 Ranger Bill, warrior of the woodland. Struggling against extreme odds. Traveling dangerous trails. Fighting the many enemies of nature. This is the job of the guardian of the forest, Ranger Bill. Pouring rain, freezing cold, blistering heat, snow, floods, bears, rattlesnakes, mountain lions. Yes, all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. Say, have you ever been in an automobile accident? They can be pretty frightening. And on the spur of the moment, you might even get scared enough to want to run away. Never run away from the scene of an accident no matter how bad the accident is. Why? Well, listen to the story of two boys, Ruben and Smitty, who had an accident with their hot rod. Only by hard work and fast thinking did Bill Jefferson save them from the angry citizens of Big Pine. That's a village about halfway between Naughty Pine and Canyon City. Here's the story, hit and run. Cut it down, Smitty. Gotta keep well within the limit. Yeah, yeah, okay, Ruben. You know, I don't know where folks get the idea that hot rod drivers are always speed demons. Oh, that's because a couple of smart Alex didn't use their heads. Going through town like a jet plane the way they did, and everybody's been sore ever since. I can't blame them exactly. Can you? No. Say, Smitty, we gotta put the strobe light on this thing when we get back to the garage. It must be out of time again. Yeah, you're right. Seems to be missing at high speeds. Watch out. The street's narrow here, Smitty. What's the matter with you, Ruben? Getting the jitters or something? No. It's just that the folks in town are so dead set against us. We wouldn't stand a chance if anything should... Look out! Look out for that man! I think I hit him, Ruben. Yeah. Let's get out of here quick. You mean run? Sure. Okay, here it goes. Cut around him wide. That's right. Now, take off! What's farther we got? Quite a ways, well. Coming into Big Pine now. That means we're halfway home. Yep. Gray Wolf from Stumpy is still sleeping. I guess I'll do the same. Hey, Bill, what's going on up here in the center town? I'm just wondering myself. Better wake up Stumpy and Gray Wolf. We'll find out. Okay. Hey, Gray Wolf! Stumpy! Come on, wake up! Come on, wake up! Why do we stop here, Ralph? Something's going on in the street. Bill says we should take a look. Hey! Sounds like a riot started. You're not joking, Ralph. Locked the car so no one can get our weapons. Come on, fellas, let's find out what this is all about. Hey! They're the rangers! Come through! Thanks for letting us through, folks. Where's Constable Gorman? Right here, Bill. He dead, Sid? Yeah. How did it happen? I don't know, Bill. Some of the folks heard a car tearing down the street with their phone for old Sam here. Yeah, it was one of those dirty hot rodders. Ralph, get a blanket out of the car and cover the body, will ya? Sure. Let me through, please. Uh, a blanket won't do Sam any good. Why don't you go after those rats who did this? Yeah, that's the stuff. Oh, look here, Mr. Chair. We'll handle this your own way, if you don't mind. Gray Wolf, Stumpy, let's clear the crowd off the street. Ah, not a good idea. You haven't got enough rangers to move us, Mr. There are three of us here and one at the radio car. That's enough. You seem to be the ringleader, Mr. so I'm talking to you. You don't stop making trouble. I'll arrest you for inciting mob violence and obstructing the work of law enforcement officers. I'll get a move on. Back it in, Smitty, before somebody sees us. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you think I'm trying to do, Rube? Just a skirt I can't see straight. Look out now. Yeah, okay. Come on back. That's that. Close the doors, Rube. Yeah, right away, Smitty. Why don't you go home, Rube? I hit the guy, not you. Uh-uh. We're in this mess together, aren't we? I sure don't know where that fella came from. All I know is, suddenly, he's right in front of the car and boom! I know. Let's stay here for a while and think what we should do. I know what we shouldn't have done. Yeah? What? We shouldn't have run away. Maybe you're right. And I'm the guy that told you to do it. But we wouldn't have had a chance with some of those hotheads in town. But it's too late to think of that now. Is it? Sure it is. If I could only calm down and do some straight thinking, we've got to think straight. It's our only chance. The ambulance will be here shortly, Bill. Thanks, Ed. Did you find out anything? Yeah, some very interesting things. As soon as they take Old Sam away, we can go into my office and talk this over. Yeah, it's a good idea, sonny. Something mighty fishy about this here accident. Huh? What's a clear case of hit and run, ain't it? Not the way we see it, ain't it? Is that right, Bill? Well, there are some very peculiar factors in the case, Sid, that you don't find in the ordinary hit and run. I hope you can prove your point. There's some ugly rumors around that the citizens of Big Pine are going to take the law into their own hands. Was we hit? Yeah. Who is he? Sam Potter. Sam Potter? Oh. I found out something else. What? He's dead. You mean... you mean it was our car? Must have been. They found him dead on the street. I can't figure it, Rube. Neither can I, Smitty, but we killed him just the same. Do you... do you think we better give ourselves up? We can't do that. The towns for people would lynch us. Well, Bill, how does the evidence stack up? Let's start with the tire, Mark, Sid. We measured the short skid marks, and they tell us the car was going between 20 and 25 miles an hour. 20 miles? How could there be skid marks at that speed? Well, the brakes were in excellent condition, and the drivers slammed them on hard. The marks aren't prominent, but they're there just the same. They're even more important point about skid. Tell him, Bill. I'm just getting to that, Gray Wolf. Another reason the car is skidded as it did is that the tires were bald. It makes skidding easier. What kind of a car would have bald tires? It ain't safe for a regular car to have them. But hot rod have bald tires in some cases. Hot rod? That would make matters worse for whoever hits Sam. What do you mean, Sid? Well, a large portion of the population of Big Pine is made up of only half a dozen families, intermarriage and so forth. Sam Potter was recognized as the leader in the town. I see. That's why the folks here were so angry. That sounds more than just the usual anger and disgust over a hit-and-run case. Not only that, Bill. These folks are very prejudiced against hot rods. Most people are, Sid. It's the hot rod's own fault. Well, we just got to keep ahead of them, that's all, and ask for patience. How do we do that, Bill? We're finding the driver of that car before they do. Where we start to find driver, Bill? Well, the first thing I want to do is take Sam's outer clothing to the lab and have him gone over for paint fragments. Gray Wolf, you and Ralph get a list of all the lads who own their drive hot rods. And Stumpy, you stay here and help Sid keep things under control. Say, Stumpy, let's stop in here at Ben's store and have a cup of coffee. A lot of the folks just sit around there and talk. Well, that's for us, Sid. Maybe we can get an idea of what they're thinking about in this here accident. Yeah, seems to be quite a crowd in the store. Yeah, and I don't like it. Well, Sonny, let's go on in. There's only one way to catch a polecat. Go in after him. Hey, fellas, here's Sid. He's just an old guy. He can't do any harm. Oh, just a minute there, young sir. I was put in three-cornered pants and grizzly bears before you were born. Step up here, I'll show you how old I am. Okay, Pop, I'll take it all back. Hey, Sid. No, but the Rangers think a hot rod may have hit him. Hot rod? No. You shouldn't have said that, Sonny. No, it's on me. It's late night. Let's grab those hot rodders and let's get a one-by-one. Yeah, let's get started on this, man, huh, boys? I know the first place to go. All right. I guess I'm not the peace officer I ought to be. I didn't even try and stop him. Yeah, don't talk foolish, Sonny. There's some things you can do and some things you can't. Let's get a shooting iron and follow those men. Call Bill while we're at it. And listen, if we had a guard beat up, he wouldn't have been able to help anybody. University lab. Bill Jefferson, there. Just a minute. Bill, it's for you. Thanks, man. Hello, Bill Jefferson speaking. Bill is... What's happened? You thought the hit-and-run driver was a hot rod. Now the men of the town have taken matters into their own hands. They're going after all the lads who own hot rods. Mmm, that's bad. Well, I'll get over there as fast as I can, Sid. You stay at the office and have a stumpy follow the mob. Tell him to call in and let you know where he is. Okay, Bill. Oh, one more thing, Sid. Try and get hold of Gray Wolf and Ralph and any other Rangers you can. I'll see you soon. Something unexpected, Bill? Not unexpected, Pat. Just came sooner than I thought it would. Phone me at the constable's office in Big Five when you get through going over the clothes, will you? Quiet, you guys. Quiet. Quiet down. We got to find out some things. Is this your hot rod, kid? Yeah, it belongs to me and Smitty. Have you been driving a car recently? Hey. There's a piece of Sam's coat caught in the license. Quiet. Quiet down. Quiet. Did you two kids run down Sam Potter? Answer me, did you? Yeah. Yeah, we did. Who was driving? Me. So you're the guilty ones. You ran away, didn't you? You did run away, didn't you? You dirty, hit-and-run. That's right, sir. Yeah, let's take them away before the law gets here. We didn't mean to do it. It was an accident. Accident in my eye. Let's get a barrel of tar and some feathers. I got some. We'll take care of these kids our way. Okay, let's go. Come on, let's get them. Let's go. Here's the rangers. All right. All right. Release those boys. We ain't doing it, copper. They're guilty. This time we're doing things our way. Well, a point of view is judged. How do you know they're guilty? Release them, I said. You make me. All right, I will. Call it there, boys. Don't make me shoot. I can gouge the eye out of a dune bag at a thousand yards. Don't make me prove it. I'm warning you. Thanks, Stumpy. Now listen, you people. These kids are going to get justice. If they're guilty, they'll be punished. If they're not guilty, they'll go free. That's for the law to decide. Tom, take these two boys over to the jail and lock them up for their own protection. And stay there with Shorty and Ned and guard the jail. We'll keep these men here until you're safely away. Okay, Bill. Come on, Lance. Let's go to the car. Hey, you in the back. Don't try and sneak off. That's right. Everybody stays here until the car leaves. All right, you can disperse now. You fellas, go on home. Behave yourselves. One peep and we'll need a jail stretcher. Phew. That was a close one, Bill. We got here just in the nick of time. I'll say we didn't, Ralph. This isn't the end of it, either. Ah, thank you, right, Bill. Those men plenty mad. You think they try and break into jail? They wouldn't try that in this day and age, would they? Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it wouldn't be at all surprise if they did. Now, let's go back to the jail and talk with the boys. See what's what. First, let's take a look at the hot rod, Sid. We'll be back at the jail before the mob gets rebellious enough to try to break in. Smitty, suppose you tell us just how it happened. I was driving, Bill. I'm the guilty one, not Rube. But I told him to drive away. I'm the most of them. All right, take it easy, fellas. All I want to know is what happened. Don't worry about the mob. They won't get you, believe me. Okay, Bill, all I can say is that we were driving down the street. Couldn't have been more than 25 miles an hour at the most. And suddenly, the old man was in front of us. We couldn't stop. Man, we hit the brakes. It didn't do any good. I still can't figure where he came from. Well, all of a sudden, he was right there. And that's all there is to it, Bill. I know we did wrong by running away, but we were... All right, Smitty. That's what I wanted to know. And I believe you. We wouldn't lie, Bill. Not even when we were in a jam. Now, look, fellas, I want you to know that I didn't lock you up because I thought you were guilty of killing Sam Potter. I did it for your own protection. They were going to turn feather us. Don't you worry about those, man. I'll take care of them. Bill, Bill, you better come out front. We got trouble again. You fellas guard the real of the jail, will ya? Right. Come on, boys. Bill, I'm sure glad you and your men are here. I've never seen anything like this. Don't fret, nuns. I know you're in good hands. They don't scare us, nun. This has always been such a peaceful town. Perhaps that's why they've let themselves get carried away. They feel they have right to meet our justice, but they wrong. Here they come, with a battering ram it sounds like. You said it wrong. They mean business. Open the door, Sid. Did you say open the door, Bill? That's right. I'll be in the doorway and let them try to get past. Okay, Bill. You're calling the signals. Hey! What's that, you people? Are you mad? Listen to me. Unless you go home and behave yourselves, I'm taking Rube and Smitty to the Naughty Pine jail. You'll never make it, Ranger. I'll make it, all right, mister. Given if I have to use a tank. Now, either you disperse and go home, or I'll take drastic steps to make you. How do we know justice will be given on those two hot hands? How do we know that? You have my word for it. His word. That's a good one. Yes, it is a good one. Because it's a promise, not only as an officer of the law, but as a Christian. You're a Christian, Ranger? That's right. You can believe Bill Jefferson. He's never gone back on his word in all the years I've known him. All right. That's good enough for me. Let's go home, men. When's the inquest gonna be held? I haven't talked to the coroner yet. The day and time will be posted. Okay. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going home. Okay, George. Stumpy for a minute. I thought we were gonna have a shooting brawl on our hands. Well, we can shoot if we have to, sonny, but we learned a long time ago that God is a lot more powerful than anything we can do. So what do you hope to prove by reenacting accident? I'm not sure yet, Gray Wolf. I have a couple of points in mind. I know they're coming in close now. You're ready to push that stuff dummy in front of the car when I give you the word. Ah, hot round. Almost here. All right. Now. Okay, Smitty. That was just what I wanted. That's just how I start, Bill. It all happened so fast, but I'm sure that's just as near as I can come to what actually happened. That's fine, Smitty. Thanks a lot. Gray Wolf, you escort the boys back to their garage and return them to jail. Ralph and I are going to Naughty Pine to see the corner. What's your honest opinion about this case? Not quite ready to make a statement yet, Rudy. I need one more piece to finish the jigsaw puzzle. Mm-hmm. What's that? A court order for a post mortem on Sam Potter's body. Do you think it will show something? I don't know, Rudy. That's why I'm asking for it. All right, Bill. I'll sign the order. Oh, here's the place, Ralph. Bill, uh, how'd you find out Jim Land was Sam Potter's doctor? Uh, Sid told me. Uh, hello, Jim. Well, Bill, Jefferson has a live and breathe. And Ralph Mitchell. Hello, Dr. Land. Come in here and don't just stand there. I'm sorry, Jim, but I got a lot to do. Busy, huh? Hey, what's that piece of paper you got there, Bill? Court order for a post mortem on Sam Potter's body. Oh, you won't need that. You mean... Yeah, I'll testify at the inquest, gladly. Oh, fine. I'll call you to the witness stand first thing. Thanks a lot, Jim. Bye. By which Samuel Potter met his death? Corner Rudolph Gordon presiding for the County of Canyon in the village of Big Pine. Spectators will not make comment, pro-account as the principles involved are interrogated. Corner Gordon. There's Corner. I'm setting aside the usual practice. Now I'm asking Ranger Bill Jefferson to present the Sadian Facts in the case. All right, go ahead, Bill. Thank you, Corner. First, I'd like Dr. James Land to take the stand, please. Dr. Land, you've been attending the deceased for some years because of a physical ailment. Is that right? That is correct. What was the physical impairment? Heart disease, angina. Jim, I served you with a court order to make a post mortem on the deceased Sam Potter. Why did you say it wouldn't be necessary since the order was in conjunction with this inquest? Because, Bill, I already knew how Sam Potter died. What? What? How did Sam Potter die, Jim? He died from a heart attack. This uproar occurs again. I'll have the Rangers clear the room. Proceed, Bill. Thank you, Rudy. Dr. Land, how did you come to this conclusion? I warned Sam to take it easy because his condition was getting worse. He wouldn't listen. When I heard about the accident, I went to the undertaker and looked at Sam's body. That was clear and positive symptoms of heart attack, despite the bruises. Well, we assign the death certificate, as you've stated, cause of death, heart attack, coronary insufficiency. Certainly. That's what kills Sam and that's what I'll put on the certificate. Thank you, Jim. You may leave the stand. Now, I call to the stand, Ranger Bill Jefferson, the arresting officer. Bill, I want you to explain what you found out regarding this case. Yes. All right. As you can see, I have drawn on this blackboard a diagram of the scene of the accident. We know that the car was traveling between 20 and 25 miles an hour. That fact has been very carefully checked. The victim was here at the X mark. The car didn't have time to stop and avoid hitting the victim. However, Smitty's reflexes are rapid. Upon seeing Sam in front of him, he applied the brakes instantly. It's a fact that the car was going only five miles an hour when it hit the victim. There's no dent in the fenders or grill of the car. Or are there any paint fragments in the claws? Sam was hit in mid-air by the car bumper as he toppled right into the path of the oncoming vehicle. Now I remember, Bill, that's the way it was. He didn't exactly fall, he sort of toppled. I've presented the evidence to an unbiased mind which proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Sam's death was accidental. This concludes my presentation. Then if Rube and Smitty didn't kill him, they ought to be punished for running from the scene of the accident. I'm not making excuses for that, except that they're only boys and that they were frightened. How about you, mister? You, who should know better, have been inciting riot and mob violence, obstructing justice and invading the right of privacy. Did you have a search warrant when you broke into Smitty's garage and examined his car? No, I didn't. I apologize. I made a mistake. So did Rube and Smitty when they hit and ran. They've learned their lesson. And thanks to you, I'm sure they'll have nightmares about it for a long time. Take it easy, Bill. As coroner of this county, I have heard the evidence and do now pronounce Sam Potter's death as being from natural causes, not because he was hit by the automobile driven by these two boys. I also waive any punishment recommendation to the court because the boys ran away, since I'm sure they've learned their lesson. This inquiry is concluded and adjourned. We sure owe you a lot, Bill. You were great on the stand. I'll never forget you for the lesson we've learned. I owe you the most thanks because I drove the car. Oh, boy. What a load you've lifted from my shoulders, Bill. I'll never forget the lesson you've taught us, either. What is that lesson, fellas? It's just this. Never run when you're in trouble, no matter how bad the circumstantial evidence. In this country, you're innocent until you're proved guilty. I was just as startled as you were when Bill presented the truth, but it was the truth, and that's what really counts. We'll see you next week for more adventure with...