Marian Simpson: [after Jessica exposes her as the murderer] You think you've got it all figured out. But you didn't know what it was like coming from nothing, being shoved from one foster home to another till you finally wind up here in this crummy convent.
Jessica Fletcher: But marrying Albert Simpson changed all that.
Marian Simpson: It made me someone. And I wasn't about to let any stupid mistake that he made fifteen years ago take all that away.
Jessica Fletcher: So you killed the only person who might have been able to expose your husband's secret.
Marian Simpson: I had to. Albert never would've done it! All he did was drive around all night trying to think things through. I didn't need to think! I knew exactly what to do. I hadn't counted on her having company during meditation hour. But once I knew that she was alone, it all seemed so easy. Everyone knew Sister Emily's been taking Metolital for years. All I had to do was ... I emptied her pills into my pocket. I even remembered to bring along an old piece of Scripture that she'd copied for me years ago to leave as a note. But by then, it was nearly 11:00, so, I disguised myself in this habit. And then I took the photograph, and I left. It was nearly perfect. Until you started to interfere.
Bishop Shea: Try to impress on your dear old friend here the obligation of obedience. She is a troublemaker, you know.
Jessica Fletcher: Bishop, I'm afraid that is your problem. And a delightful one you're going to have to deal with for a long, long time.
Lydia Barnett: Mr. Osborne, we've been expecting you. And Miss...
Serena: Serena. Just Serena. Only one name. Like Ann-Margret.
Kate Dutton: [after Jessica exposes her as the murderer] I didn't want to kill him. Really, I didn't. I just went to talk to him. What he was doing was so unfair! Tom played by Duncan's rules his whole life.
Jessica Fletcher: And now his reward was being taken away.
Kate Dutton: Well, God only knows how much longer Duncan could have lasted. Tom would have been too old to be chairman if Duncan stayed on until...
Jessica Fletcher: Until he died?
Kate Dutton: I begged him to give Tom a chance. And all he did was ask me to adjust the horizontal hold on my way out. I'm not sorry I did it. I'm not sorry at all. He was a horrible man, and he just used people! He hired good men and just used them up.
Johnny Constable: Are you here, Humphrey? What happened? Somebody die?
Humphrey Defoe: Happily, John, your uncle is reasonably well today.
Pauline Constable: [to Sybil Constable, after Emma exposes her as the murderer] Oh, don't you look at me like that. You have always been the great lady. You don't know what it's like to have people laughing at you behind your back because you're a baker's daughter, and you won't be anything else. Well, I am something else! I'm the wife of the 19th Viscount Blackraven!
Ideal Molloy: Oh, look, Eve, here's a recipe for low-cal popcorn balls. And they're decorated to look like clocks.
Eve Simpson: How convenient. Next time you throw a cocktail party, your guests can gag and know what time it is.
Sheriff Amos Tupper: Well, Doc, seems your nurse was one of Jonathan's regulars.
Dr. Seth Hazlitt: Why, that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in all my life.
Sheriff Amos Tupper: According to the logbook, if it's Thursday, it must be Beverly.
George Tibbits: [after Jessica exposes him as the murderer] Like Mrs. Fletcher said, I had gone there with less than honorable intentions. I knew the house would be open. Silly woman never locked it. She must have heard me because she came down the stairs toting a gun.
Jessica Fletcher: And she caught you taking the ticket?
George Tibbits: She was going to shoot me. I got ahold of her. The next thing I knew, she was dead. If she hadn't come ... If she hadn't come down the stairs, ten to one, ten to one, she never even would've noticed.
FSFrieda Schmidt
You should see what the genius in the corner office has. His last two pictures lost thirty million bucks. His fridge is stuffed with beluga caviar. Us, they send Beer Nuts.
LFLewis Framm
Doesn't it bother you that Charlotte probably died in this room?
No, the only thing that bothers me is unanswered questions.
Donna Crenshaw: George, you are insane. That stupid stunt at the ceremonies, walking into a town meeting, threatening these people. I mean, don't you have any sense of...
George Longbow: Self-preservation? Yeah, lots, which is why no one knows where I'm staying, and no one is going to know, including you, Donna. Donna, look, my people have been bowing and scraping to the white man for centuries, and what did it ever get us? Indignation, humiliation and reservations, not to mention several dozen diseases imported from Europe. Yeah, well, it's time one of us stood up for what is rightfully ours.
Helen Langley: [after Jessica accuses her of committing the murder] It was just past midnight. Ad was drunk. He said he'd been walking up and down the beach, looking for the Indian. He wanted to hit someone, and I was the only one around, so he grabbed me. It was worse than ever. Well, you saw what I looked like this morning. I couldn't hide it. I begged him to stop, but he just kept comin' after me, and so I grabbed the knife on the counter, and I turned around, and I lashed out at him. He staggered. He fell to the floor, and he grabbed one of those chairs as he hit the ground.
Tom Carpenter: That's when she called me. She was out of her mind with fear. I found her on her knees, starin' down at that drunken piece of trash. The knife was still stickin' out of his chest. I mean, what was I gonna do? Let her go to jail for doin' the world a favor? Not my sister, no sir. Then it, you know, just came to me. The trouble at the meetin' hall. I put Ad in my truck, carried him in the side door, and laid him out on the floor. And then, like I figured, that funny-lookin' spear was left over from the meetin', and I picked it up, and I raised it over him.
Jessica Fletcher: And the wound from the lance obscured the real cause of death, the knife wound.
Helen Langley: I can't say I'm sorry he's dead. I know nobody deserves killing, but I just couldn't let him hit me anymore.
Jessica Fletcher: You know, if I read one more paragraph tonight, this manuscript is gonna start looking like one big typo.
Mark Havelin: [after Jessica accuses him of committing the murder] Every time I asked Cornelia for a raise, she turned me down. Then, when I found out about this marriage, I was going to tell her all about it. I let her know everything that happens here. Then I thought, "Don't be a fool. This is your ticket. Your golden goose, Mark." When Sandra started coming to this hotel, I saw her change from a hick computer processor into a very expensively pulled-together lady. It wasn't hard to guess where the money was coming from. I went to her room that night with a very fair offer that she split Gary's payments with me 50-50. She laughed in my face. We argued. I hit her hard. She accidentally knocked her head against the dresser and collapsed. She was barely conscious, and I thought, "Why not finish her off and have it all?" If she hadn't picked up that phone call, it would have been perfect.
