Pat Ritter. Books

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'The Proposition' (A Bundy Quicksilver Mystery) - Page 60:

‘Yes – I want to work with you, but I think a couple of weeks rest and recuperation would help.’
‘It might be alright for you to have a lovely place in the beautiful Mary Valley – what about me, where will I go?’ She voiced.
‘I own a holiday unit at Kings Beach, Caloundra. You’re welcome to stay there as long as you want. It’s beautiful at Caloundra. I go there when I need time off to recharge my batteries.’ Bundy noticed an immediate change in Kate. Her face smoothed – her eyes brightened; he saw the wheels in her mind moving.
‘I suppose a couple of weeks wouldn’t hurt. What would I do?’ She calmly admitted.
‘Why don’t we go for a drive and see for yourself and you can decide what to do. Have you been to Caloundra before?’ Bundy asked. He didn’t want her out of his hair but he wanted her to work with him willingly. This type of investigation on how to solve this mystery was uppermost in Bundy’s mind and Quincy’s theory might work. He had confidence in Quincy’s ‘secret weapon’.
‘Okay, it wouldn’t hurt to have a look - I don’t suppose.’ She lowered her voice and looked directly into Bundy’s eyes, ‘thank you for the offer. When I think about the years I’ve worked on this case I do think I need a holiday.’
One hour later Bundy opened the front door to the unit and they both entered.
‘Is that you Bundy?’ An aged female voice called from the front veranda of the unit next door. Bundy opened the sliding front doors and walked to the veranda.
‘Hello Mrs Elliott, this is Kate Emerson, she will be staying in the unit for a couple of weeks.’ Kate leaned across the rail to shake Mrs Elliot’s hand.
‘I’m pleased to meet you. I’m certain we’ll get along fine seeing you’re a friend of Bundy’s. You call on

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me whenever you want anything.’ She called before returning to her own unit.
‘This is absolutely beautiful Bundy.’ Kate told him. A soft sea breeze brushed against her hair and face; she looked out from the unit to the ocean and saw a large cargo ship turning the point. ‘Look there’s a ship – where would it be going?’ She asked as if a child wanting to know an answer from her father.
‘It’s the shipping channel, I sit here for hours and look out to sea, - it’s soothing and relaxing. They are cargo ships laden with overseas containers destined for the port of Brisbane. See how low they are in the water, the water line, the black line running around the hull of the ship is close to the water, so they must be heavy containers coming from overseas’. He concluded.
‘Yeah, I see what you mean. Alright Bundy - you’re right again, I do need a holiday and this will do me the world of good for a couple of weeks.’ Kate felt tension drain from her body and mind and felt more relaxed than she’d felt for a long time.
‘I’d better show you around. You have the choice of the spare bedroom or the main bedroom. Linen is in the cupboard, take whichever room you want. You’ll need to stock the kitchen. I normally eat out when I’m here or at times Mrs Elliott invites me for a meal. She’s a wonderful neighbour and caretaker.’ Bundy explained, ‘before we return to the office I want you to consider reading this book while you’re here.’ Bundy handed Kate a book about ‘learning to direct thoughts with one’s mind’.
Kate had a quick look at the cover and flipped through the pages without reading any of the contents. ‘If it’s what you want me to do – I’ll do it. I can’t see how it’s going to find Peter Clayton but at this stage I’m willing to try anything.’ She said.

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After a couple of weeks of relaxation, long coffee breaks with Mrs Elliott, Kate felt refreshed and alive. She read the book Bundy left, from cover to cover and couldn’t understand why she needed to read it. She thought of the moment and his words when he handed her the book, asking her in a kind and sincere voice if she would read it. Kate was a detective through and through. She believed in facts – not some rules of thought to direct the mind what to do. What was he playing at?
At a morning coffee break with Mrs Elliott the subject of Bundy was bought up in their conversation, ‘how did you meet Bundy?’ Kate asked.
‘I’ve lived here for many years Kate. Unfortunately my husband passed away and I thought about selling the unit until Bundy purchased the unit next door. I was lonely and he’d recently lost the love of his life through cancer and we sort of helped each other through our grief, sadness and sorrow. It’s good to talk about these things.’ She explained.
Kate didn’t know how to interpret Mrs Elliott’s first meeting with Bundy. Were they lovers, she thought – no – she’s older than he is and would Bundy love another after the death of his wife? She wondered.
‘Over the years you obviously learnt many things about Bundy?’ Kate asked. She didn’t want to say it as a direct question or place her under interrogation.
‘He’s a gentleman and at times takes an old lady like me to the tavern up the road for dinner. I feel young again when we go to the tavern. It gives me a chance to play the poker machines.’ She smiled, ‘while Bundy plays his favourite game of keno.’
‘How often does he stay at the unit?’ Kate asked.
‘Few times a year – when he feels he’s got to get away, it’s a great place to relax. How has your stay been Kate?’ She asked.

[mzawf]

Shocking pictures on the News about the recent freak weather events in Australia.
It's difficult to comprehend the devastation individuals must feel when faced with such situations.
Our thoughts are with you and hope life returns to a semblance of normality very soon.

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Thank you mzawf for your kind thoughts. Yes, we in the Gympie, only a week ago had floods, down south in Tasmania and Victoria suffered fires. Hopefully everything should return to normal so we can get on with our lives. I feel very sorry for the residence of Bundaberg (about two hour drive north). Houses lifted off their stumps and washed away in the flood ending up on the main highway. Here is the page for today: 'The Proposition' (A Bundy Quicksilver Mystery) - Page 63:

‘Wonderful, thank you, my batteries are re-charged and I’ve rearing to get back into it.’ Kate replied.

Chapter 8

Monday morning Kate arrived at the office earlier than she’d been before. She wanted to get re-started on the investigation, her mind ready for work. Bundy arrived at his usual time of eight o’clock.
‘How was the break Kate?’ He asked when he entered the office and saw Kate seated behind her desk clanging away on the keyboard of her computer.
‘Wonderful, thanks Bundy.’ She replied in a sweet voice. She rose from her seat and threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Bundy felt embarrassed.
‘What was that for?’ He asked in a soft voice wiping the lipstick from the side of his cheek with his handkerchief.
‘I wanted you to know how pleased I am to work with you.’ She told him with a smile in her voice.
‘Thank you for your kind expression of appreciation but you must know we are work colleagues and I’ve never been shown such appreciation before – from a colleague that is.’ He muttered feeling embarrassed by the kind deed Kate performed.
‘Can’t a work colleague show her appreciation of what her work colleague does for her?’ She asked in a seductive voice emphasing the word ‘work’.
‘Yes – but don’t forget I’m old enough to be your father.’ Bundy replied.
‘Speaking of old enough – Mrs Elliott is old enough to be your mother. What’s going on there?’ She asked in an inquisitive voice.

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‘Mrs Elliott is a fine lady – yes, she is old enough to be my mother, I agree. She’s warm and considerate, and a lovely person to know.’ He told her.
‘Yeah, she told me about you taking her to the tavern so she could play the poker machines.’
‘I put it down as my civic duty to keep her company. She’s lived a tough life and if I can do anything to help her enjoy the life she has now, then I’ll do it.’ Bundy felt humble and knew what he did for Mrs Elliott was nothing compared to what she did for him shortly after he lost his wife. It was a tough time for each of them. ‘Anyway, did you read the book I left?’ Bundy asked Kate.
‘Yes, I read it from cover to cover. Don’t ask me if I understand that humbo jumbo stuff because I don’t. Bundy - I look at facts and facts only.’ She made a statement.
‘Okay, thank you for reading it. At this stage it mightn’t be any help but as the investigation goes on it’ll come in handy, particularly with Mary.’
‘Why Mary?’ The question intrigued Kate.
‘While you’ve been absent enjoying yourself, Quincy and I have been doing important work.’ Bundy told her.
‘I can’t wait to hear about this – what is it you two have cooked up now?’ Kate rubbed her hands together in a gesture to find out more.
‘You remember before you went away we obtained a sample of hair and clothing from Mary to help identify Peter’s DNA?’ Bundy told her.
‘Yes – we took it to Quincy that afternoon. What happened?’
‘Quincy has his own laboratory in a shed on his property. You may remember the shed on the left hand side after we drove past the cattle yards. Well, he has discovered the DNA from the hair sample matched to samples of DNA

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from the clothing to prove it belonged to the same person.’ Bundy explained.
‘I don’t think we need to be a forensic scientist to understand the two belong to Peter Clayton.’ Kate expressed in an eager voice to show she understood.
‘It’s important Kate. Now we have exact samples of DNA, we can form a family tree to find his relatives, starting with his parents.’ Bundy informed Kate.
‘Why do we need to muck around with this theory; I still don’t like what Quincy has come up with. It’s way out there with no direct facts to connect the dots.’ She appealed to Bundy’s good nature to stop working with this ‘secret weapon’ and rely on facts not some hair brained theory from a retired forensic scientist.
‘Kate – haven’t you ever wanted anything in your life?’ He asked in a kind and concerned voice.
‘Yes, I want to find Peter Clayton – dead or alive. I’ve wanted it for eight long years.’ She protested.
‘We will - with the help of Quincy’s ‘secret weapon’. Bundy calmly explained. He looked directly into her eyes to see her agreement.
‘What I can’t understand is ‘why’ did you want me to read that book?’
Bundy explained, ‘Kate, everything starts with a thought – an idea, if we concentrate on the thought of finding Peter Clayton, we will find him, alive I hope. You’ve got to believe me. I’ve used this thought process before and it worked. How do you think I’ve got all the things I want in life? It just doesn’t happen, you know.’ Bundy’s tolerance and patience was wearing thin.
‘Alright, alright, I’ll try. What do you want me to do?’ She asked trying to be calm.
‘Do you know a computer programme which we can use to create a family tree? Make the main trunk of the