoyt.
I'd never heard of him before.
Chester, get over and find out where that XT outfit's camped, will you? Yes, sir, I sure will.
Excuse me.
Now, Holly, are you sure that you saw this man fire the shot? Yes, I saw him.
I guess he was just waiting out there.
Holly, are you willing to testify to this in court? Yes.
All right.
Now, you stay with Kitty here.
She'll protect you and see that you don't get in any trouble.
Matt, that XT bunch is tough.
They take care of their own.
It's not gonna be easy.
Oh, I know it.
That's why I might as well get started.
- Bye, Holly.
- Bye.
Be careful, Matt.
Oh, Mr.
Dillon, hold up a minute, will ya? Something the matter? Oh, this durned old horse has done it again.
Sneaked a belly full of wind on me before I cinched him up, and now he's trying to slip the saddle on me.
Well, he does that all the time.
You ought to be on to him by now.
Well, I know, but he always looks so doggone innocent about it's all, is the thing.
Mr.
Dillon, uh, about this XT outfit being so rough and all is that really true? I hear they're a pretty rough bunch, Chester, and they got no use for Kansas law, either.
They'll stick together like a bunch of hillbilly cousins.
Yeah.
Well, they probably ain't gonna take too kindly to us coming out there to arrest this Fly Hoyt, then.
No, probably not.
You know, I hear this Cavanaugh this feller that bosses the outfit I hear he's a real curly wolf.
Well, I never met him.
Well, if him and all the rest of the outfit back this Hoyt up, well, it's it's just gonna be hard, Mr.
Dillon.
We'll get him, Chester, if for only one reason.
What? He shot Dave Thorp in the back.
I'm ready anytime you are, Mr.
Dillon.
All right, let's ride.
Looks like we're expected.
Yeah, they sure don't look too friendly, do they? No, they don't.
You Jim Cavanaugh? That's right, Marshal.
And I got eight boys here, along with myself, that say you better climb into that saddle and ride back where you come from.
Well, I can see you know what I came here for, anyway.
There's word around that some girl from the Long Branch has been shooting off her mouth about one of my boys.
Fly Hoyt.
She says she saw him kill a man.
What about it? We don't figure it's polite to ask a man about his personal business, Marshal.
You figure murder is polite, do you? Now look, you may be the law around here and all that, but you're Kansas law, Marshal.
That don't mean much to us Texans.
Now, mister, maybe it'll mean something to you before you leave here.
You're getting pretty sassy, Marshal.
You know, we could bury you right where you're standing, run a couple of thousand longhorns over your grave and nobody'd ever find you.
Don't be in a hurry to run the weight off your herd.
I'm not buried yet.
Now, which one of you men is Fly Hoyt? Keep your mouth shut, Hoyt.
What's the matter, you afraid to let me talk to him? Or maybe he's the one that's afraid, huh? I figured he was that kind of man even before I came out here.
Takes a real coward to shoot a man in the back.
Now, that's something ain't nobody ever called me's a coward.
You fool, Hoyt.
Oh, it's all right, Mr.
Cavanaugh.
I ain't scared to answer his questions.
What is it you wanted to know, Marshal? I want to know about that killing last night.
Well, I didn't have nothing to do with it.
A girl named Holly Fanshaw says she saw you.
Yeah, I heard she said that, but she's lying.
I don't know why she is, but she is.
Where were you when this killing took place? Nowhere it'd do me any good.
Why, Fly, we all know where you was.
No, no, no, Mr.
Cavanaugh.
I got to do this my way.
The boys here are just fine, Marshal.
They'd swear to most anything I wanted them to.
The fact is, I'd already left the saloon and gone on up the street.
I was all alone when I heard that shot.
Well, Marshal, looks like you had a long ride out here for nothing.
Look, uh, how about coming back into Dodge with me? Facing this Holly and having the whole thing out? I don't know about that, Marshal.
Folks back in town likely on the prod.
They might not even listen to me.
Just go out after a rope and a cottonwood limb.
You'll be protected, I'll see to that.
Don't pay him no mind, Fly.
You know you can't trust a Kansas lawman.
Lawmen ain't all the same though, Mr.
Cavanaugh.
He's lying to you.
He knows he can't take you any other way.
Look, you'll get fair treatment, Fly, I promise you.
Just say the word, Fly, me and the boys will take care of him for you.
Well, how about it? Well, I I ain't a killer and I I ain't a liar.
I'd sure hate to ride out of here and leave folks thinking I shot a man in the back.
Don't be a fool, Fly.
I reckon I'm willing to ride on back into town with you, Marshal.
Just to clear my name.
Good.
Get your horse.
Well, Marshal Didn't take you long, after all.
This is Dave Thorp's brother.
You're Fly Hoyt, ain't ya? That's right.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Seen you in the Long Branch last night.
You might have.
I was there.
Don't you get smart with me, mister.
I'll kill you right where you stand without waiting for you to hang.
Take it easy, Thorp.
Take it easy? Dave wasn't your brother, Marshal he was mine.
And a finer boy never lived.
When I get to thinking of this dirty coward - shooting him in the back - That's enough! - Why you! - Hold it, Thorp.
Put that gun away.
Go on.
All right, Hoyt, there's a boardinghouse around the corner Ma Smalley's.
Kitty's over there keeping an eye on Holly.
Go on over there and wait for me.
All right, Marshal.
What are you doing? Why are you turning him loose? He was never any way but loose.
- I haven't arrested him yet.
- Why not? The girl saw him do it.
What's the matter with you? It's her word against his, Thorp, and he claims she's lying.
Now, he came all the way into town voluntarily to try and prove it.
Now, I told you once before to leave this to the law.
Sure, leave it to the law.
I can see what good the law is going to do.
My brother laying dead and his killer walking the streets free while you're busy disarming honest citizens.
If he's guilty, the law will take care of him.
Looks to me like the law's taking care of it now real good care.
Marshal, a lot of Dave's friends around this town ain't gonna like what's happening.
All it'll take is somebody to to lead them, and they got somebody right now.
Thorp, you try something like that, it's going to be the sorriest day of your life.
You mean the sorriest day of yours, Marshal.
And your friend Fly Hoyt's.
You wait and see.
He ain't one to run a bluff, Mr.
Dillon.
He means it.
Well, I can understand how he feels about his brother, but he's acting like a fool.
Better break out a couple of shotguns, Chester, load 'em up.
We may need 'em.
Yes, sir.
Matt? Come here a minute, will you? What is it? Fly Hoyt.
I saw him hanging around here a few minutes ago, and I told him to beat it.
He claimed he was waiting for you.
Well, he was.
Where is he? Well, I don't know.
Maybe I really scared him.
I hope you know what you're doing.
What do you mean? By not arresting him.
He said you hadn't.
Now, Kitty, there's too many things I have to find out about this first.
He claims that Holly is lying.
Well, why should she be? I don't know.
That's what I have to find out.
Where is she? She's down in her room.
Look, what do you actually know about her, Kitty? She keeps pretty much to herself.
Any man in particular? Not that I know of.
What about Dave Thorp? You know, Matt, it's kind of funny about that.
You know, last night was the first time I can remember ever seeing her talk to him.
Hmm.
Matt, I, um Gee, I hope you're not making a mistake about Fly Hoyt, I mean.
Well, I want to tell you something, Kitty.
I think I'd believe him before I'd believe Holly, if it comes to that.
What reason would she have to lie? Matt! All right, what happened? I don't know.
I I come in the back way I come up to the door.
Holly opened the door.
I step inside somebody hit me.
I don't remember.
Are you trying to tell me she hit you? No, no, somebody else behind the door.
I couldn't see.
Nobody else has come out of here, Matt.
That your gun? Yeah.
It's been fired.
I didn't do it, Marshal.
I don't know how it got on the floor.
Who do you believe now, Matt? I ain't ever killed nobody in my whole life, Miss Kitty.
And I'd sooner blind a horse than hurt a woman.
That's the truth.
Why tell me? Tell the marshal.
You learn slow, don't you, Matt? Hold it.
What are you doing, Marshal? Let's go, come on.
What was that shooting up the street? Holly Fanshaw got killed.
Killed? How? Somebody came in, slugged him and used his gun to kill her.
You mean, that's what he said.
That's what he says.
I guess there ain't no doubt now.
Come on, boys.
Hold it.
All of you, stay right where you are.
Hoyt, get over there.
Chester.
Yes, sir? How long these men been here, Chester? Well, uh, most of 'em since just after you left.
Except Thorp there.
He just come up.
So you're all convinced that Fly Hoyt's guilty, huh? Convinced enough to take him away from you, Marshal.
Let me ask you something, Thorp.
Where were you just now when Holly was killed? What do you mean? What difference does it make? It makes a lot of difference.
What are you talking about? It's no use, Thorp.
I know who killed Holly, and I also know who killed your brother.
Who? You did.
What are you talking about? You you gone crazy, Marshal? Hoyt didn't pass out right away when he got slugged.
He saw who hit him.
Go on, tell him, Hoyt.
It was him.
It was Joe Thorp.
You must have wanted that hide business awful bad to kill your own brother for it.
You watch what you're saying, Marshal.
Why'd you kill Holly? Afraid she'd talk? All right, you men were friends of his get him out of here.
Hoyt.
How'd you know he'd done it, Marshal? I didn't.
I bluffed him.
By golly, wait till I get home and tell the folks about the Kansas lawman I met.
They ain't ever gonna believe me again.
Well, I don't know they're pretty used to tall stories down in Texas.
Well, thanks, Marshal.
- So long, Hoyt.
- Bye.
Well, I still can't understand a man killing his own brother.
Well, it's one of the oldest stories in the world, Chester.