Death of a Washington Madame by Warren Adler Read Free Book Online Page A

match. Fiona's cynicism reinterpreted Madeline Newton's plaint. She
didn't want the mud to splatter over her husband, not at this critical juncture
in his career. Tabloid journalism mucked everyone it touched.
    William Shipley looked trapped, helpless. Fiona sensed his
ordeal. He confronted his wife with a mordant bloodshot stare of rebuke.
    "The woman's dead, Madeline."
    "I know she's dead, William," Madeline replied,
her tone rising. "It's humiliation enough to have to bear it without
shouting it from the rooftops. The rape of a seventy-seven year old woman.
Can't you just picture the headlines? My God, William. Do something."
    "It's out of our control, darling," Shipley said,
his voice wispy.
    "Don't we have any rights as relatives, William?"
    Having spent most of her adult life the butt of gossip, her
protests seemed a bit ingenuous. She had been married four times, been linked
with numerous men, and photographed surreptitiously in various states of
undress. Her medical history was an open book. Her various illnesses and her
alleged bouts with alcoholism and drug abuse were well documented. And here she
was, reincarnated as Miss Prissy, a potential first lady, protesting, of all
things, the media's spin, the very spin that helped provide her persona with
mystery, glamour allure and enduring celebrity.
    Yet Fiona understood the woman's position, despite the
heavy handed and obnoxious way she was presenting it. She was looking at it
solely from a politician's point of view, a vantage that Fiona knew well. The
revelation could be far worse than an indignity to a dead woman's image. It
injected the double-edged sword of ridicule, even humor, which could spill over
and soil the public image of William Shipley.
    So far, to those like Fiona who eagerly observed and
digested such implications, there hadn't been a single misstep. As a
Presidential aspirant, Shipley was the current golden boy of American politics.
    He was invested with all the obvious equipment, good looks,
a golden tongue and quick wit, a well honed track record of political success,
a natural dignity and charm and the outward appearance of decency and
compassion as well as the more subtle attributes, a strong libido validated by
his bedding, taming one might conclude, an American sexual icon. Nor was it a
secret that Madeline Newton was, after all, and had been the moment she married
him, the principal asset and perceived guardian of William Shipley's political
future.
    "I assure you Mrs. Shipley," the Eggplant said
patiently. "That I will be as discreet with the media as is humanly
possible."
    "Discretion is not the issue. It's revelation. Isn't
it William?"
    "It's too late for that Madeline," Shipley
shrugged.
    "No it's not," Madeline persisted." The
world doesn't know, not yet. And if we can control the agenda.... "Her
voice drifted off as if she suddenly realized that she was engaged in
inappropriate conduct for the circumstances at hand.
    "There are reporters out there, Mrs. Shipley,"
the Eggplant said with some impatience.
    "Even as a favor, Captain. As a personal favor,"
Madeline Newton said, purring now, a switch from bitch to seducer. Apparently
she had waved away any self-imposed criticism of impropriety. Fiona was amazed
at her chameleon tenacity. This was a woman used to having her own way.
    She was, Fiona observed, despite the bizarre events that
had occurred, actually attempting to work her very considerable woman's wiles
on the Eggplant. No way, Fiona decided. He was pushed around enough at home to
be compliant on the job. Besides, his agenda was to become police commissioner
and there was no apparent upside for him in keeping his name out of the public
eye.
    "Leave it alone, Madeline," her husband snapped
impatiently. "There's nothing we can do. Not now." There was an
ominous portent to the idea of postponement.
    "I'll do my best," the Eggplant said, showing
remarkable restraint.
    "Of course you will, Captain," Madeline said,
shooting her husband a