Charlie reached over and unclipped the gate to Brenda Johannes’s front yard in Rosebud. He tried to push it open without success. His second attempt was more forceful, pushing some of the accumulated weeds flat as the gate gave way.
The house was a 1970s brick veneer. The bricks were a sun-bleached brown and the corrugated iron roof was so slightly pitched that it was almost flat. A mess of weeds looked to be winning the war against the patches of different types of grass. A beaten-up red Toyota Corolla sat under a carport that looked ready to fall in the next storm.
Zoe and Harry followed Charlie up the narrow path to the door. Charlie knocked twice.
The door opened. The sweet, strong odour of cannabis hit Zoe and Charlie immediately.
They knew at once that the woman who answered the door was Brenda, Donna Carlson’s sister. They had the same eyes, facial structure and height, but the differences were also apparent. Shoeless, she wore loose blue tracksuit pants and a pink t-shirt. Brenda looked beaten down by life, and although three years younger than Donna, she easily looked a decade older.
‘Fuck,’ she said on seeing their police badges.
Zoe took the lead. ‘Brenda Johannes, Detectives Zoe Mayer and Charlie Shaw. Can we have a word? It’s about the death of Ray Carlson.’
‘Yeah, sure,’ said Brenda, nervously looking over her shoulder.
‘Maybe we’d be better speaking outside.’ Zoe had no time for the paperwork involved in a minor dope bust.
‘Yeah, yeah, that’d be better. Yeah. My son had his mates over last night and the place is, um, a bit of a mess.’ Brenda looked down, noticing Harry for the first time. ‘What’s the deal with the dog? Is it here to sniff out the place for drugs? It was my son’s friends...’
‘No, he’s with me,’ said Zoe, leading them over to the corner of the yard, under the shade of a neighbour’s tree.
‘So Brenda, what do you know about the killing of Ray Carlson yesterday?’
Brenda’s eyes shot up to Zoe’s face. ‘Me? Nothing, nothing at all. Only found out last night. Saw about it all on the news—you know, that there’d been a murder—but I didn’t even know it was Ray until Donna texted me afterwards.’
‘Can I see the text?’ asked Zoe.
‘Yeah, sure.’ Brenda pulled her phone from her pocket and brought up the text message. Zoe looked at the message. Ray dead. Someone killed him this morning. Will let you know about funeral.
Zoe opened her own phone and photographed the message.
‘Pretty cold sort of message, don’t you think?’
‘Yeah, that’s Donna though. She’s fairly…’ Brenda trailed off, pursing her lips.
‘Fairly what?’
‘Direct is the best way to say it. Everything she thinks, she says. No filter, ya know?’
‘Where were you yesterday morning?’
Brenda paused. ‘Shopping with Donna down at the plaza. She bought me a dress. Actually, she forced me into letting her buy it for me. Said I was looking shabby, her words.’
‘And when did you get home?’
‘After ten. Called me mum straight away cause I was pissed off with Donna and the whole dress thing. Spoke to her for half an hour.’
‘Can you check your call log for the exact time?’
Brenda shook her head, handing the phone over. ‘Wouldn’t know how. Sorry.’
Zoe opened the phone log. There was a call to a contact called ‘Mum’ at 10.22 am. The call lasted thirty-eight minutes. Zoe handed the phone back to Brenda.
‘Who do you think killed Ray, Brenda?’
Brenda was already shaking her head before Zoe finished the question. ‘No idea. I mean, I was no fan of Ray. He had been fucking around on Donna for years and he had a drug problem.’ She shot a look back over towards her house. ‘Serious drugs, I mean. Speed, that sort of thing. He also used to push her around. But I don’t know who killed him. Haven’t even seen him since they separated.’
‘Did you see him abusing Donna?’
‘Nah. Just something Donna used to tell me. It wasn’t like she had black eyes or anything. He’d just give her a smack on the back of the head or push her, that sort of thing. They’d argue all the time about petty shit.’
‘Brenda, do you think that Donna killed Ray?’
Zoe watched as Brenda’s eyes narrowed as she thought through an answer. ‘Nah,’ she answered finally, ‘probably not.’
‘Sounds like she had motive, though, right?’
Zoe could see Brenda reconsidering. Finally she answered: ‘Sure, but I still can’t see it. They’ve had a shit relationship for years, so why now? Especially as they’re getting…were getting, divorced.’
‘Do you know of anyone close to Ray or Donna that may have been involved?’
‘Nah, I don’t really know anyone in that crowd. I was never invited into their life. All I know was that Ray always had plenty of cash and that the two of them liked to make me feel like shit. Now it’s just Donna to do that though.’
‘What about Dwayne Harley?’ Zoe asked. She saw Brenda physically shudder when she mentioned his name.
‘Yeah, what about him?’ Brenda pulled down on the bottom of her t-shirt, stretching it out of shape.
‘You think he could’ve been involved?’
Brenda looked up at the tree above them before responding. ‘Doubt it. They were always close. He was best man at Ray and Donna’s wedding. I haven’t seen him in years though.’
‘Anything about him that rubs you the wrong way. You reacted when I said Dwayne’s name.’
Brenda exhaled deeply. ‘Dwayne tried it on with me years ago. Before Ray and Donna were married. Didn’t take it well when I said no.’
‘Was he violent?’
‘No, not really. At first he was sweet as pie, charming and all, but when I said no he shoved me away, called me a slut and a fucking tease. Normal bloke stuff.’
Charlie interjected. ‘That’s a long way from normal, Brenda.’
Brenda chuckled sardonically. ‘Maybe in your world.’