Smart Kill: Tales of the Texas Rangers (May 18, 1952)

“Smart Kill” is an episode of Tales of the Texas Rangers, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 18, 1952. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

A feed and grain building in Carville burns to the ground with a man trapped inside, his body too badly burned for immediate identification. Ranger Jace Pearson arrives to investigate and discovers the building's doors were padlocked from the outside, making it murder. With only the building's owner Ed Woodley and his partner Sam Taylor holding keys, Pearson must determine who the victim is and how he came to be locked in the building before it burned.

The town of Carville, at a burned-out feed and grain building and surrounding farms

Characters: Ranger Jace Pearson, Sheriff Fuller, Ed Woodley, Sam Taylor, Martha, Sharon Taylor

Listen for: The investigation into the locked building and the identity of the burned victim, with suspicion falling on those who held keys to the structure

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.