There is a moment in this story that will stay with anyone who reads it.
A woman had arrived in Jakarta. She rang her husband in Bali, where he was staying with their two children in a rented bungalow in Kuta. During the call, she heard one of her children crying.
Then the line went dead.
She tried to reach him again and could not. From another island, hundreds of kilometres away and unable to do anything herself, she called a neighbour and asked them to go and check.
The neighbour went. Nobody answered. The neighbour and the head of the local community forced the door open.
Inside they found Damien John Shaw, 56, and his two children a six-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl.
What police have said
Bali Provincial Police say they are investigating the deaths as a suspected double murder-suicide. It is important to be precise about that word: police have described a suspicion, not a conclusion. An autopsy is under way, and the investigation is at its earliest stage.
The bodies were found on Sunday morning. Police have not released further detail about the circumstances, and this article does not speculate about them.
Officers said the man's wife is experiencing deep shock and grief.
She has lost her husband and both of her children. There is no sentence that does justice to that, and it would be wrong to try.
Who they were
Shaw was from the Fremantle area of Western Australia. He had worked for nearly four decades in the maritime industry.
The children have not been named by police, and are not named here. They were six and four.
Western Australian Premier Roger Cook described the deaths as horrific.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it is providing consular assistance to the family of three Australians who died in Bali, and extended condolences. A spokesperson said the department would not comment further, citing the family's privacy which is the correct instinct, and one the rest of us might follow.
What happens now
An autopsy will determine the cause of each death. Indonesian police will complete their investigation, and the findings may take time to be made public.
Consular officials will work with the family on repatriation, a process that is rarely quick and which the family will navigate in the middle of grief most people cannot imagine.
Until police release findings, anything beyond what is written above is speculation. On a story involving two small children and a mother who is still absorbing what has happened, speculation is not a small thing. It reaches the people left behind.
If this has affected you
Stories like this land harder on some readers than others, and it is worth saying so plainly.
In Australia, Lifeline is available 24 hours a day on 13 11 14, and Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
In India, the government's Tele-MANAS mental health helpline can be reached on 14416, also 24 hours a day.
If you are struggling, please talk to someone. It helps more than people expect it to.
