 Wheaties presents Joel McCrae in Tales of the Texas Rangers. On stage tonight transcribed from Hollywood another in the Wheaties big parade of exciting half-hour presentations. Texas Rangers starring Joel McCrae as Ranger Pearson. Texas more than 260,000 square miles. And 50 men who make up the most famous and oldest law enforcement body in North America. Texas Rangers come these stories based on fact. Only names, dates, and places are fictitious for obvious reasons. The events themselves are a matter of record. Tonight's case, the Broken Spur. Saturday night June 5th, 1948, the time 10 p.m. On a small ranch 10 miles south of Cranston, Irwin County, Texas, Milton Thomas was counting a large sum of money, a paratory to lock me up for the night. As he was counting, his dog Rags appeared to be nervous. Thomas tried to quiet him. Rags stop that you're making me count wrong. 50, 100, and... Wheaties, Sam, here's a mess. Tonight, now stop it. Quiet Rags. Down, down, down. Who's there? Casey. What do you want, Casey? I want to talk to you. Seems to me it's awfully nice to be knocking at people's doors. Not if it's about that throne. All right, get back in the room. What are you trying to do? Get your dog back or off. Get away from that dog. Give me that money. Tales of the Texas Rangers will continue in just a moment. If you've got a job to do tomorrow, partner, get your Wheaties. Sure, breakfast of champions is for you. Just like us for Ralph Kiner, pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates. You may not play ball for a living, but whatever your job is tomorrow, you can do it better on a better breakfast. And it's a better breakfast you're starting with Wheaties. There's a whole kernel of wheat in every Wheaties' flake. Yes, whole wheat, good sound whole wheat. Pump and rife and bursting with vitamins and minerals and protein for your vitality, your energy, your working power. So tumble the Wheaties out of the package, pour on the milk, put on the fruit, pick up the spoon and smile. You're eating good to be feeling good. Breakfast of champions for people who are going places. Are you ready? Try them. See how Wheaties at 7 can help at 11. At 10.30 the same night, Milton Thomas' house was discovered on fire. The Cranston Fire Department was called. Next morning, the local sheriff, making a routine investigation, discovered the burnt remains of a broken chair next to Thomas' body. He ordered an autopsy. The results prompted him to call the Texas Rangers. Ranger Jayce Pearson was assigned to the case and arrived at the scene of the fire early that afternoon. Well, howdy, Ranger. I'm Sheriff Tack. Howdy. My name's Jayce Pearson. Come on, I'll show you the house. Or what's left of it. All right, folks, step back, please. Shouldn't have all these people walking around here, Sheriff, ruin any footprints there might be. I had my deputy here to just a few minutes ago, Pearson. I sent him down to get some coffee. All right, folks, step back away from the house, all of you. Now get back to the fence, please. All burned out except for the wall, but you may find something. You said when you called you didn't think it was an accident. I've been Sheriff here for 18 years, and I'll stake my reputation it wasn't. It was ours to cover murder. Based that on the autopsy? Yep. Corner couldn't find any traces of carbon granules in the bronchial pastures or lungs and only the normal amount of carbon monoxide in the lungs. Indicating milk Thomas wasn't breathing when the fire started. Right. This was the front door. It's burned off the hinges and fell out. What? The lock on this door, special kind. It takes a key on both sides. When the door is shut, you have to have a key to get out of the house as well as in. Oh, that, yeah. Milk was a funny old glute. Had them put on both doors. The windows had trick locks, too. Why? Well, folks, they kept a lot of money in the house. Maybe just a story. Hmm. This lock's still working. Let's look at the back door. Here's what's left of Milk's old iron safe. It opened like that when you found it? Yep. Empty, too. This lock's not forced or broken. Kind of hard to tell much about anything. After the roof fell in? Yeah, it's a mess, all right. Same kind of lock here on the back door. It's working, too. Meaning, whoever started the fire was locked in. See? Look here. Whoever it was, here's where he went out. See that window glass outside on the ground? Let's climb out and look. See? The heat didn't break it. It's not crazed. It was knocked out from inside. And do you think the killer was trapped inside? Could have been. After he set fire to the place. How about footprints, Sheriff? Oh, there's thousands of volunteer firemen cramped around all during the fire. Wait. Wait, here's something. Hmm. A spur row. That's exactly what it is. Broken off a spur. Right below where the window was. Maybe busted off by a man jumping out the window with his tail feathers on fire? Maybe. I don't envy an unpersion. How come? Well, as a clue, the spur row is probably mighty important. But what, Sheriff? I was just thinking. There probably ain't over 10 million spurs in the state of Texas with rows just like the one you got there in your hand. Well, your figure may be a little high, Sheriff. But I get your point. Hey, Jack. Yeah? What do you think you're doing, Jack? What's the matter, Sheriff? You know darn well what's the matter. I told you to keep back. I was just looking around. Well, stop kicking around those ashes. And the rest of you, that's evidence you're trampin' on. We didn't mean no harm. Now listen, all of you. It's the last time I'm gonna tell you. How'd you like it if we thought one of you was the criminal coming back to the scene of the crime and deliberately trying to destroy evidence? OK, then. Get back or get off the property altogether. Well, books say that's generally not true, Sheriff. About the criminal in the scene of the crime happens only once in a thousand times. Oh, I know it. I just want to throw a scary into him. I see. Oh, by the way, who was that fellow you were talking to? Him? His name's Casey. Jack Casey. The Sheriff and I went over the yard thoroughly. The prints the murderer might have left were trampled out by the firemen and the onlookers. Finally, some distance from the house I found the place I was looking for. Sheriff? Huh? Come over here. What is it? Look, here's where he took off from. Look, Prince, dug out in an awful hurry, too. And his horse tethered to this tree. It seems to me any man who had legitimate business at the house would have tied up closer. That's logical. Look here. Horse chewed on the tree. It might be a cribber. We find our man, we likely find a horse that chews on his feed bin. See, these tracks head west toward Snake Creek. You got a horse, Sheriff? I can get one. Good. I'll get mine out of the trailer. We're going to follow those hoof prints. Keep your horse off that bank. What's the matter? Good fresh ones. Oh, I thought for a minute you'd seen a Markerson. This stream's full of cotton, huh? I'll take my kit and make some plaster molds of these prints. And he dismounted here and led his horse across. Yeah, probably afraid of slipping on those flat mossy rocks. Small foot, about size 7 or 8, I'd say. Odd track pattern, too. Not likely he was toting a heavy load. Probably a fat man. Fat? Yeah, look at his tracks. Deep, even in the dry places. I make tracks as deep as those, way over 200, but I ain't exactly fat. You're not fat, Sheriff. But what size boot do you wear? 11 and a half. Do you ever see a man your height make a footprint this small? I don't know. Come to think of it, I don't suppose they ever did. Wait a minute. That man who was poking around the ashes back at the house. Casey, was it? Yeah, Jack Casey. What about him? He's fat. Sheriff, was he driving a car or riding? Casey was riding his old paint mare. Say, she's a criber. Then I'm going to need a warrant. As soon as I get this mold, I'm heading for town. Sheriff, either the books are wrong or this Casey is one in a thousand. Operator. Operator, this is Jack Casey again. What about that call I've been trying to get through for the last hour and a half? Yeah, Monee, Texas, the Delta Soul Mill Company. I know it Sunday, but somebody's bound to be... Oh, Jack! What are you doing with that gun? Oh, it's you. Operator. Hello, operator. You said you'd call me back every 20 minutes. It was over half hour last time. Well, keep trying. Jack, who are you trying to call? What are you doing with your shotgun? Leave me alone, Martha. Where have you been since noon? You were supposed to meet me at the Tates for dinner. I know it! I know it! Who's that? Texas Rangers. Jack, what have you done? Put that gun away. Get in the back room. You ain't fixing to shoot. Where them, are you? If I have to. Jack, don't do it! Please, Jack, don't be... Hold it, Ranger. Stay where you are. You're not coming in here. I got a warrant here that says I can. Jack, put it down. Let go of that barrel! Come on, all right. Shotgun's a nasty thing to carry around with a cocktail. Just take this. I want to look around a little. That's your bedroom? Yeah. Come on. Paint the mirror outside yours? Yes, it is. Are these your boots? Mm-hmm. How'd you break this spur? Huh? Well, I didn't know it was broken. I'll take these boots along. You want me to get it, Jack? No! Isn't somebody going to answer it? Yeah, sure. Hello? What? Never mind, cancel it. You better come along with me, Casey. What's this all about, Ranger? Where you taking, Jack? He thinks somebody killed Milk Thomas. To be exact, he thinks I did. No! You seem to know some of the answers. Some of them. Before we go, Ranger, I'd like to ask you one question. Sure. What time did this so-called murder take place? About 10 o'clock last night. 10 o'clock? Well, that's when we... I'll handle this, Martin. Suppose I can prove where I was last night. We're just as anxious to prove a man innocent as guilty, Casey. Do you have any witnesses? About 300 of them. At 10 o'clock last night, I was sitting in the Cranston High School auditorium watching my niece graduate. In just a moment, we continue with tales of the Texas Rangers starring Joel McCray as Ranger Jase Pearson. If a man rides herd on a hundred-head of cattle all day, first, he needs his Wheaties. Yes, and if a man sits behind a big desk and pushes buttons on his job, first, he needs his Wheaties. And listen, Mama, you too. If you keep track of a couple of growing up kids and wash dishes and make beds on your job, first, you need your Wheaties. Jump whatever your job, wherever you work. Wheaties can help. Whether you run a machine or pound a typewriter or play baseball for a living, first, you need your Wheaties. Because here is whole wheat with the rich, full-bodied energy of whole wheat. There's a whole kernel of wheat in every Wheaties' flake. That's why Wheaties give so much. Vitamins, minerals, protein. Wheaties have them, and they're for you. Pour the Wheaties into the cereal bowl, add the milk, add the fruit, and dig right in. Do that at seven, and see how much better you're working when 11 a.m. rolls around. Yes, try them every morning, crisp and tempting. See if I'm not right. See if a better breakfast with the whole wheat nourishment of Wheaties doesn't make a pleasant difference in your morning's work. See if milk fruit Wheaties isn't honest and truly breakfast of champions. See yourself how Wheaties at seven can help at 11. Casey stuck to the alibi that he'd been at the graduation the night before, but I already had enough evidence to take him in. While the sheriff was out asking questions around town, I tried to break down Casey's story. I tell you I was there. All right, take it easy, Casey. Let's assume for a minute you were, you count for the boot prints made by your boots and found near the scene of the crime. Lots of people wear boots. Could have been anybody. I'm afraid not. You see, I made plaster casts of those prints and the boots, the ones you admitted were yours, matched the prints to the last nail mark. Well, I've cramped around this part of the country a lot of times. They could have been old prints. Uh-uh. These were fresh prints. Well, what about it? I don't know. All right, then. What about the row we found just outside Thomas' house? One broken off your spur. I don't know anything about that either. There's no point in withholding information, Casey. You know we'll find out about it sooner or later. How are you doing, Pearson? Casey decided to come clean. Not yet. What about the niece, Sheriff? The neighbor says she and her family left on a vacation early this morning. You know anything about that, Casey? No. Too bad. Because I've had several interesting chats. I mean, I've just talked to four people who were at the graduation exercises last night. Four people who know you, and not one of them remembers seeing you there. I wasn't at the high school last night, I tell you. Casey, the sheriffs talked to four people who didn't see you. Well, who did? I don't know. It was dark in the auditorium. Didn't you speak to anybody? No. The thing had already started. Oh, wait a minute. Yeah. I talked to one of the ushers. What was his name? It wasn't a him, it was a her. One of the high school girls. She's wearing a long pink dress. Sheriff, who's the principal of the high school? Mr. Schott. Warren Schott. All right. Lock Casey up. I'm going to find out who the ushers were, and especially the little girl with a long pink dress. Why? Why, yes, sir. I remember Mr. Casey being there with Mrs. Casey. Are you sure, Ella May? This is very important. Sure, I'm sure. They came in late and had to wait until the invocation was over. Then he asked for an aisle seat. He said he couldn't climb over people. He's so... Well, you know. Yeah, I know. And he didn't leave at any time during the exercises. Not until near the end. They left just before the recessional, while everybody was standing and singing the class song. What time was that? Oh... A few minutes before 11. All right. Thank you very much. Goodbye. Was I any help, Ranger? Yes, Ella May. You were a big help. I was stuck, and it looked like I was going to have to release Casey, and then I remembered something. The phone call that came in while I was out at Casey's place. The one he'd been reluctant to answer. I dropped by the Cranston telephone office. This is the call you wanted, Ranger. What was it? Mr. Jack Casey placed a call to the Delta Songmill Company in Mone, Texas at 2.22 p.m. today. There was no answer, and when the Mone operator did get through, she called back at 3.40. But Mr. Casey had canceled it. Do you know who the call was for? Yes, sir. It was person to person, Mr. Ben Casey. Ben Casey? Mr. Jack Casey's son. Son? Do you know him? I used to. When? Well, we went to high school together. Some of my girlfriends and I used to go places with Ben's bunch, but my mother made me stop. She said he wasn't the kind of boy that girls should run around with. I see. And he finally left home. Couldn't get along with his stepmother. Oh, then Mrs. Casey's not his mother. Oh, no, Ranger, they used to fight. Oh. Go on. This may be very important. Well, I heard that she and Ben fought all the time, and then one day after they had a big fight, Ben packed up and left. Well, when was this? I reckon it was a couple of years ago. He went down to Moni then and got a job at that sawmill there. What does this Ben look like? He's a spitting image of his father and just as fat, too. Have you seen him lately? I saw him at the bus station. His father came and picked him up. When? Let's see, um, the day before yesterday. Friday. There was no doubt now why Jack Casey wasn't talking. He was protecting his own son. I put a call through to Mrs. Casey and met her at the sheriff's office. I ain't saying this because he ain't my flesh and blood, Ranger, but Ben's bad through and through. I might have known he was the one killed Milk Thomas. Uh, Mrs. Casey, tell me about Ben. He came in Friday, didn't he? Yeah. Come in on the bus and stayed over Saturday. He wanted to borrow money. He's always broke, gambles. That's right, Pearson. Picked him up a couple of times for gambling. Go on, Mrs. Casey. Like I say, he wanted to borrow $50 from Jack, but Jack didn't have it. He just paid off a note to Milk Thomas and he was kind of strapped. Oh, your husband owed Thomas money? Yes, but it was the last payment. Jack was joking about how Thomas always wanted cash money. Didn't trust Jacks. Did Ben hear him say this? He sure did, Sheriff. And then he sucked around all day Saturday until he was getting ready to go to the commencement that night. And just before we left, he said he was going to use Jack's horse to go for a ride. At night? Yeah, seems strange to me, too. And then he asked, could he borrow a pair of Jack's boots? He was wearing flat heel shoes. They were the same size? Oh, have ever since I can remember. Well, anyway, we went on to the graduation and when we got home, the mare was in the barn still saddled. All sweaty. Looked like she'd been run almost to death and Jack's boots were tossed on the floor and Ben was gone. All right, Mrs. Casey. That's all for now and thanks. You're welcome. Come on, Sheriff. We're going on a little trip. Sheriff Taksin and I piled into my car and headed for Moni. As soon as we got out on the highway, I put in a call to my headquarters. Unit 10 to KTXA. Unit 10 to KTXA. KTXA to Unit 10. Go ahead, Unit 10. Unit 10 leaving Cranston State Highway 22 en route to Moni, investigating murder suspect believed in vicinity of Delta Sawmill will keep KTXA informed. Unit 10, 10-4. Sheriff, you know young Casey by sight, don't you? I watched him grow up. Good. If he's gone and we have to comb for him, I don't want to turn up the wrong fat man again. Oh, you'd know him now. After seeing his father, except for age, they're the same. You mean except for age and the fact that the young ones are murderer. When we reached the Sawmill, the moon was up. A full moon. There was a light burning through the wind of one shack at the edge of the camp. We pulled up there and got out of the car and went in. Howdy, Ranger, Sheriff. Hi. We're looking for a man named Casey. Ben Casey? Yeah, here I am. I don't know for sure. He sleeps in a big bunkhouse down the line. Which bunk? I'll show you if you like. Fine. Sheriff, maybe you better take a look through the mess hall. That boy like him might be fixing a late snack. If you don't find him, come up and meet me. And if you do find him, call me before you try and take him. Right? Bunkhouses this way. No, no light in the place. Well, some of the boys was going into town for moonlight dance. Don't know if Ben went with him or not. Has he been packing any money that you know of? Well, oh yeah, come thank of it. He had quite a bit. Said he hit it lucky in the dice game that... Oh, he did get it in the dice game, didn't he? If he did, the other fella never got a chance to roll him. Oh, here we are. I'll light this lamp for you. Ben sleeps in that third bunk on the right. Thanks. I'll wait for him. All right, I'll get back to my books and just enter in a shipment that's being hauled out tonight. That's why you found me working. Go ahead. But if you see Casey, don't mention I'm here. The farmer went back to his shack and I ripped Ben Casey's bunk apart. There was nothing in the bunk of the covering. I dragged a footlocker out from underneath and was bending over it. Oh, Ranger, up with him. Don't turn around. They're up. What are you doing here? If you're Ben Casey, you know what I'm doing. This is the end of the road, boy. I'll take that lantern. I'd be careful with that, Ben. Remember what happened the last time you dropped a lantern? You're pretty smart, ain't you, mister? But I'm smart too. Here's a present for you. The lantern hit the edge of the bunk and the kerosene splashed over me. I beat the flames out with my hands and dove for the door. He'd rammed something against the outside of it. When I forced it open, I stumbled over a heavy-locked bench he'd used as a barricade. Hey, Ranger, what is it? Casey, you see him, Sheriff? Well, somebody went off that way, turned the rail, sighting. Let's go. We spotted him swinging up the side of a flat car as the train hit the main line and started to roll. We grabbed on to one of the last cars and scrambled to the top and started to work our way forward. There he is, about five cars ahead. I can't see him. The kerosene scorched my eyes. See us, all right? Drop flat. We'll crawl up on him. He can't go any farther than the length of the train. There it goes. He's jumping. I see him. I'm going after him. Well, I'm coming with you. He's breaking through the window. Can you see him? Nobody's close. About ten yards in, not moving. Keep low. We're silhouetted good against this clearing. Let's see if you can find a stick about five feet long. Here's your dead branch. This do? Fine. Give it to me. What do you think you can do? I'm going to put this branch through my coat sleeves like this. Here, when I tell you, hold it up. I get it. Something for him to shoot at. Right. I'll fire at his gun flash. All right, Casey. Come out with your hands up. This is your last chance, Casey. Okay, Sheriff. Give me a chance. Like you gave Milk Thomas? It was a short train ride, Casey. But I got a hunch you'll get a longer one soon. Come on. Then Casey confessed to the murder of Milk Thomas. On August 2nd, 1948, he entered Huntsville Penitentiary. His sentence, life imprisonment. Joe McCrae, that was a great show tonight. Wheaties and I are proud of you. Thank you, Frank. I'd like to please the customers. Well, now, so do I. Take Wheaties, for instance. Frank, are you going to say that Wheaties taste good? Well, yes, I was going to touch on that. And are you going to say that Wheaties are good for people? Yes, yes. I was going to say just that. Anything else? Well, no, I guess they're just about conversant, Joel. Except to... Except telling people to get some. That's it. How'd you know? Well, that's easy, Frank. I'm a Wheaties eater myself. You hear that, folks? You too can be a Wheaties eater. As early as tomorrow morning. Breakfast of champions, you know? Get some. Next week, Joel McCrae and another authentic re-enactment of a case from the files of... The Texas Rangers. This story was transcribed and adapted by David Bruce and was produced and directed by Stacey Keach. Hell, give me speaking. And this is the Wheaties man, Frank Martin, inviting you to listen Monday night to Frank Lovejoy and Night Beats on the Wheaties Big Parade. See you then. Tomorrow there's good listening with the Summer Symphony on NBC.