Oliver blinked.“We don’t know the name of it yet.”
Dot’s smile was a little smug as Tess handed him an old, brown, leather-bound book.“It’s all in this journal.”
Confused, he took it and carefully opened it, wincing at the crack of the spine.The front page stated, ‘Avontuur.Captain’s Journal.1690.’His heart leapt and then fell again.“TheAvontuurwent down further south near Shark Bay.”Still, the journal was a valuable find.
Tess shook her head.“That was a lie to hide its actual location.”
He stiffened.He was used to people peddling tales to involve themselves in expeditions, but he hadn’t thought Dot would stoop to messing with his work.“Where did you get this?”
“It’s a long story,” Dot said.“Have you got time?”The seriousness of her tone paused Oliver’s anger.
He exhaled, noting the sincere expressions on both of their faces, and then nodded, backing away from the door to let them in.“Come in.”He led them into the kitchen.The table was covered in their notes, but there was a spare chair.“Clear some space.”
Suzyn smiled.“Hey, Sergeant.Do you know how the joey is?”
“Donna said he’s doing well when I called this morning.”
Oliver was surprised Dot knew.Didn’t she have enough on her plate dealing with drugs, storm clean up and would-be treasure hunters?
Tom tidied his notes into a neat stack.“Have we done something wrong?”
“No,” Dot answered.“Tess has some information.”
Oliver gestured for them both to sit.Tess took a chair, but Dot remained standing.Oliver placed the journal on the table.“Tess found a journal which belongs to a ship’s captain, and she believes it is the journal from our shipwreck.”
“How would it have survived then?”Andrew asked.
Tess cleared her throat.“The ship was carrying treasure for the Dutch East Indies company, but it was blown off course during a cyclone.It wrecked on Retribution Island.”Her voice grew stronger.“They salvaged what they could and cobbled together a boat to take them to Batavia.”
Oliver frowned.“The Dutch East Indies company searched for theAvontuurand never found it.”
“That’s because the captain lied about the location,” Tess said.“He wanted the treasure for himself, so he led them to Shark Bay because it was a similar shaped gulf to this one.”
“Did he go back for the treasure?”Rajesh asked.
Tess shook her head.“He was arrested for theft.”
Oliver flicked through the journal.“What about his first mate?Surely he knew where it was.”
Tess handed over some documents.“The first mate died before they could ask him.According to the notes on the trial, no one else knew, or if they did, they weren’t talking.Maybe they also wanted the treasure for themselves.”
Her research was meticulous.She had copies of the original Dutch court proceedings with their English translations, and the sources were attached to the documents.Tess wasn’t some wanna-be historian, she was the real deal.His body tingled with cautious excitement.“Didn’t the journal give him away?”
“The court didn’t have it.The documents suggest it went down with the ship, but the captain must have hidden it.”
“How did you get an English translation of it?”he asked.
Tess glanced at Dot, who nodded.She handed over a photocopied document.“This is a copy of the journal of one of the original settlers of this area,” she said.“Her husband had the original journal and the translation, but she didn’t know where he found it.Reginald came to Australia on theRetributionsearching for the treasure.”
Oliver frowned at the name.Lilian Stokes.Why did the name ring a bell?It wasn’t Lindsay’s surname, but he’d heard it before in relation to Dot.It suddenly clicked.“Is this Brandon’s ancestor?”
Dot nodded.
“When was that?”Suzyn asked.
“1870.”
“Surely he didn’t think the treasure was still there,” Andrew scoffed.
