“Apply and I’ll give you a recommendation,” said Milo.

Ralph said, “Why the dickens is this building so important?”

Maureen said, “Obviously dark deeds are going on there.”

They both looked at Milo.

Milo said, “Let’s leave it at that.”

“Oh c’mon,” said Ralph.

“It’s probably nothing sir, just being careful.”

“Ha. You’ll probably never want to retire, the job being so juicy and all.”

“Good for him, retirement is death,” said Maureen.

“More like death is a form of retirement,” said Ralph. “Still, that pension’s something to think about.” Squinting at Milo. “At your age.”

Milo said, “Who specifically did Kathy deliver the papers to?”

Maureen tapped some more. “Says here Dublin Development.” She copied down the name and handed it to Milo.

“Thanks so much, Mrs. Gross.”

“You bet, Lieutenant.”

Ralph said, “Thank us by solving the case. And think about this: The Shagrarians retired. She worked for Warner Brothers, had a good pension.”

Dublin Development occupied a quarter of the ninth floor of Grant Fellinger’s building.

I said, “She rides down after delivering the papers, it stops at seven, Fellinger gets on, works his charm. Be good to know if any other women in the building had the same experience.”

“If they did, it didn’t end the same way. One of the first things I looked into when I worked Hennepin was to check for any other nasty cases with a food connection. Lots of domestic violence goes down in the kitchen—heat, knives, not enough salt in the stew. Mostly assaults, but I found a few homicides. Including an idiot who shotgunned his wife because she cooked liver for dinner and while he used to like it, he’d changed his mind. But nothing unsolved and nothing remotely similar.”

“Maybe dinner for two was a later development.”

“And?”

“And the crucial link is still the building. Women who worked there or visited.”

He stared at the paper with Dublin’s address. Phoned Binchy and said, “This will not be a fun job, kid, but if anyone’s up for it you are.” He outlined the parameters. “You can start with the computer but don’t stop there because we’re not talking actual crime scenes, it’s not likely to make it into the computer. You need to talk personally to the Hom lieutenants at every division and see if they remember anything related to the damn place or can send you to someone who does. A work address, visiting someone who’s got an office … what’s that?… I’m glad, Sean. Everyone has their own definition of fun.”

As we crossed Mulholland and began the descent to the city, he said, “I know I’ve been a bear, but thanks for the help. It’s getting weirder but at least it’s getting somewhere.”

“What’s next?”

“You enjoy life and I take a crash course on the life and times of Grant Fellinger.”