 of the 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. Daytime radio listening is a big part of Mrs. America's way of life. And on NBC, daytime radio is a big part of our overall schedule of top listening entertainment. Tune here tomorrow and each day Monday through Friday for such smile-provoking programs as Double or Nothing with your genial quiz master, Walter O'Keefe, Strike it Rich, the program with a heart presided over by Warren Hull, and Welcome Travelers, bringing Tommy Bartlett's interesting interviews with travelers in the windy city. Radio also gets its ears boxed every day when Bob and Ray satirized the industry which made them famous. Later, Dave Garroway strolls through a pleasant quarter hour of enjoyable radio listening and invites you to join him for the proceedings. Yes, all through the day, NBC presents America's most popular radio programs, comedy, drama, music, and information. So if you suffer from the housework blues, let us brighten your day with the entertainment available on this station of the NBC Radio Network. Join us tomorrow morning, won't you? And now, today's Tales of the Texas Rangers. And now, from the files of the Texas Rangers, the case called Cover Up. It is 8 o'clock on the morning of Thursday, July 4th, 1946. 17 miles north of Lennepa, Texas, farmer Lee Gaynor crosses the cornfields to the farm of Russell Hines, his neighbor and closest friend. When he reaches his friend's house, Gaynor goes up on the front porch, opens the door, and walks in. Russ, where are you? Russ, you back there in the bedroom? Russ, where are you? What are you doing here? You get out of here, please. You can't come in. What do you mean I can't come in? Who are you? What are you doing with that pile of water? I just cleaned up the floor. Now you go. You can stay. So fast. Where's Mr. Hines? He's gone. He said don't let nobody in the house, so please, you go out. I'm not going anywhere. Not like at this street. Now, where'd he go? I don't know, Senor. He said that he'd go on vacation. That's all he said. Well, his car's outside. He couldn't go nowhere without his car. Well, he did. He'd go for two weeks. I don't believe it. Mr. Hines is my best friend. He wouldn't go up like that without telling me. Well, he did. You're lying. Who are you? What you doing here? I work here. No, you don't. I never saw you before. Senor Hines, he hired me this morning before he left. He left, huh? Now come his washing glasses and all the rest of his stuff. It's still on the dresser. Hey, where's his wallet? I don't know. I didn't... I think you're dead. Now let's see what you got. Wait a minute. What's that on the floor? Where? Right where I'm pointing. This looks like blood. Oh, see? See, that is. Senor Hines, he... And on the bed, too. What did you do to him? Where is he? You tell me if I beat it out of you. Please, Senor. He haven't lost belief. He told me to clean up the blood. That's all I swear. You're lying. Tell me what you did with Mr. Hines. You tell me quicker. I'll kill you. I did nothing. Let me go, Senor. I said tell me. I did nothing. I'll kill you. You asked for this, Senor. You're not getting me. Come back here, you... I'll get you. You lousy killer. Lee Gaynor chased the stranger across the fields and into a wooded area. When the man ducked into the woods, Gaynor lost sight of him and was unable to pick up his trail. He then returned to his friend's house and called Sheriff Art Buckley, who in turn requested aid from the Texas Rangers. Ranger Jase Pearson was assigned and arrived at the farmhouse shortly after the sheriff. There's a blood on the floor, Ranger. He's trying to clean it up with that bucket of water. And there on the bed, blood splattered all over the pillar. You say this fellow told you Mr. Hines had a nosebleed? Yeah, but I don't believe that. Rush never had a nosebleed in his life, and I've known him since we were kids. I tell you, that Mexican killed him. You know if anything's missing? Yeah. Rush's wallet. Take a look at this dresser. Everything else is here except that. Here's his comb, his glasses. I know Rush better than I know my own brother. And I tell you, he wouldn't go anywhere without his specs. It makes you look bad, all right. Yeah. You know how much money your friend was carrying in that wallet? Just about. Rush drew 300 bucks out of the bank on Tuesday morning. He was fixing to buy a Guernsey from Dave Morgan. Is that your friend's car parked out in front? Yeah. He sure wouldn't be going any place without that. Why don't we try to pick up that Mexican's trail? He might still be out in the woods. He was heading into the hills when I lost him, Ranger. Might be afraid to come out. Yeah. Did you look around to see if you could find Mr. Hines in the barn any place like that? No, no. I didn't. I stayed in the house waiting for you to come. Now, just where did you chase that fellow? Into the woods over there. Any other farms over that way? Not on the side of the hills. There's a good chance he's still out there. I'll get my horse from the trailer and see if I can pick up his tracks. In the meantime, Sheriff, why don't you look around near the house? Sure thing, Jason. I'll see you later. Can I go along, Ranger? I know that hill country pretty good. All right. Maybe you can identify that Mexican if we catch up to him. He's got an awful big head start on us. Yeah, but if he's still on foot, he won't get far. I took Charcoal out of the trailer while Gainer got one of the horses from the crowd. To save time, he didn't saddle up but rode bareback. We went to the spot in the woods where Gainer had lost sight of the man. Short distance away, I picked up his tracks. They were fairly easy to follow, and for 20 minutes we covered a good deal of ground. Then near the hills, the trail petered out. We'd better spread out a little more. Wait a minute. We'll swing over that way. Where? I don't see him. Look right along there. See how that brush has trampled? Oh, yeah. Sure got better eyes for cracking than I have. Get up, Charkey. What's down this way? The road swings around in a loop. It's like he was heading for it. Come on. Get up, boy. Let somebody's give him a lift. Maybe we can catch up to him. There's a road over there, ain't you? You can see it through that break in the brush. Yeah. There's someone walking along that shoulder right now. That's him! He's the one! What do you want from me, signor? All right. Stand still while I prisk you. Why you do this? What are you looking for? Just checking to see if you're carrying any weapons. Are you the one working back there in that farmhouse? No, no. Don't lie to me. I didn't do that. What's your name? Carlos Mendoza. Let's see your wallet. Here. 40 dollars in here. Where's the rest of it? That's all I got. Why'd you kill him? I didn't. Where's Mr. Hines? What'd you do with him? I didn't do nothing. He hired me. He'd go on vacation like I thought. You lie. I'll make you talk. Hold it, dear. I'll make him tell the truth. You're not going to touch him, hear me? You're not going to lie. You're going to let him get away with killing rice. I want to see justice done. We'll see justice done on the courts. Not the way you want to do it. All right, Mendoza. Let's get back to house. We took Carlos Mendoza back to the farmhouse where we joined the sheriff. His deputies had arrived and were searching the area for Russell Hines. Mendoza continued to deny that he had killed or robbed anyone. Well, you got to believe me. I wouldn't kill nobody. What were you doing here? I told you. Senor Hines, he'd give me a job to clean up the place and stay here while he'd go away. You start this morning? Yes. What time? About dawn. You live around here? No. I was coming through with my family. I got a trailer about 10 miles down the road. That's where Mr. Hines picked me up. He asked me if I wanted a job while he'd go away on vacation. Rice wouldn't have gone away without telling me. I know we would. All right, Gaynor. Just keep out of this, will you? Where were you coming from, Mendoza? Eagle Pass, Senor. Where were you going? To Waco. I got a cousin out there. He'll write me that he got a job for us in the cotton fields. You say Mr. Hines hired you. Did he bring you over here in his car? Yes, he did. He'd bring me in his car and show me what to do. Feed the chickens and the stalk and clean up the blood on the floor. You sure that blood didn't get there when you killed Hines? No, Sheriff. No, no. He said that he got a nose bleed and I am to clean it up. You were just working here. Why were you trying so hard to keep Mr. Cain around to the house so he couldn't see what you were doing? No, no. Senor Hines told me to. He said don't let nobody in the house while I'm gone. Nobody. He keeps saying that. You claim Mr. Hines went on a vacation. How come his car is still here? Some friend gonna pick him up and take him to the training. That's what he's saying. Then he walked out the door. You gonna believe that, Ranger? How about that 40 bucks in his wallet? Yeah, where'd you get that? Did you take Mr. Hines' wallet? No, no, I didn't take it. Are you sure you didn't throw his wallet out in the field with the rest of the money in it so you could go out and pick it up later? No, no. I didn't take nothing. Where'd you get the $40? Mr. Hines gave it to me. He gave me pay for two weeks. Yeah, Russ wouldn't have done that. He'd give it to me to pay his hands off at the end each week. I know, because I've done it before. He did give it to me. He did, I tell you. Sheriff, let's take Mr. Gaynor and this fella down to your office and get their statements in writing. Good idea, Jayce. Come on, Mendoza. You taking me to jail? We sure are. You take Mendoza in your car, Sheriff. I'll follow along with Mr. Gaynor. Okay, Jayce. Over here, Mendoza. And Sheriff, you better tell your deputies not to let anyone on the ground. Yeah. Hey, Reimer! This business take long, Ranger? No, not too long. Here's my car. Get in. Not that I mind, of course. Heck, I do what I think. See, that guy gets what he deserves. My stock's got to be fed. And Russ is too. I'm going to be in town all day. Got to make arrangements for it. I'll see you get back as soon as possible. Excuse me. Unit 10 to KTXA. Unit 10 to KTXA. Unit 10, go ahead. This unit requests lab crew be dispatched immediately to Hyamn's farmhouse on Farm Road 306, 17 miles north of Lena Park. 10-4 will relay your message to lab unit 10. 10-4, if no other traffic unit 10 clear. KTXA, Houston. What do you need a lab crew for when you got the guy? They'll probably find a lot of things we missed. The more evidence we get, the better. What's the matter? I saw something over there in the brush. It looked like a man. A man? Yeah, it looked like somebody got up out of the brush and fell back again. Just saw him for a second. How far off was he? Right around here, I think. There he is. Find that mesquite. That's rush. Holy catch. Look at the blood on his head. Must have been left for dead. We better get him to a hospital and fast. In just a moment, we will continue with tales of the Texas Rangers, starring Joel McCrae as Ranger Jase Pearson. At this time of the year, we spend a lot of time out of doors, hiking and camping and on picnic trips in the woods and the mountains. That means more danger of forest fires. This summer, thousands of acres of valuable timberland will be destroyed because of carelessness. And in these days of defense emergency, our natural resources are more vital than ever. It's up to you to be sure that you do not cause the tragedy, the shameful waste brought about by a forest fire. Just follow a few simple rules. Crush out cigarettes, cigar, and pipe ashes. Break matches in two after using them. Drown all campfires, then stir and drown them again. Find out the law before using any kind of fire. Forest fires destroy timber, wildlife, and the water supply. They destroy the natural resources on which our nation depends. So don't be careless for a moment when you're in the mountains or woodlands. Forest fires are our most shameful waste. So remember, only you can prevent forest fires. Now, act two of tales of the Texas Rangers. We continue now with tales of the Texas Rangers. And our authentic story, cover up. Russell Heinz had been beaten severely about the head and remained unconscious all the way into town. We got him to the local hospital where he underwent emergency treatment. I phoned the sheriff to come over. Two hours later, Mr. Heinz was conscious and able to talk to us. Sheriff Lee Gainer and I walked down the corridor toward his room. I'd sure like to know what that makes you can hit him with. Doc says it was something round like a piece of pipe. Now get my hands on me and Doc. It'll take more than 34 stitches to sew up his head. You better wait out here, Mr. Gainer. Yeah, but I want to see... Let's not disturb Mr. Heinz anymore than we have to. All right. Go on, Sheriff. Mr. Heinz? Yeah? We'd like to ask you some questions. Yes, sir. You feel better now? Yeah, that's better. Can you tell us what happened? I don't think I can tell you very much. Anything at all will help. Well, I woke up and heard somebody over by the dresser. All I could see was a flashlight turning on me. You couldn't see what was. No, sir. It was too dark. Besides, I don't see very good without my glasses. I guess he saw I was awake. He came toward me and wham. I got hit over the head. That's all I remember. You know a fellow by the name of Carlos Mendoza? Who? Mendoza. No, sir. Never heard of him. Well, he claims you hired him to take care of your place. That's a lot of bloney. I don't have a hired man. He had one, but he had to leave last Tuesday. Who was he? A fellow by the name of Phillips. Hired Phillips. You think he could have done it? Well, I don't see how. He was too anxious to get off to work in the county rodeo over the 4th of July. He certainly wouldn't be coming back here. What kind of a man was he? He was pretty good. Seemed all right. He helped me break a heart. Was he with you long? No, just a couple of days. And you don't know anything about this fellow Mendoza? No, sir. If he says he works for me, he's crazy. Well, thanks a lot. I better let you get some rest now. We'll talk to you some more later on. Okay. Looks like this Mendoza boy is going to have to come up with a better story. I mean, since I ain't says he never heard of him, Mendoza must have been the one who attacked him. Could be. Well, does Russ know one thing about this guy Mendoza? No. Huh, I told you. I told you that lousy cotton picker's just lying to save his own skin. Sure looks that way. Everything's pointing to him. Yeah, but just because Mr. Hines doesn't know him, doesn't prove Mendoza attacked him. What do you mean, Jaysh? Well, something Mr. Hines said that hit me kind of funny, Sheriff. Mr. Gaynor, didn't you tell us it was after 8 when you walked in on Mendoza? Well, yeah. What's that prove? Mr. Hines says he was wakened by a flashlight in his eyes. This time of year, it's daylight by 5.30 in the morning. What are you driving at, Jaysh? Well, look, if Mendoza did attack Mr. Hines and drag him out into the brush, why would he come back to the house and still be there three or four hours later? Maybe got scared and come back to wipe up the blood. It was Mr. Hines' blood. I wouldn't put the finger on Mendoza. Why wouldn't he just keep going? No, no, Jaysh, I may be wrong, but Mendoza's story just don't sound logical. Well, maybe not. Okay, Mr. Gaynor. We'll take you down to Sheriff's office and get your statement. Okay. Mr. Gaynor, your friend tells us he had a hired hand by the name of Howard Phillips working for him a few days ago. Yeah, that's right. You know what this Phillips looks like? Yeah, yeah. Tall and skinny. Black curly hair. He has a head of beard. A big beard? No, no, he's shaved, but his beard's kind of dark. You know what I mean? Go on, get in, Mr. Gaynor. You think he could have known about Mr. Heinz carrying so much money? Well, I imagine he could have. Did Russ think it was him? He didn't seem to think so. Well, I don't either. And I know for a fact, he took off with the county rodeo at Harley on Tuesday. Russ drove him down to the bus depot himself. You haven't seen him around since? No, sir. And it's probably Mendoza. After we got Lee Gaynor's statement, we had a deputy drive him home. We wanted to keep him and Carlos Mendoza as far apart as possible. As soon as he had left, the sheriff brought Mendoza down from the lock-up so we could question him again. In here, Mendoza. Take this chair by the desk. Gracias. Mendoza, we found Mr. Heinz. Oh, did you find him? Yeah. And he says he didn't hire you. Then he don't tell the truth. He says he never heard of you, Mendoza. Then he lies. He said to me, take care of the farm for two weeks. He even paid me. Rancho, he lies. Why would he want to lie? I don't know, but he hired me, I tell you. He take me there, he show me what to do and I do it. And he told you not to let anyone in? Sí. Had you ever seen Mr. Heinz before? No, señor, never. Doesn't it seem kind of funny that he'd ask you, a total stranger, to stay in his house and tell you to keep everyone else out? Eh, but he needs somebody. He said that he'd go on vacation. And you saw him leave? Sí, señor. Then you're lying. He can't go anywhere without his glasses and they were left on the dresser. Ah, glasses? But, señor, Heinz don't wear glasses? The Mr. Heinz we know does. Wait a minute. If Mr. Heinz doesn't wear glasses, just what does he look like? Señor Heinz? Sí. Well, he's a big man, about as big as you, but kind of a bony. He got black hair? Sí. Did he look like he needed a shave? Sí. Sí. You sure? Oh, impositives, señor. Why you ask me this? It sounds like Howard Phillips, it sure does. Maybe when he thought he'd killed Heinz, he put Mendoza now to take the rap. Madre de Dios. Then it was not, señor Heinz, eh? I don't think it was, Carlos. Then Phillips probably never did go to that rodeo. He might have, then come back last night to steal the money. Could have gone back to the rodeo this morning and used it as an alibi. Let's go to that rodeo and find out. We released Mendoza with the understanding that he'd stay around town to identify Phillips in case he was our man. The county rodeo was being held at Harley, Texas. We got there too late for the afternoon performance. The sheriff and I questioned a couple of hands who suggested we look up a man named J.L. Major. He rented stock to the rodeos all over the state and was supposed to know everyone in the business. They described him as the biggest man with the biggest voice and the biggest cigar in all Texas. Said we could find him in town at the hotel. There it is, J.S., other side of the street. Uh-huh, let's cross here. I hope this man, Major, can give us a lead. Some description we got of this guy, Major. Should make him easy to spot. Go ahead, Jason. Thanks. Looks like the rodeo crowd's taking over the whole lobby. Yeah. I think I see, Major. Where? Sitting on that leather couch, talking to those men. Oh, yeah, that must be him. Pretty good description at that. Yeah. 14 men working all day to fill the hole he made. Pardon me. That's mighty good, boy. Are you, Mr. Major? Yeah, I sure am. What can I do for you? I'm Ranger Pearson. This is Sheriff Buckley. Could we talk to you privately? Well, sure. Boys, I'll see you later. Got a good story about a holy dancer I want to tell you about. Yeah, where did you want to talk? Let's go over to the stairs. All righty. Hey, tell us, you know most of the rodeo people in Texas, Mr. Major. Not most of them, Ranger. All of them. Been renting stock to rodeos for over 28 years. One of you boys got a match. Yeah, I got some. Here you are. Thank you, sir. Looking for somebody? Yeah. A man named Howard Phillips. Yeah. Howard Phillips. Phillips, Phillips, Phillips, Phillips. He's a rodeo man. Supposed to be working this one over the holidays. What's he look like? Tall, lanky. Usually looks like he needs a shave. Curly black hair. Uh, Phillips. What's his line? Bulls? Cow milked? Bronx? We don't know. Can't think of any performers named Phillips. Hey, got another match. Here you are. A bunch of brides. Good to die. Tall, lanky, fella, you say. That's right. Yeah, recollect you know a wily Phillips got killed by a braver. Couldn't be him. Let's see. Howard Phillips, uh, black hair. Yeah, curly. Yeah. Maybe Mrs. Major knows him. Dolly? Hey, Dolly. All right, sugar. Come over here, menace. Mrs. Major's one of the best rodeos in the business. She'd know anybody I don't know. Ready to go, honey? Pretty soon, Dolly, honey. Ladies, I want you to meet some friends of mine. Ranger Pearson and Sheriff Buckley, is it? Mm-hmm. Glad to meet you, ma'am. Howdy. Howdy, ma'am. These fellas looking for a big lanky man, curly hair. Uh, what color did you say it was? Black. His name is Howard Phillips, ma'am. Howard Phillips? Yes, ma'am. His face is dark like he needs a shave. Oh, sure. You know him, honey. I do? Yeah, Slim Phillips. Slim Phillips? Yeah. This fella works the shoots? Yes, ma'am. Nobody calls him Howard, though. Why, sure. Tall fella. Curly hair. Oh, that's the one. Of course, I knew I knew him. Know everybody in the business. You know where he is now? No, but he'll be at the rodeo grounds for the evening performance. We're heading there now. If y'all want to come along, I'll point him out to you. Thanks, ma'am. We'd appreciate that. We're kind of anxious to meet him. The Sheriff and I went out to the rodeo grounds with Mr. and Mrs. Major. Slim Phillips hadn't arrived yet. We stationed a few of the local police outside the grounds and took up positions in the arena by the shoots Phillips was due to work. Mrs. Major had gone ahead to get her horse and was warming it up for the evening performance. Look at that woman ride. Bet you never saw nothing like that before, Reindeer. Your wife sure knows how to handle a horse. And I want this. Wasn't it sure it was? It's a beautiful Palomino she's got. Yeah, picked it out myself. Oh, Slim told him you wanted to see him. You did what? When? Just now. Come on, Sheriff. Woman but short on memory. Down this way, Sheriff. Yeah. You see him? No. There, that must be him. Run him through the crowd. Phillip, where'd he go? He's in those pins somewhere. Sheriff, you circle around through the crowd and work this way through the pins. Maybe we can flush him out. Where you be, Jayce? I'll start from the runway and work toward you. Okay. Watch yourself now, Jayce. Yeah. Don't hit me again. Don't hit me. Get up. Don't be an edgy, Jayce. We better get him out of this pin. Yeah. Yeah. So he can walk right into another. Come on. Just a moment, we will tell you the results of the case you have just heard. Today, there's a continuing lineup of great radio shows on this NBC station with a variety of entertainment features. Later this afternoon, Best Plays will present the Philadelphia Story, Phillip Barrie's highly successful comedy of manners. Starring in the Philadelphia Story on Best Plays will be Betty Furness, Joan Alexander, and Myron McCormick. In the music department this afternoon, you're invited to keep tuned for a full hour concert from world-famed Hollywood Bowl. Today's concert will feature Dorothy Warren-Scholl, Jan Pierce, and Igor Gorin. Another highly entertaining program today on NBC will be broadcast from Meredith Wilson's Music Room. Meredith will have lovely Esther Williams as his special guest. And I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing them talk about music, swimming, and anything else that happens to pop up in the course of their informal conversation. So for the finest in radio entertainment, be sure to keep tuned to the NBC Radio Network. Now the conclusion of Tales of the Texas Rangers. And now here are the results of the case you have just heard. Howard Phillips was positively identified by Carlos Mendoza as the man who had hired him in impersonated Russell Hines. On September 9, 1946, he was found guilty of burglary and assault with intent to commit murder. Phillips was sentenced to 15 years in the state penitentiary at Huntsville. Another authentic re-enactment of a case from the files of the Texas Rangers. A Warner Brothers release as Carlos Mendoza. The role of Mr. Major was portrayed by Paul Freese. And Dolly Major was Betty Lugerson. The part of Lee Gaynor was played by Lamont Johnson. Leo Curley was the sheriff, and Lou Krugman was heard as Slim Phillips. Technical advisor was Captain M.T. Lone Wolf Gonzales of the Texas Rangers. This story was transcribed and adapted by Betty Mears. And the program was produced and directed by Stacey Keaton. This is Hal Giffney speaking. Tonight here the Hollywood Bowl Concert on NBC.