Alienated

Hello, sir?

We're ready for you.

Okay.

Miller, right?

Yes, sir.

You don't have to call me sir.

Hey.

Is there any coffee here?

I--

Uh-huh, forget it.

So, who called this in?

A jogger ran by this morning.

Saw the front door open and floodlights on.

What time was that?

7:30, 8 A.M.

- Is this the first time anybody's been out here?

- No, Officer Arteca got called in to investigate

a noise disturbance three weeks ago.

Is he around here?

Yeah, he's around here somewhere.

Okay.

Oh, may I have some? - Yeah.

Thank you.

All right.

Let's do it.

Another day, another dollar.

I guess we should follow the trail.

God, it's hot in here.

Sir, you're stepping on the evidence.

What evidence?

All the papers.

No.

Just evidence that assholes lived here.

I'm sorry?

Take a look.

This is so typical.

They just wanna make the bank have to pay somebody

to clean this place up.

Is this normal?

It happens.

- Why would somebody go through all the trouble?

I don't know.

- Seems like a lot-- - You know you get

pushed into a corner mentally and...

Anything can seem like a victory.

It's about control.

People are capable of anything.

Leaving the house a mess,

putting the kids in the car and fleeing.

What else could they do?

He.

Who's he?

The home owner, a Mr. Taylor.

A neighbor stated that the wife

passed away several years ago,

now it's just him and his two daughters.

How old?

13, 16.

Ah.

So he took them and fled.

- They didn't have to leave until the 27th.

Sir.

Yeah, yeah, I know.

Okay.

Not one, huh?

Are you sure?

And the payments have been persistent?

He hasn't missed one payment?

Right.

Okay, okay, thank you.

Officer Arteca?

Yes?

What's going on?

Officer Sanders,

you have to come down and see this.

A glitch?

Not likely.

These are pretty foolproof.

But sometimes when the power goes out, which it did,

it has a backup battery rigged to the system.

- Well, his bills are all probably passed due.

I called the alarm company.

They said all of his bills are up-to-date.

The alarm was set at ll:15 P.M. last night.

And he paid all his payments on time.

He even paid three months in advance.

Well, that's weird.

Yeah.

And he ungraded his service last week.

To what?

Their latest package.

All right, how do you turn

this thing off? - I got it.

Here, there's a...

There's a thing.

I got it, I got it.

Is that your phone?

Hmmm.

Hello?

Yes.

I know.

I know, I'm at work.

Yeah, sure, I'll be there.

No, I did not forget.

Okay.

Okay, okay.

I gotta go.

I think we're done here.

What about the rest of the rooms upstairs?

I gotta go.

I've got enough to write up my report.

- You didn't even see the rest of the house.

So,

what do you think?

About what?

What do you think happened to them?

They fled.

They still had 24 days left

before they had to leave their house.

- They're running from the bank, bills, embarrassment.

Their house is in foreclosure.

- Isn't it unusual to flee and leave everything behind?

All your belongings.

I mean, they left even the bare essentials.

It really doesn't feel right.

Officer Miller,

you can read all about it when I submit my report.

One in five families were losing their homes.

Do you have children?

No.

- Okay, then don't try to analyze Mr. Taylor's actions.

The man had his reasons.

You just have to find them.

Oh boy.

Hey, Miller.

Double check and see if they put out APB yet

and do another lap around the neighborhood.

See if people know if he has any family in the area.

Right, right, okay.

- And you can call my cell any time if something comes up.

I'm not gonna be at home the next couple days.

Taking some R and R, sir?

If my daughter will let me.

Miller,

stop calling me sir.

We're equals.

Hey, I'm here.

In the kitchen.

So you'll be back on Monday, right?

Four days.

I have missed he last two conferences

and I'm starting to get behind at work.

You know how that is.

Mmm, yeah.

Here are the keys.

There's food in the fridge

but you'll probably want to stock up on stuff that you like.

Make sure Chelsea eats.

She's been skipping most meals.

And she has a psychologist appointment tomorrow.

Right.

- The trash doesn't need to go out until Thursday,

so you don't need to worry about that.

- Yeah, I know, I used to live here, remember?

Yeah.

So how's she doing?

She's...

She's all right, I think.

What do you mean, you think?

She doesn't really talk to me.

Well, what did the doctor say?

I don't know.

What do you mean, you don't know?

- I don't know the details of what they discuss.

I take her to the appointment and they speak in private.

I respect her privacy. - You're the parent.

You should know what's going on in those sessions.

I'm not going to smother her.

So what do you know?

Why is it always on me?

You're perfectly free to call the doctors yourself.

You were the one who said

that you should be the one to handle it.

But maybe I should've been involved.

So now you're listening to me.

You don't tell me anything.

I can't let you handle it and then be involved

when I don't know, I'm not a mind reader, Laurie.

You're never around.

I'm here now.

God, you are so difficult.

Tell me something, anything.

Don't act all of a sudden like you care.

My availability is not a measure

of how much I care about my daughter.

Our daughter.

Jesus Christ.

Our daughter.

Look,

just tell me what you think is really going on.