The gun and Julie's suicide note were brought as props, to confront Van with evidence of his crimes.He rang the doorbell and took two steps back. He k...ew that he would now be visible through the door's peephole, but he didn't expect the door to be opened for him anyway.Van Daddock was slumped in front of the big screen television in the first floor family room. Normally he would be in the Pike's fraternity house, close to the USC campus. But his parents were away on vacation, and they had asked. “Peggy? Are you two fighting again?” Their mother looked nervously around the room before entering. Spying Peggy calmed her.Her daughter didn’t notice. “Mom, Robert’s probably just playing a prank.”“Have more forgiveness, Peggy.” She couldn’t believe she said it. Her son’s deserved nothing but suspicion and contempt, but they weren’t the only ones who had to keep up appearances. As long as they played their roles as darling sons, she had to pretend to dote on them.“Mom, I just wanted to tell. The Wolves waved back enthusiastically, often blowing kisses at pretty, young women. For a couple of streets the banter among the Wolves was rather raw with sexual tension that wouldn’t go over well in polite company. With their military experience, I was sure Julie and Zetia had heard it all before, because they weren’t fazed by the crude discussions. Fortunately, Scratch quickly had enough and quieted the men before I lost my temper. In fact, when they shut up, all we heard for a few minutes. What SES overlooked in the case of the Gardener, however, was that its crew was neither randomly selected nor whol­ly dedicated to a common goal.Past missions had been comprised entirely of scientifically oriented supercargo supported by a technical crew likewise focused on scientific exploration. Thirty-eight of the Gardener's complement fit into this comfortably congruent description; but the remaining twelve were entirely disparate. The military contingent led by Igwanda was dedicated to the.