by Martin Roth
Chapter Thirty
Eight months have passed. It is spring now, and the grevillea and bottlebrush are blossoming bright red, making my street as colorful as a Chinese festival.
I’m excited.
It has taken a long time, but at last I reckon I’m making progress on finding my father, thanks to that tiny clipping from The Age library.
Rohan’s military contacts told him that Lieutenant John La Vinne was discharged from the army in the mid-1960s, not so long after he returned from East Timor. Unfortunately that’s all they would say. The details of his discharge are classified. Top secret.
But I put my PI expertise to good use and finally managed to track down a cousin of the lieutenant, an elderly lady living in Queensland, on the Gold Coast. The letter I received from her a few weeks ago is the reason for my excitement.
I knew John well when I was young and our families lived near each other in Sydney. There was him and his younger sister Glenys. They were both the adventurous types. She married an American and I don’t where she ended up. He was a young officer in the army for several years, but then left in mysterious circumstances. No one in the family would ever talk about why he quit.
I heard from his parents that he then went to Asia - Japan or Korea I think, but maybe some other country - and married a local lady. That’s the last I heard. His parents are long dead, as are mine, and I don’t know anyone else who might be able to help you.
No, I’m afraid I don’t know anything about him being the father of a child in East Timor. But knowing John, anything is possible. I wish you luck in your search. Give him my love if you find him. Ask him if he remembers that time at my parents’ home behind the big wattle tree (blush! giggle!). I think he’ll know what I mean!
I’ve contacted every Australian embassy in Asia, asking them to check their lists of resident Australians. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time…
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