PLEASE READ THE PART AFTER THE STORY IS OVER!

Charlie Barton's Office, LADA

I informed Charlie about the second call, but luckily this time he didn't ask, "Did the killer really call you?" Instead he decided to point out the fact that this meant that the killer was going to strike again, which was blatantly obvious from what the killer had said.

"So, who would the killer go for next do you suppose?" Charlie asked me.

"Well," I replied, "The killer seems to want to murder people on their birthdays. To do so, he or she would have to know when their birthdays were."

"So, what are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is that, the killer is either a stalker, or close friends. Since Ms. Frank's card said that it was from an old friend, we can assume that Ms. Frank and probably her friends know the killer, or in Ms. Frank's case knew, and if they don't know the killer himself, they at least remember the person. Since the killer mentioned a "birthday boy" we can assume that the next target will be Carlos or Rubin."

A wild look came across Charlie's face,

"Then why aren't we bringing them over here! Why aren't they here already?"

I held, up my hand, as if to silence Charlie. It worked.

"Charlie don't worry, we informed the family of the situation, and they should be here right now."

"Right now?" Charlie asked, as if he couldn't understand.

"Yes, right now. Police went over to escort them back over here several hours ago, so the chances of the killer achieving anything are slim."

"And you're sure about that."

"Positive." I regretted saying those words, as I really had no idea what the outcome would be. I said it to make Charlie feel better, but in truth I was just as nervous, if not more, than he was. That was when the phone rang on Charlie's desk. Out of instinct I grabbed it off of the receiver, and then realized that the call was probably for Charlie. Sheepishly, I handed the phone to him.

"This is Charlie Barton, how may I help you?"

"Hello, this is Officer Turner from the Los Angeles Police Department."

"Yes?"

"Mr. Barton, I think we have found something down here that might be of interest to you."

"Yes?"

"Sir, a dead body was just found in a ditch outside an abandoned home."

I sighed. Yet another case at LADA. I began to walk across the room, feeling disgruntled, when I heard the Officer say,

"Sir, a birthday card was found right next to the body."

I ran back across the room and grabbed the phone out of Charlie Barton's hand.

"What did the Birthday card say?" I asked.

"Mr. Barton? Is that still you?"

"Sure, just tell me what it said."

"Ok sir, well it's hard to read what it says, but it looks like it says: Happy Birthday to a special birthday boy. I hope that today brings you lots of joy."

So far it sounded odd. It had a rhyme to it, and sounded like an actual birthday card, unlike the last one.

"I know you must be wondering who I might be, as our last moments together were rather-."

That was when the sound became distorted. At first I thought it was the result of a bad signal, but when I listened more closely, I heard someone struggling. Then a scream and the sound of metal hitting a hard object. The cop was being murdered. There was a popping sound, and I could hear the officer's muffled protest. Then everything went silent. For an eternity I stood there, knuckles white from my tight grip on the phone. Then I heard a rustling sound and a low voice came through.

"You thought you had me didn't you Patrick?"

I turned toward Charlie and mouthed 'TRACE IT.'

I turned my attention back to the killer on the other line.

"Well, I did my best."

"Well Patrick, I'll tell you something right now. I'm not an easy man to catch. And this new accomplishment of mine is sure to guarantee that this case goes unsolved."

"We'll have to see about that." I replied.

"Oh Patrick, you have no idea what I'm capable of. Sadly you're gonna have to learn that the hard way."

There was a click, and I knew that the killer had hung up. Charlie ran back into the room,

"Patrick, keep him on the phone, we are almost finished tracing it."

I groaned.

"Charlie, he's gone."

A look of dissatisfaction came over Charlie's face. I put the phone down on the receiver. Now, not only had the killer succeeded in their evil deeds, but they were still at large, which meant that I could expect many more grisly murders.

"Um, Patrick?-" Charlie began.

"What," I snapped. I realize that disrespecting my boss probably wasn't the best thing to do, but at the moment I couldn't care less.

"What if we never catch the killer?"

This was too much for me. I have listened to many criminals in my life, so I am used to the overconfident statement of, "You're never gonna be able to solve this case." But hearing my own boss say it made me furious.

"No Charlie, we are going to catch this killer. We are going to catch him and put him behind bars, where he can suffer for his actions. I am not going to give up on this case Charlie. Not for anything in the world."

I went home that night, aware not only of the fact that I could end up on the unemployment list tomorrow, but also that this killer was unlike anything I had ever seen. I know that this is only the second case that I have journaled, but prior to these journals I handled a lot of criminals. Everything from petty thiefs to serial rapists. But this, this birthday card killer was different. This difference was the reason why I yelled at my boss, because I have never ever encountered anything like this before. And truth be told, I am scared. I never thought that in all my years of being a detective that I would ever feel fear towards a criminal. There has never been a case that I have been given that I haven't solved. But sadly, this may be the first.

Patrick Walker,

11:30 PM

HOLY GARBANZO! I hope that you liked this chapter a lot. I wanna give a shoutout to Fish E. who has been editing my story and giving me advice. To tell you the truth, I had this chapter going in a TOTALLY DIFFERENT DIRECTION. But in order to get there, there were many spots where you guys would've gone: HUH? UM I DON'T THINK THAT IS WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, JDOG257 YOU ARE SUCH A MORON. So I would like to thank him, please check out his stuff! By the way, if you guys wanna see my fictionpress vlogs (video blogs), then please go to my youtube channel: peanutbutterandjdog. Any video title that begins with Fictionpress or Tales of Murder, well watch it. I am considering creating a separate youtube channel for my fictionpress vlogs, but at the moment I am too lazy. And for those of you were are thinking: Wow, this is only the second case and CHARLIE IS ALREADY HAVING DOUBTS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THE KILLER WILL BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE! Well as I explained, this is only the second case that Patrick Walker has ever written a journal about. HE HAS HANDLED WAY MORE CRIMINAL CASES. So fear not, I is not THAT stupid.

Warmest Regards,

Jdog257

PS: Check out my profile page for random updates and links!