Neil and John Fletcher were brothers who owned the general store and cafe at Brandon Point in equal partnership. Early in the winter of '98, they also acquired a number of claims on the upper reaches of Christmas Creek. It was a speculative buy - they decided to make a personal trip of inspection before actually going into the mining business. They hired a man named Borneo Smith as their guide, and started out for the creek. A month later, Neil and Borneo returned, but John would never return...