I said, "No; not now. Wait until I gather my thoughts and see if I'm
advised what to do. I don't want to do anything that I shouldn't do."
Mr. JENNER. Uh-huh.
Mrs. BATES. Because he hadn't been--he had not been--uh--charged then
even with the assassination. He'd just been picked up.
Mr. JENNER. Uh-huh.
Mrs. BATES. So, then she called me Wednesday morning before
Thanksgiving and she said, "Let's do a story on it." So, we sat all
Wednesday afternoon and talked. So--it wasn't any spur of the moment
thing.
Mr. JENNER. Yes. I wasn't meaning to suggest that.
Mrs. BATES. No, no; I know that. But we tried to make it just the 3
days he was in my office--and that was a little difficult to do because
of all the things that happened since.
Mr. JENNER. Yes; in the interim.
Mrs. BATES. Uh-huh.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever see him or hear of him from that time
forward--that is, the 20th of June, 1962?
Mrs. BATES. I saw him on the street twice after that.
Mr. JENNER. Oh, you did? This was in Fort Worth?
Mrs. BATES. Uh-huh. He didn't see me.
Mr. JENNER. He didn't see you and you didn't greet him?
Mrs. BATES. Oh, he was a half a block or a quarter of a block away.
I was going down Houston Street to the bank and he was going into
this--uh--variety store--Green's, or Grant's, I think it is.
Mr. JENNER. Was anybody with him?
Mrs. BATES. No; he was by himself.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever meet Marina?
Mrs. BATES. No; his mother called me.
Mr. JENNER. When--after the assassination?
Mrs. BATES. The day the story broke.
Mr. JENNER. This story that you've shown me?
Mrs. BATES. Uh-huh. She told me not to talk to anybody until I had
talked to her. I said, "Well, I'm sorry, Mrs. Oswald, you're too late."
She said, "That is not the property--that is my property."
Mr. JENNER. What is her property?
Mrs. BATES. She said, "I knew that Lee had had a public stenographer do
some work but I never could find out who." And I said, "Mrs. Oswald, I
didn't even know he had a mother in Fort Worth. He never spoke of her."
She said, "Well, don't talk to anyone until I have talked to you." I
said, "Well, you're just a little bit too late."
Mr. JENNER. Did she ever come out to see you?
Mrs. BATES. No.
Mr. JENNER. And that was the only conversation you ever had with her?
Mrs. BATES. Yeah--uh-huh.
Mr. JENNER. I am going to show you pages 148 through 157 of a bound
document on the cover of which appears the title, "Affidavits
and Statements Taken In Connection With the Assassination Of The
President." These pages are photostatic copies of what purport to be
some manuscript notes. Are you familiar with the handwriting of Lee
Oswald?
Mrs. BATES. I was.
Mr. JENNER. As you look at those documents--would you leaf through all
the pages I have mentioned?
Mrs. BATES. Yes [complying]. It would be pretty hard--oh! wait a
minute! wait a minute!
Mr. JENNER. This is for the purpose of inquiring of you, first, whether
that's his handwriting and, secondly, whether you recognize any of that
material?
Mrs. BATES. Right here.
Mr. JENNER. As things that he had in his notes.
Mrs. BATES. (Continuing to peruse notes) Metropole--uh-huh--Minsk.
Mr. JENNER. You are now referring to page 149?
Mrs. BATES. Yeah.
Mr. JENNER. You see something that is familiar to you?
Mrs. BATES. Uh-huh.
Mr. JENNER. Were any of the notes that he tendered to you on the
punched, ring book paper?
Mrs. BATES. I believe some of them were.
Mr. JENNER. And were any of the notes on the lined paper with the ruled
left-hand margin?
Mrs. BATES. Every kind of paper imaginable.
Mr. JENNER. Well, do you recognize some of them as being on paper of
that character?
Mrs. BATES. Uh-huh; uh-huh.
Mr. JENNER. Now, some of his notes were in longhand, were they not?
Mrs. BATES. Yes; in pencil and pen.
Mr. JENNER. In pencil and in pen?
Mrs. BATES. His pen would run out and he would start in on pencil.
Mr. JENNER. Now, is that handwriting familiar to you as compared with
the handwriting of Lee Oswald, or what he said was his handwriting,
when you transcribed his notes for 3 days?
Mrs. BATES. It looks very much--as I remember it--it looks very much
like it.
[The witness points to a particular page.]
Mr. JENNER. The witness is referring to page 149 which seems
particularly to attract her attention. The head of that is "Resident of
U.S.S.R." Does that page awaken your recollection?
Mrs. BATES. Uh-huh--very definitely.
Mr. JENNER. What about it awakens your recollection?
Mrs. BATES. Well, as I remember, that's the way his notes started out.
Mr. JENNER. That [reading from notes] "I lived in Moscow from October
16, 1959, to January 4, 1960, during which time I stayed at the Berlin
and Metropole Hotel"?
Mrs. BATES. Uh-huh. That is as I remember--as I can remember--and
that's all I can do, my recollection is that that's the way they
started out--just like a story.
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mrs. BATES. A diary.