The Massacre

A few that jumped out:

Marc Santora and Manny Fernandez on the loner: In Room 2121, Mr. Cho went to bed early for college standards, at about 9 p.m. He often rose early, but in recent weeks he had been rising even earlier, often before dawn, his roommate said.

Such was the case on Monday morning, the day of the shootings.

Mr. Cho woke up before 5 a.m., sitting down to work on his computer and waking up his roommate in the process. Mr. Grewal, who shares a room in the same suite, saw Mr. Cho in the bathroom shortly after 5 a.m.

As usual, Mr. Cho did not say anything to Mr. Grewal, an accounting major. No good morning, no hello, Mr. Grewal said. Mr. Cho stood in the bathroom, brushing his teeth, wetting his contact lenses and putting on a moisturizer. He also took a prescription medicine, though neither Mr. Aust or Mr. Grewal knew what the medication was for. Prescription medications said to be related to the treatment of psychological problems were found among his effects, officials said.

Erika Hayasaki and Richard A. Serrano with another take: At Harper, Cho shared a second-floor apartment-style suite with six other students. The suite has three bedrooms for two students each. The suite is connected with one living room and a shared bathroom. Its living room has a burgundy couch and tan coffee table, and today it was littered with empty water bottles and Dr. Pepper cans.

Cho shared a bedroom with Joseph Aust, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering. Aust said he knew barely anything about him, and the two hardly spoke. When they moved in together, Aust said that Cho told him he was a business major.

Aust said Cho was always on his computer listening to rock, pop and classical.

Lane DeGregory at the memorial: They gathered at dusk, thousands of students and faculty filling the drill field. They punched holes in paper Pepsi cups and threaded candles through. Even gusty winds couldn't extinguish their flames.

Tuesday afternoon was the president's time. In the evening, the governor spoke. But the dark was for Virginia Tech's students. And the 32 who are gone.

Simon Shifrin on a victim: At her junior prom, she wore a hand-made Renaissance dress and went with a boy who wore a purple kilt. They never thought twice about what other kids would think.

And Eric Benderoff on Ismail Ax: All at once, the world went searching for the meaning of "Ismail Ax."

Those two words, written in red ink on one arm of Cho Seung-Hui, the 23-year-old Virginia Tech student suspected of the campus shooting spree, set off a massive Web hunt Tuesday for clues to what could have motivated the nation's worst mass killings.