ad blown off) suddenly washes up on shore, Harry starts wondering if Montague is really dead (39-62). By the time Harry hears that Chloe's apartment has been ransacked, Harry starts to worry that someone has been watching the two of them (46-47). Meanwhile, Harry's wife seems to have an ability to speak to the dead and is supposedly carrying on conversations with Harlot's ghost; hence, perhaps, the title. Then Harry's friend from "the Farm" (Harry's word for their CIA training camp in Virginia) Reed Rosen shows up to help unravel the mystery of Montague's death (56-183). Suddenly, Harry leaves the Keep after Kittredge warns him of imminent danger, specifically, that Dix Butler is coming to see her (and that she is in love with Butler) (83).
Butler was first suspected by Reed Rosen in connection with Montague's death (72). Unfortunately, Harry does not warn Rosen of Butler's arrival, and, when the Keep is burned that night, Rosen dies (85). Mailer later reveals that Butler is also a CIA man, which further confirms Kittredge's penchant for dangerous types: she's fallen in love with three CIA men (188). Incidentally, Kittredge is also employed by the CIA.
So the opening scenes set a suspenseful tone--is Huge Montague alive or dead? And if Montague is dead, who killed him? Kittredge does not seem too trustworthy here. She cared enough about Harry to save his life, but she leaves him the way she did Montague: after it is too late to change her decision. And if Montague is not dead (as we later find Harry assumes), then why is Kittredge pretending that she can talk to his ghost--has she conspired with someone to make it look like he has died? And so Harry has revealed himself to be just like Kittredge: disloyal. While Harry cheated on his wife, his wife in turn left him- as well as Montague--without warning. But Montague's loyalty also seems questionable. Montague seems equally untrustworthy since, from the time Harry b...