Finley said, “You can start with your side of the story regarding the falling-out between Lance Legard and Seth Henderson.”
“I’ve already been interviewed by Mr. Siniard and the new detectives working on the case. I told them the same thing I told the detectives five years ago. I was young and ambitious, and I made mistakes. But I have no idea what happened to Mr. Legard or if Mr. Henderson played a role in what happened.”
“I appreciate that you feel you’ve done all you can, but it’s so often the smallest of things that change the course of a case.” Finley removed her spiral from her bag and readied a pen. “I haven’t found any information on how you and Mr. Henderson met. Can you tell me how you came to be acquainted?”
To her credit, Cherry took Finley’s persistence in stride. “I was delivering documents for a local service. I delivered to Seth’s office at least a couple of times a week. He was always nice. Complimentary. Just a pleasant man.” She shook her head. “To this day his wife believes we had an affair, but we didn’t. We were only friends. He wanted to help me make it in the business. He saw me as the daughter he never had. He and his wife had two sons, but they’re both in Los Angeles and never seemed to have time for calls, much less visits.”
Mrs. Henderson certainly didn’t possess any warm and fuzzy feelings about her husband’s relationship with Cherry. This was precisely why it was always best to go straight to the source if possible. Not that Cherry’s was the final word. She could be making up her story as she went along, but her version carried as much weight as anyone else’s until proven otherwise.
“You had aspirations of making it in the entertainment business?”
“Doesn’t everyone? I worked off and on with a nobody band,” she went on. “I even did a couple of commercials. I really believed I could be the next big thing. Another Taylor Swift or a Jennifer Lawrence. But that was a long time ago.”
Five years wasn’t so long, but it probably felt like a lifetime to the woman trapped in the viciousness of the event.
“According to others involved, you were a spy for a competitor,” Finley said. “You lured a big star away from Legard Records, creating a chain reaction of bad things.”
“Sammy Bryant.” Cherry’s lips tightened. “I took the fall for his leaving, but he’s the one who chose to make the change. He’d been unhappy with Lance for a long time. Sammy and I were friends. Nothing else. In fact, he’s the one who introduced me to Elton.” She smiled in spite of the frustration she clearly felt. “Sammy is a good friend.”
“Seth Henderson’s reputation took a beating over Bryant’s move.”
“Check the case file, Ms. O’Sullivan. You won’t find any interview where Seth said I was the reason Sammy left the label. That hurtful rumor came from Lance. I was his scapegoat to his investors.”
“For the record,” Finley said, shifting the conversation, “you’re stating there was no sexual relationship between you and Seth Henderson.”
“There was not,” she practically hissed. “As I said, Seth was like a father figure. You don’t get a lot of that in the business. I cherished our relationship.”
Her story was convincing enough. “What persuaded or led Mr. Legard to believe you were the reason Bryant left the label?”
She drew in a deep breath. “What happened was never about Sammy. It was because Elton and I became involved, but . . .”
Finley waited patiently for her to go on.
“Lance wouldn’t let me go. Elton warned Lance to back off, and Sammy took Elton’s side in the matter. He was outraged by Lance’s behavior. Lance terminated his contract and then told everyone that Sammy had left. There was an out-of-court settlement with a gag clause, so no one ever heard the truth.”
Finley was still mulling over the first part of her statement. “Can you be more specific when you say Lance wouldn’t let you go?”
“Lance and I were having an affair.” She closed her eyes, shook her head. “I was a different person then. I made a mistake.”
This was certainly a new twist. No one had suggested Legard and Cherry the P-trap were having an affair. There had been nothing in the case file along those lines either. Considering all Finley had discovered so far, the entire situation could have led to several seasons of Real-Life Celebrity Scandals.
Jack had been screwing Sophia Legard. Cherry here was screwing both Lance Legard and Elton Inglewood. Finley couldn’t wait to find out who else was involved.