 Texas Rangers, starring Joel McRae as Ranger Jase Pearson. Another authentic re-enactment of a case transcribed from the files of the Texas Rangers. Places in the following story are fictitious for obvious reasons. The events themselves are a matter of record. In this election year, this station is making it possible for you to follow the campaign of the next president on NBC. Tuesday, July 1st, be sure to hear another of NBC's pre-convention broadcasts. This program is called Convention City. It will offer you a complete description of the arrangements being made in Chicago, the host city of both Republican and Democratic conventions this year. Jim Hurlbut of NBC Chicago will serve as your host. The program will include interviews with Chicago officials in charge of the convention arrangements. You will hear the unusual problems resulting from the almost gigantic task of entertaining the two major party conventions. We're sure you'll find this a fascinating program, so consult your local newspaper for broadcast time and join us Tuesday, July 1st for Convention City. This is another special program brought to you so you may follow the campaign of the next president on NBC. Now, Tales of the Texas Rangers. Files of the Texas Rangers, the case called X-Con. It is 10.30 on the morning of September 14th, 1940. Ten miles outside the town of High Point in southwest Texas, a thin, worn-looking woman sits in the back room of a rundown house. She is sewing a patch on a pair of child's dungarees when she hears the front door open. Who's that? It's me. Tom? What you doing home this time of day? Where are the kids? I'm playing somewhere. Why ain't you down at the packing house? Didn't the new job work out? Oh, it worked out real good for an hour. For a whole hour, they let me clean up the place. Nice of them to do that. Now, wasn't it, Liz? What happened? Same thing that's happened before. I seen somebody whispering to the boss and pointing at me. Tom? I could see this guy's fat mouth making the words killer, X-Con. Same words everybody always whispers when they look at me. And the boss comes out and says he got somebody else from a job. Did he pay you? Yeah. 70 cents. Get some meat and milk for the kids and don't forget to put what's left in a bank. Talking like that ain't gonna help, no? You don't know what helps. And quit nagging. I'm sick and tired of it. Telling me what I shouldn't, shouldn't do. Tom, why don't you... Shut up! Shut up, I tell you! Tom? Liz. Oh, Liz, honey. Tom? I didn't mean it, honey. I'm sorry. I know. It's just everything's all wrong. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I got a feeling everything's gonna be all right. But there was even a man here looking for you this morning. What kind of man? He had real good clothes on and a pretty car. Maybe he's got some work for you. Could be that fella from over at the brickyard. He almost gave me a job when I got out of the pen. Yeah, that's who it must be. Maybe he's got a job for me loading bricks. He must want your awful bad way of talking. Loading bricks ain't bad work. I ought to get a whole bucket now. Easy. Maybe a bucket and a quarter. Sure you will. And we won't have to worry no more about what we... Ain't that somebody outside? Sounds like it. I can't let him see me in his dirty clothes. It won't make no difference. Do a look, all right. Just fine, Tom. Run your hand over your hair and smooth it down a little. Yes. There. Oh, you look just fine. I got a funny feeling in my stomach. Now, don't be nervous, honey. I'm coming. I'll be right there. Sorry to keep... It's you. I won't talk to you, Dawson. Just a second. I'm going outside, honey. Don't you want to bring him in? How many times I got to tell you to stay away from me? Now look, Dawson. It ain't enough you come clawing around me in town. Now you got to come up to my house. I'm only trying to offer you a job. I come to your farm for a job. You turned me down. Well, that was different. But it's okay to ask me to do your dirty work, huh? Don't look at it that way. Dawson, we're just helping each other out. I told you before, I don't go for killing. Suppose I give you a thousand for the job instead of five hundred. Why? Now, wait a minute. There's a business proposition, Dawson. I know you can't get a job. I'll get along. They even fired you down the packing house. You never get a job around here. You let me worry about that. You're already worrying plenty. I can see that. Now listen, there's an old lady in the town north of here, and all you got to do is get rid of her. Why'd you come to me? Because you're the only one I know can do it. I'll beat you a lousy face. Now, will you look? Cut out that stuff. This is business. A thousand dollars for easy job. How about it, Dawson? I... Well, that's more like it. Now, look. Here's a name and address on the slip of paper, and here's a gun. I don't care how you do it, but try and make it look like robbery. What about the money? Here's a hundred now. Get the rest when I read about it in the papers. Where are you going to be? Away with friends for a few days. I'll need money to get up there and back. All right. Here. There's another hundred. Now, don't waste any time getting started. I want to be reading good news in the papers soon, here. A dirty lousy. Over. Here's some money. A hundred? You ain't even started work yet. How come you give you a... Never mind. I'll take the money. But... Will you shut up? I got to go up north for a day or so. You're not going to work at the brickyard? No. Quit asking questions. What did you just put in that sack? Nothing. I want to see... Now, keep away from here, Liz. Keep... What are you going to do with that gun? I told you to keep away. You're going to do something bad. You're going to get in trouble again. Now, get out of the way. Don't do it. You'll go back to the pen and this time they won't let you out. I'm in a hurry, Liz. Think about the kids. Say it. No one here follows a con. Well, they're right. It's three years in a pen and you get the name for life anyhow. That ain't so. I'll see you as soon as I get back. No. No, Tom, please. Leave me alone. Ten minutes after Tom Dawson left the house, his wife took the children to her neighbors. At noon, she appeared at a Texas ranger company headquarters. The distressed woman told her story to ranger Jay Spirson. Nobody knows that better than me. He didn't want to come here. To keep him from getting locked up again. We'll do everything we can to help. Now, about this man who came to your place this morning. You say you never saw him before? Well, this morning was first time. And you don't know what he paid your husband to do? No, but it must have been something bad. Else he wouldn't have given Tom a gun. You're sure your husband said he was heading north? I'm sure of that. Tom never fooled with a gun before. He wouldn't hurt nobody on purpose, but he's got an awful bad temper. I'm afraid we already know that from his record, ma'am. The trouble he got into before, that was an accident. He didn't mean to kill Bob Peters. Bob wouldn't give him his wages, and Tom got mad and hit him. He served his time for that, Mrs. Dawson. Our problem is to keep him from getting into any more trouble. I don't know what I'll do if he has to go to jail again. It was awful the last time. Oh, ranger, you gotta stop Tom from doing something bad. You got to. We will, ma'am, if we can find him. I put out an all-points bulletin' on Tom Dawson and then took Mrs. Dawson home. Sheriff Sims and High Point agreed to help me in the search. We decided on the bus station as the first likely place to check. At 2.15 that afternoon, we entered the trailways bus depot and walked toward the ticket window. Yeah, you'd think a fellow like Dawson would have learned enough to keep out of trouble. What do you figure he's up to now? There might be anything, Sheriff Burglary, stick up, even killing. Whatever it is, I hope we can get to him before it's too late. We sure hope we can get a lead here. Can I help you, ranger? Sheriff and I'd like to ask you a few questions, Miss. Sure. Oh, excuse me a second. I got to announce that bus. Bus now leaving. That's my bus. Goodbye. Goodbye. Oh, sure, I'm glad when that 2.30 bus leaves. It means I only got another half hour to work. Uh-huh. You mind taking a look at that photo? You seen this man in here today? Well, I think I have, yeah. He was in here, bought a ticket from me. Where to? See, now it was somewhere up north. I'm sorry, Sheriff, but I don't remember just where. You were sure he was here, though? Oh, I'm sure of that, all right. The reason I'm so positive he gave me a hundred dollar bill. When I gave him change, it pretty near cleaned out in the cash drawer. What time was this? Well, I know it was sometime afternoon, but I'm not too sure when. What buses do you have going north in the afternoon? Just two, the 1.30 and the 4.15. All right, Miss, thanks a lot. Well, everybody's ticket before that 1.30 northbound left. He could be on it, Chief. Yeah, I figure it's going to take us just about two hours to find out if he is. We drove north and overtook the 1.30 bus after it had traveled a little over a hundred miles. Dawson was not aboard. We checked the 4.15 bus. He wasn't on it either. By 11 the next morning, we'd combed all of the towns where he could have stopped off, still no trace of him. We gave up the search and headed back toward High Point. By noon, we were just coming into town. I'm really beat, Jason. When I get to bed, I'm not going to move for two days. Sure have been a long night. Worst part of it is we didn't accomplish a thing. We can be pretty sure whatever Dawson got paid to do. We've probably done it by now. I sure feel sorry for that wife of his. If Dawson gets sent up now, it's going to be for a long, long time. What are you stopping here for? Over there, Sheriff. Coming out of that feed store. Well, I'll Dawson. Right on Main Street. Let's go. He must see us, but he don't seem to bother him. He's just standing there. He could be playing at KG. Watch yourself. Yeah. Jason's starting to move. Hold it, Dawson. What do you want? We'd like to talk to you. What about? About a bus ride you took yesterday. You're crazy. I ain't been on a bus in months. Preskin, Sheriff. Put your hands over your head. Why can't you guys leave me alone just because I spent a few years in the pen? No gun, Jason. What are you talking about? Gun. I never had no gun. Here's his wallet. Nothing. Not even a dollar bill. That's right. And you know why? Because you guys won't leave me alone so as I can get a job. Like just down at feed store. Wait a minute. There's something in this inside pocket. Yeah. A slip of paper. Want to say. Bella Ross. RFD 12, Odessa. Give me that. Who's Bella Ross? That's my business. Odessa's north here, Jason. It's only 200 miles. Dawson could have made it up and back since yesterday. Well, you and I, that's the last night, Dawson. Then where were you? Well, I always am nights. Home. Can you prove it? Sure. Go talk to my wife. She'll tell you I was home. A whole night. In just a moment, we will continue with Tales of the Texas Rangers starring Joel McCray as Ranger Jase Pearson. There's a price tag on almost everything. Whether you drive a shiny new 1952 model or a pre-war Jalopy, you had to pay the price. And when you're driving that car, remember that speed also has its price. Death. Or injuries that can cripple you for life. You may speed at times and get away with it, but the odds are too strongly against you that in some tight spot, you'll make a mistake while speeding. It'll be curtains for you. Or you'll have it on your conscience for the rest of your days that you took a life that you and you alone could have avoided if you weren't speeding. The price tag on speed violations last year was 15,000 killed and 500,000 injured. This year, thousands of lives can be saved if you and millions of other motorists come to the sober realization that speed is the biggest killer on the highways. You can do your part. At all times, drive as though your life depends on it. It does. Now we return to the Texas Rangers. We continue now with Tales of the Texas Rangers and our authentic story, X-Con. Tom Dawson continued to insist that he'd been home the night before. We wanted to check his story, so we left him at the sheriff's office to see his wife. Can we come in, Mrs. Dawson? Yeah. Yeah, you can come in. Thanks. What do you want? Just like to talk to you about your husband. Tom ain't done nothing. We're not saying he has. But after talking to him in town, we got a few things we want to clear up. You talk to Tom. Where is he? The sheriff's office. He ain't done nothing, I tell you. I wish I'd never come to you. I should have known it wouldn't bring nothing but trouble. Where was your husband last night? He was here, home with me the whole night. You told me you left the house carrying a gun. You were afraid he was going to get into trouble. I don't know why I come and told you that. Once in a while I get thinking things that never happened like I've been dreaming. You told the ranger a man came up here and paid your husband to do something for him. Was that a dream, too? I... I don't know. Maybe it was. I don't know nothing no more. Mrs. Dawson, do you know a woman up in Odessa named Bella Ross? No. Ever hear your husband talk about her? No, why you keep picking on Tom? Why don't you leave us be? I got a feeling, ma'am. You're not telling us everything you know. There ain't nothing to tell. I made a mistake yesterday. Can't force you to tell us anything. But we'll find out what we want to know. And if your husband has done something wrong... He ain't... He ain't gonna tell you. All right, ma'am. We'll be going now. Yes, ma'am? Goodbye, Mrs. Dawson. Jay said woman's story is full of holes. She's lying. I know. I was kind of hoping she'd save us that triple Odessa. You mean to check on Bella Ross? Let's get up there and see if she fits into this. When we arrived in Odessa, we made inquiries about Bella Ross. We learned she was a widow who lived alone on her ranch ten miles out of town. Oil had been discovered on her land several years before making her a wealthy woman. We drove to her ranch. The main house was locked and the blinds were drawn. We began to suspect that Dawson's connection with her might have been robbery or even murder. As we were about to return to town and get a warrant to enter the house, we spotted a cloud of dust a few miles away. We took the car and headed across the range. As we approached, we saw that the dust was made by a group of men branding calves in a makeshift corral. Jayce, I think we're just wasting time coming out here. I don't think any of these boys would have a key to the house. If the foreman's out here, he might. Hey, you men over there! Any of you got a key to the Ross ranch house? Who wants a key to my house? Jayce? Are you Bella Ross? Yeah, what about it? I'm Ranger Pearson. This is Sheriff Sims. We'd like to ask you some questions, ma'am. Well, sure. Go ahead. Have you noticed any strangers around your place the last day or so? No. Can't say it's a half. Why? You know a man named Dawson? Excuse me a second, Ranger. Jump! All these hands nowadays just got no respect for stock. What's that fellow's name you was asking about? Dawson, Tom Dawson. No, don't think I know him. Is he from Odessa? From Hypoly. Oh, only one I know down there is my nephew. Nephew? Art Finch. My dead sister's boy. Only Ken I got. You know him? I've met him, Mrs. Ross. Oh, he's a fine boy, ain't he? Well... Bet your life he is. I set him up on a truck farm a few years ago. Told him if he was going to get all my money someday, he'd have to prove he could make some on his own. How's he been doing? But just fine. He'll hear from him every week. Then you haven't been down there lately. No, but I'm a-figuring to go down there soon. I wrote and told Art a couple of weeks ago I was coming down. Look, I said I didn't mind answering questions, but I'd kind of like to know what this is all about. I don't want to alarm you, Mrs. Ross. I may be wrong, but we think someone's trying to make trouble for you. Make trouble? Who'd want to do anything to me? That's something we can't say, till we do a little more checking. But in the meantime, we'd like you to stay in your house till we can get you a police guard. Police guard? That's downright crazy, Ranger. I can take care of myself. I'm afraid we'll have to insist on it. If you don't mind, we'll take you back to the house with us right now. Well, you probably know what you're doing, but I still think it's crazy. Wait until I talk to my foreman, and then I'll be right back with you. That nephew of hers, Jayce, if he's made the success of his farm, the bank sure don't know about it. How do you mean? Finch has got the farm mortgaged up to the hill. Banks about ready to take it over. You ever been out there? Once. Places in the shambles. I don't believe he's ever worked it. Maybe he's got other interests. I know he has. He's got a reputation around town for being a no-good playboy. We've had him up on drunk charges a couple of times. He sure managed to fool his aunt. Yeah. Jayce, you starting to think the same as me that maybe it's Finch who's trying to get his aunt out of the way? Maybe. He's got everything to gain from it. And then you reckon maybe we better pick him up and talk to it? We need something on him first. The only person who can help us with that is Tom Dawson. We went back to High Point and began to question Dawson. We told him we thought Finch had hired him to kill Mrs. Ross. He continued to deny he had been hired to kill anyone. I saw we were getting nowhere and figured Mrs. Dawson might be able to help us make her husband talk. I drove out to pick her up. On the way into town I told her our suspicions. From her reaction I was convinced she still didn't know the nature of the job her husband had been paid for. She told me she was sure Dawson had changed his mind on his own accord. He had returned home just before supper and had stayed there the whole night. When we reached the sheriff's office I asked Mrs. Dawson to wait in the corridor. Then I joined the sheriff who was still questioning her husband and getting nowhere. I tell you I got nothing to say. Now why do you guys keep trying to push me around? Nobody's trying to push you around. You get that idea out of your head Dawson. We'll get along a lot better. Me getting along with cops. Look, we know you didn't kill Bella Ross. We're pretty sure you didn't even try. But you were hired to do it, weren't you? Well what if I was? I didn't do it. What made you change your mind? That's my business. Who hired you, Finch? You ain't going to make a stool pigeon out of me. I don't tell nosy cops nothing. Why are you protecting him? Don't you know you'll be convicted right along with him? For what? I didn't go through with him. No, but you were in on the plans and that makes you guilty. With your record you could get ten years just for that. Ten years? Oh, what's it matter? Not as well be back in Huntsville as trying to make a living outside. Nobody cares anyhow. You're wrong about that. You can come in now, Mrs. Dawson. Hello, Tom. Liz, what are you doing here? Ranger brought me. He had not a come anyhow. What for? Because I love you. I don't want you locked up. You don't unbother with me. I'm no good. Yes you are. If you's no good you'd have gone through with that killing. And if you's no good I wouldn't have asked the ranger to stop you. You told the cops. Yes, Tom. You nearly killed me but I'd do it again. I don't want you in jail. You belong with me and the kids. Sure. To watch all three of you starve. We'll make out. Sooner or later people will forget you ever been in jail. They never forget. Man makes a mistake, he pays for it all his life. Now go on, Liz. Get yourself another man. That's the way you want it, Tom. Is that all you care about me and the kids? Oh, Liz. These years I've been thinking you loved us the way we love you. I reckon that was wrong. Liz, don't talk that way. Why not? It's true, ain't it? No, it ain't true. Can't you see everything I've done was for you? Nothing works out. Nothing ever works out. Tom. And Tom don't. What am I going to do, honey? What am I going to do? Tell them what they want to know. It's the only way we're going to make a real clean start. Finch hired me. I couldn't go through with it. I cached in the bus ticket. Then I took the gun and the money back to his farm. What did he say? He wasn't there. I forgot he was going to be away a few days. I wrapped him up with a note and give him to Finch's neighbor. And as far as Finch knows you're still going through with the job. I reckon so. Dawson, it's not going to be easy to catch Finch. There's nothing that says you have to do this, but we need your help. How about it? Tom. All right. I'll help you. We picked up the package containing the gun and money and took it back to Dawson's house. I figured it wouldn't be long before Finch got curious and showed up there. Our job was to get the evidence that would convict him. I sent for a couple of lab men and had him ring a camera and a hidden microphone in the brush near the house. We placed the tape recorder inside the house and we coated the gun and money with a dye that would come off on a man's hands and could only be seen under ultraviolet light. We sent Mrs. Dawson and the children over to a neighbor's and then we waited. The first day nothing happened. On the evening of the second day just after dark Sheriff and I were standing in front of Dawson's house. I don't know, Jason. Could be when he didn't read in the papers about his aunt being dead he figured Dawson backed out of the job. You want to know why? Maybe so, but I still think we ought to get out of all points on him. I suppose we did pick him up. He'd say Dawson dreamed the whole thing up. In a court it would just be his word against Dawson's. Well, I reckon we do need more evidence than we got but all the same, I don't know what. Oh, yeah, I see the headlines. This could be him, boys. You ready with the camera? Yeah, all right. Let's get inside. I wish it was still daylight. Those flash bulbs will only give him one chance to get the picture. Is he coming, Ranger? Somebody is. Better get ready. We'll get over by the recorder, Sheriff. Keep low so he can't see us through the window. Yeah, you want me to switch on the recorder, Jason? Not yet. Dawson. Yeah? Be sure to hand him the gun so he won't know the bullets are missing. Okay. Talk to you, Dawson. Okay. I'll get the recorder. Okay, Jason. There's only $190 here. I'll use 10 for groceries. I'll have to pay you back when I can. I'll give you $2,000 to do it. Did he scum? Yeah. It's no use. Well, $3,000. Yeah, you want this stuff. Now listen to me. That woman's my aunt. She's going to leave me a lot of money. Good for you. But not if she finds out I haven't done anything with that farm she gave me. She'll be down any time now. Dawson, listen to me. I'll give you $10,000 to kill Bella Ross. If you don't take this stuff, I'm going to drop it on the ground. Now take it and get out of here. $10,000 buys a lot of food. You just had your picture taken, Finch. Now you're coming with us. Oh, why? We're trying to murder your aunt. Not with that gun. Put out your hand. Now we're going to town and see how that picture turns out. I got an idea. It's one your aunt won't be proud to have in her family album. In just a moment, we will tell you the results of the case you have just heard. On Thursday, July 3rd, NBC will bring you the third in the special series of broadcasts in advance of the Republican National Convention, which will take place in Chicago. The program will feature well-known NBC newsmen assigned to the headquarters of the major candidates. You'll find your favorite commentators and reporters in Chicago, W.W. Chaplin, Merrill Muller, Richard Hartness, and Bob Letts. These NBC newsmen will describe campaign headquarters operations, and they will interview campaign managers and other key figures in the camps of Taft, Eisenhower, Warren, and Stassen. Yes, the NBC microphones will listen into every detail and report it to you. Consult your local newspaper for broadcast time, and be sure to join us Thursday, July 3rd for Headquarters Report. This program is another step forward, making it possible for you to follow the campaign of the next president on NBC. Now, tales of the Texas Rangers. Here are the results of the case you have just heard. Art Finch was tried for conspiracy to commit murder. Because of Dawson's assistance in obtaining evidence for the state, the court dismissed the case against him. The judge convinced a local farmer to give Dawson a probationary job. He was later taken on permanently. Art Finch will sentence to 10 years in Huntsville, Penitentiary. Joel McCray in another authentic reenactment of a case from the files of the Texas Rangers. John Wolf Gonzales of the Texas Rangers. This story was transcribed and adapted by Charles E. Israel, and the program was produced and directed by Stacey Keach. Hell, give me speaking. Wednesdays, hear the best of Groucho on NBC.