“How did it go?” McCullough inquired casually, as they once again made their way down the corridor to ‘the land of death’.

“Better than expected.” Calligan replied. “I didn’t even have to rough him up, which is odd.”

“Maybe, but it tells me it was good I stayed behind. People are a lot less forthcoming to me, and that makes me. . . violent.”

Calligan chuckled at this for a moment. They were almost at Doc Rivers’s steel door, but Calligan stopped for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“If the Donahues wanted us taken out so badly, why is it that the body still wound up at the station?” He asked solemnly.

“They told us to get off the case, but they never said they didn’t want the case to go on. Something tells me they just don’t want two nosey detectives who might try to stop them, doing the investigation.” McCullough replied.

“Maybe you’re right, though I doubt it really matters. We have the body, and we’re still on the case.”

“Because they haven’t put us in a pine box yet, though not for lack of trying.”

Calligan chuckled again at this, before letting out a short sigh of exasperation. Walking up to the steel door, he banged on it powerfully. It hadn’t even stopped reverberating when they heard the sharp voice of Doc Rivers shout at them to enter.

“You two again.” He muttered, gesturing at them to approach the body as he grabbed a folder filled with paperwork. “Do it double-time.” He complained to them as they complied. “That’s what they told me. Get it done as fast as I can and don’t tell those detectives. Who are they to tell me how to do my job? I’ll get it done as fast as I choose, and tell whomever I please!”

“Who told you this?” Calligan asked, befuddled.

“The people who brought in the body. It wasn’t the usual people. I didn’t recognize them at all. They talked fast, like they were in a hurry, but that didn’t stop me from giving them an ear full. No one tells me what to do in my office.” Doc Rivers face was bright red, even brighter than normal.

Calligan held out his hands reassuringly. “Calm down Doc. What did these people look like?”

“Well, they just looked like beat cops. You know, just like the million others you find ‘round this place. I can’t remember any specifics, they all look the same to me.”

“So, it wasn’t the undertaker who delivered the body.”

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“No…” Doc Rivers replied, his voice trailing off as the abnormality of the situation dawned on him. “It wasn’t.”

“I see.” Calligan responded thoughtfully, before swiftly becoming genial. “Well, you did the right thing by coming to us instead. What do you have for us today?”

Doc Rivers shook his head at the rapid change in tone and then gestured sweepingly over the corpse in front of them.

“As you can see, this is a corpse.” He announced solemnly. “And this corpse is much like the last one. There was bleeding from virtually every major orifice, with the exception of one.”

“Let me guess which one that was, the ears.” McCullough replied smugly.

“And that’s why you should let the professional finish speaking.” Doc Rivers responded just as smugly. “Much like the eyes had liquified for Mr. Mcgovern, the ears of this man have virtually dissolved. It would also appear that all oral hemorrhaging had healed by the time I received the body, and a quick examination seems to indicate that the man had exceptional vocal cords.”

McCullough turned to Calligan, nudging him lightly. “Maybe Mr. Taylor had more going for him than even he knew. Too bad things turned out the way they did. He might’ve had a future in the opera.”

“Actually I don’t think so. It’s very similar to the build up in the ears of Mr. McGovern. I fear that Mr. Taylor’s full potential would’ve been deafening to anyone unfortunate enough to hear it.”

“So that’s two people with similar features, who both knew each other and are now both dead.” Calligan chimed in thoughtfully.

“What are you thinking?” McCullough returned.

Calligan stayed silent for a moment, caught up in thought, before responding. “I’m thinking that this doesn’t make any sense. Doc, does he also have an injection mark?”

Doc Rivers nodded and pointed to his right arm. “It’s a little higher up than the last one, but it’s still in the same arm.”

Calligan nodded and let out a sigh of frustration. “There’s something here that we’re missing. Outside of their financial ties, why these two? Surely it’s not a coincidence.”

“Come on Calligan,” McCullough replied. “It might actually be. You heard Rat, the Syndicate’s in the drug market, and both Taylor and McGovern were working for the Donahue’s. It’s easy and efficient. With so many new drugs on the street, who would ever know. Think, it’s the most simple explanation.”

“The most simple explanation isn’t always the right one.”

“Do you have a better one?”

Calligan shook his head.

“Besides,” McCullough continued. “Either way we can’t rule out the Syndicate, and that means we still have to figure out who they are. Which means we’ve got a few eggs to crack if we wanna make this omelette.”

Calligan nodded soberly. The Syndicate was the only lead they had, and he knew it. He also knew they had a lot more work to do, even if it wasn’t going to be pretty.

Calligan began to move towards the door with McCullough in tow, but as he grasped the handle he turned back toward Doc Rivers. The Doc was watching them leave, his usual look of disappointment etched on his face.

“Hey Doc.” Calligan chimed, suddenly. “Thanks. And if anybody comes asking about what you found from this body, go ahead and tell them everything you know. Somehow, I don’t think a dead opera singer will be of much use to anyone with murder on their mind.”