Sidney Sheldon - Tell me your dreams

"Dr. Patterson, how do you think the trial is going?"

"It's going very well."

"What do you think is going to happen?"

"My daughter is going to be found innocent."

Late one afternoon when David and Sandra got back to the hotel, there was a message waiting for them. "Please call Mr. Kong at your bank."

David and Sandra looked at each other. "Is it time for another payment already?" Sandra asked.

"Yes. Time flies when you're having fan," he said dryly. David was thoughtful for a moment. "The trial's going to be over soon, honey. We have enough left in our bank account to give them this month's payment."

Sandra looked at him, worried. "David, if we can't make all the payments... do we lose everything we've put in?"

"We do. But don't worry. Good things happen to good people."

And he thought about Helen Woodman.

* * *

Brian Hill was sitting in the witness box after being sworn in. Mickey Brennan gave him a friendly smile.

"Would you tell us what you do, Mr. Hill?"

"Yes, sir. I'm a guard at the De Young Museum in San Francisco."

"That must be an interesting job."

"It is, if you like art. I'm a frustrated painter."

"How long have you worked there?"

"Four years."

"Do a lot of the same people visit the museum? That is, do people come again and again?"

"Oh, yes. Some people do."

"So I suppose that over a period of time, they would become familiar to you, or at least they would be familiar faces?"

"That's true."

"And I'm told that artists are permitted to come in to copy some of the museum's paintings?"

"Oh, yes. We have a lot of artists."

"Did you ever meet any of them, Mr. Hill?"

"Yes, we—You kind of become friendly after a while."

"Did you ever meet a man named Richard Melton?"

Brian Hill sighed. "Yes. He was very talented."

"So talented, in fact that you asked him to teach you to paint?"

"That's right."

David got to his feet. "Your Honor, this is fascinating, but I don't see what it has to do with the trial. If Mr. Brennan—"

"It's relevant, Your Honor. I'm establishing that Mr. Hill could identify the victim by sight and by name and tell us who the victim associated with."

"Objection overruled. You may go ahead."

"And did he teach you to paint?"

"Yes, he did, when he had time."

"When Mr. Melton was at the museum, did you ever see him with any young ladies?"

"Well, not in the beginning. But then he met somebody he was kind of interested in, and I used to see him with her."

"What was her name?"

"Alette Peters."

Brennan looked puzzled. "Alette Peters? Are you sure you have the right name?"

"Yes, sir. That's the way he introduced her."

"You don't happen to see her in this courtroom right now, do you, Mr. Hill?"

"Yes, sir." He pointed to Ashley. "That's her sitting there."

Brennan said, "But that's not Alette Peters. That's the defendant, Ashley Patterson."

David was on his feet. "Your Honor, we have already said that Alette Peters is a part of this trial. She is one of the alters who controls Ashley Patterson and—"

"You're getting ahead of yourself, Mr. Singer. Mr. Brennan, please continue."

"Now, Mr. Hill, you're sure that the defendant, who's here under the name of Ashley Patterson, was known to Richard Melton as Alette Peters?"

"That's right."

"And there's no doubt that this is the same woman?" Brian Hill hesitated. "Well... Yeah, it's the same woman."

"And you saw her with Richard Melton the day that Melton was murdered?"

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you." Brennan turned to David. "Your witness."

David got up and slowly walked over to the witness box. "Mr. Hill, I would think it's a big responsibility being a guard in a place where so many hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of art was being exhibited."

"Yes, sir. It is."

"And to be a good guard, you have to be on the alert all the time."

"That's right."

"You have to be aware of what's going on all the me."

"You bet."

"Would you say that you're a trained observer, Mr. Hill?"

"Yes, I would."

"I ask that because I noticed when Mr. Brennan asked you if you had any doubts about whether Ashley Patterson was the woman who was with Richard Melton, you hesitated. Weren't you sure?"

There was a momentary pause. "Well, she looks a lot like the same woman, but in a way she seems different."

"In what way, Mr. Hill?"

"Alette Peters was more Italian, and she had an Italian accent... and she seemed younger than the defendant."

"That's exactly right, Mr. Hill. The person you saw in San Francisco was an alter of Ashley Patterson. She was born in Rome, she was eight years younger—"

Brennan was on his feet, furious. "Objection."

David turned to Judge Williams. "Your Honor, was—"

"Will counsel approach the bench, please?" David and Brennan walked over to Judge Williams. "I don't want to have to tell you this again, Mr. Singer. The defense will have its chance when the prosecution rests. Until then, stop pleading your case."

Bernice Jenkins was on the stand.

"Would you tell us your occupation. Miss Jenkins?"

"I'm a waitress."

"And where do you work?"

"The cafe at the De Young Museum."

"What was your relationship with Richard Melton?"

"We were good friends."

"Could you elaborate on that?"

"Well, at one time we had a romantic relationship and then things kind of cooled off. Those things happen."

"I'm sure they do. And then what?"

"Then we became like brother and sister. I mean, I—I told him about all my problems, and he told me about all his problems."

"Did he ever discuss the defendant with you?"

"Well, yeah, but she called herself by a different name."

"And that name was?"

"Alette Peters."

"But he knew her name was really Ashley Patterson?"

"No. He thought her name was Alette Peters."

"You mean she deceived him?"

David sprang to his feet, furious. "Objection."

"Sustained. You will stop leading the witness, Mr. Brennan."

"Sorry, Your Honor." Brennan turned back to the witness box. "He spoke to you about this Alette Peters, but did you ever see the two of them together?"

"Yes, I did. He brought her into the restaurant one day and introduced us."

"And you're speaking of the defendant, Ashley Patterson?"

"Yeah. Only she called herself Alette Peters."

Gary King was on the stand.

Brennan asked, "You were Richard Melton's roommate?"

"Yes."

"Were you also friends? Did you go out with him socially?"

"Sure. We double-dated a lot together."

"Was Mr. Melton interested in any young lady in particular?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know her name?"

"She called herself Alette Peters."

"Do you see her in this courtroom?"

"Yeah. She's sitting over there."

"For the record, you are pointing to the defendant, Ashley Patterson?"

"Right."

"When you came home on the night of the murder, you found Richard Melton's body in the apartment?"

"I sure did."

"What was the condition of the body?"

"Bloody."

"The body had been castrated?"

A shudder. "Yeah. Man, it was awful."

Brennan looked over at the jury for their reaction. It was exactly what he hoped for.

"What did you do next, Mr. King?"

"I called the police."

"Thank you." Brennan turned to David. "Your witness."

David rose and walked over to Gary King.

"Tell us about Richard Melton. What kind of man was he?"

"He was great."

"Was he argumentative? Did he like to get into fights?"

"Richard? No. Just the opposite. He was very quiet, laid back."

"But he liked to be around women who were tough and kind of physical?"