He took a flat gold case from his inside pocket. Eve’s eyes narrowed as she watched him light a cigarette. “Tobacco’s illegal, Roarke.”
“Not in free air space, international waters, or on private property.” He smiled at her through a haze of smoke. “Don’t you think, lieutenant, that the police have enough to do without trying to legislate our morality and personal lifestyles?”
She hated to admit even to herself that the tobacco smelled enticing. “Is that why you collect guns? As part of your personal lifestyle?”
“I find them fascinating. Your grandfather and mine considered owning one a constitutional right. We’ve toyed quite a bit with constitutional rights as we’ve civilized ourselves.”
“And murder and injury by that particular type of weapon is now an aberration rather than the norm.”
“You like rules, lieutenant?”
The question was mild, as was the insult under it. Her shoulders stiffened. “Without rules, chaos.”
“With chaos, life.”
Screw philosophy, she thought, annoyed. “Do you own a thirty-eight caliber Smith & Wesson, Model Ten, circa 1990?”
He took another slow, considering drag. The tobacco burned expensively between his long, elegant fingers. “I believe I own one of that model. Is that what killed her?”
“Would you be willing to show it to me?”
“Of course, at your convenience.”
Too easy, she thought. She suspected anything that came easily. “You had dinner with the deceased the night before her death. In Mexico.”
“That’s right.” Roarke crushed out his cigarette and settled back with his brandy. “I have a small villa on the west coast. I thought she’d enjoy it. She did.”
“Did you have a physical relationship with Sharon DeBlass?”
His eyes glittered for a moment, but whether with amusement or with anger, she couldn’t be sure. “By that, I take you to mean did I have sex with her. No, lieutenant, though it hardly seems relevant. We had dinner.”
“You took a beautiful woman, a professional companion, to your villa in Mexico, and all you shared with her was dinner.”
He took his time choosing a glossy green grape. “I appreciate beautiful women for a variety of reasons, and enjoy spending time with them. I don’t employ professionals for two reasons. First, I don’t find it necessary to pay for sex.” He sipped his brandy, watching her over the rim. “And second, I don’t choose to share.” He paused, very briefly. “Do you?”
Her stomach fluttered, was ignored. “We’re not talking about me.”
“I was. You’re a beautiful woman, and we’re quite alone, at least for the next fifteen minutes. Yet all we’ve shared has been coffee and brandy.” He smiled at the temper smoldering in her eyes. “Heroic, isn’t it, what restraint I have?”
“I’d say your relationship with Sharon DeBlass had a different flavor.”
“Oh, I certainly agree.” He chose another grape, offered it.
Appetite was a weakness, Eve reminded herself even as she accepted the grape and bit through its thin, tart skin. “Did you see her after your dinner in Mexico?”
“No, I dropped her off about three A.M. and went home. Alone.”
“Can you tell me your whereabouts for the forty-eight hours after you went home—alone?”
“I was in bed for the first five of them. I took a conference call over breakfast. About eight-fifteen. You can check the records.”
“I will.”
This time he grinned, a quick flash of undiluted charm that had her pulse skipping. “I have no doubt of it. You fascinate me, Lieutenant Dallas.”
“After the conference call?”
“It ended about nine. I worked out until ten, spent the next several hours in my midtown office with various appointments.” He took out a small, slim card that she recognized as a daybook. “Shall I list them for you?”