Death on Dangar Island

A Convict Past

Down the corridor, he could hear the brothers at it again. Their tone was hostile but the words had become indistinct. Always the busybody, Israel composed himself and took a moment to nose around, humming quietly as he rifled shamelessly through the contents of the medicine cabinet. Eventually satisfied, he flushed the toilet, washed his hands and headed back out into the corridor, ensuring he closed the door firmly behind him.

‘That feels better,’ he announced as he re-entered the living room, slapping his palms together and smiling broadly. He found the two combatants glaring at each other across the granite kitchen workbench. The silence in the room was ominous, but he feigned obliviousness and continued cheerily. ‘Has the party moved to the kitchen?’

Jon mumbled something about fixing drinks and turned away to open the door of the double-sized fridge. David smiled graciously at Israel and invited him to join him back out on the deck.

The two men drifted out through the huge glazed partition and sat back in the wicker lounge chairs.

‘That is a spectacular boat you own, David. I’m very impressed.’

‘She’s an extravagance, but I love her dearly. I bought her as a marketing tool for my salons so I feel vaguely justified when I’m driving around slurping up obscene amounts of fuel.’

‘It’s a clever idea promoting your business that way, although it must be an expensive hobby. You say you have salons – do you mean beauty salons?’

‘Yes, I own a chain of hair and beauty salons. When I started out in business, I thought about what type of retail enterprise could be successful in Sydney. I mean, I’ve seen so many fail. I wanted something I knew would always be in demand. It was my theory that if I started a business based on appealing to Sydneysiders’ vanity then I couldn’t go wrong.’

‘It was a very brave move to start taking up retail space while so many other stores are dying off.’

‘But it proved to be a profitable idea. In the two years since I started, I’ve expanded to four separate stores. He who dares wins, Professor. Carpe diem and all that stuff.’

‘I see you are familiar with the work of the great Roman poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus,’ said Israel.

 ‘No idea who that is, but I did see Dead Poets Society about a million times. My year-eleven home-room teacher put it on at school whenever he was feeling lazy.’

Jon returned with the drinks.

‘To the success of your brother’s business and to his beautiful boat,’ toasted Israel. Jon scowled as they raised their glasses.

‘That’s very kind of you, Professor,’ grinned David. ‘I’ll be around for another day or so if you’d like to come for a little spin some time.’

Israel didn’t know what to make of this proposal, but his default setting was polite formality. ‘What a pleasant idea – thank you for the invitation. Would you mind if my friend Gary came along? I know he would be thrilled to ride in such a powerful vehicle.’ Israel paused briefly before continuing. ‘I was actually thinking of contacting the water taxi service because I need to travel over to Brooklyn tomorrow morning. I’ve had an unscheduled appointment come up and I need to cross back between ferry trips.’

‘Well, there we go then. It’s a date. If we leave early enough perhaps I can take you and Gary for a quick joy-ride up the river.’ He winked outrageously at Israel, who thought it best to leave any misperceptions in place till it was sure they weren’t helpful.