JFK Page #16

JIM (V.O.)

There was no real fight and the

arresting Lieutenant later said he

felt it was a staged incident. In

jail, Oswald asked to talk to Special

Agent John Quigley of the FBI who

showed up immediately. They have a

private session. Oswald is released

and Quigley destroys his notes from

the interview.

In a television studio in 1963, Oswald debates Carlos

Bringuier with two moderators.

JIM:

But the arrest gets him a lot of

publicity and as a result Oswald

appears on a local TV debate that

established his credentials as a

Communist.

BRINGUIER:

But you're a Communist, are you not,

and you defected to Russia.

OSWALD:

No, I am not a Communist. But I am

a Marxist-Leninist.

BRINGUIER:

What did you do when you were in

Russia?

OSWALD:

(defensive)

I worked while I was there. I was

always under the protection of...

that is to say, I was not under the

protection of the U.S. Government.

Back in 1966, Jim walks with his two assistants.

BILL:

What the hell's a Communist like Lee

Oswald doing working out of

Banister's?

JIM:

Y'ever heard of a double agent, Bill?

I'm beginning to doubt Oswald was

ever a Communist... after the arrest,

544 Camp Street never appeared on

the pamphlets again. Now here's

another one for you: What would you

say if I told you Lee Oswald had

been trained in the Russian language

when he was a Marine?

LOU:

I'd say he was probably getting

intelligence training.

JIM:

Lou, you were in the Marines. Who

would be running that training?

LOU:

The Office of Naval Intelligence.

JIM:

Take a look across the street.

We see the Post Office building across the street.

LOU:

Post Office.

JIM:

Upstairs. In 1963 that was the Office

of Naval Intelligence - And just by

coincidence, Banister, before he was

FBI, was ONI. What do they say?

LOU:

"Once ONI, always ONI"?

BILL:

Well, he likes to work near his old

pals.

Jim makes a gesture encompassing the whole Square.

JIM:

Bill, Lou, we're standing in the

heart of the United States

Government's intelligence community

in New Orleans. That's the FBI there,

the CIA, Secret Service, ONI. Doesn't

this seem to you a rather strange

place for a Communist to spend his

spare time?

LOU:

What are you driving at, boss?

JIM:

We're going back into the case, Lou -

the murder of the President. I want

you to take some money from the Fees

and Fines Account and go to Dallas -

talk to some people. Bill, I want

you to get Oser on the medical, the

autopsy, Susan on Oswald and Ruby

histories, tax records...

BILL:

Lord, wake me, please. I must be

dreaming.

JIM:

No, you're awake, Bill, and I'm dead

serious. And we're going to start

by tracking down your anonymous source

from three years ago. How did you

find out Dave Ferrie drove to Texas

that day?

RACETRACK - DAY(1966)

A straggly group of people watch from the grandstands eating

hotdogs and talking in small clusters. The horses are running

early morning laps. Three men sit apart in the bleachers.

A scared Jack Martin, three years older than when last seen,

still wearing the Dick Tracy hat, sucks up coffee like a

worm does moisture. He has the red puffy cheeks of an

alcoholic and deeply circled, worried eyes. Bill and Jim

wait.

JIM:

You're not under cross-examination

here, Jack.

What I need is a little clarification about the night Guy

Banister beat you over the head with his Magnum. You called

our office hopping mad from your hospital bed. Don't tell

me you don't remember that?

Jack looks away and doesn't respond.

JIM:

Here's my problem, Jack. You told

me you and Guy were good friends for

a long time?

MARTIN:

More than ten years.

JIM:

And he never hit you before?

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