'The Proposition' - Page 149:
[tab=30][tab=30]‘I heard Warwick is cold place.’ Kate asked.
‘Cold – our kitchen had carpet on the floor. The taps froze over and we didn’t have water until almost midday.’ Bundy shared. ‘Enough of this reminiscing – off to Quincy’s place. Victoria is cooking dinner.’
Kate sped off and headed through Warwick and back onto the highway. When she approached the turnoff to Toowoomba, she said, ‘do we go through Toowoomba or is there another way?’
‘I think we should head toward Cunningham’s Gap toward Brisbane. At the bottom of the range we turn off at Esk and head to Kilcoy. Quincy’s place is only a few miles from Kilcoy.’ Bundy explained.
‘Okay – you lead us; obviously, you know where you’re going.’ Kate replied and followed Bundy’s instructions.
Late in the afternoon before the sun was low in the sky, they entered Quincy’s property. Quincy was in his usual place standing on the veranda. He waved when they parked at the front of his house.
Bundy and Kate alighted from the vehicle; Kate carried the sample of DNA taken from Ralph earlier that day. She handed the sample to Quincy when they reached the top stairs, ‘here is a sample of saliva taken from Ralph Petersen, who we think could be Peter’s father.’ Kate explained.
‘And a good-day to you Kate,’ Quincy said when he took the exhibit bag from her. ‘I’ll get cracking on it early tomorrow morning. How are you Bundy, me ole mate.’ He shook hands with both Kate and Bundy...

TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK: CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

The Proposition' - Page 147:
[tab=30]‘Are you certain?’ Kate asked.
‘As certain as I’m sitting here – that’s young Pete, his name is Peacock not Clayton.’ He continued.
‘If this is Peter Clayton; his grandparent’s name is Peacock.’ Kate said, ‘how long have you known him?’ Kate asked.
‘Back in 2003 I decided to give the Brisbane Exhibition another go. It was the first time I’d been there since I met Mary in 1990. Anyway, this kid came up to me at the stables and asked my name. I told him it was Ralph Petersen and why did he want to know. He wanted to get into harness racing and asked if I could use him. He was real keen.’ Ralph told them.
‘Did he get into harness racing?’ Bundy asked. He knew Ralph was telling the truth because often there were many a young person come to his stables to ask if they could work with the horses.
‘I saw he could work, he mucked out the stables and did what I asked. He told me his parents died and he was on his own. I understood because when I was around his age; I started in harness racing; John will tell you. So, I gave the young fellow a chance. Do you think Peter is my lad?’ Ralph asked in astonishment.
‘We don’t know.’ Kate said, ‘a friend of Bundy has identified Peter’s DNA from a strand of hair and clothing. If you agree, we’d like you to submit a sample of your DNA so we could compare it with the same examined by Bundy’s friend. It is voluntary. It would determine you as Peter’s father if the results are the same.’ Kate implied.
‘I’m happy to do anything. Can I ask one thing before we do it?’ Ralph asked.
‘What’s that?’ Kate answered...

'The Proposition' - Page 146:
‘This is one for the books, isn’t it? Poor fellow, what about Mary, how’s she going?’ Ralph asked with concern.
‘She’s going well but wants to know the whereabouts of her son Peter. His name is Peter Clayton. His birthday was in April this year. He would’ve turned twenty-one.’ Kate explained.
‘Ralph, John showed me the racing form for this Saturday night and I see you have a horse entered for the Queensland Championships.’ Bundy explained.
‘To right I have,’ he said with a broad smile on his face. ’It’s taken me a lifetime to find this horse – they say one comes along once in a lifetime. ‘High Class Investigator’ is the name of the horse. I’ve got young Peter Peacock driving him. He’s only one I trust.’ Ralph explained.
‘Where is Peter now?’ Bundy asked.
‘Ah, he’s over at Allora helping out his girlfriend’s family with their horses. He’ll be back in a couple of days. Why?’ Ralph wanted to know.
Kate opened her briefcase and withdrew a printed copy of the family tree she’d created before leaving her office and placed it flat on the table in front of Ralph, ‘Ralph, this is a family tree we’re designed on the computer. The main trunk is Peter Clayton who is missing. This photograph is a computer enhanced photograph of what he may look like at his present age. Would you have a look to see if you can recognize anyone in the family tree?’ Kate asked in a soft tone. She placed the print in front of Ralph.
Ralph looked at the print and immediately pointed to the photograph of Peter, ‘that’s young Pete, for sure. Is he the missing person – it sure looks like him.’ Excitement rose in his voice...

TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK: CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

'The Proposition' - Page 145:
[tab=30][tab=30]‘I’ll have a coffee with milk and Bundy a white tea, thanks Ralph.’ Kate replied. She threw a smile toward Bundy.
Ralph made the refreshments and spoke of Mary while he prepared a slice of cake and bought the items to the kitchen table.
‘She was a good looker, was Mary. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her. She was sitting near the front fence when I stopped to check the gear on my horse. I looked across to see her sitting in the front row. Her eyes sparkled. I won the race and returned to the spot hoping she’d still be there. She was. I gave her the winning ribbon, I’d won. She came with me to the loft at the stables and we spent the night together.’ Ralph explained.
‘Sounds right, Mary told us a similar story.’ Bundy interrupted.
‘What’s this about a missing twelve-year-old boy? What’s it got to do with me?’ Ralph asked.
‘Ralph, from your night of bliss with Mary, she fell pregnant and born you a child.’ Kate explained as best she could. Bundy took a sip of his tea whilst he ate a piece of cake.
‘I’m a father.’ Ralph said in disbelief.
‘It appears so. I don’t think Mary would lie about something like that.’ Kate continued.
‘How do you know? I’m not complaining. It’d be great to have a son. Is Mary okay?’ Ralph asked in a concerned voice.
‘She’s very well. A month afterward she found she was pregnant with your child, she met her future husband Les, and they married. Les always thought he was the child’s father. Unfortunately, after the boy went missing for several years; Les died. Mary thought it could have been a broken heart. She said he loved Peter.’ Kate continued...

'The Proposition' - Page 144:
[tab=30] ‘Yeah – that was me. I got grazed across the ribs.’ Ralph felt his ribs as if the injury had happened recently.
‘I remember – it must have been move than twenty years ago because I told her never to drive again, she didn’t take any notice or what I said. She drove and eventually got her drivers license.’
‘I remember her. It was 1990. Later that year was when I moved here and have been here ever since.’
‘What about you two reminisce some other time, we have work to do.’ Kate interrupted.
‘Sorry – it’s great to meet another person in harness racing.’ Ralph said, ‘what is it you want to talk to me about?’ He relaxed.
‘Ralph, we’re investigating the disappearance of a twelve-year-old boy eight years ago from his home. We’re clutching at straws and hope you may help us if you can.’ Kate explained.
‘Twelve-year-old boy missing for eight years, how does it connect with me?’ He inquired with a frown of wonderment on his forehead.
‘The missing boy is Peter Clayton. His mother is Mary Clayton which is her married name. Her maiden name was Peacock. Mary told us she went to the 1990 Brisbane Exhibition to watch harness racing events and spent the night in a loft at the stables with a trotting driver named ‘Ralph’. We discovered a name ‘Ralph’ when we searched the records of 1990. Do you know a person named Mary; and if so, did she spend the night in the loft at the stables with you?’ Kate asked. She activated her mobile phone to record their conversation.
‘You bet I do – she was the dream of my life – still is. I only knew her name Mary and wanted to find her. She’d gone before I woke the next morning. Do you know how I can contact her? It’ll be great to see her again after all of these years.’ Ralph’s voice rose with excitement and his face broke into a smile remembering the girl of his dreams. The whistle of the kettle erupted, ‘what’ll you have?’ he asked standing to make refreshments...
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK: CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.

The Proposition' - Page 143:
[tab=30]‘We’ve travelled from Brisbane. Yesterday we spoke with John O’Reilly who told us where you lived.’ Bundy told him.
‘Ole John, hey – how’s he going?’ Ralph smiled.
‘He’s good, still training horses. Can we come inside? We have a few questions we want to ask you?’ Bundy said.
‘Yeah – it’s time I knocked off anyway. I’ll put the kettle on. Follow me.’ Ralph escorted his visitors into the house which was next to the stables. Once inside he said, ‘have a seat. I won’t be long.’
Bundy and Kate sat at the kitchen table whilst Ralph filled the kettle with water and plugged it in and switched it on to boil.
‘What can I do for you? I don’t get many visitors, particular out here in the bush.’ Ralph admitted.
‘How long have you been in harness racing? My wife and I were in it for fifteen years. I can’t remember you.’ Bundy explained.
‘What’s your wife’s name?’ Ralph asked.
‘Ada Quicksilver, do you remember her?’ Bundy inquired.
‘The only Ada I ever heard of was one day at Rocklea before the races, she trialled a horse, can’t remember its name, she crashed on the track and broke some ribs. That was over twenty years ago.’ Ralph shared.
‘I remember the day. It was the day I was discharged from hospital after I had my pacemaker implanted. How did you know her?’
‘I was directly behind her horse and hit the fence, if I remember; the knee strap got caught in the hopple and the horse fell on the track.’
‘You weren’t the one who came into the first-aid room after the race to see how she was.’...

'The Proposition' - Page [b]142:[/b]
[tab=30]Kate followed Bundy’s instructions driving south from Warwick passing the hospital on the right-hand side and across the railway line. On the outskirts of Warwick, they continued until Bundy saw the right-hand turn John mentioned.
‘There’s the turn off John told us. See where it goes.’ Bundy pointed.
Kate turned right and followed a gravel road west. The further they drove the sparser the bush became. John was right – a Bandicoot needed a cut lunch to get across the paddocks. They followed the road, climbed a steep rise which opened onto an open plain.
‘There’s a house and stables across the grid. We must have found the place. There’s a trotting track and work gigs near the shed.’ Bundy explained. Excitement grew within him to see harness racing equipment and a training complex.
Kate drove alongside of the shed and parked the vehicle. Both alighted and started to walk to the opening. A man walked toward them.
‘G’day. Are you Ralph Petersen?’ Bundy called to the man as he approached them.
‘Yeah – who wants to know?’ The man replied. His hair, ginger-grey colour; clean shaven; stood about six feet in height and had an athletic build. Bundy estimated he was closing in on fifty years or older.
Bundy moved toward the man; extended his right hand in a gesture of friendship, ‘I’m Bundy Quicksilver and this is Detective Superintendent Kate Emerson. We’re from the police.’ Bundy said.
Both men shook hands and the man said, ‘I’m Ralph Petersen. Please to meet you both. How can I help? I don’t often have police visit.’ He had a strong handshake which impressed Bundy...

TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK: CLICK ONTO THIS LINK: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246166.