← Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
Episode 601 - Cowboys and Crimesolvers (Suspense, Texas Rangers, Johnny Dollar, Gunsmoke, & Dragnet)
02:35:20
Yippie-ki-yay, old time radio fans! We're heading west for some radio mysteries set in the wide open spaces of the American frontier. Alan Ladd is on the trail of his brother's murderer in "A Killing in Abilene" from Suspense (originally aired on...
Loading summary
Transcript7 lines
- [00:00]
Vincent Price
Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave. The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective the Adventures of the Saint starring Vincent Price. Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action packed expense account, America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.
- [00:55]
Jack
Hello and welcome to down these Mean Streets and more old time radio detectives and crime fighters. Usually each week on this show we're in the big city, New York, Los Angeles, sometimes Chicago or London. And we're rubbing elbows with radio cops and private eyes as they prowl the dark alleys and solve crimes under the bright lights. But some radio detectives worked far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Some of them plied their trade in the wide open spaces of the frontier. And today we'll hear a few of those western tales of mystery and murder. First up is Alan Ladd Shane himself in A Killing in Abilene, an episode of Suspense that originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1950. Ladd plays a man on the trail of his brother's killer. But when he tracks the man down, Ladd discovers the killer is about to be lynched for another crime in another town. Now Ladd's in the odd position of trying to save his brother's killer only to ensure that the man will be brought back to Abilene to stand trial. That is if this even turns out to be the right man. The cast includes Barton Yarborough, who at the time this episode aired was co starring on Dragnet as Sergeant Ben Romero. It also features Parley Bear, who was still a few years away from playing Chester on the radio version of Gunsmoke. We'll hear more about that in just a minute. But our second show is a mystery out of the modern west with the Cactus pair from Tales of the Texas Rangers. Originally aired on NBC on December 17, 1950. Big Screen Cowboys star Joel McRae plays Ranger Jace Pearson and he's on the case when a cowboy is felled by a shotgun blast. Next, Edmund O'Brien is the man with the action packed expense account as Johnny Dollar goes west to investigate a murder in the Jarvis Wilder Matter. Originally aired on CBS on February 24, 1951. Dollar is on hand to determine if a wealthy rancher was killed by his wife and to determine her motive if she actually committed the crime. Then William Conrad is Matt Dillon, Gunsmoke and an Episode known as Matt for Murder that originally aired on CBS on July 26, 1954. The Marshal of Dodge City is accused of an unlawful killing. And no less than Wild Bill Hickok arrives to bring in Dylan to answer for the charges. Now Matt has to solve the crime and find the real killer before matters get any worse. And finally today we've got an urban western in the Big Cowboy from Dragnet, originally aired on NBC on June 1, 1954. Now, you probably wouldn't expect Sergeant Friday and Officer Smith to encounter a real life cowboy on the streets of Los Angeles. And they don't. But what they do find is an armed man who's barricaded himself as well as his wife and child in their home. And to make matters worse, he believes he's holding down a western fort and the police are actually a raiding party of Indians inside his stockade. The man has enough weapons to ensure a bloodbath. So now let's saddle up for some old time radio Western mysteries. We'll kick things off with Alan Ladd in suspense right after these messages.
- [05:15]
Vincent Price
Stop tooth decay and unpleasing breath. Yes, stop tooth decay and unpleasing breath that breeds between the teeth. Use Kalanose toothpaste with dental floss action. Your dentist will tell you brush your teeth after meals to stop decaying. Clean those cracks and crevices deep between your teeth to guard against unpleasing breath. Now, Kalinos gives you dental floss action that is sends thousands of active cleansing bubbles to help dislodge bits of food that can cause unpleasing breath. What's more, foamy, refreshing colonose brightens teeth by removing ordinary yellow surface stains. Help stop tooth decay. Get colonose toothpaste with dental floss action today. Next time you refresh, enjoy a frosty, ice cold Pepsi Cola sociability. Charlie. All right, Kay, how's this? Pepsi is light. Refreshes without filling. You like to refresh? Have a Pepsi right now. Well, offer it to everybody, Charlie. I will. Enjoy Pepsi at the fountain. It's delicious at home too. Have one at lunch or with a snack. Charlie. At the beach or at dinner. Wherever you go, wherever you're thirsty, Pepsi is there. It's here too, in our be sociable sound. Be sociable. Look smart. Keep up to date with Pepsi. Drink like refreshing Pepsi. Stay up and play and get or mayor. Be sociable. Have a Pepsi Month for the weekend. Have plenty of Pepsi around. Pick up an extra carton today. CK I'm sociable with Pepsi. Everyone is Ed Stevens of Long Beach, California is the Whistler fan who receives a $20 Signal gasoline book this week as a token of our appreciation for sending in this limerick. There once was a driver named Abbott whose car took off like a rabbit Signal Ethel said he is the fuel for me from now on I'll make it a habit Signal Signal Signal Gasoline youe car will go far with go farther gasoline. If, like our friend Abbott, you like pickup that's quick as a rabbit, then Signal Ethel is a gasoline for you. But flashing pickup, mind you, is only one of the improvements you'll discover when you power your car with this super fuel. In addition, you'll enjoy Signal Ethyl's extra power that makes cars fairly fly up hills and makes passing safer. And you'll be amazed at your engine's contented ping free purr for Signal Ethyl is scientifically engineered to bring out the very peak of performance your car is capable of regardless of age. So why not discover how much fun driving can be? Next time, treat your car to a tank full of the gasoline that's packed with more gold. Next time, fill up with Signal Ethel. Make your bath a real pleasure and a beauty bath at the same time with white floating Swan soap you can because Swan's exclusive super creamed blend gives you a wonderful new kind of beauty lather for your bath. Rich creamy lather that cleanses gently then rinses away so completely your skin is left fresh smooth, lovely as ever. Yes, it's the perfect bath soap. Super Creamed Swan Soap.
- [08:45]
Jack
Hey, this is Jack again interrupting my own show to do a little bit of self promotion. As I've mentioned on the podcast before, in addition to loving Old Time radio, I also write audio comedy and drama and I wanted to share some of it with you on my brand new SoundCloud link. I'll be adding that in the show notes, but if you'd like, you can click over there and listen to some of my audio comedy that I've put together. It's a lot of sketches and a few Old Time Radio parodies that if you're a fan of the shows we listen to each and every week I think you'll get a kick out of. So if you're so inclined you can click that link, head over and check it out. I appreciate it.
- [09:39]
Vincent Price
I dedicate this program to the fight against crime. Not merely crimes of violence and crimes of dishonesty, but crimes of intolerance, discrimination and bad citizenship. Crimes against America. Autolight and its 96,000 dealers present suspense Night Autolight brings you A Killing in Abilene A suspense play starring Mr. Alan Ladd. I traveled hard for 300 miles to find the man who killed my brother. I'd come down out of the Snake Range that morning, followed the river trail through the canyon. And that afternoon had found Pleasant Valley. A handful of buildings, desolate and huddled in the cold shadows of the mountains around tall, dark. No man appeared as I rode through the town. Only a dog charged, and he. From a safe distance. Then it was quiet. About a quarter of a mile beyond an easy rise. I saw what had happened to the people of the town. There were maybe 60 or 70 standing in the circle. And as I got closer, I saw they were gathered around two men. Two men who were digging. You stay put, horse. There was a look on the face of the people standing there. Even the kids peeking from behind skirts and trouser legs. And it was something I'd seen before. It wasn't a good look. It was the look some people had had two years before in Abilene. When we discovered my brother's body. In just a moment, Mr. Alan Ladd in the first act of Killing in Abilene. Hi, Harlow. What do you got there? Christmas present, Hamp. You get one already? Yes, sireen. It's an auto light stay full battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. Why, my car will really cut a caper over this capable Christmas cheer. You believe in giving your car some holiday spirit too, eh? I sure do, Hap. And because the auto light stay full battery has over three times the liquid protection of batteries without stay full features. It helps eliminate one of the greatest causes of battery failure. And that's my important to the spirit of every car owner. And your gift will last a long, long time too, Harlow. Right you are. Because the auto light stay full battery gives longer life. 70% longer life, in fact. As proved by tests conducted according to SAE minimum life cycle standards. A wise selection, Harlow. Yes, friends, for quick dependable starting, treat your car to an autolight stay full battery. The battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. See your neighborhood autolight battery dealer. And remember, you're always right with Autolight. And now, with the killing in Abilene and the performance of Mr. Alan Ladd, autolight answers many requests in bringing you a story of the old West. Hoping once again to keep you in suspense. Hold up a minute. What's the matter? I hit something. Wait. Better go slow. Dig around this side here. I. I can't do it anymore. One of you Boys, take over. I'll do it, Jim. Somebody's got to. It's him, all right. I seen his shirt. You were right then, Dan. Jake. Jake Garvey. You're a sheriff. Better come take a look. Yeah, that's him. That's Fred Costume, all right. The other women folk led our way. The men stayed and pushed him a little closer to the pit and waited there until the job was finished. Then they noticed me. What are you doing here, stranger? Where are you from? The sheriff. That's right. Jake Garvey. Amanda's my name. From Abilene. So I'm looking for a man in these parts. Calls himself Lee Burridge. Who did he say, Sheriff? He said Lee Burridge. Ben, you tell him we'll take care of him. What do you want him for? What's it matter what he wants him for? We know what we want him for. Come on, now. There ain't going to be no trouble. I'm the law in Pleasant Valley. I'll say what we do. We elected you sheriff, Jake. We can unelect you, like Ben said. It was Burge killed him. You know it. I've got to talk to you about birds, Sheriff. It's important. All right. My office, back at the meeting house. We don't need no talk about birds. We need to do something about the ugly sun. Come down, boys. Let's get on back to town. We'll take her as she comes. Smoke? No, thanks. The boys want to know why you're here. So die. We don't like strangers. What do you want with Lee Burridge? I had a brother killed out in Abilene. Burridge did it? Oh, he and another one drove a heart into the railroad. Burridge got drunk and killed my brother. Buried him, same as here. We found this pouch near the grave. His name burned into it. It's taken me two years to find him. Now I want to talk to him about it. The boys are pretty sure he killed Fred Costin, too. So am I now. Maybe so. Fred Costner's my business. My brother is. And I want to see his killer back in Abilene. Standing trial. I made a promise I'd bring him back, let there be no more killing. We didn't know your brother, but we knew Fred. And we liked him. You can help take care of Burridge here, if you ever mind. To try him here. You mean on both charges? No need for that now. What do you mean, take care of him? How did he kill your brother? His head was beat in. He was beat to death? Yeah. Same as he did to Fred. Men who do a thing like that don't need no trial. Not for you, maybe. But there'll be no more killing in my family. We'll give him a fair trial here in Abilene. But a fair trial. If Bird's done these killings, he's gonna pay for it here. I don't go for lynching. We don't call it lynching when we hang a man for murder. You don't like it, go on back to Abilene. Maybe I'll do that when I take leave. Burridge out for trial. I don't know what you're trying to do. I suspect it's get Burrid out of town. If I'm right, you're heading into a lot of trouble. Let's go get him. Ben. About the time. One of your boys going to direct me to where Lee Burridge lives? We could. Who felt inclined? What do you want with him? Just want to talk. Anybody got objections? Yeah. Who are you? Ben Chaffey. There ain't gonna be no talking. He's done what he's done. He's gonna pay for it. Ain't nobody gonna stand in the way. It's time you was riding out of here. And if I don't? Then I'll help you climb off. Ben. We don't need no private wars here. Where does he live? Come on, boy. He turned away from me and moved into the sheriff's office leaving me alone to walk down the strangely quiet street towards the hills. The thunderhead was beginning to gather. Moving and slowly. Near the end of the street two men were building a coffin in front of a small house. Is this where I'll find Mrs. Carson? Why do you have to come meddling around here at a time like this? Can't you leave a word for a sorrow? Cause he's a stranger, Bob. Boy, strangers don't have no time for other people's sorrow. Maybe you're right, old timer. Maybe they got too many themselves. Yes? I'd like to talk to you, ma'am. Could I come in? What? Can't you see this house is in mourning? Ma'am, I know how you feel. How can you know what I feel? I had a brother once, killed by this man. Burge. Oh, I'd like you to help me. It was two years ago my brother was killed. His wife would like the killer brought back to Abilene for trial. I'd like you to speak to your friends and let me take him away. He didn't give my friend a chance. Before he Killed him. He's a cruel, ugly man. He's a killing man. You can see it in his eyes. I understand how that woman feels. I feel the same way. I want him killed too. But here, where I can watch. Then will you tell me where he lives? Don't tell him nothing, Mrs. Carson. You'll go warn him all. Let him go if he wants, I say. A man's got one life to live and he's got a right to lose it. Any dang way pleases him. I'll tell you where you can find Lee Bridge. A few miles outside of town where the canyon spread. I saw his hut set against a fire blackened hill. There's no growing thing in the rocky ground except one sick twisted tree. Stunted limbs reaching out. Empty, waiting. Hold it. Easy, horse. Easy. Royer. Gun down you. For I won't miss with the next one leverage brought down. I'm Jeff Mander. It was my brother Seth you killed in Abilene. That's who you are. You've caused me enough trouble. Get out of here. They'll give you a fair trial there. Stay here and you're going to be lynched for Fred Costin's killing. Don't come no closer. Nobody's going to lynch me while I got this. Listen to me. I don't hold no love for you. I shouldn't care what happens to you. Well, that took me two years to find you. Now I'm taking you out. Oh, come no closer. Put off your gun. I'm warning you. Put off your gun. I knew he was shooting the mess. But I didn't know what would happen if I moved closer. So I got out of his canyon. It was clouding over heavy when I rode into town again. Maybe an hour, hour and a half after I'd left the sheriff's office, the streets were still empty. Then a couple of the houses I saw curtains moving windows and shadows duck away as I lifted them. I wondered if the old man had told them I'd gone to see Burgeoning. And if they knew what they planned doing about it. Old timer. Yeah. See you had to talk with Burridge. You see you ain't wearing a gun. He get the drop on you? Yeah. Surprised he didn't kill you. So was I. Did you tell him I'd gone there? Yep. What'd they say? They said if you get Burridge first. Then get you. They said you should go back where you came from while you still can. I will. After I settle with Burge. Where's the sheriff? Went off with the boys after Burge? Yeah. They're going to wait till dark. Then they're going to string him up. Why are they going to wait till dark? I want to be with them. I thought you didn't like lynchings. I don't. But I want to be there. I was told if you come back to town, you'd have to be with them. Don't make me use this. Son, just turn around and we'll join the rest of them. All right. And I'd suggest you stop your talking about Lee Burridge. From what I overheard, you close to sharing a rope with him. Autolight is bringing you Mr. Alan Ladd in A Killing in Abilene. Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills Suspend. Well, Harlow, Only eight shopping days till Christmas. Well, that doesn't bother me half. I'm giving everybody an Auto Light Stay Full battery. The battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. Even folks without cars? Why, sure. Why should they be denied the pleasure of having that fine, fit, faithful friend. That gives 70% longer life? It says who, Harlow? Why, everyone knows the Autolight Stay full battery gives 70% longer life. And this is proven by tests conducted according to SAE Minimum life cycle standards. Sounds mighty powerful. It sure does. And it's because every positive plate in an Auto Light Stay Full battery is protected by a fiberglass retaining mat. To help reduce shedding and flaking. And keep the power producing materials in place. Go on, Harlow. Go on. Well, friends, this Christmas present your car with a famous Autolight stock. A full battery. The battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. See your neighborhood Autolight battery dealer tomorrow. And remember, you're always right with Autolight. And now Autolight brings back to our Hollywood sound stage. Mr. Alan Ladd in Elliot Lewis's production of the Killing in Abilene. A tale well calculated to keep you in suspend. We rode out of Pleasant Val, the old man and me. We rode fast without speaking through scattered herds of cattle on the lower range land rolling in from the east. The black cows smothered the mountain tops. The old man still held the gun on me. No. You winding the horses. Won't be dark for a couple hours yet. Lynching parties get their guts after dark. How come you weren't with them waiting for you? I thought you'd be around. Besides, I seen Lynching once. Too much trouble. Yeah. You still figuring to take voyage with you to Abilene? I can try. Ain't that going to be a might, Darren? Without a shooting iron? Might be. I'm surprised after two years looking for him, you didn't shoot him when you found him. That's not what I come for. Why not kill your brother? I made a promise to somebody. His wife. Yeah, mine too. What was it between Costa and Burge? Well, I don't know. Nobody's seen much of Bur in the past couple of years. Ever since Ben told us about how he was. Killer ugly man. Just ugly. Mean. You said Ben told all of you Burge was a killer. Yeah. Guess your brother, he killed, that, right? That's right. And now because of him, you might get killed. But why? They think you made it up about your brother. They think you're trying to take Burridge away. Do you? Well, I haven't decided yet. Man, we pulled the stream here. I'll watch your pudding. Sunny. Yeah. I haven't seen you yet. You still got time to get out. You let me go. No. No. I've gone this far. I'll finish. Well, I always said a man's got one life and he's got a right to lose it. Any dang way pleases him. Hello, Sheriff. Thought you'd left Pleasant Valley. We decided he ought to come with us where we can watch him. You decided, Ben? What do you say, mister? I'll tell you what he says, Sheriff. He says he wants Burridge one way or the other. He asked to join. That's what he says. Get off of the horse, mister. All right. Now. Say that lie to me and I'll make you choke on it. I want Burge as bad as the rest of you. I'd prefer him to stand trial. That's the difference. I don't want this lynching if we can avoid it. Well, you take your hand off your gun, Ben. He ain't armed. Take it easy, Ben. We decided what to do. You're here because I want you here. Burge killed Fred Costin in a fight. Now we going to settle. Burge kills easy. I've seen him do it once before. He's not going to do it again. You saw him kill my brother. I. I thought you didn't believe me. I saw it. You need more of a trial than that. I looked at the faces, angry, filled with hate. And I thought of the ugly man up in the canyon. In the broken down shack. I wondered if he knew what was waiting for him a mile or so away. It was quiet then. Storm clouds are quickening. The end of the day. The party became shadow, sitting nervously or smoking. Two of the men had Some whiskey. And were building their courage for the night's work. It's nearly dark. I didn't think you'd come. I had to. All the way. My Fred's dead. So is my brother. My Fred was a good man. Never hit me. But he was a dark man with drink like those two. What was it between Burge and him? We lost some chickens. Fred said that man stole them when he came to town for supplies. Fred and him got to fighting. That man hated him and beat him. Fred was terrible hurt. Afterwards, everybody laughed and made jokes. They laughed at their friend. Oh, it was man laughing no harm. But to a dark man like Fred, it was bad. He swore to get even. That was last Saturday. He went in to drink and didn't come back. We all thought he rode out someplace. For shame. Why do you think birds killed him? They were all talking about it. Who was? All the main Saturday night. They said Fred and that man were arguing. Who heard them? Van Geet. When Fred didn't come back, we all knew that man had killed him. He did, and he's going to pay for it. Who found the grave, ma'am? Ben did. I'm sorry for your brother's wife, but it's got to be this way. Just like the Holy Book says. An eye for an eye. Let's go, boys. It's time to ride. We rode to the widening of the canyon, dismounted and went the rest of the way to the hut on foot. We took one horse with us. He's there, all right. There's a light inside. Hold up, boys. Bob, you, Jim and Neil come with me. Right here. We'll bring him out. The rest of you stay here. What side? You're too quick tonight, Ben. And given too many orders. You stay still. Trying to get him away, son? Am I? He was like an engine on you. Once. Had to shoot him five times before he knew he was dead. What do you want here? You know what we want, Bird. Get out of here. Get off my lap. You come outside quiet like. We don't want no trouble. Trouble? I ain't asking for trouble. You asked for it when you killed Fred Costin. Costin? Who killed? I didn't kill him. Save your breath while you still got it. Come on, dirty. Go up in smoke. He won't be using it anymore. I'll kill you off for this. You done your last kill. Get that rope on that lamp. Is this your doing, Fin? Yeah. Tie his hands, Bob. I'll hold him. You're going to blame this one on me too, Ben. Shut up. My sister. He didn't do it. He didn't do it. Let it go, son. You can't stop him now. Gotta talk to him before they do. He didn't do it. Now I know it. Wait a minute. Take my gun. Thanks. The flames in the shadows flicked over the ugly man's face. The rope was around his neck. He knew he was going to die. As I came near him, I could see in the light. There was no fear in his eyes, only hate. Lifted onto a horse. The rope was tightened. He was ready to be lynched. Then he saw me. One request, Sheriff. What? Burridge. Let me talk to him a minute. The stranger here for a minute. No more talking. Kick that horse out from under him. No, no, Bob. Not yet. Let him talk. Why? You think I killed your brother? They're trying to get away with something, Jake. Shut up, Ben. Let them have their say. Why? We found your pouch near my brother's grave. Your name on it. And tonight, Ben told me he saw you, too. I didn't. I wasn't with Ben that night. Ben wanted to drink and I didn't. He left me, took my pouch with him. What does it matter about his brother? It's Fred Costum we're hanging him for. I didn't kill Fred Cost neither. Listen, mister, I didn't kill your brother. He's talked enough. He killed Fred Cost, and I told you that. What about a bird? I didn't kill Fred Cost. He's a lion. Skunk. Let's get it over with. I say let him talk. Heard you get that gun, mister. How did you know where Frederick buried? How did you know where Fred was buried? Mrs. Costin says you found the grave. How do you know where it was? Answer him, Ben. You told me where it was. Ben. I. I saw him burying poor Fred. That sound you. You saw the burial. Why didn't you stop Burch then? It wasn't none of my business. But it is now. What made you change your mind so fast? Stay away from that horse, man. Yes. Yes. Cut him down, you foul. Cut him down. I think you'll be coming back to Abilene with me, Ben. You think so? You all right, son? Yeah. Burs. He'll live. Rest easy, son. You done a good job. But you ain't going to keep your promise about your brother's killer. There's no sense taking Ben Chaffee back to Abilene. Bury him here. Suspends. Presented by autolight. Tonight's star, Mr. Alan Ladd. Christmas shopping can be fun. It doesn't have to Kill one. Give an Auto Light Stay Full battery. Only three times a year do you fill one. And that's because the Autolight Stay Full battery is the battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. And it's one of more than 400 products for cars, trucks, planes and boats made by auto light in 28 plants coast to coast. These include complete electrical systems used as original equipment on many leading makes of America's finest cars. Electric windshield wipers, starting motors, voltage regulators, coils, distributors, wire and cable generators, all engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly because they're a perfect team. So friends don't accept electrical parts supposed to be as good. Ask for and insist on original factory parts at your neighborhood service station, car dealer, garage or repair shop. And because all Autolight parts are original factory parts, you can be sure you're right. Because you're always right with Autolight. Alan Ladd will soon be seen in Paramount's Technicolor production Branded. Next week on suspense, Mr. Dennis Day, a star of Christmas for Carol. And in weeks to come, you will hear such famous stars as Cornell Wilde, Ezio Pinza and Ginger Rogers, all appearing in tales well calculated to keep you in suspense. Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis with music comp by Lucian Morawek and conducted by Lud Bluskin. Portions of this program were transcribed. A Killing in Abilene was written for suspense by Gil Dowd and Anthony Ellis. And remember, next week on suspense, Mr. Dennis Day. In Christmas for Carol, you can buy Autolight safe for batteries, Auto Light standard type or resistor type spark plugs. Autolight electrical parts at your neighborhood Auto light dealers. Switch to Autolight. Good night. Better production means better living. That ideal has given America the world's highest standards of living. Learn how you can help to improve our economic life. For the free booklet the Miracle of America, write box 10, Times Square Station, New York City. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System. The National Broadcasting company presents Joel McRae in Tales of the Texas Rangers. Tonight, transcribe from Hollywood another authentic reenactment of a case from the files of the Texas Rangers. Tales of the Texas Rangers, starring Joel McRae as Ranger Jace 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. 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. Case for tonight, the Cactus Pear. It is 4pm the afternoon of March 28, 1947. Robert Coutts, a new hand on the Triangle Ranch is repairing a fence on the Southeast Range. He stops as a rider approaches. Oh. Oh, boy. Oh, howdy, Bragg. Don't howdy me, Cooch. Well, I see you finally got my job. I got a job because there was one open. If you left it open, that's your worry, I reckon, not mine. You've been making up to the old man, trying to get me fired ever since you came into this country. That ain't so, and you know it. I've been looking for work. Yeah, but you didn't get fired on my account. You got sacked because you can't leave a bottle alone. Sounds like you're calling me a liar. I ain't calling you anything. I'm just telling you. And how about clearing off? You telling me to clear off this range? All right, I'll get. But before I do, I'm gonna whip your tail, Coots. You better not try it, Breck, because you ain't about to whip my tail. Oh, ain't I? No. Hey, you ain't. Now, clear off like I told you. Don't come back. Ain't gonna be no need for me to come back. Put that shotgun down. Get away from me. Get away. Here's the other barrel for good measure. All right, boys. Come on. Get up. Get up. The body of ranch hand Robert Coutts was discovered by the owner, the ranch next day, when he rode out to search for the missing rider, he summoned the sheriff. And the sheriff called for the assistance of a Texas Ranger. Ranger Jace Pearson was assigned to the case. Say, you spotted the buzzards this morning, Mr. G? Yeah. Yeah, then I found coats. From look of him, he must have been shot sometime yesterday. Thought I heard a shotgun yesterday afternoon. Should have rode out then. Why didn't you, Sheriff? You know, we've been having a time with the coyotes and mountain cats lately. I just figured one of my hands must have spotted one and cut loose. Coots was fixing a break in the fence. Yeah, that's right. Might have known something was wrong when Coots didn't come back to the ranch last night. Spots just up ahead where my deputy's standing. Yeah, you can see the body now. Anybody been stealing cattle around here lately, sheriff? Oh, few head now and then. Chase nothing big. Coots might have run into somebody doing it, though. Might have. Here we are. Oh, boy. Sheriff. Ranger. Hi, there. Yeah, tie the horses off the fence here. I don't want them tramping around near the body. Good idea. Co's with you a long time, Mr. G. No R? No. Hired him on less than a week ago. It was new around here. J only been here about a month, all told. Ever say where he came from? Yep. Head over on Marfa. Hit with both barrels, Jace. Once through the stomach, once through the head. Yeah, it was on the ground when the second charge hit him, though. Look. Some of the shot clipped the grass. Yeah, Killer's horse stopped here, too. Looks like Coots must have had a fist fight with the man who killed him. How do you figure that, Jace? A little dried blood on the grass here. Scuffle marks. And some of the blades pressed down as though somebody'd been lying here. Coots was shot, though. Might be his blood, you know, with his wounds. He was killed instantly. He didn't move 15ft. And then back again after getting blasted like that. Come on. What you looking for? Horse moved off this way. Prince mixed right in with some of your herd. They were grazing around here and then took off mighty sudden. See here where they dug in to get started? Yeah, that could mean a cattle thief, all right. Chasing the stock, Jace. We'll find out. Let's get back to the horses and follow this trail. All right. This is far enough. Ooh, charcoal. Whoever it was, he wasn't trying to steal cattle. He was following the herd track so the trail of his horse wouldn't stand out clear. I don't see how you can tell. That herd moved up range toward the mesa. Anybody stealing him would have been driving him to the south fence where the state road is. Have to get him to a truck to get him away. Yeah, but what made him run, then chase shotgun Must stampeded him. They'd been driven. Someone left marks where they cut out to get away from the rider. And the rider would have left tracks cutting after him. I see what you mean. But shouldn't we keep on trailing them, though? Yeah, but not this way. He was headed for rocky ground near the mesa, trying to lose anybody who might follow him. He's smart. I don't get your plan. Well, he was careful leaving here after he killed a man. He mightn't have been so careful riding in before he killed. Backtrack the trail he took getting here and might tell us where he came from. That makes sense. Jace, let's go. Hey, Ranger. Can I have the body picked up by the funeral house now? Yeah, and even an autopsy isn't going to tell us much. Oh, I thought you could tell a lot from the shot that killed somebody. That ballistic stuff, you know, not so much With a shotgun. Barrels are smooth bore don't leave rifle marks, but. Hey, hold it. What'd you find, Ranger? These empty 16 gauge shotgun shells. Killer might have ejected him here to reload his shotgun in case he ran into trouble. Well, can you tell anything with those? If we find the gun they came from, we might be able to match the way the hammer hits the shell. Yeah, if we find the shotgun, every rancher in Cow Poke in the county must have one. The sheriff and I backtracked on the approach the killer had used to get to the Triangle Ranch owned by Galt, but we came to a dead end. Well, Chase, guess this. As far as we go, can't follow him on pavement. The gravel road shoulder rode out from town. That's too bad. I was hoping he'd come from a ranch someplace. Would have narrowed us down to one spot. Nothing much we can do now except and go around examining shotguns. One other thing first. A couple of deep tracks in that ditch off the road. Must have had rain here recently. Yeah, day four yesterday. That's why he left such a clear print there. Yesterday. Then I want to get a kit for my radio car and drive back here. What for? Take a couple of photographs of that print. Make a plaster impression of it. Help us to identify the horse if we find him. We took the cast and headed for town. To check every horse in the territory would have been impossible, so I had to gamble on a shortcut. Howdy, Ranger. Sheriff. Howdy. Howdy. Hey, mind dropping that hammer a minute and taking a look at this? Sure thing. Hey, what is it? Plaster cast shoe print of a left hind hoof. You remember making a shoe like this, Ed? Common plate, sir. He was caulked or something. I might remember, but I don't know. I know it's a tough one, but all shoes are a little different. We're in different places. Hoofs have to be fitted for slightly different shapes. That's true. All right. If I come across that shoe now after seeing the cast, I might recognize it. Good. I'm going to leave this cast here if anybody brings in a horse to be shot. And the left hind hoof looks like the cast. Don't touch it until you call us. You're right. Glad to have keep my eyes open. Any other blacksmiths around here, Sheriff? Oh, not for over 50 miles. We going looking for that gun now? You start on it. I'm gonna pay another visit to the Triangle Ranch. I want to talk with Mr. Gault again. Finish here in a minute, Ranger. Joe. Yeah? Turn on Rest of the irrigation pumps with it. Okay? That's fine. Good. What was it you wanted to know? I asked you if Coote seemed nervous. Like he'd been running away from something or somebody he was afraid might catch up with him. No, I can't say he did. All he was anxious about was finding a job. Seemed like good workers. So when I had an opening, I took him on regular. Oh. One of your hands leave? I know. No. You say I had to fire a folk named Harvey Breck. Fired him, huh? Why? Drinking. Making trouble in the bunk house. Not doing his work. Did this Breck know Coots? Yeah, just from seeing him around. How did Breck take it when you told him he was fired? Well, he's kind of drunk. Cussed me out a little. Is that all? Yep. I paid him off. Give him an extra month like I do with any hand I have to let go. He seemed all right after that. You know where this Breck is living now? Here. He's bunked up in one of them deserted doby huts by the old quicksilver mine. Road's washed out, though. All the huts are empty since mine stopped operating. Why? R.A. you gonna see him? I sure intend to. I went back through town and picked up the sheriff. We rode our horses out to the abandoned mine. I've checked 100 guns today, Jace. Every tough or near tough I could think of. No good, though, huh? No hammer marks like the one we're looking for. You fire the guns to get a test shell for comparison? Sure. But I swear none of them was the gun we want. I kept the most likely ones and labeled them for you, though. Good. We can add one more when we test Bre's gun. And here the shacks now. Oh, boy. Charcoal. Must be that one. Little smokes coming up the chimney. There's Brick. Heard us coming. You fellas looking for. Oh, howdy, Sheriff. Howdy, Brick. Ranger wants a few words with you. Okay. Mind if we come inside? All right. Reon, you know that somebody killed the man who took your place over at the Triangle Ranch? Yeah, so I heard. Happened Tuesday afternoon. Where were you? I was right here. Anybody who says I wasn't is a liar. Nobody said anything yet. Where's your shotgun? I don't have a gun. You don't, huh? And where's the gun you cleaned not long ago? I didn't clean. Don't tell me you didn't. This oily rag in the corner says you did. This rag was used for cleaning the gun and nothing else. Better get the gun, Brick. We Want to see it? It's under the bunk. Sixteen gauge, double barrel. Yeah. Loaded, too. Let me have it a minute. Match these with the shells you've been carrying, Sheriff. Shut up, Rick. Twins. All right, Sheriff. No doubt about these Matching, Breck. We found these shells on the Triangle Ranch. Hammer marks match yours. And Coots was killed with a shotgun, not that gun. Sure, you found shells from it on the Triangle Ranch. Because I worked on the Triangle Ranch, remember? You get laughed out of court with evidence like that. I fired a hundred shots out there at coyotes. Your story could hold, Jace. Yeah, maybe. Maybe not. Because there's one other thing, Breck. We're all going to take a ride into town after I check the shoes on your horse. That's real interesting, Ranger. Because if we're riding into town, you'll be packing me behind you. I don't own a horse. You are listening to Tales of the Texas Rangers, starring Joel McRae as Ranger Jace Pearson. Now we continue with tonight's case, the Cactus Pair. An authentic story from the files of the Texas Rangers. Breck had us stopped and he knew it. His story about the coyotes and the empty shotgun shells covered him. And we didn't even have enough to take him in. We left him and headed back for town. If he is the one Chase, we're going to have a time proving it. Gun would have made a strong case against anybody who hadn't worked on the ranch. But he can alibi that. Yeah. You got something on your mind? What is it? He swore he hadn't been on the Triangle Ranch in a week. Since G fired him? Yeah. We can't prove otherwise. I don't know. If he did shoot at a coyote. Must have been before G fired him. That means those empty shells would have been lying out in the ground when it rained two days ago. Cardboard portion of the shells don't look like they'd been wet. The sun could have dried them out after the rain. Chase. Yeah. There's some metal on the shell, too. I'm going to send those shells through to the lab at Austin. You think they'll be able to tell if they've been out in the rain or not? Metal gets wet, got to be some oxidation. Lab will know whether there is or not. If there isn't, will mean the shells were fired in the past two days. Yeah, but he'd still stick to his story. Jace, you know how jury is with scientific evidence. A little leery of it sometimes. I know we'll need more. I wasn't thinking of the shells as jury Evidence. I was thinking of him as a time saver for us. Oh, he's telling the truth. He'll have to start all over. But if he's lying, we'll have to trip him up. I sent the shells through to Austin. And while I waited for a report, I drove to Co's old home at Marfa. He'd been well liked there. No reason for anybody to follow him and kill him. It was a routine check, and on the way back, I got my report from Austin. KTXA to Unit 10. Unit 10 to KTXA. Go ahead. Have report from Austin lab on exhibits submitted by Unit 10 for examination. Ready for it. Lab reports slight oxidation, probably caused by brief exposure to normal night moisture. No evidence that shells were thoroughly soaked, though. No indication of such exposure in lab report. 10. 4. Unit 10 clear. KDX Austin. I drove back south as hard as I could. When I got near the Quicksilver mine, I took charcoal out of the trailer and rode onto the shack Breck had been using to make sure he was still around. Oh, boy. Oh, Charcoal. Crack. Open up. I want to talk to you. All right, what do you want this time? I just want to make sure you're still around, that's all. Well, you see me, don't you? Yeah, I see something else, too. Looks like you've been packing a few things in there. That's my business, not yours. I'll make it my business if you try to leave this county. Now look, Ranger, you got nothing on me, or you'd have taken me in before. If I want to move out of here, I reckon I can move. You try it, you'll hit the county jail so fast, it won't even give your spurs time to rattle. Yeah, you're talking big. But you ain't got a charge to hold me on. Ain't no law against shooting coyotes. No, but there's a law against moving into a shack without the owner's permission. The mining company give you the right to live here? Yeah, that isn't going to be hard to check on. All right, then, Ranger, Go back to town and check. Because until you do and get a warrant, you got no right in here, have you? Okay, Brick. I'll be back. And you better be here. I got back to town as fast as I could. I had to have a minor charge to hold him on. But as I pulled up to the sheriff's office, I found out I wasn't going to need it. Stay in the car, Jace. Why, what's up? You got here just in time. We're just heading for my car. Let's move. Which way? Straight ahead. Blacksmith shop. He found the horse we've been looking for. Oh, boy. Oh. Oh. There. Oh, yeah. Here, Ranger, look. Just like the cast. Oh. Oh, boy. You see this nick in the left hind shoe? Snail bent a little. Same as the impression on the cast. That's it, all right. Who owns him? Ranger, you're probably going to eat me out for this. But he's mine. Yours? You mean to say you couldn't recognize a shoe you fitted to one of your own horses? Well, that's a trouble, Ranger. I didn't show him. I only bought him a month ago. And I was just going to put new plates on him for the first time. Now, that's how come I just spotted the shoe. What were you doing out on the Triangle Ranch when Coots was killed? But, Ranger, I wasn't out there. Your horse was last Tuesday. But I wasn't riding him. I loaned him out. You better tell us who you loaned him to. Well, I let Harvey Breck use him. What? Breck? Well, my wife can tell you. I'll call her. You don't have to call her. Come on, Sheriff. Let's go. We stopped for the sheriff's horse, loaded him in the double trailer with charcoal, then headed to the mine. We left the car at the washout, unloaded the horses and rode to the adobe shack Breck was using. We got enough to take him in now, Jace, if he's still here. He was packing to leave. Look, he hasn't left yet. Here's the hut he was using. Crack a light under the door. We're on time then. Not much to spare. The senchi figures to move out tonight. He won't move now. Stop here. Move. Charcoal. He isn't going to come easy, Sheriff. Watch out for that shotgun. He wants gunplay, he can have him. We'll know and he answers the door. All right, Breck, open up. We know you in there, Breck. Now, come on. Maybe waiting in there so he can nail us with that shotgun if we bust in. We can wait out here for you, Brick. Yeah? That light in there could keep us waiting all night. If he's gone. You mean it's a trick to slow us up? We'll find out. Keep that door covered while I kick it in. Right. Brecken made his getaway. We went over the ground outside to get his direction, led toward rugged country. And we followed as fast as we could on horseback, cutting back and forth to pick up his marks. Went up into these hills Sheriff made some time. It was easy to trail this far. And he's on foot. Yeah, but we're going to be on foot, too, now. Why? He's headed for the border. J Jace. Rio Grand's that way. But no horse can take this country between here and there. Oh, boy. Oh, charcoal. How far is it to the river? 40 miles of country the devil won't have. And we'll have to cover every inch of it on foot. Well, that's what he's doing. Come on, let's go. We must be close to him by. Hey, look, Sheriff. That's him. Top on the ridge. Get the COVID under that lid. You better hide and stay there. I got you pinned down. Humble the horses so they can move off and graze later. How we gonna get to him? Long way up that ridge and we'll be moving right into his sights. You go around that way. All right. Crawl and hug whatever cover you can find. I'll go the other way and see if we can't circle in behind him. We move slowly, inches at a time. The side of the treacherous slope took almost an hour. It was just what Rick wanted. All right. Don't move. Yeah. Sheriff. Jeez. He isn't here. Of course he isn't. I should have figured his play, only recently fired from up here, was to trick us into giving him time. Sure it was. He's ahead of us with a knight to cover him. We don't have horses to give us an edge anymore. Let's see if we can pick up his trail. Jace, if we're going into this, we're going to need water. Time to go back for it now. We'll have to get it as we find it. If we find it. He's headed this way. Come on. We'll have to keep trail cutting, and it's going to be plenty rough. It's like the sheriff said, country the devil wouldn't have. Breck was piling up a lead with every hour of the night. We have to cover two miles to his one chase. Every time we lose the trail, he gains ground. Can't be helped. We get to the top of this ridge and it may be the wrong one again. Like the last two we climbed. Daylight in a couple of hours. Be able to spot his tracks better then. And we can move fast. Maybe we better rest until then. Can't. I'm counting on him having to rest. That's the only time we can make up on him. Reckon you're right, Chase. But it'll be another day and night of this Without a wink and no guarantee. We catch him at that, he may go any direction to make us cross him. You want to rest a few hours while I go on ahead? If you're going, I'm going. Good. Come on. If we only knew which. Hold it, Sheriff. What? Scrub between the rocks. Here. Throw your light on it. All right. Look. Barely grown in the earth between the rocks. Roots ripped out a little and exposed. Yeah, Fresh, too. He grabbed the scrub to pull himself up. Good. Means we aren't climbing this. And for nothing this time. No. Better keep on climbing. Almost 24 hours. Getting dark again, Jace. Yeah. More mountains ahead. Hey, wait. Lose them. No, no. Cut over this way. Something on the ground by that cactus patch. Yeah. Dug for water again and hid it, too. Still wet. Yeah. Dig a little. Get a drink for yourself. Knows the country, all right. Never misses. Seems to know just where to dig. If there's even a mouthful of water. What you doing over there? He ate here. Rested, too. Cactus pear's been cut and skinned. Sun hasn't dried the skins out yet. He's only an hour or so ahead now. This track show. He's slowing down. Still going fast enough to make that river sometime tonight, though. We'll be there, too, then. Little water running up this hole now. Jace. You better take him house, fool. You clean the canyon, Chase. River's narrow there. How far? Less than half a mile away. Got to run then. Sheriff. Can you make it? Try. Look. His shotgun couldn't haul it any further. Lightning up to make his last run. I think I heard something ahead. Keep going. We heard him in front of us and we broke through the brush at the river. He was just waiting in. Stop, Brett. I'll get him. Don't make me put a bullet in you, Br. You. You ain't taking me. Oh, yes, I am. Let go. Let go. I'm over the border. He. Not while you're still in the river. Let's go. I said get him. Yeah, but you're going to have to help me drag him to shore. You. More feet. He made it. Just a few more seconds. Just about as long as it took to eat a cactus beer. Harvey Breck was tried and convicted for the murder of Robert coates. His sentence, 99 years. And now, here again is the star of our show, Joel McRae. When the Allies invaded Normandy in World War II, they got an idea as to how far the fame of the Texas Rangers had spread. Both surrendering Nazis and liberated Free French said they knew the war was as good as over because the Texas Rangers had landed. Of course, it was the heroic American Ranger troops who made the landings. But nothing could convince the Nazi war prisoners that these were not the terrible Texans they'd heard about in many American legends. Good night, folks. See you same time next week. Next week, Joel McCrae and another authentic reenactment of a case from the files of the Texas Rangers. Joel McRae is currently seen starring in the MGM production Stars in My Crown. The night's cast included Tony Barrett, willms Herbert, Tom McKee and Gerald Moore. This story was transcribed and adapted by Joel Murcott and the program was produced and directed by Stacy Keach. This is Hal Gibney, spe3 Chimes mean good times on NBC. Monday means music on NBC. Tomorrow night, the voice of Firestone presents a selection of melodies in the Christmas spirit with Metropolitan Opera star Jerome Hines a soloist. The NBC Symphony brings you another one hour concert featuring works by Vivaldi and Beethoven under the baton of the brilliant young conductor Guido Cantelli. Stay tuned for the $64 question with more Good Times on NBC. From Hollywood, it's time now for Edmund O'Brien has Johnny Dollar. This is Mitchell Kendall. Mr. Dollar, you called my office. Oh, yes, Mr. Kendall. I'm an insurance investigator from Hartford, Connecticut. I was sent out here to look into the Jarvis Wilder killing by the company that holds the fire. Oh, yes, but haven't you called the wrong lawyer, Mr. Dollar? I'm defending Mrs. Wyer, not prosecuting her. I understand that. I'm not a prosecution witness. Not yet anyway. I'm glad to hear that. Insurance money had nothing to do with the situation, Mr. Daughter. She killed him in self defense. Edmund O'Brien in another adventure of the man with the action packed expense account. America. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Expense accounts submitted by special investigator Johnny Dollar to home office Britannia Life Insurance Company, Hartford, Connecticut. The following is an accounting of expenditures during my investigation of the Jarvis Wilder matter. Expense Account Item 1, $150.50 Airfare and Incidentals between Hartford and Farmington, New Mexico. It was shortly after noon when I reached the drowsing western town. I checked into a hotel and read in the local paper that the county grand jury at any moment was expected to INDICT the widow, Mrs. Alma Wilder for the murder of her husband. I contacted her lawyer by phone and a few minutes later walked into his office. Well, Mrs. Dahler, we've had quite a trip. How are you, Mr. Kendall? It's a lot of miles from Hartford. Not too many hours these days. Sit down thank you. Well, I read the papers. The indictment comes any minute, huh? Yes, it didn't take long. From arrest to conviction with as little cost to the taxpayer as possible. That's the way they like. Not that there's anything wrong with the way things have been handled, you understand. I haven't gotten too many details, Alma. Mrs. Wilder confessed when she was arrested. Confessed again at the inquest. That was only yesterday. Also only a formality. Why the indictment then? Why doesn't she plead guilty and get it over with? Because I won't let her. I want a trial because I'm going to get a not guilty verdict for her on the grounds of self defense and temporary insanity. Those grounds have sprung a lot of widows, I guess. Do you object to that? No, not at all. I hoped you tell me she's innocent. A lot of money tied up in the policies for Jarvis's brother and his estate. None is due her. I wish I could help you on that. Were you planning on going out to the ranch? Yeah, I thought I might. Why? I wanted to warn you about what kind of people they are. What kind are they? They've been the most hated people in this part of the state for two generations. Russell is a twin brother, you know. And he has not only the appearance of jolly, but every single bad quality. Selfishness, cruelty, conceit. Russell has a wife, too, hasn't he? Yes, Rosemary. And if she shoots him, I won't be surprised. But I'd advise you to be careful if you're going out there. Don't push too hard. They like to run people off their property. I'll watch it. Thanks. Just what do you expect to accomplish, Mr. Dollar? I've got to make a report, that's all. Murder? It's routine. Do you still have any idea? I'm working with the prosecution to set up a motive for your client and turn it into a first degree charge. Forget it. I'm not well. They've been awfully quiet. And I've been practicing law long enough to develop a suspicious mind. It was nice to meet you. Thanks a lot for the help, Mr. Kendall. I'll probably see you again before I leave. The Wilder ranch was about 15 miles out of town by report. Some 5,000 acres and cattle range. I wheeled a rented car up a road that led to a large house resting on a knoll among a few pine trees. There were some outbuildings and finally a grizzled character who got up from a bench to stop me as I neared the house. That's right. You'll have to wait. Ain't nobody at home. What kind of business? Nothing to do with ranching. My name is Dollar. I am here from the east to get a report on the shooting of Jarvis Wilder. What's that? I said I'm from the East. What's your interest in the trouble? I've been hired by an insurance company to get a report on it. Where'd you say he was from, the East? Hartford, Connecticut. My folks come from thereabout. Come west in the 80s. You heard of the shrimps back there? No, I don't think so. My daddy had six brothers, so some of their kin is still around. Hazardville is where we sprung from. You heard of that? Yeah. It's in the northern part of the state, isn't it? On the Scandic River. It marked on the map. Yeah, I know the place. Mr. Schramm, I take it you work here on the ranch. For more than 40 years. Worked for the old man. Poor Jarvis. And Russell was born. Where were you the other night when Jarvis. I got a cabin to myself. That's it over there. That's where I was. Could you tell me what happened? As far as you're concerned. As far as I'm concerned? Sit down. Sure. I'm an old man. I lived through some right troublesome time. Seen a lot of men get killed. And I always sort of figured I stayed healthy because I never meddled with nobody's business, right or wrong. I am not sure I know what you're driving at. Are you advising me to stop meddling? It ain't my place to advise you, young fellow. Besides, I ain't smart enough, you ask me. As far as I'm concerned. Well, as far as I'm concerned, I don't know what happened. I still don't get you. You're telling me that other people don't know what happened? It ain't my place to tell you anything. I didn't come here to investigate the murder. All that's been done, and it's in the hands of the authorities. Jarvis's wife confessed. You have. You can wait here for Russell and his wife. I got chores. Wait a minute. That was it, wasn't it? You thought something had been uncovered and that I'd come to look into it. Isn't that it, Shran? It don't concern me. Yes, it does. Is there a possibility that Alma Wilder did not. She confessed, didn't she? That's not what I asked. She said she killed him. And I reckon she knows better than anybody else. Don't you I ain't got time to talk no more. I ain't got chores to do. All right, Sram. I can't hold you, but I'll have to go to the police with this. Now, don't go stirring up a lot of trouble, young fellow. Don't stir it up. If you do, I got a feeling you're going to be sorry. If it's there to be stirred up, I'll have to do it. And I guess it's there, all right. But I can make a deal with you, Sran. What deal? You talk to me and I won't go to the police. As an insurance investigator, I'm in a position to make a deal like that legally. All right, young fellow. You want to grab it with a tail, you can. It ain't much for certain what I saw. I heard Jarvis yelling at it. That's what woke me up. When I heard the shot, I jumped for the door. It was light enough to see, and there was bulls laying on the ground. They'd come out of the house. Yes. And it come over me when I saw him that she didn't shoot him. Because she was laying on her belly with her feet toward him. Like as if that's where he'd knocked her. That wouldn't mean much, would it? I told you it wasn't much for certain. But when I got to where she was, she didn't have no gun. It was on the ground next to Jarvis. Where was everybody else? They come out of the house, Russell and his wife. And I got out of sight. It stayed in my mind that Alma didn't kill him till she said she did. Is that all, Shran? You telling me everything? That's the whole of it. The way she was laying and where the gun was. I got there fast, and it come to me that she didn't shoot him. What are you figuring on doing? Not sure. Let's see what I can make out of it. Thanks for telling me. I'm going back to town. You can count on my confidence. But if anything develops, I may have to talk to you again. You either gonna stay at O'Russell and his wife come back after talking to you? I think I'd better get to them later. And if you don't feel like it, you don't even have to tell them I was here. I won't. It ain't my business that you come, and it ain't their business when I talk to you. It was little enough to go on, certainly. Back in town. I approached the authorities on the basis of Wanting a routine report. The investigation was no more thorough than could be expected. A confession, naturally would do away with the usual need for examination. There were photographs to record the position of the body, et cetera. Results of ballistic comparison tests to establish the fatal weapon. A.30 30 rifle. That was about all. The autopsy report hadn't as yet been added. I debated on where to go from there and decided against Kendall, the defense lawyer. I got permission to visit the cell of the confessed murderers. Alma Wilder was a slight, well formed brunette of 24. She looked older than her years. But she would have been quite beautiful under different circumstances. I don't understand why you've come to see me, Mr. Dolly. You told them all how it happened. Didn't you talk to him? Yes. Then why have you come to see me? I read your confession. I guess I was curious about what kind of a woman could make such a calm statement about killing her husband. It was done and finished. There was no other way to say it. Curious about what kind of woman could be driven to the point where she do such a thing. If you read it, you know the kind of a woman I was. The kind of a woman he made out of me. In your confession you said he'd been cruel to you. What kind of cruelty did you mean? I won't talk about it. Physical cruelty? Physic? Yes. I won't talk about it. Why do you want me? I'd hope maybe you would want to talk to somebody that I told all the truth. I'm going to. I won't tell anybody about my life with him. I went through it. Now it's finished. I won't talk about it. All right. Time I've been here alone. Time since I killed him. I've been happier than I have for three years. The kind of a woman I am now. I'm happy now. I hadn't noticed. I really wasn't after that part of the truth. You hated your husband and that's enough. What about the twin brother? Do you hate him? You think about me, do you? Yes, I hate him. I hate him the same way I hated Jarvis. What about the sister in law? Thought much of anything about Rosemary except when he brought me to that house. You seem like some dead person. I should. I had known then what it was going to be like. Wasn't there anybody you liked out there or who liked you? Why any of the men who worked there? I never saw them. They weren't allowed in the house. And I wasn't allowed outside alone. Why I'm asking these things because I don't know if this confession you made will stick. What? Alma, right now only you know whether or not you really killed your husband. Yes, I did. If somebody knew you and felt sorry for how unhappy you were, he might have killed him. There wasn't anybody. If somebody thought enough of you to do that, you could be thanking him with your confession. It would be a noble gesture, I suppose. But if that is the case, it's going to come out. It wasn't. You could save everybody a lot of trouble if you tell me about it. It wasn't Z. Nobody would do that for me. I didn't know anybody. I killed him because I hated him. And I was trying to run away and he was trying to stop me. Don't do any more. More what? Any more looking for things. Why not, Elmo? Because you don't have to. I killed Jarvis. Nobody else did. Nobody had. Because I killed him. He was trying to run away and he wouldn't let me. He was going to take me back to that house. Couldn't go back. Please. Please let me stay here alone. You better sit down, Alan. I won't bother you anymore. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We will return you to the second act of yours, Julie, Johnny Dollar in just a moment. There's one married couple you can always depend on for fun on Saturday evenings. And to invite them over is as easy as staying tuned to cbs. They're Lucille Ball and that man she calls my favorite husband. You don't have to get involved in the strange predicaments. They do. All you have to do is sit back and laugh at the results. How's for asking them? In this evening, Lucille Ball and My favorite Husband will be waiting on most these same CBS stations. Now with our star, Edmund O'Brien, we return you to the second act of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Well, Mr. Tuller. Hi, Mr. Kendall. I didn't know whether you'd be in your office or not. Five o'clock. Oh, yes. I sometimes stay in the office until 8 or so. I'm a single man. No place to do any homework. Sit down. Thanks. Well, I see you escaped the Wilder ranch without loss of life or limbs. Yeah, I made it all right. Nobody was there. Perhaps you were lucky. Did you talk to Crutchfield? Who? Crutchfield, Prosecutor. Oh, I didn't even know who he was. No, I haven't seen him. Would you like a whiskey? Yeah, thanks. I think I could stand one. Good. Well, I went to see Alma Wilder. Oh, what's the matter with her? Just what do you Mean? Oh, will you take this neat? Yeah, that'll be fine. I mean, how could any woman live like a prisoner with a man she hated for three years, wasn't it? Three years? This is 20th century. Nobody has to put up with anything like that. Why didn't she leave if it was that tough? Yeah. Thanks. I believe she did try to leave one other time and evidently was discouraged from trying again. At least that's what she told me. What, that she was beaten? It's hard to believe, I know that. So was the case that broke in the papers last year of the man who'd been locked in a room for 14 years. Remember? Yeah, that's right. Well, shall we toast the human race, Mr. Dollar? Let's not bother. Mr. Kendall, did you ever give a thought to the possibility that Alma Wilder could be innocent? What? I mean, actually innocent. That somebody else could have killed her husband. Mr. Dar, if you come into any information pertinent to this case, I want to know about it. Well, it's not quite information yet, but maybe it will be. What was it? Source? I can't tell you that now. Why not? Came to me in confidence. I've got to keep it that way. But I faced Alma with it. The way she reacted makes me think that there's something to it. What did you say to her? I asked her if somebody we don't know about got rid of her husband for us, how'd she answer? Naturally, she said no, and I don't believe it. Has anything you've learned pointed to the identity of this person? No. Until we can be more specific, this is worthless as testimony. Yeah, I know that. I'd give anything to produce a witness that would blast Crutchfield's case from here to the state capitol. But there's too much to hope for from here. Who knows? But her confession, a signed statement, a matter of record. Obviously, you're going to follow it up. Oh, sure. I'll have to. Now, would there be any way to keep the whole thing confidential without interfering with your work, Corvus? I don't know. We'd have to see, of course. Well, that's too much to hope for. Won't start empanelling a jury until day after tomorrow at the earliest. If you're making any progress and need more time, let me know. I can delay that. All right, I will. You ought to be congratulated, Mr. Dollar. However you came about this possibility, case of plain fool luck is a matter of fact. No, don't say that. You put us in the back seat a Greenhorn. We Westerners don't like that, you know. I turned in early, and the next morning I looked up the arresting officer in the Wilder case. The man who had supervised what little work had been done on it as not only a greenhorn, but a johnny come. Lately, I expected a lot less cooperation than I got. Well, I'll be dang. I don't know what to make of that. She's a queer one, all right, but I never thought of nothing like that. Maybe there isn't a thing to it, but. How did she act that night? Well, she was kind of numb when I got out there. Acted dazed. She didn't talk till the next morning. Russell, that's the brother, says he was an eyewitness. His wife didn't see nothing. And an old timer that works out there says he didn't either. I suppose it's pretty late to run a paraffin test on her, isn't it? Well, we can try. I don't hold much by them myself. When you're trying to prove somebody didn't fire a gun when you want to know, did they? Then they're all right, I guess. We'll test her, though. And the rifle? Yep. I'll send that back through again. Got her prints off of it, but we'll see what else. I know this is a lot of trouble. No, we need nothing. We don't get many like this. And to tell you the truth, I sort of enjoy trying to work out these things. It was about a quarter after 10 when I turned into the Wilder ranch road. Passing the outbuildings. I looked for but didn't see. The old man Schramm, who'd been there the day before. You got business here, mister? Yeah. Are you Russell Wilder? I don't remember asking you to come. I don't do business with anybody I don't know. I think you better get back in your car and drive on out. I think you'll Talk with me, Mr. Wilder. What about? The Britannia Life Insurance Company sent me out. A few things to take care of on your brother's policies. You aren't the salesman we bought from. No. I came out from Hartford, Connecticut. Why'd you come all the way from there? There's quite a bit of money involved. Company wants to be sure everything's in order. Jarvis and I kept our own books. Everything's in order? Yes. Seem to be a few loose ends to take care of. Not that I know about. I understand you saw your brother's wife kill him. I saw it. That's what you told the police. But it's not true. Maybe I didn't hear you. Sometimes it doesn't do any good to throw your weight around. No matter what kind of reputation you got for being rough. This is one of those times wireless. So take it easy. And you better get out of here. Get off my land. You can put me off. It won't do you any good. Murder doesn't brush off that easy. And you're in this one up to your neck. Say what you gotta say. I said it. You didn't see your brother get killed. You know it. And the police are working now to prove it. I saw it. What were you doing outside at 11 at night? Didn't the sound of the shot bring you out? She killed him. It's not the open and shut case you thought they had against her. Why did you lie about seeing her shoot him? Didn't make any difference. I do things the way I think they ought to be done. You got no right to ask me questions. I don't have to ask you anymore. I found out all I want. Yeah? Wait a minute. Let go of me. What do you want? She killed him. It was the same as if I saw her. I know she killed him. No, they don't. She said she didn't. Now they want to find out why she said it. She's not the only one in the picture anymore. You're in it too. You could have done it. Kill my own brother? Your reputation says you could have. You're mean, full of hate. Both of you seem to get a lot of satisfaction out of kicking your wives around. If that's what passed for love in your marriages. What can you expect people to think about the association between you and Jarvis? You don't kill your brother. Why not? For the insurance money and the ranch. I'll kill you if you don't stop talking like that. You know, Wilder, I think you would. I guess that tells me everything I wanted to know. How are you? I'm all right. Just been out to the ranch. I'll never see it again. And I finally met your brother in law. Or him again. How did you happen to marry Jarvis? Because my friends were all married. I wanted to be. I was dumb enough to believe his promises. He could be different when he wanted to be. A long time ago, anyway. The rifle you shot him with, was it his? Yes. But you knew where he kept it? Yes. In the bedroom. He kept it loaded? Yes. And you took it when you tried to sneak out of the house? Yes. I had my mind made up. To kill him? This time if he tried to stop me, he was asleep. And you got up and got dressed? Shirt, Levi's and some shoes. He didn't wake up while you were dressing, what have he had? Were you near the rifle? Yes. Was there a cartridge in the chamber? I don't know very much about them. I think so. You ever shot the rifle before? One like it? A long time ago. How did you cock the rifle? With a lever or with a hammer? What? When you shot him, did you cock the rifle with the hammer or the lever? I'm not sure now. What difference does it make? A lot of difference. You'd cock it one way if a cartridge was in the chamber and the other way if you had to bring one up from the magazine. You know that? Yes. Well, which way? I don't remember. And it doesn't make any difference. Yes, it does. One way would have left an ejected cartridge on the ground and the police would have found it. They didn't ask me these questions. They didn't have any reason not to believe your confession. It's true. Did Russell see you kill your husband? Yes. Did he tell the police he saw you? Yes. He said she killed my brother. I'm a witness. I saw her. He said that? He was lying, wasn't he? No. He saw me. He told me he was lying. No, he didn't. He saw me stop him. He didn't see you. He didn't see you because you didn't kill him. I did. Did Russell kill him? Did he? He could have. Come on, tell me the truth, Alma. I can't stand it. I can't stand it. Tell me the truth. Mr. Dollar. Huh? What is it? Officer Dandy sent word. He wants you to come over. Can it wait? He says it's mighty important, and you better come. All right. It wouldn't have to be so rough, you know. El, what was it? Do you know? I'm not certain. Something about the rifle they was working on. I think we did her, Dollar. I think we did her. I hope so. Here, look right here. Now, this is the murder weapon. Been bothered a lot. But look at that butt plate. Yeah. Jammed into the ribbing on the plate and into the indentations for the screw heads. More on the one side. We got that covered, too. You told me how she was lying with her feet towards the deceased. Yeah, well, that figures in, too. And I called back the coroner about some marks they found in Jarvis's arm. Teeth mark, Harry. See? Done a lot of work, Dandy. Next time I won't wait. Anyhow, we didn't have a marlin rifle like the. But it didn't make no difference. We took one of our Winchesters out on some dirt. We sort of guessed at the angle to get more dirt onto one half of the plate than the other. Like that marlin has in it. That's it, Dandy. You've got it? Yeah. We jammed the stock on the ground and pulled the trigger. The recoil pushed the butt plate into the ground. And we got dirt in it. About the same as the marlin. That's good work. Say, could we phone Mitchell Kendall? I. I promised him he'd be in on this. Officer Dandy and I waited 20 minutes for Kendall outside Alma Wilder's cell and we went in without him. It took her a while to realize how much we knew now about what had happened. Why do you want to keep on saying that, Ms. Wilder? It ain't true. It can't be. You didn't know anything about that rifle. You didn't have it when you left the house. Jarvis had it when he came out after you, didn't he? I'm scared. I don't know what happened. We can tell you. He tried to stop you outside with a rifle. It was cock. I don't know. We do, Alma. He tried to stop you and you bit him. He threw you with one arm and the rifle fell from the other. Went off when it hit the ground. Everything fits in. You were lying in such a way you couldn't have shot him and got there. Nothing you can say now will change it. We know what happened. It's true, isn't it? Yes. Yes, it's true. Why didn't you tell us? You made a false confession and stuck with it. What made you do that? What were you afraid of? Were you afraid of Russell? I was afraid I'd have to go back to that house. You mean it's better to go to prison? Yes. I wouldn't have died for it, would I? I will now. Why should you, Elna? What do you mean, he said I would? Russell said I would. He said you killed my brother. I'm a witness. I am a witness before the law. And if they don't kill you, I swear, no matter where you go, I will and they will. That's the kind of men they are when they say it. They can do anything. Oh, please. Please, you've got to let me stay here. Expense account. Item 2. Miscellaneous. $185. Item 2. Same as item 1. Transportation back to Hartford. Expense account. Total, $540. Remarks no pleasant ones. The girl who'd reached the point where prison seemed better than what we call freedom is giving up both for a hospital where they hope she'll improve. It was truly Johnny Dol. Yours truly, Johnny dollar stars Edmund O'Brien in the title role and is written by Gil Dodd with music by Wilbur hatch. Edmund O'Brien's latest picture is the Paramount Picture production the Redhead and the Cowboy. Featured in tonight's cast were Parley Bear, Tim Graham, Bill Conrad, Herb Butterfield and Mary Lansing. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar is produced and directed by Jaime Del. This is Dick Cutting inviting you to join us next week at this time when Edmund O'Brien returns as yours truly, Johnny Dollar. There have been some changes made and it's faster, it's funnier, it's got new life and a brand new punch because Jan Murray's taken over. What show is this? Why? CBS Saturday night musical quiz. Sing it again. That hour of melody, mirth and money. That surgeon on most of these same CBS stations. Yes, Jan Murray is your new host. Be sure to hear the news. Sing it again with Jan Murray this evening on cbs. Stay tuned now for Vaughn Monroe's Caravan, which follows immediately on most of these same CBS stations. This is cbs, where you'll laugh at Jack Benny every Sunday night. The Columbia Broadcasting Gun Smoke brought to you by Chesterfield, America's most popular two way cigarette. What a pair. Chesterfield kingsize at the new low price Chesterfield regular around Dodge City and in the territory on West. There's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with a U.S. marshall and the smell of gun smoke. Gun Smoke Starring William Conrad. The transcribed story of the violence that moved west with young America and the story of a man who moved with it. I'm that man, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal. The first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It's a chancy job and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely. It was a hard two day ride back from Fort Wallace where I'd gone on government business. And I was pretty saddle weary when I reached Dodge late the second night. So I went straight to bed without seeing anybody. I'd been gone a couple of weeks, but I'd wired Chester a few days before when to expect me back. And he wasn't surprised when I walked into the office next morning. I figured you'd rode in last night sometime, Mr. Dillon, but I didn't want to bother you. Bother me? Why? Was there trouble last night, Justin? No, sir. But everybody was sort of expecting You. Oh, where was you yesterday, anyway? I mean, where'd you ride from? Bonnie Creek. I camped at Rocky Bend. Oh, Rocky Bend's a good camp. I remember it. Oh, I meant to tell you, Mr. Dillon. They hung up a new sign at the Texas Trail across the street there. Come on over here at the window and you can see it. Well, I'll look later, Chester. I'd like to go through my mail now, Chester. Well, now, who's that? What about four men just pulled up in a wagon right out in front there. They're getting down. Hey, they're heading this way. I don't believe I know any of them. Well, let them in anyway, huh, Chester? Oh, yes, sir. Come in, gentlemen. Come in. Where's Marshall Dillon? He's just sitting right there at his desk. Mr. Marshall. I'm Red Samples. Hello. These other men here work for me. Except him. Huggins, come up here. This is Jim Huggins. Marshall Huggins. Hello, Marshall. There's another man laying in the back of the wagon out there, Marshall. He's been shot. Did you say shot? That's what I said. Oh, well, then I better run upstairs and get Doc Adams. I'll be back, Mr. Dillon. Doc Adams ain't gonna do him any good. No. That man's dead, Marshall. He's been dead since yesterday morning. Who is he? Lou Price. Lou Price? That's right. Same man you ran out of town about a month ago. You were pretty mad at him, the way I heard it. Yeah, I was. He tried to put a knife under me. Nobody saw him try. How do you know that? He told me. Lou Price was a sort of partner of mine, Marshall. Oh? Buying up cattle, Marshall? All over Kansas. Buy lots of them. They have me a big ranch when I'm through, up on Pawnee Creek. Well, that's fine. You were camped on Pawnee Creek night before last, weren't you, Marshall? Yeah, I was. At Rocky Bend. That's right. Hear that, men? The only reason I asked, Marshall, was that Jim Huggins happened to see you there. Is that so? I don't remember seeing him. Doesn't matter. He saw you. Tell him, Huggins. It was him, all right. That's where Lou Price was shot, Marshall. At Rocky Bend. Poor Lou. He never had a chance. He wasn't even armed. Happened yesterday morning. I seen the whole thing, Huggins. Tell us who killed Lou. He did what you did, Marshall. Here's a man. I saw you shot him, all right. What's your game, Samples? I've got no game. My partner was murdered. You had a grudge against him just admitted before witnesses you were at Rocky Bend. Jim Huggins has identified you as the man he saw kill Luke. It's good enough evidence for any court of law. You'll hang for it, Marshall. You got it all figured, haven't you? We're going down right now and swear it out legal on paper. Then I'm going to send it to the Governor. Don't you try to get away, Marshall. We'll run you down. Sure. Yeah, I expect you would, Sentles. Your men look like professional gunmen. Except for Huggins, they're. I never saw Huggins till he run into us yesterday. I don't bear you no grudge, Marshall. I'm only trying to do what's right. Sure, sure. Yeah. All right, let's get going, men. Sooner I get this to the Governor, the sooner we'll see justice done. Remember what I said, Marshall. Don't you try to run. What a pair. What a buy they're talking about King size Chesterfield at the new low price and Chesterfield regular. They're the quality twins. Either way you like them. You get the same highest quality, the same low nicotine, the same wonderful taste and mildness. A refreshing smoke every time. Yes, the Chesterfield you smoke today is the best cigarette ever made. And it's America's most popular two way cigarette. So buy a carton today. King size Chesterfield at the new low price or Chesterfield regular. What a pair they are. They satisfy millions. They're best for you. I'll say one thing for Red samples. He had about as good a case against me as I'd ever heard of against any man. And there was nothing I could do about it but wait and see what happened next. Meantime, he spread the word around Dodge and people began looking at me like I was a white buffalo. I guess it wasn't often I had a US Marshall walking around with a murder charge against him. But finally one night a couple of weeks later, something did happen. I was sitting with Kitty watching the crowd at the Texas trail. I'll fetch a drink, Matt. No, thanks, Kitty. You're expecting trouble of some kind, aren't you? Seems to me I got enough trouble already. I know, Matt, I. I hate to say it, but I think half the people in Dodge believe you're guilty. Yeah, sure. And the other half just doesn't care one way or the other. Well, I don't think you are. Don't you? Of course I don't. Then why don't we talk about something else? You're edgy. Sure I'm edgy. I stay that way to keep from falling asleep all the time. Now don't get all riled up. I didn't mean anything. I'm sorry, Kitty. I guess this business is getting on my nerves after all. Well, I should think it would. Why don't you go and get good and drunk, Forget the whole thing that way. Kitty, if I ever got drunk, I could name you 10 men right here in Dodge who'd cut cards for the honor of shooting me down. Mr. Dillon. Hello, Miss Kitty. Evening, Chester. Sit down. Thank you. I've been down to church Telegraph Office, Mr. Dillon. Oh, any news? Yes, sir, but you won't like it. Here it is, sir. A telegraph from Washington, dc. How do you know I won't like it? Well, you see, I was standing there when he was writing it out and I couldn't help watching him work and all that. I don't want to read it, Chester. You tell me what it says, huh? Well, if it's from the War Department and it says they heard from the Governor and. Well, you better read it, Mr. Dillon. No, you're doing fine. Go ahead. Well, you're suspended. What? You're suspended from U.S. marshal, Mr. Dillon. And to make it legal and formal like they're sending somebody to arrest you and take you up to Hayes City for trial. I don't believe it neither. D. Miss Kitty. But that. That's what it says. It's the only way they see how to clear this up proper. Evening, villain. Miss Kitty. Oh, I see. Chester beat me back for the news. What? How'd you know about this sample? I'm just as interested in this business as you are, Chester. So I sort of talked the clerk into giving me a copy of that telegram after you'd left. Well, you got no doubt. It's okay, Chester. It doesn't matter. Dylan Dodge is going to breathe a lot easier now that you're suspended. He won't be around as Marshall. I'm still around, Samples. But you're not Marshall anymore. You won't be around for long anyway. Tell me something, Samples. Sure. With me out of office, are you going to be breathing easier too? I'll tell you, Dylan, there are two reasons I'll be glad to see you hang. One is for murdering my partner. And the other. Well, I always heard you were too strict here. And I like to do a little gambling now and then. Oh. In fact, I'm thinking of running a few tables myself. I see. More fun without some hard nosed law man looking over your shoulder all the time. You understand? Yeah. Yeah, I understand. Well, I'll see you at the trial. I hope I'm around when they come to arrest you, Dylan. You probably will be. So long. What's he talking about? Mr. Dillon, you're being too. Why, there's plenty of gambling going on in Dodge right now. Not his kind of gambling, Chester. What do you mean? Well, he told me he's buying up cattle and getting himself a big ranch. But he's probably going to finance it from his gambling. And that takes a lot of money. Sure, steady money. And I've always run crooked gamblers out of Dodge. Map, what are you going to do? I don't know, Kitty. I'd sure like to have a talk with that witness of theirs, Jim Huggins. Oh, why don't you? Well, I can't find him. I got him hit out someplace. Matt, is there something I can do? No, nothing, Kitty Bad. Thanks anyway. Well, There she comes, Mr. Dillon, right on time. There are not many people at the depot this morning, are there? No, sir. But anyway, I'm glad I talked you into walking down here with me. There is just nothing pleasures me more than watching a train come in. At least it doesn't cost anything. My, I'd like to drive one of them. Wouldn't you, Mr. Dillon? Ah, they're too noisy for me, Chester. Hello, Mike. Hello, John. Maybe if I talked to the San people they'd let me try it sometime. You think? Hey, wait a minute. What? Over there. Just getting off. The man with the long hair. Well, I'll be. It's Wild Bill Hickok. It sure is. Hey, Bill. Hey, Bill. Hello, Matt. How are you, Phil? How are you, Chester? Fine, Mr. Higok, just fine. That's quite a surprise. Why didn't you let me know you were coming? I didn't know myself till just before I left Abilene. How is Abilene these days? Well, I'm still sheriff there. Guess I will be till somebody gets around to shooting me. Ah, nobody's gonna shoot you, Mr. Hickok. They keep trying, Chester. They keep missing too, don't they, Bill? Well, so far. Maybe that's just because nobody's tried to shoot me in the back yet. You've always worried about that, haven't you? I'll tell you something, Matt. What? I don't think I'd mind so much if I was to be shot by a man like you. By me? You might take it in mind to try it. I never could tell which way he was going to jump next. Like right now. Wait a minute. Yeah? You came here to arrest Me, didn't you? That's what I come for. Yeah, sure. They might have known they wouldn't send a 10 horn. Guess they figured you might not. Take easy, Matt. I tried to tell them they could lose. Good lawman. This way we're a pretty fair match, you and me. Yeah, hell, we are. Well, it's your play, Bill. No, I guess that can wait a while. Okay. I'm still on salary, man, so let's go have ourselves a drink. Good. You too, Chester. Thank you. I'd be right proud to, Ms. Hickok. I figure if I get a couple of drinks in your mat, I might worm your side of this business out of you. Why, Bill, don't you believe their side? Well, I've seen you pretty mean and ornery, but even if I was to watch you judged and hung for it, I still wouldn't believe Matt Dillon killed an unarmed man. Thanks, Bill. That girl headed this way, ain't that Kitty? Yes, sir, it sure is. Matt, I've been looking everywhere for you. Well, it's Bill Hillock. Hello, Kitty. How are you? I'm fine. What are you doing in Dodge? Well, I sort of. Come on. You said you were looking for me, Kitty. Matt, I know where he is. Where who is? The witness they've been hiding. Jim Huggins. Huh? Well, where is he? Red Samples was in the Texas Trail drinking last night, and the bartender heard him tell one of his gunmen to take some food out to the loft at the OK Stable. Bill, you know, while you're buying me a drink, I think I kind of like to buy Kitty one. Later on, back at my office, I explained the situation to Bill Hickok and we talked it over. Then we sat around the rest of the day talking about old times and people and horses and guns. And along about evening, we went up and laid out our plan to Doc Adams. As soon as it got dark, we went over to the OK Stable and took Jim Huggins out of the loft and got him across the street and up the doc's office before he was real sure what was happening. Put him on the couch there, gentlemen. We want him to be comfortable. What are you doing with me? Move, Huggins. Do what Doc says over here. Yeah, that's fine, Huggins. Now then, you just relax. When's Chester going to get here? He'll be along. Bill. Bill. Huh? Who are you? I never seen you before, Mister, you're going to see me double before the night's out. Never mind, Huggins. You'll find out. Now then. Now you tell me. Have you ever had any heart trouble? Heart trouble? Yes. You ever have dizzy spells? Faint? Have to lie down suddenly or anything like that? Well, a horse kicked me in the head once. Made me awful dizzy. I'm asking about your heart, not your brains. I don't want anybody to die here, and business is bad enough as it is. What are you going to do with me? What's this all about? Oh, over here, Chester. I got it. I got plenty. That's good. Just put them on the table here, Chester. Ah, let's see. Three quarts. Well, this is a man we're working on, not an elephant, Chester. Well, I wanted to be sure there was enough. Doc, open one up in Chester. There's a glass here. Yes, sir. Here you are, Mr. Dillon. Yeah. What is that? What are you doing? It's nothing but good whiskey, Huggins. And for once in your life, you're gonna drink all of it you want. Maybe a little more. Here. Oh, no, I don't want to drink all that whiskey, Marshall. I couldn't hold all that. Now you can drink it slow, Huggins. Bet you're gonna drink it now. Go on. Go on. We will return for the last act of gun smoke in just a moment. They've got the taste and they've got mildest. Millions all agree they're low in nicotine and they're the highest quality. 30 years research went into this great cigarette. So here is all you say to get the finest smoking yet. Chester feels for me. Chester feels for me. You just say it's Chesterfield for me. Remember, friends, Chesterfield is tested and approved by 30 years of scientific tobacco research for the taste and mildness you want. Next time say Chesterfield's for me. Buy a carton of King size Chesterfield at the new low price or Chesterfield regular. What a pair they are their best for you. Yeah, sure. You got it all, Bill? Just about, man. There. There she is. Want to read it over? Oh, you heard everything I did. Well, gentlemen, your friend Huggins has got one of the biggest hangovers coming up any man will have to endure. Is he still out, Doc? Yes. It won't hurt him any, though. I sent Chester out for some coffee. Well, I could use a little coffee myself, Doc. There'll be enough. Oh, say, wasn't it something how that Huggins talked once he got started? I told you, you get enough whiskey in the man and he'd start bragging. Well, you were sure right, Doc. He's not going to feel so big and smart when he wakes up. I don't know. The man was awful drunk he may not even remember what he said. You'll remember when we tell him. We even know where he hid the money Red Samples paid him. Yeah, that's Samples. Imagine him shooting his own partner. Well, he's smart, Doc. You shoot your partner, you get his half, don't you? That's a fine way for a law man to be talking. You mean an ex lawman, don't you? You know, Bill, I'm just starting to get mad about all this. Come on, let's get going. Oh, Matt, you calm down the spell. We gotta get hugging as the sign. All I got wrote down here first, Doc. How long it'll be before he'll know what he's doing? Oh, maybe. Maybe five, six hours. Look, Bill, you do what you like, but I'm going after Samples before he finds out his witness is missing. Don't seem quite legal till we get Huggins signature. Maybe not, but my arrest in Samples isn't going to be quite legal. Anyway, I'll arrest him. No, you won't, Bill. He's mine. All right, man, but I'm coming along. Okay, let's just stay out of it, Matt. Once you get your tail up and your stinger out, you're the hardest man to stop I ever saw. Man, I've been thinking. Supposing we hadn't got Huggins to talk. What had you done then? You mean what? I have caught you when you tried to arrest me. It's been on my mind, son. I wouldn't have fought you because we're a good match for each other. I'll fight any man alive if I think I'm in the right. Of course, I don't know. You ever been afraid of anything? I've been afraid lots, lots of times, Bill. And so have you. Well, maybe. I guess I worked on the side of the law too long to go against it just because I'm the one that's caught. Well, here's the Olanza. Happy in here. Which one? Samples, man. The end of the bar. The one in the middle. The other two are his gunman. Come on, Samples. Samples, I'm taking you to jail. You gone crazy, Dylan? You're the one that's going to jail. It's no use, Samples. Jim Huggins has confessed the whole deal. What? You killed Low Price. And you to testify that I did it. You paid him $500 and promised him another 500 after the trial. He's lying. Who's going to believe that? I believe it. And don't look at your hired help. They're not Going to get you out of this. You can't throw anybody in jail, Dylan. You ain't a marshal anymore. No, that's not stopping me. It ain't legal. Wait a minute, gentlemen. It's true. Matt Dillon ain't a marshal right now. But I'm making this arrest and I'm deputizing him to help me. Who are you? Sheriff, up at Abilene. Samples, I want them two hound dogs of yours to move a little to one side where I can keep an eye on them. Easier forgetting it's three against two. That's fair enough odds for us. Start shooting out, though. There's no need for killing. I want these men alive. You ain't taking me alive, Dylan. You, nor Hickok, nor anybody else. I ain't going to hang. Drop your gun belt, Samples. Why, we just might be lucky enough to kill you. Take Dylan first, men, and then go for hock. Wait. Samples. Now. All right. What about you two? They never moved a finger, Matt. They're too scared. All right, you gunman. Pick up Samples and carry them out of here. Aren't you going to take their guns first, men? You don't hobble a horse with a busted leg, though. Let them keep their gun. Later, Hickok and I decided to run Jim Huggins and Samples, two gunmen out of town. And the way they took off, we figured they reached California before they stopped to breathe. The next day, Bill went back to Abilene and took Huggins confession with him. And a week later I had a wire of apology from the Governor. Washington took a little longer. They just sent me my regular paycheck. With the time of my suspension carefully deducted, which left me almost enough money to pay for the liquor I'd poured into Jim Huggins. Here is our star, William Conrad. I'd just like to repeat what George Feniman told you earlier. The Chesterfield you smoked today is the best cigarette ever made. I hope you'll try them regular or king size. I'm sure you'll find Chesterfield his best for you. Guns Folk, produced and Directed by Norman McDonald. Stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. marshal. Tonight's story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Neston with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Featured in the cast were John Danar, Vic Perrin and James Nusser. Parley Baer As Chester, Howard McNear as Doc and Georgia Ellis as Kitty. Join us again next week as Matt Dillon, U.S. marshal, fights to bring law and order out of the wild violence of the West. In Gun Smoke Filter Tip Smokers. This Is it L and M filters? At last, a filter tip cigarette with much more flavor, much less nicotine. L and M's miracle tip contains alpha cellulose for effective filtration. It's the filter that counts. And L and M has the best. Yes, this is it. As Patricia Morris puts it, l and M filters are just what the doctor ordered. Buy L and M filters the light and mild smoke. Without your letters, your friend in the service feels out of touch, lonely, and it's tough to be lonesome. The USO knows a letter always makes a fellow feel better. Mail from you brings the warmth of home and friends to him wherever he is. So write today. Remember, it's tough to be left out at mail call next. Next week at the same time, Chesterfield will bring you another transcribed story of the Western Frontier on Gunsmoke. This is the CBS Radio Network. Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Dragnet, you're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail. You get a call to investigate unknown trouble. The caller gives no indication of what's wrong. Your job. Check it out. It was Saturday. July 18th. Was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the day. Watch out. A homicide detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Warman. My name's Friday. We're on our way back from questioning a suspect. And it was 10:56am when I got back to our car. Unit one. Did you get me a pack, too? Yeah. Here you are. Thanks. Hey, Joe. Huh? Wonder if you'd do me a favor. I just did. I bought you a pack of cigarettes. No, something else. Well, I've been thinking about taking a sergeant's exam. See if I can crack it this time. Yeah, I figure I got about six months before they're gonna hold them again. Gives me plenty of time to get ready. A lot of work. You don't have to really hustle the books, you know. Yeah, I know. I talked to Fay about it last night. Got it all squared away. The in laws aren't going to come out this year. That's what loused me up last year. It is, huh? Sure, Joe. You know, our house, we had army cops all over the place. Kids running around screaming. Nobody can study like that. You're going to be able to work out the classes? Well, I'm going to have to. I sure use the extra money. Plan me like to do work on the house. About the only way we can do it until I make sergeant. Well, what do you want Me to do? Well, I wonder if you kind of helped me out along the way. You made it tell me what to do and what to watch out for. Well, I'll do what I can for you, but there isn't anybody who can make it for you besides yourself, you know? Yeah, I know that. But just as long as you're in my corner, old buddy, I'll be in your corner. Attention all units. You better get the help. All units at 5291 La Miranda Street. Investigate unknown trouble. That's at 5291 La Miranda Street. Investigigate unknown trouble. Car 11F93, take the call. Code three. KMA 367. Ms. Miranda. Now, isn't it here? Yeah. 6100 block. We must have just passed the place. I didn't see anything. Did you? Me either. It's code three. It's important. Make a U and we'll go back and check it out. Right. It should be up here on the right. Mm. 5800 a couple blocks up there. Take it easy. You should be in here. Yeah. Doesn't look like there's any trouble. Think this is it. You want to pull up? Yeah, at the back of the court. 5291. There's nothing going on. Yeah, well, maybe I better verify that address, huh? Yeah. 1K8 0 to Control 1. Control 1 to 1K8 0. Go ahead. Would you repeat the address on the call to La Miranda Street? Stand by one. Katie, see anything? No, that's probably some kids having a time. Yeah. Control one to one K80. That address is 5291 La Miranda. 5291 La Miranda. Roger, control one one K80, code six at that address. KMA 367. Well, this is it. We better check it out, huh? Well, there's nothing wrong here. Doesn't look like it. Is it? There's somebody back there. Joe. See him at the window? Get out. Thanks. How about it? I don't know. One thing's sure. Yeah? They didn't send for it. The five units of the court were arranged in the shape of a U.5291 was the building at the far end. In the center, running between the two wings, was a grass. Large palm trees were growing at either end. And there was a wrought iron table and four chairs in the center of the area. From what we could see of the building the shot had come from. The only door was the one facing us. Frank and I ducked over to the left side of the court to the unit occupied by the manager. We waited on the porch until the felony car that had been assigned to the call arrived. While the officers from the unit covered the house Frank and I went to the manager's place and talked to him. He identified himself as Marshall Rice. He appeared to be nervous and upset. I don't know why it should be so tough. You get him out of there. That's all I care about. Just get him out of. What'd you say the man's name was? Dudley Gray. You the one who called the police? Yeah. I called him right after he took the first shot. I wasn't gonna wait around for no repeat performance. You have any idea why he's doing this? Only one that makes any sense. What's that? He's wigged, sir. Flipple. He's gone. Straight up. Did you talk to him this morning? Yeah. Went back there about 8:30. Wanted to get some things straightened out. Then had a cup of coffee with him. Charlotte. Who's Charlotte? His wife. Real doll. She sure don't deserve to come up with a flip like him. How do you see him then? You mean when I talked to him? That's all right. All right. I didn't notice anything. If I had, I'd have called you then instead of waiting for this to happen. What'd you talk about? Different things. We've been planning on doing a little remodeling. You know, painting papers. Yeah, Dudley's been helping me. Lost his job a couple of months ago. Since then, he's just been sitting around watching the tv, doing liquor work. So I asked him to give me a hand with a redecorating. Guy's already six weeks behind in his rent. Just goes to show, huh? Will you try to be nice to a guy? Try to give him a hand? What happens? He kicked you? He's no good. He's no good at all. We'll find out when he comes out. You'll see then. How long have they lived here? It's been a couple of years. You need the exact date they moved in? No, sure. Not right now. You ever had any trouble with them before this? Nothing like this, that's for sure. But you have had trouble, huh? Well, sure. Just try to live together and not have a little beef. Now, what were the disagreements about? Different things. Sounds kind of silly when you talk about him. Well, might help us get him out if we knew what caused this. Well, like, he likes one baseball team, I like another. He don't like to fish, I don't like to hunt. Things like that, lay them out in the sun, they just dry right up. Silly little thing. Anything else? Well, guess you might as well tell you. You'll find out anyway. What's that? Oh, Dudley thought there was something between Charlotte and me. Of course there wasn't. But you just couldn't convince him he was off base. Wasn't anything could convince them. He said something about that this morning. Did he? Yeah. We were just sitting there talking about how he ought to help me out with a painting. Charlotte said he should. All of a sudden he got this kind of wild look in his eye. Told me he knew all about me and his wife. That I wasn't fooling anybody. Well, we just sat there. He didn't know what to think. Picked up his coffee cup and flung it across the room. Smacked it against the wall. Coffee all over the place, streaming down the walls. Ruined the paint. Told me to get out of the house and leave Charlotte alone. Said if he ever saw me talking to her again, he'd make me sorry I did. What about his family? Now, are they in the house? I'm pretty sure they ain't. Charlotte took the kids and left right after I did. I saw them walk. Hot. You know where they went? I can't help you there. Does she have any people or friends in the neighborhood here? Nothing I ever heard. Got a sister down National City, but I don't think she went there. Why say that? Didn't have no grips. She'd have gone there. She'd have taken clothes for the kids. Didn't have no grips when she left. Pretty sure she didn't go in National City. But you don't know where we can find her, huh? Not the least. Might have gone to a show till Dudley calms down. How do you figure to get him to come out? I would try to talk to him first. Reason with him. That ain't gonna do it. He hasn't got any reason left to do a thing like this. Well, we gotta try. You're gonna have to kill him. You just wait and see. That's the only way you're gonna get him out. Shoot the house full of holes and hope he gets in the middle. That's the only way we hope. Then you'll see something else you ought to know. Yeah, what's that? That gun he's got, the.22 rifles he's got a real thing about guns. Big collection. Rifles, pistols, automatics. A whole bunch of them. And they all work. We got a description of Dudley Gray and we called it into R and I. We Found that he had no record in our files. We got in touch with Captain lman and filled him in. We requested that additional teams of men be dispatched with tear gas equipment and shotguns. The men from the felony unit covered the back of the house while Frank and I covered the front. All of the other tenants of the court were instructed to stay indoors. 11:14am With Frank standing by, I went up to the porch to try and talk to Gray. Gray. Gray, I want to talk to you. I got nothing to say to you. Why don't you put the gun down? Come on out here. You try to take this place, I'll kill you all. No reason for that. I know who you are. You don't have to try to kid me. I know you the police officers, Gray. We want to help you. Yeah, you don't have to lie. You just want me to open the gates and let you and the rest of men here. Well, you go back and tell the chief I won't do it. All right. Come on out here, Gray. Put the gun down. Let's talk it over. I'm telling you, I got nothing to say. I'm sneaking around here trying to get me to let you in. Soon as you're inside, you bring the place down. Run off all the horses. Run off what? Yeah, I chew the KG one. Well, it won't work. Told you I know who you are. You go tell the chief that it didn't work. Not one Indian's getting in here. Not one. I'm going to defend this fort till the cavalry gets here. They'll show you division on the way. Right now, Gray, come on out here. We're on your side. We want to help you. That's a lie. You got different clothes on, but I still recognize you. You were scouting around here last week. I remember. Now you get out of here. Come on, Greg, give us a break. Let's talk it over, Joe. Right with you. What about it? I don't know. He thinks he's in a fort. Told me he thought I was an Indian. You heard him. Yeah, I heard. From what the landlord. Says he can hold out in there as long as he wants. Yeah, Maybe if we could find his wife, we might be able to come up with the answer. All right. I'll check with the rest of the neighbors, see if they can tell us anything. Yeah, I'll go on back and try to talk to him. Wait a minute. Take it easy, Joe. He sounds pretty sick. Check the boys in the back, will you? And see if there's any way of getting to them from there. Right. I see you out there. I see. And I don't try anything. I'm ready for you. Sure you are, Gray. We couldn't put anything over on you. You bet you can. I'm too smart for you. How long you think it'll be before the cavalry gets here, Gray? Good ride in a couple of days. Left Tucson day before yesterday. Should be here day after tomorrow. Sure going to fix up the Indians then, won't you, Gray? Yeah. Going to make them sorry you ever tried this. Gray, how about letting us fight on your side? We'd sure like to be with you. You mean that? Sure. We'd like to be with a smart fellow like you. Not kidding. Nope. Not gonna know if I can trust you. You can. I couldn't do anything that would hurt you. No, I suppose not. Okay. Come on in. I can use somebody to watch if the Indians start using fire arrows. Come on in. Okay. I'll keep you covered. As soon as you get here, I'll take the bar off the gate. All right, hurry up. Them Indians see you. They'll be all in here. Want to open the gate. Wait till you get a little closer. Can't take any chances. Almost there. Gray, you better open the door. Get us a little closer. Time to go. Fool me. Well, it didn't work, did it? Didn't work? You found out didn't work. When Gray fired at me, I dropped to the ground while Frank and the other officers returned the fire driving the man away from the window. 11:47am the additional men arrived from the office with tear gas equipment. It was distributed and we worked out a plan to take Gray. It was decided that two men would cover the right side of the house while another team covered the back. Frank and I would go around to the left side and fire tear gas shells into the building until Gray had to leave. 11:58am all of the officers were in position and Frank and I started to move in to use the tear gas gun. All right, that's enough of that. Just get out of there. Other buildings. Yeah, I see her. Just get out of that dark. Go on now. Out. Would you get back in the house, please? We don't know when to get hurt here. Then you just better get right out of my ex. You knock down one more bush and you're in trouble. You don't understand, ma'am. There's a man in that house and he's got a gun. I don't care about Mr. Gray. What he does is his own business. I'm just telling you to get out of my flowers. All the year I've been worrying over trying to coax a blossom out of them. Now you come around here with your big feet and ruin it all. Sorry about that, but we have to get Gray out of that house. Then do it without stepping all over my flowers. You're a cop. You're supposed to know how to handle things like this. And look what you've done to my tuberous begonias. Three months I've been working with them. Just put them out last week and now look, they're all broken. You just ought to be ashamed of yourself. Big men like you doing a thing like this to my flowers. A shame. Look, ma'am, if we hurt your flowers, we're sorry, and you did. Think you better get inside now. Lady, are you telling me what to do? Yes, ma'am. That's a direct order. Yes, ma'am. All right, I'll go. But you just remember you ordered me to go. You're going to hear about this, young man. What's your number? What's the number on your badge? I intend to report you for this. You'll find out. For tubeless begonia, you'll find out. Now, what's your number? Frank, you want to handle it? Yeah. Come on, ma'am. We can talk right over here. Oh, you don't think you can soft throat me out of it? I'm gonna cause a lot of trouble. A lot of it. Nothing you can do to stop me. If you'll just go on inside. Well, I'll talk to you later. All right. But I'll be watching you. I'll be right here watching you. Well, there's one for you. Yeah. Well, let's get on this. Right. Think we'll need the mask? Well, we shouldn't out here. How's it look out front? It's all right. Glendo and Lamonica are out there. Yeah. Whenever you're ready, I should bring them out. I'll get another one ready. Better hold it up. Here comes McCready. Right. Hey, hold it up, Joe. What do you got? Jack just found out Gray's wife and kids are in there with him. Sergeant Jack McCready was standing by in the manager's office. When Mrs. Gray had telephoned from the house with the possibility that innocent people might be hit, we were unable to fire into the home. We met with Captain and discussed the methods we could use to get the woman and children out of the place. We worked out a plan. It would depend entirely on being able to talk to Mrs. Gray and explain what we were trying to do. Frank and I went to the manager's place and put in a call to the house. How about it? Just starting to ring. Figure it'll work? I don't know. The only way we can make it go is to talk to the woman, explain the setup to her. Did you get in touch with the office about the doctor? Yeah. They're sending a psychiatrist out. You might be able to talk to Gray. I hope so. Anything? No. Looks like we're in trouble now. She won't answer the phone. You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. Without being able to talk to the woman, there was little chance that the plan for getting her and the children out of the house would work. 1:14pm A large crowd of people had gathered on the street in front of the court. Additional policemen from Metro Division had to be called in to control them. From time to time, Dudley Gray would scream something at the bystanders and fire into the crowd. So far, we've been able to keep the curious citizens back far enough so that none of them were hurt. But it was only a matter of time before our luck ran out. Meanwhile, we were still faced with the problem of first getting the wife and children out of the house before we could attempt to take the man himself. 1:29pm While Frank and Sgt. Jack McCready went around to the back of the house to ascertain the possibility of removing the family from that side, I again attempted to talk to Gray. Gray. Gray. Come on, Gray. We want to talk to you. I thought I killed you, Indian. Come on, Gray. We're police officers. We're trying to help you if you'll give us the chance. You expect me to believe that? The truth? Well, that's what you say. I'll give you something. What's that? You better get out of here and take your friends with you. Soon as the cavalry gets here, you're all gonna be in trouble. Now, come on, Gray. There isn't any cavalry. You're in Los Angeles. You're sick, Gray. We want to help you if you'll give us the chance. I don't need nothing from you. What about your wife and kids? You gonna have them hurt? They're all right. Nothing's gonna get to them. They're all right. They aren't gonna stay that way with you shooting that gun. Well, you let me worry about it. They're my family. No concern of yours. They're mine. You're gonna have them killed, are you? That's a lie. Why do you think I'm doing all this? It's for them, so they can get out of here. I want a bunch of Indians swarming all over the place. And for them, I'm doing it. Kind of hard to buy Gray. Hard to see what you're trying to protect him from. What do you think you are to tell me that? Don't you think I know what's going on all the time? Sitting in here looking at two people trying to take things away from me. You don't think I know what's going on, huh? Well, you just save your breath. Save everything. I know what's right. I know it and I'm doing it. Tell you what. Make a deal with you, Gray. What kind of deal can you make? Let your wife and kids come out. Let us take care of them. Give us a chance to prove that we're on your side. You can't catch me with that one again. You tried once before and it didn't work. Remember? You tried once before. We didn't cause you any trouble. I don't believe anything you say. Might as well save your breath. All you Indians are tricky. You're not fooling me. What about all the people out there in the street? What about us? You want to hurt them, too? Be real honest with you. One you got coming. But I'll be honest. All right. I don't much care. They're dumb enough to get caught in the middle of an Indian war. It's their tough luck. You've come close to shooting a couple of them, you know. Now tell them to go back to their homes. Leave the fighting to the men. Come on, Greg. Let's get together and talk things over out here. What do you say, Austin? Doing? You get me out of the fort and you'll try something. I'm not falling for that. What? And what are you trying to do? I don't know what you're talking about, Grace. I'll try that with me. You're trying to break into the back of the pipe. Well, it won't work. I'll take care of y'all. Joe. Joe, get out of there. All right. How about it? We're getting the gas equipment ready now. Yeah. Got his family out. While I'd kept Gray busy in front of the house, Frank and Jack McCready had gone around to the rear. They found the room where Mrs. Gray and the children were hiding. By breaking a window, they'd been able to remove them from the house. The children were taken to one of the neighbors. And Mrs. Gray was waiting for me in the manager's place. Outside, the members of Homicide detail were making preparations to get Dudley Gray out of the house. Thank God you got us out of there. I don't know how to tell you. It's all right now, Ms. Gray. The children, where are they? They're next door. Don't worry about it. What about Stubborn? What are you gonna do about him? Well, we're trying to get him to come out of the house. You're gonna have to shoot him. Well, that depends on how he wants it. Oh, he's sick, sergeant. You know that. He doesn't know what he's doing. Sure, we know it. But your husband's in there taking pot shots at anybody who comes near him. Only a matter of time before somebody gets so close he can't miss. Isn't there some way to get him to give up? You're a policeman. There things like this before. Seems like it'd be your job to get him out without hurting him. Well, we're trying. What caused this to happen? A lot of things, Sergeant. Well, Ms. Gray, if we knew what's wrong with him, it might help. Could you give us some kind of an angle on him? I don't know how long it's been building. Maybe a year, maybe longer. It's hard to say. Try to take care of the family, keep it together. Sometimes you don't see the sign. Yes, ma'am. It might be my fault. I guess it is. Just all of a sudden, things got too heavy for him to carry. We couldn't pay the bills, so I wouldn't answer the phone because I knew it was somebody wanting their money. I try to take it easy, mister. He didn't have any way to get the pressure off. No way at all. It finally got him. All right. Go ahead. You sure the children are all right? They're being taken care of? Yes, ma'am, they're fine. Are they having lunch? I couldn't fix anything. They haven't eaten since this morning. I'm sure they'll be. Alice is kind of picky with her food. Needs coaxing to eat. I'll be all right. Miss Gray, would you go on, please? Well, it finally broke this morning. Once it started, there wasn't anything we could do. Marshall came over. That's the manager? Yes. He came over to ask Dudley if he'd help with the painting. Mentioned that it'd be a way to pay some of the back rent. Didn't mean anything. Dudley just took it the wrong way. What's that Marshall told him about the rent. I said it was nice of him to give Dudley the chance to make it up. I didn't mean anything by it. Yeah. Nedley got up from the table and went into the living room and turned on the television. Didn't say a word to me. Just got up and walked out. Sat there watching a picture, one of those cowboy things. Just sat there and watched it? Yeah. Kids went in and tried to talk to him. So did I. Tried to bring him out of it. Didn't even know we were in the room. Just sat there and looked at the picture. Has your husband ever been under the care of a doctor? You mean for his mind? That's right. No, I was afraid to ask him. I should have, but it just seemed it mean another bill that was causing all the trouble. Anyway, I told you I was trying to believe that it wasn't anything serious, that it would go away. Yeah. It's been better to have them, Bill. Anyway, he sat there for a while. Then he just got up and walked to the closet. Picked up the rifle and told me and the kids to get into the back bedroom. Said that they weren't going to take the place. Did you know what he meant? No, not at first. I knew there was something wrong, but I didn't know it would be as bad as this. Is there anybody your husband's particularly fond of? We've been married for eight years, Sergeant. I guess I could qualify for that is what I mean. Ma'am, is there anyone that he'd listen to? A friend maybe a minister or a priest? No. Any friends he had have gone? They didn't understand his moods. There isn't anybody. All right, Ms. Brain. John, see you. Yeah. Excuse me. Yeah. Yeah. We ran out of time, huh? Gray just shot a cop. The officer was not seriously wounded. He was removed to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital for treatment. People in the adjoining units were evacuated. The streets were cleared as much as possible and the men were in position to move in. Frank, Jack MC and I were opposite the front door of the house. From Mrs. Gray, we learned that her husband had several hundred rounds of ammunition for the rifle that he was using. In addition to this, he had several handguns and ample shells for them. She told us that the other guns were located in a closet in the rear of the place. It was decided to pour tear gas into the back windows and try to keep Gray away from the other guns. Frank was armed with a sawed off shotgun loaded with double OD butts. McCre had a.45 caliber machine gun. The officers were in position and the signal was given. There go the gas gun. Yeah, he should be coming out pretty quick. Hope we can take them without killing them. We'll try. Gas is starting to come through the front windows. Go in. I quit. All right. Throw the gun out, Gray. Throw the gun out. Won't do it. Come on. Throw that gun out. He's down. Come on. You still got your gun. Is he dead? No. You better get an ambulance. I'll take care of it. Did he dead? Did you kill him? No, ma'am. Oh, D. I should have known. I should have seen. He's going to be all right, Mrs. Gray. The doctor's on the way. He didn't know what he was doing, that's all. He didn't know what he was doing was. Yes, ma'am. He knows we love him. That's all that counts. We love him and want to take care of him. He didn't think anybody cared for him. That's what was wrong. He just didn't know. Yes. Maybe when he gets well, you know, everybody wasn't against him. You know, people care. Don't you think that's all that's wrong? I wouldn't know, ma'am. But he took the hard way to find out. The story you just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On August 26, a preliminary hearing was held in the prison ward of the county hospital in and for the county of Los Angeles, State of California. Dudley Peter Gray was held to answer charges of assault with intent to commit murder. He was examined by three psychiatrists appointed by the court and found to be insane. He was confined to the state mental hospital at Camarillo for treatment. You have just heard Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. And starring Jack Webb, a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio.
- [152:30]
Jack
We just heard suspense tales of the Texas Rangers. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar, Gunsmoke and Dragnet. That will do it for this week's show. Thanks so much for joining me. I hope you'll be back next week for a pair of episodes. First Sunday will be a regular show, albeit a Halloween themed episode with some old time radio mysteries involving witches. Then next Wednesday, October 30th, Halloween Eve, I'll be sharing the annual down these Mean Streets Halloween special. If you're a longtime listener, you know that Halloween is my favorite holiday. And fortunately, there are a ton of old time radio show comedies, mysteries and thrillers that are perfect listening for this time of year. So every year, in honor of October 31st, I put together a king sized version of the podcast with a variety of shows that I hope will get you in the trick or treating spirit. In the meantime, you can check out Stars on Suspense, my other old time Radio podcast. New episodes of that show are out on Thursdays. If you like what you're hearing, don't be a stranger. You can rate and review the show in Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. And if you'd like to lend support to the show, you can visit buymeacoffee.com meanstotr next time, which witch is which? Until then, good night and happy listening.
- [154:10]
Vincent Price
SA and now, here is our star, Vincent Price. Ladies and gentlemen, In a prejudice filled America, no one would be secure in his job, his business, his church or his home. Yet racial and religious antagonisms are exploited daily by quacks and adventurers whose followers make up the irresponsible lunatic fringe of American life. Refuse to listen to or spread rumors against any race or religion. Help to stamp out prejudice in our country. Let's judge our neighbors by the character of their lives alone and not on the basis of their religion or origin.