AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop

the warehouse, allowing Munroe and Hanzon a chance to interview the abductees.
    Chief Moncrief and Deputy Chief Clemens were paying Munroe a visit at his desk in the detectives’ room Tuesday. The chief had appropriated his chair without asking so Munroe was sitting on top of the desk next to his terminal. He was back on duty but without a partner. It didn’t matter because most of his time was spent online, processing the statements from the abductees. Detective Rollins was helping him. The missing person’s detective was both apologetic that he’d dumped the case on him and also a little jealous that the case proved to be so high profile.
    “And thank God a few of them have certified identities,” deputy chief Clemens said. “That’ll make it a lot easier if the DA can find a way to prosecute them for the abductions.”
    Moncrief said, “Don’t worry about that. I talked with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Apparently there’s a presidential executive order that might apply. As much as I hate the feds moving in, it may be for the best, especially if this goes beyond Colorado …”
    “It looks that way,” Clemens said. “I just wish something could be done about that group in Colorado Springs.”
    “I suspect the FBI will be knocking on their door shortly,” Moncrief said.
    “Linda doesn’t think the Explorers had anything to do with this,” Munroe told them. “She thinks Duggan went off the deep end after her parents died and the Explorers didn’t notice.”
    Clemens snorted and asked, “What do you think?”
    “I think … I think she could be right. Duggan was kind of an outside contractor for them. She might have been subverting the Explorers resources for her own goals. I did some checking on the guy we interviewed in the Springs, Newell. I talked to his uncle … he’s disembodied. Seems like Newell is on the level.”
    “What about your missing people? The ones who started this?” Moncrief asked.
    “Uh, I’ve talked to Sgt. Johnson. She’s the Fort Carson soldier who disappeared. She says she was taken at the LoDo rave. I haven’t heard from Brian Thompson yet.” Munroe worried about Thompson. He was certain he and Johnson had been abducted at the same time. He’d already talked to his mother and given her the bad news.
    He continued. “I’m guessing some of those kids just ran the second we let them out of the boxes. They’re pretty shook up. I’ve asked a minister I know to help us with counseling.”
    Moncrief leaned back in Munroe’s chair. Maybe I can chain it to the desk, Munroe thought. “Good, so we can definitely connect the dots between an official investigation and our decision to … uh what you did in Gilcrest. So, Alex, we wanted to talk to you about your situation.” The chief looked around to see who was nearby. He leaned forward to tap the terminal. “Maybe I should get one of these in my office, at least that little portable thing. Anyway, about your situation … without Linda, it seems pointless to move you to SWAT. So, I think we’ll keep you doing what you’re doing. Obviously this case will keep you busy for a while. When does Linda think she can come back?”
    “Uh, she’s got an appointment tomorrow with an orthopedic surgeon. Mary Ferguson’s going to take her,” Munroe said.
    Clemens added, “When I talked with the emergency room doctor, he said it could take up to four months to heal completely.” The chief grimaced. “But maybe only a month for the pain to go away. And she might be able to go on light duty in a couple of days,” he added.
    “Of course, she’s right handed and that’s the shoulder she broke,” Munroe said.
    Moncrief smiled weakly. “I don’t suppose she’s ambidextrous.”
    “She’s never seemed that way to me.”
    “All right, so we might have her back in a couple of weeks to a month. We’re … giving you the intern. What’s her name?”
    “Marianne,” Clemens supplied.
    “She’ll take you wherever you need. And we think we’ve got a disembodied officer who can start next week. He’s going to work with SWAT, once we can find him a partner. And we realized … I’m sure this had already occurred to you … we realized that we need a link to the disembodied community.
    “So you’re off the hook. Let’s just hope the lawsuits that come from this don’t bankrupt the department.”
    Yamaguchi had just got off the phone with her mother when Munroe called. “Hey, Linda, how you doing?”
    “I