“No. She told Lonnie she’d just left to get coffee for Dean. He always called for coffee after he finished demonstrating a scene, and she wanted to have it ready for him. She was upstairs in the break room with Luanne and Andrea when it happened.”

“Thank goodness!” Hannah said, but her mind was racing. Had Sharyn left just to fetch coffee for her husband? Or had she known the gun would fire and wanted to get as far away as possible?

Mike pulled out his notebook and Hannah took a deep breath. She was about to get interviewed.

“Did you see me check the revolver?”

“Yes.”

“Did you see anyone near the desk after that?”

Hannah shook her head. “No, but I was busy filling up trays with appetizers. After I finished, I went to stand with the other people who were watching. There were a lot of people walking around on the set, and I didn’t really start looking at the desk until Lynne walked over there and took her place.”

“Do you know of anyone who had a reason to want Dean dead?”

Hannah thought for a moment. “No one in particular. He wasn’t the easiest man to get along with, but I don’t know of anybody who’d actually murder him. And everybody agreed that he was a brilliant director.”

“But you knew people who didn’t like him?”

“Plenty, including me. Dean could lay on the charm, but he wasn’t a nice man. Ask anybody and I think they’ll agree with me. If he didn’t have everything just the way he wanted it, he could be nasty.”

“But you don’t think that’s a motive for murder?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it is. As you said before, you’re the detective.” Hannah marshaled her thoughts and asked a question. “It’s pretty obvious to me that someone switched guns. Do you agree?”

“Of course. They’re the same model and manufacturer, but the one I inspected didn’t have a firing pin. This one had bullets, and the revolver I checked wasn’t loaded.”

“Is that the reason you’re searching everyone before they leave?”

“That’s right. There was only one gun in that drawer, the one that killed Mr. Lawrence. Someone took the prop gun and replaced it with a working, fully loaded revolver. If nobody tries to remove the prop gun from the building, then it’s still here.”

“And it may have fingerprints on it?”

“It’s a possibility.”

“Here’s another possibility,” Hannah said, preparing to throw out a suggestion. “Do you think the bullet was meant for Dean? Or was it for Burke, who was supposed to be acting in that scene?”