The Detective’s Ghost

No secrets can withstand the probing
of the detective’s ghost.
He floats through closed curtains,
overhearing pillowtalk confessions,
viewing evidence locked in wall safes,
tasting cordite traces on hands
of alibied suspects
and whispering revealing details
into the ear of a living detective
who cannot explain her hunches
and unfounded suspicions
that magnify her frustrations
with mechanisms of the law.

And yet, every once in a long while,
the living detective’s unexplained knowledge
reveals proof enough for conviction
and keeps her listening
to the insubstantial voice
that is no longer bound by law.