Mark McPherson: I suspect nobody and everybody. I am strictly trying to get at the truth.
Shelby Carpenter: I can afford a blemish on my character, but not on my clothes.
Mark McPherson: I suspect nobody and everybody.
Waldo Lydecker: In my case, self-absorption is completely justified. I have never discovered any other subject quite so worthy of my attention.
Waldo Lydecker: If you come a little bit closer, my boy, I can just crack your skull with my walking stick.
Waldo Lydecker: My dear, either you were born on a extremely rustic community, where good manners are unknown, or you suffer from a common feminine delusion that the mere fact of being a woman exempts you from the rules of civilized conduct.
Waldo Lydecker: I don't use a pen. I write with a goose quill dipped in venom.
Mark McPherson: Nice little place you have here, Mr. Lydecker.
Waldo Lydecker: It's lavish, but I call it home.
Waldo Lydecker: Have you ever been in love?
Mark McPherson: A doll in Washington Heights once got a fox fur outta me.
Waldo Lydecker: How singularly innocent I look this morning.
Waldo Lydecker: I just dropped in to inquire about the state of your health? Insipid, I hope.
Mark MacPherson: On Saturday when our men went to the hotel to tell you that Laura Hunt was dead you seemed sincerely shocked.
Shelby Carpenter: I was. I hadn't expected that mistake.
Mark MacPherson: But you had your alibi ready no matter who was dead.
Mark McPherson: When a dame gets killed, she doesn't worry about how she looks.
Waldo Lydecker: Will you stop calling her a dame?
Bessie Clary: I ain't afraid of cops. I was brought up to spit whenever I saw one.
Mark McPherson: OK, go ahead and spit if that'll make you feel better.
Waldo Lydecker: Love is eternal. It has been the strongest motivation for human actions throughout history. Love is stronger than life. It reaches beyond the dark shadow of death.
Mark McPherson: I must say, for a charming, intelligent girl, you certainly surrounded yourself with a remarkable collection of dopes.
Waldo Lydecker: You'd better watch out, McPherson, or you'll finish up in a psychiatric ward. I doubt they've ever had a patient who fell in love with a corpse.
Waldo Lydecker: Let's not be psychiatric. But in a word, yes.
Shelby Carpenter: For the last time, Louise, will you marry me?
Louise, Ann's Cook: No, but I cooked some chicken liver for you.
Waldo Lydecker: I'm not kind, I'm vicious. It's the secret of my charm.
Answer: While investigating her supposed murder, McPherson interviews many people who knew Laura and gave their personal accounts about her. The more McPherson learns about the beautiful woman, the more intrigued he becomes, eventually almost to the point of obsession. He was more infatuated and physically attracted than actually being in love with her.
raywest ★