Quotes:
One thing I have learned about organists is that they have absolutely no sense of humor.
Once out of sight, I trudged upward, recalling that ancient stairs in castles and churches wind in a clockwise direction as you ascend, so that an attacker, climbing the stairs, is forced to hold his sword in his left hand, while the defender, fighting downward, is able to use his right, and usually superior, hand.
That, of course, had been before my dishonorable discharge from the troop. Still, even after all this time, I couldn’t help thinking of Delorna Higginson, and how long it had taken them to make her stop screaming and foaming at the mouth.
I was the eighth dwarf. Sneaky.
WHENEVER I’M A LITTLE blue I think about cyanide, whose color so perfectly reflects my mood.
One aspect of poisons that is often overlooked is the pleasure one takes in gloating over them.
“As was your mother, you have been given the fatal gift of genius. Because of it, your life will not be an easy one—nor must you expect it to be. You must remember always that great gifts come at great cost. Are there any questions?”
“No, sir,” I said, as if I were a sapper being charged with blowing up the enemy lines. “No questions.”
“Please don’t condescend to me, Mr. Sowerby, I’m not a child. Well, actually—strictly speaking, and in the eyes of the law—I suppose I am a child, but still, I resent being treated like one.”
“Funny old thing, isn’t it,” Alf asked, “ ’ow every village has its secrets? Some things just not talked about. Ever noticed that? I ’ave.”
“ ‘The successful organist,’ ” she quoted, “ ‘must have fingers long enough to reach the stops, legs long enough to reach the pedal board, and ears long enough to reach into the lives of every choir member.’ Whanley on the Organ and Its Amenities, chapter thirteen, ‘Management of the Choristers.’
The word “actually,” like its cousin “frankly,” should, by itself, be a tip-off to most people that what is to follow is a blatant lie—but it isn’t.
Why do people always quote Hamlet when they want to seem clever?
“Dangerous killers on the loose!” The words which every amateur sleuth lives in eternal hope of hearing.
I’ll pop in later for tea and questioning.”
In death, split seconds could make the difference between the gallows and a slap on the hand.
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