4

By Mark Law WAS KENNEDY'S DEATH A SOVIET PLOT? Michael Eddowes is a private investigator extraordinary. He is a wealthy man who uses his money and leisure to untangle the web of conspiracy in which he believes! the West is now entangled TELEGRAM{ SUNDAY MAGAZINE ▪ •

yip ; 14.sea i - :.ociety assoel. nal with Cliveuan- Yeoman's Row. this quiet and While Eddowes was staying with -1•:•• expensive cul-de-sac off Bromp- Hungarian count in Budapest, lb ton Road in London. One house, German invasion began. He and hi. with its bevy of plants beside the wife managed to get out just in time. ',1a door, seems particularly tranquil. The count was murdered by the But beyond that door one hears of Germans the next day. mother world - a world of assassi- Now England faces other enemies lation squads, governmental skul- and Eddowes is on their trail. A duggery. fiendishly cunning conspi- series of conspiracies, he says, can be -ators and dark plots. This is the traced through the . world of Michael Eddowes, a 73- the Chinese invasion of India, the year-old lawyer with a passionate Cuba crisis, the Kennedy assassi- relief that the West is struggling in nation and the war in Vietnam. the tentacles of a massive conspiracy. He says he first became aware of Some of the evidence which might it in 1962 when, after a car accident. reveal this conspiracy, he feels. lies he went for treatment to D' buried at Fort Worth in , in , an osteopath. the grave of , Through him he net Christine He man who is presumed to have Keeler and Commander Eugenic assassinated President Kennedy. His Bistro Vino restaurants (above) pay for Eddowes' investigations. Since Ivanov (the Soviet Naval Attache;. Except that, according to Michael the first opened in 1958 he has taken a keen interest in their management "The Ward consulting rooms were 4d owes, private investigator extra- an espionage centre", says Eddowes. ordinary, it may not be Lee Harvey decision and awaiting the outcome. are about John Kennedy, his "His contacts were enormous - the Oswald's body in the grave, but that Michael Eddowes is a small, smart assassination and the KGB. The Cabinet and so on. 1 realised I wee of a Russian imposter - a clever energetic man. With a red and white tall-ceilinged and large-windowed on to something terrifying. member of Department 13. the KGB spotted handkerchief at his neck, a room would be bright in the day- "The Ward affair was all organ- • ' otage and assassination squad. gold watch chain and neatly casual light, but a venetian blind reduces ised under the direction of Krusche'. In pursuit of conclusive evidence clothes he looks like a successful it to the gloom of dusk. In this light, - the whole thing! The government ".-'r his controversial theory, Michael English actor in Hollywood. In fact conspiracy can thrive. tried to turn it into a sex scandal. . Jowes gained agreement from he seems a little out of place in the Eddowes is rather in the tradition which the newspapers liked, In fat Oswald's widow, Marina, for the old-world splendour of his study, of the amateur English sleuths of as a spy scandal". '-edy to be disinterred and examined. with its dark red carpet, velvet fiction. He is a rich man using his Eddowes* public part in the story -'owever Oswald's brother, Robert, curtains and large gilt mirrors. The wealth and leisure to untangle was confusing. He delivered and won the latest round in his battle to books on the far side of his vast mysteries of his choice. One could published a letter to the Admiralty keep the grave undisturbed. leather-topped desk are turned to believe that in the course of a day he alleging that Ivanov had asked • Idowes is appealing against this face the visitor's chair. Most of them might be encountering as equals to get secret infor- Richard Hannay, Sherlock Holmes mation about the West's nuclear or Lord Peter Wimsey. He says plans from , th, Ve* things like "poor devil", and "a Minister for War. Very soon after. great dark conspiracy". He has Eddowes left for the U.S. always known important people. - While in America he was inter- G. As with those heroes of Buchan, viewed by John Malone, the head of Conan Doyle and Sayers, events the FBI in New York, and Eddowes seem contrived to occur around him. claims he was able to help him When Eddowes went on a jolly establish that Ward was involved it FF11 TIC 111:CA1 Surf jaunt in Germany in the thirties with arranging the departure for New RE QUOTATION some aviator chums, he arrived in York of the beautiful Maria PLANS Tr IOU?. SPRIFTOTION Add a Mulberry for a Munich on the Night of the Long Novotny to compromise the newly AR .'JI6E mum bi7ger and better home Knives (he rivettingly re-enacts an elected President Kennedy. The or.,3 ?Mail AIG PUTIIISSION warn a prolessoonai ertarnamo your encounter at his hotel with two lawyer from London was gettine ONTA:NaaDlii A MUTATION") -"I! lax' the"' '''T!T pne pe wn you blackshirt bodyguards, whose com- attention at a high level in America - !MOM wad c wean -r ex Mulberry Home rades were at that moment murder- and not for the last time. aCilArt AND LAY DRAXAGE ;:s.7r7::.:Zeperta. tHie..:r,':3"pLythe.Ziar"e.. ing brownshirts elsewhere in the Michael Eddowes works for 14 lay (Dawn feeNesnoes '.ss.worry or otto.Send no* for our FREE city; he plays all three roles, moving hours a day - now mostly on cata.ogue of Horne E.terpoe Idea and Taiga TO :MR Dm( ]Dull see exactly what we mean deftly around the snarling head and Lee Harvey Oswald investigation. IILS'1117 WILT AND MOT curled claws of the giant tigerskin He rises late and works through to Free superb catalogue of covering the floor beside his desk). Val/ CLUJ All ROM home extension ideas. the small hours of the i..r rning. iltSTAll MUNRO& When he was back in Germany spending the spare time he does have See har yourself mu what adding two years later he saw a German OM NI WIRING Mulberry can do for you. your family tending the fruit trees in his root TONP17i IT S MUG ORE your 1.1tntyle and bost Labour Corps as it marched along garden or driving off in his Rolls- 11DY P ATE of ail for merennt 4tdE•agea a road. Out of curiosity he followed Royce for a trout fishing weekend u nave of poor -"'s - it at a distance on his bicycle. "They south Wales or Derbyshire. It we- (Callr.FEITISAT611411,11M1 p. xne .`ti carried spades on their shoulders and in Derbyshire that he was born. --64WW0*(Noly' sang marvellous songs. They He comes from a family a marched all day and never put a lawyers and went to school a rn .V Ur, •In... Ltd.. ME POS1 Osha. spade in the ground. In the evening Uppingham. He was unable to go orr MS ]f-_ar phase Mw.nn,r 0111-271 1151, 1 ••• 01 ■ 1 r$15 ,11. Nrnmsixon OP 5 LS 0.5E.. 4o, Loma, they went through some gates. to Oxford, as planned, because hi (1. .5' 1155 IS Lamm bres 214. Nalel a wN, 0.41 69. In STE B I There were two sentry boxes and lather, a solicitor, had a heart attack Name inside them were men with spades and at 19 Michael Eddowes had to Ark' ress on their shoulders". He rushed back help out in his office. He then served to England and told John Walter. his articles in Leicester and Lander whose family owned a share of The before rejoining his father's firm. He Tinres, that Germany was building stayed for two years, but was rom first plans to final plaster j an army. "I didn't know his wife ambitious and decided to seek h L PP =I WEI MI Mil !III illo aro MN was a member of the Anglo-German fortune in London. He became TELEGRAPH suNnav Mai.Orla ' Society associated with Cliveden"! While Eddowes was staying with a Hungarian count in Budapest, the German invasion began. He and his wife managed to get out just in time. The count was murdered by the Germans the next day. Now England faces other enemies and Eddowes is on their trail. A series of conspiracies, he says, can be traced through the Profuma affair, the Chinese invasion of India, the Cuba crisis, the Kennedy assassi- nation and the war in Vietnam He says he first became aware of it in 1962 when, after a car accident, he went for treatment to DI Stephen Ward, an osteopath. Through him he met Christine Keeler and Commander Eugenie inns. Since Ivanov (the Soviet Naval Attae110. The skin of a ianagement "The Ward consulting rooms were man-eating an espionage centre". says Eddowes. tiger watches -nedy, his "His contacts were enormous - the from the floor KGB, The Cabinet and so on. I realised I was of Eddowes' windowed on to something terrifying. study, where • the day- "The Ward afTle- was all organ- he conducts •.' reduces ised under the direction of Krusches his fight •s this light, - the whole thing! The government against tried to turn it into a sex scandal. conspiracy to tradition which the newspapers liked. In fact and injustice r'cuths of it was a soy scandal". using his Eddowes' public part in the story managing clerk at Gray's Inn for a turnover is now about £1 m. a year. untangle was confusing. He delivered and year before setting up his own In 1953 he became interested in One could published a letter to the Admiralty solicitor's practice in Holborn. A the strange circumstances sur- c I a day he alleging that lvanov had asked year later, in 1931, he moved to the rounding the conviction of Timothy as equals Christine Keeler to get secret infor- West End and occupied an office Evans, who was sentenced to death rk Holmes mation about the West's nuclear overlooking Berkeley Square. for the murder of his baby daughter. • He says plans from John Profumo, the "It was a desperate struggle to Eddowes was suspicious about a .". and "a Minister for War. Very soon after, make money at first", he remem- murder in a house which had been He has Eddowes left for the U.S. bers. "All the office furniture and the scene of several other murders - nt people. - While in America he was inter- carpets were hired". But he pros- for it was there the notorious Reg- of Buchan, viewed by John Malone, the head of pered and by 1956, at the age of 49, inald Christie killed eight people. crs, events the FBI in New York, and Eddowes Ile had been successful enough to Christie was hanged in 1953. Evans !round him. claims he was able to help him dispose of his practice and involve had been his lodger and Eddowes sn a jolly establish that Ward was involved in himself in other things. suspected that it was Christie who thirties with arranging the departure for New His interests had always been murdered the child. For 13 years he arrived in York of the beautiful Maria wide ranging. He had been a direc- gathered evidence and campaigned the Long Novotny to compromise the newly tor of a successful property com- for the reopening of the case, . ..-enacts an Tht- elected President Kennedy. The pany called Mervyn Estates; he had furious at what he felt was a mis- with two showe r lawyer from London was getting designed his own car and had it carriage of justice. He even bought .ose corn- attention at a high level in America - built; he had started Legastat, a 10 Rillington Place, the scene of the ent murder- and not for the last time. * • photocopying company (it is still murder, to help prove his point. gallon iere in the Michael Eddowes works for 14 going and is run by one of his two He conducted his research alone, temee. . les, moving hours a day - now mostly on his sons - Eddowes has been married but made it all available for the It .1g head and Lee Harvey Oswald investigation. three times, but now lives alone). Brabin Enquiry in 1964 to which on she nt tigerskin He rises late and works through to His remaining business interest he was asked to give evidence. Veto • a his desk). the small hours of the morning, is the small chain of Bistro Vino , who also bec L. Germany spending the spare time he does have restaurants in Kensington and Ful- played an important part in secur- the Doh itselc '^' a German tending the fruit trees in his roof ham. He founded them with two ing Evans' eventual pardon, says f t'• shed along garden or driving off in his Roils- partners in 1958 because he believed that "Eddowes was the first link in LM followed prime- Royce for a trout fishing weekend in there was a market for "the sort of the chain which led to the pardon. i • cle. "They south Wales or Derbyshire. It was place I would have liked when I was was asked to review Eddowes' book (01■77 oulders and in Derbyshire that he was born. in my twenties. I could never find on the subject. The Mart on Your bas. They He comes from a family of anywhere which provided cheap Conscience. He had the truth of the ter put a lawyers and went to school at food in pleasant surroundings". matter and must be given the credit he evening Uppingham. He was unable to go on The formula worked, and the for that. If it hadn't been for that rte gates. . t to Oxford, as planned, because his patronage of showbusiness celebri- book I don't think I would have boxes and father, a solicitor, had a heart attack ties added to their popularity. ever got involved in the case". with spades and at 19 Michael Eddowes had to Eddowes learned every job in the But since then Eddowes has -ushed back help out in his office. He then served restaurant basiness by doing it him- started on a larger case - the assas- :m Walter, his articles in Leicester and London self• He evolved an accounting sination of President Kennedy in hare of The before rejoining his father's firm. He system and has since bought out 1963. Aspects of this have baffled building stayed for two years, but was his partners. -lc visits the restaurants many people. It is a saga of loose 'w his wife ambitious and decided to seek his four or five times a week. Their ends. It provides just the right sort tlo-German fortune in London He became a of intriguing challenge for Eddowes. have been an imposter. But he says Lee Harvey Oswald, the supposed he also has found lines of conspiracy killer, was believed by some to be a in the as assination, the ramifica- deranged man acting on his own. tions of which link the Cuban Others believe that he was part of a missile crisis, the Chinese invasion conspiracy; even that he was one of of India and the war in Vietnam. two gunmen who tired at the Eddo..-es is riot afraid to think big. Presidential motorcade as it passed It all goes back to a chance meet- through Dallas. The conspiracy ing with kanov at a coffee bar in theory is given weight by the fact Marylebone High Street (Eddowes that two days after the assassination had gone there to meet Stephen Oswald was himself killed in the Ward). It was the time of the Cuba basement of a police station by an crisis. In the course of their con- underworld character, . versation, Evanov told Eddowes that The Warren Commission Wft3 if Kennedy were to intercept the formed to investigate the assassina- Soviet warships approaching Cuba, tion, and seven months later, reported among other conszquenres "Eng- that there was insufficient evidence land would be destroyed within to support the idea of a conspiracy. seven minutes". Michael Eddowes was among many "Then I asked him: 'Do you who were not so sure. approve or disapprove of the Several hooks were written on the Chinese invasion of India'? And he subject, and for a time there was replied. 'There arc good and bad enough raw material in the form of men in China just as there are good new evidence and enough curiosity and bad men in India'. This absurd to support a thriving assassination- reply satisfied me that there was a theory industry. Eddowes is one of link between the Cuban crisis ...cry few investigators who have and rile Chinese invasion of India". continued working on the idea. A rose sheds its petal on to the With the professional expertise he desk. It is getting hot in Michael devoted to the Evans case, Eddowes Eddowes' study. One feels like a perseveres, searching the motives, stupid Watson trying to understand memories and the documents of why that reply was, in the circum- those connected with the business. stances, any less absurd or relevant Much has come to light since the than the question. Warren Report and he has produced "But why did you ask that"? some compelling evidence to show There is a long pause before he . and that the physical characteristics of answers. "Inspiration Oswald before and after his visit to experience. Don't forget t'm very Russia suggest the assassin may experienced. If you've practised in

- t-77!..z3V- N er.ARMagAle0104rVr., 0.4,ste.orbr.,-r....,ettre peamnemgpsvcta. chronology of answering them.

carried out secret work for the U.S. October 20, 1962? Because,. on October 16 the assassin of President Berkeley Square, you can't be any-

graphic company in Dallas which halt their invasion of India by asking the questions as well as Kennedy, who called himself prinees Oswald, was spying in a photo-

material connected with spy-plane government. They were working on

thing else — police, prostitutes and his desk top with his index finger. Soviet missile build-up on Cuba. getting heavy and Eddowes obliges photographs taken above Cuba on

He passed the information on. As a until the 22nd).

result Russia advised China on the 20th to halt its invasion (e More petals fall. "So 'Oswald' knew

the 14th". For emphasis he strikes

the Americans knew about the

Cuban crisis. If the rockets had

America's knowledge of the missiles though Kennedy did not disclose

used to destroy the U.S., then the been allowed to remain and perhaps to wait until the outcome of the

Chinese could well have taken over

"So what is the link with China"?

Eddowes replies with a confusing

"Why did the Chinese suddenly

"The Russians asked the Chinese

the lot".

events.

The going is

,

,,:n

on

(above), tending fruit trees in his roof garden or driving his Rolls-Royce

every time". He shakes his head in

all India, Asia and Australasia".

China. Very! The Chinese fool you window. "I am very suspicious of

When Michael F.ddowes is not fishing fnr clues he

wonder. "Their army is 250

with a gun on a handful of rice. to blow into it and stares at the He speaks of "the Yellow Peril". East. It was part of a Russian plan ation, he believes, also lie in the Far Imagine them, coming like

trained men who can run along

Eddowes produces a pipe, starts

The origins of Kennedy's assassin-

locusts"!

million

South Vietnam by the North. "Two

months after the

crossed the parallel", cites Eddowes. published, the North Vietnamese decline and fall of the West in my

to pave the way for the invasion of

But the FBI could never admit to

having allowed an imposter entry

under surveillance". He also believes the assassin was a Soviet imposter. view, Within six hours they knew

to the U.S. without keeping him

that the American authorities

"Kennedy's death marked the

is

often fishing for trout

Warren Report

was

covered the imposter's Russian tracks

acting as he does for publicity. But been triggered off by American

assassination was a Soviet plot.

to avert a war which might have

modicum of that and certainly no brother, has accused Eddowes of riches. His book man and published in 1976, sold

public reaction on learning the

so far Eddowes has received only a made the researches possible. employed numerous assistants ("they evidence to support his theory that Eddowes' restaurants which have - not even enough to pay for his Kennedy, only 2,500 copies in this country

various reasons"). For his current Ile has amassed a mountain of

He has spent £110,000 on the case. prefer to remain anonymous for lawyers acting for him in the U.S. battle over the exhumation of trout fishing for a year. It is, in fact, Oswald was a Soviet imposter. The most crucial part of this is a set of Oswald's body he has two firms of

could reveal conclusively whether or

not it was the real Oswald. And X-rays of the real Oswald's teeth.

Michael Eddowes, at least, believes

that those silent jaws might yet tell a tale which will surprise us all.

Robert Oswald, Lee Harvey's

His researches are costly. He has

The disinterment of the body

written with Neville Spear-

How They Killed

a)