Killarney, p.20
Killarney, page 20
‘You didn’t think to mention it to the police?’
‘No, because not in my craziest dreams could I ever have imagined it being involved in the hit-and-run.’
He was getting defensive she thought, watching the fear in his eyes. ‘So where were you on the third of January? Were you responsible for the death of Johnny Buckley?’
‘What?’ he cried. ‘That’s insane. And besides, I have an alibi.’
‘Who is it?’
‘I’d tell you, but I can’t. There’s a lot of awkwardness tied up in it for some people.’
‘You didn’t tell the police about the repairs because you knew how bad that was going to look?’ The image she’d had of Sean being a good and decent person had slipped through her fingers. Lachlan had been right. Sean wasn’t a bad man, he was just a weak one. She was relieved to see Ryan striding towards them.
‘Good news,’ Ryan said. ‘I’ve just had word that the water has receded and the bridge in Warwick is now clear. You’ll be able to drive home tomorrow.’
‘That’s wonderful news,’ said Dana, blinking back sudden tears of happiness.
‘And, Sean, I’ll need you to come with me to the station.’
‘Come on, man, can’t we do it tomorrow? I didn’t do it. I swear to god. And like I said, I’ve got an alibi.’
‘No can do, I’m afraid,’ said Ryan.
‘I know what you’re doing. Being the big, strong man. Trying to show off in front of her.’
‘Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.’ Ryan grabbed Sean’s upper arm and steered him towards the door.
Sean called back towards Dana as he was being led away. ‘I’ll call you when you’re back in Toowoomba. We’ll go for coffee.’
Lachlan returned just in time to see them heading out the door. ‘Where are they off to?’
‘Questioning.’ She was thankful that she’d almost finished her beer and her inhibitions were disappearing. ‘What’s the story with Sean’s alibi for the hit-and-run.’
Lachlan groaned. ‘Someone has to tell you. It may as well be me.’ He hesitated. ‘Sean left the motorbike at the shop because he went to visit a woman named Emma who lives at a nearby property.’
‘I thought he was with Jessa.’
‘Who?’ His forehead creased with confusion then a light came on. ‘Oh, her. She’s always had a thing for him, but he’s never gone there.’
‘So, who’s Emma?’
‘The woman he’s been having an affair with. He didn’t want anyone to know because she’s married.’ He was silent for a beat. ‘With kids.’
She was so incredulous she laughed and returned her glass to the table with a loud clink.
‘But he wasn’t responsible for Johnny’s death!’ he called out, as she stalked away up the stairs towards her room.
18
Dana felt a complicated mix of emotions as she tidied up her room, straightening the shiny maroon doona across the brass bed one last time. She’d spent eight days at the hotel but it had seemed like a lifetime. Soon she’d be back in her own home, with Angus and Susan next door, the hum of bees in the mock orange tree and everything in its right place.
Downstairs she found Angus and Tina at the bar, chatting to Cynthia’s son, Brian. Dana gave Cynthia a hug and said her goodbyes with a sharp twinge of affection as she promised to keep in touch. She accompanied Angus and Tina outside to Lachlan’s Range Rover.
Tina ruffled Angus’s hair as they stood beside the car. ‘Good luck starting your fancy new school, kiddo. And I’ll chat to Nan and see if you can come and live here with me, like we talked about.’
Dana stowed his bags in the boot and tried to ignore Tina’s emotional blackmail. When she looked up Ryan had appeared with Lachlan.
‘Last day, hey?’ Ryan said.
‘I was starting to think I might be living above the pub forever.’ She looked into his brown eyes thinking how much time they’d spent together over the past week. She’d almost come to regard him as a friend.
‘Keep in touch. And I’ll be sure to give you any updates on Jayden as they come in,’ he said.
‘Thank you. And I’m sorry we never got around to having that drink.’
‘Oh, well. I’m in Toowoomba occasionally so I can always look you up. And you never know, you might be back here sooner than you think.’
‘I doubt it.’ She stared up at him, trying to decide whether to hug him or to shake his hand, then settled on a warm smile. As Lachlan pulled onto the road, going faster than she was comfortable with, she waved out of the passenger window.
‘I can’t believe I’m finally going to see Rachel and the kids. They’re going to be ropable.’
They flew down Ivy Street as the sun broke through the clouds. For the first time, the tops of the mountains ringing Killarney were visible and not shrouded in fog. As they turned onto the highway, passing fields of luminescent green, she felt the tug of opposing emotions. Sadness about the loss of Blair and their inability to find Jayden, but relieved she’d soon be in the comfortable familiarity of home.
In Godsall Street the white roses were in flower on either side of the front steps and the heady scent of blossoms filled the air. The lavender was growing wildly in the front garden, alive with the droning of bees. As Lachlan pulled up on the street, Angus leapt out and used the knocker to hammer on Susan’s front door.
‘Not too loudly,’ said Dana, ‘she might be sleeping.’
Susan opened the door.
‘Nan!’ Angus threw himself into her arms. Dana was struck by the change in Susan’s demeanour – her collarbones stood out prominently making her look frail and withdrawn.
Dana hugged Susan close, feeling her bird-like shoulders through her thin cotton t-shirt. She blinked back tears knowing there was no way Susan would want her feeling sorry for her.
‘Lachlan.’ Susan beamed up at him. ‘How’ve you been?’
‘What can I say. I’m very happy to be heading home.’
‘Well, I hope you can stay for five minutes. I’ve made my world-famous lemonade scones with cherry jam.’
‘Okay, five minutes.’ He grinned.
They sat on the verandah in wicker chairs as Susan set a plate of scones and a pot of tea in front of them.
Angus took two scones and wolfed them down. ‘Nan, can I go on the computer please? I’ve had my afternoon tea now.’
‘You’ve only just got home!’
‘But I’ll have loads of emails to check.’
‘Oh, I suppose so. It has been a week since you’ve been on it.’
He dumped his plate and raced inside.
‘Some things never change,’ said Susan.
‘If it makes you feel any better, one of my friend’s kids is only six, and they’re already having arguments over the computer,’ said Lachlan.
They waved at a neighbour walking her dogs down the street and Dana felt a sense of peace wash over her. She sliced a scone in half then slathered it in cream and jam. She was about to take a bite when her mobile started flashing; she’d silenced the ringtone when Angus had fallen asleep in the car. Her stomach dropped as she stared at the screen now, not daring to pick it up.
Lachlan gave her a questioning look. ‘Aren’t you going to get that?’
‘We just got home. And besides, I’m sure they’ll ring back if it’s important.’
The phone started flashing again.
Dana sighed and picked it up. ‘Ryan, I didn’t expect to hear from you quite so soon.’
‘They’ve located a body in a culvert at Queen Mary Falls.’ He was in full police mode – no niceties. ‘It’s Jayden.’
Dana leapt up, turning her back on Lachlan, her heart in her mouth. ‘What happened?’ She had to lower her voice and walk out into the garden so the others couldn’t overhear.
‘It’s unclear at this point, but we can talk more when you get here.’
She hit the red button and realised Angus was standing behind her.
‘Who was it?’ he asked, a strange expression on his face.
Lachlan and Susan were staring over at her expectantly and for a moment she wondered whether she should tell them in front of Angus.
He was going to find out one way or another.
‘I’m so sorry, but it was about Jayden. His body’s been found in Spring Creek out near Queen Mary Falls.’
‘Is he dead?’ he blurted.
‘I’m afraid so.’ Her heart went out to him. So many people taken from him, now he was chalking up another loss.
He was quiet in his grief. A single tear ran down his face and he went over to Susan and lay his head on her shoulder. Dana turned away, blinking the tears from her eyes. Soon his nan will be gone too.
Lachlan swore and dumped his plate on the table. ‘Give me a moment to tell Rachel and the kids, then we’re good to go.’
‘Are you sure?’ asked Dana, noticing that he suddenly looked very pale. ‘At the very least we can drop in so you can see your family before we head back out.’
The sun was slipping towards the horizon by the time they reached Allora. Lachlan gripped the wheel with grim determination, steering through sections of road that were still waterlogged. They drove on past sheds filled with bales of hay and fields hidden deep in shadow. When they reached the valley of Killarney the mountains were ringed with dark clouds. Killarney was breathtaking, thought Dana as she stared out the window, but its beauty was dangerously deceptive.
It was dusk by the time they reached the Falls. The play equipment was deserted, and police cars were haphazardly parked in the picnic area. A light mist felt chill on her skin as they made their way down the slope towards the twin-arched culvert. Dana felt the weight of inevitability. Now that they were here, finding Jayden’s body in the river seemed somehow predestined, a trajectory they’d been on since they drove to the sawmill two weeks earlier. Of course, he hadn’t just gone missing.
As they went further along the path, she could see a flood light had been set up to illuminate the tunnel where police tape cordoned off the scene. Shadowy figures were rushing in and out of a forensic tent that had been put up to assist the investigators. She followed Lachlan into the culvert, noting the sinister way it amplified every sound, from the surge of the river to the monumental rumble of a car passing on the bridge overhead.
Each step brought a rising anxiety. One part of her had no desire to see Jayden’s body, yet another could not turn away. How else would she accept his death and help others to do the same?
She fell in behind Lachlan as he weaved through the officers and paused at the entrance to the tent where Ryan was on the phone. He snapped it shut and met them at the police tape barrier.
‘Stay there – otherwise you’ll contaminate the scene.’ His voice echoed as though they were standing in a hollow tin can.
‘What do you think happened?’ Lachlan asked, as Dana craned her neck to see past a group of officers gathered around the body.
‘Hard to say at this point. Could be anything from a drowning to something more suspicious. Up to the coroner to decide.’
The officers moved aside and she had a clear view. Jayden was on his back in the water, pushed up against a log, his knees buckled. The skin on his torso had darkened, deep gouges from where he’d hit the rocks. His bloated body was unrecognisable from weeks in the water. His face was turned away from them, his arms outstretched in a final embrace. The river his cold grave.
By the time Dana and Lachlan returned to the picnic area, two policewomen were holding back a small pack of journalists. The bright flashes of a dozen cameras went off, illuminating the surreal beauty of the eucalypt trees towering above them. Dana blinked, holding her hands up to shield her eyes and ward off a sense of rising disconnect.
‘Dana Gibson,’ one of them yelled. ‘Were you Jayden’s case worker?’ The questions came thick and fast as the reporters shouted across the car park trying to make their voices heard. ‘What can you tell us about his death? How did he die? Is the Department doing enough to protect our kids in care?’
An officer cleared a path as they were pushed and jostled all the way to Lachlan’s car.
They divided up the tasks when they got to the Killarney Police Station. Lachlan phoned the Regional Director and typed up case notes while Dana wrote a ministerial briefing, a critical incident report and talked to a woman from Crisis Care. By 3 am she was so exhausted she was prepared to sleep on the floor, but one of the officers directed her to a camp bed in Ryan’s office while Lachlan went off to nap on the lounge in the tearoom.
She was woken a few hours later by Ryan gently shaking her shoulder. She dragged herself up and replied to a number of emails, then staggered to the pub, got the keys from Cynthia and made her way up the stairs to the room which she’d now come to think of as her own.
The next three days were spent chained to the desk at the station as Dana tried to organise a memorial service. She was grateful his religious views were well known and so it was a straightforward matter for the ceremony to take place at the church where he’d served as an altar boy.
On the night before the funeral, she turned on the TV and flicked on the ABC News coverage of Jayden’s death. The female news reporter stared the audience down with bulky shoulder pads, her voice burying deep into Dana’s psyche.
A leaked internal memo from the Queensland Police Service has revealed the body of Jayden Maloney, a missing teen from Killarney, has been found almost three weeks after he is believed to have died. The body was found downstream from Queen Mary Falls after heavy flooding inundated the area in recent days.
A limited post-mortem showed injuries to Jayden’s head, chest and limbs consistent with a fall from a great height.
The memo revealed Jayden had been experiencing feelings of guilt about a recent hit-and-run accident in the small community on the day Jayden was last seen alive. It is believed Jayden had helped repair the bike involved in the accident. There were no witnesses to Jayden’s fall, but ABC News has been informed that his death will likely be ruled a suicide.
Dana was incensed, jumping up from the bed and pacing around the room as she tried to recall if Jayden had given any indication that he was experiencing suicidal ideation. All she could remember was the endless evidence pointing to a young man who was driven, grabbing at life with both hands.
Jayden’s foster carer, Connie McClusky, then gave an interview, her face awash with tears as she spoke to the camera:
‘He was such a good boy.’ Connie wiped her cheeks. ‘I can’t believe this happened. He always had a kind word for everyone and helped out wherever he could. The whole town was his family.’
Dana felt emotion welling inside her until she couldn’t stand it anymore. She grabbed the remote control, stabbing at the off button.
On the dawn of the memorial service Dana lay awake, feeling apprehensive. She wondered how it was possible to feel such intense grief for a boy she’d never known, but reasoned that she was still coming to grips with Blair’s suicide and the death of Oscar eighteen months earlier.
It was an impossibly bright morning as she headed up the hill to the Holy Cross Catholic Church, stepping past a marble statue of Mary and groups of journalists gathered out the front. The scene was one of chaos, people spilling out onto the lawn from a church that was unable to contain the community’s grief.
What she glimpsed inside was no different. The entire town was jammed into the pews and along the aisles, while ceiling fans whirred overhead. As she was walking up the front stairs she ran into Angus, Tina and Susan. Dana was relieved to see Angus and drew him to her for a long hug. When she let go, Tina was waiting by the entrance looking pale. Dana wondered if Tina was beginning to grasp the reality of Susan’s death, how painful it was going to be when the mother she’d taken for granted had passed on.
Dana squeezed into the back row behind a group of teenagers in Killarney State School polo shirts. Two girls at the end of the pew were being reprimanded by a teacher in an otherwise silent crowd. How must it feel to be at a memorial service for someone their own age? How would they cope, or even come to accept it?
She gazed around, trying to locate Lachlan, Sean or Ryan but gave up, assuming they were somewhere up the front.
‘It’s so sad they can’t release his body until the coroner finishes the autopsy,’ said one of the women beside her.
‘I know,’ agreed the other. ‘But given that he killed Johnny Buckley then took his own life, there’s not much that can be done.’
Dana realised that most people in the town likely believed the theory that Jayden was responsible for Johnny Buckley’s hit-and-run, then suicided because of his guilt. Two deaths tied up in a neat little bow. For the most part, she understood the need to explain Jayden’s death away, the psychological safety that came with no longer having to worry about a murderer on the loose, but something about it felt wrong.
A whispered hush fell over the crowd as a woman with a messy brown bob settled herself at the piano, propping a sheet of music in front of her. When she started to play the familiar refrain of ‘Song for Guy’ Dana was completely undone. The anguish she’d been bottling up since witnessing Jayden’s body in the culvert overflowed. She pictured his wide, open smile, and remembered his friends’ love for him.
The ceremony passed in a daze of tears. Towards the end of the formalities the sun streamed through the stained-glass windows and a line of white birds flew across the sky. For a moment it felt like a release. That despite the terrible pain to be endured, there was also immense beauty.
When the service was over, she stumbled through the heavy wooden doors into the bright sunlight. The first person she saw was Ryan, in full police regalia. A hot rush of tears streamed down her cheeks and when she let him put an arm around her shoulders she knew she must be learning. To show her emotions and not bottle everything up.
