Mr. Martin knows Jack Ruby. That name right there, that man might have
told Jack Ruby that I was interested in a club. He knows him real well
and says Mrs. Grant is his friend, and Jack Ruby, that is the time that
I made the appointment to see him about the club.
Well, he said that he had had dinner with Jack Ruby. We were talking
about the club over on Oak Lawn.
Mr. GRIFFIN. The Vegas Club?
Mrs. CHEEK. Yes. And he said Jack Ruby was a good friend of his. And he
told me about Jack Ruby. That is where I got my information, I remember
now.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You talked with him about Ruby. When was your conversation
with Martin about Ruby?
Mrs. CHEEK. He was just telling me about a good operator.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When was that?
Mrs. CHEEK. And how he made money.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long before you saw Ruby in November?
Mrs. CHEEK. Just before I went down to the club, you know, and met him.
Mr. GRIFFIN. He said something to you also about Mrs. Grant, Eva Grant?
Mrs. CHEEK. Mr. Martin. He said both were good friends of him, and said
Mrs. Grant operated the club on Oak Lawn for Mr. Ruby.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you remember anything else he told you?
Mrs. CHEEK. I don’t remember all the conversation.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you call this Mr. Martin that said he had dinner with
Jack Ruby?
Mrs. CHEEK. Yes; he was a real good friend of his and a real nice
fellow, and Mr. Martin said he was in the oil business and he was
just kind of playing with that club over there because he liked the
nightclub business, and he wanted $25,000 for half interest in it, and
I thought it was too much money.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How did you happen to know Martin?
Mrs. CHEEK. Just looking for clubs, and I saw Mr. Martin’s. I found out
who owned the club. I don’t remember just how I found out who owned a
place. Sometimes I might go down to the records, if they buy the land,
and look to see who owns it. Then I contact them like that.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now didn’t you plan to manage this club yourself? Any club
that you would buy, didn’t you plan on managing it yourself?
Mrs. CHEEK. I don’t know whether I would or not, or whether I would
have someone else to manage it for me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How much of a return did you expect on your investment?
Mrs. CHEEK. I wasn’t thinking about that at the time.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You must have some idea.
Mrs. CHEEK. I didn’t know how much I would invest. I didn’t have very
much money to invest. I would have to trade a piece of property or
sell a piece. I was looking for clubs or property. If you are talking
to people you run into a good bit--buying 5212 Gaston, I put down $600
down, but I paid high payments. I don’t know how much I would invest.
I don’t have a whole lot of money. I put small payments down and make
high payments a month, you know.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Sure, but you want to make sure you are getting more money
off your real estate or business investments?
Mrs. CHEEK. When I came to Dallas, I didn’t have very much money. I
started managing a place for Mrs. Strong out on Gaston Avenue, and I
managed it for her, and she sold me the place for $600 earnest money
down.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Is the money that you acquired, you use for buying and
selling real estate?
Mrs. CHEEK. Buying and selling.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you obtain any money from your husband?
Mrs. CHEEK. No; we worked together those years. He didn’t take anything.
Mr. GRIFFIN. But all the money which was accumulated by you was
accumulated through your own efforts?
Mrs. CHEEK. And other people working for me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Well, when you think about investing money, you decide
whether you are going to put that money into some business or whether
you are going to leave it in a bank and draw three or four percent
interest, don’t you? Don’t you have any idea?
Mrs. CHEEK. I never have enough to leave in the bank to draw interest.
I either have it invested or going to invest it, what little I have.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Don’t you ever figure this out in terms of percentage you
get or you expect to get on the money that you put up?
Mrs. CHEEK. No; I haven’t.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How did you decide whether it is going to be a good
investment for you or not? Whether it is the kind of investment that
you want?
Mrs. CHEEK. I really don’t know. I just trade and sell. That is all I
do. I guess I should figure more. Maybe that is why I lost all I did
in the Beachcomber, because I just traded that today. I trade 5212 and
5302 for the Beachcomber and the Holiday Apartments on a contract to
sell, and probably had I gotten a paper and pencil and had an attorney,
I wouldn’t have done that.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, is there anything else as you read through that, that
you want to change?
Mrs. CHEEK. [Reading.] You know, you talk to people about investments
like Jack Ruby, but I have talked to a number of people. You may not
just have an idea that you would invest, if you would make some money.
I had no idea that I would. This is nothing permanent about this at
all. I was just talking to the people, just went down and talked to
him just like I talked to Bill Martin. Bill Martin could have killed
President Kennedy and it would have been the same thing when I talked
to him if he did it.
I was so surprised when I heard that Jack Ruby killed Oswald and all
this happened, it just floored me. I thought it was the awfulest thing
I had ever heard of. I didn’t figure that man doing such a thing, after
talking to him down there. He didn’t seem like a criminal.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What kind of man did he seem like?
Mrs. CHEEK. He seemed like a, well, he was kind of a nervous person,
but you wouldn’t have thought that he would murder anyone. He just
walked around, you know, but I am a nervous person myself.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was he able to keep the conversation going in the same
general direction? Was he flighty?
Mrs. CHEEK. Kind of flighty; yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How did he act?
Mrs. CHEEK. Well, he didn’t know his location. And I told him it seemed
to me that it was funny why he would try to get $6,000 out of me, not
knowing, I wouldn’t know the location, I wouldn’t know anything about
the business or anything.
He couldn’t tell me anything about that, and I didn’t understand why he
would call me down and try to convince me he was a good man and talking
for this Frank, too, and not having the location, couldn’t show me what
I was buying. And I told him I usually see the things that I buy or
know something about it. I don’t buy anything unless I can see it and
look at it.