Palace of Tears by Julian Leatherdale

Author:Julian Leatherdale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2015-04-21T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

* * *

Lisa

Canberra, June 2013

A squad of eastern grey kangaroos stood about on the neatly trimmed lawns, chewing thoughtfully and scratching their ears with their forepaws. When Lisa walked to the Australian War Memorial that morning every blade of grass had been coated white with frost. By mid-afternoon, however, the frost was all gone and there was even a hint of warmth in the weak winter sun as she stood outside the AWM’s research centre, munching a ham sandwich with the same thoughtful rhythm as the kangaroos nearby.

Her quest to discover the past was no longer an idle one. She had decided it was not fair to let Luke do all the legwork. The Palace history had many other aspects that needed his attention: interviews with staff members and guests, and weeks of research in local, state and national archives and libraries. The list was long and the days short. Luke’s deadline to deliver a first draft was in August. His employers planned to publish a sumptuous small-run coffee-table book to coincide with the grand relaunch of the property later in the year.

Lisa made a commitment. For her, too, the clock was ticking. Monika’s health ebbed and flowed, as did her mind. But overall, the tide was going out. If Lisa ever wanted to know the truth, there was only one person who would find it for her – which was why she had put her freelance work on hold for a week and come to Canberra. The Ritz promised to alert her if Monika became too distressed in her absence.

Of course, she paid a visit to Tom, Natalie, Sasha and Oliver. Their house in Watson was too small for her to stay unless she was prepared to settle for a sleeping bag on the couch, so she had booked a room at the Hotel Kurrajong in Barton, close to the old Parliament House and the National Library. The Palace and the Kurrajong had something in common. Ben Chifley had famously died of a heart attack at the Kurrajong in 1951 in the room he had occupied the whole time he was wartime prime minister. An ex-national leader had also died of a heart attack at the Palace. Sir Edmund Barton, Australia’s first prime minister, had earned the nickname ‘Toby Tosspot’ for his love of drink and food, which finally caught up with him when his heart stopped in the shower at the hotel in 1920.

‘History is boring,’ Oliver confidently informed his aunt over hamburgers on her first evening at Tom’s house.

‘Why?’ asked Lisa, trying to keep any tone of judgement out of her voice.

‘It’s all about dead people,’ Oliver replied. ‘That’s what Daddy says.’

Tom blushed bright red and almost choked on his burger. ‘Oliver!’

Lisa smiled. Tom was ‘caught out rudely’ as they used to say when they were kids.

‘I didn’t say that exactly,’ corrected Tom. ‘I just said history has its place.’

Lisa was familiar with this argument. As a professional scientist responsible for a substantial research program, Tom lined up like everybody else for crumbs from the government coffers.

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