Presuming there was a package containing curtain rods found in the TSBD, and that there was concerted effort not to have this finding disrupt the Hoover directive to find "no conspiracy" and to comply with LBJ's "He's our man" and Will Fritz "This case is cinched", then the skeptical JFK Forum reader is left with 2 primary options:
1. Some curtain rods were found in TSBD, early, during the searching of the TSBD, and someone decided to hide this fact, and kept this package until March 15th, when it became for some reason, a necessity to submit an official document of request for testing for fingerprints, to Lt.Day.
2.Some curtain rods were not found early, during the searching of TSBD, until 3 months approx., past Nov 22/63, and during this 3 month period of time, Ruth Paine was unaware a set of rods was missing from her garage until requested to examine her garage again some 3 months later.
Note: Mrs Paine could have lied also.
Imo, no.2 option is the more probable for the following reasons:
A. Oswald probably hid the "2ft, give or take a couple of inches" package in the annexed roofed part of the loading dock area, when he entered that morning, given that Jack Dougherty saw nothing in Oswald's hands, when Oswald entered the back door of the TSBD proper. (Note: BW Frazier saw Oswald going thru the annex back door, NOT the actual back door to TSBD connected to that.)
B. There is less probability of finding a hidden 2ft long x 6in diameter package in the larger area and volume of the annex part of the loading dock, than finding a package of curtain curtain rods, in a small storage room at the very entrance of the TSBD.
C. If the package was found early, then it follows that there should have been a much earlier "coverup" episode trying to return said rods to Mrs Paines garage, well before March 15th 1964. Or there would have been effort to get rid of the package asap, in accordance with not upsetting the Hoover, LBJ, Fritz imperative that Oswald "did it", period, end of discussion, move on.
