“I get it,’ said the prisoner. ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop, eh?’
If you like.’ said Vimes. ‘But we’re a bit short staffed here, so if I give you a cigarette would you mind kicking yourself in the teeth?”
― Terry Pratchett, Night Watch
They say no one requests transfers to the 13th Precinct. After tonight, I understand why.
The building itself is a masterpiece of 1940s architecture, all hard angles and weathered stone. But something about it feels wrong, like the corners don’t quite meet at proper angles, and the shadows fall in directions that defy the position of the streetlights.
My first night shift started normally enough. I was alone at the front desk, with just the hum of fluorescent lights and the occasional crackle of the ancient radio system. The holding cells were empty – they’re always empty these days. The case files say we process dozens of arrests weekly, but I’ve never seen a single prisoner.
It was around midnight when I noticed the dispatch log showing calls we never received. Reports of incidents happening right now, but timestamped from 1954. The names of responding officers who, according to department records, died in the line of duty decades ago.
The security cameras kept switching between present day and what looked like footage from different eras – the 50s, 70s, 90s – but always showing the same scenes: officers bringing in struggling suspects who vanish before reaching the cells.
Then I heard the footsteps.
They echoed from the detective’s bullpen – steady, measured steps of well-shined police boots on linoleum. But when I checked the security feed, the room was empty. Yet there they were, perfectly preserved on the aging vinyl floor: wet footprints appearing one by one, leading from desk to desk, stopping at case files that hadn’t been touched in years.
The radio crackled to life, spitting out fragments of ancient dispatches mixed with current calls. Through the static, I heard voices of long-dead officers responding to emergencies that hadn’t happened yet.
That’s when the lights started flickering, and in the moments of darkness, I saw them – officers from every era of the precinct’s history, transparent as fog, going about their duties. Some worked at desks that no longer existed, others led invisible perpetrators to cells that had been sealed for generations.
A detective from what looked like the 1960s stopped at my desk. His badge number matched one from the memorial wall. “Quiet night?” he asked, his voice distant like a badly tuned radio. “Don’t worry, rookie. It’ll liven up soon. It always does.”
He smiled, and in the fluorescent light, I saw through his face to the skull beneath.
The phone rang – an old rotary model I swear wasn’t there before. The voice on the other end recited a list of names: every officer who’d ever worked the night shift at the 13th. The list ended with my name.
I’m writing this report as my shift ends. The sun is rising, and the precinct looks normal again. The captain will probably file this away with the others – I found a cabinet full of similar reports, dating back to the building’s construction. All from night shift officers. All filed the morning after their first shift.
None of those officers work here anymore. No one knows where they went.
If you’re ever walking past the 13th Precinct at night, don’t stop to report a crime. The officers you’ll meet might not be from this time, and the help they offer might not be the kind you’re looking for.
Tomorrow is my second night shift. The detective from the 60s said he’ll be waiting.
I don’t think I’ll be filing any more reports after this one.
With this map you get:
- grid & gridless variations
- PNG files, low (70 PPI) & high (140 PPI) resolutions
- splatter & abandoned variations
- floor plan
- dd2vtt files for FoundryVTT & Roll20
- High-resolution WebP files
13th Precinct – Ground Floor – Day
13th Precinct – First Floor – Day
13th Precinct – Ground Floor – Night
13th Precinct – First Floor – Night
13th Precinct – Ground Floor – Day – Splatter
13th Precinct – First Floor – Day – Splatter
13th Precinct – Ground Floor – Night – Splatter
13th Precinct – First Floor – Night – Splatter
13th Precinct – Ground Floor – Day – Abandoned
13th Precinct – First Floor – Day – Abandoned
13th Precinct – Ground Floor – Night – Abandoned
13th Precinct – First Floor – Night – Abandoned
13th Precinct – Ground Floor – Floor Plan
13th Precinct – First Floor – Floor Plan
