Charles Buck left a paper trail - and an impression - as he accompanied a younger woman to medical appointments and took her on shopping trips in the months following the suspicious death of his wife, Leslie, on May 4, 2002.

Testifying at Buck's murder trial Thursday, a woman who worked at a Groton medical practice said she had a strained conversation with Buck when he called Seacoast Orthopedics on July 22, 2002, to see when Carol Perez Stephens would be out of surgery. Kathleen Napert, who said she had seen media coverage of Leslie Buck's kidnapping and death, testified that she had recognized Buck when he had accompanied Stephens during an earlier consultation, and that she recognized his voice on the phone as well.

"I said, 'Who is this?' '' Napert testified. "He said, 'Well, I'm her fiance. I'm going to be giving her a big diamond ring.' ''

Buck was paying for the anterior cruciate ligament surgery for Stephens, who worked as a bartender and had no health insurance. He had made a $2,000 deposit with the medical practice a week earlier. When Stephens returned for a follow-up appointment, Napert said she brought her into an exam room.

"And on purpose, I looked at her hand, and on her right hand she had a beautiful diamond ring," Napert testified.

The state is emphasizing the 63-year-old electrical contractor's largesse with the younger woman to a panel of judges who will decide if Buck is guilty of murdering his wife.

The prosecutors contend that Buck wanted his wife out of the way and clubbed her in the head at their Mystic home 8½ years ago. She had been kidnapped and assaulted by a friend and sometime employee of Buck two days earlier but had escaped.

Within weeks of his wife's death, Buck took his wife's engagement ring to two jewelers. James L. Mallove, president of Mallove's jewelers, said that in mid-May Buck came into the store with the 2-carat diamond. Mallove did not buy the ring. Joseph M. Nigrelli Jr., co-owner of Nigrelli's Jewelry store in Westerly, said he took the ring on consignment on May 29, 2002, after agreeing on a price of $6,000.

Two months later, in July, Buck would present Stephens with a 2.5-carat diamond that he purchased for $15,999 at Zales in the Crystal Mall using a check from a joint account that still carried his wife's name. The saleswoman, Jenna Jones, said she asked Buck if it was an anniversary present.

"He said no, it was an engagement ring," Jones testified Thursday. She said Buck told her that his fiancée deserved the ring "for putting up with him."

That same month, Buck and Stephens went car-shopping at Valenti Toyota in Westerly. Buck had bought a Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Stephens months earlier, but she was a mother of two and decided she needed something bigger. Saleswoman Carmela Miner testified that she sold them a $33,000 Toyota Forerunner SUV. Miner said the couple acted "rather high schoolish" at the dealership.

They were "very familiar, holding hands, giggling, very inappropriate, I thought," Miner testified.

Also testifying Thursday was Jennifer Wilson, who worked at the Drawbridge Inne in downtown Mystic when Buck came in daily to visit Stephens. She testified that Stephens told her Buck was her "sugar daddy."

The trial resumes today.

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