The Pusher Quotes

“Long before any genius producer began singing the blues on an imaginary hill in an unnamed city where a mix of a dozen or so cops came and went in what was known to script writers as “the usual squadroom boil,” Cop Hater set the tone and the pattern for a police series in which—so far as I was concerned—there were no restrictions on content or style.”
― Ed McBain, The Pusher

“There are all kinds of feathers. There are chicken feathers, and duck feathers, and quail feathers, and goose feathers, and flamingo feathers, and horse feathers, and even Leonard Feathers.”
― Ed McBain, The Pusher

“The feathers in the one pillow on the bed were duck down. The feather found, therefore, had not come from the pillow. It was found stuck to a smear of blood, so chances were it was left by the killer and not left by someone who’d been in the room previous to the killer. If the killer, therefore, had a pigeon feather stuck to his clothes, chances were he was a pigeon fancier. All the cops had to do was track down every pigeon fancier in the city. That job was for the birds.”
― Ed McBain, The Pusher

“Some kid was shoving muggles. Marijuana, Dad. We call it—” “I know the names,” Byrnes said.”
― Ed McBain, The Pusher