“Yes.”
“Thank you. Now, Mr. Bowers, during that time over a year when you were the only occupant of the apartment, the time during which you admit you had an opportunity to take the gun, did you ever search Herbert Clay’s room?”
Bowers hesitated. “No, I did not.”
“Perhaps you object to the word search. Did you ever look in Herbert Clay’s room?”
“I looked in a couple of times.”
“Did you? Good. Maybe you can help us here. You’ve testified that when Herbert Clay came home he sometimes left his gun on top of his dresser, is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“Now, on these occasions when you happened to look into Herbert Clay’s room-referring now to the time when you were the sole occupant of the apartment after he’d been sent to prison-on those occasions did you happen to see the gun on the dresser?”
“I don’t recall.”
“Are you testifying that the gun was not on the dresser?”
“No, just that I don’t recall seeing it.”
“If the gun had been on the dresser, you’d have seen it, wouldn’t you?”
“Objection. Argumentative.”
“Sustained.”
“Was the gun on the dresser?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you recall specifically looking at the dresser?”
“No, I do not.”
“Is there anything you do recall specifically looking at?”
“No. I tell you I just looked in the room. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular.”
“Did you look in the dresser drawers?”
“No, I did not.”
“Never opened them?”
“No.”
“After Herbert Clay went to jail, you never saw the gun again?”
“No, I did not.”
“Then you have no knowledge whatsoever whether that gun was in your apartment?”
Bowers frowned. “No. I do not.”
Fitzpatrick smiled. “Thank you. That’s all.”
Judge Wallingsford glanced at the clock. “It is approaching the hour of noon recess. I’m going to break now, and we’ll resume at two o’clock.”
35
When court reconvened,Dirkson called Phil Danby to the stand.
“Mr. Danby,” Dirkson began, “are you connected with Castleton Industries?”
“Yes. I’ve been employed by them for the past fifteen years.”
“In what capacity?”
“My title is business manager, but I serve in several capacities. Chief among them is being personal assistant to Milton Castleton.”
“You are referring to Milton Castleton, retired head of Castleton Industries, the grandfather of the decedent, David Castleton?”
“That’s right. Up until his retirement, I served as his personal assistant at the company. Since his retirement, I have served as his liaison to the company.”
“Am I to assume that, though retired, Mr. Castleton still has an active role in the business?”
Danby smiled. “I think that would be a safe assumption.”
“Mr. Danby, where do you work?”
“I divide my time between Mr. Castleton’s office, which is in his apartment, and the company itself. I am, as I said, his liaison.”
“And you still have an active role in the company?”
Danby smiled. “Very much so.”
“Mr. Danby, are you familiar with the defendant, Kelly Clay Wilder?”
“Yes, I am.”
“How did you happen to meet her?”
“Mr. Castleton is currently writing his memoirs and employing secretaries to type them. He advertised in the Times and she answered the ad.”
“She came to apply for the job?”
“That’s right.”
“Tell me, did she give you the name Kelly Wilder?”
“No.”
“Or Kelly Clay?”
“No.”
“What name did she give you?”
“Kelly Blaine.”
“Kelly Blaine?”
“That’s right.”
“Tell me, did she get the job?”
“Yes, she did.”
“She went to work for Castleton Industries?”
“No, for Milton Castleton. The writing of his memoirs he considered a personal matter, not a function of the company.”
“Then he was employing her and paying her salary, rather than the company?”
“That’s right.”
“So where was she working?”
“In an office in his apartment.”
“How long did she work for Milton Castleton?”
“About two weeks.”
“And during that time did she ever meet Milton Castleton?”
“No, she did not. Her dealings were entirely with me.”
“Tell me, Mr. Danby, at the time of David Castleton’s death, was Kelly Clay Wilder still working for Milton Castleton?”
“No, she was not.”
“How did that employment come to be terminated?”
Danby took a breath. “It was on the afternoon of June twenty-first. Milton Castleton was not there. He was off at a doctor’s appointment. Kelly Wilder was in her office, typing at her word processor.”
“She had her own office?”
“Yes, she did.”
“Go on.”
“I was in Milton Castleton’s office next door. Looking up some facts on his computer. And I happened to notice Miss Wilder through the window.”
“The window?”
“Yes. Mr. Castleton’s office and Miss Wilder’s office were side by side. There was a window between them.”
“You saw her through the window?”
“Yes.”
“Could she see you?”
“No. It’s a one-way glass.”
“What caught your attention at the time?”
“The screen of her word processor.”
“What about it?”
“I have to explain. She was supposed to be typing memoirs. In other words, prose. But that wasn’t what was on the screen of her terminal. From that distance, I could tell exactly what it was, but I could tell it wasn’t prose. Screens were coming on, one after another, with symbols and instructions on them. That doesn’t happen when you’re typing. That happens when you’re working in the Disk Operating System of the computer.”
“Had Kelly Wilder any reason to be working in the Disk Operating System?”
“Absolutely none. Her job was simply to use a word processor that was functioning as a typewriter.”
“I see. And from this, what conclusion did you draw?”
“Objection,” Fitzpatrick said.
“Sustained.
Steve Winslow leaned across Kelly Wilder, tugged Fitzpatrick’s arm. “Let this go in,” he whispered.
Dirkson thought a moment. “Tell me, at that time, in your own mind, did you form any opinion about the defendant, Kelly Clay Wilder?”
“Yes, I did.”
“And what was that?”
“She was an industrial spy.”
“That was your evaluation of her?”
“Yes, it was.”
“Can you tell me why you formed that opinion?”
“I could think of no other reason why she would be playing with the computer terminal.”
“That terminal was hooked into the main computer?”
“Yes, it was.”
“It would have access to the records of Castleton Industries?”
“Absolutely. The computer in Milton Castleton’s office carried all the data of the entire company.”
“Does Castleton Industries have industrial secrets worth stealing?”
Fitzpatrick looked at Winslow. Steve shook his head. “Let it go in.”
Danby smiled. “I would imagine a competitor would pay a small fortune to get the inside track on Castleton Industries.”
“I see,” Dirkson said. “So how did you feel when you saw this?”
“I was outraged, of course. You have to understand. I have a great sense of loyalty to Castleton Industries and Milton Castleton.”
“So what did you do?”
“I tried to stop her.”
“How?”
“I ran out of the office to her office door. I took out a key and unlocked it.”
“The door was locked?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That was one of the specifications of the employment. That she would work alone in an office with the door locked.”
Dirkson nodded, as if that arrangement were perfectly reasonable, and did not follow up on the subject. “I see,” he said. “So you unlocked the door and opened it?”