My younger sister, Katy had dated a guy named Steve Walton when she was in college. I remembered him as a skinny beer-drinking kid. So you can imagine my surprise when I found out Steve was Lieutenant Steve Walton in charge Detroit Police Homicide Squads Three and Four, now a buttoned-up, experienced professional. I called him, reintroduced myself and asked if I could spend some time with homicide and observe how murders were investigated and solved. After getting clearance from the top brass I was in business. I was assigned to the afternoon shift: four till midnight. I would arrive and talk to detectives for a while and then read old case files. I would study the often grisly crime scene photos, the lifeless body of a man or woman, shot and laying in a pool of blood. I would read the investigator’s report. I would look at photos of the body taken by the medical examiner, close up detail of the entrance and exit wounds. I would study the ballistics information, lab tests done on shell casings and bullet fragments to determine what kind of weapon fired the fatal shot or shots. It was a fascinating glimpse into the…