Mrs. CHEEK. He is an older fellow.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How old a man did he appear to be?
Mrs. CHEEK. I would say he was up around 66 years old. He was
gray-headed.
Mr. GRIFFIN. About how tall was he?
Mrs. CHEEK. He was a little taller than I was. About five seven, I
guess.
Mr. GRIFFIN. But not a tall man?
Mrs. CHEEK. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How about his weight? Appear to be heavy?
Mrs. CHEEK. I don’t remember how much the man weighed, about 165 or
160, maybe not that much.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he appear to be a fat man?
Mrs. CHEEK. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Medium-built, would you say, or skinny?
Mrs. CHEEK. He wasn’t skinny, I don’t think. I didn’t look at the man
really that much.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you recall if he wore glasses?
Mrs. CHEEK. I don’t know whether he did or not. I don’t think he did.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you learn anything about where he lived?
Mrs. CHEEK. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did Jack Ruby indicate that somebody else besides Fisher
and he were interested in this new nightclub?
Mrs. CHEEK. Who?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Or Frank, whatever his name is?
Mrs. CHEEK. I didn’t understand that Frank was going in on it. He was
going to decorate it for Jack Ruby.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did Jack indicate there was somebody else interested
besides him?
Mrs. CHEEK. Just himself.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You must have been quite annoyed with him when he wouldn’t
tell you where it would be and wouldn’t give you the details?
Mrs. CHEEK. Well, I just told him I couldn’t make an investment that I
didn’t know about.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he describe how big it was going to be? How many seats?
Mrs. CHEEK. No, he didn’t. He might have, but I don’t remember the
exact seating.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Then you can’t tell us anything that you recall about that
conversation other than what you have told us so far?
Mrs. CHEEK. That is all I remember.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Okay. Now, have you read through this interview report?
Mrs. CHEEK. I don’t have glasses, and I can’t see too well today. I
don’t have my glasses with me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Well, would you like me to read it out?
Mrs. CHEEK. You can read it to me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you read the first paragraph?
Mrs. CHEEK. I think I read pretty well through everything, because I
can hold it off and read it pretty good. I was holding it. I can see if
I hold it far away. If you want, you can read it to me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Why don’t I start to read at the last paragraph on page
132 of Commission Document 86. It reads: “At Ruby’s invitation, Mrs.
Cheek said she did discuss such investment with Ruby at the Carousel.
Ruby proposed her investment of $6,000 in a club, the identity or
location of which he would not disclose, apparently Mrs. Cheek said to
preclude her going around him on the deal.”
“Mrs. Cheek said she would not consider the investment of $6,000
without full disclosure and had suggested to Ruby that he get an option
on the business so that he might discuss the proposal openly. This
concluded the discussion of such investment by Mrs. Cheek with Jack
Ruby.”
Let me ask you at this point, was your understanding that this was a
going business that he was going to buy?
Mrs. CHEEK. No, it was the location that he was going to buy and then
put the club in.
Mr. GRIFFIN. So it really means that he should get an option on the
real estate?
Mrs. CHEEK. Yes. That is what I told him.
Mr. GRIFFIN. “Throughout these discussions at the Carousel, Mrs. Cheek
stated that Ruby was assisted by one Frank, whose last name Mrs. Cheek
did not recall.
“She described Frank as a man of Jewish extraction about 60 years of
age with gray hair. Frank was present, she said, apparently to provide
Ruby with a good recommendation as a nightclub operator as this was the
extent of his participation in the discussion.”
You would amplify that to say that Frank also talked about how Frank
was going to decorate the place?
Mrs. CHEEK. He didn’t tell that he was going to decorate this place.
He talked about how he decorated the other place and how nice a job
he did. And he spoke of how, what a good operator Ruby was in the
nightclub business and how he could make money.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Then the last sentence is:
“Mrs. Cheek was unable to provide any additional information of
pertinence concerning Jack Ruby.”
Well, I take it that you have no additions or corrections to make to
what I have just read you?
Mrs. CHEEK. That’s correct.
Mr. GRIFFIN. All right. I want to thank you for spending all this time,
and I realize that this has been a sacrifice for you to come down here,
and we will try to make arrangements to make photo copies of a few of
the records that you have.
Mrs. CHEEK. You are welcome to them.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Again I say you are very kind to give us your time, and I
would ask you a couple of questions in conclusion.
One, have you been interviewed by any member of the Commission Staff
prior to appearing here today?
Mrs. CHEEK. Those FBI men.
Mr. GRIFFIN. By other than that?
Mrs. CHEEK. Barry and Mr. Kelley.
Mr. GRIFFIN. But nobody that identified himself as a member of the
Commission’s staff, as opposed to an FBI agent or Secret Service agent?
You haven’t been other than these two interview reports that I have
showed you? Have you been interviewed by anybody on any occasion?
Mrs. CHEEK. I don’t think so, unless when the police and the FBI or
anyone comes to my house about any of the rents or anyone, I always
talk to them, and now I don’t know.