 Mr. District Attorney, starring David Bryan. Mr. District Attorney, champion of the people, defender of truth, guardian of our fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And it shall be my duty as District Attorney, not only to prosecute to the limit of the law all persons accused of crimes perpetrated within this county, but to defend with equal vigor the rights and privileges of all its citizens. This is David Bryan. In a moment we'll bring you another case from the files of Mr. District Attorney, the first a word from our sponsor. And now here is our star, David Bryan as Paul Garrett, Mr. District Attorney. The knowledge of the law is a minor part of the qualifications of the District Attorney, because enforcement of the law depends upon factors outside the law. When is the District Attorney must know or learn if the blindfold on justice is to be lifted? Take this case. It started late one night in the cultivated field in the farm area of the county. How many more bills we got to load, Slim? 15, 20 left, that's all. This will be the last truck load then. Yeah, as soon as you get off the place with it the better. Mullen sure going to be surprised when he gets a look at this field tomorrow. What do we get for this stuff? Mark, it's about $30 a ton. Clear almost $200 a piece. Not as much as we could make stealing livestock. Sure, steal livestock and get sent to the pen. Maybe there ain't as much money in alfalfa, but it ain't marked either. Nobody can say it ain't yours once you get in the clear with it. I suppose Mullen suspects you had something to do with this? Me? His old army body? Not a chance. Besides, he saw me take a sleeping pill before we turned in tonight. At least he thinks he saw me take it. Give me the pitchfork. Push these bales back away from the tailgate. Slim, what's the matter? I heard something moving. Over by the wreck. Maybe it's Mullen, maybe he... Keep quiet, Trent. What's on this field? It is him. You better answer me. I can see the outlining of the truck. We better run for it. No, no. You woke up. He must know I'm not in the house. Who are you? Cock up. Fast. It's me. It's me, Mullen, Harry Trent. What's the matter, Trent? You lost to some? Your farm's on the other side of that fence. What are you doing in my field in the middle of the night? With a truck full of my alfalfa? I've been... Save it, Trent. Just tell me where Slim is. Where'd that thief and rat run to? I didn't run anyplace, Mullen. You don't know... That's a pitchfork you feel against your back. I just march up to the house. What are you going to do to him, Slim? I'm going to lend him my bottle of sleeping pills and see to it that he takes an overdose of them. Nice, clean and quiet. That'd be a great idea, Slim. If I'd hold still for it. But I ain't about to hold still. You got Slim. Clench him, Trent. Hit him. Let's go, now, Mullen. Now, Mullen, here's something you don't have to hold still for. You maniac! Now, what are we going to do? Shut up. We're going to do just what we started to do. Get that load out of here and sell it like we planned. And keep your mouth shut. If you don't, I'll shut it for you. Now, get going. Ain't you coming? Of course I'm not coming, stupid. I'm going into the house and back to bed. Where I've been all night. Get going. There's the body, Chief. Who found it, Harion? Hound came across it earlier this morning. And set up a racket. Dog's owner knew by the way he was barking that something was up, so he came over. One of those men? Yeah. Felt on the Mackinac. Named Sam Richardson. His farmer joins this one along the East Fence. Who are the other two men? Well, Harry Trent. Farm on the north of Sizz. Skinny went in a slim ferryman. He worked for Mullen. Lives here on the place. Says he and Mullen were war buddies. Find out if he has any family? Sister, sister, married. Names Wharton. Ellie Wharton. She lives upstate someplace. We're trying to trace her. Well, can't talk to him until we find her. You better talk to the neighbors now. All right, chinks. Chicks lie down. He won't bite. This is Mr. Garrett, the district attorney, gentlemen. Hello. This is Sam Richardson, Chief. This one's Harry Trent. And this one is Slim Ferryman. Hello. Gentlemen. I understand your dog found the body, Mr. Richardson. That's right. When did you last see Mullen? Alive. Yes. Yesterday morning. Past each other by the fence down there. Talked a minute or two. How about you, Mr. Trent? Well, I ain't seen Mullen for a couple of days, I guess. Slim seems to be the one who saw him last, Chief. Except for whoever killed him, he needs Mr. Garrett. I know what he means. Tell me about you while we walk over to the house. Well, sure. I saw Mullen last night. We ate supper. And I turned in early. Then this must have happened during the night. Must have. Why would Mullen come out to this field at night? I don't know. I didn't even know he'd left the house until Richardson came pounding on the door and woke me up this morning after he found the body. Isn't that right, Sam? That's right. How come you didn't hear Richardson's dog? The body's closer to where you were than where he was. Well, I was sleeping kind of heavy. I took a sleeping pill last night. Must have knocked me out good. We put in a hard day yesterday. Doing what? Loading alfalfa from this field onto the truck. Me and Mullen must have moved about 200 bales. Oh, I was wondering why there were so few bales from such a large field. I mean, it doesn't just so left. Well, Mullen had a buyer for most of it, I guess. Now, he spent the day trucking it away. Tire tracks all over the field, Chief. Any idea who Mullen sold his crop to, Slim? He didn't say. You think somebody might have paid for the stuff, Chief? Then come back to rob him? Yeah, that's it. Mullen made the robbing mighty convenient by coming out into this field at night. There was no money on the body, Chief. He may have hidden it in the house, or maybe even had time to bank it yesterday. I want a thorough check made on it. If anybody... Oh, that's a phone. Hold it, Slim. I'll get it. You stay out here. Yes, Miss Mullen. We located Mullen's sister, Ellie Horton. Oh, good. Where is she? A town called Haskell, about 40 miles upstate. The address is 414 Sycamore Street. Has she been notified of her brother's death? I called the local minister, asked him to break into her. Oh, that's good. She may be in condition to talk by the time Harrington and I get there. I want you to call the lab. Have Fred Morgan set out here. Tell him to bring plaster of Paris. Yes, sir. There are a lot of truck-tire tracks in the field where Mullen was killed. I want castings made and compared with the tire tread on Mullen's own truck to make sure it was Mullen's truck. Yes, sir. And tell Fred to wait until he leave me to do it. I don't want anybody to see him. I understand. You know where to reach me. Ellie Wartons in Haskell. Yes, sir. Who was it? It was for me. I'd like to get back to my farm if it's all right, Mr. Garrett. Well, you can all go about your business for now. Come on, Harrington. Where to, Chief? Haskell. In upstate. I'll go pick up Mullen's sister. Do you think she'll know anything? I don't know. But Mullen's friends and neighbors don't seem to know much, do they? Why? Why wouldn't anybody want to kill him? Won't you sit down, Mrs. Warton? Please. I can't. I can't. He was here only last Sunday, spending the day with us. Playing with the baby and arguing with Dan. Who was Dan? My husband. What were they arguing about, Mrs. Warton? Oh, I didn't mean a real argument. Politics. Taxes. You know how men get to talking. Do you know of anybody who might have gained anything by having your brother out of the way? No. He never made any enemies. Emoto must have been robbery chief. The crop money. Yes. I guess we'd better get back to town. Oh, you shouldn't be alone here, Mrs. Warton. The minister's coming back later. Can't your husband come home from work? He's away for a few days on a business trip. Away? Where? By and crop. He works for the Haskell feed and grain company. See. Well, goodbye, Mrs. Warton. Chief, that job her husband's got. Yeah, buying feed and grain crops. Seems to me like Mullin and sell that alfalfa to his own brother-in-law. Seems that way to me too. We'll drive over to Haskell feed and grain. I noticed their storage elevator's off the highway when we were coming in. Warton won't be there. I know, but they might be able to tell us where to find him. Almost 4 p.m., chief. We must have covered 50 farms since yesterday afternoon. Well, Warton's in this area someplace. Look. Huh? What? A car parked outside of the barn up ahead. That's it, all right. Haskell feed and grain emblem on the side of the door. I don't see anybody around. Might be in the barn. There he is, the other end of the barn, leaning on the stall. Must be the owner of the farm he's talking to. You've seen us coming this way now. Watch him carefully, just in case. Yep. You fellas looking for me? Hey, Dan Warton. That's right. Would you mind telling us when you last saw your brother-in-law? Two days ago, when I started out on this trip. You stopped by his place? That's right. Family call or business? Business. Made a bid on his alfalfa. Just about finished sweating, ready to be hauled for storage. How did you pay him for it? Cash or a company check? I didn't pay him for it. He said it wasn't for sale. You better be sure of that, mister. What do you mean? It means Mullen's alfalfa crop was sold and moved. Just before Mullen was killed. The night of the day you stopped there. Whoever told you that is a liar. It's no lie, Warton. We saw it with our own eyes. I don't care what you saw. I know that alfalfa wasn't for sale. To me or anybody else. What makes you so sure of that? I'll tell you what makes me so sure. And you can check with Bob Mullen's bank. Bob told me he'd made arrangements for a bank loan to buy 20-headed dairy cattle. That's why I'm sure. He was getting them in next month and he needed that alfalfa for winter forage. He couldn't have sold it. Not to anybody. This is David Bryan. Before we continue with Mr. District Attorney in the case of the blood harvest, here is an important message from my sponsor. And now back to David Bryan starring as Paul Garrett, Mr. District Attorney. A farmer had been brutally murdered with a pitchfork in a harvested field. His helper had stated that the crop of alfalfa from the field had been sold the day of the murder. But the brother-in-law, the slain man, insisted that the crop had not been sold. By the time I got back to my office, there was more disturbing information. Morgan left these plastic castings of the truck tracks yesterday afternoon. Well, they matched the tire treads on Mullen's truck. He says no. Mullen's tires had just been recapped. These are badly worn. He marked the spots with red ink, especially the crescent-shaped gouge mark. Might have been the buyer's truck, chief. Yes, except that Slim Ferryman said that Mullen hauled the stuff away after loading it. If it was the buyer's truck, Slim would have known who the buyer was, at least a description. Come on, Hinton. Bring those tire track castings with him. Where to this time? Back to Mullen's farm. I'm going to find the truck those tire marks came from. Mullen only had the one truck. Some of his neighbors own trucks, too. I want to make sure none of them owns one with a crescent-shaped gouge in one of the tires. I'm about to walk out, chief. Why are we crossing the fields when we could drive to each place? I don't want anybody to know what we're looking for. Well, Richardson's place was clear, but we're lucky we didn't run into that dog of his. Well, this is Trent's place. Yeah, it's like he moved his alfalfa crop, too. It was a clear. Where's the house? Just about a million hours, see? Right there through the trees. Good. They'll keep us covered. Keep your eyes on the ground. Right. Hey, hold it. What? Nothing. Tractor marks here. Not what we're looking for. Loose straw on the ground over there. Might have been a loading spot. Move that way. Yeah. Trent must have had a lot of bails stacked there. Yes. He certainly did. And there are the truck marks. Same tread as the casting, all right? And there's our crescent-shaped mark. That truck might be over in the barn. Now, let it go for now. Send the lad crew out late tonight and get a casting right from the tire while Trent's asleep. Are we going to drive all the way back into town? No, no. We'll call him from the village and wait for them. Meanwhile, let's get off Trent's property before he sees us. The cafe in the next block should have a phone. All right. Hey, look. Coming out of the cafe, going for his car. We didn't have to be so careful out of Trent's place after all. He was here in the village. Yeah. Too bad we didn't know that. Well, it looks like Trent isn't the only one taking a day off. Yeah. Slim Ferryman in there at the counter. They must have been together. Let's go in. Hello, Mr. Garrett. Mr. Harrington. Hello, Slim. Hi. Do you mind if we join you? No, no, of course not. Uh, you got any line on who killed Mullen yet? No. Too bad Mullen never mentioned the name of the man who bought his alfalfa. Yeah, I wish he had. You and Mullen go all through Korea together? No. No. I never got overseas. I thought you were war buddies. Well, sure. Sure we were. I mean, I met Bob at a base hospital when he was shipped back. Bob Mullen was the best friend I ever had, you see? Of course, Slim. When you get the guy who killed him, I'd like to be there to watch when they strap the rat in the electric chair. I know just how you feel. And I'll do my best to arrange it for you. Well, I guess I better be going. Here's your money, mate. So long. So long, Slim. See you around. He's got his teeth ratting there, chief. Yeah. He was pretty frank about not being overseas with Mullen though. And he knew I could check his service record if he lied. Oh, gosh. I forgot to call the lab. Yes. But we're not going to wait from here. Call Miss Miller and tell her what we want. Where are we going? Back to Haskells to pick up Dan Wharton. I need him. Look, Mr. Garrett, I don't know where you're taking me, but I don't want to leave Ellie alone for long. We'll get you back as soon as possible. You want to help us get the persons responsible for Mullen's death, don't you? You know who did it? I don't think so. Well, we need your help to prove it. How much acreage did Mullen have in alfalfa? Like seven or eight to me. Eight's right. Know exactly how much the yield was? Just about two tons an acre. Sixteen ton all told. That's a good yield for this year. Well, you saw a trance alfalfa acreage, Harrington. I'd say he cut about six acres, wouldn't you? Gee, chief, I wouldn't know. I can tell you, it was six acres. Well, how do you know, Wharton? I bought trance alfalfa crop for my company. Well, right after Mullen refused to sell. Feeding grain companies keep a record of all their purchases, don't they? Sure. When the bales be identified, I mean are they tagged or stored in such a way that you could tell whom they were bought from? Yes, they are. What are you driving at, chief? Final proof to break Trent down. I want to know if Trent sold any more than 12 tons of alfalfa. Okay, fellas. Okay, set it down here. Thanks, man. That's all. So he did sell more. That's right, Wharton. This is one of the bales Trent sold to Crestcott grain and feed. Sold it the day after he sold his entire crop to you. And the day after Mullen was murdered. How much of it did he sell? 15 tons. Just a little less than Mullen raised. There are a dozen bales left on Mullen's field, remember? Now, you've got to help us. Is it humanly possible to prove that this alfalfa came from Mullen's fields and not Trent's? Yes. Stuff grown on a joining acreage? How? Not by the alfalfa itself, but the way it's bailed. This stuff Trent sold to me is bailed with 14 gauge wire. What about it? This stuff he sold to Crestcott's is bailed with 16 gauge wire. And that's the wire Bob Mullen bailed with, 16 gauge. All right, Harrington. Now we're ready to pick Trent up. And he can tell us where a slim ferryman fits. Come on. The light just went on inside. I saw it. Oh, it's you fellas. I heard your car come up the road and I thought... And you thought it was somebody else? No. No, I didn't know who it was. Oh, we thought you might have been expecting slim ferrymen. No. Why would slim come here? Take a few lessons in farming perhaps. So you can show them how to raise 27 tons of alfalfa on six acres. 27? You must know how to do it, Trent. Because you sold 27 tons. But 15 tons of it belonged to Bob Mullen. He bailed heavier. He used 16 gauge wire while you used 14 gauge. I... I bought Mullen's crop. He turned down Dan Wharton and sold it to you? I... I mean, I hold it for him. He thought... He thought the price might be better someplace else. Not enough to hold it in next to 30 miles to Crestcott's. And besides, you made that sale the day after Mullen was killed. I was in a trap. I was afraid Slim would kill me, too. Did he kill Mullen? Were you an eyewitness? Yes. Yes, I saw him do it. I never touched Mullen. Where is Slim now? I... I thought you were him when you drove up. He was going to come by sometime during the night. I've been holding Crestcott's check for Mullen's crop. If Slim was going to pick it up, take it someplace tomorrow for cash. There's a car coming up the road now, Chief. Handcuff, tend to that water pipe. Quick. But I didn't kill him, I need... Mr. McEddy. Easy. Let's get out there, Heinem. Why not let them come to us? He won't stop. You'll see our car and recognize it the minute he turns in behind the house. He saw it. He's backing up the tune. Get his tires. All right, stop them. He's running for it. Move off to that side. The car is shielding him. Stop running, Slim. You can't beat a bullet. He's running into the barn. What's that? Now in the store there, I think. Doc, I... I can't see. Look out, Heinem. Yes. I think that's Trent's truck there. I'll turn on the headlights when he's dead, Heinem. Yeah. I didn't see him. I don't even know how I hit him. I just ducked when you yelled and something whizzed by and I fired. Yeah, he was on the ladder to the loft. What was it he threw at me? This. What is it? Sickle. I dug into the stall post about two inches deep. Yeah. I was standing right there, too. I thought that feed bag brushed my face just as you yelled. It's a lucky thing you did. I'm afraid Slim Ferriman wouldn't agree with him. Look where he landed. Yes. The stall full of alfalfa. Let's get Trent and take him in. This is David Bryan. I hope you enjoy this case from the files of Mr. District Attorney. I'll be back in just a moment after this message from our sponsor. Now, here's the star of Mr. District Attorney, David Bryan, with a word about the program you have just heard. Slim Ferriman's death ended the case. Harry Trent ended a plea of guilty to murder in the second degree and is now serving a 20-year sentence. Now, this is David Bryan inviting you to join us when we present our next case based on the facts of crime from the file of Mr. District Attorney. Mr. District Attorney was originated by Phillips H. Lord.