Pat Ritter. Books

[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 134:
‘Do you have records of trotting drivers dating back twenty-two years to 1990?’ Bundy asked.
‘You’ll have to look through them yourselves, the show starts next week and you know how busy we are before the show.’ Norm explained.
‘That’s okay – point us in the right direction?’ Bundy asked.
‘I’ll take you – ah, you should remember, upstairs above the canteen. You remember carrying those boxes of tickets down the stairs and I told you not too because you had a bad heart.’ Norm reminded Bundy.
‘Yes, I remember. You were only looking after my health. I carried most of the boxes down the stairs and didn’t keel over if I remember.’
‘You were lucky – what’s this all about?’ Norm asked as they left his office and all three walked to the canteen in the main pavilion.
‘Kate has been investigating the disappearance of a twelve-year-old boy and we think he could’ve come here to look for his father. It’s only a guess at this stage. We’re clutching at straws. His mother told us she had a one-night affair with a trotting driver named Ralph back in 1990. Does it help?’ Bundy explained.
Norm thought about the name ‘Ralph’, ‘not much. Nothing rings a bell. I’ll show you where to go and you can look through the records. You certainly haven’t got much to go on.’
They walked up a flight of stairs to a door on a small platform. Norm put a key in the lock and opened a door. They entered a small room, smelt stuffy of cardboard and stale air.
‘I’ll open the windows to let in some fresh air.’ Norm opened casements windows on the side of the room. ‘Here are all the show records for the past fifty years. Each box has a year stamped on it – have a look for 1990 and see what you can find. I’ll leave you the key and don’t forget to lock up after you leave and return the key to me.’...

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'The Proposition' - Page 135:
‘Thanks Norm, I appreciate your help.’
‘Okay I’ll leave you to it. See me before you leave.’ Norm left.
‘This isn’t what I expected.’ Kate exploded and looked directly at Bundy with a look and said, ‘this is not what I’m meant to do’.
‘What did you expect – Ralph to jump out a box and show himself.’ Bundy fought back. What was it with these modern officers – they expect everything to fall into their lap without working for it, he thought it better to not express his true feelings? ‘Come on then, let’s start looking through these boxes or we’ll never get out of here.’
Kate walked beside boxes piled ten high toward the ceiling. The room began to heat up without a breeze floating through the open windows. It was a storeroom afterall with no air-conditioning. Each cardboard box was the size of a fruit box, thirty centimetres in length; twenty centimetres wide and a similar distance in height.
‘I’d better move these for you; they might be a little heavy.’ Bundy went to lift the first carton but Kate moved in front of him and lifted the top box from the pile and placed it onto the floor.
‘There you are - I’m not so useless. What year is this one?’ She said through a shallow breath.
‘1962.’ Bundy replied.
‘We have a good way to go – don’t we?’ Kate moved to take another box from the pile and noticed it was marked 1965. ‘At least we’re heading in the right direction.’ She said.
Bundy counted each box from 1965 to what he thought could be 1990. He lifted a box to the floor marked 1990. ‘We have it.’...

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[patritter]

'The Proposition' - Page 136:
Each box was sealed with tape. Bundy tore the tape from the top of the box and opened the lid. Inside was packed sheets of paper. He lifted the top sheet and read – Royal National Show 1990.
‘At least we have the right box, now to see the trotting events.’ He lifted each sheet from the box and placed one at a time onto another box. Kate surveyed the entries.
‘Here are harness racing events.’ Kate placed a pile of sheets of printed paper on top of another box, ‘now to find ‘Ralph’, come on ‘Ralph’ – show yourself.’ She fingered through each sheet, reading for names of drivers as she glanced at each sheet.
‘Why don’t you hand me half of the pile so I can help you. It’s getting hot in here and the sooner we find the correct sheet – the sooner we can leave.’ Bundy said.
Kate halved the pile and handed one half to Bundy. They scanned the sheet of forms, one by one until Kate said, ‘here is a name ‘Ralph’ - Petersen; won race 4 on the programme.’ Kate showed Bundy the entry and the form.
‘We’ll take it with us. The name Ralph Petersen doesn’t ring a bell. Have a look to see if there’s any other ‘Ralph’ as a driver.’
Both continued searching each sheet of paper and finally only found one entry with ‘Ralph’ who competed at the show. They took possession of the sheet, returned the other forms to the box, closed the flaps, tried to seal the edges with the disused sticky tape and replaced the box in with the pile of other boxes.
They locked the room and returned to Norm’s office.
‘How’d you go – find anything?’ Norm asked.
‘We think so – the only name ‘Ralph’ for 1990 was a fellow named Ralph Petersen who won a race.’ Bundy showed Norm the entry form...

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'The Proposition' - Page 137:
‘I’ll photocopy this form and you can take it with you.’ Norm went to the photocopy machine pushed a button and a copy of the form was ready for Bundy and Kate. ‘I’ll keep the original. Where did you leave the box?’ Norm asked.
‘It’s on top of the other boxes – marked 1990. Do you want me to replace it before we leave?’ Bundy asked.
‘No – I’ll get Joe to do it. You remember being my assistant. Joe does what you used to do when you were here.’ Norm said with a smile.
‘Norm - thanks for your help. It means a lot. I was hoping to show Kate the stable area before we leave if it’s alright with you.’ Bundy asked.
‘Go for your life, you know where to go. Don’t be quite a stranger next time, you also Kate. Let me know how you get on finding this fellow.’ They shook hands and left Norm’s office.
Bundy and Kate drove to the stabling area on the top side of the show grounds and parked. They walked into the stables. Bundy pointed to lofts above each stable which housed competitors whilst they stayed for the period at the show. Smell of horse manure and straw filled his nostrils. Wonderful memories returned through his senses to form visions in his mind of his wife training horses. He remembered cleaning each stable by ranking the wet sawdust and manure while she trained the horses, the joy of winning a race, few as they were. They did it together. Tears welled in his eyes.
‘One of those lofts was the place where Mary had her fling. I hope this is the right ‘Ralph’’. Bundy said and felt his throat thicken. They returned to their vehicle.
Driving away from the stables Kate asked, ‘where to now?’
‘You remember the night you won twelve hundred dollars at the trots.’...

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'The Proposition' - Page 138:

‘How could I ever forget?’
‘You remember before we left, I introduced you to John O’Reilly.’
‘I suppose – it’s a lifetime ago, why John O’Reilly?’
‘John knows everyone in harness racing and would be the right person who would help us, now we have a name Ralph Petersen.’
‘Where do we find John O’Reilly?’
‘I’d say at this time of the day he’d be at his stables at Albion Park.’
‘Where to from here,’ Kate asked.
‘Back the way we came – turn onto Breakfast Creek Road and follow the signs to Albion Park Paceway. You remember the paceway?’
‘I sure do.’ Kate admitted with a smile on her face.
Ten minutes later they parked their vehicle in John’s stables carpark and alighted. The stabling complex was huge with double gates, closed to the public, high constructed steel walls along the front section with accommodation for parking.
Bundy opened the double steel gate where horses were exercising on a walking machine – walking round and round in a circle with their halters fastened to a machine like a Hills Clothes Host but ten times larger. John sat on an old chair against the wall watching the horses.
‘G’day John,’ Bundy called over the noise of the radio.
He looked toward Bundy and said, ‘bloody hell, why don’t you scare the daylight out of a fella. I’m waiting for these horses to warm down and you pop up from nowhere. How are you?’ He rose from his chair and switched off the radio.
‘Great mate – you remember Kate?’ Bundy said when he shook John’s hand...

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'The Proposition' - Page 139:

‘You’re the one who backed the one hundred to one winner.’ John replied.
‘You’ve a good memory.’ She shook hands with John.
‘Take a seat – now how can I help you. You wouldn’t be here for your health nor to find a job, would you Bundy?’ He looked directly at him.
‘No – I’m gainfully employed, thanks mate. You remember we told you the last time we spoke; we were investigating the disappearance of a twelve-year-old boy. John - we’d like your help?’ Bundy explained.
‘What can I do for you – you know I’ll help you as much as I can.’ He replied with a solemn look.
‘Do you know or ever heard of a harness racing driver by the name of Ralph Petersen?’ Bundy asked, getting straight to the point.
‘Ralph Petersen – yeah I know him well; he’s not around these parts anymore. Kate, you should know him because he trained the horse you won your money on. What’s the name of the horse?’ John explained.
‘High Class Investigator,’ Kate replied.
‘Yeah – that’s the horse. He’s won plenty since, but never at the odds you got. The horse is nominated this Saturday night’s Queensland Championships here at Albion Park. Wait – I’ll get the form page.’ John left his seat and walked to a small kitchen and returned with a form page. He glanced at the page and said, ‘here it is, a young fellow, Peter Peacock is driving him. He’s a bloody good up and coming driver.’ He handed the form page to Bundy.
Bundy read the page and identified ‘High Class Investigator’ and Ralph Petersen as the trainer. What took his eye was the name of the driver ‘Peter Peacock’. ‘John, how well do you know Ralph Petersen?’ He asked.
‘You never see him around much now only when he’s got a good horse, and he’s got a good one. I’ve known ole Ralph for years – he used to only race at the Brisbane Exhibition each year and Rocklea when they raced there. He moved away to the other side of Warwick - been there ever since.’ John explained.
‘Where in Warwick – do you know?’ Bundy once lived in Warwick and was familiar with the area. He served there as a detective back in the 80’s.
‘If I remember, I’ve only been to his place once or maybe twice. I remember you drive through Warwick toward Stanthorpe and about five kilometres south of Warwick, you’ll see a turnoff to your right. I can’t remember the name of the road but it’s the only turnoff. Turn right and follow the road for about five kilometres. It takes you into rough country – hilly, scrubby country, only use for wild pigs, kangaroos, and feral animals. It’s rough up there. Bandicoot needs a cut lunch to get across the paddocks.’ John said...

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Proposition' 141:
‘This’ll do.’ She parked the vehicle in front of a café.
‘I’ll visit the toilet while you order.’ Bundy said and walked toward the toilet next to the café.
‘This is a lovely town.’ Kate said when Bundy joined her seated at a table facing the road.
‘It is - my wife and I travelled this road. We stopped at this café for coffee.’ His thoughts returned to a time when he and Ada went on a Sunday afternoon drive in the countryside to get away from the city. The trip was their release from the pressure of horse training.
‘Where do we go from here?’ Kate asked.
‘Along this road - we turn right and drive west to Toowoomba, and head to Warwick. I suppose we have another couple of hours before we get there. Then we need to find Ralph Petersen’s place.’ Bundy explained.
‘Okay, finish your cup-of-tea and let’s get on the road.’ Kate replied.
‘Are you right to drive?’ Bundy asked.
‘Yeah – I love driving. I could drive all day. Let’s go.’ She insisted.
Bundy directed her to turn right when he saw a sign marked ‘Toowoomba’ on the outskirts of Esk. Kate followed the signs and eventually arrived in Toowoomba. She continued along the main street and found the turn-off to Warwick. Within one hour they arrived.
‘Do you want to go out to Ralph’s place first or call in to speak with the local police?’ Kate asked.
‘I think the element of surprise is better. We don’t know if he’s the right fellow until we speak to him. Follow the New England Highway towards Stanthorpe.’ Bundy instructed......