[X4U] Can you delete a file(move to the trash) in

[John Drake]

Ed, Yes you can! Let's clear the air and get down to basics.
I know you're getting frustrated but Norman Cohen is right on target with his description of the process (as were others but not as clearly):
Leopard 10.5.6 - In Spotlight, select "Show All" then in the resulting window you can select the item with a control/click or Right/Click and select "Move to Trash".
Tiger 10.4.11 - You get a different window in Tiger, you can not delete or move to trash from here but you can control/click or Right/Click the line item then select "Show in Finder" and once there you can select it and Move to Trash.

I know it's not the best or quickest solution but it gets you to your goal going window to window. And I agree, it would be a very nice feature to have, as you said with an auto Alert pop up to verify, one that you could toggle off in preferences if you chose to.

Hope this helps,

John