JFK Page #54

Lou c*cks the Mannlicher for the first shot. Jim looks at

this watch.

Lou assumes the Oswald pose, crouched at the window aiming

out.

JIM:

Go!

Lou pulls, quickly recharges the bolt, fires, recycles, fires.

LOU:

Time?

JIM:

Between six and seven seconds.

LOU:

The key is the second and third shots

came right on top of each other, and

it takes a minimum 2.3 seconds to

recycle this thing.

(he recycles the bolt

for firing)

The other problem is there was a

tree right there...

(he points)

Blocking the first two shots at the

time they occur in the Zapruder film.

JIM:

Didn't Hoover say something about

that? The leaves had fallen off in

November?

LOU:

It was a Texas Live Oak, boss.

(he shakes his head)

It sheds it's leaves the first week

of March. You try to hit a moving

target at 88 yards through heavy

foliage with this cheap 13-dollar

sucker, the world's worst shoulder

weapon. No way. The FBI tried two

sets of tests and not one of their

sharpshooters could match Oswald's

performance. Not one. And Oswald

was at best a medium shot. The scope

was defective on it, too. I mean

this is the whole essence of the

case to me. The guy couldn't do the

shooting. Nobody could. And they

sold this lemon to the American

public.

JIM:

The Zapruder film is the proof they

didn't count on, Lou. We gotta get

our hands on it.

LOU:

That means we gotta subpoena Time-

Life on it.

JIM:

(looks out the window)

Why not just shoot Kennedy coming up

Houston? There's plenty of time -

he's out in the open - a frontal

shot?

Jim points the Carcano south, right up Houston Street,

following a car that happens to be passing by - a convertible

with an unknown woman driving.

LOU:

I asked myself the same thing. Common

sense. Even if you miss the first

shot, if he accelerates you still

got him for a second shot. No...

the only reason for waiting to get

him on Elm is you got him in a

triangulated crossfire. You got him

on a flat low trajectory from the

front at the fence there.

The camera swings to the Grassy Knoll and the picket fence

as seen from the sixth floor of the Depository.

LOU:

...you put a third team there - in

that building, on a low floor.

The camera swings to the Daltex Building across the street.

LOU:

When Kennedy gets to the kill zone,

it's a turkey shoot.

JIM:

(aiming)

How many men?

LOU:

One shooter. One spotter on a radio.

Maybe three teams. I'd say these

were professional riflemen, chief,

serious people. Hunters... patient.

It takes skill to kill with a rifle,

that's why there's been no execution

of an executive with one in 200

years... "3-2-1... green!"

(he taps Jim on the

shoulder)

Or else "Abort! Abort!"

Jim pulls the dead trigger, reliving the moment through the

scope on a passing car.

LOU:

Main Street's over there - the

original parade route on the way to

the Trade Mart. Too far right?

Impossible shot.

Jim swings the scope up to confront Main Street. Another

car is in his sight. Too far.

LOU:

So they changed the route to bring

it this way.

Moving at a normal 25 mph, they knew the motorcade would

have to slow to about 10 miles per hour to make this turn.

That's where you get him.

The camera swings to the Houston and Main intersection.

JIM:

Who do you think changed the parade

route?

LOU:

Beats me. City officials. Secret

Service. Dallas police. They did a

dry run with Chief Curry a few days

before. But they didn't bother

running through Dealey. They stopped

right there, said something like,

"and afterwards there's only the

freeway," and went home.

JIM:

You know who the mayor was?

LOU:

No.

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