Mrs. PAINE. That is my best recollection, is that it was Monday.
Mr. JENNER. All we want is your best recollection. If it was a Monday,
was it the Monday following the weekend that he did not come?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, certainly it was.
Mr. JENNER. I see. That is if it was a Monday, it was the Monday
preceding November 22?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. All right.
Mr. DULLES. Could I ask one question?
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. DULLES. Was there any evidence that the hint you gave, or that
was given, to Lee Harvey not to come over this weekend caused him any
annoyance? Was he put out by this, and did he indicate it?
Mrs. PAINE. I made no such request of him. Marina talked with him on
the phone.
Mr. DULLES. I realize that.
Mrs. PAINE. And she made no mention of any irritation. Of course, I
didn't hear what he said in response to her asking him not to come.
Mr. DULLES. And it didn't come out in any of these subsequent telephone
messages which we are now discussing?
Mrs. PAINE. No; I think I probably talked with him during that same
telephone conversation to say that he could go without a car, and there
was no irritation I noticed.
Mr. DULLES. Thank you.
Mr. JENNER. But it is your definite recollection that his failure to
come on the weekend preceding the assassination was not at his doing
but at the request of Marina, under the circumstances you have related?
Mrs. PAINE. I am absolutely clear about that.
Mr. JENNER. You are absolutely clear about that. All right. Now, state,
you began to state the circumstances of the telephone call. Would you
in your own words and your own chronology proceed with that, please?
Mrs. PAINE. Marina had said, "Let's call papa," in Russian and asked
me to dial the number for her, knowing that I had a number that he had
given us. I then dialed the number----
Mr. JENNER. Excuse me, did you dial the first or the second number?
Mrs. PAINE. The second number.
Mr. JENNER. And that number is?
Mrs. PAINE. WH 3-8993.
Mr. JENNER. When you dialed the number did someone answer?
Mrs. PAINE. Someone answered and I said, "Is Lee Oswald there?" And the
person replied, "There is no Lee Oswald here," or something to that
effect.
Mr. JENNER. Would it refresh your recollection if he said, "There is
nobody by that name here"?
Mrs. PAINE. Or it may have been "nobody by that name" or "I don't know
Lee Oswald." It could have been any of these.
Mr. JENNER. We want your best recollection.
Mrs. PAINE. My best recollection is that he repeated the name.
Mr. JENNER. He repeated the name?
Mrs. PAINE. But that is not a certain recollection.
Mr. JENNER. I take it then from the use of the pronoun that the person
who answered was a man?
Mrs. PAINE. Was a man.
Mr. JENNER. And if you will just sit back and relax a little. I would
like to have you restate, if you now will, in your own words, what
occurred?
You dialed the telephone, someone answered, a male voice?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. What did he say and what did you say?
Mrs. PAINE. I said, "Is Lee Oswald there." He said, "There is no Lee
Oswald living here." As best as I can recall. This is the substance of
what he said. I said, "Is this a rooming house." He said "Yes." I said,
"Is this WH 3-8993?" And he said "Yes." I thanked him and hung up.
Mr. JENNER. When you hung up then what did you next do or say?
Mrs. PAINE. I said to Marina, "They don't know of a Lee Oswald at that
number."
Mr. JENNER. What did she say?
Mrs. PAINE. She didn't say anything.
Mr. JENNER. Just said nothing?
Mrs. PAINE. She looked surprised.
Mr. JENNER. Did she evidence any surprise?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; she did, she looked surprised.
Mr. DULLES. You are quite sure you used the first name "Lee," did you,
you did not say just "Mr. Oswald," or something of that kind?
Mrs. PAINE. I would not say "Mr. Oswald." It is contrary to Quaker
practice, and I don't normally do it that way.
Mr. JENNER. Contrary to Quaker practice?