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Alec dressed slowly and went for a walk along the foreshore. He inspected every human shape in sight, hoping that at any minute he would see the familiar form of his wife.
With determined steps he left the beach and approached the first hotel.
He entered the reception desperate to find inside a happy conclusion to what had become a nightmare excursion. There was no-one at the desk in the entry, so he walked into the bar knowing that in these small country hotels reception and bar staff were usually the same person. In spite of the early hour a woman was working behind the bar, stacking glasses from the previous night’s drinking.
‘Good morning,’ Alec approached the middle-aged woman, ‘I wonder if you can help me —’
‘Bar opens at ten, love.’
‘No, not that. I am looking for my wife and baby and wondered if they might have checked in here last night or early this morning?’
‘No, we have no guests at all. Most of our business is the bar.’
Alec’s face fell and the woman registered his extreme disappointment. His eyes, close to tears, struck a sympathetic chord.
‘Were you expecting her here? She may have checked in at another hotel or the motel.’
‘No, but …’ Alec poured out the whole story of his loss.
When he finished — with halting gulps to fight back tears —the woman said, ‘Look, just in case they’ve turned up at another hotel, I’ll ring around for you save you walking all around town. Just sit over there and I’ll phone around.’
Alec took down one of the chairs stacked on a table and sat opposite the bar counter. He strained to listen to the conversation on the other end of the phone and watched the shake of her head register negative news with each call.
Finally, she put the phone down. ‘Sorry, love. No-one with your wife’s description has checked in anywhere. The motel has some women but all are with husbands, no single women and no babies. I’m so sorry, love.’
Alec put his head in his hands. The woman sat down next to him, put her arm around his shoulders and tried to comfort him. ‘Don’t get too worried, love. They might’ve got a lift and are still on their way in. Tell you what, I’ll keep asking around. Keep my eyes open. If there’s any news I’ll call the police station. What was the name of the copper you’re dealing with?’
‘Murray. Sergeant Murray.’
‘Okay. I’ll give him a call as soon as I hear anything or if they check in later. Is there anything I can get you now, a coffee or tea?’
‘Thank you, no. You’ve been very kind. I think I’ll just take a walk around the town and back to the station. I am not sure what else to do.’
With that Alec dejectedly started a slow walk back to the police station by a circuitous route. On his way he stopped at a cafe and bought a cup of coffee with a muffin to serve as breakfast even though he didn’t feel hungry. He sat at the cafe table, miserably gazing between the street outside and the half drunk coffee until the drink was cold with a skin formed on the surface, clinging to the sides of the cup.
By mid-morning Alec was talking with Sergeant Murray who, mainly to get him out of the way, suggested that he call in at the garage. ‘Have a good look around the Kombi. See if you’ve missed anything. Maybe see if your wife possibly left a note.’
‘I looked for one when we found it but there was nothing.’
‘Have another look. It’s possible that it might have fallen on the floor or got under a seat, or been blown about. After all, when you towed the vehicle you told me that you thought your wife had a ride into town. At that stage you didn’t expect that she’d disappeared so maybe you didn’t look carefully enough.’
Murray didn’t really expe
ct Alec would find anything but felt it was a good excuse to get him to do something other than be a bother at the station.
So it was that Alec found himself back at the garage. By now he was tired. Although fit from walking during his field work, the extensive walking around Ceduna combined with his emotional state had exhausted him.
‘Won’t be ready for a coupla days, mate,’ Malcolm Harrison said as Alec appeared in the doorway. ‘Still waitin’ on the parts from Adelaide.’
‘No, okay. I realise that. I just thought I’d have another look around the Kombi in case there is anything there that gives us a clue as to where my wife might be.’
‘Sure, okay. Help yourself. Your Kombi is parked out the back. Oh, in case ya’re interested, the generator stopped working just ‘cause of old age. The brushes were completely worn down an’ it weren’t even working at half pace. Belt was loose too, no grip. I’m surprised the battery stayed good for as long as it did.’
Alec opened the Kombi side doors and peered in at the empty space that had been their home for the past weeks. It echoed with the ghosts of his lost family. He clambered in and sighed. The back seat was still folded down to form the double bed. Seeing it caused a pang in his chest as he recalled the last time he had lain there in the arms of his wife. He scrambled between the front seats and began a methodical search. Starting with the front shelf he looked at every small scrap of paper. Nothing but old shopping lists, a telephone number and fragments of reminder notes in Katherine’s handwriting. There was nothing explaining where she might be now.
‘Why the hell didn’t she leave a bloody note for me? She could have done that, at least.’ His concern expressed itself as anger as he climbed out and stood with his head pressed hard against the side window as if the pressure would take away his pain. He slammed the doors shut in frustration.
Alec walked slowly back to the police station to tell Murray the results of his search. He tried to think positively but dark thoughts crowded in. He arrived to find the sergeant was away on another case, so went into the garden, sat in the shade and watched the traffic, all the time thinking about what might have happened.
