Subject: Criminal’s Code
Quote: “If you want a thing done safely, do not do it yourself!”
Character: Count Sergius Paulovitch
Chapter/Story: 1
Book Title/Copyright: The Man in the Brown Suit, 1924 Subject: Justification
Quote: “[S]ome women have a curious idea that crimes committed for the sake of their offspring are almost morally justified…. ‘Well, ‘twas all for Daisy, you see, miss,’ they say, and seem to think that that makes doubtful conduct quite all right. Very lax thinking.”
Character: Miss Jane Marple
Chapter/Story: 22
Book Title/Copyright: The Body in the Library, 1942Subject: Thieves
Quote: “Thieves are of two kinds, the kind that yields to sudden and overwhelming temptation (and that happens damned seldom—it’s amazing what temptation the ordinary normal honest human being can withstand), and there’s the kind that just takes what doesn’t belong to them almost as a matter of course.”
Character: Superintendent Battle
Chapter/Story: “Open the Door and Here Are the People”
Book Title/Copyright: Towards Zero, 1944 Subject: A Fine Italian Hand
Quote: “There’s a phrase I read somewhere that tickled my fancy. Something about a fine Italian hand. That’s what I seem to see in this business. Ostensibly it’s a blunt brutal straightforward crime, but it seems to me I catch glimpses of something else—of a fine Italian hand at work behind the scenes…”
Character: Superintendent Battle
Chapter/Story: “A Fine Italian Hand—IV”
Book Title/Copyright: Towards Zero, 1944
