 The National Broadcasting Company presents Joel McCrae in Tales of the Texas Rangers Tonight transcribed from Hollywood another authentic re-enactment of a case from the files of the Texas Rangers Tales of the Texas Rangers starring Joel McCrae as Ranger Jase 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 The Texas Rangers come these stories based on facts. Only names, dates, and places are fictitious for obvious reasons. The events themselves are a matter of record. Case for tonight, Joy Ride. It is 9.40 p.m. December 3rd, 1946. The small town of Purdy, Texas is quiet and ready for sleep as the car turns off the state highway and into the main street. At the wheel of the car is a pimply-faced youth. Beside him, a young girl. That cross still behind us? No, it kept right on the highway. What are you so jumpy about? The way he was tagging us, I thought it might be the highway patrol. You are getting chicken, ain't you, Chuck? I ain't fixing to go back to no reform school, that's all. Don't stop worrying. This car ain't even reported stolen yet. You saw the owner go into the movie, didn't you? Okay, Ruby, okay. I'm Joy Ride. Thought we was gonna have fun. He ain't got anything to drink. I ain't got any money! Didn't have no car either when we started. Like you used to be, Chuck. We used to have lots of fun. Do you turn yellow? Don't you go calling me that! I ain't got a gun, that's all. I got one, Chuck, right here in my purse. Where'd you get it? It lifted it from my old man. Well, there was no make where I got it long as I got it. So, look a store up ahead, Chuck. See a sign? I see it. Can hardly have a joy ride without something to drink. It's late. They roll up the sidewalks in a town like this. The place must be closed. If it was closed, sign wouldn't be late. Gonna stop or ain't you? Sure, I'm gonna stop. The storekeeper's still there. He's seen through the window. Counting up money from his cash register. Could have a real party with something to drink and some money. Stay here. Keep the motor running. Give me the gun. No, I'm gonna come in with you. I can handle the gun. Crazy! I suppose he's got a gun too. Look, he's an old man. He wouldn't dare do nothing. Come on, Chuck. We can't just sit here. You better not get rattled. Look who's talking. You're coming or ain't you? All right, I'm coming. But be careful. I always wanted to get something like this. Shut up! Howdy! Howdy! Well, we're just fixing the clothes. Heard your car pull up outside. I thought it was my old lady coming to get me. What can I do for you? I'd like a sip of that bonded bourbon. Oh, you would, eh? How old are you, son? Twenty-one. Nineteen would be closer, wouldn't it? Maybe a year less than that for your lady friend here. I said I was twenty-one. All right, boy. We'll say you're twenty-one. And we'll also say that I'm closed for the night. Now, you can just run along. We ain't running any place, mister. Now, you just get... Where'd you get that gun? I made it out of old bottle top, stupid. He told you what we want. It's on the top shelf. Get up on the stool and get it. All right. Just don't go getting nervous with that thing. Get the money on the register, Chuck. Yeah, the money. You ain't going to be happy about this when you see the inside of a jail. But tell us, because here's something you ain't going to be happy about. No! No! Ruby! Ruby, you killed him! I know, Chuck. I know. Come on. Come on, we got to get out of here. Come on. The proprietor of the liquor store was discovered by his wife less than five minutes after the killing. Sheriff Frank Corcoran was summoned. He immediately phoned for the help of a Texas ranger. Ranger Jase Pearson was assigned, arriving at the scene of the crime at 1 a.m. There's the ranger. Coming through, folks. Howdy, Frank. Oh, howdy, Jase. I was hoping they'd send you. Here's the body. He the owner of the store? Yeah. Mountain Bond. Wife found him just like he is at about 10 or 10. Usually closed just before 10. She'd always come pick him up in their car. Doc figured it couldn't have happened more than just a few minutes before she got here. Where's the doc? He drove over to see about the funeral parlor. The body will be taken there for autopsy when we finish. I've had everything photographed. Cash register's been rifled. Uh-huh. Shot through the back three times. Watch out for that broken glass. Yeah, I'm watching. It sure smells with all the bottles smashed. Alcohol dries up fast. Yeah, left big stain rings, though. Puttled right out to here before it dried out. Any of your deputies or anybody pick up any of those bottles that are cracked or broken? No, I got here right after Mrs. Bond. Nobody's touched a thing. Why? Well, floors spotted past those stain marks. Look toward the door as string of small spots like something been carried that way dripping. Jase, I was careful to see that nothing was touched that nobody stepped in where the lick had been spilled. Spots might be a break for us then because somebody carried a bottle out of here. It must have been cracked and leaking. You mean the killer might have grabbed it up? That's right. If it marked this floor, it'd mark the walk outside, too. Come on, let's take a look. Spots run right to the door, all right. Lucky I told the deputies to keep everybody off the side of the place. Yeah, careful where you step. You want to run a flashlight along the sidewalk here. It's been mighty dry around here, Jase. Dust surface on the ground. That'll help us. It's here, all right. Look, little craters in the dust dried out hollow. Yeah, but they only go a few feet. Mark's in right here at the curb. That tells us something. Whoever was carrying that bottle got into a car. They weren't on foot. The police aren't going to help us. Mess them all around from cars driving in and out. I wish our killer had been on foot, Frank. Why? At the point of somebody who came from close by. Somebody in the town. The car doesn't rule that out. No, but it sure broadens the field. I'm going to call Austin, have a lab crew sent in. For Lucky, they might lift a fingerprint or something for us to work on. That's a good idea. Phone in the store. Over there. Uh-huh. You got anything in mind for us while we're waiting? Yeah, after I call Austin, I want to check with local officers in every town around here. Pretty sure the killer took liquor, and if he took it, he's going to drink it. We'll check on every case of drunk driving that turns up tonight in this county. Lights burned in the liquor store all through the night as the lab crew checked. Meanwhile, the sheriff and I covered more than 200 miles by car investigating drunk driving cases reported by local constables and highway patrolmen. Uh... The sun's coming up, Jason. We sure spent the night running into blind alleys. None of those drivers we saw could have been anywhere near Purdy at the time of the killing. Well, our alibis all checked out. Maybe the lab crew will have a lead for us when we get back to the liquor store. Didn't you get some kind of report on the shortwave before while I was dozing? I can't remember you talking. Yeah. I ordered a phone headquarters for a ballistic report. Barnes was killed by a 38 police specialist and a 38 police special. Well, that's our first lead. We need more than that before we... ATX-A to unit 10. Yeah, that's us. ATX-A to unit 10. Unit 10 to KTX-A, go ahead. High-way pigeon to proceed to Junction of Ranch Road 2-3 and State Highway 1-9 west of Bartonville to examine stolen car recovered at that point. 10-4. Does Unit 109 think stolen vehicle may have connection with this unit's current investigation of murder? 10-4. Unit 10 heading for Rendezvous with 109 immediately. We'll keep you informed. 10-4. Unit 10 clear. Hold tight, Frank. Got a swing around. Better be. Highway Patrol Unit 109 was Tommy Manuello's unit. We spotted his car and he flagged us down near the junction of the Ranch Road. The stolen car he'd located was parked off the road in a small grove of trees. I found it just for a sunup, Chase. I was making the turnoff. My headlines reflected on the chrome. Then when I checked the license number, it was on my hot car sheet. The number came over by shortwave last night. Now what time last night this car was reported stolen? I got the flash a little after 11 o'clock. Barnes was killed before 10. I know, but this car could have been missing from 8 o'clock on. Only went to a picture show about then car was gone when it came out. Where was the car taken from, Tommy? Bartonville. Only four miles from here on the state. About 60 miles from here to Purdy, Chase. Yeah, but if the car was taken at 8 o'clock or a little after, the thief had plenty of time to get to Purdy before 10 o'clock. KTXA said you found some liquor bottles in the car, Tommy. Yeah, that's right. I'll show you. There you are. Empty fifth on the floor in the front seat and there's one half empty there in the back. I'll open the back door. Hmm. Got my tax seal on that bottle. It isn't even broken. No. I didn't notice that. I could have emptied half of it without breaking the seal and pulling the car. The bottle must be cracked. On the floor, Matt, where it's been leaking. That's what we've been looking for, Jason. Yeah. Pick the bottle up, Frank. Don't touch the glass. Lift it with your fingers, pinched around the tax stamp. All right. Grip's all right. Ship out of the bottom. Wonder why I didn't all empty out. What if the bottle had been standing up instead of lying flat? It emptied down until the liquor was even with the place the bottle was cracked and it couldn't run anymore until you picked it up. Might get some prints off of it or maybe the empty bottle in the front seat. We can try. It's a cinch we're not going to get any from the steering wheel. No, I noticed that right away. Not with the cloth cover on the wheel. Might get something from the dashboard or the inner door handles, but I don't know. Not often you pick up good prints on a car. There's a piece of cleansing tissue on the floor there. Yeah. Looks like lipstick stain on it. That's what it is. Another little thing on the floor, Matt, here. Ah. Gold bother tint. Yeah. Lipstick is kind of a light shade. Could have been a woman in this, too, Jayce. Probably a blonde. Of course, that bobby pin in the tissue might have come from the owner's wife or his girl. Oh, I doubt that, sir. I'll come, Tommy. Well, owner of the car is a colored man, Jayce. In just a moment, we will continue with Tales of the Texas Rangers, starring Joel McRae as Ranger Jayce Pearson. Three times mean good times on NBC. In a short while, Theatre Guild on the Air brings to radio listeners a delightful adaptation of Ring Lardner's famous comedy of the baseball world, Elmer the Great. Starring in the title role will be Hollywood favorite, Paul Douglas, as a pitcher whose skill on the baseball diamond is exceeded only by his good nature and ability to attract trouble. That's later today for Elmer the Great, starring Paul Douglas, presented by Theatre Guild on the Air. We continue now with Tales of the Texas Rangers and tonight's case, Joyride, an authentic story from the files of the Texas Rangers. I put out a call for the lab crew to meet us at the stolen car when they finished checking the liquor store at Purdy. They joined us within two hours. Nothing had been found at the store that would help us and it didn't take long to realize that we weren't going to get any evidence from the car, the bottles, either. Doesn't look like they're going to find anything, Jason. They don't, won't be their fault. No point in our hanging around here. Wanted to drive back to Purdy now? I think we'd do better if we drove into Bartonville. Because of the car? It was stolen from Bartonville, then brought back here to a spot only four miles away from where it was taken. Figures that whoever stole it must live near Byer. The car would have been left someplace else. I'll go along with that. Let's try Bartonville. Good. We're going to leave you, fellas. If you find anything, let us know by short wave. Right. Go along. Go along. You going to try to run down that lipstick and bobby pin? I gave Tommy Manuello the tissue, the lipstick smear. It's been sent through to Austin. They've established a lipstick brand by chemical analysis. They'll also check on the manufacturer, the bobby pin. You think it'll take long to get a report? Not long. Tommy may have it by the time we get into town. He'll be at the courthouse. You got a plan mapped out? Yeah. Won't be too many places handling lipstick and bobby pins. We get the brand names. Tommy and I can check the stores and see if sales girls remember any women who use that shade of lipstick or the pins. What I do, check into the hotel and get some sleep. No. We got one more thing to look for. The gun that killed Barnes. Check with a constable and get a list of anybody he knows who might own a 38 police special. Yeah, that might uncover something. May have some records of people who had guns like that being picked up on minor charges in the past. It's worth checking. We match the bullet that killed Barnes. We can make some work for a 12 man jury. Tommy Manuello had the information on the lipstick and bobby pin examined by the Austin lab. We started the check of drug stores and general merchandise outlets that carried the items. We couldn't get any concrete information from sales girls or clerks. Well, another drug store in the next corner, Jayce. You know, some of these sales clerks don't seem to have very long memories. Can't blame them. Things we're tracing are both cheap items. A girl on her feet all day gets her. She can't remember much except bunions. I guess you're right. She'll hope the sheriff is doing better than we are. I hope so too. Hey, Jayce. Tommy, wait up. Hold it, Tommy. Here comes Frank now. I've been tracking you for 20 minutes. You finished checking already? Yeah. I'll come across something I think we are looking to right away, Jayce. There's a fellow named Jim Hammer filed a report with a constable last night just before midnight. Said a gun had been stolen from his house. 38 police specialties. Hey, isn't that what Bonds was killed with, Jayce? Yeah. Getting the information on this Jim Hammer? Yeah, sure did. He's not watching around the cattle pens over to the auction barn. Told the constable he'd missed the gun when he was getting ready to go to work last night. Couldn't find it in the drawer. He keeps it in. You get Hammer's address? Yeah, 214 North Spruce. Tommy, you keep checking the stores. We'll meet you at the courthouse later. Right, Jayce. All right, Frank. I left my car on Main Street. Let's go. I'd like to talk to Jim Hammer. He ain't home. You know where we can find him? Over to the auction barn, maybe. I thought he was the night watchman over there. Yeah, he goes there during the day sometimes when there's a sale. There was auction this afternoon. You look kind of young. You're not his wife, are you? No, I'm his daughter, Ruby Hammer. It's after five o'clock, Jayce. The auction's probably over by now. Yeah. You expect your father to come home to eat? No, he'll probably spend some time chinning around the barn and maybe get himself some grub in town and go right to work. I see. I guess we might as well go with the auction barn, Frank. But you won't see my father by. Is it something about some stolen cattle or something like that? Yeah, something like that. Thanks, miss. Bye. Bye, Ruby. Where's the auction barn? West End of Town. Jim Hammer wasn't hard to find. He was pointed out to us talking to cattlemen who bought stock at the auction and were waiting for a chance to load their purchases on their trucks at the end of a shoot. We called him off to the side. Well, here, bring it. What can I do for you? Constable says you had a gun stolen from your home last night. The gun wasn't stolen at all. I just didn't look sharp enough last night. Found it this afternoon, but in a different draw from where I usually keep it. Is that the gun you're carrying right there in your house, sir? Yeah. I was going to say you just took a look in one draw last night before coming to work and reported that gun stolen without being sure. Well, I was sure last night. I reckon I just overlooked it, that's all. It's pretty hard to overlook a 38 police special. You're going to look very hard. Oh, but empty the bureau, eh? I was in a hurry to get to work. I guess I just plain missed it, that's all. Ain't no reason for you to jump on a man. You reported to the Constable when you thought the gun was missing. Now how come you didn't let him know you'd found it? Well, I suppose I should have, eh? Didn't think it was no rush. Hey, what's the harm? It's my gun, isn't it? Let's have it. Well, sure, I... Don't you pull it. Just turn around. I'll take it myself. Hey, what's... He said turn around. Okay, okay. When'd you fire this gun last, Hammer? I can't even remember the last time. Ain't had no call to fire it. Haven't, huh? Smell this, Frank. It's been used all right not long ago. You're crazy, I tell you. I ain't fired that gun in months. If somebody has, you better come with us. Come where with you? To the courthouse, Hammer, until we check on a few things. Check on what? A liquor store owner named Barnes was killed last night in Purdy. Shot three times through the back by a 38 police special. Are you trying to frame me for something? I was nowhere near Purdy last night. We know you filed a report with the Constable around midnight, Hammer. But where were you between 9 and 11 o'clock last night? I was home, sleeping. My daughter can tell you that I... Go ahead, Hammer. What are you stopping for? My daughter wasn't home. Just remember, she went out about 7 o'clock. Nobody saw you during those hours, huh? No, nobody. But I was home, I tell you. You gotta believe me, that gun ain't been fired. If we're wrong, you've got nothing to worry about. Come on. Man, I forget that gun to your lab, Jayce. Regular flight to Austin goes out in about 45 minutes. Good. Boys and ballistics can test-fire it and check the slug with the ones taken out of Barnes. If this is the murder weapon, they'll tell us. I tell you, it can't be. Our lab doesn't make any mistakes, Hammer. If you're telling the truth, there's a little test you can volunteer to take. We have a lab crew working nearby right now. They'll give you a dive fennelman test. Yeah, what's that? Just a matter of pouring a chemically treated wax on your hand. When they peel it off, it'll show traces of nitrate if you fired a gun recently. I haven't got to tell you. I heard you. Now I'd like to hear it from a lab man. Just to be sure. We've got the gun on the night plane to Austin. A stolen car had been brought into a garage in town. We waited for the lab crew to finish with it and then had one of the men go to work on Hammer's hands. By 10 p.m., we had the answers. Two answers that didn't fit each other. What are you keeping me here for, Ranger? You heard what the lab man said. My hands are clean. Wasn't when I'd get on him. That doesn't settle everything, Hammer. While he had you in the next room going over your hands, I had a phone report from Austin on your gun. You'd better talk up, Hammer. Your gun had been identified as a murder weapon. That's a lie. You weren't in bed at 10 o'clock last night. You and Purdy driving a stolen car now with a woman with you. That ain't so much of you. You run around with any blonde women? The only blonde woman I ever run around with was my wife. She died six years ago. That gun was missing from our house last night. Somebody must have taken it. Then put it back again. Oh, sure. My hands were clean, wasn't they? Howdy, Jace. Sharon. Oh, Tommy, I almost forgot about you. Find anything, Tommy? Ah, thanks so. This five-in-time stall was closed when I got to it, but I got the address of the woman who works on that counter when I have to see her. They handle the lipstick and pins we've been checking on. She gave me the names of a few women that she remembers who buy both. Here's the list. Read off the name, Jace. Maybe if Hammer's girlfriend is listed, he'll admit he knows it. There's one name on here you'll admit to knowing, all right? That's what you think. That's what I know. It's your daughter, Ruby Hammer. Sheriff and I drove Hammer back to his house, but Ruby wasn't there. We waited around looking through the house. First she tried to put it on to me and now it's my daughter. Are you crazy? She's only 18 years old. Was she with you last night? No. She was out on a date. With who? What house should I know? All I know is she wouldn't get into no trouble like this. I've heard that same speech in a hundred courtroom, Hammer. Jace, come here a minute. Yeah? What is it? A girl's coat in this closet. Smell. Hmm. Can you keep any liquor in the house, Hammer? No, never. Just something else, Jace. A photograph. Yeah. Hammer's daughter and some boy. Let me see that again. I know this kid, the boy. I sent him to reform school three years ago. His name's Chuck Allenby. What was the charge against him? Something that fits this case like a glove. Automobile theft. And my daughter wouldn't go out with nobody like that? Of course not, Hammer. She just got a habit opposing for pictures with people she wouldn't go out with. I'm going to get my car out of sight, Frank, and we'll sit down and wait for Ruby's date to bring her home. Somebody's coming down street, Jace. Yeah, I hear them. It's after midnight. I think you're at work, Hammer. They may come in, so keep quiet. Hear me? You hear me? Yeah. I hear you. They're coming. Yeah, quiet. They'll have to come into the hall. They won't see us in the living room or the lights off. I can't see enough of you. You just work on the lights. I ain't staying long. Nothing needs a light. Get all the work you can. What's the matter with you? What's the good of having money if you ain't going to spend any of it? Spend? Wait a while. I ain't got a job. I start spending money with people who don't know where I got it. All right. Buy your old weight. You don't expect me to wait. I can go out with somebody else, you know, somebody who's got a car every night, or who ain't afraid to get. Ruby. Ruby, shut up. Don't move anybody. That means you charge. Let's go that door. What are they doing here, Pa? Stay after him. Luffy. You stay out of this, Hammer. Couldn't stay out of trouble, could you, Chell? I can't do nothing, Sheriff. Let me go. Oh, still. That's quite a roll of bills you had in your pocket, boy. I found that money. Where? In the cash register over in Purdy, after you killed an old man? So that's why you wanted my father's gun. What? Tell him, Ruby. If he had my gun, you tell him. Last night, he wanted to borrow it just for fun, he said. Then he stole a car and made me go with him over to Purdy. He left me park someplace and walked away. Then after a while, he'd come back with some whiskey. I didn't drink none of it, but he did. She's wild. You keep quiet. You say he didn't park near the store? No. He walked from where he left me. I don't even know what he'd done. You're lying, Ruby. When an old man was killed, whoever gunned him ran out of the store with a drip and bottle and got into a car not more than 10 feet from the entrance. Now, I didn't shoot him. You see that? He's lying. Ruby's only a little girl. You can prove he's lying. Give him the same test you give me on his hands. What kind of test? Well, they're four wax on your hands. You can tell if you fired a gun. Ruby, come back here. Still shot? Get away from that stove, Ruby. No, Ruby, don't. Come away from there. Oh, Ruby. Ruby, why'd you do it, Ruby? What'd you do it for? You better save that, Hammer. If you got any butter, get it fast. He'll suddenly move, Chuck. I won't try nothing. What'd you do, Jason? I put it in the kitchen here and pulled the lid off the cook stove and jammed her hand into the hot coals. Here's your butter, Ray. Here's your butter. Thanks. Oh, Ruby. I can fix that burn a little with this, Ruby. Doc can fix it for you better later on at the jail. Chuck Allenby and Ruby Hammer were found guilty of the murder of storekeeper Barnes. Allenby, who turned state's witness, was sentenced to a 30-year term at Huntsville. Ruby Hammer pulled 50 years in the women's prison at Goree. And now, here again, is the star of our show, Joel McCraves. Folks, tonight marks the concluding performance for a while, at least, of Tales of the Texas Rangers. We've really enjoyed bringing these stories to you and hope that someday we'll be back with you again. To NBC and its affiliated stations, Colonel Homer Garrison Jr., chief of the Texas Rangers, to Captain M.T. Lone Wolf Gonzales, our technical advisor, and to all the Texas Rangers and members of the Department of Public Safety, our grateful thanks. And we're particularly grateful to those of you who've taken the time to send us your cards and letters. After all, they are the only sure way of telling that you liked our show. Thanks, folks. Thanks a lot. Good night. You have just heard Joel McCraves and another authentic reenactment of a case from the files of the Texas Rangers. Joel McCraves will soon be seen starring in the Universal International Technicolor Productions Cattle Drive. Tonight's case included Tony Barrett, Sam Edwards, Peggy Weber, John Frank, Barney Phillips, and Bill Johnstone. This story was transcribed and adapted by Joel Murkott, and the program was produced and directed by Stacey Beats. This is Hal Gibney speaking. Enjoy the very best in radio. Be sure that you dial and write. See things like the very best in radio. Morning, noon, and night is from this station. Morning, noon, and night, NBC. Paul Douglas and Theatre Guild, next on NBC.