Characters Detectives

I haven't figured out where the "detectives" fit in yet either. Things in the dream generally mirror what happened (from Diane's POV) in real life, and I always saw Betty and Rita asking DeRosa about Diane as the detectives. The detectives appear in the dream, right before the audition and at Sierra Bonita, which means in my opinion well before Camilla's murder. Plus if they were after Diane for murder, there would be more sense of urgency, not coming by every few weeks or whatever. Seems like Diane would have asked DeRosa questions like "what did they ask?" or "did you tell them I moved here?" if she were worried about it. DeRosa shows no concern by the casual way she mentions it "oh, by the way —" Also Diane didn't "switch apts" because she was hiding from them, moving a few doors down and having the new resident know where you are and telling everyone that comes to the door isn't a cover. Then there is the fact that Diane just opens the peep hole for the knocking, if she were hiding it seems she would have looked out the window or waited for the person to identify themselves. — richdubbya

Betty and Rita as the detectives

And when DeRosa comes by to collect her box of items, she tells Diane that "those two detectives came by again." Because this isn't happening in waking reality, but still in Diane's Death-Dream, what DeRosa is referring to isn't the two police detectives from the crash scene at the beginning of the movie. She is referring to Betty and Rita, who were playing "Nancy Drew," trying to uncover the mystery of who Rita really was, and what her connection to "D. Selwyn" could have been. They were the detectives. They had tracked the mystery as far as they could, and by doing so, broken Diane's illusion and sucked her back into the consciousness of her real, despair-filled life. — anastasiaM

Sunset Blvd. as problem solver?

The neighbor tells Diane that two detectives have come by again, looking for her. My suggestion here would be that the detectives are not detectives at all. "Detectives" is what they tell the Lamp Lady so she doesn't ask too many questions about why they are looking for Diane. In Sunset Boulevard, early in the film, there are two men looking for Joe Gillis because he owes them money. They are credited by Wilder merely as Finance Man #1 and #2. They're gonna take his car except he convinces them he's lent it to a friend — they give him 24 hours to come up with $290. Well, given Lynch's affection, and our love, for filling in the blanks in his stories through other films and stories, it seems a reasonable connection to draw. Diane sure looks like she's on skid row to me. Her apartment seems bereft of possessions; no television, no car. It could be feasible to suggest that the guys looking for her are looking for a repayment on a loan. And maybe Diane didn't take a loan from the bank, but from a Shark — hence the evasiveness in the collections men telling the Lamp Lady why they are looking for Diane. Because, thinking about it, where would Diane get the money for Joe from? Many argue that it's her Aunt's inheritance. Again, should we trust that Diane really did inherit that money? And even if she did, if she's been in LA a while and the jobs are running dry, surely she would have eaten through that money pretty dang quick. Maybe she took a loan.

Bigger picture? If the detectives aren't detectives, maybe nobody is on to Diane's involvement in Camilla's killing. Or maybe the killing didn't take place. Possibly there was never a hit set up. Maybe this is a hidden clue from Lynch that the murder doorway is the wrong doorway to go through. Are the detectives a pair of red herrings? — blu

Humor: Who are these supposed detectives and what do they want?

— mdholic

1. Detectives McKnight and Domgaard; they want
   1. to make sure the earring gets returned to its rightful owner.
   2. to cite Rita for leaving the scene of an accident.
   3. to know if DL is planning to do a remake of Dragnet.
   4. to know where they can get hold of DL, who promised them a bigger part in MD.
   5. to ask Diane why she was invited to the loser's party at Adam's house and they weren't.
2. Sgt. Preston & his horse wanting
   1. to interrogate Diane about the disappearance of Aunt Ruth after her savings account was emptied.
   2. to know if the Deep River jitterbug contest was rigged.
3. Traffic cops wanting
   1. to arrest Diane for 500+ unpaid parking tickets.
   2. to sell Diane two tickets to the policemen's ball.
4. Arson investigators wanting
   1. to grill Diane about fire code violations at the studio.
   2. to grill Diane about making sure all the butts are extinguished before dumping her ashtray in the dumpster.
   3. to grill Diane about grilling bums in the alley behind Winkie's.
5. Counter-terrorism investigators wanting
   1. to interrogate the Cowboy on suspicion of carrying a nuclear weapon in his hat.
   2. to know if Adam Kesher is a rogue agent on a mission to blow up the Kesher Dam.
   3. to know if the production of MD was financed by Al-Qaeda.
6. IRS auditors wanting
   1. to inventory Diane's wig collection.
   2. to inventory the contents of the blue box.
7. Private detectives hired by Diane's parents who want
   1. to know why she hasn't written in two years.
   2. to know if she's been taking her anti-psychotic medication.
   3. to get back the blue box full of diamonds that she took when she ran away.
8. Private detectives hired by Coco
   1. to see if Camilla has really broken off relations with Diane.
   2. to find out why so many of Diane's ex-lovers have died under mysterious circumstances.
9. Ace Ventura and his parrot looking for
   1. a robin missing from the set of Blue Velvet.
   2. a boxing kangaroo.