"And that included?"
"What?"
"To whom exactly did you send it, Mr. Constantine?"
"Producers, agents, investors, anyone interested in the theater…" Arthur's voice trailed. It had occured to him that this was the second time Willow had brought up the matter of submission, and he wondered now where he was leading. He sensed a trap. Every intuitive power he possessed told him that Willow had picked up the scent of something the first time around, and was now tracking it down. But Arthur did not know what. He found himself suddenly alert, staring intently at Willow, leaning forward in the witness chair, waiting for the trap to make itself more evident so that he could avoid it.
"Did you send a copy to Mr. Hollis Marks?"
"I don't know any Hollis Marks."
"He is an agent. Did you send the play to him?"
"No. Oh, is he Driscoll's agent?" Arthur asked suddenly.
"Yes, that's right."
"No. I did not send a copy of the play to Driscoll's agent. But there were enough copies around the city. Driscoll could have easily seen one."
"Yes, you testified that there had been a hundred or a hundred and fifty copies mimeographed, didn't you?"
"That's right."
"Who mimeographed these copies, Mr. Constantine?"
"York Duplicating."
"Here in Manhattan?"
"Yes."
"Was the number a hundred? Or a hundred and fifty? Which?"
"A hundred and fifty, I believe."
"And you began mailing these out in January of 1947?"
"Yes."
"To producers, agents, investors, and anyone interested in the theater?"
"Yes."
"Did you deliver any of these manuscripts personally?
"Some of them. Most of them were sent through the mail."
"With covering letters?"
"Yes, of course."
"Did you ask for their return?"
"I don't remember."
"Did you enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope for their return?"
"No."
"Do you know of anyone at Mitchell-Campbell who saw a copy of the play at the time you were distributing it?"
"No, I do not."
"But there were hundreds of copies distributed, weren't there?"
"A hundred and fifty."
"All of the mimeographed copies were distributed?"
"I don't know. I assume most of them were. Let's say somewhere over a hundred copies were being sent around to various people."
"And yet you have no knowledge that either James Driscoll or anyone at Mitchell-Campbell saw a copy of your play at that time."
"No direct knowledge, no."
"Your entire allegation is based on the fact that you believe the works are similar?"
"They're virtually parallel."
"Since you have the script in your hand, Mr. Constantine, I wonder if you would mind pointing out to me the line or lines that label the Army division as the 105th."
"It was not labeled in a line."
"Then how exactly was it labeled?"
"In a stage direction."
"Would you point this out to me, please?"
"Certainly." Arthur began leafing through the manuscript. He was beginning to think he had been wrong, that no trap had been conceived or intended.
"Here it is," he said. "The top of the second act, page 2—i—1. It describes the command post, and it says, 'A battered jeep is parked just outside the headquarters shack. The division insignia hangs over the door to the shack, the number 105 in yellow on a black field.' That's the reference."
"Thank you. Did you see this play in performance, Mr. Constantine?"
"I did."
"Did you see every performance?"
"Every performance."
"Was the insignia a part of the scenery for the play?"
"It was part of the set dressing."
"By which you mean it was affixed to the wall of the headquarters shack."
"The outside wall of the shack, yes."
"The number 105 in yellow on a black field."
"Yes."
"Was this your own description of the set?"
"It was."
"Did this description appear in the mimeographed version of the play? The one you sent around for people to read?"
"It did."
"It was not later added? I mean, Mr. Constantine, was the description of the set and its dressing added after the play was actually produced?"
"No, it was in the original copies I distributed."
"And the insignia did actually appear in the play as it was produced on the New York Stage?"
"Yes, it did. If you want to call our set designer as a witness…"
"I don't think that will be necessary. When you held your preview performances in the Second Avenue loft, Mr. Constantine, the ones to which the college audiences were invited — was the play performed with scenery?"
Arthur hesitated.
"Mr. Constantine, would you answer the question?"
"No. The play was not performed with scenery."
"Is it my understanding, then, that the division insignia was not hanging on the wall of the headquarters shack during the preview performances in the Second Avenue loft?"
"It was not."
"Was there indeed a headquarters shack at all in the Second Avenue loft."
"There was not."
"The play was presented on a bare stage?"
"With furniture."
"Then anyone who had been present at those preview performances could not possibly have seen the number 105 in yellow on a black field."
"That's right," Arthur said.
"In other words, in order for Mr. Driscoll to have seen the number 105, he either had to be present at one of the Broadway performances, or else he had to have a copy of your manuscript. Those are the only two ways in which he could conceivably have known about the number, is that right?"
"Unless someone told him about it."
"Someone who had seen the play on Broadway or read the manuscript?"
"Yes."
"But you have testified that you did not send a copy of the manuscript to Mitchell-Campbell Books?"
"That's right."
"It would have been someone else then, is that it? Someone not connected with Mr. Driscoll's publishers?"
"I don't know who it might have been. Copies of the manuscript were floating all over the city. It could have been anyone who read the play, or anyone who saw it. It ran for twelve days. There were matinee performances on some of those days, so we can add…"
"Whoever saw or read the play undoubtedly attached great significance to the number 105."
"I did not say that."
"Do you attach great significance to that number, Mr. Constantine?"
"I do."
"Do you feel it is an integral part of your play?"
"I do."
"Even though it appears only briefly in one scene of the play, and then only as part of a background insignia hung to the wall of a shack?"
"It was clearly visible to the audience. Yellow on black is a particularly vibrant color combination."
"But do you feel the number added to the value of your play?"
"It was a part of the play."
"Was it of value?"
"To me it was."
"In what way?"
"It designated the division."
"Was this designation significant?"
"To me it was."
"Would it be significant to anyone else?"
"Apparently it was also significant to Mr. Driscoll."
"Was the number of any significance to the audience?"
"It told the audience what division was involved in the invasion."
"Was this of great importance?"
"I think so."