“Alan:I don’t know whatthey did with all the crusts from the sandwiches. Maybe they putthem out for the birds after everyone had gone home. I hoped so.It’d be a shame to waste them.”

“I tore the crusts off my grilled cheese sandwich and set them aside to throw out for the birds. Their motives were pure -- hunger, thirst, shelter -- and they didn't mind leftovers.”

“Alan:I used rabbit-skin glue to size the panels. I got it from the artshop. I don’t know if they use real rabbits in it. It seems kind of ashame if they do, but then it’s not like there’s a rabbit shortage, isit? And maybe they only used rabbits that would’ve died anyhow.”

“Maybe we can talk to them,' I said, tubbing my nose with the back of my hand. 'Have a little sit-down chat.''With tea.''Ooh, yeah, with the nice china, and those little sandwiches that don't have crusts.”

“They never found out who did it, and I never came forward. There was, after all, no evidence. I had committed my first perfect crime. My mother used to hope that I would rise up from my humble roots. Become someone successful, or even famous.I’m famous all right, but I don’t think it’s what she had in mind.”

“Sometimes it seemed that she and rudy were two people attempting to tango, sweating and trying, long after the orchestra had grown tired, long after everyone else had gone home.”