Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil

Still, it is an error to argue in front of your data. You find yourself insensibly twisting them round to fit your theories.

It is, I admit, mere imagination; but how often is imagination the mother of truth?

The whole force of the State is at your back if you should need it. I'm afraid that all the queen's horses and all the queen's men cannot avail in this matter.

I should be very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.

I have wrought my simple plan If I give one hour of joy To the boy who’s half a man, Or the man who’s half a boy.

They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains," he remarked with a smile. "It's a very bad definition, but it does apply to detective work.