Fifteen minutes later, they were still searching and they were down to the last room. Both sisters thought that Dean’s office might contain clues, but what they dug up was a big fat zero. Then Michelle began going through Dean’s file cabinet and she let out a whoop as she hit pay dirt.

“Look at this,” she said, shoving a file across the desk to Hannah, who’d seated herself behind Dean’s massive work surface to go through the contents of the drawers. “It’s Connor’s employment file.”

“And that’s important?” Hannah asked, opening the file. The first page was a standard personnel questionnaire, the kind every large corporation asks applicants to fill out before their initial interview. “This looks pretty standard to me.”

“Take a closer look. Do you see what Connor listed as his last job, the one right before Dean hired him.”

Hannah glanced a little farther down on the page and found the section Michelle had indicated. “Chauffeur and bodyguard for a family named Dickinson in Iowa. He drove the wife to social events. What’s so unusual about that?”

“Nothing in itself, but take a look at the wife’s name.”

“Emily?” Hannah asked, beginning to frown. “Mrs. Emily Dickinson?”

“Exactly. And that must have made Dean curious, because he hired a private detective firm to check with Connor’s former employers. The answer he got is on the next page.”

Hannah gasped as she turned the page and studied the investigator’s report. Connor was stretching the truth even more than the image in a funhouse mirror, but she had to admire the attempt. There was a kernel of accuracy in what he’d written and it was very clever. He had protected Emily Dickenson and driven her, or at least her books, around to social events. Connor had been a library aide at Iowa State Prison and he’d been in charge of the carts that were wheeled around to the cellblocks.

“Well?” Michelle asked.

“It certainly gives him motive, especially if Dean was going to fire him. And it fits in with what Connor told me about how he couldn’t use Dean as a reference.” Hannah thought back to the tape they’d watched and shook her head. “I didn’t see Connor on the tape, did I?”

“I don’t think so. I know I didn’t.”

“Would it be possible for him to be there and not get on the tape?”

“Absolutely. They didn’t tape everyone.”

“Do you remember if Connor was on the set yesterday?”

“I didn’t see him, but I’ll check with Ross. He always notices who’s there and who’s not.”

Hannah shook her head. “Never mind. You’ve got enough to do. I’ll check with Ross when I see him tonight.”

“Tonight?” Michelle asked with a grin. “What’s tonight?”

“Ross is taking me out to the inn for dinner.”