Unpainted sheet-rock partitioned half its area into two smaller rooms, one filled by the furnace, the other with its own dim window and used for deep storage.

Kim scanned the laundry area below and to his right, where a free-standing galvanized utility sink the size and depth of a small bathtub stood between the washer and an overstuffed laundry hamper. A massive chest freezer, its frost-clogged interior vast enough to hold an entire side of beef, its broad white top used to fold laundry, rumbled and coughed in the corner. A folding card table, two diminutive chairs and some miniature kitchen appliances were scattered around a threadbare throw rug across the room, and an old toy box overflowing with broken toys, board games, Barbie dolls in various stages of dress and a profusion of doll accessories that seemed to squeeze out from under the broken lid and onto the rug, formed the vague boundaries of the play area.