The Clocks (Hercule Poirot, #39)

by Agatha Christie

‘Quite pretty,’ the inspector noted, parenthetically as it were.

the unlikely happened more often than one would be disposed to believe.

Hardcastle looked at her with some dislike. He always disliked people who were wise after the event.

The lame and the halt and the old didn’t live in their own houses any more, attended by a faithful domestic or by some half-witted poor relation glad of a good home. It was a serious setback to criminal investigation.

‘For want of a nail the shoe was lost, For want of a shoe the horse was lost,

For want of a horse the battle was lost, For want of a battle the Kingdom was lost, And all for the want of a horse shoe nail.’

“Away with softness”.’