Do you ever think of going to sea, Poirot?
No, no, my friend. This is as close as I like to get.
All S1
S1 E15Unfinished Business
[Playing Monopoly] I will build a hotel on Fenchurch Street.
You can't build a hotel on a railway station.
Do not be absurd, Hastings. There are plenty of hotels at railway stations.
But it's not in the rules.
Well, then, Hastings, the rules are wrong!
If you put your head in the mouth of the lion, you cannot complain if one day he bites it off, eh?
[Aside to Miss Lemon] Never made a speculative investment in his life.
And I still have my head, Hastings.
It is a point of principle that I always keep my [bank] balance at four hundred and forty-four pounds, four shillings and four pence.
PLord Pearson
Mr. Poirot, I can't apologize enough.
[Thinking he's there about Poirot's missing bank balance] I am very pleased to hear you say so personally.
PLord Pearson
Yes, I realize it's a little late but you see-
Not at all, not at all, Lord Pearson. It is better late than never, as you English say. Please do take a seat, eh? And may I offer you a drink?
PLord Pearson
A dry sherry, thank you. You see-
Hastings, a little something for you, my friend?
Oh, why thank you.
PLord Pearson
This is a matter of such vital concern to us all that I don't think that I or any of the bank's directors will sleep easily in our beds until it's been sorted out.
Well, I must admit that I have not seen it in quite that light but,um... yes, I must agree with you. It is certainly most vital.
PLord Pearson
You know about the disappearance of Mr. Wu Ling then?
Monsieur Wu Ling? [It dawns on him] Ah... Hastings, be so kind as to pour me a little brandy.
Well, Hastings, while the Chief Inspector is frying his important fish, let us see what we can catch, eh?
The Americans always put the month before the date, Hastings. They are very backwards people.
Of the digestive organs, the liver is the king. Look after the liver and life will take care of itself.
ADr. Adams
Damned nonsense! Damned nonsense, every word of it! Was I or was I not in attendance in this case?
Indeed. All I...
ADr. Adams
Did I or did I not say the first day I went to see Mrs. Pengelley, gastritis? Yes! Did I ever waver from that diagnosis? No, I did not!
But this is undoubtedly...
ADr. Adams
This town is a hotbed of gossip. A lot of scandal-mongering old women get together and invent God knows what.
But the fact remains...
ADr. Adams
They read these scurrilous rags of newspapers, and nothing will suit them better but that someone from their town should be poisoned, too.
But Madame Pengelley...
ADr. Adams
Why should anyone want to poison her?
Dr. Adams, will you please listen to me?
ADr. Adams
Why? I'm telling you.
It was yesterday that Mme. Pengelley came to London in order to consult me. She believed she was being poisoned.
ADr. Adams
Never.
Ah, Hastings, do you hear that? Now I am a liar, hein? Dr. Adams, please, allow me. Madame Pengelley believed that her husband was the poisoner.
ADr. Adams
Rubbish. I know Edward Pengelley. Wouldn't poison his grandmother's dog.
But it is not the dog of Madame Pengelley's grandmother that has been poisoned! Madame Pengelley believed that her husband had fallen in love with his receptionist.
ADr. Adams
Fallen in love?
Yes.
ADr. Adams
Edward Pengelley isn't the sort of man to fall in love. We play golf together. Never been in love in his life. Damn fine dentist, too. I'll be blunt with you, Mr. Poirot. We in Polgarwith don't need you outsiders coming in spreading your tittle-tattle.
All I am trying to tell you, Monsieur le Docteur, is what Madame Pengelley thought.
ADr. Adams
If she thought that, she must have gone mad. She should have come to me. I'd have told her.
And have all her fears ridiculed?
ADr. Adams
Ridiculed? Certainly not. I have an open mind, I hope.
JRJacob Radnor
You don't know what these small towns are like.
Most of us are selfish, Monsieur Radnor. Not all of us admit so freely. Yes, I will do what you ask but I tell you frankly you will not succeed in hushing it up.
JRJacob Radnor
Why not?
Vox populi, Monsieur Radnor. That is why. The voice of the people.
[after Poirot solves the case] There's Japp. I don't know what you're going to tell him.
Nothing at all, Hastings. I hate to be the bearer of bad news. He will learn soon enough that his open-and-shut cases has the broken hinges.
PPoliceman
Sir! Sir! The inspector says, "Can you come, please, sir?" The trial's been adjourned.
Adjourned? What for?
PPoliceman
Mr. Radnor's confessed, sir.
Confessed?
PPoliceman
To the murder. He confessed to that French gent. In writing.
It is most obscure, Chief Inspector, which gives me the great hopes of solving it.
I'm afraid I can't see it myself.
Ah, but I do not see, mon ami. I shut my eyes and I think. One must always seek the truth from within.
I'd still like to know what the color of Lowen's trousers has got to do with anything.
Surely that is obvious, Hastings. Monsieur Lowen says that he did not pass Monsieur Davenheim in the lane, oui? Now, is he lying, Hastings, or did he in fact kill Monsieur Davenheim? A messy scuffle in the country road, a disposal of a body in a muddy field, and still he manages to turn up at the house minutes later so immaculately dressed.
Ah. Seemed rather trivial.
No, Hastings. Nothing is trivial in the matter of murder. I commend also to your attention the fact that before he leaves a room, Monsieur Davenheim puts onto the gramophone a record of the "1812 Overture."
Well, that was highly significant, too, was it?
Well, we may as yet be on the wrong track, but at least it is suggestive.
Track! That was it! Gerald Lowen.
Comment?
Gerald Lowen. Races a couple of Bugattis, just beginning to make a name for himself on the circuit. I bet it's the same chap.
Ah, the racing of the cars, hein? Round and around in the circles. Never will I understand the passion for such a pointless pastime.
Well, you've got to experience it, Poirot. The sheer exhilaration of flying around on the seat of your pants.
Yes, well, Hastings, perhaps you should try cleaning them first.
DDeliveryman
Morning, sir. Got a parrot for Mr. Poor-rot.
Ah, no, no, no, no. "Poirot." It is pronounced "Poirot."
DDeliveryman
I beg your pardon, Governor. I've got a Poirot for Mr. Poor-rot.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Agatha Christie's Poirot pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.