Figuring he had a few minutes to spare, Burke took a detour toward the harbour.
Once onto the sandy beach, he could see a couple of fishermen talking into their cellphones. The closer he got, the more urgent they sounded. They were speaking the island’s ancient language, Corsu, which Burke thought sounded like a strange dialect of Italian. Although he was capable in Italian, Burke could comprehend only a few words of their rapid-fire conversation, but he sensed nothing good had happened.
As he approached them, Plato became agitated, bouncing around, eager to go in the opposite direction.
Five metres away, Burke still couldn’t see what everyone was looking at.
Then there was a gap in the group and Burke stopped instantly.
Two bodies were stretched out, side by side, on the sand, their throats sliced ear to ear.
Both dead men wore red-white-and-blue Montreal Canadiens hockey jerseys.
About the author
Photo by Lynda Kavanagh
D’Arcy Kavanagh, shown just before the Danube River goes underground for 12 kilometres, is a former journalist and journalism instructor who has spent decades touring Europe and writing about his travels for magazines and newspapers. Deception on the Danube is his third novel featuring ex-pro cyclist and blogger/columnist Paul Burke.
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