JFK Page #19

JIM:

The murder of a President, Bill, is

a crime in Orleans Parish too. I

didn't pick you because of your legal

skill, you know.

BILL:

Gee, thanks boss.

Jim pulls the car over to park.

JIM:

But because you're a fighter. I

like a man who isn't scared of bad

odds.

FRENCH QUARTER SIDEWALK - DAY(1966)

Jim and the others get out of the car and head towards

Antoine's Restaurant. A black woman greets him.

BLACK WOMAN:

How ya doing, Mr. Garrison? Remember

me - from the piano bar at the Royal

Orleans?

JIM:

I sure do. We sang "You're the Cream

in My Coffee."

She laughs. Others move in on him.

JIM:

(to Numa)

Make sure we come back here, now.

ANTOINE'S RESTAURANT - DAY(1966)

They enter a busy lunchtime crowd in an elegant eatery. Lou

Ivon and Al Oser are waiting for them as they're shown to

their table by the Maitre d'.

MAITRE D'

Mr. Garrison, we have not seen enough

of you lately.

JIM:

Been too busy, Paul - an elected man

can't have as much fun as he used

to.

(seeing Lou and Al)

Welcome back, Lou. Find out anything

on those hobos?

Lou's been waiting, excited. He gives Jim blowups of the

five hobo photographs.

LOU:

They took 'em to the Sheriff's office,

not the police station, and they let

'em go. No record of them ever being

questioned.

JIM:

I can't say that comes as a surprise

anymore.

LOU:

A photographer from The Dallas Times

Herald got some great shots of them

never published...

The camera moves in on the photographs.

FLASHBACK TO the "hoboes" being escorted to the Sheriff's

office - as per Sgt. Harkness' earlier description.

LOU:

...take a good look, chief, do any

of 'em look like the hoboes you

remember?

JIM:

Hoboes I knew of old used to sleep

in their clothes - these two look

pretty young.

LOU:

...not a single frayed collar or

cuff, new haircuts, fresh shaves,

clean hands - new shoe leather.

Look at the ear of the cop... That's

a wire. What's a cop wearing a

headset for? I think they're actors,

chief; they're not cops.

Susie Cox arrives.

JIM:

Who the hell are they, then! Hi,

Susie, sit down.

(to Lou)

This could be it. Let's start looking

for 'em.

How 'bout that railroad man, Lee Bowers? Saw those men at

the picket fence?

LOU:

Graveyard dead. August this year.

(Jim curses quietly)

A single car accident on an empty

road in Midlothian, Texas. The doctor

said he was in some kind of strange

shock when he died.

(pause)

JIM:

(shares the look)

We need to find more witnesses, Lou.

LOU:

There was Rose Cheramie. A whore.

Two Cubans threw her out of a car on

the way to Dallas.

She talked to a cop from a hospital bed two days before the

assassination, said Kennedy would be hit that Friday. She

said she was a dope runner for Jack Ruby and that Ruby knew

Oswald for years...

JIM:

Can we find her?

LOU:

Graveyard dead near Big Sandy, Texas

in '65. Two in the morning on some

highway. A hit and run.

FLASHBACK to Rose lying dead on an empty highway.

BILL:

Why not go right to the horse's mouth,

chief?

Jack Ruby's been rotting in a Dallas jail cell for three

years. Maybe he's ready to crack?

JIM:

If we go to him our investigation'll

hit the front pages by sunrise.

Blow up right in our face. Ruby was

just given a new trial. If he has

something to say, it'll be there.

Susie, what did you find out on

Oswald?

SUSIE:

Negative on his tax records.

Classified. First time I know a

D.A. can't get a tax record. I put

together a list of all the CIA files

on Oswald that were part of the Warren

Report and asked for them. There

are about 1200 documents...

(gives it to Jim who

reads)

Oswald in the USSR, in Mexico City,

Oswald and the U2, a CIA 201 personnel

file, a memo from the Director on

Oswald, travel and activities - can't

get one of them. All classified as

secret on the grounds of national

security. It's real strange.

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