Paul Carlisle: [after Jessica accuses him of committing the murder] Neptune was my scene. Ralph found out about it, and he started blackmailing me. He said he wanted in or else, I let him in. I even let him put his name on the account.
Jessica Fletcher: Yes, and Grady's.
Paul Carlisle: That was Ralph's idea. He wanted a patsy to take the heat in case the deal fell through. Well, I suppose I could have gone along, sharing the bounty with Ralph. But you know there is something about having a blackmailer's knife at your throat. I'd have been at his mercy for the rest of my life.
Sheriff Orville Yates: Folks around here know better than to make threats against the sheriff.
Jessica Fletcher: Where I come from, folks don't have to make threats. The sheriff upholds the law.
David Carroll: After I got off the phone with you, I wasn't sure I had the time correctly. I mean, nobody meets at city hall at this hour.
Jessica Fletcher: Forgive me. I'm a writer. We work at all hours.
Jessica Fletcher: Thank you for taking time to see me on such short notice, Ms. Davis.
Dorothy Hearn Davis: I have a confession to make. Actually, I prefer Missus.
Jessica Fletcher: So do I.
Sydney Jarvis: [after Jessica reveals the true circumstances of his father's death] At that point, I had to choose between Sam and Mother. You understand, don't you, Sam?
Georgia Wilson: How can he? You've wasted thirty years of his life. Thirty years of an innocent man's life and the lives of his family. You knew what you were doing, and you sent him to prison just as if you were the judge and the jury. How could you expect him to forgive you?
Jessica Fletcher: I think that mystery stories should be read in the dark of the night, don't you?
Greg Dalton: You know, it's interesting. It's always the dark of the night to me.
Sally Ann Carmichael: I gotta learn about this business if I'm gonna be a singer.
Stoney Carmichael: Okay, first rule is, take care of your band. Go get these boys some sodas.
Nancy Dalton: Why do you have to be so damn happy? So nice to Randy in front of me? Didn't you ever just wanna bash his face in?
Greg Dalton: Stop it! Just stop it! How do you know what I feel? You know what it's like to wake up every morning and open these eyes? Of course, I hate it! And I hate him! But hating isn't gonna get me anywhere.
Lieutenant Oswald Faraday: As long as I live, I will never again...
Jessica Fletcher: Yes, Lieutenant?
Lieutenant Oswald Faraday: Underestimate the power of women's intuition.
Eva Taylor: How was your flight across the Channel?
Jessica Fletcher: You know, I am such a diplomat. I switched from tea to Perrier halfway across.
Valerie Bechet: [after Jessica exposes her as the murderer] At first, I suspected Maxim had his eye on Eva Taylor. I even encouraged him to hire Kim so that she could keep her eye on him. I long ago surrendered myself to that man, along with my dreams. But how could I give my daughter away?
Kevin Cauldwell: [after Jessica exposes him as the murderer] In those days, Bill was my boy, the son I never had. He was roaring drunk prom night. Too drunk to drive home.
Jessica Fletcher: So you put him in your car.
Kevin Cauldwell: And we had the bad luck to come upon that man in the Corvette. Bill kept grabbing the wheel, trying to get me to turn around and take him to that diner where his friends were. Just then, the Corvette came round the bend, and Bill jerked the wheel over hard. I was worried the driver might be injured. Bill was scared and wanted to get outta there fast. He was too drunk to think straight. I swung around and went back. The door was open on the passenger side. I thought the crash sprang it open. The driver was unconscious and bleeding. Then I saw the bearer bonds scattered all over the floor from an open valise. Good as cash. The driver came to and saw me holding the bonds. That's when I panicked, Jessie. The sight of all that money just there for the taking. I didn't even think about it. I just picked up a rock, and I hit him again and again! I hadn't planned it, Jessie. But the man was dead. There were all those bonds and done was done.
Jessica Fletcher: Yes, but what about Bill?
Kevin Cauldwell: The boy idolized me. Would have done anything for me, and he did.
Jessica Fletcher: And once Bill sobered up, you swore him to secrecy in return for half the bonds.
Kevin Cauldwell: That's right, Jessie. We sat on those bonds for a couple of years and then cashed them in.
Jessica Fletcher: And allowed Andrew Durbin to spend twenty years in prison for a crime that you committed.
Kevin Cauldwell: I know, I know. It was a terrible thing. But I've lived with that secret for twenty years, Jessie. Do you understand? I guess I should've known that nothing good would've come of that money.
Oliver Quayle: What an excellent witness you're going to make. "Mrs. Fletcher, national reputation, no notoriety, Cabot Cove, Maine." The jury is going to love that rustic ... Do you have a hat? An old straw with some violets?
Jessica Fletcher: I've never owned a hat like that in my life.
Oliver Quayle: Well, never mind. Barnaby will get you one. And an umbrella. Yes, an umbrella will be a nice touch.
Jessica Fletcher: Mr. Quayle, I'm sorry, but I am not going to play a countrified character for you or for anyone else.
Judith Harlan: [after Jessica exposes her as the murderer] Patricia's appointment was not with her hairdresser. It was with me. I went out there to confront her privately with what my investigator had turned up. I offered her a handsome settlement to divorce Jim quietly, without scandal. But Patricia was not only greedy, she was arrogant, and she became very abusive. She had the audacity to hit me. I grasped for whatever was near me. It was the poker in the fireplace. And I struck her down.
Annette Pirage: So you were the one who disconnected the gas line in the basement?
Judith Harlan: It wasn't difficult. I calculated I had enough time to get back to the city before the fire consumed her.
Jessica Fletcher: And you couldn't bear to see your mother's brooch destroyed, so you removed it from the body.
Judith Harlan: I hope you realize that I never would have let Jim be convicted for something I had done.
Jessica Fletcher: Do you remember that little flower patch that we started behind the Kappa Delta house?
Reverend Mother Claire: Do I remember? While you were knee-deep in marigolds, my zinnias just quit before they even started to bud.
