In a relay race, the first three runners carry a baton, which each hands at full speed behind her back to the next runner. The handoff is critical to success. Drop the baton, your team loses.

In the murky aftermath of the mass murders last week in Lewiston, reports are flying that at least a few handoffs were dropped. Gov. Janet Mills plans to name a commission to learn what happened before and after the murders of 18 people out for an evening on the town in Lewiston.

Everything “must be brought to light,” Mills said. “Families of the victims, those who were injured, those who are recovering and the people of Maine and the nation deserve nothing less.”

The commission she outlined will include many who are on the inside, but she didn’t say she would pick “public” representatives or families of victims. Many of us are rightfully skeptical that such commissions accomplish little beyond gathering dust.

At least Mills has responded with action rather than just the “thoughts and prayers” we’ve seen so often from other involved officials, or from U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, who last week said “hearts” are the issue, not firearms. (For a scathing satire of Johnson’s statement, see Alexandra Petri in The Washington Post for Oct. 30.)

At this writing, all that seems safe to say is that Strother Martin as Captain in “Cool Hand Luke,” (1967) got it right: “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

And communication seems to be at the core of the bobbing and weaving we see after the fact. Both vertical (command to underlings) and horizontal (peer to peer).

On the vertical plane, an Androscoggin County sheriff’s deputy posted a blast saying State Police kept local law enforcement officers, who best know their local turf, in the dark. The deputy took down the post, but copies are widespread, including on the Sun Journal website.

Also on the vertical plane, the Army Reserve Center in Saco told law enforcement of Card’s fragile mental state. But I haven’t seen a report that the Army Reserve in New York state, where Card was sent to Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital in Katonah, New York, notified anyone up the chain in Maine. Notification could have helped set Maine’s yellow-flag law into motion to confiscate temporarily Card’s arsenal of 10 to 15 weapons.

The Saco Army Reserve Center, where Card trained, removed Card’s access to weapons, and several members of his unit waved caution flags because of his behavior. But we don’t yet know if the Reserve command unit in Saco moved the message along or up the ladder.

And the conclusion from some of the early press conferences with the commissioner of public safety could easily be, “We know the answer, but we won’t tell you.” Returning from a concert on Oct. 27 in Belfast, I heard the press conference announcing that Card’s body had been found. After 40 minutes, I had learned nothing that hadn’t been leaked a couple of hours previously.

The commissioner’s involvement should be constant. The law defining the commissioner’s duties says the commissioner “shall coordinate and supervise the activities and programs of the bureaus (which includes the State Police) . . . that are part of the department.” The commissioner must also develop and implement “coordination within the department; and actively seek cooperation between the department and all other law enforcement officers and agencies in the State. (Italics mine.)

We know now that warning signs came months ago to the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office that Card’s mental health was slipping. Sheriff Joel Merry reported on Monday that deputies had gone twice to Card’s house in Bowdoin to speak with him about his cache of arms and to assess his mental state. When deputies couldn’t rouse him, they went to relatives who agreed to take away his weapons. The deputies then filed the required paperwork.

Sheriffs’ reports show that deputies often conduct “welfare checks” when person’s mental state worries a relative or friend. The person may be sent to a hospital for evaluation. Card wasn’t.

Sheriff Merry may have been the most forthcoming official so far. On Wednesday, he said in the Sun Journal, “We should never be afraid to challenge ourselves. Can we do better? Was there anything we missed?” He added, “We need to answer those questions.”

Even as Merry said his team is going to evaluate how it handled the warnings about Card, he suggested wider issues, such as a sheriff’s limited staffing and Maine’s weak yellow flag law. These may have played a larger role in the failure to stop Card than any individual’s mistake.

Disclosure: Sheriff Merry’s son is a friend of mine. He and I have discussed the shootings.

Many Mainers have stories of the state government failing to follow up. Here’s mine. An employee stole blanks from our farm checkbook, after watching over my (late) wife’s shoulder as she paid bills. He then forged her signature to $5,000 in bad checks, all made out to him.

His sentence was two years in prison and restitution to me and one store owner. I got $22 (of $2,000 ordered), the store got $200 (of $3,000+). The state never asked if we were being paid.

The follow-up in Lewiston needs to be better than that. The state can’t drop the baton this time.

Bob Neal is acutely aware that waiting for answers is of little solace to the grieving families and friends. He hopes the governor’s commission is thorough. And quick. Neal can be reached at bobneal@myfairpoint.net.

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