Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking

[swfc]

I really don't care how Macca dies!! All I care about is that Macca is dead!

YAY!!! I can't wait!

[luckyrabbit]

PART 11

The fire was almost out when they arrived on the scene. Parking the car behind Lara's patrol car, Eve and Tracey got out and joined the crowd to watch the firefighters douse the last of the flames.

"Hey I used to live in that caravan!" Eve exclaimed, pointing to the smoldering remains.

"Really?" Tracey asked, her curiosity piqued. "I can't see you in a caravan, too small."

"It really was." Eve agreed. "But I do have some fond memories of it."

"Like what?"

"Like what!" Eve repeated. "This is the first place I ever faked my own death! It's the kind of thing you remember for the rest of your life."

Their conversation was interrupted when Lara came over and introduced them to Dave, who was the ranking fireman on the scene.

"Aren't you a little young to be in charge?" Eve asked.

"Aren't you?" Dave shot back.

"Not really." Eve deadpanned. "Do you know how the fire started?"

"At this stage we can't be too sure, but we're predicting it's going to be arson. We'll know more when the remains have cooled down enough for us to have a poke around." He explained. He turned another fireman, who whispered in his ear. "Thanks." He dismissed the other man. "There's some good news, according to the books the van was unoccupied so I don't expect we'll find any bodies in there." He smiled.

"Shame." Eve sighed and started giving out orders before anyone could call her on it. "Fitzgerald, tape it off and then start taking statements, start with these idiots." She motioned to all the curious onlookers. "You're in charge when the others arrive."

"What's taking them so long?" Fitzgerald grumbled as Tracey's phone started ringing. "They should've been right behind us."

"What? Are you serious?" Tracey said urgently to whoever was on the other end of the phone.

Eve leaned into Lara. "I bet you twenty bucks someone's been killed." She said as Tracey continued the conversation.

"How do you now that?"

"It’s written all over her face." Eve shrugged, not even mildly surprised Lara didn't see it. "Not to mention her change in tone. But I guess I just know her better than you do."

"Fitzgerald," Tracey said, ending the call. "you're going to be waiting a little longer for back up. There's been another murder."

"There must be something I can do!" Belle ranted, pacing in front of a seated Amanda. "What about Macca? You're friends with him, can't you get him to do something?" She said desperately.

Amanda shook her head. "No, he'd never go for it. He says he's turned over a new leaf." Amanda patted the cushion beside her, beckoning a pouting Belle to join her on the couch. She stroked her daughter's hair, racking her brain to come up with a plan to help her daughter. "What about Drew?"

"What about Drew?" Belle scoffed. "He's in the city visiting some mates and won't be back for days. I don't see how he'll be able to help."

"Darling, you can use him to make Ric jealous." Amanda said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Belle shifted uncomfortably. "Do you really think that would work?"

"Sweetheart, if there's one thing that I know about men, it's that they always want what they can't have." Amanda said with a devious smile.

"You didn't seem very surprised when I told you about Macca." Tracey observed as she and Eve made their way up the stairs to the apartment above the Diner. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"

"I didn't know exactly." Eve denied. "But I knew it would be a possibility." She admitted, flashing her badge at the two probationary constables guarding the door and entering the apartment.

"Finally." Jack greeted them impatiently. Eve ignored him, her eyes resting on Macca, or more specifically, the perfectly circular bullet hole in the middle of his forehead.

After taking a moment to absorb the scene, Eve turned to Jack. "Have you recovered the bullet?"

Jack squinted at her. "What?"

Eve rolled her eyes and started talking as if she was explaining a math problem to a five year old. "Have you found the little metal thing that killed him? Or is it still bouncing around somewhere inside his skull?"

"You know my brother in law has just be murdered!" Jack shouted angrily, making other officers at the scene look at him strangely.

"It wasn't a murder-" Tracey began to explain.

"Oh, so you think he just shot himself in the head do you?"

"It was an execution." Eve finished, completely ignoring Jack snide comment. "I told him to keep his mouth shut." She shrugged.

Jack put a hand up for her to stop for a minute, trying to digest this new information. "How do you know that it was an execution, there's no evidence to suggest-"

"No evidence?" Eve quirked an eyebrow at his assumption. She crouched down next to the body, careful not to get too close and contaminate the evidence. "Look around Jack, there are no signs of a struggle here. Has anyone moved the body?"

"No."

Eve nodded. "Then he must've been kneeling when he was shot." She observed, motioning to the unnatural position the body was in. "There are ligature marks around his wrists." She said, pointing to the faint ring of bruises around Macca's wrists. Wiping her hands on her pants, she stood, tilting her head. "Hands tied, on his knees, one shot in the dead centre of his forehead. What would you call that Constable Holden?"

Jack clenched his jaw and looked away. "An execution." He admitted reluctantly.

"Exactly." Tracey piped up. "Are there any signs of forced entry?"

"No."

"So he knew his attacker." Eve mulled it over for a second, letting the details swirl around in her head until they finally settled and the most likely scenario floated to the top. "Here's what I think happened; After our little chat, Macca called Stuart to give him the heads up, he was probably offered a little something in reward for his 'loyalty' and when the killer came, he let them in, thinking it was his lucky day." She surmised.

Moving to where she estimated the killer stood, she made a gun with her hands, leveling her fingers her fingers to the approximate height Macca's head would've been at when he was kneeling.

"What is she-" Jack tried to ask Tracey, but she cut him off, raising a hand in a clear gesture for him to be quiet.

Eve traced the estimated trajectory of the bullet, spotting a small, otherwise completely unnoticeable, hole in the bottom of the wooden counter that separated the cooking area from the rest of the room. She knelt down and squinted at the hole. "I think I've found our missing bullet."

"Photograph this and then bag it and tag it. Can you handle that?" She instructed Jack.

"Yeah, I can." Jack paused, obviously debating with himself over what to say next. "I've been thinking…"

Tracey turned her head to Eve and stage whispered. "This should be good."

"You think that the attack on Lucas was personal, yeah?" He asked, ignoring Tracey's comment. "What if they're targeting me?"

"I doubt it." Tracey scoffed as Eve rolled her eyes.

"Think about it." Jack urged, trying to convince the two women to come around to his way of thinking. "Both victims have been related to me, either by marriage or blood. It's a pattern."

"Yeah, and if you stare at static long enough you start seeing tiny zebras." Eve said, shutting him down.

Jack looked confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're only seeing what you want to see and not what's really there." Tracey explained impatiently. They didn't need Jack making this case all about him.

There was a commotion in the doorway and before anyone could stop her, a distraught Martha had pushed past the two constables guarding the door and rushed in and gathered Macca's body up in her arms.

Eve's jaw dropped. "No." She forced out in shock, pointing at Martha. Wincing when the brunette's knees slid in the pool of blood, spreading it every where. She looked for Jack to intervene but he was frozen with surprise.

"Oh for f*ck's sake." Tracey groaned, rubbing her temple.

Eve was livid. "Would it be possible to do this without half of Summer Bay trampling through here contaminating my crime scene?" She shouted angrily. "Jack, get her out of here. NOW!"

Next time on Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking: News of Macca's death sends shockwaves through the Bay.

[Traceve]

Yay! You updated! ****en Awesome!

Who killed Macca..any hints?

Update soon! please!

[jack4martha_forever]

Lol...there must be something in the Summer Bay water to make the residents clueless. But i still love Jack and Martha great chapter. Poor Macca

Please update soon

[swfc]

Do you watch CSI, Rabs? Sounds so professional. The whole ligature mark thing! But, boy, your fic got me hooked til the end..... I liked the part where Eve got annoyed at Martha contaminating the crime scene! It's absolutely fantastic! I can't wait for more!

[Oxidizer]

LMAO @ Martha! F--cking idiot. I loved Eve's disappointment about there not being a body at the caravan. I love this fic Rabsey! Awesome work - can't wait for the next update!

[luckyrabbit]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you all liked it

Do you watch CSI, Rabs?

Nope, can't stand CSI. But I've been watching crime shows my whole life; Profiler, Blue Heelers, Crossing Jordan, Forensic Investigators and more recently Criminal Minds. I guess they've rubbed off

[swfc]

Lol..... Now I know! Criminal Minds was awesome. They stopped showing it here tho. I don't know why! Crossing Jordan was great as well. Haha! CSI..... I love CSI.....

[luckyrabbit]

Lol..... Now I know! Criminal Minds was awesome. They stopped showing it here tho.

They've just started showing it here, I'm actually watching it right now. It sucks that they stopped showing it there.

[swfc]

I know! I was so annoyed! They've taken away a lot of good shows!! It's so annoying! We have The Closer now tho.....