AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop

and other storage areas in which the disembodied might be trapped. It’s a somewhat tongue-in-cheek holiday that gained new currency since Dr. Olaf Bols, a disembodied scientist, was briefly trapped after a press conference in Tokyo.
Every session of Congress, a bill is introduced, usually by Colorado Congresswoman Deena DeGroot, but “it’s usually laughed out of the House and nothing gets done. I know it’s a relatively minor problem, but one of my constituents found himself in this situation after he died and so it is a real problem.”
    Yamaguchi and Munroe waited nervously in the reception area of the chief’s office. “Do U think were in trouble?” she silently asked Munroe. They could hear raised voices behind the closed doors.
    “I doubt we’re sitting here because we’re about to be congratulated for clearing disembodied witness reports.”
    Because of tsunami news, the story was pushed into the corners on page one of the local papers. TV news had covered it extensively. The mayor had held a press conference in the morning, while the family had held their own on the front doorstep of a relative’s home. The city councilman for the district, a political opponent of the mayor, joined the family in suggesting that race played an issue in the shooting. Fortunately for them, no one had asked why the disembodied officer who’d played the hero before Christmas hadn’t been available to do so again.
    The door to the office opened and they saw the manager of safety leave, followed by the city attorney. Half a minute later, they heard the chief say, “Yamaguchi, Munroe, get in here.”
    Inside the chief waited with deputy chief Clemens. Yamaguchi entered and stood awkwardly. She felt like standing at attention, but the last time she did that was at the academy.
    “Sit down. Munroe with you?” the chief asked.
    “Yes, sir,” she said.
    “Close the door, Paul,” the chief instructed his deputy. “Now, want to tell me why the hell you were in Colorado Springs yesterday.”
    “We were interviewing a witness, sir.”
    “In the Springs?”
    “Yes. Sir. We have interviewed witnesses before,” she said, regretting her poor choice of words instantly.
    “Oh have you. And what crime was involved that required you to interview this witness. In the Springs.”
    “A missing person. Persons, actually,” she said.
    “We do have detectives whose job it is to investigate missing persons. Why weren’t they interviewing this witness?”
    “It didn’t really fall under their … it’s not really … well, they’re dead.”
    The chief slapped his hands onto his desk.
    “We don’t investigate missing dead people. My God, if we investigated all the missing dead people … we’d … we’d be doing nothing but investigating missing dead people. And for damn sure, you don’t go off without telling anyone.” Clemens, standing beside the chief’s desk, took a small step back.
    She swallowed, trying to keep a sour feeling contained in her stomach. “We … um … I …” She looked at Clemens.
    “She told me she might be running a little late,” Clemens said.
    The chief faced him. “You knew where they were?”
    Clemens shoulders inched upward as he said, “She … yeah, she mentioned something about it. It slipped my mind that’s where they were. They were supposed to be back in time for their shift.”
    The chief looked at Clemens without speaking for a few seconds. “Sit down, Paul. You’re annoyingly tall.” Clemens sat. The chief continued. “OK, I don’t want to bust anyone’s …” He looked at her. “You’re not in trouble, Linda. Or you, Alex, if you are in fact here. Damn, this is one crazy world.
    “Let’s face it. You two can’t be everywhere all the time and this was bound to happen. It just shows we need more disembodied officers. And it also shows we need to use them better. I know we’ve been dicking around what role you play. We’ve got you doing everything from rescuing kids to tactical to solving shed burglaries. Thanks, incidentally. I realize that’s a long way from being a homicide detective.
    “So here’s the deal. We’re planning to get two more disembodied officers in the next budget. The FD’s going to add two. The situation’s a lot better than when we hired you … is there a way I can speak to him?” he asked her. “This is driving me nuts.”
    She explained they could go back to the terminal in the detectives’ room or she could steal the speakers