Pat Ritter. Books

[patritter]

Thank you mzawf. Here is today's page: 'The Proposition' - Page 101:

‘I always carried a shovel in the boot of the car. I used it.’
‘What did you do with the clothes?’
‘When I returned home I burnt them in the incinerator out the back of where I lived.’
‘Can you tell me what date this happened?’
‘6th October 2006 – I’ll never forget this date. It’s fixed in my mind. It was a Friday because I didn’t have to go back to work until Monday.’
‘What about your car. Do you still have it?’
‘No – before I came in here, I sold it. I don’t know where it is now.’
‘Can you describe this girl?’
‘I thought she was about fourteen or fifteen. She looked that old. Long blonde hair, I remember her bright blue eyes.’
‘Do you remember what she was wearing?’
‘A pair of jeans, a light coloured blouse, pink bra and pink panties, and a jacket.’
‘Was she wearing any shoes?’
‘Yeah - pair of sneakers and pink socks.’
‘Did you burn all of her clothes and the shoes?’
‘Yeah – I didn’t want anything left behind.’
‘Have you still got the shovel you used to dig the grave?’
‘No. I don’t know where it is. Once I knew I was going to prison I got rid of everything.’
‘Thank you Denis. We’ll leave you and try and find who this girl is. At least we have a location and date of disappearance. Thank you for your honesty.’ Bundy concluded.
Kate and Bundy left the prison after speaking with Colin Hunt, ‘thanks mate for contacting us. We’ve got his story, now we’ve got to find who this child is.’ Bundy shook Colin’s hand.
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK: CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 102:

‘I’m pleased to be of help. Let me know when you want to speak to him again.’ Colin farewelled Bundy and Kate.
On their return to the office Bundy was quiet. Kate drove.
‘What’ll we do now?’ Kate asked.
‘Hopefully Larry will have the names of the missing persons and if one of them has blonde hair and disappeared from Kippa-Ring six years ago; we’ll have a name and victim.’ Bundy explained. ‘Otherwise we’re still up that proverbial creek without a paddle.’
‘Then we’ll wait until we see Larry.’ Kate finished.
‘Kate – it’s getting late, this interview took a lot out of me, emotionally. Would you mind if we get back to this tomorrow. I’ve got to drive home; I’m a bit bushed, actually.’ Bundy said.
‘Okay – what about you stay at my place tonight?’ Kate said looking across at him with a smile.
He didn’t know what to say. His thoughts of driving the hour and a half, ‘you don’t mind - I didn’t bring a change of clothes.’
‘Don’t worry about the clothes, I’ll wash and iron the ones you’re wearing, so you can wear them tomorrow.’
‘What am I going to wear in the meantime – walk around naked?’
‘I’ve got an ozi cosy you can wear.’
‘What’s an ozi cosy?’
‘You know – a wrap around to keep you warm. They’re like an oversize blanket. It won’t take long to wash your clothes and dry them.’ Kate explained.
‘Okay, what about I buy some dinner before we go to your place.’
‘I’ll have pizza; we can have it while your clothes are being washed.’
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK: CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 103:

Kate found a pizza shop. They entered and Bundy asked Kate which type she liked, ‘supreme, what about you – what will you have?’ Kate answered.
‘I think I’ll have half seafood and half pineapple.’ Bundy replied. He ordered. Living in the bush he didn’t have pizza.
Kate lived in a unit block a couple of kilometres from the centre of the city. When they entered the unit Bundy let out a gasp of surprise to see the unit overlook the Brisbane River in all its splendour and glory mirrored by the backdrop of city buildings and lights.
‘Have a look on the balcony while I put the kettle on and make you a hot chocolate.’ Kate said.
Bundy opened the sliding door, felt a cool breeze from the river and smelt CO2 from the motor vehicles driving along the freeway. Lights flashed across the city, noisy vehicles, filled his ears. He stood looking ahead and though he could never again live in the city.
‘Okay – off with everything, put this on. You can use the spare bedroom.’ Kate handed Bundy a blue coloured blanket. He entered the bedroom, closed the door and striped his clothing including his underwear.
Wrapped in the ozi cosy around his naked body – it felt strange to be in his partner’s apartment walking around practically naked. Kate took Bundy’s clothes and left the kitchen.
‘You’ve got skid marks on your undies.’ She called out, ‘I’ll bleach them.’
‘Sorry – it comes with the territory of being over sixty – loose wind.’ Bundy called back. ‘I feel like the sheik from scrubby creek – you know the song Chad Morgan sang?’
‘Too early for me, I’ve never heard of him or the song. Is it uncomfortable?’
‘No – I’m right. Kate, I appreciate you doing this.’
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK: CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 104:

Her thoughts went over the day’s activities. Bundy had done more in one day than she’d done in eight years of investigating the disappearance of Peter Clayton, she thought. Should she be more compliant with him and listen to what he has to say? No wonder the Commissioner wanted him to help.
If only the skeleton was Peter Clayton instead of a mystery child. The investigation would be over. Her thoughts went to Quincy Simpson’s theory. She’d need to think about this theory more before she made up her mind to go ahead with what to do next in Peter Clayton’s investigation.

Chapter 13

Early the next morning Bundy and Kate drove to the office and immediately contacted Larry, ‘how did you go yesterday?’ Larry asked.
‘What about we fill you in at your office, we’ll be right there.’ Kate informed Larry with a confident smile in her voice. Larry was keen to know about the interview and particularly if Denis confessed to the killing.
Kate outlined the interview between Bundy and Denis explaining how Denis drugged the girl and drove her to the forestry north of Brisbane. She explained how Denis suffocated the girl with a cloth soaked with ether. After being told of the description and location of the missing girl, Larry looked through the missing person files of all girls missing during 2006. There was one girl reported missing from Kippa Ring area. She had blonde hair and blue eyes.
Kate looked at Bundy, ‘you beauty, we’ve got him.’
‘Hang on a moment Kate, we’ve got to have the photograph identified and hopefully the parents will have something from the child to match DNA.’ Bundy explained.
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK: CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 108:

‘Can we explain to you our investigations so far?’ Kate asked.
‘Yes – come on in.’ Carol beckoned both people into her home. They entered. Inside was as neat as a pin; functional as a usual family home with the entry a foyer, a lounge room, ‘and please have a seat. Would either of you like a cup of coffee or something else?’ Carol asked.
‘A coffee would be lovely, thank you Mrs Andersen; Bundy will have a tea, with milk.’ Kate replied.
‘Call me Carol – Jim can you help me please?’ Both walked to the adjoining kitchen. ‘Have you found our daughter?’ She called from the adjoining room - tears welling in his eyes, her voice broke as she spoke.
‘We don’t know at this point.’ Bundy replied, ‘perhaps if we wait before we explain what we’ve done.’ He’d experienced a similar situation many times before.
His memory rushed back to a night when a young girl, seventeen years old was killed in a traffic accident and he had the soul-searching task to tell her parents their daughter wouldn’t be coming home again. It was the worst job he ever had to do as a police officer.
Carol bought the refreshments to a table next to the lounge Bundy and Kate sat. Jim sat in a chair next to them.
‘We think from our investigations we could have found your daughter.’ Kate explained.
Carol and Jim moved forward from their seat to listen more closely. Carol gave a sigh. They couldn’t take their eyes from Kate.
‘Where do I start?’ Kate murmured, ‘at the beginning. Let me explain where our investigation has taken us over the past couple of weeks.’ She hesitated before continuing. Bundy noticed Kate was stuck for words. She looked at him with a sign – can you do this please.
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK: CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 109:

‘Perhaps I may explain.’ Bundy stated. Kate nodded in appreciation.
‘This is not easy for us. I’ll tell you the story so far. We have been investigating the disappearance of a twelve year old boy when we were called to a forestry north of Brisbane. Remains of a skeleton were discovered by a forestry worker.’
‘Oh no – we saw the news report the other night. Is it Colleen?’ Carol put her hands over her face and sobbed. Jim moved beside his wife and placed his hand on her shoulder.
‘First we thought the skeleton could have been the missing person we were investigating until it was discovered the remains were of a female aged between eight and ten years old.’ Bundy’s voice choked with emotion. His throat tightened. He hated this part of explaining what happened. He couldn’t spit out the information because it mightn’t be the right missing person.
‘We are not one hundred percent certain if the skeleton remains are those of your daughter. Is it possible you would have a sample of her hair; or clothing she wore, or anything a DNA could be taken?’ Bundy explained as best he could.
‘Yes – yes,’ Carol rose immediately and left the room, ‘we’ve left her bedroom as it was, hoping she would come home one day. Come with me.’ She instructed.
They joined Carol in her daughter’s bedroom. Kate entered – it was a shrine with the bed neatly made; floor spotless, everything in its place. She walked to a bedside table and saw a hairbrush, ‘was this Colleen’s?’ Kate asked.
‘Yes, you take it – anything else you want, just take it, if it will help.’ Carol said. Her voice excited to know something in her bedroom could help discover her daughter’s whereabouts.
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK: CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 110:

Kate opened the build-in wardrobe to discover girls clothing, ‘can I take one of these blouses?’ She asked. Carol nodded.
‘Thank you – we’ll need to have these items scientifically examined and as soon as we know the results you will be notified.’ Kate explained while she placed the articles into a plastic evidence bag and sealed it. She wrote particulars on the label.
‘Is there any chance the skeleton belongs to our Colleen?’ Carol asked with a quiver in her voice, ‘we want to know.’
‘Sorry, at this stage we can’t say until we’re completely certain after these tests have been done. You’ll be the first to know, when we know.’ Bundy interrupted.
‘Carol – here is my card. If you need to speak with us at anytime let me know. We’ll get back to you as soon as we know the results.’ They said their farewells.
Leaving the Andersen home, Kate was silent until she expressed, ‘where to now – boy that was tough. Those poor people have waited almost six years to hear anything of their daughter. We are so close to knowing it’s her and we can’t tell them until we’re certain it is her skeleton.’
‘Yeah, life can be tough at times. I’m afraid I don’t miss a minute of what we have just done. I hated telling parents their child wouldn’t be coming home again. Let’s go see Doctor Fitzgerald tomorrow and see if he can shine any light on this investigation.’ Bundy echoed.
Early the following morning Kate drove to the Department of Forensic Pathology, commonly known as the City Morgue. They entered the building to Doctor Fitzgerald’s office.
‘Morning, Doctor Fitzgerald, I’m Detective Superintendent Kate Emerson and this is Bundy Quicksilver. We were present when you examined the skeleton at the forestry recently.’ Kate said.
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK: CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.