Texas Rangers - The Hatchet

0:00The National Broadcasting Company presents Joel McRae in Tales of the Texas Rangers. Tonight, transcribed 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 Chase 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.

1:00The events themselves are a matter of record. Case for tonight, the hatchet. It is 8.30 a.m. Sunday, May 16, 1941. The Hallock family of Rock Point, Texas is preparing to leave for church. Do you want any more toast, Jim? No. All I want is another cup of coffee. I'll get it for sales. Aren't you sit down and eat? Well, I would if I could get that board at the table. Robert? Robert? I'm coming, ma'am. You've been saying that for half an hour. Your eggs are getting cold and we'll be late for church. All right, all right. And never mind that all right business. When your mother called you, you just come and run it. Do you want five hours left for faith, John? I'll be right there. No, see the jar. You'll go without your breakfast. You come sit down. Had he no need of your stomach being empty. Just coffee he'll do for me. Seems like the older boy gets the harder it is to get him out of bed in the morning.

2:09What time did he get in last night? After 11. Him and Sadie Lewis went to the picture show. I told him I wanted him home at 10 o'clock nights. Yeah, it was Saturday night. He goes to school all week. Well, school soon be over. He'll be working with me in the store all summer. Maybe he won't feel much like staying out half the night when he's been on his feet all day. Look at the time. Robert! I'm here, mom. Here? Well, it's about time. Get your breakfast, but the eggs will be like rubber. I don't want anything to eat. I'm not hungry. I didn't just say so before your mom wasted her time and the food. You got to eat something. Now I have breakfast when we get back in church. Sure, that'll be fine. You can make more work for your mom that way. Gee, pie. I just don't feel hungry now. Oh, leave my loan, Jim. I'll get him something later. I just put the dishes in the soak. You two want to get out of my way. Why don't you go next door and tell him Mr. Dress for we're about ready to leave. Is he riding with us again? Yes, he's riding with us again, so stop talking about it. Come on.

3:13You ought to be glad to have your teacher for a neighbor. You wouldn't be at the head of your graduating class, but weren't for his help. I see enough of him in school without seeing him Sunday, too. Yeah. Well, when you get away to college in the fall, you might be wishing you had somebody like him close by to give you a hand. Ring the bell. You don't answer. Maybe he went on. Eat it, told us. And I didn't hear his car. Come on, maybe he's out in the back. Mr. Dress goes. That's funny. Run up the back steps and take a look in the kitchen window. Oh, why don't we just go without him? Will you do like I tell you? Okay. Do you see anything? No, he ain't. Pa! Pa! What is it, son?

4:14What's the matter? Look at him. He's lying on the floor. Pa, what is it? What happened to him? Come away, son. Don't look anymore. Come away. I got a call to Sheriff. Yeah. It looks like he's been murdered. Sheriff Alvin Jeffers took one look at the scene of the crime and put in a call over the assistance of the Texas Rangers. Ranger Jace Pearson was assigned. Might eat bloody job, Jace. No weapons, right? No. Judging by the marks, though, it was something with two edges, one blunt and one sharp. Probably a hatchet, Sheriff. Either that or two weapons, as possible, but not likely. You say the JP's been here? As soon as we're finished, the body will be moved into the funeral home for autopsy. Established time of death. And it will help. Where'd your call come from? Neighbors next door. The Hallux. Man, wife and son. Man and boys spotted Driscoll through the window when they come to get him for a lift to church.

5:17I like to talk to him. Sure. I told him to stick to home. We can go out back and hop the fence. The boy that crowd out front. Good. The front room looked like Driscoll went in big for books. Yeah. He was an English teacher at the high school. The Hallux boy, Robert, was in one of his classes, I think. Driscoll live alone. The widower. Here. Step on this box and hop the fence. Now you go ahead. I can get over without you. The Hallux star is coming. There he is at the back door. Howdy, Karen. Ranger. Come on in. Thanks. Ranger Pearson. Jim Hallock. Howdy. Oh, my wife had it and my boy, Robert. Howdy. Howdy, Ranger. You found Driscoll's body this morning. Me and Robert sought through the window. What time? About quarter to nine. That's when we always leave for services. Oh, Jason, I ought to call my office. Have the funeral home come for the body now. All right. Go ahead. Mind if I use your phone, Hallux. Help yourself. Not sure you're worried this year.

6:19Oh, you better stay, Robert. You and your dad found the body. Would you mind, Mrs. Hallux? Not at all. In here, sir. Thank you. Either of you see Driscoll yesterday or last night. We both saw him outside last night, little after six. I was coming home from the store. I saw groceries. Robert was outside waiting for me so he could take the car. Big date, huh? Yeah. What was Driscoll doing? Digging a flower border on his lawn. You talk to him. Just call to him after Robert took a car and drove off. Asked me planned on riding the church with us. Most ends taken two cars or neighbors are going to the same place. I see. That all. That's all. You didn't hear anything during the evening of the night. Nope. Me and had a turned in little after nine. How about you, Robert? What time did you get home? What time did you get home? You couldn't tell Emma. I know you was late. Your mother heard you come in.

7:19All after eleven. Where were you? To a picture show with Sadie Lewis. What did you see? I don't remember the name of it. You're being frostbiz in it. Jason, you're going to be much longer. Oh, no, Sheriff. Why? I spoke to my office. One of my deputies got a report. Ranger named Finney chased somebody off his place with a shotgun last night. Doorbell, haddy. I'm going. Had it the deputy think the report might have anything to do with the Drisco's murder? Who knows? Teller Finney saw who was doing something around a cattle tank, though. Good place to get rid of a weapon. Cattle tanks have been used before. Maybe we ought to go out and take a look. Yeah. Robert? It's green to see you. Hi, Bob. Hi. I'm Mr. Halik, Sheriff. Hello, Gene. I just drove in to see if Bob wanted to go out to the Shacken Camp and I saw that crowd in front of next door. Somebody killed old man Drisco, huh? Yeah. I can't go with you today. Well, yeah, I guess not. Are you helping the Sheriff, Ranger? We're helping each other. Well, Bob, I show up. You catch that guy.

8:21Mr. Drisco was the best teacher we ever had. We'll try to square things for him, Gene. Come on, Jason. Yeah. Thanks for your help. We may want to talk to you again later. No, you're a sure welcome, Ranger. Bye. Bye, man. So long folks. Bye. So long, Ranger. Who was that kid the one who just came in? You mean Gene? Come on, name's Gene McCready. Palo Roberts. They go to school together. Why? Just wondering. Robert Halik ever give any of you any trouble around here? Yeah, we'll take my car. You know, he's a good kid. Why? I just got a feeling he was covering up for something that's all. Like what? I knew that I wouldn't be wondering about it. How far to Finney's place? Turn off to the right about six miles out. Just this side of the Lewis place. The Lewis place? Robert Halik says that he was out of the movie last night with a girl named Sadie Lewis. Yeah, she lives out there. Mike Lewis daughter. Only 15, but a big girl for her age.

9:22Lewis watches her like a hawk. I'd like to stop by the Lewis place and talk to that girl. Okay, we can go out there after we check at Finney's. Well, right here's about where he was when I spotted him. I called, but I started to run through Lord Buckshot after him. You didn't see who it was? No, it didn't. I took far off about 300 feet back to all the hubs. What time was that, Danny? Oh, just four o'clock last night. Wasn't that kind of late for you to be out here? Well, I've been visiting. I was cutting across the ranch, walking home from where? Mike Lewis's place. We get together sad in night's plate cards. Oh, no, not for money. Just passion time. You always carry a shotgun when you're passing time. Well, matter of fact, it do. Bag of Jack Rabbit once in a while going coming between here and Mike's place. So I always told him to go in just in case. I see. I see. I see better than you do, Jason. I've eaten out here. Mrs. Finney can do more things with a Jack Rabbit in a pot than most women can do.

10:25Okay, I was just checking. Now about the fella you saw. Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, like a shed one, he didn't answer my call. I flushed him with a shot. Don't think I hit him though. Looked too far. Barely saw him as it was. Oh, which way do you take off? Well, by the way. I always about a mile across country there. You chase him, man. Sure did. But wrecking he was like young and me. Well, what makes you say that? Well, I have two minutes to run it. I was a puppet like an engine eternal. He was pulling away with every jump. Is there anything around here he might have been trying to steal? No, not a thing. Unless he was trying to make off with a cow. And that'd be nothing to try on foot. Well, Sheriff. Yes, we'd better check our boots and hop in there. Ain't it my cattle tank? That's right, Finney. But what for? If we're lucky, the weapon that was used in the killing of a high school teacher in Driscoll. The cattle tank was big. The bottom was covered deep with a couple of inches of oozing mud and slime. He was slithered around in it for almost half an hour. Very thick along the bottom, Jason.

11:25Yeah, sure is. I was going to have a cleaned out next month. Looks like we're going to have to save you the trouble and the expense. We'll have to call a pumping crew, Sheriff. Yeah, it looks that way. Hey, give me a hint. Thanks. Wait it over here, Jason. We'll boost you out. Okay, Sheriff. Now we're sure going to feel silly if we have this pumped out and there's nothing here. It will feel silly if we don't have it done. And there is something here that turns up later. I think we ought to... What's the matter, Jason? Feel something. Here's what we're going to do. What's the matter, Jason? Feel something. Here under my foot. Yeah, I've felt it coming over this way, too. Some stones in the mud. Oh, this is metal. Wait, I'll get it. What is it, Jason? Look for yourself, Sheriff. Just about what we're looking for.

12:25A hatchet. You are listening to tales of the Texas Rangers starring Joel McRae as Ranger Jace Pearson. We continue now with tonight's case, the hatchet, and authentic story from the files of the Texas Rangers. It was the murder weapon, all right? The blood had been washed away from most of it, but there was skin tissue in here that had stuck to the blood end and... I reckon that's it, all right, Jason. But who threw it away on my pleasure? Why? Killer wanted to get rid of it in a place he thought nobody would be liable to find it. Must have thought of this spot last night. That means he knew the place. He wouldn't cross the range on foot unless he did. You say he ran off that way? Right, right. Like Sheriff said, highways, Bob Boyle. He could have left the car there. He was getting back to where he might have cut off in another direction when you lost him.

13:28You have horses here, don't you, Finney? Why sure? Sure, but nothing like one your tone in that trailer, huh, and your car. It's really a horse ranger. I think so, too. What I want is a mount for the sheriff here. Where do you figure on riding, Jason? Out on the range, see if we can pick up a trail. I'll unload charcoal and start ahead, and you walk back to the ranch house and get one of Finney's horses and catch up to me. Chase! Hey, Chase! I'll wait for you, Chef. Easy, easy boy. Mr. Jackson. Find anything? Tracks, all right. Not too heavy on this ground, though. They're easy to lose. Yeah, but this is a straight shot from the ridge. Looks like he was sure going for the road, all right? No doubt about it. If you left the car there, we might be able to find some tire marks where he parked. I'm not sure if we can find anything. The track's all right. Not too heavy on this ground, though. They're easy to lose. Yeah, but this is a straight shot from the ridge. Looks like he was sure going for the road, all right? The tire marks where he parked. Frayed you're going to be stymied there, Jason. Why? County just worked the roads over. Shoulders are all fresh gravel. Oh. What's the shortest way to the Lewis Ranch?

14:29Go back for the car, keep riding. We'd save a little time going back for the car, not much. Well, charcoal's full of run. Let's give him a chance for a workout. Come on. Yeah, yeah. Let's go. The Lewis Ranch was big and well kept. There was something dismal and brooding about it. When we got inside, I knew what it was. It was as though the place were reflecting the personality of the heavy brown man who owned it. So you want to see my daughter, huh? That's right. What about? Just want to ask her where she was last night? She was into the movie house with Robert Hallock. Yeah, we'd like a little more information than that, Mike. The Ranger. I know everything my daughter does. I can tell you anything you want to know. And maybe so, Mr. Lewis, but we still want to see her. That's an official request. I'll call her. Sadie. Get home. Come into the house. Get home.

15:29Into the parlour. I didn't know anybody who was here. Sheriff and the Ranger want to talk to you. They don't think you and Robert was at the show last night. Nobody said that. You don't have to say it. Look, if you can't keep out of this, you can take your mind reading act into another room until we're finished. It'd be better if you didn't interfere, Mike. Go ahead, ask. Maybe I'll be interested in the answers, too. Sadie, don't be nervous. Just tell the truth. Were you with Robert Hallock last night? Yes. Where'd you go? We went... Where'd you go? To the movie. Remember the name of the picture? The new one was being crossed. You saw that with me a month ago when I took you to Sweetwater. I saw it again. There's no other show to see in town. Is there... Robert brought you the ticket stuff, didn't he, Paul? Brought you the ticket, Stubbs. That's right, Ranger. Brought me the Stubbs. My daughter's supposed to be someplace.

16:29I want to make sure she's there. I'm not gambling on being fed any lies. No, I can see that. You're not gambling that your girl might tell you the truth, either, given the chance. Reckon the law has got nothing to say about that. I reckon not. Let me have that package, Sheriff. Here. What's in it? Just something I want you to look at? Catch it. Yeah. You ever see this before? No. How about you, Sadie? You ever see this before? No, sir. I never... Why are you asking us about it? Just routine. This is the weapon used to kill Driscoll, a high school teacher. All right, Sheriff. Wrap it up again. Let's go. Sorry to bother you, Mr. Lewis. Yeah. You ready, Sheriff? Yeah. Goodbye, Mike. Sadie? Sadie been lying to me. Answer me! I'm ready! Looks like Sadie's in for a rough time, Jayce. And she wasn't telling the truth. He knows it.

17:29Her story ties in with Robert Alex, Jayce. I know. Be dark by the time we get back to Finney's place. Will we house open tonight? Sure. Why? Let's talk to the manager. The theater was a small town show place. The manager couldn't remember seeing Robert Alex and Sadie Lewis. He referred us to the ticket-taker. Ticket-taker turned out to be Robert Alex Powell, Gene McCready. Come on, Gene. Talk out. Was Robert here for the show last night or wasn't he? What? I don't know. He's your best friend and you were on the door last night if he came in you saw him. Yeah, he was here. Did he stay for the whole show? No. No, he didn't stay for any of it. How do you know? Did you see him leave before it was over? Well, he, uh, he didn't even go in. He just stopped by to get a couple of ticket-stubs from me. So that's it. Why didn't you tell us that right off? Because I promised Bob that if anybody asked, I'd say him and Sadie was here.

18:32Or why would anybody ask? Bob thought Sadie's father might. He's asked me before when they were supposed to be here. I guess that's what we wanted, Jason. It's part of it. Not all of it. Gene, I want you to forget that I asked you anything. Understand? Yes, sir. Let's go, Sheriff. I guess we'd better pick up Robert Hallick and the Lewis thorough, Jason. Not yet. All we know is they didn't see the show. That isn't enough. Don't see why not. This wasn't just a transient thing. Trisco didn't have no enemies, unless it was one of his pupils hated him. We can now add down to one student, though, until we've checked on all of them. I'm going to sleep on this tonight. When school opens tomorrow, I'm going out there. Trisco had been a popular teacher at Rock Point High, but he had an iron-bound code of ethics where honesty was concerned.

19:32And that was the key I needed. I found the answer in a batch of test papers he'd been grading. I took the papers back to the sheriff's office. Morning, Jason. Morning. Find anything out the school. Plenty. Look at these. What are they? English class test papers of Robert Hallick and Gene McCready? You see. Hallick's marks pretty high. 94. Yeah. Hey, only half the answers on McCready's paper have been checked. He's as engraided. Compare them and you'll see why. His answer to every single question is exactly the same as Hallick's, all the way down the line. Trisco must have noticed it while he was marking. Hmm. You think McCready was cribbing his answers from Bob Hallick's paper? Hallick was at the head of the class. McCready was just barely hanging on. Those papers were clipped together in the drawer of Driscoll's desk with this slip of paper. A few notes scribbled on it and Driscoll's handwriting. Yeah, read what it says. An obvious case of cheating.

20:32Flunk McCready. If Hallick knew of this, advise principal neither should be permitted to graduate. Well. Test was on Friday. Driscoll must have been grading those papers after school let out. Hallick came home, but Gene McCready was sitting out a punishment in another class for being late. That means Driscoll might run into Gene Friday afternoon and asked him about it. That's what I figured. Of course, Gene could have told Bob later. Yeah, he could have. Robert Hallick's the boy all right, geez. He lied about where he was Saturday night and Gene was working at the theater. Maybe yes and maybe no. You get the autopsy report yet? Oh, yeah, yeah. Came in this morning. What time did Driscoll die? Between 9.30 and 10.30 Saturday night. Then we can't eliminate Gene McCready. Why not? He starts taking theater tickets at 6.30. But the box office closes at 9 when the main feature goes on again. He's got nothing to do after that. His work's finished.

21:32Well, I didn't think of that. You better give me the hatchet, Sheriff. I'll need it. Sure. Got it locked in the drawer here. What's your plan? You go out to the school, get Bob Hallick and bring him to his father's store. I'll meet you there. Would you want Gene McCready to? He's not in school. He's supposed to be home sick. We can pick him up later. I don't want him and Robert together. Ranger, you're crazy. Crazy, I tell you. I'll calm down, Mr. Hallick. You admit the hatchet comes from your play. No. A minute ago you said it did. Well, it disappeared months ago. It was lost. It got lost again in a cattle tank. Where's your car? Out back. Through that door. All right, let's look it over. Your son was using this car Saturday night. Yes. Five. What are you looking for?

22:33Hatchet had to be carted away from Drisco's and there was blood on it. I'm looking for a stain. Well, you don't see any do you? No. I see a spot on the front seat that's cleaner than the rest. Can you smell that? It's been rubbed with gasoline. Ranger? You're wrong. You got to be wrong. My kid wouldn't do a thing like that. I want to do it, Robert. And here we are, Chase. Oh! What's the matter? Why did they take me out of school? Son. Son. Whatever you've done, me and your mall stand by. Now, tell them the truth. You were at the show Saturday. Tell them you were. How about it, Robert? Gene said you just dropped by to pick up ticket stubs. I wasn't that show. Why didn't you tell me? Why? I couldn't because of Sadie's father. He'd kill her. You better tell us what happened, boy. Why? I picked up Sadie in the car at 630.

23:34We went into the movie house to leave the car with Gene and get the stubs. You left the car with Gene? Yes. So it'd be around the theater in case Sadie's paw came by. Well, then what happened? Then we arranged for Gene to meet us out at the crossroads, between the Lewis Placen and Finney's at 11 o'clock. So I had the car take Sadie home. See, she ranger. He didn't have the car all the time. I'd go ahead, Robert. Where did you and Sadie go? We went for a ride with somebody who picked us up behind the theater. What do you mean by somebody? Who? Sadie's mother. What? Why Sadie Lewis's mother is dead? No, she isn't. That's what Mr. Lewis tells everybody. They were divorced before he moved here with Sadie. Could that be true, Sheriff? Well, jeesh, I don't know. Mike Lewis always had his wife died. She didn't. He just hated her. That's all. Well, if he finds out Sadie's been seen her, he'll beat her up. All right, Robert. I think you're telling the truth.

24:34There's something I want you to identify. This. Why? That's our old Kimlin hatchet. Where'd you see it last? Well, the shack. Me and Jean built a shack up in the woods last fall. We go camping up there. I built most of it because Jean was working part-time after school. It's in his ranch. It's all right, Jayce. Jean did work for Fanny for a while. Come on, Sheriff. We better go pick him up. Jean McCready wasn't at his home and he wasn't sick. We got the location of the shack he built with Robert Hallock. Got horses and rode into the woods to look for him. There's the shack, Jayce. Just through that clump of trees. Yeah. Come on, Charkey. Hey, the door's open and it's Jean. Hurry, Jean. What are you doing out here? Let's come up to take you in a town, Jean. A few things we want to ask you about. Like what?

25:34Like how you spent Saturday evening. Between the time you stopped taking tickets and the time you met Robert at the crossroad between the Lewis Place and Fanny's. Come on, Jean. I'll boost you up behind me. Well, can I get my jacket? It's inside. Go ahead. Hey, you don't look guilty, Jayce. Not a bit rattled. I know. Well, we could be wrong, but you better give me your holster, Sheriff, if he's going to ride behind you. Yeah, I guess you're... Look out, Jayce! Oh! You hit, Sheriff. No, but I hit him. He had a rifle in there. You have to shoot him just as you lean over! Oh, yeah, hit me! Yeah. Let's see. It's a flesh wound through the sign. I didn't want to hurt him. But Mr. Driscoll wasn't going to let me graduate. Don't fool. All right, shut up. Hold still. I fixed this wound. Will he be all right, Jayce? Yeah. I'm sorry I had to do that. Shootin' a kid. Yeah, but... but he's being a kid doesn't make you bulletproof and it didn't stop him from

26:38killing Driscoff. There. All right Sheriff, let's rig a letter and carry him in. Gene McCready was just old enough to stand formal trial for the murder of his high school instructor. On September 20th 1941 he was taken to the state penitentiary at Hunsville to serve out a sentence of twenty five years. And here again is the star of our show Joel McCray. There's a poem that was sent to me by Captain Empty Lone Wolf Gonzalez whose commander company be of the Texas Rangers. It's not only amusing that seems to reflect the thoughts of many a police officer. I hope you'll enjoy hearing it. It's called not guilty. I

27:43guess I've seen a thousand men go in this jail and out from tramps with month old whiskers to rich men with a gout. Not one of them was guilty of the crimes the law accused. Seems they were all just victims of some officers abuse. From the time the keys are rattled till they're locked up in the cell their voices though they differ from a whisper to a yell. The song is always just the same that everyone will sing. I don't see why they put me here. I haven't done a thing. Makes no difference what they've done or how mean the crime has been. When they're locked behind those prison bars they're always free from sin. Though the evidence be solid in their voice with guilt may ring they'll stand right up and tell you I haven't done a thing. Good night folks. See you again next week. Good night. Next week Joel McRae in another authentic reenactment of a case from the files of the Texas Rangers.

28:48Joel McRae has currently seen starring in the Universal International Technicolor production Frenchie. Tonight's cast included Tony Barrett, Harley Bear, Mike Barrett, Sam Edwards, Joe Dubal, Tom Cook and Gerald Moore. This story was transcribed and adapted by Joel Merkott and the program is produced and directed by Stacy Keach. Hell give me speaking. Three chimes mean good times on NBC. There's music fun and prizes Monday through Friday on NBC to help your busy morning along. Tommy Bartlett brings you welcome travelers. Walter O'Keefe MC is double or nothing. Clever quiz master Bud Collier asks the questions on break the bank. Jack Birch presents songs and stories and Dave Garroway with Melody and humor. That's Monday through Friday on NBC. Now hear the $64 question. Three chimes mean good times on NBC.