AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop

other way around … I chose service to God because of his example. Dying and finding himself on the AfterNet … that really tested his faith. He was lost, but I suggested he accompany one of our missions to Nepal. He’s now acting as chaperone to a bunch of kids and he’s enjoying being at 13,000 feet without being afflicted by the emphysema that killed him.
    “Look, officer, I don’t know what the afterlife is, but I have no difficulty accepting this as part of God’s design, and the Explorers as an organization doesn’t either. If you look on our website, you’ll see our mission statement, which includes our position about the afterlife and … OK, you might have to go back two newsletters, but we have a profile about two of our disembodied volunteers.”
    Newell was standing by this point and Yamaguchi had shoved her chair back.
    “Are we done now?”
    “Yes, thank you,” she said and stood. She walked backward to the door, keeping her eyes on Newell who now seemed even taller.
    “Uh, if Maggie calls … you know, ask her to call me.” Newell nodded. His lips were now a thin, tight line. As she opened the door, the sun broke through some clouds and through the window she could see Pikes Peak and the full panoply of heaven adding an Old Testament rim light to Newell.
    She stepped through and closed the door. “Shit,” she said after the door closed. The assistant looked at her. “I said shit,” she told her. The assistant looked away.
    “He could have had it prepared,” Munroe said, as they were walking down the stairway to the main hall. Yamaguchi stopped at the reception desk to sign out. She didn’t care at this point what anyone thought of her behavior, so she spoke to Munroe out loud, not caring if the guard would notice. “Are you just deranged? What do you mean?”
    “I’m saying he knew we were coming. Wanted to make it look like some of his best friends are dead and typed that email just before we walked in. You got to admit, it was convenient.”
    “He was acting?”
    “I’ll check when I can get on the AfterNet.”
    “Look, Alex, reality check here. I realize you want to help, but let’s face it, a lot of the dead can’t handle being dead.” She walked to their car and opened the door for Alex, then got in herself. “You know, they lose it after a while. Maybe our missing kid and the sergeant are just sitting around dribbling ectoplasmic goo somewhere.”
    “Yeah, maybe. Or maybe the castle has a dungeon.”
    “That’s just crazy talk. Why are you so paranoid?”
    “Why don’t we try to find Margaret Duggan?” he asked, ignoring her. They were driving south on 30th Street after leaving the private road.
    “What?”
    “We’re already here. We should look up this woman, she if she’s home.”
    She was already worried about their long drive back to Denver. “I don’t know. We should get back.”
    “It’s on our way. We just stay on 30th, don’t turn onto Fontanero. She lives on Kiowa Street, 2800 block.”
    “You already looked it up?”
    “Just now. Come on, if we see her now, we don’t have to come back down later.”
    “If she’s not home we just leave, correct?” She was dubious but she had to admit it made sense to see if Duggan were home.
    “Anything you say. You’re driving.”
    She followed his directions and they were soon driving down Kiowa Street. Most of the homes were classic bungalows, with the occasional Victorian. The neighborhood seemed nice but slightly messy, betraying the habits of younger families just starting to have kids and slightly overwhelmed by the effort.
    “Looks like your kind of neighborhood,” Munroe said as they passed several houses in a row displaying “Re-elect Gore/Lieberman in 2004” signs.
    She said, “The west side of Colorado Springs is fairly urban and liberal. The suburbs are in the east, just like Denver and Aurora. I think this is her house.”
    They parked in front of a two-story house, very similar to a Denver square. It stood out from the bungalows on either side. Because the house was multi-story, its footprint was fairly small, leaving a lot of yard in front and back.
    “Let’s go,” he said, but she didn’t move. Instead, she said, “We go up to the front door and knock. If she’s not home, we leave, right?”
    “You got it partner.”
    She opened her door. She guessed that he would leave from her side, afraid she might change her mind and his “I’m here” in her ear told her she had