“There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands.”

“Unless you are good at guessing, it is not much use being a detective.”

“At a small table, sitting very upright, was one of the ugliest old ladies he had ever seen. It was an ugliness of distinction- it fascinated rather than repelled. She sat very upright. Round her neck was a collar of very large pearls which, improbable though it seemed, were real. Her hands were covered with rings. Her sable coat was pushed back on her shoulders. A very small and expensive black toque was hideously unbecoming to the yellow, toad-like face beneath it.”

“IF anybody had been there to observe the gentle-looking elderlylady who stood meditatively on the loggia outside her bungalow,they would have thought she had nothing more on her mind thandeliberation on how to arrange her time that day. An expedition, perhaps, to Castle Cliff; a visit to Jamestown; a nice drive andlunch at Pelican Point_ or just a quiet morning on the beach.But the gentle old lady was deliberating quite other matters. Shewas in a militant mood.”

“Words are such uncertain things, they so often sound well but mean the opposite of what one thinks they do.”

“You have a tendency, Hastings, to prefer the least likely. That, no doubt, is from reading too many detective stories.”

“You surprise me, Hastings. Do you not know that all celebrated detectives have brothers who would be even more celebrated than they are were it not for constitutional indolence?”