A character in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Played by Essie Davis
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries · 55 quotes
Most-quoted character in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: in 44 of its 55 quotes
Most scenes with: Jack Robinson (29), Hugh Collins (6), Mac Macmillan (6)
[Jack has made Hugh search the women.]
PhryneCan’t you take pity on him? Make me an honorary constable.
Uh, no thanks. Collins could do with the practice. Has he asked Miss Williams to the Fireman and Policeman’s Ball yet?
PhryneNot that I’m aware of. Dotty wouldn’t keep that to herself.
He tells me he’s working on it.
Phryne[Holding out some potato on a fork to Jack.] Try this gratin, Jack.
You’re not taking the situation seriously.
PhryneI haven’t taken anything seriously since 1918.
[Jack eventually leans forward and eats the potato off the fork. He leans back and smiles.]
PhryneShouldn’t you be clapping me in irons?
Too much paperwork.
PhryneIf I feed you some more, may I see what’s in that folder?
[She holds out another forkful to Jack. He takes the fork and the dish and Phryne takes the file.]
I don’t know who has the more fanciful imagination; Rogers for coming up with it, or you for working it out.
PhryneJack! Me, obviously.
[Two of the suspects are homosexual, which is a crime in 1928 Australia, and Jack must enforce the law.]
I am a servant of the law, not its master.
PhryneWell in this case, the law is an ass!
. . .
[Later, Jack presents Phryne with the evidence of her friend Charlie's homosexuality.]
I found these plates under the floorboards of Leonard Stevens' apartment.
PhryneWhat do you want me to do with them?
Have them incinerated.
PhryneI thought you said your hands were tied.
[with a wry smile] Yes. But yours are not.
I’m not convinced my heroic constable deserves all the credit. But as I’ve forbidden him to do your bidding, I may need to escort you home myself.
PhryneThank you.
I’ve had my fair share of strike action.
PhryneWhat, the police strike of ’23?
Mmm. Shoulder to shoulder. A lot of good men lost their jobs. I was one of the lucky ones.
PhryneI would have picked you as more of a fence sitter.
It’d be a tactical error to think you had me pegged just yet, Miss Fisher.
PhryneI’m very glad to hear it.
PhryneIt was poison. I’d bet my hat on it.
[Watching Phryne put her hat on.] I’m not sure it’d suit me.
PhryneWhat evidence do you have that it was me who broke into the bookshop?
An Hispano-Suiza parked outside at the time.
PhryneIf a tree falls in a forest...
You were very likely somewhere close by wielding the axe.
PhryneWell... I didn’t break the window. That was done by a man in a black trench coat with a hat – the same man who attacked me when I tried to stop him stealing a book.
He attacked you?
PhryneWell, I disturbed him. And he ran off with the book. I gave chase, and he took a shot at me, so I did the only thing I could in the circumstances.
You called for help?
PhryneI stabbed him in the shoulder.
Oh.
Impatience is your middle name.
PhryneVirtue was already taken.
Ah, I wondered when you'd be back.
PhryneDid you miss me?
I never get a chance to miss you. It feels as if you're in my office every second day. To what do I owe the pleasure?
PhryneA development in our case.
Our case?
PhryneI expect the actors let slip about the ghost.
They did. Don’t tell me you suspect the ghost. Might be a little difficult to clap an apparition in iron.
[last lines of the episode]
There is one thing you didn't figure out.
PhryneAnd that is?
My aversion to operetta.
PhryneYou know I like a mystery. Let me see. [She takes a moment to think.] A bad experience on the stage?
The Pirates of Penzance. [Phryne can't help but laugh.] The reviewer thought my performance as the Major General was…underwhelming.
PhryneWhy don't you let me judge for myself?
I can't remember a word of it.
PhryneOh what rot! Once you learn one of those patter songs, it's in there for good.
Ah, I'm more of a Shakespeare man.
PhryneThe stage is yours.
[Jack takes a moment to recall some lines.]
"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale/ Her infinite variety: other women cloy/ The appetites they feed; but she makes hungry/ Where most she satisfies."
Phryne[impressed] Perhaps a career in the theatre beckons after all, Inspector.
[smiling wryly] Think I'll stick to crime.
This is certainly a well travelled work of art.
PhryneA little like me. Thank you for helping to retrieve it. [She unwraps the painting.] You’re blushing.
I’m a grown man, Miss Fisher. I’m not likely to blush at the sight of a little bare flesh.
PhryneThat’s what surprises me, Detective Inspector. In fact lately you’re full of surprises.
It’s all part of the job.
[Phryne arrives at the magazine's offices, to Hugh's surprise.]
Miss Fisher! We tried to keep any suspicious circumstances away from the press.
PhryneAnd you did a first-rate job, Constable. I wasn't suspicious at all until I saw you.
PhryneNow tell me Jack, does that new furrow in your brow have anything to do with kissing me the other night?
I didn't kiss you, I was trying to protect you.
PhryneAll in the line of duty?
You were looking a gunman in the eye and I had to distract you. I'm sorry if you think I took a liberty.
PhryneJack. You kissed me. Let's call a spade a spade.
You kissed me back.
PhryneAnd I'm not here to apologize.
[Tasked with interviewing Phryne's young charges, DI Robinson makes a request.]
Do you think you could sit in on my interviews?
Phryne[genuinely surprised] Are you actually inviting me?
I'm happy to deal with angry wharfies and trigger-happy thugs. But I'll bow to your expertise when it comes to wayward teenage girls.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
