“I’ll hang on to this until Friday before I send it to the district office,” he said.

“Send it today,” I said.

By five o’clock the sun was coming through the tall, narrow windows of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department in Pontiac, laying long yellow squares across the gray tile floor.

Detective Sarah Mitchell took me back into the little interview room.

Her desk was tidy, set out with three thin manila folders, a desk lamp, and a pile of lined notepads.

She clicked her blue ballpoint three times before opening the gray paper file in front of her.