After

Chapter 1-2

‘Henry, what’s stopping you from resigning this morning? It’s such a neat system most people don’t even realise they’re slaves, until it’s too late.’

‘I see what you mean. Well, we’d better go and do the master’s bidding.’

Paul walked from Henry’s office to his work station and logged onto his computer to start on the day’s problems.

The telephone rang.

‘Good morning, lending administration. This is Paul, how can I help you?’

Paul enjoyed problem solving but he detested the constant stream of telephone interruptions. Everybody’s problem was urgent and important. To make matters worse, his department was now fielding complaints from customers about the latest fee increase.

To the customers, who had no understanding of the links between the bank’s profits, its credit rating and what it paid for funds, any fee increase was highway robbery. To prove their ignorance, they rang up in their hundreds to abuse the bank’s staff. Naturally, the boss man on his million dollar salary, who made the decision to raise the fee, didn’t take any calls. He wrote a memo to all staff and the wage slaves, like Paul, took all the flak. At least Paul understood the rationale behind the fee increase. Most of his workmates agreed with the customers but were left with the task of handling the angry customers so they could keep their jobs.

Paul waited for the end of the caller’s opening rant.

‘You’re ripping me off! What service am I getting for this fee anyway?’

‘Sir, the fee is a way for the bank to recover the cost of operating your account.’

‘That can’t cost eight dollars a month! You only send me one or two statements a year and my payments are made electronically by my pay office!’

‘Sir, we still have to maintain your account on our computer system every day. Your account details take up space. We have to process the electronic payments your pay office makes. Computers cost money to run. In the past we were able to cover the cost in the amount we charged for interest. We can’t do that anymore, so we have to increase our fees.’

‘What a load of crap! I’ll be taking this to Consumer Affairs. You can’t do this!’

‘Sir, if you read the terms and conditions of your loan contract, you’ll see that we have every right to change this fee.’

‘Other banks aren’t charging eight dollars a month!’

‘I suggest you phone around. You’ll find this is a fairly standard fee.’

‘This is bloody highway robbery!’

Paul knew it was robbery. The bank had the customers over a barrel but he couldn’t actually tell the customer that. The bank was getting enough bad press as it was, without him adding to it.

‘You bloody banks make such high profits as it is. Why can’t you look after the customers for a change instead of screwing them?’

‘Well, sir, perhaps you should buy shares in the bank.’

‘What will it cost me to discharge?’

Typical, thought Paul. You give the guy some good advice and he doesn’t even hear you. They were all intent on threatening to go elsewhere. Time for the customer retention spiel.

‘Sir, the account keeping fee on your account has increased by sixty dollars per year. The interest rate on your account is the lowest it’s been for twenty years. If you want to spend a thousand dollars discharging this loan and then spend another five or six hundred dollars setting up another one, with similar fees and charges, elsewhere, I’d be happy to give you an indicative payout figure.’

‘Well, now that you put it like that, I see I’m probably in a no win situation.’

‘Sir, I appreciate that you’re angry about the fee increase but we’re stuck with it. In the current competitive environment there’s no way we can avoid it.’ Unless the executives all took a massive pay cut and he couldn’t see that happening. More than likely they’d lay off slaves if the bottom line didn’t improve.

‘I suppose you’re right. Thanks for listening anyway.’

‘No problem, sir.’

Paul and his workmates were handling the overflow calls from the fee hotline. The last time he had spoken to the team leader of the fee response team, he had discovered the few he had spoken to had been reasonably civil. Apparently, the bank’s customer base contained a large number of abusive people, under the impression that a barrage of obscene language would persuade the bank to change its decision. Fat chance. The bank wasn’t even listening.

Paul’s mobile phone rang.

‘Paul Ford.’

‘Paul, it’s Rosa. Where’s Josie? She isn’t here and she’s not answering her phone. It just goes through to voice mail. Is everything OK?’

‘What are you talking about? She left home to catch the bus at seven this morning.’

‘Paul, she’s not here.’

‘Maybe she decided to take the day off after all. She wasn’t exactly full of beans this morning. I suggested she take the day off but she said something about her year eights.’

‘She’d have rung me if she was doing that and she’s not answering her phone.’

‘Maybe she left the bloody thing at home. You know what she’s like. She’s always leaving it somewhere. Let me call home and get back to you.’

He ended the call, scrolled through his contacts to ‘home’ and pushed the ‘call’ button. He waited as the phone rang six times and then listened to the message Luke had recorded on the answering machine.

‘Josie, it’s Paul. If you get this message, please call me.’

‘Where the hell is she?’ he mumbled to himself, as he found the school’s number and hit the ‘call’ button. He listened while Rosa did her formal telephone greeting before saying, ‘Rosa, it’s Paul. There is no answer at home. I’ve left a message for her to call me. She might have gone back to sleep.’

‘I’m worried Paul. This is not like her. She always calls in.’

‘Yeah, you’re right. Think maybe I’d better go home and check. Give me a call if she arrives at school. I’ll talk to you later.’

‘Thanks Paul. I’ll wait for your call.’

After ending the call, he logged off his computer and went to speak to Henry, who was in his office staring at his computer screen.

‘Henry, got a minute?’

‘Sure, what’s up?’

‘Josie’s work has just rung to say she hasn’t turned up or called in sick and she’s not answering her phone or the one at home.’

‘Don’t like the sound of that.’

‘Think I’d better duck home and check if she’s okay. She wasn’t feeling all that flash this morning. I was surprised she went to work but you know what teachers are like. They reckon it creates more work if they stay at home. She might have had second thoughts and gone back to bed without calling in, which probably means she’s as sick as.’

‘Sounds like a good idea. Give me a call if you need to take the rest of the day off. Hope she’s feeling better soon.’

‘Thanks. I’ll give you a call.’

Paul went back to his work station, picked up his bag and told his work mates he needed to go home and check on his wife. Then he headed for the door and started retracing his steps.

Riding the bus out of the city mid-morning was an enjoyable experience. No crowd on the bus and not much traffic on the streets. He was back at the interchange before ten o’clock and driving into his driveway ten minutes later.

He got out of the car. Before going in he checked the letter box. It contained no mail. When he opened the front door there was no sign of Josie’s handbag on the hall table, its usual spot when she was home. He checked the bedroom. It was empty. He checked every room, including both toilets, and then the backyard. There was no sign of Josie or of her having returned to the house since leaving it earlier in the day.

He wasn’t sure what to make of her absence. Where else would she be if she wasn’t at school and she wasn’t at home? He pulled out his phone and called her number. He listened to her voice mail message and left a message asking her to call him. Then he called Rosa to let her know she wasn’t at home and to ask if she had turned up at school.

‘I’m really getting worried now, Paul. What if something has happened to her? Maybe you should call the police.’

‘Think I’ll make a few more calls before I call the police. Let me know if you hear from her.’

He went into the kitchen to find Josie’s address book, the one she used for the telephone numbers of her family and friends.

He started with his mother-in-law. ‘Ma, it’s Paul.’

‘Oh hello darling, how are you?’

‘Ma, I’m a bit worried. Have you spoken with Josie today?’

‘No. What’s wrong?’

‘I don’t know if anything is wrong but she hasn’t turned up at work, she’s not home and she’s not answering her phone. I’m trying to find out where she is. I was just wondering whether you had heard from her.’

‘You think something has happened to her?’

‘I don’t know, Ma. She wasn’t feeling well this morning but she still left for school. I thought maybe she had changed her mind about going to work. If she rings can you get her to call me? I’m going to call some of her friends. I’ll call you back.’

‘I’m worried now, Paul. This is not like Josie. Maybe something bad has happened.’

‘We don’t know if anything has happened yet. I’m going to make a few more calls.’

‘Call me as soon as you find out where she is.’

‘Sure, Ma. Bye.’ He hung up knowing she would be on the phone to the rest of the family.

Next he called his parent’s number. Fortunately, his mother was home.

‘Hi, Mum. How are things?’

‘Fine thanks. What are you doing calling me at this hour on a working day? Is something wrong?’

‘Mum, have you seen or heard from Josie today?’

‘That’s a strange question, Paul.’

‘Mum, Josie seems to have disappeared. She’s not at work. She’s not at home and she’s not answering her phone.’

‘Well, she’s not here. I haven’t heard from her since Sunday. You two haven’t finally had a fight have you?’

‘Sorry to disappoint you, Mum. Every thing’s fine apart from not knowing where she is at the moment. I’ll call a few of her friends. She might just be playing truant.’

‘That doesn’t sound like Josie.’

‘I know. That’s why I’m worried. If I can’t find out where she is, I’ll be calling the police.’

‘Are you sure you need to get the police involved?’

‘Don’t you watch TV, Mum? Things happen to people every day. Look, I’ll call you back later. Say hello to Dad for me.’

‘Are you going to be alright?’

‘I’ll call you back, Mum.’ Paul ended the call.

He worked his way through Josie’s address book. None of her close group of friends had heard from her or seen her. No doubt he had started a rumour mill among her friends. At least if any of them did hear from her he would soon find out. Some of them sounded as worried as he felt. Then he wondered whether she was sitting in that park she loved so much.

He called Henry to let him know he hadn’t been able to find her and to tell him he was going to check City Park, and then call the police. Henry suggested he speak to the police first, so he called the number for police assistance on the fridge magnet stuck to the kitchen fridge and introduced himself to the female voice that answered.

‘How can we help you, Mr Ford?’

‘Look, I don’t know whether I’m panicking or not but my wife hasn’t turned up for work and she’s not answering her phone. She’s not home either and no-one has heard from her since she left home at seven this morning.’

‘Do you have any reason to think anything may have happened to her?’

‘She’s a teacher. She always lets the school know if she’s not coming in or if she is running late. They haven’t heard from her and she’s not there. This is not like her. I’m worried something might have happened to her.’

‘I can understand that, Mr Ford. It’s best to report it now so we can have someone look into it. Do you have a pen and paper handy?’

‘Yes.’

‘OK, you’ll need to go to your local police station and file a Missing Persons report. Do you know where your local police station is?’

‘Yes, it’s about five minutes from here by car.’

‘OK, you’ll need to supply certain information, so write this down. We’ll need a recent photograph, details of her height, weight, age, what she is wearing.’ She paused to let him get the details down and then continued, ‘we’ll want to know if she has any distinguishing features, like scars for example, and the names and contact details of family and friends. If she has a credit card bring the card number.’

‘Do you want a digital photo or a paper one?’

‘Both if you have them. Does she take any medication?’

‘No.’

‘OK. Get those details together and go to your local police station. Once you have filed the report we’ll be able look into it for you.’

‘Thanks.’

He hung up and went to the study and booted up the computer. It took a few minutes to load. He opened the photo library and found three recent photographs of Josie, which he copied and saved to a CD. Then he printed the one of her that he had taken only last weekend on A4 photo paper. While it was printing he checked his email. No new messages. He shut down the computer and wrote down her vital statistics. What the hell was she wearing this morning? Then he remembered. White, sleeveless blouse and black skirt. She was carrying the black bag with shoulder strap she used for carrying students’ work to and from school and, yes, those pink running shoes she used for walking, with her regular shoes in a black and white plastic bag.