One murder. One victim. 47,000 suspects.

Roncesvalles, Toronto, the Sunday before Thanksgiving Monday. Edith Wentworth-Pryce, retired Toronto Reference Library Foundation trustee, lies at the foot of the encaustic-tile stair at 89 Sorauren Avenue. Inspector Hartmann opens her case file: two centuries of Library Foundation donors and Baillie Special Collections borrowers, 47,000 first names, seventeen clues, one killer.

Yaletown, Vancouver, the Saturday of VIFF's second weekend. Margery Crewe-Holloway, retired senior curator at the Vancouver Art Gallery, lies at the bottom of the poured-concrete mezzanine stair of her live-work studio on Mainland Street. Inspector Hartmann opens her case file: two centuries of Bill Reid Foundation donors, lenders, and Northwest Coast secondary-market collectors, 47,000 first names, seventeen clues, one killer.

Outremont, Montréal, le samedi de la fin de semaine du Festival du Nouveau Cinéma. Marielle Quesnel-Loranger, archiviste-paléographe en chef à la retraite de la Chambre des notaires du Québec, gît au pied de l'escalier de service en céramique de son cabinet du 4218 avenue de l'Esplanade. Le sergent-détective Hartmann ouvre son dossier : deux siècles de notaires, de testateurs et de signataires d'actes, 47 000 prénoms, dix-sept indices, un seul assassin.

Mount Royal, Calgary, the Thursday night of the first hard chinook of the season. Eleanor Wycliffe-Bowness, retired senior cataloguer of the Glenbow Western Research Centre, lies on the slate hearth of the front-hall fireplace of her Council Way Edwardian. Inspector Hartmann opens her case file: two centuries of Treaty 7 surveyors, homesteaders, mineral-rights leaseholders, and successors-in-title to the Alberta Land Titles Office, 47,000 first names, seventeen clues, one killer.

Centretown, Ottawa, the Sunday night of the Remembrance Day weekend. Margaret Whitmore-Ashworth, retired Senior Archivist at Library and Archives Canada, lies on the carpet of the third-floor reading-room cubicle of her Cooper Street rowhouse. Inspector Hartmann opens her case file: two centuries of Hansard pages, Order Paper sponsors, Privy Council signers, and federal-employee oath-takers, 47,000 first names, seventeen clues, one killer.

Vieux-Québec, le dimanche soir d'ouverture du Carnaval de Québec. Marguerite Bélanger-Charlevoix, paléographe titulaire retraitée du fonds patrimonial des Augustines de l'Hôtel-Dieu (BAnQ-Québec), gît sur le tapis du cabinet de lecture du troisième étage de sa maison de pierre du 18 rue des Remparts. Le sergent-détective Hartmann ouvre son dossier : trois siècles de registres d'admission, signatures d'actes de donation et listes de retraitants Augustines, 47 000 prénoms, dix-sept indices, un seul assassin.