Laura quotes

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 I also read palms, I cook, I swallow swords, I mend my own socks, I never eat garlic or onions. What more can you want of a man?

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

View Quote McPherson: Did you know or did you suspect that he [Carpenter] was going to bring her here Friday night, Miss Hunt?
Laura: How could I? I don't know that he brought her here, and neither do you. You merely assume it.
McPherson: What other assumption is possible? Do you love this fellow Carpenter so much you risk your own safety to protect him?
Laura: My own safety? You suspect me?
McPherson: I suspect nobody and everybody. I'm merely trying to get at the truth.
Laura: I see you have been trying to get at the truth. You've read things I never meant anyone else to look at.
McPherson: Strictly routine. I'm sorry, really.

View Quote McPherson: You said Harrington was rubbed out with a shotgun loaded with buckshot, the way Laura Hunt was murdered, the night before last.
Lydecker: Did I?
McPherson: Yeah. But he was really killed with a sash weight.
Lydecker: How ordinary. My version was obviously superior. I never bother with details, you know.
McPherson: I do.

View Quote [to Laura] I was 99% certain about you. But I had to get rid of that 1% doubt...I'd reached the point where I needed official surroundings.

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 Goodbye, Laura. Goodbye, my love.

View Quote If you know anything about faces, look at mine. How singularly innocent I look this morning. Have you ever seen such candid eyes?

View Quote [to McPherson] I was nearly frantic with fear you'd arrest Shelby. I knew he wasn't guilty. He hasn't enough courage to kill a fly. And Waldo was doing everything he could to incriminate him. It was his way of getting rid of Shelby just as he did Jacoby.

View Quote Then there was a moment's silence and then a shot. It was an awful explosion. By the time I reached her, the door was closed. She lay there on the floor....I was too confused, too horrified, incapable of doing anything. The room was dark. I saw only a vague heap lying on the floor. I don't think I fully grasped the situation. I think I called her name, but I'm not sure. I-I remember kneeling on the floor, feeling her heart. My first instinct was to call the police....I was afraid, not only for myself but for Laura. In a panicky sort of way, I felt that I must keep out of this to keep Laura out of it. Oh, I know now how foolish and hopeless it was, but there was only one thing on my mind - the safety of a person whose life was dearer to me than my own. Don't you understand that?

View Quote This is our table, Laura's and mine. We spent many quiet evenings here together.

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 I never have been and I never will be bound by anything I don't do with my own free will.

View Quote McPherson: Nice little place you have here, Lydecker.
Lydecker: It's lavish, but I call it home.