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Back Darkest Truth Save as PDF
Chapters (54)
  1. COVER
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. Acknowledgements

‘He said he knew there had been somebody, that he’d heard the door closing, that he’d wondered if it was me. And he said it was voluntary, that she’d wanted it.’

‘But at her age, she couldn’t have consented. It would have been statutory rape, whatever her wishes. And if she was drunk, if he got her drunk, that’s even worse.’

‘I know that. I said that to him.’

‘And what did he say?’

‘He said that I was all righteous now but that I’d done nothing about it when I could have. And that if he was having sex with an underage girl, that my behaviour made me an accessory. And he said that, if I said anything, she would deny it. And that he would too. He said she was the one who came on to him, she had suggested it, had come to his trailer after everyone else had gone. And if I said anything, that an allegation like that would ruin her reputation, even if it was shown to be false. And it would be. They’d both make sure of it. And it’s always the girl who suffers most in these kinds of situations. Mud sticks, he said. He said that, if I spoke out, I would destroy her life. He said a lot more than that, too. And I thought about it, and in the end I decided to keep my mouth shut.’

‘He gave you a percentage of the film’s takings, didn’t he?’

‘I never asked for it. I know what you think. But I didn’t ask for it. He gave it to me. You think it was hush money, but it wasn’t. I had already decided not to talk before he gave it to me. So I don’t see it that way. It wasn’t related. But I knew I couldn’t work with him again. There was no way I could. From that moment, it was over between us.’

But you kept taking the money.

I waited until I could speak calmly. There was more information to come, and I didn’t want to mess up my chances of getting it.

‘Thanks for telling me,’ I said. ‘I’m sure it can’t have been easy to revisit after all this time. But what I can’t understand is, you’ve described a pattern of exploitative and criminal behaviour that Gill engaged in consistently over many years. With so many girls and women involved, how did he keep it a secret all this time?’

‘He didn’t. Everyone knew, everyone in the film business, they all knew what he was like. It was common knowledge. It is common knowledge,’ Christopher Dalton said. ‘Don’t you get it? The biggest secrets are the ones everyone knows.’

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