Speaker 1: This is our American Stories, and today we bring you
Speaker 1: the story of Tom Ryan. And Tom is a ninety
Speaker 1: five year old listener of our show in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: Tom had an unusual upbringing. He grew up on Long Isle,
Speaker 1: New York, living behind a funeral parlor run by his family.
Speaker 1: Here's Tom.
Speaker 2: I was there on Saturday morning when the sheriff arrived
Speaker 2: to talk to Grandma. It was the day after the
Speaker 2: big snowstorm. My folks were away and I had stayed
Speaker 2: with Grandma overnight. At age ten, I was too young
Speaker 2: to stay home alone, but staying at Grandma's was not
Speaker 2: too cool either, because you see, she ran a funeral home.
Speaker 2: Sometimes there were dead bodies only a few steps from
Speaker 2: the living room at the back of the house where
Speaker 2: we watched TV. It was hard to get too relaxed
Speaker 2: when I looked over at the dark doorway leading to
Speaker 2: the bodies. That Friday night, there was a very old
Speaker 2: lady being waked in one of the chapels, Missus Jackson,
Speaker 2: a friend of Grandma's who had died of cancer. The
Speaker 2: sheriff sat at the kitchen table with his notebook in
Speaker 2: front of him. He asked Grandma if anything unusual that
Speaker 2: happened the last night because they were searching for an
Speaker 2: escaped convict from a prison two towns away. He is
Speaker 2: a murderer and very dangerous. The sheriff said they were
Speaker 2: setting up roadblocks to try to catch him. Grandma didn't
Speaker 2: answer directly, but said, we have a going out this morning,
Speaker 2: old missus Jackson. We had to put her in a
Speaker 2: closed casket because the cancer was so bad. Will the
Speaker 2: herds and almos to be able to get to the cemetery?
Speaker 2: Grandma asked yes. The sheriff replied, the road is open
Speaker 2: to the cemetery. What about anything happening last night? Grandma
Speaker 2: gave me a stern look that he couldn't see, and
Speaker 2: told him nothing had happened. It was real quiet, she said.
Speaker 2: I didn't say a word, but as soon as the
Speaker 2: sheriff left, I asked her what was going on. It
Speaker 2: wasn't like Grandma to lie. She just shook her head
Speaker 2: and started to cry. I thought back about last night
Speaker 2: and remembered that shortly before dark, Grandma kept walking out
Speaker 2: the side window on the driveway every few minutes since
Speaker 2: she was expecting a delivery of new casket. Suddenly there
Speaker 2: were yellow headlights shining on the snow outside the window,
Speaker 2: and a loud knocking came on the side door where
Speaker 2: the caskets were brought in. Fred the driver, shouted, I
Speaker 2: have to hurry before I get snowed in. He had
Speaker 2: unloaded two caskets and started on another one. Wait, Grandma said,
Speaker 2: I only ordered two, not three. I have to leave
Speaker 2: this one too. Fred said, I'll never get to the
Speaker 2: funeral home in the next town, and I don't want
Speaker 2: to weight on my truck. Okay, Grandma said, if it
Speaker 2: helps you out. After he was gone, Grandma closed up tight.
Speaker 2: My folks were supposed to call to see how things were,
Speaker 2: but the phone wasn't working. The TV weather man said
Speaker 2: the lines were down all over and roads were closed,
Speaker 2: so we were all by ourselves. After a while, I stopped.
Speaker 2: I had to fall asleep, and Grandma helped me upstairs
Speaker 2: and put me into a soft feather bed. She left
Speaker 2: the door open a little so some light came in.
Speaker 2: I remember that I fell asleep, but woke up later
Speaker 2: when I thought I heard voices downstairs. I had started
Speaker 2: to get out of bed, but it was so cold
Speaker 2: I crawled back in the Next morning, I asked Grandma
Speaker 2: about it, but she said I must have dreamed it.
Speaker 2: Later in the morning, the men who worked for Grandma
Speaker 2: came in and then loaded the casket into the hearse.
Speaker 2: When my folks came to pick me up, I saw
Speaker 2: Grandma holding onto my father's arm and talking to him.
Speaker 2: I heard her say, I need your help. She took
Speaker 2: him into the office and closed the door. I thought
Speaker 2: I heard her crying. It was five years later when
Speaker 2: Grandma died and my folks told me the real story
Speaker 2: of what had happened that Friday night. It seemed that
Speaker 2: the voices I thought I had heard with those of
Speaker 2: Grandma and the escaped convict. The caskets that were delivered
Speaker 2: that night were made by prison labor, and the convict
Speaker 2: with the nickname of Rabbit had hidden in one of
Speaker 2: those empty caskets. When the delivery man had left, Rabbit
Speaker 2: had opened the inside latch and let himself out of
Speaker 2: the casket. He didn't know, however, that Grandma had fallen
Speaker 2: asleep in her big chair in the living room, and
Speaker 2: she woke up, startled and scared to see him standing
Speaker 2: near the fireplace holding a large knife he had taken
Speaker 2: from the embalming room, threatening how to silence by holding
Speaker 2: the knife under her throat. He asked for car keys
Speaker 2: and money, but Grandma didn't have a car and didn't drive.
Speaker 2: When he realized that the storm had blocked the roads
Speaker 2: and there was no phone service, he asked Grandma when
Speaker 2: someone was coming with a car. She told him that
Speaker 2: there was one funeral schedule for the next morning if
Speaker 2: the roads were open and men coming with a hearse
Speaker 2: and limiting. When he saw some of my things on
Speaker 2: the couch and found out that I was upstairs, Grandma
Speaker 2: pleaded with him to let me sleep. She would help
Speaker 2: him get in the casket with missus Jackson and be
Speaker 2: taken away in the hearst next morning to the cemetery.
Speaker 2: He could then sneak out of the casket when it
Speaker 2: was left in the cemetery storeroom for a few minutes
Speaker 2: until the family arrived. Rabbit didn't like to hear deer
Speaker 2: at all, especially getting into the coffin with a dead lady.
Speaker 2: He decided that they had no other choice, but he
Speaker 2: made it very clear to Grandma that if she was
Speaker 2: fooling him and he was caught, he would escape again
Speaker 2: and kill not only her but also all of her family.
Speaker 2: Grandma was terrified by this evil man. There was arrangedent
Speaker 2: early on Saturday morning, Rabbit would get into the casket
Speaker 2: and then Grandma would close it and letch it shut.
Speaker 2: He was very hesitant, especially when he saw and smelled
Speaker 2: old Missus Jackson, but finally he climbed in, holding his
Speaker 2: nose and threatening Grandma with a painful death if things
Speaker 2: didn't work out. He also wanted Grandma to get him
Speaker 2: some hot coffee in a thermos so they could drink
Speaker 2: it when they got cold in the casket, and she
Speaker 2: did so just before closing the lid. The plan did
Speaker 2: work when the man came and took the casket away
Speaker 2: and loaded it into the hearse Grandma hadn't said anything
Speaker 2: about Rabbit being in the casket his private meeting with Grandma.
Speaker 2: My Dad had immediately called the sheriff and arranged to
Speaker 2: stop in and see him. The police still hadn't found Rabbit,
Speaker 2: despite the roadbox and searches of the nearby forests. They
Speaker 2: were mystified as to how he could have disappeared so completely.
Speaker 2: Sheriff my Dad said, as you know, this man was
Speaker 2: a murderer who would stop at nothing to escape. He
Speaker 2: told the sheriff how rabbit had hidden in the casket
Speaker 2: at the prison and had ended up in grandma's funeral home.
Speaker 2: He also explained how rabbit had threatened Grandma and her family,
Speaker 2: so she was forced to help him escape in missus
Speaker 2: Jackson's casket. What said the sheriff, Why didn't she call
Speaker 2: me as soon as he was in the casket? I
Speaker 2: could have napped him right then and there. She was
Speaker 2: too scared, sheriff. But my dad continued a little smile
Speaker 2: playing around his lips and pride in his voice. She
Speaker 2: was also smart enough to have slipped the large amount
Speaker 2: of sleeping pills into the coffee she gave him the
Speaker 2: drink in the casket. The sheriff thought for a moment
Speaker 2: and said, wait, if rabbit drank that coffee, heck, he
Speaker 2: might have been buried alive in the casket with missus Jackson.
Speaker 2: The sheriff almost shouted as he got his phone out.
Speaker 2: We'll have to dig up the casket immediately. If we
Speaker 2: find him in the casket, I may have to take
Speaker 2: Grandma into custody. She could be in a lot of trouble. Wait,
Speaker 2: my dad said, wait a minute, sheriff, before you do anything. Wait, no, no,
Speaker 2: we can't lose any more time. That man may still
Speaker 2: be alive if there was enough air in the casket.
Speaker 2: Maybe he is. The sheriff was now calling to his
Speaker 2: assistance as he rose from his share, Get the car ready,
Speaker 2: ready to roll, and call the corner. No, sheriff, please listen,
Speaker 2: my father replied, quietly, Sit down a minute. You see
Speaker 2: there is no casket. No casket. The sheriff look confused.
Speaker 2: Of course there was a casket. They had the funeral
Speaker 2: and it was buried this morning. No, my father replied, quietly.
Speaker 2: You see, Sheriff, missus Jackson's last wishes would actually be cremated.
Speaker 1: My goodness, it does not get better than that. Folks,
Speaker 1: Tom Ryan's story, his grandma's story, My goodness, poor rabbit story.
Speaker 1: Here on our American stories