Mike Dixon

„Do you think Doris worked in Townsville?‟
„I‟m sure.‟ Kirstin adjusted her spectacles. „I‟ve a friend –
Emeritus Professor Louise Spencer. I knew her when she was
at the university here. She‟s into oral history.‟
„Oral what?‟
„History, my dear. Oral refers to the mouth and is used in
more ways than one.‟
Janet looked surprised.
„Oral history is spoken history,‟ Kirstin explained. „There
has been a growing realization that too much of what we
know of the past is based on written records and too little on
the spoken word.‟
„Okay!‟ Janet considered the point. „How do you interview
Julius Caesar if you think the books got it wrong?‟
„You don‟t. You interview elderly people and get them to
speak about things which happened when they were young –
the sort of things that didn‟t get recorded on paper.‟
Kirstin paused to let the point sink in.
„I like it,‟ Janet said. „This oral history thing. It‟s like what
we do.‟
„Exactly! A good oral historian is like a good detective.‟
„The official term is investigatory officer,‟ Janet corrected
her.
„I don‟t care what Cecil Sparrow calls us,‟ Kirstin said. „We
are detectives.‟
Janet smiled. „How does Humphles fit in?‟
„He goes on an oral history assignment.‟
„What‟s his brief?‟
„We have identified the building where Doris worked. It‟s
the Island View Hotel. The windows have a very distinctive
shape and Louise had no difficulty recognizing it.‟
„How?‟ Janet asked.
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