- Blanche Copley-Barnes: [after identifying her husband's umbrella] Well, do we make the proverbial noises now?
- Chief Inspector Morse: I'm sorry?
- Blanche Copley-Barnes: Well aren't we supposed to say "would you like a drink?" so you can say "not while I'm on duty" then I provide tea instead?
- Detective Sergeant Lewis: Tea would go down nicely...
- Chief Inspector Morse: [interrupting Lewis abruptly] We don't have time, I'm afraid.
- Detective Sergeant Lewis: Why didn't he come to us about his kid?
- Chief Inspector Morse: They owned him, he had no power. Not a soul would have believed him.
- Sylvie Maxton: [playing the piano as Morse looks at a photo album] The Copely-Barnes years. Touching, aren't they?
- Chief Inspector Morse: They seem idyllic.
- Sylvie Maxton: They were, in a way. Only I didn't get the best out of them. Rather like learning this... for the fingering. And not knowing till much later what it meant.
- Blanche Copley-Barnes: The snakeskin came from Camden.
- Detective Sergeant Lewis: Snakeskin?
- Blanche Copley-Barnes: The dried skin of an adder. Shrivelled. I went quite dippy for a moment when I saw it.