Free A Dangerous Widow (A Dangerous Series) by Christina Ross Page A

I was making coffee, my
cell rang on the kitchen countertop.
    “Hello,” I said.  
    “It’s Ben.”
    “You’re up early.”
    “I get up at five.”
    “Is that the SEAL in you?”
    “Might be.”
    “I remember a time when you wouldn’t get out
of bed until noon.”
    “I was a lot younger then.   Look, I have a question for you.”
    “OK…”
    “Do you know a Maxine Witherhouse?”
    “I do.   Why do you ask?”
    “Because Lydia died in her home.   She was under her employ at the time of
her death.”
    “Lydia worked for Maxine?”
    “You didn’t know?”
    “I didn’t.   She never mentioned Maxine to me.   And if the press reported on it when she
died, I don’t remember it.   How did
you find out?”
    “I have friends on the force.   I made a call and got my answer.   It’s all in the police report.”
    “Do you have a copy of the report?”
    “I will in the next hour.   First, tell me what you know about
Maxine.”
    “Beyond the fact that she’s a horrible
snob?”
    “Yes, beyond that.”
    “Maxine is as fake as they come.   She can be nice to your face, and a
mean-spirited bitch behind your back.   A year or two ago, she almost had a big, splashy divorce with her
husband, Bill, after he found out that she was having an affair.   In the end, divorce ultimately became
out of the question because there was no prenup between them.   Maxine would have lost too much
money.   As for Bill, he would have
lost his social standing, which matters very much to him.   So, apparently they worked it out.”
    “What else do I need to know about them?”
    “Maxine is the one with the pedigree,” I
said.   “She’s in the book.”
    “What book?”
    “The Social Register.   If you’re a member of society, you’re in
the book.   It’s so exclusive, only a
few hundred people in the States can claim that they’re in it.   It’s the closest we Americans get to
underscoring our own royalty.   Maxine is in it thanks to her lineage.   Her grandfather and father helped to
build Manhattan into what it is today.”
    “What did they do?”
    “The Witherhouses first made their fortune
in oil.   Then, they used that money
to build Manhattan’s subway system.   So, enough about them and the kind of money and power they wield,
wouldn’t you say?”
    “What does Bill do?”
    “He’s in banking.”
    “And Maxine?”
    “Maxine drinks martinis before noon.   If she isn’t drunk, she pulls herself
together and lunches with the right people.   She and Bill also host elaborate parties
at their mansion on Fifth.   I call
them ‘statement’ parties.   ‘I’m-richer-than-you parties.’   Am I forming a portrait of them for you?”
    “You are.   Do you know anything else about Bill?”
    “I don’t.   But I think that when you start to research
them, you’ll have plenty of material on your hands, because they’re that well
known—and their lives are that well documented.”
    “What are your plans for today?”
    “After yesterday?   I was planning on staying here and reading
a good book to try to distract myself.”
    “Good.   I’ll call you when I know more.”
    “More of what?”
    “Depends on what’s in the police
report.   I’ll call you as soon as I
get it.”  

 
 
    *   *   *

 
 
    I was in the living room, sitting on one of
the sofas and re-reading my favorite novel, Dominick Dunne’s An
Inconvenient Woman , when my cell rang at one o’clock.   I put my iPad down on the table next to
me, and answered the call.
    “Hello?”
    “It’s Ben.   Busy?”
    “No.   I’m just reading An Inconvenient Woman .”
    “Never heard of it.”
    “Do you know Dominick Dunne?”
    “The guy who reported on the O.J. Simpson
trial?”
    “That’s him.   But he was a best-selling novelist
before that.   He’s my absolute
favorite writer.   And this
book—in my opinion—is his best.”
    “What’s it about?”
    “It’s complicated.   But if I was to