" The police,” he said. “You can’t carry firearms in England without a licence. Just like dogs. You’ll be getting into trouble before you know where you are. Now look here, ma’am,” he went on, with increasing confidence, “you’d far better make a clean breast of it.”
“A clean breast? What do you mean? Why do you pester me like this?” she cried, with sudden terror. "

― Francis Brett Young , The Cage Bird and Other Stories