the truth is never horrible, only interesting. - Agatha Christie

I think perhaps it wasn't a good idea to read aloud Gibbon to me in the evenings, because if it's nice and hot by the fire, there's something about Gibbon that does, rather, make you go to sleep.

Who are you? You don't belong to the police?'
'I am better than the police,' said Poirot. He said it without conscious arrogance. It was, to him, a simple statement of fact.

Motives for murder are sometimes very trivial, Madame.” “What are the most usual motives, Monsieur Poirot?” “Most frequent — money. That is to say, gain in its various ramifications. Then there is revenge — and love, and fear, and pure hate, and beneficence — ” “Monsieur Poirot!” “Oh, yes, Madame. I have known of — shall we say A? — being removed by B solely in order to benefit C. Political murders often come under the same heading. Someone is considered to be harmful to civilization and is removed on that account. Such people forget that life and death are the affair of the good God.