...good-Samaritanism in London is considered an extreme sport - like base-jumping or crocodile-wrestling.

Somebody doesn't know they're not in Kansas anymore,' said Stephanopoulos.

You put a spell on the dog," I said as we left the house. "Just a small one," said Nightingale. "So magic is real," I said. "Which makes you a...what?" "A wizard." "Like Harry Potter?" Nightingale sighed. "No," he said. "Not like Harry Potter." "In what way?" "I'm not a fictional character," said Nightingale.

He was calling it an atonic seizure because, even if he didn't know why it had happened, it was important to give it a cool name.

I gave the prescribed Metropolitan Police "first greeting". "Oi!" I said "What do you think you're doing?

Carved above the lintel were the words SCIENTIA POTESTAS EST. Science points east, I wondered? Science is portentous, yes? Science protests too much. Scientific potatoes rule. Had I stumbled on the lair of dangerous plant geneticists?

Not being invited in is one of the boxes on the “suspicious behavior” bingo form that every copper carries around in their head along with “stupidly overpowerful dog” and being too quick to supply an alibi. Fill all the boxes and you too could win an all-­expenses-paid visit to your local police station.