Zoe and Charlie stepped out of the elevator and into the foyer of the Department of Justice in Exhibition Street. Harry walked happily beside Zoe.
The receptionist bounced up out of her seat as they approached. ‘What a beautiful dog.’
Harry wagged his tail in response.
‘Hi. Detectives Mayer and Shaw. We’re here to see Marko Raddich.’
‘Oh yes, just a moment, sorry.’ She picked up the phone, scanned a list and punched in some numbers.
‘Hi Marko. I’ve got two detectives here to see you… Okay…no…Okay.’ She put down the phone. ‘He’ll be right out.’
‘Thank you,’ said Zoe. A moment later a door at the back of the lobby swung open and a tanned man with a neat crew cut walked confidently towards them.
Marko Raddich was leaner, three inches taller, and had blue eyes, compared to Ivan’s brown, but the similarities were there. Zoe and Charlie glanced at each other.
‘Hi, I’m Marko,’ he said, thrusting out his hand.
Zoe took a step forward, and shook his hand. ‘Zoe Mayer and Charlie Shaw. Is there somewhere we can chat?’
‘Yes, sure, come through to the office,’ said Marko, before looking down at Harry. ‘Hey there, what’s your name?’
‘His name’s Harry,’ said Zoe.
‘Bit unusual, isn’t it? A police dog that’s not a german shepherd.’
‘He’s a specialist,’ Zoe said, smiling.
They followed Marko to his large corner office. It looked both south and east, the view taking in the Yarra River bending around past the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Zoe took an extra moment looking towards the northern end of the stadium and the surrounding parkland. Around the office were a number of computer boxes, some opened, others not, and his desk was piled high with papers and reports.
‘Apologies for the mess. I just got back from a week’s holiday hiking up at Mount Baw Baw and I’m trying to catch up. You should see the email backlog,’ he said, smiling.
‘Did you only get back today?’ asked Zoe.
Marko laughed. ‘You’d think so. No, I drove up a week ago on the Saturday and got back Sunday night. Eight days camping was more than enough. I was badly in need of a long shower and a comfy bed.’
‘What do you do here?’ asked Charlie.
‘I’ve been consulting on a major project for the past six or seven months. Updating cybersecurity protocols. Stopping hackers basically. I do a lot of government work. So, what case do you need help with?’
‘Sorry?’ asked Charlie.
‘The case you’re working on. I presume you need me to help with some cybersecurity aspect.’
‘No, nothing like that. We are here about your brother, Ivan.’
Marko’s body jerked. His shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes. Zoe noticed Marko’s ears turn red.
‘What’s happened? Is he hurt? Is he—’
‘No, nothing like that. We want to speak with him in relation to an investigation. He may be a witness, that’s all. How can we find him?’
Marko took several deep breaths as he recovered himself. ‘I wish I knew. I’ve hardly seen my brother at all in many years. Not properly since just after my mother died. The last time I saw him,’ Marko paused, looking away, ‘yes, that’s it, I ran into him by chance here in the city, in the Bourke Street Mall, about ten years ago. He said he’d been working up north, picking fruit. I gave him my number and asked him to call me to catch up, but he never did. I tried to locate him a few years ago through the government databases, but I couldn’t find anything. Zilch. I’d be happy to help you find him. He’s all the family I have left now.’
‘Thanks, we appreciate that. We’ll let you know,’ said Zoe. ‘What was the last address you had for him?’
‘It was our family home in Noble Park. Ivan was still living there when Mum died. We decided to sell it a few months later. I thought it was a good idea at the time—Ivan was depressed as hell living there without Mum. He was kind of floating about, not doing anything.’
‘What was the address in Noble Park?’
Marko gave it to her before adding, ‘The house is gone now. Was bulldozed for townhouses.’
‘What did Ivan do for work?’ asked Charlie.
‘He worked with Dad at my family’s fruit shop once he left school. Ran it with Mum after Dad died. When Mum got sick, she decided to sell it. She didn’t want Ivan to be shackled to it. Got a good price in the end. After Mum died, Ivan had half the money from selling the fruit shop, but that wasn’t going to last forever. I don’t think he worked for a while. As I said, he’d been picking fruit up near the Murray River somewhere. Other than that, I’m not sure.’
‘Your parents have any other kids?’
‘No, just Ivan and me.’
‘Tell us about your childhood.’
‘It was good. We arrived in Australia when I was six, Ivan was about eight. Dad worked construction jobs all over the place while he saved money to buy his fruit shop. We were a close family.’
‘Did you move around a lot with your Dad’s work?’ asked Charlie.
Marko raised an eyebrow. ‘Yeah, we did. How’d you know that?’
‘Where did you live?’ asked Zoe.
‘Dad looked for long-term construction jobs so we could all stay together. Building schools, roads, that sort of thing. We lived up at Bright in the high country, in Hastings, Frankston, Rosebud, and finally in Noble Park. That’s where my parents ended up buying a fruit shop. Big Serbian community there then. Helped them feel more at home.’
‘When you were moving around, what was life like?’
‘It was okay. Bit unsettling having to make new friends and change schools all the time, but we saw a lot of places.’
‘What about for Ivan? How’d he find it?’ asked Zoe.
‘I guess he found it tougher. He was older and the other kids were less open to newcomers. Especially back then. We were different and our English wasn’t good for the first few years. Plus, he was smaller than the other kids—our mum said it was because food was a bit tight back before we came to Australia. I ended up taller than him by the time I was sixteen, even though he had two years on me. Anyway, we just got on with things, and our English improved. Once we moved to Noble Park, Ivan left school to work with Dad in the shop.’
‘Did Ivan have any problems with specific kids at school?’
‘What? No, I don’t think so. What’s this all about?’ Marko shifted in his seat.
‘Ivan’s name has come up in an investigation. That’s all I can say right now. Where do you think your brother is?’
Marko’s eyes hardened. He crossed his arms. ‘I don’t know. I would have told you first up if I knew.’
Zoe held up a hand. ‘Okay, okay, I understand.’
‘Sorry,’ he said, calming slightly, ‘this has been a bit of a shock. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard from Ivan. It’s thrown me a bit, that’s all.’
‘I understand. One more question. Did Ivan ever have any issues with drugs?’
Marko grimaced. ‘To be honest, I’m not sure. I often wondered about that. Even asked him once, but he denied it. He’s got a lot of pride, my brother, and he can be hard to read, but deep down he’s sensitive. Gets easily upset by things, you know.’
Zoe pulled out her card. ‘If you remember anything or think of anywhere we could find him, please give me a call.’
‘Will do,’ Marko said. ‘He’s a good person. Just never found his place in the world, I suppose. When you find him, can you get him to call me? Please.’ He gave his card to Zoe. She tucked it into her folder.