She shook her head. “I didn’t know what I would do. But this was a guy I wanted access to, and here he was. I didn’t know how much I would tell him, I didn’t know how much I would let on. I figured I’d play it by ear. The key thing I had going for me was David Castleton didn’t know who I was. Didn’t know I was Herb’s sister, I mean. So I figured I’d talk to him, sound him out, try to see what made him tick. I’d never met the guy, you know. Anyway, I figured it was a step in the right direction.”
“So what happened?”
“So I met him last night. Seven o’clock. Singles bar on Third Avenue. His suggestion. Well, it was noisy, crowded. I couldn’t talk there. I told him so. He said, no problem, we’d go somewhere quiet, have dinner, talk it over. We went out, hopped in a cab, went uptown to a small Italian place. Not fancy, but nice. Quiet, unpretentious. We sat there and had dinner.”
“And?”
“I took it real slow. During dinner I didn’t bring up why I was there. And neither did he. We just made small talk. Which was kind of one-sided, ’cause I wouldn’t tell him anything about myself. So we talked about him. His grandfather. The company. Which was great, ’cause that was what I wanted to know.”
She stopped. Took a breath.
“And?” Steve prompted.
She frowned. Shook her head. “And he was nice. Not at all what I expected. It could have been an act, considering the circumstances. But I was looking for that. I was expecting that. But I didn’t think so. The guy was basically nice.”
“So?”
“So, it was a slow, leisurely dinner. Then we had coffee. We still hadn’t brought anything up. Finally, he smiles and says, ‘Why are you here?’”
“And?”
“And I got into it. Not directly. I still didn’t tell him who I was, what I was after. But he’d been talking about the company, so I picked up on that, and then I brought up the embezzlement.”
“What happened then?”
She shook her head again. “It didn’t seem to bother him. I was watching closely, trying to judge his reaction. And there wasn’t any. He knew all about the embezzlement, of course. But my bringing it up didn’t seem to faze him. He was very matter-of-fact about it. Yeah, there’d been an embezzlement, and it was sort of an embarrassment to him because it had been in his branch of the company, but they got the guy who did it and he was in jail and it really hadn’t hurt him much.”
“Did you believe him?”
“That’s the problem. I did. I didn’t want to, but I did. I kept telling myself, the guy’s shrewd, he’s acting, he’s conning you. But I couldn’t make myself believe it. The guy just came across as sincere.”
“So what’d you do?”
“I still didn’t let on who I was. But I admitted what I was after. I had reason to believe that he had been conned and Herbert Clay had been framed and the embezzlement had actually been the work of someone else.”
“How did he take that?”
“He was very skeptical. And his attitude changed. He was still nice, but very condescending, you know what I mean? It was obvious I was sincere, but I was misguided and misinformed. He felt sorry for me, and he just wished there was something he could do to convince me I was wrong and I was wasting my time.”
“What happened then?”
“We went to his apartment.”
“Why?”
“Because he had a computer.”
“What?”
“I had the floppy disk in my purse. The way things were going, I decided to show it to him.”
“You tell him what you had?”
“No, I just asked him if he had a computer. When he said yes, I said, fine, I want to show you something. We took a cab to his apartment.”
“What time did you get there?”
“Ten-thirty.”
“Go on. What happened?”
“We went up there and he turned on the machine. I stuck the floppy disk in and called up the memo.”
“And?”
“It floored him. At least that’s how he acted. He’d never seen the memo before, he had no idea it existed, he couldn’t believe I’d pulled it out of the files.”
“You believed him?”
“Yeah, I did. Because he was angry, you know? He was outraged this could have happened. He promised me he’d get to the bottom of it.”
“Is that when you told him who you were?”
“No. I never did.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. I mean, I trusted him but only so far.”
“Then how’d the police get to you so fast?”
“I don’t know.”
“They didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
“They talk to you?”
“Yeah.”
“Ask you questions?”
“They tried.”
“You tell ’em anything?”
“Absolutely not. I said, I’m not talking and I want to call my lawyer.”
“Good for you. Just keep telling ’em that.”
“You gonna represent me?”
“Let’s hear the rest of your story first.”
“That’s it.”
“No, that isn’t it. You’re in jail under suspicion of murder. Let’s find out how you got here. The last you told me, you were up in David Castleton’s apartment and he seems real sincere and he wants to help you.”
Kelly drew back from the screen. “What’s the matter? You sound sarcastic.”
“Do I? Well, that’s the problem with your story. When you hear it repeated back, it doesn’t sound that good.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I didn’t say that. But I’d like a few more details. Right now I got you and David Castleton up in his apartment looking at a computer disk. Suddenly, he’s real compassionate and wants to help you?”
“So?”
“You go to bed with him?”
Kelly set her jaw. “What the hell kind of question is that?”
“It’s a question you’re gonna be asked. It would help to have the answer.”
“The answer is no, goddamn it. And I resent that. You’re only asking me that because I typed nude. You’re saying a girl who would do that’s a loose woman, you could expect her to hop into bed with every man she meets. Well, I’m not like that. I told you why I took that job, and that’s not fair.”
Steve shrugged. “Yes, but it’s a two-edged sword.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’d be asked that question anyway. The only reason you’re so pissed off and defensive is because you typed nude. Otherwise, the question wouldn’t bother you.”
“Yeah, but-”
“Look,” Steve said. “There’s some hard realities here. Hard reality number one is you’re charged with murder. Hard reality number two is whatever reason you may have had, you did type nude. When that gets out, you are gonna be on the front page of every tabloid in the city.”
Kelly’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit.”
“Yeah,” Steve said. “So you better get used to it, and you better figure out how you’re gonna handle it. Let me tell you something-righteous indignation is not an act that’s gonna play.”
Steve paused and took a breath. “Okay. Now hold all that for a moment. How did you leave things with David Castleton?”
“That’s just it. I left him the disk.”
“The floppy disk?”
“Yeah.”
“You trusted him with that?”
“It was a copy. I had the original. I wasn’t bringing that with me. I duped a copy to bring to show.”
“And you left him that?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“To show his grandfather. That’s what he said he’d do. First thing the next morning. He said there was no way his grandfather would have let this thing happen. Not if he’d seen that memo. He said his grandfather was hard, ruthless, cutthroat, but fair. He would not frame an innocent man and he would not let it happen. I tell you, he was very upset.”
“Okay,” Steve said. “Say all this is true. If he believed you, your brother didn’t do it. If you believed him, he didn’t do it. So who could have done it? Who had access? Who did he think it could be?”
Kelly shook her head. “He wouldn’t say. But that’s just it. That’s why he was so upset. Not just that this had happened. Because of the implications.”
“What implications?”