Pat Ritter. Books

[patritter]

Thank you dub. I appreciate your thanks. Here is the page for today: 'The Proposition' - Page 74:

Bundy discovered when he investigated the location of these bones, a local youth had been drinking; fallen into the creek and disappeared while he was fishing. He’d been reported missing but at the time it was thought he’d left the area. Another case closed.
Bundy thought this one was a little different to compare with the other two investigations thirty years before. Many things had changed, one being the media. Sound of helicopters circled above, reporters with television cameras stood waiting to interview Detective Superintendent Smiles or any other officer who would give them a story to broadcast over the airways.
‘Don’t you think we should go and tell Mary about finding a skeleton not far from her home? When she sees anything about this find on television or hears on the radio, she’ll have kittens.’ Bundy asked Kate.
‘Yeah – we better, I’ll tell Larry we’ll be back soon.’ Kate left to speak with Detective Superintendent Smiles.
After Kate and Bundy left the crime scene Kate said, ‘I’d better phone to see if she’s home.’ She parked the vehicle off to the side of the road; extracted her mobile telephone from her trouser pocket, opened the flap and punched in some numbers. Sound of a ringing telephone echoed in the vehicle.
‘Mary – is that you, Kate here, will you be home, Bundy and I want to speak with you. It’s quite urgent.’
Kate nodded her head as if in agreement with the caller, said her farewell and closed her phone.
‘She’ll put the kettle on.’ Kate informed Bundy.
Parking the vehicle at the front of Mary’s home she waited at her front steps, ‘what’s so important you’ve got to speak with me, have you found Peter?’ Mary had tears in her eyes.
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 75:

‘May we come inside please Mary?’ Bundy asked in a soft and kind voice.
‘By all means, the kettle is on, I’ll make us a lovely cup-of-tea.’ She beckoned both inside her home. They sat at the dining room table.
‘What’s this all about?’ Mary asked determined to find out if they’d found her son dead or alive.
‘We’re not positive,’ Kate interrupted, ‘skeleton bones have been found in a shallow grave not far from here in the forestry.’ Kate concluded. She stretched her hand across the table and held Mary’s hand tight.
Tears welled in Mary’s eyes, ‘skeleton – found – in – forestry,’ she muttered. ‘Are they Peter’s?’ She cried.
‘We won’t know until a DNA test has been completed by the forensic people.’ Kate answered softly still holding Mary’s hand and looked directly into her eyes.
‘Didn’t you take some of Peter’s hair and clothes to be tested?’ Mary asked, sitting upright and staring into Kate’s face for an answer.
‘Yes, we did. Those samples you gave us we took to Bundy’s friend, Quincy Simpson, who was a forensic scientist and is now retired.’
‘Why can’t he examine the remains?’ Mary implied.
‘Because he’s no longer a forensic scientist working in the field, he’s retired.’ Kate whispered loud enough Mary could hear her clearly.
‘This is stupid. What does it matter who examines the bones? If the skeleton is Peter’s; my mind will at least be put to rest after all this time. What if they aren’t Peter’s bones?’ She asked still holding onto Kate’s hand now with both her hands clasped together around Kate’s fingers.
‘You’ll be the first to know.’ Kate’s eyes developed tears, she looked into Mary’s eyes to see the hurt she didn’t mean to place upon her, but she needed to tell her about the recent discovery just in case the skeleton was her son, Peter Clayton.
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 76:

‘Mary,’ Bundy spoke, ‘the reason we wanted to tell you first about the discovery of the skeleton is because it was only discovered by a forestry worker this morning. Before we knew anything - the media, television and radio, had descended upon the crime scene. We wanted you to know about the discovery from us instead of first hearing or seeing it on television.’ Bundy explained.
Mary loosened her grip on Kate’s hand, sat upright, ‘these bones mightn’t belong to Peter. He could still be alive. As his mother, I feel he is still alive but I don’t know where. I dream about him most nights and many times I’ve spoken with him and he tells me he still loves me. I don’t know if I’m going bananas or anything like that but I still think he’s alive.’ She finished and looked both Kate and Bundy directly into their eyes.
Bundy felt the hurt she was feeling, how a mother could suffer through these years not knowing if her son was alive or dead. Mothers know these things better than anyone else. If she thinks he’s still alive – that’s great because there is hope.
All through his working life as a detective Bundy had never came across anything like this present investigation. Was he becoming too old for this type of emotional torture?
They said their farewells and promised to keep Mary informed about the identity of the bones and returned to the crime scene.
Larry walked toward them when they alighted from the vehicle, ‘Doctor Fitzgerald, Forensic Pathologist is here to examine the remains. I haven’t spoken with him but I will as soon as he’s finished his examination.’
‘We’ll wait.’ Kate replied in an authority’s voice. Her eyes now dry but her heart ached for Mary. She had to know if the bones were Peter Clayton or else she would go out of her mind. This could be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 77:

Detective Superintendent Larry Smiles was interviewed by news crews at the crime scene and explained a forestry worker earlier in the day located a skeleton in a shallow grave when he was spraying poisonous weeds. If anyone had any information of a missing person, please call their nearest police station or Crimestoppers.
In the meantime Kate and Bundy surveyed the area for anything which didn’t look right. Kate’s mind was filled with anger and frustration thinking a twelve year old boy could have met his death this way. She needed to find the truth.
After Bundy heard Detective Superintendent Smiles tell the media to contact Crimestoppers, his mind flicked back to 1989. It was a Friday afternoon, he was seated at his desk in front of his computer when his boss said, ‘you used to be a detective – didn’t you?’
Bundy remembered he acknowledged his boss he was, ‘then go to the Inspector at Neighbourhood Watch, he wants to see you about establishing a new programme – I think it’s called Crimestoppers. He’s waiting for you. I recommended you for the job.’
After all this time, Bundy’s thoughts still contained the adrenalin rush of excitement as if it happened yesterday. He remembered visiting the Inspector whose short conversation, ‘here is a video tape of the programme from America. Be here Monday morning to set it up.’
After he arrived home he placed the video into the recorder and watched the birth of Crimestoppers in America. Bundy felt his pulse race – how did he get this opportunity to establish this programme in Queensland?
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

Thank you dub for your kind thanks. Here is the page for today. 'The Proposition' - Page 78:

Chapter 10

Monday morning couldn’t arrive quickly enough. This was an opportunity in reaching the top of the mountain after twenty years of hard work – this was his reward. At the time, to establish Crimestoppers was a hot potato for the government of the day. Bundy remembered meeting the Police Minister the following morning to explain his proposal on how he was going to establish the programme.
Victorian Police were the first in Australia to establish ‘Crimestoppers’ which took two years from start to launch date. New South Wales Police were the next to introduce the programme which took eighteen months; Bundy explained to The Minister it would take six months for Queensland to have the programme operational.
‘Unfortunately I haven’t got six months’; The Minister wanted it completed in three weeks. Bundy’s jaw dropped almost to the floor to consider this option.
‘If you cut the red tape – leave me to it, I’ll have it done in three weeks,’ he proclaimed.
It was official; true to his word The Minister of Police cut the red tape to have Crimestoppers operational within three weeks without interference. Bundy received all he needed to complete his task within the prescribed time limit. He remembered working from daylight until dark designing computer programmes, training staff, preparing reports, working with television producers, and finally after three weeks Crimestoppers was alive and ready to go.
Crimestoppers was a one-stop shop to report any criminal activity in Queensland. The programme was simple. A caller telephoned a central number, each caller provided with a unique code number, information recorded on the computer; later dispatched to the appropriate police area for investigation.
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 79:

Success drew on success with callers telephoned from Tweed Heads in the south to Cape York in the north of the State. After the official launch, Bundy was buggered and needed a rest.
He didn’t realise at the time but the electronic node in his heart slowly degenerated over time which almost caused him to pass away in his sleep. If it wasn’t for Ada who demanded he visited a doctor he wouldn’t be around to enjoy the rest of his life. He would have passed away in his sleep that night if he hadn’t done what she asked.
After a pacemaker implantation it was the end of the road as a police officer and he retired on medical grounds. That was twenty-one years before.
His mind returned to the present. How lucky was he to have a wife like Ada who’d saved his life on more than one occasion through their marriage. First in 1977 when she demanded he do something about his drinking alcohol; and then thirteen years later to visit a doctor to save his life. He was indeed a lucky person to have had her.
Kate walked to where Bundy was standing, ‘what’re you dreaming about now?’ She asked in a soft and inviting voice.
‘Ah, just a few things from my past life, how are things going here?’
‘Larry is about to tell us in a couple of minutes. Doctor Fitzgerald has completed his elementary examination and will inform us of his findings.’
‘Come over here – you two, we’re about to hear from the pathologist about his findings.’ Larry signalled Bundy and Kate to within hearing of Doctor Fitzgerald.
‘I’ve had a quick examination of the skeleton and have determined it is a female child between eight and ten years of age. From the appearance of the skeleton – I’d say she’s been here between five to eight years. I’ll arrange the skeleton be removed to the city morgue for further examination.’ He concluded his summary and left.
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 80:

‘Bloody hell – a female child, well, it eliminates Peter Clayton. Bundy, we’d better inform Mary of the find.’ Kate explained. ‘Thanks Larry, we’ll leave you; and continue on with trying to find Peter.’
‘Everything’s alright for you Kate, we’ve got another murder on our hands by the looks of this.’ Larry farewelled Bundy and Kate, ‘keep in-touch just in case there’s more to this.’ Larry returned to the crime scene.
Mary was relieved after Kate informed the skeleton wasn’t her son Peter. Kate and Bundy returned to their office.
‘What do we do now?’ Kate asked after she sat in a chair behind her computer. She felt sick in her stomach and somewhat deflated to think the skeleton wasn’t Peter. She had been so certain it was Peter and wished it had been.
‘I know its tough Kate, but this is a red herring and we’ve got to get on with the next stage of what we were going to do.’ Bundy explained.
‘You’re still not going on about the bloody family tree and the rubbish about finding what Quincy said – are you, its dribble Bundy, complete dribble!’ Her voice raised, her hands trembled and she looked as though she was going to break down and cry.
‘Kate.’ Bundy looked directly into her eyes, ‘what about we have the rest of the day off. You look bushed. Go home and we’ll look with fresh eyes tomorrow.’ Bundy placed his hands on her shoulder. He felt Kate quiver beneath his hands. He began to worry.
‘I need a good night’s sleep.’ Kate gathered her belongings and bid Bundy farewell and left the office.
Later that night Bundy sat in his lounge chair at home contemplating his next move when the telephone rang, it could be Kate, he thought when picking up the receiver.
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.