Just what people actually witnessed.”

Denise took out a notebook.

She rang doorbells.

She asked the corner store clerk, the mechanic, the man who walked his terrier at sunset.

She did not mention the internet rumors.

She asked about a blue pickup and a green coat.

On the seventh porch, an older resident remembered a burst of thunder and a crash far beyond the houses.

“Then I thought I heard a horn,” he said.