“Trust me! Just shave it off!” Detective Black was determined.

“Liam this is highly unorthodox.” Protested the medical examiner.

“I have a hunch this John Doe wasn’t just another vagrant Dean.”

“Unorthodox or not, he’s dead. Let’s just indulge him.” detective Krane chimed in, “Liam here got me curious as fuck now.”

“Whatever you say.” The medical examiner reached for the shaver, shaking his head in protest as he shaved the cadaver’s left eye brow.

“There!” Detective Black exclaimed, vindicated, “I knew it!”

The detective pointed to the tattoo of a numbered code that was hidden under the dead man’s brow.

“Peculiar…” sighed the medical examiner, “This is the second body with a similar tattoo you boys bring here.”

“I don’t know how you do it Liam.” Kramer laughed in disbelief, “What do you make of it all?”

Detective Black stared into space, concentrating on the wall behind his partner and the medical examiner.

“Detective Black?” The medical examiner attempted to catch the detective’s attention, but the man seemed to be in a trance.

“Liam!” the younger detective shook his partner, “Snap out of it!”

“Sorry, I…” the man shook his head, as if losing his train of thought, “What were we taking about?”

“The tattoos, you think it’s some sort of code? Cult? Intelligence?” Kramer asked.

“I…I’m not sure.”

“How did you know he’d have a tattoo as well?” asked the medical examiner.

“I have to go.” the older detective ran out.

“What’s with your partner Kramer?”

“I have no clue.”

- - -

“Leave me alone!” Detective Black sat in his car, gun drawn, eyes bloodshot from crying. He kept whispering for the voices to leave him be.

“You know this is bigger than you!” said the voice of his president ex-wife Melody.

“You’re not real! You’re not real! You died! You died…” Liam Black’s voice trailed away into his tears.

“But I’m right here.” Melody tapped Liam’s shoulder.

Frightened, Liam pointed his gun at the apparition of his deceased wife.

“Go away! You’re not real!” Liam felt as though he was going mad! First the voices, now the visions.

“There’s only one way out!” Liam wrapped his mouth around the barrel of his gun, determined to stop his insanity from progressing. Was he insane though, his doubts kept reverberating underneath his fears. After all, these voices have given him many breaks to some of the departments cold cases. Blessing and a curse, Liam thought.

He bit hard on the barrel and began to count in his mind. That’s it! On three!

There was a sharp knock on his car window, followed by the muffled voice of his partner.

“Liam! What the fuck!” Detective Kramer opened the car door, “Give me the gun Liam!”

The older man hesitated, but ultimately gave in as he burst into tears.

“You need to talk to a professional man. What’s going on with you?”