"Ballarat is an extremely prosperous town, and its citizens would appear to have a keener sense of municipal responsibility in the matter of embellishing their town than is usual in Australia." - Thomas Griffith Taylor, Australia in Its Physiographic and Economic Aspects, 1911
Jean hurried out of the sun room to answer the door. The day was bright but cool, and Jean was determined to make the most of it. Having hung the laundry out to dry and brought in the week's groceries, she was now carefully pruning a plant that had started to grow too tall to stay upright. She opened the door to find Chief Superintendent Frank Carlyle and Charlie Davis on her doorstep. Frank looked cross and Charlie just looked embarrassed. Jean ushered them into the living room. Charlie ducked into Lucien's study and then into his surgery before joining them.
"What can I do for you gentlemen?"
"Mrs. Beazley have you seen the Doc today?"
"No Charlie, why?"
Frank took off his hat. "Blake was supposed to come to the court house today to testify in a case. He never showed."
Charlie continued, "Even for the Doc it's strange to be that unreliable."
Jean smirked. "I don't know, I wouldn't say that."
Charlie furrowed his brow. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen him in days."
"Any idea where he's gone off to, Mrs. Beazley?" Frank asked.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him in at least two days."
Charlie looked baffled. "That doesn't strike you as odd?"
Jean smiled nervously. "I assumed he was with you working on a case. You know how he gets. He's gone all night."
"He hasn't come back to the house at all?" Frank continued.
"Not that I know of."
"And you're not worried?"
"Not really. You know what he's like," Jean said lightly, "I'm sure he'll turn up. But I am sorry about the court case. I hope it didn't cause you too much trouble."
"Trouble? The judge almost held us both in contempt. I had to call in a favor to keep him from dismissing the charges outright. We won't be so lucky if he doesn't show again."
"I'm sure he'll turn up. He can't have gone far."
Frank gave Jean a measured look. "Right. Well thank you for your time. If you see him, please have him call me immediately."
"Alright."
He turned to Charlie. "Let's go Sergeant."
Charlie looked at Jean, shifting his feet awkwardly. "I'll uh, be home for dinner later."
Outside, Charlie and Frank stood behind their police car, talking quietly.
"Charlie, is it normal for Jean to be so unconcerned about his whereabouts?"
"No, she rarely lets him out of her sight. She's usually down at the station if he's gone for too long."
"I thought so. Remember last week, when we thought we had a murder on our hands at the Bowling Green that turned out to be an accident?"
"Yeah," Charlie replied. "What a mess."
Frank smiled. "Right. That one. Blake told me he hoped it wasn't a murder because he didn't want to stay away from home any more than he had to. I assumed he meant Jean."
"That sounds like him."
"And living in his house, you have no idea where he is, or why Jean is unconcerned?"
"None. But I don't like it."
Frank crossed his arms and leaned back against the car, thinking. After a few minutes he looked up. "Alright, Davis I want you to go to the Colonist's Club and ask around, find out when the last time was that anyone had seen him. I am going to talk to Alice and call Lawson, maybe they know where he is. I wouldn't put it past Blake to have gone on a business trip and forgot to tell anyone, but I'd like to know."
Charlie nodded as he got into the car, "I hope you're right."