by Parnell Hall
“Well, that was the key. The deciding factor. I wasn’t just working a word processor. I was working a computer terminal. I know computers. I would have access.
“I took the job.”
“And the rest of it?”
“What?”
“When you got fired. Thrown out. Was it true?”
“Not entirely.”
“How not entirely?”
“Well, a lot not entirely. He did lock me out in the hall—Phil Danby. I did play tag in the stairwells and find a coat in the basement. All of that was true.”
“But the attempted rape? The sexual advance?”
“Never happened. You met Danby. Can you imagine him trying that? No, what happened was I found it.”
“Found what?”
“The memo. The one Herb wrote. I found it in the computer.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Not at all. I knew it was there, I looked for it and I found it.”
“How.”
“Well, the way the whole thing was set up, I couldn’t access their computer. But they could access mine. To monitor my work. And I had a way to tell when they were monitoring. Of course, that meant leaving the document I was working on and playing around with DOS.”
“DOS?”
“Yeah. Disk Operating System. I could get into DOS, tell if I was working solo or if they’d accessed my terminal. If they had, it established a link. The line was open. When they accessed my terminal, I could access theirs.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Not at all. But it was risky. Because everything I was doing would be flashing on my screen.”
“And flashing on theirs?”
“No. If they accessed my document, that’s what they’d be seeing. If I exited the document and went into DOS, that wouldn’t show up on their terminal. Unless they knew how to look for it, they wouldn’t find it, and they wouldn’t know how to look.
“But it was on my screen, and even from a distance you could tell the difference. Of course, I couldn’t see through the window, couldn’t tell if anyone was looking through the other side. And I couldn’t turn my monitor away from the window, that would be a dead giveaway. I tried to keep my head in front of the screen, block it the best I could, but even so it was a risk. Besides, if they were looking at the last page of my document, if they stopped to think about it, they could see that nothing new was being typed.”
“Yeah, so?”
“So I had to work fast. Before they caught on, and before they broke the link. Which wasn’t easy. They didn’t keep it open long. It took me half a dozen times before I got in.”
“Into what?”
“Into Fax-log.”
“And?”
“And it wasn’t there.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I found copies of every fax that was sent during the dates in question. Herb’s memo wasn’t there.”
“Maybe he didn’t send it after all.”
“Yes, he did. They erased it. They deleted it from the file. Isn’t that great? That’s ten times more damning than if it had been there. They knew it was important, so they erased it.”
Steve Winslow frowned. “That’s really inverted logic. What you’re looking for isn’t there, so you claim it was destroyed. I thought you said you found it.”
“But I did.” Kelly’s eyes were gleaming. “Don’t you understand? I found the damn thing!”
“What are you talking about? You just said it was erased.”
“Yeah, it was. From the file. But you gotta understand. These computers are very sophisticated. They all have backup systems. Suppose you accidentally delete a file, wipe it out. Well, it’s gone from the main system, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think that was it. But it’s still saved in the automatic backup, and if you know computers and know how to get into it, you can bring it back.”
“And you did?”
“Yeah.”
“When?”
“The day I got fired.”
Steve took a breath. “Okay. Tell me about that. What really happened?”
She held up her hands. “All right. Look. You remember, Castleton was gone for the day. Or so I was told—how the hell should I know? But as far as I knew, Castleton wasn’t there. So I didn’t expect to get anything because I didn’t expect to be monitored. But I kept checking off and on all day, and finally I hit it—someone was on the line. I didn’t know if Castleton had come back or if it was Danby or what the hell, but I didn’t care. I was in and I had to work fast.
“By then I really knew what I was doing. I’d been close before. I riffled through the files and I found it.
“I was really scared. I didn’t know if I was being watched. If Castleton wasn’t there, I shouldn’t have been. Those were the ground rules. If Danby was in his office, the curtain on the window should have been closed. I couldn’t count on that, but I had to take a chance.
“So I put a floppy disk in the computer and downloaded the memo.”
Steve’s eyes widened. “You what?”
“That’s right. I had a floppy disk in my purse. I mean, why not? They never searched me or anything. It’s just when I was working it was like being in a fishbowl. Anyway, as soon as I hit it I got up, grabbed my purse and went into the bathroom. I took the floppy disk out of my purse, went back to the computer and downloaded the memo. As soon as I had it, I ripped the disk out of the machine, went back in the bathroom and put it in my purse. I put the purse back in the closet and was just sitting down at the machine when the door opened and Danby came in.”
Steve was listening, too fascinated now to even think of a question. “Go on,” he said.
“I was scared to death. I didn’t know what had happened. Was the curtain open? Had he seen me? Had he been monitoring my terminal or what?
“I screamed, covered myself and backed away from the machine.
“That’s when I saw. Shit. I was still in DOS. I was so eager to get the disk out of the computer I hadn’t exited the program.
“I lunged for the machine, pushed the button, and the letter I’d been typing came back on.
“Danby tried to stop me. He grabbed my wrist, said, ‘Don’t touch that.’ But it was too late. I’d switched the screen. Anyway, he grabbed me and I slapped him. When I did he let go. But then I didn’t know what to do. I was panicked. My purse and clothes were in the closet, but I couldn’t get by him to get to them. And he was coming at me. And I don’t want to answer questions, and I’m naked for Christ’s sake, and I’m scared out of my mind and I don’t know what to do.
“So I ran. I ran out of there. Just like I told you before. I found a coat, came to your office and you know the rest.”
“No, I don’t know the rest. You told me a bullshit story and I acted on it. I see now why you did it, but tell me anyway.”
“I wanted the purse, of course. That’s why I didn’t give a damn about the settlement. All I wanted was the disk in my purse.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t get it.”
“Yes, I did.”
Steve frowned. “I searched your purse. It wasn’t there.”
“Yes it was. It was in the lining. It’s the only smart thing I did. It was a big, floppy purse. I cut a slit in the lining. I had the disk hidden there. You didn’t find it and they didn’t find it. That’s why I was so damn pleased when you got me my clothes back. I looked in my purse and it was there.”
Steve thought that over. “Okay. That explains what happened then.” He spread his hands to indicate the surroundings. “How did we get to this?”
Kelly bit her lip. Shook her head. “I was stupid. I should have gotten help. I should have told you what was going on. Either that, or I should have gone to Herb’s lawyer. But he was such a numbnuts—I mean, the guy thought Herb was guilty. Anyway, I tried to do it on my own.”
“Do what?”
“Bluff them.”
“Bluff them?”
“Yeah. See, I was stupid aga
in. I had the memo, but what did it prove? It was just that, a memo. Nothing to prove where it came from. I could have typed it myself on some other machine. If I’d been smart and I’d had time, what I should have done was downloaded the whole file. Then I’d have had copies of all these other fax that would have matched the ones in Castleton’s files. Even that wouldn’t be real proof—I could have just added this memo to it. But even so. I’d have had more credibility.
“Anyway, I had the memo. I didn’t know if they knew I had it. I mean, Danby knew I’d been screwing around with the computer, but he didn’t know what I was after. He wouldn’t know about the backup file.
“And Castleton. Well, Castleton hadn’t embezzled a hundred grand. Not him. Not from his own company. If someone had, and I could prove it to him and prove it wasn’t Herb, well, he’d have no reason not to listen.”
“Yeah? So?”
“So I called.”
“And?”
“I got Phil Danby. Of course. But he wasn’t rude and abusive and he didn’t cut me off. That was a good sign. Instead, he seemed interested to find out what was going on.
“Which was perfect for me. It meant they were still in the dark. They had a feeling they’d been had somehow, but they still didn’t know why or what it was all about. And they were interested enough to want to find out.
“Anyway, I wasn’t about to deal with Danby. I told him I wanted to talk to Milton Castleton directly. He said no way, any dealings with Castleton went through him.”
“What did you do?”
“I said, ‘Too bad,’ and hung up. I gave him a few hours to think it over and called back. That time Danby’s attitude was quite different. He said he’d talked to Castleton and Castleton was willing to talk to me, but not on the phone. But if I’d come to the apartment, Castleton would see me personally.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Told him to forget it. There was no way I was going back in that apartment. I told him I wanted to meet Castleton in a public place where I’d feel safe, and I wanted to meet him alone.
“Danby said that was impossible. Castleton was in poor health, he couldn’t go traipsing around the city and certainly not alone.
“I said, ‘Too bad,’ and hung up. I let ’em stew about it and called back the next day.
“I got Danby again. He said he’d relayed my message to Castleton and what I wanted was out of the question.
“But Castleton had a compromise. If I wanted to meet in a public place, he couldn’t meet me but he’d send his grandson in his place.”
Steve’s eyes narrowed. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“The meeting was for last night?”
“That’s right.”
Steve thought that over. “Why his grandson? Why not his son?”
“I don’t know. Only, the way I hear it, the son is not too swift. Just a yes man for dad. But David Castleton is pretty sharp.” She bit her lip. “Was.”
“Yeah. So you agreed to this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I figured it was true what Danby said, that I’d never get to Castleton himself. And there was another thing.”
“What was that?”
“David was the one I wanted.”
“What do you mean?”
“David Castleton was Herb’s boss. David Castleton had a reputation of being a playboy. Of being a little wild. There were rumors grandpa had him on a short leash.”
“You mean ... ?”
“Absolutely. He was the one Herb suspected of the embezzlement. The way Herb saw it, he certainly was the most likely. Particularly in light of what happened. Because if Castleton’s own grandson was involved, what would happen then? You’d get a whitewash, a cover-up and a convenient scapegoat. Which is exactly what happened.”
“Your brother have any proof?”
“Of course not. No more than they had proof against him. My brother liked to gamble, live above his means and had access to the books. So did David Castleton. My brother wasn’t anybody’s grandson, he was just a little guy without connections, and he took the rap.”
“All right,” Steve said. “So you figured you’d confront him with this?”
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.”