The Silver Pigs Quotes
"Rome frizzled like a pancake on a griddle plate."
"Some men are born lucky; others are called Didius Falco."
"If they start out with nothing I tend to get depressed because either they have just stripped off for someone else or, in my line of work, they are usually dead."
"I felt glum. I greeted this smouldering apparition with the keenness of a man who needs troubles taken off his mind."
"I need a district magistrate." Three paces: options fast running out…Her face changed. "Oh help me!"
"I cantered her through dark alleys and pungent back doubles to home ground."
"Ornamental eh?" I adopted a suave expression. "Bargain I picked up in the Forum."
"The girl pranced to one side; I slid the same way."
"While other men sit in oyster bars being cynical over nothing, Petronius Longus merely gives his slow, tolerant smile."
"It is usually easy to maintain some detachment at this point. I rarely know the victim; I don’t meet the victim until after the crime."
"I sat there, living through what must have happened. It was the nearest I could come to helping her."
"I know who it was. He must realize that. One day, however carefully he protects himself, the man will answer to me."
"If you simply cannot avoid it, you will find the province of Britain out beyond civilization in the realms of the North Wind."
"I assumed that a few firm words from me would bring this Helena under control."
"I thought fathering a girl might make any man crack."
"Never again would I be part of the establishment that foists such fools into positions of command."
"I worked in the lead mines for three months. After the Revolt, it was the worst time of my life."
"I remembered thinking a long time ago, it could be him!"
"We played a lot of draughts. I hate draughts."
"There's no need to talk; Falco, you talk too much."
"The place looks clean. Does somebody look after you?"
"I have to admit I hankered for Helena Justina's nippier driving style."
"We shall both be happier if we end our contract now."
"My father has asked me to see you informally, because a public audience might be dangerous."
"What’s the word at your barber’s about this tangle, Falco?"
"Your father’s two grown sons are one of his attractions as Emperor."
"You went to Hades and back in Britain; you saved my life."
"Every case a girl, every new case a new girl."
"I learned some wonders about women with you last night."
"I have no intention of describing what happened next."
"I heard him strike a sulphur match. He swung himself down the iron ladder, while I slid to the floor crabwise and approached the hole, circling around so that my shadow fell away from it."
"Enough light came from the manhole to fumble my way to a heavy open doorway where I stayed, secure in the outer darkness of the passage, to observe the man I had followed."
"She must have heard her uncle’s footsteps, but she showed no surprise. She spoke to him cheerfully, like any relative."
"You could not smell the saffron for the much more concentrated perfumes which haunted the place with their enclosed, ambrosial scent."
"Falco would have liked to see this. Such a pity he found out that three quarters of this eerie booty no longer contains any silver at all."
"Fair, reverent and dutiful; father read me your eulogy. He was so upset—"
"I tried not to breathe. I heard him strike a sulphur match."
"I stood back until the faint clang of his shoes had stopped ringing on the ladder, then I waited a few seconds longer in case when he reached the bottom he looked up."
"Helena sighed. 'Fair, reverent and dutiful; father read me your eulogy. He was so upset—'"
"I announced to Titus Caesar: 'So that’s your contract bonus! Keep it, Caesar. I never earned it; I was hired to expose the man who murdered Sosia Camillina—'"
"The senator’s daughter gave me a look that said she knew what was on my mind, and if the thought had not existed in the first place it would be there now; it was that sort of look."