Memory Lane (1996)

Laurence Gough's Willows and Parker mystery was published by McClelland & Stewart in 1996. Ross Larson leaves prison on parole, carrying what his dead cellmate Garret left him and a head full of Garret's stories about his girlfriend Shannon and the two hundred and twenty thousand dollars from an armoured-car robbery that was never recovered. In Vancouver, detectives Jack Willows and Claire Parker investigate the murder of a police officer, Donald Mooney. (Open Library)

Watches

Timex (unidentified model): Garret wrote a will without telling Ross and left him most of what little he owned, beginning with his Timex (p. 21). On the morning of his release Ross packs his belongings in a cardboard box, changes into the suit Garret bought for his trial and straps on the Timex. Waiting in the rain at a bus stop for his mother, he divides the time into one-minute segments, watching the second hand for one minute and counting the next in his head until he can judge a minute to within a few seconds. The maker is named; the model is not.

Source text: For one minute, he stared down at his Timex, watching the second hand sweep around the dial. (Laurence Gough, Memory Lane, scan cataloged as McClelland & Stewart, 1996, p. 23; Internet Archive scan OCR)

Rolex watch: Inspector Homer Bradley, silver-haired and close to mandatory retirement, checks his watch while directing Willows and Parker's investigation. The Timex his son gave him has died after almost eight years and he has treated himself to an entry-level Rolex, bought at twenty per cent off list from the jeweller round the corner and paid off over twelve months, interest-free; he wonders whether he would have got the deal if he were not a cop. The Rolex glitters as he waves them goodbye. The maker is named; the model is not. The Timex is mentioned, not present.

Source text: The Timex his son had given him almost eight years ago had finally died, and he’d treated himself to an entry-level Rolex. (Laurence Gough, Memory Lane, scan cataloged as McClelland & Stewart, 1996, p. 173; Internet Archive scan OCR)

Tissot (unidentified model): The murdered officer, Donald Mooney, is found naked in his bathtub, his right ankle manacled to his left wrist and his right hand bound with layers of duct tape. Parker notices a hint of gold under the tape and peels some of it away: Mooney is wearing an expensive gold Tissot. The watch is on the victim's body at the crime scene. The maker is named; the model is not.

Source text: Parker noted a hint of gold, peeled away a bit of tape. Mooney was wearing a watch, an expensive gold Tissot. (Laurence Gough, Memory Lane, scan cataloged as McClelland & Stewart, 1996, p. 80; Internet Archive scan OCR)