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Tales of the Texas Rangers 50-09-16 (11) Candy Man
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Tales of the Texas Rangers 50-09-16 (11) Candy Man
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What do you think makes the perfect snack? Hmm, it's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient. Could you be more specific? When it's cravenient. Okay. Like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter, available right down the street at a.m. p.m. Or a savory breakfast sandwich I can grab in just a second at a.m. p. M. I'm seeing a pattern here. Well, yeah, we're talking about what I crave, which is anything from AM PM what more could you want? Stop by AM PM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravenience. AM PM Too much. Good stuff. The Dennis Day show returns to the air at this time in just three weeks. Remember the Dennis Day show returning over most of these stations in just three weeks. 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 thousand 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 matter of record. Tonight's transcribed case Candyman. It is 4pm April 14, 1947. A prisoner at the jail in Pentland County, Texas is being returned to his cell as the visiting hour comes to an end. His name is Paul Abbott, serving out a six month sentence for petty larceny. His cellmate, John say Good has not had a visitor for say Good is being held without bail awaiting trial for murder. All right, Abbott in your wife bring what I told you to get for me? Yeah, yeah, I got it, Johnny. Candy. And. And the razor blades. You know we're not supposed to have razor blades. Yeah, if they find them on me, they might put me in jail. What are you so nervous about with your lousy six month flat bit? I'm facing the chair and my nerves are still better than yours. Look, sacred. I only got a month and a half to go. I don't want to get in no trouble. Lay off. Are you telling me what I should do, you cheap heister. Oh, Johnny, let go of my arm. You're hurting me. No kidding. Really? Gee, kid, I'm sorry. Maybe I play too rough. And you're my pal. Model prisoner like you with only a few weeks to go. Never get searched after a visit. And you're so good to me. Have a piece of candy, pal. I don't want any. Okay. You know, while you've been out visiting. I've been. Think I'm gonna let you and your wife do me another favor. A big favor. Look, I gotta be careful what I ask her. I can't upset her, now, you know that. Oh, that's right. The baby's due soon, ain't it, Papa? Wouldn't want the kid to start out without an old man, would ya? What do you mean, Johnny? I wanted to see if your wife could get these razor blades in. Next time she comes, tell her to bring me a hacksaw and a gun. No, no, Johnny. You don't wanna see me go to the chair, do you? Now, if you do, I could take one of these blades to your throat. No, no, Johnny. Keep your voice down. All right, Johnny. All right, I'll do it. I'll do it. You'll do it? Now, don't kid me. I can hear the wheels turning in that square head of yours. Next time the screw takes you out of here, you'll spill your guts. I won't, Johnny. I swear. I know you won't. And I'll tell you why. Because if you rat on me, somebody will slip a shiv into you in jail or out. Now remember that. Remember it if you ever want to see that kid. You don't realize what you're asking me to do. I ain't asking him. Tell him. If you decide to get brave with your own neck, remember I can have your wife taken care of, too. You wouldn't do that. Here comes the screw. What's he Yelping Bell what's going on in here? We was just arguing, that's all. About what? Baseball. How many games Gehrig played for the Yanks. Is that right, Abbott? Ain't that right, Abbott? Yeah, that's right. Baseball. Frantic with fear, Paul Abbott yielded to Sigurd and through his wife, obtained the gun and hacksaw. The blow off came a week later when the Pentland county jailer was killed and say good and Abbott escaped. While roadblocks were being quickly set up by ranger and highway patrol units, Ranger Jace Pearson contacted Sheriff Leonard Ginn at the county jail. They were in this cell, Ranger? Yeah. Tongue of the lock has been hacksawed, Sheriff. Yeah. They must have waited in the passage until the jailer turned the corner here and shot him through the stomach and took his keys. Any idea where they got the gun? No. No, but Abbott's wife was allowed to visit. She could have slipped it in to him. You got a pickup out for her? Mm. Deputy's out after. Now, Abbott made a Big jump when they gunned the jailer. And petty larceny to jailbreak and murder. I don't know. A murderer like say Good, he had a reason to crash out. But a first timer like Abbott with only four weeks to go, he doesn't figure to make a break. Just the same, Abbott's gone with say Good. We may find out why when we bring in his wife. Sometimes a man goes places he doesn't want to go with a gun in his back. What could I do, Sheriff? What else could I do? That man would have killed him. Did you arrange anything else for them, Mrs. Abbott? Get close clothing or an automobile? No, how could I? I even had to lie to my mother to get money to buy the gun. Paul was in jail and I wasn't working. I was always borrowing money to bring him things. I understand. The one behind the bars doesn't do all the suffering. I'd have done anything for Paul. I had to take the food out of my mouth to buy things for that other man and his mother. Me alone. I'll be having my baby soon. Why did Paul go with him? Why? I don't think he went willingly, Mrs. Abbott. I'm afraid he went at the point of that gun you brought in. I begin to agree with that Ranger. You told us you brought Sa Good a lot of candy. More than a dollar's worth every week. There A real sweet, too, Jase. Always sitting up a yammer for sugar at meal times. Yeah. Mrs. Abbott, will you excuse us for a moment? Sheriff, I want to see you for a second. Oh, sure, sure. You got anybody watching our house in case Abbott and SA Good show up there? Yeah, it's covered. Good. Your office hasn't any report of a stolen car, huh? No, nothing yet. And they're probably on foot. Could be out of the county by now, though. We have other ranger units in the area. I'm going to call my headquarters and have one of them come with me so he can beat the countryside. Okay. Anything else you want me to handle? Yeah. They'll have to eat wherever they are. Even if they have money, they won't take a chance on being spotted buying anything for a while. That figures. I want you to make a careful check on any robbery report you get from food stores. I'd like an itemized account of everything that's taken. I got a hunch. Say, good. Make a special effort to get his hands on some candy. All that day, nothing turned up in the roadblock. While Ranger Jim Leeds and I rode through the countryside without finding a trace of the man we were after. But on the following morning. Maybe we've been heading the wrong way, Jace. I don't think so. Leads coming this way would have been the fastest trail out of the county. Other ways, all wilderness for more than 80 miles. Too much of them on foot without supplies. Still figuring they cut through toward us. 280, eh? They must have. They'll have to get to a car someplace. Unless they got a spot to hole up in real close. I don't think se Good'd take that chance. He'll want distance. Yeah. Farmhouse head. A rider coming too. He's really pounding leather. He sees us coming. Right this way. Let's meet him. Howdy, strangers. Hey. I didn't expect anybody so soon. What do you mean? Well, I just called the sheriff less than half an hour ago. Ain't that why you're here? We didn't know about your call. What happened? My dogs fussed a couple of prowlers during the night. I went out all night hunting them or I'd have put in a call before. Maybe our boys. You know what they look like? No. All I saw was two shadows. Dogs woke me up. Like I told you, men was prowling around. You better have a look at this place, Leeds. We'll ride back with you. How long ago did it happen? Oh, reckon it was 2am about six hours ago. You say you chased him? Yeah, but I couldn't spot him in the dark. Just rolled around all night. I'd have had these cinch. I had a call right away, but he threw a couple of shots at me when I saw him. And I got hot and went for my gun and lit up. I see. You get anything? When I went back to the house this morning, my missus said a couple of shirts and jeans was missing. Must be, say, Good and Abbott all right. Getting rid of their jail clothes. They have horses? No, I didn't hear any. Maybe they were going to take a couple of yours and didn't have time to get them. How come your dogs didn't stay after them dogs and up? Should have turned them loose. But like I said, I was too hot to do any thinking after they shot at me. If you had done any thinking, you'd have stayed home. One of the men you were chasing is a killer. And about as cold as they come. We picked up their trail near the farmhouse about four miles out. We found the ashes of a fire and chicken bones and feathers. And in the brush near the same spot, a bundle of prison clothes. From there, the trail led straight to the US Highway. See the road through the brush now, Jase? Yeah. Let's hope we spot a highway patrol car before we. Well, what's the matter? Something off the road in that patch of Douglas Firm. Looks like the front of a truck pulled pretty far back. Come on, get up, Char. Good boy. Haul truck stacked with new cars, huh? That's what they are. Well, screen from the road, all right? Yeah. Driver doesn't seem to be around. Unloading ramps down, Jase. Tire tracks on the ground. They've got a car now, all right. Wonder what happened to the driver of the truck. Blood on the cab seat. More on the running board than the ground. Goes this way. There he is. Dead. Jeez. Probably tried to go for help and couldn't make it. Yeah. Wound looks like say Good's trademark. Shot through the stomach. You are listening to Tales of the Texas Rangers. Starring Joel McCray as Ranger Jace Pearson. Now we continue with tonight's Case Candyman. An authentic story from the files of the Texas Rangers. I left the horses with Leeds at the nearest town. He did some checking while I got a lift back to Pentland to pick up the car and horse trailer. And I drove back to meet Leeds where I'd left him. Come on, boy. Get some trailer. Oh, boy. Ready to roll, Jase? We'll roll as soon as we can figure out which way. You check on those gas stations? Highway Patrol went all the way down the line. No station service the car we're looking for, no pump locks were broken during the night. They must have driven as far as they wanted to go and ditched the car somewhere within about 100 miles from you. How do you figure that? Well, new cars coming off the assembly line only get a few gallons of gas put in them. They didn't take on more gas. They got as far as they could on what was in the tank. That makes sense. We'll head west. They have trouble in Oklahoma and Louisiana, according to his record. And so he'd go to New Mexico where he's clean. If he left the state. Yeah. Guess it's our best shot. KTXA to unit 10. KTXA to unit 10. Unit 10 to KTXA. Go ahead. KTXA have report for unit 10 on subject John say good. Only known associate of Seguards was woman known as Marcella Roberts. Present whereabouts unknown. Last location was place of business beauty salon in Abilene, Texas. Left there two months ago. Unit 10, request check of cosmetic distributors and supply houses. Check recent orders as possible source of new address on subject Marcella Roberts. Will do unit 10. Moment, unit 10. Have another message coming in for you. Unit 10, standby. Unit 10 standing by. Maybe they found the car, Chief. Big help if they have. Here it is, unit 10. General store at Pike Hill. Entered during early morning. Situated 30 miles west. Your present location. Check of stolen merchandise includes candy and fit. Subject say Good. Proceeding to pike hill immediately. Unit 10. 10 Sleep in a room right back at the store here, Ranger. When I hear this noise, I got up and lit the light. It was just before daybreak. See anybody? No. No. I opened the door into the store, and then the dang cat popped into my room and started purring and rubbing against my leg. So I just figured she knocked something over, so I went on back to bed. I see. Didn't know anybody broke me until I got up this morning and found the dog lass busting. Must have slept through that, though. I sleep real sound. Guess I woke up when they knocked this stack of canned goods over. Got them up and got them all stacked again. Now you call the sheriff right away? Yep. Yep. Soon as I found a few dollars from the cash drawer missing. Didn't think about the candy counter. Don't keep much, you know, till a couple of kids come in later on wanting some Pepnic lightsabers, and I saw a whole box of them was gone. And some chocolate bars. I guess that's when the sheriff got into touch with us. Then we'll rope off this showcase and have somebody from our lab come in to check it for fingerprints so we can be sure it was the man we were after. Not much doubt about it, Jace. Nothing like being sure. We drove further west from Pike Hill, past Virgo while we waited for the fingerprint check. Combed the brush along the highway looking for the car. Say good nabbit had stolen, but there was no sign of it. If it was abandoned, it might stay hidden for weeks. Nothing in here, Jace? No. Would have been a good spot to ditch a car, though. They couldn't have driven much further than this. We may find it further on. Maybe. Maybe we've already passed it. Calling your car radio, Jase. Yeah, I heard it. KTXA to Unit 10. Come in, Unit 10. Unit 10 to KTXA. Go ahead. KTXA. Report on subject. Marcella Roberts, Cosmetic distributor. Check shows nail enamel ordered in subject's name two weeks ago. Delivery made to Adorable Beauty Salon, Virgo, Texas. Units 10 and 7, continuing investigation. Unit 1010 4, KDXJ, Austin. Filing leads. Virgo's about 15 miles back, Jace. I had a hunch we came too far. Figure the woman's helping him hide out. Vega didn't head in this direction without a reason. If she isn't hiding him, she'll know where he's headed. Marcelo Roberts. Nor was she at her home when we got there. But she came home about an hour later. We left our car out of sight. She didn't see us until she came up the steps to the private entrance on the porch. Ms. Roberts. What? Oh. Oh, Rangers. I didn't see you. I thought you might be able to help us. You know a man named John, say? Good. I used to know him. Long time ago. You seen him lately? Well, how could I? I heard that he was in jail. Paper boy must have been neglecting you lately. He's out. We're looking for him. All right, Ranger. I'll tell you what I know. He probably headed for Oklahoma City. Told me once that he could always hide out there if he got in any trouble. He should have carried a compass because he headed the wrong way. He broke into a store at Pike Hill before sun up this morning. And he was still moving in this direction when he left there. Well, I haven't seen him. Good. And you won't mind if we take a look through your apartment. If you've got any objection, one of us can wait here while the other gets a warrant. All right, you can come in. I only hesitated because the place is a mess. Sure, but we won't tell the neighbors. Come on, let's go. Well, here you are. I couldn't hide a mouse in here. Leads. Check the bathroom and closets. I'll look in the kitchen. Right. Nobody here, Chase. That's for sure. No, not now. But there was somebody here. What do you mean? I mean, if you were a better housekeeper, you might make a better liar. You could have swept up these candy wrappers on the floor. Is there a law against eating candy? I hate it. Old time. So does say Good. You happen to have a 30 day diet tacked up on your kitchen wall. Your figure says you've been following it pretty close. You can't prove anything with that. Maybe not, but there's something else. Two different brands of cigarettes in this ashtray. One brand doesn't have any lipstick on them. I had a boyfriend. Businessman. Gonna check every store in this town and find out if you bought a load of groceries today. And if you did, you better be able to show them or prove where they went. Stranger, you're concealing and aiding a murderer. You can serve a lot of time for that, Marcella. Enough to rub off those good Looks before you get out. I don't want to go to jail. But you don't know Johnny. He killed me. Where is he? I took him and the other fella up the back road to this Tierra Diablo for you. Said he'd hide out there and come back in a week after I raised some money for him to get out of the country. You lead us out to where you left him. Don't bother about raising that money. He isn't gonna be needing it. We followed her to the place where, say, Good and Abbott had been dropped. The base of the wild Sierra Diablo country. Catching the last rays of the sun. Leeds and I took our horses out of the trailer and started after them. Getting pretty dark. Jace. Yeah. Have to leave the horses and go on foot soon or we'll lose this trail. I can hardly see anything now. Hold up a minute. Oo wo charcoal boy. Moist patch here. One of them slipped and fell. The one making the heaviest tracks probably say Good. No, Abbott say Good's bigger. But he's using Abbott for a pack mule to carry supplies. Look how the tracks spraddle out. Yeah. Sure must be carrying weight all right. Handed right for that rocky ground ahead. We won't find any more prints as clear as these. Want to tie the horses off here? No, I think we better lead him. They can walk this ground and we may need him coming out now. Let's keep going. Ah, we've lost him, Jace. Keep flashing your light around it. Keep it tucked. All right, I'll spread out a little. No, no, Wait a minute. Come back. Huh? What'd you find? Earth is soft at the base of this rock. Yeah, but no prints in it. Gee, no. But look at those marks. Rattlesnake track. Yeah. Wasn't moving away from here, though. Ben's probably in under the rock, was weaving back and forth. Rattler only does that when it's disturbed. You mean they scared it passing by? Something scared it? Some loose rock fell around here not long ago either. You can see where it chipped as it fell. Chips are fresh. Haven't been weathered over. Then they must have knocked it loose climbing up around the rock. Yeah, let's. And if they did come this way, they must have moved along this ledge here. Use your light again. You're right. Jace, look at this. Yeah. Piece of broken shoelace snapped while they were climbing. And they sat there and tied the rest of it. See where his back rubbed dirt off the rock behind him? Yeah. They made straight for that plateau. Give say Good a clear view of anything coming up by day. Gonna leave the horses here and go on? No, Climb down and get them. We'll circle the rocks and take the long way up. Give say Good a chance to fall asleep. We may be able to take him alive. We reach the plateau, a broad flat patch just under the final center. The high peaks of the range. And picked up the trail again. Led straight toward a clump of trees and brush. And through the trees we saw the globe of fire. We moved toward it. Moon's pretty bright now, Chase. We're out here. They're in cover. Unless they move between us and that far. It's funny, Sago to keep a fire going at night. Need it in the day for cooking. But it's a giveaway in the dark. Probably figures. He said safe enough. He's got to keep an eye on Abbott. Unless we're wrong and Abbott's along because he wants to be. We'll find that out when the showdown comes. No sign any movement there yet, Jace. We better leave the horses now and we'll stick them out here and split. Circle in on foot until Cl. Now I knew what was wrong with the fire. It was a decoy. Sega to set up. He was someplace in the rim of the brush behind us. I twisted around looking for a flash of his gun. If he fired again, let me get a good shot, I'll put one right to your belly. You didn't expect to get away, did you? Say good. You ain't got me yet. We can wait. You'll never get out of here unless we take you out. We got four guns. You're one say good. Go. Forget the extra joker I dealt myself. Talk up. Abbott. Oh, shit. My arms. I still got Abbott, Little Papa. And if one of you got a bullet mark for me, remember, it's got to go through him first. Keep him talking, Jace. Maybe I can crawl around. No, no, no, no. He's trigger happy. He heard a sound. He put a bullet in Abbott's back. What do you say, Rangers? You want to see this punk die? Remember, I got nothing to lose by gunning it. What do you want, Sard? I'll make you a deal. We don't make deals. You'll make this. What? Our Abbot's dead. He's not calling Rangers. He'll kill me. I got a wife and a kid. Town ain't that touching. Rangers. Now you going to play ball with me? Watch your deal. Back off. Way off so I can see you. Go and leave us your horses. And remember, Ed will be in front of me when we come out to get him. Jeez. We can let him come out and then we can. Sure, sure. I know. All right, say good. You got a deal. I loosened the cinch on Charcoal. We backed away, ready in case they fired, and they moved out into the moonlight. Sega kept Abbott between us and got him up on Leed's horse. Then he started to mount Charcoal along. Rangers. Shake him, Charcoal. Shake him, boy. Come on, Leech. He won't be able to hit anything but the ground. There goes Sigurd. Watch him. Oh, my arms. My arms are hit. You all right, Abbott? Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right. Get up. Say good. My arm. Never borrow a ranger's horse when a ranger's around. Unless he wants you to have him. I'm glad I didn't have to kill you. Say good. I want the rest of the prisoners at Pentland to see you back in that cell. Might help them make up their minds never to come back again. You can start that lesson with me, Ranger. Once I get out, you won't see me there again. Good, Abbott. It's no place for a wife and kid to go visiting. All right, say good. Get going, John. Say good was brought to trial and found guilty on three counts of murder. His sentence, death in the electric chair. This is Joel McCrae. Many tales about the Texas Rangers have been repeated until they are legend. And here's one of my favorites. Many years ago, rioting broke out in a Texas town and the mayor appealed for aid from the Rangers. He was at the railroad depot to meet the expected help when a stranger got off the train and approached him. Are you the mayor? The stranger asked. The mayor, looking anxiously for the ranger force, said, yeah, but I have no time to talk to you now. I'm waiting for the Texas Rangers to. To stop this riot. The stranger said, I'm the Ranger. I was sent down to help you. The mayor's mouth dropped open in dismay. They only send one ranger. Puzzled by the question, the ranger said, yeah, you only got one riot, haven't you? Don't forget our date. Same time next week, folks. See you then. Next week, Joel McRae. In another authentic reenactment of a case from the files of the Texas rang, Joel McCrae is currently themed, starring in the Universal International Technicolor production Saddle Tramp. Tonight's cast included Tony Barrett, Frank Martin, Reed Hadley, Wilms Herbert, Dick Ryan and Lorene Suttle. 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. The secret of Dennis Day's comedy is that he always appears perplexed and bewildered. Dennis will be back on the network of The Chimes Saturday, October 7th. That's three weeks from tonight with more delightful mix ups and popular music in the thrilling Day manner. And that same Saturday, October 7 also marks the return of Judy Canova with more of her mountain style music and mayhem. This is NBC, the National Broadcasting Company.