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Back Going Under Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART I BIRTH
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EIGHT
  14. NINE
  15. TEN
  16. ELEVEN
  17. TWELVE
  18. THIRTEEN
  19. FOURTEEN
  20. FIFTEEN
  21. PART II LIFE
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. PART III DEATH
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. THIRTY-NINE
  47. FORTY
  48. FORTY-ONE
  49. FORTY-TWO
  50. FORTY-THREE
  51. FORTY-FOUR
  52. FORTY-FIVE
  53. FORTY-SIX
  54. FORTY-SEVEN
  55. FORTY-EIGHT
  56. FORTY-NINE
  57. FIFTY
  58. FIFTY-ONE
  59. FIFTY-TWO
  60. FIFTY-THREE
  61. FIFTY-FOUR
  62. FIFTY-FIVE
  63. FIFTY-SIX
  64. FIFTY-SEVEN
  65. FIFTY-EIGHT
  66. FIFTY-NINE
  67. SIXTY
  68. EPILOGUE
  69. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  70. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

‘Cheer up,’ I say to Max as we stroll along the main street, the sun setting behind us and the dusk settling on the shops and old pubs that line the wide road. I throw my arm around him. ‘Just think, in a while this will be such a great story.’

After all, even the biggest catastrophe can be turned around a few months later over some wines and a good laugh.

TWENTY

twenty

The rest of the weekend is spent formulating Max’s legal defence. Once the Godfather sobers up, he steps into litigation mode. As well as picking Max up from the police station while high on MDMA, he is also generously taking on Max’s case pro bono.

‘I can’t believe you used to be a lawyer.’ Estelle is shaking her head. ‘What kind of psycho are you? Law then medicine?’

‘Maybe don’t answer that,’ I say quickly as the Godfather looks thoughtful and opens his mouth to launch into a lengthy description of the inner workings of his mad mind.

‘The first thing you need to do is a remedial drivers’ course,’ the Godfather announces.

Max looks startled. ‘What do you mean? Like an online quiz?’

The Godfather smiles.

Remedial Drivers, we learn, is a six-week weekend program created for traffic offenders. The Godfather reckons it’s nonnegotiable. It will send the message that Max is taking his crime seriously and genuinely wants to reform.

‘You have to watch videos on dangerous driving, and then you listen to talks by occupational therapists about patients who’ve suffered brain injuries from drink-driving accidents,’ he tells Max, who’s looking more and more horrified. ‘Then there’s a big reflection session at the end. I think you have to write an essay about your feelings and stuff. And you get a certificate,’ he adds, as a sweetener.

‘At least it’ll give you something to do on the weekend,’ Estelle tells Max encouragingly. ‘You might learn something.’

I’m amazed a town as small as Wingabby has such a service, but the Godfather explains that all country areas have them, due to the high volume of offences. Apparently, a significant proportion of the community is spending their Saturdays at the local church hall being lectured about road and traffic safety.

As the other three start arguing about what else to include in the remedial drivers’ curriculum, I remember that I still haven’t read the email from Dr Wolfgang Dietrich.

I open my laptop and locate the email. I discover that he sent me a second one while I was at the police station. I read both.

Hello Katarina,

How lucky you are being Jack’s intern! He is a fun person.

He was very good to me when I am in Sydney. Has he taken you to his art gallery?

I grin at his slightly off English and I wish I’d been to Jack’s gallery.