A Genuine Mistake by Ted Tayler (miss read books txt) 📗

didn’t know where his companion was going when she got home?” said Neil. “What jobs did these two have? Didn’t you discuss that?”

“It wasn’t the first thing on our list of things to talk about with girls we met, detective. Gerry and I had worked as a team for four or five years. At university, it wasn’t possible to use any underhand methods because most students knew you from somewhere. In one of the city's nightclubs filled with locals, it was open season.”

“I don’t think I follow you, sir,” said Neil.

“The dating game has altered dramatically since those far-off days,” said Nick. “Look, if it was a casual fling you were after in our day, you didn’t give too much detail. You might not use your real name or be vague over where you lived. Or lie about what you did. Hi, I’m Gregg, a ski-instructor from Windsor. That way, if things went pear-shaped, you didn’t get a phone call a year later from a girl with a baby crying in the background.”

“You’re right,” said Neil. “things have changed. So, who were you two that day?”

“Batman and Robin,” said Nick. “Cassandra, the girl who met us at the airport, drove the combi-van to the cove. The girls laughed when they saw our t-shirts as they boarded the van. That broke the ice.”

“So, you have no idea where either girl worked?”

“None whatsoever,”

“And you’re certain neither Bronwen nor Cat mentioned where Cat lived?”

“I didn’t speak to the girl much, except at the cove. Cassie told us the best places to visit when the six of us were still in a group. I tried to make progress with Bronwen in the evening, but she wasn’t interested. It was lucky that they had done so much travelling already. If they had arrived in Australia at the same time as us, it would have made for a quiet night.”

“I take it you didn’t get in touch with Bronwen after you returned home?” asked Neil, “Or vice versa?”

“I don’t think either of us believed there was any point, detective,” said Nick.

“What about Gerry?”

“If he did, I didn’t know,” said Nick. “Gerry had met Evelyn by then. They were in love. He must have been, because Gerry gave her his real name. No, Gerry had more sense than to chase up a one-night stand.”

“Was that it for Darwin?” asked Neil.

“We stayed there for a further week. There were no more girls involved.”

“Where did you go next?”

“Cassie introduced us to a fellow countryman, Mick, who offered to give us a lift halfway to Alice Springs. He had various stops to make in outback towns on the way. That leg of the journey took us eight hours. We stayed in a grubby hotel overnight in a town that hardly needed a name because it was so small. There was a pub, so we drank a few lagers the next day. Cassie told us that a truck would come through on that route eventually, and we could negotiate a lift. We stayed for five days in that dump. Then a trucker pulled in, and after another eight-hour slog, we reached Alice Springs.”

“What was that like?” asked Neil.

“It’s in the middle of nowhere,” said Nick, “and only worth visiting if you want to visit Uluru, King’s Canyon, and learn about the Flying Doctor.”

“It did not impress you?”

“It must have been fifty degrees centigrade, detective. I was melting. Before you ask, no, Gerry didn’t meet a girl in Alice Springs. We headed east after a week and made for Cairns. Our first stop was Mount Isa, four hundred miles away. We hired a car for that journey.”

“I’ve never heard of the place,” said Neil. “If there’s just a mountain there, was it worth stopping?”

“Mount Isa is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, DS Davis,” said Nick Barrett. “It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. The region has one of the most productive single mines in world history for lead, silver, copper, and zinc. Almost twenty thousand people lived there. We slept, refuelled, and made the six hundred mile trip to Cairns. That was where Gerry met Molly from Glasgow.”

“Another pretty girl?” asked Neil.

“Molly was short, with a bubbly personality, and could drink both of us under the table,” said Nick. “Gerry started up a conversation at Palm Cove. That was a thirty-minute bus ride from Cairns itself. There were hundreds of guys and girls there our age. They’d gathered for an impromptu barbie, and a guy with a guitar kept people entertained. Molly was with a party of five or six girls, but her mates wanted to go out on the town, not laze away the evening on the beach. So they jumped on the bus into town. I was on my Jack Jones, drinking bottled beer, grabbing a snack now and then, minding my own business. I must have dropped off to sleep because when I awoke, Gerry and Molly had gone. The barbie was cooling, and I had one bottle left.”

“Did you miss the last bus?” asked Neil.

“Molly’s pals caught that,” said Nick. “I’d spent the night on the beach. No worries, as they say. The temperature only dropped to the low twenties centigrade. Warmer than an English summer’s day.”

“How did you get back to Cairns?” asked Neil.

“I caught the first bus of the morning. I must have reeked to high heaven. The few passengers on it gave me a wide berth. Gerry was sleeping when I reached the hostel. He had stamina; I’ll give him that. We were drinking again at lunchtime and headed for Trinity Beach that night. He was off again.”

“Molly caught up with him?”

“No, that night it was Ruth and her friend, Shirley. Gerry went off with Ruth, and I got stuck with Shirley.”

“I