The door was solid steel, situated at the end of a long and dimly lit hallway. A faded sign reading “Do Not Disturb” hung loosely on its exterior. It was an ominous sight, or at least Calligan thought so. At the same time, Calligan had always thought that the morgue was the most fittingly located room in the entire station, buried in its deepest bowels as it was. It was the only room located below the ground level and was accordingly the only one where the air hung naturally cold and still.

No one liked to visit this room, though if it was because of the dead or its one living inhabitant, Calligan wasn’t certain. Doc Rivers was a man who had chosen his occupation wisely. He simply had no patience for the antics of the living and was perfectly happy to limit his exposure with them as much as humanly possible. An arrangement that no one else complained about in return.

Calligan turned from the door for a moment, glancing at McCullough. He had a look of rigid irritation on his face.

“Let’s hurry up and get this over with.” He muttered, stretching out his hand and rapping it sharply on the steel.

“Come in!” Came a sharp reply. “I know it’s you two detectives, come for that report. I’ve got it here, so hurry up, I haven’t got all day!”

McCullough pulled the heavy door, grunting as he did so. It swung slowly open, squealing loudly from its rusted hinges as it did so. Both detectives were suddenly greeted by the harsh light from within the room, contrasting strongly with the dim of the hallway. The room itself was a small room, consisting of only a few solid steel tables and numerous refrigerated units along one wall.

Despite the high volume of bodies that consistently poured in, it never seemed to be full. This was perhaps due to the obsessive speed and meticulous nature of Doc Rivers, who wasn’t afraid to mention it either.

“What took you two so long! I worked all of yesterday and all through the night to get this report!” He berated them.

“Shut up! We’re here aren’t we?” McCullough replied.

“How dare you speak to me like that!”

“Like what? We’re here to solve a case, not get yelled at by a white-haired pekingese.”

Calligan laughed, McCullough wasn’t far off. Doc Rivers wasn’t a tall man by any stretch of the imagination and his hair was long and white. If one wasn’t careful, it wouldn’t be very hard at all to mistake the shrill yapping of the doc with the yip of a dog.

“Why I oughta…” Doc Rivers growled, the blood rushing furiously to his face.

“Now now Doc.” Calligan chimed in quickly, motioning for him to calm down. “There’s no need to fly off the handle. What do you have for us?”

Doc Rivers sighed deeply. “Here.” He said, thrusting a folder into Calligan’s arms.

Calligan began thumbing quickly through it, before snapping it quickly shut.

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“Come on Doc,” He said exasperatedly, “You know I’m just a lowly detective, how am I supposed to know what any of this means.”

“Well, then perhaps you should go get a doctorate, so I won’t have to explain everything to you all the time.”

“Or perhaps, you can stun us with your superior intellect, like you do every time.”

“Lazy no good…”

“Now, now Doc, is that any way to treat an admirer?”

Doc Rivers sighed, walking curtly over to one of the tables. On the table laid a corpse, partially covered in a simple white cloth. Both detectives moved to join the doc, recognizing the cadaver as that of Henry McGovern.

“There are several odd things of note concerning Mr. McGovern here.” Doc Rivers started. “Firstly, it would seem that every one of his major organs has suffered from traumatic hemorrhaging. Secondly, he has sustained bleeding from every major orifice. Most notably, in that matter, are the eyes and the ears, though for different reasons.”

“How so?” Calligan responded.

“I received the body relatively quickly and much of the blood was still fresh. He couldn't have been dead long when he was discovered. The blood from his ears, however, had long since dried. Further inspection of the inner ear revealed none of the damage that should’ve been present to cause any bleeding whatsoever. I was also able to notice a seeming build up of tissue within the inner ear.”

“So what are you talking about here, some kind of tumor?”

“No. I don’t think so. Tumors are uncontrolled growths. This didn’t seem uncontrolled, quite the opposite in fact.”

“So what, are you saying this guy just had naturally incredible hearing?”

“It’s difficult to say whether or not it was natural, but this man definitely had hearing beyond the capability of a normal man. Enough, I’d say, to drive a normal person mad.”

“But there’s no indication that Mr. McGovern was insane.”

“Which lends to the theory that this wasn’t natural, but that it was thrust on him at some point shortly before his demise.”

“But that’s impossible.” McCullough snorted.

“It is,” Doc Rivers responded. “But if you’ll let me continue, I have a theory. Now also of interest are Mr. McGovern’s eyes. It would appear that, instead of strengthening, his eyes have actually weakened. This is evident by the fact that they no longer exist. They’ve completely liquefied. It’s almost as though there was an exchange, the strengthening of one organ for the destruction of another.”

“And are you going to get to the point?” McCullough growled once again.

“I’ll get to it, when I get to it.” Doc Rivers growled back. “Like I said, I’ve been slaving away at this for a day and a night.” He paused for a moment, slowly sucking in air. “Anyways, one of my most interesting findings was on his right arm here. See look, there’s a tiny hole, that’s only perceptible to the sharpest of eyes. This man was injected by something. What, I’m not sure? I’ve run the analysis of his blood, and there are definite anomalies. Even in spite of that there are no known drugs in his system. As much as I hate to say it, I believe that I’ve found a problem that I can’t solve.”

McCullough laughed at this. “So you are human? I always wondered.”

The blood flew back into Doc Rivers’s face. “That’s enough! I’ve shown you everything I can, and I don’t have to deal with such impertinence. Both of you, get out!” He hurriedly ushered them both out, slamming the heavy door behind them with astonishing strength.

“You just had to get that last jab in, didn’t you?” Calligan asked.

McCullough merely chuckled for a moment, lighting up a cigarette. He stood there puffing on it for a few moments before finally saying something.

“I could use a drink.” He said, matter-of-factly.

Now it was Calligan’s turn to laugh. “I’m sure you could. Problem is, it’s illegal.”

“Maybe so, but I have my ways. Come on, I’ll show you.”