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Tales of the Texas Rangers 50-09-09 (10) Dead or Alive
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Tales of the Texas Rangers 50-09-09 (10) Dead or Alive
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Joel McCrae
Presenting Joel McCrae as Jace Pearson in Tales of the Texas Rangers. Tales of the Texas Rangers. Authentic stories from their official files. 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. Tonight's transcribed case. Dead or Alive. At exactly 9:13am on Wednesday, April 16, 1947, the French Freighter Grand Camp, carrying a highly explosive cargo of ammonium nitrate fertilizer blew up in the harbor of Texas City, Texas. It was the first in a chain of explosions as chemical plants, tin smelters and oil refineries disappeared in blasts and flame. Shortly after 1am the next morning, the major chain reaction was set off the explosions rocking the city of Galveston 10 miles across the bay where excited crowds gathered in the streets watching the raging flame. Fierce sky. X ray. X ray. Texas city. Death toll 300 hundreds more missiles. Scores of bodies. Unidentified paper, mister? Yeah, give me one Here. Read about an unidentified dead. Toll still mounted. Where are the names, Vance? Where's the list of the dead? They only got a few of them identified. Well, is Ralph's name there? Wait, no, no, he's probably all right. A working square like him would be. But he worked at one of the refineries they're burning, not blubbering. Want to attract attention to me? No, no, Vance, no. But he is my brother. I gotta worry about him too, don't I? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on over here into this doorway. Look at that blaze over there across the bay. What a spot to clean money. Jewelry must be laying around the streets. Just wait, Vance. Aren't you crazy? There'll be police there. Rangers. You're in enough trouble now. Yeah, you're right. But I'm getting out of it now for good. And that place over there is gonna do it. Maybe your brother Ralph is one of the dead they haven't identified. You gotta go there, baby. If he is, you'll have to identify him. If he is there, in with the ones they don't know, there's nothing you can do to help him. But you can help me, Vance. What do you mean? Well, if you find him there, baby, you can identify the body and say it's mine. You want me in the clear, don't you, baby? They won't be chasing after me if they think I'm dead. Don't you see? But my own, bro. What are you asking me to do? I'm asking you to do as you're told. You want to walk out of me, go ahead. But if you don't, you're going to want me to keep on running for the rest of my life. Well, let him get me and send me to Huntsville for 10 to 20. Oh, I don't want anything to happen to you. Man should know that. Well, then show me, baby. Show me. You can't help Ralph. He's over there. But you can't help me. Don't you see? I'll get out of here tonight and I'll let you know when to meet me. Maybe at that resort place we passed near Lake Blue Water. You'll be free, baby. You and me free from there on. But how? What'll we do for money? That'll be taken care of, too. There's a safe in Landstone. I've been itching to get at it for a long time. One last box job, baby, and enough to see us through. Now go ahead. Right now. And remember, if you find your brother, he ain't Ralph Brenner. He's me, Vance Young. And come back. Pack up and stay put till you hear from me. From then on, it's gravy. Nobody ever arrests a dead man. By Friday morning, April 18, more than 200 bodies, many still unidentified, were laid out in the Texas City High School gymnasium. Texas Rangers, including Ranger Jace Pearson, were on hand to help distraught relatives make identification. I can't believe. You're sure your husband isn't in any of the other places where bodies are being held? No, Ranger. He may be all right. Lots of men have been so busy helping others. He may be one of those. If only he isn't here. Let's hope he isn't. The embalmers are still working on more bodies over at Magar's Garage. It's the only place handy. Keep your hopes up, but don't hope too much for a while. I'll be all right. Might as well start looking through this next row now. They're pretty bad cases. Recognize anything on this one? No. This? No. I'm sorry. I'm very sorry, ma'. Am. Are you sure? That ring on his finger. I gave it to him a long time ago. It isn't easy, but try and get a grip. I'm all right, Ranger. You better give me the name for the tag. His name is Vance. My husband, Vance Young. Vance Young. The name burned in my mind like a branding iron. There was no time to ask her, and yet I had to ask it Was part of my job. I waited until we got out into the street. There's some information I have to get from you, Mrs. Young, about your husband. All right. Did he. Did he have a criminal record? Yes. Did you know we were looking for him for a string of safeguards? How does that matter now? He's dead, isn't he? Yes. I. I'm sorry. You'll find some men at the desks in that building across the way. They'll help you with funeral arrangements. All right. Thank you very much. Vance Young. Jace. Hey, Jace. Huh? Oh, hello, Kurt. Captain Simpson wants us. Where is he? The mobile unit. Let's go. I'll be glad when this assignment is over. I hope we never see another one like it. Yeah. I've helped with five identifications today. You stand there with somebody and see their life fall apart because of a freak accident. Woman who just left you, she finds somebody. Yeah, her husband. Kurtz. It was Vance Young. Vance Young? The knob knocker? Yeah. Looks like the explosion ended his case. For our files. Don't you think we better check the body for Prince and Marks? He got it too badly. She identified him by a ring. Unidentified bodies give a knob knocker like Young a big chance to disappear. I thought of that too. Except for one thing. That woman's grief was real. She wasn't faking it. A week passed, a week of horror and nightmares until the fires in Texas City were controlled and stopped. Men with tight lips and grim courage started to rebuild the ruins. Most of us Rangers went back to regular duty in our regular areas. Then one day, while Bud Kritz and I had just finished a routine job and were driving back to headquarters, a call came through by a short wave. KTXA to Unit 10. KTXA to Unit 10. Unit 10 to KTXA. Go ahead, KTXA. Unit 10. Proceed immediately to Landstone, Texas. Arthur county safe of mercantile Store burglarized there at 4am today. Crime reported by owner when store opened at 9:30am this date. Any lead on responsible subject? Subject unidentified, but known to be one man working alone. According to information given by watchman. Watchman was overpowered. Being treated. Lancedone Emergency Hospital. Units 10 and 6 proceeding to Landstone. Will keep KTXA informed. Unit 10, 10 4. Assignment authority. Captain Stiffson, KTXA, Austin, Landstone, about 40 miles. Chase. Yeah. Knob knocking job, huh? Yeah. At least, though there's one safe specialist we can eliminate right from scratch on this one. Oh, Vance Young. Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about him. Dead men don't rob safes, do they we reached the Landstone mercantile store at 11:15 and Sheriff Joe Pastroni showed us through these back rooms are used for storage. He came in through the back. Went through that door over there to the general office. That's where the safe is. How'd he get into the building? Forced the watchman to let him in. Watchman patrols this whole area. Door shaping has keys to get into all the stores. If he sees anything that looks funny, he must have met the safecracker outside. Yeah, I guess so. Watch one of those pretty days this morning. The doc is patching him up at the hospital, Deputy. It'll drive him back here as soon as his head's fixed. Now, as you can see. Been over everything for fingerprints. Find any? Sure, hundreds. They probably all belong to employees of the store. Best bet is to check the prints on them safe first. Already did that. Only two sets. Owner of the store and the bookkeeper. Well, that won't tell us anything, Jason. Less one of them robbed the store. Isn't likely. Better have a look at the safe now, Sheriff. Sure thing. That last office back here. What make is a safe, Sheriff? It's a Will Zadless new model. It's a tough box, chase. Steel and wrought iron plates. And more alarm wires in the marionette show. Yeah, but a good safe cracker could divert the alarm circuit without tripping. And the box is a cinch because he's got the wire holes to start working on. Here we are. You figured it, Jase. Backplate blown clean out. Yeah, didn't even have to drill small nitro charges in the wire holes. And it was as good as having the combination. Here's where he jumped the alarm circuit. Neat hookup. All right. You take the pictures of all this, Sheriff? Yeah. I can pick up a set of my office if you you like. Thanks. Oh, Wiggy. Howdy, Sheriff. Rangers. I've been waiting for you. This is a watchman. How's your head? Well, Ashman ain't gonna help it any, I'll tell you that. You gonna get the fella? We'll be able to answer that better when the fingerprints are checked. Fingerprints? He ain't gonna find any. He left. He's wearing gloves, I figure. Jace. Yeah. Tell me, Winky, would you recognize the man if you saw him again? Could you pick out his picture? Yeah. If you ever had his picture took with a sack over his head, I could. That ain't likely. You mean his face was covered? Had a sack over his head like I told you. Holes for the eyes ain't gonna catch him by no fingerprints or pictures. Maybe you ain't gonna catch him at all. Oh, I wouldn't say that, Winky. Sheriff, would you mind going down to your office for prints of the pictures of the scene here? I'd like them sent on to my headquarters for an MO Check. Sure. Take care of it right away. What kind of check is an MO Check, Ranger? It means modus operandi, Winky. All criminals have definite methods and habits. They're repeated on each job they do. Forms a pattern. Well, there's sure a pattern here. All right, Jace. Method of entry where that circuit was jumped. Sack mask, nitro charge in the wire holes. Yeah, and it fits. Three men, three safecrackers we've followed before. Yeah, There's Burt Larkin. He's still doing time in Folsom for a job he pulled on the coast. Yeah, and the other two are Jack Fontaine and Vance Young. Yeah, but Young is dead. That leaves us Fontaine. You mean you know who did it? Well, without nothing to tell you. There's plenty to tell us. A modus operandi can be almost as good as a fingerprint or a signature. I'll be winged. Maybe that fellow's gonna pay off for slugging me after all. And for hurting my arm when he grabbed me in the alley there. How'd he grab you? Show me. Go ahead, show me on you. Well, let's see. He whipped my arm up behind me like this. Then he jabbed a thumb up behind my ear like this. Sure hurts, don't it? Sure does. Well, you can let go now. Judo still fits. Fontaine Jace. Yeah, or Vance Young. He used it, too, on other jobs. When did he slug you? After he made me open up the back door and let him in. Mean he sneaked up on you before he could draw your gun? Sneak nothing. That's why I didn't get onto him at first. Heard him come walking through the alley toward me like he's taking a shortcut. You heard him? Yeah. It was dark. Says I didn't see the mask. And telling it to match. Yes, for light, see? Then he grabbed me and he got me inside here and beat on me and kicked me. Chase, that doesn't sound like Fontaine. It wasn't Fontaine. He always sneaked a watchman from behind and they never heard him. He always wore sneakers. Well, then who? Vance Young. That match trick is Vance Young's. But Young is dead. Maybe yes, maybe no. But I know one thing I'm gonna find out. You are listening to Tales of the Texas Rangers, starring Joel McCrae as Ranger Jace. Pearson. And now we continue with tonight's case. Dead or Alive. An authentic story from the files of the Texas Rangers. I headed for Texas City in Galveston. Kurtz and I had no way to move until we knew for certain whether Vance Young was dead or alive. As we drove, I put through a request for headquarters to dig up some information. We were still on the road when KTXA came up with the answers. Ktxa to Unit 10. Ktxa to Unit 10. Unit 10 to Ktxa. Go ahead. Ktxa have information you requested. Woman who identified body of Vance Young in Texas City. Gave name as Lillian young. Residing at 410 Harbor Lane, Galveston. Deceased was wearing ring used in identification as subject Lillian Young claimed a ring. No claim has been filed yet. Ring is still being held at property claims in Texas City. Unit 10 also requested check on place where body identified as Vance Young was originally found. Body was among those recovered from debris of amalgamated refinery plant 7. Unit 10 believes identification may have been falsified. Possibility advance. Young still alive. Units 10 and 6, continuing investigation may be tied in with robbery in Landstone, Texas. Proceed. Keep KDXA informed. Authority. Captain Stinson, Unit 10. 104 ADXA, Austin. You get that address, Kurtz? Yeah. 410 Harbor Lane, Galveston. If we're right, she may have cleared out by now. But we've got to try it. What do you want me to do? I'll drop you at Texas City. Get that ring and check every living person who worked at Amalgamated. See if any of them remember that ring and the man who wore it. Right. I better call KTXA again. Have that marriage record traced. Find out when and where that woman married young, what her maiden name was. Everything we can get. Be in Texas City in a couple of minutes. I can start the check from there and bring the information to you. Where we meet? A Harbor Lane address in Galveston. I found the rooming house Lillian and Vance Young had lived in, but I was too late. Lillian Young had checked out the day before. The landlord showed me the room. They. They lived here five, six months also. You get to know the husband very well. I'll tell you the truth, Ranger. I hardly ever saw him. Only time he ever left the place was at night. His wife said his eyes got hurt in the war or something. The sunlight bothered him. When did you see him last? When they moved out? No, no, he. He wasn't with her then. Last I saw him was. Oh, he went out about a week ago. Night of the big blast over Texas City. Cracked the wall plaster. Here are you sure you didn't see him after that? Well, I'm positive. I. I don't think he ever did come back. Didn't even hear no talking from the room, Just. Just her crying an awful lot. I see. She decided to leave kind of sudden. Oh. Like a jackrabbit hearing a hound dog. Left for work yesterday morning. Came steaming back about an hour later. Give me the keys. Pack up and left. Came back from work. You know where she worked? Yeah. Yeah, she was a waitress. The Bayshore Diner. Bayshore Diner. Thanks. So she up and quit on it just like that yesterday morning. Right smack in the middle of the breakfast rush, too. Cause the postman come in and give her a special delivery letter. Who is it from? Who is it from? With 20 orders of ham and in the fire, I got time to read a mail. All I know is she leaves me the serving, the dishes and the cleaning. Stop beefing, Chuck. That little old gal had trouble. Ah, yeah. You should talk. All you got to do is drive one cab. You don't have the servant and the dishes and the clean and everything. You find yourself a little old chaplain to hear your troubles and give me some coffee. Come on. Okay, okay. Maybe you can tell arranger more about Lil than I can. Hanging around her, making eyes at her all day. You took her out when she left here, is that right? Driver, did she leave here with you? Well, she hired my cab, if that's what you mean. Where'd you take her? Well, I took her home, waited while she packed some things and rushed her to the bus depot. She said somebody in her family was sick and she had to go help them right away. I guess that's what the letter was about. I was sitting there having my breakfast like I always do, and I. Yeah, yeah, I understand, but what about the bus depot? You know what bus she caught? The northbound towards San Anton. Cut it mighty fine, too. Got there just about a minute before the bus pulled out. Would have made it a lot easier if she didn't make me come dashing back about a mile after we left here. Back here to the diner? No, back to the laundry down the street. Guess she had some stuff in there, although she didn't bring a bundle out with her. Then on top of that, she says she can't pay me. Not that I'd mind, except for the 10 extra blocks back to the laundry. I could have put the flag back up, as you told me beforehand. You say the laundry is right down the street? About half a block. Thanks. I'll walk down. Hey, Jace. Hi, Kurtz. Fella at the Rumenhouse told me you came down here. Yeah. Find out anything on that ring? Plenty. Couple of men who worked at Amalgamated recognized it. Belonged to a plant man named Ralph Brenner. And it wasn't Young. No. I got that rundown on Young's wife. Her maiden name was Lillian Brenner. The guy she identified was her brother, not her husband, and that's why she was broken up. I knew that part wasn't an act. Come on. Where we going? We're going into the laundry business. Yeah, she was real upset because the things wasn't ready. But you know how it was, Ranger. We was almost 10 days behind because of Texas City. They was even using our delivery trucks for emergency over there. Some of our men left the job to help out. Yeah, yeah, sure, but what did she leave here? Waitress uniforms. Oh, lans. No. Dinah up there has a regular uniform service. All she ever left here was men's shirts. Probably Vance's shirts. Jace. Yeah, a real good shirt, too. Ranger kind. You don't have to starch at all. And real fancy colors, too, dude. Wouldn't want to be found dead in some of them. Did she say she'd be back to pick them up? Oh, no, she. She asked me to send them to her COD. Said she needed the money she had on her for traveling shits like that. You think her and her man was living off the top of the hog? But sure, sure. But did she give you an address? Oh, yeah. I got it right here in this book. Right here. She wrote it down herself. General Delivery. Lake Blue Water. The shirts are ready now. I'm gonna mail them out tonight when I leave. We'll save you the trouble. Wrap them up and we'll deliver them for you. Kurtz and I headed for Lake Bluewater, towing our horses in the trailer, ready to follow Vance Young no matter which way he moved. It was dark as we drove into the town. The clock on the courthouse was just striking nine. Not many people on the streets, Jace. Looks like everything's closed up for the night. Except for the movie in the drugstore. Better find a place and turn in. I think we ought to drive out of town. Camp someplace off the lakeshore, walk the horses out. For a while. I thought we were going to plant that laundry bundle at the post office in the morning, watch for a pickup. We are. Well, why not pasture the horses at the edge of town, find accommodations right here. If we stay in town overnight, it may start some talk. Talk drifts. We don't want to tip our hands I guess you're right. Well, let's get out to the lake and find a campsite. Funny thing about Young's wife. Remembering his shirts is his force of habit. For a woman. Strong thing, habit. His safe cracking habits told us he was still alive. And now maybe her habit are gonna make him wish he was dead again. We took the road for the lake past the summer cottages skirting the shore on one side of it. Then as we rounded a curve and passed a house and a group of resort cabins, I spotted something. Hey, Jace, what's the matter? I saw something. Wait till I back up. Headlights picked it up as we came around this curve. There. Look at those. All I see is the back of a few cabins, some wash on the line. Look at those two shirts on the end of the line. Look like a couple of rainbows even in this light. Hey, that's the kind of color scheme Vance Young goes in for. Shirts we have in the laundry bundle are just like those lights on in a few of the cabins. I'm gonna leave the car here while we have a look at those shirts. Horse trailer make too much of a racket if we drive in. Yeah, no chance of being taken for tourists with that on the back. Better cut the motor and douse the headlights. Yeah. What was the laundry mark on those shirts? We've got? 410 mark. That was the number of their house in Galveston. Come on, let's see if we can find it on that line. Close the car doors. Easy. Right. Right. Take one of them down so we can get a better look at it. What's the matter? Clothespin stuck there. I got it pulling low to the ground. I'll cut my hand over the flashlight. Good. There it is. 410. These belong to our boy all right. Quite a few cabins, Chase. He's in one of them. That's all we have to know. Come on. Start with this end cabin and go right on down the line. You better be ready for anything. Here's the first stop. Dark. Chase. Yeah? You have to feel your way around. Doesn't seem to be anybody living here. This one's empty. Now let's move on. Who are you? Put that flash out before I fire. No, no Rangers. I'll put it on. That's better. Who are you? Name's Ed Bullock. I own these cabins. Just walking back from the boat dock with a couple of guests. Saw you sneaking in the dark. You. You looking for a place to stay? No, we're looking for a couple named Young. Oh, that's funny. It was Mr. Young. Who spotted your shadows? Hey, Mr. Young. Was that Young just with you? Yeah. Him and his wife was right behind me when I flashed light in here. They spotted us, Jace. Yeah. Come on. Hey, hit him up. Somebody started my boat. Is that the only boat you got down there? Only one with a motor. There's a canoe. We're not gonna reach them. Chase. They'll head across the lake. How far is it, Bullock? A mile and a half. Kurtz, grab your horse from the trailer. You can beat him around to the far side if you ride hard. When you get there, flash your light. That'll keep him from trying the shore over there. Right. What about you? I'm taking the canoe, and hurry. We'll get him, Ranger. I better go up back to the office. My wife. You can faint Later, Mr. Bullock. Right now, I need you. I'm going out in the canoe. Flash your light from this shore. They'll think I'm here. And they won't dare land on either side. But make sure you don't turn the light on me in this canoe. All right, Bullock, turn your light on. As soon as I get out in the open water. I paddled the canoe toward the center of the lake. Kurtz beat the Youngs around to the opposite shore. And I could still hear their motor. When I saw the beam of Kurt's light. The young saw it, too. The beam wasn't strong enough to reach the motor. I heard the boat in a turn. And the motor came back toward me for a moment. And it went dead on the dark water. What'd you stop the motor for, man? Shut up. They're waiting for us on each shore. Their lights don't reach us. Thanks. We gotta get out of here. Will you shut up and let me think? There's a little wind. The boat will drift to the far end of the lake. But that's so slow. What do you want me to do? I can't swim like you can. Why can't you use the oar? Because the oarlocks squeak, stupid. They'd hear him. Yeah. There's only two of them. They can't cover the whole shore. Gee, man, it's so dark and I. Hey, I hear something. What? Something in the water. They're crazy. Can't you see the lights on the shore? Well, thanks. I do hear something. I see it. It's a canoe. What? Don't move, Young. I'm coming into your boat. Why, you. I'll drain you with the sword. Help. Help. Let go of me. Let's go. Hey, have you Got any? He can't swim. Where he's going, it won't matter. Grab on the canoe and kick. For sure. I got a nice dry shirt waiting for him. Convicted of robbing a safe in the mercantile store, Vance Young, on the basin of his previous record, was sentenced to life imprisonment at Huntsville. This is Joel McCrae. Many of our listeners, particularly in Texas, recall these cases we've been dramatizing. And some listeners have sent in questions about the Rangers. Yes, it's true. There are only 50 Texas Rangers. And to show you how busy these rangers are, from 1946 to 1948, the Rangers handled nearly 17,000 cases. With Texas as big as it is, that means they cover about four times greater area per man than any other police officer in the world. Next week we'll have another authentic story I believe you'll enjoy. Very much like the others, it's based on their official files, adding further glory to the Rangers. Hope you'll be listening. Good night. Next week, Joel McRae and another authentic reenactment of a case from the files of the Texas Rangers. Joel McCrae is currently seen starring in the MGM production Stars in My Crown. This story was transcribed and adapted by Joel Murcott and the program was produced and directed by Stacy Keach. This is Hal Gibney speaking. Three chimes mean good times on NBC. Your Saturday hour of fun begins in four weeks. You will hear Judy Canova and this young man. Hello, everybody. This is Dennis Day. On October 7th, I'll be starting a new season on the air. There'll be fun for all. Lots of music and laughs. So join us for our opening show, October 7th over your favorite NBC station. Yes, beginning October 7th here, Dennis Day. Then Judy Canova in an hour of fun on NBC. Three chimes mean good times on NBC.