Pat Ritter. Books

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The Proposition' - Page 106:
‘Leave it with me. I’ll arrange a gallery and, in the meantime, you contact your friend Colin to arrange a time to show Denis these photographs.’ Larry told the other two.
Bundy and Kate left Larry’s office and returned to their own, ‘I’ve been thinking about Quincy’s theory. What you achieved yesterday; after we finish with Denis and this investigation’, Kate took a deep breath and continued, ‘I’ll do whatever you want – I’ll support Quincy’s theory, even though I don’t understand it - yet?’
‘Anything,’ Bundy replied with a grin on his face.
‘Yes – anything, I’ll follow Quincy’s theory after we’ve finished this one.’
‘There’s a fair way to go before we get back onto Peter Clayton’s disappearance.’ Bundy explained the process of identifying the deceased, have Denis admit this is the person who he suffocated using ‘ether’ on a cloth and how were they going to advise the parents of the loss of their daughter?
Larry telephoned to tell them the gallery was complete and ready. Bundy earlier telephoned Colin Hunt to arrange a time to meet with Denis to show him the gallery of photographs. Three-thirty in the afternoon was a desirable time.
When Bundy took possession of the gallery of photographs, he noticed none were numbered. He numbered each one in numerical order.
At the prison later in the afternoon Bundy displayed a gallery of photographs in front of Denis, ‘Denis, would you have a close look at these photos to see if you can identify the girl you drugged.’
Denis looked at the gallery, without hesitation he pointed to photograph number six, ‘that’s her; I’ll never forget her face and those eyes.’..

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'The Proposition' - Page 107:

‘Thank you, Denis, we’ll follow up this information and get back to you.’ Bundy replied.
‘Is it her?’ He asked.
‘We’re not certain – there is more investigation to do before we are completely certain ourselves. We’ll let you know as soon as we know.’
Bundy and Kate left the interview room. ‘It’s her – he pointed to her photograph, why didn’t you tell him.’ Kate asked Bundy.
‘We’re not certain until this photograph has been identified by her parents and the DNA is complete.’ Bundy explained, ‘do I need to throw a bucket of water on you to cool you off?’ He expressed taking a closer look at Kate.
‘No – I’ve never had to fuss around like this before. It’s not the way we do things now.’
‘Pray tell – how do you do it now?’ Bundy expressed. In his day he needed to cross the ‘t’s’ and dot the ‘i’s’ before the final decision was made to arrest and charge the offender.
They returned to their office, ‘Kate, we’ve got to inform the parents of this missing person. How do you want to do this?’ Bundy asked.
‘Do we telephone them first or just rock up to their home and tell them their daughter is dead.’ Kate answered.
‘I’m satisfied with the evidence of the identity of the photograph by Denis; number six in the gallery is the same person reported in the missing person report. The address is Kippa Ring and it’s the same suburb; also, this child went missing on Friday 6th October 2006. This is the same date Denis told us he’d taken the girl. I think it gives us sufficient grounds to speak with her parents. Do you want me to telephone them or should you?’ Bundy explained.
‘Do you mind if I telephoned them.’...

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'The Proposition' - Page 108:
‘Go ahead – make certain the same telephone number on the report is the same one in the phone book. We don’t want to end up with the wrong person.’ Bundy said handing Kate the local telephone directory.
Kate checked the name and address to compare the name, address and telephone number were the same telephone number in the report. She dialled the number, ‘hello, my name is Detective Superintendent Kate Emerson. I’m from the police. Would I be able to speak with either Mr or Mrs Andersen please?’ Kate spoke in a kind voice.
Kate nodded and spoke to a person. ‘It was Mrs Andersen – sounds a nice person. She’s happy to see us. I told her we’d be there in an hour. They’re waiting.’
They left the office and travelled to Kippa Ring. When they reached the address a man and woman were standing on the front steps. Both looked at Kate and Bundy in the hope they had good news, or any news about their daughter.
‘How are you? I’m Kate Emerson and this is Bundy Quicksilver. Can we come inside please?’ Kate asked.
The woman smiled and said, ‘This is my husband Jim and I’m Carol, have you found our daughter?’
‘Can we explain to you our investigations so far?’ Kate asked.
‘Yes – come on in.’ Carol beckoned both people into her home. They entered. Inside was as neat as a pin; functional as a usual family home with the entry a foyer, a lounge room, ‘and please have a seat. Would either of you like a cup of coffee or something else?’ Carol asked.
‘A coffee would be lovely, thank you Mrs Andersen; Bundy will have a tea, with milk.’ Kate replied.
‘Call me Carol – Jim can you help me please?’ Both walked to the adjoining kitchen. ‘Have you found our daughter?’ She called from the adjoining room - tears welling in his eyes, her voice broke as she spoke.

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'The Proposition' - Page 109:
‘We don’t know at this point.’ Bundy replied, ‘perhaps if we wait before we explain what we’ve done.’ He’d experienced a similar situation many times before.
His memory rushed back to a night when a young girl, seventeen years old was killed in a traffic accident and he had the soul-searching task to tell her parents their daughter wouldn’t be coming home again. It was the worst job he ever had to do as a police officer.
Carol bought the refreshments to a table next to the lounge Bundy and Kate sat. Jim sat in a chair next to them.
‘We think from our investigations we could have found your daughter.’ Kate explained.
Carol and Jim moved forward from their seat to listen more closely. Carol gave a sigh. They couldn’t take their eyes from Kate.
‘Where do I start?’ Kate murmured, ‘at the beginning. Let me explain where our investigation has taken us over the past couple of weeks.’ She hesitated before continuing. Bundy noticed Kate was stuck for words. She looked at him with a sign – can you do this please.
‘Perhaps I may explain.’ Bundy stated. Kate nodded in appreciation.
‘This is not easy for us. I’ll tell you the story so far. We have been investigating the disappearance of a twelve-year-old boy when we were called to a forestry north of Brisbane. Remains of a skeleton were discovered by a forestry worker.’
‘Oh no – we saw the news report the other night. Is it Colleen?’ Carol put her hands over her face and sobbed. Jim moved beside his wife and placed his hand on her shoulder...

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The Proposition' - Page 110:
‘First we thought the skeleton could have been the missing person we were investigating until it was discovered the remains were of a female aged between eight and ten years old.’ Bundy’s voice choked with emotion. His throat tightened. He hated this part of explaining what happened. He couldn’t spit out the information because it mightn’t be the right missing person.
‘We are not one hundred percent certain if the skeleton remains are those of your daughter. Is it possible you would have a sample of her hair; or clothing she wore, or anything a DNA could be taken?’ Bundy explained as best he could.
‘Yes – yes,’ Carol rose immediately and left the room, ‘we’ve left her bedroom as it was, hoping she would come home one day. Come with me.’ She instructed.
They joined Carol in her daughter’s bedroom. Kate entered – it was a shrine with the bed neatly made; floor spotless, everything in its place. She walked to a bedside table and saw a hairbrush, ‘was this Colleen’s?’ Kate asked.
‘Yes, you take it – anything else you want, just take it, if it will help.’ Carol said. Her voice excited to know something in her bedroom could help discover her daughter’s whereabouts.
Kate opened the build-in wardrobe to discover girls clothing, ‘can I take one of these blouses?’ She asked. Carol nodded.
‘Thank you – we’ll need to have these items scientifically examined and as soon as we know the results you will be notified.’ Kate explained while she placed the articles into a plastic evidence bag and sealed it. She wrote particulars on the label.
‘Is there any chance the skeleton belongs to our Colleen?’ Carol asked with a quiver in her voice, ‘we want to know.’...

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'The Proposition' - Page 111:
‘Sorry, at this stage we can’t say until we’re completely certain after these tests have been done. You’ll be the first to know, when we know.’ Bundy interrupted.
‘Carol – here is my card. If you need to speak with us at anytime let me know. We’ll get back to you as soon as we know the results.’ They said their farewells.
Leaving the Andersen home, Kate was silent until she expressed, ‘where to now – boy that was tough. Those poor people have waited almost six years to hear anything of their daughter. We are so close to knowing it’s her and we can’t tell them until we’re certain it is her skeleton.’
‘Yeah, life can be tough at times. I’m afraid I don’t miss a minute of what we have just done. I hated telling parents their child wouldn’t be coming home again. Let’s go see Doctor Fitzgerald tomorrow and see if he can shine any light on this investigation.’ Bundy echoed.
Early the following morning Kate drove to the Department of Forensic Pathology, commonly known as the City Morgue. They entered the building to Doctor Fitzgerald’s office.
‘Morning, Doctor Fitzgerald, I’m Detective Superintendent Kate Emerson and this is Bundy Quicksilver. We were present when you examined the skeleton at the forestry recently.’ Kate said.
Doctor Fitzgerald immediately rose and walked over to the two officers and shook their hands, ‘I’m pleased to meet you both.’ He smiled, ‘how can I be of assistance?’
‘Have you identified the remains of the skeleton?’ Kate asked.
‘Not at this stage. We’ve tried DNA tests but haven’t been able to find a result. Have you anything which may help?’ His professional voice echoed.
‘We may have something. Recently we interviewed an in-mate of Her Majesty Prison who told us he’d drugged a young girl in 2006, then drove her to a place he described like where the skeleton was found.’ Kate explained...

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'The Proposition' - Page 112:
‘This is good. Do you know the name of the girl?’ Doctor Fitzgerald wanted to know.
‘We have a name Colleen Andersen, who was reported missing by her parents on 6th October 2006. We’ve been to their home and obtained these two items, a hairbrush and clothing. We hope they may help to identify her as the missing person.’ Kate handed two plastic evidence bags to Doctor Fitzgerald.
‘Let’s hope so. We’ll do DNA on each of the items and get back to you. How can I contact you?’ He asked.
‘Here is my card – you can contact me at anytime.’ Kate handed Doctor Fitzgerald a business card with her particulars. ‘Do you know how long it would be before we know the results?’ Kate asked.
‘Probably a couple of days, we’re snowed under now but I’ll ensure we’ll get to it as soon as possible.’
‘Thank you, Doctor Fitzgerald, – we’ll let ourselves out.’ They left his office.
‘Now, all we need to do is wait and hope there is a match. What do we do now Mr Bundy?’ Kate asked in an amusing voice when they arrived at their vehicle.
‘Like the man said – they’re snowed under but will get it done as quickly as possible.’
‘This has been quite an interesting investigation watching you.’
‘Why – am I strange?’
‘Quite on the contrary – you’ve been away from investigation work for over twenty years, and yet you returned as if it was yesterday.’
‘There’s an old saying we had in my day – an ole dog for a hard road, a puppy dog for the bitumen.’
‘There’s no doubt about it – you are an ole dog for a hard road.’ Kate smiled...