To Kill a President (38 page)

Bobby, Oswald, Hosty and Fritz walked towards a courtroom just along the corridor.  The arraignment was the shortest that Bobby had ever attended.  Judge David Johnson told Oswald that he was accused of the murder of JD Tippit.  Oswald pled not guilty.  Bobby informed the Judge of the illegality of the line ups which was promptly ignored.  They were then led back to the line up room.  On the way Ray managed to have a word with Fritz who simply told him they would discuss it later.

As Oswald took his place in his third line up Bobby was absolutely stunned.  The three men on this occasion were convicts they were standing in the line up all wearing prison jumpsuits. 

“Fritz this is fucking ridiculous give him a jumpsuit.”

“We haven’t any spare.”

Bobby flew towards Fritz intending to knock him out but Hosty grabbed him and threw him back towards the door.

“You should have let him hit me, he and Oswald could be cellmates.”  Fritz chuckled.

“I swear to God I’ll kill you Fritz!”

“Get him out of here!”  Fritz bellowed.

Bobby was dragged from the room by Hosty and taken back along to Fritz’s office.  The two men sat in silence until Bobby so infuriated had to ask a question.

“Hosty you are an FBI agent why are you railroading my client?”

“Come on Bobby we both know he did it.”

“I know he didn’t!  Do you not feel guilty about those line ups at the very least?  Who the hell wouldn’t pick Oswald?  The three other men were clearly in jail whilst the shootings were happening.”

“It’s a mere technicality Bobby.”

Bobby just shook his head, there was nothing he could do.  After another few minutes Oswald and Captain Fritz entered the room.  Once they had taken their seats it was Oswald that spoke first.

“I think I have talked long enough.  I don’t have anything else to say.  What started out as a short interrogation has become rather lengthy.  I don’t care to talk anymore.  Although I will say one thing I lied about how I got home.  You were right I took a bus, but due to traffic I got off the bus and got a taxi.”

“Lee what are you talking about?  You were never on a bus?”  Bobby asked.

Oswald ignored him.  He wasn’t an easy client to have.  He was completely unpredictable and it seemed as though he was now happy to be framed.

“Well that’s a start Mr Oswald.”  Hosty said.

“Well I think it is about time we took some fingerprints and administered a paraffin test.”

Another officer was called into the room to take the fingerprints and conduct the paraffin test.  This was done by brushing layers of warm liquid paraffin, inter-leaved with layers of gauze onto Oswald’s skin.  The idea is that it the heat opens up pores and picks up any foreign material present on the surface of skin.  When the paraffin cools it forms a cast which is then processed with chemicals which turn blue when in the presence of nitrates.  As gunpowder contains nitrates in theory it will show if someone has fired a gun.  The problem with the test is that it is not specific to gunpowder, it will show up as positive if the skin has come into contact with nitrate of any kind.  Casts were taken of both Oswald’s hands and the right side of his face.  No nitrates were found on Oswald’s face.  No nitrates were found on the backs of his hands and a small amount of nitrates were found on the palms of his hands.  This showed that Oswald could not have fired a rifle and that he had most likely touched something containing nitrate.  When Fritz saw the results it was the first time doubt crept in to his expression.

“Well I think that it’s time for a quick press conference.  I believe the media have gathered in a room just down the hall.”  Fritz’s smile had returned at the thought of parading Oswald in front of the media.

They were led back along the corridor to another room.  The corridor was quiet this time, when they entered the room Bobby realised that everyone that had been in the corridor was now squeezed into the room for a press conference.  The heat of the room was unbearable, with so many people and the flash of cameras.  Bobby hobbled in at Oswald’s side wishing there was something he could do.  As he turned to face the crowd he saw Jack Ruby staring straight at him with a smile on his face.  He muttered to Oswald.

“Remember you don’t have to answer their questions.”

“I have nothing to hide.”  Oswald replied.  The barrage of questions followed.

“How did you get the cut?”  A fat reporter with glasses asked.

“A cop hit me.”

“What happened during the arraignment?”  A man with a moustache wearing a cowboy hat asked.

“Well I was questioned by Judge Johnson.  It was short and sweet really.  I don’t know what this is all about.  All they have told me is that I am accused of murdering a policeman.  I know nothing more than that.”

“Did you shoot the President?”  A small thin man with red hair asked.

“No I have not been charged with that.  In fact nobody has said that to me.  The first I heard of that was when the news reporters in the hall asked me that.  I did not shoot anyone.  I am innocent.”

As Bobby listened to Oswald he was still mightily impressed by how calm he seemed.  He had no idea how anyone could think Oswald had murdered people earlier in the day.  They were then led through to the courtroom once more for Oswald’s next arraignment.

Chapter 79

Jane and Nancy raced from the condo into the elevator.  Jane could feel how quickly her heart was beating.  Once they reached the ground floor they raced out to Garrett Underhill’s black Cadillac Coup Deville.  Nancy decided that Jane was in no state to drive so she drove.  They had to pass through Dealey Plaza on the way to Parkland Hospital it was still filled with people unsure as to what had happened.  To Nancy’s surprise there were people removing the sign that had been hit by a bullet.  Why would they be doing that straight after the President had been killed?  Surely it wasn’t that important she thought.

Once they had reached the hospital they were informed that Faraday was still in surgery.  They found seats in the corridor and waited for news.  Nancy had no idea what to say to Jane, they had only just gotten engaged.  She couldn’t comprehend how she must be feeling.  If something had happened to Bobby she knew it might kill her.  But even that wasn’t the same.  Bobby had never loved her back not in the way that she loved him.

“Would you like me to get you a coffee Jane?”

Jane nodded and gave a fake smile.  “How do you take it?”

“Just with milk. Thank you Nancy.”

As she watched Nancy walk along the corridor she spotted a nurse staring at her sympathetically.  What would she do without Faraday?  He had been the only man she had ever loved.  He had been the only man that had ever loved her.  Her father hadn’t stuck around long enough to form any kind of relationship.  Her mother and Faraday were the only family she had ever known and now she might never hear either of them speak to her again.  She should have listened to Faraday.  After he had lost his eye they should have stopped.

Nancy returned with two cups of coffee, she handed one to Jane and took her seat.  They sat in silence again.  Nancy could not think of anything she could say to help.  She took a sip of her coffee burning her tongue in the process.  Why had they carried on trying to stop the assassination?  It was far too big for four people to make a difference.  She had told Bobby as much and now this poor girl would be left alone.  How had they been planning to stop it?  And even if they had stopped it they would probably have been killed anyway.  How could Bobby have let this happen?  She looked towards Jane and saw how much she was suffering.  There was nothing they could do but pray.

As the hours passed Jane was growing more worried.  How could they have no news?  She looked up at the clock on the opposite wall and saw that it was 19:55.  A nurse walked over to them and Jane leapt to her feat.

“How is he?”  She asked.  Unsure as to whether she really wanted to know.

“No news I’m afraid, he is still in surgery.”

“Do you know how much longer it will take?”

“I’m sure it won’t be too much longer and at the moment no news is good news.  You have a phone call, it’s Dr Lewis.”  Jane followed the nurse to the nurses’ station and was handed the phone.

“David?”

“How is he Jane?”

“No news yet.  He’s still in surgery.”

“That’s a good sign.  It’s been a few hours now so they may have been able to repair the damage.  How are you feeling?”

“Like shit.  This is my fault I should never have let him get involved again.”

“No you can’t blame yourself Jane.  If anyone is to blame it’s me, I was the one that talked you all in to stopping the assassination.”

“I can’t lose him David.  He’s all I’ve got.”

“Remember what I told you Jane he has a strong heart.  How many men have travelled through time to save their girlfriend?  The answer is one Jane.  He won’t give up.”  As David spoke he wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Jane or himself.

“Thanks David.  How did you get on?”

David was silent for a moment.  “I got into a bit of a shootout but I’m okay.”

“I knew I heard shots coming from the Dal-Tex building.”

“I managed to kill one of them.”  He offered.

“So did I.”  Jane replied.  She felt no remorse for what she had done.  The bastards had it coming.

“Are you hurt?”

“No I’m fine.  Where are you?”

“I’m in Washington, I’m about to assist on the President’s autopsy.”

“How did you manage that?”

“Bobby Kennedy got me in the room.”

“Rather you than me.” 

“Why do you say that?”

“His head practically exploded.”

“Did you get a picture?”

“I did.  But Nancy got the whole thing on film.”

“Nancy?”

“Yeah she’s back.  She’s with me now.”

“That’s good at least you’re not alone.”

“Yeah.  Have you heard from Bobby?”

“No have you?”

“No I haven’t.”

“Bobby can take care of himself.  Kennedy is sending a Secret Service agent, Clint Hill down to help you.  He is on his way to the airport just now.”

“Okay.”

“Right I better get into the Autopsy Room.  Take care of yourself Jane.  Stay with Nancy and give Faraday my best when he wakes up.”

“Thanks David, take care of yourself too.”

“I’ll be fine don’t worry about me.”

Jane put down the receiver walked back to Nancy and sat down.

“It was David he’s okay.”

Nancy nodded.  “That’s good.  How are you feeling?”

“I just want to know how he is.  If he pulls through I’ll be terrific.”

Nancy didn’t know how to respond, so she didn’t.  They returned to sitting in silence.

At 21:00 a doctor finally came to speak with Jane.  He took them both into a private room and explained what had happened.

“So as you know Mr Faraday was brought in with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.  Now we had to perform exploratory surgery to find out what damage had been caused.  The reason it has taken so long is that there was considerable damage to the liver.  We managed to remove the bullet and repair the damage but he’s not out of the woods yet.”

“So what happens now?”  Jane asked.

“Well we are going to have to keep a close eye on him.  Infection is a real possibility.  But as things stand he is stable.”

“So he’ll be okay?”  Jane asked.

“I wouldn’t want to say one way or the other at the moment.  The surgery was a success but as I say we will need to ensure the wound does not become infected.  He is on strong pain relief.  But a wound to the abdomen is perhaps the worst wound imaginable other than a head shot or a shot to the heart.  There is just too much there that can be damaged.  We will have to wait and see how his body responds.”

“Can I see him?”

“Yes he has not regained consciousness.  But you can both stay with him.”

The doctor led Jane and Nancy into a private room where Faraday lay.  As Jane looked at him she cried.  He looked so weak and pale.  She rushed over to him and kissed him on the forehead.  When the doctor left the room Nancy and Jane took a seat.  They had a long wait in front of them.

Chapter 80

David entered the autopsy room and could hardly believe his eyes.  In the middle of the room there was a crowd of perhaps fifteen men.  Some of them were wearing military uniforms, others were Secret Service agents he had seen on Air Force One.  The FBI agent that had led him into the room walked over to two men that David presumed were also from the FBI.  He saw three men standing by the sink on the left hand corner of the room.  They were whispering to each other and they looked incredibly nervous.