Laura quotes

View Quote [on the phone] Don't worry. I told you I'd bring in the killer today. Yeah, I was just gonna make the arrest when you called. No, I can't tell you now. I'm not alone. You'll see when I come in.

View Quote [to Shelby] You took that poor girl in Miss Hunt's apartment. You knew all along it was she who was murdered. Didn't you know Laura Hunt would come back any day and spill the whole thing? Or did you plan to kill her too and hide the body someplace and cover up your first crime?...You took a bottle of Black Pony to her house Friday night...Where's the key to her apartment?

View Quote Dames are always pulling a switch on you.

View Quote [to Laura] If anything should happen to you this time, I wouldn't like it.

View Quote When a dame gets killed, she doesn't worry about how she looks.

View Quote Goodbye, Laura. Goodbye, my love.

View Quote Perhaps our friend can weave all the loose ends into a noose, eh, McPherson?

View Quote You better watch out, McPherson, or you'll end up in a psychiatric ward. I don't think they've ever had a patient who fell in love with a corpse.

View Quote It was the last time I ever heard her voice. I was sure she had too much pride to forgive him....I shall never forgive myself for letting her become involved with Shelby. It was my fault. I should have stopped it somehow.

View Quote What came of it I hoped to hear that night. I alternated between moods of over-optimism and over-pessimism. When the phone rang, I had a foreboding of disaster.

View Quote Laura, dear, I cannot stand these morons any longer. If you don't come with me this instant, I shall run amok.

View Quote Then one Tuesday, she phoned and said she couldn't come. It didn't matter really. But when it happened again the following Friday, I was disturbed. I couldn't understand it. I felt betrayed and yet I knew Laura wouldn't betray anyone. I walked for a long time. Then, I found myself before her apartment building. The lights were on. It pleased me to know she was home 'til I saw she was not alone. Well, I waited. I wanted to see who he was. It was Jacoby who had recently painted her portrait. I never liked the man. He was so obviously conscious of looking more like an athlete than an artist. I spent the rest of the night writing a column about him. I demolished his affectations, exposed his camouflaged imitations of better painters, ridiculed his theories. I did it for her, knowing Jacoby was unworthy of her. It was a masterpiece because it was a labor of love. Naturally, she could never regard him seriously again. There were others, of course. But her own discrimination ruled them out before it became necessary for me to intercede.

View Quote Her career began with my endorsement of the pen. I secured other endorsements for her, introduced her to important clients. I gave her her start. But it was her own talent and imagination that enabled her to rise to the top of her profession and stay there. She had an eager mind always. She was always quick to seize upon anything that would improve her mind or her appearance. Laura had innate breeding. But she deferred to my judgment and taste. I selected a more attractive hairdress for her. I taught her what clothes were more becoming to her. Through me, she met everyone - the famous and the infamous. Her youth and beauty, her poise and charm of manner captivated them all. She had warmth, vitality. She had authentic magnetism. Wherever we went, she stood out. Men admired her. Women envied her. She became as well-known as Waldo Lydecker's walking stick and his white carnation. On Tuesday and Friday nights, we stayed home, dining quietly, listening to my records. I read my articles to her. The way she listened was more eloquent than speech. These were the best nights.

View Quote [to Laura] I wish to point out that you caught me at my most difficult moment. Ordinarily, I am not without a heart...Shall I produce X-ray pictures to prove it? I wish to apologize...And now, for reasons which are too embarrassing to mention, I'd like to endorse that pen.

View Quote She had something about her, that girl. I had to speak to her again. I had to see her.