The chaotic intersection of murder and fire played out on Tuesday in Flushing, Queens, as a call of an apartment fire evolved into a recovery of bodies and, then, a manhunt. Firefighters broke through the door to Apt. 6C in a Roosevelt Avenue building and, dousing flames and peering through thick smoke, found three bodies, eerily stacked.

“They thought they were victims of homicide, or they thought, possibly trapped by the fire, they huddled together,” said a police officer at the scene on Tuesday, likewise not authorized to comment for attribution.

Two of the bodies had stab wounds, and the third a slit throat, the police said.

Rule 5.1 in a fire-training bulletin: “Proceed with caution at crime scenes, the perpetrator may still be on the premise.” The first responders immediately began to work as if a killer was loose.

“Is there a perp in the building?” the officer asked. “Is this a hit? How many people live in the apartment? Who comes and goes? Is there video? There’s 40 irons in the fire at this point.”

Identifying the bodies was complicated. “You don’t have a positive ID,” the officer said. “You’re not parading neighbors in there in that gruesome situation to get an ID.”

Detectives focused on the body with the slash to the throat, identified as that of Jong Lee, 50; the other two dead people were his 54-year-old wife and their 15-year-old son. In Mr. Lee’s pocket was a suicide note that said the family was suffering from troubles and that “we all have to leave,” the police said. The case, seemingly open-and-shut, left the lingering question: Why the fire?

“You’re trying to apply logic to illogical behavior,” the officer said. “I don’t think he was looking to cover up the crime scene, because he took his life. I don’t think he was looking to make it look like someone else did it, because he left a suicide note.”