Not long later, a reporter named Earl Crawford noticed the number of gruesome finishes that many local criminals had been meeting recently and suspected a connection. By lying to his editor as to just what he had in mind, he arranged an assignment to ride around with a police criminal investigator and, of all people, Lt. Jim Corrigan was the lucky cop. Crawford soon saw the Spectre in action for himself. Despite being a ghost, Corrigan returned Gwen's feelings and pleaded into the night in his dark apartment for a reprieve. Without telling him, the Voice granted the request and he awoke the next morning a mortal man. Corrigan did not realize this until he was shot in the line of duty a few hours later. Once out of the hospital, he proposed to Gwen, who promptly accepted. However, Corrigan was again murdered by criminals and again sent back to Earth by the Voice as the Spectre. He took vengeance upon his killers, then appeared to Gwen to give her the news.