It sounded like it was breaking Dan’s as well and I really didn’t know what to say at his choked-up words. I put my hand on his upper arm and squeezed lightly. The muscle beneath my fingers twitched and was even harder than his chest. I pulled back my hand and focused on getting down to business.

‘Shall we take a look around?’ I asked.

Over the next half hour, I took notes and lots of photos while Dan gave me a sombre tour of the island. The palm trees Bill had planted had either been displaced or torn apart by the wind and their branches were now scattered over everything.

‘This was his castle,’ Dan said, explaining that the mammoth structure had been built with rocks, wooden sleepers and planks scoured from the ocean and nearby junkyards. Apparently once locals knew what he was up to, they also started to bring him useful building materials as an excuse to take a look.

‘Wow.’ I admired the circular design with its battlements, turrets and large ornamental shells that decorated the perimeter at the top. It truly was a work of art. ‘Did he build this all by himself?’

‘Yeah, pretty much, over a period of about ten years. He chipped away at it whenever he wasn’t working on the boats.’

‘It’s very detailed. Almost reminds me of something from the Mediterranean. Was Bill from Europe?’

Dan shrugged. ‘Who knows? He never spoke about his time before he came to the Point.’

I frowned, remembering what Jedda had said about what happened when he died. ‘Did nobody ever question him?’

‘I guess they probably did, but long before my time. He proved himself to be a hard worker, a good guy, and everyone accepted him as a little eccentric but not a threat. I did ask him once, but he told me he’d rather not talk about it. Still, I was as surprised as anyone when he died and we discovered he was living identity-less.’

‘How did he survive without an identity? Surely he needed a bank account to buy things? A Medicare card for when he got sick? What about a licence?’

‘He always paid for everything in cash—from money he made working the boats. Happened lots years ago. Fishermen didn’t mind because they didn’t have to worry about all the stuff that comes along with employing someone. He hitched into the Point and I guess that’s how he was getting around before then, while also doing odd jobs. After that he never really left, or he got lifts with friends if he needed to go further afield. He didn’t need much though; most of what he ate he grew here in his veggie patch or caught in the sea. And as for visiting a doctor—I don’t remember him ever getting sick. If he did, he probably self-medicated.’