“This hero is a loner by nature. Obviously his dog meant a great deal to him. That’s why I painted it in.”
“Did Ms. Wrigley mention the breed?”
“No.”
“Then why a bulldog?”
“For years I’ve had an English bulldog named Winston, after Winston Churchill, my favorite figure in history. At present the dog is staying with my parents until I can find a place that will allow pets.
“While I was doing the painting for Manhattan Merger, Winston happened to be sitting on one of the kitchen chairs watching me. He was so darling, I put him in the picture without even thinking about it.”
Incredible. Absolutely incredible. Payne could only shake his head.
“Ms. Bennett, you testified that you’d never been to New York before you moved here. You also testified you went to school in Italy. Did your flight involve a stop in New York?”
“No. I took a nonstop charter from Denver to Frankfurt, Germany, and from Germany back to Denver when school was over. You can contact the art department at Colorado State to verify everything.”
“Thank you. Will you tell the court the location of the eight paintings with my client’s likeness?”
“Five of the authors have bought the paintings from me. I own the other three, one of which is Manhattan Merger. They’re hanging in my apartment.”
“According to the testimony we’ve heard, you only saw my client in a photograph for a few minutes, then painted him from memory.”
“Yes.”
“If Your Honor will permit, I’ll ask the bailiff to give this sketch pad and pencil to the witness.”
The judge nodded.
“Now if Your Honor will assist me by picking another person in the photograph from Exhibit Two? Show it to the witness. Let her study it for a moment, then ask her to draw this person from memory.”
Payne whispered an aside to Drew. “If Ms. Bennett can pull this off, then we have no stalking case, thank God.”
“Amen,” Drew muttered.
First five, then ten minutes went by while the room sat in frozen silence waiting for her to finish her drawing. Payne watched her face and body change expression several times. Her concentration was almost as disarming as her femininity.
Finally she looked over at the judge and rendered him the sketchbook. He studied it and compared it to the photograph.
“You not only have a photographic memory, Ms. Bennett, you’re a very gifted artist.”
“Thank you.”
“You may step down.”
He signaled the bailiff to take the sketch and photograph to Drew. An impatient Payne was forced to wait until he could examine both items for himself.
“Good grief—” he blurted when Drew moved aside. “It’s Mac— She’s done a perfect likeness of him!”
“Her talent is remarkable.” Drew turned to the judge. “I have no more questions of these witnesses, Your Honor.”
“Ms. Carlow? Do you wish to make your closing remarks now?”
“Yes, Your Honor. I believe the facts speak for themselves. In future, Red Rose Publishing will require every artist to use licensed models for their covers. Needless to say, Mr. Sterling’s likeness will never appear on another cover of a Red Rose Romance.
“I instructed Ms. Bennett to bring all drawings and disks with Mr. Sterling’s likeness to this court. They can be turned over to him, or Red Rose can destroy them. Whatever the court wishes.
“It’s worth noting that the cover of Manhattan Merger won first prize out of all the romance covers printed in the United States within the last twelve months.