- Ken Mitchell: [having breakfast with Joe, talking about him being attacked by a burglar at his workplace] I don't know. It happened so fast. Zonk - I was out!
- Joe Mannix: You haven't any idea what he looked like?
- Ken Mitchell: No. You sure you won't eat something? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
- Joe Mannix: No thanks.
- [notices that Ken is putting an unusually large amount of hot sauce on his eggs]
- Joe Mannix: And with all that hot sauce, it must be a fire hazard, too.
- Ken Mitchell: Well, every man to his own poison. Kills the taste of the eggs.
- Joe Mannix: Any idea what he hit you with?
- Ken Mitchell: No, but it felt like a baseball bat. It was the same the last time.
- Joe Mannix: This happened once before?
- Ken Mitchell: Last March. I was getting out of my car in the garage. Somebody belted me from behind. I don't know who or what. Fortunately, a neighbor was passing by walking his dog, scared the guy off.
- Joe Mannix: Would you know anyone who'd want to kill you?
- Ken Mitchell: That's what I'm hiring you to find out.
- Joe Mannix: Why me, not the police?
- Ken Mitchell: You know, in the toy business, we're dealing with children. Any association with crime or violence is bad publicity. That's why I want you to handle this as quietly as possible.
- Joe Mannix: Well, uh, to start with, you'd better show me where it happened.
- Peggy Fair: What do you think happened to her?
- Joe Mannix: We don't know that anything has happened to her. It's not unusual for a girl to take a day off, is it?
- Peggy Fair: Coming from you, that's original.