Blood Trail: Tales of the Texas Rangers (January 20, 1952)

“Blood Trail” is an episode of Tales of the Texas Rangers, the old-time radio show, first broadcast January 20, 1952. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Sheriff Dave Fellows finds Dr. Thomas staggering down Main Street in Whitney, Texas, bleeding heavily from wounds sustained in a violent fight at his office. Dr. Thomas dies from blood loss before he can explain what happened. When Texas Ranger Jason Pearson arrives to investigate, he discovers the doctor's office ransacked and learns that Carl Hinkle, a German immigrant whose wife died under the doctor's care six weeks earlier, had an appointment with Dr. Thomas the night he was killed.

Whitney, Texas, during a heat wave in July 1929; Dr. Thomas's office and Carl Hinkle's home near the railroad depot

Characters: Sheriff Dave Fellows, Ranger Jason Pearson, Dr. Thomas, Carl Hinkle

Listen for: The blood trail leading from the doctor's office to Main Street, and the ranger's discovery that Dr. Thomas was knocked unconscious and mistakenly left for dead by his attacker

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.