Gunsmoke (1955–1975): Season 5, Episode 32 - The Lady Killer - full transcript

♪♪ [theme]

starring James
Arness as Matt Dillon.

Well, if it ain't Grant
Lucas. How are you?

Fine, Clem, just fine.

First drink's on the
house. What'll you have?

Well now, I was
going to have a beer.

Whiskey. How
long you in town for?

Ah, just the
length of the trial.

Trial? Oh, that's right, you and
the marshal are going to testify

- against Sy Welch, aren't you?
- Yeah, we sure are.

- Make yourself at home.
- Thanks, Clem.



Here, drink your drink.

You drink it, cowboy.
You paid for it.

- You said if I bought you a drink...
- Drink your drink.

Hello.

Hello.

- Big bottle you got there.
- Yeah.

Uh, you want to help me with it?

I hate to see a man drink alone.

Clem?

Cheers.

Say, you're new
here, aren't you?

Mae Talamy.

And you're Grant Lucas.

Well now, how'd
you know my name?



I heard Clem say it.

I saw you come in.

I like your looks, Grant Lucas.

Are you rich?

[laughs] Not hardly.

Well, doesn't matter.

We could talk
about it at dinner.

Good.

I live over at the Grand Hotel.

I thought the mice had
taken that place over.

Oh, that's why I
like it. It's quiet.

Do you mind eating late?

I guess not.

Then pick me up
about 10:00 tonight.

I live on the ground floor,

fourth window to the
left of the entrance.

Fourth window?

Just rap on it. I'll come out.

Oh, you don't want me to
be seen in the lobby, huh?

You know how people
gossip about a lone woman.

Yeah. Okay, Mae.

Hey.

- Hey, you ain't in trouble?
- No, he's a friend of mine.

Oh.

Then I'll let you talk.

Don't get too drunk now.

Don't worry, Mae.
I'll be there at 10:00.

I'll be waiting.

I'll be right out to see ya.

- Grant, how are you?
- Hi, Matt, how are you?

Fine, fine.

You're in town kind of early.
The trial's four days off yet.

Well, it was a good excuse
to get out of that camp of mine.

I just turned the horses
loose and rode on in.

[chuckles]

Well, you'd better take it
kind of easy while you're here.

I just bought the girl a drink.

Yeah, but...

It takes one thief to
catch another, huh?

- [both laughing]
- [door closes]

Howdy, Grant.

Gee, it sure is good to see
you. What are you doing in town?

I just came in for
Sy Welch's trial.

Oh yeah, you two are
witnesses against him.

This is one trial that's
gonna be a pleasure, Kitty.

You think they'll hang him?

No, it wasn't a
hanging charge, Kitty.

But he killed old Charlie
Updike or something, didn't he?

No, he didn't kill him, Kitty, but he
did rob him of his stock and his land.

Yeah, but old Charlie died.

Well, but it was a
natural death, Kitty.

Grant and I were
both right there.

Yeah. That's when he told us

how Sy forced him to
sign everything over to him.

Why hasn't he been
in jail all this time?

- Judge had him out on bail.
- It's funny he hasn't made a run for it.

He will get a prison
sentence out of this, won't he?

He'll get a prison
sentence, all right.

Maybe he figures the
judge will let him off anyhow.

If he does get off, he's
a cinch to sell that place.

Sy's a city man. He's
doesn't fit on that prairie.

Grant, he's not going to get
off. It's an open-and-shut case.

I'd sure like to think so.

He's probably got an ace
somewhere up his sleeve.

Come on, Grant, let me buy you a
drink. I don't get to see you too often.

Clem?

- Grant?
- Yeah, it's me.

- You're right on time.
- I never keep a lady waiting.

- Did anyone see you?
- Oh no, nuh-uh.

Hey, you're not ready yet.

You're wrong about that.

I'm ready.

I'm always ready.

[screams]

[all chattering]

Let me through here, folks.

[Chester] Mr. Dillon?

I got a couple of men out here.
We can take care of the body.

[Mae sobbing]

All right, Chester.

All right, folks, break it
up. Go on back to bed.

[Mae] Oh!

All right, Mae, what
happened here?

[sobbing] I shot him!

Why?

I didn't know it was him.

- Oh. I didn't know who it was.
- What do you mean?

See that busted window, Marshal?

Are you saying Grant did that?

Mm-hmm.

All right, Mae, suppose
you start at the beginning

and tell me exactly
what happened.

Well... I keep that
gun because...

Because of this.

Those are diamonds. It's
an heirloom from my mother

and it's... it's worth
a lot of money.

No matter what, I've
never parted with it.

And what's the got to
do with Grant Lucas?

I met him at the
Long Branch today.

We got to talking,
and I told him about it.

You trying to tell me that
he came here to rob you?

Well, this is what happened...

I was in bed. The
lights were out.

And he busted the window. He
didn't think anybody was here.

What are you going
to do, Marshal?

Nothing.

I can't very well arrest a woman
for protecting her property.

[knocking at door]

- Who is it?
- [Dillon] It's me, Kitty.

Oh. Come on in.

Well, what are you doing
here this time of night?

What's the matter with you?

Kitty, Grant Lucas
has just been shot.

- What?
- Mae Talamy... she killed him.

Shot him outside of
her bedroom window.

Oh, this is awful.

She claims that he came
over there to rob her.

A man like Grant Lucas?
That doesn't make much sense.

Kitty, what do you
know about Mae Talamy?

Well, I... I put her on here
just a couple of weeks ago.

I didn't think she
was a troublemaker.

Where'd she come from?

She said she'd been dealing
cards on the Mississippi riverboats.

She didn't say for how
long. She didn't have to.

I know those riverboats.

They can make a woman
pretty hard, can't they?

Pretty well able to
take care of herself?

If she stays on 'em long enough.

Most women would do anything
in the world to get off of 'em.

But Mae was on them
quite a while, wasn't she?

It would be my guess.

It's pretty hard to believe
that she couldn't handle a man

without killing him, isn't it? That
she'd panic and just shoot blind?

I wish I could help you, Matt.

But Grant Lucas didn't
meet Mae until today.

He hasn't even been in
town. Now you know that.

And as for her handling
men without killing them,

well, a woman can get pretty
hard, but she can still panic.

Kitty, Grant Lucas
was a good man.

I know that, Matt.

All I can do is to, well,
keep an eye on Mae

and let you know if
anything happens.

Thanks, Kitty.

Uh, can I buy you a drink?

No, not now. I
gotta be up early.

I gotta get out to Grant's
place and take care of things.

- Stop by when you get back.
- All right, thanks.

Whoa.

Moss?

Oh, Moss?

Oh howdy, Doc.

What are you doing in
there, robbing the place?

No, I wasn't robbing the place.
I was just looking for Moss.

I come down here to have
a game of cards with him.

Well, that's what I'm doing...
Looking for Moss. Where is he?

I don't know,
Doc. He ain't here.

He ought to be back sometime
now. Why? What'd you want with him?

Well, there's my horse out
there. I want him unhitched.

You mean a grown
man like yourself

can't unhitch his
own horse? [laughs]

What do you need, a
coachman or something?

[laughs] Sure do.
Thanks very much.

[horse neighs]

Aw, well, I guess
somebody's got to help out

an old busted-down sawbones
that can't help himself.

You just hold his head,
Doc. I'll do all the work.

No, I'll help you. I don't
want you to strain yourself.

Well...

Hey, there's a friend of
yours, Doc... Sy Welch.

Hello, Chester and
Doc. How are you?

Sy.

I just got in town today.
Haven't seen the marshal around.

No, he rode out to Grant Lucas's.
He won't be back till late tonight.

Oh yeah, I heard
about Grant. It's too bad.

Some girl did it, eh?

Some saloon girl over
at the Long Branch.

Downright shame for
a man to go like that.

I mean leaving a bad
name behind him like he did.

Yeah, I just... I just can't
believe that you care

whether he's dead or about
his reputation or anything else.

What do you mean?

Well, I mean I don't know of anybody
that hated him any more than you did.

All right, so I
didn't like the man.

He was going into court in a couple
days and lie about me, wasn't he?

He brought all this trouble
on me in the first place.

But that doesn't mean I can't
feel bad about the way he died.

Marshal Dillon's going
to testify against me,

so one less witness doesn't
mean a bit of difference to me.

You seem awful sure of yourself.

Well, Doc, I'd be
in California by now

if I wasn't sure. Chester.

I don't trust him. I never did.

He's one kind of person I sure
wouldn't want to count among my friends.

- Bartender, give me a beer.
- All right.

Beer, Clem.

Like some company, mister?
I even got my own beer.

No thanks. I like
to drink alone.

All right, drink alone.

I know your type...

Fancy clothes and empty pockets.

Look, just leave
me alone, will you?

I sure will.

Do you mind if I drink
in the same saloon?

I don't care where you drink.

There's only two days left, Mae.

He suspects me.

He what?

About Grant Lucas.
I know he does.

[sighs] I should have
hired a man for the job.

Go ahead and hire one,

but you pay me first.

I'll pay you nothing
till the job's finished.

You try that and I'll talk.

And hang yourself?

Might be a pleasure to
see you hang with me.

You listen to me, Mae:

you take care of that marshal
tonight, one way or the other,

or so help me, I'll carve you
up so nobody will look at you.

- I'll bet you would.
- I mean it, Mae.

All right, I'll get
him. Quit worrying.

I'll quit worrying
when he's dead.

- Ah.
- Hello, Marshal. I been waiting for you.

Oh, you didn't have to do
that. I could have put him up.

But you've had a hard
enough day as it is.

- That's the truth.
- Get everything taken care of all right?

Yeah, best I could.

You know, this Grant
Lucas was a good man.

He must have been
drunk or something.

[laughs] Maybe.

Well, Moss, I'm
going to bed. Thanks.

Good night, Marshal.

Oh no! Don't shoot, Marshal.

It's me. It's Mae Talamy.

Mae, what are
you doing in there?

Oh, I... I didn't know
it was you at first.

Who were you expecting?

Well, nobody. I was,
uh, on my way home

and I got lost. I had
too many drinks, I guess.

You alone in here?

Well, of course I'm
alone. I got lost, I told you.

Now do you believe me?

You tell me the truth,
I might believe you.

But I told you the
truth... I got lost.

Ever since that terrible
incident last night, I...

I haven't been myself
today. I haven't...

I haven't been
able to think or...

All right, I'll take you home.

Thanks, Marshal.

Thank you.

What's the matter?

Oh, this darned old dull needle.

Well, you make it sound
like it was the needle's fault.

Well, it sure wouldn't have happened
if the needle hadn't have been there.

- Matt, how are you?
- Hello, Doc. Where you been?

Well, I just came
from the Long Branch.

- Why didn't you just stay there?
- What'd you say?

I said why didn't
you just stay there?

We were just settling down to
a nice quiet kind of an evening

and then you walked in.

Well, why don't you just
go ahead and be quiet?

Little Mother, you
forgot your thimble.

Eh, just because your
hands is so old and shaky

you can't even thread a needle,
you don't have to get smart.

I'll have you know that
a needle and thread

has been a very important part of
my profession for a good man years.

I'm an expert at it.

Next time I get you up in the
office, I'll give you a demonstration.

I'll sew you up all over.

Gosh, I've never seen
this town so dead, Matt.

There's not over three or four
fellas over there in the Long Branch,

- and that... that one girl.
- Who, Mae Talamy?

No. No that other one
that looks like an otter.

And then Sy Welch came
in and that's when I left.

I don't want to be in
the same room with him.

Well, at least he's still
around town anyway.

Yeah, if you ask me, the law's been
an awful long time catching up with him.

He's no good, never was.

That's right... I seem
to remember you saying

that you knew him once
some time ago, huh?

- Yeah.
- Where was it anyway?

Down the Mississippi. He
was a penny-ante gambler.

And he hasn't improved
any in my opinion.

You mean on the
Mississippi riverboats?

Yeah, why?

Well, that's mighty interesting.

- What?
- Kitty told me the other night

that Mae Talamy used
to work on the riverboats.

Well, that don't surprise
me any. My gosh, all those...

Yeah, that's quite a
coincidence, ain't it?

Maybe... and maybe not.

Chester, when you're
through with your sewing there,

I suggest that we
make a call on a lady.

- Doc, we'll see you later.
- Yeah.

Try it on your mouth.

[knock at door]

Who is it?

[Sy] Open the door.

I thought I'd find you here.

Well, I suppose you're gonna tell
me the marshal's coming here tonight;

you're gonna pull the same trick
on him as you did on Grant Lucas.

Of course not.

Mae, so help me, if you don't...

You don't scare me, Sy Welch.

But the marshal
does, is that right?

That's why you're not
going through with it.

I didn't say I wouldn't
go through with it.

Then what are you going to do?

Why don't you just
leave me alone?

All right, Mae, I'll
leave you alone...

pay you that $1,000 I promised
you. I'll leave you alone for good

when you finish the job.

All right, all right.

It's not all right.
You're scared, Mae.

You're so scared of that marshal,
you're not going to do anything about it.

That's right, isn't it?

No, I'm not scared.

Don't you lie to me.

You rotten beast. I'll tell
him! I'll tell him everything.

They'll get me and
they'll get you too!

No they won't!

- Now what are you doing?
- I'll show you what I'm doing.

- Put that gun away.
- Go on, get out of here.

All right, Mae.

You just talked
yourself out of $1,000.

You were gonna shoot me...

A woman like you
shooting a... a man like me.

I guess she ain't there.

Oh. Well, we'll try later.

[Mae] Come in! Come in! Help!

[gun fires]

- Hold it!
- [gun fires]

Mae?

Mae, can you hear me?

I'm hurt, Marshal.

I'm hurt bad.

Well, Mae, we'll
get a doctor for you.

Oh!

He's dead, Mr. Dillon.

Marshal?

What is it, Mae?

I was gonna kill
you, but I got scared.

I won't get paid now, will I?

Will I, Mar...

Ooh oh.

Goodness, Mr. Dillon,
that's a terrible time

to think about whether
you're going to get paid or not.

Yeah.

Well, she got paid all right.

She got paid good.