Makin said Mr. Coombes had gone to the police of his own volition.

His mother, Edna Glover, told me she'd gone to the department and made a police report, but had never received any real help in uncovering what became of her son.

In Baquba, the Iraqi police detective flipped pointlessly through a file on his desk; the daylight was too faint to read by and the electricity had long since gone off.