Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure everything in the introduction is mine, though I think I may have subconsciously plagiarized the phrase "though it grew in the telling," so no one flame me for copying, please? And I don't own the LAPD, but that's rather obvious, as I think they're public property. So maybe I do own them, as they're supported by my tax dollars? Wait, I don't pay taxes……

If you look in the files of the LAPD, you can find two files of cases that were never officially closed, though no one has paid any attention to either of them for many years. Both date from the earthquake of December 2003. One is a missing person, one Lana Bramham. The other is an unidentified body – an unidentified woman found with Ms. Bramham's wallet in her pocket. What follows is the story of these women, though it grew in the telling, and is now the story of many things besides.

P.S. Yes, I wrote this before December 2003, so if there is an earthquake in LA then, well, I don't really care. OK, I will, because people will die. Please review?