AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop

guessed correctly.
    She walked up to the gate in the chain-link fence that enclosed the yard. The gate wasn’t even latched, giving her no excuse not to enter. She entered the yard and walked toward the porch. A few newspapers, still in their plastic wrappers, were scattered around the yard. None had made it to the porch. The mailbox beside the front door showed at least a day’s accumulation of mail.
    “Doesn’t look like she’s at home,” she said, and then knocked on the door. She saw a doorbell button and pushed it. She could hear the chime.
    “Make sure we have the right address,” he urged her.
    “And how do you propose I do that?”
    “Go through the mail.”
    “I’m not going … wait, I don’t have to. I can just see her name on this letter,” she said, peering through a crack in the mailbox. She looked through a large window into what was obviously the living room. The room held old unfashionable furniture, a mishmash of styles that included a few Arts and Craft pieces and chrome chairs from the Fifties. No lights were showing. She went back to the front door and pushed the doorbell button again.
    “No one’s home, Alex. I say we leave.”
    “Let’s check around back,” he said.
    “What’s the point?” she asked. “Alex … oh you bastard.” A look at her terminal confirmed he’d left her side. She sat down on the porch step. “You can just look on your own and I hope you fall down a well,” she said out loud.
    Munroe was already checking out the back yard. A rusted, broken swing set and a detached garage were the only things of interest. The back door was part of what seemed to be a later addition to the house and it was open.
    Yamaguchi still hadn’t followed him. He assumed she was out front sulking. He went in.
    The addition was basically an enclosed back porch, a place to take off your muddy shoes before going in and a pleasant room to enjoy the summer. A sturdier door provided access to the kitchen. It too was open. He went in.
    The kitchen looked like it had never been renovated since being built, but it was in good condition, despite being untidy. The sink, made of heavy soapstone, contained a load of dirty dishes. The refrigerator was bulky and rounded and avocado green, but it looked appropriate against the ancient wallpaper. The stove matched the refrigerator and was clean. The food stains on the microwave on the counter indicated that it saw more use.
    The door into what was probably the dining room was open. He went through the doorway and into the dark room. The décor was definitely odd for a young woman who produced raves. The dining table looked Old World: dark, claw feet and heavily carved. Lace curtains covered the narrow windows, which looked southeast.
    He moved into the living room and saw an upright piano with lots of photos. At first glance, the photos seemed to picture a young girl with her grandparents. But photo after photo on the piano and the walls seemed to indicate the older people were her parents.
    He was puzzling out the story the photos told when he noticed a small change in the light behind him. Looking back through the dining room, he realized the kitchen door was closed.
    Yamaguchi had gotten one of the newspapers and removed it from its wrapper. It was dated Dec. 23. At least if she had to wait on Munroe, she could read something. She’d give him a few more minutes because she didn’t really like the idea of wandering around the yard hoping to bump into him. She’d started reading a national story about a disembodied man who’d won the “Match 5” Powerball lottery when she thought she heard a door slam.
    Maybe she is home, she thought. She put the paper down and walked around the house to the back yard. She saw no one, but she did notice that a door on the back porch was open. “Hello,” she said. “Anyone home?” She leaned against the doorframe and poked her head in. The porch was empty. She could see that the door to what was probably the kitchen was closed, but a door in the floor of the porch was open. It probably led into the cellar and might have been a way to get coal into the house.
    “Alex, where the hell are you? If you went down there, you are in so much trouble.” She stepped onto the porch. She decided to look through the glass of the kitchen door before checking out the open door when she heard “LINDA!” through her ear buds. She jumped back all the way to the porch door and her hand automatically came to rest