“She does,” Kanesha said. “Down the hall from Gordon Betts. Now here’s the thing. Whoever got into those rooms knew how to get around those keycard locks they have. Or else a member of the hotel staff helped.”

“What if it was a member of the hotel staff looking for something to steal?” Melba frowned. “But you did say nothing was taken, right?”

“Right.” Kanesha nodded. “Neither Ms. Duffy nor Mr. Betts had anything stolen. That was what was so odd. What was the snoop looking for?”

I pointed out one obvious flaw I spotted. “First you have to assume that both the complainants were telling the truth about nothing being taken from them. If something linking either of them to the murder of Carrie Taylor got taken, would they admit that to you?”

“I already thought of that.” Kanesha sounded testy. “I questioned both of them thoroughly, and my reading is that they were telling the truth. I can’t prove it, but that is what my instincts led me to conclude.”

I had known Kanesha long enough now to respect her instincts. If neither Gordon Betts nor Della Duffy was lying about an intruder in their rooms, what was the point of the snooping if nothing was taken?

“If you ask me,” Melba said, “the whole thing sounds pointless to me.”

“Button, button, who’s got the button,” I said.

Kanesha and Melba stared at me as if I had lost my wits.

“Nobody said anything about buttons.” Melba looked confused. Perhaps she had never heard that phrase before nor recognized the game to which it referred.

I quickly explained. “That came to mind because I had this notion there was a point to the search. The intruder was seeking something he knows exists, he simply isn’t sure who has it.”

“We’re back to the beginning then.” Kanesha sounded depressed. “What was he looking for? And how is it connected—if it is connected at all—to the murder?”

I had the beginnings of a headache. All this circular speculation was frustrating. Had we accomplished anything? I put the question to Kanesha.

“We know one thing. Files that were important to Mrs. Taylor are missing. There had to be an important item, or several items, the killer wanted. It might be worth money to him, or maybe the value isn’t money, but something else entirely.” Kanesha paused and thought for a moment. “Actually we knew some of that already. The key thing is, now we know where the valuable item, evidently worth killing for, was located. How are we going to figure out what it was?”

“Research. I’m going to dig into Electra Barnes Cartwright’s history as deeply and broadly as I can. Since the contents of those files focused on her and her life and career, then the answer has to be there. If it’s on the Internet or in a reference book, then I can find it.”