‘What did you think was the reason?’
‘I thought her drink might have been spiked.’
‘By the man she was with?’
Oxana shrugs. ‘He bought her a Coke. Perfect for disguising the taste of a date-rape drug.’
‘Go on.’
‘Defne and I spoke, and she wasn’t making much sense, slurring her words, so I took her off the dance floor.’
‘Did she want to go?’
‘No. She protested.’
‘But you persuaded her.’
Oxana nods.
‘What about the man she was with? Did he mind?’
‘To begin with, yes. But when he saw I was serious, he just…’ She shrugs. ‘He just called me apoutanaand walked away.’
‘He called you a whore. In Greek.’
‘Yes.’
‘What did he look like?’
‘Tall, dark-haired, late twenties maybe… It was dark, with laser-lights and strobes, so it was hard to tell.’
‘And what was your reaction?’
‘To be honest, my main concern was Defne.’
‘So you led her off the dance floor, then the two of you left the club with Emir and Buse?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did they object to leaving?’
‘No. They were worried about Defne. They could see she was confused. We walked her down to the port, where one of the crew was waiting with the motor-launch, and that was it, really. I took her to her cabin and put her to bed.’
‘In her evening clothes?’
‘No. I changed her into her nightdress.’
‘And how was she, at that point?’
‘Just… very tired.’
‘You didn’t think to tell me about any of this at the time it happened?’
‘You and Miss Demir had gone to bed. I checked on Defne during the night, and she was sleeping normally.’
‘Nevertheless.’
‘I didn’t want to wake the whole boat up. I made the decision to let her sleep, and to tell you what happened the next morning.’