By ALANAH MAY ERIKSEN in Rotorua
Amateur sleuths in Rotorua have followed the scent of perfume to help solve a mystery.
Deaf 18-year-old James Gavin Clayton was so excited about being able to buy his mum, Paula Clayton, a birthday present that he accidentally left it in theCity Focus.
But 13-year-olds Paul Flutey and Dennis McErlane noticed the two bottles of perfume on a seat there and handed them in to the Information Centre.
"They were such nice boys, so excited that they'd found the perfume and couldn't wait to see if the owner would be found," said City Focus manager Dennis Olliver.
Meanwhile, James' father, Graeme Tautau, unaware that the perfume had been found, rang Rotorua police and Life Pharmacy looking for it. They were unable to help.
The pharmacy's perfume counter manager, Debbie Ryan, realised James was the boy she had spent 20 minutes helping choose the perfume.
"I was so upset when I heard about him losing it, I felt sick," Mrs Ryan said. "I just about started crying."
Mrs Ryan got two local radio stations involved in the hunt for James by asking them to include a message in their morning birthday calls for him to contact her.
At that point she did not know the perfume had been handed in and said she would replace it if it hadn't been found.
With no response to the radio messages from either James or his father, Mrs Ryan contacted constable Jude Hatfull, who is based at the City Focus.
She too became involved in the hunt for James, ringing the Deaf Association, which was able to help find him.
Life Pharmacy retrieved the perfume from the City Focus and gave it back to James with an additional $40 worth of gifts in a decorative basket for him to give to his mum.
With James and the perfume reunited, the pharmacy's next quest was to find the two lads who had handed the perfume in.
