At last "Diamond" Jack Palmer finally enters this remarkable story. Jack Palmer was by all accounts a local character, and not unusually for the time and place, rather a sort of ....beachcomber. The kind of man who if he was sailing past somewhere and saw something unusual, like a beached DC3 for example, would stop to salvage anything "...of use." So, the month after Ivan Smirnoff's group was rescued, Jack turned up at Army HQ in Broome to join the Army... he thought he'd sweeten the deal by emptying a salt-shaker full of diamonds onto the table in front of the astonished Army brass! They arrested him. They were apparently the only people in Northern Australia who didn't want to be his friend!!!! ;-) An Army team was then sent to Carnot Bay, with Jack Palmer in tow. They took photographs of the grounded Pelikaan and found the remains of the official seals and wrapping from the diamond merchant's parcel. According to Jack he'd turned in all that there was. The package was falling apart. Honest! But he'd handed such a small fraction of the trove, so its no surprise they suspiciously put "Diamond Jack" and some of his friends up on trial the following year. But in the end they were acquitted. A few more diamonds turned up in subsequent years in the neighborhood, stashed away in nooks and crannies, but the bulk of the sparkling horde remains at large to this day. If any of the accused were closet millionaires, they didn't show it. How could they? Anyway, its likely the aboriginal community was far too intimidated to cooperate by all the grumpy white policemen nosing around? Or perhaps the sodden package really did break open in the waves of Carnot Bay...? Perhaps Pelikaan's beach... Ivan Smirnoff's beach... is still a million dollar piece of real estate today... Next... "Whatever happened to...?" tying up the loose ends. Rendered in Vue 8 Esprit Assets Michael 4 with various textures etc Neiwil's DC3 (ShareCG) Pearl lugger (modelled in Shade 10.5) rowboat (Cornucopia 3D) Thanks for viewing and comments...