Mr. Schmidt. Yes; this was Thanksgiving morning. In fact, that is the same morning I got the tip. After the process of elimination, I called Ryder and it was early that morning. I called out there, and a woman answered the phone, and he apparently had gotten out of bed, from the time it took. He sounded sleepy on the phone and so forth. So I talked to him then on the phone and asked him about the information I got for the story.
Mr. Liebeler. How long did you talk to him on the phone about that?
Mr. Schmidt. Oh, I am just guessing. I would estimate 15 minutes or roughly thereabouts.
Mr. Liebeler. What did he tell you?
Mr. Schmidt. He told me—I asked if he had a customer—now this is a tip we got, that this Ryder mounted a scope for a customer, and the customer's name on the ticket with the gun was Oswald. And he confirmed on the phone that morning. And the reason I took it as the truth was because I didn't think a fellow would get out of bed early and make up a story half asleep and fabricate a story that early in the morning, and get out of bed on a holiday. He told me that he had a ticket with the name Oswald on it, that it was a foreign-made rifle, that he did put the scope, bored the holes and sighted it in. I asked him if he bought any ammunition, and he said no; he didn't. I think he said he didn't remember him buying any ammunition. He then gave me the prices for the mounting of the scope, $1.50. I think he said he bored three at $1.50 a sight, and $4.50 for the boresighting—I mean for the hole drilling. And $1.50 for the sighting in of the rifle. And let's see, after he gave me the prices and everything, I just took it as pretty authoritative, because I didn't know that much about rifles.
Mr. Liebeler. Now, you say that Ryder told you that he believed that the rifle was a foreign make; is that right?
Mr. Schmidt. Yes; I asked him what kind it was. He said he didn't remember for sure, but he said he believed it was a foreign-made rifle.
Mr. Liebeler. Did Ryder say anything about the fact that he was sleepy and had not slept well the night before?
Mr. Schmidt. No, I don't believe he mentioned that.
Mr. Liebeler. You have no recollection of that? Did Ryder tell you what boresighting was, or did you know about that?