Mrs. NICHOLS. They served food there, and we have gone up there late to
get something to eat.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did they have a back room of some sort where they gambled?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I don’t know. I never did see them gambling there.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you know who Jack gambled with there?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. About how often would you say he would go there?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, he only mentioned that to me for a short period of
time. I would say 3 or 4 months that he mentioned to me that he would
go up there.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you know a man by the name of Johnny Ross?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Yes; I have seen him in the Vegas Club a few times.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I believe you described him as a gambler?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Jack told me that he was a gambler.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you know if Jack ever gambled with him?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Jack never did mention.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What kind of gambling did Johnny Ross do?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I don’t know.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did Jack have any business association with Johnny Ross?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Not that I know of.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now Jack called you on the day the President was killed?
Mrs. NICHOLS. That’s right.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long had it been before then that you had last seen
Jack?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I had seen him on the street one time in the spring of
1963 I didn’t talk to him. He was driving the car and I was walking.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Before the time that you saw him?
Mrs. NICHOLS. And before that, it had been over a year.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Had you talked to him on the telephone?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; he had not called me in over a year.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now you told Mr. Sayres on the 18th of January that you
remembered that Jack had called you at about 2 o’clock on the 22d. How
did you happen to remember that at that time?
Mrs. NICHOLS. He called me sometime between 1 and 2, while I was out
for lunch and left his number for me to call him. And I called him back
as soon after 2, about 10 minutes after 2.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How did you happen to know that Jack had called?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, I go to lunch from 1 to 2 all the time.
Mr. GRIFFIN. But the first time that you talked with Mr. Sayres, you
didn’t remember apparently that Jack had called you?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Or did you remember at that time?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, he didn’t ask me about it and I didn’t think about
the importance of it until this investigation or for the defense
attorney asked me about that, if Jack had called me on that day, and I
remembered.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did this investigator or one of Jack’s lawyers suggest
that you ought to call the FBI and let them know about this?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No. I got to thinking about it myself and I thought I
wanted to keep the record straight. I wanted to let the FBI know it,
too.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did the investigator indicate to you that you might
testify for Jack at the trial?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, no; he didn’t say. He didn’t tell me whether he
thought they would use me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you have some idea that you might?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, after I talked, after the investigator, contacted
me, I was afraid that I might be called.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Were you ever called?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I didn’t attach the importance to the telephone call at
the time.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you testify at the trial?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Were you willing to testify?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I didn’t want to.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What was your reaction when you got this telephone call
from Jack shortly after the President had been shot?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, I was just, I was surprised when he—after the
President had been shot?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes; that Jack had called you?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Yes; I was surprised. We hadn’t been seeing each other
and I didn’t expect to ever hear from him again, and I was—he seemed to
be upset about the President’s assassination. I think everyone else was.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Why do you think Jack called you?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I don’t know why he called me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you ever question his attorney about that?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I haven’t talked to—never did talk to his attorney.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Have you talked with Jack since then?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; I have not.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Or any members of his family?
Mrs. NICHOLS. His sister-in-law has called me twice since that time.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Would that be his sister-in-law?
Mrs. NICHOLS. His sister-in-law, Sam’s wife.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you ever ask her why Jack called you that day?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; I didn’t ask her why.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did she ever indicate to you why he called you?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When you talked with Jack, when you called him back at
around about 2:15 or whenever it was, did you indicate to Jack that you
were surprised to hear from him?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; I didn’t say anything to him about that, being
surprised.
Mr. GRIFFIN. The FBI reports here, Mr. Sayres’ report in his interview
of January 18, that Ruby was apparently calling to tell you what a
terrible thing he thought it was that President Kennedy had been
assassinated. Was there some question as to what Ruby really, why he
really was calling?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, I was just surprised to hear from him. I don’t know
why he called me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you remember what he said to you?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I don’t remember the exact words, but the only thing, he
just talked about what a terrible thing the assassination was. It was a
very short, conversation.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you remember any particular thing he said?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Or words that he used?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; I don’t remember the words, the exact words that he
used.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Would you be able to tell me if he used the word,
“terrible,” there?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I don’t know whether he used the word, “terrible,”
or not. But generally it was just, he was just upset about the
assassination.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he talk to you at all about the effect that the
assassination would have on his business?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he say anything particularly about President Kennedy?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, he was talking about the assassination of President
Kennedy.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he have any, did he say anything about what effect it
would have on the city of Dallas, the assassination?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I don’t recall him saying that.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now do you have a regular lunch hour?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What is your regular lunch hour?
Mrs. NICHOLS. From 1 to 2.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How do you place the time of the second telephone call
that Jack made to you?
Mrs. NICHOLS. In the evening?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, it wasn’t late in the evening, and I had finished
dinner and had my dishes washed and I was reading the paper.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What time do you usually eat dinner?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, I eat about 6.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was anybody living with you at home?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; I live alone.
Mr. GRIFFIN. About how long does it usually take you to eat dinner?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, I eat very slow in the evening. I usually listen to
music and I usually spend about 30 minutes, I would say. I take my time
and drink coffee and I sit at the table.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What did he say to you when he called you?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, he just was talking again about the assassination,
and he told me at that time that he was going to the synagogue.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What did he say about the assassination on the second
occasion?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, what a terrible thing it was.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Well, weren’t you again surprised that he should call you?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, yes; I was.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you ask him?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; I didn’t ask him why he called me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you indicate your surprise to him in any way?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I didn’t indicate it, no.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he indicate that he would like to see you sometime?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No, he never; I can’t recall him asking how I had been or
anything personal. He didn’t say anything.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he ask you how you felt about the assassination?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Well, I told him I thought it was terrible, too, and I
was quite upset about it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he ask you for any advice of any sort?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; he didn’t.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You can’t think of any reason why Jack should have called
you?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. The second time that he called you, did you have any
indication of where he was calling from?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; I have no idea where he was calling from.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you hear any voices in the background?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Television set on?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; I don’t remember hearing any noise.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he tell you how soon he was going to the synagogue?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; he didn’t tell me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he tell you which synagogue he was going to?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I don’t believe he did. I assumed it was Shearith Israel
because that is where he went.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When you dated Jack, did Jack have any dogs?
Mrs. NICHOLS. He got his dog shortly before we stopped going together.
Mr. GRIFFIN. But up until then, he had never owned a dog?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How did he happen to buy the dog?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I think the first dog was given to him by someone.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you recall who gave it to him?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No, I don’t know whether he told me or not. Or whether it
was anyone that I know. I just remembered where he got the dog, and it
was killed. It was run over a short while after he got it, so he got
another one right after that.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What kind of dog was given to him?
Mrs. NICHOLS. It was a dachshund.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was the next dog that he got also a dachshund?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Up until the time that his dog was given to him, had he
expressed any interests in dogs?
Mrs. NICHOLS. His sister had a little dog that he—I don’t know whether
he—I believe it seemed like he had taken care of it some for her.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Is that Eva Grant?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Yes; she had a dog.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you know a man by the name of Abe Kleinman?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Yes; I believe he was a CPA or a bookkeeper. I believe he
kept Jack’s books, for a period of time.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How about Floyd Turman, do you know him?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you know any police officers with whom Jack was
friendly?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; I have seen police officers out there in the club,
but I never knew one in particular.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you know any of the women that he was friendly with
besides yourself?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I don’t know who else he dated.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How about women that he saw in a business connection? Did
you see any women in the business? Did he see any women in a business
connection?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Not that I know of. I don’t know of any.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Can you think of anything else that we haven’t talked
about here today that you haven’t already told the FBI, that you think
would be of importance to the Commission?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No; I can’t think of anything that would be of importance.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Let me ask you if, as time passes here, and if anything
does come to your attention which you think might be helpful to us, if
you would contact somebody in the Commission or contact the FBI or the
Secret Service and let them know?
Mrs. NICHOLS. I will be glad to.
Mr. GRIFFIN. We also ask you, other than the interviews that Mr. Sayres
had with you, have you been interviewed by any member of this staff?
Mrs. NICHOLS. Of this staff?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Mrs. NICHOLS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Prior to having your deposition taken here, did you and I
have any interview?
Mrs. NICHOLS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I don’t think I have any more questions to ask you.
I want to thank you for coming here and taking all this time to do it,
and I realize that you are a working woman and it is an inconvenience
to you.
Mrs. NICHOLS. That is quite all right.
Mr. GRIFFIN. But it was quite nice of you to spend all of this time.
Mrs. NICHOLS. I am glad to help in any way I can.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Thank you very much.