My account of Edward Epstein’s involvement in the telephone code story has been stitched together from two of Epstein’s books: Counterplot and The JFK Assassination Diary.
“Mr. Epstein, could a local district attorney have solved a mystery that defied the Warren Commission?” Epstein, JFK Assassination Diary.
The various Edward Epstein quotes (“It seemed curious …”, “Six weeks had passed” and “The very fact that Harris and I …”) come from Counterplot, p. 186.
Here’s an image of the page of Oswald’s notebook containing the entry that Garrison read as “PO 19106”. The entry to look at is on the right-hand page, halfway down.
“In other words, [Garrison] used hocus pocus …” JKF Assassination Diary.
Garrison, “Oswald invariably uses the dial of the telephone … “ quoted by Fred Litwin in On the Trail of Delusion.
Garrison’s other statements (“no other number on earth”, “nonexistent or fictional number” and “removed the possibility of coincidence”) are cited by Epstein in Counterplot, p. 187.
Epstein tells the story of his phone call from Thomas Bethell in his JFK Assassination Diary.
The two quotes from Garrison’s On the Trail of the Assassins come from Chapter 11, “Checkmate.”
Garrison, Oswald enjoyed playing “cops and robbers.” Garrison offered this explanation over the phone to Sylvia Meagher. The exchange is quoted by Fred Litwin in On the Trail of Delusion.
Garrison, the assassination was “a professionally clandestine operation” that could only be analyzed via “the successive application of models …” quoted by Litwin.
Garrison, “It’s exactly like a chess problem …” quoted by Epstein, Counterplot, p. 185.
Garrison, “The Truth is reached only when near-sighted fascination with mere detail is abandoned …” quoted by Litwin.
Epstein’s quotes about truth (“Can the process of establishing the truth ever be separated from its end product …”, etc.) come from Counterplot, pp. 287-288.
My information about Sylvia Meagher’s involvement in Garrison’s investigation comes largely from John Kelin’s Praise From a Future Generation, with some backup from Fred Litwin’s On the Trail of Delusion.
Meagher, “It is difficult for me to tell you, without lapsing into extravagant prose …” quoted by Kelin.
The full text of Meagher’s “Special Delivery” letter to Garrison is usefully reproduced in Litwin’s On the Trail of Delusion.
Meagher’s account of her phone conversation with Garrison (“As I waited two or three minutes for Garrison to come on the line …” etc.) comes from a letter she wrote immediately afterward to Ray Marcus, quoted by Kelin.
Other quotes from Meagher’s letter to Marcus (“Oswald liked to play cops and robbers, or was it cloaks and daggers?”) are cited by Litwin.
Meagher, “I feel uneasy …” quoted by Kelin.
Meagher to Weisberg, “My position with respect to Jim Garrison …” quoted by Kelin.
Meagher, “You’re attacking the lies of the Specters and the Liebelers …” quoted by Kelin.
Salandria, “ … provide[d] lies which support a myth we know to be wrong …” quoted by Kelin.
Meagher, “I will not be a party to incriminating Oswald …” quoted by Kelin.
Meagher to Weisberg, “Harold, how else can one interpret …” quoted by Kelin.
Meagher’s exchange with Salandria is quoted by Kelin.
Meagher’s letter to the NYRB is here.
Meagher’s letter to Clay Shaw is paraphrased by Kelin.
David Lifton’s account of the Garrison “There is no truth” conversation is quoted by Litwin.
Further excerpts from Lifton’s article about Garrison (“a reckless, irrational, even paranoid demagogue,” etc.) are quoted by Patricia Lambert in False Witness.
Oliver Stone, “Who owns reality? … “ quoted by Vincent Bugliosi in Reclaiming History, p. 1436.
Garrison, Oswald was “a participant, decoy and patsy,” quoted by Lambert.
For the multiplicity of different theories Jim Garrison entertained about the assassination, see Counterplot pp. 215-217 and Gerald Posner’s Case Closed, pp. 445-446.
Bugliosi, the CIA “specializes in always acting guilty …” Reclaiming History, Endnotes, p. 678.
Gurvich, “He is nuts …” quoted by Kelin.