Pat Ritter. Books

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'The Proposition' - Page 14: In his day he would’ve done a similar thing if he’d been allowed the time to spend on a single investigation. One investigation he hated was children, especially ones who ran away from home. He hoped this wasn’t one of those investigations.

Each day moved onto the next and each moment of the day Bundy scanned the files to paint a picture of Detective Superintendent Emerson’s past eight years of her life. In the beginning, as with any missing person, the report wasn’t taken seriously. Many teenagers ran away from home. Bundy’s previous experience of these acts he personally experiences many times. Often the child returned home after one night away. However, this case was different.
Reading the files, Peter Clayton was a good lad, quiet individual, liked by many friends and especially loved by his parents. His schooling was above average. On the day he went missing, a Tuesday. Each Tuesday he walked from his home, a short distance to the railway station and boarded a north bound train. Two stops further north he visits his grandmother. To cross from one side of the town to the platform, an overhead railway bridge for pedestrians; crossed the railway tracks.
No station master or staff like in the old days, their job of issuing tickets for passengers, machines replaced them. No evidence to support he purchased a ticket from the machine at the station on the day he disappeared. This was confirmed in a note made by Detective Superintendent Emerson who investigated with the railway department to determine how many tickets were sold on the day.
Often passengers jumped the rattler (train) if they were going to the next station and didn’t pay their fare. This was not the case with the missing person because evidence regularly showed each Tuesday a ticket was purchased at this station for the second station north. On this day records showed no ticket being purchased.
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'The Proposition' - Page 15:

This was not the case with the missing person because evidence regularly showed each Tuesday a ticket was purchased at this station for the second station north. On this day records showed no ticket being purchased.
Police and SES searched the surrounding area within a kilometre of the railway station and discovered nothing. The search carried out about a month after the child was reported missing. When the missing person report was made official, newspapers published the story, little feedback from the public. It appeared this child vanished into thin air.
After days of reading, writing notes, scanning files, Bundy needed a rest, stop; look at the investigation from a different angle to identify any loopholes. Questions erupted in his mind. Evidence pointed to the child leaving his home at four-ten in the afternoon to board a four-thirty train to travel two stops north; walk to his grandmother’s home a short distance from the railway station. He never arrived. Did he board the four-thirty train?
‘Is that you Detective Superintendent Emerson?’ Bundy asked politely speaking into the receiver.
‘Yes – is that you Bundy? I’ve been waiting to hear from you. I’ve thought about phoning a couple of times but didn’t want to disturb you. Have you found anything yet?’
‘No – not yet, I’m brain dead to tell the truth. I’ve been thinking; have you ever been to harness racing on a Saturday night?’
‘No – why should you ask?’
‘Would you like to go this Saturday night? That’s if you’re not doing anything.’
‘I’m not doing anything – yeah, I suppose – I’ve never been to a racetrack in my life.’
‘Do you know where Albion Park Paceway is?’
‘Yeah – I think so, anyway I’ve got a GPS; I’ll find it.’

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'The Proposition' - Page 16:

‘I’ll meet you at the front gate around seven. Would that be okay?’
‘Alright, I’ll see you then.’
They said their goodbyes. Detective Superintendent Emerson couldn’t understand why he wanted to meet her at Albion Park Paceway. Did he have information about the missing child?

Saturday night arrived and as prearranged Bundy waited at the front gate of Albion Park Paceway to greet his guest. She walked toward him. At first, he didn’t recognize her because she was dressed to the nines. Totally different to when he first met her on the first day. Her hair fell down the nape of her neck, shiny and floated as she walked toward him. She dressed in a summer dress which suited the climate.
‘Thank you for coming,’ he extended his hand to shake her hand, ‘I need a rest to recharge my batteries.’ He said calmly.
‘Wow – look at this place, I’ve never been to anything like this before. How do you know about this?’ She asked.
‘My wife was an owner – trainer – driver of horses and raced here most Saturday nights. I needed to get away and refresh my thoughts and this is as good a place as any to do it.’
‘Let’s go and enjoy it.’ She said with a smile in her voice.
They entered the turnstiles and walked to the escalator and rode to the top floor.
‘I’ve reserved a table for two at the restaurant.’ Bundy expressed to his partner.
‘I never expected this?’ She echoed as Bundy walked toward a man waiting to seat customers at their tables.

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'The Proposition' - Page 17:

‘Have you a reservation for two in the name of Quicksilver?’ Bundy asked.
The attendant looked at a book on the table and said, ‘yes, this way sir and madam.’ He ushered them to a table in front of a huge window looking across the track. Flood lights brightened the track - it could have been mistaken for daytime.
‘This is wonderful – I’ve never been to a place like this before. It’s so huge. You actually came here each Saturday night.’ She replied with glee. Her demeanour reminded him of his daughter Nicole when they dined together at the same venue.
‘We enjoyed our time here. I needed to wait until I retired to enjoy it fully. When I was in the police we weren’t allowed to own or be involved in horseracing nor racing of any kind. It wasn’t until I retired, my wife decided to take up the sport.’
‘Was she successful?’
‘Yeah – she raced here and this is the pinnacle of harness racing in the State.’
‘Bundy – it’s lovely and thank you for inviting me. I feel alive and relaxed. I’ve never done this before.’ She smiled and her eyes glittered in the light.
‘I thought you’d enjoy it. Now, do you want to bet on the next race or have an entrée?’
‘Oh. I’ve never bet before. Can you show me?’
‘Here is a racebook. Open it to race two. Each horse’s name is on the left-hand side with the driver’s name opposite. These figures show the places the horse finished in their previous start.’ He pointed to the book.
‘Here’s a good name – ‘High Class Investigator’, I’ll have ten dollars on it for a win. It’s an omen.’
Bundy looked across to the monitor, ‘it’s one hundred to one. If it wins you win a thousand dollars.’

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'The Proposition' - Page 18:
‘How do I place the bet?’ She asked taking a ten dollar note from her purse.
‘Are you sure – what about having five dollars each way.’
‘No – I want the whole ten dollars on the nose, is that the right terminology?’
‘Okay I’ll put it on for you. Hope you have good luck?’
Bundy walked to the totaliser window and placed the ten dollars to win on number twelve.’ He returned to his seat and handed her the ticket.
‘It’s against the odds and the form is off, the only thing going for you he has drawn number 12. The same age as our victim when he disappeared.’
‘Why do you think I picked the horse; and the name of course?’ She smiled and kissed the ticket for luck.
‘Do you want to order before the race?’ Bundy asked.
‘Can we have a drink, not coffee or chocolate, a strong drink – a nice wine, would be nice.’ She used a warm tone.
A waiter appeared before their table and asked if they wanted any drinks. ‘Yes, have you a dry white wine - Bundy what’ll you have?’
‘An orange drink – thank you, I don’t drink.’

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Thank you dub. Page for today.

'The Proposition' - Page 19:

Chapter 3

‘Are you frightened of being arrested for drink driving?’ Detective Superintendent Emerson asked.
‘No – I’m an alcoholic. My last drink was 13th January 1977.’
‘That’s a long time ago. Can’t you have a drink to be sociable?’ She asked.
If only she knew me when I drank alcohol, Bundy thought. ‘If I have one, I’d need to have a thousand. One’s too many and a thousand’s not enough.’ He explained.
‘I congratulate you,’ their eyes met for the first time.
‘Thank you – it’s not necessary. Ada gave me an ultimatum, if I didn’t stop drinking, she would leave and take my children. I made her a promise I would never drink again. I’ve kept the promise.’
‘You must have loved her very much?’
‘Yes, I did – she and my children were my life. For twenty years I was a dry drunk until I worked as an alcohol and drug counsellor and learned to change my behaviour and found out what caused my alcoholism.’ Bundy shared.
‘That’s something to be proud of. I don’t have a problem; at least I don’t think I have. I enjoy a glass of good wine with my meal or after a hard day at the office. If I drink too much you tell me - you can counsel me.’ She replied with a smile.
‘I doubt you’ve got a problem. I know this job can drive you to drink at times but my problem began when I was six years old.’
‘Did you start drinking then?’
‘No – I was twelve when I had my first drink of alcohol, a similar age to our victim and the number you’ve bet on in this next race. It was another sixteen years before I stopped drinking, another twenty years after that, before the penny finally dropped.’ Bundy never shared this information with anyone apart from Ada.

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'The Proposition' - Page 20:

‘What’s going on out there?’ Detective Superintendent Emerson pointed to the parade ring.
‘The horses and drivers are going onto the track. Your number twelve looks fit. I haven’t been to the races since Ada died and lost interest with the horses and drivers. I used to know each one by name – one time.’
Number twelve did look fit, his coat shiny and glossy, head erect and hooves stamping ready to go. He thought of having a small wager himself but he’d given up betting a long time ago - a mugs game. Money was safer in his pocket.
Over the fifteen years or so he was involved in the harness racing industry he saw enough to warn him from betting. Trainers were peeling the paint from their stable walls to survive, would bet their last dollar on their horse, thinking it would win. If he, as a person in the industry, didn’t know what horse would win, then what chance did the punter have betting on the race? Like Detective Superintendent Emerson said, it was an omen bet.
‘How do they race?’ She asked.
‘Look over at the back of the track and you’ll see a mobile utility with barriers. The vehicle with arms spread across the back. Each horse numbered; one to ten line-ups behind their number on the mobile – number eleven and twelve are on the second line. When the mobile gathers speed and each horse is in-line; the mobile speeds off and the race begins.’ Bundy explained.
‘My horse has got to run through the ones in front to win. Why didn’t you explain it to me before I had the bet?’
‘I tried to explain, you didn’t take notice. Why do you think your horse is one hundred to one?’