Pat Ritter. Books

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'The Proposition' - Page 34:

‘Two streets back. Mrs Clayton says he always left home to board the train between four-ten and four-fifteen in the afternoon to be on the four-thirty train to visit his grandmother. He was a creature of habit.’
‘Can we leave the car here and walk the streets he would’ve walked on the day?’ Bundy asked. Kate agreed. She locked the police vehicle after placing an OFFICIAL POLICE VEHICLE sign on the front dashboard against the windscreen.
‘This way.’ She walked in front of Bundy a couple of steps tracing the pathway Peter would’ve taken that day. When they crossed the first intersection across the road was a shopping centre.
‘How long has this shopping centre been here?’ Bundy asked.
‘Only a couple of years. There was open paddock before it was built.’
‘Do you know if Peter took a short-cut through this paddock?’ Bundy queried. ‘I don’t know. I could ask Mrs Clayton when we see her. There’s her place over there.’ Kate pointed to a pale blue coloured house in the street behind the shopping centre. ‘We’d better get back to the car – it’s nearing eleven o’clock and I don’t want to be late.’ Kate finished.
‘Okay – on our way back count the number of steps he would’ve taken to get to the overhead railway bridge.’ Bundy asked.
‘Why?’ Kate asked in astonishment.
‘I want to know how many steps it takes to get to the overhead railway bridge – that’s all.’ Bundy answered.
Kate began counting the steps from the shopping centre to the overhead railway bridge. ‘Two hundred and thirty-eight.’ She declared and looked at Bundy. He noted the number. ‘Alright Mr Detective – why did you want me to count these steps?’ Kate asked...

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‘I wanted to see if you did what I asked – that’s all. Otherwise there was no point to it.’ Bundy shared with his partner.
‘Are you having a piece of me, for if you are, don’t forget I’m ‘The Boss’ and I’m the one who reports what we do to your mate the Commissioner.’ Kate exploded. ‘Ah, I know you’re ‘The Boss’’, he emphasised, ‘two hundred and thirty-eight steps, at say, three quarters of a metre a step. How far is that?’
Kate quickly drew her mobile phone from her pocket, flipped the lid, press buttons to calculate the metres, ‘close enough to one hundred and seventy-nine metres.’ Kate answered and closed her mobile telephone and replaced it in her pocket.
‘One hundred and seventy-nine metres – let’s say one hundred and eighty metres to round it off.’ Bundy said.
‘What’s the point?’ Kate asked.
‘Now we have an estimate to gauge of approximately how far he walked and if he left home a good ten minutes seems a lot of time to waste before he reached the station. What do you think?’ Bundy asked.
‘I never looked at it this way. I only looked at the time he left home and the time the train left the station.’ Kate questioned.
‘Did you find if the train was on-time that particular day?’ Bundy questioned.
‘Yes – it was on-time, exactly four-thirty it arrived at the station.’
‘Alright – let’s visit Mrs Clayton.’ Bundy finished...

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'The Proposition' - Page 36:

Chapter 5

Mrs Clayton was as Kate described her, warm, loving, and dedicated wife, and mother. ‘How are you Kate?’ She smiled, met them at the front door walked toward Kate swung her arms around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek, ‘who have you here – a man.’ She exclaimed.
‘This is Bundy Quicksilver; he’s helping me with Peter’s disappearance.’
She extended her right hand to take Bundy’s extended hand and said, ‘any friend of Kate’s is a friend of mine. Welcome to my humble home. Do come in, I’ll place another plate at the table.’
Bundy warmed to this woman immediately, her shiny hazel eyes bright against the sun. She was warm and loving human being. First impressions always paid off, he knew she was honest and sincere. He felt comfortable and relaxed. Each room almost spotless, when a house was clean and tidy, he liked it. He could tell the personality of a person when he saw where they lived.
‘Kate you know where to go – through to the dining room; I’ll set another setting for Mr Quicksilver.’
‘Call me Bundy – all my friends do, even Kate.’ Bundy answered with a smile in his voice.
‘Okay Bundy - that’s a strange name?’ She replied.
‘My parents named me after Bundaberg Rum because if you drink too much, it’s like Quicksilver. The name stuck.’ He explained.
‘Is it short for something other than Bundy?’ She asked.
‘No – it’s Bundy, same as the rum. I think my father must have drunk it on the night I was born.’

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‘It’s a lovely name.’ Mrs Clayton walked into the dining room where Kate and Bundy were seated. ‘Bundy, can I impose upon you to sit at the head of the table. Men should sit at the head of the table.’ She instructed.
Bundy moved and repositioned to the head of the table with Mrs Clayton on his right. She’d prepared cold meat with salad.
‘What do you drink, Bundy?’ Mrs Clayton asked.
‘Hot chocolate,’ Kate interrupted, ‘he’s a hot chocolate man.’ She grinned and sneered at Bundy.
‘Mrs Clayton, I see you’ve made a pot of tea. Tea would be fine, thank you. Hot chocolate is a little joke between Kate and me.’ He answered glaring at Kate.
‘I think instead of calling me Mrs Clayton – why don’t you call me Mary. I’d much prefer you did.’ She said and looked at Bundy.
‘My pleasure – Mary it is.’
Whilst they ate, conversation continued more from Kate to explain why Bundy was included into the investigation. Kate explained how the Commissioner contacted Bundy and requested him to help her.
‘It’s been eight years since he disappeared. Peter turned twenty-one in April just gone. He’s on my mind most of the time; I know you are doing a fine job Kate, with Bundy on board, we might find out if Peter is dead or alive.’ Mary said.
‘This is an awkward question to ask. Do you feel Peter is still alive? I know mothers often have a particular feeling about their children.’ Bundy asked.
‘You know Bundy, I dream of Peter most nights, how he’s coping. I know he’s alive. I wouldn’t dream about him otherwise.’ She finished, slowly selecting her words.
‘Can you describe these dreams?’ Bundy asked in a sincere and concerned voice...

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‘Sometimes they’re a little hazy; like I see him standing near a large shed, built from sheets of iron. He looks happy; glad and is taller. I see it’s him because he’s shovelling dirt, or perhaps it might be something else. I’m not certain.’ She stopped, placed her knife and fork beside her plate and took a tissue from inside her bra to wipe her eyes.
‘I’m sorry Mary, soon after my wife Ada died; she appeared in my dreams nightly. At first I couldn’t tell whether or not she was still alive or I only saw her in my dreams.’
‘I have similar dreams of my Les. He died two years ago; I miss him terribly but I know in my heart he’s at peace.’ Mary consoled.
‘Although it’s been nine years since I lost my love, Ada, she continues to appear in my dreams. It’s taken a long time to realise she’s gone to somewhere other than being with me. How I knew she’d gone was, one day about six months after she died, I was sitting on the front veranda at home and my left hand pointed toward her grave at the front of the house. I felt a twinge on the point of my left index finger. One second it was there and the next it was gone. After that moment I felt peace within myself.’ Bundy shared.
‘I haven’t felt the twinge or anything, but I know Les is still in the house. I speak with him and he answers. At times, I don’t know if I’m going crazy, I know he’s not coming back, so I’ve got to get on with life the best I know how. It’s a different feeling about Peter. I honestly believe he is going to walk through the front door one day. When, I don’t know – it will happen.’
‘I sincerely hope you’re right, Mary. I surely do.’ Bundy finished.
They finished lunch and Bundy requested he do the washing up, ‘you can stay if you want. Les never washed up in all the time we were married.’ Mary stated and smiled at him...

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‘Unfortunately, there’s no evidence of any sighting of Peter. You may have been the last person to have seen him before he disappeared.’ Bundy stated.
Mary wiped her eyes, ‘when he arrived on the footpath, I thought he’d be safe; I went into the house to prepare Les’s dinner. If only I watched him walk over the overhead bridge.’ She sobbed.
‘Don’t blame yourself. We’re trying to piece together his final steps. We know he didn’t purchase a ticket on the day; we know he didn’t arrive at your mother’s home a couple of stops further along the track. Our next step is to find out what happened to him.’ Bundy said.
‘I know he’s alive – I can feel it, he’s my son, it’s a mother’s instinct.’ Mary concluded.
Bundy and Kate thanked Mary for her hospitality and promised to return and keep her up to date with the investigation.

‘What do you think?’ Kate asked Bundy after they settled in the vehicle.
‘Mary’s honest – that’s for sure. I think our work is done here, for now. Would you be able to drop me off at my home? I want to go over those files you downloaded to see if anything jumps out.’ Bundy told Kate.
‘Sure – what’s next?’
‘I’ve told you about my forensic scientist friend Quincy Simpson.’
‘We have our own forensic scientists.’ Kate interrupted.
‘Yes – I know, but I want you to meet Quincy. You’d like him. He has a way of seeing things differently.’ Bundy explained to Kate.
‘Alright - when do we visit this friend of your’s – Quincy Simpson?’ She asked.

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‘I’ve got to phone him first to see when he’s available. He lives with his wife on farm and breeds cattle.’
‘I’ve got a mobile phone here – if you want to use it?’ Kate handed Bundy her mobile phone.
‘How do you use this contraption?’ Bundy asked. He looked bewildered as if he’d been handed a bomb.
‘Flip the lid, dial the number and speak into the receiver.’ Kate instructed.
He flipped the lid; flashing lights highlighted the dials. Pressing Quincy’s telephone number, he heard noises he’d never heard before and immediately handed the phone to Kate.
‘Wait until I pull over to the curb?’ She slowed the vehicle and stopped. ‘You’re a bloody sissy – you know. What is his telephone number?’ She demanded. Bundy gave her the number and she quickly dialled it. Noises came from the phone and Kate pressed the green button; she handed the open phone to Bundy.
‘Hello.’ – Bundy shouted into the phone.
‘Is that you Bundy – why are you shouting, I can hear you. I’m not that bloody deaf I can’t hear.’ A voice came from the other end.
‘Quincy, will you be home for awhile. I want to come and see you. Put the kettle on we’ll be there in about half-an-hour.’ Bundy told his friend.
‘Who’s we?’ Quincy asked.
‘I’ll tell you about it when we arrive.’ Bundy replied.
‘See you when you get here.’ The phone disconnected. Bundy returned it to Kate who closed the lid and returned it to her trouser pocket.
‘Where do we go from here?’ She wanted to know.
‘Up the range, that way’, he pointed west, ‘I’ll show you where to go. It’s about half-an-hour’s drive.’