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Nadine merely recrossed her legs. “What were you doing at the building?”

“Maybe I was scoping out my husband’s property.”

Nadine snorted and managed to make the sound ladylike. “Yeah, and maybe you’ve decided to retire and raise puppies. Give a little, Dallas.”

“The building was abandoned. I’m homicide. There was no homicide. I suggest you stroll on up to Explosives and Bombs.”

Nadine’s eyes slitted. “It’s not your case?”

“Why would it be? Nobody died. But if you don’t get out of my chair, somebody might.”

“All right, all right.” With a shrug, Nadine rose. “I’ll go charm the boys in E and B. Hey, I caught Mavis’s video yesterday. She looked fantastic. When’s she due back?”

“Next week.”

“We’ll have a welcome home party for her,” Roarke put in. “I’ll let you know the details.”

“Thanks. You’re so much nicer than Dallas.” With a cocky grin, Nadine strolled out.

“I’m going to remember that crack the next time she wants a one-on-one,” Eve muttered and closed her door.

“What didn’t you tell her?” Roarke asked.

Eve dropped into her chair. “It’s going to take time for E and B to scan and sweep the site. At this point, they have some pieces and suspect there were at least six explosive devices, likely on timers. It’ll be a couple of days before I have a cohesive report.”

“But it’s your case.”

“At this point, it appears the explosion is linked to a homicide I’m investigating.” Fixer was hers now. She’d arranged it. “The people responsible for both contacted me. I have a meeting with Whitney shortly, but yeah, until he says differently, it’s mine. Did you ever have any dealings with Fixer?”

Roarke stretched out his legs. “Is that an official question?”

“Shit.” She closed her eyes. “That means you did.”

“He had magic hands,” Roarke said, examining his own.

“I’m getting really tired of hearing that from people who should know better. Give.”

“Five, maybe six years ago. He worked on a little device for me. Security probe, a very cleverly designed code breaker.”

“Which I suppose you designed.”

“For the most part, though Fixer had some interesting input. He was brilliant with electronics, but not completely trustworthy.” Roarke plucked a stray speck of lint from his smoke gray slacks. “I decided it was unwise to use his services again.”

“So nothing recent.”

“No, nothing, and we parted ways amicably enough. I’ve no links to him, Eve, that should worry you or would complicate your investigation.”

“What about this warehouse? How long have you owned it?”

“About three months. I’ll get you the exact date of purchase and the details. It was intended for renovation. As the permits just came through, work was to begin next week.”

“Renovating it into what?”

“Housing units. I also own the buildings on either side, and I have a bid on another in the area. They’re to be rehabbed as well. Markets, shops, cafés. Some offices.”

“Will that sector support that kind of thing?”

“I believe it will.”

She shook her head, thinking of the income level and street crime. “You’d know more about that sort of thing, I guess. The building was insured.”

“Yes, for little more than the purchase price at this point. The project’s worth a great deal more to me.” Taking the neglected, the disdained and giving it value meant a very great deal to him. “The building was old, but it was sound. The problem with progress is that it often sweeps aside, destroying rather than respecting what others have built before us.”

She knew of his affection for old things but wasn’t sure there was a point here. She’d seen little more than a pile of bricks, and that was before it had been blown up.

His money, she thought with a shrug. His time.

“Do you know anyone name Cassandra?”

Now he smiled. “I’m sure I do. But I sincerely doubt this is a former lover’s jealous snit.”

“They had to get the name from somewhere.”

He moved his shoulders. “Maybe from the Greeks.”

“Greek Town isn’t anywhere near that sector.”

For a moment he just stared at her; then he laughed. “The ancient Greeks, Lieutenant.