Death in the Cards: Tales of the Texas Rangers (January 14, 1951)

“Death in the Cards” is an episode of Tales of the Texas Rangers, the old-time radio show, first broadcast January 14, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

A gambler named Toby has been extracting money from Will Gentry for two months to pay off card game debts. When Will's stepfather Chester refuses to give him more money and threatens to confront Toby himself, Chester is shot dead at his own front door. Texas Ranger Jason and Sheriff Bennett must track down the elusive gambler before he escapes across the border.

Reeves County, Texas, January 1947—the Gentry ranch house and a rooming house in Biggerstown

Characters: Ranger Jason, Sheriff Bennett, Will Gentry, Chester Gentry, Toby the gambler, Mrs. Packer, the landlady

Listen for: The rangers discover peculiar footprints in the frost that seem odd in some way they can't quite identify, suggesting the case may not be what it first appears.

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.