It sounds like he's trying to blame the police for something.

Mr. Repko glanced at his wife, then studied me as if he thought I was setting him up.

The police have been good to us. They've been very kind. We won't say anything bad about them.

I'm asking so I'll know how the police framed their investigation. If I know what they did, it will save time by suggesting a direction. You see?

Michael said, Mom. C'mon.

Gordon said, Can we just do this, please?

Mr. Repko adjusted his pants. He still wasn't comfortable, but he had let his sons talk him into seeing me and now he was stuck.

All right, then. What?

I glanced at the pad again. The three hundred Spartans would not have approved.

I understand the police sent a criminalist to your home last week.

That's right. He looked through Debra's things.

Did they tell you what they were looking for?

The criminalist didn't say much. He was a very odd man.

Not the criminalist. The police. Was that Darcy and Maddux?

Michael said, Darcy and Maddux are gone. These were new cops Bastilla and Munson. A detective named Crimmens was here, but he left. We haven't seen Darcy and Maddux in a while.

Munson was new. I scratched his name onto the pad.

Mr. Repko nodded along with his son.

Detectives Bastilla and Munson are on this special task force they have. We don't know what happened to Darcy and Maddux.

Uh-huh. And what did Bastilla and Munson tell you they were looking for?

Some kind of samples. That's all they said, really, that they needed to collect samples from Debra's things. They asked if we'd had them laundered or whatnot, but other than that they didn't get into specifics.

Uh-huh. And did they ask you questions about anything or anyone in particular?

Mrs. Repko squinted and grew even more strained, like a violin string tightened to the breaking point.

She said, They told us about her murderer with those sick, twisted pictures. They wanted to warn us because it was going to be on TV. They wouldn't show us the pictures, but they warned us. I asked to see her. I wanted to see the picture he took, but they wouldn't let me Her eyes reddened and blinked. Gordon touched her arm and whispered, Mom.

She blinked harder, but Gordon's touch settled her. I wanted to ask more about Bastilla and Munson, but changed the subject to Darcy and Maddux.

Mr. Repko explained that Darcy and Maddox had come to Pasadena on the morning Debra's body was found. At that time, the detectives believed Debra resided in Pasadena because her parents' address was still on her driver's license. When they were told Debra had taken an apartment, Darcy and Maddux asked to see it, so Dennis and Mr. Repko drove into the city to let the detectives into her apartment. Michael and Gordon had stayed with their mother.