Just a Number (Audition): Tales of the Texas Rangers (April 13, 1950)

“Just a Number (Audition)” is an episode of Tales of the Texas Rangers, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 13, 1950. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Ranger J. Pearson is assigned to investigate a triple murder at the Evans Ranch in Carson County. Nine-year-old Billy Stevens discovers the bodies of Carl Evans and his family, and Pearson must piece together the evidence—a mysterious clump of mud from a boot, missing hogs that broke through a fence, and a feed purchase made six days before the murders—to establish when the killings occurred.

Carson County, Texas—the Stevens Ranch and Evans Ranch, and the town feed store

Characters: Ranger J. Pearson, Sheriff Larkins, Sam Stevens, Billy Stevens, Tom Evans, Carl Evans

Listen for: The careful detective work of matching clues: Pearson discovers a peculiar clump of mud under the bed with the imprint of a boot heel, notices hogs that have escaped through a broken fence, and tracks Tom Evans's last feed purchase to narrow down the time of death.

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.