Hold Music and Dead Ends

The transport checks are a direct test of Luke Smith's claim that Jamie Greyson left for Melbourne voluntarily. If Jamie flew from Hobart or Launceston, passenger manifests will carry his name. If he took the Spirit of Tasmania from Devonport, the booking system will hold his details or his vehicle registration. The logic is simple. The execution, on a Saturday afternoon, defeated Lahey within twenty minutes — hold music at Hobart Airport's administration office, an automated directory that loops without connecting, and the particular silence of a building whose weekend staffing doesn't extend to records enquiries from police.

The task transfers to Ellen Lowe's desk with a brief covering both names, relevant date ranges, and the case reference numbers. Ellen doesn't attempt the numbers Lahey tried. She has mobile numbers for the operations managers at both airports — direct lines earned through years of properly formatted requests and the professional currency of never wasting anyone's time. TT-Line's Devonport office has a weekend security duty officer whose number Ellen keeps in a contacts book that lives in her top drawer rather than any official system.

Three calls. Three personal contacts. Three requests lodged within the hour, each carrying the weight of a concern-for-welfare case and the implicit understanding that Ellen Lowe doesn't call on a Saturday afternoon unless it matters. The responses won't come through official channels or wait for Monday's compliance queue. They'll come back the same way the requests went out — directly.