JFK Page #10

FERRIE:

Do you mind if I smoke, Mr. Garrison?

JIM:

(holds up his pipe)

How could I? Dave, as you know,

President Kennedy was assassinated

on Friday. A man named Lee Harvey

Oswald was arrested as a suspect and

then was murdered yesterday by a man

named Jack Ruby.

(on each name, watching

Ferrie's reaction)

We've heard reports that Oswald spent

the summer in New Orleans and we've

been advised you knew Oswald pretty

well.

FERRIE:

That's not true. I never met anybody

named Oswald. Anybody who told you

that has to be crazy.

JIM:

But you are aware, he served in your

Civil Air Patrol unit when he was a

teenager.

FERRIE:

No... if he did, I don't remember

him. There were lots of kids in and

out... y'know.

JIM:

(hands him a current

newspaper)

I'm sure you've seen this. Perhaps

you knew this man under another name?

FERRIE:

No, I never saw him before in my

life.

JIM:

Well that must've been mistaken

information we got. Thanks for

straightening it out for us.

(puffs on pipe, Ferrie

looks relieved; images

of the funeral

continue on the TV)

There is one other matter that's

come up, Dave. We were told you

took a trip to Texas shortly after

the assassination of Friday.

FERRIE:

Yeah, now that's true. I drove to

Houston.

JIM:

What was so appealing about Houston?

FERRIE:

I hadn't been there ice skating in

many years, and I had a couple of

young friends with me, and we decided

we wanted to go ice skating.

JIM:

Dave, may I ask why the urge to go

ice skating in Texas happened to

strike you during one of the most

violent thunderstorms in recent

memory?

FERRIE:

Oh, it was just a spur of the moment

thing... the storm wasn't that bad.

JIM:

I see. And where did you drive?

FERRIE:

We went straight to Houston, and

then Saturday night we drove to

Galveston and stayed over there.

JIM:

Why Galveston?

FERRIE:

No particular reason. Just to go

somewhere.

JIM:

And then Sunday?

FERRIE:

In the morning we went goose hunting.

Then headed home, but I dropped the

boys off to see some relatives and I

stayed in Hammond.

JIM:

Did you bag any geese on this trip?

FERRIE:

I believe the boys got a couple.

JIM:

But the boys told us they didn't get

any.

FERRIE:

(fidgeting, lighting

another cigarette)

Oh yes, well, come to think of it,

they're right. We got to where the

geese were and there were thousands

of them. But you couldn't approach

them. They were a wise bunch of

birds.

JIM:

Your young friends also told us you

had no weapons in the car. Dave,

isn't it a bit difficult to hunt for

geese without a shotgun?

FERRIE:

Yes, now I remember, Mr. Garrison.

I'm sorry, I got confused. We got

out there near the geese and it was

only then we realized we'd forgotten

our shotguns. Stupid, right? So of

course we didn't get any geese.

JIM:

I see.

(stands up)

Dave thank you for your time. I'm

sorry it has to end inconveniently

for you, but I'm going to have you

detained for further questioning by

the FBI.

FERRIE:

(shaken)

Why? What's wrong?

JIM:

Dave, I find your story simply not

believable.

Lou and the two cops escort Ferrie out of the office as Jim

turns to the television image of Kennedy's final moments of

rest. The bugler plays taps. John Jr., 3 years old, in an

image which will become famous, salutes his Dad farewell.

The riderless horse stands lonely against the Washington

sky.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote