Pull back the curtain ... Paul Connolly
Paul Connolly is an Englishman, aged in his late-sixties. As a young man he studied law, working for a big legal outfit in London. His clients included many from the world of investment banking. One of those clients lured him to New York, and into the Wall Street financial scene. It was in this space he was appointed to run an operation for a private investment group, offering huge loans for commercial property deals.
Physically, Connolly is unimposing - small framed, and balding. He dresses modestly, not wanting to draw attention to himself. Outwardly, in this he has succeeded. He looks so plain, he is entirely missable. A loner – he lives in splendour in a huge villa overlooking the Mediterranean, in the Cote d’Azur. In the past he also claimed to own a luxury English estate in Kent. He drives an AMG Mercedes SL63, is a member of an exclusive yacht club, dines out a lot, and likes attractive women. Much younger women. Hookers, mostly. On the surface he leads a charmed life.
Underneath though, Connolly is a worried man. He has spent 5 years in the slammer, after pleading guilty to fraud. He exists at the beck and call of others. His lavish lifestyle comes at great cost to him emotionally and physically.
Connolly would like nothing more than to disappear to quiet, modest seclusion. But he can’t – he’s trapped like all those who align with certain sections of society. They know too much, and therefore are not allowed to cut ties. The arrival of Ash Todd into this world of his complicates things further. He’s had one encounter with Todd ten years earlier, and that didn’t end well, for Connolly. He is desperate to avoid a re-run.
