Page 89 of The 9th Man

The wheels again, which faded in the distance.

The recording stopped.

“What did we just hear?” Jillian said.

“That’s a really good question.”

He was beginning to get a picture, though vague and fuzzy around the edges. But definitely forming. The third file was also an audio, labeledTHOUGHTS. He clicked on it and they listened to a gravelly voice they assumed was Ray Simmons.

“Eckstein still has the film. It’s in perfectly preserved condition. I’ve seen it. Amazing stuff. The Canon 814 got it all. He has an engineer’s tenacity and has taken the nuggets and spun them into pure gold. He tells me the manuscript is coming along and will be quite revealing. His hypothesis is compelling. The ballistic research has confirmed everything.”

“I wonder what kind of an engineer Eckstein is?” he asked.

“And what are the nuggets?”

“Along with the gold,” he muttered.

They kept listening.

“David remains hesitant about notoriety. We had the conversation again and he said the same thing. He’ll write the book. He’s in fact already deep into its creation. But he wants us to take the lead. I’ve visited him several times. His theory is sound and correct and consistent with all that we’ve found. I pressed him, asked if his worry was about legal action. He said no. More worried about being wrong. So many people have created so many theories that he did not want to be another joke. He wants us to be right.”

“What’s that mean?” Jillian said. “Be right?”

Luke had no idea.

He clickedPLAYagain.

“So many have thought they had the answer. Just like we do. Are we being arrogant? Brash? Rushing to judgment? I don’t think so. We’ve kept this to ourselves for so long. We’ve been patient. David says the manuscript is nearly finished, so the time has come to confront Rowland. I worry that I don’t have the will or desire to keep going. I’m trying, but I become weaker by the day. My resolve is slowly sinking and I find myself wanting to live less and less. I want to hang on, to be there, but I know all of you can handle it.”

“There’s a lot of regret there,” she said. “The same as Benji had. It’s like a suicide note.”

They kept listening.

“I’m thinking about trekking up there again, one more time, but I’m getting too damn old for mountains and horses and snow. I’ll think about it. Hell, maybe I’ll finally beat him at checkers.”

“That’s the last entry,” she said.

“You heard that,” he said. “The time has come to confront Rowland.There’s a link among these four men. And whoever David Eckstein is, he’s also got at least one other thing in common with Ray and Benji. They all chose tucked-away places to live. Benji, a small town in Belgium. Ray Simmons, miles from nowhere in the middle of a swamp. And it sounds like Eckstein is high up in some mountains.”

“All to stay out of Rowland’s way?” she asked.

Maybe.

“Let’s see what the fourth file contains.”

LabeledCOMMISSION, he clicked on it.

42

The President’s trip to Dallas on November 22, 1963 called into play many standard operating procedures of the Secret Service in addition to its preventive intelligence operations. Examination of these procedures show that in most respects they were well conceived and ably executed by the personnel of the Secret Service. Against the background of the critical events of November 22, however, certain shortcomings and lapses from the high standards which the Commission believes should prevail in the field of Presidential protection are evident:

Conduct of Secret Service agents in Fort Worth on November 22—In the early morning hours on November 22, 1963, in Fort Worth, there occurred a breach of discipline by some members of the Secret Service who were officially traveling with the President. After the President had retired at his hotel, nine agents who were off duty went to the nearby Fort Worth Press Club at midnight or slightly thereafter, expecting to obtain food, they had had little opportunity to eat during the day. No food was available at the Press Club. All of the agents stayed for a drink of beer, or in several cases, a mixed drink. According to their affidavits, the drinking in no case amounted to more than three glasses of beer or 1½ mixed drinks, and others who were present say that no agent was inebriated or acted improperly. The statements of the agents involved are supported by statements of members of the Fort Worth press who accompanied or observed them and by a Secret Service investigation.

According to their statements, the agents remained at the Press Club for periods varying from 30 minutes to an hour and a half, and the last agent left the Press Club by 2 a.m. Two of the nine agents returned to their rooms. The seven others proceeded to an establishment called the Cellar Coffee House, described by some as a beatnik place and by its manager as “a unique show place with continuous light entertainment all night [serving] only coffee, fruit juices, and no hard liquors or beer.” There is no indication that any of the agents who visited the Cellar Coffee House had any intoxicating drink at that establishment. Most of the agents were there from about 1:30 or 1:45 a.m. to about 2:45 or 3 a.m. One agent was there from 2 until 5 a.m.

The lobby of the hotel and the areas adjacent to the quarters of the President were guarded during the night by members of the midnight to 8 a.m. shift of the White House detail. These agents were each relieved for a half hour break during the night. Three members of this shift separately took this opportunity to visit the Cellar Coffee House. Only one stayed as long as a half hour, and none had any beverage there. Chief Rowley testified that agents on duty in such a situation usually stay within the building during their relief, but that their visits to the Cellar were “neither consistent nor inconsistent with their duty.”

Each of the agents who visited the Press Club or the Cellar Coffee House (apart from the three members of the midnight shift) had duty assignments beginning no later than 8 a.m. that morning. President Kennedy was scheduled to speak across the street from his hotel in Fort Worth at 8:30 a.m., and then at a breakfast, after which the entourage would proceed to Dallas. In Dallas, one of the nine agents was assigned to assist in security measures at Love Field, and four had protective assignments at the Trade Mart. The remaining four had key responsibilities as members of the complement of the follow-up car in the motorcade. Three of these agents occupied positions on the running boards of the car, and the fourth was seated in the car.

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