1. I wouldn't read too much into timestamps on computer files - as someone said, the messages may have been queued in a mailserver somewhere.
2. Having read very many manuscripts when I was a member of authonomy.com, and knowing that agencies often have very particular tastes as well as genre specialisms, it's usually easy to reject a manuscript on the basis of the first page. Even if the writer writes competently, there are a hundred legitimate and/or personal reasons for rejection, from a dislike of the subject matter (agent to reader - "Don't pass on any more stories about dragons, OK?") to the book being too much like one that's already under consideration.
Really, I wouldn't sweat it - if the agent or reader didn't instantly like the book, they're unlikely to sell it for you (or your friend), so you really are better off looking elsewhere
