French stock exchange. Or preaching the end of capitalism to Mélissa Theuriau on French television.’
The co-editor in chief and anchor of Zone Interdite , Mélissa Theuriau was generally held to be the best-looking woman on French TV – a view with which I found it hard to disagree.
Alice shrugged. ‘It wasn’t all hot air with him, you know. He’s done some good things with his money. Things he didn’t like to shout about.’
‘Such as?’
‘There was a youth centre in Sevran to which he often gave money to pay for sports facilities. He went there sometimes to see how they were getting on. He wanted to give something back.’
‘Sevran?’
‘It’s a suburb northeast of the Paris Périphérique.’
‘Tough area?’
‘Very. Lots of black kids with no future. His words, not mine.’
‘What was he like to work for?’ I asked.
‘Thoughtful. Gentle. Kind. A bit impulsive.’
‘I found some antidepressants in the bathroom cabinet. Did he seem depressed to you?’
Alice took a deep breath and smiled a gentle smile. ‘This is Paris. Everyone is depressed about something. It’s how we Parisians are. From what I’ve seen of life in London I don’t think we’re as carefree as the English. Even when we drink champagne.’
‘Was there anything specific depressing him?’
‘His mother died about six months ago. I suppose that might have had something to do with it.’
‘Here in Paris?’
‘No. She lived in Marseille. That’s where she brought Jérôme to live when they left Guadeloupe.’
‘Any other family there?’
‘As far as I know it was just her and Jérôme.’
‘Anything else that might have been getting him down?’
‘His football. He hadn’t been playing well. And he was getting a lot of abuse from the fans for not trying hard enough. The situation with Bella also depressed him, of course. I’m not sure she loved him but I would say that he loved her. And the loan to Barcelona. That affected him a great deal, too.’
‘I gained the impression that he wanted this move from PSG. That he was looking forward to it.’
‘I think he convinced himself it would be a good move. But he was concerned the loan to FCB was evidence that there wasn’t a club that was prepared to buy him outright. That no one else would touch him. He was worried that it meant he was getting a reputation as a player who was difficult. Someone in the French newspapers had compared him to Emmanuel Adebayor. And this depressed him too, I think.’
‘Yes, I can understand how it would.’
‘He was worried how he might be received in Barcelona.’
‘Do you think he was the type of guy to commit suicide?’
She thought for a moment. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Did he ever talk about suicide? The way people do sometimes? How you’d do it? Jump off a tall building. Drown yourself. That kind of thing.’
‘No.’
‘Because players do kill themselves,’ I added. ‘My own friend, for example. Matt Drennan.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I was with him the night he hanged himself. He’d been drinking, but that was nothing new. He’d been drinking too much for years and there was nothing that he did or said on this particular night that made me think he might be suicidal. At least suicidal enough to go and do it after leaving my house. But in retrospect I wish I’d treated the possibility with greater seriousness. And that’s what still haunts me a little. The idea that perhaps I could have done a little more.’
‘There’s nothing I’m not telling you, Mr Manson, if that’s what you’re driving at. And if he has killed himself I won’t be haunted by the idea that I could have done more for him. I did everything for him. His laundry, his dry-cleaning, I paid his bills, booked the taxis and the tables at the restaurants and the nightclubs, took out the trash – which is to say I paid off the girls who needed paying off…’
‘Hookers?’
‘By the bus load.’
‘Hmm.’
‘I answered all his
The co-editor in chief and anchor of Zone Interdite , Mélissa Theuriau was generally held to be the best-looking woman on French TV – a view with which I found it hard to disagree.
Alice shrugged. ‘It wasn’t all hot air with him, you know. He’s done some good things with his money. Things he didn’t like to shout about.’
‘Such as?’
‘There was a youth centre in Sevran to which he often gave money to pay for sports facilities. He went there sometimes to see how they were getting on. He wanted to give something back.’
‘Sevran?’
‘It’s a suburb northeast of the Paris Périphérique.’
‘Tough area?’
‘Very. Lots of black kids with no future. His words, not mine.’
‘What was he like to work for?’ I asked.
‘Thoughtful. Gentle. Kind. A bit impulsive.’
‘I found some antidepressants in the bathroom cabinet. Did he seem depressed to you?’
Alice took a deep breath and smiled a gentle smile. ‘This is Paris. Everyone is depressed about something. It’s how we Parisians are. From what I’ve seen of life in London I don’t think we’re as carefree as the English. Even when we drink champagne.’
‘Was there anything specific depressing him?’
‘His mother died about six months ago. I suppose that might have had something to do with it.’
‘Here in Paris?’
‘No. She lived in Marseille. That’s where she brought Jérôme to live when they left Guadeloupe.’
‘Any other family there?’
‘As far as I know it was just her and Jérôme.’
‘Anything else that might have been getting him down?’
‘His football. He hadn’t been playing well. And he was getting a lot of abuse from the fans for not trying hard enough. The situation with Bella also depressed him, of course. I’m not sure she loved him but I would say that he loved her. And the loan to Barcelona. That affected him a great deal, too.’
‘I gained the impression that he wanted this move from PSG. That he was looking forward to it.’
‘I think he convinced himself it would be a good move. But he was concerned the loan to FCB was evidence that there wasn’t a club that was prepared to buy him outright. That no one else would touch him. He was worried that it meant he was getting a reputation as a player who was difficult. Someone in the French newspapers had compared him to Emmanuel Adebayor. And this depressed him too, I think.’
‘Yes, I can understand how it would.’
‘He was worried how he might be received in Barcelona.’
‘Do you think he was the type of guy to commit suicide?’
She thought for a moment. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Did he ever talk about suicide? The way people do sometimes? How you’d do it? Jump off a tall building. Drown yourself. That kind of thing.’
‘No.’
‘Because players do kill themselves,’ I added. ‘My own friend, for example. Matt Drennan.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I was with him the night he hanged himself. He’d been drinking, but that was nothing new. He’d been drinking too much for years and there was nothing that he did or said on this particular night that made me think he might be suicidal. At least suicidal enough to go and do it after leaving my house. But in retrospect I wish I’d treated the possibility with greater seriousness. And that’s what still haunts me a little. The idea that perhaps I could have done a little more.’
‘There’s nothing I’m not telling you, Mr Manson, if that’s what you’re driving at. And if he has killed himself I won’t be haunted by the idea that I could have done more for him. I did everything for him. His laundry, his dry-cleaning, I paid his bills, booked the taxis and the tables at the restaurants and the nightclubs, took out the trash – which is to say I paid off the girls who needed paying off…’
‘Hookers?’
‘By the bus load.’
‘Hmm.’
‘I answered all his
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