The Mysterious Affair At Styles Quotes
"The intense interest aroused in the public by what was known at the time as 'The Styles Case' has now somewhat subsided."
"I had been invalided home from the Front; and, after spending some months in a rather depressing Convalescent Home, was given a month's sick leave."
"She was a most generous woman, and possessed a considerable fortune of her own."
"Lawrence, the younger, had been a delicate youth."
"As for Evie—you remember Evie? She's the mater's factotum, companion, Jack of all trades! A great sport—old Evie!"
"No doubt the fellow was very useful to her. But you could have knocked us all down with a feather when, three months ago, she suddenly announced that she and Alfred were engaged!"
"I shall never forget my first sight of Mary Cavendish."
"She was a pleasant-looking woman of about forty, with a deep voice, almost manly in its stentorian tones."
"You'll laugh at me. She smiled. Perhaps."
"You are known to be working with me. I want somebody who is not associated with us in any way."
"He says: 'Find the extra coffee-cup, and you can rest in peace!'"
"I am always watching—always hoping I shall be proved wrong."
"But you do not know, inspector, how I have been persecuted and maligned."
"You wish to believe he committed the crime. You believe him capable of committing it. But your instinct tells you he did not commit it."
"I am very anxious, Messieurs, that he should not be arrested."
"Mr. Inglethorp, you are standing in very grave danger."
"That in no possible way could Mrs. Inglethorp's death benefit Miss Howard."
"It is always wise to suspect everybody until you can prove logically, and to your own satisfaction, that they are innocent."
"Instinct is a marvellous thing. It can neither be explained nor ignored."
"Tell him I don't know what he's talking about. It's double Dutch to me."
"'Find the extra coffee-cup, and you can rest in peace.'"
"He shook his head. 'No,' he said musingly, 'I don't. I—I wish I did.'"
"'Pardon me, madame, for recalling unpleasant memories, but I have a little idea.'"
"'It is near the window, this cupboard?' 'No, right the other side of the room. Why?'"
"'I believe they have to be very careful. They always take out the key before leaving the room.'"
"'I even forgave Poirot for his absurd secrecy.'"
"'He's a Polish Jew, anyway.' 'A tinge of Jewish blood is not a bad thing.'"
"'No, but I deny your right to criticize my actions. Have you no friends of whom I should disapprove?'"
"'I'm not being silly. I am asking you to do me the honour of becoming my wife.'"
"'Yes, I do. I've got—' 'Never mind what you've got. You don't really want to!'"
"'It can last long enough for us never to be able to hold up our heads again.'"
"'This employment requires precision of the fingers. With precision of the fingers goes precision of the brain.'"
"'We know the coco contained no strychnine. The coffee was never drunk. Yet the strychnine must have been administered between seven and nine o'clock that evening.'"
"'I am of the most serious. For the most serious of all things hangs in the balance.'"
"'Let me introduce you to the murderer, Mr. Alfred Inglethorp!'"
"The more efforts I made to clear him, the more efforts he made to get himself arrested."
"His silence bore quite a different interpretation. It was nonsense to pretend that he was afraid of the scandal, as no possible scandal could attach to him."
"A man once acquitted can never be tried again for the same offence."
"He wished to be arrested. He would then produce his irreproachable alibi—and, hey presto, he was safe for life!"
"Is it possible? My poor friend! You have not yet realized that it was Miss Howard who went to the chemist's shop?"
"The risk is practically nil. The tragedy will not take place until nearly a fortnight later."
"Yes, it was a clever idea! If they had left it alone, it is possible the crime might never have been brought home to them."
"But they were not satisfied. They tried to be too clever—and that was their undoing."
"They arranged a plan to throw suspicion on John Cavendish."
"Caught in the act, and somewhat flurried he hastily shuts and locks his desk."
"That letter excepted, there was absolutely nothing to connect him with the crime."
"But he was too clever to take the biggest risk of all—that of keeping it on his own person."
"No suspicion attaches to her. She hides the strychnine and glasses in John's room. She puts the beard in the attic."
"He must act quickly. Where can he hide this terrible slip of paper?"
"But now a hitch occurs. Mrs. Inglethorp does not take her medicine that night."
"I was trying to decide whether or not I would clear John Cavendish at once."
"But I eventually decided in favour of 'a woman's happiness'."
"The happiness of one man and one woman is the greatest thing in all the world."