Tuesday, April 08, 2003


His correspondents sometimes test him, sending him scurrying to find female colleagues and ask them things like "I'm 13 and weigh 102 pounds � what size pantyhose do I wear?" or "What's a brand of nail polish remover?" The job requires deep research into trivial subjects: on his desk is a copy of Men's Health magazine, open to an article about the significance of the location of women's tattoos.

"One of the hardest questions I got was how many tampons in a box," Detective Smith said. "I didn't know. Nobody knew."


Who's 14, Kewl and Flirty Online? A 39-Year-Old Detective