“That may or may not be important,” Hannah said, but she made a mental note to write it down in her shorthand notebook just as soon as she could. “Jared could have been rearranging something on the desk top.”

“Maybe, but it’s something I have to check out. And so far that’s about it. Nobody remembers, for sure, who went near the desk. It’s like you told me at Granny’s Attic. People didn’t pay any attention to the desk until the actors went over there.”

“Did you watch all the tapes? Maybe one of the cameramen caught someone fiddling with the desk drawer.”

“What tapes?”

Hannah stared at Mike in surprise. “I thought you knew. Dean taped all of his rehearsals.”

“Nobody told me!” Mike looked thoroughly astounded.

“That’s probably because they thought you knew. From what I heard, it was standard operating procedure. They taped it all, including the rehearsals where Dean played someone else’s part.”

“Thanks for telling me, Hannah,” Mike said, flipping open his notebook and jotting it down. “I’ll check with the head cameraman in the morning. Is there anything else you think I should know?”

Hannah shook her head. Mike looked very grateful for the information she’d given him and this was the time to ask her most important question. “How about the search at Granny’s Attic? Did you find the prop gun?”

“No.”

“But the killer couldn’t have taken it with him. They searched everyone, didn’t they?”

“Even Mayor Bascomb, and he wasn’t too happy about that.”

“I’ll bet he wasn’t!” Hannah said, giving an amused grin as she pictured their mayor, a man who was accustomed to giving the orders, being ordered to stand in line with everyone else to be searched by a sheriff’s deputy.

“So

either the prop gun’s still there and you haven’t found it yet, or the killer took it with him and left early, without sticking around to witness the result of his switch.”

“You’re right. And if the killer left early, he must have gone out the back way. Nobody came past me and I was standing right there by the front entrance waiting for my cue.” Mike stopped talking and his eyes narrowed. “It sounds to me like you’re thinking about investigating.”

“Absolutely not.”

“You promise?”

“You bet. I promise you that I won’t investigate.”

Mike was still staring at her and Hannah wondered if he smelled a rat. She’d told the truth the way she saw it, narrowly construed. He opened his mouth to ask another question, one Hannah hoped wouldn’t be too probing, when fate intervened in the form of Norman with her coat and her purse.