“Isn’t that always the way?” Eve noted. “Every time you’ve got some guy going on a spree that ends in blood, people say he was quiet and kept to himself. Just once, I’d like to hear how he was a maniac who ate live snakes.”
    “There was that guy last year who bit off the heads of pigeons before he jumped off the roof of his apartment building.”
    “Yeah, but he only splattered himself, and we didn’t catch that one. No point in trying to cheer me up with pigeon eaters.”

“What? Do I look like I stomp on old ladies for recreation?”
    Roarke angled his head. “Actually—”
    “Just keep that silk tongue of yours still.”
    “That’s not what you said last night.”

“Peabody said and burst into tears.
    “Man. God. Roarke.”
    “An interesting and flattering lineup,” Roarke said to his wife’s strangled call for help.”

“I don’t know how to deal with a teenaged type person.”
    “Ah, well, I’d say you’d deal with him as you deal with everyone else. You order him around, and if he argues or doesn’t jump quickly enough you freeze his blood with one of those vicious looks you’re so good at and verbally abuse him. It always works so well for you.”

“Eve walked over to join him, laid down her palm. “Dallas.”
    Identification verified, Darling Eve.
    She hissed. “Why do you do that? It’s embarrassing.”

“You get me that today, I might just dig up a pair of garters.”
    “I want the corset, too. And the shoes.”
    “You get me a source location, you get the shoes.”
    “I’m really starting to like this job. You have to wear the shoes the whole time we—”

“Lieutenant?” Trueheart whispered, as if already in church. “I want to thank you for allowing me to be a part of this op.”
    “You’re going to suck up,” Baxter told him. “You suck up to me now. I suck up to Dallas. That’s the food chain.”

“I could come into midtown sometime, and . . . consult.”
    “I’d like to know what I’ve done to deserve a threat like that.”
    It helped to smile. “Or, you know, go shopping with you. Help you pick out a suit or something.”
    “I felt that chill right down to the bone. Go away, Lieutenant.”