The phone continues to ring. One more and it will go to message. I lift the receiver and press talk. “Hello?”

“Abbi, this is Mr. Boyce. I need to talk to you and Skylar about your pictures.”

He sounds nervous, as if there’s something he isn’t saying.

“What do you think of them?” I ask. “Should we show them to the police?”

He hesitates, clears his throat. “Why don’t you come over here? I’d really like to talk to you in person about the pictures.”

“Right now?”

“Great, that’s great. See you soon.” He hangs up before I even have a chance to say goodbye.

“What’s that all about?” Skylar asks. “He sounded kind of mad.”

“Not mad,” I say. “More like he’s worried. Like we’re in danger or something.”

“Maybe he saw something in the pictures that we didn’t.”

“Like what?”

“How do I know?”

She’s on the edge of a bad mood, so I don’t ask her anything else.

We get on our bikes and begin the long ride to Mr. Boyce’s house. Thanks to Skylar, I expect the killer to be driving every black SUV I see. None of the SUVs slow down when they pass us. Even so, by the time we get to Mr. Boyce’s street I’m a total nervous wreck.

Today’s local paper lies on the porch steps. Ms. Sullivan’s face is on the front page.

Skylar folds it to hide Ms. Sullivan and hands it to Mr. Boyce when he opens the door. He tosses it on a chair already loaded with unopened mail and newspapers. He looks tired, but at least his hair’s combed and he’s shaved and his shirt is clean.

But he seems more upset than yesterday, kind of worried and agitated. His eyes have dark shadows under them, like he hasn’t slept well.

He hands me my phone, and it’s like he’s given me the Holy Grail. I put it carefully into my backpack. My body has gotten back its missing part.

We follow Mr. Boyce into the kitchen. “About your pictures.” He runs his hand through his hair. “Frankly, I hate to disappoint you, but I don’t think they’ll be very helpful. Most of them are pretty blurry, and it’s hard to see important details.”

I stare at him, mortified. It’s like I failed a photography test.

“The police have ways to enlarge photos and enhance them,” Skylar says. “They can make them almost perfect.”

“In crime shows, maybe,” Mr. Boyce says, “but in real life, the police can’t do half the things they do on TV.”

“But,” I say, “shouldn’t we tell them what we saw?”

“The police are most certainly aware of the SUV. You’ve watched enough crime shows to know that some details of a crime aren’t disclosed to the public.”