Pat Ritter. Books

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 37:

‘How tall do these horses grow?’ She asked.
‘Around thirty-four inches, any taller and they are classed as a small horse.’
‘Do they race?’
‘No – they take them to the Nationals in Sydney each year. Last year they won seven National Titles, which is a credit. They show them in a show ring and jump them over jumps – six panels high.’
‘Do you bet on them?’
‘No – they’re only show horses, not racehorses. Have you spent all of your winnings yet?’ Bundy wanted to know.
‘Not yet, I banked most of it. I’m not stupid, you know, I realise I was lucky the other night and I really think my luck is growing to find Peter.’ She shared with Bundy. ‘It’s lovely here. I feel so relaxed I could go to sleep.’
‘Unfortunately there’s no time to relax. What time do we need to see Mrs Clayton?’ Bundy asked.
‘I told her we’d be there at eleven o’clock, we’ll probable have lunch there. She’s always fussing when I arrive and I love to spend a fair amount of time with her. She wonderful and warm, you’ll like her, I’m sure.’
‘I’d better show you the palace.’ Bundy told Kate. He picked the spent cups and plate up and carried them inside. Kate followed.


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[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 38:

‘You keep the place tidy and clean for an old fellow.’ She remarked when they walked into the lounge room.
‘Enough of this old fellow stuff. I know I’m old enough to be your father but have a little respect for your elders.’
‘I didn’t mean anything mean by it, you do keep your place clean and tidy. It’s the first thing I noticed when I drove up. Don’t take it the wrong way.’
‘Point taken, this is the lounge room; over there is the kitchen and my office and a spare room. Through here is the main bedroom, the bathroom, laundry and toilet at the end. It’s big enough for me.’
‘This is great.’ Kate took in all of the rooms before returning to the lounge room. A huge photograph hung on the wall. It was a winning photograph of Bundy’s wife winning a major race in harness racing. ‘Is this your wife?’ She asked looking at the photograph.
‘Yes, Ada won on this horse on her first drive after she obtained her driver’s license to race at country tracks. If you come with me I’ll show you where I built a garden and placed her ashes.’
They returned to the veranda and walked down the steps. At the front of the house next to the steps in front of the main bedroom was a brick structure. On top lay a statute of a miniature horse. A plague showed the final resting place of Bundy’s wife.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 39:

‘I placed her ashes with her racing gear in a box. She wanted to be cremated and placed in a garden at the front of the bedroom. She never got the chance to see the house completed. It was her final wish before she died.’ Bundy’s eyes swelled and a tear formed, his throat thickened and he drew back tears, ‘we’d better be going.’ Words whispered.
‘This is beautiful. I think you’re wife would be very proud of what you’ve done for her.’ Kate said.
Bundy closed the doors and windows to the house and sat in the front passenger side of the vehicle. Kate drove. ‘Don’t you lock up out here?’ She asked.
‘I never do. I only closed the house in case it rains. We’ve never been robbed since I’ve been here. This is the tenth year. It’s why I purchased the property at the end of a road and the forestry is at the back of us so we can’t be built out.’ Bundy shared with Kate.
‘I suppose you’d be more safer here than in the city.’
‘Too right.’ He concluded.
After they crossed the grid leaving Bundy’s property Kate asked, ‘how long have you known the Commissioner?’
‘Since 1970, going on forty years or more. He was a constable at the local police station when I went to apply to join the police. He followed my career; each time I was transferred or promoted he’d be the first to phone and congratulate me. Why should you ask?’

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 40:

‘Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing against you but think about it, he pulled you out of retirement to work this case with me. I think it’s strange – that’s all.’
‘He did mention at our little talk in his office before you came in, he wanted me to show you how the ole detectives worked. I suppose you could be the guinea pig.’ Bundy smiled and looked across to Kate.
‘It’s hard to think how you investigated cases in your day. I looked at some of your old investigations and you must have never been home.’
‘Yes - Ada often told me she didn’t see me for eight months one time. I can’t believe it, when a job needed to be done, you did it.’
‘Everything has changed now in the service. If you can’t solve the case within a week, you hand it over or close it for a later date. It’s frustrating because you think you’re close and next thing they pull the rug from under you and you land on your face.’ She concluded.
‘I know what you’re saying. In my last days as a detective I investigated the rape of an eight year old girl. I was about to interview the culprit and had to gain approval for overtime to carry out the interview. The boss at the time gave me four hours to finish the investigation. It didn’t matter because I had it finished in half the time because it was the only time in my career a person admitted the offence in the presence of his solicitor.’

[dub]

Hi pat,
we hope all is good down in Brooloo - Queensland
I was a bit confused over the miniature horse info ‘Around thirty-four inches, any taller and they are classed as a small horse.’ do you mean they are not classed as a small horse if they exceed 34 inches
It seems from your words that in Australia that you still measure in imperial measurements and not a metric system
Here in metric is the de facto system but everything is shown in both standards.
Pat , cobber what's Nescafe in a bottle is it liquid coffee that you just pour and heat up?
Great to have you back online again after the glitch in our system
Good to get back up to speed with the Bundy and Kate story.

[patritter]

Thanks Dub - 'Miniature horse' is a horse under the size of thirty-four inches in height measured from the ground to the wither of the horse. If it measures taller than thirty-four inches it is classed as a small horse and therefore placed in a different event.

Nescafe is a powder coffee (instant) just pour hot water and milk if necessary. Great to be back and hope you are enjoying the journey of Bundy Quicksilver and Kate. I'm thoroughly enjoying writing the book. Now to todays page:

'The Proposition' - Page 41:

‘When was that?’
‘1986.’
‘Nothing has changed.’
‘How have you retained this investigation for eight years?’ Bundy asked Kate.
‘I think it had something to do with the Commissioner. Did he have some hang-up about children?’
‘Ah yeah, he was the major investigator of a twelve year old child who was murdered. I remember the case well. I was at the Computer Branch at the time and accidentally created new investigation tools to use in the field using police computer programmes. This was the first time we used them. They didn’t catch the culprit but after we did a little more work, it helped with other investigations.’
‘Did you have anything to do with the change?’
‘A little – you’ve got to understand in those days computers were in their infancy and police were reluctant to use them, particularly the older more senior officers. I wanted each police officer from the top down to understand the programmes on the computer. Like for instance, the vehicle of interest system, if an officer would have modified this section at the time he received information about a vehicle, then perhaps the young girl the Commissioner investigated wouldn’t have died. I don’t know but it certainly went against my grain. Police should have known about computer programmes as much as I did. There were no excuses.’ Bundy’s thoughts returned to the time saddened by the fact of ignorance were no excuse.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 42:

Little more was said between them on their way to Mrs Clayton’s home. Bundy was deep in thought, many questions needed to be answered. Eight years is a long time for a child to be missing with no results.
They approached the small township where Mrs Clayton lived, ‘can we have a look around the town before we go to her home?’ Bundy asked, ‘it’s ten thirty, we have half-an-hour.’
‘I’ll take you through the whole investigation step by step if you like? Although it’s been eight years since he’s reported missing, I still can’t live a day without finding out what happened to him.’ Kate replied.
Kate drove the police vehicle across railway tracks and stopped on the opposite side of the railway station. She alighted from the vehicle as did Bundy and they walked toward the steps leading to the overhead railway bridge.
‘Every second day Peter walked from his home, to this railway bridge, cross the bridge, purchase a ticket from the machine over there’, she pointed across to the railway platform, ‘to board a train two stops ahead to visit his grandmother. On the day he disappeared he never arrived at his grandmother’s home or purchased a ticket from the machine.’ Kate shared.