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Tales of the Texas Rangers 50-04-13 Just a Number (Audition)
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Tales of the Texas Rangers 50-04-13 Just a Number (Audition)
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Bring along an American Express card to open the door to rewards wherever you go. Morning coffee, run with an old friend. Earn cash back. Weekend getaway. Earn miles. Dinner at the hottest restaurant in town. You get the idea, no matter the place or the plan. AMEX rewards your inner explorer. See if you pre qualify for an American Express card with no impact on your credit score. Learn more@americanexpress.com check 4 offers. Your credit score may be impacted if you accept a card. Terms apply. The Texas Rangers Texas Rangers first to advance. Last to Retreat, Texas. More than 260,000 square miles and 50 men who make up the most famous and oldest law enforcement body in North America. Now, from the files of the Texas Rangers come these stories based on fact Only Names, dates and places are fictitious for obvious reasons. The events themselves are a matter of record. To a Texas Ranger may go as many as four assignments a week. A case may lead him into the remotest corner of the plains or the crowded streets of the biggest cities. But wherever he goes, he commands respect. To Texans. His badge is the symbol of security. This is Ranger Jace Pearson. The case we call by just a number began on the morning of July 15th last year. The Stevens Ranch, located just about in the middle of Carson county, was where it started. Started when the Stevens kid, age 9, came running up the long drive to his house. Let me in. Mom. Mom. Billy, what's the matter? Billy. Mom, I. I saw it. I saw it. What did you see? Billy? Answer me, son. What's the matter? Carl. Carl. Carl was. And his mom and dad. Son, tell me what's wrong? Emmy. I know. Billy come running up. Pam. I don't know. Look at him, Billy. It's dead me son. Come on now. What's the trouble? Carl. Carl, I see. Talking about Kyle Evans. Is that right? Billy? What about Carl? Something's wrong with the Evans fleet. Take care of. I'm gonna ride over there. Graham Stevens saddle a horse and rode to the Evans ranch over three miles away. What he saw there made him call the sheriff, who arrived a half hour later. There. In here, Sheriff. All right, sir. This. This is what Billy saw, Kid all right. Hysterical when I left. Over here. Flatiron Sam. Yeah. Don't touch it. Grown Tom Evans was killed with it. And him the kid. Carl? Yeah. Little Carl. What kind of dirty who do a thing like this? Going be hard find out who did it. Hard? Y no telling when it happened. Oh yeah, I see. Reckon even autopsy won't tell much. Not in this case. Sheriff Larkins was right. The triple murder had been committed Too long before. No way of telling how long. The sheriff got in touch with the Rangers and Oz assigned to the case together. Sheriff Larkins and I went over the Evans place. There's the room. Ranger Pearson. Okay, Sheriff, let's have a look. Places just like me and Sam Stevens found it. Except in the bodies. Sure. Kind of a mess, isn't it? Was a lot worse. Any fingerprint? Shirt? Nobody's touched anything, not even the phone. Been leaving the prints for you. Okay, I'll see what we can pick up meantime. Well, what are you looking at? Had any rain here lately? Rain area drop. Why? Look. Looks like a little clump of mud got kicked under the bed. Mean anthem, maybe? Funny shape. Kind of like a team. From the instep of a man's boot. So let's go outside. Oh, sure. Only one way a piece of dirt could plump in a man's boot if he walked in wet earth. Bone around here. So chances are nobody around here had this piece of mud in his boot. It seemed likely. No, wait a second. Different kind of earth here. Say, you got something to go on? Sure. Only one thing wrong. What? Say, when was the man here? When did he kill Flo and Tom Evans and Carol? Yeah, and why? Maybe. Maybe if we learn when the while answered. So how's that figure? Don't know. Not yet. Well, let's get back to town. I want to match this clump of mud against the boots of everybody who went in that room. Ain't gonna be hard. Only 5 people from around here. Not counting Evans's. Okay, let's get back. Pretty well kept ranch. Yep. Tom Evans liked it that way. Wonder why I let that fence go. Fence? Which? Right here. Hey, what is it? The hogs. Hogs? Sure, Tom's hogs. This air sky. Ain't one here Think the killer stole them. Come on. Here's why they're not here. Sheriff. This break in the fence. Figure the killer might have busted through. Oh, a hogs did, more likely. Rails are broken through from the inside. See? Pushed out hogs. Did it be Unlikely a man would steal hogs? Too easy for somebody to spot him. So why? Why what? Hogs broke out for some reason. Scared? Well, if the killer cut across the sky, there's no chance flying those tracks. Not in here. Look, I. I wonder if I could talk to Billy Stevens. All right, so. But. Got an idea. Let's. Hello, Billy. Huh? Nice pony. Billy yours? Yeah, he's mine. He don't know you, mister. Oh, I'll fix that. Oh, boy. He got a name? Billy Jinx. Fixing for trouble, huh? Got a good mouth, fine legs. Good boy, Jinx. He don't let everybody pet him. Well, I can't blame him for that. Oh, by the way, my name's Pearson. Billy Chase Pearson. Howdy. Howdy. You come to see my dad? Well, matter of fact, Billy, I'd drop by to see you. Me? Yep. Ever seen one of these, Billy? Texas Ranger badge? That's right. You. You a ranger? Sure am. Gee, Billy. Yeah? Ranger Pearson. Kinda need your help. Mine real bad. Life, I look. Sure. The other day you went to see your friend Carl. Carl Evans. I want you to remember something, Billy. It'll be a big help to me if you can. I ain't going to think not. Not about that, Billy. About the hogs. Hogs? Did you see the hogs, Mr. Evans? Hogs, that's it. Sure, I saw them. In the sky. Huh? No, no, they were loose. Running around. Loose? Sure, sure. Running around, making noise. And then I went up to the. The door. I knocked. Nobody answered. I went to the window. I looked in, looked in and I. Fine, fine. Guess we'll write down about the hogs in the notebook and I'll put it in my report with my name. With your name. You'll probably get a letter of thanks from the colonel. I will? Sure thing. Well, Billy, be seen. Hey, can I tell the kids I helped the ranger? You want to? Gee, you betcha. Okay. You tell him. I couldn't have done without you. After Billy told me what I wanted to know, Sheriff Larkins and I went back to the Evans ranch. In the barn we found three sacks of feed. Two full. And one was just enough taken out for one feeding of the hogs. Then I checked with a feed store in town. Sure. Tom Evans brought all his feed here. You got a record of the last time he's in, ma'am? Sure have. Right here in the camp book. Can I see it, ma'am? Certainly can. Anything for a ranger. It is right here. The 9th of July. That's right. Just six days for poor Billy Stevens. Six days before Pearson. Anytime he ready. Got all the people together who was in that room. Got on the same boots you wore that day. Oh, thanks, Sheriff. Now, ma'am, you're sure it was the ninth? It was a ninth. Could have told you that, Pearson. A couple other folks saw Tom Evans here in town. Yeah, I know, sir. Him and his family could have been killed anytime between the 9th and the 15th. Yep. Ma'am? Yes? Tom Evans say anything in a hurry, anything like that? Why, yes, I Remember him telling me he had to get back with feed? He was all out. Sure. That just shows I'm standing here. Good. Thank you, ma'am. Let's go, Sheriff. Sure hope you get him. Thank you, ma'am. Sitting together. The murders were committed late on the 9th or early the morning of the 10th. Tom Evans bought feet on the night. Three bags of it. And he said he was all out of feed at the ranch. He had to get home to feed the hogs. We found those bags of feed, Sheriff. Two of them unopened. Yeah, and the third with just enough feed taken out for one feeding. Sure, Tom fed the hogs on the night, but on the 10th, he didn't. Because he was dead. Murdered. Got something to go on at last. Yeah, well, it is something. I guess so. But I'm counting more on this Sheriff. A little piece of mud. Earth that came from someplace else, carried in by the murderer on his boot. How do you know it comes from someplace else? Ever see earth this color around here? No. I've seen this kind in Wheeler County. Wheeler. That's a long piece. So much the better. Better? Come on, Sheriff. I got a lot of questions to ask in a real short space of time to get them asked. Mud hogs didn't sound or look like much. Meantime, the killer might have made tracks for any place in Texas. He might have headed for the border into Mexico or got himself lost in the lonely stretches of New Mexico or in the big city cities of Oklahoma. Got a whole week start. Meantime, I reported back to my company captain, Clay Travis. He wasn't enthusiastic. There's not much to go on, Jason. Little enough. But working on a shoestring is better than nothing. How's the shoestring look? Never gets any longer. Anyway, Cap Evans was in town on the 9th, and he went to the bank, drew out a hundred dollars. Couldn't find that money on his range. Robbery? Yeah. The way I figure, the killer was surprised. Grabbed this flatiron. That iron's been gone over by the lab, and the only thing on it was blood. The Evanses couldn't pick up a clean print any place in the murder room, either. You ever figure it mightn't have been a stranger? Sure. But I'm laying my money on that piece of mud. Oh, say, a report on it came from the awesome lab. You want to look at it? Sure do. Keep. There it is. And you were right about Wheeler County. Looks like we're narrowing down a little. This particular sample found in southwest Wheeler county steel cover is a good piece of Territory. Yeah, but there's just so many ranches in that section. Ranches? Oh, you figure your man might have worked on one? Could be. The way I look at it, he wandered down into Carson county, into town, minus even Evans with the money. Tail into the rank without being seen by anyone. That's my point, Cap. This time of year there's a lot of folks passing through looking for work. Ever pay much attention to one of them? Yeah, lots of times. You're paid to do it, other folks aren't. Not unless he acts up to attract attention. So you got no description? Might get one in Wheeler County. I'm going to check every ranch there and send in samples of earth from every one of them. Be seeing you. How are you going? I'll take the radio car. Keep in touch that way. And I'd like to take this Flatiron with me, if it's okay with you. It's okay with me. Oh, better take a horse trailer, too. Something tells me when I find Iron man, it'll be someplace only a horse can get to. Somewhere I once read that a man had found a needle in a haystack. Did it on a bed. Well, it was only one haystack. Southwest Wheeler county was one ranch after another. And every dead end I ran into gave the killer another break. A longer lead, a better chance to get away. The man who found the needle knew what a needle looked like. We had no description. The needle stayed in one place our man could move around. I ask a lot of questions all the same. Every place a hit. Then on a ranch near Ramsel, I got the first real lead. Come on, have some coffee. We can talk. Don't go to any trouble. Trouble for a ranger. You boys got any idea what you look like when you turn up? Good or bad? Sundust. Folks living out here all alone. That badger winds like a handshake. How'd you like something to eat? Well, it can't stay long, Mr. Williams. Oh, looking for somebody, huh? A murderer. Can I help any? I don't know. It all depends. Depends on whether you hired any hands the last, oh, month or so. Sure. Got some here now. You won't see him? No, no. Besides, I don't think my man would be here. Huh? But you're looking. You come here. I want to know of any hands left here around the 9th of the month. This month. Nice 9th. Nope. Didn't close out. Nobody on the 9th. The 7th do just about right. Closed out all that day. Orwell. You know him? Never laid eyes on him before. I took him on a couple of months ago. Why'd he leave? Ornery cuss. Never got along with anybody. Always asking for his pay in advance. Had it spent before it hit his pocket. I want you to think carefully. Give me the best description of him you possibly can. Give every detail. How he talked, acted, looked, everything. Now you figure he's your man, huh? I don't know, Mr. Williams. Until I get a better lead, I'll fail this one. Williams gave me Orwell's description. I sent it into company headquarters along with a sample of earth from the Williams branch. Then I kept chicken. Yeah, here and there. Orwell had been seen. Got in a poker game, lost some money. Picked up a few dollars doing odd jobs but always moving westward toward Carson county and the scene of the murders. Meantime, I put in a call for Captain Travis through our Amarillo radio, ktxe. He was out, but an hour later he came through. Unit 3. Unit 10. Unit 3 to Unit 2. 10. Unit 10 to Unit 3. Unit 10. In Gray county, outside of LAERS. Anything for Unit 10? Just learn samples of earth from Williams Ranch. And murder scene established identical. Your description of suspect sent out on all points bulletin. But suspect may be across border for now. Unit 10 believes suspect still in state. Why? Unit 10. When suspect left Williams Ranch, he had his pay. Didn't keep it long. Evidence indicates suspect a drifter. Probably thinks he's safe by now and won't move fast. Highway patrols and ranger units near borders alerted. Suspect's previous travel habits indicate he stays to back trails. Which direction you moving, Unit 10? Unit 10. Moving west toward Carson County. We'll keep Unit 3 informed. Unit 10? 10 4. Covered every ranch, every farm. Traveling by radio car when I could and on horse when I had to leave the highways. Once or twice I got a dim lead on Orwell, but he was like quicksilver, kept moving. More he did, the more I was convinced he was the killer. Then I just got over into Carson county when Captain Travis contacted me by radio. Unit 3. Unit 10. Unit 3 to Unit 10. Unit 10 to Unit 3. Go ahead, Unit 3. Another lead on Carson county suspect, this one still smoking, just came in. Here it is, unit 10. A man answering suspect's description reported scene near Pelly Ranch, up near Amarillo. We'll investigate, unit 10. 10. I covered the 60 odd miles of the Pelly Ranch near Amarillo in something less than an hour. Got in touch with the foreman and told him what I wanted. But he told me got no hand name or world ranger. Sure, darn sure, man. You describes A pope named Martin. That doesn't mean a thing. Probably a phony name. Sure, it could be. What do you want to do about it? Where is this Martin? Riding fence north of here. I want to get to him. Not in your car. I got a horse. You'll need it. But look at here. If this guy is what you say, he ain't going to stay long in one place. Hands get paid off yesterday. And Martin's headed to the north fence early this morning. Where'd he start from? I can show you. Come on. You see this? Orwell was riding a sorrel. That's what he left the Williams ranch on. Well this Martin's riding a plaque. Man can change horses well as his name. Sure. You seen start out this morning? Yep. Drove his furs the edge of the corral with me. Tell him what I want it done. That'll help some. Looks like it'll be a trailing job. Yes, guess so. Well here's where he started from. Big mess of tracks here. I'm telling which one's Martin's horse. But he ride off alone. Uh huh. Straight north heading for the bench. Well thanks a lot. I'll see if I can pick him up. I rode for two hours cutting back and forth in an arc trying to pick up the trail. Then I got a break. Someone had pulled up at a stream to water his horse and there were boot tracks in the soft earth around the stream. Cigarette butt that hadn't been smoked too long before. Paper was still fresh. The horses tracks didn't go north from there. They turned off due west and kept along the bank of the stream. Looked like Orwell or Martin was keeping close to water. That meant he wasn't going to ride any north fence but was heading for the border of New Mexico. He wanted good camping spots handy. I was like Martin's my man. I didn't know. Sure. It was late afternoon when I spotted him riding up ahead well off the Pelly ranch. I put my badge away and my guns under my shirt and caught up with him. Who's there? Howdy. Howdy. I've been been trying to find you. What for? Mr. Boss sent me out. Boss? Sure. Back at Pelly's. Looking for me? Yeah, looking for you. Why? What for? Seems like there's a big break in the north fence. Stock's getting through. That all? Well you're a long way from the north fence and seems to me you're riding the wrong way. Seems to me it's none of your business mister. I thought you were working for Pelly. No. How come? Quick. Yeah. You tell Pelly no. Just took a look at the fence. Too much of it for me. He wasn't working for Pelly when I left. Just got took on this morning. Ah. Well, you go fix the fence. I'm going my way. Huh? I told you, I'm going my way. No harm if I ride a piece with you, is there? Ain't ask you to. Unsociable. Ain't you nosy, ain't you? No, just friendly. Oh, look, I don't want anybody riding with me. Now get on your way. We're going to have trouble now. Funny, I. I keep looking at you, thinking I've seen you before. Well, you ain't. Could have swore I saw you in Carson County. Never was there. Seems like I saw you. You must have worked there. Never was there, I said. Okay. Okay. Man, you make a mistake. Can't he? Now get on your way. Something funny, mister? Yeah, just thinking. Boss sends me out to find you and here you are dusting off. Here I am, feeling the same way. I ain't anxious at work either. Oh, how come I thought you was? Just took on. Yeah? Yeah, but changed my mind. I got enough money. Oh, you sure? Ran into a little crap game. Kind of ran in luck. That's so. Yeah. Couldn't make a wrong throw. Kept bob and sevens leading one right after the other. A man gets in luck, he can make a kill. Yeah. 500. Yeah. Yeah. I guess you don't feel much like working. Thought maybe I'd hit for New Mexico. Maybe go as far as California. I thought so myself. Yeah. Okay. You want to ride with me? Okay by me. Well, I like good company myself. Especially when I gotta camp out. Hey. You sleeping? Hey. Some of you on my saddlebag. Martin, I. I thought you were sleeping. No. Don't reach for it, Martin. I'll blow your head off. What are you getting head up about? Man starts to go through my saddlebags while I'm sleeping. Well, there's no need for that. Gun. I was just looking for cigarettes. Yeah, sure. That's all. What else? You tell me. Suspicious like, ain't it? Call it. Careful. Sure, sure. You got a cigarette? Some packs in my saddlebags. Don't mind me nosing around them now. Now while I'm looking, no cigarettes. Wrapped up in a piece. Old blankets. This bag. Other one is this. Yeah, that's it. Wrapped up in that. What do you got in here? Feels like a ton of iron. Might be. Unroll the blanket. Yeah. Recognize that flat iron? Orwell. Orwell Got himself between me and my horse, slapped it hard. The horse jumped toward me. I rolled over and away. When Orwell fired again, he was gone. Awake in the morning was to give him a ticket to freedom. I trailed him on foot for over an hour. We played cat and mouse in the stillness of the country. Then I came to a little arroyo. Orwell, you're not going to get away. Orwell, come out with your hands in the air. Orwell, hear me. Okay. I'm coming in after you toss your gun out. Orwell. Yeah. Yeah. Gun flash has made good targets in the dark. Orwell. How come you know my name? Found it out. Still say you never been in Carson County. What? Who are you? Chase Pearson, Texas Rangers. There ain't. Ain't nothing you got on me. Nothing. I think there is. Orwell. You gave yourself away when you saw the flat iron. That flatiron that killed a man, his wife and a little kid. Okay, we better get going. The case was closed when Orwell broke down and confessed. Not long after, he went to the electric chair at Huntsville. You have just heard an authentic reenactment of a case from the files of the Texas Rangers. Tonight's script was written by Russell Hughes and produced by Stacy Keach. Next week, the National Broadcasting Company will bring you another case from the records of the oldest law enforcement body in North America, the Texas Rangers SA.