When Joanne Butterfield suddenly disappeared without a trace in June 1998, some locals in her Far North Queensland town were quick to form suspicions.
As Colleen Brischetto, a long-time Mossman taxi operator, put it at a coronial inquest this week: "In a small town, everyone talks."
To some, Ms Butterfield appeared troubled in the lead-up to her disappearance, friends and acquaintances her children would be better off if she left town.
Coroner Stephanie Williams is examining whether Ms Butterfield has died and the adequacy of the police investigation into her disappearance.
Colleen Brischetto knew Joanne Butterfield in 1998, routinely driving her in the taxi, often to a local pub.
Mr Tati has told the inquest he only recalled meeting Ms Butterfield once.
However, Ms Brischetto's evidence said that in the two months before she disappeared, Ms Butterfield and Mr Tati argued "three or four times" at a taxi rank.
One of those occasions came after Mr Tati went looking for Ms Butterfield, asking Ms Brischetto to drive him to Mossman Gorge.
David Arduino, now 55, told the inquest he often collected Ms Butterfield and Mr Tati from the Mossman Hotel together in his cab.
Mr Arduino told the inquest that Ms Butterfield and Mr Tati argued in his taxi "several times".
The taxi driver said Mr Tati had a duffel bag with him and, at one point, asked Mr Arduino to pull over before briefly wandering into the scrub, the inquest heard.
Ms Brischetto said that about a week after Ms Butterfield disappeared, Mossman locals were discussing her possible whereabouts.