Quincy M.E. (1976–1983): Season 5, Episode 1 - No Way to Treat a Flower - full transcript

- What have we got here?
- Severe abdominal pain.

I couldn't contain it.

I've got cardiac tissue
in a fifteen year old girl

that belongs in a
70 year old woman!

I want you to test
just for colchicine.

Colchicine?

Kids are using it
to grow marijuana!

Kathy might have been
killed by grass grown with that?

You help to sell a deadly
poison with no warning in the ad.

You change the law
and I'll change that ad.

You tell me the government
can't do anything about it?



You want me to check every
dealer and every kid that uses grass?

Okay, I did my
job, I warned you.

Gentlemen, you
are about to enter

the most fascinating
sphere of police work,

the world of forensic medicine.

Kath...

- Scott...
- How you doin'?

- Oh, God... It hurts.
- Shhh... You'll be okay.

Kath, your parents
don't know I'm here.

Whatever you do, don't tell
'em what we did Saturday.

Saturday?

I know you. Don't get scared and tell them
what we did or there'll be big trouble.

Maybe... Maybe it made me sick.

No. You got a bug.
Lots of it going around.



Don't say anything
about Saturday.

Gotta go, bye. Love you.

It's alright, it's alright Kathy, It's
alright, you'll be just fine, Kathy.

I know you're in a lot of pain,

but I can't give
you anything for it

until we get to the hospital.

I can take better
care of you there,

get you back on your feet a lot
faster than here at the house. Okay?

What we've got here?

Nausea, vomiting,
severe abdominal pain,

and now respiratory
complications and anxiety.

How bad?

All uncontrollable.
I couldn't contain it.

Pressure eighty over fifty.

Her heart's like
an express train.

Let's put her on a monitor.
How long's she been sick?

Two or three days.
But nothing like this.

Minor flu symptoms, then It flared
up. Zap! Like a bomb two hours ago.

When the respiratory symptoms
started, I brought her in here.

Breathing's arrested.
Let's breathe her.

Yes.

Oh, send Dr. Quincy right in.

John, Dr. Quincy...
This is Dr. Osborne.

- How do you do, sir?
- Hello.

Quincy, you'll do the
autopsy straight away.

Whoa-whoa-whoa! Wait! I'm all backed
up because of your "straight-aways."

Yesterday there was
straight-aways, the day before that...

Have some coffee.

Somebody close to you, Doctor?

- Like my own daughter.
- I'm sorry.

You better look at this.

Wow! Fifteen years old with
complications like these? What happened?

That's just it. I
don't really know.

No, I know what
happened... I don't know why.

Well, you list the
probable cause of death

as acute infection
and respiratory failure.

- What were you
treating her for?
- Virus. The flu.

Three days ago she had
all the classic symptoms.

Fever, nausea, diarrhea, cramps.

I put her on bed rest,
liquids and aspirin.

Well, it sounds like it could be
bacterial, but I don't see any antibiotics.

Well, that was to be my next
step, but I never got the chance.

Whatever it is she had, it blew up
so fast, there was nothing I could do.

She had no prior
history? Nothing.

- Did you do cultures,
blood, sputum?
- Doctor...

Until three days ago,
she was in perfect health.

I can see why you're
so confused. Okay.

Dr. Quincy, I have to know if
there was something I missed...

- Something I could have done.
- I'm sure you did
everything you could.

I have to be sure.

Like the gentleman said,
I'll get on it straight away.

This is the body of Kathy
Campbell, female, Caucasian,

fifteen years of age.

External examination shows
average development for her age,

with no superficial
abnormalities.

There's evidence of bronchopneumonia,
as well as intra-alveolar hemorrhage.

- Sam.
- Yeah?

The fibrosis of these
sacs are like emphysema.

In a fifteen year old kid.

I've never seen such congestion.

I don't see how
she could breathe.

She couldn't. That's
part of what killed her.

How are you coming along on those
frozen sections of the heart and kidney?

- Oh, I just finished them.
- Let me take a look at them.

Sam, are you sure
this is the right tissue?

This looks like cardiac
muscle from a person

who suffers from
acute heart disease.

In a fifteen year
old kid that was

perfectly healthy
three days ago.

That's what I thought too.

Wait till you see the
section from her kidney.

Wow! It's all hemorrhaged!

Quince, what could cause this kind
of change in a perfectly healthy girl?

All I can think of are certain
types of poisons or drugs,

a mutant strain of something
we've never seen before.

- Like Legionnaire's Disease?
- Like anything.

Did you notice her loss of hair?

She could have been exposed
to a massive dose of radiation!

Radiation?

And a thousand other things,

let me see the heart
tissue again, will ya?

Okay.

Find anything new, Quince?

You're not gonna
believe it, Sam.

The blood backed up in her
brain. I mean, stagnation, swelling.

If I hadn't seen it myself,
I wouldn't believe it.

- That the bone marrow, Sam?
- Yeah, it's almost ready.

What kept you? You going
for an Academy Award?

There.

Hypercellularity with
hyperplasia of all the cell lines.

Just too many cells.

She was producing
immature blood cells.

They couldn't fight disease.
They couldn't function.

Everywhere you look, Sam.
It's like her whole body gave up.

One thing's for sure,
there was no nuclear dust.

So it wasn't radiation.

That's the only thing
we're sure didn't kill her.

So where do we go now, Quince?

Take the tissue samples
and requisition these tests.

That's just terrific.

You know someone might see this
requisition and think you're serious.

I am. I need those tests.

You want to test every
class of drug on the market?

There are hundreds of
them. It would take months!

We might get lucky, it may
only take a couple of weeks.

Listen Quincy, don't make
excuses, you're just lost.

You bet your sweet
patootie I'm lost.

Listen, the pathology
here is so extensive,

it is so lavish, I
feel like a novice.

I've got cardiac tissue
in a fifteen year old girl,

that belongs in a
70 year old woman!

Listen, I've seen 70
year olds walking around,

so healthy their tissue
looks as if they are fifteen.

They're not on my table.
Here, you look at the reports.

- See what it tells you.
- All right, I will.

Well here, the kidneys
are red and hemorrhagic.

- That could be
the cause of death.
- Not in three days.

Here. The muscles look
as if they were beaten.

There are no bruises
under the skin.

Hemorrhaging of the mucous
membrane and a loss of hair...

Well, that's acute
radiation poisoning.

Without nuclear dust?

Quincy, this could
be almost anything!

Isn't that what I've been saying
all along? The list goes on forever.

But I'm almost sure that anything that
could cause this kind of deterioration

in a teenager has to
have a chemical origin.

That's why I ordered
the drugs first.

We've gotta start somewhere.
I think that's the fastest way.

If you wanna try and
narrow it down, be my...

Alright, alright,
alright. I apologize.

Do what you have to do, Quincy.

But just see that you
don't get carried away.

You already have.

From him I have to
take it, not from you.

Where you going now?

To the Poison
Information Center.

You've got hundreds
of tests there.

I want to see if I can narrow
them down, to a precious few.

Alright.

Lungs, heart, kidneys,
brain, even bone marrow...

Every major organ was attacked?

That's right.

Well, how long did it
take for this to develop?

Three days.

That sounds like poison.

Yeah, well I kinda figured that. I
was hoping you'd tell me which one.

You did the
autopsy, you tell me.

Me tell you? You're
the poison expert!

I give you the pieces of the
puzzle, I want you to put it together.

Dr. Quincy, I'm a
biochemist, not a clairvoyant.

All I do is analyze drugs and poisons,
and for the past couple of years,

I've been about two
months behind in my work.

Your average high
school chemistry student

can cook up anything from
LSD to PCP in his own back yard.

Do you know that there are even books
and magazines sold over the counter,

on how to do it? And from my
work load, believe me, they're doin' it!

Now, none of it is legal. None
of it is tested. None of it is pure.

But all of it is
potentially lethal!

Then you think Kathy was
killed with a homemade drug?

Ah, you're asking me to be
clairvoyant again. I don't know.

But, If I were you, the
first thing I'd find out

is if this girl was
taking any drugs.

- And I'm not
talking about aspirin.
- And in the meantime?

I'll try to figure
out your puzzle.

But don't call
us, we'll call you.

- Dad, Mom, this is Dr. Quincy.
- I appreciate your seeing me.

Dr. Osborne seemed
to think it was important.

I don't know why. What
good will talking do?

Kathy's dead and there's
nothing you can do,

except let us bury her.

I understand how you feel
about this, Mrs. Campbell.

But believe me, it's very important
that I find out what killed Kathy.

Why?

Then maybe I can stop it
from killing someone else.

You still don't
know what it was?

Not exactly. But we
believe it's a poison.

A poison!

That's the only
thing I can think of,

that could have attacked your
daughter's system so rapidly.

It might have been
something she ate.

When was the first time she
complained about being ill?

Uh... Sunday.

Yes, it was Sunday.

Had she eaten anything
unusual over the weekend?

Any exotic foods?
Anything like that?

Not that I know of.
But you know kids,

they're in the
refrigerator all the time.

But it would have been
food that we all ate.

She was with
Scott last Saturday.

- Scott?
- Scott Westlake. Her boyfriend.

He wasn't her boyfriend!

What I mean is...
Kathy just turned fifteen.

Dr. Quincy, I realize how quickly kids
grow up today, but Kathy was different.

Both of our kids are. We've
never had any trouble with them.

Nothing like some of
our friends have had.

Please understand, I
have to ask this question.

The poison I was referring
to... It could have been a drug.

Do you know if
Kathy was on drugs?

How dare you even
think such a thing?

I have to. It's my job. It's the
only way I can find the answers.

Then you better look someplace
else. My kid never took drugs.

- Look, are you finished?
- May I see her bedroom?

Why?

Her surroundings, her
personal possessions,

they might tell me
something, give me a clue.

Joey.

Thank you.

Was he Kathy's boyfriend?

Yeah. You know parents.

Was Kathy on drugs?

No! My Dad's right. Kathy
was a straight kid, a great sister.

- I can't believe she's gone.
- What about you?

A little grass now and then,
you know. But not Kathy!

And Scott?

I don't know, maybe.

So what if he
smoked a little grass?

What would that have
to do with Kathy's death?

Maybe nothing. Unless it was
dusted with something lethal.

What about Scott?
Has he been ill?

I dunno. I haven't seen
him since Kathy got sick.

Hasn't he paid his respects?

No.

And you haven't seen him?

- Well, I may have seen him.
- What does that mean?

I'm not sure.

Last night, just before
the ambulance got here,

I thought I saw someone
outside that window,

It kinda looked like Scott.

Why would he go sneaking
around unless he was scared?

Would he be in school now?

I'll call and check. If not, I
can show you where he lives.

Okay.

- May I offer you a cup
of coffee, Dr. Quincy?
- No, thank you.

Well you know, I haven't
seen Scott since Kathy died.

Then he may not have been home
last night? Aren't you concerned?

Well I don't like it, but no,
I'm not overly concerned.

You see, Scott's
a very private boy.

Ever since his father and I
separated, he's needed his space.

I've given it to him.

Even when he was a little
boy and his puppy died,

he'd seek out his own crying place
away from everyone, everything.

I'm sure, that's
all he's doing now.

Mrs. Westlake, I don't
want to alarm you,

but Kathy took something on
Saturday. Some kind of drug or poison.

Something that killed her.

Scott may have
taken the same thing.

Dr. Quincy, you
are frightening me.

But Scott doesn't
believe in drugs.

He says they're for people
who are afraid to face life as it is.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope
he didn't take anything,

but we have to find
him to make sure.

Well, I don't know
where to begin.

I suppose I can start
calling all his friends.

Mrs. Wesley,

while you're doing that,
may we check his room?

Please do! I'll be in
the den on the phone.

Joey, you know
where Scott's room is.

Yes, ma'am.

- What do we look for?
- Anything and everything.

Chemistry equipment, grass,
phone numbers, notes, anything.

I sure hope we
won't have to use this.

What?

Nothing. Just keep looking.

Things have sure changed
since Sears catalogs.

Dr. Quincy,

I guess maybe
Scott was into drugs.

- At least reading about them.
- Far Out?

Yeah, it's a drug magazine.

"Everything you've always
wanted to know about drugs,

"but were afraid to ask."

I don't believe it!

You mean you can just buy this?

Almost anywhere,
any record store.

- What is it?
- I think I found something.

- Lab.
- Sam... All those
tests you're running,

I want you to put a hold
on them temporarily.

I want you to test
just for colchicine.

Colchicine, Quince?

What's that got to do
with the Campbell girl?

It's a gout medication.

In a five milligram dosage,
it's a gout medication.

Anything much heavier than
that, and it's a deadly poison.

And get on it
fast, will you Sam!

Okay, Quince.

How could they sell a poison
to kids through a magazine?

Wait a minute, are
you saying Kathy,

might have been killed
by grass grown with that?

I won't know for sure until Sam
completes the test. But it could be.

- Did you find anything?
- No. I called everyone
I could think of.

None of his friends
know where he is.

- Should I call the police?
- No. I'll take care of that.

- May I borrow this, please?
- Yes, of course.

Thank you. I'm sure
everything will be fine. Joey...

Dr. Quincy.

I'll stay with Mrs. Westlake
to see what I can do.

I... I really have a tough time
believing that Kathy smoked grass.

It may have been the only
time, but if colchicine is involved,

once would have
been more than enough.

Get that out as
soon as possible.

What are you doing here? How
many times do I have to tell you?

There's a boy named Scott
Westlake, and he's missing.

Look, Quincy, this is
homicide, not missing persons!

Unless disappearing
under paperwork counts.

No wonder you couldn't find the
Gottfried file! It was filed under J.

Well would you get 'em to
file it under the right name!

Alright, so you're
a little busy.

- A little...
- Look, I have
a hunch that this boy

may have been poisoned.

Did I hear "hunch"
or "may have"?

There's no doubt about
what's on my desk here...

Look, a shooting, a stabbing.

I don't have time to explain
now. But this is very important.

Here's a picture of the boy.

Look, if there's anybody in this
city who could find him, it's you.

I owe you a big one.

Quincy! Wait!

Hello...

Yes, Commissioner,
everything is under control, sir.

This is the twenty-third guy that
confesses to be the Silk Stocking Snipper.

Get him outta here!

Hey Quince, you were right.

It was colchicine that
killed Kathy Campbell.

But she didn't have gout, and
that's about all it's prescribed for.

Why on earth would
she be using it?

You can't get
high on colchicine.

Not according to this ad.

The only thing that this magazine
doesn't say is that it's a deadly poison.

Yeah, I see what you mean.

But at least now we
know what killed her.

Yeah. But we don't know how many
kids are gonna die from the same poison.

- Do we?
- Nope.

I've never even heard
of this magazine before.

You know, sometimes I
think we live in a cocoon.

But, Quince. Why would we
be reading a magazine like this?

Because we're scientists, Sam.
Because we live in the world.

It's not only colchicine. "How to
get the most from your cocaine."

"How to grow your own opium."

"How to make psychedelics
out of mushrooms."

Every page has an
advertisement for a potential killer!

And then they try to make
the magazine respectable,

by throwing in an interview with
a former President's secretary.

You know, Sam, it's time somebody
did something about this rag.

- Uh-oh.
- What's a matter?

I think a windmill's
about to get tilted.

I'm gonna give it a heck
of a try, I'll tell you that.

Did you try the hospitals? The
emergency wards? The family doctor?

Yes, yes, yes, Quincy.
Yes, to all three counts.

Now, will you please stop
telling me how to do my job, huh?

Because I'm not doing it,

because I'm spending all
my time, trying to find your kid.

Well, I'm sorry, Monahan.

But time is running out.
For Scott or anyone else

- who may have
smoked that grass!
- Quincy, I'm doing all I can.

Well try a little harder,
will ya? Please?

- I hear ya... I hear ya...
- Okay, I'll talk to ya later.

Huh? Sure, send him in.

Hi. What can I do
for you, Dr. Quincy?

Well, for starters, you can take
this ad out of your magazine.

- Uh, can I offer you a chair?
- No, thank you.

- Cup of coffee?
- No, thanks.

- Something to drink?
- Nothing.

- Okay. Is that "Kw" or "Q"?
- Q.

There's nothing wrong with
the ad. It's perfectly legal, Doc.

Legal! How can you legally sell a
prescription drug through the mail?

Colchicine is only
a controlled drug

when it's prescribed in its
tablet form in the usage of gout.

As a powder for
plants, it's not.

Here, it's self-explanatory.

You see, it... It makes
the plants bigger, stronger.

What does an ad like this cost?

- Twelve hundred dollars.
- That's a lot of money.

Well, that's what you have
to pay to reach a lot of people.

We've got over four
million loyal readers.

I know. I just performed an
autopsy on one of your loyal readers,

and I don't wanna do it again.
Colchicine is a deadly poison.

It doesn't say that
anywhere in your ad!

Legally, it doesn't have to.
But I'll tell you this, Doctor.

The package that it comes in has a
warning that'll scare the pants off you.

Does the company supply a
magnifying glass to read the small print?

No.

But the ad's legal. That's what
I have to be concerned with.

Look, I'm not in the drug business.
I'm in the magazine business.

I've got a wife, I've got two
kids, and this is how I feed them.

The magazine business.

Now, we don't advocate
the use of drugs here.

In fact, what we
like to do is think that

our job is to inform and teach people
who can use drugs, no matter what,

how to do it responsibly.

You help to sell a deadly
poison with no warning in the ad,

and you say you're being
responsible and informative?

You don't know the
meanings to those words!

Well, I'll tell you what, Doctor. You
change the law and I'll change that ad.

Because I do know the
meaning of the word "legal."

Well, you should.

You've been hiding
behind it long enough.

Well, that's
fascinating, Dr. Quincy.

I had no idea they still used
colchicine as a prescription drug.

That's the problem. We all live in
different worlds. I know it as a drug,

you think of it as a chemical. And
kids are using it to grow marijuana!

They've been
doing that for years.

You knew about this?
Well, not this ad, no.

But colchicine's an old joke.

Our own Department of the Navy

hired a guy named Warneke
during the Second World War

to develop a
stronger nautical rope.

Well, hemp, you know, comes
from the same plant as marijuana.

- I don't get the joke.
- Well, they had to
cancel the project.

The rope didn't get any
stronger, but the dope sure did!

They didn't smoke
it. They ran tests.

THC, the stuff in marijuana
that gets you stoned,

increased dramatically, but they also
found a high level of colchicine as well.

Would you want
to be the guinea pig

who smoked anything
with colchicine in it?

No, not on my life.

- This is how we
use colchicine here.
- What is this monster?

Lonopsis. To you, an orchid.

No, not to me. That's not
like any orchid I've ever seen.

Here, now this is an orchid.

Right. But we didn't treat it with
colchicine. That's why we use the stuff,

to alter the genetic composition.
Colchicine multiplies the chromosomes.

Could you possibly send this
Frankenstein over to my lab?

- What for?
- I want to see if Sam,
that's my technician,

if he can extract
colchicine from this plant.

- A test like that
could come in very handy.
- Be my guest.

- Thank you very much.
- What are you
gonna do about that ad?

I'm gonna try and get it pulled.

I know Jack Price over at the Federal
Trade Commission. Maybe he can help you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Goodhew was right.

I may be able to help you.

"May be"?

I mean, the Federal Trade Commission,
does have jurisdiction over advertising,

to protect the people
who buy the product.

Yeah but nobody's being
protected here. Colchicine is a killer!

So is rat poison, Dr. Quincy.

But that's not a legal reason for
stopping people from advertising it.

They tell you it's a poison! If
this isn't false advertising, what is?

All right, look, let's just
kinda weigh it on the scale.

- You say colchicine
is a prescription drug.
- Gotcha.

Goodhew is a botanist and
he buys it without restrictions.

That's right.

There is a
discrepancy in the law.

If we can determine that colchicine,
in this form, is being falsely advertised,

we might be able to help you.

"Might"?

- "May be." I want this ad pulled!
- These are complaint forms.

You fill it out, give it to me, and
I'll put 'em through on a speed,

like they've never seen before.

Well, now you're making sense.

How much time are
we talking about?

A couple of months,
more or less.

"A couple of months!"
"More or less!"

Do you realize how much colchicine
will be sold to those kids in that time?

I appreciate what
you're saying, Dr. Quincy,

and I'm totally in
agreement with you.

But the government
doesn't work that fast.

Do you know it took, the
Surgeon General and Public Health

twelve years, twelve years,

to determine that
cigarettes cause cancer,

heart disease, you name it.

Yeah, and when that
determination came down to us,

all we could do was
make the tobacco

companies put a warning
in their advertising.

I don't want a warning! I want this ad
pulled and I want it pulled right away!

We don't have that kind
of power. We just don't!

Maybe Bob Clark at Food
and Drug Administration...

Helen, please get me Bob
Clark, Food and Drug, will ya?

Frank's right. The Food and Drug
Administration's job is to regulate drugs.

Terrific. Then you're
the guy I wanna see.

Before you get too excited, let me
tell you what our definition of a drug is.

"Any substance used in the curing,
treating and prevention of diseases."

Well, if colchicine doesn't come
under that umbrella, nothing does.

Oh, but the umbrella's
got a few holes in it.

You see, there is a
dichotomy in the law.

When a substance
has many purposes,

our authority only applies
to its use as a medication.

Are you saying that you
have no authority over this?

When colchicine is a prescription
drug, we have total control.

But what you're showing me
here isn't sold by prescription.

Look, alcohol in a cough medicine
comes under our jurisdiction.

Alcohol in liquor belongs
to the Treasury Department.

And in a floor polish,
it's up for grabs.

I mean it's insane... I mean,
you know that... It's crazy.

Because there are hundreds of
kids, maybe thousands dying right now,

because of what's
being sold in this ad.

And you tell me the government
can't do anything about it?

Well perhaps Harris at the
Environmental Protection Agency.

Price to Clark to Harris... Why don't you
call them up and tell them I'm coming over.

Harris, please,

now you have to understand
that the only control

the Environmental Protection Agency
has under the Toxic Substances Act

is the distribution
of pesticides.

At least you're pretty.

- Where are you going?
- Miss Harris,
I have neither the time

nor the inclination to listen to
any more bureaucratic excuses.

- Maybe you won't have to.
- Colchicine is
not a pesticide!

Well according to us, it might be. See,
we define a pesticide as "any substance

"or mixtures used
to alter plants."

That's exactly what
colchicine does!

What a beautiful
description of a pesticide!

You're the people
I've been looking for.

You've got power! You
can yank it off the market.

No, government wasn't designed
to move that quickly. If it were,

half the people I
know would be out of

jobs... But, yes, I do
think we can stop them.

How?

Well, first we have to establish that
colchicine is being sold as something

used to alter plants a nd according
to that ad, that's no problem.

Next, we have to see if
it isn't already licensed

or registered as a
growth stimulant... It isn't!

Why does that help you?

Well, because when a
company puts out a pesticide,

the first thing they have to do,

before they advertise or sell it,
is to bring it to the EPA for testing.

Now, if we find that it's environmentally
safe and has a legitimate use,

then we register it and we
grant the company a license.

But in a case like colchicine,

where it might get into our bodies,
or people might get hurt using it,

then we can register it
for restricted use only.

- Like laboratory research?
- That's right.

Hey, you've got this
company nailed to the wall!

They're out of business!
I love you, Karen!

Not so fast! Nothing
can be done in a day.

- I jumped the gun?
- Yeah, by about
six to eight weeks,

and that's by me tearing all the
red tape I can find into confetti.

Six to eight weeks.
That's too long.

Dr. Quincy, don't
bargain with me.

Now be happy with what we can do
and not unhappy with what we can't do.

- The fastest I can
promise you is six weeks.
- Okay. listen,

I appreciate it. You're
not only beautiful,

you're tough. Maybe five weeks?

Jimmy, get me Billy.

I didn't order that one, Peg.

- This one's on me.
- Why?

The medicine you gave
me cured my headaches.

- Oh?
- It was legitimate!

I'm tellin' you, Sam. I don't know how
we get anything done in this country.

It's like working in thick alphabet
soup. The FTC sends you to the FDA.

The FDA to the EPA.

At least Karen, you know, at the
EPA, she's gonna get something done.

But still, it's gonna take
five weeks! Five weeks...

That's the system, Quince. Called checks
and balances. Those are the safeguards.

Sometime we're gonna safeguard
ourselves right into a catastrophe.

Nobody said freedom was easy.

The system may not be perfect, but
it's the best one anybody's come up with.

Thank you, Sam Fujiyama Lincoln.

What are you going
to do now, Quince?

I'm gonna pray that Monahan finds Scott.
Get that poison marijuana off the street.

Oh! I almost forgot. I think
this is what you wanted.

Oh that's terrific! That's
what colchicine looks like.

Yeah, the funny
thing is, it's easier to

get out of an orchid
than from human tissue.

All you have to do is
add sodium hydroxide,

extract it with alcohol, treat
it with a re-agent, and bingo!

You've got that crystal.
It's like a fingerprint.

You know, you're getting a little
too smart. I better look out for my job.

Oh! My hour's up! Will you
take care of the check, Quince?

- Take care of the check?
- I'll be lucky if
Asten doesn't

chop my head off for being late.

Hey, what's Asten
saying about me?

- I can't tell you here.
- Why not?

There are women present.

- Quince.
- Yeah?

Call for you.

Thanks, Joey.

-Hello? Yeah, I found
the Westlake kid for you.

Terrific! Did he tell you where
he's growing the marijuana?

- He couldn't, Quincy. He's dead.
- No.

- Ed.
- Yeah, Quince?

I want you to develop those
pictures as quickly as possible,

and get 'em over to me.

Right.

I don't know how they
knew he was dead.

Looks like he's just
resting under the tree.

Till you look at his face.
This boy died in a lot of pain.

If my hunch is right, this is the second
death by colchicine in twenty-four hours.

How'd you find him?

- An anonymous call.
- Anonymous... I'm finished.

Why would anyone do that?

I don't know. Your
guess Is as good as mine.

Someone spotted him,

and was afraid to report
it. It's the same old story.

From the road he
looks like he's asleep.

You have to look close to see
how the pain contorted his face.

Well, maybe they,
uh... Maybe they were

asking directions and when he
didn't move, they checked closer.

Now, more than ever, we
have to find that poisoned grass.

What do you mean "we"?

This case is closed
as far as I'm concerned,

or as soon as you
do the autopsy report

and I do the paperwork.

What do you mean closed? What about
the marijuana that killed those two kids?

- Maybe somebody's pushing it.
- Pushing it? How?

You said the kid
grew it himself.

Well, I checked his house and
the grounds, I didn't find anything.

He's not stupid. He'd
grow it someplace else.

- But where?
- I don't know. Anywhere!

Suppose some other kids
find it. Or some dealers.

So what do you want me to
do? Chase phantoms, huh?

You want me to check every dealer and
every kid that uses grass in the country?

What have you got to lose?

A lot of man hours.

Oh, boy, oh, boy... You and Asten
must attend the same seminars.

Okay, I did my
job. I warned you.

Now if another kid dies because
of colchicine, it'll be on your head.

I don't want it to
be on my head.

Then do something
about it. Help me!

Alright, alright! I'll do it! I don't
know what good it'll do but I'll do it!

The same bronchopneumonia,
same hemorrhaging...

The air sacs of the lungs are
damaged in exactly the same way.

Scott Westlake and Kathy
Campbell died from the same cause.

Only he suffered that terrible
agony a couple more days.

Quince, his lungs were so
plugged up and stopped working.

Dr. Quincy, here are the frozen
sections you ordered on Scott Westlake.

Thanks, Mark. But I don't think
they're gonna tell us anything

we don't already know.

Just have to verify that
colchicine on the NMR.

- Is it ready to go?
- As soon as I
get the specimens.

Sure.

Oh Sam, Sam, Sam...
Look at that kidney.

The hemorrhage is so bad, you
can see it's swimming in blood.

A massive intestinal hemorrhage.

The intestinal lining is
completely dead and sloughing off.

How come he died a full
forty-eight hours after she did?

Sam, you know,
each body is different.

The body will live with the
damage the drug produces.

Scott was very
strong and it cost him.

'Cause of colchicine.

'Cause of colchicine.

If people could only know, kids and
grown ups, the pain he had to endure.

I mean, even If he had come in for
help with the colchicine in his system,

we couldn't have saved him.

And what bugs me mostly is that anybody,
regardless of age, who has the price,

can pick up this rotten
magazine, and order that poison,

the same way we used to order
dress patterns and garden seeds.

There's a ring
structure of an alkaloid.

And the form of mythoxine.
That is it, Sam, colchicine.

Colchicine.

Thanks, Mark.

Hey, Quince, here's the
NMR on the Westlake boy.

Hmmm, high
concentration of colchicine.

He died from respiratory collapse
due to an acute colchicine overdose.

We suspected that
going in, Quince.

That doesn't make me
feel any better, Sam.

Well, you got the ad pulled!

In five weeks the ad
gets pulled, remember!

- Where are you going now?
- To Scott and Kathy's
high school.

Those kids are still in danger.

Who are these guys?

This is your volunteer army.

Oh, they're cops? Undercover?

No. They're the real McCoys.
Small-time dealers and users.

You busted all of 'em?

You don't say busted. That's
when they go underground.

How'd you get 'em to come in?

I made a deal with the DA. He
promised not to prosecute any of 'em

if they'd come over
here on their own.

Well, what have you got?

You're lookin' for poison marijuana?
These guys have at least a dozen samples

from friends of theirs
from all over the place.

Oh... That's terrific,
Monahan! Thanks a lot.

Listen, everybody...
I need your attention.

Come on. Sam has found a quick
way to test plants for colchicine.

He's gonna show you the
procedure. I want you to work in teams,

because I want this done fast.
Drop whatever you're doing.

This is very important!

Drop everything?
Now just wait a minute!

I don't understand what's happening.
Who are all those, uh, visitors?

Dope dealers.

What are they doing here?
Why aren't they in your jail?

Well, Monahan brought 'em over
because we're all set up to test marijuana

for colchicine and he's not.

So it became necessary to use all
our people to do the police lab's work.

Do you know what
that's gonna cost us?

No, I never interfere with your
department. You know that.

Quincy!

Monahan, look, since
you're responsible for all this...

Do me a favor, get me fired!

Listen, Monahan...

As you all know, this is
an unscheduled assembly.

Our guest speaker today
calls it an emergency assembly.

That being the case, I'd like
to introduce to you Dr. Quincy

from the Medical
Examiner's Office.

My job is to determine the
medical reasons why people die.

This past week I had
the unpleasant task

of examining the bodies
of two of your classmates.

Kathy Campbell
and Scott Westlake.

I'm sorry I never got to know them
like that. That's the way I saw them.

Each of them died from poison which
contaminated marijuana they smoked.

I know what you're thinking, and
I'm not here to offend your intelligence

by repeating those
tired old horror stories

that claim marijuana
to be the killer weed

that turns bright, energetic young
people into depraved junkies.

But I am here to tell
you another horror story.

In the 1940's, our own government
used a drug called colchicine

on marijuana plants in an
attempt to produce stronger fiber,

so that they could
make better rope.

The attempt failed, but it
did succeed in producing

a more potent marijuana.

There was only one
problem. Colchicine can kill.

And marijuana plants
treated with it can kill you.

That's what killed Kathy Campbell
and that's also what killed Scott Westlake.

- Dr. Quincy?
- Yes?

If there really is this poison
grass around, how can we tell?

You can't. You
can't see colchicine,

you can't smell it,
and you can't taste it.

It has to be analyzed
by a trained technician.

Now I know that there
are myths about drugs,

and it's hard to know
who's telling the truth.

So what you're saying is, if you smoke
marijuana, you stand a chance of dying.

That's the same kind of
garbage our parents tell us.

I knew Kathy and Scott,

and I can't believe that
poisoned marijuana killed them.

Look, I admit, there are all
sorts of myths about drugs.

And it's hard to know
who's telling the truth.

But I'm not here to lie to you.

Poisoned grass
killed your friends.

And I don't want
that to happen to you!

You are the people in danger.
So please, I'm begging you,

if you know anything about
the grass Scott and Kathy had,

or if they gave any of
it to you, come to me.

I'll be waiting in front
of the school. Please.

Dr. Quincy.

- Yes.
- We were friends
of Kathy and Scott.

You weren't just trying
to scare us about grass?

They really did die
from poisoned stuff?

I wasn't trying to scare ya.

It just doesn't make sense.

I've been to parties with them
when kids were smoking...

Kathy and Scott
would always pass.

This stuff is so lethal, they
would only have to try it once.

Well believe us, Dr. Quincy, no
one at school knows where they got it.

Scott must have grown
it. I found this in his room.

Scott wouldn't buy a head
magazine. He just wasn't interested.

How about Kathy?

No way. Kathy was as
straight as they come.

She was always on her brother's
case about his cutting down.

Her brother?

He was into it heavy?

Dr. Quincy, Joey's a nice guy,

but if anybody in that family
would have a magazine like that,

it would be him.

How could I be so stupid?
Thank you for talking to me.

I'll be back in an hour.

Ohhh, you again. Hey, I'd really
love to talk to you, I really would,

but it's late, I haven't
eaten anything,

and I definitely can't handle
you on an empty stomach.

Oh, do you know Lieutenant
Monahan? Police Department.

It's coffee break, girls.

What are you trying to do to me,
Dr. Quincy? You're trying to kill me?

You're trying to ruin me? You come
in here, you disrupt my business,

you bring the police with you.

You announce you brought the
police in front of my employees.

Since the last
time you were here,

I have heard from every single
nit-picking government organization

and agency that there is.

Oh, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Enough is enough.

Do you have any idea how much
aggravation you have caused me?

Not nearly as
much as I'd like to.

Do you have the names of everyone
who has responded to this ad?

Sure. That's a matter of
policy, a matter of practice.

All my advertisers send me
copies of everyone that responds.

They're potential subscribers.

May I see them?

No! No, you may not see them!

Because legally I don't have to show them
to you. Why don't you just leave me alone?

Sir, we will. But if we do,

I'll come back here at 6:00
in the morning with a warrant

and thirty police officers
who'll tear this place apart.

I'm so hungry.

There are the invoices.

- Are you happy now?
- No. But I found
what I wanted.

Here's the address on
Canyon Creek Road.

That's where we
found the Westlake boy!

Yeah, I want you to call
everybody on your list.

Tell them they bought
a deadly poison!

- What? I'm not gonna do that!
- You wanna bet?

Joey...

Joey, that's not the answer.

I killed them! I grew the stuff.

I figured if they were selling it through
a magazine, how could it be dangerous?

When you were talking about
drugs in Kathy's bedroom,

I remembered that...

That she and Scott were coming
up to our family cabin on Saturday.

Well, they knew I had a
couple of plants growing up here.

I guess they
decided to try it...

Dumb kids...

So you planted the magazine in Scott's
room to give me something to check.

I had to find out if
It killed my sister!

Just as soon as I
could, I came up here

to see if they had
been into my grass.

I found Scott dead.

You put him under the
tree and called the police.

I was so scared.

I didn't know what else to do...

Joey, now you listen to me.

- You didn't kill them!
- The hell I didn't!

The companies that sell
this poison to the kids,

the magazines
that advertise them,

the government that does nothing
to stop it, the misinformation,

the not caring, and burying our heads
in the sand. That's what killed them.

Not you. But you can
keep other kids from dying.

How?

By telling your story
to the newspapers

and to television and
to every kid you meet.

Maybe you can stop some kids

from dying until we get
this poison out of circulation.

What do you say?

Good.

Now you show me
where that marijuana is.

I don't believe what people
out there are smoking.

What are you talking about?

Well, half the stuff those dealers
brought in is hardly marijuana at all.

Some of it's cut with alfalfa,
oregano, parsley... Even horse manure.

Oh, will you come on,
Sam. No colchicine?

Nothing so far. All except in the stuff
you brought in from the Campbell cabin.

Well, that's good news, Quince.

Only means the dealers aren't
pushing it. But what about the kids?

- Hello.
- How long before you said

the government's gonna
get this stuff off the market?

- Another five weeks.
- It's going to be
a long five weeks.

We just found another kid.