Home > Work > The Mother Hunt (Nero Wolfe #38)
21 " That’s ill-advised. More, it’s puerile. "
― Rex Stout , The Mother Hunt (Nero Wolfe #38)
22 " That’s one of the disadvantages of being poor, you don’t dare kill anybody. "
23 " Nothing is nonsense that is concerned with the vagaries of human conduct. "
24 " The fat was in the fire, and the problem was dodging the spatters. "
25 " But he wouldn’t find me in the office, sitting there like patience in the hoosegow. "
26 " I do. I feel wonderful. Are you sure it’s Carol Mardus?” “Yes. Certainly. It shouldn’t have taken me so long.” “Who and what is she?” “She got Dick started. She was a reader at Distaff, and she got Manny Upton to take Dick’s stories. Then later he made her fiction editor. She is now.” “Fiction editor of Distaff?” “Yes.” “She wasn’t on your list.” “No, I didn’t think of her. I’ve only seen her two or three times.” “C-A-R-O-L? M-A-R-D-I-S?” “U-S.” “Married?” “No. As far as I know. She was married to Willis Krug, and divorced. "
27 " His had a nice rug which he said was an eighteenth-century Feraghan. "
28 " He’ll try again. With money to pay lawyers you can do a lot of dodging. That’s one of the disadvantages of being poor, you don’t dare kill anybody. "
29 " Nothing corrupts a man so deeply as writing a book; the myriad temptations are overpowering. I wouldn’t presume— "
30 " If I properly understood her métier, she replaces office workers temporarily absent? "
31 " Certainly. You don’t owe him anything. As for me, I’m not that conceited. I’m not actually conceited at all. I merely think it’s common sense to like myself. "
32 " Hotchkiss lock "
33 " You fat mountebank,” he croaked. He wheeled and started for the door, found me in the way, blocking him, and stopped. "
34 " How do we know that?” Lucy was frowning. “By inference. She did not attach a piece of paper to a blanket with a bare pin and wrap the blanket around the baby. "
35 " It is my conceit to expose myself to reproach only from others, never from myself. "
36 " Repeat it,” Upton commanded me. I repeated it. “A little malignant spirit,” Wolfe said. “He not only had the pleasure of perturbing Mrs. Valdon; there was the added fillip of telling Miss Mardus what he had done. "
37 " There has never been a smoother operation since Whosis scattered the dust on the temple floor. "