“By not letting me know the minute these papers arrived, you basically tainted the evidence—if any of this could be called evidence. If I could have been assured that the contents of these boxes were untouched once they arrived here, I’d feel a lot more comfortable with all this. But you took it on yourself to investigate, and now I’m left with a difficult situation.”

“I’m sorry,” I finally managed to say. I had never thought about any of this, and I realized I had goofed big time. “I really don’t know what to say other than I’m sorry.”

“Where are the disks?”

They were still in the box back by the other computer. I retrieved them without a word and handed the box to Kanesha. She looked inside.

“I see what you mean about old disks,” she said.

If that was some kind of olive branch, I’d accept it.

“I’ll take them,” she said. “If you can make out a receipt, I’ll sign it. But these need to go with me.”

“I’ll do that,” I said. “But what about the rest of Godfrey’s papers?” I realized suddenly that I should tell her about the unauthorized person who had been in my office Wednesday night. She was going to be even happier with me.

“Where are the rest of the boxes?” she asked.

“In a storeroom down the hall,” I said.

“Is it secure?”

“It is now,” I said. “I have something else I need to tell you.”

“Go ahead.” She had one of those pained What now? looks on her face.

As briefly as I could, I related the facts about the unauthorized visitor.

“And you still didn’t call me.” She examined me like I was an exotic insect that she found distasteful.

“No,” I said. “But I made sure the locks were changed that day. There are only three sets of keys. I have one, of course. Melba Gilley, the library director’s assistant, has a set, and Rick Tackett, the head of operations for the library, has the other set.”

Kanesha continued to regard me like a specimen.

“By the way,” I said, feeling more uneasy by the second, “did you know that Godfrey had a half brother? It’s Rick Tackett. Do you know him?”

“I don’t know him,” Kanesha said. “But I knew of the relationship. You might find this hard to believe, but I did make an effort to find out as much as I could about the victim and his family right off the bat.”

“Sorry,” I said, abashed.

She simply stared at me, and I tried not to squirm. Feeling like a delinquent ten-year-old was a new experience for me.

“For now we will move these boxes into the storeroom with the others, and I will seal the room until I can send someone here to pick them up and bring them down to the sheriff’s department.”