“No, we already had one. Connor is driving. We paid his salary as a provision of Dean’s contract. I told Connor he could keep the money and go back home, but he wanted to stay on and work.”

“I see,” Hannah said, and she thought she did. Connor was probably hoping to use Ross as a reference for future employment.

Connor jumped out as they approached and opened the rear door for Hannah. Once she was seated, he went around the car and opened the other door for Ross. “Straight out to the inn?” he asked Ross.

“Could we drive past Dean’s trailer first?” Hannah asked, before Ross could answer.

“Of course. But why?”

“When Michelle went to pick up the shooting script, I went with her. We think there was a skunk in there.” Hannah heard a muffled cough from the front seat and she suspected that Connor was coughing to cover up a laugh. “We left the back door open so it could get out, and I need to make sure someone closed it and locked it.”

“They did,” Connor said from the front seat.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. I drove Mrs. Lawrence and Mr. Larchmont there this afternoon, right before I took them to the airport. They asked me to come in with them while Mrs. Lawrence picked up some things that she wanted. When we left, I made sure both doors were locked.”

“Did you smell the skunk?” Hannah asked.

“All three of us smelled it. We just didn’t know what it was. Mrs. Lawrence thought maybe the sewer was backed up.”

“Obviously a city girl,” Ross said to Hannah in an undertone.

“And Mr. Larchmont thought that the gas on the stove might be on.”

“Obviously a city boy,” Ross added.

“I checked the stove, and the gas was shut off.”

“Thanks, Connor.” Ross leaned back and put his arm around Hannah’s shoulders. “Since you’re sure everything is locked up tight, let’s go out to the inn and I’ll buy dinner for both of you.”

Hannah pushed aside a little twinge of disappointment as Connor joined them at the table. She’d wanted to talk to Connor anyway and she should be glad that he was sitting right across from her in one of Sally’s private booths. It was silly to resent the fact that she wasn’t alone with Ross, when she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to be alone with Ross.

“So who did it?” Ross asked, turning to her.

“What do you mean? The police are investigating and I wouldn’t dream of interfering with an official

”

“Of course you wouldn’t, but you don’t have to give me the standard party line,” Ross interrupted the speech Hannah had used countless times at The Cookie Jar. “I know you always investigate.”