Mr. HUBERT. Jada?
Mr. PAUL. Jada.
Mr. HUBERT. He went down to Bourbon Street to see if he could get any
striptease acts?
Mr. PAUL. That was the one he was sent to look at.
Mr. HUBERT. He was especially sent for Jada?
Mr. PAUL. This Earl Norman—the M.C.—was down there.
Mr. HUBERT. Earl Norman?
Mr. PAUL. Yes; and he saw her and he asked Jack to go down and see and
get her, that she was going to bring him a lot of business.
Mr. HUBERT. And you knew this because Jack kept you in touch with the
things he was doing and he made a contract with Jada, did he?
Mr. PAUL. Yes; she worked at the club quite a while.
Mr. HUBERT. She brought in some money, as I understand?
Mr. PAUL. Yes; and no. At first she was doing all right, and then she
fell off to nothing.
Mr. HUBERT. She quit, I think, before her contract was over?
Mr. PAUL. Actually, it was a verbal contract—the last. You see, they
had a contract to start with and then it became a verbal contract—she
works as long as she wants to—as long as he wants to keep her.
Mr. HUBERT. In other words, the first contract was a written contract
but of limited time, and when it ran out it was on a weekly basis?
Mr. PAUL. On a weekly basis.
Mr. HUBERT. During last fall, say from the time Jack came back from New
York until November, do you think you saw him two or three times a week
then? Or spoke to him?
Mr. PAUL. Yes, sir.
Mr. HUBERT. Do you think you are in a position to say whether or not
he left town during any of those times during the period after he came
back from New York—say, September, October, and November?
Mr. PAUL. No, sir.
Mr. HUBERT. Now, I don’t quite understand your answer—are you in a
position to say?
Mr. PAUL. He didn’t leave town.
Mr. HUBERT. In your opinion?
Mr. PAUL. The only place I know he went is New Orleans and New York,
last year.
Mr. HUBERT. And in your opinion if he had gone anyplace else, you would
have known it?
Mr. PAUL. I would have known it. In fact, I was the only one that knew
he went to New York, but when he went to New Orleans everybody knew
because that was another thing—that was no secret.
Mr. HUBERT. And you are basing your opinion on the knowledge of his
movements by the fact that you were in contact with him both in person
and by telephone several times a week all through this period?
Mr. PAUL. Almost every day.
Mr. HUBERT. You would telephone one another?
Mr. PAUL. What?
Mr. HUBERT. You would telephone one another or see one another?
Mr. PAUL. Yes—telephone mostly. In the last year, I think I used to go
to the club twice a week, Tuesday and Friday, because all the other
nights I was working.
Mr. HUBERT. In other words, those were your nights off?
Mr. PAUL. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. And you went almost 100 percent of the time that you had
nights off, Tuesday and Friday, you went to the Carousel and you would
stay there all evening?
Mr. PAUL. Well, I wouldn’t come until late anyway.
Mr. HUBERT. You would come late and stay until it closed?
Mr. PAUL. And then go for coffee or something to eat.
Mr. HUBERT. And in other than those days you would get in touch by
telephone?
Mr. PAUL. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. What was the purpose—just friendship?
Mr. PAUL. That’s all—and, he had trouble with the Weinsteins and he
always asked for advice. That’s why he used to call me all the time.
Mr. HUBERT. The telephone records, as you know, show quite a number of
calls between you.
Mr. PAUL. They don’t?
Mr. HUBERT. They do, and I was wondering just what those calls were
about.
Mr. PAUL. Well, every day he would find something else he would like to
do—he would think of doing, or the union didn’t do right by him, the
AGVA, or the girls didn’t do right—that’s why he called me almost every
day.
Mr. HUBERT. You mean he would call you if he had trouble with the
girls?
Mr. PAUL. If he had trouble with any of the girls, he would call me.
Mr. HUBERT. If he had trouble with the one—with the Weinsteins, he
would call you?
Mr. PAUL. Yes; and the AGVA people—you see, they’ve got a board of
directors and each one takes a part, and if this one doesn’t do
right—that was almost consistently—he called on that.
Mr. HUBERT. When did you first hear that the President had been shot?
Mr. PAUL. On Friday—I was working. It was the lunch hour, you know, and
lunch hour is our busiest hour. I’m always there on the lunch hour, and
my landlord’s son called me on the telephone and told me the President
was shot—they got it on the radio, and so I turned on the radio and
then we all listened, everybody in the place naturally, because there
was some excitement—people hollered and cried all over the place, and
then everybody was listening to the radio to see what the result would
be, and at 2 o’clock I went home, or a little after 2—generally I
stayed until 2 o’clock on Friday. A little after 2—and when I got home
Jack called me and he said, “Did you hear what happened?” I said, “Yes;
I heard it on the air.” He says, “Isn’t that a terrible thing?” I said,
“Yes; Jack.” He said, “I made up my mind. I’m going to close it down.”
I said, “Well, I can’t close down, I’ve got an eating place.”
Mr. HUBERT. And did he suggest to you that you should close down your
place?
Mr. PAUL. That’s what he said, “Ain’t you going to close?” I said, “No;
I’ve got an eating place.” I says, “You can do whatever you want.”
Mr. HUBERT. Did he discuss with you whether he should close down?
Mr. PAUL. No; he didn’t discuss it. He told me he was going to close
down.
Mr. HUBERT. Did he tell you for how long?
Mr. PAUL. Three days.
Mr. HUBERT. That was at 2 o’clock?
Mr. PAUL. Friday at 2—Friday night and Saturday night and Sunday night.
Mr. HUBERT. He was going to close up?
Mr. PAUL. Friday night and Saturday and Sunday nights.
Mr. HUBERT. Did he tell you why he had chosen those 3 nights?
Mr. PAUL. Yes; in honor of the President being shot—he was heartbroken.
Mr. HUBERT. I mean, why 3 nights instead of 2 or 4?
Mr. PAUL. That’s what I told him. I said to him, “Are the other clubs
going to close?” He said, “I don’t care about the other clubs.”
Mr. HUBERT. Where was he calling you from, do you know?
Mr. PAUL. I don’t know—he didn’t say where he was calling me from. He
generally called me from a telephone booth or the club—not so much from
his home.
Mr. HUBERT. What would seem to be his condition when you were talking
to him, emotionally and otherwise?
Mr. PAUL. Very bad emotionally—he said, “I can’t believe it.”
Mr. HUBERT. What was it based upon, do you know?
Mr. PAUL. I don’t know—if you don’t see the person, you can’t tell the
person on a telephone how he reacts or——
Mr. HUBERT. I mean, you have known him for a good many years.
Mr. PAUL. Oh, yes; I’ve known Jack for so many years and he has always
been that way, you know, reaction—fast—punch line—got to do this right
away [indicating]. With him it wasn’t—he thought and did. It wasn’t a
second thought.
Mr. HUBERT. But you are quite clear that when he called you about 2
o’clock——
Mr. PAUL. That’s about a little after the time I got home—was a quarter
to 3.
Mr. HUBERT. And that’s the first time you had heard from him?
Mr. PAUL. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. The President was already dead?
Mr. PAUL. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. And it was known he was dead?
Mr. PAUL. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. Did he say anything about Tippit?
Mr. PAUL. No, sir; I didn’t know nothing about Tippit. I didn’t know
nothing about Tippit.
Mr. HUBERT. He didn’t tell you?
Mr. PAUL. No; he didn’t tell me anything about Tippit.
Mr. HUBERT. In any case, he said he had made up his mind he was going
to close up the club for 3 days already?