100 Theme Challenge #79

Sequel of #50, #51, #52, #54, #60, #68,  #69, #70, #73, #74 and #76.

79. Time

The clock ticked loudly in the late hours of the office. Even Gary went home, Jack was alone. No phone rings, no mumbling voices. He called Barbara to let her know he'd come back late, and she was used to it, so she only said she'd leave his dinner in the over. There was no passion between them anymore, which was sad, because he did enjoy her company a few years ago. She was charming when she wanted to be, and exquisite to the eyes… 

It was a shame Jack hadn't felt a flick of desire for her for the past few months. He opened the radio to change his mind, but it was Vic Damone's You're breaking my heart playing. He sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. After Kenneth left, he did gather all the information he had so far. The killer targeted homosexuals between the age of twenty and thirty who were Caucasian with green eyes and brown hair and relatively good looks. He probably was a customer of these places, and the second victim knew him, if he indeed was his stalker.

There was sadly no traces of him after he called the restaurant owner. The guy didn't even seem to exist in the first place. The cards lead him nowhere, even though he knew the killer possessed quite a collection of them. This case was a dead end, the killer had been careful enough to wear gloves, so no imprints and no fibers found under the victims' nails except for dirt. The only thing Jack had yet to figure out was… the false name! Why the use of it? What did it represent to the killer? Did he invent it or borrow it? Jack ponder for a moment, smoking idly. 

Finally he leap from his seat and went to the archives to look for the death records. There was so many of them, but at least they were in alphabetic order. After what felt like a lifetime of searching, he found it. Paul Clark, murdered in 1956 by a cut to the throat and the stomach. The case had been closed when no culprit was found. Had he been the serial killer's first murder? What was the reason he used his name? No, there was something else. He'd been buried in Chicago… Perhaps that'd lead him somewhere, hopefully…

.

The certificate neatly tucked in his long coat, he drove to the cemetery even though it was almost midnight. Killer were never sleeping, so nor was he. He deftly climbed the fence. The street lampposts were enough for him to make his way between the graves without tripping on them. He didn't know where it might be, if it even was here, but if it was, he would find it. He walked around for about an hour, using his zippo to light up every single grave he could find, and he must have smoke about ten cigarettes in record time by the time he actually found it. 

Paul Clark, 1930-1956. 

So he was really dead? Jack crouched in front of the grave and took the small carton placed against it. A game card, from the exact same team than the killer seemed to love, for some reason. This was no mere coincidence. Why would the killer leave a card here, on Paul Clark's grave, even three years after his death? He had to hold some importance, a key to all of this. 

(What is 100TC?)

Not enough words, but I'm doing my nails, and tomorrow I'm leaving for Montreal for the weekend, so expect nothing before monday.