 Texas Rangers. Texas Rangers, first to advance, last to retreat. Texas, more than 260,000 square miles. And 50 men who make up the most famous and oldest law enforcement body in North America. Now from the files of 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. To a Texas Ranger may go as many as four assignments a week. The case may lead him into the remotest corner of the plains or the crowded streets of the biggest cities. But wherever he goes, he commands respect. To Texans, his badge is the symbol of security. This is Ranger Jase Pearson. The case we called by just a number began on the morning of July 15th last year. The Stevens Ranch, located just about in the middle of Carson County, was where it started. Started when the Stevens kid, aged nine, came running up the long drive to his house. Madam Billy, what did you see Billy? Answer me son, what's the matter? Sam, I don't know, look at him. Billy, it's dad, it's me son. Come on now, what's the trouble? Talking about Carl Evans. Is that right Billy? What about Carl? Nothing wrong with the Evans, please. Take care of Billy. I'm going to ride over there. Sam Stevens saddled a horse and rode to the Evans Ranch, over three miles away. But he saw there, made him call the sheriff who arrived a half hour later. They're in here sheriff. All right Sam. This, this is what Billy saw. Kid all right? Hysterical when I left. Look at here. Glad I ain't Sam. Yeah. Don't touch it. Bro and Tom Evans was killed with it. And him, the kid Carl. Yeah. What kind of dirty, who do a thing like this? Don't be hard, find out who did it. Hard? Yeah. No telling when it happened. Oh, yeah I see. Rec and even autopsy won't tell much, not in this case. Sheriff Larkins was right. The triple murder had been committed too long before. No way of telling how long. The sheriff got in touch with the Rangers and I was assigned to the case. Together, Sheriff Larkins and I went over the Evans place. There's a room range, Pearson. Okay sheriff, let's have a look. Place is just like me and Sam Stevens found it. Except in the bodies. Sure. Kind of a mess isn't it? Was a lot worse. Any fingerprints, Sheriff? Nobody's touched anything, not even the phone. Been leaving the prints for you. Okay, I'll see what we can pick up. In the meantime, we'll... Well, what are you looking at? Editing rain here lately. Rain? Narrow your drop, why? Look. Looks like a little clump of mud got kicked under the bed. Mean anything? Maybe. Funny shape. Kind of like it came from the instep of a man's boot. So? Let's go outside. Oh, sure. Only one way a piece of dirt could plump in a man's boot. If you walk in wet earth. Nice going around here. So, chances are, nobody around here had this piece of mud in his boot. Yeah, it seemed likely. Wait a second. No. Wow. Different kind of earth here. See, you got something to go on? Sure. Only one thing wrong. What's that? When was a man here? When did he kill Flo and Tom Evans? And Carol? Yeah, and why? Maybe... Maybe if we learn when the while answered so. How's that figured? Don't know. Not yet. Well, let's get back to town. I want to match this clump of mud against the boots of everybody who went in that room. Ain't going to be hard. Only five people from around here. Not counting Evans's. Okay. Let's get back. Pretty well-kept ranch. Yeah. Tom Evans liked it that way. Mm-hmm. Wonder why I let that fence go. Fence? Which? Right here. Hey. What is it? The hogs. Hogs. Right here. Think the killer stole them? Come on. Here's why they're not here, Sheriff. This break in the fence. Think if the killer might have busted through? No. The hogs did, more likely. Rails are broken through from the inside. See? Pushed out. The hogs did it. It'd be unlikely a man had steel hogs. Too easy for somebody to spot him. So why? Why what? The hogs broke out for some reason. Scared? Well, if the killer had cut across a sty, there's no chance of finding his tracks not in here. I wonder if I could talk to Billy Stevens. I reckon so, but... Got an idea. Let's go. Hello, Billy. Huh? Nice pony, Billy. Yours? He's mine. He don't know you, mister. Oh, I'll fix that. Hello, boy. You got a name, Billy? Mm-hmm. Jinx. Fixing for 12 more. Mm-hmm. Got a good mouth, fine legs. Good boy, Jinx. He don't let everybody pet him. Oh, I can't blame him for that. Oh, by the way, my name's Pearson, Billy. Chase Pearson. Howdy. Howdy. You come to see my dad? Well, matter of fact, Billy, I'd drop by to see you. Me? Yep. Ever see one of these, Billy? Texas Ranger badge. That's right. You... You a ranger? Sure am. Gee. Billy. Yeah, Ranger Pearson? Kinda need your help. Mine? Real bad life. I...but...sure. The other day, you went to see your friend. Carl. Carl Evans. I want you to remember something, Billy. It'll be a big help to me if you can. I ain't gonna think. Oh, not about that, Billy. About the hogs. Hogs? Mm-hmm. Hogs? Mr. Evans hogs? That's it? Sure. I saw them. In the sty, huh? No. No, they were loose. Right around loose. Sure? Sure. Running around, making noise. And then I went up to the door. I knocked. Nobody answered. I went to the window. I looked in. I looked in and I... Fine, fine. Guess we'll write down about the hogs in the notebook. And I'll put it in my report. With my name? With your name. You'll probably get a letter of thanks from the colonel. I will? Sure thing. Well, Billy, be seeing you. Hey, can I tell the kids I helped the ranger? You want to? Gee, you betcha. Okay. You tell them I couldn't have done without you. After Billy told me what I wanted to know, I went back to the Evans Ranch. In the barn we found three sacks of feed. Two full and one was just enough taken out for one feedin' of the hogs. Then I checked with the feed store in town. Sure, Tom. Evans bought all his feed here. You got a record of the last time he was in, ma'am? Sure, have. Right here in the camp, boss. Can I see it, ma'am? Certainly can. Anything for a ranger. It is. Right here. The 9th of July. That's right. Just six days for Billy Stevens. Six days before. Pearson, anytime you're ready. Got all the people together who was in that room. Got on the same boots of war that day. Oh, thanks, Sheriff. Now, ma'am, you're sure it was the 9th. Yeah, it was the 9th. Could've told you that, Pearson. A couple other folks saw Tom Evans here in town. Yeah, I know. So him and his family could've been killed anytime between the 9th and the 15th. Yeah. Ma'am. Yes? You didn't say anything in a hurry? Anything like that? Well, yes. I remember him telling me he had to get back with feed. He was all out. Sure, then? Just sure as I'm standing here. Good. Thank you, ma'am. Let's go, Sheriff. Sure, I hope you get him. Thank you, ma'am. He's been sitting together. My murders were committed late on the 9th or early the morning of the 10th. I figure. Tom Evans bought feed on the 9th. Three bags of it. And he said he was all out of feed at the ranch. He had to get home to feed the hogs. We found those bags of feed, Sheriff. Two of them unopened. Yeah, and the third? With just enough feed taken out for one feed. Sure. Tom fed the hogs on the 9th. But on the 10th, he didn't. Because he was dead, murdered. Got something to go on at last. Yeah. Well, it is something. I guess so. But I'm counting more on this, Sheriff. A little piece of mud. Earth that came from someplace else, carried in by the murderer on his boot. How do you know it comes from someplace else? Ever see Earth this color around here? No. I've seen this kind in Wheeler County. Wheeler? That's a long piece. So much the better. Better? Come on, Sheriff. I got a lot of questions to ask in a real short space of time to get them asked. Mud and hogs. Didn't sound or look like much. Meantime, the killer might have made tracks for any place in Texas. He might have headed for the border in New Mexico or got himself lost in the lonely stretches of New Mexico or in the big cities of Oklahoma. He had a whole week's start. Meantime, I reported back to my company captain, Clay Travis. He wasn't enthusiastic. There's not much to go on, Jayce. A little enough. But working on a shoestring is better than nothing. How's the shoestring looked? Never gets any longer. Anyway, Cap, Evans was in town on the 9th and he went to the bank, grew out $100. Couldn't find that money on his ranch. A robbery? Yeah. The way I figured the killer was surprised, grabbed this. A flat iron. That iron's been going over by the lab and the only thing on it was blood. The evidences. Couldn't pick up a clean print any place in the murder room, either. You ever figured it might have been a stranger? Sure. But I'm laying my money on that piece of mud. Oh, say a report on it came from the Austin lab. Do you want to look at it? Sure do. Okay. There it is. You were right about Wheeler County. Looks like we're narrowing down a little. This particular sample found in Southwest Wheeler County. Still covers a good piece of territory. Yeah. But there are just so many ranches in that section. Ranches? Oh, you figure your man might have worked on one of them. Could be. The way I look at it, he wandered down into Carson County into town, minus seen Evans with the money, tail into the ranch. Without being seen by anyone? That's my point, Cap. This time here there's a lot of pokes passing through, looking for work. Ever pay much attention to one of them? Yeah. Lots of times. You're paid to do it. Other folks aren't. Not unless he acts up to attract attention. So you've got no description? Might get one in Wheeler County. I'm going to check every ranch there and send in samples of earth from every one of them. Be seeing you. How are you going? I'll take the radio car, keep in touch that way. And I'd like to take this flat iron with me if it's okay with you. Yeah, it's okay with me. Oh, better take a horse trailer too. Something tells me when I find our man it'll be someplace only a horse can get to. Somewhere I once read that a man had found a needle in a haystack. Did it on a bet? Well, there was only one haystack. Southwest Wheeler County was one ranch after another and every dead end I ran into gave the killer another break, a longer lead, a better chance to get away. The man who found the needle knew what a needle looked like. We had no description. A needle stayed in one place, our man could move around. I ask a lot of questions, all the same every place I hit. Then on a ranch near Ranzel I got the first real lead. Come on, have some coffee, we can talk. Don't go to any trouble. Trouble for a ranger? Your boy's got any idea what you look like when you turn up. Good or bad. Son does, folks, living out here all alone that bad joke wins like a handshake. How'd you like something? Well, it can't stay long, Mr. Williams. Oh, looking for somebody, huh? A murderer. Can I help any? I don't know. It all depends. It depends on whether you hired any hands the last, oh, month or so. Sure, got some here now, I won't see them. No, no. Besides, I don't think my man would be here. But you're looking, you come here. I want to know if any hands left here around the ninth of the month, this month. Nice, nice. Nope, didn't close out nobody on the ninth. The seventh, do? Just about right. Closed out all that day. Or, well, you know him? Never laid eyes on him before it took him on a couple of months ago. Why'd he leave? Honorary cuss. Never got along with anybody. Always asked him for his pay in advance. Had he spent the four, he'd his pocket. I want you to think carefully. Give me the best description of him you possibly can give every detail how he talked, acted, looked, everything. You figure he's your man, huh? No, no, Mr. Williams. Until I get a better lead, I'll trail this one. Williams gave me Orwell's description. I sent it into company headquarters along with a sample of Earth and the Williams ranch. Then I kept checking. Yeah, here and there Orwell had been seen. Got in a poker game, lost some money, picked up a few dollars doing odd jobs, but always moving westward toward Carson County in the scene of the murders. Meantime, I put in a call for Captain Travis through our Amarillo radio, KTXE. He was out, but an hour later he came through. Unit 3, unit 10, unit 3 to unit 10. Unit 10 to unit 3. Unit 10 in Gray County, outside of Lafers. Anything for unit 10? Just learned samples of Earth from Williams ranch and murder scene established identical. Your description of suspect sent out on all points bulletin, but suspect may be across border for now. Unit 10 believes suspect still in state. Why unit 10? When suspect left Williams ranch, he had his pay. Didn't keep it long. Evidence indicates suspect had drifted. Probably thinks he's safe by now and won't move fast. Highway patrols and range of units near borders alerted. Suspect's previous travel habits indicate he stays to back trails. Which direction you moving unit 10? Unit 10 moving west toward Carson County. We'll keep unit 3 informed. Unit 10, 10-4. Covered every ranch, every farm. Traveling by radio car when I could and on horse when I had to leave the highways. Once or twice I got a dim lead on Orwell, but he was like Quicksilver. He kept moving. The more he did, the more I was convinced he was the killer. And then I just got over into Carson County when Captain Travis contacted me by radio. Unit 10 to unit 3. Go ahead, unit 3. Another lead on Carson County suspect. This one's still smoking, just came in. Here it is, unit 10. A man answering Suspect's description reported seeing near Pelly Ranch up near Amarillo. We'll investigate. Unit 10, 10-4. I covered the 60 odd miles of the Pelly Ranch near Amarillo in something less than an hour. Got in touch with a foreman and told him what I wanted. But he told me... Got no hand named Orwell, Ranger? Sure. And you described the poke named Martin. That doesn't mean a thing, probably a phony name. Sure could be. What do you want to do about it? Where is this Martin? Right in Fentz, Northern here. I want to get to him. You're not in your car. I got a horse. You'll need it. Look here, if this guy's what you say, he ain't going to stay long in one place. Hands get paid off yesterday and Martin's headed for the North Fence early this morning. Where'd he start from? I can show you. Come on. You see this Orwell was riding a solo? That's what he left the Williams Ranch on? Well, this Martin's riding a black. A man can change horses as well as his name. Sure. You see him start out this morning? Yep, rode his furs the edge of the corral with me. Tell him what I wanted done. That'll help some. Looks like it'll be a trailing job. Yes, guess so. Well, here's where he started from. Big mess of tracks here. I'm telling which one's Martin's horse. But do you ride off alone? Uh-huh, straight north, heading for the Finch. Well, thanks a lot. I'll see if I can pick him up. I rode for two hours, cutting back and forth in an arc trying to pick up the trail. Then I got a break. I wanted to pull up at a stream to water his horse, and there were boot tracks in the soft earth around the stream. A cigarette butt that hadn't been smoked too long before. Paper was still fresh. The horse's tracks didn't go north from there. They turned off due west and kept along the bank of the stream. It looked like Orwell or Martin was keeping close to water. That meant he wasn't going to ride in a north fence, but was heading for the border of New Mexico. He wanted good camping spots handy. Well, it looked like Martin was my man. But I didn't know. Be sure. It was late afternoon when I spotted him, riding up ahead, well off the Pelly Ranch. I put my badge away and my guns under my shirt and caught up with him. Howdy! Howdy! I've been trying to find you. What's up, mister? Boss sent me out? Boss? Sure, back at Pelly's. Looking for me? Yeah, looking for you. Why? What for? Seems like there's a big break in the north fence. Stock's getting through. That all? Well, you're a long way from the north fence, and seems to me you're riding the wrong way. Seems to me it's none of your business, mister. I thought you were working for Pelly. Nope. Now come. Quick! Yeah? You tell Pelly? Nope, just took a look at the fence. Too much of it for me. Uh, it wasn't working for Pelly when I left. Just got took on this morning. Oh. Well, you go fix the fence. I'm going my way. Huh? I told you, I'm going my way. No harm if I ride a piece with you, sir. Ain't asked you to. Unsociable, ain't you? Nosy, ain't you? No, just friendly. Oh. Look, I don't want anybody riding with me. Now get on your way, we're going to have trouble. Funny, I keep looking at you thinking I've seen you before. Well, you ain't. Could have swore I saw you in Carson County. Never was there. Seems like I saw you. You must have worked there. Never was there, I said. Okay, okay, man. You can make a mistake, can't you? Now get on your way. Something funny, mister? Yeah, just thinking. Boss sends me out to find you and here you are dusting off. Here I am feeling the same way. I ain't anxious to work either. Oh. How come? I thought you was just took on. Yeah, yeah, but changed my mind. I got enough money. Oh. You? Sure. Ran into a little crap game. Kind of ran in luck. I saw. Yeah, couldn't make a wrong throw. Kept bobbing sevens, elevens, one right after the other. A man gets in luck. He can make a kill. Huh? Five hundred? Yeah. Yeah, I guess you don't feel much like working. Thought maybe I'd hit for New Mexico. Maybe it goes far as California. I thought so myself. Yeah, okay. You want to ride with me? Okay, by me. Well, I like good company myself. Especially when I got a camp out. You sleeping? Some you want my saddlebag, Martin? I thought you were sleeping. Don't reach for it, Martin. I'll blow your head off. What are you gonna head up about? Man starts to go through my saddlebags while I'm sleeping. Well, there's no need for that gun. I was just looking for cigarettes. Yeah? Sure, that's all. What else? You tell me. Suspicious like danger. Call it careful. Sure, sure. You got a cigarette? Some packs in my saddlebags. Don't mind me nosing around them now, huh? Now what I'm looking? No. Cigarettes wrapped up in a piece of old blanket. This bag? Other one. Yeah, that's it. Wrapped up in that. What do you got in here? Feels like a ton of iron. Might be. Unroll the blanket. Recognize that flat iron Orwell? You son of a... Orwell got himself between me and my horse. He slapped it hard. The horse jumped toward me. I rolled over and away when Orwell fired again. And then he was gone. I waited the morning to give him a ticket to freedom. I trailed him on foot. For over an hour we played cat and mouse in the stillness of the country. Then I came to a little of Roya. Toss your gun out, Orwell. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gun flashes make good targets in the dark, Orwell. I'll come... You know my name. Found it out. Still say you never been in Carson County? What? Who are you? Jace Pearson, Texas Rangers. There ain't nothing you got on me. Nothing. I think there is, Orwell. You gave yourself away when you saw the flat iron. The flat iron that killed a man, his wife, and a little kid. Okay, we better get going. The case was closed when Orwell broke down and confessed. Not long after he went to the electric chair at Huntsville. You have just heard an authentic re-enactment of the case from the files of... The Texas Rangers. Tonight's script was written by Russell Hughes and produced by Stacy Keach. Next week the National Broadcasting Company will bring you another case from the records of the oldest law enforcement body in North America. The Texas Rangers.