‘Theme night?’
‘Yes, Connor had themed parties, too, sometimes.’
‘Fancy dress?’
‘Sort of. Roman times, sixties, twenties flappers, that sort of thing.’
‘Fancy dress and period behaviour?’
‘Who knows what they got up to? If I did drop by, it would never be for long.’ She twisted a ring on her middle finger. ‘And certainly not to spy. Why are you asking me all this? What’s going on?’
‘Who made sure that the cocaine dishes remained full?’ Gerry asked.
‘So that’s it.’ Charlotte spread her hands. ‘I’d be a liar if I said that I didn’t know there were drugs around, just as there were sexual favours being given, and taken, but I can assure you I had nothing to do with either. I’ve told you. My work was behind the scenes.’
‘Boys will be boys,’ Annie said.
Charlotte shrugged.
‘But were you ever present when drugs were taken?’ Gerry asked.
‘Surely you can’t arrest me for that?’
‘I’m sure we could find a charge without resorting to making something up if we wanted to.’
‘Connor was my employer,’ said Charlotte. ‘It wasn’t my place to criticise his habits. You may judge me wealthy on the basis of this house, but I’m not a rich woman. I needed to work. Still do.’
‘You mentioned events organising?’ Annie said, in a move to get Charlotte off the defensive.
‘That’s right. I’m a partner in an events organising company.’
‘What kind of events?’
‘All sorts. Mostly corporate. Product launches, gala dinners, parties, retirement dos, presentations, AGMs, conventions. You name it. Pretty much anything except weddings. I hate weddings. They’re too much of a nightmare, and there are plenty of other companies around to deal with them.’
‘How did you get into the business?’
‘I suppose I drifted there. It was something I found I had a knack for — finding the right venue, the right band, or DJ if either was required, working with a chef on a menu, keeping costs down — whatever was required.’
‘Was that your background?’
‘Good heavens, no. I was fortunate enough to attend Oxford. I studied Economics and Management at St. Hilda’s. I suppose you could count that as a bit of a background.’
‘Cheltenham Ladies College?’
Charlotte laughed. ‘Where on earth did you get that idea? No, nothing like that. Just a Halifax comprehensive. Though I did get a scholarship.’
‘So you went into the business straight from university?’
‘Not quite. After three years of studying I felt I needed a break. Let my hair down. I went travelling with some like-minded uni friends.’
‘Where did you travel?’
‘All over. First the Far East. Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Then we spent some time bumming around the Mediterranean.’
‘Sounds exotic. Are you married?’
‘Widowed. Five years now. Leukaemia.’
‘Yet you still live here alone?’
Charlotte played with her ring again and glanced around the room. ‘In this huge mansion. I know it’s too big for me, but I couldn’t bear to leave,’ she said. ‘I know it would make sense. I could sell this place for a tidy sum, buy a nice little flat in Headingley or somewhere and live off the profit. But it’s my home. Gareth and I lived here all our married life. And it’s mortgage-free now. I can just about afford the upkeep as long as I keep working.’
‘How long were you married?’
‘Just ten short years, but I wouldn’t change them for anything.’
‘How did you come to work for Mr. Blaydon?’ Gerry asked.
‘I helped organise a gala dinner for him when I first got in the business. I’d known him vaguely on and off for a while. He used the company I worked for before frequently for his business events.’
‘So you go back a long way?’
‘Well, not that long,’ said Charlotte. ‘I’m not that old.’
‘Was he a friend of your late husband’s?’
‘No.’ Charlotte paused. ‘Truth be told, Gareth disapproved of him, of his business practices.’
‘It’s true they left a lot to be desired,’ said Annie. ‘But you gave up event organising to become Blaydon’s PA?’
‘I needed a break, a change. A challenge, even. It seemed like a good opportunity. After Gareth died I had what you might call a fallow period. I needed to get back to work. Connor offered me a job. There was a fair bit of foreign travel involved, which I enjoy, and the duties weren’t too onerous.’
‘Where did the foreign travel take you?’
‘All over. Sometimes Connor had parties or business meetings at his villa on Corfu. I organised meetings in America sometimes, and a convention once in Cape Town.’
‘Sounds like fun,’ Annie said.
‘Yes. I enjoyed it.’
‘Did you ever meet someone called Leka Gashi in your travels?’
‘That animal? Towards the end, Connor was mixing with some seriously undesirable people. He said they were important to his property development plans, but if you ask me, they were just using him.’
‘For what?’
‘Contacts, mostly. He’d built up a lot of contacts within the community and the establishment over the years.’
‘What about money laundering?’ Gerry asked.
‘I don’t know anything about that.’
‘I understand that he invited people from all walks of life to his parties,’ Annie said. ‘At least the higher walks. Judges, senior police officers, politicians, clergy, actors, footballers, the odd rock star or two.’
‘Connor collected people. And he liked to be among the movers and shakers, the stars and entrepreneurs. He liked to be seen with them. Photographed.’
‘And Gashi?’
‘He wanted to appear respectable. I would have said it was impossible for a man like him, but he thought that with Connor’s contacts and prestige, some of it would rub off on him. Like the others, he probably thought that knowing Connor would make him appear respectable.’
‘But instead some of Gashi’s criminality rubbed off on Connor?’
‘I don’t know about that. I wasn’t his business manager. He had other people to deal with all that stuff. I never saw him do anything illegal. I just didn’t like Gashi. He was a crude pig of a man.’
‘Was he sexually aggressive?’
‘Not towards me, except with his eyes. But I would imagine so, yes. He was a man used to getting what he wanted, no matter what.’
‘As we understand it, they were old friends. Blaydon had known Gashi for years. Did you know that?’
Charlotte blinked and gave a brief shake of her head. Her hair danced over her shoulders.
Gerry glanced at Annie and raised an eyebrow. ‘What about Petar Tadić?’ she asked.
‘Another of Connor’s gangster friends. Fortunately, I didn’t have much to do with him.’
‘We think Tadić supplied the girls. What did you know about the sexual favours?’ Annie asked.
‘Nothing. That was purely Connor’s domain. As I said, I did the food, sometimes the entertainment, the ambience, but the drugs and women were nothing to do with me.’
‘You didn’t help Tadić supply girls for him?’
‘God, no. What do you think I am?’
‘You must have known what was going on. Couples disappearing into bedrooms, girls hanging around naked by the pool.’
‘I know there were always plenty of pretty girls about, models and so on, but beyond that I didn’t inquire. And I was rarely present. It wasn’t my business. I just assumed they were WAGs, as I believe they’re called. Many of Connor’s guests had beautiful models or actresses as girlfriends, and some of the wealthy and powerful men had young attractive wives. And the last time I heard, sex wasn’t illegal.’