You: "Hello, are you Mr. and Mrs. Grump?"

Norm Grump: "Yes...I'm Norm and this is my wife, Pam."

You: "I'm the Detective who will be handling the case... You have been informed about your son? Is this true?"

Pam Grump: "Yes. Your chief of police told us about, Billy. He was very kind to us. He showed us pictures of the body and we recognized it as our son's."

You: "My condolences. This must be very hard for you. I was told that you agreed to allow us to search Billy's old bedroom?"

Norm Grump: "Yes, please do. The front door of the house is locked but there is a key under the mat that you can use to get in. We would show you in ourselves but we are waiting here for our relatives to pick us up."

Pam Grump: "Billy's room is exactly as he left it six years ago. My husband and I have not touched anything."

You: "When was the last time you saw your son alive?"

Norm Grump: "The last time we saw him was July 4th, 1994 . My wife and I said good by to him that morning before leaving on a two day trip. He was sixteen at the time and we felt that he was old enough to take care of himself."

Pam Grump: "When we came home we found a note on his desk. Saying that he had run away from home."

You: "May I see the note?"

Norm Grump: "Yes, of course, but we did not bring it with us. It is still on his desk in his room."

Pam Grump: "When we found the note we called the police. We filled out a missing person's report. We waited, hoping to hear from Billy... The days stretched into months... the months into years... not a word."

Norm Grump: "Not that we and the police did not try... We searched at hospitals, on the Internet, private investigators, credit card traces... everything we could think of... In a way, finding Billy's body is a good thing. At least now we know what happened to him."

Pam Grump: "Something that we think you should know, Detective. The note that we found. It was written in print. My son almost always wrote in cursive. I did not think much of it at the time - but now...."

You: "How was your relationship with your son. Did you both get along with him?"

Norm Grump: "We, of course, had our usual disputes. A year before I caught him smoking pot and grounded him for a month. When He got a "D" in English - we took away his bedroom TV... That sort of thing. Nothing that would justify running away."

You: "O.K.... Thank you, both, for your time. I'm sorry we had to meet under such grim circumstances. Rest assured that we will do everything in our power to solve this mystery."

Norm Grump: "Yes, Thank you, Detective. Please keep us informed."

You enter the room and find a man and a woman waiting for you. They both look like they have been crying. But, at the moment, they are both composed.

Back to hallway?