Golden in Death(59)

“You ended it.”

“Yes, I did. Iryna, my sweet, why don’t you freshen this for me?”

“Of course.” She popped right up, took the glass, hurried away on heels that showed off excellent young legs.

“Can you tell me where you were last night and the night of April twenty-seventh? Between ten and eleven P.M.?”

“My.” The eyebrows arched again, but the eyes beneath them hardened, just a little. “So official. I’m tempted to contact my lawyer, but at the moment, I’m still entertained. Last night we entertained. A dinner party here, for six guests. We sat down to the meal at eight. I believe the last guest left sometime after eleven. On the twenty-seventh…”

For this he took a small book out of his trouser pocket. “Ah yes. We were in Chicago, the second night of a two-day business trip.”

“‘We’?”

“Iryna and I.” He smiled. “She’s invaluable to me.”

“I’m sure. Do you ever visit your company labs, Mr. Greenwald?”

“On occasion. I try to make an appearance now and then in all departments. It’s good for interpersonal relations. After all, my grandfather founded the company. And before you ask, I do know a little of chemistry, just as I know a little about organic solutions. Why do you suppose I’d kill people I don’t know?”

“Kent Abner was the spouse of Martin Rufty. Dr. Rufty replaced your ex-wife as headmaster.”

“Rufty, of course. Of course.” Interest lit on his face again. “I never actually met him, but I leaned toward liking him, as Lotte didn’t like him at all.”

“Is that so?”

“My sense is that he was very critical of her.” He took the glass Iryna brought in, patted the cushion beside him again. “Lotte didn’t—I assume still doesn’t—take criticism well. Of course, at the time Lotte and I had our own … issues.”

“What were they?”

“Perhaps I should not be here,” Iryna began.

“Don’t be silly.” And Greenwald laid a hand, possessively, on her thigh. “Lotte and I married on a whim. A sexual whim. She was, again I assume still is, a highly sexual creature. I enjoy sexual creatures. She was also striking physically, intelligent, ambitious. Money wasn’t a particular issue, as she had her own. I had more, considerably more, and that appealed to her.”

Lifting his glass, he half toasted, then sipped. “We had an arrangement. If either of us opted to engage in sex outside the marriage, we would be discreet, and we would clear such activities with the other party before going forward.”

“And she broke the agreement.”

“She did. I received an envelope with, we’ll say, compromising photos of Lotte.”

“With who?”

“I can’t tell you. The man’s face was turned away, or conveniently obscured. When I confronted her, she shrugged it off. What difference did it make? All the difference, for me. She broke the agreement. Clearly, we would end the marriage, but we agreed to do so, well, discreetly.”

He drank again. “She put out feelers for another position. She lived here for a few months, but we lived separately, you understand. She wanted a generous settlement; I wasn’t inclined to give her one. We argued about that, but something was off. She was shrill, edgy, and it finally came out one of the instructors had walked in on her with another instructor. Compromising. Apparently it was quite a scene.”

“Names?”

“I don’t have them.” He lifted his hand from Iryna’s thigh, waved the question off. Placed his hand back on the thigh, just a bit higher.

“I didn’t care. She wanted the position in East Washington, and a cushy landing. She pointed out that I had had affairs, and our agreement wasn’t in writing. She’d take me to court, play the injured wife, and see to it my family name carried the scar. And she would have. It was worth a few million to end it, and be rid of her.”

“What about the two instructors?”

“As I said, she wanted that position. Little stopped her when she set her sights. She told them both she’d go to the police, and go to the board, file sexual assault charges. So they should keep their mouths shut, and she’d be gone in a matter of weeks.”

He shrugged, drank. “As far as I know they did, as she moved to East Washington just before the first of the year. I filed for divorce, as we agreed, included a settlement. She came back to finalize it, and I haven’t seen or spoken to her since.”

“Do you still have the photographs?”

He looked both surprised by the question and amused. “Why would I? I kept them, in case, until the divorce finalized. Then I destroyed them. A blip,” he reminded her with another half toast. “And as we had a very satisfying private life during that blip, worth the cost.”

He drank. “Added to it, the priceless lesson she taught me. Marriage is for fools. Why legalize and complicate what you can simply enjoy?”

Turning, he kissed Iryna’s cheek. “Isn’t that right, my sweet?”

“Yes, Mr. Greenwald.”

He laughed, gave her thigh a quick squeeze. “Isn’t she adorable?”

“Just precious. Iryna, where were you last night?”

She folded her lips, looked at Greenwald.