Killarney, p.8
Killarney, page 8
‘I guess it’s all been arranged then.’ She crossed her arms and glanced over at him, his face unreadable as he stared straight ahead at the dark clouds gathering on the horizon.
6
Dana sat behind a one-way mirror looking into the interview room at the Warwick Police Station. Vince was on one side of the table with Blair and Lachlan on the other. Blair had a spot of colour on each cheek and his eyes bulged as he clasped his hands.
‘For the purpose of the tape, please state your full name and date of birth.’
‘Blair Thomas Hadley. Eighth of February 1961.’
Lachlan glanced at the glass where he knew Dana was sitting, then looked away.
‘Do you agree for the record that the date is the seventeenth of January 1997, and the time is ten am?’ asked Vince.
‘Yes,’ said Blair.
‘And do you agree that you’ve been advised that any statements you make during this interview may be used in court at a later date, and that you’ve been advised of your right to legal representation.’
‘I do.’
Dana had a vision of Lachlan schooling Blair on the need for short, direct answers.
‘What do you currently do for work?’ asked Vince.
‘I’m based at St Mary’s Catholic Parish, Warwick. I run a few of the local youth groups in the district.’
‘How long have you been employed in this capacity?’
‘Just over a year. I started in January 1996.’
‘And prior to that?’
‘I was employed in Sydney at St Mary Magdalene in Rose Bay. I worked there for five years before I came back to Queensland.’
‘And what were the circumstances of your transfer?’
Blair blinked. ‘There was an allegation.’
‘What was the allegation about?’
‘That I’d … inappropriately touched a fifteen-year-old boy on his private parts, and then asked him to do the same to me.’
‘You touched his private parts?’
‘Yes, I mean, no! That was the allegation, but it wasn’t true. I was naive. I befriended a boy who I thought I was helping, but I was wrong. He took advantage of me.’
‘He took advantage of you?’
‘He told me he needed money for food, school books and clothes, so I helped him out. But then he started asking for more and more, showing up at the youth group with brand new Nikes and the latest Nintendo games. By the end I was giving him fifty dollars a week – that’s when I had to say “no” and put a stop to it. A week later, he put the complaint in.’
‘What was the outcome of his complaint?’ Vince’s double chin bobbed up and down, a toad ready to pounce on its prey.
‘I was questioned by the police, they charged me, and put me in a cell for a few hours.’
‘You were put in jail for a few hours? For something you didn’t even do?’
‘I’ve forgiven him now, I’ve made my peace with it. He’s a very confused kid.’
‘That’s big of you.’
Blair looked confused. ‘Is that a question?’
‘So, what was the outcome of the court case?’ asked Vince.
‘I’m not sure yet. I’m due to appear in the Tweed Heads Court House next month.’
‘And what are the charges?’
‘You mean, you don’t know?’
‘I’m asking you to confirm them for me.’
‘Four counts of indecent assault.’
‘And what does the church think of these allegations?’
‘Initially, they were supportive, they knew how much of a toll it had taken on me and my mental health. I was very upset about it, so it was decided that I needed a break from the city. There was an opening at Warwick and they knew I’d grown up here and that my family were still here, so they helped me move. But last week they suspended me, pending the outcome of the case. They said it’s untenable for me to be working until …’ he coughed ‘… until the charges have been dealt with.’
‘And when did you first meet Jayden Maloney?’
‘Shortly after I moved to Warwick. He was a regular at our Friday night youth group in Killarney. He was also training as an altar boy.’
‘And how was the training going?’
‘He was exceptionally good at it. Most boys his age get distracted, but he always had the hymn books out before I asked, the communion wine and wafers ready to go.’
‘How would you describe your relationship with him?’
‘As I said, he regularly attends the youth group out at Killarney and I assist with his training as an altar boy. Occasionally I would give him a lift to church because he didn’t have a car.’
‘So, you gave Jayden lifts, just like you gave money to the boy in Sydney? Do you see a pattern here?’
‘It was different. Jayden was genuine. He didn’t have parents and he’s a good kid. I knew he’d never use me in that way.’
‘And when was the last time you saw Jayden?’
‘On the eighth of January. I gave him a lift out to Queen Mary Falls – he said he was meeting a friend.’
‘Did he give you a name for the friend?’
‘No.’
‘And how was he during the lift?’
‘He seemed nervous, as though he had something on his mind.’
‘Did he tell you what it was?’
‘No.’
Vince began to drum his fingers on the table. ‘What happened when you dropped him off?’
‘He got out of the car, stepped over a wooden fence railing, gave me a little wave, then disappeared down the path.’ A shadow passed over Blair’s face. ‘I haven’t seen him since.’
‘And when did you first learn that he had disappeared.’
‘He wasn’t at youth group on Friday night, which was unusual. But then when he didn’t show up for church on Sunday I thought something was amiss – it was out of character. I checked in with Trevor at the mill the next day and he wasn’t at work. We’ve been trying to get the community involved in searching for him ever since.’
‘Do you have any theories on what might have happened to him?’
‘No.’
‘None at all?’
‘No.’ Blair’s hands were shaking and he clasped them together in an effort to keep them still.
‘May I remind you that anything you do or do not say, may be used against you in court?’ He paused. ‘So, I’ll ask you one final time. Do you have any idea what happened to Jayden Maloney on Wednesday the eighth of January, the day he disappeared?’
‘No.’
‘I’m ending this interview at eleven-forty am.’
Vince was fuming. Flowers of sweat had bloomed under the arms of his pale blue shirt as he crossed his arms tightly across his chest. He struck the stop button on the recorder so hard that it almost flipped.
Blair’s mouth was turned down as he stared at the table. He put his hands over his face and began to sob.
A downpour started at the exact moment Lachlan and Dana stepped out of the police station. A splash hit Dana’s forehead and she reached into her handbag for an umbrella. She offered to share it with Lachlan, but he shook his head and made a run for it. Dana joined him in the car a moment later.
‘That came out of nowhere,’ she said, as she stashed the umbrella in the footwell. ‘How was Blair after the interview? Did he seem okay?’
‘Not really – he was upset. He wanted to head straight back to the priory.’ Lachlan wiped the water from his cheeks, his face as dark as the storm clouds. ‘What did you think of the interview?’
‘Look, I know you’re friends, but I’ve never had a good feeling about him … especially with his history.’
Lachlan’s eyes narrowed. ‘So, you’re basing your dislike of him on women’s intuition?’
‘Well, when you think about it, my intuition is really just the sum total of my experience and learning in the field. So maybe I am.’
‘You told me that you were a lapsed Catholic. Are you sure you’re not projecting your feelings about the church on to him? Making him seem worse than he actually is?’
‘I don’t think that’s it. I’m worried that he might be one of those perpetrators who insert themselves into the drama of a child going missing, make a big ruckus and get everyone involved, when he’s actually responsible. It’s been known to happen. Some predators get a secondary thrill from outsmarting everybody.’
‘You could not be more wrong about this. Truly, this is why they can’t get men to be primary school teachers anymore. Or kindy teachers. Or swimming instructors. It’s because as soon as you show an interest in working with children, you’re labelled as a paedophile.’
‘That’s slightly dramatic.’
‘I swear, last week I was at a kid’s birthday party and I took a few snaps of my daughter. I looked up to see a group of mothers staring at me like I was the spawn of Satan – just for taking photos!’
‘It must be extremely hard being a man. I can see how you drew the short straw there.’
‘You can laugh, but working with children has got us all absolutely terrified. In fact, next time I go to a park, or a sporting fixture, or a family gathering and I want to take photos of my own child, I’m going to wear a sign that says Not a Paedo. And I’m going to buy one for Blair too.’
‘I can see this is something you feel strongly about. Maybe we should talk about something else?’
‘Of course I’m upset! I’m basically the only guy left in our office. And I want to be clear that you’re wasting your time if you’re trying to suggest Blair is responsible for Jayden’s disappearance.’
‘Okay, we’ll just have to agree to disagree.’
‘Fine, but before you say anything else, I’m going to swing past St Mary’s before we leave and have a word with the priest – it’s just not fair how he’s being treated.’
‘That’s such a bad idea, Lachlan! Blair’s now a suspect in Jayden’s disappearance and you’re his support person. How’s it going to look if he’s responsible?’
‘I’ve known him for nearly thirty years. I’m going to drop by and see if I can help, because that’s what friends do.’
Lachlan pulled into a diagonal park in front of the church and yanked on the handbrake. He stared straight ahead out the window, anger emanating from him in waves. ‘You can come in or stay in the car – up to you.’
‘I think I’ll just go for a wander,’ Dana said, hoping that having some space from each other would give him a chance to calm down. ‘Stretch my legs.’
As he jogged up the stairs of the church she hoisted her umbrella and headed down Palmerin Street in the rain. She steeled herself against the wind, unable to believe how badly things were going – their inability to see eye to eye about Blair. If she could just find Jayden, then the animosity between them would disappear. With the lapels of her jacket clutched to her chest, she hurried down the wide street, the palm trees in the church yard offering little shelter. She ducked into a coffee shop on the corner, swinging the door open and dumping her wet umbrella in a basket by the entrance. A woman in a cardigan with streaks of grey through her jet-black hair was at the counter, flicking through a Woman’s Day. She leapt to her feet when Dana came in.
‘Terrible weather, isn’t it?’ she said in an odd, high-pitched voice. ‘Can I get you anything?’
‘A latte would be great, thanks,’ said Dana.
The woman smiled. ‘We don’t do those new-fangled drinks, but I can get you a filter coffee? And a slice of apple crumble, if you’d like?’
Dana contemplated the drip machine with uncertainty, figuring that if nothing else she was sure to get a caffeine hit. ‘That would be lovely, thanks.’ She pulled up a seat at the counter and reached for a newspaper.
The woman took the glass jug from the warming plate and poured coffee into a mug. There was a stiffness to her manner. ‘So, what brings you to Warwick? I’m guessing you’re not a local.’ The woman eyed Dana’s suit with suspicion. ‘You can’t get slacks like that here.’
Dana had no desire to discuss what she did for work, so tried to keep her answer vague. ‘My colleague’s at St Mary’s having a chat to one of the brothers.’
The woman’s head snapped up. ‘Which brother’s that?’
‘Brother Blair.’
‘How interesting.’
Dana couldn’t help herself. ‘Why’s that?’
The woman lowered her voice. ‘Folks have started to get suspicious of him – you know, after word got out about what happened in New South Wales.’
‘And what was that?’
‘I don’t like to spread rumours, my brother-in-law is a police officer, you see …’
Dana nodded sympathetically.
‘But he said that Blair Hadley had been abusing a teenager. And that Jayden Maloney was about to tell on him too.’
Dana was shocked that news of Blair’s alleged crime had already spread and that the Warwick locals appeared to be just as outraged by Jayden’s disappearance as they were in Killarney. ‘Did your brother-in-law say anything else?’
‘Not really. Blair used to come in on Tuesdays for my tea and pikelets.’ She looked agitated as she watched a branch outside being swept along by a gust of wind. ‘But one day he got very angry and asked for a refund on the stew.’ She set the cup of coffee and slice of apple crumble down in front of Dana. ‘He said it was disgusting.’
Dana took a sip of the coffee and immediately regretted it. She pulled her mobile from her handbag and made a show of frowning. ‘I’m so sorry, but can I please get this to take away?’
‘Yes, of course. You must be very busy.’
Dana stood and took the take-away coffee and plastic container from the woman.
‘If you’re ever in town, you should come along to one of our CWA morning teas. It really is a lovely group.’
As Dana made her way back to St Mary’s she threw the take-away in the bin. For the first time, she stopped to appreciate the grandeur of the gothic-style building, the octagonal spire reaching into the sky above the parapet. She recalled the white marble of the altar inside, the stained-glass rose window. How had such an awe-inspiring church, on par with those she’d seen in Sydney or Melbourne, come to be built in such a small town? She could only assume that the locals at the time had offered up serious money for its construction.
She went up the front steps through the double-panelled timber doors, crossing herself as she stepped into the cool space, a refuge from the wild weather outside. Once again, the church was deserted, the scent of frankincense drifting through the air. She found Lachlan up the front near the altar.
‘Did you talk to the priest?’ she asked, hoping they could hurry back to the car and retreat for home.
‘Yes, I had a chat to the guy we spoke to the other day. He’s very worried. He said that when Blair came back from the interview he was extremely distressed. Father Gleeson said to try in here, apparently he often comes in to pray when he’s troubled. Could you look in the office? I’ll check out the back.’
Dana strode past the stations of the cross, irritated that they were wasting so much time on Blair when they should be searching for Jayden. She took a deep breath and ran her hand across the polished wood of a pew, remembering the midnight mass she had attended with her parents each Christmas. Staying up late to sing hymns with her mother had brought joy and comfort. She poked her head into the door of the empty office, still thinking about the self-reflection of church that had once brought time and space to think, to be a better person. She’d just started contemplating whether she should return to confession when she heard raised voices. She stood silently among the pews trying to figure out if she’d imagined it. A loud cry jolted her into action. She ran towards the back of the church to a set of dark wooden stairs. A shaft of light sliced through a flower-shaped window creating a complex and shifting pattern on the wall. Above her, a wire with a wooden handle hung from the ceiling. The bell tower.
Her footsteps echoed as she jogged up the wooden steps and through a door with a sign: No Entry. Inside was an old spiral staircase. She paused when she heard the sound of wailing – a man in distress – and the low tones of Lachlan attempting to provide comfort. She bounded up the last of the stairs, her chest growing tight as her breathing constricted. Gripping the low railing, she made the mistake of looking down, at the now distant scarlet rug. Her stomach lurched and a sweat broke out on her forehead. She flattened her body to the wall, closed her eyes, then forced herself onwards.
When she got to the top landing she could see Lachlan through the partially open door, his back to her.
‘I can’t do this,’ Blair’s voice was trembling. ‘I went through it last time and it almost killed me. Now it’s happening all over again. I gave them my whole life, then they turned on me.’
‘Not everyone—’
‘And this time the betrayal is so much worse because it’s happened in my home town, where everyone knows me. I could deal with it in Sydney, no-one knew me there, they hadn’t seen how much of my life I’d devoted to others. But in Killarney they all know that, and they’ve chosen to ignore it.’
Dana’s palms were sweating as she pushed the door open and stepped onto the landing. Open arches were cut into each side of the tower and above her, thick wooden beams supported a brass bell that hung from the roof. The heavy din of wind and rain whirled around them.
Blair looked pale and gaunt as he stood at the furthest arch, his back to the town as it spread out behind him.
‘Go away,’ Lachlan mouthed when he registered her standing there. He put his hand out to stop her coming any closer.
She ignored him, deciding that Blair was less likely to hurt himself if he knew she was there. ‘We need you to come with us Blair.’ She took a step towards him. ‘So, we can chat. Nothing’s ever that bad that you can’t talk about it.’
